Lawless Love

Chapter Four

They arrived home and Jake helped Sarah down from the wagon. She stood there contemplating whether she should tell him what Mrs. Cody said about the baby. She decided to wait until later to tell him. Lafitte jumped out and wandered off to sniff. Jake set the puppy on the ground and he took off after Lafitte. Sarah panicked, not knowing what would happen. She turned to Jake, who was standing there watching the dogs. "Why did you let him loose like that? He's going right for Lafitte. They are going to fight!" Sarah ran after the dogs to keep Lafitte from tearing the puppy apart. Jake followed in his slow, not-worried fashion.

The puppy caught up with Lafitte and started nipping at his heels. Lafitte tolerated it for a minute but had enough. He turned and growled, then snapped at the puppy. Sarah gasped and reached out to grab one of them and was almost bit if it hadn't been for Jake grabbing her out of the way. "Dammit Sarah, are you trying to lose your hand?" he scolded. She was shocked that he raised his voice at her again. Jake turned to the dogs and yelled making them stop immediately. He grabbed the puppy and gave him to Sarah. "Take him inside and keep him away from Lafitte for a while."

Sarah walked to the house with the puppy wiggling in her arms, trying to get down. "What am I going to do with you?" The pup c****d his head at her and started panting and licked her face. "I should probably give you a name if you're going to be staying. I think I will go with Rouser, since that's what you have been doing so far." He barked at her and licked her again. "Definitely Rouser." She opened the door and set him down.

Jake walked the horses to the barn with Lafitte for company. He took the tack off of the horses and put it up and the horses in their stalls. He looked down at Lafitte . He looked like someone just beat him. Jake knelt down to his level. "Don't worry Lafitte , you're still top dog. Ain't nothin' going to change that." He scratch him behind the ears and on the head. Lafitte looked up at him and licked him and barked. "You're such a good boy." He stood up and the two of them headed to the house.

Sarah had just put her yarn up and was sitting at the table when Jake and Lafitte walked in. Rouser started growling and Sarah swat him. He jumped then stopped. Lafitte walked over to Sarah for attention. She reached down and pet him. She gave him a kiss on the nose and he kissed her back. "I love you, Lafitte . You're the best dog a girl could ask for. Please be patient with Rouser." He licked her again and walked away to lay down. Jake walked over to her and knelt in front of her. 

"Sarah, I want to apologize for yelling at you. I just don't want you getting hurt and that was the fastest way for that to happen." She hung her head a little, knowing he was right. "I know it wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, but I didn't want either of them getting hurt." He rubbed her arms to comfort her. "Maybe I should make you something to eat for supper before you get sick."  He stood up and started getting things together for supper.

"Why don't you lay down while I take care of this?" he said, nodding toward the food. She thought about it for a minute and then stood up. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jake." She walked to him, kissed him and went up to bed for a nap. She took off her shoes, and took her dress off to lay down. The bed felt good and comfortable. She was asleep in seconds and started dreaming of things to come.

Sarah and Jake were watching their son, Matthew, playing with the dogs. He was pretending to be Sherriff and Lafitte was the very uncooperative prisoner. Sarah smiled and looked at Jake. She couldn't think of anyway that she could be happier than she was at this very moment. She thought about the secret she had been keeping from her husband and she was trying to find the right words. She was about a month and a half late, which meant there was going to be a little one. She knew Jake wanted more children but something kept nagging in her gut that it was going to be a girl this time and she didn't know how he would react. Jake turned and caught her smiling at him. "What's on your mind, Sarah?" He knew that look and he wasn't too sure if he liked it all that much. She sighed and slid a little closer to him. "Well, there is something I have been meaning to tell you but I haven't been sure of the words." He sat silent, waiting for her to continue. Sarah took a deep breath, "How would you feel about another addition to our family?" She searched his face for some kind of reaction. It seemed like an eternity had passed before he answered her. "Are you saying that you're expecting a little one?" he asked after carefully choosing each word. She winced and nodded. Jake picked her up and swung her around, landing his lips on hers. Matthew saw his parents kissing and came running. "Mama! Papa!" he giggled and grabbed them both around the legs. Jake picked him up and held him between them. Sarah kissed him on the cheek. "We have something we want to tell you, Matty."  "What's that Mama?" the little tike asked. "Well, you're going to be a big brother." Matthew smiled wide. "Really Mama? Really Papa?" They both nodded. "Yes, Matty. There's a baby in Mama's tummy." Matthew squirmed to be let down. He put his ear to Sarah's belly and listened. "I hear baby Mama!"  He giggled and ran back to play with the dogs again. Sarah was relieved that both of her boys took the news so well. They stood there, arms around each other's waists, watching their son.