From Ranchhands To Soulmates (A Yellowstone Fanfic)

Chapter 12 (Edited)

Chapter 12

Caroline's POV

~~Later that Evening~~

"Kayce! Carter? Somebody, Can you bring my laptop to me? I need to make sure those reports are finished for Lee..." I yell out as I continue urgently cleaning the dishes and making dinner for everyone. "Here you go," Carter says sweetly as he walks in from the living room with my laptop in hand. "Thank you, baby, I appreciate it," I say smiling at him as I take my computer from him. "Do you need any help?" Carter asked as he smiled sitting at the bar. "Actually yeah, would you mind testing the biscuits for me and ensuring they taste okay?" I asked him, smiling with a subtle wink. Carter smiled and nodded happily. "Okay, thank you, here you go, honey," I say happily, handing him a biscuit. "Thank you," Carter says politely. "Where's my biscuit, Mama?" Kayce teased with a playful smile. "You can have all you want, at supper," I say giggling. "What about him huh? Why does he get a biscuit," Kayce teased playfully. "Because he's my baby," I say playfully with a wink. Carter smiles happily as he's eating his biscuit, "How is it?" I asked him, giggling. "The best biscuit I've ever had," Carter says with his mouth full. "That's good baby, they'll be plenty more at supper for y'all, now go get cleaned up," I say sweetly wiping the crumbs off of his face. "Okay Momma," Carter says, smiling at me as he stands and walks into the living room. I immediately teared up and bit my lip to stop myself from crying as I looked up at Kayce, "He called me Momma," I said softly with a smile. Kayce beamed his perfect smile at me and wrapped me into a hug, "Yes he did baby, yes he did," Kayce said kissing my forehead, "I love him Kayce, he and Tate are both my sons in my eyes," I whisper into his chest. "I know baby, we're gonna take care of them together, all of us," Kayce says, lifting my face to look up at him. "What would he call you, Kace?" I ask him with a smile. Kayce shrugged and smiled, "He can call me whatever he wants to, whatever he's comfortable with is fine with me, as long as they're happy and taken care of is all I've ever wanted." Carter was standing by the kitchen door smiling happily as he overheard our conversation. "Go spend time with him outside for a little while so I can get this done please..." I ask Kayce with a smile. "Of course baby, C'mon buddy let's go see what Teeter and Tate are doin'," Kayce says to Carter as they walk over to put their boots on. "Oh and remind everyone to take their boots off on the porch! I mopped earlier," I say with a giggle as I stir the lima beans in the pot on the stove. "Yes ma'am," Kayce answers before they walk outside. I turn the heat down on the beans, put the lid on while they simmer, and start frying the chicken for dinner. While the chicken is frying, I make myself a glass of tea, sit at the bar with my laptop, and fill out the livestock reports for Lee making sure not to leave out any necessary information.

Kayce's POV

After leaving the lodge, Carter and I took a walk out to see the construction of our new house. "I can't believe that's going to be your house," Carter says watching the construction workers working quickly. "It's gonna be Our house, buddy," I pointed out to him. "Really?" Carter asks happily. "Of course buddy, you're a part of this family Carter, and family is forever," I say looking at him, meaning every single word. "Thank you, I uh, don't know what to call you though, you and Rip are the ones I'm closest to," Carter says, shrugging nervously. "I know buddy, whatever you wanna call me, no pressure," I say with a smile as we watch the workers. "Why does Momma call both you and Rip 'Daddy'?" Carter asked me curiously. "Uh, sorta like a nickname I guess," I say stifling a laugh. "I'm 14 Dad, not stupid," Carter says chuckling, shaking his head in amusement. I smile up at him and shrug, "That's gonna be a great question to ask Rip, buddy," I chuckle at him. "Okay, I'll ask him," Carter says smiling. "Ready to go see if we can find Tate and Teeter?" I ask as I adjust my hat. "Sure, let's go," Carter says, turning around as we head over to the stalls. "Can you ride?" I ask Carter as I open Cinnamon's stall. "I can a little bit," Carter answered with a nod. "Okay, this is Cinnamon, she's the gentlest horse we've got besides Snow, which is Momma's horse," I explained while petting Cinnamon's head as I pulled her out of the stall. "Hiya boys, what the hell are yall doin' out here?" Teeter asks us with a smile as she and Tate come walking into the stalls. "We were going out looking for y'all," I say smiling at them as Teeter runs over to hug me. "Hey beautiful," I say before I kiss her lips softly. "Hey baby," she greets me back with a smile. "Hey, Dad we killed a snake! Guess how big it was?" Tate says excitedly. "How big?" I ask him with a smile. Tate extends his arms open as wide as he possibly can, "Woah, that's a big snake," I say with amusement. "I'm not even joking," Tate says excitedly. "Don't worry we made sure the snake was far enough from him," Teeter assured me with a smile. "Thank you for keepin our boy safe darlin'," I said softly to her, gently squeezing her hand. "Always baby," Teeter said, planting a kiss on my cheek. "Let's go see if we can find Rip and the boys," I say, wrapping my arm around Teeter's waist and walking back towards the bunkhouse.