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Chapter 21 - Calamity

CHAPTER 21

CARLY

The faint aroma of coffee woke me the next morning.

I stretched almost the entire length of the bed, turned on my back and slowly opened my eyes, an unfamiliar sloped wooden ceiling greeting me. It took me a moment to remember where I was and why I wasn't in my own bed and for my brain to register that John wasn't lying next to me.

I sat up and groaned rather unattractively, running my fingers through my tangled hair. It felt gross and oily. My whole body was aching, especially down there. I pulled the sheets around my naked torso and grinned.

"So that happened," I whispered.

"Twice," John replied with a playful smirk, popping his head through the hole in the floor. He was holding a tray with two coffee mugs and a plate with what looked like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "Mornin' beautiful," he added, putting the tray down in my lap and pressing a kiss to my lips.

"Mornin' handsome," I replied.

"Figured you might be hungry," he stated, kicking off his boots and climbing into bed next to me. He grabbed one of the sandwich slices and took a generous bite. "Went to the main house and put somethin' together... I hope you don't mind... cleaned up after myself, don't worry," he smirked, wrapping a lazy arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.

"You're the best," I grinned up at him. Coffee and peanut butter, the two things I couldn't get enough of... and he brought me both. I took a bite of my sandwich and washed it down with a testing sip of coffee, nestling into the crook of his arm. "What time is it?" I asked.

"A little after six," he replied.

"How long have you been up for?" I wondered.

"Four," he shrugged.

I stared at him. We ended up only going to sleep at half past one; clearly he had no reason to be up so early!

"I don't really sleep," he admitted, running his fingers through his hair and down his unshaved jaw.

"What do you mean you don't sleep?" I asked, twisting my body around in his arms so that I could get a better look at his face.

"Just forget about it, I'm fine," he shrugged.

"John–" I began.

"I'm handlin' it," he told me. There was a sort of hardness in his voice that I'd only heard once before, a few days after he moved back here. I was trying to talk to him about his problems sleeping back then too. "We should finish up... get to work," he added quickly.

"Yeah, okay," I replied softly, letting my hand brush over his. I was here if he wanted to talk to me. I was always going to be here for him.

JOHN

"Hey babe, come here for a sec!" I called out towards Carly's office much later that afternoon. The sun was beginning to set over the distant treeline and I was in the stables, stopped in front of Juno's stall, watching her closely. She was agitated.

"What is it?" Carly asked a little breathlessly when she appeared next to me, putting her hand on the small of my back.

"Check it out," I pointed towards Juno's distended udder. "I noticed it a little earlier... she's lookin' real distended ain't she? I don't know if you remember when Paisley was foalin'... I helped your dad out with it... but it looked a lot like that the first couple hours," I explained.