Page 108 of The Autumn We Fell in Love

Even if it also makes me feel massive.

But then, I guess two pregnancies in one year will do that to you.

I snap my fingers. “I know what’s missing!” I cry. My pregnancy brain’s sluggish, but hey, at least it’s still working. Most of the time anyway. I lumber out of the bathroom and downstairs to grab one last thing for Xander’s costume.

By the time I’m back upstairs, totally winded, Sage is awake and in her father’s arms.

“Look who woke up just in time,” he says to me, cradling our almost three-month-old daughter.

“Here,” I say, holding what I retrieved from downstairs, “your lightsaber. Clip it onto your belt.”

I trade him the prop for the baby. Xander goes to the bathroom to follow my instructions, and I take Sage to the changing table in the corner of our bedroom.

“You all ready for your first Halloween, baby girl?” I croon as I peel off her jammies, her big brown eyes never leaving my face. I quickly change her diaper, then dress Sage in her costume. “You’re just the cutest little Yoda I ever did see, yes you are,” I chatter.

I don’t realize that Xander’s stolen up behind me until arms loop around my waist. “She looks adorable,” he says, taking in the Yoda ears extending from the knitted green hat I’ve slipped onto our daughter’s head. I made her costume too, again with no pattern.

In fact, I made about half the town’s costumes this year.

While I don’t have a future in modeling, I’ve made quite a name for myself as a fashion designer and seamstress. In Deadwood, at least. And while that may be a far cry from New York’s fashion scene, I find it to be wholly satisfying. Now I put my fashion knowledge to good use filling custom clothing design requests, in addition to sewing clothes for myself, my husband, and Sage. That naturally turned into Halloween costume orders once September rolled around.

I can’t wait to see my creations on the people I made them for. We’re heading to The Bison for the big party, of course. But first, we’re going to make a stop at each grandparents’ house to show off little Sage. My folks and Xander’s mom can’t get enough of her. I know exactly what they mean.

The past year has held so much: love, marriage, a baby, creating a career that I adore, and then another baby. I’m having the time of my life.

Aside from the morning sickness, that is.

We hadn’t been planning on having kids so soon. But it turns out that if you have passionate unprotected sex in a cemetery, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself expecting. We certainly did.

With baby number two, we were actively trying to avoid getting pregnant. I’d just been cleared from pelvic rest after Sage’s birth, and since she was still up several times a night for feedings, Xander and I weren’t exactly feeling ready to take on a second infant.

Mother Nature had other plans, though, because my birth control failed and now I’m two months along with our second little bean.

None of this is what I expected when I arrived in Deadwood a year ago. Not by a long shot.

But looking down at Sage, my hunky boo’s arms supporting me and our little one growing inside me, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.