"Look at that," Damon marvels, staring at one of his mares who is in the process of giving birth. Although he's witnessed this many times, this one happens to be his favorite horse. Almost as soon as she pushes the colt out, it struggles to get to its feet. Damon has never seen a horse stand up so quickly before. Once his mare finishes licking him off, he carefully steps over to have a closer look. With a steady hand, he pets his mare first and then stoops over to pet the colt. It's beautiful with its red coat and deep brown eyes. After he helps Kol clean the stall, he walks back to his house. Pouring a bourbon, he drops into his favorite chair, takes a sip and relaxes back into the cushions. Even though his primary concern with this horse farm is earning money, he will admit that he is partial to the horse that gave birth tonight. Her Royal Duchess is his prized thoroughbred and although he has many horses stabled here, none of them have the pull that Duchess seems to have.

When he thinks of seeing her tomorrow an unconscious smile forms on his face. He'll have to give her a call in the morning to come out and examine his new colt. Finishing off what's left in his glass, Damon turns out the lights and locks the front door before retiring to his room for the night.

"There you are? You're up early this morning," Elena mentions to her nephew, Andrew. He's nine years old and is the son of her deceased older sister, Margaret. She died giving birth, having passed an amniotic fluid embolism. Since Andy's father was not in the picture, Elena took custody of him as soon as he was able to leave the hospital. Although she's very close to her parents, her father is a disabled military veteran and Elena quickly realized that her mom couldn't take care of her dad and a baby. Despite the hardships and the fact that she was still in Veterinary school at the time didn't matter to her. Somehow she and Andy got by with a little help from friends and family. After graduating, she made a down payment on a small horse farm in Kentucky. It's rolling green hills and streams and the solitude of the outdoors is what really appealed to her. They only have five horses but both she and Andy love them. Although they are not all thoroughbreds, they're family to her and her nephew. After fixing him breakfast, she tells Andy to grab his backpack. Once they pile into her car, she drops him off at school and then heads to her veterinary office.

As soon as she steps inside, a couple of dogs start to bark. Shaking her head, she waves to her already exasperated vet tech, Caroline. "We have a full house," Elena mentions, walking over to the dog.

"We do indeed," Caroline agrees without bothering to look up from her computer.

Smiling, Elena stoops down and starts to pet the Golden Retriever. "Homer's not feeling well?" she asks, looking into his pale eyes.

"He's been throwing up this morning. I don't know why," his owner, Martha explains.

"Did he eat something he shouldn't have?"

"I don't know, Dr. Gilbert. I think he's dehydrated don't you?"

"I do. Let's take him back and give him some fluids," Elena says. Standing up, she takes the leash from Martha and leads Homer back to one of her exam rooms. With ease, she shaves a little patch of his fur and slips and IV right in. She aspirates blood back so she can run some labs on it after which she hooks him up to some fluids. With Martha to keep him calm, she puts his blood into one of her machines to analyze. Fortunately everything is normal. She suspects that he ate something that disagreed with him.

"We'll give him another liter of fluid and then he should be good," Elena explains much to Martha's relief.

"Thank you, Dr. Gilbert."

"No worries, Martha. Just make sure you watch what he eats," Elena says, giving the woman's hand a squeeze. Glancing down at Homer, she sees his eyes are already looking more vibrant and when he barks and starts licking her hand, she knows he's feeling better. Leaving the room, Elena walks into the next exam room where Caroline is petting a cat who needs her shots.

"How is Miss Buffy?" Elena asks, looking at the vital information Caroline has written down for her such as temperature and weight. As soon as she injects the Rabies shot into the scruff of Buffy's neck, Elena lets Caroline finish up and take her back to her owner. Stepping into her office, Elena picks up the phone when it starts ringing.

"Gilbert Veterinary Clinic, how can I help you?"

"Dr. Gilbert, this is Damon Salvatore. One of my mares foaled last night. I was wondering if you could stop by and check it over?"

"Of course, Mr. Salvatore," she says, rolling her eyes. Although he's ridiculously hot, he's got an ego the size of Mt. Everest and Elena would like nothing more than to knock him down a few thousand feet.

"Thank you, Dr. Gilbert, what time should I expect you?"

"I'll give you a call before I leave the office. I'll have to run by the school to pick up Andy first. He'll have to come along with me."

"That's not a problem. I'll see you later then," he says and she can almost see him smirking into the phone.

"Goodbye, Mr. Salvatore." Hanging up the phone, she drops her face into her hands for a few seconds before sitting down at her desk to get some paperwork taken care of.

