Disclaimer: I do not own MutantX or any characters you recognize. Kassidy and Kyla, however, are all mine.
A/N: Hey guys! I'm finally updating. This is kinda a short chapter. It basically sets up the situation. Hopefully the next chapters will move a little quicker. Review please! I'm a bit of a review whore. You'll make my day! Enjoy
L.K.
Kassidy Mulwray was the picture of innocent beauty. The five-year-old girl grinned as she skipped across the freshly watered grass. Her entire face seemed to glow with happiness. Her fair skin was bathed in sunlight. The sprinkling of freckles on her nose and cheeks melted together as her face scrunched up with suppressed giggles. Her gleaming, red hair was pulled into a long braid that bounced against her back as she pranced along. She was often told that she looked like her father. He, also, was a freckled, fair, redhead. Kassidy's resemblance to her mother was not quite as noticeable.
Unlike her daddy, who was 100 Irish, Kassie's mamma, Kyla Mulwray, had a mixed heritage. Kyla's mother was Irish, while her father was Spanish. It seemed as though the Spanish traits were more prominent in Kyla. She had large, dark brown eyes that matched her long, dark hair. Her skin was naturally tan and smooth. She was strikingly beautiful, and moved her tall body with a natural grace. Kassidy thought that her mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was always flattered when people compared her to her mother. The other women on their street often told her that she had her mother's eyes as well as her elegance.
Kassidy's brown eyes were currently shining with delight and her cat-like grace was forgotten as she happily galloped across the park. Her shoes made soft squelching noises in the soggy earth. Her mother would not be happy when she saw how dirty the little girl's clothes were. They were quite rumpled and mud was splattering onto her pretty, blue denim skirt as she skipped along. She wouldn't get in trouble for it, though. Today was a very good day.
When she glanced back at her mother, Kassidy realized that Mommy didn't notice how dirty her clothes were. Mommy was too happy to care about little things like clothes. She finally had her little boy back. She held him tightly in her arms and looked at him as though she had never seen him before. Brennan looked up at her with an adorable smile and giggled. Kassie laughed along with her brother. She stopped running and looked him over, just as her mother was doing. Mommy's Spanish heritage was more prominent in Brennan than in Kassie. His dark brown hair had grown long over the past months. It hung in his face obscuring his large, mocha brown eyes. His tan skin was paler than usual, but that was to be expected after spending months locked in a hospital.
Brennan was still a baby when he was diagnosed with a fatal disease. Mommy had not talked about it much. She never told Kassidy what was going on; instead she pretended to be happy and spent a lot of time with the two children. However, when Brennan got a bit older he became really sick. Mommy couldn't pretend anymore. She just told Kassie that Brennan was hurt deep inside him. When Kassie asked why the doctors didn't fix him, her mother had started crying and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. She had whispered, "They can't, baby. Bren is too special."
Kassie didn't understand, but she didn't want to upset her mommy. She just tried to be extra good and help take care of Brennan. He was always sick and the doctors at the hospital didn't know what to do for him. They were starting to lose hope until Mommy heard about a place called Genomex. The doctors at Genomex were using experimental science to cure sickly children. She was told that they had a great success in cases like Brennan's. Mommy told Kassidy that the doctors would be able to save Brennan. So, they brought Kassie's one-year-old brother to this "hospital" hoping for the best.
She was horrified when the doctor told her she would have to leave Brennan there. Kassie had jumped from her chair to scream at the doctor. She told him they wouldn't leave Brennan in a scary place like that. He was just a baby. He needed Kassie and Mommy to look after him. She even yelled at her mother for bringing them there. She was about to take her baby brother and run away from that place until the doctor reminded her that Genomex might be Brennan's only chance for survival. She finally calmed down enough to see the tears streaming from her mothers expressive eyes. Mommy was singing softly, trying to calm her son. He had been frightened by all of the yelling. Kassie watched through teary eyes, as Brennan trembled and wailed in her mother's arms. He was clutching his mother's shirt so tightly Kassie thought he might never let go. She couldn't leave him there. He was too little to be left alone. He was too scared to be away from his Mommy and big sister. But he was too sick to go home. After much persuasion and many more tears, Kassidy reluctantly left her brother there, promising to return for him soon.
