Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
Monique had deliberated how to go about this. It wasn't really the best timing, and it wasn't planned - again. Maybe her and Deacon needed a return to sex education in school, or they were just highly unlucky. Well, that was presumptuous that she thought this was bad luck. Whilst Nick had been the complete wrong timing and had sent her and Deacon up and down and all around the place, she wouldn't change things for the world as to how they had ended up. A second kid though? So close to them having Nick back? It was a lot to ask - her and Deac were only young, they couldn't afford not to work, and they had only just got into the swing of things with Nick now that he'd been back several months. Still... what was she meant to do? She had options, she knew that but, they felt wrong. She hadn't chosen differently before, and now she didn't think she wanted to.
She was anxious to tell Deac, he'd been out all day and she'd had a nervous energy since she'd found out for sure. Having felt nauseous for the past couple of mornings, and having mood swings that were giving herself whiplash, she had known something was wrong and gone out to buy three tests at lunch time whilst she had the flat to herself. All three had come back positive. She hadn't wanted to tell Deac over the phone, and it felt weird pretending she didn't have big news for him when he'd text her about dinner earlier. She heard the front door go and headed out of the bedroom to greet him, still considering how to go about this. "Hey babe," She smiled all the same and raised onto her tip toes to give him a quick kiss. "How was your day?"
he often had to remind himself why he stacked shelves for a living. he had school which he did enjoy but it didn't make money yet, if anything it was just an added monet stress that he'd have to think about once he graduated but he was doing his best to ignore it until he needed to address it. it wasn't like they'd come after him for it until he could afford to pay it. he rubbed his fingers into his eyes as he walked up to the apartment he shared with moni and their son nick. it was so strange to think they were their own little family now. that nick was back with them, that they were all living together and had been making it work. there had been people who doubted they could do it, themselves mostly, but they were proving people and themselves wrong. nick was happy and healthy and that was all that mattered.
he turned his key in the door as he stepped through, dropping his work bag where it usually stayed in the corner of the hall and he closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it so they didn't have any unsuspecting visitors at any point. he heard her moving about in the bedroom and he turned in that direction as he saw her walk into the hall and he went to meet her. "hey yourself." he said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss her back quickly, the height difference between them was somewhat comical at times. "better now it's over." he said as he touched his hand to her cheek quickly and then he leaned down lightly to wrap his arms around her, needing her just a little closer for a moment. "how about you shorty? get up to anything fun without me?"
"hey yourself." She smiled as he leaned down to reach her lips. She loved how tall he was, how he made her feel tiny next to her - his little firecracker. She had always been good at looking after herself, and she didn't need protection, but she still felt safe wrapped in his arms, felt like they could tackle the world together and she loved it. Sometimes she thought it was funny how they used to be the same height, that it just attributed so much to the man he had grown into being from the boy he once was when she first met him. "better now it's over." She rolled her eyes at that, "sap," She teased, though her hand went up to his at her cheek, holding on for a moment to press her face into his contact for that extra few seconds.
His hug surprised her and she welcomed it, feeling a little tension from her day ease out of her at the sweet gesture. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, snuggling into him gladly. "how about you shorty? get up to anything fun without me?" She laughed slightly at that and reluctantly went to pull back a little so she could gaze up at him, craning her neck to catch his gaze. She didn't want to beat around the bush too much, but she couldn't just blurt it out too suddenly. "Oh you know me, been having all the crazy adventures whilst I waited for you to come home," She joked, and then her smile wobbled a little. "But, there is something I need to tell you so.. maybe come and sit down?" She stepped out of his embrace but slid her hands down his arms to take his hands, giving a gentle tug to get him to follow her to the lounge.
he chuckled a little as she called him a sap but he wore it on the chin. he might have put on a tough façade when he was younger and he was by no means soft but when it came to monique, there was just something about being in her presence that turned him to something like goo. he'd never been a believer in love when he'd been a kid. after all he'd never really seen it, he was the product of casual sex, by two parents who hadn't cared and raised by his mother who had other interests than being a decent mother. so when people had told him love existed, he'd laughed. until he'd met monique. he'd been a lot younger then but there had always been something about her and then as he'd grown up he'd made a pest of himself to her and eventually he'd managed to convince her he was worth giving a go and here they were a few years later. "i prefer whipped actually." he said with something of a smirk as he felt her hand touch his.
