“I want him to have your name as his middle name.”
Mitch marveled at the perfect way in which Lacy loved him. He let his tears fall again as he looked at the list and tried out the names with his name in the middle.
Knox Mitchell Glover.
Shepherd Mitchell Glover.
Then he erased one and showed it to Lacy. She smiled and nodded, and Mitch tucked his phone into his back pocket and said,I’m going to take him out to meet my Momma and Daddy, but I’ll bring him right back.
Lacy hugged him close and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Her mouth moved as she said something to the baby, and then she passed him back to Mitch. He found his way out to the waiting room, where his momma stood only ten feet from the door, watching it.
“Cactus,” she said the moment she saw Mitch, and she started to cry too.
Mitch loved his momma so much, as she had sacrificed and sacrificed for the people around her. Daddy stood up too, both of their eyes wide, somewhat anxious, and yet also crinkled with happiness. Mitch passed the baby to his momma and then signed to Daddy,We named him Shepherd Mitchell Glover.
Daddy wiped his eyes and relayed the message to Momma, who leaned down and whispered something to the baby, and Daddy put his hand on Mitch’s arm, and when their eyes met, he nodded.
Behind him, Mitch turned and found Dr. Marsdon walking toward him with the delivery nurse. She had learned a few words of sign language, but not many—enough to saygood newswith her hands. And of course, her entire persona radiated it as well.
Still, his heartbeat thrashed against his ribs, though good news shouldn’t make him nervous. Dr. Marsdon smiled at the nurse next to her and then, with slow, stilted signs that were almost correct, she said, “Baby Shepherd is not deaf.”
A sob branched its way out of Mitch’s throat. Had he just been spared his worst fear? He would have loved his son no matter what, and Mitch did not think he was any less than a hearing person, but it could not be denied that life was easier for those who could hear, and Mitch didnotwant his son to have to struggle the way he had.
He turned toward his daddy, who received him into his arms and held him tightly while Mitch’s gratitude overflowed and his emotions continued to pour out of him.
29
Ty couldn’t help grinning at the picture Mitch had just sent. “He’s the cutest thing on the planet,” he said out loud, though Jacob couldn’t hear him. They’d both been on the text, along with Mitch’s thankfulness that they’d taken care of his hearing dogs for the past four days since Shepherd had been born.
Ty hadn’t met him in person yet, but Shepherd, Mitch, and Lacy had just been discharged from the hospital, and they would be back at the house soon. He and Jacob had been there for the past couple of hours, working with the dogs, then cleaning up the house, and making sure lunch would be ready when the now-expanded family arrived.
Then, later that afternoon, Ty had another showing, at yet another farm. This one sat out near Henry and Angel’s place, but Ty almost didn’t want to go. He’d looked at seven properties now, and none of them seemed like they’d ever been inhabited.
Or, if they had been, it had been a while. Or they were too big for him to manage on his own. Or they were completely inaccessible for a single man with a limp and limited use of his left arm.
Which isn’t really true anyway,Ty told himself sternly. Hecould use his left shoulder, arm, and hand almost normally. He simply felt weaker on that side, and he sometimes didn’t trust himself if he had to carry anything too heavy, bulky, or cumbersome.
He’d learned that very few farms in the Three Rivers area were accessible. They all had big, wide front porches that required eight to ten steps to reach. Most were two levels—hardly any single-family ramblers or farm-style houses—and the outdoor property? Nowhere near accessible. Barns had lips he had to step over, uneven terrain, and disheveled walkways.
After Ty’s last showing a couple of days ago, Jerry had actually suggested he buy a piece of land and build what he wanted. Ty wasn’t entirely opposed to that, except for the fact that it would take longer. A lot longer.
Another picture came in—this time of Mitch and Lacy and Shepherd together—and both Mitch and Lacy looked happier than Ty had ever seen them. He loved his friends, and he remembered what Mitch had told him: he’d looked forSigns for Successfor a long time, bought something he could work with, and then turned it into what it needed to be.
With his smile still on his face from the picture, Ty closed his eyes and prayed that God would lead him where he needed to be too. He could fix walkways and level land—or pay someone to do it. While he and Winnie sure had gotten serious fast, Ty could admit he’d started to think more long-term about his life with her. She had not verbalized any objection to him buying his own farm. In fact, she’d encouraged him and gone with him on some of the showings when she was able.
Women saw things differently than men, Ty knew that, and he didn’t worry so much about the pantry or the closet or storage or laundry facilities the way Winnie did. He wanted to be able to plant a garden and live comfortably with his horse and maybe a few more dogs. And yes, maybe a miniature donkey or two.
“A pygmy goat,” he whispered, because that was what Winniehad teased him with when he’d told her he might have a few other pets in mind.
He immersed himself in the listings, though he had them all memorized at this point. He’d been looking for a few weeks now, and his favorite pastime was to see if something new had come up, though Jerry had told him he would alert Ty the moment he saw anything that suited him.
He looked at the two-story white house in the listing where he would meet Jerry later that day, until the lights flashed in the kitchen and both William and Maven alerted Jacob.
“They’re here,” Jacob said, and Ty got to his feet and followed his friend into the living room, where, sure enough, Mitch carefully led Lacy through the front door while she carried their baby in her arms.
They all radiated pure joy—even the infant—and Jacob laughed as he engulfed his sister and brother-in-law in a hug. Then he took Shepherd from Lacy like he ran a day care instead of mowing lawns, weeding flower beds, and working with hearing dogs. Sunshine and Champ sniffed their hearing-dog buddies while Ty stayed out of the way, somehow feeling perfectly at home and definitely out of place at the same time.
When Mitch and Lacy looked his way, he said,Congratulations, you guys. He’s perfect,in flawless sign language.
