Unexpected Changes

The weekend passed so quickly. The wagon ride had only been two and a half hours so far, but it felt like an eternity compared to the two days of spending time with her friends. Right now, they were all back at school, while Lily was in the back of a wagon with a few basic belongings. She wished that she could be with them right now, even if they'd all have to listen to a boring lecture about Saddle Arabian dental hygiene practices. She'd still be with them.

Her dad hadn't said anything since their last rest stop. Since he was pulling the wagon, she'd have to call out in front of her to be heard over the thrum of the axles rotating. She just wasn't interested in talking.

Cloverleaf did want to talk, but he didn't know what to talk about. He knew Lily was upset about moving, but talking about going to a new house and making new friends would go over about as well as reminding her that she was leaving her old house and old friends. Even her new school was off the table. She'd have to come to terms with it sooner or later, but all he could do to make the situation better was to find some way of making her happy.

"There it is," he called to the back as he crested a hill. "If you want to see where we're going, you can, now."

Lily looked up at her new home. It was a small town, roughly half the size of New Fetlock. She'd been here before, at a game. They had an okay hoofball team. They weren't great, but they weren't terrible. She could probably help them make district in the spring season.

She was still quiet as they made their way into town, however. Cloverleaf tried to entice her by pointing out places she might like, such as the frozen yogurt shop and the hoofball pitch beside the school, as well as the new warehouse he'd bought to expand his business here, and she was genuinely interested, but she was also still upset. She didn't say a thing until they came to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked.

"We're here," he said, gesturing to the house on their right. "This is the new place."

Lily hopped down to the sidewalk. This house was smaller than her old one; there was no upstairs.

"There's also a basement. Come on, I'll show you around before we start to unpack."

It was a nice enough house, and the neighborhood looked to be decent. There were only two bedrooms instead of three, but there was a section in the basement that could easily be converted to a workout room. It had already been discussed that, since they were routinely sharing a bed when he was home, that they'd share a bed here, as well. Not always, of course, but most nights. It wasn't even entirely about the sex, either. The other bedroom would go to the baby, acting as a nursery.

They spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon unloading the cart and unpacking. That is, Cloverleaf did most of the unloading, and Lily did a lot of the unpacking. He'd bring in the heavy box full of silverware and plates, and she'd move them up to the cabinets and drawers. She was still a filly, after all, and quite pregnant. It wasn't until she ran out of boxes to unpack that she stopped.

There were voices outside. Three fillies, a colt, and her dad. Finding that she could do little more with empty boxes, she opted to go out and see what was happening.

There was, in fact, only one filly. One of the girls, as well as the boy, were donkeys, and the other girl was a gryphon.

"Ah. There she is, now." Cloverleaf waved her over. "Come meet the neighbors."

Tentatively, Lily walked up and extended her hoof. "I'm Lily."

The gryphon shook first. "Call me Guin." She gestured to the two donkeys. "This is my daughter, Jenny, and my son, Kurt. And this," she gestured to the young mare, "is his marefriend, Seascape."

"How do you do?" grunted Lily platitudinously.

"So, how's the baby coming along?" asked Seascape.

Lily and Cloverleaf turned their attention to her, a bit of panic crossing their faces.

"Relax, I'm not a guard," she said. "Obviously, she's pregnant, and underage, so you two obviously moved here for the lax laws on the subject."

"Seascape's already had her baby," added Guin. "Having gone through that, she's quite ready to help."

"Plus, you seem decent enough ponies," finished Seascape. "You obviously tried to fix whatever mistake you made, if this is where you landed, so I'm asking you, is the baby healthy?"

Lily looked up at her dad. "We haven't been to see a doctor yet," she answered. "We've only just arrived."

"You need to do that right away," she warned. "If that baby comes out with an injury because you didn't catch something in time--"

"When Crag came out," interrupted Guin, "they had to go slow because the umbilical cord was twisted around his neck. He's breathing fine, now, but there was a big panic that day."

"I just don't want you to feel the way I did," finished Seascape.

Cloverleaf nodded. "That is the reason we came... We have a little bit of paperwork to sign, turn it in tomorrow, and then we can go see the doctor. Thank you for your concern, though."

"You look to be about my age," noted Guin. "What grade are you in?"

"Sixth," answered Lily. "You?"

"Same. And Jenny, too. We'll keep a close eye on you; make sure you're doing okay at the school, if you want."

Lily furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought she was your daughter?"

"Adopted," answered Jenny. "We were best friends before that, and now she's married to my dad, so we're practically sisters, but on paper, she's my stepmom."

Kurt nodded along, but looked away. "We should go inside; wait for dad."

Lily nodded and took a step back. "Nice meeting you."

Cloverleaf waved as they walked in, then released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Well. I suppose that it's good that the neighbors are friendly..."