He stared at her.

She held him up. “You know, Ben, I have a feeling this pregnancy is going to be lot harder on you than it is on me.”

For a moment he pulled her close, realizing his world was in his arms.

“You be careful while I’m gone, dear.”

Jenny smiled up at him. “All right, Benjamin, if it means that much to you, I’ll stay. I plan to eat another slice of pie and put my feet up. Maybe I’ll consider writing a paper on the effects of pregnancy on the father over forty.”

“Thank you, dear,” he whispered against her neck as the other men came outside. “Stay off your feet, morning sickness can come any time of day. You might want to make a list of books I’ll need to read. Breast-feeding. Choking hazards. Car seats, we can’t forget that and . . .”

Pecos looked at the two professors and shook his head. “You got to be kidding. I’m surprised at you two.”

Ben looked at the deputy. “I’m trying to analyze the possibility of me having a heart attack. I’ve had some rather surprising news. Stay ready in case we have to make a run to the hospital, Deputy.”

“Come on with me, Doc.” The twenty-one-year-old pulled him along. “I’ve had a kid for a year. I’m an expert.”

Ben kissed Jenny on the cheek. “We will discuss this later, dear.”

Ben climbed in the deputy’s cruiser and they pulled away. Hank and Ketch followed in Ketch’s pickup.

* * *

LeRoy stood on the porch like a general left behind.

Jenny watched as the man seemed to be aging in the moonlight. This time, maybe for the first time, he wasn’t joining the fight. She felt like she needed to change the subject before the man crumbled. “I should have waited to tell Benjamin that I’m pregnant. This wasn’t the right time.”

Sheriff LeRoy glanced at her as if she’d just said she was a serial killer. “I don’t know about that, Jenny. The professor seems like a man who’ll need all nine months to figure it out. You want me to help you inside, little momma?”

“Oh please, LeRoy,” she snapped as if she’d known the sheriff for years. “Pregnancy is not an illness. Reproduction does not cannibalize the host’s brain.”

They both laughed as he offered his arm anyway. “As the father of four daughters who have given me eleven grandchildren, I’m an expert on pregnancy, childbearing, and babies.” He shrugged. “I had to threaten to arrest my Allie if she didn’t stop talking about her sore boobs, and my Sadie ate her way into blimp size in nine months.”