I know what you're thinking: It's about damn time. You're right. You're right. I apologize for the long wait, but I did warn you, didn't I? Anyway, here is the newest installment of the TNS saga. I can now say a definite two chapters remain, so gear up for the finish.
"Good girl," Amy smiled proudly, patting Chloe's painted neck then turning her eyes up to Georgie. "You too, Georgie. Thanks so much for all your help this week." Since Amy promised Ty she wouldn't exert herself with the horses in exchange for going back to work, she commissioned her niece to assist her in the more physical parts of Chloe's treatment and the teen was eager to help.
"Thanks!" Georgie beamed, ruffling the mare's frosted mane that she sat astride. "She's a really nice horse. I'm glad you let me help." Swinging her leg over, the girl jumped down and took the reins from Amy, but the smile began to slide from her face as she hesitated before heading to the barn to untack.
"What's the matter?" Amy asked, her face softening with concern.
"Lou told me not to ask. She said it might be too soon, but…I was just wondering…" Georgie paused, wetting her lips and lowering her brown gaze toward the sand.
"What is it, Georgie?" Amy prompted softly, her brow knitting with curiosity.
After another moment of consideration, the girl lifted her eyes to her aunt. "Are you and Ty going to have another baby?" When Amy didn't answer right away, trying to form some sort of response, Georgie went on quickly, "It's just that I was really excited to hear I was going to have a cousin. And to babysit and…stuff…" she trailed off, realizing she might have started to sound selfish.
It had been a little while since the accident was brought up by anyone, including her and Ty. The only reminders Amy had were the nightmares and fading aches in her ribs that only bothered her if she turned a certain way or moved too quickly. They were trying to focus on getting their lives back together, which included reintegrating into their jobs. But the topic Georgie brought up was one Amy knew she and Ty were going to have to explore together eventually. At the moment she wasn't even sure of that answer herself. "I don't know, Georgie," she answered with a slow shake of her head. "But Lou's right, it is too soon to think about." Amy watched Georgie nod and lower her eyes again as she adjusted her grip on Chloe's reins and started to turn the horse away toward the barn.
"Okay," the girl answered, pausing a moment while her fingers fiddled with the leather. "I'm sorry I brought it up again. I didn't mean to upset you."
Amy offered her a warm smile. "It's alright, you didn't." It was a hard topic to think about and always would be, but Amy was having a much easier time with it now than she had been a couple of weeks ago. Coming from Georgie, Amy didn't give it a second thought. "Hey," she added when Georgie started walking away, waiting for her to pause and look back. "If we do you'll be the first to know. Okay?" That made Georgie smile and nod quickly before leading Chloe back to the barn to untack and brush her while Amy headed for the office to make a phone call to Chloe's owner to let her know the horse was ready to go home.
She fell into the old chair that always felt like it was going to give out at any moment, a sense of relief and calm enveloping her. Not long ago Amy questioned every aspect of her life from her job, to her family, to her future. Not a single piece of it felt certain or secure as it all fell apart at the seams in seemingly one instant. Everything she thought she held in her hands - all of her happiness - just slipped through her fingers. She didn't know if she'd be able to ever face Ty, or her father, or what happened. She didn't know if she would be able to help Chloe after causing more damage to the mare because of her own pain. She didn't know if she and Ty would ever be able to get on their feet again after the accident that took away a precious part of them and their future. It all felt so up in the air and some of it still did, but finding their way through some of those challenges together didn't make the rest of it seem so bad anymore.
They suffered through one of the worst things any parent could ever imagine going through and came out breathing together on the other side. Amy managed to reverse the damage she'd done with Chloe and now the horse had a bright future ahead of her as a great companion and friend. Her father was one of the things that Amy had yet to face head on, having been avoiding him since their encounter on the road. He'd tried getting in contact with her several times, both in person and over the phone, but she dodged his calls and turned the other way when she saw him approach, grabbing any excuse to leave that she could. She felt in a good place now and was afraid that progress would be stumped if they fell into another argument. But it was just as hard to avoid him. Before announcing the pregnancy things had been good with them all. Even if he still had his reservations about her marriage to Ty, he kept them to himself and they respected one another's space and role in Amy's life. Now it felt like she'd been left to choose, and chose Ty. She would always choose Ty and she knew that, but she didn't want to ever have to make that choice. They were always going to have their differences, but Amy still loved her dad and wanted him to continue being a part of her life and the life of any child she and Ty decided to have in the future - if they decided to try again.
Amy hung up with Chloe's owner and stared at the open spreadsheet on the laptop in front of her, tapping the end of a pencil on her open journal where she'd been filling in Chloe's entry before Georgie came down to help work with the horse. Her day was finished now but going home didn't appeal to her when Ty wasn't there. He was currently picking up an extra shift with Scott, covering one of Cassandra's as an apology for leaving her hanging the week before. Plus the extra money wouldn't hurt. He'd been tentative to do it, still wary of leaving Amy alone, but she made a promise across her heart not to ride or do anything too physical and stuck to it for his sake. Watching Spartan doze in his stall then perk his ears when she'd walk by made her feel guilty for ignoring him. She could see him over her laptop through the open office door, watching Georgie with Chloe, but one ear was turned in Amy's direction. He knew she was in there. "Spartan," she said his name, watching his ear twitch before he turned to look at her, bobbing his head and kicking at the stall.
"Hey! Spartan!" Georgie scolded the black gelding, walking over to pet his neck.
"I've got it, Georgie. You can turn Chloe out back," Amy said as she stood from the desk and came out into the barn aisle, offering her hand to her horse who lipped at it affectionately.
