Page 55 of Secrets Within Us

And Beyond

“Idon’t know about this.” I hummed worriedly as Kip buckled the helmet on our son’s head.

“What could possibly go wrong, Bambina?” He asked with a sly grin and a wink. He had some grey hair starting around his temples and peppered through his beard, but he was still the most attractive man in the world. It added to his ruggedness and hot dad vibes perfectly.

“Oh, I could think of a few.” I deadpanned, rubbing my hands in front of me to fight off the chill.

“C’mon Mama, it’ll be fun!” Tyler called out, wiggling his eyebrows under the weight of his bulky snowmobile helmet. “You can ride with me!”

“Not a chance, kiddo.” Kip answered for me, “Mama is going to pop your baby sister out any day now and if she rides down this hill, she’ll pee her pants.”

Little did he know just how soon I’d be popping her out.

I scoffed and ducked my head, rubbing my forehead. “Who says romance is dead, huh?”

Kip smirked at me and then tapped the top of Tyler’s helmet, “Let’s ride, buddy!”

I watched as Kip loaded our five-year-old son up onto a saucer sled and pushed him to the edge of the hill in front of us. Kip had been sledding at the same hill since he was Tyler’s age, but it didn’t make my heart beat any slower as my baby sat on the edge of the damn cliff.

Winter sports were fucking weird.

“Hang on tight, Ty!” I yelled and then covered my mouth to keep from screaming as Ty slid off the edge and down the steep, icy hill with his own screams of excitement.

He was going way too fast for my liking, but Kip was right behind him on the snowmobile to pull him back up the steep slope. I shook my head, finally taking a deep breath as my boy came to a stop at the bottom and got off, jumping in the air excitedly.

“Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma.”

I turned and my sweet, almost two-year-old son, Dylan, tottered his way toward me through the snow. He looked like an abominable snowman all wrapped up in his winter gear, but I wasn’t going to risk him getting frostbite on his tiny toes or fingers as we watched Dad and big brother Ty sledding. Mike and Darla followed close behind Dylan, on their way back with coffee and hot cocoa from the food truck parked in the parking lot.

Like I said, winter sports were weird.

And Utah took their winter sports seriously.

Hence the food truck.

“Hi, baby.” I scooped Dylan up and placed him on my hip. Trying not to get emotional about how it may be one of the last times, I picked him up as my youngest little baby. I fought back the normal emotions and pointed down to where Kip had started towing Tyler and a few other kids back up the hill. “You see Daddy?”

“Da-Da-Da.” Dylan cheered excitedly for his daddy and brother to return to the top.

“Here you go, dear.” Darla handed me a steaming cup of coffee. “It’s decaf because I know you’re still watching your caffeine intake until little miss gets here.”

“God, what I wouldn’t give for an espresso.” I joked, taking a sip of the coffee, “Thank you, you’re too good to me.”

“And you’re an angel for bringing the boys out today, so close to your due date,” Mike added.

I grinned guiltily, “I figured I’d let them have some fun before we locked ourselves away for a few months.” I joked, but they all knew that’s exactly what we’d do. It was getting to the brutal part of winter where the temperatures were so low at night it hardly even snowed and I was more than ready to hide away at the cabin until spring.

Winter was hard for me. For whatever reason, my body reacted instinctively to the cold and snow, like I had to fight to survive again. It was the biggest scar I had from my kidnapping, and it was one that no one really understood outside of our home, not even my therapist.

My body just couldn’t forget how close to dying it had come at the hands of cold Mother Nature I guess, and I wasn’t too keen on fighting the inclination to hide away where it was warm for a few months with my cute little family.

Add in the fact that I’d been in silent labor for a few hours already, I was ready to disappear for a while and just soak in the big change coming.

Never mind the fact that the eight-year anniversary of my kidnapping was in a few days too. It was just too much weight on my shoulders to carry all at the same time.

“Do you have any last-minute things you need for the home birth?” Darla asked, eager for another baby to snuggle in her retirement. She would be at the birth, given that she was a retired midwife of many years, but she liked to leave as much prepping as I wanted to us and then would show up with her Mary Poppins purse of goodies and make sure everything went smoothly. She helped deliver both of my boys at home, so I knew I was in excellent hands.

“No, actually, we’re all set. Kip has been in go mode for a week or two, so he has already set up and prepped everything, and it’s ready to go.”

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