Raising a Foal

Remember y'all. Main character --> Southern accent

A Little Dysfunctional

I’ve been waiting for hours for Laurie to call me back. Does she really hate me that much? Does she think that I’m kidding? Of course, if a past lover called me and told me they needed help, I’d probably do the same thing as her. I don’t know why I’m doing so much to hide Applejack from the world. Maybe it’s just because she’s a pony. With all that’s happened, she’s probably better off with someone else than a homeless 17-year-old. But, there’s just a part of me that just wants to keep her with me until the day I die. I don’t even know why these thoughts are plaguing my mind. Maybe I’m just afraid that Laurie won’t call me back and I’ll have to give lil AJ away. Ugh! It makes my heart ache just thinking about it.

Suddenly, I hear a ringing. Since I don’t have my own phone, I get out and look for the source. My eyes go straight for the payphone and it turns out that the ringing is coming from there. I rush over to it, and pick it up. "Hello?!"

"How in the hell did you get this number?"

I can't help but chuckle a little. "First time I've talked to you in two years and that's the first thing you say to me?"

"What does it matter? What do you want?"

"Well, hate to jump right to it, but I need your help. I've literally got no one else to turn to but you. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I've driven all over the country all while taking care of a little baby girl."

"Wait a minute! You have a daughter?!"

"Yep."

"And you're asking me for help?"

"That's the gist of it."

"Okay, you are not making sense.Why ask me instead of her mom?”

“Well... technically she’s not my real daughter.”

She starts to chuckle a little. “So, what? You found her on your doorstep?”

“...... Actually, yeah!”

An awkward silence breaks its way in. It takes a while before I get an answer back. “So you’re serious about this? You really just found a baby out of nowhere and you took her in as your own?”

“Eeyup.”

"... Fine, you can stay for the night. But after that, you're outta here."

"If that's the best you can give me, then I'll take it. Where do you live?" She gives the address, tells me how to get there and says goodbye. It's actually not that far from where I am now and it’ll only take me about five minutes. I go back to the truck and start her up. "Okay, Applejack,” I say to my daughter. “Get ready to enjoy your first taste of a real home."

I make it to Laurie's address and see that it's actually a pretty nice house. Two stories, a nice green lawn, something that only a lucky bastard could afford these days. I park the truck on the side of the road and put the blanket over Applejack to make sure that no one sees her. Force of habit. I get her in her seat and go to the front door. I ring the doorbell and wait for a while. The door opens and I see her, just as beautiful as ever.

"Hey," she says without a smile.

"Hey," I answer back.

She motions for me to come in. I set the car seat down inside and take in my surroundings. When I get a good look at the inside of the house, I'm taken aback. It's even more fancy-looking than the outside!

"Somehow, I always knew you'd find me again."

"Well, what can I say? Once I set my mind to something, it's hard to stop me. But, I gotta say this place is pretty fancy for you to-"

BAM!!

Out of nowhere, she socks me right in the jaw with more force than I thought possible from her. "I didn't say that I wanted to see you again," she says coldly.

"Why do you always blame me for everything that happened?" I ask while rubbing my chin. And mending my ego.

"I was young, everyone makes mistakes at that age! And I guess mine was falling in love with you."

"There you go again! You always look for something to blame and it's me most of the time! What's next? You're gonna blame me for global warming?!"

"Tempting, but no. I have more common sense than that."

"Well, what about your dad? If anything, blame him for you having to leave, not me!" She suddenly grows silent and turns away. She just walks towards what looks like the kitchen. "Speaking of whom, where is that old coot anyway? There's no way that you're living here by yourself." But, Laurie doesn't answer. She just keeps on walking. Sensing that something's wrong, I run after her and grab her by the arm.  "Laurie, where's your dad?"

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” she says quietly.

“Come on. It can’t be that bad.”

“I said I don’t wanna talk about it!” She gives me another punch to the face, this time right in the nose. I let go of her and put my face in my hands. She starts to walk away again when my nose starts to bleed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!” I shout as I reach for a tissue. I tear it in two and stuff them up my nostrils. “If you’re going this far to tell me nothing’s wrong, then there’s something wrong!” She’s perched up against a bar, like she’s trying to keep herself upright. “Now, I’m gonna ask you one more time. I don’t wanna hurt you; I’m just trying to help. Where. Is. Your dad?”

I finally notice that there are tears streaming down her cheeks. "My dad's dead."

