Love and Hate

Chapter 14

Birthday Surprise

It had been a few weeks since Butterscotch returned to Silver Brook. Cam had been so thrilled to have him back at the barns. Vicky had bred him to a mare two days ago, which Cam thought was odd. She didn't think the horse would be breeding until he was in top shape again, but she never questioned Vicky's view of things. The mare that had been chosen was named; Dazzling Serenity. She was Silver Serenity's dam. Cam couldn't wait to see the foal when he or she was born. Dazzling Serenity had been a great racehorse and so had Silver brook Champ. Now they had taken Silver Serenity's mother and bred her with her favorite horse; Butterscotch. She couldn't wait to see the results in that.

Vicky sat tall in the saddle as she rode Midnight Wish. She was a jet black mare with a white blaze on her face. She used to be a racehorse, but she retired after 3years due to a twisted gut. The mare had colic and had kicked and rolled so much that her gut twisted and Vicky had to have part of it taken out. She was lucky to still have the horse though. Next to her, sitting rather uncomfortably was Raphael on her gentle gelding Country Boy.

" You ok babe?" He side eyed her.

" Fine." He said flatly.

" Oh so now you're mad at me? You wanted to be with me and I said you'd have to ride a horse to do so when I came out here. And you agreed."

" Ya I know. Now I wish I hadn't. I like being with ya and all but my ass is getting swollen." Vicky let out a laugh and looked at him.

" Ok now, gently kick your horse's side with your heels." Raphael did so and Country Boy broke into a canter. He let out a yelp of shock and held onto the horn of the saddle. Because Vic was riding an English trained horse, she pulled her horse's head out to the right and kicked with her left leg. The mare broke into a nicer and smoother canter than the gelding and she easily caught up with him. Raphael glared at her as he tried to hold on.

" Vic, my ass is really starting to hurt!" He growled. Vic smiled at him.

" Lean back and pull back on the reins." Raphael did that, but pulled a little harder than he should have. The horse came to a sudden stop and Raphael flew forward and over his head. Vic gasped and pulled up and jumped off. She came to Raph's side and knelt beside him.

" Raph are you ok?" He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her.

" Well . . . he stopped." Vic smiled and started laughing as Raphael tried to sit up. She leaned over and kissed him gently. He looked at her.

" You made my face feel better . . . can you kiss my ass and make that feel better too?" She flattened her brows and looked at him.

" Very funny." He laughed this time and pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately.

The next day, Cam and Mike sat at a large table with Angel Martinez, Samantha Larsen, the grooms of Silver Brook and they were waiting on Vicky.

" C'mon Raphael. You could at least meet them for the party. It's Cam's birthday."

" I know. But I can't. Listen to me, I don't know Cam, they don't know I am here so it won't make a difference. Babe . . . " He came forward and pulled her close.

" When they are gone, I will tell you why I can't come down there. Please . . . I'm sorry baby." He kissed her lips softly and looked at her.

" All right, but you better have a good reason for not coming down."

" I do." He said quietly. She kissed him again and smiled at him before leaving. She went downstairs and outside. They looked at her and she sat down at the table.

" Ok." She took the cover off of the cake she had set in the middle of the table. Everyone starred at gasped. It was a large cake with a painting of two horses running to the finish line. One horse was Butterscotch Ruler.

" We can all thank Michealangelo for the lovely art work on Cam's cake here." Vic said with a smile. He blushed and was thankful that no one could see his face with all the clothes he had on. One of the grooms took pictures and they all began to sing happy birthday to Cam. She blushed and turned away a little. When it was done, she blew out the candles. She was 25 now. Vic was 24 so they weren't that far apart.

" Ok now, you have to open some presents before we eat this huge cake." Vic said. Cam smiled and was passed the first present from the grooms. She opened it shyly and pulled out a nice pair of riding silks.

" Are these the Silver Brook silks?"

" Ya . . . I wanted to change them around a bit. There's more red and you have a silver horseshoe on the back. You're still our jockey." Cam smiled and looked at her new racing silks. She set them down neatly in the box and opened the next present which was from Angel. She smiled as she pulled four picture filled books of all horses. She thanked her and opened her next present from Samantha. It was a red horse blanket with the new Silver Brook horseshoe on both sides. It also had Butterscotch Ruler written in silver across both sides. There was a small present from Mike that she slowly opened and gasped when she saw it was a gold necklace with a horse pendant on it. The pendant was a horse's head and there was a diamond for an eye. She smiled through her tears and he gave her a hug. He didn't want to kiss in front of them.

" Well that's all the presents from them and now I have to give you mine." Everyone looked at Vic who pulled papers from her pocket. They had a small ribbon on them and she handed them to Cam. She looked at them curiously and opened them to read them.

