A/N: I was really amazed at all the great reviews I got for the first chapter, so I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far; you guys are the reason I keep writing :) I hope you all like the second chapter as well

CHAPTER TWO

MEET THE FAMILY

Over the next few days, Miley and Lilly got to know each other better, their friendship slowly growing. They started taking turns bringing desserts to share at lunchtime, and Lilly began teaching Miley all her best jump rope tricks. Anyone watching them would have immediately noticed the smiles they always wore when they were together, which was most of the time.

"So what's your family like, Smiley?" Lilly asked one day at recess, as they practiced jumping rope together. Miley laughed.

"Why, Silly?" she asked. Lilly shrugged.

"Just wondering," she replied. "We've been friends almost a week now, and you've never mentioned anyone except your mom. You got some mean older brothers and sisters you're trying to hide or something?" She asked the last part with her trademark Lilly grin.

"No," Miley replied, now grinning as well. "Well, I do have one older brother, Jackson, but he's not that bad… just a little gross."

"Why is he gross?" Lilly asked curiously.

"One time, when my mom was cleaning out his room, she found some old beef jerky under his bed," she explained.

"What's gross about that?" Lilly replied, not understanding.

"It used to be a hot dog," Miley answered, making a face.

"Okay, that's gross!" Lilly exclaimed, sticking her tongue out.

"Then there's my dad," Miley continued. "He's cool; he used to be a songwriter. Now he just works on our farm." She stopped jumping rope for a moment to catch her breath.

"How about you, Silly?" she asked.

"Just me and my mom," Lilly told her, never breaking her stride. "Mom has to work a lot, though."

"Sounds kinda lonely," Miley said softly.

"It's all right," Lilly replied. She smiled again. "Besides, I've got you now, don't I?" Miley laughed.

"Yeah, you do," she said, smiling again. "You know… you and your mom should come over to my house one day." Lilly looked over at her.

"Really?" she asked. Miley nodded.

"Sure… we could hang out, and your mom could meet my parents… and my daddy cooks some mean barbeque!" Lilly grinned.

"Sounds like fun," she admitted. "I'll have to ask my mom, though."

"Okay, no problem," Miley answered. "Just let me know!" The recess bell rang and everyone began rushing back to their classrooms. As Miley and Lilly returned to their class and sat down in their seats, Miley leaned over and quickly whispered something to Lilly.

"I really hope you can come over… it'll be so much fun!"

Two days later – on a Saturday – Lilly was finally able to convince her mother, Heather, to go meet her new friend Miley and her family. Heather had never seen Lilly so excited, or so insistent, before and smiled as she realized her daughter must've found a friend she really liked.

"All right, Lilly-Bear… we can go to your friend's house for a while. I have to work later tonight though."

"Maybe I can stay the night?" Lilly asked her mother. She had never before asked such a thing, and in fact had never spent the night at a friend's house before.

"Well, we'll see," Heather Truscott replied gently. "I'll have to meet Miley's parents first." Lilly jumped up and down excitedly.

"Thanks, mom!" she squealed, squeezing her mother in a hug. "I'm gonna go call Miley right now!" She ran over to the kitchen phone and dialed Miley's house. After a few moments an unfamiliar female voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi! This is Lilly… is this Mrs. Stewart?" Lilly said uncertainly.

"Yup, this is her," Susan Stewart replied in a friendly voice. "You must be the new friend Miley keeps talkin' about. Hang on, I'll get her for you." Lilly heard her put down the phone and call for Miley, and then the sound of running footsteps.

"Hey, Silly!" Miley practically shouted. "What's up?"

"I talked to my mom, and if it's still okay with you and your parents, we can come over!" Lilly shouted back excitedly.

"Oh, cool!" Miley gushed. "Hang on, I'll check!" Miley was away from the phone for a minute or so, then she returned, sounding even more excited than Lilly.

"My parents said it was okay!" she cried out happily. "My mom wants to talk to your mom to give her directions."

"Okay, see you soon!"

When Miley heard the knock on her front door not quite an hour later, she sprung up from her bed and ran to get it. Robbie Ray, who had been about to answer it himself, could only smile at his daughters excitement. Miley ran to the door and practically yanked it open.

"Hi, Lilly!" she called out. Lilly, standing on the front porch with her mother, smiled happily.

