Page 121 of The Prince of New York

There was only one thing I could think of that would run a high risk of me breaking down at my own wedding, and that involved my gelding’s little herd of foals. Not a day went by I didn’t miss my old horse. “None of the foals can be ready already, Zach. Isn’t it too early?”

“Your first dropped three nights ago, and she’s going to be a dead ringer for Saoirse. I lost the draw to warn you. The guests have been warned, and it is expected for you to be emotional.”

“But wasn’t Saoirse a fairly rare color?”

“Yes, he was a silvered black Saddlebred, and he was particularly valuable because he didn’t have any signs of multiple congenital ocular anomalies. In good news, she doesn’t look like him yet, but she will when she grows up. I know you weren’t particular about his breeding. All you knew is that he was a good horse, he was yours, and Pat and Jessica had given him to you. Pat was present for the foaling, and for perhaps the first time in his life, he suggested that you name her for both registration and barn name. We did not notify you because someone thought it would make a good surprise.”

I stared at Madelyn. “You’re tricky.”

She smiled. “I am. She dropped a day before her safe date, and we were worried there might be complications, but she’s fine. She has great conformation, she’s already straightening out properly, and she’s got enough promise that the mare’s owner asked for a breeding.”

“I have no idea how much sperm we have left,” I muttered. “Pat’s been handling all that.”

“Saoirse was heavily collected before he was gelded, so there’s plenty of available semen,” Madelyn reported. “It’s no problem if you want to sell a breeding to the mare’s owner. Pat will handle the transaction. You’ll be drowning in foals by the time we get back from our honeymoon, but I thought you’d like to meet your firstborn filly before we go. And no, you arenotgoing on foal watch.”

I’d wanted to, but I’d lost the argument because exactly nobody wanted to find out how I would react if I witnessed losing of the foals or mares. As such, Pat and Jessica were on foal watch, as they loved the whole process and could handle the grief.

“She’s really here?”

“She’s really here,” Zach confirmed. “She’s still finding her legs, but Randy will bring her out with her mom so you can meet them. And yes, you can purchase the mom if you like her, although the owner would still like a foal. But this mom is the only one of the lot you’re allowed to buy.”

“That’s an increase from the previous number of mares I was permitted to buy, which was zero. Why the change of heart?”

“Your sister is a menace,” Zach informed me. “She saw the little baby earlier and started to cry.”

“I thought the pregnancy hormones ended after the pregnancy,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I will try not to add to the tears in this palace. I’m ready.”

Zach raised his hand to his ear and told Randy I was prepared to meet the filly.

To my disgust, all the wedding guests returned to the grand hall, where we’d staged the festivities, to witness Randy, Geoff, and Eddie lead a chocolate colored mare with pale legs, mane, and tail with light tips on her ears. A pale foal bounced at her side, doing her best to break free of Randy’s hold on her. As most did with young foals, the man restrained her with a long line, making sure she couldn’t hurt herself or others.

Over time, the filly would darken, although her mane and tail would remain silver or white.

Saoirse had lacked the silvered tips on the mare’s ears along with the pale markings on her legs.

“I thought bay tended to override black genetics,” I murmured, eyeing the filly and her mom.

“That’s only the case if you have the agouti gene. Fearless doesn’t have the agouti gene. They’re both homozygous blacks, and Fearless has heterozygous genetics without agouti and they’re both homozygous silvers,” Zach informed me in a solemn tone. “This combination means you had a fifty-fifty chance to get a silver black. It’s highly likely the filly will be dappled like Saoirse had been.”

I got up, circled the gift table, and went to meet the mom and foal. While some mares turned into angry dragons out to protect their little one, Fearless showed no evidence of wanting to rid the Earth of me, and I spent a few moments petting her nose and praising her before crouching to meet my filly.

I’d seen Saoirse’s baby pictures a time or two, and I could understand why Zach had been concerned I would break down over meeting the first of my foals. I held my hand out to the filly, who regarded me with interest and bumped my fingers. I petted her, smiling at the little baby. “She seems really friendly.”

Randy chuckled, and he nodded. “They started handling her shortly after birth, as her mom is tolerant and we knew we’d be bringing her over for the wedding. We stashed the mare in the RPS stable. She’s actually been here for two weeks. The other mares will be brought in tonight after you leave, and we have a few imports from Montana and Texas to help with the foal watch. The other mares are a few weeks behind, so they’ll be dropping their little ones after you’re back from your honeymoon unless we have an early foaling. So far, none of the mares look close. Fearless hit her cycle first, and she was successfully bred the first try. We actually bred two of the horses twice, because the first two breedings failed.”

I hadn’t been told about that part of things, but I also wasn’t surprised. Failed breedings happened. “You’re sneaky, Pat,” I accused.

The Texan king laughed and waved from his position, handling his duties as a bed for my little girl. “I paid for twelve foals, and I was getting twelve foals. You can’t trust me with matters involving horses, Ian. You should know this by now. I will do exactly what I want.”

Yes, he would.

I gave my filly a kiss on her nose, delighting in how the baby animal seemed to appreciate the attention. “You’re going to help me train her, right?”

“Only if I can spoil your girls rotten while you’re on your honeymoon.”

Snickering, I got to my feet. “That seems like a fair exchange.” I engaged Randy in a staring contest and held out my hand. “IknowI just cost you on a bet of some sort, so you can just pay up now.”

Heaving sighs, the RPS agents, Zach included, pulled out their wallets and slapped twenties onto my palm. I took the money, slid it into my pocket, and after visiting Fearless again, I returned to my wife’s side. Once in my seat, I said, “How does eighty dollars in treats sound to you, ma’am?”

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