A/N: Thank you to everybody who read and reviewed the first chapter. Hearing what everybody has to say about this story, really encourages me to write more. I'm glad you all like this story as much as the first one, and I hope you keep reading. I'll stop rambling now, and let you read this chapter. :)

Chapter Two

Two Years Later

September 3rd

The yearling scraped the concrete floor with her hoof, her attention span waning, as she stood in the crossties inside the barn. She bobbed her head up and down, making the ropes rattle and shake. The two-year-old who had been sitting on a nearby step stool, stood up, her miniature toy horse lay on the ground forgotten. She stared at the impatient filly. Amy came around the yearling, ignoring the filly's antics.

"Why 'er do that?" the toddler asked, pointing to the horse's foot.

"Because she's antsy," Amy answered, forgetting for a second that she was talking to a two-year-old. She came over to put a brush in a grooming box, and knelt down in front of her daughter.

The little girl scrunched up her face as she tried to understand. "Ant-see?" she asked.

Amy smiled and pulled up the brim of the little girl's cowboy hat and said, "It means she doesn't like standing still for too long, like when you don't like it when it takes to long to go food shopping."

"Oh," the toddler said as Amy tucked some strands of blonde hair that had come loose from her braid. Her green eyes traveling from Amy to the yearling behind her. "Tres, you stand still or you go on timeout." Amy laughed as her daughter attempted to discipline the filly.

Tres was the filly's name, for having only three patches of brown on her body. She was the exact opposite of her mother, Destiny. She had a brown patch over her one blue eye, one over the opposite ear, and one on the side of her barrel stretching to underneath her belly, the rest of her was white. The filly would turn two next month. Both mare and filly still lived at Miracle ranch, and Amy was unsure if they would ever leave.

"We give 'er carrot now?" the two-year-old asked.

"Yes, you can," Amy told her as she straightened up. "I think she'll like that."

"Yay!" she cheered as she ran back over to her step stool and picked up a bright orange carrot. Amy helped her break the carrot in half and walked her over to the yearling. The filly gobbled up the carrot and the little girl giggled as horse spit covered her hand. She didn't seem bothered by it as most kids might have.

Suddenly, there was running footsteps and a moment later, a little boy, two-years-old as well, burst into the barn. He had the same blonde hair and green eyes as his sister and he wore a big smile on his face. "Jackson, where's daddy?" Amy asked the little boy.

Jackson pointed outside the barn, then turned back to Amy. "We fixed it!" he said excitedly, waving the toy, blue motorcycle in his hand.

"Did you make the puppy's leg all better?" Amy asked him. The little boy's face lit up with excitement as he told Amy all about the puppy with the broken leg, in his two-year-old babble, of course. Amy already knew that the puppy had come in two days ago after it had been hit by a car. As the toddler babbled on, Ty appeared at the entrance of the barn.

"Sorry, I had only turned around for a second to put Casey back in his cage," Ty explained. "That fast he must have slipped out the clinic door."

Amy waved it off. "It's fine, he was just telling me all about how you fixed Casey's leg," she said.

"Yeah, he should be able to go home tomorrow," Ty replied. Then, he walked over to Jackson, who was standing next to his sister as they raced their toys, horse vs motorcycle. Ty pulled the little boy up, so he was looking at him. "Jackson, you know you're not supposed go off by yourself. Mommy or I have to be with you when you go outside."

Jackson hung his head and he sniffled a little. "I sorry," he whimpered. He wrapped his small arms around Ty's neck, not wanting to be in trouble anymore.

"It's okay," Ty told him, straightening up and lifting his son up in his arms as he did. "We were going to get some lunch. Do you want to come, Lily?" He held his hand out to his daughter.

"Yes!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up and down. At the sudden moment, Tres jumped backward, stretching the crossties to their limit. Lily automatically stopped jumping and backed up a few steps, whining a sorry as she did. Ty came over and took her hand.

"I'll be in, in a minute," Amy said, moving over closer to Tres. "I'm just going to put her back outside." She clipped a lead line to the filly's halter and unhooked the crossties. Ty nodded and started walking out of the barn. Lily had only taken a few steps before she realized what Amy was doing.

"Wait, I come too!" Lily called, slipping her hand out of Ty's and ran back to Amy.

"I'm going to be real fast," Amy told her daughter, pushing her back toward Ty, who had started to come back for her. "You go get lunch with daddy and Jack." Ty started to take Lily's hand again, but she jerked it away.

