Raising a Foal

Ch. 3: Warming of the Heart

Finally, I'm finished. A meal fit for a king and queen, and a princess of course, hath been prepared. Eggs, pancakes, freshly squeezed orange juice, blueberry muffins; the typical American breakfast, but I haven't had one like it in months. No bacon since Applejack’s... you know. I'm actually surprised that Laurie had all this stuff in her cabinet.

Once again as if on cue, I see Laurie coming down the stairs. She's got Applejack in her arms, and when she first sees our feast it’s like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Well, it’s the least I could do. This’ll make up for having to take care of my sorry ass AND my daughter for more than a day.”

“Who said I was complaining?”

“Says my jaw. The one that you gave a good punch to.” I don’t know whether I should go to see a doctor about it or not.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I was sorry for that?”

I think hard for a moment. “Hmmmm... nah”, I say with a wink. “Now, come on. We’d better eat before it gets cold.”

The three of us sit down at the table, with Applejack perched on my knee. We say grace and dig in. I guess putting a lot of hard work into it made breakfast better than I expected. I’m just happy that Applejack seems to like it. By the time we’re all done, her whole face is covered in syrup from the pancakes and little bits of blueberry muffin are stuck to it. Laurie and I share a laugh for once in a long time, and Applejack looks up at me with an innocent look on her face.

“It’s alright darling. You didn’t do nothing wrong.” With that, I tickle on her little orange belly and she gives a hearty chuckle. But, I don’t do it too much so she won’t upchuck her breakfast. I learned that lesson after our first few days together.

“You really should get her cleaned up. You do that, and I’ll clear the table.”

“You sure? Cause I can clean the kitchen up.”

“I’m sure. Use the bathroom upstairs if you don’t mind.”

I give a mock salute and take lil’ Applejack upstairs to get cleaned. As I expected, there isn’t anything up there for her to play with except a rubber ducky.

‘You gotta make due with what you can’, a wise man once said.

I fill the tub up a little bit since I don’t need much to get the job done. The mess comes right off with a little bit of water. As I’m finishing up, she slaps the water with her hoof and splashes me right in the face. At first, I think she didn’t mean to do it until I see that smug little grin on her face. I lightly splash her back, which she responds with another stronger splash. In a few seconds, we’re having a father-daughter splash battle. We’re both laughing up a storm and just having a merry good time until we hear someone clear their throat. Laurie must’ve heard it down in the kitchen since she’s standing in the doorway with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. It’s almost as if she’s asking why I’m having all the fun. Stealthily, I take a handful of water in one hand while holding Applejack steady with the other. Like a flash, I whip my hand around and I get her right on her shirt. She yelps and jumps back a little before she realizes what just happened. I start to laugh my ass off and she joins in shortly. I even hear her snort a few times.

Then, it’s all silenced when I hear a tiny grunt. Applejack’s got one of her hooves hooked onto the edge of the tub with my hand still holding her steady. She’s peeking her lil’ head over the edge and pointing her other hoof at Laurie. It sounds like she’s struggling to say something, but she can’t quite get it out. Finally, she manages to say one word that would accidentally start a new life for me.

“Mama.”

The most awkward silence fills the air. You could cut it with a knife it’s so thick. I don’t say a word and neither does Laurie. I just finish drying Applejack off and lift her up on my shoulder. The three of us walk together to the nursery and we still don’t say a word. By the time we get to the door, AJ’s starting to fall asleep. I lay her down in her makeshift crib and she’s out like a light. I guess all that fun and saying her first word has her plum tuckered out. Laurie and I leave the room and leave a little crack in the door in case she wakes up.

We’re down in the living room on the couch. I don’t know what’s floating through her mind, but I know that this could be really bad or really good. I mean, how would you feel after something like that?

I decide to break the silence. “So... now what?”

She doesn’t answer.

I try again. “Not every day that something like that happens, huh?” I chuckle.

She still doesn’t answer. At this point, I feel like I’m digging myself an early grave. I’ve gotta change the subject quickly. I try one more time; an all-or-nothing Hail Mary pass, so to speak.

“Remember when your brother found out we were dating?”

Finally, she manages to crack a smile. She says, “He had a Liam Neeson moment when we called to tell him the news.”

“Remember like it was yesterday.” I shifted my voice to a deeper tone. “If you make it work, then I’ll let it be. But, if you hurt my sister, I will look for you. I WILL find you... and I will beat the crap outta you.”

