“Gosh darnit, when did you get SO big?” I mutter to myself. As with raising children, raising Kamen still brings me daily surprise and he grows…a lot. It seems like just a few shorts ago, K was a baby foal, and now here he is as a full-grown horse. It’s kind of reflective upon the growth I have made since moving to AP and finishing my challenge. Or maybe I am just always looking for some deep, hidden meaning to everything. It’s probably the second one.
“I wish you would stop growing up on me, boy!” I giggle to my partner in crime. “But don’t let me get you down, you’re a perfect horse. You’re going to be the best racer out there!” I think for a moment or two, while stroking his luscious fur.”And your coat is pretty healthy too. Bonus points!” I giggle.
Suddenly, as I’m whipping out some produce to feed my not-so-little guy, I become apparent of someone calling out my name.
“Amber! Amber! Answer me, heeeellllloooo?!” calls James.
I turn my head around and smile to my lovely fiance. “Yes? What do you need?” I shout back.
“You’re not going to ride that thing, are you? You know how I feel about that horse…”
I laugh to myself. James bought me the horse, granted, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. Since K has started growing, he has been waiting for me to ride him for the first time. I have been holding off on it in order to make James keep his hair, but I’m starting to get tired of pushing it off. I think carefully before replying, “I think I might today. There’s a competition in a couple days, and I want him to win.”
“You know how that makes me feel!” he complains. “Please don’t, erm, hurt yourself Amber.”
“James, it’ll be a piece of cake! Riding a horse will be easy as 1-2-3! Just wait and see.”
I think a moment before setting my sights on mounting my horse. It’s been done before, by people much less athletic, and they’ve made it out alive! Thinking for a moment more, I finally decide I have to at least attempt to mount him if I want any chance at winning on Saturday.
I offer up a piece of lettuce to eat, and rub K’s nose. “You wouldn’t hurt me, would’ya boy?” He neighs and chomps on the lettuce, but nothing else.
“Yeah,” I conclude, as Kamen licks the remains of the lettuce head out of my hand, “You would never hurt me.”
I gently walk along the perimeter of K’s body, inspecting it for the best place to try to mount him. To much disdain, I finally find a point of entry a few moments later. “Well, I guess I need to do this sometime or another…” I mutter, rubbing his back. He doesn’t seem very jumpy today, so that’s a good sign.
Placing my right foot up, and my left still firmly on the ground, I take a small hop. I fail.
I brush off the failed attempt, and do the same thing again. “Come on Amber,” I give a pep talk to myself. “You can do this! YOU. ARE. SPARTA!!!” Suddenly I hear a burst of laughter, and turn around to find James on the porch, watching my every move. I smirk at him, but keep my attention on the task at hand. Not even his handsome face can distract me!
I feel around for a good grip, and shockingly find one a moment later. “Ahhh, now we’re making some progress!” I chuckle. James lets out another laugh from the porch, but he grows less attentive once he pulls out his laptop to do some work. Good, I don’t need him laughing at me!
“Now just stay…-”
“-AHH!” My arms slip, and I catch myself last second to keep from hitting the ground. James quickly stands up but I shake my head at him, and mount myself, finally. “I’m fine!” I shout to him. “Just keep doing work old man!” He shakes his head from disbelief, but does what I say.
FINALLY, I find an extremely secure grip, and hoist myself up. SUCCESS!
“Go Kamen!” I cheer, laughing and smiling to rub it in James’s face. I’m only laughing for a second though, because before K can help it, he’s taken off on his feet.
“Eeek!” A worrisome expression falls over my face as I try to gain balance on his bony back. “Stop moving, damnit!” I shout, and once again, James looks over and smirks. I shoot him the corniest smile I can, and gain balance. I won’t let him win this one!
After the troublesome start and small exchange, I finally begin to get the hang of this horse-riding thing. James stays outside all day and evening, watching me, but he eventually starts to ease up and trust me. I even begin to trust myself.
Kamen and I mainly work on jumping and handling, but he needs absolutely no help with speed. He is a natural racer, a god-given gift if you ask me.
As we’re finishing up the night, I take K out of the pen for a quick lap around the house. As I’m passing the porch I obviously get James’s attention, and he’s up in a heartbeat.
“Woah, Lights. Lookin’ good!”
My face naturally falls into one of despair as K halts to a stop, but after that I am smooth sailing. “Not lookin’ too shabby yourself, Masons.”
“Well, what can I say? It’s a gift to be this beautiful.” He smirks and dodges me as I reach out to slap him. “Don’t capsize!” he warns. “You keep your pretty booty on that horse, now.”
We both erupt into laughter, that is only halted when K suddenly turns, heading towards the water trough. James reaches out, but I just go along with it to prove my point of riding a horse even more. “Such an amateur!” I call behind me, laughing even more at his face. Such a worried man.
