Chapter 8

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Ty! Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone sang happily as Ty grinned like a child on Christmas morning.

"Ty! Make a wish!" Lee exclaimed and everyone laughed.

Ty laughed, closed his eyes, and blew out the candle.

"What was your wish J?" Lee asked his older brother curiously.

"I can't tell you because then it wouldn't come true!" Ty chuckled.

It was August 21st, and the Mountaincreek ranch house was half-full of close family and friends to celebrate Ty's 17th birthday. The house was full of joy, and the gorgeous summer weather made everything better. There were tables on the back porch, hidden from the sunlight that had drinks and snack foods on them wouldn't get warm. The kids were thrilled when they saw Lily bring out a bowl of water melon cut into snack sized pieces.

Ty new months in advance of his birthday that he only wanted those who were important to him to be there to celebrate with him. Of course, with Lee being the only young child there, Ty decided that he would invite some of his younger cousins to the party so Lee wouldn't be bored.

"Who wants cake?!" Lily asked excitedly.

A chorus of "me"'s and "I do"'s was heard in response from the medium sized group.

"How about you do the honors, birthday boy?" Lily said to Ty as she handed him the cake knife.

Ty began cutting the chocolate fudge cake into even slices and placed them onto plates.

"You want to share a slice?" he whispered to Amy, who nodded in response.

Ty left one of the slices twice the size than the rest, and everyone was confused until they saw him take two forks and give one to Amy. With that, many of the guests admired the love between the young couple, deep down knowing that they would be together for a very long time.

(x)

"Cannonball!" Caleb O'Dell screamed as he jumped into the pool, causing water to splash everywhere.

"Caleb," Ashley groaned, annoyance clear in her voice.

Caleb simply looked in her direction and smirked.

"Amy?" came a shy voice.

"Hey Lee," Amy said happily, "is everything alright?"

"Can you um, help me warp J's gift?" he asked shyly.

"Of course!" Amy instantly agreed. "Would you like to go now?"

Lee nodded in response.

"C'mon then," Amy said as she stood up.

Amy and Lee went into the living room and Lee took out the present while Amy got wrapping paper, scissors and tape.

"You got him the special edition 'The Rolling Stones' CD?" she asked.

"Yeah. Do you think he'll like it?" Lee replied nervously.

"He's going to love it!" Amy exclaimed, cutting the wrapping paper.

Lee smiled.

"Can you be a big boy and cut pieces of tape?" Amy requested.

"Sure!" Lee said excitedly.

He cut a piece of tape when he saw that Amy was already wrapping the CD already.

"Here," Amy said handing the wrapped gift to Lee, "all done. How about you go write Ty's name on it?" she suggested.

"Yeah! I'll go do that!" Lee said. "Thanks for helping me Amy!" he said giving Amy a hug.

"You're welcome!" Amy chuckled.

Amy was standing on the back porch when she felt two arms wrap around her waist, she instantly knew it was Ty.

"Where did you get off to earlier?" he asked curiously.

"I was with Lee," Amy replied softly, turning her head so she could see him.

Ty smiled and pressed his lips lightly to hers. He may not have said it, but he really appreciated it when Amy spent time with Lee. Ty's brother meant everything to him, and he was happy that he and Amy got along very well despite the age difference.

Suddenly, Ty picked Amy up.

"Ty!" she shrieked.

All the guests turned their attention toward the two teens and most of them were trying to hold back laughter when they realized what was going to happen.

"Ty! Don't!" Amy screamed when she, too, realized what her boyfriend was about to do. Of course, he didn't think of the payback. "Ty!" Amy screamed just before her body hit the water.

Once she resurfaced, she glared at Ty - who stopped laughing instantly - and he offered her a hand when she swam closer to the edge of the pool. Instead of allowing Ty to help her though, Amy pulled at his hand as hard as she could, and sent him toppling into the water. Everyone busted out laughing.

"Nice one Amy!" Brad, Ty's Dad, called out.