"Hey, Smiley!" she greeted her best friend. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, sure!" Miley replied. She quickly moved aside to let Lilly and her mom walk inside.

"Daddy, this is my friend Lilly," Miley introduced her excitedly.

"Hi, Mr. Stewart," Lilly said shyly. Robbie Ray grinned.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Lilly," he said. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Your dad's actually kinda cool," Lilly whispered to Miley, smiling. She felt her mother nudge her gently from behind.

"Sorry," Lilly apologized, sounding embarrassed. She gestured to her mother. "This is my mom."

"Hi, I'm Robbie Ray, Miley's father," Robbie Ray introduced himself, extending his hand. Heather smiled and carefully shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stewart; I'm Lilly's mother, Heather." A moment later, Miley's mother walked up behind her husband, drying her hands with a dish towel.

"Honey," she addressed Robbie Ray, "the steaks are ready for the grill now." Then she walked towards Heather Truscott, smiling and holding out her hand.

"I'm Susan, Miley's mother; you must be Heather." Still smiling, she looked over at Lilly.

"…and you must be Lilly," she said with a grin. "You must be a really good friend, the way Miley's been goin' on about you." Lilly blushed slightly.

"Mom-ma!" Miley whined. "Stop embarassin' me!"

"That's a mother's job," Susan Stewart said playfully. "Now go on and play with your friend, Miley." Grateful to be excused, Miley grabbed Lilly's hand and led her quickly away.

"I'm so glad you could come over!" Miley gushed. Lilly smiled.

"I'm glad too, Smiley. Where's your brother, though?" she asked curiously. "I thought I was gonna meet your whole family!"

"Jackson's out with some of his friends," Miley replied. "So what would like to do first?"

"I dunno," Lilly responded. "It's your house. What do you want to do?" Miley thought for a moment.

"Would you like to see my horse?" she suggested.

"You have a horse?!" Lilly exclaimed. Miley laughed.

"Sure I do, Silly; I live on a farm, remember? C'mon… I'll introduce you!" Miley practically dragged Lilly outside, and across a large open field that led to an old wooden barn. There were actually three horses inside, each in its own stall, and they all began stamping their hooves and whinnying excitedly when Miley walked in.

"Boy, they sure like you," Lilly commented. Miley smiled.

"We're all friends," she explained. She walked up to one, a chestnut filly with a star-shaped marking on its forehead, and stroked its muzzle affectionately.

"Hey, girl," she said softly. "How's my pretty filly today?" Miley turned to look at Lilly.

"Lilly, I'd like you to meet Hannah; Hannah, this is Lilly." Lilly walked very carefully up to the filly.

"Hi there, Hannah," she greeted the horse reverently. "Miley, can I… can I touch her?" Miley nodded, smiling.

"Sure; just try not to frighten her. Here…" Very gently, Miley took Lilly's hand in her own and guided it slowly to the filly's muzzle. 'Hannah' snorted softly, her tail swishing back and forth.

"I think she likes you, Lilly," Miley said happily.

"I think I like her too," Lilly said with a grin. "She's beautiful, Miley." An idea suddenly began to form in Miley's young mind.

"Hey, Lilly… have you ever gone horseback riding?" she asked her friend. Lilly blinked.

"Uh, no… never really been around horses," she admitted. "After meeting your friend Hannah though, I kinda wish I had." Miley swallowed.

"Would you like to… with me?" she asked tentatively. Lilly's eyes widened.

"Miley, I… I don't know how!"

"We could fix that," another voice interrupted. The girls looked up to see Robbie Ray walking into the barn, a friendly smile on her face.

"Sorry to interrupt girls, just thought I'd see what you two were up to," he explained. "I think your mothers are already well on their way to becomin' good friends," he added with a smile.

"Would you really teach Lilly how to ride?" Miley asked him eagerly.

"Sure," Robbie Ray replied, "If she really wants to. What do you say, Lilly?"

"I'd love to," Lilly said nervously. "I have no idea what to do, though!"

