A/N: Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one. :)

Chapter Three

Part-Time Mom

The next morning didn't start off that great. Ty had gotten called out on an emergency early this morning, so that left Amy alone with the kids. Everything was going fine, except for Lily, who was refusing to eat breakfast. She's rejected every cereal and breakfast alternative Amy has suggested so far. Lily stood in the middle of the kitchen, with her little arms crossed, pouting.

"Lily, you need to have something for breakfast," Amy told her daughter as she moved around her to the table. She poured milk into Jackson's bowl of cereal and shooed Lobo away from the table. Jackson splashed his spoon into the bowl, laughing a little as flyaway drops of milk landed on the table. "Jackson's having Cheerios, do want to have some with him?"

"No!" Lily exclaimed, stubbornly. "Pancakes!"

"I'm not making pancakes today, Lily," Amy said, kneeling down in front of her. Lily humphed and stomped a foot. "Now, if you eat some cereal, we can go outside and see the horses."

Ever since yesterday, when she rode Spartan at the birthday party, Amy couldn't stop thinking about how great it felt to be back in the saddle. She wanted to get back out there and work with the horses again. She only had three paying customers right now, but she really hadn't had a chance to work with any of the horses. Sometimes, Amy would get to work with one of the horses in the evening when Ty was there to help, but it usually turns into a riding lesson on Spartan or Harley for the kids. Today, Amy decided that she would work with the horses. Lily and Jackson will be fine sitting in the stroller, they'll love watching the horses anyway.

Lily didn't say anything, she just walked over to the table and Amy lifted her into her booster seat. Satisfied that Lily agreed to eat something, Amy poured some Cheerios into the purple My Little Pony bowl sitting on the table. She picked up the milk and started to pour it into the bowl, when Lily shot her hand, stopping her.

"No milk! No milk!" she cried. Amy put the milk back into the refrigerator without pouring it into the bowl, allowing Lily to eat her dry Cheerios with her hands. While she had her back turned, she heard a clatter on the floor and the scramble of paws as Lobo raced to get whatever fell. Amy turned around and saw Jackson's yellow tractor bowl upside down on the floor with spilled milk splattered around it. Jackson sat on the edge of his seat, finger in his mouth, looking guilty.

"Jack, what happened?" Amy asked him. Jackson just hung his head, and didn't say anything. Amy picked the bowl up off the floor and started to clean up the spilled milk with a wet towel. "We're you trying to be a big boy and carry your bowl to the sink?" Amy looked up in time to see the little boy nod his head a little.

That's where he usually gets himself into trouble. Jackson was only two, but he already wanted to do things independently, and being as quiet as he is, he doesn't ask for help when something's to hard. Amy sighed as she straightened up, this was taking much longer than she anticipated. Jackson slipped down from his chair and wrapped his small arms around Amy's legs.

"I sorry, mommy," he whined into her jeans.

"It's okay, just ask for help next time," Amy told him as she knelt down in front of him. Jackson nodded. "Now, how about you go get your motorcycle, so we can go outside?" Jackson nodded again, and ran off to get his toy.

"All done!" Lily chirped from her seat. Amy turned around and saw the little girl smiling at her as she held up her toy horse. "Spa-fin hungry too!" Amy smiled as Lily made the horse eat the remaining Cheerios in her bowl.

"That's great, but don't you want to go see the real Spartan?" Amy asked her as she lifted her out of the booster seat.

"Yeeaahh!" Lily squealed, and started running to the back door.

"Hold on, you have to get your sneakers on," Amy said, and Lily froze, hands up in the air. Amy carried over her pink-and-purple sneakers as Lily sat down on the floor. After Amy, finished velcroing the last shoe, Lily stood up with her arms stretched out wide.

"Ready!" she replied. She was wearing black stretch pants and a white short-sleeve shirt with a rainbow unicorn on the front. Amy pulled Lily's blonde hair up in a quick ponytail and stood up. Jackson came running back into the kitchen right then, with his blue motorcycle in his hands. He was wearing toddler jeans, a red t-shirt with a black-and-red race car on it, and he was already wearing his blue-and-green sneakers.

"Ok, you're going to get in the stroller outside," Amy told them as she opened the back door. Jackson walked outside and immediately started climbing into the double, side-by-side stroller. Lily, on the other hand, started whining.

"No stroller! No stroller!" she begged as Amy led her outside. Amy put their sweatshirts in the basket of the stroller. It was warm, but overcast and the wind was starting to pick up. She was hoping the rain would hold off until later in the day. Amy picked up Lily and put her in the stroller, who immediately cried. "Noooo!"

"Sweetie, you have to go in the stroller because mommy is going to work with one of the horses," Amy explained. "And it's very important that you stay in one spot."

Lily sniffled as Amy buckled her in. "Okaaay," she whined, wiping tears from her eyes. After she buckled both twins into the stroller, Amy started pushing the stroller to the barn. She called to Lobo, and the husky obediently walked beside the stroller. Jackson smiled when he saw the dog, and stretched his arm out, so that his hand was grazing Lobo's fur as they walked.

Amy parked the stroller by the round pen. "Ok, you two, be good for mommy," she told the twins. Both smiled at her as they started to play with their toys. "Lobo, stay." The husky sat down slightly in front of the stroller, then lowered himself all the way down to the ground. Satisfied the twins were quiet and staying put, Amy picked up the lead rope that was draped over the fence and let herself into the round pen.

