Once again Amy was left to suffer through a long journey filled with an uncomfortable silence as she sat beside Jack in his old Chevy. Unlike Ty, who blared his radio, Jack didn't bother to turn his on and merely stared straight through the windshield as he navigated through a series of long country roads that were only vaguely familiar to Amy from the day before. Jack said he wanted to have a talk, but he had yet to even say a word to her. Either he didn't know how to go about it or changed his mind. Personally, Amy hoped it was the latter. She really didn't want any more lectures or speeches that day. It wasn't even noon and she was already spent and ready to crawl into bed.

Unfortunately, it was when she let her guard down and her mind wander out toward the vast expanse of rolling pasture land all around them, contemplating how easy it would be to get lost as one farm collided with the next with seemingly no dividing line until you looked closely to see the barbed wire stretching from one earth-toned pole to the next, that Jack decided to break the monotony.

"I'm sorry for my idiot grandson saying those things to you. I thought he was raised better than that." From his tone it was obvious Jack was still ticked off about it. Amy was too since it was brought up again and she was left to relive the moment forever embedded in her bitter memories after she'd been about to find a place of serenity for the first time in a very long time. For a moment all of her problems and concerns muddled in her mind and she was so close to forgetting about them, if only for a short while. That instant of peace was gone faster than she could get it to come.

"Being a jerk isn't necessarily hereditary," Amy grumbled as she looked out her window toward a working oil pump in the distance. Jack acted nothing like his moody grandson and Amy regretted how easily Ty could get her riled up to the point where even Jack wasn't immune to her explosive attitude. As much as Amy didn't want to be there, he didn't deserve that. He opened his home to her and battled her reluctance with all the patience in the world. Ty was a different story. He didn't want her there any more than Amy wanted to be and rather than find peace on that common ground they clashed in a battle of wills.

"You never met his father," Jack argued, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. "Brad wasn't exactly world's greatest dad. Wouldn't call him anything more than a sperm donor, to be honest."

Amy turned her eyes away from the window to look at Jack, trying to read the look of contempt in his gaze as he talked about his son-in-law. She had wondered what happened to Ty's parents. She learned that his mother died, like her own, but there was no mention of his father. She also assumed that if she were to bother asking, then those same questions would be reciprocated and Amy didn't want to know that badly.
"So, is that why he's so angry? Daddy issues?" In some indirect way Amy could relate, knowing her own child was going to suffer the same fate of growing up with an absentee father. She just hoped she was around to do a better job of raising him, or her, not to be bitter about it. Ty might not be happy that she was invading his life, but his bitterness toward her went deeper than just that. There was anger somewhere inside that he was having a hard time trying to suppress and it sometimes slipped through the cracks.

But Jack was shaking his head. "It's not just that, but it doesn't help matters that Brad was never around with Ty growing up or showed much interest in him at all. I tried but…" He stopped there, not wanting to start anything with Ty if he found out that Amy now knew his entire life story and could possibly use it as a weapon against him. With the way things were fuming between them, he didn't want to give her that kind of ammunition without knowing she wouldn't use it maliciously. He liked to think she was a bigger person than that, but sometimes it was hard to control what was said in the heat of rage. And Ty seemed to know how to stoke that fire.

"We all have our inner demons," he finished, turning to Amy and giving her a curt nod. He knew she did too, that were more than likely rooted in the child she was carrying.

Amy sighed and turned away from him, shifting to slouch further in the seat. "Way to be subtle, Jack." She could sense a prompt when she saw one. "I'd prefer to keep my inner demons…inner, if you don't mind." There were just some things that needed to be kept private.

"It might make things a whole lot easier for us all if we knew the whole story. It's your business, I get that, but you and Ty are a lot more alike than either of you would care to admit. You're both stubborn, strong-willed, and heavily guarded. Your pasts are your pasts and you don't want anyone judging you for them while you try to make peace with them. The problem with that is it hobbles you from truly moving forward. You hold it in so people won't learn the truth, but it's the truth that will set you free." The words weighed heavily in the silence that followed. Once again Jack managed to find a way to form a chink in her armor and for a moment Amy contemplated pros and cons. She wanted to make some snarky comment about quoting scripture, but for once bit her tongue and let it go. For purely selfish reasons, she weighted the cons.

