“Shush, I love you, too.” Then he chuckled. “Rube, we haven’t made love like that in years,” Jack said in awe. “I felt like we were eighteen again.”
Ruby smiled against his chest, not wanting to tell him just yet of her time-travel experience, but deciding to reveal a little. “I had this really strange dream this afternoon, and in it we made love five times in one night.”
“Five times!” Jack exclaimed with a laugh. “And just what did you do to bring that about?”
Ruby tantalized him with a few descriptions of some of the sexual antics she had tried with her Viking husband.
“Honey? Now that’s an interesting possibility,” he said with a laugh.
When he finally stopped grinning at her dream reminiscences, Ruby turned serious. “Jack, I want you to know that I’m cutting back my hours at Sweet Nothings at least half-time beginning immediately.”
She felt Jack stiffen beside her.
“I think it would be best if I work three full days and take off the rest of the week, rather than part-time for five or six days. What do you think?”
“Rube, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, if you’re serious,” he said, pulling her closer, I was thinking that maybe we could merge our two companies. Real estate is doing better, and my profits are up since I expanded into commercial development. I know our businesses are completely different, but I still think we could form a partnership. Then we could both begin to delegate more responsibility and spend much more time at home. What do you think?”
Ruby thought she should take Gyda’s advice. “Whatever you say. You decide.”
“Maybe we could even buy a large sailboat and travel with the boys next summer.”
“A boat?” Ruby asked incredulously and stared at Jack. “A boat?”
“What? You don’t think a boat is a good idea?” Jack’s puzzled eyes held hers.
Ruby laughed at the irony. “A boat is a great idea.”
She rolled over to face the fire, and Jack pulled her close against him, spoon-fashion, one arm under her head, the other over her stomach.
“What was that? Are you hungry?”
“What?”
“Your stomach lurched.”
Ruby put her hand over her stomach. Sure enough, there was a quickening movement.
Oh, my God!
She couldn’t believe it. Ruby realized with sudden amazement that she was still pregnant. She turned around to face Jack, tears pooling in her eyes, and whispered, “How would you feel about doing something else next summer?”
“Like?” he asked suspiciously, alert to the emotion in her voice.
“Like having a baby.”
She placed his palm over her stomach while she spoke, and saw the moment when Jack felt the baby move again. When he finally understood, Jack turned solemn and stood up abruptly. Puzzled, Ruby got up, as well.
“Is that why you came back?” he accused. “Is that what this whole love scene was about?”
“No, it’s not. I didn’t really know I was pregnant until just now.” She started to tell him that she’d really known before, in another time, but decided to save that explanation for later.
Jack smiled then and pulled her into his arms. “A baby? After all these years! I always wanted to have another child,” he confessed, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I know,” Ruby said, caressing his face lovingly. “I know.”
“A baby!” Jack repeated with awe. “Are you happy about this?”
“Ecstatic!”
Jack hugged her tightly to his chest. “We can make this work, Rube.”
“I know.”
Then Ruby jumped and squealed. “Ja-a-ack! Why did you do that?”
“What?”
“Pinch my behind.”
“I did no such thing. I will if you want me to, though,” he offered with a twinkle in his eye.
Ruby just smiled.
Then Jack asked with seeming nonchalance, “Do we have any honey in the house?”