"I'll be fine, if I try to sleep now, I might miss something." she laughed, yawning. "Sam, this may not be an easy delivery. Get some rest, I'll be right here." Jericho told her. Finally she agreed, crawling in the tent with little grace, lying down on top of the blankets, so she wouldn't feel too snuggly or sleep too deeply. She wanted to be around when these twins were born. Out side of the tent, Ned began to get his tools ready, with Jericho's help. They placed everything in the stall for easy reach. The mare had laid down now, she had begun to deliver the first of the foals. When she gave a deep shudder, her body showing distress, Ned knew it was time to deliver them himself.
"Jericho, this is bad." Ned had his hand on the first one,"It's big, really big." Together they worked for an hour to deliver the first one, Ned had little hope that the other one would survive, as it waited impatiently, for the first one to take his first breath of air. Sam awoke to the low hum of the men's voices. When she entered the stall, she realized that Ned was having to deliver the foal from the mother. She went to the horse's head and knelt in the straw, stroking the mare's head and talking to her, trying to sooth her from the pain she was enduring. It took all three men to pull the foal. It was alive, but barely, as Ned tired to breath air into it's lungs, helping him gain enough strength to survive in those first moments, outside of the warmth of it's mother. Finally, the foal snorted and Ned stopped helping him, as he wobbled and stood. The mare looked around at her newborn for a moment and then laid her head back down, as the second one began to make it's entrance into the world. The mare had little strength left to help out, but together she and Ned managed to bring the second foal into the chill night air. This one was much smaller than the first, making the delivery quicker and smoother, not nearly as hard on the mother.
Ned pulled both of the foals around to the mother's head, hoping they would give her the encouragement to get up on her feet. She was such a good mother, she immediately struggled to get her head up and her feet underneath her. Her mothering instincts told her to nuzzle and clean the foals, which would revive them from the ordeal of being born. She struggled to get up and finally made it, though she was weak and shaking, she brought the two foals to her and made sure they were properly cleaned to meet the new strangers, standing by them. Ned stayed close by, but made sure he had room to get out of the way if she fell, which was a very real possibility. The others had moved from the stall and stood at the door to admire the two. "Well, a little Roan filly and a massive Bay, like his father." Jericho said. Sam smiled and hugged him, "Oh Jericho, he would make a great racer, look at him." Jericho agreed with her, "Maybe Lily will take to him and turn him into a barrel racer."
As he spoke the words, Lily and Robbie walked up to them, Lily squeezing in between them to see the new foals. "Oh, look! They are so sweet!" she squealed. The mare was unsure what this noise meant, quickly moving around to protect her babies, knocking over the bucket and making more racket to upset her. Ned moved out of the way her, just in time. "Well, I think she is recovering nicely." he laughed as he went out and shut the door. "Lil, maybe we could be a little quieter for a little while. This new mommy had a long night." he told her with a soft voice. She looked up at him and nodded, with her hands squeezed together under her chin. "I just love the red one!" she whispered.
Sam laughed, "Alright Ned, don't go starting something you don't plan to finish!" Meaning, she didn't want him to get Lily started on wanting to race. It was a lot of work and she didn't have the time for it now, that was over for her. Racing was a part of the past that Sam didn't want to begin again. Munch was all the horse Lily needed anyway. Luke had been with Sam the whole way, when she was racing, it just wouldn't be the same without him. "I could help out. I know a little bit about it." Matt piped up. Lily was starting to get interested in what they were talking about and asked Matt about it. "Well, you have to be able to ride really good, and hold on tight, 'cause the horse runs full out, faster than the wind. Think you could hold onto to the saddle when a horse runs that fast?" he asked her, laughing.
Lily was about to tell him she thought she could, when Sam turned her away and told her to get ready for the bus. Lily left with Robbie, while the rest of them cleaned up the barn, before going in for breakfast. Robbie had a huge breakfast ready for them when they came in, brushing the snow off their boots on the porch. "I was surprised at how much snow came down last night, when I looked out earlier." Robbie told them. "I didn't even know it had snowed, until we came out." Sam commented. "Guess we better put out extra hay today and check the forecast for tonight. I hope we don't have another birth today, I need a nap." she laughed. Jericho smiled, "Matt and I are going down to the lower field and check on things, we'll put out another bale or two down there. You get some rest this morning."
Sam shook her head, "Not after this! He's a great horse, but we don't have the right stock apparently to breed to him. I need to do some research on his progeny though." Jake gave her a quizzical look and she replied, "I'm not sure yet which direction to take the bay. It was suggested that he would make a fine racer."
"Ahh..and you don't want to go down that road, huh?" Jake noted the look on her face. Sam laughed, "Can I really be that selfish?" Aggie looked at them, "Jake, when I raced as a kid, my Dad was right there with me. I can understand how Sam feels. It takes a lot of commitment from a parent to go down that road with a child." Aggie told him. Sam looked at her, "Our Dad was with us too. He had endless patience, day after day." Sam told her quietly. Sitting there at the table, Sam remembered all the days spent practicing, with her father's guidance. He was gentle and kind with his approach and it had paid off for Sam. Whenever she was in the ring, or at the starting gate and felt unsure, all he had to do was smile. Her confidence came from his smile and she rode the race, knowing he would be proud of her, win or lose. She looked up to see Robbie smiling at her, "What?" "You seemed to be off somewhere Sam." Robbie told her.
"I was Mom, I was at a race with Dad." she quietly said.
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