The Farm is noisy in the way it only is when my brothers are home, even for morning. Ford got in late last night but was still asleep earlier when Lincoln, Graham, and I left for the press conference.

There are bags and newspapers and empty water bottles everywhere. It's like the old days before we all grew up and went our separate ways. I usually love this feeling of having everyone I love in one place, except, this time, someone is missing.

Lincoln is in the living room watching the latest sports stories. Graham is up in my office getting an update on the polls today and the reaction from my speech.

I look at the stairs as Ford comes down. He's wearing a pair of grey sweats and no shirt. The fucker looks like Rambo with his chiseled abs and tanned skin.

"Hey," I say, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

He runs his hand across his buzz-cut. "There you are. Fucker didn't even wake me up this morning. I travel the world to show my support and you leave me in bed.”

"I figured a few hours of rest wouldn’t hurt you.”

He walks past me to the coffee pot. "Graham and Lincoln filled me in, both about the press conference and your new girl. But between the two of us, you better watch leaving Lincoln alone with her!" He says that loud enough for Lincoln to hear, and Lincoln responds to him by flying the bird over his shoulder.

Ford pours us both a cup of coffee and drinks his black. I pour some creamer in mine and relax against the cabinet. "Have you heard from her?" he asks.

"No,” I say, filling with dread. “I’ve been calling and texting her. It’s ringing through now, which is a plus, but she’s not answering.”

"She’ll come around,” he grins.

I shrug and take another drink. "It's nice having you here."

"I'm up for discharge in a couple of months," he says over the brim of his mug. "I'm thinking about taking it."

"Are you really?"

He nods. "I am. I always thought I'd stay in until I retired, but I miss home. I miss having a normal life."

"You and I both."

He nods knowingly.

"Yeah, well, I probably just fucked up everything. I guess I should really start defining a new normal.”

I feel the stress I'd managed to avoid for a while return. I stretch my neck, willing the kinks to go away.

“Have you heard from Dad?” Ford asks.

“He showed up with Linc. I haven’t seen him since I got here though. Fuck knows what he’s going to say.”

"Look, Barrett, I know how Dad can be. But if whatever you said today is what you believe, then by God say it. I've seen people in places you can't imagine that never get the opportunity to speak their minds or stand for anything. You can."

"I know," I sigh. "And you're right. Politically and career-wise, I've done what I think is best. I just hope it doesn't cause a rift in our family."

"It won't." He slaps me on the back. "And now's the time you're gonna find out."

"What do you mean?"

"Dad's here." He walks away from me and into the foyer. I hear him greet our father. After a few minutes, Lincoln joins them and their laughter floats into the kitchen where I'm still standing. Finally, they all make their way to me. My father stops in the doorway, his face now somber.

"Barrett? Can I speak to you a minute alone?"

I shove off the cabinet and follow him through the foyer and out the front door. My father doesn't say anything as we walk, just surveys the grounds like we're taking a Sunday stroll. The nonchalance finally gets to me.

"Dad?"

He stops in his tracks and looks at me.

I sigh, looking at the ground. I shove my hands in my pockets and feel my shoulders fall.

"Barrett, son, I'm sorry I failed you."

"What?" My head whips to him. He's watching me, lines creasing his face.

"I never realized you didn't want to do this, not the way I pushed you to do it. I trusted Nolan and the team because they'd been with us forever.” His eyes blur with unshed tears. “I left you to the wolves, son. I should've been more involved and helped you navigate this. This is my fault."

"Dad, no. It's not."

"It is. I won't lie —I was mad as hell at first. Then your mother sat me down, and we had a long talk and ..." He shakes his head, his eyes sorrowful. "And I take full responsibility for this. You are my son and you're the best son a man could want."

His voice breaks and I can't take it. I pull him into a hug and fight not to cry. I've never seen my father like this and I don't know what to do.

"Dad. Stop. It's fine."

He sniffles and pulls away, wiping his eye with a handkerchief. "It's fine because you're a lot smarter than me. I've always known you were a better version of me, Barrett. But, even then, I didn't understand what kind of a man you’ve become. I couldn't be more proud of you today. Whether you win or lose, you won in my eyes for standing up to everyone ... including your old man."

