Sequel: Fallen Embers ›
The Fire
Tre, Surprise!
Christmas day was going along as planned in the Armstrong house. It was 4:30pm and everyone had exchanged presents. The kids went off to play with their new toys and games while the adults sat around in the living room talking and drinking wine. Adie went back and forth from the kitchen to the living room as she checked on how the dinner was progressing. She smiled as she looked at Tre moping on the couch. He was twirling the glass of wine between his fingers not really following the conversation that was going on around him. She knew that very soon that frown would be replaced with a smile since her husband confided in her the secret plans between him and Sabrina. Adie's cell phone vibrated at that moment and with one look at the call id she smiled again. Instead of answering her phone, she went to the security control box by the front door and opened the gate and opened the front door. Walking back to the kitchen, she again looked at Tre and smiled.
Sabrina pulled up to the house and saw that the front door was opened. She parked her rental SUV and quietly climbed out and went through the all ready opened door. She closed the front door without a sound and heard the voices coming from around the corner. Sabrina followed the sound and stood by the doorway to the living room. She smiled as she listened to her new friends talking about nothing in particular. She walked into the room without a word and put a finger to her lips. Tre was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed and not paying attention to the woman standing in the middle of the room. Everyone else stopped talking and just looked at Tre, waiting for him to realize that Sabrina was standing in front of him.
Tre had been daydreaming about Sabrina all day. He had been sitting there and not paying attention to the conversation going on around him. 'I'm really going nuts missing her,' he thought. 'I can even smell her perfume. Now I know I'm going nuts.' He did finally come back to earth when he noticed that the people around him had stopped talking. He opened his eyes to find out what was going on and was greeted with the sight of Sabrina standing right in front of him.
Tre's jaw dropped as he jumped up off the couch and brought her into his arms. He twirled her around and around until he got dizzy and fell to the floor taking her with him. They landed in a pile on the carpet. Tre flipped Sabrina over to her back and lay on top of her as he began kissing her.
"I missed you so much Sabrina," he moaned into her mouth.
"I missed you too Tre, but I think we need to get up. Everyone is watching us."
"I don't give a fuck, I missed you and want to kiss you until I have had my full."
"AHEMMMM," Mike cleared his throat. "We have had our fill of you two now let the poor woman up man."
Tre reluctantly followed the bass player words and stood up and pulled Sabrina up with him. Sabrina gave Mike a smile of thanks and straightened out her clothes. Mike winked back at her and she knew that she would always have Mike as an ally on her side. "Are you going to introduce me to everyone Tre?" she asked.
"Oh yea, guess I should. Sabrina this is Anastasia, Stella's mom. This is Claudia who is Frankito's mom and finally this is Lisea, Ramona's mom."
Sabrina shook each woman's hand and the three women were all surprised how calloused the older woman's hands were. They liked the fact the she made Tre happy and that the kids like her also. So with those facts, they thought that she was okay. They noticed that she withdrew into herself a little under their scrutiny.
Sabrina noticed that the three women were taking her in. She realized that her hands were rough from the farm work, and the guitar playing she did. She suddenly became self conscious of herself. She put her head down a little in response to the scrutiny.
Adie came out and hugged Sabrina. "I heard from a little bird that you were going to fly in for the day so you could come for dinner."
"Thanks Adie for inviting me," Sabrina said while hugging the younger woman back. "My flight leaves late tonight so I should have plenty of time to visit."
"What? You're leaving tonight?" Tre whined.
"Yes, I'm sorry but we have 15 mares due to foal overnight and tomorrow. I can't leave Chris to do that all by himself with a few hands. I figured I could sneak out for one day before all hell breaks loose at home."
"You mean to tell me you flew over 4 hours, and will fly 4 hours back just so you could visit?" Lisea asked.
"Yes, I wanted to see Tre and I figured at least a few hours were better than none. I caught a cat nap on the flight out and hope to catch a few on the way back or I am going to be without sleep for a day or two. Once I get back, I won't even have a chance to go to the house, I'm going to have to go right to the barns and check on the foals that were born while I was gone. I usually don't get back to the house until days later once foaling season really kicks in. We all catch sleep usually right in the stalls with the horses we are watching. I hate working like that without sleep and that's how I start to get sick, but was well worth it to see the look on Tre's face when he realized I was here," Sabrina smiled at Lisea.
