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!.
"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are things we can't see." - The Polar Express
Cara stretched her arms above her head, wincing slightly as she felt the pull in her left shoulder and a twinge from her ribs but shook both aches away as she looked around the now fully decorated living room that was scented strongly by the freshly cut pine that had been brought in the day before. She hated Christmas, not that anyone would be able to tell from her decorating skills, and to keep herself busy, she had spent the night between baking fruit loaves, spiced biscuits and decorating the entire downstairs of the house. While other people remembered warm Christmases full of fun and laughter, for Cara they were often where her most heinous memories happened.
She glanced out the window as she could hear the sounds of the birds' early morning song, so she knew that the house would start waking up soon. She turned toward the door as she heard a sound in the hallway and she smiled as Kyoto stepped into the room, her eyes widening as she looked around, her mouth forming an o as she took in all the sights. "It's boo-ti-ful, mama!" The three year old exclaimed as she raced over in her reindeer onesie and jumped into her mother's arms, still looking around the room. Cara easily caught her and held her close, breathing in the girl's smell. "Merci, mon petit." She whispered.
"Mama, you forgot to make the tree look pretty." The woman's eyes followed her daughter's and she gave a small shrug. "You can help decorate the tree when the rest of your family wake up." She told the girl. Christmas trees had always been a family thing and she didn't touch the tree, except to adjust things if they needed it.
it wasn't often he managed to wake up before his oldest but sometimes he just about managed it. today had not been one of those mornings. he grumbled into his pillow as he stirred, the birds just loud enough to stir him from whatever sleep he'd been in. he stretched everything as he lay there, debating on whether to roll over, pull naomi into his arms and fall back to sleep but the knowledge that the twins would probably be up soon had him rolling out of bed, albiet a little unhappily and he got himself ready for the day as quietly as he could so everyone else in the house could sleep as long as the youngest kids in the house would let them.
once he'd showered, shaved and pulled on the first lot of clean clothes he'd pulled out of his drawers he made his way downstairs, almost tiptoeing past casey and emma's rooms just in case the teenagers were still asleep. he could hear voices coming from downstairs and he knew that at least two people were up. he couldn't hear quite what they were saying yet, but if he had to guess one of them was cara.
as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he took in the decorations that hadn't been there when he'd gone to bed that night and he smiled softly as he walked into the living room, his eyes landing on cara and kyoto as they discussed the tree. "one of santa's elves was busy last night, weren't they." he said as he walked across to them and he kissed kyoto's head "good morning princess." he smiled at his granddaughter and he then he looked at cara. "did you sleep?" he worried about her and for good reason, she was often pushing herself and he wished she'd listen to them and slow down, at least just a little.
he didn't really like this time of year. he was never able to stop thinking about the last time he'd spent christmas with his parents, the last one before he'd run away from home, the last one before they'd been killed before he'd seen them again. it was all he could see when he closed his eyes at night so the nights were long, the days tiring, and it was a never-ending cycle that kept going around and around. in the last few weeks, he couldn't remember when he'd slept through the night, when he'd had more than a few broken hours here and there. he coped by throwing himself into his school work and spending all the time he could at the barn.
it's where he was coming from, having snuck out the back door earlier that morning while cara hadn't been in the kitchen. he'd taken one of the school horses out for an early morning walk around the cross country course, something that he, emma and cara had done not too long ago, though this time he'd managed to stay in the saddle the whole time. once he'd settled the horse back into the stall and looked at his watch he knew that he had to make the walk home because everyone in the house would be waking up about now.
he tucked his jacket around himself tighter as he coughed into his shoulder. he'd been feeling a little run down the last few days and the not sleeping certainly wasn't helping. he knew he should have been more careful but it wasn't like there was some magical cure, for his heart or for his being kept awake at night. doctors couldn't fix him and no one could bring his family back, it was just something he had to live with.
he stamped his boots on the back stoop to get rid of the dirt from them as he walked into the warm kitchen, the change in temperature causing him to cough again. he rubbed his hand across his chest lightly as he he kicked off his boots and he hung his jacket up on the hangar so it could air out and he headed into the living room where he could hear voices and he put on his usual smile. though it turned into something more when he saw the room was now decorated ready for christmas. "someone's been busy."
Naomi knew she should get up, she'd heard Nathan get up and while she had ben tempted to join him in the shower, the warm blankets kept her trapped in their warm embrace. When the room was silent again she remained in bed until that feeling that the twins were stirring came over her and she threw the covers back and got up.
