The next morning, Victoria descended the stairs much later than usual. She had still been up two times that night and had rushed to the bathroom, but it had been easier for her to fall asleep after that. She hadn't even noticed Daniel sneaking out of their room in the morning.
Speaking of her son, she was happy that he had apparently overcome his shyness and seemed to enjoy the time he spent with Amanda.
This morning he was seated at the breakfast table with David and his daughter, who apparently tried to lecture him on his drawing skills.

"Good Morning." Victoria smiled as she approached the table. The sight of the three people, she now liked to call her family truly warmed her heart.

"Mom, look at how real this house looks!" Daniel was eager to show his mother what he had been drawing the whole morning and held the piece of paper in her face. Victoria kissed her son's head and glanced at his "piece of art".

"That's beautiful, Danny. It looks a lot like this house."

"So you recognize it?" The 6-year-old was thrilled.

"Of course, it looks great." Victoria assured softly squeezing his shoulder.

"Amanda helped me with it. She knows how to draw those windows and animals and all kinds of plants!" Daniel explained.

Victoria turned her head to thank David's daughter for her assistance, but the girl had already backed away and stared at her orange juice.

"Well, I think both of you are very talented artists." Victoria said approvingly before she took the seat next to David.

"Someone is in a good mood today." David noticed and gave her a kiss.

"Sleep does wonders, you know." Victoria replied and poured herself some juice. "Where's Charlotte?"

"Believe it or not, she actually has a job. She works as a vet here on the countryside."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"And I already told Amanda about your plans for today." David addressed his daughter. "She's pretty excited about that, right, Amanda?"

"Yeah, I guess." The girl answered getting up from the table.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to get ready." Amanda hissed angrily and ran up the stairs.

After that, Victoria's positive attitude began to decrease. She had told David in the first place that it would be a bad idea to push his daughter to spend time with her. It would probably only affect their relationship negatively and not help to gain the girl's trust.

Thus, Victoria was even more astonished when she found Amanda standing on the porch an hour later. David had shown her his mother's old closet and even though Victoria thought it was a bit creepy, she had put on her clothing. Fortunately, it fitted her perfectly and she was glad not to have to ruin her own clothes for horse riding.

"Hey Amanda, are you ready to go?" Victoria stepped out on the porch struggling to put her long hair up in a bun.

"Yep." The 9-year-old replied and led Victoria to the stables. She watched the older woman as she acquainted herself with the two horses and finally decided it would be best to work with Aunt Charlotte's favorite horse, Pumpkin.

The day before Amanda had refused to go anywhere near those animals and had left Charlotte alone with Daniel in the stables. A decision, she later regretted, because she had seen how Daniel- much to her aunt's delight- had cared for the horses almost as passionately as his mother. It made her more than just a little bit jealous to witness how the Grayson boy, with his 6 years, already seemed to know everything Charlotte tried to teach him, but now that she saw his mother in the stables, Amanda knew where his experience came from.

In the meantime, Victoria had placed the saddle on the horse's back while Amanda still figured it would be best to keep a safe distance.

"Don't you want to help me?" Victoria offered as she reached for the halter.

Amanda shook her head and waited outside until the brunette had finished and came walking towards her with the horse by her side.

"Mrs Grayson, I'm not sure if this is a good idea, maybe I should see what my Dad is doing." Amanda felt her hands getting sweaty and stepped back.

"Amanda, how many times do I have to tell you that you can call me Victoria?" She didn't understand why the girl refused to accept her at least as a friend. "Come on, this is going to be fun." She smiled at David's daughter and motioned for her to follow.

For some reason, Amanda obeyed. She didn't want to appear scared or weak in front the older woman. She wanted to show her that she was not just a cute little girl, but rather a brave daughter, who would never stop fighting for her Dad.

Thus, Amanda forced herself to step forward although her knees were already shaking. The whole situation got even worse when Victoria helped her to mount the horse.

"There you go." Victoria said happily, remembering the first time she had sat on a horse and how it amazing it had felt. "Now sit up straight Amanda."

However, the girl did not respond and stiffened her positions as she clawed to the saddle.

"I know that you can do it. Just try." Victoria encouraged her stroking Pumpkin's side.

A few moments later, Amanda still didn't show any reaction and Victoria began to worry, so she cautiously touched the girl's leg.

"Are you okay, Amanda?" She asked worriedly. "Amanda? What is wrong?"

