AN: This fic was written as part of the WIP Big Bang. If you want to read this right now in its entirety, check it out on AO3. There you will also find the accompanying artwork! This work was heavily inspired by the movie "Let Him Go" - if you've seen it, please don't spoil anything for everyone else.

Alex drummed her pencil against the table a few times, lips pursed in thought as she stared down at her morning crossword puzzle, then wrote in the final word and set down her pencil.

Behind her, Maggie stood at the stove, cooking breakfast. No matter how many times Alex insisted that she didn't need to make breakfast every single morning, Maggie seemed to feel she was somehow indebted to them and persisted in the daily cooking.

Now that she was done her puzzle, Alex glanced over her shoulder at the young woman, balancing the baby on her hip with one hand, scrambling eggs with the other. "Are you sure I can't be of assistance?" Alex asked yet again.

"No, I'm fine, Mrs. Miller," Maggie said. She always insisted on calling her Mrs. Miller, no matter how many times Alex tried persuading her to call her by her first name or, better yet, Mama...

Alex stood from the table, rested a gentle hand on Maggie's shoulder and dropped a kiss to the baby's cheek, then crossed to the window overlooking the sink. She could hear Emily's voice and Ethan's boisterous laughter approaching and she couldn't help but smile. "Do you hear that, Finny?" she asked the baby, "Daddy's coming!"

The baby was, of course, too young to quite understand the words, but at the sound of Ethan's voice as he came tromping into the mudroom off the kitchen, the infant instantly began squealing with excitement.

Ethan kicked off his muddy boots and approached behind Maggie, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss behind her ear. "Smells wonderful," he murmured, reaching a hand towards the frying pan to steal a piece of bacon, only to have her smack it away. He just chuckled and moved to lavish his attention on his son.

"He's just like you, you know?" Alex murmured to Emily as she leaned in for a kiss. It was playful teasing, but Emily could hardly argue with the fact that their son did have a great deal of her personality in him... "How's the new mare?"

"Leg seems better," Emily answered, slipping her hands underneath the hem of Alex's oversized fisherman's sweater. "Still a little skittish."

"She'll be okay," Ethan replied, dismissing his mother's concerns. "I was thinking I'd take her out and check the fence line after breakfast." He moved to the sink and began washing the dust off his hands.

Maggie was quick to pipe up, "It's almost ready."

Alex would have liked to argue further about whether the mare was ready for that, but before she could voice her concerns, Ethan had turned on the radio, drowning out further conversation with strains of country music.

Alex entered the kitchen where Maggie was preparing Finley for his daily bath. "Why don't you let me do that?" she suggested, approaching behind the young woman.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Miller, that's really okay, I..." she started to protest.

Alex didn't let her get very far, though. "I don't mind," she said, "I like helping out. Besides, you should be resting – you're always on your feet and..."

Maggie sighed, nodded. "Okay," she conceded, though she didn't seem all that thrilled about it.

Alex lifted Finley from the sink and wrapped him in a towel, cooing brightly to the baby, when movement out the window drew her attention. The new mare came galloping into the yard...without Ethan atop her back.

"Ethan..." she rasped, panic clutching her. Holding the baby tight to her chest, she dashed from the kitchen and out into the yard. "Emily!" she called out.

Hearing her wife's shouting, Emily emerged from the barn, concerned by the urgency with which Alex was calling for her.

"Emily!" Alex shouted again.

Emily followed her gaze to the riderless mare and instantly shared in her wife's panic. She dropped what she was doing and climbed into the saddle, urging the horse to retrace its steps and knowing, somehow, that when she found Ethan, he wouldn't be alive.