Half Breed

~In The Beginning~

Alfred~

My father married a pure Cherokee

My mother’s people were ashamed of me

The Indians said that I was white by law

The White Man always called me “Indian Squaw”

I smiled down at daddy from on top of his shoulders and looked over at Mattie to see him snuggled into papa’s arms. Both of them had gotten the day off, and promised us that we would spend all day together. We were walking through the park when it happened.

“Get out of here, half breed!”

“You don’t belong here, you belong on the white side!”

“Disgusting half breed…”

I gasped, and sniffled, tears starting to come to my eyes and dripping down my cheeks. I didn’t know that anyone knew about it, before I was lifted off of daddy’s shoulders and was brought into a chest. “Alfred, love, what’s wrong? Are you okay, what happe-” I heard daddy ask, before I heard Mattie crying, too, and papa trying to cheer him up.

“Matthieu, mon petite, what iz wrong? Please stop crying…” he whispered, daddy doing the same for me, but all I could do was look over to where the voices were coming from.

Arthur~

The boys just started crying out of nowhere. Looking at Francis, he was looking at me with the same confusion in his eyes, but then I looked down at Alfred and saw that he was looking at something. Looking to where he was looking, my eyes widened. There was a loud group of people, all yelling at something in the center, and when I took a closer look into the center, my eyes widened. “Francis…” I said, continuing to stare wide eyed.

“Hm? What iz it, Arzhur?” he asked, bouncing Matthew in his arms.

“Look over there and tell me I’m seeing things…” I said, and then I heard another gasp. Shifting my eyes over to look at him, I saw the same look on his face, before a glare was set in his eyes, as he tried to listen in on what was being said, but that wasn’t so hard, because once I actually looked over, all of the words came out as clear as day.

‘Half breed…’ I thought, as I looked down at Alfred and then over at Matthew, who were both still crying, cringing whenever a new insult met their little ears. My eyes saddened, and then I glared at the circle, but before I could even do anything, I felt Matthew being pushed into my arms, and I looked up to see Francis storming over to the group of people, pushing through them.

Reader

“Move out of zhe way! What zhe ‘ell is wrong with all of you?!” I heard a voice with an unfamiliar accent shout, and I cringed, curling myself further into the ball that I had put myself in to protect myself from the kicks of all of the people around me. Curling in tighter, I flinched when I felt hands run through my hair gently, and then I was lifted into warm arms. Looking up, I saw a man with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes, with some stubble on his chin. His eyes were glaring at everyone standing around. “’ow dare you ‘it a child like zhat! And zhose names! You all should be ashamed of yourselves!” he yelled, as he pushed past the people again and started walking away, but not before I heard more insults about myself.

“She’s just a half breed, she’s used to it!”

“What would you care about a half breed like her?”

“You got lucky this time, half breed!”

Sniffling, I couldn’t stop the tears the trailed down my face, and I started shaking, not knowing where the stranger was taking me, until he stopped. “Cherie, it’s okay… Sshh… It’s okay. You’re safe now, oui? Nothing is going to happen to you…” I stopped shaking, but I couldn’t stop the tears that were going down my cheeks.

“Is she what was in the middle of that crowd, Francis?” I heard another voice say. The now identified man holding me, Francis, sighed and I felt him nod.

“Oui, she was… Poor petite ange… Such a horrible title to put on a little girl…” I frowned, not knowing what the words meant. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I don’t want to do something that’s going to scare her any more than she already is…” And with that, I felt myself being moved again. I must have fallen asleep, because the next time my eyes opened, I found myself in a room, and in the arms of another blonde man. This one had bright green eyes and bushy eyebrows above his eyes. His eyes slightly widened, and he looked down at me. I shrunk back a little bit, sniffling, and his gaze softened.

“Sshh… It’s okay, love. I’m not going to hurt you. Are you okay? Those rude people sure did a number on you…” he said, before he shifted, standing up and wrapping his arms around me more, getting a better grip on me. He smiled down at me. “How about we get you cleaned up, hm? There’s a couple scrapes, but nothing a band-aid and a kiss to make it better can’t fix.” He said, and I nodded, as he walked out of the room and up some stairs. While we were walking, I was looking around the house. It was colorful! The halls were red with handprints of white trailing down one wall, and handprints of blue trailing down the other wall. There was a line of big hands, and all around them and everywhere else there were little hands, with blue, green and purple swirls trailing down the walls, almost like they were supposed to symbolize the wind blowing. “Ah. Here we are.” Blinking, I looked up at the man holding me, as he opened a door and stepped inside. It was a bathroom, but my eyes widened. It was huge! There was a big bath tub in the room, as well as a separate shower, and two sinks! I had only heard of bathrooms with two sinks! Looking all over, I didn’t notice the man laugh a little, as he sat me down on the plush toilet seat and got a brown bottle from a cabinet that appeared from behind a mirror! I stared up at him in wonder, as he walked back over to me and smiled. “Now, love, this is peroxide. It’s going to make those cuts go away, but it will be cold when I put it on your cuts, okay? Just relax for me.” he smiled, and I nodded shyly, before I shivered as he put a cotton ball with the stuff on it on my forehead, above my eyebrow. I winced a little bit, but didn’t complain as he continued this. He talked to me while he did. “So, what’s your name, love?” I blushed shyly.

