“Don’t force her into anything.” She said that she’d not. “The only reason I’m letting you do this is because I’m feeling too emotional to talk to her right now. I so wanted her here when I— Oh, Piper, she hurt my heart so badly.”
Piper held onto her sister as she cried. This was a side of Mercy she’d never experienced before. Reaching out to Grant to tell him that Joel could come in, she also told him what she was going to do next. All he said to her was not to kill the little girl.
I’m not able to, remember? He said that didn’t mean she’d not try. Yes, I might try. I’ll be around later. I’m talking to her right now.
Chapter 8
Piper didn’t bother asking to see Miley but just looked for her. When she found her down at the dock, watching the boats coming in for the day, Piper sat down beside her. She was ready to blast her when she spoke first.
“I ruined everything, Aunt Piper. Not only that, but I’d not be the least bit surprised if Mom sends me off to military school after what I did yesterday.” Piper told her that Mercy was crying when she’d left her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me anymore. I fight against everything. Even if she told me to do my homework, something I love to do, I’d just not do it because she told me to do it. Now, I’m sitting out here with no idea how I fix this.”
“Do you want to?” Miley just stared at her. “I think that is a good question. Do you want to continue to sit out here feeling sorry for yourself, or do you really want to fix this? Because from what I was told, you were a fucking bitch to the woman that not only healed you but also took you to her heart. That isn’t a way to get on any of our good sides.”
“She’s all I ever wanted in a mom. I have everything I could ever want from her too. Not just material things. I mean love, and she loves my dad too. Mom loves my dad, and now they’re going to have a baby. They’re so happy.” Piper didn’t mention that the babies had been born. She’d tell her later, she thought. “Getting ready for the new one coming, Mercy has tried her best to get me involved. And you have no idea how much I wanted to be. But a part of me felt betrayed that they’re going to all this trouble for them.”
“You think they didn’t do anything for you?” Miley just shrugged her shoulders. Piper gave her a hard slap to her face, and Miley held her cheek and started crying. “What the fuck? You cannot just sit there and tell me that Mercy didn’t bend over backwards for you. Even after she was tossed out of your father’s home, she continued to help you. That’s not even talking about her healing you. Christ, I should just let you sit here until you rot. To think that I was so excited to have lunch with you sometime soon.” Piper stood up. “If it’s anything at all to you, your...no, Mercy has given birth. While you sit here on your ass, shrugging off how you think she helped you, she’s sobbing her fucking eyes out because you weren’t there when it all occurred. You should be beaten.”
Piper shifted and took to the skies. It was in her to go and shit on the girl’s head. Flying as far from her as possible while still being able to keep an eye on her, Piper landed outside the home of Benson and Molly. She wanted to talk to Molly in the worst sort of way.
Molly was the mother she’d never had. Not that she even remembered a time when she’d had a mom, but Piper had been going to her regularly over the last few weeks. As soon as she was let into the house, Molly told her to come into the kitchen, then smacked her on the back of the head when she was seated.
“What was that for?” She told her that she had spoken to Miley. “I did. But I don’t understand how that is deserving of a pop to the back of my head.”
“Would you like another pop?” Shaking her head, Piper told her what had happened. “I’m going to allow this of you this one and only time. Because you don’t know. You and the others have no idea what it’s like for a teenager. Miley is going through something that none of you have experienced, nor will you ever. She’s changing daily. Her heart is taking a beating too. Teenagers, humans and shifters alike go through this sort of thing all the time. They’re not mean. They’re confused. I’m sure you didn’t help matters one bit by making her cry.”
“She hurt Mercy.” She said that Mercy was next on her list. “This is insane. I came here to talk to you, and you’re yelling at me. I don’t like that.”
She hit her again. “Listen to me. Or better yet, reach out to that little girl and tell me what you’re feeling from her.” She did and was astonished to hear that Miley was as depressed as she’d ever felt a person to be. “That’s not entirely on you, but a great deal of it is. Lucky for you that I love you, or I wouldn’t have helped all of you out. When you have trouble with someone, do you accuse or ask questions first?”
“So that you don’t hit me again, you tell me the answer to that.” Piper was beginning to hate the fact that she’d come here when Molly hit her anyway. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“You reach out for help. I’m trying to tell you something here so that when you have children, you’ll have a better understanding of things.” While she was still listening to Miley’s thoughts, terrified about them, she felt the moment that someone else sat down beside her. She told Molly. “That would be Tracy, a girl that has had it much rougher than Miley has, yet has gone through the same changes she is experiencing. They’ll get this worked out. The two of them will. Not you.”
“I was asked to go there by Mercy.” Molly told her again that she would talk to Mercy. “If having kids is this much work, I’m not sure I want any.”
“You’ll have them, but you’ll get to see them grow and develop into where those two are now. A daughter of yours will be with you forever, through changes that you can talk to her about. Never go to another parent’s child to help them out, Piper. That is walking on dangerous grounds. What if you had said something about her mom? Something that you wanted to impart to her that would get Mercy in deeper trouble than she is now? Because you can’t fix hormones.”
“I’m not going to have any girls then. Fuck that shit.” She dodged the smack to her head this time but didn’t count on her smacking her hands. “You’re very violent. Did you know that?”