Pulling into the long driveway that leads to estate, Elena drives slowly down the gravel road, finally pulling to a stop when she reaches his huge log home. When she happens to glance to her left, she sees him standing outside of his huge horse barn talking to one of his stable hands. Getting out of her car, she reaches into the backseat to get her bag. Jumping out of the car himself, Andy busies himself playing with Damon's Siberian Husky's who are barking and nuzzling against him. Preoccupied watching Andy, she doesn't realize that Damon has stepped in beside her till she hears him whistle. Immediately the dogs run over to him. Pulling a couple of treats out of his pocket, he hands them to Andy to give to Shadow and Cinder.

"Thanks," Andy says, opening his hand for one and then the other dog.

"And how are you Andy?"

"I'm good Mr. Salvatore."

"Is it okay if I borrow your aunt to come and look at my new foal?"

"Can I see it?" he asks, his eyes wide open with excitement.

"Sure you can, come along," Damon says, gesturing with his arm for the two Gilberts to follow him. Reaching the stable, Damon leads them inside. "You remember Kol?" he asks, when he passes them, carrying a bucket of grain in each hand.

"Yes of course. How are you Kol?" Elena asks, smiling at Damon's groomer.

"I'm good, Dr. Gilbert. Duchess had a beautiful pony. Good appetite too," he remarks, setting the buckets down.

"Good."

Suddenly the sound of Damon's cellphone interrupts the conversation. Looking at the caller ID, he tells Kol to take Elena and Andy to see the new foal and then walks out of the horse barn to answer it. After demanding that his buyer try to get him a better deal on a couple of broodmares, he clicks off the phone, takes a deep breath to calm down and then goes back inside to see his colt.

"He stood up almost immediately after he was born," Damon mentions as he watches Elena looking at his mouth to check for a cleft palette and to make sure the membranes in his mouth are pink and moist. Then she moves to his eyes and runs her hands down his limbs. Looking up, she tells Andy to hand her what she needs to draw some blood, the purpose of which is to check the level of immunoglobulin in its blood. After drawing his blood, she hands it to Andy and then takes the thermometer from him to check the animal's temperature. As expected, the colt doesn't like having his temperature checked and starts rearing around a bit. Kol quickly walks over to soothe both it and Duchess who is watching Elena intently. She pauses long enough to pet the momma horse and talk to her softly. Lastly she walks over to the boy and pulls a syringe and a vial out of her bag. After drawing the medication up, she gives him the shot of Tetanus toxoid. Now that her examination is finished, she collects her things so she can take the colt's blood back to her lab to analyze it.

"Well?" Damon asks, following her outside.

"He looks very healthy."

"I have tried to sell Ruffian but no one is willing to pay my asking price and as such, Brady is urging me to enter him in some races so he and Kol are working with him. Would you like to see him?"

"Andy?"

"I'd like to see him, Aunt Elena."

"You heard him." Damon nods and leads them out of the horse barn and towards his fenced in pasture. Brady, one of the best trainers in the area, has his arms crossed and is leaning on one of fence posts engaged in a conversation with Kol who's sitting atop the horse. His back coat is stunning and glistens in the sunlight. Walking up to the horse, Elena starts petting him while Andy climbs onto the first log so he can reach and pets it too.

"He's a fine animal," Elena remarks to Brady.

"He is Elena, he really is. You mark my words, this is a champion," he affirms, his eyes drifting to Damon's.

"I hope you're right pal, I really do," Damon adds, running his hand gently down the horse's face. After they visit with Brady and Kol for a few more minutes, Elena reminds Andy that they need to get the colt's blood back to her office. As they're walking back to her car, Damon asks, "Have you thought anymore about the offer I made you for those two thoroughbreds?"

"Mr. Salvatore, I told you that I wasn't interested in selling them," she adds, starting to feel a little irate.

"Please call me Damon. I know you could use the money," he adds under his breath so Andy won't hear.

"Don't you worry, Mr. Sal..., Damon, we're doing just fine," Elena retorts, a little indignant about his conjecture.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"I won't. I need to get his blood to the lab." He pulls open the car door for her and as soon as she's inside, he pushes it closed. Rolling down her window, she starts to say goodbye to him, her eyes drifting to what's in front of her. Hearing him drop his hand on the window, she looks at him again. "Was there something else?"

"I was hoping that you'd let me take you out?"

At a loss for words, Elena gawps, her mouth opening and closing. "Andy could join us, I was thinking maybe the zoo and then we could have a picnic?"