"Sometimes the truth hurts," she eventually replied in another effort to hopefully get Jack to back down and just leave well enough alone. He wasn't demanding answers, but he was hoping she would provide them anyway.

"Only for a little while," he added gently, letting the conversation, or more like borderline interrogation in Amy's eyes, drop at that. While he did hope Amy would eventually offer some kind of insight, he was willing to wait until she was ready. It had only been a couple of days and trust wasn't just something that was automatically given, especially by someone who had been betrayed one too many times. Even if she never fully came to trust him with such delicate information, Jack hoped she would at least trust that his motives were genuine and he harbored no hidden agenda by taking her in. He certainly didn't owe Tim Fleming any favors. In fact, he had a lifetime of them to cash in on Amy's father. That wasn't what this was about. Ty hit it pretty hard when he claimed it was Jack's bleeding heart that led them there. It was also his bleeding heart that managed to turn a several dozen lives around for the better. Amy and her child were just another pair to hopefully add to that list, but it seemed it was the change in demographic that threw everyone off. She wasn't a criminal, had no record or outstanding warrants. She was just a girl who made a few poor decisions in her young life and now had to face the consequences for the rest of it. She didn't deserve to be punished for that, even if she saw her banishment as the cruel and unusual sort.

Sitting in the waiting area of the doctor's office with Jack was a little more nerve wracking than Amy anticipated. And, no, it wasn't because she was an 18-year-old girl in an OB/GYN office with a man old enough to be her grandfather. She didn't care how scandalous they may look to others. She had bigger concerns and there was a stack of them clipped to the board in her lap. The first couple of pages of the new patient forms went by easily, but then Amy became stumped and increasingly uneasy when they began to seek information she was not able to give. She flipped back and forth between the pages, the pen rolling between her fingers in a desperate attempt to hold herself together. The questions provided weren't bringing good thoughts and provoked even worse memories.

Aside from her fidgeting hand, Amy remained very still in her chair, aware of Jack sitting right next to her with his newspaper that she'd bet money he found less interesting than the blank pages in Amy's lap. She didn't dare sneak a peek to see if that was in fact the case, not wanting to provide an opportunity for him to comment. But if he was being nosy then he was sure to notice her hesitation.

"I don't even know why I have to fill these out now. What if I don't approve and want another doctor? Then I'd have wasted my time doing this," she huffed, letting the folded pages fall back to cover the empty spaces on the others. Jack told her their visit was merely a consultation. He said if she didn't like Dr. Virani then they'd find someone else. Right now she wanted someone else who wouldn't ask so many invasive questions.

"And if you do then we'll have to sit here longer while you finish and as much as I enjoy having a reason to make my grandson do all of the work, there are other things I want to do today." He glanced sideways at her from his paper.

"You're the one who set this up," Amy argued.

"It's called being proactive," Jack replied as his attention drifted back to his reading. "You never get anywhere in life always reacting or life will define how you live it. Get ahead of it and you'll make your own path."

"That's deep Dr. Covey, but I think I should be in charge of my own path." Amy stood and placed the half empty clipboard on the counter for the receptionist.

"You are. But you aren't the only one affected by the choices you made thus far. I was merely taking charge of my life by setting up this appointment so it wouldn't have to be done at a time when no one is available to take you." He shook out the paper as Amy came back to her seat.

"I could have taken myself. I'm old enough to drive, you know." She didn't like being treated like such a child. She was eighteen. In the eyes of the law, she was officially an adult now. Even if she wasn't, the fact that she was going to become a parent pretty much forced her to grow up whether she was ready or not. But Amy learned to grow up long before then. Even if she didn't know a lot about raising a child, she at least knew she needed to have a doctor to guide her through her pregnancy. If Jack hadn't gone ahead and been "proactive" without even consulting her first, Amy would have done it on her own. After she was no longer in denial about her fate there in Hudson, anyway.