Before I can notice, or even help for that matter, the days pass in a flurry. Getting Kamen into shape is harder than I would’ve expected, but by the time it’s Saturday, I feel like I can do this. I feel like K is winning material.
Since it’s the weekend, I don’t even hesitate to allow myself to sleep in a bit. James got up at 6, saying he was going out for a run. I was shocked that he was getting up so early to do his workout, but before I could congratulate him or throw confetti in his face, I was passed out again. It still surprises me that even without kids, I am still tired all the time. I guess I aged a bit from point A to point B.
I sleep in until about nine, giving myself just enough time to come to terms of what today is, and what’s going on. I stay in bed for awhile, and eventually flip open my laptop. Checking out the competition up against Kamen has been a man-made habit of mine lately, and it seems like it will be a pretty tough one to win.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps tromping outside our house, that are unmistakably James’s. I hope out of bed and sprint down the stairs when I hear him unlocking the front door.
“James!” I grin as I rush down the stairs. I almost trip and fall, but I regain my balance and get a good look at my worked-out fiance. As I’m peering at his biceps, a gasp escapes my mouth. “James….” I say his name more slowly this time, staring at the feline-like thing in his arm. “Is that a…”
“A cat?” he chuckles, finally facing towards me. “I found it when I was jogging past the dumpster downtown. I couldn’t leave it there Amber…”
My first reaction is to yell, considering what a day we have ahead of ourselves, and the fact that we JUST got a new pet. Why do we need yet ANOTHER? “James…” I frown. “We can’t keep it. Absolutely not.”
“But why!” he frowns right back, mimicking the face of a 5-year-old boy who just got put in time-out. “It’s just a stray cat! It needs a home!”
“But James, don’t you think we already have a busy-enough household right now? And you want kids too? We’ll NEVER be able to balance things with all of this commotion around the house.”
“…kids?” James’s mouth turns up into a smile, losing all of his frustration (for the mean time.)
“Yeahhhh!” I grin. If promising kids will keep us from being stuck with a cat for the next ten years, then so does it.
“Hmm….but don’t you think our kids will want a cat?” he smirks at me, clearly aware of the lie I am feeding him. He leans in, just enough for the cat’s fur to brush up against my arm. “Nice try,” he whispers.
“But James…” I lean my head down to rub my temples, and yawn.
“But Amber,” he mocks me. “Seriously. It’s just a cat. It won’t murder you in your sleep.”
I smile a bit, and reply, “How do you know? You DID find it in the dumpster. Maybe it’s a dumpster-bred murdering kitty-cat.”
“Hmm, highly doubt that,” he laughs.
I awkwardly rub my arms, pondering what to do some more. I end up swaying my body back and forth, as if thinking physically.
“Fine,” I conclude after a moment’s thinking. “It’s fine with me, just make sure he-”
“-It’s a girl,” he interjects.
I shake my head. “Make sure SHE doesn’t ruin our house, m’kay? Cats are more ferocious than I think you realize.”
“Whatever you say kid,” he laughs, setting who is apparently named “Mr.Muffins” down on the floor. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the fact that our female cat is named Mr.Muffins. So much confusion.
“Whatever,” I frown, looking down at our new addition. “I got my eyes on you.”
I spend some time training K during the day, but mostly I just groom him. I’ve heard that judges LOVE a groomed horse.
“You can do this Kamen!” I give my dutiful partner a pep-talk as we stand in the sunlight. “You will be a STAR!”
He replies with a neigh, flinching away from the bristles on the brush.
“Oh calm down there, boy,” I laugh.
Once night falls, it’s off to the Equestrian Center for Kamen and I. There’s not much James can do sitting on the sidelines, so he promises to do something productive with his time while we’re out. He claims that he’s finally going to get our Christmas tree, but I guess we’ll see how that one goes.
But back to Kamen and I. After checking out the competition in each of the categories, I finally decided that an intermediate racing competition would be the best bet for us. Before walking in, I give K a gentle pat on the nose and whisper, “Just do it, boy.” We head in with high hopes.
And we come out champions (sort of)! We end up with a third place win, which is still a hefty amount of prize money, and a pretty darn nice trophy. Kamen was great in the race, but in the end some random horse named Starlight took the win, and a second place finish by some other guy’s horse named Maddie.
Regardless of the not-so-win though, I am pretty happy. For a first competition my boy did great! I just can’t wait to get back out on the track and back to work. That is, if I don’t have kids sometime soon…
Speaking of, James is probably waiting for us at home. I guarantee he is cuddling with damn Mr.Muffins by the fireplace. I chuckle to myself and start the long ride home.