Amy looked over and grinned.

"That was mean," Ty mumbled as he wrapped his arms around Amy's waist underneath the surface of the water.

"Yeah, well, Birthday Boy, that's what you get for throwing me into the pool," Amy told him.

Ty pouted and rested his head on Amy's shoulder.

"Besides," Amy began, turning around in hos arms, "there are other was of me to really punish you," she finished murmuring into his ears.

Ty gulped and Amy gave him a devilish grin.

"We should get out of the water before Aunt Sonya starts taking the photos," Ty said after a while.

"Yeah," Amy agreed. She placed a light kiss to his lips before lifting herself out of the pool.

Ty got out of the pool too, and then he and Amy joined their friends.

The group was chatting and snacking on summer fruits like strawberries, peaches, raspberries, pineapple, etc., and junk food. Amy and Ty were the only couple within the group of friends. They were sitting on one of the benches brought out of storage, and Ty had an arm wrapped around Amy's shoulder.

"Mom said she's going to be taking the photos soon," said Nicole, Ty's cousin, as she came back to the group.

"Okay," Ty murmured.

"We could do something like you guys giving us girls piggy backs or something," Soraya suggested.

"Yeah, that could be cool photo," Ty agreed.

"Hey you guys ready?" Sonya called out as she and the other adults, along with the younger kids, came over.

"Yeah," all the teens replied, standing up.

"So I was thinking we could take the photos over there by the fence," Sonya consulted Ty - he was leading Amy along with them - as she pointed in the direction of the barn. "It has a really nice look to it and the lighting is perfect!"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Ty agreed happily, "what do you think, Mia?"

"I think that they'll look amazing," Amy grinned.

"Okay, I was thinking we'd do the photos with just the teens first seeing as they're in all of them, then we'll add the kids into the mix and then us oldies will join you all, and then one with teens and adults, followed by whatever Ty wants," Sonya explained to the group as she set up her tripod and camera.

"Yeah, that sounds cool," Ty agreed enthusiastically.

He walked over to Sonya and whispered something into her ear; she nodded in response. When he walked back to his friends and Amy, he quietly told them the plan.

"Guys when you're all ready you can go stand in a line," Sonya said to the teens.

A few second later the group of ten teenagers began to from a line. From left to right it was Ashley, Caleb, Soraya, Ty's friend Zack, Amy, Ty, Mallory, Ty's fourteen year old cousin Corey, Nicole, and Ty's friend Josh.

"You ready?" Sonya called out.

"Yeah," the teens grinned.

Sonya took a few shots of them just standing there, smiling to the point where they thought their faces would break in half. She stopped taking pictures for a minute and shared a look with the, now giddy, teenagers. The girls jumped onto the guys' backs and smiled at the camera.

While Sonya was taking the photographs, Ty turned his head so he could look at Amy. Amy could feel Ty's eyes on her so she turned her head and grinned at him; it was that specific smile that she saved just for him. She kissed his cheek, and then Ty tilted his head up so he could peck her lips. He didn't care that they were surrounded by his and Amy's families, and their friends. He was ready to scream to the world that Amy was his girl without needing to force it.

"Guys, you can put the girls down," Sonya instructed the boys after taking a few more photographs. "And you," she turned to the kids, "Can line up in front of them, please.. Yeah, Lee you go into the middle, good boy, thank you. Sarah and Katie, one on each side of him please, and Adam and Bob, you stand by the girls, thank you! Big smiles now!"

Sonya then proceeded to take photos of the whole group, including the teenagers, kids and all the adults, Ty just with his parents, Lily and Brad, and Lee. And then photos of just Ty and Amy on theirs own, everyone decided to leave them with Sonya and went back closer to the house, most of the kids and teens went into the pool and started playing with a beach ball.

"You guys look so cute in these!" Sonya exclaimed while she was walking back to the rest of the group with Amy and Ty. She was quickly looking through some of the photos.

