Legacy

Chapter 1

Ty was in an upbeat mood driving home from several long dawn to dusk days at the clinic. It was hard work but he loved what he was doing and found it very rewarding. He was learning at a pace he didn't think possible which put him one step closer to the day he and Amy could begin to live their dream – to start their own practice.

Amy…. Sometimes he couldn't believe he was actually married to her. All the ups and downs; all the rocky times; now seemed worth it. The fact she was proud of him and his accomplishments made all the long hours' worth it. She always seemed to sense when they needed to reconnect due to his Vet responsibilities piling up or her getting caught up with client horses. She would suggest some alone time, or show up at the clinic with something to eat or to simply visit. The spontaneity of her arrivals made him love her even more.

For the first time in his life Ty felt like he belonged to something stable…a family. Part of him loved hearing Jack talk about the "generations of Bartlett's" and the passed down traditions. It meant more to him than he could ever fully describe to have Jack give him his own stone on his wedding day.

Another part of him however still felt the pain from having no heritage or legacy of his own to be proud of. He missed not having a real family growing up but the Bartlett-Fleming clan had largely filled that void in his life. To have come from a broken, dysfunctional shadow of a family with no real future, to become a husband, brother and grandson gave him the roots and sense of belonging he'd always longed for.

Jack was the wise and counseling father he never really had; Lou, the erratic, zany but always accepting sister; Georgie the head-strong younger sister; and Lisa, who had always accepted him for who HE was, not from what he had been. But with every silver lining there was invariably a cloud. Tim. Every time it appeared Tim had finally accepted him, Tim reverted back to his old ways, belittling Ty at every turn.

He doubted Tim would ever truly view him as a son; one good enough for his daughter. No matter what he did, Tim always seemed to find something about Ty to criticize. Because of Amy, he had largely learned to hold his tongue when Tim was up to his antics, but not always. "I guess things could be worse," Ty thought. All Ty had to do was think back to the early abusive years with Wade to recognize his Father in Law could be a lot worse.

As great as things were at Heartland with Amy and the Bartlett family that had adopted him, he carried resentment towards the family of his youth. His late father was a deadbeat, a cheat and con man. Ty had few fond memories of his father and didn't really miss him at all. He never really gave a damn about Ty beyond furthering his own selfish interests – often involving Ty's money. He'd stolen from Ty on more than one occasion, from Lou, and had abandoned he and his mother. He knew Amy and the rest of the family looked at Ty as his own person without any tainted connection to his past, but he couldn't help but feel embarrassed at times with his legacy.

"I swear I'll never be the kind of husband or father he was," a determined Ty thought. "I'll be a good husband to Amy and father to our children…something I never knew or experienced growing up." Deep down, in a place he rarely acknowledged, Ty's biggest fear was that he carried the "Borden gene" of abandoning the ones he loved the most. He certainly had shown a portion of that trait the first few years with Amy. She had slowly cured him though, showing him he didn't need to run…and that she'd never run from him.

His mother, though well intentioned, hadn't been able to deal with Wade's abuse during their first marriage and sought escape in pills and booze. Even after Wade's transformation into a decent human being and a second time around marriage to Lilly, she relapsed to her former addictive habits and couldn't even make their wedding.

Ty tried to ignore the bitterness he sometimes felt but at times, it crept through. For his own mother to put her own self destructive ways over her only child's wedding ate away at him. He grudgingly accepted that Lilly was well intentioned but never held up to the tough decisions. Ty was certain Amy sensed he carried residual baggage around from his "family legacy" but chose not to bring it up. Instead, she lovingly gave her husband the space and time necessary for him to work through it providing her support whenever Ty needed it.

Despite her faults and neglectfulness however, Ty loved his mother dearly and knew she loved him as well. In her own sorted way, he sensed she believed not attending the wedding was the right thing to do. She had lived in mortal fear she might embarrass her son on his wedding day. Though her decision hurt, Ty knew it came from a place of love for him. It made her absence a little easier to take…not much but a little. And in recent months, his mom finally seemed to be receiving the professional help she'd long needed. He could hear the growing strength and confidence in her voice. "Maybe this time it will finally stick," Ty thought.

How did he ever escape all the crap and mire of his youth to become the person he was today and hopefully continue to be? The answer was easy – Amy. Sure Jack and the rest of the family helped, but it was mostly Amy. She never judged him. She always defended him. And after a while, she loved him. From the beginning, Ty had wanted to please her and make himself worthy of her. And finally he had succeeded…she loved him, married him, and believed in him.

"I just hope when Amy and I start a family our kids take after her side of the family and not mine," Ty thought. It secretly scared him just to think their child could be like his mother or father…or like he was before Amy transformed him. "Jeez, lighten up" he said to himself. You've hardly seen Amy in days from working so much and I'm depressing myself thinking of my dysfunctional family. "She'll see right through me and know something's wrong." "She deserves better."

Driving down the long driveway to Heartland, Ty couldn't wait to see Amy waiting outside for him as she said she would only a few minutes earlier when they spoke. Pulling up to the barn expecting to see Amy, Ty was surprised to find Lou and Jack apparently waiting for him. Getting out of the truck he immediately saw concern written across their faces. "Where's Amy he thought?" "Did something happen to her?" Hesitantly stepping away from the truck, Ty looked at Jack only to see a deeper look of worry on his face, Ty's stomached began to knot up with fear. "Something's happened to Amy," he thought. "Something's wrong."