Lover II- ML

273. Investment

It was 8:30am, and Mapi was curling up in a ball at the back of the Sebastian Antonio, getting herself as comfortable as possible for the two hour flight south.

Kaia had to juggle making sure Mapi was as comfortable and pain free as possible while making sure Fabian was also ready for the flight.

Luckily, Alexia, Patri, Aitana and Lucy were joining them since they all had the day off, all of them keen on seeing the beautiful and famous horse breed Kaia's mum wanted to invest in.

Elinor was already in Sotogrande with a dozen of her high level horses, given full access to the facilities to begin training them for their first competition of the year.

Kaia was excited to see how Kacey had wintered over Christmas, knowing that with her age she was realistically coming towards the end of her career and this might be her last competitive year.

Still, she was one the most skilful and strongest horses they had. She was one of Kaia's proudest accomplishments, one of the main reasons Holcroft horses were so sought after.

"You are selling her?" Mapi asks with an unconscious frown, stroking down Ruby's face as she stands outside the stable. "Why?"

Elinor smiles weakly. "She's fully trained and ready to compete. We brought her along to see if anyone wanted to buy her, someone came by the other day and made a formal offer." She explains.

"Why not compete for you?" Mapi wonders, her other hand unconsciously sat on her cramping stomach.

"We breed, train and sell, María." Elinor reminds her in amusement. "If we kept all of our horses we'd run out of space." She teases.

"You're not selling Kacey, right?" Mapi worries, but it was almost a demand.

"No, never." Elinor promises. "She's too old now; plus horses like Kacey are exceptional, we'll breed from her this year and she'll live her retired life out in our fields."

"This year?" Mapi asks in shock. "Isn't she going to compete this year?"

"With our high level horses, we do egg retrieval so they're not required to carry." Elinor says with a certain amused irony to her tone. "A bit like you." She teases, giving a motherly side hug to her daughter-in-law.

"Wow." Mapi hums, the parallel between her and Kacey being something that actually calms her mind. "Is it incase they die or injury themselves during the birth?"

"Yes." Elinor half nods, half shrugs. "But it's also in case there are any complications throughout the pregnancy, the recovery time after the birth." She lists. "At the end of the day, these horses are athletes we need at the peak of fitness, some are investments we can't take that chance on." She explains seriously. 

"Mm, with the price tag you have put on Ruby I'm not surprised you don't take the chance." Mapi teases, glancing back when she hears her teammates voices who are admiring the other Holcroft horses.

"Hey, baby." Kaia whispers as she comes to a stop next to Mapi, giving her a once over. "How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down?"

Mapi shakes her head as she looks over, smiling at Fabian sat in his carrier and trying to reach for Ruby's face. "No, I'm ok... When did I take paracetamol last?"

"You can take it again in half an hour." Kaia says as she checks her watch. "Are the cramps painful?"

"They're bearable." Mapi reassures with a genuine smile. "Fabian look at the horse, isn't she so beautiful?"

"Ma... ma." Fabian babbles, his feet kicking out and hands still reaching for Ruby's face. "Ma!"

"No, no, be calm." Mapi urges, taking his hand and using it to gently urge Kaia to take a step closer so he could touch Ruby's face.