Hitchhiker

By Princess Alexandria

Brooke wiped the sweat from her brow and took a tiny break to stand up tall and look up at the sky. Her muscles ached as she stretched. She then sighed heavily and moved to grab another bale of hay, carrying it to her truck bed and laying it there. The man selling the bales to her took it and stacked it for her. “I’ll need more fencing too, but I’ll have to have Jimmy pick it up.”

“He still here?” Mr. Bradshaw asked as Brooke was walking away to grab another bale.

“His school doesn’t start until mid September.” Brooke sucked in a little air as she lifted more hay. “By then I’m hoping my hired hand is recovered enough to start work again. If I didn’t have my brother this would have been a long summer.”

“Yeah, I heard that Jake got hurt out there.” The old man spoke as he took the bale from her. “You doing alright out there darling? It isn’t really woman’s work, and well now...”

Brooke sighed and stopped her motion, interrupting him. “Mr. Bradshaw, woman’s work is anything a woman is willing to work at and I am willing to work for my ranch.” Her eyes were trained on him and she noticed he looked a little taken back, but then he grinned just a little.

“I’ll remember that one.” He nodded and then stood up to put the bale in place, so Brooke went back to work bringing bales. “I just worry about you girls out there.” Brooke sighed and nodded, even though it irritated her. She’d inherited that ranch years ago and she ran it well, but everyone had expected her grand-daddy to give it to Jimmy, some even thought her father would get it. Brooke’s dad didn’t get alone with his father and Jimmy didn’t even want to have the ranch, but everyone expected the male to get it. Thankfully Brooke’s grand-daddy had been a bit more enlightened and saw how much his grand-daughter loved the place.

By the time they were done she desperately needed an ice cold drink. She followed him into the country store a little slower, pulling the gloves off of her hands and tucking them into her back pocket. As she walked she glanced at the minivan in the parking lot, dusty from the road and sporting a nice sticker claiming its rental status. She shook her head and smirked, sightseers, figured. No one out here bought minivans. They probably were lost, because there were no vacation ranches around here.

As the door opened a woman with a white stripe in her hair stepped out, holding a cold bottle to the side of her neck. Brooke grinned a little in appreciation for the sight. “Excuse me.” She said as she stepped to the side to let the woman walk past.

As she moved to grab the door it moved and Brooke backed up a step, before finding herself standing in front of a familiar woman. Brooke’s eyes widened and she watched as the black haired white woman’s eyes widened, and then quickly flashed yellow just for a moment as she stared. “Mystique?” Brooke spoke softly, but she could hear the stripe haired woman gasp behind her.

Mystique stared at her a moment longer and then smiled just a little, while finishing stepping out of the store. “Brooke, it’s been a while.”

“Well you are unforgettable.” Brooke felt her heart hammer just a little, but she backed away from the store. “You got where you were going okay I guess?” There were other things she knew she should say, but she wasn’t going to say them.

“Yes.” Mystique glanced over Brooke’s shoulder. “That’s my daughter, Rogue.” Brooke’s eyes widened as she turned to look at the stripe haired woman watching them closely.

“Nice to meet you ma’am.” Brooke stared a bit longer and then turned to Mystique, her voice a whisper. “Did she age normal?”

Mystique laughed, her fully amused laugh. “Yes, she did. I adopted her.” Brooke’s eyebrow’s drew together at why someone would adopt a girl barely younger than themselves.

“What momma’s not saying is that she has a biological son my age as well.” Rogue spoke a little hesitantly as she joined them, studying Brooke.

Brooke turned to stare a little at Mystique. “He aged right?” She had to know. She suspected he aged normal, but she needed to know.

“Yes he did, I’m the one that doesn’t age normally.” Mystique gently took Brooke’s elbow and moved toward the van. “Rogue dear, would you give me a few minutes?”

“Sure momma.” Rogue said, but the voice was slightly irritated. The woman moved away after shooting Brooke another searching look.

“So what I saw, that was the real you?” Brooke asked, knowing that some of the features were true at least. “Cause I really liked what I saw.” Brooke tried to cover a little and got a wicked grin from the woman.

“Yes, that’s the real me.” Mystique’s voice was flirtatious. “I hope you weren’t upset that I had to leave.” Brooke managed to keep a straight face as the apology started. Mystique didn’t have to leave she wanted to avoid the morning after, but that had been just fine with Brooke.

