Disclaimer: I do not own Remy LeBeau or Rogue, Marvel and Rich Guy Stan Lee do; and Jeremy is not mine either, he is someone else's. This fanfic was inspired by a Boyz II Men's hit, A Song For Mama (which was supposed to be a songfic originally…)
Anyway,
please read, review and enjoy! Thank you.
I hate you, mom. I despise you. Because of you, my pere's dead and for what! For your pig-headedness, that's what. I wish you were the one dead instead!
Je vous detéste, la chienne d'une mere. #I hate you, bitch of a mother.#
Those words rang in her ears as she slid down against the wall of her bedroom, tears cascading down her face in furious rivulets. She had had a fight again with Jeremy who wanted to avenge for his pere's unjustified demise.
Rogue's lips trembled as she recalled her first fight with her teenage son since Remy died. And she could feel her fragile heart shattering into smithereens again.
(!#$&Flashback&$#!)
"Mom! You're being unfair here! Why does Nathan get to attend Danger Room sessions with everyone else and I can't?"
"Because you're not as strong yet," Rogue reasoned with Jeremy calmly, hoping quietly that he would not bring up the topic about mutation.
"Nathan's mutation just begun and it's as haywire as hell. Even the Professor has said that he has to be mighty careful or there'll be some very grievous injuries."
"I know, baby. But at least he can fight."
"I do too!"
"Listen to me, Jeremy. Yes, you can fight but your skills are not good enough to even get you through Level 1. What about other Levels?" Rogue tried to convince Jeremy to forget about the Danger Room for the time being, "Once you're better, I promise to let you play with the Danger Room okay?"
"No! That could take forever! You don't let me smoke or go to the mall, hell, you wouldn't even let me go beyond the boundaries of this mansion without supervision. What am I suppose to do in here? I feel suffocated, you know. If only pere were still here, he'd definitely let me do my own stuff!"
"But –" Rogue tried to defend her stand but she was cut off rudely.
"I hate you, mom. I despise you. Because of you, my pere's dead and for what! For your pig-headedness, that's what. I wish you were the one dead instead!" Jeremy stormed out of the room, pausing at the threshold with anger burning in his orbs, "Je vous detéste, la chienne d'une mere. #I hate you, bitch of a mother.#"
With that said, he left the room without another word.
Rogue stood rooted to the spot, shock clearly written on her face. She trembled and her knees buckled under her, suddenly feeling so drained and sad. Hot tears rolled down her pillowy cheeks as she cried into her hands, breaking her vow never to cry again.
"Jeremy baby, I never want things to be like these for you. You don't know what the world is really like out there. I just lost your dad, I don't think I can take it if something happens to you too," Rogue mumbled into her hands, sobs choking her occasionally.
A pair of striking eyes was watching Rogue break down and quietly, they withdrew, grievance burning evidently in the eyes.
(!#$&End of Flashback&$#!)
'Oh God, I miss you Remy. I miss you so much,' Rogue thought as she tugged on his beloved trench coat and hugged herself, as a poor substitute of having his strong arms around her.
(!#$&Flashback&$#!)
"Eh chere, where's Remy's coat? Remy remembers dumping it on the chair."
"I don't know. Have you tried the coat rack?" Rogue replied impishly.
"Come on chere, Remy can't go like this. He feels naked, vous savez #you know#."
-Calling for all X-Men. We will be taking off in five minutes.- An announcement crackled through their communicators.
"We've got to move, Rem," Rogue said and she tugged her husband towards their son's room.
"Cette fille sera la mort de moi. #This girl will be the death of me.#" Remy mumbled.
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
"Our parents will be going on a mission in Michigan right?"
"Yeah, that's what I heard. Why'd you ask?"
"Nothing, just wondering how far away that is from here," Nathan said and shrugged his bony shoulders.
Knock, knock.
"Come in!"
