Page 25 of Snowed In with the Rancher

Was something wrong with one of the horses?

That’s when she remembered that two of the horses were pregnant.

Running back to her room, she tossed on the same pair of jeans that she’d worn all day, and her dark gray hoodie over her black pajama tank top. She didn’t bother with a bra and barely remembered socks before she was shoving her feet into her boots, tugging her coat over her arms, and taking off into the darkness toward the barn.

Sounds a horse heavily breathing greeted her as she stepped into the bright, warm barn.

With just a quick three-second pause at Macklin’s stall to touch his cheek, she kept walking down toward the end where the ready to foal mare had been earlier today.

She slowed her pace, not wanting to spook either Asher or the horse, and stepped quietly up to the front of the stall.

He was crouched next to Carolina who was breathing heavily, and rubbing her neck. “You got this, baby girl,” he cooed. “You can do this.”

Carolina, a beautiful light brown horse with a white forehead and nose, and blonde hair lifted her head and glanced up at Triss, which caused Asher to do the same.

“How can I help?” she asked, peeling off her hoodie and draping it over the stall before stepping in next to Asher and crouching down.

“Stay with her. I need to get fresh straw and clean out this stall a bit. We’ll need to wash her vulva and teats, too. But for now, just let her know she’s not alone.”

Triss nodded and inched forward, claiming Asher’s spot next to Carolina and petting the horse’s neck while he stepped out of the stall.

“It’ll all be over soon, sweetheart,” Triss cooed, petting the panting horse. “You got this. This time tomorrow you’ll have a bouncy baby to cuddle. How exciting is that?”

Carolina rolled around a bit, so Triss moved back to give her some room. The horse made a bunch of farting noises and it looked like she was peeing. Then a weird white balloon thing emerged from her behind.

“Uhhh … Asher,” Triss called, her voice shaky with panic. “Is that balloon thing normal?”

He appeared in the doorway of the stall a moment later, fresh straw in his arms. “Yes. It’s fine. That’s the allantoic membrane. And if looked like she peed, that is just placental fluid. All normal. All okay.” He reached outside the stall and grabbed a shovel, handing it to her. “Can you help me clear the manure? Just toss it into the wheelbarrow there.”

Nodding, Triss did as she was told and in no time, they had the stall cleaned out with a fresh layer of straw.

Asher disappeared, so Triss went back to comforting Carolina who tossed and turned, her nostrils flaring wildly as she breathed through the contractions.

He appeared again with a bucket of steaming water and a few bubbles. With a soft sponge, he gently wiped the horse’s swollen nipples, then her behind. Using green painter’s tape, before Triss had even shown up, Asher had taped Carolina’s tail to the top of her rump, probably so she didn’t get it soiled during the birth.

“Shouldn’t be much longer,” he said, tucking the bucket to the outside of the stall.

Triss rubbed Carolina’s neck. “You’re doing great, sweetie.” The white balloon-like thing had grown in size and Carolina alternated between standing up and laying down, flopping onto her side and groaning lightly.

Another rush of liquid had Triss’s eyes going wide. The balloon popped and what happened next was something she would never ever forget.

Two little hooves poked out and then a nose, a head, a neck, legs, a body and finally two more legs, and then the foal was out. Carolina immediately stood up and the foal, which appeared to be a little girl, damp and beautifully brown with a blonde mane like her mother, wobbled and fell three times before finally finding her balance and seeking out her mother for milk.

“Thank fuck,” Asher breathed, patting Carolina on the neck, then kissing her. “I was worried the baby would be breach or upside down.”

A sheen of tears made Triss’s eyes blurry as she took in the beauty of what she’d just watched. The miracle of life.

Asher bent down to check how the foal was nursing, patting the little girl on the back before standing back up and moving around to stand behind Carolina. “We need her to expel the placenta.”

“How does that happen?”

“By baby nursing a lot to get her uterus to contract and expel it. Otherwise, I’ll have to give her a shot of Pitocin, which will piss her right off because the cramping is insane.”

Triss’s face fell. “Oh, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” She went to Carolina and pressed her head to the horse’s forehead. “Come on, sweet Carolina, you don’t need drugs, you got this. You delivered that perfect little girl all on your own, you can do this, too.”

Carolina shuffled a bit and made a noise.

When the foal broke away from nursing, Asher took that as an opportunity to give her a check over. Triss sunk to her knees and watched in fascination as the little foal, so perfect, who just moment ago had been inside her mother, was now walking around in the world. More tears veiled her vision and Asher glanced at her. “You okay?”

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