Macintyre Farm

Fourteen

ANDREA POV

Bash and I helped get the animals tended to when we got back to the barn.  Austin was working with Matilda since she had been struggling to stand up lately due to arthritis in her back legs. We adopted her when I was little and it was already early onset so the last 13 years had not been kind to the sweet mare.

"How is she?" I asked carefully after milking Bessie the cow as well as Fiona the goat.

He shook his head, rubbing her neck softly as he almost whispered, "I am scared that it's time. I hate this."

"I know. We have to do what is right by her but that doesn't mean it's easy for us. I mentioned it to Dad this morning so he has it under advisement.  The Vet will probably come for a visit soon now that the holidays are over.  It's been a month or so since he checked on the foals so that way we can get more information."

Austin gave me a sad smile as Bash approached. "Sorry, guys. This is always really hard," he said with so much kindness it made me lose my breath.

"Well, let's finish up then get some sleep. Maybe the Vet will have other news or something else we can try," my brother decided as Bash fed Matilda an apple.

I grabbed the basket with mason jars of milk ready and let out a loud yawn while slipping into my coat.  Bash chuckled and reached out to take the basket from me while Austin took a final peek around to make sure everything was in place like we always did.

"Ready?"  Bash asked, taking my hand with his free one.

"Yeah, let's get home. I'm kinda hungry after all that riding bareback. You two stress me out," Austin said with a chuckle.

We still had some cheesy garlic bread left over along with lasagna so I warmed that up while we each had a beer. My parents were used to us being up at weird hours with the kittens so I knew it wouldn't bother them if we had a quiet conversation at the counter.  All 3 of us fell up or down the steps at different times when handling overnights but they never said anything until the next morning.

Normally it would set us off into laughter at how stupid we were, especially when extremely tired, but in the end we kept close track of the feeding schedules to make sure all the little ones were eating enough.  I had a notebook where I wrote down what times the kittens ate then did the same with Hercules and Megara.  We kept it on the kitchen counter by the bottles and there were many mornings where I saw Austin or Bash's handwriting instead of my own.

It was a relief to know everything went smoothly, even when I was healing from bruised ribs.  That time could have been far more stressful but Bash rose to the challenge.  He helped without missing a beat, easily figuring out how to mix kitten formula or the right way to wash the bottles to make sure they were properly sterilized when necessary.

Every morning was a funny replay of the previous night, whether that meant the 3 of us going over which kitten ate the most or something funny the baby goats did.  Mama and Dad would just ask, "So, which of you was it this time?" if someone loudly tripped on the staircase, too.  Then we would crack up and try to remember, even though one evening all 3 of us fell at different times causing even more laughter when we tried to explain.

Austin and I learned the hard way years ago after watching a horror movie that got extremely loud that we needed to be careful, both because it woke them up and meant we couldn't sleep.  Since everyone adjusted to the kittens being up to eat every 2 hours when they were first born, though, my folks got used to the noise.  That just allowed us the chance to do what was needed with less interference.

I laughed to myself while thinking about our movie night and my brother studied me, "What's so funny, AJ?"

"Remember when we watched "The Sixth Sense"?"

He cracked up laughing with a nod, "Bash, I convinced Andy to watch it on her 13th birthday. One of the jump scares made her scream plus the music was loud, even when we turned it down a lot.  That was the first time we woke up our folks at night but they got used to us when the kittens and baby goats needed overnight feeding so thankfully it wouldn't be as much of an issue now."

Bash chuckled at us and nudged me, "Do you like scary movies?"

"I'll watch anything and try to focus. Mama and I caught some old chick flicks like "Miss Congeniality" when I was injured. Earlier in the summer we did movie nights a couple times at the bunk house, too.  Gramps is a big fan of "Shanghai Noon" now since Austin swore it was kind of a western."

"There is a nice TV there, so that makes sense," he agreed.  "You guys could crank up the volume as loud as possible with no one over here even knowing it."

Austin's eyes lit up, "Guys. That's it. It's perfect. Marianne can come over for a movie night at the bunk house. We can all crash there if needed and it would be the chance to hang out without bothering them.  There are 4 bedrooms so she wouldn't feel pressured plus it would give us the chance to just hang out."

"Can Bagheera come?" Bash asked as his black kitten joined us.

"Duh. Him and Tommy Boy need to get out once in awhile but they're so spoiled that taking them to the barn would be begging for a disaster." My brother was excited as I slid the plates of lasagna as well as bread that I warmed up in the oven to them.

"I'm in. Let's plan it soon so you can see her again quickly,"  I agreed with a grin.

Austin already had his phone out and was sending her a text. I stupidly tried to open the foil containing our bread but it was still searing hot.

"Shit," I winced, pulling back instantly.

Bash was at my side and took my hand then immediately led me to the sink and turned on the cold water so we could get it soothed. 

I froze.

I could not process what was happening.

My Dad had always been the kind of man that expected us to pick ourselves up when we fell down. Sure, he complimented me on my ability to bounce back fast but that was because even as a small child I was told not to cry. Handle things. Stuff your emotions and deal with it.

My eyes locked on Bash's and I shook my head while he studied my hand. "Should be good with some cold water but let me grab the tongs..."

He shut off the water but I grabbed his arm then slipped my hand behind his neck and kissed him, trying to say everything I couldn't with that one action.

Austin started giggling in the background so I stopped and turned around to him then rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Austin."

"I didn't say anything..."

Bash had a dumbfounded grin on his face then reached to the other counter to grab tongs and handed them over. 

"Thank you..." I whispered.

He grinned, tracing my bottom lip with his thumb, "You just did."