AN: The subject matter of this one is a bit heavy. The fact of the matter is that Ginny and Mike are an interracial couple and that comes with certain difficulties. I understand if this isn't for everyone, but as the child of an interracial couple, I felt that this needed to be written.


The pool party was a success. Eager to enjoy being "Mr. Ginny Baker" in his post retirement phase, Mike had become quite the social butterfly. Ginny watched in amusement as he fussed over hor d'oeuvres and drinks and did they have enough ice? Her plan for the party was to smile, grab a beer and eat whatever Mike put in front of her. Her man could cook and she was going to take full advantage of that fact.

There was something off about the Westons and she felt it the second they walked onto the pool deck. Their smiles were too large and she noted the way they looked around at everyone before making a beeline for Mike. She was relieved. She'd never really spoken to any of Mike's neighbors, but this couple from down the street just didn't sit well with her. She was about to go ask Livan to get her a beer when Mike called out for her.

"BAKER." He jerked his head towards the Westons. Ginny forced a smile on her face and walked over. The Westons, or Tom and Gladys, as Mike introduced them when he tucked her beneath his arm, gave her measured, guarded looks. "Ginny is a squatter who calls herself my girlfriend." Mike joked. "I play along because she compliments my cooking."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You say that as though you don't beg me not to leave you at least once a week."

Mike grinned down at her. "I'll have you know that I was number four in the list of San Diego's list of top ten eligible bachelors." The list had been published before they'd gone public with their relationship. Mike had bragged about it for a whole day before Ginny made him read the rest of the article...and discover that Livan had been ranked number three.

The Westons gave them indulgent, if forced, smiles. "This is quite a lovely party, Michael." Gladys said, looking around. "Definitely not as loud as some of your past gatherings."

Mike's cheeks flushed. "I...think the burgers are burning." He mumbled, turning his attention back to the grill. Glaring at Omar, who'd apparently gotten too close, he launched into a long winded rant about 'not interfering with another man's meat, Robles'.

Ginny shook her head before turning back to the Westons. She hated making small talk, but it seemed she had no choice.

"How long have you lived in the neighborhood?" She asked.

"38 years." Tom said. Gladys shot him a look. "The neighborhood has changed a lot since then." His voice had an edge Ginny didn't like, but true to her publicity training she didn't let her discomfort show.

"We run the neighborhood watch." Gladys supplied, clutching her husband's arm. "And the home owners' association." Ginny didn't know what to do with that information so she nodded, taking a sip of her beer. It was the wrong move; Gladys sniffed and Tom's jaw twitched.

"Mike..." Ginny glanced over her shoulder where Mike was still talking at Omar. "Hasn't told me about either of those.."

"Of course not dear." Gladys said. "You aren't a homeowner." She looked at Mike. "And he's never really cared about the betterment of our neighborhood."

Ginny's skin crawled. "Let me guess;" she had to keep the smile in place. "He's all sorts of trouble."

Gladys fixed her with a withering stare that showed how unamusing she found Ginny. "He does have a habit of bringing...disruptive individuals into our neighborhood." She sniffed. "Though they usually aren't permanent."

Alarm bells went off in Ginny's head as she forced herself to remain clam. "The paparazzi?" She said mildly, knowing it wasn't what they meant.

"Among other things." Gladys gave her a once over before pulling her husband's arm and walking him towards the buffet table. Ginny shivered; the hot June sun not enough to counter the chill that raced through her veins. She hated that she'd so easily let Gladys affect her. Moving away from the crowd of people everything started to feel loud. Every person glancing in her direction seemed to judge her. She made her way to a chair in the corner. Mike looked at her, concern lining his forehead. Grabbing a plate, he loaded it with all the greasy things she loved and she shouldn't be eating during the season before walking over to her.

"You okay?" He asked, holding out the food. She looked up at him, trying to say the words 'your neighbors are racists' but they wouldn't come. Instead what she said was:

"I'm not hungry."

Mike's eyes widened. "Gin." He said.

"I'm good." She stood, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Just...need another beer" She fled inside. The glass walls that had always been a source of amusement for her now made her feel exposed. She could see the Westons glaring at Sonny and Livan who were grumbling about the Yankees. She felt sick.


Mike knew something was wrong, but didn't press. He watched as Ginny went around the pool after the party, shoving trash into a giant bag.

"Gin." He said.

