A/N: In my opinion, there isn't nearly enough fics about The Ranch and after watching Season/Part Six my heart was broken (Old people crying always makes me cry) so decided to write about it. I came up with a little filler scene, for when Beau was throwing all the bikes in the back of his truck and talking about how he took Rooster out on his first ride.
XXX
He couldn't sit there anymore, just waiting around for the fucking police to tell him something he already knew. Rooster wasn't coming back, he saw that drop, he saw that bike when they pulled it from Raton Mountain Pass. It looked like it had been through a fucking fire and a meat grinder. The only thing he could think about as he watched it, was "my son's down there".
Beau stood up from his chair and stalked outside, intent on getting into his truck and driving around until he couldn't think straight anymore. But then he saw them.
All those fucking bikes laying around in his driveway. He hated when Rooster brought them home saying "Dad, Dad, would you calm down? I'm gonna fix 'em up and then I can sell them in my Body Shop I always wanted to open. Right next to Rooster's Topless Tapas." Something about seeing all those goddamn bikes laying there combined with seeing his son's bike being hauled up, made him want to set the whole of Iron River on fire. His frown deepened, then he remembered he took Rooster on his first ride, and gotten him his first tricycle. It brought him back to when he thought he could protect them boys from anything, which was why he took him along in the first place.
June 1988
"Hey Daddy" chirped Rooster, he walked outside and paused on the front porch, watching his dad fix on the tractor that seemed to run for only a day before it needed to be fixed on again.
Beau looked up recognizing the small to be his first-born, "hey" he replied then turned back to work on the tractor. A few moments passed by, he enjoyed the peace and quiet before he remembered he was outside with a kid, and when it was this quiet, that normally meant they were doing something they weren't supposed to.
He opened his mouth to call out Rooster's name when he heard a loud crash followed by a "oof". Rooster was laying on the ground next to his Harley, He tripped on a stick. "What are you doing over there?" he asked the newly turned 5 year old. Rooster looked up at him, dusting off his pants and standing back up. "Dad I want to ride a real bike."
Beau hooked his thumbs in his belt loops, "I just bought you a real bike."
"Yeah but mine doesn't have an engine on it and I can't ride it on the rode."
"You also don't have a license."
Rooster looked down at the ground, having lost hope, suddenly he perched his head back up "Hey Dad, maybe uh, me and you could go for a ride." He pursed his lips, mirroring his father's position.
"Me and you huh" he breathed out, at first he was going to say no and go back to the tractor, but maybe, maybe if let him go just this once, he wouldn't be so obsessed with riding. First it started with him watching Beau coming up the drive in that Harley while Maggie propped him up on the counter and he could hear Jameson mumbling "Momma! Bike!" soon after that he wanted a tricycle. He rode around the house on that, running over his toes and crashing into the table while Beau and Maggie tried to eat dinner. One day after they picked him up from pre-school, he sat from the back seat of Maggie's Jeep, "Dad, I want two wheel bike, the other one is too small."
Maggie chuckled, "Well, your birthday is coming up so, i'll see what i can do about it." Not even a week later Rooster already wanted a motorcycle.
"Since, it was your birthday last week, I guess we can go, but just this once."
"Yes!" the little boy jumped into the air, already trying to climb onto the bike. Beau walked over to the shed and grabbed a helmet off one of the top shelves. "Here" he handed Rooster the helmet, "put this on".
He turned it over in his hands "How come, you don't have to wear one?"
"How come you have to ask so many damn questions? Now shut up before I leave you here." Beau commanded in his usual grumpy voice before straddling the bike behind his son. "Now you need to hold on real tight, if you fall off, your mother will never forgive me." He started his bike and backed out of the driveway. "Where are we going daddy?"
"You'll find out when we get there." Beau hugged the boy closer to him, making sure he didn't fall off.
Together they cruised through the highway and Beau turned on the exit that lead to Gunnison National Park. They rode a few more miles before he saw the trees growing thicker and felt the air getting crisper.
Beau felt a little vibration against his chest. Rooster giggled "Why're you slowing down daddy? Faster, Faster daddy!" his whole little body was vibrating with excitement. They soon became surrounded completely by nature. Trees so tall, it looked like they touched the sun. He had never seen so many birds in one place before. He also had never had so many ants crawl one him when he sat on the ground. He kept going until he found the spot he took Maggie to.
Finally, he stopped in front of a little clearing that a slim stream ran through. Rooster took off his helmet, and looked up at his dad "Hey!, why'd we stop?"
Beau got off the bike and ran his hands through his wind blown hair, he lifted his boy off the bike. "This is where I took your mom the first time she rode on this bike."