"Hey boys, we'll be heading out now. Take care of each other and lend Amara (their sitter) a hand or two okay?" Rogue told Nathan and Jeremy as she hugged and gave a little peck to her baby and a gentle squeeze on Nathan's shoulder.
Remy just gave the boys a rough ruffle on their heads each.
"Pere!"
The parents laughed and bade farewell, walking hand-in-hand towards the hangar where the rest were gathered.
"So, chere, are you going to return Remy his coat?"
"Nope." And off she skipped.
(!#$&End of Flashback&$#!)
'Well, I guess I don't regret keeping your trench coat away from you, Rem,' Rogue mused as she took in his scent, that intoxicating mix of spices and cigarette smoke, still lingering on the coat. She burrowed herself deep into the oversized trench coat and leaned against the headboard of her bed. A tear escaped and she hastily wiped it away.
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"Hey, where's Rogue? I haven't seen her at all today after our training."
"Where else would she be if not her room?" Kitty sighed and answered her husband's question with a question.
"Again!"
"I think she just had another fight with Jeremy. Poor Rogue."
"What are we going to do?"
"Let's give her some space and privacy. Come on, there's something I've been meaning to show you."
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
Jeremy was in his room, sitting on the windowsill and staring out into the vast greenery. He felt bad for fighting his mother and doing things that she had strictly forbidden him. He felt bad for hurting her feelings and for all the hurtful things he had said to her. He knew that she still blamed herself for what happened to his pere, but he just could not help feeling that she was, after all, the reason why his pere died.
He let his eyes roamed around his room, stopping at his dresser. There were picture frames of his family and friends, his parents and him and candid shots taken a week before the uneventful day.
He looked at a picture of the three of them that was taken on his 13th birthday. Rogue and Remy were smiling broadly and laughing in the picture while Jeremy had a very light red tint in his cheeks. He had been embarrassed by his parents who showed everyone in the mansion a video of him sleeping. It was a rather well-establish word-of-mouth that he was a really dramatic sleeper, especially after a hard day of fun, so, to have others watch the video was like a confirmation to the rumour.
He laughed quietly as he remembered the day.
'Gosh, je vous manque, pere #I miss you, dad#. I would give anything just to spend another day or two with you. Even if it is a replica of Jeremy's Date,' Jeremy wished as he tilted his head back to keep the tears from spilling.
(!#$&Flashback&$#!)
'Man, I'm so nervous. What if I screw up and make a royal fool out of myself? I'll be the laughing stock of the mansion for weeks,' Jeremy thought as he dressed up for his date with a new girl in town. He gelled up his unruly copper-and-white locks carefully and tied his laces into perfect little bows. He stood up and dusted off imaginary dust from his jacket.
He left his room and made his way into his parents' bedroom, the scent of vanilla wafting past him. Rogue had just emerged from her shower, steam clouding the bathroom. Wet hair plastered to her head, the emerald orbs wide and slim toned arms wrapped around her svelte figure, a hand clenching the towel shut to her ample chest.
'Woohoo, my mom is one hell of a sexy woman,' Jeremy thought.
"Yes, honey? Care to share what you were smirking about?" Rogue asked with a perfect eyebrow arched.
"Nothing mom," Jeremy replied with a laugh, "Pas étonnant que le pere vous a choisi #No wonder dad chose you#."
"Come again…"
"Nothing mom, nothing. I'll be at The Shack with Rosalyn okay?"
"Sure honey. Hmm…you're looking smart." Rogue commented and nodded her head in approval.
Jeremy smiled in satisfaction and sprayed a little of Remy's cologne on himself. He proceeded to give a small kiss to Rogue and went on his merry way, humming his favourite tune.
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
"Hello? Petit, are you on your way?"
"Yes Sir, I should be there in another minute."
"Good, good. Ring me again once you're here okay, petit?"
"Sure Mr LeBeau."
"See ya when you get here."
