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Nate went in all the way up past his elbow.

She watched his face more than his arm. He grunted and twisted slightly, then closed his eyes to probably better picture what he was feeling around for. “I know the foal is in a fucked up position, I just don’t know how bad,” he said, continuing to feel around with his eyes closed. “I can only feel one leg.”

“Fuck,” Asher muttered, his blue eyes going wide.

“Backward. Posterior presentation with one leg,” Nate confirmed, still armpit-deep in Callie.

The ranch hands exchanged worried expressions.

“What does that mean?” Mieka asked.

“It means we need to get that foal out fucking fast before it drowns in amniotic fluid,” he said.

“Oh my God.”

“Straps are in the tote,” Asher said.

Nate nodded and stayed with Callie while Asher went to the tote and grabbed the straps.

Asher put on gloves, as well, then approached Mieka. “Can you go up to her head where I was? It’s going to take two of us to get this foal out.”

Mieka nodded and went to the front of the horse where Asher was to keep her still and calm, while Asher donned gloves, as well, and the two brothers went to work.

Mieka couldn’t really see what they were doing, now that she was at the front of the horse, but she heard their muttered curses and whispered discussion, not that she could understand it all.

So she did what she could. She pressed her forehead to Callie’s long nose and spoke softly. “You got this, sweet mama. You’re going to be alright. Just stay with me. Breathe.”

Callie’s nostrils flared, she trembled and tried to step away.

“Keep her in place,” Asher barked.

The ranch hands steadied Callie, and Mieka moved around to the side of Callie’s face so that she could look into the big animal’s eye. “Stay with me, sweetheart. Look at me. Focus on me.”

She wasn’t sure the horse understood her, but she hoped that her calm voice was at least doing something.

“Ready?” Asher said.

“Next contraction, we pull,” Nate replied.

Callie’s body went tense, her muscles tightening, her nostrils flared wildly and both Asher and Nate started to grunt behind the horse. Mieka pushed up onto her tiptoes to try to see what they were doing, but one of the ranch hand’s heads was in her way.

“Need more hands,” Asher called. “Hank, Ronny, come here.”

Hank and Ronny disappeared, leaving Mieka alone to keep Callie calm and from moving too much.

“Stay with me, sweetheart. It’ll be over before you know it. Then you’ll have your baby to love and cuddle.”

“On three,” Nate said. “One … two … three.”

“Catch him, catch him,” Asher shouted.

“Got him,” Nate said.

Callie stepped away a couple of feet and that’s when Mieka saw Nate cradling the foal in his arms, suctioning mucus out of its nostrils with a bulb.

“Come on,” Nate said, rubbing the foal’s chest. Then he slapped its ribcage. Still nothing. “Hand me a piece of straw,” he said to Asher.

Asher did just that and Nate tickled the inside of the foal’s nostrils, but still nothing.