Status: Just Beginning.

God Gave Me You

Down on the Farm

The next morning, Emi woke up somewhat happy. She would be going to her grandparents farm and would be getting to spend the day with Tim. Well, X had pressured her into inviting him along, but she found that she didn't mind that much anymore. It would be fun to spend the day with him.

"You'll thank me for this later." 

Xavier told Emi as she got out of the his grey Chevy Silverado when they arrived at Tim's house. Emi only rolled eyes at him and slammed the door, before she walked up the sidewalk to the front porch. She, hesitantly, knocked on the big French door and shortly after heard feet scuffling over to answer it. The door opened to reveal one of Tim's older brother's, Robby was what she thought was his name.

"Hey, I'm here to pick Tim up." She explained, awkwardly, rubbing her arm as she did so, " He wanted to come out and see our grandparents farm. Tell him it's Emi Holmes."

Robby's face lit up in recognition at the mention of her name,

"You're the blogger girl who works for the Broncos. Tim never shuts up about yo-"

Peter was cut off as Tim pushed him out of the way. It was one of the first times she had ever seen him truly embarrassed, but his smile was quick to distract her from the fact.

"Hey, Em, ready to go?" He asked her, stepping out of his house and closing the door on his brother. Emi nodded, laughing at him,

"Yeah, just waiting on you. Are you ready to work?"

Tim smiled at her and nodded, "Depends on the kind of work."

Emi shook her head at Tim as they walked over to Xavier's truck. She hopped in the back, allowing Tim to ride shotgun. She buckled herself in before she answered,

"A little bit of everything probably and after lunch we will start working with the show calves."

Tim seemed to accept the offer. Xavier sniffled a laugh, he knew what Emi really meant by a little bit of everything. Tim looked between the siblings confused by the inside joke. X noticed this and decided to clarify,

"Em, means whatever grandpa wants us to do and extra. Working the calves is the fun part."

They soon were pulling onto the interstate headed south on highway 87. They would take that until the Castle Rocks exit and then get on S Lake Gulch Road, which was the road that would take them to their grandparents farm. Their grandparents pretty much lived in the middle of no where on 400 acre ranch. Tim would be the first friend that they had made in Denver to come to the ranch. Emi and Xavier wanted the place to be their haven when they wanted to get away. So they didn't have all their friends come bug them when they were out of town.

"So you guys work cattle for fun?" Tim inquired, he didn't understand what about cows could be fun. On his family's farm in Florida, they had never done anything special with the four legged creatures.

"We show them like at the National Western Stock Show here in Denver." Emi explained, "We sell most of them to 4-her's now since we are too old to show as juniors."

"Really? When is the Western Livestock Show?" Tim asked the pair.

"It's in the middle of January. Cattle take a lot of time to get ready for a big show like that. Right now, we have a sale to get the some of the spring calves for. We have a winter sale for Fall borns that will be able to go on and show at State Fairs." Xavier explained to the football player.

"How many do y'all work with at a time?" The younger man wondered.

"15-20 per sale." Emi told him, "We keep 6-10 to work with ourselves and show in open shows. We will be headed down to Louisville, Kentucky for a show in November."

"I see, so will you take off?" Tim asked her directly. She shrugged because she hadn't planned that far out,

"Yeah, probably a week or so."

Tim nodded, he had never thought of Emi as a farm girl before, but that would explain some of her Facebook and Twitter pictures. It added another layer to her personality and showed that she had a lot of work ethic. It was a quality he valued in a woman, next to their relationship with Jesus. Emi, he knew, was just as faithful as he was and was just as proud about her message as he was his. It seemed like everyday he found out something new about the girl in the backseat the drew him to her even more.

His thoughts were interrupted when the truck pulled onto a long, gravel drive that whined through lush, green mountain pastures on either side. On top of the hill, a plantation style farm house was perched, as if surveying the surrounding area. As they got closer and closer to the house, two Australian shepherd dogs appeared from out of one of the pockets of cattle chasing and barking at the truck. Tim saw out of the corner of his eye, Emi roll down the window and holler some command at the creatures, causing them to stop in their tracks and return to the herd. Once they were up the hill, Xavier parked his truck next to a white Ford F250 and a red suburban.

Just as the trio had climbed out, the front door swung open and an elderly man stepped out onto the porch,

"Are you three ready to work?"