“No, not upset.” Brooke glanced at the van, feeling awkward about this. She really hadn’t expected to see this woman again.

“We’re on our way somewhere.” Mystique stared into her eyes. “But I wouldn’t mind visiting you after I’m done. I know you said your ranch was just inside of Texas, so is it around here?”

Oh god, how could she say no to that, Brooke thought with a bit of panic, but she kept her face a mask of interest. Her conscience battle with her and Brooke nodded slowly that she did live nearby. “I own the Triple X ranch.”

Mystique grinned. “Of course you do.” Brooke rolled her eyes at the familiar teasing. At least Mystique didn’t elaborate on the X-rated hard core rating that shared her ranches name. It probably wasn’t even an issue when men owned that damned thing.

“Well, I’ve got to go.” Mystique glanced at an impatient looking Rogue standing by the store doors waiting.

“Sure. Nice seeing you again.” Brooke did like what she knew of the woman.

“You too.” Mystique leaned in to give her a brief kiss. “I sometimes still think of that night.” The woman whispered into her ear and Brooke blushed.

“I can never forget it.” She replied honestly.

Brooke waved to them as they drove off, wondering if Mystique really thought she’d visit or if it was a polite lie to avoid saying that the one night was enough.

“You know those women?” Mr. Bradshaw stuck his head out the store door and looked at her.

“If anyone asked where my ranch is, would you call me and warn me?” Brooke turned to look at the man. A surprise visit would be a little harder to deal with. “Anyone at all.” She said, thinking of the woman’s ability to shape shift. Mr. Bradshaw looked confused, but he nodded.

“I got more gummy bears for the little ranch princess.” He smiled and held up a bag of candy.

“You always trying to rot my little girls teeth out. I should make you pay for the dentist.” Brooke shook her head and started to walk towards him.

……………….

“Mommy, mommy, mommy.” The words were repeated quickly at her knee and Brooke sighed as she looked down. “Mommy, I want that.” Mercy pointed her small finger at a magazine she saw on the shelf. Brooke’s eyebrow rose a little at the odd choice until she looked harder at the cover and saw a blue man on the front of it. He was a furry blue man, but blue regardless.

“You want Science Weekly baby?” Brooke asked gently as she stared down at her little girl. Her heart ached a little at the one little fact she hadn’t anticipated when picking her child’s sperm donor. Mercy felt odd, out of place, even at three she noticed.

Brooke pushed the grocery cart a little out of their way and kneeled down to look into her baby’s eyes. She took in the yellow begging look that was far too cute. It always took an effort to not give in to the child’s begs for candy, but this time she couldn’t say no to an impulse buy. Brooke reached into the magazine rack and pulled the magazine out, glancing at Dr. McCoy and then she opened up the magazine, flipping through it quickly to see if there were more pictures. There were a couple of pictures. That was all Mercy would want.

Brooke reached out and gently caressed the girl’s soft blonde hair out of her face. “You like him because he’s blue?” Brooke asked quietly.

“Like me.” Mercy took the magazine and hugged it to her little chest, it covered the girl’s entire chest.

“Okay.” Brooke stood up and glanced at the grocery cart. She had wanted to get the fence started today, since Jimmy had the supplies stacked up in place now, but by the time they got home from shopping it would be the middle of the hottest time of day. Not a time to be outside working. Her eyes trailed over the things they’d picked up so far and she considered how to deal with the frozen items with her growing plan.

“Mrs. Johnson.” Brooke asked as they moved to the front of the store. “Do you think you could put some of my things in the freezer while we spend some time in town?”

The older woman glanced down at Mercy for a moment and Brooke watched carefully. When Mercy was a baby she’d brought the little girl everywhere so people could get used to her before Mercy would notice the shocked looks, but once in a while people looked a little too long even now. “What you got there girl?” Mrs. Johnson asked gently and Brooke relaxed her shoulders a little.

“Picture.” Mercy smiled big, her white teeth showing very clearly between her deep blue lips as she held it up. Mrs. Johnson’s eyes widened and then she looked up at Brooke with a question in her eyes.

“Well that’s nice.” Mrs. Johnson said softly and kept staring at Brooke. Brooke just sighed and shook her head, knowing the woman was wondering if that was Mercy’s daddy.