it was then he closed his arms around her, hugging her close because it had been something of a day. it hadn't been bored just long and the longer he worked at the market the more he hated it. he wasn't a people person and even though he stacked shelves and didn't serve customers, they were always coming up to him and asking him questions. it wasn't like he could say no and put his head back down and go to work again. but it paid and he needed that right now, after all kids were a lot more expensive than he'd first thought. he loosened his hold on her as she pulled back a little and he shifted one hand to the back of her neck as she craned it to look up at him. "i thought i was your adventure bud?" he joked a little, not really minding who she chose to spend her days with. he wasn't worried about anything happening because he knew without a doubt that moni loved him. "sounds a little more serious than needing to decide what to order for dinner tonight." he said as he took her hands as she tugged him to the couch. he sat down onto it, using the hands she was still holding to tug her down onto his lap.
"i prefer whipped actually." Moni chuckled and tilted her head, her long red locks sliding over one shoulder at the motion. "Oh I'm sorry let me correct that..." She murmured, and then she made a 'whip' noise instead and grinned cheekily. Once upon a time she'd rolled her eyes at the puppy-like way he'd followed her around. She'd been younger too, despite the age difference between them, and she'd been a rowdy, unruly teenager. She still kind of was in her twenties too but she remembered when the little fourteen year old punk had suddenly been flung into the lives - a miscreant, and then Ash's brother. And suddenly she had to compete with this toe-rag for her best friends attention. Then he was just always there, and it always seemed to be her and him. It was weird how the dynamic had changed - her, Ash and Arrow always, but there had been a shift over the years where him and her had become the twosome, hanging out together, laughing together, falling for each other. It had snuck up on her where suddenly she didn't find him annoying but instead she sought him out, looking for him in every room she went.
And now here they were, cuddled up together in their flat, their child happy and safe, and now... another on the way - unplanned once again. It was scary but she felt that they might be able to do this, this time. "i thought i was your adventure bud?" She laughed and patted his cheek in a consolatory manner. "Well you should have ditched work to come with me," She joked, though she no longer condoned that ... as much anyway, sometimes it was necessary or warranted - but bills had to be paid and money needed to be made to do that. "sounds a little more serious than needing to decide what to order for dinner tonight." She half smiled but it didn't reach her eyes as she let him tug her down into his lap, settling in a straddle with one leg on each side of him, she rested her hands loosely on his shoulders, she looked down at him and gave a slow exhale to steel her nerves. "So... I'm pregnant..." She bit her lower lip, anxious for his reaction.
if he could have ditched work and been there to go on adventures with her, he would have. hell he'd have ditched work today if all she'd wanted to do was lay on the couch and watch movies and do nothing else. there was nothing in his life that wasn't made better than her being around him. she was the one he turned to when he was hurt, worried, anxious or angry. she knew the right things to say, the right buttons to push and the right places to touch and it was almost like he craved being around her. there had never really been anyone else for him. he'd fallen had when he'd first met her and while he'd been a pain to her it had paid off in the end and here they were. in their own place, their child sleeping just a room away and still happy to see each other at the end of the day.
"just say the word and i'll quit." he teased, knowing full well that he couldn't quit. he saw the smile on her face, or the lack there of a smile as he joked and he felt radars going off in his head. was something wrong? was she sick? was nick sick? he couldn't help but worry as he tried to listen to any sound coming from the room as they walked into the room. was it something with one of their friends? he was ready to go to bat and she would know it. he did relax a little as she sat down on his lap and he let himself lean back against the couch. he rested his hands on her thighs slightly and he rubbed circles on them with his thumbs gently, an act of comfort rather than anything else.
he was a little worried and the contact with her settled his nerves down because no matter what was going on she was there with him. "you." he said as he blinked a little and he shook his head slightly. "pregnant?" that wasn't what he'd been expecting. they'd been being careful, very careful since nick had been a total surprise to them. "are you sure?" as much as he was trying to figure out how it had happened, he couldn't help the fact the corners of his mouth were turning up into something of a smile.
"just say the word and i'll quit." Monique raised an eyebrow at the tempting offer and she peered up at him, her answering grin held a naughty edge to it as she ran her fingers teasingly down his chest. "But then we'd have to find a way to make money at home," She tilted her head, "I know one way we could make it, I think you might even enjoy it." She joked, letting out a small laugh - absurd really, there were certain lines even she wouldn't cross for money - not really. She'd managed to avoid those kinds of things so far in life, even as they'd gotten dire. She gave him a quick kiss but she knew she couldn't dance around the topic forever - she'd already worried or intrigued him by now, it wasn't far to leave him to worry about the news.
