A Second Chance

Chapter 31

"We are here," Gabriel announced as he switched off  the ignition. It was followed by a series of cheers from the back.

We had arrived at the farm. The girls were cheering from the back of the car.

Gabriel got off, opening the back door to get Bella off her car seet. Emma was helping Livy.

I got off, looking around. We had stopped near a wooden fence. On one side of the fence, we could see two horses grazing nearby. There were stables on one side, and a barn was on the other.

Gabriel started walking towards the barn while my eyes scanned the beauty of this place.

There was greenery everywhere. The land just kept extending until it reached up to a bushy forest. We couldn't even see the house from over here.

"Daddy, where are the bunnies.? And the chickens and wow horsies!" Came the excited chatter from the girls as the horses came nearer to us.

Livy and Bella climbed on the first railing of the fence to reach the horses. They hesitantly reached up but was too scared to touch them.

Gabriel patted the horses, talking to them softly, and they greeted him back.

"You know them?" I asked.

"Yea, this one is biscuit." He said, patting a cream colored short stubby horse. "He has been here since he was a baby. He used to be Sophie's horse. And that's Blaze. He is Mason's."

I reached up to lightly touch his mane, and he turned his face towards me in a greeting. I got startled and laughed.

"He is friendly. Come kids greet Biscuit." I told them, and they got off the fence coming around towards me. I carried Livy, and Biscuit shook his face lightly towards her. She giggled happily, touching his nose.

"Is my horse being ignored? You just didn't bring him any treats. Blaze is not a bad horse. Isn't it Blaze." Said a tall man with light brown hair and green eyes. He was tanned and lean and handsome. He had an easy smile and looked friendly.

"Hey man." Gabriel greeted the man, giving him a brotherly big hug, which the man returned by patting his back while returning his hug with a big grin.

He turned to the girls, saying, "Look at you both. You have grown so much. Your cousins have been waiting for you all morning. They can't wait to meet you."

They smiled at him shyly as he reached in his pocket and took out some raisins. "Here. Give these to Blaze, and he instantly becomes your best friend." He said, handing them each some raisins.

Gabriel carried Bella, helping her feed Blaze while I helped Livy.

As the girls excitedly fed the horses, the man turned to me and said, "So you must be the famous Nicola we keep hearing about endlessly on visits from Gabriel. Nice to finally meet you." He said with a wide grin, reaching out his hand to give a handshake.

"And you must be Mason." I said, seeing the resemblance to his two siblings Nathan and Sophie. They had the same green eyes, although the hair color was different. I took his hand, shaking it while returning his smile.

I introduced Emma to him, and we all left to the barn as the girls had run out of raisins to feed the horses.

We met Mason's wife Julie at the barn.  She was with their two sons. Timmy and Jack . Timmy was six while his younger brother was five. They took the girls to the hens house and taught the girls how to collect eggs and feed the chicken.

The next couple of hours were spent meeting the rest of the animals. There were ducks, pigs, rabbits, and even an Ilama!

The farm itself was huge, and there was plenty of space for the animals to roam free. We were all tired by the time we had seen all of them.