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The wheelchair was what had got her crying. It was padded, though she wouldn’t be able to feel it, and the wheels that she used were small and easier for her to turn. All she wanted to do was to hop on it and take a ride around the room. But she needed a minute.
“It’s motorized as well, Miley.” He showed her where the little arm was that she could us. “The instructions say that it’s for going uphill easier, as well as when you need a break. Then it says, it’s all right for you to need a break once in a while.”
That set her off crying again. Mercy had done so much for them and never, not once, said a thing about it. Looking at her dad through her tears, she wondered briefly if she should tell him that she spoke to Mercy nearly every day. But she’d made a promise, one that she knew she had to keep for a bit longer.
Dad’s room was bigger, of course, and so nice. The bed was giant, and she wondered if Mercy had done that for them, then dismissed that thought. Mercy said she wasn’t going to see her dad anymore, that she was just too busy. Miley hurt for the two of them. But at least she knew that Mercy was thinking of them too, and that might be good.
There were other things that she could tell her dad, things that she’d been sworn to secrecy about unless he figured them out. Then she could tell him where the magic had come from. But before then, she was just to use what she’d been given, and try very hard not to freak her dad out. Mercy said that in time, he’d have it all, but for now, he could figure it out a little at a time. She hoped her dad was curious enough to figure it out soon. She was excited for him to get freaked out and call to Mercy. If he would.
~*~
Mercy wasn’t going to tell the others that she’d been in and out of the plant for the last week or so. She supposed that Blaze would have figured it out by now. She’d been leaving her notes on things since she’d been back, and Blaze was making them work. The new policy was getting rave reviews.
One month off in the summer months for every employee that had perfect attendance. With pay. And, if they got through a year without injury that was their own fault, then they got a bonus at Christmas time. But the injury wouldn’t count against them if it was deemed the company’s fault. Mercy had told Blaze to try to be extra lenient about laying fault at the employee’s door.
Production was at an all-time high, and orders were coming in heavily. It was still nine weeks until Christmas, but stores would need product now for it. So long as they ordered by the eighteenth of December, Mercy and Blaze would try to have their orders to them on time. It made for a good relationship with them. She thought about the note from Blaze.
You really should go and see him. He and Miley are loving the house, and you should have been at the meeting when we welcomed Joel to the family. That was rude of you.
Blaze had been the one that would always tell her when she was wrong. Well, they all would be, but Blaze was less nice about it than the other four. Today proved that not only was Blaze getting pissed off at her, but she’d also threatened to tell Joel and Miley where she lived.
Leaving her a note to change things, Mercy decided to ignore her threat. She might tell them, but Mercy could hide better than anyone could. She’d been at it a good deal longer, and she had more magic than the others too.
Mercy knew that she’d have to go and see Joel soon enough. There were things going on that he would need to be made aware of. For one thing, she figured out that she could make it so that Miley could walk. It wasn’t something that she’d been looking for but reading up on the magic that she’d been left by the queen, it stated that if someone, in this case Miley, were close to her heart, then she could do a great many things to that person that would enhance their life. She figured that walking was something that would enhance anyone’s life.
Then there was the child. She had gotten knocked up, it seemed, and wasn’t really sure how she felt about that. Nor, for that matter, how he’d feel about it. According to the book that she’d read again, it would appear that Joel was what she was—a falcon. Just because of the magic of finding her mate.
“Mother fuck. He’s going to be pissed about it all, I just know it.”
It had been five weeks since she’d been with Joel, less since she and Miley had talked. The girl was smart, much smarter than people gave her credit for.
Picking up the phone for the hundredth time in the last two hours, she placed the call to his cell phone. Maybe, she thought, he’d not answer it. She’d made sure that her number would be blocked, and maybe he was—
“Yes, hello?” Fuck, he would be the type to answer. “Hello? This is Joel Oliver. Has something happened to my daughter?”
“It’s Mercy.” She waited while he didn’t speak, waiting for him to hang up the phone, or worse yet, tell her to fuck off. “I would like to set up a time to speak to you about some things.”
“Anytime. I’m on my lunch hour now if you’d like to come here. I’m so glad you called, Mercy. I have so much to tell you too.” He laughed a little. “The house. I can’t thank you enough for it. And everything else.”
“How did you...? Blaze. Or Piper told you.” He said that it was a guess, but she knew that they’d spoken to him. “Can you come here now? Or after work? I get off at four and should be home about four thirty. Miley will be thrilled to see you.”
Mercy wanted to cancel this. Not to see him. She also wanted to ask him if he’d be glad to see her as well. When he asked again when she was coming to see him, she told him that it would be later, after dinner.
“I can’t wait to see you, Mercy. It’s been a long time, and I have so much.... I’m so very sorry for the way I treated you that morning. You have no idea how badly I feel for what I did to you.” She cried, her eyes burning with the tears. “I love you, Mercy. I don’t know how it happened, and frankly, I don’t care. But I do love you. I think I have from the moment that I saw you.”
“You hurt me.” Joel said that he knew he had. And it hurt him that he’d done that to her. “I don’t know what I feel about you. I hurt with every breath I take that you said those things to me.”
“If I could do it all over, I’d never say that to you. But it’s too late to try and not say that stuff. I truly regret it. I’m so sorry, Mercy.” She heard someone talking to him. “I have to go. You’ll be there tonight, won’t you? I’d like to ask you to promise me, but I don’t deserve that. Just, please, I’m begging you to come tonight.”
She placed the receiver in the cradle. Mercy regretted calling him, and at the same time was glad that she had. They really did have to talk, if for no other reason than to make him aware of a few things. Not even counting the baby.
Mercy put her hand over her flat belly. A child grew there, and she had no idea if it would be magical, like she was, or something else. Just yesterday she’d gone to see the old doctor, the one that had been at the castle when they had been. He’d been less than helpful.
The man was a loon, she decided, and wondered if he saw many patients anymore. She was going to put the word out that everyone should avoid him from now on. His medical practices were of the old ways. He’d actually suggested to her that he find some leeches to bleed out the poison in her body. Walking away from him was much better than she had wanted to do. The old buzzard was lucky to be alive.
“Now I have to figure out how to tell Joel he’s going to be a father again.”
Mercy walked around her office. The apartment she was living in was much too small for her, but as she rarely stayed here, it had suited her just fine. Now, with a baby coming, she realized that she didn’t have the room for much of anything. It was time to look at bigger houses.