She relaxed under the contact of his hands on her thighs, watching his face carefully. She knew him well, and he wouldn't be able to hide from her, not anymore. Whatever he was feeling, she'd see it and she needed to know, for real, how he was going to handle it. "you." She held back a smile at the slow blink. Oh Deacon, the poor soul sometimes sold himself short with dumb looks like that. Good job she loved him regardless. She gave a nod to confirm. "pregnant?" She nodded again. "are you sure?" She rolled her eyes at that, as if she hadn't checked already. "Well the two sticks I peed on said so, unless you want to go and get another just to make triple sure." She raised a brow but the smile on the edge of his lips gave away that this reaction wasn't going to be like the last one. She gave a small sigh all the same, a slight pinch of her eyebrows giving away her worry. "Clearly, you and I together are far too ridiculously fertile." She shook her head and then mimed scissors at him pointedly.
he shivered as she ran her fingers down his chest and he couldn't help the way his muscles tensed and he bit his lip to stop the moan from escaping his lips because this wasn't the time or place for it. moni needed to talk to him, that was more important than the fact he wanted to lift her against his hips and walk her to their bedroom and show her just how they might be able to make money without leaving the house. he'd never though, it was something he'd never want moni to even need to think about. he'd sooner go and work as a stripped himself than even think about doing that just to make some money. he felt her relax as he rested his hands against her thighs and he stroked his fingers against them softly, not in a seductive way but in a comforting way because he could see that it wasn't going to be easy for her to say.
he knew her well enough to know that it wasn't something bad about them. it might have involved them but it wasn't anything that could break them or hurt them or a threat they needed to fight. it was just something important she needed to get off her chest. his brain should have gone to the most obvious thing but he couldn't deny that he was a little slow. the news took a few seconds to sink in before he could form even a word within his brain. were they coherent words. not really but he got his point across, he thought at least. "two's enough." he said as he breathed out, the smile still teasing on the corner of his mouth but he wanted to gauge how moni was feeling about this first. after all that's what mattered here, her. "well that's a skill we can't talk to the bank." he half joked as she made the scissor motion at him and he balked slightly and shook his head a little. "we'll just be a lot more careful." he said as he reached one hand up to grab at her fingers gently. "are you okay?"
She felt his shiver and her grin turned wicked, an eyebrow quirking slightly. Sometimes she was amazed about how much time had changed, how he'd been a kid when they'd met, and now here sat a man. A guy who was strong, capable and looked after her - she was so proud of him, every day, for how he'd grown. She would have loved him regardless but she had to admit that the solid muscle tensing beneath her finger tips was one heck of a turn on. The pair had always been on the edge of wild and their relationship was always passionate, even when they'd been fighting she'd found it hard to stay away. "Later?" She promised in response, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. "Or not even later, just...not right this second," She added with a grin, feeling that even with her serious news that sitting in his lap wasn't easy to ignore for long.
She watched him carefully as she said the words, her eyes searching his to see how he was going to take it. She knew things were different this time, the first time they had been kids, and hadn't known what to do with themselves, but now - they were in a committed relationship, they had decent jobs, they had a flat and they were doing okay. They'd even worked out how to handle Nick. Was it ideal? No, the timing wasn't awful but they still had a young child. But she wasn't so afraid this time. "two's enough." Moni raised an eyebrow, unsure what that response meant about how he was feeling - there was an almost smile, hinting at his lips, but she didn't know if that was an afraid smile right then or not. "Two is plenty," She agreed, especially for one's they hadn't planned.
"well that's a skill we can't talk to the bank." Moni snorted and raised a brow, "I mean.. technically it's a skill we could donate to the bank, but I'm not carrying a buttload of babies thanks." She shook her head, besides she had no interest in dating eggs - that was a terrifying idea. She burst into laughter as he balked at her motion. She wasn't really serious, as easier as it would be for them, it wasn't too bad to have had two accidents, and she wouldn't want to do that to him. "we'll just be a lot more careful." Moni laughed softly and tilted her head, "No more 'risking it' ... you're going to have to start carrying protection around with you." She warned with a slight snort. Considering their penchant for catching the mood at inappropriate times, they may have chanced it one too many times. "are you okay?" Moni took a moment to consider his question seriously and then nodded with a shy smile, curling her fingers to hold his hand. "I actually am...I think... it's a little scary but not like last time. Things are different this time. I feel like we'll be okay? How about you?"
