Chapter 9: Happy Birthday

When you are a teenager looking forward to your birthday, two weeks is an eternity. When you are planning someone else's birthday, two weeks is but a moment. Time has a habit of speeding up when you have a lot to do. That was the case for Grace and me. We had some extensive plans to make in a hurry. I guess the hardest part was not letting Kim discover what was going on. We intended to make her day a big surprise.

Our first task was to get Kim to make up her guest list. I told her that she could invite as many guests as she wanted and they did not have to be all girls. We also had her decide on a theme for the party. In the interests of self defense I informed our staff that they did not have to do anything for the party and could even take a paid day off if they so desired. I was confident that Alice and Fitzroy would disappear for the whole day.

Kim finally came up with her guest list. She wanted schoolmates including her cheerleading squad, girls from her classes, friends from school and even a couple of distant cousins. Yeah, they were all girls so I guessed my neck would get an extensive workout from swiveling back and forth. I had seen some of her friends and believe me they are all knock-outs. Plus, the cheerleaders were no slouches when it came to beauty. To add insult to injury, Kim declared that her birthday would be a 'pool party' theme. All together she invited twenty-two girls.

I was perplexed when it came to a present for Kim. She had told me in the past that she wished she had a pony. That was definitely doable so I arranged the purchase of three horses to be delivered the day before her party. There was a barn on my property and a three acre pasture that wasn't being used. I pulled some strings and got Manuel some help cleaning out the barn and getting the pasture mowed. He further stocked up the tack room with all the gear needed.

George busied himself with the electrical system in the barn making sure we would have lights and heat. Kim never did figure out why I was having that old barn fixed up and I was not about to tell her. Next, Grace and I got her a gift that every teen girl would love: a three hundred dollar gift card for Victoria's Secret. Finally I made reservations at my country club for two on the day after her birthday. That was to be part of her biggest gift of all.

For the whole two weeks I was bursting at the seams wanting to tell Kim what she had in store. I had to bite my tongue to keep from spilling the beans. I was quite proud of myself when the fateful day arrived, one day before she was to turn 15. Kim came to me in my study jabbering that there was a big truck with a stock trailer in the barnyard out back. I made like I didn't believe her and told her to not make up stories. She stomped her foot and growled at me.

She grabbed my arm and dragged me out the back door. Sure enough there it was. I told Kim to run inside and get her mother. When she returned with her mother in tow, the trucker was just unloading three horses and tying them up to the hitching rail by the barn. Both Grace and Kim had the most confused look on their faces. Grace didn't know about the horses so she was confused too. I really wanted both of my girls to be surprised.

I told the girls to go check out the horses. I went into the barn with Manuel and George. We emerged from the barn with three sets of blankets, saddles and reins. Grace and Kim both asked me what was going on.

I gave Kim a kiss on the cheek and said "Happy birthday, sweetheart. One of them is yours. You get to pick first."

You could have knocked Kim over with a feather. She scrambled over to the horses and picked her favorite: a very handsome filly not full-grown but big enough. I had Manuel show Kim how to saddle it up and lead it to the middle of the barnyard.

Then I kissed Grace and said, "Your turn."

Grace just stood there overwhelmed not knowing what to do.

I gave her a nudge and said, "Your choice; so pick one."

She picked the mare and George saddled her horse up and led the mare next to Kim's choice. I saddled up the stallion and rode him over to the other two horses.

Grace and I had ridden before but Kim had only ever been on a carousel horse so Manuel showed her the basics as he led her filly around the yard. Grace and I mounted up and rode our horses around the barnyard while Kim was learning how to handle hers. It didn't take Kim very long at all to get the hang of it so we three headed out to the pasture to get some practice. Kim was so proud she was astride her horse like a queen. The smile on her face was so wide I swear it went all the way around her head.

We rode around for about two hours and then headed for the barn. I showed Kim how to unsaddle her horse and had her carry the saddle to the barn. I carried mine in as did Grace. We led the horses to their new stalls where I showed Kim how to brush down her horse. I noticed that her horse got a few hugs in the process. I guess she liked her present.

We put some oats in their feed troughs and hand fed them a few sugar cubes. Once all that was done we let the horses out to pasture so they could run around. On the way to the house I mentioned to the girls that they needed to name their horses. I told them mine would be King. Grace and Kim said they needed some time to name theirs.

After supper I noticed that Kim was not around to be found. I looked everywhere in the house and yard but no Kim. Finally I checked in the barn, and sure enough, there was Kim brushing down her horse and talking to her. Occasional kisses on the horse's forehead and hugs were showing her joy. The horse, somehow, seemed to sense the affection and responded with light whinnies and nudges. It did my heart good to see Kim making a new best friend.