she said.
“What, like baby names?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “There’s one that I kind of really like. It just came to me now while I was lying here, waiting for you to get back.”
“What is it?” I asked eagerly.
“What if you don’t like it?” she said.
“Then I promise I will tell you,” I answered. “Unless you really have your heart set on it, and then I might lie.”
She smacked me playfully across the chest, realizing that I was just teasing her.
“Seriously, tell me,” I urged. “It’s not going to be one of those super trendy names that no human really ever names their kid, though, is it?”
She laughed.
“Do I strike you at all as being the kind of person to go the route of super trendy?” she asked. “I think the trendiest things that I ever named were the horses.”
“I still want to take those horses out for a ride,” I reminded her off-topic. “I think Ebony and Sprite deserve to spend a little extra time together to make up for being in separate stables for so long.
“I agree,” she smiled.
“Okay now, out with it. What’s the name that you like?”
She paused for a short moment.
“Kordell.”
I loved the name so much that I set down the water glass and reached down to grab her and scoop her up in my arms for a giant bear hug.
“Do you like it?” she asked as she laughed and hugged me back.
“Like it? I love it. I think that it’s the perfect name.”
After we both took a sip of water, I climbed into bed beside her and pulled her up onto my chest again. Then Clara, our little unborn Kordell, and I all fell asleep.”
25
Epilogue
Clara
I couldn’t believe that a year had gone by already. Where had that time gone? I also couldn’t believe how much we had accomplished in the course of just twelve months.
Here I was, standing at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for our first-ever summer festival, holding little baby Kordell in my arms while the community ogled the beautiful new addition.
The farmhouse had been completely redone, and instead of it falling apart like it was, it was now a beautiful rustic home with all of the modern design amenities that made it still feel like a farmhouse, but with cutting edge technology. Scott, DeShawn, and I—and of course, little Kordell—all lived in it together since it was big enough to hold all of us with space to spare. When Scott and DeShawn were traveling together for work, I had everything that I needed here at home at my fingertips. Plus, DeShawn was never gone long, and he checked in with me several times a day. He said that he just wanted to make sure that Kordell and I were doing okay, but I knew it was really just because he missed us every time he had to travel for work. Fortunately, he had made Scott his CTO—Chief Technical Officer—which meant that he gave Scott a lot of responsibilities to handle. That allowed for DeShawn’s time to be freed up to spend with Kordell and me.
Scott was a natural at the company’s work. He immediately took off with the job position, and he became a huge asset to the company. He was made to do stuff like this instead of being strapped to the farm. Scott was so smart and innovative, and finally, his talent and his ambition were put to good use. He had also become okay with mine and Deshawn’s relationship, and the three of us were able to live in the house together and have a wonderful time as a family. Plus, Scott adored being the “fun uncle” to Kordell. Every time he came back from a business trip, he would spend some quality time with Kordell out in the fields, showing him the animals and making funny noises while he flew him around and pretended to be an airplane. That gave DeShawn and I some alone time, which was also nice. We had many nights of sitting around the table with a beer or two after the baby had been put to bed, not only talking about all of the fond old memories that the three of us had as friends growing up together but now also about all the new ambitions that we had and wanted to share for the future that we were building together as friends and family. Everyone was happy.
And also, DeShawn had been spot-on about his predictions regarding the farm. Everyone was paying out the wazoo for