her as he laid down.
Taylor yawned several times as she read the forty-eight pages. When she was done she sat there in a daze, staring at Mike sleeping soundly. She felt too tired to want to go home, so she took off her boots and pants, and crawled under the covers to cuddle up with him.
Chapter 5
Reluctant Leader
It was the last day of September. Fall was setting in, and it was starting to get pretty cold at night up on the mountain. Mike had been thinking about it for a few weeks, knowing this time of year was coming. His rammed earth house, with it's three foot thick walls, stayed pretty much the same temperature every day all day. The sun moving to the south warmed up the inside through the windows during the day, and the thermal mass of the home kept it comfortable at night without needing a fire until the most bitterly cold months.
The ladies house was well built by standard construction practices, but they were still complaining in the mornings about how cold it was getting inside. After tending to morning chores with Taylor and Brad, Mike went down with them to their house. "Good morning," he said as he walked in.
"Good morning," they returned.
"I've been thinking about something," he told the four of them. "You're all up at my home more than here most of the time, and you all spend the night on occasion anyways. I think I'd like the four of you to move in with me for the winter."
Stacy and Taylor squealed with excitement. Even Brad got excited by the idea, yelling "Yay! Can I have the loft for my bedroom?"
"Sure, boy," Mike told him. There were two lofts with an open area between them, but he knew Brad wanted the one to the east, above his room, with a view down the canyon.
"Mike, are you sure about this?" Jessica cut in, dampening everyone's mood. "I know you're used to us being around all the time. But are you sure you're ready to have us all there every night?" Jessica was nervous, but not about the idea of moving in.
"We'll be fine, Jess," he assured her. "Besides the daily living practical reasons, I do have another reason too. We know the government has gotten wind of our food program and been trying to stop it. Granted they could still find us up here, but not heating this house would slightly reduce our heat signature, for the thermal imaging they probably have in their drones. And I'd just really like to have y'all living up there with me."
Mike was making excuses for himself mostly. He wasn't all that concerned about drones. And his last comment again set Stacy's and Taylor's emotions into overdrive. Stacy was completely in love with Mike and knew he was the closest thing to a husband she'd ever have way up in the mountains. Jessica felt the same way, but still didn't throw herself at him the way Stacy did.
"Okay, so is that a yes?" he asked.
They all turned to look at Jessica. She gave her normal slight grin as she walked up to hug him. "I love you," was her answer.
"Alright. I know you don't need to bring too much. Your dressers and clothes should be it, right?"
"I think so," replied Jessica. "There's a lot we can leave down here and just come back as we need." She paused for a moment as the others got to work. "Can we talk for a minute?" she said quietly, motioning Mike outside.
"Is everything okay, Jess?"
"Um, well -" She was obviously nervous. "Um, I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant."
Mike didn't know what to do or say, but the eruption of cheers from Stacy and Taylor inside didn't leave him any chance to respond to her either. Mike and Jessica couldn't resist laughing at them as they excitedly rushed outside to celebrate. Brad, completely clueless as to what all the commotion was about, came outside as well. As usual, he said nothing, just walking up with a puzzled look on his face. Mike grabbed him into his side to hug him.
"Looks like someone's going to be a big brother!" Taylor shouted.
"Oh, this is so awesome!" Stacy
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