My stomach drops like a boulder, and I glance over at him.
He’s lying on the couch, attempting to nap while Natalie’s sprawled on top of his stomach, peeling open his eyelids.
I watch them—Stone wanting rest, Natalie doing her gremlin best to keep him awake, Hercules curled up on the floor—and something inside me aches with want. I want this. Them. Not just for a day. Not just as a performance. But for real.
“Natalie, you mentioned wanting to see Stella the unicorn, right?”
“Right,” she says, blowing on Stone’s face. “Wake up, sleepyhead. You still owe me three piggyback rides and a dance battle.”
I press my lips together to keep from laughing. “How about we head over to Wadley Farms and you’ll get your wish, plus piggycorns?”
Natalie jumps off, hitting Stone in the stomach with her elbow.
He bolts up. “I’m awake! Ouch! Why’d you elbow me?”
“Sorry.” She grabs him by the cheeks and kisses his forehead. “Get up, napper! We’re going to play with piggycorns.”
Stone yawns. “Will they keep you?”
She nibbles the inside of her lip, thinking. “I would love it if they kept me!”
He rises. “Then let’s go.”
“No fair!”
He picks up his sister and slings her over his shoulder. “Of course theycan’tkeep you. Come on, Hercules, let’s go play with your nameless cousin.”
We reach Wadley Farms right at dusk. The horizon sings as streaks of raspberry and blue ice race across the sky. Piggycorns graze in the yard, and the unicorn stands in the field, watching us with silky black eyes.
Cristina meets us at the door. “Well, hey, Natalie!”
“Cristina!” Natalie throws her arms around my friend. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too. From what I hear, you came to visit Stella.”
“It’s been ages since I last saw her. I want to ride bareback!”
Cristina pumps her brows at me. “Really?”
Stone steps up. “Whatever’s safe.”
“I’ve ridden her bareback before,” Natalie informs us. “We’re like this.” She twists her middle finger over her forefinger, suggesting they are BFs forever. “May I see her?”
Cristina takes her hand. “Come on. Let’s find out if Stella’s up for riding.”
As they walk away, heading toward the field, Stone glances at me. “I’ve never met a unicorn. At least, I don’t think so.”
“You probably have,” I tell him, feeling a twinge of guilt. All day, I’ve watched him with Natalie and pretended to be part of their family. I’ve never wanted anything more, and I’ve never deserved anything less. I push away the sorrow and force a smile. “Would you like to be reintroduced to her?”
He winks. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Natalie does ride the unicorn bareback, which according to her, is very painful. “Ouch! I should have brought crotch padding!” she shouts.
While she does that, Stone and I walk around the farm, petting piggycorns and watching as Hercules meets the lambicorn that lives there.
The other lambicorn is really more of a sheepicorn. It’s full grown, but that doesn’t stop Hercules from trying to play with it as if they’re the same age.
The little lambi bends at the knees and jumps to the right, doing his best to entice the larger animal to give chase.
