A/N: Thank you again for all the reviews! Enjoy the chapter! :)

Chapter Ten

Working It Out

Rebecca was conflicted. Adam was coming over today, and a part of her was glad that he was finally going to meet his son. The other part of her was anxious, especially about how AJ would respond to him. Since Caleb left the other night, AJ has been asking for him and each time Rebecca wasn't sure what to tell him. She worried that AJ wouldn't accept Adam and ask for Caleb instead. Rebecca didn't want to think about what Adam would do if that happened.

She had just gotten out of the shower and pulled on a pair of jeans with a brown-and-white striped sweater. After running a brush through her still damp hair, she slipped on a pair of brown boots. Rebecca jumped a little when she heard three raps on the apartment door. Hurrying out of her bedroom, Rebecca jogged to the living room and threw open the door.

"For the record, I don't think this is a good idea," Ty said as a way of greeting.

"Thank you for coming over anyway," Rebecca replied, sincerely. Ty had called her last night, saying that Caleb had told him everything. He didn't hesitate to tell her what he thought of the situation, but Rebecca stood by her decision of letting Adam see AJ. Though, she admitted that she was nervous and asked if Ty would mind being here for her when Adam arrived. He'd hesitated at first, but, in the end, he agreed, probably because he was more worried over what would happen if he wasn't there.

"I talked to Amy, and she doesn't like the idea of me being around this guy," Ty told her, stepping inside the apartment. "But she has the same worries I do, so she agreed to let me come."

"Well, tell her I said thank you," Rebecca said earnestly. "I really appreciate it."

There was another knock on the door and Rebecca glanced anxiously at Ty. He nodded for her to open the door. Taking a deep breath, Rebecca walked over to the door and opened it. Adam stood on the other side wearing tan khakis and an orange-and-brown plaid flannel shirt. He was holding a medium-size box wrapped in blue wrapping paper that had the Sesame Street characters all over it.

"Hey," Adam smiled.

Rebecca stepped aside to let him come in and she closed the door behind him. He stopped short when he realized they weren't alone. Something flashed in his eyes when he looked at Ty, but then it shifted to remorse and understanding.

"I don't blame you for wanting protection," Adam said. He cleared his throat and handed Rebecca the box. "I bought AJ a little something, I hope it's okay?"

"Of course, but you should give it to him yourself," Rebecca replied, pushing the box back to him. "He's sleeping right now, but I expect him to wake up any minute now."

Adam nodded, passing the box back and forth between his hands. It was then that Rebecca got a good look at him and noticed that his right eye was black and blue. "Adam, what happened? Your eye..." she started to ask, but Adam stopped her.

"It's fine," Adam shrugged, not really looking her in the eye. "It's not a big deal."

"Well, did you at least get it checked by a doctor?" Rebecca asked him.

"I said, I was fine, Rebecca," Adam insisted, finally looking up at her. "You don't have to worry about me."

Rebecca was just about to tell him that she did worry about him, but she stopped when she heard a small voice call to her from the hallway. She turned around and saw AJ standing at the start of the hallway, looking bleary-eyed. He wore gray sweatpants and an orange long-sleeve shirt. Rebecca walked over to him and picked him up into her arms.

"Hey, sweetie, did you have a nice sleep?" Rebecca asked him, bouncing him slightly on her hip.

AJ nodded, absentmindedly as his eyes found the newcomer in the room. Adam was staring at the little boy as well, his eyes had grown wide, no doubt taking in all the similarities between the two. They had the same dark eyes, the same pointed nose, even the way their hair fell over their eyes were the same. Rebecca had always know how much AJ looked like Adam, but seeing them both together was a bit overwhelming.

"AJ, there's somebody I would like you to meet," Rebecca said, walking back over to Adam. She could see Adam swallow hard as they approached. "This is Adam, he's an old friend. Can you say hi?"

"Hi," AJ said quietly.

