Gethin, the father of three darling little foals and mate to a beautiful Wind mare. What more could he want in life?
Well, besides maybe a little time to himself once in a while, the freedom he had to do whatever he wanted before unexpectedly falling head over hooves for Ayelen, and above all absolutely no foals in his life...
Though they are kind of cute. Sometimes.
[One of the foals, a male, was added as an extra prize later on, hence why only the two fillies are described in this prompt.]
You've been very blessed throughout your life, especially in regards to your family, which consists of a loving mate and two beautiful daughters.
Your mate is currently feeling under the weather, so you've taken on the responsibility of looking after your two daughters. Where do you take them? What do you talk to them about? Do you try to teach them a life lesson, or do you play around?
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How could she do this to him?
Sure, he loved his new mate – at least, he was pretty sure he did – and their daughters had turned out gorgeous, but it was too soon, they were too young. He was too young to be saddled with the responsibility of two hyperactive young fillies ready to gambol their way right off the nearest cliff at a moment’s notice. Life was for the living!
Not for the babysitting.
“Where’re we going, Poppa?”
“Yeah, I don’t recognize this place.”
“It’s pretty, though, isn’t it?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said gruffly. Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea where they were either. But he wasn’t about to admit that, and surely they’d find their way back to familiar territory soon. Right?
Yes, it really was her fault. Mares were supposed to take care of the children, that was their job. But she’d suddenly come up with a terrible headache today, and like the lovestruck idiot he was the stallion had volunteered to take her daughters off somewhere so they wouldn’t be driving her crazy with all their pestering. All he could think now was, No wonder she had a headache.
The trees suddenly ended, and sunlight fell on the dark coats of the twin fillies skipping brightly ahead. A field of tall grasses and wildflowers stretched out in front of them, with butterflies dancing their way from blossom to blossom. A lot like the two of them, the black stallion grumbled to himself, watching them whoop excitedly and crush the foliage with their exuberantly flying hooves – not a thought in their heads aside from how to get from one pretty thing to another. They did paint a pretty picture, though, with the bees buzzing and the birdsong in the air…
“Poppa!”
He jerked, nearly reared to kick before he realized it was only one of the fillies. How had she snuck up on him so quickly? “What is it now, you- uh, dear?”
“I just realized why you took us here! It’s to make an extra-special surprise for Momma, isn’t it?”
“Uhh-”
“Cool, what a great idea! She didn’t sound too good today, did she?”
“No, she-”
“Hey, an’ this grass tastes really good and sweet an’ all. We could bring her some of it, couldn’t we?”
“And these flowers too, aren’t they pretty?”
He gave up. “Sure, have at it. Yes, yes. I’m sure she’d love that.”
Valiantly the two fillies set about collecting, bravely resisting the awful temptation to chomp down on some of that delicious foliage. They might already be a little crushed and wilted, their colors clashing dreadfully, but soon they had as much as they could carry. He had even let them weave a few flowers into his braided mane as well, though he wasn't entirely sure how that had happened. Yes, what a pretty picture we must paint, he mocked himself, hoping beyond hope that they didn’t come across anyone who actually knew him. At least the two of them seemed to know what direction they were going.
“Momma! Guess what we’ve got for you!”
So. So they could think about things other than themselves - once in a while, anyway. So maybe they weren’t quite the little terrors he had thought they were. And so maybe because of them, his mate would soon be smiling at him happily, the lines of pain erased from her face as if they had never been.
So none of that mattered. He still didn’t want to be a father, and would still give up all of this nonsense in a heartbeat for the carefree lifestyle he used to lead.
…Right?
