*A/N - Only Four more chapters to go, hope you all enjoy ;) *

Jon’s POV

                Waking up on Monday morning I couldn’t feel better than I did; after spending time with Lina last night and getting over whatever it was that seemed to come between us my mood was at an all time high. So what if we could never be together like I wanted us to be at least we could still be friends; I couldn’t ask for a better friend either. Lina was the best friend I could ever ask for; she was not only loving, caring and the nicest person I know, she was also blunt, straight to the point and never took shit from anybody, she was everything anyone could ever want or ask for in a friend. I wouldn’t do anything to screw up our friendship, the moment she left my apartment last night I made a vow to myself to hold onto her with everything I have; even if I would never be able to have Lina the way I wanted to I knew that there was no way I could ever go another day in my life without at least having her at my side as my friend, my best friend, my only friend really other than Jen.

                I spent the rest of Monday and Tuesday helping Lina try to train a young horse named Ginger on how to accept a saddle; the damn thing was more stubborn than a mule and after hours of attempts and fails at getting her to accept the saddle we would leave the barn exhausted and drained each night. Things were a little hectic in the barn for a while after Thomas got back; while he was gone we all took it easy and got by with the minimal amount of work we could while still making sure to do our jobs properly but now that he was back he was cracking the whip and the barn was back in tiptop shape. Not that I minded him being back at all or the hard work that came along with it but it did mean less time alone with Lina; she didn’t come up and visit me at night and we didn’t seem to be as able to talk freely as we normally would.

                By the time I went to bed on Wednesday night I was feeling a little down and wishing for the weekend to hurry up so that I could at least spend a little more time with her; it felt like I was only sleeping for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door. I rolled over rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I took in the time on the clock by the bed; it was nearly four in the morning and I couldn’t help but wonder who would be at my door that early; I slipped on some sweat pants and a tee shirt as I made my way to the door. As my mind started to clear of sleep my steps started to move faster wondering if maybe something was wrong; why else would someone be waking me up in the middle of the night if something bad didn’t happen. I made it to the door and whipped it open to find Lina standing there in a pair of yoga pants and a loose t-shirt; she had the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face.

“What are you doing here; what’s going on?” I asked; I could only assume that since she was smiling that nothing bad happened but I still had to be sure.

“Do you want to see the most beautiful and amazin’ thing you will ever lay your eyes on?” She asked. I had to ask myself if that was some type of trick question because from where I stood I was already staring at the most beautiful and amazing thing I had ever laid my eyes on.

“Umm… sure?” I replied hesitantly wondering what it was that she could be referring to if it wasn’t herself.                

“Come on!” She chirped before grabbing my arm and all but dragging me down the steps.

“Where are we going?” I asked as she hauled me out of the barn and I struggled to keep up with her hurried pace in my still tired state. What the hell did she do drink an entire pot of coffee?

“You’ll see!” She said happily as she led me into one of the breeding barns where we kept the newly born foals and pregnant horses.

“Come on, up here.” She said letting go of my hand so that she could climb on top of a stack of hay bales set up across from a stall; I made my way up to sit next to her as she pointed toward the stall across from us.

                I looked in to see a very pregnant horse that was anxiously pacing back and forth in the stall; every now and then she would whip her head around and make soft neighing sounds. Looking at the horse it seemed to be in distress, highly upset or agitated about something; it clawed at the fresh hay in the stalls with its hoofs and pushed it around with its nose like it wasn’t happy with the way it way laying in the stalls. I don’t know what about the scene made Lina think that it was amazing or beautiful but her eyes were glued on the horse and not once did that breathtaking smile leave her lips; she was almost bouncing up and down on the hay bale we were sitting on and her leg was bouncing uncontrollably like she just couldn’t wait for what was going to happen next. All of a sudden the horse became still as stone and a huge stream of pee came out before she kneeled down on her knees and then rolled to her side.

“Is she…” I started to ask but Lina cut me off.

“Shh… just watch.” She said focused on the horse.

                The mare started panting and rolling from her side to her stomach and back again; small sounds that almost sounded like cries came out of her as her panting increased along with the amount of liquid she seemed to be peeing out.