After a shower and getting dressed for the barn, she made her way to the twins' room and looked at the two blonde heads that were looking at her from Sebastian's bed. No matter how often they put the children into their own beds, it was normal to find them in the same bed when it was time to get them up. "Come on Tweedledum and Tweedledee." She said as she picked up Viola, changed her nappy and then did the same with her son before she picked them both up, leaving them in their onesies, and headed down the stairs with them, encouraging them to be quiet as they went so not to wake up their siblings.
"Daddy!" Viola cried as they entered the lounge and Naomi quickly put the girl down, as she was a daddy's girl. "Always the ladies man." She teased him with a grin as she looked around the room. "Pwetty." Sebastian said as his eyes moved around the room, looking at all the lights in the garlands. "It looks stunning." She put her son down as the boy began fussing and she walked over to kiss Kyoto on the top of the head. "Morning princess." She glanced at Casey with a concerned frown. "Are you feeling alright?"
Emma had wanted to wake up early to help with the morning barn chores, but she was in a deep sleep. She had a lot of sleepless nights lately, nightmares of the night her parents died was heavy on her mind. She began stirring under the duvet and opened her eyes, the sunlight nearly blinding her. "So much for riding early this morning." She grumbled to herself as she pulled the covers back and got out of bed.
It didn't take her too long to shower and change out of her pajamas. She dried her hair, put some chapstick on her lips and headed out of her room. Emma could hear the family chatting away and she felt herself pause at the top of the stairs. Taking a deep breath to gather her emotions before finishing her walk down.
A smile instantly came to her face as she saw the Christmas decorations. It was her favorite time of year, even though it reminded her of the past. "Good morning family, the decorations look lovely." She turned her head to hear Casey cough, wanting to ask if he was alright but Naomi beat her to it.
"one of santa's elves was busy last night, weren't they." Cara's eyes closed against the throbbing in her head, pleased that her daughter was too excited about the arrival of her grandfather to pay attention to her mother. "good morning princess." Kyoto beamed at being called a princess. "did you sleep?" Cara gave an imperceptible shake of her head.
"someone's been busy." Cara shrugged, but being busy is why she had decorated. The room filled up quickly as the rest of the family arrived and she set her squirming daughter on the floor and the little girl bounced up and down on the spot. "Jiji, Jiji, Jiji! Can we make the tree all pretty! Please?" Cara swallowed as the room seemed to get smaller, and she needed to get out. She gave a bright, if slightly forced, smile. "Thank you for your kind words." Her smile shifted slightly. "If you will, excuse me. I have some things in the kitchen that need my attention." It was almost the truth, as there were the loaves, and she had drinks warming in the slow-cookers on the counter.
Leaving the room, she headed straight to the downstairs bathroom and threw up. She had been hoping that this wonderful affliction was something she would grow out of, but it seemed that wasn't the case. After washing her face and hands, and scrubbing her teeth clean, she headed to the kitchen, her nose curling at the smell of coffee. Pushing everything to the back of her mind, she set to work pulling out the mugs she needed, the children's lidded cups, as well as candy canes and marshmallows.
it was no secret that he worried about cara. as much as he and naomi tried to get her to take it easy, to take a break and give herself the chance to act her age and have the experiences she should have always been able to have, he knew they weren't making much of a dent. he'd never thought he'd be one of those people to lay awake at night and worry about his kids, but he was, even the ones who were pretty much adults already. he just worried about different things. it didn't escape him that she didn't really answer his question but he wasn't about to press her, not when she had kyoto in her arms. it didn't feel like the time. so he turned his attention to the work she'd done on the house and he touched his hand to kyoto's head when cara set her down on the ground. "what's your favourite part?" he said with a smile as he looked up at the family that joined them. casey coming from the direction of the kitchen and naomi and their twins from the stairs.
he reached his hands down to scoop vi into his arms and he kissed her nose as he hugged her close. "morning darling." he looked over her head at naomi and put his best smoulder on. "of course she'd a daddy's girl." he chuckled as he watched seb walk around the room in wonder and he settled vi on his hip. "look what santa's elves did bud!" he watched that elf slip out of the room and he cast a glance over to naomi to share his concern without a work spoken. he'd heard casey cough as he'd come into the house and he shook his head a little, taking in the sight of him and he looked at his watch. "i think we need to set a no barn before sun up rule for everyone under the age of twenty two." he said, half joking but almost worried enough to be serious about it. he smiled as em came into the room "morning em." he said as he looked at vi. "emma's the good teenager, she stayed in bed til a normal hour." he chuckled as he looked across at her, hoping she'd slept enough too. none of their teens seemed to be having an easy time with it at the moment.
