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The night breeze came sweeping in through the open window, filling the bedroom with much needed cool air. Outside, the birds could still be heard serenading the warm summer night, not showing any signs of getting tired anytime soon. You laid fully outstretched in bed, trying to cool off as best as you could in the humid room, still catching your breath after some very intense love making. Beside you lay Caleb Quinn with the biggest smirk plastered all over his face.
“That felt good?” he teased, carefully removing a sweaty strand of hair from your face.
“Good wouldn’t even begin to describe it”, you laughed, turning on your side so you could give him a kiss on the lips.
You pressed your sweaty, naked body against his and sighed happily.
“When did you learn to do that thing?” you asked, and Caleb instantly knew which thing you meant.
He gave you one of his adorable chuckles and kissed your forehead.
“Can’t a man learn a trick or two to please his wonderful wife?”
You smiled and met his lips in a warm kiss, stroking his hair lazily with your hand.
“Ofcourse, darlin’, ofcourse”, you purred, resting your head on his chest and closing your eyes.
Even though the summer night was as warm as ever, you didn’t want to be apart from him. You wanted to be snuggled up close to him, as close as humanly possible. You let out a content sigh as you felt Caleb’s long fingers starting to play with your hair gently.
“I was thinking…” he said softly, his warm voice causing his chest to vibrate against your ear. “Tomorrow is gonna be a fine day, how about we head into town? We’ve been eyeing that mare that Allison’s been selling for a while now, how about we buy her already, get Blackie some company?”
You hugged him close, giving him an agreeing hum.
“That sounds like a great idea”, you said, suppressing a yawn. “We’ll have to get up early, then!”
You felt Caleb nod, then his lips on your forehead as he bent his head down to kiss you gently.
“Better get some sleep, then, love bird”, he purred, and you kissed his chest before getting more settled in on it.
You listened to his heartbeat, so calming and slumberous, thanking your lucky star for being married to this man. He was your comfort, your home, your everything. With a content smile playing on your lips, you felt yourself drifting off to sleep as Caleb lazily stroked your head.
A sudden, loud bang caused you both to jolt awake. Before you had even managed to comprehend what was happening, Caleb was already out of bed, Redeemer in hand.
“Stay here!” he ordered, grabbing his undergarments from the floor.
You remained sitting upright in bed, your eyes frantically scanning the room for the source of the noise. To your relief, you found it almost instantly.
“Caleb!” you exclaimed, pointing towards the bedroom window. “Darlin’, it’s alright. It was just the window, it must’ve blown shut.”
You quickly got up from bed and walked towards Caleb, who had just managed to get his undergarments over his hurt leg.
“Caleb?”
You carefully lay a hand on his shoulder, and as he turned around to face you, you saw confusion plastered all over his face.
“Caleb, it’s alright. It’s alright”, you whispered, stroking his arm with your hand.
You saw Caleb’s gaze dart to the shut window, then back to you. Then, he seemed to realize what had happened. He blinked a few times, then he lowered his gaze slowly, letting out a heaving sigh. His shoulders fell and you quickly grabbed his Redeemer as it fell out of his hands. You placed the gun on the floor and carefully embraced Caleb in a tight hug, stroking his back with your hands.
“I thought it was a gunshot”, you heard him murmur, his voice faint. “I-I thought-”
“I know, darlin’”, you whispered, swaying him softly from side to side in your embrace. “I know. It’s alright, love.”
It had been 2 years since Caleb had left the Hellshire gang, but sometimes he still woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and fearing for his life. He still slept with his Redeemer under the bed, and you’d only recently convinced him to not sleep in his full outfit, because he didn’t need to be ready for any ambushes out here. After the warden at Hellshire Penitentiary had been arrested for money laundering, Caleb and his boys had been free men and taken their gang business up North, away from their old areas. Some of the gang members had moved on, started new lives, and soon enough Caleb had met you and the two of you had hit it off instantly. Now you owned a farm up in the mountains, a quiet place where no one knew you resided and Caleb could live as a free man at last. Or, at least as free as his memories and nightmares would allow him.
“I’m sorry”, you heard Caleb mumble as he hugged you tightly, letting out another sigh.
“Darlin’, don’t apologize”, you whispered, cupping his face in your hands and gently stroking his cheeks and scars with your thumbs. “Never apologize. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Y/N.”
Your lips met in a warm kiss that lasted for as long as you both needed. As you retracted, you gave Caleb a warm smirk.
“Want me to make some tea?”
Caleb nodded with a smile.
“Sure, I feel like I won’t be getting much sleep anymore either way.”