“_-_____....” I said, and I winced again as he lifted my shirt a little bit to clean a cut on my tummy. He put my shirt down and smiled at me.

“______? That’s a very beautiful name, love. My name is Arthur. That man that you saw from before’s name is Francis. Don’t worry, though. You’re safe with us.” He said, as he put the last band aid on over my nose. My eyes watered and I sniffled, before I hopped off the toilet seat and buried my face in his tummy, crying.

Arthur

I flinched. _______ had just latched onto me and was crying her little eyes out. My eyes saddened, and I gently picked her up and rocked her back and forth, walking out of the bathroom and back to the living room. Sitting on the couch, I tried to soothe her cries, but nothing seemed to be working. I heard footsteps rushing to the living room, and I looked up to see Francis leaning against the doorway in a second, panting and trying to catch his breath. “What ‘appened?! What’s s wrong?! Is she okay?!” he asked, and I smiled softly at him.

“She’ll be okay. She’s just coming to terms with what happened…” I said, and Francis sighed, coming to sit next to me on the couch and slumped against the back of the couch.

“Oh, mon dieu… I thought somezing was seriously wrong…” he whispered, and I laughed a little bit.

“No. I just got her cleaned up… ______, love, this is Francis. Say hi…” I said, and Francis looked over at the two of us, and I looked down at ______. I watched her as she peeked out from my shirt slowly, little hands still bunching up my shirt, but she was looking at Francis with teary eyes.

“H-Hi… Fwancis….” She said, before she buried her face back in my shirt. I smiled down at her, and then I looked at Francis. His eyes were wide, before a soft smile came to his face and he looked at me. I smiled back at him, as he leaned down to ______’s level and poked her cheek lightly, making her poke her head back out of my shirt.

“Bonjour, ange… You ‘ave a very pretty name. I’m happy you are okay.” He smiled, and _____ blushed, but then she giggled, smiling at Francis. My eyes widened, but then I smiled at her giggle, and hugged her closer. She looked up at me.

“Love, there are two other children who live here, and they’re your age. Would you like to meet them?” I asked her, and her eyes widened in curiosity. I laughed, and I could hear Francis join in, as he got off the couch.

“I will take zhat as a yes. I’ll go get zhem. Ma cherie, I know you will like them.” He smiled, before he walked out of the room. I pulled _____ back from me a little bit, and ran my fingers through her (h/t)(h/l)(h/c) locks, gently untangling the strands. I smiled tenderly down at her, as her eyes closed and she smiled, putting me in a daze at how beautiful her little smile was. I didn’t even notice when Francis got back, until I felt my legs being pushed.

Matthew

“Matthieu! Alfred! Come here, zhere is someone I would like the two of you to meet!” I looked up from Kumajaro, blinking up at papa, before I nodded, getting up and dragging Kumakichi behind me. Alfred came running out of his room, too, with his Captain America shield attached to his arm. Papa smiled at the two of us, and knelt down to us.

“Papa, who is it?” I asked, and he smiled, running his fingers through my hair. I giggled, leaning into his touch.  

“A very special person. She’s your age.” He said, and Alfred stuck his tongue out.

“Ew, a girl! Girls have cooties!” he said, and I giggled again. Papa sighed.

“Alfred, she does not ‘ave cooties. Now, come on, I zhink ‘ou will actually like ‘er.” He said, and with that, he got up and started to walk away. Alfred and I looked at each other, before I ran off after papa, Kumamaro being dragged behind me. Alfred and I ran down the stairs, and we caught up to papa, who was waiting by the entrance to the living room. “Ready, mes enfants?” he asked, and we both nodded. Leaning down, he pushed the two of us lightly into the room. I looked all around, looking for a new person, before my eyes settled on the little girl from the park, sitting on daddy’s lap and smiling as he ran his fingers through her hair. Alfred and I cautiously walked over to them, but when he got over there, Alfred started pulling on daddy’s pants.