'Je suis allant apprécier ceci. Petit Jeremy, vous êtes si descendant. #I am going to enjoy this. Little Jeremy, you are so going down#' a shadowed figure around the corner mumbled and grinned evilly as he rubbed his hands in glee.
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
'The Shack is a 10-minute walk from here. I think I'll take the shortcut. That way, I can snip off a rose for Rosalyn. I'm sure she'd like that,' Jeremy thought as he played with his Swiss Army knife and resumed humming.
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
Trutt, trutt. Trutt, trutt.
"Bonjour, Remy LeBeau speaking."
"Mr LeBeau, I'm walking towards the gate now…Wow! This place is huge!"
"Oui #yes# petite," Remy replied as he strode quickly over to the humongous gates of the mansion.
"Ah, there you are Mademoiselle Edwards. Come in, come in," Remy invited Rosalyn into the neat compound and bent forward to kiss her knuckles gently, "Welcome to our humble abode."
Rosalyn blushed and stammered, "Umm…you…I…"
"Oh no, it's nothing like that Mademoiselle Edwards. It's just Remy's way of greeting belle dames #beautiful ladies#" Remy said and laughed.
"Oh…thank you for the compliment, Mr LeBeau," Rosalyn flushed and tucked her silky blond locks behind an ear, "And please, call me Rosalyn."
"If you insist, petite."
Remy walked Rosalyn into the mansion's living room and Rosalyn proceeded to sit herself down. Meanwhile, Remy was in the kitchen getting his guest a drink.
-1-2-3-4—6-7-8-9-0-
'Why do I have this feeling that something is going to happen? Something big…something…catastrophic,' Rogue wondered as her instincts nagged at her incessantly, "Oh well, it won't be a first, that's for sure."
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Remy walked out of the kitchen carrying two tall glasses of chilled Dr. Pepper, barely smothering his infamous mischievous grin. He handed a glass to Rosalyn and got himself comfortable. Rosalyn chatted about Jeremy animatedly and Remy simply nodded his head and smiled or laughed. In reality, Remy was not listening to Rosalyn; he was merely hearing her. His ears were trained to the door conjoining the room to the wings.
'Rogue, checked. Kitchen, checked. The rubber, checked. Coast, checked.' Remy ran a checklist quickly through his head as he continued 'chatting' with Rosalyn.
A familiar whistling caught Remy's attention and he excused himself to go to the kitchen to get something. Rosalyn nodded her acknowledgement.
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'Par le crochet ou par le crochet, garcon. Par le crochet ou par le crochet #By hook or by crook, boy. By hook or by crook#' Remy mumbled.
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'I wonder why Mr LeBeau call me over. He hasn't even given me any explanation,' Rosalyn thought over. 'Eh? That sounds like…'
"I dream of rain (a leh e ye leh). I dream of gardens in the desert sand." Jeremy was singing and dancing along to the song as he pranced into the living room.
Rosalyn gasped and her jaw slacked. Jeremy locked and looked up in reflex.
He blushed furiously when he saw Rosalyn staring at him, dancing and all.
"Uh…how long have you been here?"
"About 5 minutes or so…you…uh…you look cute…"
Jeremy was surprised and gawked openly at Rosalyn.
"Mon Dieu #My God# you're…so…beautiful…" Jeremy said softly, mesmerised by her beauty, and indeed she was.
Rosalyn's blonde locks were pulled up into a high ponytail with several strands of hair framing her small face. The eyelashes were long and thick, her piercing blue eyes sharp and clear. Her skin glowed and she was dressed in a simple dress that reached her knees. A few bracelets and two small hoop earrings adorned her.
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
Remy snickered as he watched the dates staring at each other. He tugged the long rubber and gripped it hard in his hands.
'So long petit,' Remy muttered and squeezed the trigger.
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FWOOSH!
Both Rosalyn and Jeremy turned to look at the sound. Freezing cold water gushed out of the end of the garden hose and engulfed Jeremy in its body even before he could blink. Instinctively, he burrowed his head into his jacket.
