Author's Notes: I'd been meaning to write a fic for our beloved Captain's birthday, but it kept slipping my mind. Finally remembered yesterday, and wrote this up quickly, but finished too late to post it then. So, Happy Belated Birthday, Captain Reynolds!

September 20, 2486. The day of his birth. He don't remember it, of course, but he remembers his mama tellin' him about it. His daddy'd been killed in a freak accident in the spring, 'fore they even knew he was on the way. So she'd been all alone throughout his growin'. Well, as alone as a woman could be on a ranch with 40-odd ranch hands. When the time came for his birthin', she'd sent one of the younger hands to town for the local doc, just in case, then retreated to her room with the cook, a woman with some considerable experience as a midwife. Durin' the height of her laborin' a storm had blown up out of the west, cuttin' power to the house while wind and rain lashed outside, thunder followin' lightnin' so fast you couldn't count the seconds in between. Time the storm blew over, he'd been born and was sucklin' at his mama's breast. She'd givin' him his first name for his daddy's patron saint, and his middle name for his daddy. Doc didn't get there 'til the next day.

September 20, 2496. His tenth birthday. He'd learned to ride almost as soon as he could walk. Had his own pony from the time he was three. Started takin' care of her all on his own when he was five. Still rode her daily, even though he was gettin' a mite long-legged for her. She was a real sweetheart, too. But he was growin' up. Wanted a horse. Not a pony. Wanted to ride the ranch, learn the ropes as it were. Couldn't do that with a pony, no matter how much he wished he could. Didn't say anythin' to his mama, though. As young as he was, knew times were tough and money was tight. That's why it'd been such a surprise to wake up that mornin' and be told his present was in the corral. The little filly that'd been waitin' for him was the most beautiful horse he'd ever seen.