A line formed, coming up to us, and there were more hugs. So many hugs. I was hugged out by the end of the night. When we shared what happened with Nova later that night, she nodded, a very serious look coming over her. Then she stood, hugged both of us one by one, and asked, perched on our laps. “Milly told me that she’d like us to rescue her.”

It took a second before the dots connected.

Milly was the cow, and Milly seemed happy, but Mason and Sam rescued their dog, so Nova thought every animal needed rescuing.

Nate said, “We’re going to have to move to a farm.”

Nova’s eyes got big. “REALLY?!”

I gave him a look. “Now she thinks us getting married means we’re moving to a farm.”

He grinned at me. “Maybe we could get married on a farm?”

I laughed because maybe we could.

Six months later, we got married on a farm.

Nova put in a request to “rescue” some ducks, too.

One year later, Valerie Stephanie Monson was born.

A year after that, Lilac Aspen Monson was born.