1x1 with Human

[_Human_]

Arabella smiled softly as he spoke, “I’d love to meet her, it would be awesome to make some new friends after all.” She hummed softly and blushed, gently rubbing her belly, “30 weeks, so seven and a half months along.” She said sheepishly, “I don’t know about brave.” She laughed, “I grew up in the country, my ex and I were those highschool sweethearts everyone says will last forever…” She trailed off and frowned, “I thought the same thing of course until I found him with another woman.” She shook her head and sipped her drink, “Sorry sucker decided when I said I was done he didn’t want anything to do with either of us.” She sighed and pet Goose’s head as the golden retriever cuddled up to her, “So now it’s just me, the boys, and in a few more months my bouncing baby girl.” She smiled and turned her attention back to Logan, “I apologize for unloading all of that on you.” She blushed deeply. She listened as he invited her to a bonfire and smiled softly, “You know what. That actually sounds really nice.” The young blonde woman stood up taking his empty plate and offered him a refill on his tea.

“If you want to help me with anything else I could really use some help with the nursery furniture, I know what I want to get but lord knows I can’t hardly carry that stuff right now, let alone get up off the floor if I sit down to build it.” She laughed warmly, she barely knew this man but she already was happy to have his company around.

——————

Ryann chuckled, “Yea it’s a blessing and a curse. Being a decorated cowboy is nice for showing but sometimes it’s nice to be a normal person too.” He smiled at her and nodded as she spoke, “Ain’t that the truth, there’s no good parties like a good ole fashioned bon fire.” He laughed and watched her with a warm smile, “How would you like to join me in a ride later? Once you’re all unpacked and everything of course. We can take the horses out on this trail at my place, goes right across a creak and leads to a huge lake.” He flashed her a bright smile, “Could be a great way to cool off in this summer heat after all!” He chuckled softly.

The man nodded as he spoke, “I’m just happy to be able to help. Everyone needs a little assistance every once in a while ya know?”

[Bulldog22]

Emily smiled and nodded as she slowly stood up from her bed. “I would love to join you for a ride. I don’t plan unpacking today or at least for a while. Those boxes hold haunting memories” she teased. “But really I hate unpacking and after my long drive no way will that be my mission today. “ she said. She laughed and slowly led the way out towards the kitchen.

“Would you be up for a picnic? I know with the bonfire later but I’m starving.” She said softly. She slowly reached into the fridge and began to make some sandwiches and get some fruit. She blushed deeply as she got carried away in her own thoughts. “How long have you been helping my dad out?” She asked curiously.

—-
Logan nodded. She was brave. Leaving someone 7 months pregnant with two dogs took courage and is not an easy feat. His mom had raised him himself after a similar situation occurred. “Well your little girl will be lucky to call you mom. You’re really looking out for her.” He said as he pet the dogs. He looked up at her. “Do you have a name picked out?” Asked Logan curiously. He looked around her house. It looked the same as he could always remember. One of his friends growing up used to live in this house.


“Oh of course. I can help with the furniture. I don’t mind. Also, if you want to paint any of the rooms please feel free to ask. I don’t work on the weekends and I’m sure I could probably get my friend Ryann or even Emily to help out.” Said Logan. He had heard how hard things were for his mom growing up and wanted to help Arabella as much as possible.

[_Human_]

Arabella smiled and laughed nervously, “I have an entire list of names and can’t pick one so I’m hoping I’ll decide on something before she makes her appearance.” She giggled, rubbing her belly before smiling warmly at him, “I appreciate it so much, I actually have a plan for a mural I want to paint though for the nursery! It’s definitely gonna take some time so I got to start on it soon.” She sighed softly and stood up stretching and sighing softly.

Looking up at Logan she smiled softly, “We can take my truck but I have to take the dogs kennels out of the bed first, I don’t think the furniture boxes will fit otherwise.” She laughed softly, “I’m so underprepared it’s not even funny.” She groaned softly, because of what happened between her and her ex she hadn’t had much time to actually do her shopping before her baby came, she instead had been spending her time buying things for the house to ensure she’d be set when she moved, but now she realized as the days were flying back in a few short months she’d be having a baby. She followed Logan outside, waddling behind him as they headed down the driveway.

——————

Ryann smiled and nodded, “I can understand that feeling.” He chuckled softly, he still had boxes in his garage he’d never unpacked due to memories and just not having the time or energy, hearing her question he hummed softly, “Probably since September. Thats round about the time Pam got help down at the diner so she didn’t need me during the week, that’s also around the same time I had taken a break from Rodeos to finish fixing up the ranch. Tending to the fences and such. Then back in January I started back up again so I’ve been helping him out in the early mornings before I do my daily routine at the ranch.” He turned his attention back to her and smiled warmly, “A picnic actually sounds delightful.” He chuckled softly.

