Chapter 2: Doting Daughter

“Enjoying your chai, mommy…?” Raegan settled in closer, her shoulder nestling in against her mother’s arm as she spoke. Unlike before, though her mother hadn’t been expecting her, she wasn’t loud or particularly startled. She was far too relaxed for that.

Rachel mewled, the sound beautifully quiet and soft. The sound was delicate, so much different than the strength and confidence she displayed while caped. None of her sounds slurred, but there was a slowness to her that sounded peaceful and placid as though her sounds could barely ripple a lake.

“Uh-huh… It’s really good, sweetie.” Rachel’s expression had been somewhat vacant of emotion before, but as she spoke of the chai her mouth shifted into a smile all on its own. “Mommy really appreciates what a wonderful daughter she has… Sorry I didn’t hear you come in. I…” She trailed off, staring blankly past Raegan as she tried to understand why she of all people hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t unheard of for her to be surprised—it had happened before—but grasping the reason was more difficult.

I… She said she’d be back, didn’t she…? I should have… but… This chai is good, but it can’t be that, so… Her book was still in her hand, but Rachel’s mind wasn’t even nearing the idea. She was too distracted by her daughter’s head resting against her shoulder. She’s still so cuddly… Most girls stop wanting to spend time with their moms… I’m so lucky…

She even brought me more to drink while I’m ignoring her with Monica’s story…

That’s it…!

Her eyes opened wide, but it didn’t last long. The moment she was no longer riding the high of epiphany her lids drooped. Her smile remained as enthusiastic.

“This book has been really distracting.”

She wasn’t concerned by how difficult that reasoning was, but speaking so uncertainly with her adoring daughter still made Rachel’s cheeks pinken. She wanted to be a good role model, to be a fun mom and friend, and being so slow and silly made her feel mildly vulnerable.

Luckily for her, Raegan continued to wear her calm, loving smile. If she was bothered or disappointed, she certainly didn’t show it. She even lifted the teacup, offering her mother a drink.

“I bet…! You get really into your reading… don’t you, mommy?” She tipped the cup higher, pouring more into her mother’s mouth as her voice took on a low, melodic quality. “When you read it’s like the whole world just fades away and the only thing that matters are the words you’re reading and how they make you feel…”

“Mmmm… Mm-hm…” Rachel’s eyes fluttered as she swallowed the offered tea. Her eyelids fluttered, but the warm feeling was both too soothing and distracting for Rachel to mind.

It’s not like booze, that hurts, this more… Mmm it’s like the way hot cocoa makes me want to curl up, but that and a fireplace… it feels so… something about it feels familiar in a way that makes me… safe…

When Raegan pulled the cup away it was empty.

“You seem a little too tired to be reading right now… but how about if you listened to my voice instead?” Raegan reached up a hand, her fingers slowly teasing their way through Rachel’s curls. Her other hand grasped her mother’s book and rested it shut on her own lap. “What if you just laid back on the couch, closed your eyes, and listened to me instead of reading your book? Do you think my voice could hold your attention, could make the rest of the world fade away like those written ones do…?”

“Ohh…” Rachel leaned her head into the faint grazing of Raegan’s nails. Her scalp was so warm. All of her body was warm. “I… I think so…”

Warm, and pulsing with every languid beat of her heart.

For several moments all that Rachel did was flutter her eyes and lean into Raegan’s hand. Time passed, but her understanding of it, her conscious attention to how long she’d been doing almost nothing, was nonexistent.

“Good mommy…” Lips pressed to her cheek again, and Rachel’s heart fluttered.

Mm… Raegan thinks I’m a good mommy… I love that she still calls me mommy… some girls get too grown up… start only using mom… mother…

Her eyes fluttered, but Rachel made no attempt to pull away from the hand in her hair. She made no attempt to do anything but enjoy the feelings tingling down along her spine. The couch was all too ready to accommodate, accepting her body lower as her spine continued to slacken.

I love being Raegan’s mommy…

“My good mommy can just listen to my voice and let everything else fade away… She can just not worry about anything but feeling happy, and loved…” Lips pressed to her ear, and Rachel mewled but didn’t pull away. It was such a soft touch—hardly the intimate kiss from a lover. The positioning was odd, but not enough to encourage her to fight the haze that cradled her thoughts. “You’ve been really needing to relax lately… haven’t you…?”