You slipped into your nightgown and then you both ventured downstairs to the kitchen, where you put a kettle with water on the stove. Caleb sat down at the dinner table as you tossed some logs into the stove and lit them on fire, closing the hatch to let the fire get started. Then you grabbed a can of beef jerky from the cupboard and placed it down on the table before Caleb, grabbing a piece yourself as you sat down opposite of your husband. Caleb gave you a pleased grin and grabbed a piece of jerky for himself, biting into the dried meat with canine teeth.
“I thought we were done with the midnight snacks?” he said in an amused tone, and you pouted your lips at him with your own piece of jerky sticking out from your mouth.
“To hell with that, I’m hungry!'' you giggled, and sat back in your chair. “As a matter of fact”, you pondered out loud, “I’ve been feelin’ like I’m craving more salty things lately…”
At this, Caleb instantly swallowed his own jerky, coughing a bit. He looked at you, a suspenseful look in his eyes.
“You don’t think…?” he said, and a smile crept on your lips.
“I sure would hope so, feels like we’ve been trying for some time now. But I do feel different, I’ll have to admit that”, you said, unable to stop the smile from turning bigger.
Caleb was quick to jump up from his chair, and the next second he grabbed your waist and lifted you up in the air. You shrieked and laughed, and Caleb’s smile was as big as ever.
“Darlin’, I would love nothing more than to start a family with you here!” he said, putting you down and embracing you in a warm hug.
“I couldn’t hope for anything else in this world”, you whispered, giving him a deep kiss.
The two of you had been trying for a baby for a while, and sometimes you were afraid that maybe you wouldn’t be able to get pregnant at all. But lately, you had felt different, and last morning you had felt oddly sick too. Yes, this time it was real, you knew it. Somehow, you just knew. The sound of the kettle boiling forced you to retract from your tight embrace, and when you made a move to remove it from the stove, Caleb guided you to sit back down at the table.
“Allow me, miss”, he smiled, turning to remove the kettle of boiling water from the stove, and reaching up to the cupboard to take out your mugs.
You sat down at the table with a smile, watching him prepare the tea for you. Soon the two of you sat back at the table, this time with mugs of hot tea in front of you, just being in the moment and taking in the stillness of the night.
“How are you feeling?” you asked while carefully sipping on your tea.
You studied Caleb over the mug, knowing that he knew you referred to the event that had caused you both to wake up in the first place. He seemed to think for a couple of seconds, then shook his head with a faint smile.
“Don’t you worry about me, darlin’”, he said, looking out the kitchen window.
You knew what that answer meant. Carefully laying your hand on top of his on the table, you gave him a questioning look.
“If you wanna talk about it…”
“Ain’t nothing to talk about”, Caleb muttered, taking a sip from his tea.
Your eyes met, and you saw that he was thinking about something. You remained silent, waiting for him to either continue or change the subject, and soon enough his gaze fell and he let out a small sigh.
“Is just… I don’t know what to do, Y/N. I don’t know how to get rid of those memories, the nightmares, the paranoia. I mean, what if…”
His voice went silent, and you gently squeezed his hand to show you were listening. With another sigh, he looked back up at you.
“What if we do bring a kid into all this? What if I- What if the damn nightmares don’t go away? What if I wake up in the middle of the night, scaring the poor kid senseless-”
“Caleb”, you said, grabbing both his hands over the table. “I wouldn’t want our child to have any other father than you, and that’s never going to change. Whatever troubles you, I know we will find a way through it, together.”
You knew his bad memories pained him greatly, and all you ever wanted was for him to get rid of them somehow. Forget, move on. But his time at the Penitentiary and the Hellshire gang had been a big part of his life, those things weren’t easily forgotten. Deep down, you knew he’d have to live with this for the rest of his days, and you were sure he knew too. All you could do was be by his side, and you wanted nothing more.
“When we first met, I knew I’d want to spend my whole life with you”, you said softly, still holding his hands in yours, circling your thumbs gently over his. “When I said ‘yes’ in church, I knew I meant it. I know you’re gonna be a great father.”
Caleb held your hands as well, squeezing them as if he was afraid you’d disappear on the spot. He looked up and met your gaze, releasing a shaky breath. Then his worried expression finally turned gentle again.
“I’m so glad you found me, Y/N”, he said, his lips curving into a warm smile. “I love you so much.”
You got up from your chair and walked over to Caleb, and he got up so you could embrace again, wrapping your arms around each other. You inhaled his scent and closed your eyes, swaying softly from side to side in his arms. You didn’t know how long you stood there, but when you looked back up from Caleb’s shoulder, the sun had started peeking out from behind the treetops outside.
“What do you say we go sleep in a little?” Caleb mumbled, stroking your hair gently with his hand. “We don’t have to get into town before noon.”
“I like the sound of that”, you smiled, suppressing a new yawn.
Hand in hand, you walked upstairs to the bedroom again, to get some well deserved sleep.