The Rancher's Christmas Baby. Cathy Thacker Gillen

of his blazer and withdrew a white envelope “—I brought you the handout I give the patients in my medical practice on how to optimize the chances of getting pregnant.”

      “Assuming you’ve got the basics down pat,” Trevor teased, with a knowing wink.

      “If you need help with those…” Tyler added, chuckling.

      “Well, at your age…” Jeremy shook his head as if it were a lost cause, if that was the case.

      Teddy shot them all a droll look. “Very funny, guys.”

      “Seriously, stress is not good for making babies,” Trevor said.

      “You want success, you’ve got to be all romantic,” Tyler added.

      Jeremy nodded, with a physician’s sage attitude. “Show her that you really care.”

      Teddy held up a hand. “You guys don’t need to worry.”

      Trevor scoffed. “That scene yesterday says otherwise.”

      “Amy and I worked it all out,” Teddy countered.

      Three sets of male eyebrows raised.

      “And that’s all I’m going to say,” Teddy added firmly, folding up the handout and putting it in the back pocket of his jeans.

      There was a long, skeptical silence.

      Then three slow grins.

      The light of recognition in their eyes.

      Trevor was the first to slap him on the back. “If this means what I think it means—that you and Amy are in a real marriage—way to go!”

      “Congratulations, dude!” Tyler shook his hand.

      Jeremy nodded his approval. “I’ve always said Amy needed to stop being so frivolously romantic and go for the real thing. Apparently, she’s found it.”

      “Thanks, guys,” Teddy said. He only hoped he and Amy didn’t lose what they had found the previous night. Their success in the baby-making department had been so unexpected. Amy could be skittish, especially when she was feeling overemotional. He looked all three men straight in the eye. “I really want this to work out.” And for the first time since he and Amy had said their vows, he felt like they had a chance.

      “WHAT WERE YOU AND JEREMY and your brothers talking about in the parking lot?” Amy asked when they got home.

      Teddy took in the anxious look on Amy’s face. “How’d you hear about that?” he asked, hanging up their coats. More important, what had she heard? He didn’t want her upset or embarrassed in any way. To that end, he was prepared to do whatever had to be done.

      “I went out to see if you had arrived yet, and I saw them laughing and smiling and slapping you on the back. It seemed like a guys-only kind of moment, so I went back inside. And then I got drafted to wash the soot off the stained-glass windows, so I got caught up in that.”

      Teddy knelt to light the fire he’d built in the hearth.

      “So back to my question about what was going on out there…?”

      “Oh, yeah. Our brothers. They’re all happy we’re married and going to have a family. Naturally, they were full of ‘advice’ on how to achieve that.”

      Amy looked like she wanted to sink through the floor. “You didn’t tell them…we…”

      “C’mon, Amy,” Teddy countered gruffly. “You know me better than that. I’ve never been one to kiss and tell.” Although, their brothers had all quickly surmised as much, he recalled ruefully.

      “But…” he reached into his back pocket, glad for the opportunity to move the conversation along, to something much more important to both of them. “Jeremy did give me a copy of the handout he gives his family-practice patients who are trying to have a baby.”

      Amy cast a look at the laundry room, where clothes took up every available inch of floor. With a slight frown, she closed the door, then went to the fridge and opened it up. “What does it say?”

      Teddy scanned the suggestions. “We should both be drinking our milk and having tea instead of coffee. We’re not supposed to be imbibing alcohol. I’m supposed to be wearing boxer shorts. We should be making love every one to two days, at least during the window of opportunity.”

      Smiling, Amy poured two glasses of milk and unwrapped the plate of gingerbread cookies. “I think we covered that last night.”

      Teddy grinned. “So we did.” He munched on a cookie and kept reading. “Uh-oh.”

      “What?” Amy paused, mid-sip.

      “We’re supposed to be using the missionary position.”

      “We did.”

      “The first time.” The second time they had been a little more adventurous.

      “Do you want to try again tonight?”

      Amy looked so hopeful that Teddy suddenly feared her disappointment if they didn’t conceive this month. Willing to do anything to give her what she most wanted for Christmas—their baby—he referred to the list of instructions once again and told her practically, “It says here sperm count is higher in the morning than at night. Since this is the end of the window of opportunity…what do you think?” He paused, reading her expression. “Should we wait until morning?”

      IT WAS A VALID QUESTION. Thoughtfully posed. Yet Amy felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. All the blossoming romantic feelings—and Christmas spirit—that she had been experiencing, abruptly faded. To be replaced by uncertainty and doubt.

      “Sure.” Amy finished the last of her milk in a single gulp and turned away. “I’m a little tired tonight, anyway.”

      Teddy came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “We can make love tonight if you want.” Still holding her gently, he turned her to face him. The warmth of his hands transmitted through her clothing to her skin.

      “What does the handout say?” Seeing a streak of soot on his chin, she reached up and wiped it away. “Is there a problem if we make love too many times in a certain period?”

      She could see he didn’t want to answer.

      Aware she needed to know, she arched a brow and waited.

      He frowned and admitted reluctantly, “With some men, yes, the information did say that too-frequent lovemaking can reduce the sperm count, but it’s not the case in all men.”

      Amy bit her lip, torn between momentary pleasure and their long-range goals. She looked deep into his eyes. “But it could be the case with you.”

      He shrugged.

      “Then morning it is.” Amy pushed aside her disappointment and tried not to think how much she had been longing for this very moment—when they were alone and could make love again. Morning was just hours away, after all. She’d waited years to have a baby.

      In the meantime, she needed to ask him something. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told Rebecca that you and I would babysit for the twins Friday evening so she and Trevor could go Christmas shopping.”

      Reaching for another cookie, Teddy grinned. “Sounds fun.”

      Amy felt compelled to warn, “She said the twins are a handful right now.”

      Unperturbed, Teddy drained his glass. He took her by the hand and led her toward the fireplace. “Most four-month-old babies are, from what I’ve heard.”

      “Are you up for it?” Amy settled on the sectional sofa beside him.

      “Are you kidding?” Teddy pulled her into the curve of his arm. He pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “It will be good practice for us.”

      FOR A SECOND, TEDDY THOUGHT he had made a mistake,