Amy blushed and looked at the ground while Ty grinned proudly at his aunt.

"Don't tell them anything, okay?" Ty begged as they were nearing the group.

"I won't," Sonya laughed.

Amy and Ty shared a look with the their friends and the kids, and Ty discretely nodded his head.

"I'll be right back," he told Amy, loud enough for some of the adults to hear.

"Mom," Lee cam up to Lily, "can we have more ice-cream?"

"Sure sweetie," Lily nodded.

"I'll go get it ready," Amy offered. "Do you guys want to come in with me so you can pick toppings?" She asked the five kids.

"Yeah!" They exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Thanks, Amy," Lily smiled.

"No problem, I'm happy to do it," Amy replied.

Amy, Lee, Sarah, Katie, Adam and Bob all headed inside and got their plan into action. They were soon joined my Josh, Nicole and Caleb.

"Do you think this is enough?" Amy asked Ty as she placed another filled water-balloon into the bucket.

"Just put in two or three more," Ty grinned. "You too guys," he instructed Caleb and Josh. "I'm going to go get the hose ready. Does anyone want to come?"

"Me!" screamed Lee and Adam.

"Well then, let's go!"

Just as Amy, Nicole, Josh, Caleb, Bob, Sarah and Katie were sneaking outside with the water-balloon filled buckets, the rest of the teens joined them at the side of the house.

Ty peeked around the corner to see what the adults were doing. He gave Lee a nod and her turned on the water.

"Fire!" Ty screamed, splashing water all over Lou and Scott. He quickly maneuvered across the backyard and managed to soak his Uncle Ryan and Aunt Cassie.

"Did you know about this?" Lou asked Amy.

Amy grinned cheekily while she played with the water-balloons she had behind her back. Suddenly, she threw one at Lou and hit her right in the middle of the forehead. Scott burst out laughing, but quickly stopped when a water-balloon hit him square in the face.

"Oh, you're so going to get it!" Scott yelled, running after Amy.

Amy knew it was a battle she was bound to lose, but she got lucky when another water-balloon hit Scott, giving her time to sprint back to her friends - who were all holding water-balloons.

Most of the adults were soaked, with the exception of Sonya.

"Who's idea was this?" Chuckled Ty's great-grandmother Addison.

The teens and kids, any Sonya, all pointed at Ty.

"You knew about this?!" Cassie exclaimed, pointing at Sonya.

"Maybe," she smirked.

Lily and Marion laughed.

"You know Ty, one of the reasons we're letting you off is because it's your birthday," said Brian, Sonya's husband, with a chuckle.

Ty grinned.

Jack was having a conversation with Ty's grandfather, Elliot, about fishing. They were so interested in each others stories that they didn't notice what was going on; they were sitting on the porch, in the shade. Both of them were shocked when they say that almost every other adult was drenched to the bone. They grew confused for a while because the teens and kids were all laughing. Then, it dawned to them, and they began laughing with them. Jack and Elliot walked out into the sun, and Elliot want over to Ty.

"Good job, Ty!" he gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks Grandpa," Ty grinned.

(x)

Amy and Ty sat on the back porch, watching the sunset.

"Are you staying over tonight?" Ty asked, pulling Amy closer.

"I am," Amy said happily.

"I just realized that I still have to open all my birthday presents. In front of everyone," Ty mumbled.

"It's gonna be fine! I know that you really don't like doing that, no matter what's going on, but think about it. The sooner you start, the sooner it will be done," Amy encouraged.

"I guess you're right," Ty agreed. "We should probably go inside, before they send out a search party for us," he sighed.

"Yeah, we probably should," Amy nodded. "But first.." she leaned up and planted a kiss onto lips.

In response, Ty pulled her closer and their lips met repetitively until they were both breathless. Only seconds after the first string of kisses was broken, Ty pressed his lips to Amy's again. She wrapped one of her arms around Ty's neck and pulled herself even closer to him. Ty ran his fingers along Amy's back until they settled on her hips.