"The raccoons will come if we don't clean away this stuff." Ginny said. She needed to focus on the task at hand. If she slowed down, the conversation from earlier would catch up with her. "And there's also rats and-"

Mike blocked her path, gently putting his hands on her shoulders. "This can wait." Ginny couldn't meet his eyes, the pain she knew she would find there making her feel worse. She shouldn't shut him out, but she wasn't sure where to start. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine." She said, the lie cutting her deep. "Just tired." She nudged him with her elbow. "You kept me up pretty late last night." The flirty joke backfired and Mike's expression didn't change.

"What is it?" He asked. "Is it your shoulder? Has Livan been making you work too hard on one specific pitch? Because I told him-"

Baseball. He thought it had to do with baseball. Ginny wished it did. She wished her shoulder was giving her trouble.

"I..." She glanced at the pool. "I need to go to bed."

Mike arched an eyebrow. "What happened to your war against the raccoons?" He frowned as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She could feel him staring at her as she went up stairs. That night as he climbed into bed, she pretended to be asleep, curled up on her side of the bed with her back to him. She heard his pained intake of breath as he settled next to her.


The next morning she was up early. Mike had moved in the night, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She tried to extract herself without waking him, but he mumbled sleepily.

"You going for a run?"

It was what she did every morning, but now, knowing that there was a neighborhood watch and who was in charge of it, she didn't feel safe anymore. Ginny shook her head.

"I'm going to Evelyn's." She kissed his brow. Mike squinted up at her.

"You don't have to go in today." He tried to pull her back down. "If you're not getting your usual early morning workout let me give you one." He gave her a lazy smirk. "I guarantee you'll like it more."

She shook her head, turning away from him and trying to ignore the way his arms reached for her as she got out of bed. "I'll see you later."

Evelyn answered the door. "Mike's been crying to Blip ever since you left the house." She said, ushering her inside. "What the hell is going on? And how many pieces do you want Mike in?"

Ginny smiled at her friend's protectiveness. "One." She said. "He didn't do anything."

Evelyn sat her down on the couch, waiting for her to explain. "Someone..." she hesitated. "Someone at the party yesterday said something a bit racist and..." She ducked her head. "I'm probably overreacting and it's probably not as bad as I'm imagining to it be, but it made me feel..." She trailed off. Evelyn, put her arm around her.

"What did Mike say?" She asked.

"He didn't hear it." Ginny mumbled. "And I didn't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Ginny looked at her hands, struggling to find a way to voice what had led her to hide it from him. Blip walked into the room on the phone. "We haven't...exactly had the conversation yet."

"The Conversation?" Evelyn said slowly.

"The I'm Black You're White What Does That Mean Conversation." Ginny mumbled.

Blip frowned and turned away, muttering "Man I'm gonna have to call you back" into the phone before hanging up. He and Evelyn shared a look. "I'm on it." He said, tapping on his phone before putting it to his ear. "Yo, Evers." He said as he walked out the door.

Evelyn turned back to Ginny. "The Westons?" She said. Ginny nodded. "I thought so. They once had Blip's car towed because it 'didn't belong' in the neighborhood. and there was that time when they called a noise complaint when the twins were playing in Mike's pool." She shook her head. "And those are just the things I can come up with off the top of my head. Mike's sweet, but he can sometimes be clueless. He's not good at recognizing discrimination, though his radar seems to have gotten better since he started dating you."

Ginny let out a shaky breath, grimacing slightly. She hadn't been overreacting. It was a relief and yet it didn't make her feel any better. "I got nervous about telling him." She mumbled. "It sounds silly, but I..." She shut her eyes. "He seemed to get along with them and I didn't want to accuse them of something...without..."

"Fuck that." Evelyn cut her off. "That we don't say anything is one thing; Blip and I are Mike's friends, but you're his..." She waved her hand distractedly. "His Ginny." She said finally. "What the two of you have is more important than his relationship with his racist neighbors. If he's half the man I think he is he'll drop them." Evelyn glared at the window. "Sometimes I think us worrying about making others uncomfortable lets racist assholes think their behavior is okay." She grabbed her phone. Ginny frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling in a noise complaint on Gladys Weston." Evelyn said "She's having a bougie white lady garden party. I heard her bragging about it yesterday to Al. Let's see how she likes the cops showing up to her door."

"Ev." Ginny covered her mouth as Evelyn shushed her. Clearing her throat, she took on a high, nasally tone.

"Yes, officer?" She said. "Oh. Thank goodness. I'm calling about the most awful racket coming from 24 Claremont St...Yes...Oh thank you. Thank you so much officer. I'm just so concerned...thank you. Have a lovely day." She hung up. "That should teach that hag a thing or two."

Ginny gaped at her, then burst out laughing. "You're terrible."