"No! I come! I come!" Lily wailed, stomping both feet. Ty took her by the hand and started to half-drag her away, which caused her to start to cry. Amy's heart wrenched at the sound of her daughter upset, but there was no way she would be able watch a yearling and a two-year-old at the same time, besides it would only take her a minute. It would take less time than that for Lily to find something else to distract her.

Amy led Tres down the barn aisle, to the paddock behind the building. The filly walked quietly beside her, though with her head up and ears pricked, knowing where she was going. The yearling has been progressing fast in her training, and Amy was thrilled that the filly seemed to love to learn and be with people. When they reached the back paddock, Tres let out a loud whinny to her mother, who was grazing in the middle of the field. Destiny lifted her brown head and gave her own nicker of a greeting. Even though Tres was now weaned and didn't need the mare for nourishment, the two still shared a strong bond. Amy led the filly into the paddock and took off her halter. Tres looked back at Amy once, and then trotted off toward her mother. She watched as the two horses touched noses, greeting each other, then dropped their muzzles at the same time and began to graze side by side.

When Amy opened the back door of the ranch house into the kitchen, she was greeted by a frustrated two-year-old trying to voice her opinion and Ty trying to persuade her to eat her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Amy couldn't help but smile as she watched the scene play out. The twins were sitting in their booster seats at the kitchen table; Jackson was drinking from his blue sippy cup, ignoring the plate sitting in front of him and Lily was pushing her own plate away, whining.

Finally, Ty seemed to notice her standing for the first time. "Amy, help!" he said, overwhelmed. "I don't know what to do, they won't eat."

"But you seem to have it so under control in here," Amy teased him.

"Amy, please!" Ty begged.

"Ok, I'll help, but first you have to admit that I'm smarter and you'll be lost without me," Amy said, stilling teasing. She laughed, when Ty just stared at her, panic and exhaustion in his eyes. She turned to face the kids and switched the plates. Jackson immediately put down his cup and picked up a slice of the sandwich. Lily wiped the tears from her eyes and began eating as well. Ty gaped at the two of them, hardly believing his eyes.

"How did you do that?" Ty asked, in disbelief.

"I'll tell you a little secret," Amy said, walking closer to him. "Lily likes her sandwich cut into four squares and Jackson likes his cut into triangles. It's smooth sailing from there."

"I thought..." Ty shook his head. He took her by the waist and pulled her closer to him. "I would be lost without you. No doubt about that."

"Hey, give yourself some credit," Amy replied, her arms looped loosely around his neck. "You're pretty amazing sometimes."

"Just sometimes," Ty said, leaning closer to her. Amy bit her lip, hiding a smile, as the space between them disappeared. Their mouths met in a sweet, blissful kiss.

"Ok, most of the time, you're amazing," Amy said, when they parted. Ty smiled and opened his mouth to contradict her one more time, but Amy put a finger to his lips, interrupting him. They kissed again, this one longer and more passionate than the first.

"All done," came Lily's voice, pulling them away from their bliss. They turned around to see Lily pushing away her now-empty plate and Jackson shoving the last bite of sandwich in his mouth. They cleaned up the kids and took them upstairs for their nap. There was the usual fussiness of not wanting to go to sleep and both kept saying they had to go potty. They were in the midst of potty-training, so frequent trips to the bathroom were common. Finally, they lay quietly in their twin toddler beds, watching Finding Nemo.

"Party?" came Lily's voice as they were almost out the door. She was sitting up in bed, clutching her brown, stuffed horse. Ty walked back over to her and kneeled down beside her bed.

"It's not time for your party yet," Ty told her. Lily pouted and Ty laughed. "Well, if you hurry up and go to sleep, then mommy and I can get ready for your party. Then, when you and Jack wake up, everybody will be here and we can have your party."

"And cake?" Jackson asked from his bed.

"Yes, there will be cake too," Amy said, coming over to tuck him in again. "But not unless you go to sleep." Both toddlers quickly snuggled deeper under the covers, Lily even squeezed her eyes shut in hope sleep will come faster. They both got another kiss from each parent, only then were Amy and Ty able leave the room and close the door quietly behind them.

Lobo was already in his spot by the bedroom door, his nose right by the crack of the door. The husky had laid outside the twins' room for nap time, ever since they were born. Nobody had told him to or even knew why he did, he'd just always had. It worked to their advantage, though. If one of the twins made even the slightest noise, Lobo sat up and barked once, sometimes twice. If one of them started crying, he would run and get Amy or Ty himself. Amy knelt down besides the dog, scratching him on his head.

