Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Rodeo Season

Rodeo season. Time to get out on the road and hit the shows and sales. Travis was eager to be off. He had not been happy about the tornado, and watching Coralee struggle to deal with it was as much of an excuse as he needed.

There were things that had to be taken care of first. Tornado damage had to be repaired, including the roof of the chicken coop. A shed had to be rebuilt and fences repaired. Travis would not be happy if everything on the ranch was not in order before he left.

The tornado had been hard on the cattle. They had panicked in the storm and some of them had run themselves against the barbed wire in an attempt to escape from the storm. Travis had feared the tornado would trigger a stampede but was grateful it had not materialized.. A few of the steers had not made it and Travis had them butchered and put in the freezer. Barbed wire had been torn from its posts and had to be repaired, escaped cattle were rounded up and transferred to the lower pastures.

One more thing had to be taken care of. Coralee had promised to have her implant removed and she was determined to keep her promise. Travis had given her a beautiful wedding and honeymoon, as he promised, and she would keep hers.

She found the closest Planned Parenthood and was able to get an appointment. Travis came with her, it wasn't necessary, but he insisted that he should drive her. Was he afraid she would go back on her word?

The procedure itself was strange to watch. They numbed her arm and made an incision and withdrew the implant. She was surprised at what she saw, she had forgotten how small it was, no larger than a matchstick. Funny, for three years it had kept her from getting pregnant and would have worked for two more. Now it was gone.

"Finished?" asked Travis as she walked into the waiting room, and she nodded. "Let's go, then," and put his arm around her waist and led her out of the room.

He would have gone into the room with her, but she forbade him. Sometimes he was possessive, not wanting to let her out of his sight. He could be paternal, almost father-like, and very protective. Sometimes she enjoyed this, she liked the fact that he looked out for her, but she did not like to be smothered, and sometimes he almost crossed the line.

Fortunately, he was not always like that. Travis could be a lot of fun, and she enjoyed the time they spent together. So far, she had no regrets, marrying him had not been the mistake she feared it might be. She no longer felt like a child bride. He went out of his way to make sure that she was happy and comfortable, and his efforts had even won over her parents.

They went out to lunch after her procedure and talked about horse shows. She would leave Trixie and Best Boy at the ranch and bring Sadie and Hickory. Hickory was turning into an excellent reining horse and Sadie liked to show off her cutting skills. She missed Coronado, it had almost been too easy to win when on his back. With Hickory, she had to work harder, but he was proving easy to train, he was willing to learn, and that made working with him a pleasure.

Her arm hurt a little where they had removed the implant. It was an odd feeling, knowing that she would probably be pregnant within a few months. Her mother would first be disapproving, but soon she would be calling friends and family to announce that another Dutton baby was on the way.

Now she regretted being so far from home. Fortunately, her Dutton relatives would show up in Texas despite the distance. What hurt was that they were no longer an hour or two away. Her branch of the Dutton family was close-knit, they were always in and out of each other's business, and they liked it that way.

Pregnancies were considered a family affair. The baby would be celebrated as all the family's pregnancies were. One sibling or cousin would have a crib they didn't use anymore, and another a bassinet. She would not need to buy baby clothes, they would arrive by the box full, lovingly passed down through the family.