"Wait, you said get sick? What did you mean by that? Tre asked with concern.
"Oh it's nothing... just a side effect of working so hard. Foaling season starts at the middle of December and lasts until the middle of January. All of us at the farm don't get a huge amount of sleep, since the mares foal at night. We have to watch the mares to make sure that everything is okay. Mother Nature sometimes needs a hand and we need to be right there when that happens. There are only a few farm hands that help with Chris and I with foaling," Sabrina explained.
"No, I didn't mean about the foaling, I meant you getting sick," Tre replied.
Sabrina sighed. "I guess I can't avoid it. No secrets huh? Okay, here it is in a nutshell. I get sick mentally and physically very easily so I have to watch it around foaling season particularly, since I don't get a lot of sleep then. When I get sick I get really sick. I usually end up back on medication for a while until my body can right itself."
"What kind of medication Sabrina?" Billie Joe asked
"Psych meds. I have to take anti-depression meds and sometimes my anti-anxiety meds too. It all depends on how sick I get. I have triggers that I watch for and when I see those things, I call Kevin, my head shrinker and we start up therapy again until I get settled down and straightened out." Sabrina felt really exposed after saying that, but she felt that these people wouldn't think any differently of her. She felt safe with this group of people.
"What kind of triggers?" Mike asked
Sabrina sighed again. "Well the subtle ones are things like getting my days and nights mixed up, or the urge to chop my hair off, or the urges to flip my truck while speeding down the four lane, or urges to harm something smaller than me. More obvious ones are the suicidal thoughts, or the ignoring of pain and pushing my body past its limits." The woman ran her hands through her hair. "Usually I'm fine and catch it before it gets out of control. I have been seeing Kevin since 1986, so I'm really good about seeing the signs before I get out of control. And no offense but I really don't want to talk about it anymore okay. I hope you understand. I've never told anybody except Chris about this stuff."
Sabrina stood there and waited for someone to speak. She knew that these people wouldn't judge her, but still she was scared. Tre grabbed her and hugged her tight against him. The woman felt safe within his arms as he said "I'll watch over you Sabrina and protect you." With those simple words Sabrina fell over the edge and totally, completely fell in love with Tre Cool.
Sabrina pulled up to the house and saw that the front door was opened. She parked her rental SUV and quietly climbed out and went through the all ready opened door. She closed the front door without a sound and heard the voices coming from around the corner. Sabrina followed the sound and stood by the doorway to the living room. She smiled as she listened to her new friends talking about nothing in particular. She walked into the room without a word and put a finger to her lips. Tre was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed and not paying attention to the woman standing in the middle of the room. Everyone else stopped talking and just looked at Tre, waiting for him to realize that Sabrina was standing in front of him.
Tre had been daydreaming about Sabrina all day. He had been sitting there and not paying attention to the conversation going on around him. 'I'm really going nuts missing her,' he thought. 'I can even smell her perfume. Now I know I'm going nuts.' He did finally come back to earth when he noticed that the people around him had stopped talking. He opened his eyes to find out what was going on and was greeted with the sight of Sabrina standing right in front of him.
Tre's jaw dropped as he jumped up off the couch and brought her into his arms. He twirled her around and around until he got dizzy and fell to the floor taking her with him. They landed in a pile on the carpet. Tre flipped Sabrina over to her back and lay on top of her as he began kissing her.
"I missed you so much Sabrina," he moaned into her mouth.
"I missed you too Tre, but I think we need to get up. Everyone is watching us."
"I don't give a fuck, I missed you and want to kiss you until I have had my full."
"AHEMMMM," Mike cleared his throat. "We have had our fill of you two now let the poor woman up man."
Tre reluctantly followed the bass player words and stood up and pulled Sabrina up with him. Sabrina gave Mike a smile of thanks and straightened out her clothes. Mike winked back at her and she knew that she would always have Mike as an ally on her side. "Are you going to introduce me to everyone Tre?" she asked.