“Daddy! Daddy, who’s she? Who’s she, daddy?” Alfred called, shaking daddy’s leg. Papa laughed, as he sat down next to him and pulled me up into his lap, then pulled Alfred up. Looking over at the girl, I caught a glimpse of (e/c) eyes, before the disappeared into daddy’s shirt. Looking up at the feeling of a hand on my head, I looked into loving green eyes.

“This is _______. Why don’t you say hi, Matthew? Alfred?” he said, looking from me to Alfred, who was hiding behind me in papa’s shirt. “Come on, Alfred, she’s not scary! She is far more scared of you than you should be of her.” he said, and I giggled, and looked at ______. Blushing lightly when I saw her looking at me, and put Kumaviro in front of my nose to hide it.

“H-Hi… I-I’m M-Matthew… You can call me Mattie, if you wanna…” I whispered shyly, looking at her, as curious (e/c) orbs looked back out at me.

“H-Hi… I-I-I’m _-_____... Hi… M-Mattie…” she said, and my eyes widened, making me drop my bear as a smile came to my face. I smiled at her.

Reader

The little boy who talked to me, Matthew, had blonde hair that kinda looked like Francis’ hair; it fell to about his chin, and it was a wavy blonde. There was a long, curly strand of hair sticking out from his hair, falling in front of his face and bouncing when he moved. I blinked, before I smiled shyly at him, before I looked at the boy behind him. He was staring at me, and it kind of scared me. Shrinking back into Arthur, I clung to him, frowning at the nameless boy. Francis sighed.

“Alfred. Talk to ‘er. You’re scaring ‘er.” He said, and the boy, Alfred, shook his head, before he crawled off of Francis’ lap and closer to me, putting his face right in front of mine. My eyes widened, and I squeezed the fabric in my hands tighter. He blinked, and the whole room seemed to freeze and hold their breath.

“Hi. I’m Alfwed, but you can call me Alfie, if you like…Sowwy if I scawed you…” he said, looking down and pushing his fingers together, a little blush coming across his face. I blinked, but then I smiled.

“Hi! I’m _______! It’s okay, you didn’t scawe me… I’ve just never been tweated wike this…” I said, blushing and looking at the two boys, but my head tilted when they gave me weird looks. “What?”

“Y-You’ve never been tweated wike what?” Mattie asked, and Alfie nodded.

“With niceness…” I whispered, before I felt myself being hugged with a gentle tightness.

“That’s kindness, love. You’ve never been treated like that? Not even by your parents?” he asked, and Francis piped up as he said that.

“Oui… ______, cherie… Where was your mama and papa…?” he asked, and my eyes widened, as tears came to my eyes. Arthur must have noticed them, because he changed the subject.

“Matthew! Alfred…. Why don’t the two of you take ______ upstairs and play with her? Get to know her a little bit…” he said, and I looked over at the excited looks on their faces, making me smile.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! Come on, ______! We’ll play rescue the pwincess! I’ll be the hero, you’ll be the pwincess, and Mattie can be the dwagon!” Alfie said, jumping off the couch and bouncing up and down in front of Arthur. Mattie pouted, but got off the couch.

“Why do I hafta be the dwagon?!” he argued, and I giggled, as I was set on the ground. I looked up to Arthur smiling at all of us.

“Now, run along upstairs, you three. I have to talk to papa about something..” he trailed off, looking at Francis, who looked back and nodded at him. I was curious, but shook it off when Mattie and Alfie both grabbed one of my hands and started to pull me out of the room and to the stairs, all of us giggling and racing out of the room. When we were out of the room, Alfie stopped and pulled me over to the wall next to the big room, and I pulled Mattie. Both of us looked at him, but he just shushed us and pointed into the room that Arthur and Francis were.

Francis

I felt the smile drop from my face as the kids left the room. Sighing, I let my head rest against the back of the couch. “Mon dieu… Just what ‘as zhat poor enfant had to go through… I ‘ave not seen or ‘eard words like zhat since zhe twins’ mozher was still with us…” I said, sending a sad smile up at the ceiling at the thought of Analie. Arthur sighed and rested his head in his hands.

“I don’t know, but one thing is for certain. I’m not letting ______ deal with all that bloody name calling ever again! Calling a little girl names is horrible in itself, but to call her a half breed? You’re right, I haven’t heard that particular term since the twins were just starting school… That’s why we moved here in the first place! To get away from all of that!” he said, speaking through his teeth so that he didn’t alarm the children. I sighed, thinking about that. We had moved here because the twins were being made fun of about their mother being a Native American, while their father was White. Thank God they didn’t know that the twins had two fathers… That would have brought on a whole batch of new problems… Sighing, I got up off the couch. “Francis?” I didn’t look at him.