Inside, a bay gelding lay in the sand and watched her approach. When she was a few feet away, the Quarter Horse got to his feet and shook the sand from his body. The gelding was an ex-barrel racer turned lesson horse for kids. But lately, he has been acting sour and hard to handle. Amy suspected she knew what the problem was, she just hasn't had time to really work with him to prove it. Oakley nickered to her and walked the rest of the way to her. She clipped the lead rope onto his halter and started with neck flexes on both sides. Then, she had the gelding do turns on the forehand and hind-end. All through the exercises, Oakley was alert and interested. He didn't show any signs of bucking or any other bad behavior. Thus, proving Amy's theory further, that he was just bored of chauffeuring kids around a dusty arena. Though, it was still early in the session, anything could change.

Amy had just set up some ground poles and a small jump for the gelding, when there was a loud cry from outside the round pen. She sighed inwardly when she saw Lily clutching her arm and crying. Tying Oakley to the fence, Amy hurried out of the round pen and knelt down in front of the distraught two-year-old.

"Lily, what happened?" Amy asked her, pushing some stray strands of hair out of her face.

Lily sniffed loudly and then pointed, accusingly, at Jackson. "Jack, bite me!" she cried.

"She throw my toy!" Jackson said back. Amy looked behind her and saw the blue motorcycle lying in the grass a few feet away. She went to pick up the toy and then came back to the stroller.

"Jackson, we don't bite people, even if they take our toys," Amy scolded the little boy, who looked down, sadly.

"I sorry," he mumbled. Amy patted his leg, reassuringly, and put the toy motorcycle on his lap. That seemed to cheer him up, because picked up the toy and began making engine noises.

"It hurts!" Lily wailed, still gripping her arm. Amy gently pried Lily's fingers off her arm to take a look at the wound. The wound was only a slight indentation of teeth marks, no blood, just a little bit of slobber. Amy gave her arm a good rub.

"You're fine," she assured her.

"He bad!" Lily pouted.

"Yes, he is, but you shouldn't have thrown his toy on the ground," Amy said. Lily got quiet right then. "Ok, I'm going back in the round pen, both you please be good." Both twins nodded, and Amy went back inside the round pen.

Oakley watched her as she approached and released him from his restraint. "Let's see what you can do," Amy said as she sent the gelding around the pen at a trot. The gelding hesitated once at the first ground pole, but took the rest confidently. He snorted and broke into a canter after landing on the other side of the small jump. Amy smiled and sent the gelding around again.

Oakley seemed to come alive as he cantered around. As small a course as this was, it was something he wouldn't have been able to do giving lessons to little kids. He wasn't misbehaving, he was trying to express to everybody that he was bored going around in circles. Oakley was used to the rodeo circuit, high-energy, something new each day, putting him in a school pony situation was a shock to him. Amy brought the gelding to a halt and walked over to him.

"You ready for something harder?" Amy asked the gelding as she clipped the lead rope to his halter. Oakley looked at her, his ears flicking forward, waiting to see what was going to happen next. She put her hands on the gelding's withers, preparing to mount up. She jumped and swung her leg over.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Amy nearly lost her balance and landed back on her feet. She sighed out loud, letting out her frustration. Giving Oakley a pat, Amy released him so he could have free range of the round pen. She draped the lead rope over the rail as she opened the gate and closed it behind her. Nothing seemed to be wrong as she walked over to the stroller. Jackson was sitting unusually still and Lily was still calling to her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Amy asked.

Lily pointed to Jackson and said, "Jack pee-peed."

Amy looked at her son, and confirmed what Lily had said. She could see a big wet spot in the front of Jackson's jeans. Amy ran a hand through her hair and sighed. There goes her session with Oakley, and any other horse she wanted to work with today. By the time she could get Jackson changed and clean the stroller, it would be lunchtime and then time for the twins' nap. She could go out while they were asleep, but it usually takes about a half hour to get them settled down and then she would only have an hour free.

"I sorry, mommy," Jackson broke her out of her thoughts. Amy looked down at him and saw that his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. He didn't like having an accident just as much as she didn't. Amy couldn't blame him either, she was the one who was in such a rush to get outside that she neglected to ask if either one of them needed to go potty.

"It's okay," Amy assured him.

As Amy started pushing the stroller back to the ranch house, with Lobo right on her heels, she heard a low growl of thunder from off in the distance. She looked up at the sky, which had darkened significantly, hoping the storm would just pass. But as she grew closer to the house, a sinking feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

After lunch, Amy stood at the back door of the ranch house, staring out as the rain came down in sheets. The sounds of the twins playing in the living room filtered in to her, but it seemed like she was only half there. The other half of her was stuck in the past with the girl, who was once called, a miracle. She missed being with the horses all day, uncovering their secrets, feeling a connection to a creature twice the size of her. Amy didn't regret her marriage or the twins, she just wished...

"Mommy, why you crying?" came Lily's voice.

Amy touched her cheeks, feeling that they were wet. She hadn't even known she was crying. Wiping the tears away, Amy looked down at the two-year-old. Lily was holding her brown stuffed pony in her arms, looking like she could fall asleep right there.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Amy said. She turned her head and saw Jackson standing in the kitchen doorway, rubbing his eyes. "Are you two ready for a nap?" Both twins nodded, surprisingly. Amy picked up Lily and held Jackson's hand as she headed for the stairs.

As Amy tucked the toddlers into their beds, she pushed all thoughts of her old life out of her head. Instead, she focused on what her life was now. She had a wonderful, loving husband and two great children. She would just have to figure out how horses could fit into her new life. Because Amy wasn't willing to give all this up or she thought she wasn't.

A/N: So...what do you guys think of this chapter? I hope you guys didn't think this story would be all happy and fluffy. I have to put a little drama into it. Anyway, please review! Reviews make me update faster! :)