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Life's Hard Lessons

I walked into my office and waited till I heard a car pull up. I walked out of the office and greeted Robin. Robin walked into the stables, but Zach stopped me. "Are you seriously going to do this?" "Zach please I just need you to trust me okay?" "There's no other option." "We could try to fix it, but it might not recover fully and she will be in a lot of pain for the rest of her life. I can't do this alone and I need you to trust me on this please." He looked torn, but nodded. I joined Robin by Katies side as Robin filled the syringe with clear fluid. "Robin Victoria is going to be the one to do it." Robin looked at me then at Victoria who was already in tears. She nodded and handed the syringe to Victoria. "I won't do it!" "You will." I said sternly. "I don't want to watch this." Kierstien said walking out of the barn with Alex following her. Most of the time I was the one who handled these situations. I didn't blame Kierstien for not wanting to be around. The truth was I hate this as much as everyone else did. Robin took Victoria's hand and placed it on Katies neck. "You feel that right there? That's the vein you want to put it into." "Will it hurt her?" "No it will make her sleepy and then she'll just go." Victoria took a deep breath and looked down at Katie. With Robins help she injected the fluid into Katies vein. She handed the syringe the Robin and then it wasn't long before Katie took one deep breath and then stopped breathing. Robin checked for a pulse and then called it. "I'll go make the proper arrangements." She said before getting up and walking to her truck. Victoria gently put down Katies head and kissed her face closing her eyes. "I hate you!" She screamed before running out of the barn. "Vick..." "Let her go Zach." I said and I could tell he was just as confused. I set on the ground with Katies head in my lap. I kissed her face and let her. "I'm sorry girl. Rest easy." Once I said my goodbyes I dried my eyes and Zach wrapped me in a hug. "You gonna be okay?" He asked concerned. "Yeah...I'll just need some time." He nodded and kissed my head. I took a deep breath and Robin walked in and took care of the body. Zach and I walked over to the porch where Victoria was sitting on the swing silently while tears ran down her face. "Go away!" She said angrily pulling her knees to her chest. "Babe will you give us a minute?" I asked and he nodded and walked inside. I took a deep breath before sitting down next to her. "I don't want to talk to you." "Good then that means you can listen." I said and she turned her head away from me. "Victoria do you know why I made you do this?" "Cause you're an evil bitch?" I bit my cheek so I wouldn't say anything. "Look around you Victoria. I live and work for a nonprofit organization. While I love my job and it is extremely rewarding it doesn't pay the bills. All of these horses have come from different backgrounds and lives different lives. I've given them a second chance to live their best lives and get the love they deserve while also giving back to the community. This isn't easy work. When I found out you were gone I panicked. I thought something had happened and I lost you." "All you care about is your stupid horses." She said angrily. "While I was worried about the safety of my horse I was more worried about you. If anything serious had happened that would've been on me. As cold as it seems to say horses can get replaced people can't. There's only one you Vicky." She turned and looked at me. "Sometimes in life we have to do the things that we don't want to do. We have to do the things that make us uncomfortable but are good for us in the long run. Katie was an older horse and when she broke her leg she was in so much pain and suffering. It would've cost me a lot of money to have her leg fixed and even then she could've died during surgery or she would've never fully recovered. I had to weigh the options and when I did I had to do what was best for her and that was to put her out of her misery. Now maybe if she was a bit younger and had a better chance of a full recovery and I had the money then I would've tried, but the way she broke her leg it was just beyond repair and the better choice was to put her out of her pain then to let her keep suffering. I took over this place and started this business when I was only 19. I had to make these though call decisions all the time and I hate it. I never like putting one of my animals down because they are like children to me. A piece of my heart dies with them. I know you don't like the call I made, but I made you do this to see how to handle hard choices and to take responsibility for your actions. Do you understand that?" "No." She said and I sighed. "Well I hope you do one day." I said before standing up. "I don't want to be here anymore." I took another deep breath. "Where do you want to go?" "I want to find another foster family." I didn't say anything for a while. "Alright I'll call Jessica and let her know." I walked inside and Zach wrapped me in another hug. Afterwards I called Jessica and told her what was going on. She agreed to come by and pick her up. Kierstien got her bags ready and before long Victoria left with her. I watched as they drove off. "You did the best you could." Zach said trying to comfort me and I just broke down into a fit of tears. "Hey come here." He pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me as I buried my head into his shoulder. "Shh It's okay. Will going for a ride make you feel better?" I nodded. "Okay come on." I got up and put my leather jacket on as did Zach. We just took his bike as he drove off down the road and we went for a ride. I rested my head on his back as I watched light go past. We drove around for a bit before he pulled into the DQ parking lot. "Come on ice cream will make you feel better." I took off my helmet and climbed off the bike as we walked hand in hand into the Dairy Queen. We both got blizzards and set outside to enjoy them. "You know I feel like you need a break from all of this why don't you go on a vacation?" "And just leave the ranch here?" "Kierstien is also the owner. With Alex helping her I'm sure she can manage. She also has Rachael and Robin." "I don't know babe. Where would we go?" "Georgia. I would love for you to meet my friends and parents." I smiled as he held my hand. "Okay I'll text Kierstien about it okay?" He nodded and kissed me. "Mm ice cream kiss." I pulled out my phone and texted Kierstien.
