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Nate grinned, stood up and offered her his hand. “One of the goats, and she’s having triplets. Want to come watch more life begin on the farm? You can name the kids.”

She took his hand and smiled so bright the entire barn lit up. “Absolutely I do.”

Chapter Ten

“Kiwi, Mango and Papaya,” Mieka said proudly, grinning at Nate and bouncing a little on her toes.

“Which one is the male?” he asked, clearly holding back his laughter.

“Mango, obviously.”

He snorted. “Obviously.”

“They’re so cute. When can I snuggle them?” Her speech was getting faster the more excited she got. It was something she knew she did, but didn’t have a lot of control over stopping. When her thoughts went crazy and she got excited about something, her brain and mouth worked as fast as they could to get all her ideas out into the world. She rambled and spoke like an auctioneer.

“Five days or so. We need them to bond with their mother first.”

“What kind of goats are they?”

“We mostly have Nigerian Dwarves. They’re a really gentle breed and tend to have a lot of multiple births.”

She nodded. Her heart was so full.

When Nate invited her to come to the goat kidding, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Was it going to be like the horse birth? Or did they just stand back and make sure there were no complications?

Nope, it was totally different. They got right in there. Because there were three kids, they had to break the sacs, then make sure the kids were breathing. Nate tied the umbilical cords off with dental floss then covered them with iodine.

“So, do you normally assist in the goat births, as well?” she asked, after they’d washed their hands thoroughly, gave Barbara some warm electrolyte rich water, and made sure all the kids were nursing.

Nate shook his head. “Not all of them. I try to be involved in most, but the ranch hands are all capable and know what to do, so does Asher. But I thought you’d enjoy watching more new life come into the world.”

Smiling, she leaned over and bumped his shoulder. “You weren’t wrong.”

He stopped at another goat stall and opened the door before she could see why, but when she did see what was inside, she squealed. “Oh my God!”

“These two are about seven days old,” he said, quickly closing the gate before the bleating little monkeys could escape. “They’re also nameless.”

“This is my jam! This is where I bring my skills,” she said doing a little fist pump that had him laughing.

“You can sit down and they’ll just climb all over you.”

She did as he suggested and sure enough, two little weird-eyed kids started treating her like a mountainside. They tried nibbling her hair, her clothes and the laces on her slip-on shoes.

“What’s their mother’s name?” she asked.

“Eleven.” Nate rolled his eyes.

“Why?”

“No fucking clue.”

Snorting, she scratched the top of the little black goat’s head. “This one is going to be Onyx.”

“Onyx is a boy.”

“It fits.” The white one with black ink blots on its back put its front hooves on her thigh. “And this one will be Ruby.”

“Ruby is a girl.”