MORNING SUN
Author's note: Written for fanfic night 2002. Thanks to Sameena
for the idea to continue "Acceptance" and for all her help with this
story. You're the best!
Disclaimer: The characters of The Young Riders were created for television by
Ed Spielman. The series aired on ABC TELEVISION from 1989 - 1992. This story
is a sequel to my story "Acceptance"
which took place six years after the Pony express was disbanded.
"I can't believe it's been almost two years since you showed
up here," Louise said one morning as Buck joined her in the kitchen.
He smiled. He knew what was coming.
"You never did tell us where you came from," she continued as she
poured him a cup of coffee.
He took the cup and sat down at the kitchen table. He looked into the dark liquid
and let his mind drift back to the years after the pony express, but before
he found his way here. He slowly raised the cup to his lips and took a swallow.
Louise noticed the far away look in his eyes. She also noted that the sadness
had crept back in. It came less often, but it still came. She sat across from
him and reached over the table to gently touch his hand. "You want to talk
about it?" she asked. "It might help."
Buck shook his head. When he looked at Louise, she could see him return to the
present. "I wasn't any one place for too long, and there are too many to
tell about them all. Let's just say none of them were very welcoming,"
Buck replied.
"Until here," Teresa McCloud Cross said entering the room and hugging
her husband of 9 months.
The sadness slowly vanished from Buck's eyes as Teresa settled next to him.
"Until here," he echoed. "It was as if I'd been reunited with
my family. I could let go of the past, or at least most of it."
"Don't worry," said Teresa. "It's not going to change. You'll
see. Things are only going to get better. Especially when you become a daddy."
She smiled.
Buck and Louise both looked at Teresa. "You sure?" asked Louise.
Buck stared at his wife, a flicker of fear played across his face. Then a smile
slowly replaced it. "That's wonderful!" he said. "Guess it's
a good thing our house is almost finished. We'll need the time to decorate a
nursery."
He hugged Teresa to him, and she hugged him back. The sadness Louise had noticed
earlier was completely gone. She hoped it would stay gone, but sensed that it
wouldn't.