"Well." Evelyn's look of amusement faltered. "There so many things about this that are exhausting. You have to try and have fun where you can." She leaned back against the couch, looking off into the distance. "I have 2 sons, Ginny. They're small now, but..." She closed her eyes. "Every day they grow older is a day I get more worried." She bit her lip. "They're only 8 and already I see how people are starting to treat them differently. They're not cute anymore. They're..." She broke off. Ginny had a flash of her mother waiting up for Will on nights he'd go out with his friends. The look of absolute relief she'd had when he'd come back through the door.

Evelyn closed her eyes. "Even though my husband 's famous...all I can think of is how little that matters. That one day someone will look at my kind, wonderful, happy, smart boys and see a threat." Tears started to run down her cheeks. "And the worst part is that I think they're starting to understand that too. It's small things. Them noticing that their teacher isn't as harsh on some of the white kids as she is on them. Them wearing shirts with their names on them and people not being able to tell them apart. The classmate who thought the black girl in their class was related to them." Her voice cracked. Ginny hugged her, closing her eyes to fight back against tears as Evelyn freely sobbed, clutching Ginny's arms.

"It's not fair." She whispered.

Ginny nodded, shutting her eyes.


Mike practically ran to the door. "Blip, thank god. I-" He broke off. Blip was standing with Sonny, Livan, and Javanes. They were all wearing identical serious expressions. Mike's throat dried. This was bad. Stepping aside, he let them in. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Mike," Blip said as he walked into the center of the living room. "Ginny doesn't know we're here." He looked over at Sonny. "We talked and we figured it's time we had a serious conversation with you."

The others had all made themselves comfortable before looking at him. A silence fell. Mike could feel sweat begin to trickle down the back of his neck. "This isn't doing good things to my blood pressure." He said.

"Mike." Blip said, his brow furrowing. "Ginny's black." Mike blinked. His first impulse was to laugh, but his gut told him that was a bad idea..

"I've noticed." He said slowly.

"I don't think you have." Blip said. "Ginny's being black might not make you judge her differently, but it does affect how the rest of the world sees her, treats her, and views your relationship."

"You would not believe that think-pieces I've read about how toxic people think your relationship is." Sonny chimed in. A low ringing began in Mike's ears.

"Toxic?" He asked. "I never-"

"We know." Livan cut him off. "In fact, if there's anyone in your relationship who benefits from an extreme imbalance of power it's Ginny." He smirked as Mike glared at him. Blip shot Livan a look.

"That-" Javanes said. "Doesn't change the fact that to the rest of the world you're her former captain. An older, white man who had a position of authority over her."

"But-" Mike began.

"There's other levels of privilege." Sonny continued. "The two of you are living in your house. She's not as wealthy as you...All of those things lead people to believe that you might have leveraged all of that over her head to get her to be with you."

Mike shut his eyes, a sinking felling beginning in his stomach. He wanted to shout that he didn't give a damn what the rest of the would thought, but the words stuck in his throat. "What do I do?" He had to fix this.

Sonny gave him a sad look. "You don't."

Mike's head shot up and he glared at him. "What? I'm just supposed to accept it?"

Blip's face was calm. "Right now you're angry. Frustrated that something is threatening someone you care about. Hurt that people could assume terrible things about you and people you love that aren't true. What you're feeling is a fraction of what we've all felt." He motioned to the others. "What Ginny's felt her entire life."

Livan patted him on the shoulder. "Buckle up, Lawson." He smirked. "This is going to be fun." Mike glared at him.

"What are you even doing here? You and Javanes aren't..." He trailed off, catching the unamused looks on Sonny and Blip's faces.

"I'm Afro-Puerto Rican." Javanes said. "Intersectionality bro. Read about it."

"And you-" Livan said. "Need to realize that there are levels to racism besides white and black." He pulled out his phone, opening a word document.

"You brought notes." Mike looked at the 4 of them. "How long have you been planing this exactly?"

Sonny pulled out a flashdrive. "Ever since Robles told us how you chewed him out because you 'weren't' in love with Ginny."

Blip nodded solemnly. "The fact is, you have privilege." He looked around. "And it's already affected people in this room."

"People called me a Mexican Job thief." Livan said. "They saw what you said on ESPN, saw that I was brown and assumed that I was after their beloved white catcher's job." He shrugged. "It didn't matter that I was from Cuba."

"Same racists that lost their minds after you started publicly dating Ginny." Sonny said.

"But I've..." Mike frowned. "I've been with black girls or not white girls before Ginny."

There was a collective groan and Javanes threw a pillow at his head.

"I'm not trying to be gross." Mike said. "But-"

"Have you ever googled yourself?" Blip asked. "Wait, stupid question. Have you ever really paid attention to what comes up when you google pictures of yourself back in your groupie days?"