"Oh yea, guess I should. Sabrina this is Anastasia, Stella's mom. This is Claudia who is Frankito's mom and finally this is Lisea, Ramona's mom."
Sabrina shook each woman's hand and the three women were all surprised how calloused the older woman's hands were. They liked the fact the she made Tre happy and that the kids like her also. So with those facts, they thought that she was okay. They noticed that she withdrew into herself a little under their scrutiny.
Sabrina noticed that the three women were taking her in. She realized that her hands were rough from the farm work, and the guitar playing she did. She suddenly became self conscious of herself. She put her head down a little in response to the scrutiny.
Adie came out and hugged Sabrina. "I heard from a little bird that you were going to fly in for the day so you could come for dinner."
"Thanks Adie for inviting me," Sabrina said while hugging the younger woman back. "My flight leaves late tonight so I should have plenty of time to visit."
"What? You're leaving tonight?" Tre whined.
"Yes, I'm sorry but we have 15 mares due to foal overnight and tomorrow. I can't leave Chris to do that all by himself with a few hands. I figured I could sneak out for one day before all hell breaks loose at home."
"You mean to tell me you flew over 4 hours, and will fly 4 hours back just so you could visit?" Lisea asked.
"Yes, I wanted to see Tre and I figured at least a few hours were better than none. I caught a cat nap on the flight out and hope to catch a few on the way back or I am going to be without sleep for a day or two. Once I get back, I won't even have a chance to go to the house, I'm going to have to go right to the barns and check on the foals that were born while I was gone. I usually don't get back to the house until days later once foaling season really kicks in. We all catch sleep usually right in the stalls with the horses we are watching. I hate working like that without sleep and that's how I start to get sick, but was well worth it to see the look on Tre's face when he realized I was here," Sabrina smiled at Lisea.
"Wait, you said get sick? What did you mean by that? Tre asked with concern.
"Oh it's nothing... just a side effect of working so hard. Foaling season starts at the middle of December and lasts until the middle of January. All of us at the farm don't get a huge amount of sleep, since the mares foal at night. We have to watch the mares to make sure that everything is okay. Mother Nature sometimes needs a hand and we need to be right there when that happens. There are only a few farm hands that help with Chris and I with foaling," Sabrina explained.
"No, I didn't mean about the foaling, I meant you getting sick," Tre replied.
Sabrina sighed. "I guess I can't avoid it. No secrets huh? Okay, here it is in a nutshell. I get sick mentally and physically very easily so I have to watch it around foaling season particularly, since I don't get a lot of sleep then. When I get sick I get really sick. I usually end up back on medication for a while until my body can right itself."
"What kind of medication Sabrina?" Billie Joe asked
"Psych meds. I have to take anti-depression meds and sometimes my anti-anxiety meds too. It all depends on how sick I get. I have triggers that I watch for and when I see those things, I call Kevin, my head shrinker and we start up therapy again until I get settled down and straightened out." Sabrina felt really exposed after saying that, but she felt that these people wouldn't think any differently of her. She felt safe with this group of people.
"What kind of triggers?" Mike asked
Sabrina sighed again. "Well the subtle ones are things like getting my days and nights mixed up, or the urge to chop my hair off, or the urges to flip my truck while speeding down the four lane, or urges to harm something smaller than me. More obvious ones are the suicidal thoughts, or the ignoring of pain and pushing my body past its limits." The woman ran her hands through her hair. "Usually I'm fine and catch it before it gets out of control. I have been seeing Kevin since 1986, so I'm really good about seeing the signs before I get out of control. And no offense but I really don't want to talk about it anymore okay. I hope you understand. I've never told anybody except Chris about this stuff."
Sabrina stood there and waited for someone to speak. She knew that these people wouldn't judge her, but still she was scared. Tre grabbed her and hugged her tight against him. The woman felt safe within his arms as he said "I'll watch over you Sabrina and protect you." With those simple words Sabrina fell over the edge and totally, completely fell in love with Tre Cool.