Josh still had trouble believing he was going to be a dad. Shock probably wasn't a strong enough word to describe how both he and Payton felt about it all. Once the dust settled though he got busy planning the perfect weekend for Payton. He wanted everything to be just right when he proposed, this time, the last time. Josh had told her he had a conference down in Wichita and asked her to come along. He had found a romantic bed and breakfast online and knew she'd love the place. He'd called ahead and made reservations at the restaurant they'd had their first date at, and he was ready to pull out all the stops to get her to say yes. One way or another they were coming away engaged. Josh had been doing a lot of thinking since the bomb dropped about the baby. They'd both been taken by surprise. The day she found out, she spent the night in tears. It broke his heart that she was so upset. As the weeks passed and the shock wore off, he realized that while it had happened a lot earlier than

"I can't take it anymore," Josh declared as the guys walked out of Target. They'd spent a long time at Best Buy, over an hour at the sporting goods store, and they'd been walking around Target for what seemed like hours. The girls said they'd call or text when they were ready, but as the hours passed and the text didn't come, it was clear that they might have to go in and get them. "That's it! Drive me to the mall so we can get them out of there before it gets dark. I'm starving."Jackson rolled his eyes at his brother, "I can tell. You remind me of those Snickers commercials. Hungry Josh isn't fun to deal with."Laughing Josh punched him in the arm, "Point made. I swear you'd think with how long they've been gone they'd have spent all the money in their accounts.""Not necessarily. You know women can go and 'just look' for hours.""Yeah right," Josh said and huffed."What?""I just texted Payton and she said to just wait at the food court. She wouldn't tell me where she was, said they

Feeling lighter and more relaxed than she had all week, Emma went to work getting her classroom ready for the day. Dinner with everyone the night before had been fun. Payton had roped her into helping with wedding stuff, and she wanted to do whatever she could to make things a little easier for them. She wasn't sure how they were going to pull the whole thing off, but by the end of the week, they'd be married one way or another.The wedding was going to be small and intimate. Payton told her that they hadn't invited a lot of people, but the people who were attending were the ones that really mattered in their lives. The two of them were working on party favors when Payton started talking about the guest list. Emma was excited to meet her roommate from college, and her friend from home sounded like she'd be fun to hang out with too."And just wait until you meet Wes. He's a hoot," Payton told her.Josh coughed, "You didn't always think he was a hoot. I remember a long standoff between y

In the weeks that'd passed since the wedding, things had pretty much reverted to normal. The house that had become wedding central was starting to look like it had before the happy couple had tied the knot. Things seemed to be exactly the way they were before, only now Payton was sporting a rock on her ring finger, and it didn't bother Jackson near as much as he thought it would.Excitement filled Jackson as he grabbed his pack list and headed for the basement. They found out at work that their unit was slotted for an exercise coming up. While a lot of people moaned and groaned, these were the things Jackson lived for. He loved doing any training exercise or going into the field. When he was doing those things, he felt like he was actually getting to use the skills he'd been trained to do.He was just starting to pull out his stuff in his corner of the basement when he heard Payton come in."Good thing we have all this space. Who knew you'd have so much junk?""No kidding. Just when yo

Emma had thought long and hard about what Parker had said over the past month, and she decided he was right. She was going to try and let go of the past enough to move on, but she couldn't let go enough to forget. It'd be good to remember the past so it wouldn't repeat itself. As it got closer to the time for Jackson to get home, she grew nervous about what might happen, but she was ready to move forward. She'd held out the whole two months he'd been gone. He was due home the next day, and while she should wait, she was done."Forget this," she mumbled as she grabbed her phone.Emma: Know you aren't home until tomorrow, but I couldn't wait another day. When you get home, please call me. I've missed you.She didn't expect a response. She knew she'd pissed him off good, and so she expected to be waiting all night, and maybe for several days. She'd put the ball in his court, though. Grabbing a glass of wine, she took it over to her sofa and was just getting ready to watch some TV when h