“I do know that. I believe you bring that out in me.” Molly smiled at her. “However, you should know that it’s worse with boys. My goodness. They have their voices change, hair sprouting out in places they didn’t before. They’re half man and half child. They’re ten times worse at puberty than girls are. But you know what? They get through it, and if you’re anything like the mother I know you’ll be, you’ll have a better man than you might have thought.”
Piper thought of the things she’d said to her niece. They weren’t horrible, but they weren’t very helpful either. Standing up, she sat back down because it occurred to her that she didn’t have any idea how to fix this with her. Or even if there was a way to fix it. She looked at Molly. Piper truly did love this woman as she might well have loved a mom.
“I need your help.” Molly said they all did. “Please help me. I know I should have...I will stay out of other families’ troubles from now on. No matter how tempting it is to try and fix things.”
“Go to Miley and tell her what you said to me. Tell her you messed up. Or whatever way you’d say that to her. I know you well enough to know that you can add color where it’s not really needed.” Piper kissed the older woman on the cheek. “Go on now. Take care that you hug her as well. She’ll need that.”
“I will.” Piper started out the door and returned to hug Molly once again. When she pulled away, Piper told her something she knew the woman would get a kick out of. “Mercy had triplets. Two daughters and a son.”
Then she left. Piper laughed as she shifted back to her bird then headed to Miley. It was just too much—the look on Molly’s face was one that Piper would remember for the rest of her days.
Miley and Tracy were still at the dock. As soon as she landed and became her other self, Mil
ey came to her and gave her a very strong hug. Piper hugged her just as tightly. Tracy joined them, but she was more gentle with hers. Piper knew the girl was still getting used to having people touch her. Tracy was shy for all her mouthiness.
“I’m stupid.” Piper told Miley what she’d done in going to talk to Molly. “She told me Tracy was coming and that she was going to knock you around. I hope she didn’t hurt you. This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not. I mean, it is, but not really. You’re going through some shit that I don’t understand. I’ve never been a teenaged girl.” They all laughed. “I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean anything I said to you. You hurt Mercy, and I wanted to make you hurt too. I should have stayed out of it and left it to the two of you.”
They made their way back to Mercy. She still hadn’t told the girls about what had happened with Mercy, nor that Miley now had two sisters and a brother. She wanted to see the look on her face when she realized she had more than enough family for the three of them to care for. Sitting on the bed while they sorted out the gifts that were coming in, Piper watched Grant as he kept an eye on Joel. He was a little freaked out.
“I’m glad we have money.” Grant asked Joel why that was going to be a problem. “The girls, they look like their mom, don’t you think? Beautiful already. We’re going to have to hire a full time crew to make sure that no boys come around them. That would include Miley. I’ve decided that none of them are leaving the house until I’m ready for them to date. Which will be never, I’m thinking. I’m not having anyone around my little girls until they’re in their forties. Or older. That’s why.”
“What about your son? He’s a handsome little guy.” Joel growled at Grant when he spoke. “You do know that once he starts to notice girls, not a soul in the world will be able to keep him from them. You remember, don’t you, Joel, what it was like to be a young man learning the ways of women?”
“That’s precisely why none of them are going to go out with boys. Or men. Never.” He looked at Miley, who was telling her sisters that Daddy was a poop head and that she’d show them the ropes. “You are forbidden to speak to your sisters and brother. That’s it. I’m putting my foot down.”
“Well, you’d better be picking it back up because I’m going to be with them as much as I possibly can.” Miley stood up to her dad, toe to toe, and it was then that Piper realized how tall she’d gotten. “Don’t try and do it, Dad. If you do, from what I’ve heard, you’ll only make me want to disobey you even more. Now, we’re not going to fight today. This is a great day for a celebration. Right, Dad?”
Joel looked at her and frowned. The poor man had three daughters he thought he could protect from everyone. Didn’t the man realize he was married to the worst role model there ever was? Laughing when she stood up, she took the baby from Grant and sat on the bed again.
“Whatever the other aunts and your mom don’t teach you, you can depend on Aunt Piper to teach you.” She looked at Grant as she continued. “Now that your mom has shown us it’s not that big of a deal to have a baby, then perhaps I can have you a cousin or two—”
“Holy shit. I just figured it out.” Everyone turned to Duncan, who had been quietly standing back while the rest of them traded off babies. “Sorry. I was just thinking about the fact that you’re all birds.”
“Well, good for you. We’ve been birds for a long time now, dummy.” Piper laughed when Mercy spoke. “Now that you’ve established what everyone else in this room already knew, what the fuck are you talking about? Or have you had a stroke? That would be a better reason than you just being tuned into the fact we’ve been—”
“How many eggs do you suppose a falcon would have, Mercy? In the event you’re going to give me a smart assed answer, which you always do, they have three to four. You had three this time.” He looked at her. “Piper? How many do you suppose a phoenix has? Again, three to four. You six, you’re having children, but you’re going to, I think, have them in batches.”
“Batches? Did you just call my children a batch? You moronic fuck. I’m going to—”
Duncan backed away from the bed, holding the baby he had up as a shield.
