terribly sorry, officer (baelfiery) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-01-25 19:09:00 |
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It had been a while since Nina had been out to visit the ranch and check on Neal and Henry and for that she felt bad so she had decided since Gabe was at work and she had the day off she’d stop by and hope they weren’t too busy and she wasn’t going to be interrupting anything. Parking up she waved at a couple of the staff who knew her either as a nurse or as a visitor, that was one thing about her profession she tended to know a lot of people - even if it was by sight only. Heading towards the office she went to look for her friends. Nothing was interrupted, Nina had come at a good time, as luck would have it. There was a lot going on at the ranch - archery, horseback riding, fly-fishing (the little pond on-site was perfect for it), and for some reason the kids seemed to like the cattle drive a lot too. It was exactly what it sounded like, saddling up on a horse, gathering cattle and trailing them, then herding them back to home pasture after sorting them. During winter, this was also the time of year when repairs to fences and buildings were made, along with stocking the firewood supply to keep it ready - you know, for another freak snowstorm or something. Never could tell. Another important duty was ensuring that all cows and calves ate and drank every day - Neal was about to head out for that, and Henry was with him to provide an extra hand since school was done for the day and he was finished with his homework. He looked ready and raring to go in jeans and a flannel jacket, but then he spotted Nina and got excited. “Dad, Nina’s here!” Off and running, there he went. “Hi Nina!” Neal managed to follow, chuckling. “Hey, good timing. We’re about to go hang out with some cattle. What’s up?” Nina smiled brightly and gave Henry a hug as he came running over, “Hey you, I swear you get bigger every time I see you. You’ll soon be taller than me” she told him. Not that it was hard since Nina was pretty short. Looking over at Neal she said, “I had the day off and decided an impromptu visit was in order. Is it a bad time? Or can you use me?” she asked, wanting to make sure she wasn’t getting in the way. Neal knew he could put her to work, she wasn’t afraid of hard graft and was stronger than she looked. It also made a nice change to be outside instead of in a stuffy hospital. “He really does, he’s sprouting up like a weed,” Neal groaned teasingly, giving Henry’s hair a ruffle before he slipped into his own jacket and grabbed the couple buckets of healthy grains, feed for the cows - they drank water from troughs and bowls, so he just had to fill them up when they were down there. “Gotta love those adolescent growth spurts.” The mention of how tall Henry was getting made him grin - it was true, he was just about as tall as Regina, but she was pretty short too. “Do you want to help us feed the cows? Or, well, dad can feed the cows. We can feed the calves - you give them a bottle. It’s really easy, he showed me how.” Neal wasn’t opposed to that. Nina wouldn’t get too dirty, but there was something cute about baby calves being bottle-fed. Might be the parental instincts but aw. “Definitely welcome to join,” he agreed. “Ranch work is good for the soul anyway.” Nina grinned, “All of Gabe’s family towered over me apart from his grandmother so I’m used to being the shortest one in a group” she told them. She had accepted her fate as a short arse long ago. “I’d love to, that sounds great” Nina said, she didn’t really care if she got dirty. Clothes could always be cleaned or discarded if they got too bad. And feeding a baby cow? Well what girl would give that chance up? Definitely not her. “Thanks” she nodded, “It’s good for the mind, body and soul I think” Nina grinned before following them to where they needed to go. “So how have things been around here?” she asked, “Busy by the looks of it” Neal led them onward, whistling a merry tune. He gave Henry one of the buckets, because he could make himself useful and carry one, and he let it bang against his knees as he walked, on the way to where the cattle were. “It’s busy, yeah, but it’s been good,” Neal said. “The days go by quickly. I sort of gave up my part-time job, the one I usually go to after this, because Emma’s due end of June and I want to be there for her - now and when the baby is born.” “We still don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl,” Henry chimed in helpfully. “But I’m thinking it’s a boy, even though Emma’s been craving sweet stuff - that usually means it’s a girl? I don’t know.” When they got to the their destination, Neal began mixing up the right baby cow formula - you had to get the proportions right, it was important. “We’ll find out in a few weeks,” he grinned. “Craving sweet things is thought to be an indication of a girl, you’re right” Nina confirmed, “Soft skin and sleeping on your right side are also apparently ways to tell. But you know sometimes even with those it can be a complete surprise” She’d heard all sorts of old wives tales when it came to having babies. It was always fun on the maternity ward. “If she needs anything please let me know. I’d be happy to help if I can” As a nurse she knew it was sometimes reassuring to have that person to go to who was a little more qualified than google. Nina was an awesome nurse. Henry definitely thought