" Vic, these are Butterscotch Ruler's papers." She still didn't quite understand what they meant but Angel and Sammy gasped and looked at Vic.

" You need those papers. Butterscotch Ruler is yours now." Cam turned sharply to face her and her mouth dropped.

" W..what?!"

" I am giving you Butterscotch Ruler. I will need to breed him though as you understand and most of his offspring will be sold and that's why I bred him to Dazzling Serenity. Consider it a late birthday present, but the foal she has is also yours." Cam had tears in her eyes and she couldn't even say anything.

" You and that horse work well together. I was going to give him to you after the Breeder's Cup Classic if he had run, but under the circumstances that won't happen. I know you wanted him to run again, but I can't risk that and I know you understand that. That's why I am giving you that foal. At least you can run Butterscotch's young in the race. I am also giving you . . . " She came over and handed her a check.

" 3 Million dollars!" Cam gasped.

" Vicky this is too much!"

" No, it's not. If it wasn't for you, I don't think that horse would have made it half as far as he did. I know that the house you have isn't all that great, so I was wondering if you'd be interested in moving over here. I have the construction workers planning out a house to put about a quarter of a mile from mine. That way you can see Butter every day. I am also asking that you be our full time jockey. I know this is more of a present for me, but still." Cam nodded and hugged Vicky. Everyone was clapping and they were all happy to see her happy.

" All right, let's eat this thing, before Cam goes to the barn to see her new horse." Cam smiled and sat back down. Before they ate the cake, she had Mike put her necklace on her. He leaned over to her ear and whispered.

" I love you birthday girl." She smiled and faced him.

" I love you to." She whispered back. He kissed her cheek and they began to eat the cake. Mike was happy and sitting with his arm around Cam's waist. Little did he know that his supposedly dead brother Raphael, was standing by Vicky's window watching them in silence.

" Good work Mike . . . you deserve her." He smiled at him and his girlfriend. He looked away and went to lie on the bed. He smiled and looked at the picture of Vicky. He held the picture close to him and closed his eyes.

Leonardo walked out of the house with his katana's on his back. He looked around in frustration. He wanted to get his anger out and relieve his stress. He looked around and saw some kids on the street. They were fighting and a little boy happened to be in the middle of it. Silently, he moved through the shadows and hid. His eyes were like glowing beams in the dark. The kids looked his way and stopped fighting with each other. The little boy ran off. They starred at him and drew out some weapons.

" Hey! What makes you think you can come on our turf?!"

" I can come anywhere I want to." The boys snickered and one jumped at him. Leo quickly unsheathed his katana's and swung at him. The sharp sword sliced his skin so thin that he didn't realize it until blood began to spill from his stomach. Suddenly, the anger from more than 15 years ago emerged and he attacked with hate and vengeance. The boys gasped in surprise.

" It's a freak!" The word only fueled to Leo's anger and he swung again with his katana and sliced one boy's arm almost completely off. Blood gushed everywhere, but the boys still attacked him. He kicked another in the face and sent him flying backwards.

" I hate you humans!" He swung again and ended up cutting the boy's head completely off. The other two boys ran and Leonardo starred at the head that lay in a pool of blood on the floor.

" That's what you get!" He spat and wiped the blood from his blades. He turned and disappeared into the night. It wasn't like him to fight like this and kill without caring. He made his way back to April's apartment and went inside. April and Casey starred at him as he washed the blood off with a towel.

" Leo what happened?"

" I killed some boys." He said flatly.

" Sheesh! You don't even care?!" Stated Casey. Leo shrugged and set his katana's down. He turned to stare at them with a glare in his eyes.

" I guess I am more like Raph than I thought." He said before turning to go in the kitchen.

Cam and Mike stood alone next to Butterscotch Ruler's stall. She smiled at her new horse and held Mike's hand tighter.

" I can't believe she gave him to me. I can't even believe she is having a new house built for me and I am her full time jockey and that I will be owning Ruler's foal." She smiled again and felt Mike fidget a bit. She looked at him to see a nervous look in his eyes.

" Are you ok?"

" There is one more present I want to give you, but you have to decide if you want it or not." She looked at him strangely and curiosity crept into her mind. Mike pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to her. Her heart began to race as she wondered what it was. Slowly, she opened it and gasped.

" Oh Mike!" She starred at the ring that had three diamonds on the band. They were large diamonds and looked beautiful on the ring.

" Will you marry me Cam?" She looked into his eyes. Never had she felt so much love for anyone or had she felt so much given to her. She smiled through her tears.

" You bet I will!" He smiled in joy and also relief and pulled her close to hug her. He kissed her mouth and closed his eyes. Things were defiantly looking up.