Laurie tries her best not to laugh since she doesn’t want to wake up Applejack, though a few giggles manage to escape. Probably not because I remember what he said, but because I sounded exactly like him. But her brother Mac ain’t no joke, I tell you what. From what I’ve heard from Laurie, he’s a bodybuilder that trains in MMA. Put him and I together and you’ve got a one-sided bloodbath. I can only imagine what kind of unholy wrath was brewing in his 200 pound heart when he found out Laurie and I couldn’t work things out.

“That reminds me. Why didn’t he do that when we... you know?”

She calms herself and says with a warm smile, “I told him not to.”

This is the moment where everything would change. I instantly see something different about Laurie Faustus, one of the most beautiful girls I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. She’s looking at me with genuine happiness, something that I haven’t seen since... since the day we first met. I can finally remember what it is that attracted me to her so much. When she looks at me with a smile, I see what true beauty is. Only when she’s happy can I see it for myself. I can’t really explain it, but I don’t think there’s any way that I can. I’ve got no idea that we’re slowly edging towards each other on the couch. It ain’t until we get within a few inches of each other that we realize it. Acting on pure instinct, I start to lean my head forward. Laurie edges even closer and mirrors my actions. Time seems to slow down for us as our faces get closer and closer. I can’t believe that this is actually happening, but it feels too real to be a dream. My heart starts to race out of my incredible nervousness. But, I manage to steel myself out of anxiety and throw all doubt out of my mind. I feel my face heating up and a cold bead of sweat runs down the back of my neck. My hands start to feel clammy and cold, but I push through. And finally, after what seemed like an eternity...

DING DONG

The doorbell rings. For a moment it snaps us out of our romantic trance. But, we ignore it and go back to where we were. The doorbell rings again and again and again. Now it’s just plain annoying, and if that wasn’t enough we hear Applejack crying. Even though we both wanted this moment to last, it would have to wait for later.

I quickly say, “I’ll get the baby if you get the door.”

The rest of the day goes without a hitch. There hasn’t been anything good on TV, we had crappy leftovers for dinner, and it’s been raining nonstop for the past six hours. Laurie’s already gone to bed and Applejack’s down for the night. I don’t know why I’m still awake at this point, so I decide to hit the hay since it’s getting late. As I'm heading up to my room, I notice that the door to Laurie's is cracked a little. Curious to see how she's doing, I open the door and peak in.

Her red hair is frayed all around her and she’s curled up into a ball under the covers. How she manages to get even more beautiful when she goes to sleep is beyond me. Of course, I didn't say goodnight properly so I can’t just leave her like this. I tiptoe over to her and sit on the edge of her bed. I push some of her long hair out of her face with a stray hand. How someone like her managed to fall for a hopeless schmuck like me, I’ll never know. I lean forward and give her a kiss on her forehead while whispering, “Good night”. But as I’m turning away, I feel a sudden jerk that pulls me back. I stumble and fall back on the same spot on Laurie’s bed. I look down to see that she’s got a good grip on me. I look back up to see that her eyes are wide open.

“How long have you been awake?”

“The whole time.”

I’m screwed, I think.

“And you really think that you could leave me with just that?”

“What do you mean?”

In a flash, Laurie lurches forward. Finally, for the first time in a long time, our lips lock together. At first, I’m surprised at her forwardness. Eventually, I accept and push back into the kiss. At that moment, the two of us aren’t paying any attention to the outside world. All that matters is what’s happening right now, and I don’t want it to ever end. A stray thought runs through my mind saying that I don’t have to worry about my daughter’s future anymore. As long as I’m with Laurie, I feel like I can do anything. I  don’t know it yet, but the rain has stopped falling and the clouds have parted to reveal the moon. With the curtain blinds open, a ray of moonlight envelopes us as we finally break away. We look deep into each other’s eyes and just smile.

I break the silence by asking her something that I should’ve had answered. “So what now?”

She just shakes her head, “I don’t know.”

“Well, whatever happens in the future, as long as I’m with you I think I’ll be okay.”

“Same here.” And with that, she draws me in for another kiss. I respond by pushing her back and laying her down on the bed while still in liplock. This night would turn out to be one of the best I’ve ever had.

Six Months Later

I sigh, “Remind me again to never have a Christmas party at our house. Ever.”

“I second that notion”, Laurie comments.

