Because of a Cowboy

Alone in the Barn

"You know, Vegas, I know you can't see me, but I look absolutely huge right now," I said as I brushed him. His face was buried into a bucket of hay. "I gained fifty pounds, buddy. I have a lot of weight to lose...I should've told Toby to stop bringing me pizzas."

I moved onto Jenny's stall. She was laying on a pile of hay, taking a snooze. It was harder for her to move without her prosthetic on, so she liked to nap in her downtime. However, it was different when she saw me.

Jenny wiggled around, got her footing, and stood on her three legs. She always started trying to walk over to me. I called her walk a "limp-hop."

"Hey pretty girl! You're looking good today!" I said as I closed the stall door. I immediately started combing the knots out of her frizzy black mane. "Always the girl with the crazy hair." She brought her head down to me. "Love you too, Jenny."

"Still talking to yourself in here?"

I jumped. Holden was leaning over the stall. Once again, shirtless, in jeans, and bearing his usual cowboy hat.

"When did you get in here!" I said.

"About halfway through your air guitar solo in that song you were singing to Vegas."

I turned away from him and kept brushing. "He can't see. He likes it when I sing to him!"

"I bet he loves those air guitar solos too. I bet he can hear your knuckles cracking as you hit every note," he said. "So, two weeks left, huh?"

"I just want him out already. I can barely sleep because he could come any day. I have everything I need but...it's still scary." I turned to him. "You're positive you don't want to be there when he's born."

"Nah. I'll skip all that nastiness. Toby can be there looking at all of it, since he still claims he's the father, anyway."

"Well I mean he has been there for everything. You've been there on and off. And the last time I checked you were totally trying to pick up girls during rodeo night a few weeks ago."

"Because the one I want is taken. What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Just be there for Toby when he gets here."

"Tobias. I'm not calling him Toby."

"Fine."

There was a long pause between us. I finished up with Jenny, pushed past Holden, and moved on to Valkyrie. She was completely covered in dirt, head to toe. I took the lead off a hook outside her stall and approached her carefully as she watched me.

"Hey Val, hey beautiful..." I inched closer and pulled out the sugar cube in my pocket. Her eyes grew wide, and she actually came towards me. She took the cube right as I hooked onto her. "That's it, good girl."

"Where are you taking her?" Holden asked.

"Out. She needs to be hosed down. She's filthy. Come on, Val."

I tried easing her out of the stall, but she wanted no part of it. I pulled out another sugar cube and kept tempting her until she was tied up near the hose outside.

I got the water going and used all my might to pick up the hose. Things on the ground were almost impossible to get when I was too big to even see my own feet. Holden was right behind me.

I slowly rinsed Valkyrie and brushed away all the clumps of dirt. She was cooperating, probably because her favorite person was close by.

"You took her out for a long ride today, huh? I can see that she's all tuckered out," I said.

"Yeah. She's doing good...I know that you felt the same when I got done riding you." I sprayed him with the hose as he laughed. "Come on babe, you know it's true."

"You know what else is true? The fact that I'm with Toby."

Right as I went back to washing Val, there was a whining noise in the distance. It was getting louder and closer. Val winnied and kicked and tried to pull herself away.

"Shh Val, it's okay girl!" I said. She didn't listen. "You're safe Val, it's okay!"

"Is that an ambulance coming this way?" Holden said, trying to hold her.

"What do you think it is, you idiot? An ice cream truck with a siren!" I yelled over the noise.

For my own safety, I let go and left Holden to calm her down. I ran around to the front of the stable so I could see what was going on.

A few of my family members were running at full speed towards the event barn. The ambulance flew past me.

We've called the paramedics during events before, especially when the old folks got too excited during bingo. But today was a Tuesday night.

There were never events going on during a Tuesday night. The only one who would ever be at the barn this late on a Tuesday...

I put my hands on my head and tried to figure out what to do. I mustered every ounce of strength in me and got to that barn as fast as I could. It took me so stinking long because, of course, I was massively pregnant.

"Guys! What's going on!" I yelled to the crowd of my family members. Even Grandpa got there faster than me.

I got to the front just in time to see the paramedics huddled around a gurney. One gave oxygen while the other did chest compressions on the still body.

Right as they picked the gurney up and placed it into the ambulance, I could see Whisper's pale face.