"Can you believe they're actually two-years-old today?" Ty asked, in a whisper.

"I know, it's seems like it was just yesterday we were bringing them home from the hospital," Amy said, distractedly running her hand over Lobo's fur. "Now, they're talking and walking all by themselves." They were both silent for moment, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

"We should get ready for this party," Ty broke the silence, reaching down to help Amy up. "Otherwise, if they wake up and there is no party, there's probably going to be a riot."

Amy laughed quietly as he put an arm around her shoulders and steered her down the hall, toward the stairs. Lobo watched them go, until they disappeared down the steps, and then lay his head back down on the floor, on guard duty.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

An hour later, Amy and Ty were finishing blowing up balloons and tying them to several chairs out in the backyard. The day had turned hot, so they also had pulled out the blue, plastic kiddie pool with various sea animals painted around the outside, for the kids to splash around in. Amy straightened up after tying a second happy birthday balloon onto the yellow-and-green child picnic table. The yard was festive and appropriate for two toddlers' birthday party. Even Harley thought so as he stood at the fence of the closest paddock. He watched at Ty walked back and forth, nickering a little whenever he came close to the fence.

"We did a pretty good job, if I don't say so myself," Amy said.

"Yeah," Ty agreed, after he finished stacking bags of hotdog and hamburger buns on a table by the barbeque grill. "They're going to love it."

Amy smiled. "Ty, they're two, they like anything," she replied, bursting his bubble.

"I just want today to be special," Ty admitted, turning around to rearrange the condiments. Amy walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"It will be," Amy told him, resting her cheek on his back. "It is, because we're all together. Forever and always."

Ty turned around in her arms, putting his own arms around her. "Promise?" he asked her, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I don't plan on going anywhere," Amy reassured him. They leaned in for a kiss, but right before their lips met, there was running footsteps causing them to break apart. A five-year-old Katie ran up to them, her pigtails flying behind her, carrying a brightly wrapped gift. She was wearing a wearing a pink-and-green skirt with a matching shirt that had a butterfly on it.

Katie greeted them excitedly, and gave them each a hug. "Where's Lily?" she asked. "I want to give her her present. She's gonna love it!"

"She's sleeping right now," Amy told the little girl.

"Ohhh," Katie said, disappointed. "I got her a mermaid Barbie. She's always playing with mine, now she can have her own. It was my idea, but mommy paid for it."

"That's very sweet of you," Amy replied, looking up just as Peter, Tim, and Lou, who had an armful of presents, came into the backyard. "I'm sure she'll love it. Lou, you didn't have to get all this."

"We were going to come through the front door, but I didn't want to wake the kids in case they were sleeping," Lou explained. "And are you kidding me, nothing's too much for my little niece and nephew. Besides, grandpa and Georgie are riding over, so some of these presents are from them."

"Thank you," Amy said, sincerely. "The twins should be up soon, they've been sleeping awhile."

"You can put those over on this table," Ty told Lou, leading her over to an empty table. Lou followed him and placed the presents, from biggest to smallest, on the table.

"Well, I'm going to go see my grandchildren, so I can wish them a happy birthday," Tim replied, heading for the house.

"No, I don't think so," Ty stopped his father-in-law by the door.

"Why not?" Tim questioned him. "Amy just said, they'll be up soon anyway. What's the big deal if I wake them up a little early?"

"Because if you do, they're going to be cranky and upset," Ty answered firmly, not moving from in front of the door. "Do you really want them to be miserable during their birthday party?"

"Dad, c'mon, it's only a few more minutes," Amy added.

"Okay, okay," Tim said, backing down. As he moved away to sit down at the patio table, Lobo gave a loud bark from upstairs in the house.

"Not even that," Amy said, and then hurried into the house.

A few minutes later, Amy came back outside with Jackson in her arms, and Lily ran out in front of her. They were both dressed nice for the party; Lily in a red-and-blue striped sundress and Jackson in denim shorts and a blue-and-green striped shirt. Lily ran right over to Katie and threw her little arms around the older girl. Katie handed her the present and Lily tore into it before anybody could stop her. She squealed with delight when she saw the mermaid Barbie.

Ty walked over to Amy, who was still holding Jackson, with a present in his hand. "Since your sister is getting a head start on her presents, do want to open one?" Ty asked his son. Jackson just stared at him, his eyes still a glazed from sleep. Ty pulled open a small piece of the wrapping paper, giving the toddler a head start. Jackson tore off one piece and then dropped his head onto Amy's shoulder with a big yawn. Amy and Ty laughed as Ty finished taking the paper off the toy. It was a T-Rex, and when Ty pushed the button on its' head, it lifted its' head and roared while attempting to walk in the plastic and cardboard it was stuck in.

