Love is Precious

“You never answered my question earlier.”

Ash had expressed a need to get up and move around, his babe kicking him entirely too much for his liking while trying to play. Besides, both their hands were beginning to hurt, and his husband had always told him that when that happened, it was time to take a break. Still, he didn’t expect Shelby’s words, so he just cocked a brow at her.

“What question was that, my dear?” he asked, honestly having forgotten.

“I asked you how old you were. You corrected me on calling you ‘Mrs. Biersack’, then got distracted by your children,” Shelby answered.

“Ah, yes. Forgive me that transgression,” the young man chuckled. “My boys are rambunctious and, at two years of age, do not always like to listen to their grama.”

The young girl nodded as they walked out onto the back deck for some fresh air.

“Anyway, to answer your question, I will be eighteen years of age, myself, come January,” Ash told her.

“And you already have at least one two-year-old?” she asked, surprised.

“Two, actually. I had twins the first time I was expecting, a pair of identical twin boys,” he chuckled. “Their names are Kegan and Kelly. They have a ten-month-old younger brother named Thorne, and I am currently expecting again.”

“Really? I was not sure if you were…a more heavy-set young lady, or not.” Shelby blushed in embarrassment.

“You have not offended me, my dear,” the young man told her gently, chuckling. “I likely have not lost all the weight I have gained from expecting. The fact that I am expecting again on top of it does not help one form any other assumption.”

“Do you mind my asking when the babe is due to be born?” she asked curiously, taking a seat with him at the patio table.

“In February, I believe.” He had to count up the months from the time he thought he’d conceived. “Yes, the babe is due in February.”

“Wow. You look a little…bigger, than I would have thought someone who was not due until then would be,” she said thoughtfully, trying to choose her words so she didn’t offend him.

“Well, I am taller than most young ladies my age,” Ash chuckled, not about to admit his true gender. “That combined with my husband being so tall, I would not be surprised to have another big babe.”

He then had to recall how big his older children were at the times of their births, each of them being at least seven pounds. The twins were slightly lighter since they didn’t have as much space or time in the womb as Thorne, which was understandable. He didn’t have to share his quarters or nutrients with any other siblings, so it was no surprise that he was bigger than his brothers had been.

It wasn’t long before he saw Andy lead one of their new mounts out of the barn by its reins, concerned when he saw the wild look about the animal. Sitting up as best he could, he watched closely, catching sight of the stable boy just inside the doors. Ash called out for the young man to follow his husband just to make sure he was safe.

The young man called out that he would and immediately followed his employer out to the corral he’d been headed to. He sat on the edge of his seat, Shelby now having moved to follow his gaze as well, dreading that something bad was about to happen to his husband. He crossed his fingers and held his breath, praying that the horse wouldn’t give into its instincts and go berserk, but he had a bad feeling in his gut that that was exactly what was about to happen. It was obvious that even his young pupil had the same thoughts and was praying that she was wrong.

Minutes passed, and Ash almost thought that he’d been wrong…until the horse started to buck with his husband in the saddle. Andy grabbed onto the saddle horn with both hands for dear life, trying to use his hands and thighs to keep him seated in the saddle. It didn’t take more than two bucks, maybe three, before the slightly older man was launched high into the air. He heard his blood-curdling scream as he flew upward, then plummeted back down to Earth and landed with several loud, bone-breaking cracks.

“Andy!” he screamed, bolting up out of his seat.

“You stay up there until I catch the horse, Mrs. Biersack!” the stable boy yelled, seeing that he wanted to run to his side.

“Shelby, go get Miss Amy,” Ash said, trying not to cry. “Take a left at the top of the stairs. The double doors at the very end of the hall lead to her suite. Knock on them and tell her what happened. I am going down to the corral once James catches the horse.”

Nodding, the young girl hiked her skirts up and fled into the house.

“Sonofabitch!” he heard James, the stable boy, yell as he dodged aside the horse. If he couldn’t catch the beast, he was at least trying to keep him away from Andy, who appeared to be unconscious.

Ash wrung his hands together, not even wanting to touch his belly for fear of hurting his unborn child, as he watched with dread in his heart. The stable boy finally managed to catch the beast, saying that he was putting it back in its stall until his employer awoke. Once that happened, they’d decide if it should be shot for bucking him like it had or not. He was in no authoritative position to make such a call while the young man still lived, and he wasn’t about to.

With the damned thing out of the corral and no danger imminent, the young man hiked up his own skirts and bolted off the deck. He ran straight to the corral, where he wrenched the gate open and immediately ran to his husband’s limp form. Thankfully, Andy was still breathing, although it appeared that his breaths were short and labored, which couldn’t be a good sign. He dropped to his knees in the dirt beside him, uncaring of how soiled his dress wound up. At the end of the day, his husband was more important to him than how clean his clothes were, as was the love they shared.

He lay prone on his back, his head turned to the side while one arm was flung above his head, the other at a twisted angle by his side. It was obvious to Ash, even though he wasn’t trained in medicine, that he had at least a broken arm. Judging by the blood pooling under his head, he thought he might have a concussion, too.

Moments later, he heard an anguished cry from the back deck and knew that Amy was now outside. She didn’t have a very clear view of him from back there, but he knew she could see enough to know that he was hurt and pretty badly. The young man cradled his bleeding head in his lap, trying not to move him any more than necessary for fear of hurting him worse. His mother-in-law was by his side and on her knees in the dirt within moments, and she already had tears running down her face.

“What happened to him?” Amy asked, her words slightly stuttered.

“He got bucked from the mount we were working with, ma’am,” James answered. “I told him not to try riding that blasted thing yet.”

“How high did he get bucked, James? His injuries look bad,” she said.

“At least twenty feet over the mount, ma’am,” the young man told her. “I’d say at least twenty-five, maybe thirty feet into the air, all told.”

“His breathing is labored,” Ash spoke up, trying not to stutter himself.

“He probably has at least one broken rib, then,” his mother-in-law stated. “I can tell his arm his broken, too.”

“I think he might have a bad head injury, too,” he said. “Look at how much blood is on the ground and my skirts.”

“James, I need your help getting Andy back inside,” the older woman said, looking up at the stable boy. “I cannot do it on my own, and Ash is expecting. She cannot lift too much weight in her delicate condition.”

“Yes, ma’am. I will get his torso, you get his legs,” James answered, nodding.

Ash moved aside and let the stable boy heft up his husband’s torso, his head resting on his shoulder so as not to hurt his neck. His mother-in-law immediately grabbed his lower legs and hefted them as high as she could, her skirts now tucked into her garters so she wouldn’t trip.

Shelby awaited them on the deck, ready to open the door so they could get in. She said that Daisy awaited them at the door to their suite to do the same, and he thanked her as evenly as he could. Even though she was here for a piano lesson, she was an invaluable help with his injured husband, and he thanked her for that, too. She told him not to worry about it, saying that her piano lesson wasn’t as important as Andy’s health and he had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Once up in their suite, he and his young pupil kept the boys at bay since they were worried about their father while Daisy and Amy did everything they could for him. They set his broken arm and wrapped his torso to hold his broken ribs in place, then cleaned his head wound and wrapped it. He was still unconscious through it all, and Ash prayed that he would regain consciousness soon, not leave him a widow with four children.

Notes