With their first baby picture in hand, Amy walked with Ty out of the clinic and back to the elevator to take them down to the parking deck. The whole ride in the elevator was spent with the two of them bent over the sonogram photo of their little blob of a baby, adoring smiles plastered to both of their faces.
Ty slipped his hand behind Amy's waist as she leaned against the back wall. "It looks like me already, what do you think?" Already he was beaming with fatherly pride looking down at his child. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of staring at this picture or sharing it with anyone who'd stand still long enough to look. He made sure to get a copy to keep in his wallet.
Amy studied the picture carefully before pulling it away from Ty's hand to step back and hold it up next to his head. "Well… he's definitely a lot cuter than you are," she laughed softly, pulling the photo away as the elevator doors opened to the parking garage.
"Hey now, it's got half of my genes in him remember," Ty joked with Amy as they exited the elevator to head back to the truck.
"Yeah, but the cuter half comes from me," Amy shot over the truck as she climbed in beside Ty who was pulling his wallet out of his pocket to fold his copy of the sonogram image inside of it to carry with him everywhere.
Amy scooted closer to Ty in the truck before he had a chance to turn it on and get moving, shifting the photo between them again. "Isn't it amazing that this is our baby? I mean, it's really happening. This is the start of our family."
It was hard to believe that at the beginning of it all their future looked so questionable and uncertain from all of the ups and downs their relationship struggled through. Deep down Amy and Ty both knew that they wanted to spend their life with each other, but it was difficult for them to accept when so much had happened to get in the way over the years. Now, that all seemed so long ago as they were married and expecting their first child. Their dream of owning their own farm was still just a dream, but they continued trying to make it a reality any chance they got. Unfortunately, those chances were becoming few and far between. It didn't matter how long it took, though, Amy had faith that they would find their perfect ranch one day. Right now, wherever Ty was, that was home.
Ty lifted his eyes from the baby picture to his wife, watching her continue to gaze at the photo with so much love it made his own heart ache from the strength of it.
When his time at Heartland began, Ty never would have believed he'd be on a path that led him to this moment. He never thought he deserved such a wonderful life as he'd been given by the incredible girl that sat beside him. If he ever had children, he would have thought they'd come from some unprotected casual hook-up with a girl he met at a bar that didn't mean anything to him. He loved kids and would love any child of his no matter the mother, but the idea of marrying the woman he loved and actually having a real family never felt in the cards for him because he'd grown up in such a broken home he'd been afraid he wouldn't know how to appreciate it if it was given to him. He always just assumed he was on the similar path of his own father, or destined to become a lonely nomad constantly on the run from the law. Then he came to Heartland and met Amy and was welcomed so openly into her family that he spent ten years learning what it was like to actually be a part of a real home. He came to realize that he was in charge of his own fate and the decisions he made could make or break his future - but it was all up to him. Through the love and support of the Bartlett-Fleming-Morris', Ty learned that he was worth a damn and that he did deserve to love and be loved in return. Heartland changed his life and even though there were choices he'd made over the years that he would take back if he could, he wouldn't change this one for anything. He was ready to become a father and staring into the eyes of his wife as she held the photo of their child made him absolutely positive of that.
Amy looked up when Ty neglected to say anything in response to her comment, smiling when she saw him already staring at her, but wondering why he didn't answer. "What?"
Ty shook his head, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and running his fingers through the ends of her blonde hair. "You," he replied, leaning in to rest his head against her with a grin. "You are truly amazing, do you know that? I don't know how to thank you enough for turning my life around, making me your husband, and giving me a child. I think this can go down as one of the happiest days of my life next to our wedding day and of course the day we get to welcome this little one into the world." His head turned to look at the picture Amy still held, never being so proud of anything in his life even when all they were looking at was a grainy black and white photograph of a misshapen peanut.
"Well," Amy started, brushing her nose against Ty's cheek as he looked down at the photo, causing him to turn his head to look at her again, Amy tipping her head back to properly looking to his handsome face. "You know I can't take all the credit. It was your decisions that helped bring us here, too, and I couldn't have gotten pregnant on my own, so you deserve some credit for that as well. I'm really proud of you, Ty." Amy could still remember him as the boy in the loft who copped an attitude at just about everything and was as flighty as a bird. That Ty was gone now, replaced with a kind, loving, grounded, man that Amy loved more than life itself. She always figured she'd marry some cowboy, never thinking this juvenile delinquent that showed up in the wake of her mother's death would ever mean much of anything to her. Oh how wrong she was and, for once in her life, she was glad.
"You know I couldn't have done it without your help." It was Amy's encouragement and Ty's sheer desire to be better, for not only himself, but her as well that drove him to get his GED and attend vet school so he could eventually become a man they could both be proud of.
"Can't argue with you there," Amy joked, smiling as she tipped her head to press her lips delicately to Ty's.
