Beautiful Soul - cash au -

The Skies Above Ablaze

A/N- Trigger warning, this chapter will have some heavy material dealing with child abuse. Proceed at your own risk.

Saturday morning Cameron and Nash wake to find Skylynn and Hayes jumping on the bed.

"Wakey, wakey poo!" Skylynn exclaims and claps when she sees that they've opened their eyes. "The horseys are waiting for us!"

Nash pulls her down and starts to tickle her. "You little rascal!"

She squeals and wiggles around as she laughs, trying to leave Nash's grip. Hayes stops bouncing and sits down with his legs crisscrossed he's smiling at his siblings. The 4 of them are happy this morning, excited for their day out together.

They all get ready and go downstairs to eat breakfast. Rosa has made french toast, bacon and eggs. Nash is definitely going to miss her cooking, it's going to suck going back to the trailer. They pack food for themselves and then head out to the barn. Nash smiles as he sees the horses, he really has missed them, he pats them gently and gives them apples to munch on as they get saddled up. They decide to take 2 horses, Cameron and Nash will ride in one and Skylynn and Hayes will ride the other one.

Cameron takes them on a trail, he has his hands on the reigns with Nash sitting behind him, he has his head laying on Cameron's back. His eyes are closed as he breathes in Cameron's unique scent and his arms are wrapped around him tightly. He can hear Skylynn's excited chatter and Hayes points out birds that she's never seen.

They arrive to a small brook where they get off the horses and let them drink water and graze the area. Cameron lays out their blanket and they have their lunch. There's a comfortable chatter among the 4 of them, Nash decides to bring up the changes to his two younger siblings, he knows that they'll be excited.

"So from now on Cameron is going to pick us up in the morning and we'll drop you guys off at school. Unfortunately you guys won't be able to stay with Mrs. Kaplan any longer because Cameron is going to pick you guys up and take you back to the ranch until I'm finished working. Then he'll take us back to the trailer," he says and he's barely finished speaking when the 2 younger siblings begin to celebrate.

They laugh and smile fondly at their antics. They look carefree just as they should. They start to get cold so they decide to head back to the barn. They make it back quickly, the pace is faster. Nash and Cameron take care of the horses and Sky and Hayes run back to the ranch.

Nash is starting to get sad because in a few hours they'll have to head back to the trailer. Cameron notices Nash's mood change and he pulls him close, giving him a long hug. Nash doesn't hesitate to bury his face in his boyfriends neck, drawing comfort from him. His life will be a lot more bearable just because Cameron is in his life now.

They stand there together, hugging each other tightly until they part and walk back to their home. Rosa knows they are leaving and she has prepared a feast for dinner. They are assaulted with the smell of delicious food when they enter the ranch.

Rosa has set the table in the dining room and they all sit together and eat their fill. They sit there in silence as they realize that it's time to head back.

Nash is the first to break the sad silence. "I guess we should get ready to go."

"I don't wanna go!" Skylynn yells and her eyes are brimming with tears. Nash can already see that she's going to have a huge meltdown. Skylynn is generally a very happy little girl but when she gets upset there's no consoling her. Cameron stands and walks around to where Skylynn is crying, he picks her up and starts to bounce her tenderly and rub her back. He makes soothing noises as she sobs into his shoulder.

"Me either," Hayes says quietly as he stares down at his empty plate. He doesn't want to return to the life they had before. The one where they have to deal with their drunk father, that they have to have cold cereal for breakfast, 1 sandwich for lunch and ramen for dinner. The one where there's barely any smiles or laughter, especially when Chad is home. The one where he has to listen to his older brother get beat and has to pretend he doesn't hear anything. The one where Nash quietly sobs into his pillow because the pain is too much to bottle inside. Hayes hated that life, he loves this one. He loves how happy they are all, how Cameron takes such good care of them. He really loves Cameron and he knows Cameron loves him and Skylynn.