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“Tommy! Get Clementine all saddled up, we’re going for a ride!” Phil called one morning.
Tommy rushed down the stairs excitedly. It had been quite some time since he and his dad had gone on a ride, just the two of them. He made his way to the stables, stopping momentarily to double check he had his boots on. Going over to Clementine, his beloved Palomino, he excitedly grabbed stuff to quickly brush her down and saddle her.
"Hey Clementine, how's your day going?" he asked the horse, brushing her over with the curry comb. She leaned into it, being brushed was one of her favorite things. "Mine's been okay, Wilbur has been a right bitch lately, and I suppose that's on him, but he doesn't need to take it out on me, y'know?" He switched to the hard brush, getting ready to brush off the dirt he'd brought to the surface. "I think Dad feels a little bad. This time of year is always tough on him, and Wilbur's attitude certainly doesn't help. I think he feels guilty that he can't rein Wilbur in, even though Wilbur is a whole ass adult who is being paid to work here and should be able to suck it up, but whatever." Tommy sighed and leaned against the horse. "I'll let you in on a secret, Clem, I'm pretty sure I miss Mom less than Phil does, and that's eating me up inside." He whispered. Tommy took a deep breath, switching to the soft brush. "I mean, she passed away when I was so little, I barely remember her. And it's not fair to me or Dad, but..." Tommy sighed and shook his head. "You don't really care about all that, do you Clem? You just want to be brushed and fed and laze around all day." He finished brushing her and gave her a big pat. "Well no lazing about today!" He declared, grabbing Clementine's saddle pad. "Dad said we're going on a ride, just the two of us." Adjusting the saddle pad, he reached over for the saddle. "Like I said, I think he feels bad, but it'll be nice, just the two of us." Tommy finished cinching the saddle and reached for the bridle Clementine was finally saddled up and ready to go, and right on time too. Phil came out, leading his black stallion, Brian, past the stables.
"You ready to go Toms?" he asked, opening Clementine's gate.
"Of course! We're always ready to go, aren't we Clem?" He gave the horse another pat before leading her out of the stall.
"Well then, I was thinking, do you want to have a ride around the grounds today? Or we could head over to O'Fallon's bluff? Circle around the waterfall, you know?" Tommy perked up.
"We can go to the waterfall today?" Usually, it was a bit too far out and a bit too thin of a trail for them to take the horses on, but Phil must have been feeling more relaxed than usual.
"If you think Clementine can handle it," Phil shrugged.
"Oh Clementine can certainly handle it, the real question is if you can handle it, old man!" Tommy teased.
"You little shit!" Phil laughed, reaching over to ruffle Tommy's hair. Phil hopped onto Brian, and Tommy followed suit with his horse.
"Well?" Phil motioned for Tommy to lead the way. With an enormous grin, Tommy gave Clementine a kick and she started walking. Phil followed after on his mare, both of them steadily riding down the rocky ridge the stables resided on. As soon as they reached the meadow at the bottom, Tommy urged Clementine into a gallop, and sped through the flowers. Tommy heard Phil laugh behind him and turned to see him galloping after him. He urged Clem to the right, turning her in a tight circle to gallop alongside Phil. Phil laughed at the action, and reached across to ruffle his hair once more, but Tommy ducked out from under him and urged Clementine on faster. They reached the end of the meadow, both Tommy and Clementine out of breath from the sprint. Tommy paused, letting Phil catch up to them.
"You enjoy yourself, mate?" Phil asked, chuckling.
"Just asserting dominance over you and Brian, that's all." Phil chuckled again.
"Whatever you say mate." They continued their ride, the trail wide enough for them to be side by side.
"Y'know Dad, I've missed riding with you." Tommy looked intensely at Clementine's mane as Phil glanced over at him. "Like, I know we ride together all the time when we're ranching, but that's with Technoblade and Wilbur, and I miss it just being us sometimes, you know?" He finally risked a look at Phil, who was looking back at him with such warmth in his eyes, it almost made Tommy tear up.
"Me too, bud. I know I haven't really been all that around lately, and I'm so grateful you've taken so much responsibility, but I'm sorry that you've had to, and I'm sorry that I get in my own head at times and spend less time with you."
"Dad, I get it, and I love helping with the ranch, and I'm not complaining about working with Techno and Wilbur, well maybe I am a little Wil can be a right prick, but uh, it would be nice to spend more time together." Phil looked at him with pride shining in his eyes. "It's good for the horses to get out like this, you know," he joked. Phil snorted a laugh and shook his head.
