"What are you going to tell him?" Soraya asked.

They'd both skipped their afternoon classes and were hiding out in a back corner of the school library, a book in either girls' hands to keep the librarian's suspicions at bay.

"You say that like I have a choice," Amy said dully.

"When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know," Amy sighed, drawing her legs up and resting her chin on her knees.

"Lighten up Aims," Soraya urged. "Its not all bad."

"Really?" Amy was at a loss. "Remind me again what part of this isn't bad?" Amy demanded, her tone clearly saying that nothing could possibly make the situation worse.

"It's not all your fault," Soraya reminded.

"It's not Ty's fault."

"Well you didn't exactly do this on your own," Soraya corrected with a smirk.

"Ugh," Amy admitted defeat in winning Soraya onto her side. "He's too young to have to worry about this," She groaned, dropping her book to the floor and raking her fingers through her hair.

"Amy –"

"I just need to think about this," Amy cut her friend off. It wasn't often that she would silence her friend, but she had too many things running through her mind that needed to be sorted before she could listen to advice.

"Well you have all day tomorrow to think," Soraya said trying to sound optimistic.

"T.G.I.F," Amy frowned, trying hard not to imagine attempting to hide this secret from her family.

"Come on," Soraya said, picking up Amy's book and stowing it back on the shelf with her own. Standing, she held out her hand and helped the other up. "Matt's taking me to a movie, we'll give you a ride home."

"No. Matt's smart, he'll know something's wrong," Amy sighed, rubbing her temples. She was getting a headache. "Don't tell him," She pleaded, following Soraya outside and towards the buses. "Ty has to be the first to know… well, second."

"Amy, you're more of a drama queen than I am," Soraya mocked, pushing Amy's shoulder gently. "It's going to be ok."

"I don't see how, but I hope you're right." Amy mumbled into Soraya's shoulder as she was pulled into another embrace.

"Call me if you need anything," Soraya pressed, pulling back for Amy to board the bus. "I'll be worried if I don't hear from you by Sunday."

"Thanks," Amy nodded, the word holding a surprising amount of force and meaning.

Hugging her backpack and drawing her knees to her chest, Amy watched Soraya and Matt clasp hands when they joined together, walking in the direction of Matt's old Saturn. She watched their casual affection with envy. A mantra formed in her mind as the bus pulled away from the school.

Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me…

&

Avoiding her family was almost easier than Amy had imagined.

Throwing herself into Heartland, Amy worked with as many horses as she could fit into her timeslot after school. She timed what she accurately predicted to be a difficult join-up with a new arrival so she would miss supper with Lou and their Grandpa.

Cricket, a broad quarter horse had experienced an ordeal with his rider, the end result ended his young owner's riding career. After being passed from owner to owner and stable to stable, he finally ended up at Heartland. The constant changing and mishandling, had given Cricket a certain distrust for humans and a week previous, Amy had eagerly accepted the challenge. Anything to keep her mind off Ty.

Earning the animal's favour had proven a more time consuming task than Amy had originally anticipated, and she did not finally successfully join-up until just after the sun had disappeared behind the western horizon.

Leading Cricket back to his stall, Amy found Lou waiting at the barn door.

"What's up Lou?" She asked, trying to sound natural.

"Just watching. We saved you a plate," Lou answered, offering her hand palm up to Cricket who stretched his neck out cautiously.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to come out here to tell me that," Amy tried to sound sincere as she walked past her sister and into Cricket's stall.

"I just wanted to catch up with you," Lou did sound sincere. "I feel like I never get to talk with you anymore."

"We're both busy I guess," Amy reasoned logically, turning her back to her sister as she entered the stall with Cricket. "You're working on the wedding, I'm working on graduating."

"I was really hoping you'd be able to be more involved in the wedding," Lou sounded genuinely disappointed, prompting Amy to look up from the body brush she was reaching for to throw her sister a sympathetic look. "Do you want to come with me tomorrow to run errands? I have to check with some people about a tent and we could catch lunch in town," Lou's mood seemed instantly brightened at the idea.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Amy said slowly. "But Ty's going to be back tomorrow, I really want to be here when he gets back."

"He called earlier and told me," Lou nodded then frowned. "I talked to Nancy, she said you've been having a rough time lately, are you ok?"

Just get right to the point Lou. Amy thought with an amused smile. "I'm fine, I just really miss him."

"Maybe a break is exactly what you need," Lou said, again excited for the impending excursion. "I'll go make reservations at that Italian place you like."