Once Kamen and I trudge all the way home, I am zonked. I think of passing out on the lawn, but then realize how unclassy that is. Still, I think about doing it.
“Ugh…” I grunt as I walk in the front door. “Jame-”
He interrupts me with a huge kiss on the lips, which does more than enough to wake me up. “Don’t turn around,” he instructs me.
“And why would that be…?” I ask, peering over his head to try to see behind him. He shields me from looking, and even goes to the point of physically turning my body away from the living room.
“Noooo, Amber,” he says. “Just give me a second.”
His warm lips form into a tight line, trying to hide a smile from escaping.
“James, you look like you are going to explode.”
“I know! Just look away!”
“What’re you-”
“LOOK AWAY.” He bellows, a scream that can shut even me up. He’s only ever screamed like that once or twice, but I can clearly see he’s only using it to his advantage as a joke now.
“M’kay,” I laugh, “Whatever you say.” I turn against the wall as he shuffles in the living room.
I smile to myself as I’m facing towards our boring, solid colored walls.
“Hey James,” I call, as I hear him shuffling around moving things about. “What could you possibly be doing? Are you doing something inappropriate?!”
“NO!” he laughs. Something thuds against the floor and he quickly scatters to pick it up. Finally, after a few more moments, he announces, “Okay. Close your eyes and I’ll bring you over.”
“Okay…” He blindly guides me into the room, and I giggle. “Can I open my eyes now? Please?”
“Sure,” I can practically hear his beaming smile. “Go on ahead.”
“James, what-OH MY GOSH!” James not only managed to get a Christmas tree tonight, but he even decorated it, and put a few horribly wrapped presents underneath. NOT his strong suit.
He continues beaming, looking over at me for approval. “You like?”
“I LOVE,” I reply in awe.
“Good, I finally did something right,” he chuckles.
“Awwww….” I grin, walking over to him for a hug. “This was so sweet of you honey. I had completely forgotten about getting a tree, but this one is absolutely perfect. Thank you so much…”
I cut myself off when I feel James backing away from the hug, looking nervous.
“Oh god,” I mutter. “James, is there something behind me?! Why do you look like that?!”
“Amber, don’t yell, but-”
I decide to just turn around, and to my dismay, I find a very eager Mr. Muffins on the floor, ready to pounce.
“No….no….NO-”
James and I both reach our hands out in an effort to stop her, but we are of no use.
The damage is done, or more so, about to get a lot worse. I turn to James, seething.
“Damn you Mr. Muffins,” I mutter angrily. “Damn you.”
Damn you, Mr. Muffins, indeed! D:
I’m sure Amber’s horse will only get better at competing 😀 I’m looking forward to seeing more.
The Christmas tree was such a nice touch 🙂 The Holidays are approachinggg
Great job 🙂
Thanks for reading Sonny! Mr.Muffins is evvvvviiiiilllll. 😀
I cannot WAIT for Kamen to compete more, because he honest-to-god got third place in his first competition. I was so proud of him. 😀
Thank you. 😉 I can’t wait for Christmas. 11 DAYS!
🙂
James finally got his wish of a cat, a female cat that he calls mr.muffins :L
I loved this post, can’t wait to read more! 😀
Thank you so much Liana!
“Damn you Mr.Muffins.” Bahahaha.
One question…I thought ‘MR.Muffins.’ was a girl 😉 but she’s cutee ❤
James finally got his cat! Yay 🙂
Kamennn, you're so BIG!! I look forward to seeing how Kamen does in competitions, Amber's expressions were cute!
Awwww, James is so…idek…he's so sweet! The Christmas tree part was cute, I loved it <333
Christmas is almost here!!
Great job, mah dear <33 keep up the good work! 🙂
Hahahha. Mr. Muffins
Mr. Muffins is a girl, that was the whole joke. The fact that a MISS was called a MR.
I know, go James. Hopefully Amber won’t suffer much damage for his happiness.
Kamen got SO BIG! Sometimes he would jump up and it scared the shit out of me. SO BIG.
I know James is sweet 🙂 Thank you!
Can’t wait for Christmas! Wooooo, countin’ down the days!
🙂
Oh wow…that is hilarious! Amber and James are too freaking adorable.
Thank you. 🙂 They ARE adorable, aren’t they?
” I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the fact that our female cat is named Mr.Muffins. ”
AHahahaha!!! I loved this 😀
I haven’t commented yet on this new blog!! (Except for the sneaky little comment at the beginning ;)) But it’s LOVELY!!! It has a completely different tone to it than the baby challenge and I, for one, love it 😀
I think that most baby challenge writers tend to lose it a little bit after they finish the challenge, they seem to lose direction. But you really haven’t!! I love it!