“Hush, Mercy. I need to think.” They all turned to Blaze, who had only just returned from her honeymoon with Bryson. “Hawks can have four to five eggs, I believe. Are you suggesting that I could have as many as five at a time?”
“I’m not sure. There aren’t any books or information out there on birds, or for that matter, any kind of creature such as you guys are. For all I know, it could just be a coincidence. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how many the next of you have. Is anyone here going to have a batch of babies?” Blaze raised her hand, as did Jude. Piper didn’t know, didn’t have the slightest idea how to tell if she was having a baby too. She looked at Grant, who shrugged. “Well, I guess in less than a year, we’ll know for sure. I, for one, am happy about this. But then, it’s not my body that is going through birth.”
“Way to bring down a room, Duncan.” He told them all he was sorry. As he made his way to Jude, Joel spoke again. “The thing we need to figure out is who we go to, to figure out this thing. As Duncan said, we are working with a lot of unknowns here. I think we were all wondering if there would be eggs born or not. That has been cleared up.”
“Not necessarily.” They then looked at her. “I mean, we are none of us the same sort of bird, right? For all we know, one or the rest of us could have eggs. Holy shit, this is scarier now than it was before. Too many unanswered questions if you ask me.”
“Does this mean you don’t want to have children?” She looked at Grant and smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear that. However, there is nothing to worry about. Eggs or live births, one or five babies at once, we have the means and the magic to make it work out for all of us.”
There was that. Piper went to Grant to have him hold her. She looked down at the bundle in her arms and wondered if she really cared how many she had. Or, for that matter, what their sex would be. She wanted to be a mom now. But it scared the shit out of her that she’d be terrible at it.
~*~
Grant was working on some paperwork when he realized the house was quiet. Not that it wasn’t like that most of the time, but he knew that Piper had been in the kitchen when he’d come in here, and she was then going to work. He reached out within the house and found nothing out of the ordinary. Reaching out beyond his home and to the castle grounds, he felt the presence of someone he didn’t know. Getting up, he made his way into the front of the castle. The person standing there was very close to where the first squatter had been living. The ground was still bearing the marks of the trail of fire coming from Piper.
When Grant reached out to the man, he turned and looked at him. Grant hadn’t any idea who the man was nor what he might be doing there. Walking slowly toward him, the man started in his direction as well. When they were still several feet apart, the stranger put out his hand.
“I’m Harold Bennington. Everyone calls me Harry. You and your wife own this land and the castle, I was told.” Grant only stood there. “Yes, well, I don’t blame you for being suspicious. I believe I would be, as well. I’m a professor at the college. Or I was until I retired recently. I wanted to find myself some sort of hobby that would take me around to places that few have been to before. When I was flying above this place a week or so ago, it just looked like barren land. It wasn’t until I came by boat that I could see it’s covered in magic. It’s to keep out the unwanted.”
“Yet here you are.” Harry laughed as he nodded. “You are here for what reason, Mr. Bennington? In the event you didn’t understand the magic or the lack of a welcome mat being put out for you, you aren’t welcome here.”
“Yes, I understand. But there are circumstances I will explain to you. I was drawn here. I had a dream about this place, the people living here. It was a dream of a time I’d have no idea about. It was well before
my time. When your Queen Dante lived here.” Grant didn’t say anything. “You have an excellent face, Lord Coby. It will keep me from playing cards with you. There were six birds in this dream. Six of the most wonderful creatures that had ever been. Larger than life too. The queen, your queen, made them her protectors. There are two more people that I dreamed about. The king, Duncan, and his wife, Judith. Everyone calls her Jude. Am I piquing your interest, Lord Coby?”
“You could have gotten any of that information anywhere, Mr. Bennington. I’m not saying that you’ve gotten it all right, but anyone around here— Well, perhaps not. We’re a very protective lot here. What is it you want?” Bennington looked to his right, and he knew Piper was coming. “My wife. One of the birds.”
“The phoenix. I know that because of her hair. My goodness, how do you keep from staring at such beauty all the time?” Grant didn’t answer him, even if he had expected him to. “Hello, Lady Piper. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”
Grant told her everything Bennington had told him. Piper put out her hand, and the man took it. Grant wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. Not putting out his hand, he waited for Piper to tell him things were all right. Or not all right. She was stronger than he’d be any day of the week, and he knew it.
“Duncan is on his way. He said you were mentioned.” If he understood what Piper said, the man only nodded. “I thought perhaps you were the mate to one of the two birds, but you’re not, he assured me. Duncan said you are here for a reason that is in the books his mother left him.”
“Yes. I dreamed about those as well. Not that I could read them, but I saw them in my dreams.” Duncan landed on the ground beside him. He was still having difficulties in landing as the big bird, but he doubted anyone would notice but other birds. “My lord.”
Bennington bowed before Duncan, and Grant noticed that Jude was coming as well. In the few minutes that Bennington was explaining to Duncan why he was there, the others landed close enough to be able to be part of the conversation. The man would either be dead in a very short time, or he’d be welcomed. It was entirely up to Duncan.
Piper: Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Queen's Birds of Prey) Page 13