well that was true, technically they could take it to the bank but there were to many logistical issues that it wasn't worth it, plus there was the fact it was a whole lot easier for him to make money that it was for moni to make money but that was besides the point. when she burst out laughing at his reaction he tried to look at her to let her know it wasn't funny but he knew it was to no avail, she'd find it funny and he probably also would in a few years. there was something just so strange about the idea it was almost unnatural to think about. "no, no more risks. two whoops is plenty." he agreed with her. the times when they'd been a little too tipsy to care, when they were just so caught up in each other there was no time to think of it or when they were nowhere close to anywhere they had protection that they threw caution to the wind. clearly this was the universe telling them to stop that. "you have pockets too you know." he said with a chuckle as he poked his finger against her nose gently.
he watched her as she thought about his question over and he waited for her answer. he would be behind her whatever she wanted to do. if she wasn't ready he'd be there for it. he smiled gently as she curled her fingers around his and he tightened his hand around hers, holding onto her and pressing his fingers down to her knuckles gently as she held onto him too. "things are very different." he couldn't deny that, last time they'd been panicked and had changed their minds so many times but now they were settled in their place, their son was settled and they were doing really well. he'd never have imagined the life of a boring family man would be one he'd love but he really did. he lifted one hand to rest it across her still flat stomach gently, lifting his eyes to hers. "i think the four of us will be just fine." he said as he sat up a little to press his lips against hers.
"no, no more risks. two whoops is plenty." She nodded at that, serious enough that she hoped it might make a real impression on them both - because granted she was the one agreeing to the risks, it wasn't like it didn't take two to tango and all of that. "you have pockets too you know." She scrunched her nose when he poke it and rolled her eyes. "You would think, right? But a lot of girl clothes actually lack's pockets." She said, which was kind of sad and also true. "But... I'll it to my list of items in my bag," She winked as a compromise. There were other options too, naturally, perhaps she should look at that if Deacon wasn't brave enough to take the sip. Granted, she had a feeling Arrow would be a complete asshole if that got out, and she didn't blame him for not being keen.
She smiled as he clutched her hands tighter, squeezing his gently in response. "things are very different." Moni nodded, glad he agreed with her. Last time, they'd both been so young. He hadn't even hit adulthood yet, and they had been too busy fooling around behind everyone's backs, and then gotten pissed off at each other, she had flown off the handle with a moments notice, hormones not helping her mind or her heart as she'd hidden the pregnancy from him for as long as possible, and then they had changed their minds about what to do repeatedly. It hadn't been good. Now they were in a stable relationship - solid and sure in each other and where they were going. They had their jobs, their home and they had been doing well with Nick since his return to his rightful home.
At the touch of his hand, her stomach swooped a little. It was a sweet gesture, and it seemed silly but she felt it meant more than just saying words. "i think the four of us will be just fine." Moni grinned, "The perfect little family." She laughed softly, half teasing, but deep down - very deep down - that little kid she'd once been that had dreamed of a family, would have been amazed at where she was now. A family of friends, and another type of family - Deacon and their two kids. It might not have been what she expected or thought she wanted, but now she knew how much she was excited for it, she knew it was right. Still grinning, she shifted in Deacon's lap and tipped her chin down to return his kiss.
if someone had told him ten years ago, this is what his life would have turned out to have been, he'd have given them the fingers and fucked off from them quickly. he had never wanted to be tied down, never wanted to be settled in the one spot and he hadn't ever imagined going back to school and working to boot. there was a time he'd been convinced that he could go through life surviving off his light fingers and smile. those days were long gone though, they'd been gone almost as soon as his family had come into his life. then he'd met moni through his brother and he'd fallen harder than a teenager ever ought to. he was in love with her from the moment she first insulted him and he'd vowed that he'd spend his life trying to get her to insult him again. and now here they were, sitting on a couch in an apartment that they paid for legally and above board, a son to their name and another one on the way. once upon a time he'd have felt trapped but that couldn't have been further from the truth, he'd never known how good content could feel until he'd actually felt it.
he felt her shift in his lap and his fingers gripped into her shirt lightly, a reaction he couldn't help. it might not have been the right time, but there was never a moment he wasn't ready to love on her, run his hands all over her and let her know how much he really loved her. he slipped his hands from her stomach to the back of her neck, his fingers running up into her hair as he deepened the kiss between them. he shifted himself as he did, using his hands to pull her softly down against the sofa with him, keeping her on top of his chest as he broke the kiss quickly to duck his head below her chin and he pressed his lips against her neck.
