Hey, I hope you all had a great Christmas or whatever you celebrate. Okay guys, my last chapter was a cliffhanger. This one doesn't help that situation. However, it does go to Melody or rather a flashback of an important event in her life. I figured you would enjoy this. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Here's another great chapter for all of you great people.
Day was just starting to break when Iggy tried to gently shake his three year old daughter awake. She wiggled deeper into her covers and turned on her other side, making a moaning sound. She loved her daddy so very dearly, but she loved to sleep even more.
"Mel sweetie, get up." Iggy whispered, pulling the covers off her head and brushing her hair out of her face. "We're going somewhere."
She shook her head rapidly and burrowed even deeper under her covers, rolling up into a ball this time. She was too sleepy to go anywhere. Her internal clock said it was still bed time.
He sighed to himself. His daughter was so much like him it sometimes amazed him. He ripped the covers off her tiny body, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. He didn't bother to take off her pajamas. In fact, he was still in his. There was no real need for changing.
"C'mon kiddo." he whispered to her. "We're going on a little trip." He carried her out of her room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen.
"Is Mommy coming?" she mumbled sleepily into his neck.
Iggy was silent for a moment, making sure he didn't hear Elisabeth moving around upstairs. He knew she wouldn't exactly approve of this little excursion. "Nope Mel. Just you and me this morning." He slipped on his shoes and then shoved some on her feet as well.
He made sure the house was silent once more, sighed to himself, and carefully opened the front door. It was an early summer morning, but it was already fairly warm. He shut the door softly and then walked off the porch. The grass was damp with dew as Iggy trudged through the yard with a tired Melody, who just wanted to get back in bed, in his arms.
They walked into the woods and, after a while of walking, Mel mumbled, "Why are we goin' out so… early?" She yawned heavily and then burrowed her face back into her father's neck.
"I want to show you something." he whispered to his little girl. The silence came back and Iggy listened for sounds of someone following them. Elisabeth would rip his head off if she knew what he was up to. She had specifically told everyone in the Flock not to. However, Mel needed to know, she needed to learn.
They walked on for a while before they came to a clearing that Iggy knew very well. He and Fang had scouted out the place when they moved in the year before. Melody had been only two then.
"Mel, look around." Iggy whispered in his daughter's ear. "Tell me what you think. Tell me what you see."
Mel rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with tiny, pudgy fists. When she turned around to look, she gasped in amazement and her bright blue eyes widened in wonder. "Daddy!" she exclaimed happily. "It's so pretty." She then went on to give a very detailed description of the wondrous place for her blind father.
Iggy chuckled when Melody was finished. She had used some words most three year olds had never even heard before. However, it didn't shock him. She was bright just like her mother. Besides, what else did you expect from a child who started talking at just seven months old? She was a bird kid alright.
"Can I get down?" she asked. "My wings want out."
Iggy smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Sure kiddo. Down you go." he said as he placed her on the ground.
Melody stretched out her tiny, grey wings and then ran around in circles. Iggy laughed to himself as he heard her giggle and shriek. When she finally calmed down, he put a hand on her shoulder and crouched down to her level.
"Say, how'd you like to learn how to fly?" he asked in a loud whisper.
She gasped. "But Mommy said not to." she reminded him. She had been taught to always follow the rules so her father telling her to break one came as a bit of a shock. "She said it's dangerous. She said someone might see me." She had never understood that. Her mother had explained that no one else had wings and that people didn't like things that were too different.
Iggy nodded. "She's right, but it's more dangerous for you to not learn." he explained. It was time she knew the truth.
She tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean Daddy?"
He sighed. "There are bad people in this world. When Mommy and Daddy and the rest of the Flock were babies, we were stolen from our parents. We were taken to a horrible place called the School. They put wings on us and tortured us. We finally escaped thanks to Jeb. If the School found out about you, they'd try to kidnap you. I want you to be able to take care of yourself if something should happen. Understand?" He didn't want to frighten her, but she was old enough to know what might be out there.
She simply nodded. "Angel told me. She said she wasn't supposed to, but she did. I'm not scared Daddy." She kissed him on the cheek. "I just wanna fly and be safe with you and Mommy."
A tear rolled down Iggy's cheek. "That's my brave, big girl." he said, hugging her. He stood up to full height. "Let's get practicing." he said.
"Yay!" she cheered and they began their lesson.
It wasn't even an hour before Melody was up in the air. She was so happy. She felt amazing. Uncle Fang had been right. Flying really was incredible. She couldn't understand why her mom didn't want her to learn.