“Zhis time will be different, Arzhur… I promise. To you, but more importantly, to zhe children and to Analie… Nothing is going to harm our family…” I whispered, before I heard the sounds of crying. Looking over at Arthur, it wasn’t him, but when I looked to where he was looking, my whole expression and eyes softened. Three pairs of watery blue, purple and (e/c) eyes were hidden by either hands, knees, or hair.

Half-breed, that’s all I ever heard

Half-breed, how I learned to hate the word

Half-breed, she’s no good they warned

Both sides were against me since the day I was born

Reader

I couldn’t stop crying. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop the tears from running down my face and into the backs of my hands. I didn’t even stop when I felt myself being picked up, along with Mattie, as I wrapped my arms around a neck and continued to just let the salty trails go down and make their mark down my cheeks. “Sshh… Sshh… It is okay, mon enfants… Sshh… Papa’s here… It’s okay…” I felt a rocking motion, and I shot a brief glance up at the man holding me, before shooting my blurry (e/c) gaze to Arthur, who had Alfie cradled in his arms, whispering to him. I sniffled and hugged Francis again, trying to stop crying. I had cried too many times while I was growing up, and that was saying something, since I’m only 4. I felt myself being lowered onto a soft surface, which turned out to be the couch, and my head was set on something even softer. Looking across from me, I saw Mattie in the same position; on the couch, with his head leaning on what was now revealed to be Francis’ leg. Gentle hands went through my hair, and I looked up to see two pairs of worried eyes. Green eyes closed, only to open and stare sadly at me.

“Love, I know this will probably hurt you to think about, but I need to know. We need to know. Where are your parents?” Arthur asked, as my eyes widened, and I seemed to lose myself in the not so distant past.

We never settled, went from town to town

When you’re not welcome you don’t hang around

The other children always laughed at me

“Give her a feather, she’s a Cherokee”

~Flashback~

I was pushed down on the ground again, taunting laughter filling the air around me, as I tried to get back up, only to be kicked down. I sniffled, but bit back the tears, not wanting to give the bullies the satisfaction of seeing my tears.”Aw, the little Cherokee is crying!” one of the voices laughed.

“Just give her a feather! That’ll make her feel better. Indians like feathers.” Another voice said, and a feather was thrown at me, the tip cutting my face, before I had enough. I pushed myself up and ran as fast as I could back home, only stopping when I was safe on the other side of my front door. Curling up in a ball, I didn’t look up until I heard the sound of running feet, and felt myself being picked up. Looking up into (e/c) eyes, I sniffled and buried my face into the neck of my mother, grabbing the front of her shirt with my little 3 year old fists. I could tell she was upset, and we stayed like that until my father came home. I didn’t understand what mama and papa were talking about, but a couple days later I was being pulled out of school, and we were moving to an all new place.

~after the move~

A couple months went by after we moved to the new location, before the taunting started again. Again the voice taunted me about being what they called a “half breed”. Again I ran back to the comfort of my mother and father, and again we moved to another place. It never seemed to stop, but one day, all of that came to a stop, and my world came crashing down even further. I had come home after being picked on again and having feathers thrown at me again. I had stopped crying about it a long time ago, because I didn’t want my mama and papa to feel bad and I didn’t want us to have to move again. I had spent the whole day in my room, not wanting them to see me, but that didn’t seem to happen as mama came to get me for dinner. Her expression saddened when she saw my face, which, by the way, had a cut on one cheek, and the beginning of a black eye on the other. I had gotten into a fight because one of the girls had insulted not only me, but my mother and father. I didn’t care when it was just me, but when she said that father was a traitor to his race, and mother was nothing but a stupid Indian who didn’t know how to say no, I lost it and lunged at the girl. We went at it, and I was sent home, not even bothering to have myself looked at by the nurse, because it’s not like it mattered; she never helped me, because she said I was Indian squaw. Mama had gotten me all cleaned up, band aid covering my cheek and some kind of cold gel under my eye to help the swelling, before we went down to eat with papa, who wasn’t happy about the fighting or the names I was called, but was proud that I had defended not only myself, but my family. It was a normal dinner, so how was I supposed to know that that was the last moment I would ever have with my parents?