Ryann followed her down the stairs and headed outside, waving to Logan and the new neighbor, he took a moment to look at her before realizing she was clearly very heavily pregnant. He gawked at her for a moment before tearing his eyes away. He knew she lived alone so he was shocked, curious as to what happened for her to be out here alone. He turned his attention back to Emily and cleared his throat, “So where are we thinking for this picnic? How far out shall we ride?”

[Bulldog22]

Emily nodded softly. It felt nice to talk to someone that wasn’t Logan or her father. Her girl best friend passed away right before college so Emily has had a hard time making friends and usually kept to focusing on her riding. “Ooh I love the diner. Pam is such a sweetheart and thank you for helping my dad out. “ she said softly. She smiled and finished packing the picnic.

As they headed outside Emily waved politely across the street with a smile. She would have to catch up with Logan later and definitely would have to bring some muffins and go help the new neighbor out. Emily turned her attention back to Ryann. “ The lake silly. There’s a perfect spot for a picnic right there. “ said Emily with a wild look in her eye. She saddled up one of the other mares giving Midnight a chance to rest after their long trip. “Do you plan to eventually go back to rodeos” she asked gently as they began their ride.

——-

Logan smiled. “You’ll have to share that list sometime. I’m sure whatever you choose will be beautiful.” He spoke kindly. “Whatever Ryann , Emily and I can do to help please let us know.” He said as they headed out to the truck. He carefully grabbed the kennels first. Logan set them down and waved to Ry and Emily. He wondered where they may be off to.

Logan gently brought the cages into the house and helped her get the dogs situated before climbing in the truck. “So what theme are you thinking for the nursery? What colors? What are you going for?” Asked Logan.He wanted to make sure that he could be most helpful to her. He gently backed the truck out of the driveway and drove towards town. Logan smiled a bit to himself.

[_Human_]

Arabella helped unhook the kennels and watched as Logan moved them for her, “Oh god you’d have to listen to me ramble all day about that list, I could never force you through that.” The young woman laughed softly, looking up at him and smiling warmly. She carefully clambered into the truck and buckled up, “Well I’m actually going for a pretty natural tone, the mural is going to be this misty forest background of dull greens. I plan on doing neutral colors like reds, oranges, yellows, the warm colors you know? Thats not to say I don’t have a ton of pinks for her too, but I thought if I did neutral tones I could reuse some of the stuff when I eventually have another…” She rubbed her belly gently as she looked out the window, “Which probably sounds crazy, especially everything I’ve gone through in the last several months… but I always wanted to have a big family.” She said softly before looking over to Logan and smiling happily.

The young woman spent the rest of the ride talking about how she planned on doing walnut wood for the nursery, and how excited she was to finally get some shopping done before sheepishly admitting she’d not done much so far, “I had the realization last night while I was driving that I still needed to get so much stuff. I don’t even have diapers yet.” She groaned softly, leaning her head back, “Everyone talks about how much planning goes into babies, but I never even had a baby shower. After I caught my ex cheating I packed my bags and stayed in a hotel while I finalized my finances. I worked for a company pretty much since I had moved to New York, but he handled all of the bills and whatever I didn’t contribute went into savings. I got pretty lucky I have a pretty good nest egg set to the side, not to mention what I don’t touch in stocks and everything else.” She hummed, “So I’ve been pretty lucky to say the least. Now I’ve got to really start putting my money to use. I ordered my stroller and car seats last night, the store said they may have them today so if they do I get to entertain myself with putting a car seat in the back of the truck.” As they parked the truck in the store parking lot she carefully hopped out of the truck, “Gosh I’ve been rambling the entire drive I’m so sorry.” She laughed sheepishly, her cheeks bright red, “You can tell me to stop talking if I ever get to be to much.”

———————

Ryann smiled and nodded, “The diner is the best, Pam was always wonderful as a boss too, I still take her fresh eggs all the time from my ranch.” He chuckled and smiled gently, nodding, “I’m glad to have been able to help him out.” He carefully tacked up a blue roan stallion and mounted the horse with ease, “I think about going back a lot, but then I think of everyone I help out here, Logan, your dad, Pam, everyone else. If I’m out on the road again, what happens here?” He frowned softly, listening to the sound of the horses hooves clopping along the trail. He hummed softly in thought, “I did think about going to the rodeo here, just to get back into it ya know? I still practice of course. If I didn’t I think poor Warrior would go mental.” He chuckled patting the stallion’s shoulder, “But practicing roping, poles, barrels, and reining is so different than actually competing.” He looked over at Emily and flashed her a smile. “So what about you? You’re back for the summer right, what’s your plan between here and going back to college?” The man raised his eyebrow at her as they followed along the trail.

