Inola has a baby girl. They name her after Inola's sister, who was lost early in The Great Sickness, Yona, which means "bear."
"Glad 's a girl," Daryl tells Carol after the news spreads and they're tucked into their cabin for the night.
"Why do you care?" Carol asks.
"One less boy to chase Sweetheart in fifteen years."
Carol smiles. "How do you know the girls won't be chasing her, too?"
Daryl glowers. Then he shrugs.
The Council election results come in the next morning. The people of Jamestown like consistency. Not much changes. Garland, Carol, Dr. Ahmad, Gunther, Carolyn, Deputy Thomas, and Commander Witherspoon are all re-elected. The spots that were vacated by Inola and Barry stepping down are the only changes. They're filled by Madam Linda and Captain McBride. Raul is disappointed by his loss, but he plans to run against next year. Deputy Andrew, after two losses, however, grumbles that he's done putting himself before the voters. Besides, Trisha's "as pregnant as a house" in his words, and she won't be able to wait tables soon, though she's still waddling her way around the tavern a few shifts a week. The men courteously go on the back porch to smoke when she's waitressing.
Dr. Ahmad and Carolyn both throw their hats into the ring against Garland for the mayor's position, though Carol lays low this time around. She doesn't want to appear too presumptuous by running now. Garland, predictably, wins in a landslide.
"Well, I guess I can wave goodbye to you for another year, baby," Shannon mutters over a dinner they all share in the Barron family cabin. The kids have already been fed and play together on the floor, with Gary trying to direct the show and VanDaryl and Sweetheart having none of his commands.
"It's my duty, darling," Garland replies.
"Oh, admit it, baby. Part of you likes the attention. All those women looking up to you. Mayor Barron."
"Not all of them," he grumbles.
"I admire you," Shannon assures him. "That's why I want more time with you."
"Well," Garland says, "I won't be as busy this time around, what with Carol as my lieutenant mayor."
Daryl stops chewing. "What?" Carol asks.
"I get to appoint my own lieutenant mayor," Garland replies. "I'm appointing you. If you're willing."
"I…yes! I'm definitely willing." This will be an excellent opportunity to learn the ropes. "I just assumed you'd appoint Dr. Ahmad."
Garland smiles slightly. "He's a decent and intelligent man, but he's not going to be the next mayor of Jamestown."
Daryl catches Carol's eyes over the table, and he smiles a little proudly. She smiles back.
"No!" Van Daryl shouts suddenly. "My car!"
Where she stands in the living room, half leaned against the couch, Sweetheart looks at the mathchbox car in her hand, looks at VanDaryl, and then reluctantly hands it back to him. Her little bottom lip quivers, and she makes the slightest sound as if she's about to cry.
VanDaryl thrusts out the car to her. The tremoring lip ceases its movement, and Sweetheart takes it back with a smile.
"It's mine, actuwahlee," Gary tells the younger children. "But you two can share. Share. Share nice. Or I'll smack you."
"You won't be smacking anyone," Garland warns him. "You don't have the authority to be smacking anyone, and that's no way to resolve disputes."
"I'll raise my voice," Gary threatens instead.
Sweetheart abandons the matchbox car on the couch, walks over to the stern-looking preschooler, and throws her arms around him, as best she can, given his superior height, in a conciliatory hug. Gary pries her arms off of himself, shakes his head, and goes to get his pop gun, which he sits on the floor and cleans with a cloth and a little wooden ramming rod as if it were as a real rifle.
"When did he start talking?" Carol asks. "It's the first time we've heard VanDaryl say a word. And he uses three? A sentence? With a pronoun? At only fourteen months old?"
"He started talking yesterday," Shannon replies. "All at once, as if he'd been saving it up." She puts a hand over Garland's on the table and squeezes. "Garland was so relieved."
"So were you."
"I wasn't worried," Shannon insists, and Garland chuckles. "Not too worried," Shannon concedes.
"He doesn't talk often," Garland says. "And he talks a little loudly, because he can't hear himself in that one ear. We'll have to train him out of that. But for now…we're just happy for the words."
[*]
Carol shadows Garland for the next week. There's more to learn than she realized, and his job is more detailed than she expected. "You are running again for mayor next year, aren't you?" she asks him them as they pour over some papers at his desk.
"Why? You don't want to seize the reins next year?"
"Not quiet yet. I could probably use two years of training. And you're already hearing a lot of grumbling about having chosen me for lieutenant mayor, I suppose. Because gives me an advantage over the other candidates when you can't run anymore."