“Y-yess… Needed… to… relax…”

She’s so… thoughtful… always here for me… It’s not easy being a single mother and a super heroine, but she… Rachel mewled as nails pressed against her scalp firmly enough to make her eyes roll back into her head. Raegan makes it so eeeeasy…

Raegan grinned, hidden from her mother’s gaze as she gently intensified the pressure. “Well, I know a way that we can help you…! I know someone that can figure out what you need to help you relax, and not just for today… but for every day… Someone who knows how to help you be so relaxed, so happy, so… contented…”

“So… contented…” Rachel sighed. Her eyes were closed, but they still squirmed behind heavy lids as she wriggled to be as close to her daughter as she could. She was so warm, but not so warm that it was unpleasant to be cuddled. “Sounds… nice…”

“Doesn’t it, though…?” Raegan purred. “All you need to do, mommy… Is just let my words guide you. Let me guide you… and you can feel so much better, all the time…”

“All… the time…”

Rachel sounded half asleep, half drunk. Her mouth hung open when she was done speaking, her tongue sneaking out to wet her lips as her thighs drifted further apart. Her long skirt would have made the experience less suggestive if she wasn’t able to easily sweep Raegan’s body with the casual movement of her closest leg.

Her superhuman strength was still intact even if she was so much weaker than she’d been when Maiden Mercy had prized apart solid steel with her gloved hands.

Relaxed all the time… sounds so nice… Raegan’s voice is so easy to listen to… Rachel’s smile had faded again, replaced with an expression that grew more vacant by the moment. Let everything else… drift… need to relax…

“That’s right… all the time…” Lips pressed to her ear again, and Raegan whispered so quietly that Rachel could only hear because of her enhanced senses. “So I’m going to help you do what you need to do… and all you need to do is listen. You’re such a good mommy, so that should be very easy for you… right…? So easy for you to just let me take care of everything or you… right, mommy…?”

“R-right… let you… take care of everything…” Rachel groaned. The warmth spreading through her really did feel more relaxing, more soothing than anything she’d experienced in years.

Haven’t been this relaxed since before I understood my powers… Before Raegan…

Her face shifted into a frown for only a moment. Even to be more relaxed she’d never want to be someone who’d give up being metahuman, or be without her daughter. At times being a mother was challenging, but Raegan was important to her. Her heart ached at the vaguest idea that she might want anything resembling less of her.

Soon she’ll be off in college anyway, and then… then…

“You’re thinking too much, mommy…” Raegan sighed, clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth. “Here…” she leaned forward, pouring more tea into the empty cup before again holding it to her mother’s lips. “Drink… relax… and stop worrying.

“Just let me think for you, and I can take care of everything…”

Something about that… not right… not… mmmm… Rachel swallowed, needing to swallow again and again as the entire cup was poured into her mouth. Her head was spinning, and everything else felt more solid as she felt dizzier, warmer, and not weaker so much as more flexible, melted, liquid herself. So… warm…

What was I… was I…?

No… Rachel interrupted herself, quietly mewling under her breath. Let her think for me… she can take care of everything… for me…

“That’s much better, mommy… That’s my pretty mommy… my thoughtless mommy…” Lips pressed to her ear again, this time the very kiss it hadn’t been before. It lingered, tender, seductive, longing, and then traced a path of more of the same towards her lips. “You’re so sleepy, mommy… and I think that looks really good on you…”

Rachel mewled in confusion. She even tried to flutter open her eyes.

Looks… good on me…? But I’m… I’m her mother… and her tone… I… no… she doesn’t want me to think, she wants to help me relax, to—mmmmm...

Raegan’s lips melted against Rachel’s, slow and tender as it became more and more difficult for her to focus on anything else. Being kissed by her own daughter like a lover was bizarre, and it would have been disturbing if the feelings and the warmth weren’t making it so impossible to understand context.

Lips were warm and smooth against her own, and Rachel kissed back without thinking.

She was letting Raegan think for her, and Raegan was too busy kissing her to tell her what to think.