he hadn't thought he'd coughed that loudly, obviously muffling it in his shoulder hadn't worked because the second naomi had seen him he'd held his hands up almost guiltily and he'd let a grin slip onto his face, hoping his face didn't show how run down he really felt. it wasn't important and once he started sleeping better he'd be fine. he just needed to get past christmas and he'd be fine. "it was the cold air." he said as he traced one hand across his heart. "cross my heart and hope to be healthy." he said with a small laugh as he dropped his hands and looked at cara. "do you need any help?" he asked as she left the room, and he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. he wanted to follow her but he got distracted by nathan joking about imposing a barn rule and he shook his head. "i don't think you need to go that far." he grinned slightly before getting caught up in the excitement of the kids in the room and he crouched down next to kyoto, wrapping his arms around her. "did you do all this? are you one of santa's elves?" he smiled as he hugged her, turning his head into his shoulder to cough once more, inwardly cursing at it before he turned his focus back to the people in the room.
Naomi could do nothing other than roll he eyes at the smoulder, not even sure if his words had been for her or the girl now in his arms. "Yeah, she knows who is easier to wrap around her finger." She teased.
She watched as Seb walked over to a low table that had been covered with a shimmery white cloth that must have blocks to create levels, onto which Cara had placed out a Christmas village with what must have been the utmost care, and the little boy began to move the items around.
Naomi arched her eyebrows at Casey's promise, and then laughed at the suggested new rule. "Yeah, good luck with that, especially during show season." Or really any season, they had horses, there were always reasons to be out in the barn at any hour of the day or night.
"Don't play our children against each other." She admonished, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head. "That is not a good way to win any kind of popularity contest." As her eyes swept over the room, they settled on the tree in the corner near the fireplace. It seemed that no matter how meticulously Cara decorated, she never touched the tree, leaving the boxes with those decorations neatly beside the lower boughs. "How about we start decorating the tree?" She grinned when Kyoto released an excited squeal and clapped her hands, as though those were the very words she had been waiting for.
Emma stood off to the side, admiring the decorations around her. Christmas was her favorite time of year, it was the last memory she had of her mother. She glanced over at Cara as she spoke, smiling as she thanked them. There was a part of her that didn't believe that she was going to the kitchen, but everyone deserved their time alone. "Darn, I'm not old enough. Even on the weekends?" She knew she needed to sleep, but it seemed she had followed suit of her siblings with not being able to.
"Yes can we help somehow Cara?" She usually tried to help out in the kitchen when she could, even if it was just carrying food into the kitchen for everyone to enjoy. It made her feel useful. Emma smiled at her foster father's comment. "Oh, yes. I've been up earlier than I wanted to be the last few days, so I thought I'd sleep in." The truth was she wanted to get up early to help with barn chores and potentially ride a horse before the family noticed. She looked over at Seb, Vi and Kyoto with a smile, glad that everyone was getting along. "Just think, they can start riding together!" It was what Emma was looking forward to the most - having more family members to ride with.
Emma nodded, decorating the tree was the most exciting part of the season. "Yes! Let's decorate. I'll start untangling the strands of lights." She walked over to the box of lights and opened it.
Cara worked quickly, ladling the peppermint coffee and then the peppermint hot chocolate into the mugs, topping them with freshly whipped cream and marshmallows; placing a green candy cane in each of the coffee ones and red candy canes in the hot chocolates. She then filled the sippy-cups with hot chocolate, which she cooled down with a chilled version of the drink, and topped them with cream as well, before hooking a marshmallow candy cane over each straw and placed them all onto a tray, with a plate of iced sugar cookies, before she walked back to the lounge.
Kyoto squealed when the tree was mentioned, her hands clapping together excitedly. This was the moment she had been waiting for since she had come into the room. "Can I put the angel on the top, Jiji?" She asked, her eyes wide, brows raised, as she looked up at Nathan. "Please, please, please?" She added her biggest smile to try and get him to say yes.