Jackson immediately picked his head up, a big smile on his face, suddenly wide awake. "Dino!" the little boy exclaimed. He reached to take the toy from Ty and scrambled to get down. When he was on his feet, Jackson looked around at all the people in the yard, apparently looking for something. "Where AJ?" he asked, looking up at Amy and Ty.

"He's not here yet, bud," Ty answered, then he looked up toward Lou. "Where is Rebecca? Isn't she coming?"

"Yeah, she said, she's waiting for Caleb, though," Lou explained, from where she sat across from Tim.

Ty knelt down and helped Jackson take his new dinosaur out of the box, while Amy went over to Lily, who was screaming she couldn't open her doll, despite Katie's attempts at helping. "I tried to help her, but she won't let me," Katie said.

"That's okay, Katie," Amy replied, smiling at her. Katie giggled, and skipped off with her own mermaid Barbie in her hand. Amy took the box from a whining Lily, and easily slid the Barbie out of the box. After undoing the twist ties, Amy handed the doll to her daughter.

"Thank you!" Lily squealed, all happy now as she took the Barbie. She ran off after Katie. "Wait, Ka—ee!"

A few minutes later, a fourteen-year-old Georgie and Jack clattered into the ranch yard on horseback. Paint and Jack both look exhausted from the long ride as opposed to Phoenix, who kept tossing his head and prancing, and Georgie's face was flushed with excitement. They halted the horses, but only Jack dismounted. It was then that Amy realized that Phoenix was dressed in his English gear.

"You can put him in with Spartan and Harley, grandpa," Amy said, stopping Lily and then, Jackson from running over to the horses. Jack nodded, and led his horse to the paddock to take the saddle off.

"Hey, Amy!" Georgie called, from still on top of Phoenix. "Do you want to jump Spartan and Phoenix in the riding ring?"

"I can't, Georgie, I have to watch these two," Amy declined, though a part of her wanted to take her up on the offer.

"But Amy, you never ride anymore! Please!" Georgie pleaded, leaning low on Phoenix's neck.

Before she could decline again, Ty stepped up next to her. "She's right, Amy. When was the last time you got to ride?" When Amy didn't answer, he continued, "Go ahead. I can hold down the fort here for a little while."

"I can't ask you to do that," Amy said, shaking her head.

"I don't mind. Besides," Ty replied. "We have a whole family to help with kids. Go ride your horse."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked again, a smile on her face. As an answer, Ty pushed her toward the barn, then ushered the twins back to the party. Amy took the hint and hurried to the paddock to get Spartan. Georgie crowed a yes and trotted Phoenix to the riding arena on the other side of the ranch yard.

About ten minutes later, Amy and Georgie were in the ring, warming up the horses, mostly Spartan. They stopped by the gate when they were ready to start jumping the course, consisting of five jumps. Georgie volunteered to go first, and asked Phoenix to trot and then canter. The pair rode the course at a slow canter and then a fast one, without touching any of the rails. Georgie rode back to Amy, with a big smile on her face as she rubbed Phoenix's neck, telling him, he was good boy.

"That was amazing, Georgie, really," Amy complimented the younger girl. "You and Phoenix are so in tune to each other, I don't think there isn't anything you can't do together."

"Thanks, Amy," Georgie said. "Your turn."

Amy didn't need anymore encouragement. She urged Spartan into a trot, waited a few strides, then asked him to canter. Spartan pricked his ears, when he saw they were headed for the jumps, and lengthened his stride. They jumped the first fence too close, because of the gelding's excitement, and nicked the top rail. The pole clattered to the ground. Amy circled the gelding until he was calm and listening to her aids. The next fence they jumped, Spartan did it flawlessly like he was always does and Amy felt the smile spread across her face. She definitely needed and missed this, she just hadn't realized how much until right now.

By the time they landed after the last fence, Amy was ready to do the course again. But she had to be fair to Spartan, he hadn't had a workout like this in weeks. She didn't want to push him to hard, even if he did feel like coiled spring ready to burst open. When Amy halted Spartan next to Phoenix, she saw Ty standing by the gate with Jackson and Lily.

"I couldn't distract them any longer," Ty apologized. Amy waved it off as Lily kept repeatedly asking for a ride.

