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I'm kinda scared that I didn't write Scott
well enough <sigh> for my first time, I don't think
it's too bad. Anyway, I got up this morning with this idea
in my head, and, what do you know, after three hours of writing,
I had a story. One of those things you know? I hope you like
it, and if you do, send feedback! Please? (Don't forget to
send it to the new e-mail address)
Disclaimer - Scott, Remy and Jean belongs to Marvel.
Julie, Josh, and Ray belong to me.
Auwe! Almost forgot, and thanks to Shera for coming up with
a name ::grins::
Scott yawned as he pushed the door to the boathouse open.
All the lights were out inside, and Jean wasn't sitting at
the table waiting up for him like he half expected. He sighed
loudly, wondering if the baby had kept her so busy today that
she had just forgotten he would be coming home this night.
The light came on when his hand flicked the switch on the
wall beside the door, and he saw that she hadn't forgotten.
There were candles burned down to little more then puddles
sitting on the table, and a white frosted cake with "Welcome
Home Scott" written in blue letters. The O and M in "home"
were missing from where Jean had cut a piece, and he could
see the dark red crumbs on the table where she had sat eating
it.
Scott frowned, then sighed heavily, looking at his watch.
Ten-forty his ass. He held the watch to his ear, and nodded
to himself. The watch had stopped and he hadn't even realized
it, too happy to be returning home after over a month of being
away from his family. He found the clock on the microwave
and groaned. No wonder Jean hadn't waited for him, it was
one in the morning. How could he have made an oversight like
that?
After debating with himself which he wanted more, something
to eat, or to go crawl into bed and cuddle up against his
wife like he'd been thinking of all day, his empty stomach
chose for him. He raided the icebox for the makings of a sandwich
-- bypassing the leftovers from what appeared to have been
a very elegant meal, and a bowl filled with the gray goo called
poi -- then stood leaning on the counter munching away
on ham and cheese.
His hunger sated, he turned the light off in the kitchen,
and made his way to the bedroom where he stopped short in
the doorway looking in. His breath caught in his throat, and
he felt his heart thud wildly in his chest as he looked in
at the scene before him.
Jean lay curled on her side wearing one of his old t-shirts
and a pair of pink panties. A green negligee was tossed over
the end of the bed, obviously something she had wanted to
wear for him, then changed when she realized he wouldn't be
home. Glorious red hair fanned out on the white pillow under
her head, shining like soft satin. Scott's hands inched to
run through it, to twist the silken strands though his fingers
like he always did after making love.
Her arm was outstretched and their little son lay there with
his head nestled against her breast, one tiny hand pressed
against her chest and the other tossed over his head. Scott
stepped more into the room, and came to the side of the bed
so he could take the baby and bring him to the nursery that
was adjacent to their room.
He slid a hand under his son and picked him up gently, cradling
him against his chest. "Hi, Josh," he said softly,
smiling down with pride at his boy. The baby's eyes fluttered
open, and Scott stiffened. He hadn't meant to wake Josh up,
but lime-green eyes, just a few shades lighter then his mother's,
opened and stared at him in frightened surprise. He knew some
people believed he didn't see many colors other then red because
of his glasses. But, his vision was just the same as someone
wearing sunglasses. They still saw the colors, only tinted
a darker color. In Scott's case, everything was tinted red,
but he had long ago learned to ignore it and see colors for
what they really were.
Right then, he could definitely see the green color of his
son's eyes, and he saw them turn darker as the little guy
stiffened, balling his hands into fists. He was going to cry
his little heart out if Scott didn't do something fast.
He didn't want to awaken Jean, not with as peaceful as she
looked lying there. He started to bounce Josh up and down
slightly, making a soothing sound that eased the stiffness
from the baby and forced his eyes to open again. Josh looked
up at Scott with wonder, and Scott couldn't help feeling a
twinge of disappointment at the fact that in a little over
a month of being separated, his son didn't seem to even recognize
him. But then, the baby held out and hand and pinched Scott's
nose between his fingers, softly chanting "dada"
in a long unbroken chain of whispers.
The father grinned down at his son, who simply looked up
at him with those huge green eyes. Scott rocked Josh gently
in his arms, and walked back out of the bedroom. Since he
was up, there was no sense in having to put him into his crib,
when Scott so rarely got to hold him. He carried his son back
toward the kitchen, frowning when he saw the glow of a light
on in there. He was sure he had turned it off, but he must
have been wrong.
He wasn't. Remy was standing in front of the open refrigerator,
trying to balance Julie in one arm and the bowl of poi
and a little carton of half-and-half in the other. He wondered
absently why Remy would come into his house to get baby food,
then realized that with Ray off again to her island home,
Jean was the only one who could make the gooey Hawaiian paste
his son and Remy's daughter both loved so much.
