Page 155 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“Remember when you were at training camp for three weeks? Vincent and Holly decided to celebrate their love.”
“You let our goats have babies without telling me?”
“I wanted to surprise you after you won gold. I had faith.”
“What are their names?”
“That's your department. I've been calling them Thing One, Thing Two, and Chaos.”
I was already in the pen, picking up the smallest one who immediately tried to eat my gold medal. “This one's Stevie. Stevie Kicks.”
“Oh no,” Gryff groaned. “Not more pun names.”
“That one's Goatzart.,” I said, pointing to the one jumping the highest. “And that one's definitely Bleathoven.”
“Stevie Kicks?”
“Look at her. She's already the star.”
The party was in full swing around us. I could see Jules holding court with a group of her UCLA friends, dramatically recounting the match. She'd dragged Bridger into her circle and was clearly trying to set him up with one of her professors who'd come to watch.
“Dad, she's age-appropriate and likes football,” Jules was saying. “What more do you want?”
“Jules, I don't need?—“
“You're getting back out there. Mom would want you to be happy.”
It was sweet, even if Bridger looked mildly terrified.
Flynn appeared with Tempest and drinks. “To the Olympic champion.”
“To the goat babies,” I countered.
“To both,” Tempest laughed. “Though I can't believe Vincent and Holly beat us to parenthood.”
“It's not a competition,” Flynn said.
“Everything's a competition with Kingmans,” I pointed out.
“Fair.”
As the sun set over the Pacific, I stood in our backyard surrounded by chaos. Baby goats were running amok. Hayes was teaching Bo to throw a football. Someone started a volleyball game that was definitely going to end in tears or property damage. The neighbors were probably going to complain about the noise again.
“Happy?” Gryff asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“Perfect,” I corrected, leaning back into him. “This is perfect.”
“Even with three more goats?”
“Especially with three more goats.”
“We're not keeping all of them.”
“We're absolutely keeping all of them.”
He kissed my temple. “I know.”
“I love you,” I said, turning in his arms. “Thank you for this. For all of it. For choosing me.”
