New Beginnings

 Carly, Day 274, October 1, 2026

Austin woke up Tuesday morning and got all packed up and ready to leave.

Everyone said their goodbyes.

He checked on his flight.

And he arrived to a bright sunny day in Strangerville. The house was just as he remembered it.

He unpacked some personal items.

And he asked Mindy to come over. He asked her to be his romantic partner and jumped for joy when she said yes.

And she actually asked about moving in.

And he did not want to delay in a proposal because as they were going up to bed, Mindy wanted to propose and the game asked if I wanted that to happen and I said no. So the next day, Austin proposed.

She said yes, of course. Then they worked on the garden together. Mindy ended up loving gardening. And Duke was looking on.

And Austin took Duke for his first walk in Strangerville.

And the Welcome Wagon showed up. Mindy actually tried the fruitcake and it made her very uncomfortable.

And they played a game with some of the neighbors.

The next night Austin wanted to tell his family about the engagement so he invited them to dinner before he gets too busy with his new Culinary job. He started as a Level 3.

Of course, Mom was over the moon with happiness for them, as was the rest of the family.

And they all watched Lost Pup together.

I think the three of them are going to be very happy here.

And almost forgot, when family comes over, there is always a swordfight. Austin lost to Amelia, but he has not done any swordfighting. Not even sure where he got that sword.

And this got long so I'll do more on Carly tomorrow, but they arrived without incident to the ranch.

And they adopted Whirlaway (named after my husband's favorite male racehorse who won the Triple Crown in 1941. I say male because Whirlaway was his favorite until Zenyatta and he may love them equally).

And Casey laid outside the gate for a long time just looking off into the distance...