As Mercy flipped through the magazine happily the older woman was checking out the items in the cart. Brooke gritted her teeth and waited for an old conversation. “Why did you ever decide to go and get pregnant alone girl?” Mrs. Johnson asked yet again.

“Well, that’s the only way I could.” Brooke’s glare was a little hostile. “I wanted a baby, not a man.”

“Well now it’s going to be hard when you change your mind. Getting a man while you have a kid is hard and for you,” Mrs. Johnson glanced down at Mercy meaningfully and Brooke’s fist clenched.

“I appreciate your concern.” Brooke had to try and be polite about this. “But I’m not going to ever change my mind about a man, and I wouldn’t want anyone,” She said anyone slowly to point out the lack of gender in it, “That couldn’t understand that I wasn’t going to wait for some mythical romance to have my child.”

“You are so young to be so cynical.” Mrs. Johnson sighed heavily and then smiled down at Mercy who was starting to pay attention tot them. “Well you know how this works kiddo. I need to ring you up.”

Mercy reached up as high as she could with the magazine and reluctantly let it go so that it could be scanned. Mrs. Johnson gave it right back to Mercy after that, and Mercy hugged the magazine tight again. Brooke grimaced as the crinkle sound. That magazine wasn’t going to live long if Mercy kept treating it like a teddy bear.

Brooke dropped off the frozen and other tender to the heat items into the walk in freezer in the back of the small store and took the rest out to the truck with a happy Mercy at her feet.

Brooke felt it the moment it happened and she stared down just to make sure. Mercy had moved. Brooke quickly tossed the last bag into the back of the truck and turned, looking. Her heart beat a bit too fast until her eyes caught the red of the little girl’s t-shirt running up to the store across the street.

“Mercy!” Brooke yelled as she started to run after her, her heart in her throat as she saw the car her little girl didn’t and was so sure the car didn’t see her little girl. Brooke made it five steps and was already terrified because she knew she wasn’t going to make it.

A loud popping sound filled the air and Brooke didn’t stop running as she saw a man’s form suddenly appear next to Mercy and then both disappeared as the car screeched to a halt too late, skidding over where Mercy had been.

Brooke spun around, feeling that Mercy was still nearby. She found her baby being held up by a man on the front steps of the barber shop. Brooke ran around the now stopped car, ignoring it, as she ran up to him. “Mercedes Raine Jacobsen.” Her voice was angry and controlled. “You know better than to wander off.” She stopped on the front steps staring at her girl, but something was wrong, Mercedes wasn’t looking at her. She was staring at the man that saved her.

Brooke turned to look at him and found herself staring too. He looked stunned as he looked from the little girl to Brooke, his own yellow eyes wide. “Fraulin, this is your little girl?”

“Yes.” Brooke held out her arms for the child and she felt a bit nervous as he didn’t hand her over right away.

“Kurt.” Another voice spoke from the doorway and then trailed off. Brooke only glanced at the woman a moment, her focus on the man holding Mercy. “Oh my god, she looks like you.”

Another voice spoke in a rough male joking tone. “We lose you for a moment and what did you get up to elf?”

Brooke took Mercedes in her arms and he let go as she did. “You scared mommy really bad.” Brooke told the little girl and that got her attention.

“I’m sorry.” Mercy looked ready to cry. “I found a blue man.”

“I don’t care, you know better than to run into the street or to run up to strangers. You know better Mercedes.” Brooke scolded her, ignoring the shocked people staring at her. She knew it was a brunette young woman, and a rough looking man, along with the blue man.

Once she felt safer, holding Mercy, Brooke looked up at him. “Thank you.” She whispered. Her eyes trailed over his skin, a shade so close to Mercy’s, and his eyes were the same yellow. She noticed his hands were different, and his hair was dark.

“He’s blue mommy.” Mercy spoke up, squirming a little in her effort to see.

“Yes I see that.” Brooke looked down at Mercy’s wide eyes. “And you know you shouldn’t talk about people like they aren’t there.”

Mercy looked right at his eyes. “You’re blue.” She told him, to show she knew he was listening. “I’m blue too.” Mercy told him quietly.

“I see that little one.” He spoke softly, gently, and it made Brooke feel a little better about him. His not letting go of Mercy right away had made her uneasy.

“She looks like she could be yours Kurt.” The young woman spoke quietly to the man Brooke now knew was Kurt, and Brooke glanced at her. That was when she saw a stunned looking woman staring with her jaw partly opened at the both of them. Brooke watched as the woman took a step closer to the small crowd of three other strangers and stared at Mercy in shock, before staring at Brooke.