"Don't worry, we can show you the ropes," Robbie Ray replied. "The first thing you need to learn about horses though, is to be careful and gentle. You want the horse to learn to trust you." He walked over to Lilly and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think you're quite ready for my friend Thunder over here," he said, gesturing to a silver dapple stallion nearby, "so we'll saddle you up on Miley's mom's horse, Maggie. She's real gentle." Maggie was a proud bay mare, whose large brown eyes met Lilly's as the nine year-old walked slowly over to her stall.

"Hi, girl," Lilly whispered to the horse. She held out her hand to let the horse take in her scent, then slowly reached up to gently stroke its muzzle.

"You're pretty good at that," Robbie Ray remarked.

"I had a good teacher," Lilly replied, looking over at Miley and smiling.

"So I see," Robbie Ray said with amusement. "All right, now we need to get Maggie's tack ready."

"Her what?" Lilly asked.

"Her tack," Robbie Ray answered patiently. "The equipment she needs to wear so you can ride her."

"Oh, like her saddle?" Lilly asked curiously.

"Well, that's one part, yeah," Robbie Ray said, nodding. "She needs some other things too. I'll show you." He proceeded to show Lilly the bit, which went in the horse's mouth, and the bridle, a soft leather harness that fit over the horse's head and held the bit in her mouth. Finally there were the reins, which were attached to the bit and allowed the horse to be gently steered or commanded.

"We also lay a blanket and pad on her back, before we put the saddle on, to protect the horse and keep her comfortable," Robbie Ray continued, as he finished preparing Maggie for her ride. Lilly looked over at Miley, to see she had already prepared her horse and was climbing into Hannah's saddle.

"All right, you ready?" Robbie Ray asked. Lilly nodded, trying to hide her nervousness. With Robbie Ray's help, Lilly then carefully climbed into the saddle.

"Okay, now gently tap her side with your heel, click your tongue, and tell her 'yeah'!" he instructed. Swallowing, Lilly did so. Immediately, Maggie began to gallop forward.

"Oh my gosh, I'm moving!" Lilly cried out. Miley, who came galloping up beside her on Hannah, laughed.

"Take it easy, Lilly; horses can sense when you're nervous."

"S-so now what do I do?" Lilly managed, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. Miley smiled.

"Well, if you want her to change direction, pull the reins gently in the direction you want her to go," she told Lilly. "If you want her to stop, you pull the reins back. It's not hard, you just have to remain calm and let the horse know you're in charge." It took some time, but eventually Lilly slowly began to get the hang of riding, and soon she and Miley were riding comfortably side by side. The sun shone brightly in the brilliant blue sky as they rode along, fresh-cut green grass crunching beneath the horses' hooves.

"I think I could get used to this," Lilly said with a smile. Without really knowing why she was doing it, she reached out to gently take one of Miley's hands in her own.

"Me, too," Miley replied happily. "It's usually a good idea to keep both hands on the reins though, Lilly," she added with a smirk.

"What, you don't like me holding your hand?" Lilly teased her. Miley looked down at their joined hands and blushed slightly.

"I've just never had anyone hold my hand before… except for my family," Miley managed.

"Well, we're friends aren't we?" Lilly asked her, still smiling. "Friends can hold hands." Miley grinned.

"Best friends?" she asked softly. Lilly nodded.

"Best friends," she agreed, squeezing Miley's hand gently.

"Hey," Miley said excitedly, a sudden thought occurring to her, "are you going to the Harvest Fair next weekend?"

"Sure," Lilly replied cheerfully. "Mom and I go every year; gotta ride the Zipper!" Miley laughed.

"My family goes every year too," she told Lilly. "My mom and I usually make something and enter it in the Home Arts Exhibit together too."

"I didn't know you did you anything crafty!" Lilly exclaimed. "That's pretty cool, Smiley!"

"Well, um… I was thinking," Miley replied hesitantly. "Would you… would you like to make something with us, Lilly? You never know, we could win first place!" Lilly stared at her for a moment.

"Miley, I… you just said that was something you and your mom always did together," she said carefully.

"I know," Miley admitted. "I just thought it'd be something we could do together too… if you want to, that is." She smiled shyly, and Lilly once again felt herself drawn to the petite brunette who had become her best friend.

"All right," she relented, flashing a friendly smile. "I'd like that, Smiley; I have to warn you though, I couldn't draw my way out of a paper bag!" Miley laughed again.

"Don't worry, we'll come up with something," she promised.