J: hey girl. Zach invited me to go spend time with him and his family in Georgia but i told him no since I had the farm and everything
K: what?? Why did you tell him no do you not want to go?
J: no I do want to go but I don't think I'll be able to make time for it
K: just go girl I've got the stables
J: are you sure? I don't want to put this all on you
K: I'm sure plus when Alex and I want to go on vacation then you will owe us
J: okay fair deal thanks B you the best
K: luv u girl
I put my phone back in my pocket. "So it looks like we are going to Georgia." He picked me up and hugged me spinning me around. "Yay! Babe I'm so excited you'll love it down there!" "Well I love you so anywhere you go." He smiled and kissed me. We got back on the bike and headed back to the house. We packed some few things since we planned on taking the bikes all the way there. "I'm going to get great content!"
"I'm sure you will." I said laughing. Once we were packed we had free time and nothing to do. "Now what?" I said sitting on the bed. He got a running jump and tackled me. We both fell on the bed laughing as he was tickling me. "I'll kick you stop! Babe!" I kept giggling and squirming. "Babe!!" He looked down at me smiling and I leaned up and kissed him. We pulled away for a minute for air just looking at each other. How was it possible for him to be so beautiful?? He leaned down and kissed me again except this kiss turned into a make out session which escalated pretty quickly. Both of us were already half undressed when I stopped him. "What? What is it?" He asked worried. "Nothing..." he went back to kissing me passionately when I pulled away again. "Babe... do you not want to do it? We don't have to." "No no I want it it's just..." I turned away from him embarrassed. "What?" He asked concerned. "I've never really..." "Hey it's okay..." he kissed my shoulder wrapping his arms around me from behind. "We can stop if you want." "No I want to go continue." I said turning to face him. He gently cupped my face and kissed me. "I'm just scared." "I'll be gentle okay? And anytime you want me to stop I will okay?" I nodded and he pulled me into his chest as we went from cuddling to kissing again. Our kissing escalated and I realized I wasn't scared anymore. He was so gentle and passionate. He kept making sure i was okay the whole time and when we were done he wrapped his arms around me pulling me close to him. "How was it are you okay?" He asked looking down at me. "It was amazing." He smiled and kissed me again. "I love you." I said and he smiled. "I love you too." He kissed my head and it wasn't long before we fell asleep. I woke up wrapped in his arms with hot breath in my face. "Oof Tank you aren't a puppy anymore." He stood up and licked me in the face. "Good morning to you too." I got up and got dressed as I woke Zach in the process. We got the things we needed and we took our bikes and traveled to Georgia. It took us many hours but we finally pulled into Chase and Heathers driveway. Chase let us park the bikes in his garage as we made our way inside. "Chase!" "Yumi!" They hugged and I took my helmet off and set it on lil mama. I walked over to Zach's side. Chase pulled me into a hug as Zach hugged Heather. "Hey Julia how are you." "I'm good Chase." I hugged heather after. "Don't worry girl when they start acting like children we can just go off and do our own thing." She whispered to me and I laughed. "Sounds good to me." We walked inside and they had such a big home closures to my one story ranch style house. "You're house is beautiful!" I opened my bag and pulled out a bottle. "I brought a house warming gift. Some time in the fridge and it should be good." I said handing the bottle over to Heather. "Moscato my kind of girl." She said putting the bottle in their wine cooler. "Chase and I were about to make some dinner. I'm sure the both of you are hungry after that long drive." "Starving." Zach said. "Well why don't you two head on up to your rooms and freshen up a bit. I'm sure Julia would like to get out of her gear. Then when y'all come back down y'all can help with dinner." "Thank you." I said and Zach lead the way upstairs. We walked down the hall to the guest room and I set my bag on the chair. I dressed into something nice but comfy.