"Where is everyone?" Louis asks with a sniffle as he sits down at the breakfast table, next to his mum.

"Everyone gets up around 5 and heads out, they will be back soon for lunch" Jay smiles at Louis.

"Oh, I didn't realise, should I go help them or something? I don't want them to think I'm lazy" Louis says.

"No one thinks your lazy hun, nor do they expect you to help out at 5am" Jay tells him reassuringly.

Louis just sighs, his mums right, they probably don't want him around making them slower. Louis is interested in the ranch and all the animals, learning about it all. He just doesn't want to be in the way.

Are you hungry? Chef usually prepares breakfast at 5:30 but I can make you some toast or something?" Jay asks.

"No thanks" Louis tells her.

Jay looks at her son thoughtfully.

"What are you doing today?" Louis asks.

"James and the boys will be back in about an hour and then James was going to take me into town. He has a meeting and wanted to take me to an early dinner" Jay tells him.

Louis just nods

"What....what do I do?" Louis asks timidly.

"Whatever you'd like hun, the boys will probably want to take you out to show you something or another" Jay says smiling.

Louis nods as he sniffles again.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jay asks as she reaches out to feel Louis forehead. "You're a bit warm Lou" Jay frowns.

"I'm fine" Louis reassures, he feels a little off but nothing to worry about.

He decides to go upstairs, shower and change, when he comes downstairs dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he hears the chatter of the boys, he's expecting them all to be in the dining room for lunch, however he rounds the corner and sees them all lazing on the couch drinking iced tea.

"Lou!" They all chorus as he makes his way over.

"How did you sleep?" Drew asks.

"Oh, amazing, the bed is so comfy" Louis says smiling.

"That's good to hear" Harry smiles.

"We are just about to have lunch before we head out to the back paddocks, we wanted to check on the herd" Scott tells him.

"Want to come out with us" Harry asks, his voice hopeful.

"I don't want to get in the way" Louis says.

"You're not in the way, we'd love you to come" Edward tells him.

"Okay" Louis says shyly.

"Great!" The boys say.

"Can I double with you again?" Louis asks Harry nervously.

"Of course, I'd like that" Harry smiles and Louis can't help his blush.

Lunch is over quickly before James and Jay are heading into town and Louis is heading out with the boys.

They venture past the waterhole they went to yesterday and even though the ranch is rolling green hills, the heat is fierce. It's hot as anything during the day and cold at night.

"Woah" Louis says as they reach the top of the hill, the hills go for miles and down the bottom is a huge heard of cattle.

"Beautiful isn't it" Harry says smiling.

"It's amazing" Louis says in awe.

"It's our favourite place to watch the sunset, up here" Scott says.

"I can see why" Louis says.

"Bit different to the city I bet" Drew says as he sidles up next to Harry and Louis right side.

"Yeah it's so quiet and calming, kinda feels like nothing can go wrong up here" Louis says as he takes it all in. The boys all look to each other smiling in fond.

They all take in the view for a little while, just appreciating being.

"So what do you need to check on the cows for?" Louis then asks.

They all smile at Louis, they are happy he wants to learn about how the ranch works and what they do.

"We check on them every few weeks, make sure they are grazing and everything is okay" Edward says.

"But lately we have been coming up every week to check on them" Scott tells him as they begin to canter down the hill.

"Is there something wrong?" Louis asks as they stop at the heard and dismount, Harry helping Louis down.

"We can show you" Harry says smiling his big, dimpled smile towards Louis. Louis smiles back and follows Harry to a small group of black and white cows. Harry bends down next to one and reaches for Louis hand as he bends down next to Harry.

Harry places Louis hand on the cow's belly and he immediately feels a kick.

Louis eyes go wide.

"She's pregnant?" He asks with excitement in his voice.

"She sure is, this is Misty, and she is due any day now" Harry says.

"Wow that's awesome" Louis says happily.

Harry smiles at him, the boys watching the two fondly.

"So, is she okay to have her baby out here?" Louis asks.

"She is, but we want to bring her into the stables for a few days, to make sure she's okay and the calf is fine, and nothing goes wrong" Harry tells Louis.

"So, we're bringing her back with us?" Louis asks.

"Yep, we will walk her back at her pace so she's comfortable" Harry tells him.

"Will she be okay to leave the others?" Louis asks looking around.

"She will be fine" Harry tells him reassuringly.

Louis watches on as the boys put a lead around Misty and begin to lead her back to the ranch. Misty stops a lot during the walk back, but the boys are patient as ever and they take breaks, stopping along the way to take care of other parts of the ranch.

They are about fifteen minutes away from the ranch house, the sun beginning to set when Misty just refuses to walk any further.

"We might need to leave her here tonight" Edward worries as he gives her more water.

"I'd worry about her too much" Harry says.

"Let's go get the truck, we can get her in and drive her back" Drew suggests.

"The sun will have set by the time we do that, we don't want to risk her stressed" Scott says.

"I can walk with her" Louis then announces, he then dismounts the horse before Harry can help him.

They watch on as he approaches Misty.

"Hey girl" he says as he gets to her, she moos in response and Louis pats her on the head.

"I know, it's hard work when you're carrying life isn't it" Louis says.

He gets another moo in response as Misty pushes her head against his shoulder like a hug.

"Tell you what, I'll walk with you hey, we can walk together and when we get to the ranch, you can have some yummy food and a nice long sleep in a comfy hay bed" Louis tells her as he cuddles her and pats her gently.

He then grabs the rope and starts pulling her and she moves.

"Good girl, that's it" he says with a small chuckle.

"Whoa, go Lou!" Scott says excitedly.

"Well done kiddo" Drew says smiling.

"You're a natural Lou!" Harry exclaims.

Louis beams and they all start up their track back to the ranch again.

The boys pretend not to listen as Louis talks to Misty the whole way back.

"I bet you're going to be a wonderful mama, are you excited about having a calf?" Louis asks and he actually gets a moo response.

"Are you scared? I would be, but I guess it's brave to do something you're scared of doing isn't it, especially when you get something so amazing at the end" Louis says.

"I was scared of coming here, I didn't think anyone would like me and that I'd be in the way all the time, I probably am but I'm still glad I came here. Maybe I'll learn to ride a horse and maybe I'll get to see you become a Mama. That would be really cool" Louis says.

He thinks the boys can't hear him, but they can, and they all share a look, vowing to make Louis time at the ranch as fun and positive as ever, he has really touched their hearts and they have only known him two days.

When they get back to the barn the boys set up the hay bed in the stall and make sure Misty is comfortable. Louis helps and makes sure he gives her lots of cuddles before they are leaving for the night, Louis vowing to come back in the morning.