That was four months ago. She and Mommy had tried to visit Brennan many times, only to be turned away by "sympathetic" receptionists. They were told that Brennan was a sensitive case and that he was unable to have visitors until his therapy was finished. Kassie knew that her mommy had been worried about Brennan. She had spent a lot of time staring out of the kitchen window in their little house. Kassie remembered that mommy used to do that a lot right after daddy was sent off to war. He left two months before Brennan was born. Mommy said that he was going away to be a hero. She told Kassie that they should all be proud of him. Kassie was mad at him though. He had been her hero, wasn't that enough for him? Why did he have to go all the way across the ocean to be a hero for people who would never even know him?
Those people had never played tag with him in the park. He hadn't helped them build forts out of couch cushions. He had never held them close when the thunder and lightening got too scary. Yet, Mommy said that was why they needed him. He had already done all those things and more for Kassie. Some people didn't have daddy's like hers to play with them and hold them. So she decided to loan out her hero, but only for a little while. She already missed him a lot and she wanted Brennan to meet their Daddy. Soon those other people would just have to find a hero of their own.
"Mommy! Brennan! Watch me!" Kassidy called happily from the middle of the field. After capturing her audience's attention she turned her face towards the sun and spread her arms out wide. She began to spin around and around like a top. She watched as the clouds melted into the blue sky, creating a beautiful swirl of white and blue. Kassie giggled as she began to get dizzy. The sky seemed to lurch and fall onto its side. Soon she stumbled and dropped to the ground. She could hear Brennan's childish giggles and her mother's musical laughter. She sighed happily and moved to lie on her back in the wet grass. Kassie massaged her fingers into the lawn and felt the damp earth push its way under her fingernails. A blue bird flew across the sky and she idly wondered if she could fly too. She hadn't felt this free and happy in a long time. She felt like she could soar through the clouds and join the birds as they danced across the sky.
Kassie heard singing and propped herself up on an elbow to watch her mother. Mommy was singing an old Cole Porter song called "Begin the Beguine." It was one of her favorites. She told Kassie that it reminded her of Daddy. Kassie watched her mother dance with Brennan safely tucked in her arms. She smiled as her mother twirled around, her long brown hair swirling about her body. Kassie loved it when Mommy sang. She sang all of the time. She would sing when she was happy, sad, cooking, cleaning, or putting Kassie and Brennan to sleep. She sang the best, though, when she was dancing. Kassie could sing very well, also. People said that she got her singing talent from Mommy. They told her that her daddy couldn't sing for the life of him. She wasn't too sure what that meant but she had heard Daddy sing before and it wasn't pretty. Not like Mommy, anyway.
Kassidy got up and joined the dancing. Her mother held a hand out for her and they danced together, with Brennan between them beaming happily. Mommy led Kassidy into a twirl and continued singing.
Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play
Till the stars that were there before return above you,
Till you whisper to me once more,
Darling, I love you!
And we suddenly know what heaven we're in,
When they begin the beguine
When the song ended, Brennan squealed and clapped. Mommy laughed and looked at Kassidy mischievously. She suddenly took off running towards the playground that lay at the edge of the park. She looked over her shoulder and called for Kassidy to follow her. Kassie smiled at the laughter in her mother's voice and took off after her. She soon found herself climbing through the bars of the jungle gym to reach her mother and Brennan. Kassie stood for a moment and looked at the bars surrounding them. It was as though they were inside a giant birdcage. Oddly enough, the bars were comforting, rather than confining. They were keeping all of the bad stuff outside, away from Kassie and her family. She turned to watch her mother sitting in the grass, leaning back against the bars. Mommy's head was tilted back as she laughed at Brennan's jabbering. Her hair was dragging against the ground, but she didn't seem to mind at all. Brennan sat nestled between her legs, playing with some blades of grass and babbling on in his nonsensical way.
Kassie moved to sit next to her mommy. Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes and listened to the happy noises her family was making. Her mother was promising them homemade cookies when they went home. Kassidy didn't think she could get any happier than this. Nothing could upset her now that Brennan was home.