"The only pictures that people care about are the ones with blondes." Sonny said. "People either didn't take pictures of the women of color or out right ignored that they exist. So for many people you dating a black woman is a betrayal."

"And people know groupies aren't a permanent fixture in your life." Javanes said. "But what you and Ginny have is real. It's not easy to ignore like a one night stand."

Mike looked at his hands. "Why hasn't she mentioned any of this to me?" He said.

"It's not her job to." Blip said. "And while she's definitely thought about it, it hadn't been an issue until yesterday when someone you invited to the party said something upsetting to her."

Mike looked around. Someone had upset Ginny and she hadn't felt comfortable enough to come to him. He didn't want that to happen again. "Tell me how I can do better." He said.

Sonny held up his flashdrive. "We have slides."


Ginny hesitated at Mike's door before ringing the bell. Mike opened almost immediately. Pulling her inside, he shut the door. They stared at each other. Ginny looked at the ground. "At the party." She said. "When you introduced me to the Westons...after you went to talk to Omar they...they said somethings. It wasn't like they called me a name or..." She shook her head. No. She wasn't going to sugarcoat this. "They said that the neighborhood had changed and that you brought in disruptive elements and it was the way they said it that made it very clear that I was disruptive...that I was against the betterment of the neighborhood." Mike held her hands, squeezing them slightly. "I just felt...scared. That they were in charge of watching people in the neighborhood and calling the cops. That they get to decide who's dangerous and who's not." She shook, but it felt good letting it all out.

Mike pulled her close. "I had a talk with Blip and some of the guys. I'm a clueless idiot and if the Westons said something that make you feel uncomfortable and hurt you then I'll make sure they don't come over." He took a deep breath. "And if you don't feel safe in the neighborhood we can find a new place. Somewhere without a neighborhood watch." He paused. "I just...someone said something that hurt you and I want...I get that you were uncomfortable sharing with me for...reasons having to do with my um... your...uhh"

"You can say white, Mike." Ginny said. "And black."

"I know?" Mike said. "Sort of...Javanese and Sonny had a powerpoint."

Ginny arched an eyebrow.

"It's not important." He muttered. "I just... I want you to know that you can talk to me."

"I just." Ginny lowered her eyes. "I wasn't sure you'd believe me."

"Gin." Mike said. "I always believe you." He pulled her closer. She pressed her face into his neck. "Except for the poster thing." He muttered. "I know you're lying through your teeth about that." Ginny gave him a weak smile.

"Powerpoint?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." Mike said. "Apparently they've been preparing this ever since before we started dating. It's a three part series." Ginny stifled a laugh.

"I love those guys." She mumbled, touched that her friends were helping her through a difficult situation. "And I love you."

"So do I." He said. "Love you, I mean." He frowned. "I don't love Duarte, though."

Ginny arched an eyebrow. "Did he give you a hard time?" Mike nodded, pouting slightly. Ginny grinned, looking at the coffee table. There was a large stack of books in front of her. "And those?"

"Oh." Mike said. "There's also a required reading list." He looked at the stack. "Did you know there's a separate part of the bookstore for Black history? As if it weren't regular history..." He trailed off. "Yep, of course you did. I'm an idiot." He hesitated. "I just...I don't want you to feel that you're responsible for my education on intersectionality. I haven't...I get that I need to do better."

Ginny let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." She said. "For not making this...I was scared..." She let out a breath. "When I was dating Noah." Mike hissed at the other man's name. Ginny pressed on. "He um... After the election he told me that I should try to understand where Trump supporters were coming from and that I had no reason to be scared...because I wasn't a thug or a drug dealer."

Mike gripped her a bit tighter.

"Asshole." He growled.

"Yeah." She lowered her eyes. "I mean, there were plenty of other warning signs, but him calling me 'one of the good ones' it was..." She let out a breath. "So um...yeah."

They sat together, holding each other. "Promise me one thing." He said.

Ginny looked over at him.

"If I ever say something that hurts you, like what dweeb boy said. You kick my ass."

Ginny grinned. "Livan, Blip, Javanes, and Sonny told you they'd beat you into a pulp, didn't they?" Mike nodded.

"With baseball bats." He grimaced. "If someone's going to kick my ass, it's going to be the love of my life." He frowned. "Also, not that I will ever mention their evil names under this roof again, but the police showed up to Gladys Weston's house around lunch..." He trailed off as Ginny grinned. "What...?"

"Evelyn." Ginny said.

"Ah." Mike said. "Yeah, makes sense."