Arthur

I felt my heart break into more pieces, the longer she talked about her parents. The tears had not stopped the entire time, and no matter how many times that Francis or I dried her tears, new ones seemed to just fill their place, as she continued. She went on to tell us how she had gone to sleep, and how a mob of people had come to their house and burned it down, all because she had gotten into that fight and the other girl’s father had gotten mad and wanted revenge. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she told me how she had been seen her father being killed, and how she barely got out, because her mother held them off and told her to run and never look back. My eyes saddened even more at the next words she said. “I… I wooked back… Mama towd me not to, and I did… I… I miss my mama!” she cried, and I moved Alfred out of my lap and picked her up, standing up and cradling her close to my heart, as I turned to look at Francis, who frowned and did the same thing with Matthew, moving him off his lap and getting up. He hugged the both of us, kissing _____ on top of her head, and I did the same thing, before we pulled away at the feeling of our pants being yanked at. Looking down, Alfred and Matthew were looking up at us with painfully sad eyes. Francis and I sent them sad smiles, as Francis pulled away and picked the two of them up, letting them hug _____, as he kissed her forehead again. I started to rock back and forth.

“Sshh… Sshh… Sshh, love… It’s okay… It’s okay, we’re here. We’ll always be here… You will never have to deal with that again… We’ll make sure of that… Oh, _______.... Sshh…” I whispered gently to her, trying to get her to stop crying.

“We’re not leaving you, cherie. You will never be alone again… We promise…” Francis whispered, as Alfred and Matthew just nodded and hugged her tighter. Francis and I looked at each other, not even feeling the need to talk about this spontaneous decision. Smiling a small smile at him, I looked back down to _______, and, looking at her and the boys, said the one thing that would be repeated for years to come, Francis in perfect sync with me.

“You’re home, ______... You’re home…”

~Years Later~

We weren’t accepted and I felt ashamed

Nineteen I left them, tell me who’s to blame

My life since then has been from man to man

But I can’t run away from what I am

Reader

I smiled, lying on my bed and thinking about that day. That day, not only was I treated like an actual human being, but I also got a new family; one that loved me for me, and didn’t even care about what I was, but that didn’t stop me from being bothered because of it. I sighed, the smile slipping from my face as I ran my fingers through my (h/l)(h/c) hair and shifted on my bed so that I was sitting up, my feet hanging off the side of the bed and touching the floor. I looked around my room, the same room that I had lived in for the last 14 years of my life. Frowning, I sat back on my bed and remembered all the times I had spent in this house, from the times that dad and papa had stayed up taking care of me to the times that Alfred, Matthew and I had played so much that we couldn’t even move, and we had to be carried up to bed, only to be put in our parents’ room to sleep with them. Smiling sadly into space, I was brought out of it by the sound of a voice. “________! Dudette, you gotta see this!” Alfred laughed all the way from downstairs, and I sighed.

“Coming!” I called down the stairs and wiped my face, feeling tears on my fingers, and put on a smile, before I walked out of my room, taking one last look at the suitcase that was hiding under my bed.

~hours later~

Sighing, I fell down on my bed. Alfred had wanted me to play football with him, and when we got back from it, he got yelled at because I was all messy. It was hilarious! I had just collapsed on the couch and laughed at him with Matthew, who was happy he didn’t get hit with any of the sports equipment this time. I smiled at the memory and closed my eyes, listening to the house go silent. When the coast was clear, I slipped off my bed and got the suitcase from under it. I had to leave. I couldn’t risk them finding out that all these years, I had in fact been made fun of countless times because of the fact that I was part Native American and part White. Nobody made fun of me when either Alfred or Matthew was around, because nobody wanted to get beaten up by Alfred or take a hockey stick to the face at the hands of Matthew. So, they only messed with me in the classes that I didn’t have with at least one of my brothers, and the girls messed with me in the girls’ locker room. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I didn’t want to feel like I can’t protect myself, so I decided to just leave the home and the people I love, not only for me, but for them, too. I saw the stares of disgust that were thrown their way when they were walking with me, or sitting with me, and god forbid when they hugged me! People would openly cringe when that happened, and the girls would look at me like they wanted to kill me on the spot. As I continued thinking about it, I opened the suitcase and silently packed up the rest of my things that I had. Feeling the tears wanting to come up, I looked up at my ceiling and closed my eyes, swallowing the lump in my throat and proceeding to close the suitcase. Picking it up, I slipped quietly out of my room, glancing at it one last time, before I quietly made my way down the hall, stairs, and to the front door, quietly opening it. I paused, taking one last look at the inside of the place I loved most, before I dropped a piece of paper on the table next to the door and walked out the door, shutting it quietly and taking the spare key out of the rose bushes next to the door and locking the door, replacing it and walking off, my heart sad and heavy at all the pain and problems I had brought to them. To the two parents that raised me, to the two brothers that watched after me. With my heavy heart, I smiled sadly at the door, and walked further down the street, away from my home and further into the darkness of the world.