Emi nodded, X shrugged his shoulders, and Tim confirmed his willingness to whom he assumed was their grandfather,

"Yes, sir. What needs to be done?"

The old man's eyes widened a touch caught off guard by the question, but was quick to regain himself before he told them of the day's agenda,

"Well, if you would've gotten here sooner you could've helped feed, but today we are video taping the calves for the sale so we will be washing and grooming all 15 head before lunch."

When Emi heard this she was even more eager to start, washing and grooming was her favorite part. She heard Xavier groan, he didn't like washing at all. Shaking her head she looked to Tim, who looked confused about what was going on. Her grandfather, then walked over to him, asking,

"I don't think we've ever met before but my name is David Pearson. I'm the owner of Pearson Family Farms and more importantly Emi and X's grandfather."

"It's good to meet you, sir." Tim nodded, taking David's outstretched hand, "I'm Tim Tebow. Emi and I work for the same organization."

David nodded, accepting the answer and then winked at his granddaughter, 

"Well, then Tim, since you probably don't know anything about cattle then I will have Emi give you a quick lesson."

Emi blushed, but turned to Tim, nodding in the direction of the barn, 

"Ready to go get schooled, Florida boy?"

"As I'll ever be, Texas girl." Tim smirked as he followed the family down the hill towards the barn. He fell in step with Emi, who was smiling to herself about something. Theirs hands brushing once or twice by accident, which sent shivers up their arms and down their backs. They quickly looked at the other and then looked away, blushing when they got caught.

The barn was the typical, big, red barn with white trimming and such, but it wasn't until they were inside did Tim see how big the barn really was. The floor went for at least 4 city blocks, the high, lofty ceiling at least 3. On the other end large slider doors were open, allowing a group of cattle in and out as they pleased. The left side of the barn there was two rows of small 5x5 pens, too small for cattle and Tim wondered what they were used for until he heard a chorus of,

"Baaaahhh." 

Sheep.…

Looking to he saw a small flock of them standing by their much smaller door way. The bravest had propped it's front legs on one of the bars of the gate, so that it's head was above the top of the gate an it bahed at Tim as he passed by. He followed Emi as she walked into a smaller cubby inside the barn, which instantly slapped in the face because of how cold it was in there.

"This is the cooler room, where we keep the calves in the summer to help them gain weight and hold their hair." Emi giggled at his reaction as she explained the purpose of this part of the barn.

Tim nodded, noting her statement and then asked as he looked at the line of red, red and white, blonde, black, and black and white calves, "So what do I need to know first?"

Emi paused and thought for a mount before he pointed to the red and white calf closest to wear he was standing.

"Always make sure that the animal knows you're behind it. Otherwise, you could spook it and it might kick you. You're lucky because that particular breed isn't prone to being kickers. When you approach her just sorta talk to her and let her know you're."

Tim did as he was advised and started talking to the four legged creature in front of him. The animal flicked their ears and snorted as recognition of his presence.

"Now, what?" He asked, watching Emi slide up to start untying the black calf with white socks next to the one he was standing next to.

"Just do what I'm doing. It's a good thing you're left handed because once you've untied her. You will lead her with your left hand, ok?"

Tim did as he was told sliding up the hairy calf's body to it's head where he untied her purple and lime green halter, then something caught his eye. It was white ear tag that read, 'Rosie May.'

"Hey, Rosie May, how are you?" He asked the heifer, who snorted as he stroked her white face.

Emi chuckled at the sight as she backed up the steer she had chosen, 

"Ok, Tim, you can start backing up your calf as soon as I have passes you. Just push on her a little and she'll go. After that follow me to the wash racks... Oh and don't let her get a head of you."

After Emi saw Tim give her a thumbs up she led her calf out of the cooler. Once out she glanced over her shoulder to see Tim and the Hereford heifer close behind. He appeared to be handling the 700 lb female well enough so she lead the group out of the barn to the outside wash racks since it was a nice day. She quickly tied up her steer to the gate before, she went to take Tim's heifer.

"Here let me tie her. You go turn on the water." She suggested. Tim nodded and handed the lead rope over to her, then went to do as he was told. She then led the calf to the same gate where the steer was tied up and did the same to her. Patting the top of the young female's head, she noticed that she was much more broke than she had been the last time she had seen her,

"Good girl, Rosie."