"Georgie, you can do the course again, if you want," Amy said. Of course, Georgie said she would and cantered off. "Ok, Lily, come on." The little girl squealed in delight as Ty lifted her over the fence and Amy nudged Spartan closer to it. Almost as soon as Lily was settled in front of Amy, Jackson started saying he wanted a turn. Ty picked him up and told him, he'll get a turn.

Amy let Lily hold the reins as Spartan plodded around half the arena, avoided Georgie jumping Phoenix in the other half. The two-year-old didn't stop giggling the whole time and she actually did a pretty good job at the pulling the reins from side to side. When they stopped at the gate, Lily clutched Spartan's neck, not wanting to get off.

"C'mon, Lily, it's Jackson's turn," Amy told her, trying to pry her arms loose.

"No!" Lily said, gripping Spartan tighter. The gelding turned his head to see who was holding onto him. Lily giggled loudly when Spartan's nose touched her arm and she sprang upright, almost bumping Amy in the face. She was still giggling when Amy handed her off to Ty.

"Horsie was gittin' me!" she giggled.

Jackson took his turn next, and unlike Lily, he was quieter, but he kept getting distracted. Two times he pointed to Georgie, and then once to Lobo, who was sniffing around the yard. "Hoooo!" Jackson said as he pulled back on the reins, when they back at the gate. Spartan stopped like a champ, and Amy gave him a pat. Jackson stared at her and then gave Spartan a pat of his own.

Jackson hadn't been on his feet for two seconds when he tore off across the yard, yelling AJ's name. Amy and Ty looked in time to see that Rebecca and Caleb had arrived, and the two little boys collide with each and tumble into the grass. They got up almost immediately and raced off to where Jackson left his new dinosaur. Lily ran after them, calling to them to wait. Amy was smiling to herself as she dismounted and led Spartan out of the gate, Ty was holding open for her.

The rest of the party went by in a blur. The younger kids all spent time splashing around in the kiddie pool. With only Lily crying a few times after she got water splashed in her eyes. Amy and Ty both took turns sitting next to the pool and playing with them. Eventually, Georgie couldn't stand the heat anymore and changed into her bathing suit, so she could just sit in the pool and cool off.

After the kids had worked up an appetite, Jack and Tim stood arguing over the barbeque grill about the correct wait to grill a burger. Most of the kids had hotdogs, AJ had two. Lily ate all of hers after Amy wiped it clean of the ketchup she'd said she wanted on it. Even though, he didn't admit to it, everybody suspected Jackson fed half his hotdog to Lobo, who never moved two feet away from the boy. Amy and Ty didn't have the heart to put him in timeout on his birthday, though.

Presents were next, and Amy and Ty helped the twins open them. It was tedious since they each became absorbed into one toy and didn't want open another. Once Lily opened up a twinkling unicorn, she walked away from the mess to play with her new toy. Jackson stayed to help clean up the mess, even if did take longer. His version of helping included, putting one piece of wrapping paper in his new T-Rex's mouth and walking the dinosaur over to the trash can to 'spit' the paper out in.

"Cake! Cake! Cake!" the twins, AJ, and Katie chanted as they banged their fists on the tabletop. Even Georgie joined in too. Ty put the vanilla cake with blue and pink frosting on top in front of Lily and Jackson. Georgie pretended to take a handful out of the cake, causing Lily to squeal a no at her. Lou also reprimanded her with a shake of her head.

The birthday boy and girl were all smiles as the family sang to them and clapped at the end. Jackson clapped too, until Ty reminded him to blow out the candles. It only took him two puffs to blow out his two blue candles, while it took Lily a little longer and a lot of spit to blow out her two pink candles. As everybody clapped once more, Ty leaned down and captured Amy's lips with his.

"What was that for?" Amy asked, when the kiss ended.

"No reason," Ty shrugged. "I'm just really happy."

"Well, in that case," Amy smiled, and reached up to kiss him again. Happiness swelled in her chest as well. She had a wonderful husband and two beautiful, healthy children, nothing could take this away from her. Someone yelled 'cut the cake' and they pulled apart, laughing. All the kids dug into their pieces of cake almost as soon as Amy put them down in front of them. As she served the last piece of cake, Amy wished this moment didn't have end as she watched Lily and Jackson shovel cake into their mouths, icing all over their faces. Then, Ty put his arm around her, and she thought, it didn't have to.

A/N: I wasn't able to squeeze the twins' full names in this chapter, but I really want you guys to know them. So they are, Jackson Tyler Borden and Lily Marion Borden. Please review and tell me what you think! :)