Matthew

Opening my eyes, I got up and stretched, making my way out of my room, not even bothering to wake up Kumakichi as I went to see if ______ was okay. She had looked a little distracted and sad all last night, and I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Shuffling to her room, and probably looking like a zombie doing it, I knocked lightly on her door. “Hey… ______... Are you awake?” I asked, and, not hearing a reply, I opened her door. Looking in, I felt my eyes widen; she wasn’t in here! Speed walking away from her room, now fully awake, I went through the whole house looking for her, freaking out when I couldn’t find her absolutely anywhere! Running back up the stairs, and tripping on the way up, I shouted in the loudest voice I had. “______’S GONE!” I shouted, and I could hear the sound of someone falling out of bed, and two pairs of feet hitting the ground, before three doors opened, and three pairs of eyes stared at me, shocked.

“Dude… what the hell are you goin’ on about? It’s…” Alfred trailed off, looking back in his room, his eyes widening. “It’s 6 am on a damn Saturday, Matt! What the hell?!” he whined, looking at me like I was crazy. Dad yawned, and papa stretched his arms above his head, ruffling his hair by running his fingers through it.

“Matthew, what are you talking about? ______’s fine. She’s in her ro-” dad trailed off, looking at how her door was slightly open, yet no person was standing freaked out at the door, and, when all went silent, there were no light snores coming from her room. Dad’s eyes widened, and he ran from his spot into _____’s room, papa and Alfred following him with confused looks on their faces. I walked over to the door and stared in at dad, who had fallen to his knees. “Where is she… All of her stuff is gone… Where did she go…” he muttered, staring into what seemed to be nothing, as papa walked over to him and pulled him up, hugging him and resting dad’s head on his chest, while he put his chin in dad’s hair.

“We’ll find her, Arzhur… Don’t worry, we’ll find her…” he whispered, and I saw him tense up. Walking closer to Alfred, stopping next to him, I saw why; dad had grabbed a hold of his shirt, and I could swear I could see tears in his eyes. Alfred paled and when I looked at him, I saw his eyes wide and a glassy look take over his eyes, before he turned and ran out of the room, and down the stairs. Running after him, I caught up with him right before he ran out the door.

“Alfred! Where are you going?!” I asked, wondering how the hell he could move so fast, with all the crap that he consumed, but now wasn’t the time to ask him about that. He turned to me with a broken but determined look in his eyes.

“I’m going to find and bring our sister back.” He said, before he ran out of the house. My eyes widened, and I followed him, slipping on my red sandals and rushing out the door, pulling it closed behind me as I ran after Alfred. The two of us started shouting and calling out for _____, but no matter where we went, nobody returned our calls. I was getting worried. What if something had happened to her? What is she never came back, and we never got to see her again?!

‘NO!’ I thought, ‘I will not let that happen!’ I shouted at myself in my head, as I continued looking for her. After a while, I heard papa’s voice, which was stronger than usual, and dad’s slightly broken voice join the mix of the search party. We searched for hours, looking everywhere in town, at the parks, and even in the woods. Nothing, not even a sign of where she could have gone. I was starting to lose hope that we would ever find her again, but then I caught a glimpse of something. Running over to whatever it was, I leaned down and picked up a feather. My eyes widened. This belonged to ______! It was her favorite, because it was red and white, with blue at the very tip. She said it reminded her of the four most important people in her life. I blushed thinking about it, but then I tucked it in my hair, tangling it in my hair on the top of my head and letting it fall to the side of my face. Smiling, I continued looking for her. Alfred came running over to me.

“Did you find her ye-” he started, before trailing off at the sight of her feather in my hair. I smiled sadly at him.

“I didn’t, but I found her feather, so she can’t be very far away. Go find dad and papa, and I’ll call you if I find her.” I said, not even waiting for a response, before I ran off in the direction that I saw the feather in. I heard Alfred faintly shouting for me to come back, but I didn’t listen and just kept running. I had to find her; she was, is and will always be my little sister, and I would rather die than her not be here with me, Alfred, dad and papa. Running for what felt like forever, I stopped when I heard a light whimpering and sniffling echoing through the trees. Rushing off in the direction I heard it coming from, I stopped at a clearing, and my eyes widened. ‘There she is…’ I thought, sighing in relief. She must have heard me, because she turned to me, her eyes widening, and she got up and tried to run away again. “No! ______!” I shouted, and my voice bounced off the trees as I ran to her. Catching up to her faster than she probably anticipated, I caught a hold of her hand and pulled her to me, hugging her tightly, as she tried to push me away.