A lot has happened in the time since I came here.  Applejack’s starting to talk and she’s been walking for a good while now. Since she’s a pony and everything, she walks on all four hooves naturally. Speaking of whom, she’s down for the night and Laurie and I can finally have some peace and quiet. We had had this big Christmas party with the neighbors and we had a blast even though it was hard work. A while before that, though, we had called a neighborhood meeting to introduce everyone to Applejack. To our surprise, they had actually taken kindly to her even though she’s a pony. I’m not sure why, but I ain’t complaining anytime soon. Of course, we all vowed to keep her our little secret since we don’t know how the outside world would respond to her. Of course, the introduction part was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done for fear of what would happen to my daughter. But, I’m getting better about being so paranoid. And we have playdates with the other babies of the neighborhood so that Applejack can finally have some interaction with people other than me and Laurie. It’ll be good for her in the long run.

One of the better things is that I managed to do something that should’ve been done a while ago. I managed to contact my parents one night to talk to them. Apparently, they cleaned up their act after I left and started going to church again. Every day, they would pray that I was safe and that I was okay. Of course, as my parents, they know that I keep true to the commitments that I make. Even though they missed me, they told me that they would always support me in any way possible and couldn’t stop saying sorry to me. I told them that all was forgiven and, to be honest, I had to thank them. If I hadn’t left almost a year ago, I wouldn’t be here right now. I never would’ve met Laurie again and fallen back in love with her. And since Applejack has a mommy now, that just makes it so much better. I told them about where I was and that AJ and I were living with Laurie. They really wanted to see me for Christmas and get to know their granddaughter better, but they wouldn’t be able to with the price of gas and everything. So, they sent us their presents to us by mail and we had a good talk using that Skype thingy. We had a good time talking and finding out what was happening with them. They even commented about how much I’ve grown up in such a short time. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’d be pretty awesome if it was. I hope I can see them again before AJ grows up. I’ll bet they’d make awesome grandparents.

Lastly, I’ve found a job here in Michigan, so I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. Everyone knows that it’s getting harder and harder to find jobs in this tough economy. I’ve managed to pull my weight for my family, and to save up my money to buy presents for Laurie and Applejack. I’ve even got something special for my darling girlfriend, and I’ve got this whole plan together that’s gonna blow her outta the water.

Right now, I’m sitting on the couch while Laurie’s resting her head on my lap. We’re not doing anything, so might as well put my plan into action.

“Hey. You think we could celebrate Christmas early?”

She responds with a confused glance.

“I mean, how about we give each other a present early?”

“Any reason why?”

“Build up anticipation for tomorrow?”

She thinks for a minute and shrugs her shoulders. “Might as well.”

We get up from the couch and go over to the Christmas tree. She picks up a large box with my name on it while I pick up a small box for her. We trade gifts and she lets me go first. Carefully, I tear the wrapping paper off and reach for what’s inside it. I take it out of the box to find that it’s a light-brown Stetson hat. There’s a note attached to it that says, ‘For the cowboy in you. Love, Laurie.’

“How the hell did you know?”

“Come on. It wasn’t that hard to figure out. ‘A cowboy feels naked without a hat’? You told me that!”

“Oh yeah.” I try on my new hat to find that it fits like a glove. I give Laurie a big squeeze which she responds in kind.

“Merry Christmas, my big strong cowboy.”

“Merry Christmas, my darling angel.” With that we part the hug and give each other a quick kiss. My eyes then shift to the tiny box in her hand. “And just so you know, it’s not what you think. Here, I’ll open it for you.”

“I’m perfectly capable of opening my own presents.”

“Well duh, I know that. It’s just... it’s a really special gift and I want to surprise you properly with it.”

Laurie raises an eyebrow and cautiously hands me the box. I turn my back so she won’t see it until the opportune moment. When I get the wrapping paper off, I turn back around and hide the little box behind my back. “Now I’ve thought about this really hard and I’ve taken every possibility into question. But, I don’t care what anyone says because it’s something that I should of done a long time ago.”

I slip off the couch and get down on one knee. “Laurie Faustus.” Her face fills with joy and she puts her hands over her mouth. “Ever since you found it in your heart to take me into your home, I’ve always looked for a way to make it up to you. So, this is what I came up with. If you ever need me, anytime or anywhere, I’ll be there for you. I’ll stay by your side until the day I die. But before I can do any of that, I have one question for you.”

Her eyes start to tear up as I open the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?