COLLEEN HAS lived in the bustling city of New York for eight years. As she crosses state lines and ventures out into rural Pennsylvania, Colleen finds herself surrounded by open fields and horizons that aren't disrupted by towering buildings. Corn fields and wheat fields line the roads instead of sleek buildings. There's no pedestrians flipping off cars that get too close to them while they walk across the crosswalk, there's no pigeons walking around and stealing crumbs, or a chorus of honking car horns; instead, there are hawks that circle in the sky, an empty road that stretches for miles, and grassy rolling hills. And the sky—has there always been this many stars?

For a moment, Colleen wonders if that's why her parents live out here. Do they find the country as magical as she does? Is that something they unknowingly passed down to her?

The cab driver plays a playlist of soft, up-beat music that flows through the speakers as the cool AC gently blows against Colleen's hair. She keeps her eyes trained out the window with her mind going a mile a minute.

The man, an older folk with silver strings in his dark hair and a kind, wrinkly smile, glances at Colleen before returning his gaze to the road.

"So," he starts, bringing Colleen to turn to him, "what are you doing out this far?"

Colleen smiles softly and looks back at the darkness out the window. "Just visiting family, is all."

Family.

The word twists her heart. The faces of the kids flashes in her mind and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. She isn't seeing them, she's seeing total strangers who are her actual biological family.

Does blood make them family, though? Are they family despite never meeting?

The driver starts making conversation about his family—a beautiful wife with painting skills like no other and two beautiful boys with big plans—and Colleen couldn't be more grateful to have something else to focus on.

After another ten minutes of driving through the country, the car pulls up to a white farm house. Technically they don't pull up to the house, rather the end of their long drive way.

The large property is secured with a white fence. Surrounding the pastures is a large cornfield with cornstalks taller than Colleen. The dusty, gravel lane runs in the middle of a pasture and leads to a decently sized farm house with a silo.

Colleen doesn't realize how long she's been staring at the property, still tucked into her seat, until the man shifts as he leans his arm against the steering wheel and asks, "This is your stop, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, it is, sorry. I just . . ." Colleen releases a stressed sigh. "I haven't seen them in a really long time."

The man nods with an understanding smile. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine."

"Thanks." Colleen shoots him a smile. "And thanks for driving me, how much is it again?"

She starts sifting through the money in her pocket, but before she can fish out some dollars, the man holds his hand out and says, "Don't worry about it, just go see your family."

Colleen's brow furrows. "Are you sure?" He'd been driving her for at least an hour at night.

"I'm sure." He motions to the house. "Go on."

Thanking him a million more times, Colleen steps out of the car. She shuts the door, and the man doesn't start driving off until she starts her trek down the long lane.

When she reaches the house, the wooden porch steps creak under her sneakers. Colleen steps up to the front door but idles before it.

Everything  has already fallen apart; her world has been completely flipped upside down. Her purpose was stripped and her kids were ripped away from her. What's one more twist in her life?

Hefting out a deep breath, Colleen lifts her hand and rasps her knuckles against the wooden door three times.

The immediate silence following the knocks rings in Colleen's ears. She glances at the red beat-up pickup truck pulled up to the garage and figures someone must be home, probably just sleeping. It's almost ten o'clock, after all.

Just as she's about to knock again, the door opens, revealing a woman with the same exact eyes as Colleen. It's almost like Colleen's looking in a mirror, except the bridge of her nose is longer and sharper than the woman's and her skin doesn't show the same signs of aging. She has blonde hair pulled up in a bun at the back of her neck and wears fuzzy navy pants and a plain white tee shirt.

Confusion fills the woman's eyes as she scans Colleen but she smiles nonetheless. "Hello, can I help you?"

Colleen's voice won't work. Her mouth moves, but nothing comes out.

Clearing her throat, Colleen manages to get out, "I-I'm Jordyn? Jordyn Pruitt?"

The woman's confusion morphs into something unreadable. Her striking green eyes trial over Colleen's face carefully.

Heart beating a thousand miles a minute, Colleen asks, "Are you Erin Pruitt?"

"Yes, I'm Erin." She leans a hand against the door frame and tilts her head as she continues to study Colleen. Closing her eyes, then opening them again, almost like she's making sure she's not imagining things. "I'm sorry, you said your name is Jordyn Pruitt?"

Colleen nods and wrings her hands together. "I'm sorry for just showing up out of the blue at night and claiming that—"

"That you're my daughter that has been missing for twenty years?" Erin finishes for Colleen.