“You uh actually might want to look away for this part.” Lina whispered but my focus was glued on the horse waiting for what I was sure to happen next.

                As what I thought was going to happen next, actually did, I almost wished I would have looked away; my stomach churned at the sight yet my eyes refused to leave it at the same time. What looked to be what I could only describe as a slimy alien egg like sack thing started protruding from the hind quarters of the horse as she rolled to her side and her legs kicked out a few times; her panting got heavier and you could see her stomach contact as more and more of the alien looking creature emerged from inside of her. I don’t know if the whole thing lasted five minutes or five hours but before I knew it the small sack that came out at first got larger and in one final push the rest of the baby was forced out of the horse and the sack it was contained in burst open spilling goop and fluid into the hay.

                What had once appeared to look like an alien to me was now uncovered and a tiny little black head popped up and wobbled back and forth as the little creature tried to hold it steady; the momma horse moved her body a few inches causing most of the rest of the sack to free itself from the little creature that was once trapped within in. The two of them just stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity until the little foal started to kick its feet around and roll on its side trying to get its balance; I wanted to see Linas reaction to it all but I couldn’t get my eyes to move one inch from the scene in front of me. It took a while but the baby soon started to get its bearings and wobbled around as it tried to figure out how the long limbs attached to its body worked; the momma did her best at cleaning it off when it got close enough to reach but made no move to get up from the laying position she had been in since giving birth.

“Isn’t it just beautiful!” Lina gushed beside me and for the first time I moved my eyes from the new born baby to her; her cheeks were wet from tears and the smile that had been there since she came to get me was still plastered across her lips.

“Yeah.” I replied glancing back over that the horse before returning my attention to her. “Are you crying?” I asked with a small chuckle.

“No!” She said defensively while wiping at her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt.

“Liar!” I shot back.

“Ok, maybe I was.” She said looking over at me with a cheesy grin.

“You’re such a softy.” I teased as I pulled her into my arms and ruffled her hair.

“Comin’ from the guy that couldn’t stand to see a chicken get its head chopped off.” She teased back as she relaxed in my arms and tried to smooth out her hair that I messed up.

                I don’t know how long I sat there with Lina wrapped up in my arms as we watched the new baby progress in learning how to stand but we must have fallen asleep at some point because next thing I know Lina was calling my name to wake me up. Opening my eyes I looked over to see Lina now sitting up next to me with hay sticking out of her hair that was sticking up in all directions; I laughed a little before helping her pick the little pieces out and straighten out her hair. Looking over the mother horse was now standing happily eating some clean hay and the baby was standing under her nursing; clearly in the time we were sleeping the little one had fully learned how his limbs worked and was taking full advantage of the new position it put it in to nurse.

“What should we name him?” Lina asked after a few more minutes of trying to tame her unruly hair.

“How do you know it’s a him?” I ask looking over the tiny foal.

“Umm… it’s not hard to guess.” She said raising her eyebrows and pointing towards the rear end of the horse; right, how did I miss that before?

“I don’t know I have never been good at naming things.” I replied after a few minutes of thinking and coming up blank.

“How about Bubba?” Lina asked suggesting the nickname that she always used for my father.

“Bubba doesn’t seem like a show horse name, but I like it.” I offered her a smile before looking back at the pure black baby and thinking about naming him after my father.

“People never keep the names we give them anyways but we can make it Bubba the Magnificent if that sounds more show like to you.” Lina let out a small laugh and I joined her thinking about the name.

“Sounds more like a hill-billy magician than a show horse but I think it’s perfect.” I pulled her into a quick hug before we made our way down the stack of hay we were positioned on.

“Bubba the Magnificent it is then!” Lina jotted down the name on the clip board hanging outside the stall before we made our way out of the barn.

                By the time I made it back to my apartment I only had a few minutes to take a quick shower before I needed to head to the main house for breakfast. I quickly dressed in my normal jeans, boots and long sleeved button up shirt before leaving my apartment and walking up to the house to get some breakfast; at first the long sleeves bothered me but it didn’t take long for me to get used to them and despite the heat it was well worth the long sleeves to avoid the crazy itching when working with hay all day. When I showed up at the house Thomas was just sitting down at the table and Katherine and Lina were no where in sight; I took my seat after saying a quick hello to Thomas and Lina bounced down the stairs minutes later with still wet hair. No sooner was Lina seated at the table between me and her father did Katherine walk out of the kitchen with her arms full of delicious smelling food.