All of a sudden, the girl's lips began to tremble and silent tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh, God, Amanda. Do you want to get down again?" Her response was an insecure nod as sobs began to shake her body.

Victoria had no clue what she had done wrong, so she simply focused on keeping herself from panicking and assisted David's daughter to get down from the horse's back.

As her feet touched the ground, Amanda still didn't stop crying and just stood there, her whole body shaking as if she was about to break down.

Victoria felt helpless. What was she to do? Seeing the 9-year-old so vulnerable broke her heart and she didn't have the slightest idea what caused those intense feelings.

As if on cue, Victoria felt her instincts kick in. She suddenly realized that the girl standing in front of her was not just someone's daughter. She was the sister of her unborn child and as she had acknowledged earlier, she was her family now. Just as much as Daniel was her family.

So she finally did the one thing that felt natural to her, as a mother and a protector, she pulled Amanda into a close hug and much to her surprise, the girl didn't protest, so Victoria began stroking her blonde locks like she knew David always did.

"Sshh." She whispered and let Amanda rest her head on her chest while tears were streaming down her face. The next second, the girl unexpectedly wrapped her trembling arms around Victoria's waist and buried her face in the older woman's clothes.

Victoria was speechless. She would have never imagined David's daughter to be willing to get so close to her, not to mention to seek comfort in her presence. Not that she didn't like it, she just didn't expect it to happen.

Overwhelmed by her own motherly feelings and the urge to soothe the girl, Victoria kneeled down and took Amanda's sweaty hands into hers.

"Amanda, please stop crying. You can talk to me. What is wrong?" She used her thumb to wipe the tears from the girl's face, but her uncontrolled sobs kept her from talking.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Victoria didn't know what else to do or say to calm her down, so she pulled her into a comforting hug again.

From one second to the other, Amanda widened her eyes in shock, gasping to stop the tears from escaping her eyes. She grabbed Victoria's shoulders and pushed herself away from the older woman.
She didn't understand what had just happened. How did she end up crying her eyes out in Victoria's arms when she had sworn to never show any signs of weakness in front of her only 5 minutes earlier?
She was so eager to create a distance between herself and her father's girlfriend, that she almost fell over on her way backwards.

"Don't touch me." Amanda breathed, confused by her own actions. Something deep within her had drawn her into Victoria's arms and she hated to admit it, but she had felt protected. The way she had stroked her hair, how warm her body had felt and how careful she had wiped her tears away. It evoked such a familiar feeling within Amanda, such a good feeling.

Nevertheless, she had to push that thought aside. She wouldn't be influenced so easily. In contrast to her Dad, she would never allow that woman to gain so much power over her. She would stay strong.

"Amanda, I only wanted to help you." Victoria was taken aback by her sudden change of mind. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Amanda returned clearing her throat. "I want to try again."

"Are you sure? You don't have to do this with me if you don't like horses. Your dad and I, we won't be angry with you."

Oh, so now she thought it was appropriate to speak for her father? To refer to them as we? Like they belonged together? Amanda's previous contradictive feelings for Victoria were forgotten quickly, when anger began to cloud her judgment again.

"I don't care. I just want to try again." She snapped and as she glared at the brunette, Victoria recognized such strong determination in the girl's eyes, that it almost scared her. However, she did not intend to break the eye contact when it dawned on her slowly : Behind that fierce stare Amanda tried to hide her fear. It reminded Victoria of herself and she knew from her own experience that she couldn't do anything against that stubbornness, so she decided to give the girl another chance.

"Okay, then." Victoria got up and helped David's daughter to mount the horse again. "But if you're scared or something, just tell me. Nobody forces you to do this."

"I'm not scared." Amanda emphasized, but still had a hard time to relax on the horse's back.

Yes, this girl was definitely just as stubborn as Victoria herself was.

During the lesson Victoria explained everything to Amanda and made sure to stay close enough to the horse, so that the girl had a feeling of security.
After more than an hour of intense work, Victoria realized that David's daughter had made huge progress. She had done everything the older woman had told her and now she was finally able to keep her body just in the right position on the horse.

"That is perfect, Amanda!" Victoria said and as she saw a content smile creeping on the girl's face, she felt proud, not even of herself for her teaching skills, but proud of Amanda for not giving up.

"I knew you could do it!" She stated happily. "I'm so proud of you." The words just slipped from her mouth, but as Amanda turned her head and sent Victoria a genuine smile, she was glad that she had voiced her pride. She wanted the girl to know that she cared for her as a family member.

