Without Law 18 by Eric Vall (most difficult books to read .txt) 📗

essence of the people in it, and they were immediately recognizable.

“That’s beautiful,” Paige said, and she reached out to grab the sketchbook and bring it closer to her.

“It’s not done.” Bailey bit her lip.

“It looks really realistic, though,” Anna said, and she sounded rather impressed. “I couldn’t draw that to save my life.”

“It really is a wonderful sketch,” I told Bailey.

“Thanks,” the blonde hippie replied, and her face went slightly red as she looked down.

“Here,” Paige said, and she passed the book back to Bailey. “We’d all love to see it when you’re done, though.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Okay.” Bailey nodded, and her smile widened just a bit.

“And on that note,” Tara said, and she stood up. “I’m starving.”

“Eating for two, now?” Anna teased.

“Uh, duh,” the platinum-blonde laughed.

“You know that’s a myth,” Paige said matter of factly. “When you’re pregnant you only need about five hundred extra calories a day. It’s about equal to one bagel without cream cheese.”

“You shut your whore mouth,” Tara said playfully. “I’m gonna eat for the two of us and like it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Paige laughed, and she put her hands up in mock surrender.

“You never know, there could be three of you,” Anna teased.

“Or more,” Paige added. “We can’t exactly do an ultrasound.”

“What, you all think I’m having quadruplets or something?” Tara asked, and she put her hand on her hip and cocked an eyebrow at the girls.

“You could be.” Paige shrugged. “Tav, do twins run in your family?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” I laughed.

“Wait, is that a factor?” Tara asked, and her eyes were suddenly wide, and her face was dead serious.

“Yeah,” Anna said, and her eyebrows furrowed together. “You didn’t know that?”

“Does it look like I knew that?” Tara asked, and she pointed to her concerned face.

“I guess not,” Anna laughed.

“Wait, do multiples run in your family?” Paige asked.

“My dad’s sisters were twins,” Tara said. “Does that count?”

“Yeah,” Bailey answered with a nod. “But twins can often skip a generation. My younger siblings were twins, so they run in my family, too. Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s just one in there.”

“There better be,” Tara muttered, and she turned and headed to the trailer to grab some things for dinner.

“Are you all enjoying freaking her out?” I asked with a small smile.

“A little,” Anna said, and she held up her thumb and forefinger close together.

“Tav’s right,” Bailey said softly. “This is totally new for her, we should be nice.”

“You’re always nice, Bailey,” I laughed.

“Well, I didn’t want to just blame them,” Bailey chuckled.

“Alright,” Anna sighed. “You said this earlier, too. I’m trying, but it’s hard. She’s just such an easy target right now.”

“Have your fun,” I told her. “Just know your limit.”

“Scouts honor,” Anna said, and she put one hand over her heart and held up the other as if she were swearing at a court stand.

A few minutes later, Tara returned with her small box filled with things for dinner. She filled a large pot with water and then set it on the stove to heat up while she pulled out the rest of her supplies. There were some fresh potatoes, cabbage, smoked venison sausage, and a few other things. Whatever she was making, I was excited.

I glanced around the small parking lot and found everyone else to be cooking as well. My eyes landed on Minji as she came out of the factory. The beautiful Korean woman looked at me and smiled, then she bit her lip and headed over to us.

“I hope you all don’t mind,” I said. “But I invited Minji to eat with us. I figured it was the least we could do after she thought to give Tara those candies.”

“Good idea,” the platinum-blonde told me with a smile. “Now I can thank her in person.”

“Yeah,” Paige agreed. “I love Minji.”

“Hi, everyone,” Minji greeted us as she made it over to the fire. “Is it still okay if I join you for dinner?”

“I always make enough for an army,” Tara laughed and gestured to all our civilians sitting nearby chatting. “Literally.”

“Right,” Minji chuckled.

“Tav gave me the candies you sent for me,” the platinum-blonde said. “That was really nice of you, thanks.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “I think what you’re doing is really brave.”

“Why, thank you,” Tara said, and she turned slightly to glare at Anna. “Hear that? I’m brave.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how brave you are when labor hits and there’s no epidural,” Anna retorted.

I shook my head, but I couldn’t say anything. Tara brought it on herself. She joked too much, and it was her own undoing. Besides, I knew all the girls cared about each other, and they’d never say anything to actually hurt the others’ feelings. My only goal with talking to Anna was to remind her that Tara was especially sensitive at the moment.

I didn’t have a lot of experience with pregnant women, but I knew one woman in the army who had gotten pregnant. She had a desk job even before that, but I saw her often when I was training on base. She worked throughout the pregnancy, but there was one day where she broke down in tears because the copy machine wouldn’t work for her.

I told her it was fine, but she still cried anyways. I felt terrible, but I knew there was nothing I could do. She assured me that it was just the pregnancy hormones, and even said she cried while watching cartoons with her other child that morning.

So, even my limited experience with pregnant women was that they were sensitive as all hell. Tara was already a little bit sensitive, but now that she was pregnant, I couldn’t imagine how much worse it would become. I didn’t want one of the girls