Epilogue
Ronnie
“And how is the prettiest girl in the world doing?” Flint asks as he comes into the office. He’s here a little earlier than usual today which means his chores went smoothly, and all of the horses are healthy and happy.
“Tell your daddy you’re doing good,” I say to Ronnie Junior as I give her a little bounce in the sling attached to my chest. She’s six months old, and I struggled to find a good name for her until Flint suggested that we should name her Ronnie.
So now I have a Junior, and it makes me happy to know my father’s tradition is continuing on.
“Actually, I was talking about your mom, but you’re a cutie too,” Flint says when she kicks and reaches for him. He takes her in his arms and coos down at her. She reveals a gummy smile. She’s already got the little nubs where teeth will soon be. I’m not ready for my baby to have teeth yet.
“I’m good,” I answer, rolling my neck now that Ronnie isn’t in my arms anymore.
She’s with me or Flint most days, although once a week she gets a special grandma day.
Pretty sure grandma just likes to take her around town and show off her great grandkid to the other women who seethe with jealousy that their good-looking cowboy sons and grandsons have not yet found love.
“I got the contract signed that Bronco was hoping for,” I tell him as we start the walk from the office to the cabin.
It’s the place where we’re raising Branson, Brock, and little Ronnie.
Right around the time construction was finished on the cabin I should have had as part of room and board, Grandma announced she wanted to move out.
She insisted that we needed more space for a nursery.
Really, I just think she didn’t want to share a cabin with a newborn baby, crying day and night.
I can't say it's been easy. Flint is amazing at helping me with everything, including Ronnie. She is a colic baby, so she cries a lot. Still, I wouldn't trade her for all the world.
Flint is always getting up with her or the boys in the middle of the night.
He's an amazing dad. He hasn't stopped doting on the twins, even with her present, and I love that.
If anything, his love for them grows deeper every day.
He keeps teaching them, loving them, and caring for them in his patient, gentle way.
“You’re off early today,” I tell Flint as I take his hand.
“Well, that’s because the school called me to come down and talk with the twins.”
I cringe. “Were they in trouble for saying yippee-ki-yea again? I’ll talk to grandma about what she watches, though I don’t think it’s going to do any good. Maybe we should install one of those devices that bleeps the swear words automatically.”
“They weren’t cussing. They were refusing to play with the girls, and it was causing a big disruption on the playground,” he says.
“Aren't they a little young for the whole cooties thing? I thought that normally happens at like nine or ten.”
Flint clears his throat. “Apparently, they learned about where babies come from.”
“Is that right?” My voice squeaks as I remember last night’s question and answer session.
He chuckles. “You told my sons that babies happen when a man puts his hammer in a girl's toolbox.”
“You weren't there!” I protest. “They were asking me all of these questions while I was fixing the loose railing on the patio. I was trying to put it in language they would understand!”
He snorts. “Well, you got one message through because they'll only talk to girls with their hats on.”
I frown. It takes me a minute to remember how that relates to our conversation. “Well, I want them to be safe when it is time for the hammers and the toolboxes, so I was trying to talk about the importance of protection and—“
He squeezes my hand gently. “I know what you were trying to do, but let's leave the reproductive talks to me in the future.”
I chuckle. “You're probably gonna be better at it.”
“Can't do too much worse than you,” he says and chuckles. “I took them out of school for the day, and we had ice cream down by the stables. Talked a lot about babies and how they happen. Just the basics.”
“So, they understand now?”
“In the sense that they know that you’re a mare, and I’m a stallion.”
I smack his shoulder lightly. “You didn’t do any better than I did!”
He laughs. “Probably not. We’ll do better with Ronnie, and if we mess her up, we’ll just have more of them. Eventually, we’ll get it right, and those kids will be the ones that will take care of us in our old age. Problem solved.”
“I don’t think that’s good parenting,” I argue as we walk into the cabin.
Flint goes to change Ronnie Junior’s diaper while I turn on the stove. We rotate chores regularly. There’s no strict schedule. We just pass things off to each other. When one of us gets overwhelmed, the other one steps in. Maybe it’s not a perfect system but it works for us.
By the time dinner is on the table, Flint has changed the baby, walked next door to grab the boys from grandma’s cabin, and set the table.
Grandma is sitting at the end of it. When he came over to get the kids, she walked back with them.
She’s always welcome at our table, and she eats dinner here most nights anyway.
Except when she’s with her friends at Wildflower Retirement Community.
I hear they’ve got some pretty intense poker games running though Alice won’t tell me a word about them.
We settle at the table, the baby between us in her highchair.
She’s not much for eating right now but I keep giving her plastic dishes and making sure she’s with us.
I want family dinners to be a staple that all the kids remember for years to come.
Duchess nudges my legs under the table, and I shift so she has room.
She likes to hang out with us, but only on her terms.
Brock and Branson start telling Flint animatedly about their day after the ice cream and how Ridge taught them about doing emergency surgery on farm animals. I look over at grandma who makes a face and puts down her fork. I laugh and do the same as we share a secret smile.
Underneath the table, Flint reaches for me.
He puts a hand on my knee and squeezes three times.
I mouth that I love him as contentment settles over me.
When I took that vacation last year, I had no idea that the cowboy with violet eyes was going to completely steal my heart and change my life in the best way.