It felt intense and as that woman’s form shifted to a familiar blue Brooke gripped her little girl a little tighter. Guilt filled her heart as she watched the shocked wide eyes and dropped jaw staring between her and the blue little girl in her arms.

Kurt spoke to the young woman. “I swear I’ve never met this woman in my life.” Brooke tore her eyes away from Mystique and looked at the blue man again, making the connection. This was Mercy’s half brother.

“Brooke?” Mystique’s one word was loaded with questions and Brooke turned back to her.

“Momma, she’s blue too.” Mercy sounded delighted, but Brooke couldn’t find a single word to say.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” The brunette spoke, but the rough looking man seemed to give that girl a strange look that made her silent. Brooke’s mind registered that, but her own words were still silenced as Mystique took a few steps closer.

“Hi.” Mercy spoke a little loudly, her tone happy and welcoming. “I’m blue too.” The little girl sounded so happy to be able to say that. It shook Brooke out of her haze and she swallowed hard.

“Hello Mystique.” Brooke spoke softly, knowing her big secret was way out there now. She had planned to spill it gently if she was going to tell Mystique at all. She hadn’t decided yet what she was going to do, but her decision was stolen now. “This is my little girl,” Brooke shifted Mercy in her arms to make her just a little more comfortable to hold. “Mercedes.”

Mystique seemed to take a rather deep breath from her nose and stared at the little girl. Brooke was nervous, because Mercy already seemed to like the blue woman and she prayed that Mystique would be kind in front of her little girl. If she wanted to yell and scream, Brooke prayed it wouldn’t be in front of Mercy.

The rough man whispered but everyone could hear it. “Come on darlin’ this place is getting crowded.” He tugged on the brunettes arm and the woman stared at Brooke, but Brooke was too busy staring at Mystique to shift her attention to the eyes she could feel on her.

“I didn’t know.” Mystique spoke softly and stepped just a little closer. There was so much said in the tone.

“She’s my little angel.” Brooke moved just a little to the side letting two people walk passed her. Brooke glanced around at that and started to worry about the audience they might attract, a pair of two new blue people in town would attract attention and speculation. Her eyes shifted to Kurt and watched his wide eyes move from her to Mystique and back. He looked as stunned as Mystique had for that moment before she spoke.

Brooke didn’t want to do this around a stranger, hell Mystique herself was a stranger. An intimate stranger, but still someone Brooke had only spent one day and night with. She didn’t know her all that well. That made her nervous as she held Mercy tight.

“I’m Mystique.” She introduced herself gently to Mercy, and Brooke watched as the woman stared at their daughter, something tender and still stunned in her eyes.

“I’m Mercy.” Mercy almost hit Brooke in the chin as she shifted around trying to hold out her hand for a shake. Brooke dodged her head a little to avoid the collision.

“Did you leave this woman with your daughter?” Kurt’s voice was low and angry while Mystique took a small hand into her own, and Brooke was startled by the coldness to it.

Mystique looked up from the hand she was shaking and stared right into Brooke’s face as she spoke to him. “I didn’t know I had one.” Brooke blushed at the way she was being stared at by Mystique, and she finally had to look away.

Kurt looked startled, Brooke thought. She stared at him. “Um, do you think you could excuse us?” She asked him politely. He nodded just a little and then was suddenly not there. There was a stink to the air where he’d been though.

Brooke shifted Mercy’s weight in her arms and sighed while glancing at the small alley between the barbershop and the store next to it. It would have to do, because it was only a matter of time before the busy bodies of the town noticed this. “Hey baby, let’s go get out of the sun.” Brooke spoke gently to Mercy and then locked her eyes on Mystique and shifted her head toward the alley.

As they stepped into the alley Mercy was hanging her arm and head over Brooke’s shoulder to talk to the woman behind them. “My Uncle calls me his blueberry. Do people call you a blueberry?”

“No, I can’t say that they do.” Mystique spoke tenderly and it started to calm Brooke a little.

“Oh.” Mercy shifted and Brooke grimaced at the elbow to her ear, but she didn’t turn around as she got where she’d been going, the semi-privacy of the alley. She was letting Mercy talk while she tried to think of what to say herself. Mercy was having the time of her life. “I’m three.” The fingers left Brooke’s shoulder and she felt Mystique step closer.