Garland shakes his head. "There's been very little grumbling. You have more than a few admirers. You aren't an outsider anymore. Not by a long shot."
"Jamestown has felt like home for a long time now," Carol says. "I just hope I can serve it well."
[*]
The Alliance, optimistic that the engineering team will be able to create a new battery from scratch materials and lithium mining within a year, agrees to send the mailboat twice monthly. At the end of July, it returns, this time with Cyndie, Eugene, Rosita, Dianne, and Henry among its crew. Carol is thrilled for the visit by her son, though he hangs out at the tavern all afternoon, plying Linda for more advice.
"I don't know why I bothered to switch shifts," Carol grumbles as she fixes dinner and Daryl slides the top off of Stinky's tank so Sweetheart can drop a wood roach inside. "If he's not even going to spend time with me."
The little girl scream-laughs and stumbles backward as the lizard lunges for its meal. "Ewwww!" she says. Then "Yum! Hungwy stinky, yum!"
"He'll be back for dinner," Daryl assures her as he snaps the top back into place.
"Make sure you wash her hands after she's been handling bugs. And why do we have so many bugs?"
"Ain't got that many. Barely 'nuff to feed Stinky."
Henry does return in time for dinner, and Carol has a million questions for him about Rachel's pregnancy, his plans for the future, Oceanside, his life, and his new tavern. "What are you going to name the baby?"
"If it's a boy…Ezekiel."
"Oh." Carol hasn't forgotten Ezekiel, but she has a new a husband, the husband's she's always been meant to have, whil Henry will never have another father. "I think Ezekiel would have felt honored if he had known that."
"And for the middle name," Henry says, "Benjamin. After my brother, you know."
"Ezekiel Benjamin," Carol echoes. It's a mouthful, but she doesn't say that.
"Or maybe Benjamin Ezekiel. We haven't decided yet. But there's another little Benjamin here already, isn't there?"
"Sheriff Earl's boy," Daryl mutters. He's mostly staying out of the mother-son conversation. It's the first word he's said.
"And it's such a small world," Henry continues. "We're trying not to duplicate first names."
"Well, it won't be small for much longer," Carol assures him. "And we already have some duplicate names in the Alliance. We have a Rachel here, and yours at Oceanside. A couple of Joes. Two Lauras now that we brought in that cult girl.
"Oh, I heard about that little adventure," Henry says. "They say two of the men you brought back here are…" he winces as he whispers, "castrated?"
"What if it's a girl?" Carol asks, not interested in rehashing that horror story. "What will you and Rachel name it then?"
"Well, we'll incorporate Carol of course."
Carol blinks in surprise. "Really?"
"For a middle name," Henry clarifies. "No offense, but it's kind of an old lady's name."
Carol laughs, but Daryl scolds, "Don't call yer mamma an old lady. And that's hell of a thing to say, comin' from a guy who shares his name with a 15th century king."
Henry half rolls his eyes.
"And for the first name?" Carol asks.
"We haven't decided on a first name yet."
When the meal is done, and Daryl has taken Sweetheart to the washing trough to clean up, Henry clears the dishes with Carol. As they clean, he volunteers to "babysit" his little sister so Carol and Daryl can have an evening together at the tavern.
"I'd rather spend time with you," Carol tells him.
"What is Daryl? Chopped liver?" Henry asks with a smirk.
"I see Daryl every day. I see you once in a blue moon."
"You two should have a date night," Henry tells her. "And I should get to know my sister better. It's a win for everyone. Go."
"I don't know. I - "
"- It's not healthy for a marriage, Mom, to not get enough quality time together."
Carol rests the towel on the counter and looks at him warily. "Are you and Rachel having problems?"
"No! Why do you always have to think we're having problems?"
"I don't have to. You just…what you just said. I was worried for a minute."
"We're fine," he assures her. "I just want to make sure you and Daryl are fine. You're lieutenant mayor now. He said it was a busy job, that he hasn't seen much of you this past week."
"When did he say that?"
The front door swings open and Daryl walks back inside with Sweetheart riding him piggyback. He squats down and she lets go and slides off onto the floor with a giggle.
"Henry's watching Sweetheart tonight so we can go to the tavern and get a drink. Spend some kid-free time together. For an hour or so," Carol says.
Daryl's face brightens, and Carol sees that Henry must be onto something. "Mhmhm," Daryl says. "Sounds good."