"I love you," she murmured when she pulled away.

"I love you, too." Ty have her one last peck on the lips and stood them up.

They walked into the living room and Lee looked at Ty with excitement.

"Will you be opening your presents now, J?"

"In a minute," Ty laughed, "when everyone comes in here."

"Okay," Lee nodded and ran out the room. "J's going to open is gifts," he told everyone in the kitchen happily, "but only when everyone's in the living room!"

Everyone laughed and followed Lee, who was running back into the living room. When they walked in, they saw Amy and Ty chatting quietly.

"Ty! Everyone's here now!" Lee exclaimed.

Ty looked around to see that his brother was right and chuckled. "Well, I'm going to need a helper, do you want to hand me the gifts?"

Lee's eyes lit up and he nodded his head frantically. He walked over to the table where the guests left the wrapped presents and picked one up. He then brought it over to Ty who opened it. Amy gestured Lee over with her finger and he came over. She whispered something into his ear and he nodded. Amy grinned.

Almost thirty minutes later, it was time to open the last present. Lee slowly picked up the somewhat heavy box and carefully walked over to Ty and gave it to him before sitting on Brad's knee.

Ty looked around the room curiously trying to figure out who the last gift was from, but got nothing. As soon as he looked away, Amy grinned. Ty slowly slid open the box and gasped when he saw the Calgary Flames jersey. He took it out of the box with admiring eyes. He turned it around and his eyes widened when he saw the number '24' but instead of 'Hudler' - who's a centerman for the team - it read 'Borden' above it. When Ty thought he was going back to normal, his eyes caught sight of black ink on the right shoulder. 'Happy 17th Ty, Jiří Hudler' was written there. Ty started to think about who would get him a personalized and autographed hockey jersey for his birthday. He looked around the room again and his eyes landed on Amy. Her eyes were shining brightly. He looked back at the jersey and then moved his eyes to Amy again. He was so shocked, and happy. He couldn't believe she spent so much money on him! To him, having Amy as his girlfriend was enough. He quickly moved the box aside and stood up, the jersey still in his hand. He pulled Amy into a tight hug and kissed her head.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome," Amy murmured quietly, smiling.

Lou grinned at the exchange and looked around them room. Soon everyone present was smiling.

When both Amy and Ty sat down again, Lee came over and climbed onto Ty's lap.

"Do you want to know which one is from me?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah!" Ty grinned.

Lee looked around until he spotted the CD on the stand next to the couch. Amy saw him gazing at it and handed it to him. He grinned.

"This was from me," Lee said proudly.

"Really? It's one of my favorites," Ty told him honestly, "and I love 'The Rolling Stones'!"

Lee grinned widely and hugged him.

Ty wrapped an arm around Lee and ruffled his hair with his free one. Lee let out a loud giggle. The child's laugh was contagious and soon everyone was laughing with him.

Slowly but surely, all the guests began to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, sweetie," Marion gave her daughter a hug.

"Bye mom," Amy smiled. "See you tomorrow Grandpa," she gave him a hug.

Jack kissed her forehead and murmured, "See you, have a good night."

Amy smiled. Lou walked over to her once Jack and Marion left and whispered something into her ear, causing her to blush lightly.

"Lou!" she exclaimed, looking at the floor.

"Okay, okay," Lou laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow," she added, going out the door.

"Be safe!" Amy called after her with a wink; it was Lou's turn to blush.

Lou shook her head and climbed into Scott's truck.

Later that night, Amy and Ty were cuddled up on Ty's bed watching 'Johnny English Reborn' and were in stitches laughing.

"I haven't seen that movie since it came out!" Amy said, wiping away the tears that escaped her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Neither have I! Whoever git me this sure know my taste in movies," Ty agreed. "Do you know who got me the DVD's?" He asked batting his eyelashes.

"I think they're from Lou or Scott, because Lou and him were asking about what kind of stuff you watch a few weeks ago," Amy admitted after a few minutes.

