Love and Hate

Chapter 19

Old Friends

Sarah looked around anxiously as Vicky turned her truck onto the Silver brook path. April, Casey and Leonardo looked around as they passed by acres of green grass and rich land. Sarah saw dozens of horses in the pastures and gasped with delight.

" Do you want the tour now or should I wait until after you're settled?" Vicky asked, knowing the little girl wanted to see some more horses. April looked at Sarah who had the look of anticipation in her eyes.

" We'll take the tour now." She said with a smile. Vicky nodded and slowed down when it came to her house.

" This is my house right here..." She drove to the barns and pulled up.

" I'd invite you in, but my house is a mess and I need to fix it up first."

" It's ok." April said. They all got out and went into the stallion barn.

" This is my stallion barn. I keep all my breeding males and geldings in here." They all looked at the different horses and Sarah patted almost each one of them. But one had a sign on the front that said: Danger. She looked up at the black horse and read the nameplate.

"Black Knight...." Vicky looked at Sarah.

" Be careful with him. He isn't a very nice horse." She nodded and walked to where everyone else was standing. She smiled when she saw Butterscotch Ruler. She pet his nose and gazed at him.

" Sarah, do you know who this horse is?" Casey asked. She nodded her head.

" I watched him race when I was at the Orphanage. I saw when he fell down..." She looked at the horse's cast sadly.

" Well.....that was a bad day for us, but he's all right now. Cam is taking good care of him."

" Is Cam his groom?" Leo asked.

" Naw....she was his jockey and I gave him to her as a birthday present. Along with his first born when he comes along."

" Wow." April said. They moved on and went to the mares barn where they met the brood mares. The yearling barn was much more busy. The grooms had learned of the turtles already, but didn't recognize Leonardo. One groom brought in the young colt that Vicky had purchased.

" Where do you want the colt?" He asked.

" I have prepared a stall for him at the end, just put him in there." She said with a smile. He nodded and moved on. Sarah looked at the chestnut colt and watched him being stalled before she went to the training barn. After the barn tour, Vicky and the group got back into the car and started to make their way down the path again.

" This is the training oval or track." Vic said, pointing to the large oval that was a mile long. April, Casey and Leo looked at the house being constructed.

" How much more time, before that house is done?"

" I think it should be sometime this week. They work fast." They passed by the house and she made her way to the cottage. April gasped at the sight of it. It was a large cottage with a somewhat country look to it. They pulled up and got out. Sarah looked at it and smiled. She had lived on a farm before, but not as nice as this one. Vicky opened the door and everyone came in to look around. There was already furniture and things they would be able to use. Vicky noticed the living room had more surprise to it than the house. She smiled and brought the group in. Sarah stood back and watched. April, Casey and Leo looked at Don and Mike who were standing in the living room. After a moment Mike came up to Leo and gave him a hug. April found herself hugging Don and then Mike as each of them were reunited. Mike smiled through his tears at everyone and then his eyes went to the little girl. Her green eyes met with his and he smiled at her.

" So this is your new kid?" He asked coming up to her. April and Casey answered yes with pride as Mike knelt before her.

" Hey! I'm Mikey. What's your name?" She looked a little shy, but answered quietly.

" Sarah..."

" Pretty name." Mike stuck out his hand and she took it and giggled when he shook it. He smiled and turned to face the group.

" It's nice to see all of you again."

" It's nice to finally be reunited. We also heard of the wedding. Congratulations Mike." Casey said. Mike blushed a bit and turned away. Vicky smiled and tossed April the keys.

" Well I have to get back to the house. I have an agenda to keep."

" Ok. Thank you." She said happily.

" Thank Don. He made the arrangements." It was Don's turn to blush as Vicky left the house.

When she arrived home, she jumped out of the car and raced inside the house.

" Raphael?" There was no answer. Fear crept inside her and she wondered where he was. She darted up the stairs and to the room. She smiled in relief as she looked at Raph laying on the bed asleep. He was snoring softly and she crept up to him quietly as to not wake him. She reached out and caressed his cheek. Before she could turn away, she felt Raph grab her and pin her to the bed. She looked up at his laughing face and his eyes that were soft and loving. He came down and kissed her passionately. She pulled her arms free and wrapped them around his neck. He reluctantly pulled away to look at her.

" So....did you bring the other brother and old friends with you?"

" Ya, along with the new horse. But they are at the cottage right now. Mike and Don were already there to greet them." Raph nodded silently and kissed her again. His kisses moved to her neck and she groaned in pleasure as she realized what was coming.

" I can't believe that we are all back together again." April said when they had all sat down to talk together.

" Ya...it's great to be back together. I missed buggin Leo." Mike said, grinning at his brother. Leo looked at him and smiled.

" I miss fighting with Raphael." He said, suddenly serious.

" Ya, but we can't dwell on it forever. He's gone now and we are together again, so let's make the best of it." Don stated quietly. He only wished he could do exactly what he said. But they all nodded and started to talk about Mike's wedding and the new house that was being built for them. Mike looked at the little girl who had gone out side to look at the huge back yard.

" So....you adopted this girl?" April nodded and smiled as she looked out at her.

" Where are her parents?" Don asked. Casey looked at them sadly.

" They were killed in an auto accident about a year ago. Her grandparents wouldn't take her for some reason and she lost everything. The thing that really hurts her though is losing that horse she used to have. It was a gift for her birthday from her parents, but there was no one to take care of it so the CPS sold it."

" Poor girl. At least she'll be happy here. I can assure you that they'll be plenty of horses to play with here."

" So Mike, do you ride horses now?"

" No...not yet. I am going to wait until after the wedding. Then we can all get a horse and go riding." He smiled at Casey who wasn't looking forward to riding a horse.

Angel came by and looked at Vicky who was fixing her hair. Her nice clothes were untucked and she quickly buttoned up her shirt. Angel raised a brow and looked at her.

" Hey Vic.....um what are you doing?" She turned to look at her, but one of the turtles came behind Vicky to look at her as well. Angel looked at him curiously.

" That isn't Don or Mike......" She said looking uncertainly at Vicky.

" I know...."

" Don't tell any of them that you saw me......" He said gruffly. She looked at his scarred eye and nodded solemnly.

" This is Raphael." Angel nodded and looked at Vicky. They had come down to the barns and Raph had tried to make love to her again, but Angel had come in. At least she hadn't seen anything.

" So you two are......are...." She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Cam was with Mike and now Vicky was with Raphael.

" Yes we are." Raph said somewhat annoyed.

" Sorry....." She began to feel bad for being so rude. For some reason she always managed to piss one of them off. Vicky gave Raph a look and he softened a bit.

" You'll have to excuse him. He gets agitated easily."

" Ya....so does Don." She mumbled. Raph laughed.

" You're the one that passed out on him aren't you?" She glared, but nodded. He chuckled.

" Don must think that he isn't wanted around you or something. It's hard to get Don agitated."

" Great! That makes me feel a whole lot better."

" Sorry chick. Don is just a shy guy. You have to kinda earn his trust and show him that you want him to be around. Just be nice to him."

" I tried that! He blew me off." Raph raised an eye ridge.

" Well....that's not really like Don. Talk to Mike about it. He might be able to do something."

" Why don't you talk to him?" Angel asked curiously.

" Because they think I'm dead and I'm not ready to show that I'm not. So make sure you don't say anything about me to any of them. K?" She nodded and turned to Vicky.

" You wanted me to look at the new colt." She nodded and they made their way to the stall. Angel was most certainly going to keep quiet about Raph. Something about him scared her. Probably his bad attitude, but it didn't matter. His family affairs were none of her business.