[Bulldog22]

Emily listened to him before speaking. She nodded slowly and softly. “Well I would love to watch you at the local rodeo if you do decide to be apart of it.” She said softly. She continued with a shrug.”Well I actually just graduated so I won’t be going back to there. I was asked to tour and stuff but I don’t know.” Said Emily quietly. She glanced away and shrugged. “ I love it..don’t get me wrong and touring was my dream as one part of my life. I am just not sure that’s my dream now.”she explained. “After my mom and friend died I would’ve done anything to get out of here which I mean when it came to college I went as far away as possible but now that I’ve done that I also realize how much I love it here. So I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place if you know what I mean.” Emily sighed quietly.

She looked around as they rode before closing her eyes and taking in a breath of the fresh air. As they got to the lake Emily gently climbed off the horse and tied her to the tree. She grabbed a blanket and set up the picnic. “Thanks for suggesting this.” Said Emily sweetly.

—
Logan snorted and shook his head. She was funny and so beautiful. He didn’t know how anyone could honestly cheat on her. “ you can ramble on anytime about the name list. I’m sure that they are beautiful.” He said. He happily drove her truck into town. “Those colors sound perfect. We will definitely make sure we get you situated and everything. I can set up the furniture and you can tell me where you would like it” said Logan.

“A big family sounds nice. I grew up an only child with my mom. Emily is like my sister but I’ve always wanted a big family.” He said. He slowly continued. “We will make sure that we get you everything you need. The house, the baby and you! You are an amazing mom already doing this on your own so that she has a great life.” Logan looked at her before climbing out of the truck. “Oh you don’t ever have to stop talking. Don’t apologize for your rambling either.” Said Logan with a smile. He headed with her into the store and grabbed a cart. “Let’s do this thing. We got to make sure the little princess has everything she needs.”

[_Human_]

Arabella blushed and smiled sheepishly, she felt like she didn’t deserve all of this help. She’d been expecting to do everything on her own, especially after moving across the country to get away from her old life. As they walked along the isles she looked at the different furniture before settling on a dark walnut set that came with a crib, changing table, and full sized dresser. She also picked out a rocking chair she liked before thanking Logan again as he put the different boxes onto the cart. She walked along the isles and hummed softly in thought before picking out a crib mattress and some sheets. For the first time since she had gotten pregnant she was getting a chance to actually delve into the reality of what was coming. She picked out more things for the nursery and rubbed her belly before sighing, “I’ll have to come back another day for clothes and diapers I don’t know how much more walking I can actually do.” She laughed sheepishly. As they approached the checkout counter she told the young woman about the stroller and car seat set she had ordered, watching as she left before coming back with 3 more boxes.

The young blonde watched as the girl behind the counter carefully rung everything up, asking her when she was do, what she was having, and then questioning the pair if this was their first, Arabella blushed deeply, fumbling over her words trying to answer the girl behind the counter, “Oh… uh… this… it’s um…” she laughed sheepishly, “It’s my first, but he’s…” she stumbled over her words as she explained she just moved here and Logan was helping her out. The woman looked at her quizzically before reading out the total. Arabella quickly paid for everything and followed Logan out to the truck, “Thank you again, you’ve been amazing help so far I feel bad I’m just dragging you all over the place and giving you all this work today.” She said softly. As they loaded everything into the truck she climbed back in and turned on the radio, singing softly to the song as he drove.

——————

Ryann nodded, “I get it completely, when my grandparents passed I pretty much put everything on hold to do what I needed to back here. It took a while before I was even practicing again. No one and nothing can prepare you for losing loved ones, but eventually you find your groove again.” He said softly, turning his attention back to her, “Easing back into it is a good way to start, when I got back into things I started by reminding myself to take something little and make it a goal. My first goal was to get Warrior’s conditioning back to where it should be, then I started practicing reining, then poles, then barrels, I just kept setting small goals until I was back to where I used to be just without the competing.” He smiled softly, “Now that I’m comfortable where my riding is I’m trying to decide on my next goal.” He chuckled softly.