“Matt! Let me go, please! Please… Just… Let me go… P-Please…” she started out shouting, but by the end, her voice was soft and a broken feeling filled every single syllable of her words. I shook my head and held her tighter, burying my face in her hair.

“No… _____, what’s wrong? What… What happened… Why did you…” I didn’t get to finish, because then I heard the sounds of three pairs of feet thundering in my ears, as dad came running into the clearing of trees, closely followed by papa and Alfred. All of them stopped when they saw us, before dad broke out in a faster run, making it to us and engulfing the both of us in a hug, his face burying itself in _____’s shoulder, as tears slipped out of his eyes.

Arthur

‘Thank god she’s okay…’ I thought, as tears trailed down my face and I hugged her and Matthew tightly. Matthew released her, and backed up, letting me fully hug my daughter, as I continued to cry in her shoulder. I didn’t care if Francis saw how weak I was right now; all I cared about was that _____ was found, she was safe, and there was no way I was going to let go of her anytime soon. After a couple minutes, I felt arms wrap around my torso, and hands grip the back of my shirt, said shirt becoming wet. I smiled sadly through my tears, but hugged her tight, running my hand through her hair.

“Why…” I heard her whisper, and I looked at her in confusion.

“Why what, cherie?” Francis asked, and I looked down at her, wondering the same thing. I felt the grip on the back of my shirt tighten. Sighing, I kissed her temple and just stood there, letting her take all the time she needed. When she finally spoke again, what she said completely broke my heart.

“W-Why did you find me… I-I… I d-don’t deserve this… Y-You g-guys… Y-You… Y-You’re t-too g-good to me… And all that I give you in return is… Is r-rid-dicule f-from e-everybody!” she said, and that’s when she broke down. Gripping my shirt so tight I thought it would rip, and starting to cry her eyes out. My eyes widened, and I looked over at Francis, who was looking at her with crushed eyes. Looking over at Matthew and Alfred, their eyes weren’t any different than Francis’. Sighing again, I started to rock back and forth slightly, humming. “I… I’m a-ash-shamed… I-It’s m-my f-fault that you’ve all b-been s-shunned…” she whimpered and choked over her words.

“What are you talking about, _____? We haven’t been shunned by anybody.” Alfred said, and I looked to my other side to see both him and Matthew looking down at their sister with worry clearly visible in their eyes. ______ shook her head.

“Y-Yes… Y-You h-have… Y-You, A-Alfie… A-And M-Mattie… A-Are a-accused of b-being r-race t-traitors… A-And, t-the o-only r-reason that you d-don’t s-see that… I-Is b-because n-nobody w-wants to get b-beaten up by you or M-Matt…” she cried, and my eyes, as well as Alfred and Matthew’s, widened.

‘She’s been bullied this entire time?’ I thought, as rage filled my senses, and I started to see red. How dare the school let this happen?! That school is one of the most diverse schools out there, and there were still people who made fun of someone for being a biracial person? If that was the case, then why wasn’t Alfred or Matthew picked on, because they were also biracial, even if they didn’t look like it. My eyes widened more in realization. They didn’t look like it. _______ on the other hand, could clearly be identified as a half Native American, half White girl. Francis sighed and walked to where he was in front of _____ and I, and he wrapped one of his arms around her, before he held out his other arm to Alfred and Matthew.

“Boys…” he whispered, and not even a second later, both of them were here, wrapped up in Francis’ arms, as _______ and I were wrapped in all three pairs of arms. We stood like that for awhile, while ______ got her breathing under control. It felt like a heartbreaking eternity had gone by before she spoke again, her voice softer than Matthew’s.

“What did I ever do to deserve this…” she asked, and I frowned.

“Deserve what, dear?” I whispered, stopping rocking, not wanting to break her again. Francis, Alfred and Matthew all looked down at her.

“Everything… The teasing, the pain… The love. The warmth, the family… I don’t understand…” she whimpered, and I could hear in her voice that she was getting worked up again. I started rocking again.