"Yeah." Colleen bites down on her lip. "I know you probably don't believe me, and I don't actually have any proof with me, but I swear I am."

At first Colleen thinks Erin's going to shoo her off her front porch, but then she holds a hand over her mouth as her eyes fill with tears.

"Honey, you're all the proof I need," Erin says, letting her hands drop. "Your eyes, your smile, your nose . . . Can I hug you?"

Surprised but not appalled, Colleen smiles and steps into Erin's outstretched arms. The warmth and sense of security that radiates from the woman is unearthly. Colleen almost tears up herself as she hugs her mom. Her mom!

"I don't—I don't understand," Erin stammers as she releases Colleen and steps back, keeping the girl at arms-length to look her in the eye. "Where have you been the last twenty years? The last time I saw you was the day you were born."

Colleen smiles sadly. "It's a long story."

"I don't doubt it. Here, come inside." Erin steps out of the way and holds the door open as Colleen steps in. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? I just made some homemade lemonade this evening."

"That sounds lovely, actually," Colleen says. "Thank you."

"Come here, sit down. I'll bring it to you."

Erin pulls out a chair at the wooden table in the dining room after turning the light on. Colleen sits, her eyes taking in the house. It looks a bit outdated, but it's lovely and homey. Jars of various pickled vegetables sit lined up on the counter. A curled-up cat sleeps on a chair.

Erin returns with two glasses of lemonade and follows Colleen's eyes.

"That's Checkers, he's a real ornery fella when he isn't napping," Erin says as she takes a seat beside Colleen and slides over the glass.

Taking the beverage, the glass chilling her hand, Colleen says, "He's awfully cute."

"He's not so cute when he brings in dead mice and birds."

Colleen lets out a small laugh.

The sound of socked feet nearing turns Colleen to the doorway. A middle-aged man, short beard speckled with grey hairs, emerges in shorts and a plain shirt. His eyes immediately find the strange young woman sitting at his dinner table.

Turning to his wife, the man asks with confusion etched across his features, "Who's this?"

Colleen exchanges a look with Erin.

When Colleen tells the man, who she assumes is her father Chris, that she's their daughter, he doesn't believe her. She doesn't blame him, of course. It was pure luck that Erin believed Colleen.

It takes some persuasion and explanation for Colleen to convince Chris that she isn't some random person looking to stir up trouble or rob them in their sleep.

Erin and Colleen sip their homemade lemonade while Colleen fills her parents in on where she has been. It's a long story, like she said before, but her parents listen to all of it, start to finish.

Colleen starts with how she was taken by Hydra, then has to explain what Hydra is because they're not exactly a public organization. She doesn't talk much about her time in Hydra as to not resurface any bad memories and instead moves on to her escape. She found out there were others like her, she decided to devote her life to saving them, she was found by Black Widow, they were relocated to the Avengers compound, they busted more Hydra bases, and then the kids were taken.

And here they are now.

Colleen can't help the tears that gather in her eyes as she relays the part about losing the kids.

Erin's sympathetic gaze comforts Colleen as she lies her hands on her daughter's, giving them a gentle squeeze.

Wiping a stray tear that trails down her cheek, Colleen sits back in her chair. Telling her life story is much more draining than she expected. "I'm sorry for loading all this on you after showing up to your door unannounced."

"Don't apologize," Erin says, voice stern yet caring. "I'm very glad you decided to come, even if it was impulsive."

Colleen sniffs and smiles. She's glad she came, too. She wasn't sure what to expect when she knocked on the front door. This—a comforting, understanding woman with a big heart and delicious cookies—is better than any outcome she thought of.

Colleen turns and looks out the big window that outlooks the cow pasture as Erin stands to refill their lemonades. The sky is littered with more stars than Colleen has ever seen in New York.

"I'm assuming that nasty scar came from those Hydra bastards?" Chris speaks up, drawing Colleen's attention to him. He's seated beside his wife with his elbows on the table, one finger tracing an invisible line on his face where Colleen's scar is.

Colleen nods. A silence follows Chris's question, the couple mulling over Colleen's story. She glances out the window again as a faint smile touches her lips.

"I'm sure you must be exhausted from traveling all the way over here from New York this late," Erin says, bringing Colleen out of her thoughts. "We've got a guest bedroom for you to stay in."

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not," Erin assures. "I have some extra clothes you can borrow for tonight. Feel free to use the shower or raid the fridge, too."

The smile that spreads across Colleen's face cant be contained. "Thanks so much."

