The faint aroma of coffee woke me the next morning.

I stretched almost the entire length of the bed, turned on my back and slowly opened my eyes, an unfamiliar sloped wooden ceiling greeting me. It took me a moment to remember where I was and why I wasn't in my own bed and for my brain to register that John wasn't lying next to me.

I sat up and groaned rather unattractively, running my fingers through my tangled hair. It felt gross and oily. My whole body was aching, especially down there. I pulled the sheets around my naked torso and grinned.

"So that happened," I whispered.

"Twice," John replied with a playful smirk, popping his head through the hole in the floor. He was holding a tray with two coffee mugs and a plate with what looked like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "Mornin' beautiful," he added, putting the tray down in my lap and pressing a kiss to my lips.

"Mornin' handsome," I replied.

"Figured you might be hungry," he stated, kicking off his boots and climbing into bed next to me. He grabbed one of the sandwich slices and took a generous bite. "Went to the main house and put somethin' together... I hope you don't mind... cleaned up after myself, don't worry," he smirked, wrapping a lazy arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.

"You're the best," I grinned up at him. Coffee and peanut butter, the two things I couldn't get enough of... and he brought me both. I took a bite of my sandwich and washed it down with a testing sip of coffee, nestling into the crook of his arm. "What time is it?" I asked.

"A little after six," he replied.

"How long have you been up for?" I wondered.

"Four," he shrugged.

I stared at him. We ended up only going to sleep at half past one; clearly he had no reason to be up so early!

"I don't really sleep," he admitted, running his fingers through his hair and down his unshaved jaw.

"What do you mean you don't sleep?" I asked, twisting my body around in his arms so that I could get a better look at his face.

"Just forget about it, I'm fine," he shrugged.

"John–" I began.

"I'm handlin' it," he told me. There was a sort of hardness in his voice that I'd only heard once before, a few days after he moved back here. I was trying to talk to him about his problems sleeping back then too. "We should finish up... get to work," he added quickly.

"Yeah, okay," I replied softly, letting my hand brush over his. I was here if he wanted to talk to me. I was always going to be here for him.

"Hey babe, come here for a sec!" I called out towards Carly's office much later that afternoon. The sun was beginning to set over the distant treeline and I was in the stables, stopped in front of Juno's stall, watching her closely. She was agitated.

"What is it?" Carly asked a little breathlessly when she appeared next to me, putting her hand on the small of my back.

"Check it out," I pointed towards Juno's distended udder. "I noticed it a little earlier... she's lookin' real distended ain't she? I don't know if you remember when Paisley was foalin'... I helped your dad out with it... but it looked a lot like that the first couple hours," I explained.

"Um, okay... I better call the vet," she nodded, wrapping her hand around my forearm and squeezing gently.

"I'll watch her," I told her.

I didn't really know if I was doing the right thing or not, having never done this without a vet and a lifelong rancher holding the reins. I opened the stall door and carefully walked through, closing the latch behind me.

"Hey pretty girl," I whispered, running my hand over her neck and shoulder. She was hot and damp with sweat.

She gave a disgruntled snort and pawed at the ground. I took a step back, never breaking eye contact. When she calmed down I took a step forward again and started rubbing her down, trying to calm her.

"Alright, alright, calm down mama... you're doin' fine... I'd tell you to squeeze my hand but uh... you're a horse," I said with a low chuckle. Juno stared at me and I stared at her, my fingers stroking up and down her muzzle.

"Okay, so the vet is on his way... problem is, he's out of town and he'll only get here in about three hours," Carly said nervously when she returned to me, leaning against the stall door. She was trying to remain calm, but I could tell she was silently panicking. "I've seen a few mares give birth... so I have a pretty good idea of what to do... but my dad never actually let me help out..." she ran her fingers through her hair, glancing around the stables, looking scared.

"You got your laptop right?" I asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Go on Google, find some information or a video or somethin'... so I know what the hell we're doin'..." I told her. "I'm used to treatin' men on the battlefield, not foalin' horses," I added with a laugh.

"Okay, good plan, we can do this," she said with a nervous breath.

I leaned over the stall gate and kissed her.

"We can do this," I chuckled.

I sat at Carly's desk with my eyes glued on the screen of her laptop for the next hour and a half, trying to mentally ready myself. By the looks of it, I was pretty sure Juno would be having her foal before the vet was supposed to get here, so it'd be on us to make sure everything went by smoothly.

Carly went to disinfect the box stall and change the bedding, then came to stand next to me, her hand on my shoulder. Occasionally she left my side to check on Juno, right up until the start of the second hour, at which point Juno's water broke.

She decided to stay by the mare's side and watch over her. I continued to read as much as I possibly could in the next hour, watching a couple videos on YouTube, trying to prepare myself for what I realized I would likely have to do. I was glad I wasn't completely in the dark; I'd assisted in a foaling before.

"She's havin' really bad contractions," Carly said.

"She's in active labor, it'll happen fast now. Site says about twenty minutes... half an hour," I explained.

"Look at you, Dr. McDreamy," Carly giggled.

"Pass me a scalpel Atwood, stat!" I smirked.

"You're a dork," Carly laughed.

Juno was lying on her side when I peered into the stall, her legs fully extended, breathing heavily, in and out.

"Poor girl," I murmured. "We're gonna have to make sure the foal isn't positioned incorrectly," I added a little hesitantly, stepping back into the stall and crouching down.

I didn't feel too great about putting my arm up there, but I suppose I'd seen and done things that were a lot worse.

Fortunately, the foal was born without any problem at exactly seven in the evening, the exact same base coloring as her mama. She was as velvety black as midnight in the middle of the country, but unlike Juno she had a mouth the color of milk, and a thick stripe that ran the length of her forehead.

The veterinarian came around about fifteen minutes later and reassured us that we'd done everything right. He took a look at mama and foal, talked to Carly for a little while and told us he'd be back in the morning to check on things again.

I let out a relieved breath, grinning triumphantly.

"I can't believe we just did that," I laughed.

"Definitely beats dinner and a movie," Carly joked, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder. "She's beautiful," she smiled.

"She most certainly is," I agreed.

"Do you wanna name her?" Carly asked.

"Mmhm, sure," I pursed my lips, thinking. I rested my elbows on the stall gate and watched the foal interacting with her mother for a lingering moment. I imagined her older: beautiful and fast, storming across the fields. "How does Calamity sound?" I asked.

"Calamity," Carly repeated. "I like it," she smiled.

"Calamity," I grinned.