Cara placed the tray of drinks onto a dresser that was well out of the reach of the youngsters, and moved the three plastic cups, and a small plate of cookies, onto the child-sized table. "Red candy canes, are hot chocolate, green are coffee." She said as she gestured toward the drinks, giving a soft smile as her daughter's attention was now split between her want to keep working on the tree and the sight of sugary goodies. "If you have everything handled in here? I need to go and check on the ponies." She knew that there would be benefits of having ponies that lived outside year-round, and she was going to use that to her advantage.
he chuckled a little at the sight of naomi standing there with her hands on her hips. he didn't want to run the risk and say she looked very endearing when she was mad, well aware that she'd probably grab something to throw at him. he knew he was going to cop it later but that was a future him problem. so he just smiled inwardly to himself. "it's not pitting them against each other if it's the truth. all our teenagers could do with a healthy dose of laziness once in a while." he said as he chuckled, looking down at vi as she settled into his arms. "even our toddlers could." he joked a little as he tickled her, the sound of her giggling laughter making his heart swell.
"and no em, not even on weekends." he knew it was so much of a stretch but he'd try and at least keep some of their mornings chore free. he placed his hand over his heart and feigned a look of horror as em mentioned them all riding together some day. "and just after that you'll all be driving, i'll go prematurely grey." he laughed a little as cara came back into the room just in time for them all to decide that they were going to decorate the christmas tree. "life saver." he murmured to himself as he reached to pick up one of the green cups, the golden elixir within the cup something he craved a little too often.
"no. the ponies will be okay." he said as he fixed cara with his gaze. "if you're worried, call the barn and let one of the hands know what you want done." he said, hopefully with little room for argument. "today, or at least this morning is family time." did he just decide that? yes. did it matter? no. "we're decorating the tree and we need your supervision. you remember last year?" he said with a smile. "em, you and cara untangle the lights, casey, you start on the baubles. toddlers, eat your breakfast cookies." he chuckled a little as he put vi down on the ground so she could get one. "and you." he pointed to naomi as he walked over to her. "get to help me find the mistletoe."
he laughed a little as the rule about whether they were allowed down at the barn in the mornings was discussed. he looked down at kyo again and grinned. "i think your pop's thinks he's scarier than he is." he joked as he looked back up between the two adults. he knew that they'd be allowed at the barn, there was too much to do but he did get not wanting them down their all the time. it was just too bad that they all loved being down there to much to stay away.
he shifted from his spot crouched on the floor, to sit on the couch where it was much comfier. he rested his elbows on his knees as he watched cara come back into the room, well aware she hadn't answered either him or em when they'd offered to help her. "thanks cars." he said as he reached to grab one of the hot chocolates. he wanted a coffee, but he could already feel his heart beating faster than usual and he didn't want to tip it over the edge, not with how close he could feel naomi and nathan watching him already.
he sipped the chocolate drink and listened to the directions as they were handed out. he raised his hand to salute slightly and he got up from the couch. "yes sir." he laughed a little, coughing slightly as he walked over to where the boxes of decorations were and he picked up the first one, opening the box to start looking through them.
Naomi shook her head in amusement, though he had a point about the older three needing to add a little more laziness into their routines. The younger three? Yeah, if they slept more, they'd just have more energy to expend and that wouldn't help anyone.
She stepped closer to Nathan, and started looking through his hair. "Ooh, I think I found a grey one right here." She teased with a cheeky grin. "Shall I pull it out?" She gave Cara a warm smile as she helped herself to one of the mugs with green sticking out of it, using the candy to stir the drink and taking a sip. "This is wonderful, thank you."
Her brows rose as Cara was told she couldn't go to the barn, half intrigued to how the young woman would react, though she agreed that it was family time, and she could remember the trouble they had with the decorations the previous year. A single brow rose at the pointed finger and lips pursed at the mention of mistletoe. Following Cara's nod, she looked over toward the fireplace and saw that there was indeed a sprig of mistletoe hanging off some garland that was hanging from one of the roofbeams. "That, my love, would be over here." She said with a bright smile. "Children, look away."
Emma walked over to the tray and picked up a mug of hot chocolate, holding it carefully in her hands. The mug was still wafting steam from the top, so she gently blew on it. "Thank you, Cara. Just what we needed on a festive day like today." She was also itching to go to the barn - though she head planned her riding days around it. There was enough for her to do there even though it was their day off - her tack was in desperate need of a deep clean.
"Is that really a rule now? What happens if I need to ride one horse before school?" Between playing football and riding, her schedule come the Spring was busy. Emma took a sip of her hot cocoa, letting out a soft sigh afterwards. After her restless night of sleep, having a surge of sugar was something she needed.
The blonde teenager nodded and set her hot cocoa mug on a table nearby, making sure a coaster was underneath. She got down on the floor and began sorting the lights and untangled the first strands. Emma didn't want to look, she was old enough to know a mistletoe kiss was coming.
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