"Do you remember the first time you even got on a horse?" Tommy flushed, embarrassed at the memory. "You were absolutely terrified, mate. Put you right up on our smallest horse, Scout, your mom on one side and me on the other, and you looked like we were sending you off to the wolves. You were up there for a solid minute before you started crying and we had to take you off." Tommy snorted.
"That horse had it out to get me, I hope you know that."
"Tommy, that horse was old and retired, she was sweet as a cinnamon roll, why you disliked her so much is beyond me."
"I said it once, I'll say it again, she had it out to get me!" Phil laughed.
"Sure, she did, but as soon as you saw Brian, like a month later, it was like you were a whole new person. Your mom helped you pet her face and we just watched you fall in love with horses."
"And now you're the one riding Brian cause you're both old." Phil rolled his eyes.
"And you love us both anyway."
"I sure do. But I love Clem more." Phil laughed once again. They continued the ride, easy conversation flowing between father and son even when the trail thinned out and they had to ride single file. Eventually they came across the waterfall and dismounted their horses, tying the reins to a nearby tree.
"Dad?" Tommy started, a hesitant question on the tip of his tongue.
"What's up, Tommy?" they sat side by side, the roar of the waterfall idle background noise as their horses snacked on nearby thistles.
"I was talking to Clem earlier, and well..." Phil stared at him with patient eyes. "I just feel like you miss Mom so much, and I can't remember her all that well and I feel bad because I don't think I miss her as much as you."
"Oh Tommy." Phil's eyes shined with tears as he pulled his son into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry if I ever made you feel that way." He let out a big sigh. "It's true, I miss your mom a whole bunch. But I don't fault you for not knowing her. As much as I wish you could've, it's alright that you don't remember as much. All you need to know is she loved you a whole bunch. More than you can even imagine. And I love you too, more than you'll ever know."
With tears in his eyes, Tommy nodded. "Thanks dad, I think I needed to hear that."
They sat together by the waterfall, just existing together, a father and a son and a moment of peace.
Eventually, they made their way back to the stables, easy conversation once more flowing. They unsaddled their horses in unison, Tommy making fun of how Phil groaned as he hoisted the saddle off of the taller horse, once again making a jab at his age. They let the horses out to pasture together, before they finally went their separate ways, Phil to get the day's report from Techno, and Tommy to go take a shower. As much as he loved Clementine, she always managed to get dusty, and he was sweaty from a day of riding. After the much needed shower, he headed downstairs where Wilbur had started on dinner.
"Well hello there, child, how was your ride with dear ol' dad?" Wilbur asked, stirring a pot of what looked like taco soup.
Tommy ignored the light jab at his age and simply answered with a soft, "it was good."
"Looks like it was needed?" Wilbur asked, adding butter to the pot.
"We had a talk. It was nice. You should try it sometime," Tommy jabbed but not jabbed
Wilbur sighed. "I know, I know, talk about your feelings and all that. Not really my style though, if you know what I mean."
"Gotta keep up your mysterious aura, I know, I know." Wilbur sighed and ruffled Tommy's hair. That seemed to be happening a lot today.
"Eventually, I promise I'll talk about it, just... not now. Now could you set the table? Phil and Techno will be back soon." Tommy gave him a thumbs up and moved over to the cupboard.
"Yeah, well we rode up to the waterfall, gave Clementine and Brian a nice workout."
With a grin, Wilbur said, "You're lucky I wasn't there, you would've come home soaking wet!"
"I would've taken you down with me, Wilbur, don't think too highly of yourself!"
Wilbur gave him a light shove. "Just set the table you damn gremlin."
"Dinner better be ready because if not I'm eating Henry," Techno called, entering the house with Phil. Tommy gasped, pretending to be scandalized, even though Techno had made this joke countless times before.
"If you lay a finger on Henry you will be fired immediately, don't you dare!" Tommy pointed the spoon in his hand at Techno threateningly. Techno only snorted.
"You don't have the power to fire me."
"I am the owner's son, I have the power of neopolitan on my side!" All three men looked at him for a moment.
"Do you mean nepotism?" Wilbur asked.
"Wh- That's what I said!" Tommy insisted, face turning red.
"You most certainly didn't, but believe what you want," Techno said, patting his shoulder condescendingly.
They fell back into their usual banter, dinner being placed on the table. Looking around, Tommy couldn't help but smile. Even missing his Mom, he couldn't help but feel like this was family.