Rebecca could tell that Adam was disappointed that she didn't introduce him as AJ's father, but she didn't want to confuse the toddler. Adam cleared his throat anyway, and stepped forward. He held out the box his was holding. AJ's eyes grew wide as he stared at the brightly wrapped object.

"Hey, AJ, I brought you something," Adam said, his voice hopeful.

"Do you want to open it?" Rebecca asked the little boy. AJ nodded and Rebecca put him down on the floor. Adam placed the present on the table and kneeled down to help the toddler open it.

"How are you doing?" Ty asked her, in a whisper, when he moved up next to her.

"One step at a time," Rebecca whispered back, watching AJ as he laughed and tossed a piece of wrapping paper at Adam.

"Wow!" AJ exclaimed, after all the wrapping paper was torn off. It was a red race car, and when Adam pressed a button on the roof, the car lit up and played the actual sound effects of a real race car. AJ gasped excitedly, and tried to, unsuccessfully, to pull the car out the box it was stuck in.

"Hold on, let me get out for you!" Adam laughed, and went to work on getting the car out of its' packaging.

"Look, it doesn't really seem to be any danger here, I think I'm going to go," Ty said to Rebecca. "I want to get back home to Amy."

"Oh, okay," Rebecca replied, looking quickly at her brother. She walked with him over to the door. "Thank you again for coming over."

"No problem," Ty told her as he opened the door. He glanced one last time at Adam, then turned back to Rebecca. "Call me if you need anything."

Rebecca nodded, "I will."

She closed the door behind him and turned back to the scene in the living room. AJ was now pushing the race car around on the floor, while Adam sat with his back against the coffee table watching him. As she came closer, AJ ran up to her and she knelt down in front of the toddler.

"Mommy, look!" AJ said excitedly, holding the car out in front of him.

"Wow, you love cars, don't you?" Rebecca asked him. AJ nodded, and he pressed the button on top again.

"'ere dat?" AJ asked, not taking his eyes off his new toy. Then, he looked up at her, his expression changed slightly. "I show daddy?"

Rebecca had been afraid that AJ would say something like that, and he did. She glanced quickly up at Adam, but he didn't show any signs that he'd heard. He had to have, though, AJ hadn't spoke that quietly. Rebecca looked back at AJ, whose eyes had lowered back down to the car.

"Maybe later," Rebecca told him, her voice lowered so that Adam wouldn't hear. "Now, go play." She patted his bottom as he ran off to play with his new toy like he was told. Rebecca watched him go, and then looked over at Adam. He gave her a warm smile and Rebecca tried to smile back, but she wasn't sure how well she pulled it off.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

Amy clapped a hand on the chestnut mare's neck as they landed on the other side of the final jump of the short six-fence course. Autumn tossed her head and gave a playful buck as Amy cantered her in a circle. The mare had settled in wonderfully at the ranch, she was definitely much more relaxed than she'd seen her at Ahmed's stable. It had crossed her mind more than once that it was possible that Autumn wasn't cut out to be a grand prix jumper. But she cost way too much for Ahmed to ever consider selling her.

So, Amy was stuck trying to get the mare accustomed to the high energy and atmosphere of the competitive show grounds. She rode the mare over to the fence, where she had left her phone on the post and hit play on the video she had on there. It was the best she could do on her own. In the next second came the sound of a roaring audience. Autumn pricked her ears and shriveled her head around to find the source of the noise. Amy placed the phone back on the fence and gathered up her reins again.

Autumn trotted forward, her ears flickering back and forth, listening to Amy. So far, she didn't seem bothered by the loud noise. Then, came the crackle of a loudspeaker and then the booming announcer voice. Autumn balked and snorted loudly. When Amy asked her to trot on, the mare was tense and her movements were rigid. Her head was too high and her focus never stayed on the same thing for more than a few seconds. Autumn's canter was short-strided and rough and when Amy pointed her toward a low vertical, the mare jumped too early and crooked.

Slowing her down to a walk, Amy steered the chestnut back over to the fence to turn her phone off. Once the noise was cut off, the change in Autumn was automatic. Her ears flicked back and forth and she lowered her head to a comfortable level. She blew out loudly through her nostrils and shook out her mane. Amy reached forward and stroked her neck.

