THE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND football game at the McCabe Ranch was in full swing. Sam and his five boys had teamed up against John and Lilah McCabe’s four sons and their offspring, resulting in one of the most hilarious games ever. Kate and her mother, who’d come over to join in the holiday festivities, lounged on the porch with Lilah and Annie. Out on the lawn, Josie and John McCabe refereed the game. The only one missing was Jackson’s wife, Lacey, who’d been the pediatrician on call at the hospital all day. But she was due to arrive soon, and would no doubt see the second half of the McCabe vs. McCabe game.
“You seem awfully deep in thought today,” Lilah noted as Will passed the football off to Riley, who handed it to Kev.
Joyce nodded in agreement as Kev raced, laughing, down the field. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Joyce asked Kate with motherly concern as Kev was tagged just short of the goal line. “You looked awfully pale this morning.”
“I’m fine, Mom,” Kate said, trying not to flush.
Joyce and Lilah exchanged looks. Annie, who was the mother of triplets, grinned speculatively, too. Kate knew what they were thinking. She and Sam had been married almost two months now. It was possible there was a very good reason for her unexpected but short-lived queasiness. Which was why Kate wanted Lacey to hurry up and get to the ranch.
As if on cue, Lacey’s car turned into the lane. Jackson jogged over to give her a kiss and a hug as she got out of the car, then trotted back to the field to rejoin his teammates.
Smiling, Lacey headed for the porch. Kate had only to look at Lacey’s expression to know the answer she had been waiting for. As Lacey nodded, confirming it to be true, Kate couldn’t help it—she broke out into a spontaneous grin of pure joy. It was all she could do to not let out a big “Yee-Haw!” Who said dreams didn’t come true?
“Okay,” Sam said, catching sight of the look on her face. He called a time-out and then jogged over to the edge of the porch. He looked from Kate to Lacey and back again. “What’s going on, you two?” he demanded.
Kate took Sam’s hand. “If everyone will excuse us for a moment, I’ll fill you in.”
Speculative looks were exchanged all around as Kate led Sam away from the others. “So what’s the big secret?” he demanded as soon as they had disappeared behind the lattice-work arbor decorated with Lilah’s prize-winning roses.
“The best kind of all.” Kate stood on tiptoe and went easily into Sam’s strong arms. “You are going to be a daddy again.”
Grinning, Sam swept her against him and delivered a heartfelt kiss that swiftly had Kate tingling from head to toe and would have lasted a heck of a lot longer if not for the muffled giggles behind them. Reluctantly, they pulled apart. Kate and Sam turned to see all five boys watching them. The rest of the McCabes were not far behind.
Riley frowned. “Gee, Dad, we’re trying to have a football game here. We’re inches from making another touchdown, and you’re back here making out with Kate!”
Will elbowed him. “I think it’s a little more than that,” he told his younger brother seriously.
“Yeah, like what?” Brad frowned impatiently.
Sam wrapped his arm around Kate’s shoulders. “Kate and I just found out we’re going to have a baby.”
At his announcement, there was a brief stunned silence followed by whoops and hollers all around. “Way to go, guys!” Riley said enthusiastically.
“We could use another player for our team,” Brad agreed.
Kev tugged on Will’s jersey. “But what if it’s a girl?” he asked.
“Then we’ll teach her, too,” Will reassured him gently.
“When’s the baby going to be born?” Lewis asked.
“July,” Kate said as she and Sam accepted hugs and kisses and congratulations from Joyce and the rest of the McCabes, too.
AS IT TURNED OUT, Sam and Kate did have a baby girl. She was born on July sixth, and was just as beautiful and darling as everyone knew she would be. They named her Laurel McCabe. And Sam immediately became as protective as everyone knew he would be. “She’s not dating until she’s thirty,” he told everyone who stopped by to see the newest addition to Sam and Kate’s family.
Not that his sons, or even Kate, agreed with him on that. “Come on, Dad, she ought to be able to date when she’s sixteen,” Will said.
“Just go on the dates with them,” Brad explained.
“That way nothing romantic can go on,” Riley agreed.
“Or better yet, we’ll set up a computerized action-cam and follow her on her dates,” Lewis said. “That way Laurel can be on her date and you can watch everything that’s going on while you and Kate are still at home.”
“Yeah,” Will said, getting into the spirit of things with a teasing wink, “just put one of those electronic bracelets, the kind prisoners wear, on both Laurel and her date, and no problem, they won’t be able to get away with a thing.”
Kate rolled her eyes.
Everyone laughed.
Kevin patted Laurel’s foot. “It’s not easy being the youngest,” he said. “But don’t worry, little sis. I’ll keep our big brothers from giving you too hard a time.”
As if on cue, Laurel let out an indignant cry.
“See?” Kate said as she went to pick her up. “She’s protesting at all this overprotectiveness from the men in the family already!”
Sam looked down at their still-loudly-complaining baby girl. Just as he had suspected, she had Kate’s eyes and smile, and was every bit as beautiful, to boot. Which cost Sam no small amount of sleep. How on earth was he going to keep the boys away?
Sam comforted Laurel by patting her back. But, like her mother, once Laurel had made up her mind to be heard, she wasn’t easily silenced. “I have a feeling she’s going to be a handful.” Sam grinned.
All five of their sons guffawed at his remark. “Like that’s a surprise?” Will quipped.
“Dad, she’s a McCabe,” Riley pointed out.
Lewis nodded. “She’s supposed to know her own mind.”
“If she were easy to raise, it’d be more than a surprise,” Brad added knowingly, “it’d be a first.”
“Yeah,” Kev chuckled. “She’s got a tradition of orneriness to uphold.”
Sam and Kate laughed at all the teasing. Kate handed Laurel to Sam as she went to get a diaper. By the time she got back, Laurel was curled up against Sam’s chest, cooing sweetly, and enjoying the adoring glances and soothing murmurs of all five of her brothers. “One thing for certain,” Kate said softly, tears of happiness filling her eyes as she thought about how Sam and his boys had made all her dreams come true. “There’s no shortage of love in this family.”
“Nor,” Sam said, giving Kate a warm glance that encompassed her, their daughter and all five of their sons before continuing solemnly, “will there ever be. And that’s a Texas-size vow we all mean to keep. Because there’s nothing more important, more satisfying in this life than love and family. Right, guys?”
Will, Brad, Riley, Lewis and Kev all nodded. Abruptly, there were tears glistening in their eyes, too.
“I love you guys,” Kate said thickly, hugging them all one by one.
They hugged her back in a way that let her know she would always and forever be a part of their hearts and lives. “We love you, too.”
Kate changed Laurel’s diaper, then the boys took turns holding their new baby sister while Sam and Kate looked on. Sam wrapped his arms around Kate. Holding her close, he pressed a kiss on her head. “We really have it all, don’t we?”
Kate nodded, loving the way his arms felt around her, so warm and strong and right, loving the vows they had made and kept with all their heart. “And then some,” she said.