"I want to tell my Dad." Amanda returned, amazed by the outcome of her riding lesson. With Victoria staying by her side, she had been able to shake off her fear and in fact, she found it quite easy to trust her and her instructions. Even the thought of her being a good teacher crossed her mind more than one time.

"I don't think that's necessary." Victoria laughed feeling David's lips brushing her neck as he walked past her and towards his daughter.

"Did you see me, Dad?" Amanda almost screamed when her father took her into his arms while Victoria took care of Pumpkin praising him for his patience.

"You've been out here for quite some time and I wanted to check on my favorite girl." David explained, relieved that Victoria and his daughter had obviously enjoyed their time together. "But I see you two didn't even miss me."

"Your daughter was very ambitious to learn." Victoria said smiling at Amanda, who avoided the eye contact shyly.

"I didn't expect anything different from my baby girl." David stated proudly, earning a kick from his daughter.

"Dad! I'm not three anymore!" Her cheeks blushed with embarrassment. "Is Charlotte home again?"

"Yes, why?" David replied, amused by Amanda's behavior. She didn't want to admit it, but she obviously did care about what Victoria thought of her.

"I'll go back to the house then. At least, Charlotte doesn't treat me like I'm still a toddler." The 9-year-old claimed and started running back to the house, excited to tell her aunt everything about her day. In addition to that, she also felt strange standing there with her Dad and Victoria actually enjoying their company instead of wasting her anger on that woman like she had done so many times before. That feeling of comfort scared her more than anything and she didn't know if she was ready to let it take over her mind.

"Thank you so much." David smiled and pressed a kiss onto Victoria's lips as soon as his daughter was out of sight.

"We had a great time, David. I think your decision was right." Victoria explained. However, she was still irritated by Amanda's previous emotional outburst. "But I need to ask you something. Has Amanda ever had a negative experience with horses? At first, she seemed so terrified and even started crying. I was really worried about her."

David knew he had to tell her, now that she was so close to discovering the truth. "Well, actually, yes." He admitted. "When she was a little girl, she tried horse riding together with her mother. But she fell off the horse and it almost stepped on her, so I guess she's a bit traumatized because of that. But I didn't expect her to still be so frightened. I assumed she would have forgotten about it."

Victoria was shocked. How could David not tell her about this beforehand? She would have taken things more slowly with Amanda!
But before Victoria could start her rant, she remembered the happiness that had filled her body that morning and also the fact that her relationship with Amanda had grown significantly in such a short time, so that she decided to avoid a fight with David. "Considering that, your daughter learnt very quickly. I think she even enjoyed it in the end."

"She looked very happy to me. You must have taught her well." David smiled and closed his arms around Victoria's waist. "And I also have to compliment you about how gorgeous you look in these clothes."

"You're such a flatterer." Victoria giggled as David started to place kisses on her neck and her collarbone.

"I'm not. It's the truth." David continued and gently nibbled at her earlobe. Her girlish giggles were probably his favorite sound in the world, because they meant that she was carefree and could be herself.

"Stop." Victoria pushed him away playfully. "Remember what your aunt said about no witnesses around next time?"

"I don't see any." He pulled her close again, desperately wanting to please her, to love her, to hold her.

"I do." Victoria placed her hands on his chest. "Pumpkin may be a horse, but still he's got eyes."

"Let's go inside then. You've been on your feet for far too long anyways. It's time for you to rest."

"Actually, I want to take Pumpkin out for a ride myself. I need some time to think and be on my own for a while." She cleverly used David's confusion to step to the side and swing herself on the horse's back with ease.

"To think about what exactly?" David asked curiously. He wanted to be with her so badly, but he had to respect her wish for privacy. They were in a complicated situation after all.

"About everything. I just need to clear my head." Victoria explained.

"But be careful and don't go too far. We're still in danger." David looked up at his lover, admiring her beauty and the elegance with which she sat on the horse.

"I know. I promise I'll be back in an hour." She smiled, already excited about the fun adventure she would have all on her own.

"Okay, take care then." Before he could say anything else, Victoria was already galloping over the huge grazing land until David finally lost sight of her.

I hope that you're satisifed with the first real Victoria/Amanda scene. As always, please leave a review to tell me what you think. They mean so much to me! :)

I can't believe that Revenge returns TONIGHT! I'm sooo excited! But I'm also a bit afraid about what will come to light about David. I will never see him as a bad guy and no matter what the writers of the show decide to make of his character, it won't affect my story. xx