"It's still pretty early yet. Do you want to maybe hold off on heading back home for a while and squeeze in that little shopping trip since we're here? Maybe grab some dinner before we head back?" Ty suggested once their lips parted. He knew Amy was probably eager to get home for a number of reasons, one of them being Lou who was impatiently awaiting her chance to get a glimpse at her little niece or nephew. But they were already in the city and even though it was technically Amy's fault they were late leaving this morning, Ty still felt bad they didn't have time to browse through baby things. Aside from anxious family members waiting for news and a new horse on the farm that Amy wanted to get started with, they had no obligations that couldn't be put off until later this evening or tomorrow.
"You know Lou is going to start harassing us if we take too long to get home," Amy informed Ty with a raise of her brow, but at the same time the power was in their hands and they could make Lou wait as long as they wanted and she could do nothing about it. Amy couldn't be that mean to her poor sister, but Ty was right: they were already here and Amy didn't know when they'd be back again before her next ultrasound in a few more months.
"Come on, Amy. It won't kill her to wait another couple hours. I'm sure she's busy with those guests at the Dude Ranch now anyway. Call her to let her know we'll be late if you feel that bad…or text her?" Ty added when Amy shot him a look that said she had no intention of calling Lou. she could already anticipate her exasperated sister guilt-tripping them into coming right home.
Amy thought about it for another minute. It really wouldn't hurt anything to remain in the city for another little while. That new mare would have a little extra time to settle in and Amy liked the idea of getting a few more hours alone with Ty and their baby before it was back to work for the both of them in the morning. "Okay. Let me just text Lou first so she doesn't freak out too much," Amy laughed, reaching for her phone and shooting Lou an apologetic text with a promise that they'd be in to show off the photos first thing when they got back.
Ty reached down to turn the key in the ignition when Amy stopped him. "Let's just walk from here. I saw a children's store just a couple blocks down and this way we don't have to feed the meter." It was also a rather nice day out despite some cloud coverage and, frankly, after that long drive into the city and with a long drive back, getting out to walk would be a nice change.
Ty nodded in agreement, removing the keys from the ignition and pocketing them as he got out of the truck. Not a minute after they started heading toward the exit of the parking garage did Amy's phone ring. Pulling it out, she rolled her eyes to see Lou's number appear. She took a moment to debate on answering it, but decided she'd better or else Lou would probably just continue to call.
"Hey, Lou."
"What do you mean you're not coming back?! I've been waiting all-"
"Lou. We're not coming back never. Just not for a few more hours." Amy shook her head at Ty's amused grin, which slipped a moment when he felt his pockets and realized he left his wallet lay in the truck.
"I'll be right back." He mouthed to Amy, pointing back toward the truck. She nodded, still trying to half pay attention to Lou's ranting on the other end of the line while Ty headed back to the truck.
"Lo-Lou." There was a crackling as Amy stopped to wait for Ty, hearing Lou's voice come in and out but even when it was in it wasn't understandable over the static. "Lou I can't hear you…hello?"
"Hell-? Am- Are- there?"
"I'm in a parking garage. Hold on a minute." Amy said loudly and slowly into the phone as she started moving toward the exit again to get out on the street where there was better reception.
Keeping the phone against her ear, Amy tried to listen for Lou's voice to come back in through the static. It continued to come in and out until the phone beeped and dropped the call completely. Pulling the phone from her ear, Amy sighed and paused in her walking to look at it. That pause, just a fraction of a second, before she made the decision to just wait to call Lou back when she got outside made all the difference.
The car collided with her right side, the driver having seen Amy a moment too late in the very poor lighting of the garage. Amy heard it coming and turned around to see where it was. In the fraction of a second before she was hit, she could see the horrified look of the man behind the wheel beyond the glare of the headlights, his whole body tensing as he slammed on the brakes to try and stop his momentum, but was too slow. The car plowed into her, tossing Amy up onto the hood like a rag doll, her head cracking against the windshield as the car slammed to a stop, sending her rolling back down and crashing to the pavement as her world abruptly went dark.
Ty heard the screeching tires as he was stuffing his wallet back into the pocket of his jeans, his head whipping around at the thud of a body rolling up and down the hood of the car. "Amy!" Panic tore through him as he broke into a sprint through the garage, squeezing between parked cars to get to the row where the accident occurred. Please don't be her, please don't be her, was all he could think to himself as he reached the scene of the accident. As much as he didn't want anyone to be hurt, he really prayed to God that it just wasn't Amy.
The driver got out, turning a traumatized look in Ty's direction as he slowed to a jog upon reaching the vehicle. "I'm so sorry. I… I didn't even see her," he stuttered, but Ty wasn't even pay attention to the man. His heart was racing in his throat as he saw Amy lying on the ground, her face covered by her hair that was partially matted with blood from the gash in her head from when it hit the windshield.
"Oh my god. Call an ambulance!" Ty shouted at the other man, feeling sick as he ran around to the front of his wife, falling down to his knees. His hands hovered over her, wanting to touch her but feared causing her pain. "Amy? Honey, answer me," Ty pleaded, carefully using his finger to push her hair away from her face. She didn't respond, Ty seeing her eyes closed and he was seized by sheer terror. "Amy. Amy, wake up. Amy you need to answer me. Please."