“Sshh, love… Sshh… It’s okay… Daddy’s here… Papa’s here… Mattie and Alfie are here… You’re not alone, and we’ll all be damned if we just let you deal with this all on your own. You should have come to us if you were being hurt in any way, whether it was physical or not. We’re your family, and we’re going to do absolutely anything we can to make sure you’re okay. You should never have to doubt on whether or not you can come to us for help on anything. Okay, sweetheart? We love you. Both papa and I, as well as your brothers.” I whispered, and she burst out into more tears, burying her face into my chest, grasping onto the back of my shirt like it was her last strand of a lifeline that she had, and if she let go, she would fade away. I sighed and kissed the top of her head, while Francis kissed the back of her head, both of the boys leaned in and leaned their foreheads on either side of her shoulders, and all of us just stood there in silence, letting ______’s breakdown settle, before anything more was said. Her breathing was slowly going back to normal, and she hugged me tighter.

“I’m sorry… Daddy… Papa… I… I just didn’t… Want you both… To be taunted anymore… Everyone in the school talks about how you’re both traitors, taking in someone like me. And they say things about Alfred and Matthew behind their backs, about how they’re stupid for even giving me the time of day, and I know I shouldn’t have run away, but I needed to get away, to make sure that all of you were safe and that you wouldn’t end up like my other parents!” she rambled on. I blinked, wide eyed.

“That’s what you ran away for? Because some jerks were spreading rumors about us behind our back at school, and talking about our parents?” Matthew asked quietly, and I could hear both the shock and sadness in his voice, but I could also tell that he was getting mad. Alfred’s eyes narrowed as _____ nodded.

“Well, to hell with all of them!” he said, and ______ turned to him, forcing Matthew, Francis and I to let her go. “If they don’t have anything nice to say about my sister, and they don’t have anything nice to say about me, because of who I am and who I have as my family, then they can kiss my ass! I don’t care what any of them have to say, you’re my sister, and I love you, and nothing, that even being called a traitor is going to change that!” he said, his voice rising slightly, and _____’s eyes widened, as she looked from him to Matthew, who nodded at her in agreement to what Alfred said.

“He’s right. If they don’t have anything nice to say about you, then they’re not even worth listening to. They’re not even worth acknowledging.” He said, before he pulled ______ to him, hugging her gently.

Reader

My eyes widened when Matthew pulled me to him in a hug, but then the tears trailing down my face changed, as I buried my face in his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist. Crying tears of joy, I smiled against his chest when I felt a hand take mine and the owner intertwine my fingers with his. Relief and warmth fell over my in waves, feeling another hand rest on my upper back, and a hand brush through my hair. Smiling through the tears, I pulled back from Matthew, looking up into vibrant violet eyes with my own (e/c) ones. Smiles came to those eyes, and the three pairs that surrounded us. Looking over Mattie’s shoulder and lifting my hand, I found out that the hand intertwined with mine was Alfie’s, and that the hands in my hair and on my back were daddy and papa comforting me from a distance. Smiling at the four of them, I pulled Alfred to Matthew and I, and turned around, pulling daddy and papa in, too, and hugging all four of them to the best of my abilities, tears trailing down my face. “Thank you…” I whispered, not even caring if they heard me or not. I felt a kiss hit my temple.

“Our darling _____, you have nothing to thank anyone for. We love you, and we have all loved you since the day that we found you all those years ago. We don’t care if you’re white, native American, African American, Spanish, or any other nationality. You are still the beautiful little girl that your papa and I want to protect with everything we’ve got.” Daddy whispered, and I sniffled, smiling and leaning into his lips. I felt him smile against my temple before he pulled away. I sighed happily, hugging closer to Matthew, before I let him go, holding onto one of his hands, while my other hand held onto Alfred’s. Both of the smiled at me, and spun me around, so that all three of us were facing our parents, whose smiles held nothing but love and affection.

“Let’s go home…” I said, and daddy’s eyes widened and clouded over with tears, as he nodded and took a hold of Mattie’s other hand, and started walking, papa doing the same thing to Alfie. As we were going back, it felt like nothing had even happened, as papa had a hold on my suitcase handle, and daddy put my red, white and blue feather back in my (h/l) (h/c) hair. For the first time, the words I had heard all my life repeated in my head in pride, not in spite. For the first time, I sang along in my head with the song of my heritage without an ounce of regret.

‘Half- breed, that’s all I ever heard

Half-breed, how I learned to hate the word

Half-breed, she’s no good they warned

Both sides were against me since the day I was born…’

My life’s not easy. In fact, it’s extremely hard, because I am indeed two polar opposite races in one body, but you know what? I’m okay with that now. I used to think that I was never entitled to anything other than ridicule. I used to think that I should never be allowed to feel happiness, because of what I am, but now? Now, I know, that even if I’m ever faced with that again, I can always count on my family to be there, to catch all the negativity and cast it away, and to wave away my doubts and ashamed feelings. I am loved, and I am a golden mutt.