“One too many fingers doll.” Mystique’s voice was close and Brooke felt the woman so close. She turned and watched as Mystique gently corrected the number of fingers Mercy held up. “That’s three.” Mystique said once Mercy had it right.

Brooke shifted Mercy again, feeling her little girl getting a little heavy with the squirming and lowered her to the ground, but she held Mercy’s hand tightly. “I ah,” Brooke ran a hand through her sweat damped blonde hair and sighed while she looked at Mystique, who was standing rather still waiting for it. “I really didn’t think I’d see you again.” Brooke whispered as Mercy was busy pulling on her arm while trying to get closer to the blue woman. Brooke watched her little girl stretching her arm out to try and touch Mystique’s blue skin.

“This wasn’t an accident was it?” Mystique spoke softly, so it was hard to determine how angry she might be. “I’d apologize about not knowing I could do this, but I get the feeling you planned it.” There was a hint of steel to the last words and Brooke really wished Jimmy was in town so she could drop her baby off before this discussion.

“I owe you a sugar cube.” Brooke grinned a little weakly. “You bred the mare.” Mystique’s jaw tensed, but when Mercy managed to touch the blue woman’s hand she stared down and then opened it so that Mercy could hold her hand.

“You’re blue.” Mercy said, sounding enthralled. “I bet my Uncle will call you a blueberry if you want.”

Brooke took a deep breath and looked up from her little girl at Mystique. “I got just what I wanted.” She admitted it while forcing her body to relax. “A nice night and my little girl.” Brooke wondered if her smile looked as much like a grimace as it felt.

“Why?” Mystique didn’t seem to want to complain as Mercy started to swing her arms, swinging Brooke’s and Mystique’s with hers.

“None of the donors I was trying to pick from were right.” Brooke glanced out to see that rough man leaning on the wall of the grocery store, appearing to be watching out for her truck. She hadn’t locked it, but this was a small town. No one was likely to try and steal it, well unless Mystique’s son inherited his mother’s tendency to steal cars. “I liked your look, and your style. I breed horses, and the same principles work in humans, people claim there is more to it, but it’s just breeding. I wanted a strong, attractive, and intelligent set of genes for my little girl and when I ran into the chance just when it was time, well, I took it.”

“Mommy I have lots of jeans.” Mercy said, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion on her face. “What jeans are you talking about?”

Mystique grinned just a little at Mercy’s comment. “Maybe she’s talking about the one’s you’re wearing. I think they look nice.” Mystique squatted down and really looked at Mercy. She even reached out and straightened Mercy’s shirt for her. Brooke let go of Mercy’s hand and just watched the two interact. She was under no delusions; she knew that she was only being let off the hook this much because Mercy was there.

“You have my eyes.” Mystique spoke softly and smiled at Mercy.

“No silly, I have my own eyes.” Mercy gently slapped Mystique’s arm and laughed.

……………………..

It felt like nothing had been said or resolved by the time Brooke, Mercy and Mystique stepped back out from between the buildings. Mystique stayed blue as they walked out into the sun and approached the road.

“We will need to talk.” Mystique spoke quietly and firmly as she stood beside Brooke and Brooke sighed and nodded.

“Checking both sides baby?” She spoke to Mercy.

“All clear.” Mercy informed her, but Brooke had been checking herself as well so she knew that.

Brooke felt Mystique matching her steps across the street, but she kept her eyes on the truck. Her plans for the day were pretty much cancelled, Brooke thought as she noticed the ice cream parlor she’d been planning to take Mercy to.

The rough looking man nodded just a little to her as Brooke approached her truck. “Damn, I left the frozens in the shop.” She stared at Mercy who was busy looking at the rough man and smiling at Mystique.

Brooke looked over at Mystique and took a deep breath. “Can you watch her for a second while I get the rest of the groceries?” Brooke felt her heart clench in a bit of fear, but this was an act of trust she was showing, a deliberate one. “She likes you.”

Mystique’s jaw tensed a moment, but then the woman looked down at the little girl trying to take her hand. “I guess I could for a minute.” Mystique said it but her voice was a little flat.

“I know you like to steal things.” Brooke whispered, her eyes a little desperate. Mystique just let out a long breath and rolled her eyes.