"Don't worry about it," Chris says. "It's the least we could do."

The clock reads nearly midnight when Colleen passes it as Erin leads her to the guest bedroom. She hands her some sweatpants and a tee shirt before leaving Colleen to her own devices.

The room is pretty small but it's comforting in a way. She pulls the curtains at the window shut before changing. The sweatpants fit snugly against her thighs but are loose around her ankles. The shirt is also pretty big, so she assumes it's Chris's.

As she lies down, she notices the Bible laid out on the nightstand. Curious, Colleen reaches out and takes the old book. She runs her thumb over the leather cover before opening it to a random page. Her eyes are drawn to a highlighted section.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

There's a little heart drawn beside the verse in pen.

Colleen sets the book back down and pulls the covers up to her chin. She falls asleep with the verse repeating in her mind.

•••

Colleen wakes to the savory aroma of bacon.

She ventures into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, as the mouth-watering smell intensifies. She finds Chris is at the stove with a turner in one hand and a pan with sizzling bacon strips in front of him.

The orange morning sun seeps into the kitchen from the large windows. The sunlight glints off the shimmery dew over the grassy pasture outside. Although she can't see it, a rooster crows.

Something furry rubs against Colleen's leg. She nearly yelps but lets out a breathy chuckle when she looks down and sees it's just Checkers. He looks up at Colleen and meows before rubbing his head against her shin.

As Colleen leans down to pet the cat, Chris turns. He smiles. "I hope you like bacon."

"Who doesn't?" Colleen scoops the cat up and holds him against her chest. He instantly starts to purr as she scratches under his chin.

Erin enters the kitchen with a basket of freshly collected eggs and starts cooking them scrambled. Colleen offers to help, not used to being the one served food, so Chris appoints her the job of setting the table and putting some bread in the toaster. It's so domestic, and just it reminds her of what she could have had if it weren't for Hydra.

But she isn't sad about it. She's glad she's able to cook breakfast with them at least once.

After breakfast, Chris leaves to tend to the animals. Colleen dresses in her clothes from the day before before joining Erin in the horse barn.

The horses are much bigger in person. They're powerful creatures with a grace that is almost unnerving. Still, they're gorgeous.

The horse barn smells like you'd expect: heavy of hay and manure. There are a few horses inside, each with different markings and colors. Erin brushes out the mane of a black mare. It blows air out of its nostrils and stomps once.

"What's her name?" Colleen asks, admiring the gentle giant.

"Daisy. She's an old girl, but she's still young at heart." Erin runs the brush through the mane and glances at Colleen. "As much as I appreciate you coming all the way out here, is there a reason? Or did you just decide to come out here and say hello?"

Colleen looks down. "I wasn't actually planning on ever meeting you, if I'm being honest." She releases a sigh that blows her hair out of her face. "I just—I've been feeling lost ever since the kids left. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. I just ended up here."

Erin stops brushing Daisy and turns to face Colleen. Her kind eyes take her in. "Is there any way you can see them again?"

"I don't know," Colleen admits, defeated. "Sloan's parents hate me, so I doubt they'd let me see her. Anna Beth's parents are okay, I guess, but I'm not sure. Emmett's parents already said I could come over and see him, but I feel like they were just being nice. And Ben . . ." She trails off and shakes her head. "I don't even know if he even wants to see me; he loves his family."

Erin studies Colleen carefully, like she's reading her like a book. "What do you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you want?" Erin repeats. "Do you want to see them?"

Colleen crosses her arms, brow furrowed. "Of course."

"Then go for it," Erin says like it's simple. "When you were taken, I was devastated. I had a hard time getting pregnant, and the one time it actually happened, someone stole my baby away. Chris and I tried everything to find you, even when the police told us it was no use."

"But you must've stopped looking," Colleen adds.

Erin shrugs. "I mean, after a few years we realized you were probably gone, but that didn't mean we just forgot about you. Whenever I saw a little girl with blonde hair and green eyes, I thought it was you." A small smile plays on her lips. "I probably looked absolutely bonkers to some people."

"But love hopes and perseveres," Colleen says, thinking back to the highlighted Bible verses she read the night before.

Erin's smile widens. "Exactly. So what are you going to do?"

What is she going to do?

Colleen had just started to believe that she was wrong to take in the kids, to love them like they were hers. But when is love wrong?

Love perseveres, so Colleen will persevere. No matter how low her chances at seeing them are, she can't just give up.

"I'm going to fight for them."

___
hey guys I'm scared of horses lol