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Tanner glanced up at his father trudging back down the stairs. And it seemed that, all of a sudden, he looked a hundred years old. Shoulders hunched. Eyes red and glassy. Like the weight of the past twenty-three years had finally caught up to him. Maybe it had.
“I’m going to keep you and Benjamin safe, Arien. I promise.” Getting on his knees in front of her, Matthew reached up to tenderly touch her hair. “So beautiful, just like your mama.”
“You must miss her so much.” She palmed his cheek.
He nodded. Tears ran down his face. Tanner looked at his brother. Never in his life had he seen his father, the manliest of men, weep. Wrapping his arms around Arien’s middle, Matthew kissed her belly.
Arien peered over at Tanner, and then Kellan, a question on her face.
He and his brother traded a look, and nodded.
She held their dad’s face in her hands, and wiping away the tears, she gently whispered, “I’ll always take care of you, Daddy.”
Then softly, she kissed his lips.
Arien tucked the frame in a box on a nest of gold tissue paper. Pleased with herself, she carefully wrapped it, tied it with ribbon, and placed it under the tree. “Last one and done.”
A thumb in his mouth, his butt in the air, Benjamin slept on a blanket beside her. Grams prattled from the kitchen, prepping the prime rib for tomorrow’s dinner, to her son who wasn’t answering. Matthew was passed out, snoring as White Christmas played on the TV.
She raised her gaze to the windows, the landscape outside blanketed in fresh, powdery snow. Dreams come true here, Bing.
Kellan came in through the side door. Barely shaking off his boots, he walked into the living room. “Tanner sent me to get ya. Go put your coat on. Hurry up now.”
“Why?”
“It’s time.”
So as not to disturb her, they watched from a perch in the far corner of the large foaling stall. Tanner had his kit at the ready, in case she needed assistance, but Airdrie was doing fine all on her own. She’d lie down on the deep bed of fresh, clean straw, only to get up again. Up and down. Up and down. Arien was getting anxious for her. But once the mare’s water broke, she stretched out on her side and stayed there, making herself as comfortable as she could.
A foot appeared first, then another, followed by a nose. Airdrie pushed her baby out, Tanner easing himself into the stall. He ruptured the membrane covering the foal and quietly backed away, rejoining Arien and Kellan on their perch. Looking over at them, he grinned. “It’s a fine filly.”
“Well, there you go. You got yourself a girl.” Kellan smirked.
“Gunner got himself a girl.” He elbowed his brother in the ribs, then kissing Arien’s cheek, he rubbed her tummy. “But we’re gonna have one too.”
“Sorry, bro. I keep tellin’ ya, it’s a boy.” Kissing her other cheek, he murmured against her skin, “I saw it.”
“Well, hate to disappoint ya, but I saw a girl.”
She giggled. “What are you going to name her?”
“Noëlle.”
“Perfect.”
Tanner kissed her. “Merry Christmas.”
Arien looked on in awe as Airdrie licked her foal clean. She recalled that afternoon at the paddock fence with Kellan, when they’d witnessed the creation of this beautiful creature, and now here she was to see the miracle of its birth. How magical was that?
“C’mon, it’s late, and he’s going to be here all night. Let’s get you to bed.”
Noëlle made her first attempt to stand up on her wobbly legs. In his element, Arien and Kellan left Tanner to tend to Airdrie and her baby.
“Wake up, pretty girl,” Tanner crooned, dragging his fingers through her hair. “Merry Christmas.”
“Shhh, it’s early yet.”
Arien didn’t have to crack an eye open to know it was still pitch dark. Was he just coming home? Had he slept at all?