“Tempest had her baby last night, well, more like this mornin’ daddy.” Lina said happily as she started to dish out food once her mother was seated.

“Really? What was it?” He asked as she passed him the plate of bacon.

“A boy, Jon and I named it Bubba the Magnificent!” She replied cheerfully; I don’t know how she still had so much energy when she had to be up all night and we both only got a few hours of sleep in the barn.

“Bubba the Magnificent, huh.” Thomas replied with a chuckle as he tired out the name.

“Yep, he’s beautiful daddy, wait till you see him. I’m willin’ to bet he’s goin’ to be just about as big as Romeo if not the same size.” Lina said before starting to dig into her meal.

“Good, he’ll be worth a lot of money then and I won’t regret lettin’ you keep Romeo so much.” Thomas said giving her shoulder a little punch and she replied with a scowl. “So Jon how was your first experience with a horse birth?” He said turning his attention to me; I tried my best not to think about the actual birth part as I tried to keep my breakfast down and instead focused on after the baby was born and attempting to stand.

“It was pretty cool, unlike anything I have ever seen before that’s for sure.” I replied pushing the eggs around on my plate wondering if after the imagines that just flashed through my mind I would be able to swallow them if I put them in my mouth.

“What’s the matter feelin’ a little queasy thinkin’ about it?” Katherine asked with a small smile as she spied me pushing around my food; I nodded in response. “It’s ok, I still can’t watch it and we’ve been raisin’ them things for as long as I can remember.” She said standing up and taking away my half eaten plate of food.

“Well I got a few more things to do up here; I will meet you two down at the barn after awhile.” Thomas said pushing his empty plate forward a little before rubbing his extended full belly; Lina and I got up from the table and headed outside to make our way down to the barn.

“Who’s Romeo?” I asked once we were half way to the barn.

“What?” She looked up at me a little confused as to what I was talking about.

“Romeo? You said that the baby should be as big as Romeo, who is he?”

“Oh, he’s my horse. My daddy let me pick out my first horse and he was it but after he grew up and ended up being the biggest and prettiest horse we have ever produced he regretted his decision.” She had a wide grin on her face as she continued. “I’ve had more offers than I can count from people wantin’ to buy him but I wouldn’t part with my baby for nothin’.”

“Will you show me him?” I asked.

“Sure, follow me.” She said leading me to one of the housing barns; she wasn’t kidding when she said he was the biggest and most handsome horse I have ever seen. His chocolate brown almost black coat shined even in the dim light of the barn and he stood a good few feet taller than any other horse on the farm.

“Wow!” Was all I could say after spending a few minutes petting his head that he had to lean down significantly to be at a good level to pet.

“I know, beautiful right?” She said giving him a few more pats on the head.

“Absolutely!” I replied. “Do you have any other horses?” I asked curious to get to know more about her.

“Yeah, one more, a mare.” We started walking back towards the main barn together.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Promise not to laugh?” I looked down at her to see her looking at the ground while a light blush coated her cheeks.

“Nope.” I replied popping the ‘P’; I could only imagine what she named the horse if she thought I was going to laugh at its name. She gave me a quick hard jab to the shoulder before answering.

“Juliet.” As soon as the words left her mouth I was laughing. “Shut up! I’m a sucker for romances.” She hit me in my arm again a little harder this time so that I would quit laughing at her.

“Alight, alight!” I said holding up my hands in surrender as I did my best to hold in the last few chuckles that wanted to escape. “Does prove my theory though.” I added.

“What theory?” She asked stopping to put her hands on her hips; I turned around to face her but purposely took a few steps back in preparation to run after what I was about to say next.

“The fact that you’re just a big softy!” I said watching her face turn to anger and before she had a chance to catch me I turned on my heels and took off towards the barn; I should have given myself a longer head start because she caught me just as I came around the corner of the barn and jumped on my back causing us both to tumble to the ground into a pile of hay.