Tim returned this time with a buck of scrubbing brushes and a large bottle of dawn. Emi suspected her brother had given it to him. He sat it down next to her and then asked,

"What's next?"

Picking up the hose nozzle, Emi then began to explain the technique of rinsing a calf as she sprayed down the red hair,

"I guess you can wash a calf anyway you want to but we like to risen them off starting on the tops of their backs, like this and then move back. After that we work from back to front on their sides at a 45 degree angle, then spray her legs, belly, and neck, but be careful not to get it in her ears."

After she had summarized what Tim needed to do, she handed the sprayer to him and he took over. She watched him for a second as he went to work, washing out her hair exactly like he had been told. When she felt confident he was okay with this she went to get the second hose and began to wash the steer.

"So what's yours named?" Tim inquired as he worked getting the heifer wetted down.

"His name is Spartacus, but everyone calls him, 'Sparty' for short." She told her friend as she worke to get some mud out of the steer's arm prints, "My grandpa wanted him washed first because he is going to send his picture to our seman supplier, so they can advertise him on their website. They own his daddy." 

"Really, what's their name?" Tim asked her.

"Lautner Farms. They own almost all the bulls we used expect for our purebreds. We get that from other breeders." She explained and now done rinsing, she began to pour some dawn on the steers back, sides, legs, and belly before she began to scrub it in.

Tim watched what Emi was doing for a moment before doing the same thing, "Ok, well, I don't know that much but I'd like to who their parents are. If I'm saying that right?"

"Rosie's sire is called 'Purple Mislap' and her mommy is Rose Mary, who is a 'Durango' out of a 'Lifetime' cow." She paused, allowing Tim to absorb the information before she informed her about the steer, 

"The steer is a 'Monopoly' out of my last 4-H heifer, Zenyatta. He's a registered Chimaine and she is a purebred Hereford."

After that Emi began to pour soap on the calf's sides and back, before scrubbing it in with the red scrub brush. Tim watched her for a moment and saw she was scrubbing in a 45 degree angle like she had instructed before, so he did the same. Logically, he rinsed the heifer off, but he was stumped as to what to do next... Looking to his friend he saw that she was combing the calfs hair down to take off the excess water, so he copied her actions. When they were both done, Emi looked over Tim's work to see how he had done and was pleased.

"Great job! She looks good so far." She told the football player. 

Tim flushed with pride before he told her,

"I only did a good job because I had a good teacher."

Emi blushed at his compliment and then untied the steer, motioning for Tim to do the same,

"Now, we're gonna take them to X and grandpa, so they can dry their hair."

Tim nodded and followed Emi back inside the back to a couple what he presumed were show shoots. Emi walked her steer in an tied him to the front, while X came over, took the heifer Tim was holding and did the same thing his sister had done.

Emi then bounced over to Tim and tugged on his wrist, pulling him with her back to the cooler room,

"Now all we have to do us get all of the calves washed. We won't have to dry them off, so I will show you around."

Tim smiled at her eagerness and went to grab the next black calf, Emi also grabbed a black calf, and they began the whole process over again.

After the second calf Tim washed, who decided to take sprint out into the barn lot, everything seemed to go faster. For him, it was cool because this was one of the first times they had ever bonded over something she liked to do. Everything they had done together before usually had something to do with football. He was enjoying spending this time with her. One time by 'accident' she had sprayed him with water, so they got into a little water fight. Not that he was complaining. ;)

After they had finished washing all 15 calves, Emi showed Tim a side door that they could sneak out of so they wouldn't get caught by Xavier or her grandfather. He followed her across the barn lot towards a smaller, white barn.

"This where we keep our show bulls and other tack we need for a show." She explained, opening the door to the building. 

She allowed Tim to step inside first and he wasn't surprised to see four larger stalls that were similar to what horses stayed in. Only these stalls were made out of tall, metal gates so you could see all four bulls. There were fans on the tops of each pen, on the left side, Tim assumed they served the same purpose as the cooler room, only it wasn't as insulated.

Emi walked over to the first bull and starched the male's large head,

"These are some of the first Denver quality bulls we've raised."

"Really, from what I could tell y'all have some really nice cattle." Tim offered with a smile, walking over to stand next to Emi and looking at the black and white bull, who snorted at him.

"Thanks," Emi smiled with a shrug, "I have always thought we did but these guys are the first quality display bulls we've bred. They are the total package for their purpose."