Scott waited until Remy had set the bowl and cream on the
counter and had a better grip on his squirming daughter before
he cleared his throat. Remy whirled around, his red on black
eyes wide in surprise, and one fist clenched tightly. Scott
had no doubt that if Remy hadn't of had Julie in his arms
that he would be flat on his back now, the Cajun on top of
him.
As it was, Remy sighed, and offered a weak smile. Scott could
see the bags under the man's eyes from not getting enough
sleep, and was almost amused to see a beard was slowly growing
on his chin from obviously more then a few day's lack of shaving.
"Didn't mean to scare you, Gambit." Scott said
somewhat stiffly. A truce had been made between the two on
the day of their children's births, but they were still less
than easy with one another.
"I'm sorry, ami. I didn' realize you be home yet. Jean
been lettin' me come get dis stuff from your fridge f' Julie.
I'll jus' get some an' go on back t' my house." Julie
had started to fidget more, and started sniffling. She was
going to cry any second, and Remy was trying his best to keep
it from happening by lightly bouncing her up and down.
"No, no," Scott smiled at him, pulling up a chair
and sitting down with Josh. "Stay. Feed Julie before
she throws a fit," he smiled, showing he was joking.
Remy smiled back, relieved, and got a bowl down from the cabinet,
then started mixing the poi with the cream and a little
sugar. Josh was watching Remy and started squirming in Scott's
arms. "If you don't mind...could you..."
"Sure, ami." Remy put the bowl and tiny baby spoon
in front of Scott, and got another down for himself.
"Thanks. I never can get the right amount of cream in
it for Josh. He doesn't seem to like it when I make it."
Scott gathered a tiny bit of the paste on the end of the spoon
and put it toward Josh's mouth. His son took the spoon, then
made a face and spit it back out onto Scott's shirt.
Remy set a banana on the table in front of Scott, then sat
down in another chair across from him. He laughed softly.
"Don' worry, Scott. It n't you. Jean mashes a banana
int' Josh's. Make him happy. Julie on de o'er hand, spit on
me when I add sugar. You don' like t'in's dat be too sweet,
do you, Jules?" He put his nose up against his daughter's
and gave her an Eskimo kiss. Julie laughed and rubbed a hand
against Remy's beard covered cheek.
Scott smiled. Julie was fascinated with her father. Her little
hands moved over his cheeks chin and lips while Remy spooned
poi into her mouth. She kept her hands on him, rubbing
his face and neck, seeing her father with her hands. Josh
on the other hand had to look at everything in the room, and
squirmed to do so. Scott finally gave up trying to feed him
and let him move around on his lap, touching everything. When
Josh's hands found his face, he thought it was funny until
they pulled off his glasses.
"Whoa, son!" Scott said in a harsh whisper, closing
his eyes quickly, and grabbing the glasses away from tiny
hands. "You can't take daddy's glasses." Josh gave
him a hurt look, and started to whimper softly to himself.
"Now, don't do that." Scott shoved a spoonful of
poi into his son's mouth before the tears came, and
Josh settled down to eat.
"Dey like t' take t'in's off your face, dat f' sure.
Julie pulled Rogue's necklace off, broke de clasp an' everythin'.
We found out dat Julie immune t' Rogue's powers at least."
Remy offered d a smile. "Rogue keep de necklace under
her shirt now, n't dat it does a whole lot o' good. She still
seems t' get her li'le hands on it."
"How is Rogue, Remy?" Scott asked, wondering at
the same time if he was going to have to start wearing his
sleeping goggles whenever he held his son until he stopped
grabbing things.
"She gettin' better everyday. N't so good dat she c'n
stay out o' bed f' a while, but good enough to be able t'
walk around de room a bit." Remy sighed, and whipped
the last bit of poi from around Julie's mouth. He stared
down at her eyes, the irises clouded over with a white film
that was half the cause of her blindness. "Hank don'
want Julie 'round her t' much, but I jus' can' keep her daughter
away from her, you know? Sometime I have t' sneak Julie in
jus' so Rogue c'n hold her for a bit."
They were quiet for a moment, an uncomfortable silence which
Scott didn't know how to break. After a while, he finally
said something very softly, looking down at Josh in his lap.
"What?" Remy asked, he hadn't heard.
Scott looked up at Remy. He looked older now. He didn't look
the carefree Cajun he had been a mere year ago. He seemed
to have aged ten years since he and Rogue married. Who wouldn't
after what he had gone through? He and his wife had almost
separated. His first daughter came back to him and was almost
lost again in the hands of a mad man. His wife got sick, they
almost lost Julie, and then she was born blind...