"What am I going to do with you, girl?" Amy wondered out loud.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Autumn jumped sideways at the little person running toward her. The mare wasn't too used to little kids just yet. Turning around in the saddle, Amy saw Lily running to the ring with no one else around. Sighing, she dismounted and tied Autumn to the fence rail. Amy let herself out of the ring and hurried over to her daughter.

"Sweetie, what are you doing out here? Where's Jessie?" Amy asked the toddler, taking a hold of her hand.

"I see you," Lily said simply, looking up at her with her wide green eyes.

"You know, you're allowed outside by yourself," Amy told her, and she started walking back up to the ranch house. "Mommy is working right now, you have to stay with Jessie, ok?"

"Nooo," Lily whined.

Amy led her daughter through the back door of the house, in search of Jessie. The nanny was just coming down the stairs, Jackson in her arms, and she looked relieved when she saw Lily with Amy. She put Jackson down on the floor and came over to them.

"I am so sorry," Jessica apologized. "I only left her playing for a second, while I took Jack to the bathroom. When I came back, she was gone."

"It's okay, I understand," Amy assured the younger woman. She wasn't mad or disappointed at Jessica, in fact, she did understand. Lily had the tendency to slip away unnoticed. Amy knelt down in front of her daughter. "Ok, I have to go back outside and finish working with the horses. I need you to stay in here and when I'm done I'll come back, ok?"

"Ok," Lily said, sullenly.

Amy gave her a hug, in which the little girl held on to her tightly. A second later, Jackson joined in, not wanting to be left out. When Amy let go of both of them, she pushed them toward Jessica, who led them into the den to play. As soon as they were gone, Amy stood up and hurried outside.

Autumn was right where Amy had left her, head lowered and back hoof cocked. "Wake up, sleepyhead," she told the mare as she untied the reins from the fence rail. The chestnut mare pricked her ears, but otherwise didn't move. She wasn't going to work that much longer, she just wanted a little bit more time with the mare.

They didn't jump any more, Amy just schooled the mare on the flat. As she rode, Amy knew there was nothing wrong with the mare. She was just the type of horse that became too hyper and worked up at the top-level shows. Autumn would do so much better if she lived at a local, quieter stable and possibly showed locally, every few months. The only problem was convincing Ahmed of that. Though, she could understand his side, he had put so much money into this horse to just give her away.

Sensing she was distracted, Autumn slowed to a walk and drifted toward the inside of the arena. Amy quickly corrected the mare and asked for a trot. Autumn obliged willingly, stretching her neck out and raising her tail high. The mare was a dream to work with, she would do well with a young rider, guiding them up to the next level. Amy knew she had to talk to Ahmed.

Five minutes later, Amy dismounted and led Autumn out of the arena. The mare nudged her quietly as they walked to the barn and Amy smiled, giving her a pat on the neck. Amy had already taken the saddle and bridle off and was just getting started on grooming the mare, when she heard footsteps enter the barn. She turned and saw Ty, with the twins in tow.

"Hey," Amy greeted, just as Lily ran up to her. She picked up her daughter and handed her a brush, so that she could brush Autumn. Lily smiled grandly as she took the brush and started brush Autumn vigorously.

"Hey, yourself," Ty said back as he came closer with Jackson. The little boy was saying that he wanted to brush the horse too, so Ty handed him a brush and picked him up.

They spent the next few minutes letting the twins brush Autumn. It wasn't until both toddlers grew bored and the horse impatient that Amy knew it was time to stop. Amy put Lily down, so that she could put away the grooming supplies. Lily followed her wherever she went, pretending to put things away too. Amy looked down at her and smiled.

"Ok, daddy's hungry, who's ready for dinner?" Ty announced as he still held Jackson.

"I hungry," Jackson mimicked, pointing to himself.

"You're hungry, too?" Ty asked him, incredulously. Jackson nodded. "Alright then. Lily, are you hungry?"