"I know you miss our rides. I do, too." She sighed and rested her forehead against Spartan's cheek, scratching his poll then combing her fingers through his coarse mane. It had been weeks since she rode him, or worked him in any way and it was starting to take its toll on them both.
"Amy." A gentle voice startled her into looking up, her stomach jolting in her gut when she saw her father standing there. He gazed at her a moment before reaching up to remove the cowboy hat from his head and run nervous fingers through his hair. "C-can we talk? Please?"
Swallowing, Amy looked away from him to Spartan. "I was just about to take Spartan out. Maybe later?" She reached up to take his halter from the hook and began fastening it over his head.
"Should you be riding yet?" Tim didn't miss the way Amy used Spartan as an excuse to get away from him. It's all she'd been doing lately to keep from having to face him. It broke his heart that his daughter wanted nothing to do with him, but he knew it was his own fault.
"I don't think it's any of your business what I should and shouldn't be doing," Amy snapped at him, throwing back the bolt to Spartan's stall and leading him out into the aisle. She really wasn't supposed to ride yet, but Tim didn't know that. Amy was just hoping that if she made a show of it he'd get the hint and leave.
Tim's mouth snapped shut at Amy's tone. "Okay. You're right. I'm sorry. But, Amy, you can't just keep avoiding me. We need to talk." He followed after her as she went to grab Spartan's tack.
"Why? So you can insult my marriage and my husband some more? I get it, Dad. You think I can do better. Well, maybe I don't want to do better because I'm perfectly happy and content with what I have." Amy jerked her saddle from the rack, wincing when a sharp pain radiated through her side that made her nearly drop it until Tim reached out to take it from her. "I can do it myself," she insisted, reaching out to take the saddle back but Tim refused to give it back.
"Just.. let me help you so you don't hurt yourself." Tim ignored her resentful glare and took the saddle over to the black horse and lifted it onto his back, shifting it in place.
"Thank you," Amy said with some bitterness, still unable to be rude to her father despite her desire to get away from him now. But he just hurried along her getaway plan so Amy started cinching up.
"You're right. I do think you can do better. And I think Ty can do better. I know he's not the same man he used to be. I've been around him long enough to know he's turned his life around and worked his ass off getting through school and becoming a vet. I respect him for that, for making something of himself after the hard life he had. But I also don't think either of you are ready to bring a child into the world." Until that last sentence had come from Tim's mouth, Amy had slowed her movements and listened, feeling her walls start to melt away and her will to hear him out return. But at that last line she turned a scowl in his direction.
"Because we live in a trailer and there's so much more out there in the world." Amy tried not to mock her father's words from before. "Yeah, we've been through this before." She returned to tightening the cinch.
"No…" Tim shook his head. "Well, that's part of the reason. But what I mean is you guys are still so young. Your mother and I weren't much older when we had you and look what happened to us. I loved you girls and I missed you terribly when I was gone, but I was so caught up in achieving my own dreams before settling down that after my accident my whole life just fell apart around me because I had lost sight of what was really important - what other dreams I had outside the rodeo circuit."
"I don't see how that relates to Ty and me. You were gone all of the time, Dad. We wouldn't see you for weeks at a time and when you did finally come home you were leaving again. At least Ty and I see each other every day. We go to bed together and wake up together. I can't remember a time you tucked me into bed. If you're worried about Ty being an absentee father I can guarantee he'll be a better one than you were," Amy snapped, unintentionally hitting a sensitive spot in Tim's front where his expression visibly turned hurt and Amy instantly felt terrible. "I'm sorry," she apologized in a softer tone, lowering her hands from the saddle.
"No, you know, you're right. I wasn't a good father back then, but I've been trying to make up for that and I'm still trying. I know Ty will be a great father. But I want you to learn from my mistakes. The things you want to do with your life - like that trip to Vegas - do it now. Do it before you start wishing you did it when you had the chance. Don't settle down and start having babies before you're ready. Really, truly ready. Children are a great thing and when you hold that little baby in your arms for the first time you'll be filled with this love and awe you never thought you'd ever feel. It's an amazing and miraculous thing. I just want you to step back and look at your life - your wants and dreams. You and Ty, you're going to build an incredible life together. I know that. I just don't want you to have any regrets, even if they are small ones. Okay?" Tim was done now, having said his peace to Amy without being dismissed or ignored. Whether she was ready to forgive him or not, well, that was up to her, but he said what he came to say and would leave if she asked. But until that request was made, Tim remained there in the aisle, studying his daughter who had been listening and studying him back.
Feeling that wall she'd build as a defense against Tim's criticisms melt away, a gentle smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She heard what he was saying, and understood where he was coming from. Tim had a lot of regrets when it came to his daughters, a lot of things he missed out on because he instead chose to fulfill his own hopes and wishes first. He didn't want the same for them. She got it. "Okay," was her soft answer. She then reached out to wrap her arm around her dad's waist, becoming enveloped by his arms and pressed against his chest, burying her face into his shoulder. "I love you, Dad."
Tim smiled over Amy's head, tipping his lips down to kiss her blonde hair. "I love you, too," he murmured into her hair, closing his eyes and feeling the relief wash over both of them as they stood together in the barn, a broken relationship mended.
A/N: Someone brought up an error in the story in regard to the Canadian healthcare system and how Amy's medical bills would be covered/she wouldn't have any. Being an American I overlooked that little detail but it was kind of an important step in the plot of the story and I had already written it out before thinking about it so I just left it and carried on as intended. To those who noticed, my bad. To those who didn't, well, now you know. ;)