“We’ll be right here.” The blue woman said while squatting down to pick Mercy up. “I’m definitely not leaving town without our little talk.” The woman said and Brooke just nodded, before turning and walking quickly into the store.

The rough man stared at her as she walked past.

Once she was in the store Mrs. Johnson spoke, “I saw a blue man.” The woman said, but Brooke wasn’t slowing down as she headed for the back of the store.

“Not able to talk right now.” She called back as she made her way down the aisle. Mrs. Johnson was getting on in age, but the woman was out from behind her register and starting to follow her.

“Is that Mercy’s daddy?” Mrs. Johnson asked. “Why a man can’t do the right thing and marry…”

Brooke glared at her. “I don’t know him. If you hadn’t noticed a lot of people are blue, now I need to get going.” She opened the freezer door and grabbed two bags, before turning. She had to pass Mrs. Johnson. “I’m gay Mrs. Johnson. I know you’ve heard this before, so suggesting I marry any man is like me telling you to find a good woman.”

The grocery owner’s eyes widened and Brooke took a deep breath, and just shook her head. Normally she didn’t snap at the woman like this, she made every effort to be polite. “I’m sorry, it’s a stressful day. I’ll talk to you later.”

Brooke’s stride was long and fast as she reached the door and she pushed it opened, a fear she’d felt ever since she left her little girl loosened as she saw that Mystique and Mercy were still there. In fact it looked like Mystique was putting Mercy in the car seat for her.

Brooke tossed the bags into the truck and then stood awkwardly outside of the driver’s side, staring at the woman who’d just finished closing the truck door with her daughter inside. Brooke bit her lip a little. “I,” Brooke glanced over to see the rough man was smoking and looking away. It was an illusion of privacy. “Well, I need to take the groceries home and I can get my brother to babysit. Do you want to meet tonight?” It felt like Brooke was arranging for her own thrashing and she didn’t like it.

“Oh I think I’ll stick around for this.” Mystique spoke quietly, a bit firmly.

“You might want to tell your boy to change his skin, the people around here are already talking about how much he looks like Mercy.” Brooke blushed a little.

“He can’t.” Mystique shifted her standing pose a little. “Where are we gonna meet?”

Brooke struggled to think of a place they could talk privately. When she thought of one, she told Mystique how to get there. The bar was out of town, and a long drive for Brooke, but it was away from the locals who were going to be talking more than enough already.

Mystique held her door opened after Brooke got in the car. Her eyes were penetrating. “If you don’t show, I have ways to find you.” Mystique spoke quietly and Brooke felt a small hint of fear at that.

“I’ll be there.” She promised and then swallowed a little as she watched Mystique’s expression become more friendly as the woman said goodbye to Mercy.

Mercy spent most of the drive home talking about the blue people. She was excited and repeated herself often. Brooke just managed to make small noises, pretending to listen, as she dreaded that night.

……………

After a dinner where Jimmy listened to Mercy talk about her day and Brooke didn’t talk at all, Brooke was getting ready for her night. Her hair was partly put up and she had carefully put on her makeup. This type of cleaning up wasn’t something she did even once a year, but she was working very hard to look her best.

She was sitting at the table in her bedroom working on her eyes when her bedroom door opened slowly. “What’s going on?” Jimmy asked quietly.

Brooke sighed and turned to look at her brother. He’d given her questioning looks ever since Mercy started talking about the blue people. “I didn’t pay for the sperm donor Jimmy.” She admitted quietly. “They would have noticed mutant genes brother, you were right.” She spoke softly and sighed while looking away. “I spent a night with someone to get Mercy. It seemed more real, I didn’t feel comfortable with an info sheet and a tube of sperm. I couldn’t know what her daddy was like that way. I wanted to know what I was getting, hear a voice, see the lines and grace. I wanted to check out the stallion and know I had a winner.” She sighed heavily and put her makeup down on the table heavily. “Only I expected it to be one night and that no one would know, but it didn’t happen that way.”

“You slept with some guy you barely knew?” He sounded stunned.

Brooke grimaced just a little. “Actually I found a woman that could father a child Jimmy, there were no men involved. I thought it was perfect, but she ran through town yesterday and then today she saw Mercy and me. She’s not happy.”

“Ah Hell.” He muttered and sat down on her bed heavily. He was quiet so Brooke shakily worked on her hair, trying to make it perfect as he stared at her. “I’m not even ready to talk about the whole woman thing, what were you thinking doing a one night stand? That was dangerous.”