And I just turned into a total douche. I immediately regret ever bringing him up. My mind went blank and I didn’t know what to do, so I just put my arms around her and give her a squeeze. She doesn’t respond, almost like she’s completely numb on the inside. "I'm sorry", I tell her quietly.

"Do you even know how long it took me to get over you?" she says, her voice breaking.

"I can only say ‘I’m sorry’ so many times.”

"Well then, say it again anyway!!" she shouts while pushing me away.

"I'm sorry,” I say with a little sarcasm.

"Yeah, everyone's sorry for something. And just so you know, I'm serious about you staying one night. After that, you’re outta here.”

“Any particular reason?”

“Do I look like I need a reason?!!” she screams. Our argument is suddenly cut short when we both hear crying.

“Oh great. You woke her up! Thanks a lot!”

"Her?”

“That kid that I told you about.” I rush into the living room to get little Applejack. She’s bawling her eyes out and her orange face is turning red. I undo all the straps, pick her up, and set her on my shoulder to try and calm her down. “It’s okay, it’s okay, Daddy’s here”, I whisper. I’ll protect you from the wicked witch. I turn around and Laurie’s gaze goes right to Applejack. She’s completely speechless. A few awkward moments of silence go by before I speak up.

“Oh! Where are my manners?” I adjust AJ a little to where she’s cuddled up in my arms. “Laurie Faustus, I’d like you to meet my baby girl, Applejack.”

“That thing is your kid?!”

"Hey! She’s not a ‘thing’! She’s a baby!”

"Babies don’t have orange skin. Or stubby arms. Or tails for that matter!”

Applejack starts to cry again. This time, I don’t know what for. Desperate, I hand Applejack to Laurie and, luckily, she takes the baby in her arms. I then rush out to the truck to try and get something to calm her down. I grab everything in there; her apple plush toy, her pacifier, everything! I burst through the door and spread it all out on the floor. I try the pacifier and it doesn’t work. I try the plush toy and it doesn’t work either. I’ve gone through pretty much everything except the applesauce that she loves so much. Of course! She’s just hungry! I think. I take Applejack out of Laurie’s arms and go over to a nearby couch. I’ve got her in a position to where she’s resting against my belly and I try spoon-feeding it to her. But, she won’t open her mouth.

“Come on, darling. You need to eat up.” But she still won’t do it.

Laurie goes over to us and gets down on her knees. “Here, let me help.” She takes the spoon from me and dips it into the applesauce. “Come on, little one. Here comes the choo-choo train!” She makes the sound effects and starts making funny faces. It’s almost like she speaks baby-nese because Applejack actually opens up her mouth and gobbles it down.

“How did you do that?”

“I used to have a babysitting job. Duh.”

Oh yeah! I can’t believe I forgot about that! “Well, whatever you did, it’s working!”

We finished feeding her a while ago. Laurie's just getting back from a local Taco Bell with dinner for me and her. We sit at the table with Laurie on one side, and Applejack and I on the other. I've got her balanced on my knee and steadied with one hand, and my burrito in the other hand. There's another awkward silence as we're eating. We're really not sure what to say to each other.

"Curious question," I finally start. "I'm not trying to open old wounds or nothing, but how can you afford this place?"

"That kind of question I can tolerate. You see, when Dad... passed away, he left everything to me. The house, his car, his money, everything. Since my mom died about a decade ago and her family won't speak to us, he had no one else to give it to except for me."

"Well, that was awful generous of him. I'm still sorry that I brought him up like that."

"It's ok. I'm the one that should be sorry for giving you a bloody nose." We both share a chuckle. I’ve noticed that Applejack has her hoof on my burrito and trying pull it towards her.

"Oh come on! You just finished eating darling! Besides I wouldn't give this to you anyway. I don’t want that room smelling tonight!" I finally manage to get a hearty laugh out of Laurie which I happily join. We even get a little giggle out of Applejack, which only makes us laugh even more. In that moment, a strange mix of emotions flowed through me. I was happy that we finally had something to laugh about, that we even had a moment to laugh, and that we were almost like any normal family. But, I was also feeling depressed because I knew that it wouldn’t last forever.

It’s now a little past AJ’s bedtime, so I take her up to the room that I'm supposed to be staying in and set her on the bed. I put a pile of pillows around her to make sort of a makeshift crib. Not the best way to sleep, but it'll have to do. It’s better than what she had before, at least. Right now, I'm too exhausted to even think. I go downstairs and plop down on the couch again. Ah, it feels so good to rest with my legs stretched out! But, just as I'm about to drift off, I feel something poke at me. I open my eyes to see Laurie hovering over me with eyes wide open.