Everything seemed to fall on the younger man's shoulders
all at once, and it had indeed taken its toll on him. His
eyes were dull, his face pale, hair unkempt, and a tired air
hung around him like a rain cloud. Yet he looked down lovingly
at his daughter, as if everything that was happening, that
had fallen on him, was all worth it just to be holding her
in his arms. Scott envied the look, simply because it was
a look of cherished love.
"I said, I couldn't be as strong as you are," Scott
shook his head. "I'm always scared of what will happen
when Josh gets older. I keep thinking of Nate, and how he
was taken away from me. I couldn't take that happening a second
time. I wonder how he'll grow up, what being a child here
will mean to him. What happens if the mansion is demolished,
what happened if someone like...like Sinister found out about
him, and took him away like he did your Lizzie. I worry about
him going to school, with the hate crimes, and the kids killing
kids...who knows what it's going to be like when Josh and
Julie are old enough for high school?"
He looked up at Remy who was eyeing him carefully. "I
must sound like an idiot. I'm sorry."
Remy shook his head. Julie was lying in his arms, fast asleep,
a hand curled around his finger, but he made no move to leave.
"You don' sound like an' idiot." He said softly.
"I t'ink de same t'in's. I t'ink all parents do. T' tell
you de truth," he looked lovingly down at Julie's face,
"I didn' wan' her. I didn' wan' t' bring a baby int'
dis world. N't de way it be now. T'in's out dere scare me.
T'in's in here," he taped his head, "scare me too.
I don' wan' her t' 'ave t' live t'rough all de t'in's we lived
t'rough.
"But I love her. I love her very much. I love her, an'
I love Kevin jus' like he was my own. An' Lizzie...well, as
much as she changed, I be learnin' t' love what she become,
who she is. I love my children, Scott, like you love Josh,
an' you love Nathan. An' I figure, wha' gonna happen in de
future...well, dat de future. We don' know what is
going to happen. By de time Julie and Josh are ready f' high
school, we could all be livin' in peace f' all we know."
Scott was surprised to find that he and Remy shared many
of the same thoughts. They sat in silence for a moment, each
rocking their children, both babies fast asleep in their father's
arms. Scott realized that the two of them had a lot in common.
Both lost their first born children, and both got them back,
if somewhat older then when they'd last seen them. Although
the loss of their children was different for each man, who
was to say that if Scott had been offered the chance to save
Nate that Remy had been offered for Lizzie, that he wouldn't
have taken it?
Scott looked up when Remy let out a loud sigh and stood,
scraping the chair against the floor. "It be two AM,
ami. I t'ink it time I took my li'le one back home and tried
t' get some sleep. You look like you could use some o' your
own, t'. T'anks f' de company, t'ough." He started off
toward the door.
Scott stood and watched him open the door and then stop after
he'd stepped over the threshold. "You know wha' scare
me de most?" he asked.
Scott wasn't quite sure he'd heard him. "What?"
"Dat Rogue n't get be'er." He said it so softly,
it was hard for Scott to hear, but he knew what Remy was saying.
"I scared dat Julie n't get t' know her mama. Dat scare
me more den de FoH, de legacy virus, hell, it scare me more
den Julie's never bein' able t' see. Sometimes...sometimes
it scare me so much, I wake up cryin' because of it. I don'
wan' her t' have t' live wit'out a mama." He nuzzled
his daughter's hair, then turned his head enough that Scott
could see tears making his eyes brighten. "You say you
couldn' be as strong as me wit' all dis? Homey, I hope you
never have t' be. I pray dat none o' my friends ever have
t' know wha' it like." He ended there, and started out
into the darkness again, toward the path that would lead him
to his own house in the woods.
Scott stood there shocked that Remy had told him that. He
was sure Remy had never told that to anyone else, it was that
look he had given Scott just before he left that made him
think that. He didn't understand why he had picked him to
scare it with...it wasn't as if they were really friends or
anything.
Scott walked to the door. "Remy?" he called out.
Remy's bodiless voice floated back to him out of the darkness,
"Oui?"
"Remy, if sometime you ever just want to...talk, I'll
be willing to listen. Anytime." Scott thought he could
hear Remy's sigh and a muffled thank you before he closed
the door.
He carried Josh into the bedroom, and laid him beside Jean,
then crawled into bed himself. It was a long time before he
was able to fall asleep. But as he did, in the nexus between
sleep and awake when you dream and still hold your conscious
thought, he realized that he and Remy wouldn't be clashing
as much anymore.
"This is the place.
Here ends our warfare;
Here end our woe.
We will make the desert
Blossom as the rose!
And then we saw
The lilies quiver
In the golden sun
By Jordan River!"
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