"Oooo, awesome!" Ty laughed. "Have I told you how much I love my birthday present from you?"

"Maybe once or twice," Amy teased.

Ty laughed. "Well, I really do love it. It's the best birthday gift anyone has ever got me. I still can't believe you went to so much trouble for me though! Thank you so much!" He kissed her passionately.

"You're welcome," Amy replied once she got her breath back.

He looked at the clock after a few minutes of comfortable silence and sighed, "how is it eleven twenty?"

"What? Wow.. I didn't realize it was that late already!" Amy exclaimed. "Do you want to go to bed? I'm exhausted after today to be honest."

"I was about to say the same thing. Yeah, let's go to bed," Ty agreed, smiling away.

After turning off the laptop and getting ready for bed, Amy and Ty got beneath the blankets. Ty wrapped an arm around Amy and put the other under his head while Amy rested her head on Ty's chest and lay her arm over his waist. Ty lifted his head and moved his arm so it rested on his chest and his hand was on Amy's shoulder.

"Goodnight Mia," he whispered.

"G'night," Amy propped herself onto her elbow. She placed a soft kiss onto Ty's lips and lay down again. "I love you," she murmured, listening to his steady heartbeat.

"I love you, too. So much."

(x)

The next morning Ty woke up to an empty, cold spot next to him. He heard laughter from downstairs, and could smell the scent of bacon, eggs and sausages. He gave into his curiosity and got out of bed, got a t-shirt and headed down the stairs from his attic room and down the next flight of stairs to the ground floor.

"Mmm, something smells good!" He sang as he skipped into the kitchen. "Good morning," he added.

"Morning," Lily laughed , "do you want some breakfast?"

"Yes please!" Ty exclaimed. "Hey you," he greeted Amy with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey yourself," she grinned.

Lily handed Ty a plate of food along with cutlery while Amy got up and got him a glass of orange juice. "Thank you."

"Where are Dad and Lee?" he asked though a mouthful of food.

Both Amy and Lily looked at him before looking at each-other, sharing a secretive look.

Ty swallowed. "Well?" He tried again.

"They're in the barn," Amy answered briefly.

"Oh, cool," Ty said. He was confused. Very confused. "Can we go see them when I finish?" He asked Lily.

"I don't see why not," she replied.

Lily, Ty and Amy all walked to the barn chatting about the party. When they got there, Ty, being the gentleman that he is, slid open the barn door. He gasped when he saw what was inside. Bard, Lily, Lee and Amy were all grinning. Ty walked up to the brand new Martin Roping Saddle and poked it with his pointer finger, almost as if he was making sure it was actually there. He looked from his parents to the saddle back to his parents before running up to them and pulling them into a tight hug.

"Oh my God! Thank you!" He was as happy as a child on Christmas morning.

He had been eyeing the saddle for a few weeks, and was disappointed when it wasn't at Maggie's anymore, but he not once had he thought that his parents got it for him.

"You're welcome, son," Bard grinned, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"You're welcome, Ty," Lily said, kissing his head.

Ty couldn't stop smiling.

"How about you and Amy go for a ride, eh?" Brad suggested. Both Amy and Ty nodded.

While on the trials, Ty said, "This honestly has been the best birthday ever. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve so much."

"You were a really really good person Ty, that's what you did," Amy told him. The rawness of her voice told Ty she was being serious, and honest.

They reached a clearing and dismounted, letting Harley and Mac, the horse Amy was riding, graze.

"You know what the best thing is?" Ty asked, pulling Amy closer to him.

"What?"

"You, Amy. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. And this sounds absolutely terrifying at the moment, but I swear on my life that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Oh, Ty," Amy turned around and kissed him with as much passion as she could.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Fun fact, this was my second time writing it because the file went corrupt the first time! And, according to my writing programe (Kingsoft writer) this chapter (without the A/N) is 4,428 words not 3,894 (again without A/N). Til next time Heartlanders, Elle D.