so, Neal did too. “Thanks,” he smiled gratefully. “I’ll pass on the message. It’s new for us in terms of going through it together so we’re a little anxious, hoping everything goes right.” “You can practice with a bottle too!” Henry insisted, though that was ‘general’ you; he seemed eager to get his own practice in though, since he was always the first to volunteer to feed the calves. They ate about three times a day in the winter, and it was a natural mixture packed with nutrients. In fact, as soon as they entered the pens, the calves came circling - bumping into Henry, nibbling on his jacket. It made him laugh. “Whoa, hungry much?” he teased, giving Nina a bottle and showing her the proper technique. “You hold it like this so they don’t knock you over when they want more milk.” He’d learned that the hard way. “Well I am always around to ease your fears” Nina said, “I know things can be a little overwhelming” New parents were always worried and she tried to help as much as possible. “Bottle practice is a good idea” Nina smiled at Henry, who looked very at home around the animals. It was a good way for a child to be, she thought, too many children didn’t get outside and have adventures anymore. Nina laughed as well, “They really are hungry aren’t they” she said as she took a bottle and copied Henry, “Ah thanks for the tip” she said before beginning to feed one of the babies. Look how cute! Neal just had this proud expression on his face, as he left the two bottle-feeders to their own devices and stocked the cows up on fresh water and tasty grass. It was usually a good idea to separate the calves and bottle feed them after they were born - otherwise the cows could kick or bully the babies, potentially, and no one wanted that. It would have kids crying for days. Slurp, suck, yep, those calves were hungry, alright. Given the way they were going to town on the bottles. “Did you know cows have four stomachs??” Henry asked Nina, like this was fascinating news to share. “Well, technically it’s one. But there are four compartments. It’s way different than a human stomach.” “I’m sure she’s grateful that you’re a walking encyclopedia, Henry,” Neal snorted. They were ridiculously cute and Nina enjoyed feeding them, they were hungry but surprisingly not too boisterous. She hadn’t been knocked over yet anyway, which could be thanks to Henry’s tip about holding the bottle. “Well that makes sense, a cow’s diet is very different to ours” Nina replied, “They produce a lot more saliva too, mainly because of the food they eat” She remembered learning random facts like that from her nursing degree. “I happen to like interesting facts” she told Neal with a grin, “You can learn a lot from Henry you know” she teased. “I do, I learn a lot everyday,” Neal laughed from where he was - not too far away, just there cleaning the trough. There were other ranch hands to do this sort of thing, now that he’d taken on basically running the place - but he liked it, it was good and honest labor, and plus it sort of helped him to balance his workday too. Some time in the office with the admin duties, some time outdoors taking care of the dirtier tasks. “I’m surprised he hasn’t asked about the grossest thing you’ve seen at work yet.” That perked Henry up right away. He tilted the bottle a bit, for one of the suckling calves. “Hey, yeah! What’s the grossest thing you’ve seen at work, Nina? You can tell me. I have a strong stomach too, like a cow’s.” Nina laughed, “Well if you insist. I once had to treat a man who had left this ulcer untreated on his leg and when we treated it not only was there all this yellow pus inside it but a bunch of worms too” she told him, “And it was really smelly. So that was pretty disgusting” she told Henry with a smile. Oh, geez. Yeah, adding the worm component to the story was what made it extra gross and awesome for Henry. He was positively delighted. Neal, however, wasn’t as enthralled - more like he had to hand it to Nina for not puking. The woman also had a strong stomach. “That’s so cool!” A twelve-year-old kid loved stories like that. “The guy had worms, ugh -” But still so cool. Alright, that was probably enough of that. Now that the cows were chomping away on their delicious meal, Neal’s work here was done. “You guys about finished?” he asked. “Not bad with the bottles, ranchers.” When she had chosen that story Nina had thought it would go down well with Henry, worms inside people tended to be a favourite for little boys. She had seen all manner of things during her career and training so had a rather wide range of stories. “I think so” Nina nodded, “These babies have milked us dry” she said grinning at Henry at the bad pun. “Thanks for letting me help out, that was fun and not something I can say I’ve ever done before” Oh, ho. Nina had the ‘bad puns a parent would make’ down pat. Henry laughed, but he groaned a little too - though it was kind of funny. “No problem, you can come back anytime and help with the animals! Right, dad?” “Yep,” Neal nodded. He had absolutely no problem with that - the ranch had a lot of volunteers, people to help, and its share of paid employees. So there was always something to do down here, even if a friend just wanted to come by and pass some time. “And who knows, maybe you’ll inspire Henry to maybe look into a career in nursing, for later.” It combined things he loved - potential for gross stories and helping people. Hey, stranger things had happened. |