The kiss lasted so long with breath from Raegan’s nose gently brushing Rachel’s face. One of Rachel’s many superhuman gifts was an impressive lung capacity and low need for oxygen, and Raegan did whatever she could to savor those gifts for as long as she could.

When the kiss ended, Raegan’s voice—interrupted by heavy panting—quickly broke in to fill the void in Rachel’s empty, melted brain.

“Don’t think… Don’t worry… just let me lead you. Just let me guide you… because we’re going to go for a little ride after I make a call. You need to see a very special doctor who can diagnose you and determine exactly what we need to do to make you as relaxed as you deserve to be…”

“Mmm relaxed… y-yes… Raegan… Lead… Guide… Take care of… me…” Rachel wasn’t panting, but her mind was still moving so slowly. Finding whatever word she’d been thinking the moment before was almost impossible.

Stitching enough words together to form a coherent thought was too much to ask.

“Good mommy…!” Raegan kissed her forehead, her eyes hooding low before she stood and grasped at both of her mother’s hands. “Now… Up, up, up…” She tugged, her eyes hooding as she slowly stepped back from the couch. “Or well… you can just slide down onto your knees, if you want… Yeah… I think you should do that, instead. Fall down onto your hands and knees, and let me show you where you need to go…” Raegan let go of her hands as her mother stood, her tongue reaching out to wet her lips.

Rachel’s mind was too hazy for her to think of hiding her flight, even in front of Raegan. It was only thanks to the command to fall that she did, resting on her hands and knees, her heavy breasts swinging in the sweater beneath her with her ass up in the air. She mewled, not even trying to open her eyes.

She didn’t need to see.

Raegan will help me get to where I need to go…

“Here, this way, mommy… come with me…” Grasping her mother’s hair, Raegan led her mother away from the couch. Her grasp was gentle, and her movements were slow. Rachel had plenty of time to crawl before her hair was tugged. “I just need to make a quick call, and you don’t need to worry about that, just… follow, stay close… be a good mommy…”

“Good mommy… yess… I can… be a good mommy…” Rachel moaned, her eyes remaining closed.

She didn’t worry that she would walk into something. She didn’t worry where she was going. She trusted Raegan, and nothing else felt like it mattered.

Raegan pulled her phone out of her bra, tapping a contact before resting her phone against her face. “Uh-huh. Is the truck ready for us? She’s ready to go whenever you’re ready… just make sure you have more ready, okay? I did everything you said, so… you promise this won’t hurt her… right…? I keep her out of the way, and she stays with me… right…?”

Rachel didn’t worry about her daughter’s conversation. She was too busy following along and enjoying the way everything was so warm and perfect. She could feel her daughter’s love and tenderness in the gentle grasp on her hair, and in the void of her absent thoughts.

Don’t need to even think… she’ll make everything more relaxing… relaxing forever…

“If you double cross me and I get super powers… Look, I’m not trying to make you upset. I’m sorry. I just care about her. Yes, I know how that sounds, considering… Look, can I apologize, sincerely, and we skip the part where you scrutinize my mental gymnastics too much? I’m still doing my part, and I wouldn’t have called you if I wasn’t sincere. This isn’t some sting. She’s not going to be in any state to stop you, I just… I just want to make sure…”

Raegan sighed, tugging her mother’s hair a little firmer before she pushed her phone between her face and her shoulder to reach for the knob of her front door. Even with such an obviously suspicious conversation, Rachel didn’t glance up or whimper in alarm.

She was too lost in her haze.

Raegan let out a sigh of relief. “Great! Thank you for understanding. I see your truck, so… I’ll see you soon. Thank you. Really. This means a lot to me… you’ll see, this will work out for everyone. Yes, even her. Yes I think she’ll be happy.” Raegan paused. “Once you’re done. I’m going to treat her better than all of those laser toting wackos… no offense!”

Raegan hung up, and grasped ahold of her mother’s hair anew. Rachel mewled, thoughtlessly arching towards the pull as Raegan lead her mother, still on her hands and knees, out towards a truck parked by the sidewalk.

Eyes still closed, Rachel was easily tugged outside.

Raegan locked the door behind them, and then tugged her mother to the sidewalk. The back of the truck opened, and Raegan smiled. “Here we are, mommy… These people are going to help make everything better.”