I can't say anything. I just stand there, feeling like a little boy that brought home a good report card. It's silly, yet it's the best feeling I've ever had.

"Barrett!" Graham shouts from the porch, Linc at his side with a shit-eating grin. They point down the driveway and I see a little red car, sounding like a bucket of screws, ambling towards us.

I take off running to the driveway and am at her door before she even gets it stopped. I pull it open and her into my arms. She melts into me, her arms around my waist.

A million things want to come out of my mouth, but none of them do. None of them can. I’m afraid to say the wrong thing, to get too serious too fast, or to apologize when I shouldn’t. If I can just hold her, make her feel what I want to say, that might work best.

Hux gets out of the passenger seat and grins.

“Thank you,” I mouth to him, reaching a hand out and motioning for him to come to me. Instead, he waves, and runs straight for Lincoln.

I can’t help but laugh and realize this is the way things should be. Whether I win or not, this is my world being right.

Ali pulls back and I try to fight her on it, not wanting to spoil the moment, but eventually, I let her. Her eyes are filled with tears, a nervous smile on her face.

“I love you,” I say, looking as deeply in her soul as I can. “I love you so much. I—”

“And I love you. I’m sorry for running.”

“I understand.”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “I should’ve had faith in you. I should’ve been stronger. I told you to believe in yourself and then I didn’t. No, I did,” she rambles, “I just—”

I kiss her lips, effectively silencing her with a simple gesture that’s more to tell her it doesn’t matter than anything else. “I should’ve listened to you. I should’ve believed in me and just done things the way I knew they should be done before today.”

“Before today?”

“Well, yesterday,” I grin. “I fired Nolan. I heard what he said to you and a bunch of other stuff I don’t want to get into. Let’s just say Nolan is at the police department this morning answering some questions.”

“What?” she gasps.

I run my thumbs down her delicate jaw line. “I made a speech today where I said I will support the Land Bill and that you were the love of my life and that I kind of like your kid too.”

“You did?” she whispers, her lip quivering.

“I did. Because I want everyone to know it from my mouth, not from some angled statement from Nolan or Rose or PR. From me.”

She hugs me again and I squeeze her tight.

“I’m never letting you go,” I tell her. “You know that right? If you can’t handle me being overbearing and protecting you and Huxley, doing what I have to do to sleep at night, then you better just get over it.”

“One thing at a time. You have an election today.”

“The vote that means the most is yours,” I say, leading her in the house.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve sealed the deal on mine, Mayor.”

My brothers and father are in the kitchen when we enter. They see us and stop talking, waiting for the verdict.

Grinning, I go to her and pull her against my side. "Guys, meet Alison Baker. Ali, you know Graham and Lincoln." They exchange a small wave. "That's Ford, and my father, Harris."

"Nice to meet you," Ford says with a nod of his head.

My father extends his hand and smiles. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alison."

"Likewise, Mr. Landry." She takes his hand and shakes it.

"Please. Call me Harris."

“Where’s Huxley?” I ask, looking around.

Lincoln laughs. “Where do you think? Getting my baseball stuff out of my car. Come on, Ford,” he says, “let’s go play some catch.”

“Sounds good.”

My youngest brothers head outside and my father and Graham head into the den, leaving Ali and I together.

“What happens now?” she asks, biting her lip.

“My sisters will be coming in today and ...”

“Not with that, Barrett. With us.”

“Well,” I grin, trying to compensate for my nervousness, “I had a talk with Huxley last night.”

“What?” she exclaims.

I shrug. “He called me. We talked.”

Gasping she says, “I had no idea!”

“Well, I told him he could call me anytime and he took me up on that. We talked about you and me and him and how we were going to deal with this whole thing.”

Her cheeks turn pink and I stroke them with my thumbs.

“And we decided,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her lips, “that Hux needs help with you, so I volunteered for the job.”

“He needs help with me?”

“Apparently you were crying in the shower ...”

She looks to the floor, but I won’t have it. I tip her head back so she’s looking into my eyes.

“There will be no tears, Ali, unless they’re from laughing so hard you cry. After tomorrow, we will sit down, you, me, and Huxley, and we’ll decide where we go from there. Because wherever I go, you both are coming with me. Okay?”

The look on her face is better than any response she could give me.