And I’m liking James a lot more now as well 🙂 He’s more realistic I think and very sweet 🙂
I’m liking his shorter hair when Amber first rides Kamen 🙂 And Kamen’s adorable 😀 I love the colour of him 🙂 I’m finding it sooo difficult to get my horses to not look like ALIENS on sims!! 😀
Well done again!! Love the new blog! 😀
Ahhhhhh, Tinka. If it’s not my FAVORITE person ever. 😀
I loved writing that too! It sounds lame, but I make myself laugh. x.x
Yeah! You haven’t been commenting, but I have been waiting for you to. Glad you’re still here. I love writing away from the 100 baby challenge, it gives me so much more wiggle room for my story lines and things I do.
You don’t know how much this means to me. I feel like some people lose direction after finishing too, and the fact that you think I haven’t makes me so immensely happy. I have reread your comment about 10 times now to put a smile on my face. 🙂
Yes, James is more realistic. The challenge was so unrealistic that it was hard to make characters realistic. I am happy I have converted you to team James.
Hahaha, I just adopted Kamen and gave him my own name, so I didn’t do anything xD He is a cutie-pie.
Thank you. ❤ Love you girl
Haha, Mr. Muffins is such a cute name… especially for a female cat. XD
Kamen is adorable!! ^.^
~Calista Smith
Thank you. Thanks for reading.
-Amber-
Mr, Muffins was my idea to all of you people who love her name -.- Thanks for the credit Ambs. XD
Wow, attacking a Christmas tree. Classy. I LOVE the picture of her surprised at the tree! L.O.V.E!!! ❤ I loved this post, too. Ahh!! SO much love!!
Yes everyone, Vanessa came up with the name. I was going to name her Mittens, after Charlie Kelly in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, in that one episode where he created kitten mittens. Anyone? Anyone? *Cricket* Got it.
Thanks for reading Nessa.
Love the fact that the cat is named Mr. Muffin. Can’t wait to see what comes next. Go Amber & K, third place is wonderful especially for the first time.
Bahahaha, thank you! ^_^ I can’t wait to see what comes next too! Hmmm, I wonder! Wooooo go Amber and K. They are the best. 😀
Thanks for reading!!
Also dying to know where you found your lace tights, they’re awesome!
THIRD PLACE? Thats awesome news. And you cat is AWESOME! I love its name and how stinking adorable it is… you are just EPIC miss lights, simply EPIC!
Yes! Third place! Amazing! Thank you, Mr. Muffins is not our friend, but perhaps we’ll come around in time. Hahaha, thanks for calling me epic. I try. *Flips hair*
Ooh, thats one noughty kitty cat! Never trust a ginger cat, they can by very eeevil at some times! Oh and horse-riding isn’t as 1-2-3 as you thought, now is it? But I loved this post, I think this is the post were the pets take over!!! Looks like K really got a special place in Amber’s heart as for Mr. Muffins (a female)….. Well…. It was great as always!
Hahaha, yes, naughty kitty-cat. I won’t trust a ginger cat, that’s why Amber hates her. -_-
Horse riding is NOT easy, but she got the hang of it in time. This IS the post where pets take over, but you know you loved it 🙂 Everyone (especially me) loves a break from writing too much. The pets lead this post, all the way.
Thank you. 🙂
Congratulations on the big win! That’s fantastic!!! That little kitty cat is one piece of work -.- Good luck and great update. Can’t wait to see more!!
~Kalyn
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu 🙂
Yes, Mr. Muffins is pretty intense.
Thanks for readingggggggggggggggggggggg
Karmeeeeennnn! <3333 I love him so much! He's such a wonderful horse! He really is! I know that one day he can win first place in a race, I just know it!
Jame is such a dork; a dork who finally got his cat – an evil cat named Mr. Muffins, in spite of being a girl kitty. Maybe I shouldn't call the cat evil, though. I mean, she was homeless and pouncing are in cat's nature. XD
Amber is love, as always!
I loved this post, my dear! <33333
Yes, Kamennnnn 🙂 Someday (hopefully someday SOON) he shall win. I can feel it.
James is a dork, and Amber loves him for it.:) That’s a good point! Thanks for reading!!!
Love,
Amber
This blog is so fun and exciting. Amber doesn’t have to worry about raising kids ever day. It’s no stress and all fun and romance….. very cute!
I’m glad ‘Mr. Muffins’ is not a fat, and I am very proud of him for attempting to knock over your tree!
As for you, such a great story so far!, I will keep reading…
❤
DAMN YOU, MR. MUFFINS. xDDD
I loved the scene with Kamen and Amber. I was siting here smiling the whole time I read it. xD
Awww, James! Christmas Treeeeee!