Jack chuckled. "Except you're forgetting you need a vehicle to get anywhere around these parts. Or a horse. And seeing as you don't have much interest in them or have a truck of your own, I'd say you're pretty much at the mercy of those of us that do."

Amy gave the cowboy a hard look. "I'm never going to be able to win with you, am I?"
Jack was quiet for a moment. "It's not about winning and losing. But if you want to win, then you shouldn't look at it like you're losing."

Her eyes narrowed, trying to make sense of what Jack just said to her. She wasn't sure if she should be calling bullshit or absorbing those words of wisdom. But before she could figure it out the doctor appeared in the doorway with a welcoming smile.

"Jack! How are you?"
Jack closed his paper and stood, Amy following suit, and embraced the doctor like an old friend. "Doing good, Tricia. How's the world of a medical specialist treating you?"

"I have to say I don't miss dealing with bullheaded old men like you. Though sometimes the hormones in this place are a little too much for even me to take," she laughed. Before Dr. Virani moved from family practice to obstetrics she was recruited by Lisa to serve as Jack's physician after his former passed away - unbeknownst to him who hadn't scheduled an appointment in several years until his heart attack. They had a very strained, argumentative, relationship in the beginning when Jack would skip appointments and challenge every treatment she tried to prescribe. Eventually, things leveled out between them when he learned that she pushed back a lot harder than he did. Now that Tricia had gotten out of general practice, it was back to square one with his new physician.

"I don't doubt it." Jack shifted to look at Amy then as if it was the mention of overpowering hormones that reminded him she was still standing there. "This is the young lady I called about."

Dr. Virani shifted her smile to Amy, extending her hand. "Yes, Amy Fleming. It's nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Tricia Virani."

Amy took the good doctor's hand. "Hi." She was polite, not curt, but her guard raised and held at the ready to attack at the first sign of offensive maneuvers.

"I'll let you ladies get acquainted. I'll be here when you're done," Jack told Amy, moving to sit back with his newspaper. This was going to be his only chance today to read it, so he was going to take advantage of the free time while he had it. It wasn't time he was used to having and didn't always know how to fill it when he did, often finding some other small task that could probably wait for another time but why put it off when he had the time then. Now he had nothing else to do but wait for Amy, and that was what he was going to do.

"Come on back, Amy. I'll try not to keep you long." Dr. Virani held out her arm to herd Amy toward the door leading into the back then into an empty examination room. Because it was merely an introductory visit, there weren't any ominous tools or machines sitting out in the room. Everything was clean and neatly tucked away.

"Have a seat." Amy scooted up onto the table and hung her legs over the edge to face the doctor when she rolled a stool over from beneath the counter. She sat with Amy's half-filled out packet of papers, going through the pages.

"Do you know how far along you are?" And there started the interrogation.
"Ten weeks and four days." Amy answered automatically without so much as a pause, causing Tricia to lift her eyes with interest.
"That's very precise. So you know the conception date then."
"I wrote it on the paper." She really hated answering obvious questions. Of course she was going to keep track of every unprotected sexual encounter she ever had with a guy. What self-respecting woman didn't? Not that it was hard, at least not for her, since there was only that one time. That one stinking time when all the odds had been stacked against her.
"I see that's about all you wrote," Tricia went back to flipping through the first couple of pages that were complete with Amy's medical history. "You don't have any information on the father?" Those were the pages left unfinished; the answers Amy didn't know.
"Not enough to make much of a difference. We weren't very close." Amy fidgeted, sitting on her hands to keep from wringing them.
"I see." Tricia began to make notes on the page.