Amy watched her sister trot off towards the house before turning back to Cricket with a sad smile.

"She's going to be so mad at me this time tomorrow," She whispered. The horse flicked an ear back then gently nudged the brush in Amy's hand with his nose. "Lets hope she's the only one who's mad at me," She added, fear rising in the form of a lump in her throat as she put her arms around Cricket's warm, strong neck.

&

Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me…

Amy repeated the chant over and over again in her head while she listened to her sister's ramblings about flowers, dresses and make-up as she followed her around town the next day.

Amy tried her best to pay attention to Lou, even succeeding from time-to-time, but as the time drew nearer to Ty's arrival, she found herself dwelling on the possible scenarios that had plagued her restless sleep the night before. Each scene that had played behind her sleeping eyes ended with her watching Ty's back as he left.

Lou had apparently decided to play the compassionate card and was attributing Amy's occasional lapses of attentiveness to her anxiousness to see Ty again. She was part right.

"He sure has been gone for a while," Lou remarked over lunch, pausing with her coffee cup halfway to her mouth.

"Too long," Amy nodded.

"Why did they leave again?" Lou asked. "I didn't really get the whole story from Ty."

"Brad was offered some high paying corporate job out west," Amy answered simply. "A lot of money was thrown his way and he thought that Ty would forgive him if he left the house for him."

"That's a pretty big gift," Lou said, her eyebrows climbing.

"Not if you've seen the house," Amy said honestly. "It's not much."

Lou fell silent, looking thoughtfully into her drink. Amy's mind wandered back to Ty and his flight that would be taking off any minute. He has no idea. She thought to herself. He's probably just thinking about coming back to work or maybe about the last weekend he was here…

&

Amy stood leaning over the rail to Pegasus's paddock. Jack had gone to the airport to collect Ty – she suspected this would be when his 'choice words' would be communicated, when she wasn't around to witness – so she had nothing to do but wait. She stood with here eyes closed, taking in the warmth of the sun and listening to the soft, cool breeze playing across the autumn darkened leaves. So focused on the sounds of the natural world around her, Amy missed the sound of footsteps on the gravel driveway until they were directly behind her.

Ty wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, clasping his hands over her stomach and resting his chin on her shoulder. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her cheek before looking out at the two small trees in the paddock.

"I've missed you," He said simply.

Amy kept her eyes closed, trying to memorize the warmth she felt emanating from his body to her own, to hold tightly to the feel of his body against her, she felt certain she would soon lose it. A tear fell from her eye.

"Amy what's wrong?" Ty asked when the second tear fell, this one making contact with his cheek, which was against hers. When she didn't answer, he dropped his arms and – gently holding her arms – turned her to face him. "Amy, it's ok. I'm back now and I'm not leaving again."

Amy gasped for air as her throat constricted around the lump that had formed in it – her eyes trained on the ground – wishing it were the truth. Wishing she could tell him how she hoped it was true.

"Aims," He whispered, reaching up to brush away her tears. She pulled back, looking up to meet his eyes. They were confused and worried but above all warm and loving. Another tear fell from her eye and she reached up herself to wipe it away. One word. Only one word and he won't be confused anymore.

"Amy, what's the matter?" He reached forward to hold her but against her yearning to feel his embrace, she held up her hand, stopping his advance.

"I have to say something," She said, her voice dying so she was forced to drop it to a whisper. "You don't have to worry about anything – this isn't your problem, it's mine – I don't want you to worry…" She paused, trying to steady her voice with a slow breath. Ty's eyes were boring into hers', trying to understand what she wasn't saying. She refused to look away. "Please know that I – that I'm sor… sorry," She struggled to get to the point. Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me…

"Amy what's wrong?" He demanded, grasping her shoulders and ducking his head so he was at her eye level. "Please tell me, maybe I can hel–"

"Ty, I'm pregnant," Amy whispered.

I love coming home to find 20 messages in my inbox ALL from :D!! Thanks to 'spazzysassyangel', 'XxMoonRiderxX' (you may be right!!), 'SugarBunnies16' (interesting indeed!), 'Madusa and The 'Wizard'' (I didn't mean to leave you all for so long! I hope this quick update makes up for that!!), 'Penny' (yeah, probably not a good thing), 'Alf08' (very perceptive!! lol, I got the email alerts… Finally!!). Also thanks to 'Shianna Gonna Shine' for the adds :D

I'll be posting another in a couple of days!!

-MM