As they got to the lake he dismounted his horse and let him graze nearby, not concerned of him taking off or wandering too far. He helped Emily lay the picnic stuff out before taking a seat on the blanket, enjoy the sounds of the forest around them, “Honestly I don’t think I’ll ever leave this area. There’s not many places you can go and enjoy things like this.” He smiled softly and looked over to her, “So, what’s your plan now that you’re done with college?” He offered her a warm smile and sat back, eating a sandwich listening to her as she spoke. His eyes watched her intently, unable to help his staring he noticed how gorgeous she was. The warm sunshine highlighted her features and made her look like an angle in front of him.

[Bulldog22]

Emily smiled softly as closed her eyes feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin. Her smile only grew as she listened to him. “And what do you think that next goal will be?” She asked kindly. She sat on the blanket and grabbed a tea before taking a bite of her sandwich. “It’s beautiful here. Every summer I would come home from college I began to wonder more and more why I left.” She said. She shrugged. “Well I have two options.
One I got a job offer to work at the hospital as a pediatric nurse. Two, I take over the operations here and start doing lessons and everything. And then there is the other crazy side of me that thinks why not do both.” She said with a laugh.

Emily took another bite of her sandwich. “Honestly I’m torn. But I’ll figure it out. It seems like Logan has been preoccupied by the new neighborhood all day. I’m excited to meet her sometime. “ she said. Emily glanced at him and blush. “I’m sorry again about earlier”

——

Logan looked at her and nodded. “ I’ll help you or some back with you for the rest whenever. I’m usually done on the farm around midday or so depending on the day. But, Emily won’t mind regardless she’s like my sister and now that she’s back from school, there will be more help.”he said. He listened the the cashier and shrugged.

Arabella was absolutely beautiful. He didn’t know how a man could treat her like he did but he knew he wanted to make it up to her. “Do you want to go get some food? Or we could order take out and set up the furniture.” He offered

[_Human_]

Arabella smiled softly, she had told her self after what happened she wasn’t going to let her guard down, yet somehow he managed to worm his way in so quickly. As they drove she pondered for a moment, “Hmm actually take out sounds amazing, and then I could paint the wall while we eat!” She looked at him with excited eyes. After they got their food and got back to the house, she helped bring things inside and led him to the room that was going to be the nursery. She ate while painting and before long had the mural finished. Carefully, she pushed her hair out of her face and turned her attention back to Logan, “What do you think?” She smiled softly. Building the furniture and moving it around until they had the nursery all finished had definitely taken longer than she expected. By the time the nursery was done it was late afternoon, she followed Logan out to the living room and sat down on the couch. She leaned back in her seat and yawned softly before pulling a small notebook from her side table “Thanks again for helping me out Logan, I don’t know what I would have done without your help…” She murmured softly, looking down at her notebook. She carefully checked off the boxes labeled “Mural” and “Nursery”. The page she was on was filled with boxes and notes, the boxes she had yet to check off were only a few “Buy clothes” “Get toys and books” “Install car seat” “Maternity photo shoot?” and all the way at the bottom of the page in big letters and underlined it read “PICK A NAME!!!” She smiled and scooted closer to Logan, “You said you wanted to see names right?” She hummed softly, “I bought this notebook the day I found out… I rushed to the store and grabbed a book deciding I’d keep any and all notes in it for my baby to be able to see in the future.” She said softly showing him the notebook, the first couple of pages were filled with excited ramblings of the fact she was pregnant and how she couldn’t wait to meet her baby.

As the pages went on there were Polaroids of her holding different fruits and clippings of nurseries and quotes for first time mothers. There was one page that had clear tear stains on it, the note was about how she found out she was carrying a sweet little girl, and how she’d make sure she always knew how loved she was. The pages went on and on mostly just notes and pictures, a few pages had tear stained notes explaining how one day when she was older she’d understand why her mom had to make her choice, but no matter how rough things were Bella promised her unborn daughter she’d never feel those hardships. Arabella leaned against Logan’s shoulder as she got to the page filled with ultrasound pictures, the fuzzy black and white photos showing the sweet little baby, behind the pictures was a page filled with names, a few of them have been crossed out but a majority of them still unmarked. She carefully ran her finger along the list, tapping different names and explaining their importance to her. “My top five right now are; Eliana, Adalyn, Eden, Sylvie, and Evangeline.” She yawned softly, “Yet every time I think, “Well I’ll just pick from one of these five, I find myself looking at the others and realizing I still really like a lot of them…” She murmured softly, sleep weighing heavy on her as she realized just how tired she was.

