I hid my laugh behind my teacup when he jumped and twisted around to stare at me.
"Jesus, Lee, you scared the shit outta me!"
I narrowed my eyes at his language and he sighed.
"I'll clean the damn, uh, darn window as soon as I'm done here," he said. "You could at least thank me for building you another bed."
"Thank you for building me a garden bed. Don't forget to clean the window."
He laughed and shook his head before I wandered away to the truck that was nearly unloaded. I took a quick peek into my storage shed and saw that they'd neatly stacked the boxes in the far left corner and there was still room to spare inside.
Brody saw me first and came over to give me a hug. "Hey, there, Lee. How's your first day as a married woman?" he asked.
"I'll tell you when it's over."
He grinned at me as J.J. made his way to us and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. "Mornin'," he said.
He smelled crisp and clean and he wore a beat-up pair of jeans, a faded red tee, and battered tennis shoes. I wanted him to hug me the way Brody had.
"Is that coffee?" he asked.
I bit back a sigh. "No, dearest. It's tea and it's low caffeine. Your new eldest brother-in-law has already notified me that I shouldn't be having any, but I figure the cops won't agree when I give that as an excuse for beating someone over the head with a wooden spoon."
Brody laughed, covering it with a cough when J.J. shot him a look.
J.J. turned back to me and opened his mouth, but I kept speaking.
"I haven't ordered any books on pregnancy yet, but I have spent some time online researching what I'm allowed to have or not have, and most doctors allow their patients a single cup of coffee or tea in the morning unless they have complications."
"But you haven't seen a doctor yet," J.J. pointed out.
"And when I do, I'll ask if I need to refrain. Until then, the tea not only helps prevent homicides, it soothes my stomach when I'm nauseated."
He seemed to realize he wasn't going to win this argument so he shifted his focus. "How is your nausea? Any better?"
I took another sip of my tea before I answered, "It's actually a lot better today. Other than a little queasiness when Robert jammed his face against my window this morning, I haven't felt sick at all. First time in a while, too."
It felt weird to talk about whether or not I felt like throwing up in front of Brody, so I changed the subject. "Are y'all done with the boxes or is there more?"
J.J. looked toward the stack of boxes in the rear corner of the shed. "The boxes are done, but I do have to get my couch." He shot me a sideways look. "Were you serious about storing your couch and using mine?"
"If it's more comfortable, absolutely. I bought what I could afford when I furnished this place and I'm pretty sure those cushions have someone else's butt prints permanently dented into them."
My new husband grinned at me. "Okay, then. We'll move yours out here and cover it with a plastic sheet and get mine hauled over here today. I think you'll like it and it won't clash with your decor."
I chuckled. "I don't have decor. I have eclectic items placed as pleasingly as possible but no themes or anything."
"Well, your house looks nice inside and it looks like you actually give a shit about whether stuff matches or not, so..." J.J. winced when he saw my look. "What? It's okay if you don't want to use my couch, I get it. I—"
I shook my head and bit back another sigh. "It's not that. If your couch is comfortable then I want to use it. It's just..." I trailed off.
"She hates it when we curse," Scott said, coming up behind me and draping his arm over my shoulder. "She got it from our mom and grandmother. They both despised it when we swore."
I nudged him with my elbow. "Only because y'all tend to use swear words the way most people use salt—liberally sprinkled everywhere."
J.J. laughed.
"Sorry, I know that's kinda weird," I said to J.J. "I promise not to give you a hard time like I do my knucklehead brothers."