"I don't know what to say," she adds, still looking rather shocked.

"Say yes.. I don't bite."

"I'm not so sure about that," she adds, raising an eyebrow at him.

Turning away, a huge smile forms on his face while he shakes his head. "Come on, give me a chance?"

"I'm sorry, Damon but I'm not interested," She says firmly and succinctly. And after sharing one more look with him, she shifts the car in to gear and drives off, glad to be out of his company for now.

After analyzing the colt's blood, Elena fills out a report and sticks it in the mail for Damon but she'll call him tomorrow and let him know that everything looks good. Although Elena thinks the man could charm the scales off of a cobra, she wishes that he cared more for his thoroughbreds. Aside from Duchess, he's in this job only for the money rather than for the love of these magnificent animals. Once they get home, Elena retreats to her room to shower and change clothes while Andy does his homework.

As soon as she finished she slips into a pair of yoga pants and tee shirt then joins her nephew in the kitchen. Opening up the refrigerator, she looks with disinterest in what's inside for her to make them something to eat. She stares for she doesn't know how long, looking up when she hears her name.

"What are you staring at?"

"Oh, I don't know Andy. I'm trying to see if anything looks good for supper. What are you hungry for?"

"Pizza."

"Pizza sounds good. Should we order some or should we run to the store to get the ingredients we need to make our own?"

"Order some. It's quicker and it tastes better."

"Are you saying my cooking is bad?" she asks with a wink.

"Well.. um, no of course not, Aunt Elena, it's just that you're busy so much."

"I'm sorry, Andy. This is a busy time of year with the fillies all giving birth and racing season coming up. I'll try to do better though okay?"

"Okay," he starts to say when they're interrupted by a knock on the door. Getting up, he goes to answer it, stepping aside when he sees his aunt's friend, Brady.

"Brady, I'm surprised to see you again."

"I have some feed in the back of my pickup for you. I forgot to mention it at Damon's place."

"Why don't you take it around to the barn and then come in for a cup of coffee if you want?"

"Sure, I can take time for a cup. I'm just going to call Millie first and tell her I'll be a little late."

"Tell her hi for me. How's she doing?"

"We have two more months to go. I still can't believe we're having twins."

"You're going to have your hands full."

"I am," he laughs. "I'll go dump the hay in the barn and then I'll be back."

"Sounds good. Thanks Brady."

"No worries," he tells her and with a smile, he walks back to his truck, fires it up and disappears around the side of the house to make his way to the barn.

"Hello?" Damon asks, picking up his phone.

"Good morning, Damon. This is Dr. Gilbert."

"Hello, Dr. Gilbert. What can I do for you this morning?"

"Not a thing. I just called to tell you that the foal is healthy. Brady stopped by yesterday to drop off some hay. He told me that he believes your stallion has the makings to be a real champion."

"That's what he tells me too. I'd rather sell him but since no one will meet my price, I've gone ahead and entered him in the Florida Derby, The Wood Memorial and at Santa Anita."

"I hope Brady is right about him," she says politely. After several seconds pass, she adds, "It would be nice if you showed some concern for your animals other than how much money you stand to make."

"Do I detect a hint of annoyance, Dr. Gilbert?" he asks, feeling his feathers ruffled a bit.

"That would be because I am rather annoyed."

"I respect you, Dr. Gilbert but my business is my business."

"Of course it is. Goodbye, Damon. You have a good day," she adds sarcastically before hanging up on him.

Starring at the phone for a few seconds, Damon hangs it up. Dropping his elbows onto his desktop and his face into his hands, he takes a few deep breaths. After several seconds, he turns his attention back to his bookkeeping. Although he'd like nothing better than to get her out of his mind, no matter how hard he tries, he just can't seem to accomplish it. Shaking his head, he starts punching numbers into his computer. Every time he pauses his activities, she's right there again. Determined to rid his head of her today, he pushes his work out of the way, walks outside and jumps in his Camaro and drives.

Big thanks to Eva for helping me with this story and all of my stories. I couldn't do this without you.

Story title from the song of the same name by Dan Fogelberg.

Chapter title: 'The Strawberry Roan' by Marty Robbins.

I posted two one-shots in the past week, 'Someday At Christmas' and 'Christmas for Cowboys'. I updated my other Christmas story, 'Same Old Lang Syne' yesterday. My other two stories, ICEM and TTFAF are still in progress.

Please remember to review.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. I'm going to bed, I worked last night.