"You took mom here? I thought she didn't like motorcycles." he inquired as he walked further into the clearing.
"Yeah, she and I swam in the lake, just a little ways over there," he pointed to the left "and then we stayed out here eating dinner and gazing at the stars, your mom loves that type of stuff."
"Yeah, what are we gonna do out here dad?"
Beau took the blanket off the bike and layed it out on the ground, he also took the bag of apples he put on the back and lay it on top.
"You can screw around out here and if you fuck something up and I won't care because this ain't my property." he sat down on the blanket, taking one of the apples out "Now go find some bug to torture." And with that the little boy ran off toward some hole in the ground.
XXX
"Come here Rooster" Beau whispered crouching down and pointing towards the mountain.
"What Dad? I'm trying to-"
"Shhh, you gotta be quiet, your gonna scare them away" Rooster came to sit in front of his dad, they were both crouched down with Rooster against Beau's chest "Look right there" he followed his father's finger, right up in the mountains, not too far from were they were actually, was a mama bear and it's cub.
"Dad that's like me and you, hey instead of Rooster, you should call me Bear, and mom can call you Papa Bear, I don't know what to call Colt though." Beau just chuckled, shaking his head. "Just watch"
Together they watched the bears move peacefully move around the forest. "Where is the cubs dad?" he asked softly.
"I don't know Bear, maybe he's off working on his ranch." Beau joked with his son.
After a while of watching the bears, pointing out birds and Rooster tricked his dad into wrestling with him.
"The sun is starting to go down, we should head back, your mom is probably worried sick."
"Daddy, can we come back here? I think Colt would like it."
"Yeah, i'll think about it" he picked Rooster, sorry Bear, up and put him up on the bike and pushed the helmet onto his head. He got on after him and hugged him close before pulling off to head towards home.
XXX
Maggie stood on the porch, her hands on her hips and her eyes watery with worry. Beau rode up the drive letting the Harley come to stop and Rooster hopped off, helmet still on his head. "Momma! Guess what? Dad took me on his bike up to the park, and we saw some bears! But we didn't see his dad, dad told me he was working on his ranch like he does." Maggie looked down at her son, he had his arms wrapped around her legs, a huge smile graced his face, the blue eyes that came from her alight with joy. His little cheeks blushed from excitement. For a moment seeing the look of pure joy on his face, Maggie almost forgot she was worried sick and angry at Beau, almost.
"You did?! How about you go in the house and you can tell me all about it later."
" 'Kay mom" he ran off letting the screen door slam behind him.
" Mags I-"
"Beau! You had me worried sick! I thought he was out here with you and I came looking for you to let you know dinner was ready and your both gone."
He took in a deep breath, letting out a sigh "Mags I know you don't really like my Harley, but I thought it would scare the shit out of him and he wouldn't like motorcycles anymore."
"And did it work, because he sure seemed excited when he came running up to me." Maggie's eyes watered a bit more, she never got this upset about things unless it came to the boys and right now she was so mad at her husband that she could hit him over the head with a shovel.
Beau put his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. She just shoved him off, the gesture only succeeded in making her angerier. "Beau he is five fucking years old! He hasn't even started kindergarten yet! Rooster is 45 fucking pounds, he could have fallen off of there and you could've killed him!"
"Maggie I know your upset but, we came back home all in one piece, so fine I won't take him on there anymore."
"I don't give a damn if you came home alive! All I care about is my baby! If you take him that fucking bike again, i'm taking that piece of shit down to the scrap yard." and with that she turned on her heel and stalked back into the house. "And don't even think about eating dinner with me! You can eat it on your fucking bike."
"This is gonna be a fun night on the couch." Beau sighed, walking into the hell that became his house.
XXX
Beau picked up those piece of shit bikes and started throwing the parts into his truck, he was gonna take them down to the junkyard and watch them be smashed to pieces. He sniffed, rubbing his nose, trying to hold back the waterfall of tears he was sure would come out given the chance. "Fuck, Maggie was right, I did kill that boy."
A/N: I know this isn't exactly Hyde and Jackie but Rooster and Hyde are played by the same character and I really wanted there to be more Ranch fanfics that talked more about some older memories like just Maggie and Beau and Colt/ Rooster when they were kids. Let me know if I should create a separate story and write more Ranch fanfiction. Also I recommend listening to some sad country music while reading this like Downs the Whiskey, after watching Part 6 episode 3 I cried real tears in the middle of art class because it made me that fucking sad. I love The Ranch, and I think if you like That 70s Show then you'll probably love that too.