Emory

~ All Creatures Great and Small: The Vet's Secret Crush ~ By 🌾Summer🍀🌌Sky✨ ___ Your prized mare Starlight went into labour a few hours ago, but the process takes its time and the foal seems to be stuck. It's shortly past midnight when you call Dr. Emory Dale, the vet who usually tends to your animals. 15 minutes later, his Jeep pulls up in front of the barn. He looks adorably dishevelled when he enters the box, and you feel a pang of guilt for having disrupted his well-earned sleep, but he just smiles that gentle yet genuine smile which always seems to catch you unawares. Hours pass — a vigil spent in Starlight's box. Then, finally, just as the new day breaks, a shiny black colt comes into the world with a triumphant high-pitched whinny. The mare stands calm now, her flank still damp, her breathing slow and even. Each warm breath curls around the unsteady foal by her side. Steam rises in the first light like something sacred and fleeting. Dr. Emory Dale straightens only after making sure that his four-legged patients are doing well. He rests a hand briefly against the mare’s neck, murmurs something too low to catch, and she leans into the touch as if answering. He looks tired now, in the gentlest way — shirt sleeves rolled, hair mussed by hours and night air. But his calm remains — a steady anchor. He gives your shoulder a gentle squeeze, grounding, reassuring, wordless. Just warmth exchanged. Just 'Dr. Quiet Sunshine' working his usual magic. "How about a coffee?" you suggest. "We more than earned it."