I turned around to see Emma and my mother staring at me. Motherfucker, here we go.

“Okay, did someone die? Jesus, with the way you two are looking at me.”

“Arianna, dear, I’m going to guess by that ring on your finger that you and Jeff worked things out?” Emma asked me before she looked over at my mother.

I could so feel a damn Katharine Hepburn quote coming from my mother any second now.

I sat down and let out a small sigh. I turned to Emma, who was giving me that damn sweet-ass smile of hers. Fuck I loved this woman. Ellie was very lucky to have gained Emma and Garrett as family when she married Gunner.

I smiled at Emma and took a sip of coffee.

“Yes, Emma. We worked things out, but, the light of day has my head spinning. My thoughts are racing.”

Emma reached over to take a hold of my hand.

They must know about Rebecca. Great, I can’t even have five fucking minutes to enjoy my engagement.

“Alright, Mom, let it out. I can see you’re holding something in.”

My mother sat up straighter in her chair and took my other hand.

Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…..this is going to be bad.

“As the great Katharine Hepburn said, ‘Life is hard. After all, it kills you.’ It’ll all work out somehow, Arianna.”

What the hell? That’s the best she can do? I just looked at her as I watched a smile play across her face.

“Really, Mom? That’s the best you’ve got?”

My mother glanced over to Emma, and then she looked at me confused. “What were you expecting me to say, Ari?”

“I was expecting you to tell me that it’s all going to be okay, Mom. I wanted you to say that this Rebecca bitch, sorry, Emma, is not carrying Jeff’s baby and that my dad didn’t really ruin my engagement night by dropping the biggest fucking bomb on me ever! Sorry again, Emma.”

Emma smiled at me as she squeezed my hand tightly. My mother removed her hand from mine as I reached for my coffee. As I took another drink, I noticed my hand was shaking. Shit!

“I’m sorry, Ari. I wish I could tell you it’ll all be okay, sweetheart, but I’d be lying to you. I’m not sure if it will. Have you and Jeff talked about this?”

I shook my head. Then, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Do not cry, Ari.

“Mom…” My voice cracked.

“I wanted to be the one to give him a baby. I wanted that more than anything, and I keep telling myself that if this turns out to be his baby, I’ll be okay but…but…”

Emma squeezed my hand.

“Ari, I think that it’s time you got tested,” my mother said matter-of-factly.

I snapped my head up at my mother. Why is she bringing this up now?

“Tested? Oh my, Ari, is something wrong?” Emma asked, looking back and forth between my mom and me.

“No, Emma, nothing is wrong with Ari. Ari, if you want to even consider having a baby with Jeff, then you need to be tested to see if you’re a carrier of the gene. Emma, remember how we spoke last night about Matthew and how he has Fragile X?”

Smiling, Emma nodded her head. “I don’t think that I will ever forget that sweet boy finding my mop and bucket and asking me if he could mop my floors. Every time he comes over, he asks to do it again.”

I let out a laugh.

That sounded like my little brother Matthew. He’d been diagnosed with Fragile X when he was eighteen months old. My mother and father had been concerned because he was not sitting up or meeting his other developmental milestones when he should have been. After endless tests and going to see the best doctor’s money could buy, they had finally gotten their answers. I would never forget the day they had found out. The first time I’d ever seen my father cry was when I was thirteen years old. My mother had given herself a day of sadness and then she bounced back full force. She had found the best occupational, speech, and physical therapists around.

I looked over at my mom and smiled. If I could only be half of the mother that she is, then I’d be so happy.

“I know that I need to find out if I might pass Fragile X onto any children that I might have. I’ve been putting it off for years, but I think you’re right, mom. I need to know.”

“Does Jeff know that you could possibly pass this onto your kids?” Emma asked as she gave me the sweetest smile.

Jeff, he was so good with Matt, and Matt just loved Jeff. Matt would follow him everywhere and would do anything to make Jeff laugh. Once he would figure out what made Jeff laugh, Matt would do the same thing over and over again, and Jeff would laugh every time. Jeff has never once lost his patience with Matt. Jeff had even stopped by the house at least once a week to play video games with Matt. Sometimes, Gunner had even tagged along with Jeff to hang out with Matt. Both of them treated Matt like a regular boy and not a mentally impaired one. This just added to the list of reasons of why I loved Jeff so much.

Just thinking about the way Jeff was with Matt made my heart melt. “Yes, he knows, and it doesn’t matter to him either way. He says he would love our child no matter what. He adores Matt, and Matt adores him. Speaking of, where is Matt Mom?”

Emma and my mother both laughed.

Emma turned to look behind me. “Jeff stopped by and took Matthew down to the stables to see the horses. Of course, Jeff didn’t have to ask twice,” she said.

The thought of Jeff spending time with Matt just made my heart hurt even more.

Fucking stupid-ass Rebecca. That bitch was lucky she had a damn restraining order out against me because all I wanted to do this very moment was kick her ass.

Then, Heather walked into the kitchen with her perky-ass morning voice.

“Good morning, Sue and Emma. My gosh, Ari, you look like you’re ready to kick someone’s butt.”

I just glared at her while she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Emma stood up and smoothed her hands down her dress. “It’s such a beautiful morning, ladies. Let’s drink our coffee outside and watch all the young men take apart the tents.”

We all looked at each other and busted out laughing. I just loved this woman.

As we walked out to the porch, Heather saw Josh talking to Lynda, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

“What the fuck is she still doing here?”

I turned my head to look at Heather. “Holy shit! Did you just say fuck?”

Heather gave me a go-to-hell look that made me laugh.

“Yes. Yes, I sure as shit did! That woman would not leave Josh’s side during the whole wedding. I mean, she was really hanging on him while she flaunted her stupid breasts in his face all night.”

I looked down at Heather’s chest and then back up at her. Out of all of us, she probably had the best boobs.

“Heather, flaunt what the good Lord gave ya. I keep telling you that. I know you like Josh, and according to Jeff, Brad, and Gunner, Josh likes you. So, do something about it for Christ’s sake!”

I watched Heather look back over at Josh and Lynda, and I could practically see the steam coming from her ears. Emma and my mother were deep in conversation about Fragile X. Another item on my to do list, get tested for Fragile X.

“She stayed last night did you know that?” Heather said as she glanced back at me.

“What? Who stayed last night?”

“Lynda. She claimed that she was feeling sick. She said the ride back to Austin would just make her feel worse, so she stayed here last night. She bunked with me in my room and talked about Josh all darn night. I don’t like her. Something about her just sits wrong with me.”

“Oh, holy hell, Heather you’re fucking jealous!” I laughed loudly throwing my head back. When Josh saw us, he took two steps away from Lynda and smiled at Heather. I heard her mutter something like asshole under her breath, and then she turned and walked towards Emma and my mom. Josh’s smile faded when Heather walked away. He turned and said something to Lynda before he headed down to the barn.