"Can I ask you a serious question?"

"Oh sure!" I say with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "I've got nothing better to do."

"Look, I know you're tired but this is serious." Wanting to get it over with, I listen closely. "Why?"

My mind goes blank. “Huh?”

"Why do you do so much to take care of ‘Applejack’?” I already know where she’s going with this. “Why don't you just give her to someone else?"

"What does it matter? She needed help, so I gave it to her.”

“This isn’t something that you would have done when we were together. Why now?” I don’t answer her. I just pretend like I've already fallen asleep, hoping that she’ll just go away. That plan backfires when she starts poking me again. She just keeps doing it, and doing it, and doing it. I finally push her hand away and look her dead in the eye. “I’m not stopping until you answer me.”

"Fine! Because I'm the only one who can!" I snap back. That's the first time I've ever yelled at her like that. I get up off the couch to try and get away from her, but she’s on me like a dog to a bone.

"I know what this is all about,” she says smugly.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You couldn't stop me from leaving, you couldn't stop your mom from kicking you out, you couldn't even stop your parents from divorcing!"

"Shut up."

"So you took her in because you want to control something in your life. You want to play God!"

"Shut up!" I put myself against the wall to hide my frustration and tears.

"You didn’t do all of this because you love her. It was all for your own selfish pride."

"I said shut up!!" I shout as I punch the wall. A massive jolt of pain shoots through my arm, but I didn’t care at that point. It's a miracle that it doesn't wake up Applejack. Laurie stops dead in her tracks with a look of pain and regret pasted on her face. “Just leave me alone. I’ll need all the sleep I can get if I’m gonna leave in the morning.” And with that, I go back to the couch with the pillow on my face. I don’t know what Laurie did at that point, but I assumed that she went to her bedroom to get some sleep. The last thing I remember thinking is what I’m going to do when Laurie kicks us out tomorrow.

I wake up right at the crack of dawn. My mind is rested and ready to go, but my back is killing me. On a hunch, I go to what I think is the medicine cabinet in one of the bathrooms. I find some Motrin, sip some water from the sink, and down two pills. Hopefully, that’ll help in a little while. I then head into the living room to gather up Applejack’s stuff.

Once I've gotten it all, I set it by the door along with the car seat. I'm thinking that leaving early would be best for me and Laurie. So, I head upstairs to get Applejack. But, right when I get to the door, I hear something. It sounds almost like... singing. Curious, I open the door quietly to the most beautiful sound I’ve heard in years. Laurie's got Applejack curled up in her arms like a real mom would do for her daughter, and she’s softly singing a little lullaby. I take a minute to watch the heartwarming scene. I start to listen to the song, and I remember the one that she’s singing.

Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight

Just a touch of the fire burning so bright

No I don't want to mess this thing up

I don't want to push too far

Just a shot in the dark that you just might

Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life

So baby I'm alright with just a kiss goodnight

She finishes, still not noticing that I’m in the room now. I start to clap slowly for her little performance, and the look on her face is just priceless. “You never told me that you could sing like that.”

I can tell that she’s embarrassed due to the red on her cheeks. “Well, you never asked,” she says with a shaky voice.

“Laurie, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’ve got a talent that I could never hope to have. You should be proud of yourself!”

She finally gives me a little smile. “That’s very sweet of you. Thanks.”

“No problem at all.” Yet again, another awkward silence. The words that I dread the most can’t help but pass my lips. “So... I guess we’d better hit the road, huh?”

“No!” she says louder than I expected. “I mean, you don’t have to leave right now. It’s still early and I can give you some more time. If you’d like, that is.”

Now, this is something that I never would’ve expected from her. Especially after I kinda forced this on her in the first place. In fact, I’m taken aback that she would give me something so precious as ‘extra time’. “Well then, if you’re willing to put up with me for a while longer, then I’ll be glad to!” She gives me a warm smile, something that I haven’t seen since forever. I quietly shut the door and go back downstairs. It occurs to me that Laurie must be getting pretty attached to my daughter to stop us from leaving at the crack of dawn. She’s already been such a big help to me. And I know the perfect way to thank her for that. Time to brush up on my cooking skills.

Here's the lullaby song that Laurie was singing!

Author's Notes: I just want to say thank you to my brother, The Conflicted Writer. He's helped with this so much, and I can't thank him enough. I also want to thank you guys for reading my story. I hope y'all are enjoying it and expect many more chapters in the future! And here's a cute little pic that I found on deviantart!