“She was a real winner Jimmy. Graceful, strong, nice voice, good bones, nice temperament.” Brooke recalled all the things she’d thought about as she was driving in the rain years ago.

“Dammit Brooke!” Jimmy’s voice rose and Brooke looked into the mirror to see him staring at her in the reflection. “You weren’t breeding a horse, you were making a baby.”

Brooke stared into his reflected eyes in the mirror, her own eyes unblinking. “And I made a damn fine baby Jimmy. You may think I did wrong, but you can’t watch her climb and play and not think that’s the most graceful baby you ever did see. She’s smart, and she’s sweet, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I just didn’t pay for the stud service brother, but I made damned sure we both enjoyed that night Mercy was conceived. I thought that would be payment enough, and it would have been if we’d never met again. I don’t have time to argue with you about this, I have to go meet that woman and explain myself.”

“Are you in trouble sis?” His voice softened.

“You know how pissed I’d be if someone borrowed my prize stallion and bred him?” She grinned weakly. “I think she’s madder than that.”

His shoulders slumped a little. “I could bring Mercy to Grandma’s and go with you.” He offered and she smiled weakly at his willingness to be in her corner.

“You don’t need to. I did this and I can face her myself.” Brooke turned to look at him. “I need to do this myself.”

“And you’re dressing up for it. Do you think you can sleep yourself out of this mess?” He asked.

“I was thinking about it.” She admitted ruefully. “Hey, do you think I have a shot at getting Mercy a sister tonight?” She joked weakly. He smiled just a little, but it was clear it was an effort.

“If Mercy gets a sister, I suggest you pay for the stud service. Less trouble.” He stood up. “Well, I better to see what the blueberry is up to and let you put another layer of paint on that face. You’ll need all the help you can get.”

He moved to the doorway, but then just turned around to face her. “People aren’t horses Brooke, they’re more complicated. I know you’ve never really got it, but tonight try. Really try to remember it isn’t breeding and stud service to other people. Normal people talk about relationships and love Brooke, they don’t talk about genes and compensation for services. If it were me some woman did this to, I’d be really upset. Don’t talk like this is horses tonight, you need her to see that you just wanted someone to love.” Brooke took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She couldn’t tear up and ruin her make up. “I’ll stay here tonight and feed Mercy in the morning. You do whatever you have to.” He shook his head and Brooke had the feeling he really hated saying that.

Brooke turned back to the mirror and shakily worked to finish her makeup. It was sad she was going to an angry Mystique, because if the situation were different she would be looking forward to tonight. Brooke hadn’t been with anyone since the last time she’d spent a night with the blue woman, and chances weren’t good for that changing.

She’d named Mercy after that night. It was a Mercedes that Mystique had stolen, and it was the rain that lead to Brooke being the only one to help the shapeshifter out. Mercedes Raine, Brooke sighed as she packed some makeup into her purse. She’d wanted to be able to tell her little girl about her ‘daddy’ someday when she was older, much older. At least old enough to understand what Brooke was telling her and why she’d done it.

……………….

It was dark by the time Brooke pulled up to the bar. She turned her truck off and sighed heavily, making no motion to get out of the truck just yet. She grabbed her rearview mirror and checked her appearance one last time and then took a deep breath while she opened the door.

Music got a little louder as someone stepped out of the bar and Brooke started to walk a little slower as she squared her shoulders and decided to not go in there like a dog ready to be beaten. Brooke stared at the door a moment and then started to move more confidently.

The bar was a little busy, but not too crowded. Brooke looked around and immediately realized she had a problem. There was no blue woman in there, and Mystique could be absolutely anyone. She could also be late or could have stood her up. Brooke looked over the people carefully, looking to see if anyone was looking at her, anyone at all.

There were a few appreciative glances, but nothing like recognition in the faces she studied. “This is just great.” Brooke muttered and then had to move away from the door so someone else could leave.

With nothing else she could do she sat down at the bar and waved the bartender over to get a beer. When the man next to her shifted and looked at her Brooke sighed a little before taking a sip of her beer and waited for the lame come on.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” He said it.

“Yes ya have Bob. I turn you down every time.” She muttered and turned to look over the room again. She hadn’t been to this bar more than five times, but twice this man hit on her. He was always persistent. This was going to be a lovely evening.

…………………