Unconditionally

Chapter Four

"A mother's love is peace. It need not to be acquired, it need not to be deserved." -Erich Fromm

I was asleep for about two hours after Ashton had dropped me off before Sill started shaking me awake. I rub my eyes slowly while trying to process the words that my aunt is saying.

"What did you say, Sill?" I ask her while cuddling my green pillow with my eyes now closed.

I hear Sill laugh as I try to go back to dream land.

"I said, 'do you want to come with me to help out with Jessica's horse'?" She asks.

My eyes snap open and I jump out of my bed. I have never seen a horse giving birth before, and I have never helped out with something like this! All desire to go back to sleep has vanished while I shuffle around my room to find clothing items to wear. Once I'm in a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt, I reach for my rain boots and rush down the stairs. Sill is standing by the front door with a smile on her face. I can't believe this is actually happening!

"Come on, we have only a certain amount of time before the birthing begins." Says Sill.

I look at my aunt as we head to her truck. I sit down in the passenger seat, buckle my seat belt, and search through the console cups for something to tame my wild head of blond hair. I didn't brush it out when Sill told me about Jessica's horse, so I don't know what my hair looks like right now. In the past, my hair has never looked horrible when I woke up, but Sill says my hair seems to have been through a tornado. I then ignored her after she said that comment. We start to go down the one lane street and ever so often vehicles drive by us. I look at the clock to see it's two in the morning. The fields on each side of my aunt's truck are pitch black and the stars that Ashton and I were just looking at still shine brightly. Sill turns left to a dirt road with bright lights shining at the end. My aunt then presses on the gas and we fly down the dirt road. She checks her watch and smiles as she parks her truck.

"Made some good timing. Come on Mackenzie, we need to set up some things." Says Sill.

I get out of her truck and my eyes scan around Jessica's property. A small house is sitting there nicely while different trucks and cars are parked around it. The porch light is on, also some of the rooms inside, and you can hear people talking from a distance. I follow Sill as she heads behind the house to the large barn that makes up for the small house. The barn is a deep wooden color and the front doors are opened wide with few bright lights shining in there. People are talking and seem to be waiting patiently for the foal's arrival. We step inside and Sill hustles to the groaning mare as she lies perfectly still but her groans can be clearly heard.

"Wow." I mumble under my breath.

"How are you, Mackenzie?" Asks Jessica as she stands beside me with a beer in her hand.

Jessica, with her brown hair and brown eyes, was married two years ago until her husband died in a car accident. Everyone from town went to his funeral and gave Jessica different food dishes. When someone died, I never fully understood why people gave you food as a show of their sorrows. I remember eating fried chicken and potato salad for a week when my parents died. The salad was cold and the chicken was dry.

"I'm good." I say to Jessica with a smile on my face.

A piece of my blond hair then falls on my face and I mumble a curse under my breath as I move it behind my ear. Thought the clip would hold up, guess not.

"Mackenzie, get me a bucket of water and a rag. Then pat Lexy's head while I check some things." Demands my aunt.

I then quickly rush to the pipe I saw outside the barn to fill a bucket with water. When my aunt wants something done, she wants it done immediately. The sound of rushing water reminds me that I didn't use the restroom before I left home. Dang it. When the bucket is filled, I pull the rag out from my rain boot and head back into the barn. Standing a few feet away from Lexy, I slowly dip the rag in the cold water. I then cautiously walk to Lexy to pat her head. She's beautiful. I sit down on my knees beside her head and gently place her head on my thighs. She groans in pain and I start to pat. Lexy's coat is a rich brown and a small white area, in a shape of an oval, is on her forehead. She seems to be looking at me, and I smile down at her as I keep on patting her with the cold cloth.