"And what is their purpose?" Tim inquired, unconsciously taking a step closer to her.

"Well, we want to sell them to Lautner's to make our farm more popular. They have shown some interest, but wanted to wait until the Western Stock show to see how everyone liked them." Emi explained.

"Well, he looks pretty cool. The way he's colored really catches the eye. Tell me about him?" Tim encouraged her.

Emi rolled her eyes at the man before listing off some facts about the bull calf, 

"Okay so this is Canuck. He is a Monopoly out of a Friction daughter. Registered Chianina. We kept him a bull because of his coloring and the fact that he displays all of the best qualities from both Monopoly and Friction."

Tim nodded and followed her to the next pen,

"This is Bruin. I know he is… Well, I think he is also a Monopoly and an Eyes on the Money. Registered Maintainer. The best thing about him is his terminal characteristics. He's built like a football player, don't you think?"

Tim laughed in agreement because the short, but stout black bull calf really did have the build of a football player and then he, joking, said,

"You show name him after me."

"There's already a bull named after you." Emi informed him, shaking her head,

 "Lautner calls him, 'Tebow.' I'll show you all their website during lunch, okay?"

Just then Emi's phone began to buzz, groaning she answered it:

"Quit making out with Tim, it's time to eat." Xavier teased her on the other side.

Rolling her eyes at the statement, she replied, 

"I wasn't and fine, we'll be there in a few."

After that she hung up and began to walk out of the bull barn, looking over her shoulder she motioned Tim to follow her,

"C'mon, grandma's got food on."

Tim chuckled at the woman's desire to eat and followed her out of the barn. They walked side by side in comfortable silence back up the hill towards the house. On the back porch an elderly Great Dane greeted them at the back door as they took off their boots.

"Wood, quit," Emi giggled at giant dog began to rub it's body against her legs. Emi's grandmother stepped into the boot room and scolded the playful creature,

"Wood, leave these poor kids alone and them inside. Go on! Go lay on your couch!"

The dog whined but did as he was told. Her grandmother swatted the dog on the bottoms he passed her before she turned her attention towards her granddaughter and her friend.

"Sorry about him. He still gets excited when new people come around. I'm Martha, Emi and X's grandma. You can all me, Grandma. Everyone else does." Martha introduced herself to Tim.

"Thanks, ma'am, I'll remember that." Tim smiled as he followed the women into the kitchen where David, Xavier, and another man were seated at the large table. He saw Emi stiffen when she noticed the other man, who glaring at him. He would have to ask X about that later.

"I hope you don't mind having spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, and texas toast?" Martha asked the pair as they sat down next to each other.

"No, ma'am that's fine with me. Thank you for you're hard work preparing our meal."

 Tim told the elderly woman, who was blushing because of Tim's compliment.They then said the common table prayer before digging into the food.

"Hey, Em, do you mind taking my tomatoes? I didn't really like them." Tim asked, blushing as he did so because he was slightly embarrassed.

Emi shook her head, giggling at his admission, and began to fork the red fruit onto her plate. Tim smiled at the girl next to him and accidentally found himself tucking a stray brunette lock of hair behind her ear, their eyes locked onto one another. The sound of metal hitting a wood floor interrupted their moment making them look toward the sound, which came from the man, who had yet to introduce himself to Tim.

"Damn, Ted, got butter fingers today or something?" Xavier joke, elbowing the man in the side.

"Yeah, I must." Ted agreed before turning his attention back to Tim and Emi, "The name's Ted Whiteside, by the way. I work for the Pearson's."

"Nice to meet you, Ted." Tim greeted the slightly older man, "My name is Tim. I work with Emi."

"Oh I see. Well, X, Emi, and I go way back, don't we?" Ted informed Tim with a wink.

Emi choked on her sweet tea when she saw Ted wink. She hadn't expected her grandparents to continue to let him work for them after what had happened... Oh well, the past is in the past and she hoped Ted wouldn't bring the past up in front of Tim before she could explain it to him.
♠ ♠ ♠
Shoutout to:
megseypoo4 and laurenj23! Thanks for the comments! :)

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I did! Lautner Farm is a real company, by the way, they own the daddy of one of my steers that I showed a few years back. I also updated the character list, so check that out if you'd like. I might post drawings of the cattle that I mention. Let me know if I should or not. Don't forget to comment! :)