"Melody Isabelle Smith!" Melody looked down and saw her mother. She had on her mad face. That meant big trouble. "You get down here this minute young lady!"
Melody sighed and landed just like her father showed her to. "Did you see me? Did you see what I can do Mommy?" she asked sheepishly.
Elisabeth, in a robe with her hair falling out of a messy bun, nodded. "Yes I did. It was very good." She turned to Iggy who was whistling innocently. "Now, I need a quick word with your father." She grabbed him and walked him over to a tree. Melody could hear her talking to him.
"What in the heck were you thinking?" she asked in a loud whisper. "Someone could have seen her."
"But no one did." he told her in a calm voice. He was used to Elisabeth's tendencies of freaking out and jumping to conclusions.
"This time." Elisabeth whispered angrily. "Didn't I tell you and everyone else not to let her fly?" She was hurt that he would go behind her back and put their daughter in danger.
Iggy nodded slowly. "But you can't do that to her Elisabeth. She's a bird kid. She was meant to fly."
Elisabeth shook her head and put her hand to her forehead. "Kid's were only meant to fly on airplanes. We're freaks of nature Iggy. Do you want our daughter growing up, knowing that she's a freak? Isn't having wings she has to hide enough?"
Iggy sighed and shook his head. "I just don't want her growing up not knowing who she is. She's a bird kid. If I didn't teach her to fly, she'd try it on her own when she got older. She could get seriously hurt then."
Elisabeth turned her head to look at her daughter. She was watching her parents. She hated them fighting and she knew that they hated it too. She knew they loved each other so much.
"What makes you so sure she would?" Elisabeth asked her husband quietly and calmly.
"Well, she's just like you for one thing." he told her. "You think I haven't seen you sneak a fly every now and then?" Iggy chuckled and took his wife's hand. "Elisabeth, wouldn't you want to fly if you were her?"
She tinged pink, took in a deep breath, and nodded slowly. "You're right." she whispered. "I never intended to keep her from flying. It's just that… when…"
Iggy nodded knowingly. "When that guy broke into Dr. M's house when Mel was just a baby. I know you were scared. Heck, I was scared too."
"To this day we still don't know if that was just a regular burglar or what." Elisabeth reminded him. For all they knew, it had been a whitecoat. If it was, then the School knew about Mel. That was why they had moved. That was why everyone had moved.
"You can't let fear run your life." Iggy said sagely. "We gotta let her grow up. We gotta show her we believe in her."
Elisabeth looked back towards her daughter and sighed. She knew he was right. It was time to let go of her fears. "Mel sweetie, come here." she told her daughter.
Melody came running and wrapped herself around her mother's leg. "Mommy, please, please don't fight with Daddy." she begged. "I won't fly anymore. I promise. I'll never ever do it again. Just don't fight."
Elisabeth almost cried. "Sweetie, it was wrong of me to tell you not to fly. I was just worried about you getting hurt, that's all."
The little girl looked up at her mother. "Really?" she asked. "You aren't mad at me or Daddy?"
Elisabeth shook her head. "No, I'm not mad." She got down to her daughter's level. "Sometimes people do stupid things and use bad judgment when they're scared or when they're threatened. Do you understand?"
Melody nodded, threw her arms around her mother's neck, and hugged her rather tightly. "I promise I'll stay safe. I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I'll listen."
Elisabeth did cry at that. She was so lucky. She hugged her daughter for a moment longer and then pulled back. "Okay, but we need some rules." she told her baby girl.
Melody nodded. "Like what?" she asked.
Elisabeth sighed, thinking. "You can't go flying by yourself. Someone has to be with you."
Mel nodded and Iggy added, "You also have to ask to go. And if we tell you that you can't fly, you won't."
Mel nodded again and Elisabeth added, "When you start school, we'll only go on weekends and during vacation. We'll pretend we're going camping and find a nice place."
Melody nodded again. "Okay." she yawned sleepily. "Can we go home and get some breakfast?" she asked.
Her dad chuckled. "Sure kiddo." He picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. He then turned to Elisabeth. "Come on Mommy. Let's race."
Elisabeth smirked, seeing the gleam in his blind eyes. "Oh, you are so going down." she joked.
"We'll see." he said and then he took off running.
"Hey, no fair!" Elisabeth shouted, running off after them. "I wasn't ready. Iggy, you cheat!"
Melody giggled as her mother caught up. "Mommy's a slowpoke. Mommy's a slowpoke." she chanted until they got home. The race was a tie and Iggy made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.
Okay, that's the end of this. I really hope you like it. I worked hard on that. So, I hope you have a merry whatever you celebrate. This is a present from me to you. I'll be updating soon.
