Mercy (Queen's Birds of Prey 1)

The one that Joel and Miley lived in wasn’t suitable either. Yes, it was bigger than her apartment, but it only had two bedrooms and a smallish one that Joel was using for an office. The only thing that it had going for it was the fact that it had a large kitchen. Mercy didn’t cook, but she did love to eat.

Standing in front of the mirror, she tried out several different outfits and discarded them all. She wanted to wear something that said she didn’t give a fuck what he wanted, but also showed that she was all woman. Nothing that she could think of, it seemed, did both of those at the same time.

Sitting down at her computer, she started looking for homes. It would be big, she decided. And if he were to want to raise their child part of the time, without her, she wanted something that was close to the others. The six birds, she thought, could have a lot of fun with an infant.

There were three houses that she liked. One of them had nine bedrooms, the other eleven. But the one that she liked the most of all was the larger of the three, which sat on nearly four hundred acres of trees. It had been an arbor at one time, and now that no one took care of the trees, they were in abundance.

When it got closer to the time for her to leave, she dressed herself in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. It was casual as well as comfy. It seemed that lately she didn’t want to wear heels and dresses. The more comfortable she was, the better she liked it, even going so far as to go barefoot. Mercy had forgotten the feel of carpet and grass under her toes.

Deciding to fly rather than drive, she sat outside his home for ten minutes before Miley opened her bedroom door out into the yard. She looked beautiful in her jeans and boots. Her sweater was one that she’d shown her herself. Mercy flew down to meet the young girl.

“You’re here.” Mercy shifted, her body taking on the clothing that she’d decided to wear. “Dad isn’t home, so we can talk.”

Mercy sat on the decking and watched the yard as she told her that she was coming for dinner. That her father had invited her. Neither of them said anything for some time, and it was Miley that broke the silence.

“Are you going to tell him about the magic?” Mercy told her that was one of the things they were going to talk about. “Are you going to tell him, too, that you’ve been here with me?”

“Yes, I don’t like that we were sneaking around. He should know, don’t you think? I was afraid that if I told him before, he might forbid me to come around.” Miley told her that he’d never do that. “He might yet, Miley. We didn’t exactly part on good terms.”

“He told me. Dad was devasted when he figured out what an ass he’d been.” Mercy laughed with M

iley. “I think every day, he regrets it more and more.”

“We’ll see. I’ve been meaning to ask you. How do you like your new school? I heard that it’s a very good one.” Miley told her that they were great, and that she wasn’t as bored as she used to be. “That’s good. A friend of mine runs it, and she was glad to take you in after she got all your paperwork. I’m assuming that your dad was all right with you going to a progressive school like that one instead of a traditional one?”

“Yes, he knew that I was struggling at the other school. But no one told him that it wasn’t that I was behind, but that I was much too advanced to be sitting with children that weren’t. The teacher, Miss Roebuck, told me that I should have been taking advanced classes all along. I might have even been out of high school by now.”

The door to the house opened and neither of them moved when Joel called out for Miley. When he came to her door to the outside, Mercy felt her belly tense up. When he came out onto the deck and sat with the two of them, no one said a word until he did.

“I love the view from the back of the house. Whoever built it, they did a great thing by turning the bedrooms so that the person staying in the rooms would be able to see this first thing.” Mercy didn’t say anything, and Joel looked at her. “You did this, didn’t you? This was something you built. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, I was everything at one time or another. When you’re around as long as we’ve been, it’s easy to get bored. The tin toys that we make, they were pieces that I picked up over the centuries. And when the man who had them sort of fell into a bad place, he sold me the patent on them. I still pay his estate royalties every year, but we’ve made a good amount of money on them.” Joel asked if she was bored with it yet. “Yes, I don’t want to make toys anymore. Blaze is going to take over until we sell it off or close it down, but I’m finished with it. I’m going to have your baby, Joel.”

Chapter 4

Joel didn’t know what to say. He was trying to gauge her feelings on having his child. Miley was happy, screaming about having a sibling and excited to have someone to play with. Joel just kept watching Mercy.

“You’re not saying anything.” He asked her how she felt about it. “If you’re asking me to get rid of it, then I’m going to tell you right now that I’m not.”

“No, I’d never do anything like that. Never. And I would like to help you raise the baby. I have about ten thousand questions going through my head at the moment, none of them—”

“Dinner is ready, sir.” Dutch smiled at her. “You’ll be joining us, I assume. I have you a plate of worms and such all ready to eat, my lady.”

After Dutch left, Miley looked at her, shocked.

“You’re not eating worms, are you?” Miley shivered as she continued. “I don’t care that you eat them, but please, eat them some other time. I don’t think I could handle that.”

“She’s joking.” Mercy looked at him again. “I only eat that sort of thing when I’m a bird. Which lately, is a lot. May I still join you two?”

“Of course.” She followed him to the dining room. He’d made touches throughout the house—mostly Miley would find something online and he’d buy it. It was certainly nice being able to afford things, even if they weren’t something that they needed. “I don’t know what we’re having. I called Dutch this afternoon after talking to you to tell her that you were joining us. She acted as if she knew already.”

“She did, I would imagine. I told you that she was magical, or at least Piper did.” He said that he had been told. “Things have been well here? You have everything that you need?”

“Yes, I mean, we’ve had fun buying little things. I have a lot of pictures of Miley and some of both of us that I’ve gotten frames for. But I’ve been enjoying just being at home after working all day too. Will the baby be human?”

“No, I’m not, snd as of the moment that we touched, neither are you.” Joel dropped his fork and looked at Miley when she laughed. Mercy picked up the roll that had been knocked off his plate and handed it to him. “I had to do some research on things. I was given a book on the magic when we were turned into what we are. Here, you need to drink something or breathe. You’re making me nervous.”

Joel drank down the entire glass of water and looked at Mercy again. “What sort of magic do I have?” She asked him if he was comfortable in his suit. “No, not really. I come home and change, but I wanted to— What the hell was that?”