Amy stared at her hand, trying to read what she was writing down and feeling her defenses flare at the thought of what this woman must be thinking. What Ty said of her earlier was still burning on her nerves.
"I'm not a slut," Amy spoke up defensively, halting any assumptions before they could be made.
The doctor stopped writing and looked up at Amy a little surprised by her abrupt tone. "Of course not, dear. I never thought you were." Her voice was kind, but Amy still didn't believe she was being sincere.
"We only ask for the father's medical history because it helps us determine if there are any genetic disorders we should be aware of that could be passed on to the baby."
Amy's spine straightened. She hadn't thought of that before. Of what possible genetic anomalies her baby could have because of the son of a bitch that put it there.
"I-I really don't know." A new fear began to creep up on her that something could be wrong with her child. That he or she would be born with an autoimmune disease or congenital defect that would plague them and hinder his or her ability to have a full and normal life. Things were going to be hard enough for them.
"It's okay if you don't know. We'll just monitor the baby closely throughout the pregnancy to determine if there's any need for testing."
Blood began to drain from Amy's face. Suddenly this all became a little too serious and complex for her. "Testing?"
"For any kind of genetic anomaly. But we may not need to worry about it, especially not today. Today is just to get to know each other and determine if there is a next time. Okay?" Tricia assured the young girl, finishing her note then moving the clipboard off to the side.

She leaned her arms on her legs and studied her patient carefully, wanting to talk to her as a friend - a mother - rather than a doctor. "How are you coping with all of this? I know it's a lot for someone your age, especially when it's not planned. Do you have family who can help you?" It was easy to see the stress and uncertainty Amy was suffering through from her reactions. She was trying to maintain a poker face but was caught off guard and it slipped to reveal the truly scared young girl beneath.

Obviously Jack didn't inform Tricia of the whole story and Amy gave him credit for that, but now she was the one who had to do it. Slowly, Amy shook her head, lowering her eyes from the doctor's sympathetic stare.
"That's why I'm staying with Jack. He seems to be the only one who actually cares what happens to me." Saying it out loud, without a second thought, was the moment Amy realized she always knew it, but just so badly wanted to go home that she would have blackened the name of the pope if it got her there. Maybe Ty didn't care or her father, but Jack did. That was why he was doing all of this. It wasn't just about being proactive, but taking some of the weight from Amy's shoulders. He was showing her she didn't have to go it alone and would find the comfort she sought if she allowed herself to accept things as they were instead of fight them. It was what he'd been saying to her all along and what she tried to tell herself earlier that morning before climbing out of bed. It was the hurt of Ty's malicious words that caused her to regress.

Tricia nodded. "He's a good man, with a soft heart. His head on the other hand…" She smiled, making one tug at Amy's lips, too. "He likes to play hardball but I'd say he's definitely someone you can count on."

"Yeah," said Amy softly, biting lightly on her lip. It did make her feel better to hear it from more than just her father, whom she lost complete trust in, but she still had so many things to figure out in the long term it was hard to just focus on the here and now. Surely Jack wouldn't allow her to stay forever. It was just a temporary arrangement. At least that was the assumption she was under. However, Amy had no plan. She was just thrust into this situation without given a second to breathe or a moment to formulate a strategy and now she felt like she was just treading water trying to keep herself afloat, except she also had the added responsibility of a helpless child. It was a lot for her to process and only made her want to crawl back into bed. Facing the doctor today opened a whole new perspective and jar of worries to concern herself with.

Dr. Virani was still watching Amy carefully, seeing every frantic thought pass over her features. It wasn't often they dealt with teen pregnancy in Hudson, but before moving there from the city, Tricia saw quite a bit of it. She could see so many of those young girls in Amy now and not all of them were as well off. But every single one of them was able to find the little shining light to guide them through.
"Would you like to see your baby?" And that was it. That was what held them together despite being the thing the threw their lives into such chaos.

Amy lifted her eyes, feeling her heart thump harder in her chest. "Yes," she breathed. The thought of getting a glimpse of the life inside of her made her more excited than she'd been for anything since before discovering it was there at all.

Dr. Virani smiled again. "Okay. Let's set something up for the beginning of next week." Standing, she tucked the clipboard beneath her arm and invited Amy to walk with her back to the receptionist.

For a moment Amy's excitement had been trampled, thinking she meant now. But when they set up the appointment for first thing Monday morning, Amy then realized that she had something to look forward to to get her through the rest of the week. If she could just make those little milestones for herself, getting from one day to the next wouldn't seem so agonizing. Then maybe, she'd find it easier to acclimate to small town life on a ranch.