————————

Ryann hummed softly in though, he hadn’t really made a new goal for himself yet. He thought for a few moments before shrugging, “Maybe the next goal will be to do a couple of local rodeos… I hadn’t really thought about it yet.” He chuckled softly and nodded as she spoke, “It is beautiful here…” smiling warmly as she spoke about her job options and chuckling as she said she thought about doing both, “It’s doable, definitely not easy but doable. If you need a hand with lessons though let me know, I’d be glad to lend a hand anytime. Especially to help the next generation of riders.” He smiled, tilting his head back so the warm sun was beating down on his face. At the mention of his friend being preoccupied he chuckled softly, “Hell, you know him. He’s probably doing everything he can to help her out. He’s always been that way, long as I’ve known him.” He hummed softly, “I think this will be good for him though… he’s always so focused on work he hardly takes time for himself.” He sighed softly, “Who knows, maybe having someone around that needs help with little things will be a nice change of pace for him.” He pointed out before taking another bite of his sandwich, smiling warmly at her, “You don’t have to keep apologizing hun, I completely understand where you’re coming from with the horse.” As the afternoon ticked by he enjoyed sitting there in her company, chatting about life and getting to know each other better. Before long, they decided to head back to the house to prepare for the bonfire.

He nodded to the truck in the driveway, “Looks like they got back.” He smiled, “So I was thinking, for the bonfire tonight, burgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, chips, what else should we do tonight?” He frowned, it had been so long since he’d done a proper bonfire. Actually, now that he thought about it he hadn’t been to a bonfire since highschool graduation. He rubbed the back of his neck, “Man I feel like I never realized how much I’ve missed out on the last few years until today.” He chuckled softly and turned his attention back to Emily, “What food should we bring to cook tonight? There’s the staples of course, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, chips… uh… what else?” He laughed, “Oh man, I should probably make sure I have some comfortable seats too, I can’t imagine she’d want to sit on a log in her state.” He groaned and looked at Emily, “I am so not prepared for tonight.” He chuckled and rubbed his face.

[Bulldog22]

Emily smiled softly and nodded. “It is good for him. He’s a really great person and thank you.” She said softly. As they headed back to the house she picked up his nervous energy about the bonfire and laughed slightly. “Well we have to get a variety of drinks and you’re forgetting the most important bonfire food.” Teased Emily lightly as she left him momentarily in suspense. “ you can’t have a bonfire without s'more's “ she said cheerfully. She giggled before continuing. “It’s all going to be great but I’ve got extra chairs here that we can bring over. Don’t you stress out. We got this.” She offered kindly.

Logan smiled as he moved around the furniture as much as possible. He looked around the room then back to her. “The room looks absolutely beautiful. You got an eye for design that’s for sure.” He said softly. He walked with her out to the living room and sat on the couch. “ your notebook is beautiful. I hope you show it to her one day.” He said gently. He rubbed her arm lightly as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Ooh very nice. I think of those five I like Adalyn and Eliana.” Said Logan gently. “Hey why don’t you get some rest before the bonfire.ill be back to pick you up around 6.” He said gently. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before disappearing outside.

Timeskip)

Emily showered and began to her ready for tonight’s bonfire. Man did she want to make sure she looked good. Ryann was starting to get to her. He was just so handsome and definitely made her blush and flustered at times. Butterflies moved around her stomach at the thought. She sighed and moved to her closet trying to decided between a short dress, jean shorts and jeans. She grumbled slightly. She was no good at this. Emily finally decided on her short Jean shorts, her boots and a crop top. She did her makeup and curled her hair as she finished pinning it back. Emily squealed with excitement and raced downstairs. She grabbed a speaker in cases Ryann forgot one and quickly drove to Ryann’s house eager to see him.

Emily pulled up and noticed some of the others had arrived. She slowly made her way to the host as she tried not to interrupt a conversation he had been having. “Hey cowboy. You did a great job.” She spoke kindly. Emily offered him a happy smile trying not to stare at just how good he looked.

——
Logan texted Ryann to see if he needed anything from the store before driving home. He house wasn’t far from Emily’s and he could’ve honestly walk home but it was just so hot out. He ran inside and showered knowing he didn’t want to stink for the bonfire. He ran a hand through he hair and glanced at the time on his phone. Slowly, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Logan reached for one boot at a time and fixed his hair as he stood up. He had enjoyed the day with Arabella and was excited for her to meet everyone at the bonfire.

Logan heard his phone chime and saw Emily had asked for him to grab a few extra chairs. He threw them in the back of his truck with a soft grunt. Logan looked around thinking if there would be anything else Ryann would’ve forgotten but he knew his friend probably had the rest. Logan climbed into his truck and drove to Arabella’s to pick her up. He gently knocked on the door. “Hey you ready for the bonfire? “ he asked softly. “You look beautiful by the way”