Lily nodded.

"Autumn is still a little hot, how about you take them inside, while I just walk her around a little bit?" Amy suggested to Ty.

"Okay," Ty agreed. "C'mon Lily, we're going to go inside and get dinner. Mommy's going to finish up out here and then come in."

Amy held her breath, waiting to see how her daughter would react. To her relief, Lily placed a loud kiss on Autumn's leg and ran off toward Ty. Ty took her hand and started walking back up to the ranch house. Amy didn't move until she heard Lily start singing her own version of the My Little Pony song.

"Ok, Autumn, let's go," Amy said to the mare as she unhooked the crossties and clipped a lead rope to the mare's leather halter. Autumn snorted loudly as if to say, about time.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

Rebecca shut off the engine, but made no move to get out of the car. He was expecting them, of course, but Rebecca was still anxious. She had texted him almost as soon as Adam had left the apartment, asking if she could bring AJ over. He'd said yes, like she knew he would, for her little boy. AJ hadn't stopped asking to see him, and Rebecca didn't want him to get caught in the middle just because they had broken up. Now, AJ was in the back seat playing with his new car.

The door to the trailer opened and Caleb stepped outside. Almost immediately, AJ exclaimed, "Daddy!"

Rebecca couldn't tell if Caleb had heard the toddler or not, but all she knew was that it was time to quit stalling. She took a deep breath, unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. AJ was on the edge of his car seat the whole time Rebecca unbuckled him. As soon as she put him down on the ground, AJ took off at a run.

"Hey, buddy," she heard Caleb greet the toddler as he picked up.

Rebecca smiled at the abandoned car that lay in the empty car seat in AJ's haste. She picked it up, knowing that AJ wouldn't want to be without it, and closed the car door. Rebecca approached slowly, wanting to give the two a moment together. When she finally did reach them, AJ spotted the car in her hands right away and reached for it. Rebecca handed it to him.

"My new car!" AJ held up the race car, showing it to Caleb.

"I see mommy couldn't help to spoil you with yet another toy," Caleb teased, and Rebecca felt her heart flip over in her chest when he tossed a smile over at her. She liked it too much, in fact, it made her almost not want to ruin the moment by what she was going to say.

"It was a gift, actually," Rebecca corrected, taking another step forward. "From Adam."

Just like that, the moment was shattered and the smile was gone from Caleb's face. He nodded silently. "I take it, things went well then?" he asked.

Rebecca shrugged. "It was...fine," she finally said. "But I couldn't help notice that he was sporting a bruised eye since the last time I'd seen him. He didn't want to talk about it, but I was wondering if..." She glanced at Caleb with a sly grin, and saw him averting her gaze. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Caleb just shrugged.

"Well, I do appreciate you looking out for me," Rebecca said, wanting him to know that.

"I'll always care about you, Rebecca, both of you," Caleb replied, including AJ in his gaze. Rebecca didn't know what to say that wouldn't ruin this moment. She didn't have to, though, because a brisk wind blew through the yard just then, ruffling her hair and sending chills up her back.

"It's getting chilly out here," Caleb cleared his throat. "How about we take this inside?"

Rebecca nodded, and took AJ from him, so that he could hold open the trailer door for them. As she passed him, Rebecca felt his fingertips brush the small of her back. It sent a warm, tingling sensation through her as she realized just how much she missed that.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

The man watched the couple walk inside the small trailer, taking his son with them. He felt guilty following Rebecca here, but he couldn't help himself. He could still hear the little boy's voice in his head saying daddy and not referring to him. It hurt him deep inside, knowing that his own son didn't even know who he was, but he knew that it was his own fault. He clutched the steering wheel as he swore to himself that he would rectify the situation. His son will know who his father is and Rebecca will be his.

Turning the car on, he pulled out onto the road. He glanced in the rear-view mirror and grinned. He would insure that no one get in his way to what he wanted.

A/N: How was it? Please review and let me know your thoughts. :)