Meanwhile, Rosalyn was trying desperately to cover her giggles as she watched Jeremy fend off the water. She spied Remy from the corner of his eye, torturing his son and grinning maniacally.
'THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!' Jeremy thought angrily, swearing to kill Nathan – whom he believed to be the one behind his attack – and dismember him savagely.
He clenched his jacket and ran towards the direction of the water, tackling Remy, who was laughing too much to notice that he was pinned under his son.
"Pere!" Disbelief and rage rang in Jeremy's voice as he stared down at his dad.
"Huh? Oh!" With a chuckle, Remy flipped his boy over his head and took off down the living room, laughing.
He passed by Rosalyn and winked at her and she laughed.
Jeremy, on the other hand, was hot on his heels, pursuing his attacker with only murder in mind. However, being the smaller one, he was widening the distance between Remy and himself fast, so he used the next feasible idea.
"MOM!" Jeremy hollered at the top of his lungs and detoured to his parents' bedroom.
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"Is
that Jeremy screaming?" Rogue wondered.
No sooner did she mention those words, her bedroom door slammed open.
"Wha –"
"Where's pere, Mom?"
"I don't know, sweetie," Rogue replied and moved over hastily to her drenched-to-the-bone son. "Come, let's get you dried first."
"N-no…" The surge of adrenaline rushing into his blood vessels had slowed down, leaving Jeremy a little shaky on his feet.
"Yes you will young man. You're shivering and chattering."
"N-n-no…I…I'm n-n-not."
Rogue raised an eyebrow and glared at him. He sighed in defeat and trudged into the bathroom, grudgingly. Rogue rubbed his arms and tried to warm him up a little. She gave him a peck on the cheek and left to fetch the boy some dry clothes.
'Some things will never change,' Rogue thought and smiled fondly.
-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-
Rosalyn wondered around the room, looking at all the decorations in greater detail. Bits and pieces of conversations floated into the room and Rosalyn watched as several couples banter.
"Orlando Bloom is such a heart-throb, isn't he?"
"Yeah, like, totally!"
"Gosh, you'd think the girls would have been over that phase a long ago."
"Yeah. Makes me want to puke."
"Hey! You guys are just jealous."
"Yeah? Says who? The Orlando-Bloom-is-such-a-heart-throb gang?" Bobby scoffed and the guys seconded.
"Why, you –"
"Guys! Cool it. We've got company." Everyone turned to look in Rosalyn's direction and walked towards her.
"Hey! Why is there a totally wet patch here!"
"Oh, there was a little incident." Jubilee grumbled at the answer, muttering about living with brats and immature, hormone-driven adolescents.
"Jean, could you levitate the water? And Bobby, you'll freeze it. Kitty can phase that thing out to the yard." The trio quickly got the mess cleaned up and continued on with their little meeting.
"Hi! You're Rosalyn Edwards, aren't you?" Kurt asked and extended his hand, "I'm Kurt Wagner. These are…"
After the introductions were made, everyone went their separate ways except for Kurt. He was keeping the girl company while he waited for Remy to appear again. A hand bearing a small white flag poked its way into the room, waving it.
"Remy surrenders."
Both Rosalyn and Kurt burst in laughter. "Hey Remy. Welcome back."
"Is the garcon #boy# around?"
"You would have kissed the ground if he were here, you know."
"Okay." With that, Remy entered the room, grinning like an idiot.
"What happened, dude? Wait, I don't think I want to know. Knowing you, I'd say the 'little incident' was pretty scarring."
Remy laughed, "You really don't want to know, mon ami #my friend#."
The guest continued chatting with her two hosts, exchanging adventurous stories and anecdotes. Time passed rather quickly and the company was really enjoying themselves when Rogue summoned Remy telepathically, 'Hey sugah. Could you come up for a second? Thanks Swamp Rat.'
"Please excuse Remy for a moment. He has been summoned by his Queen." Remy did a little bow and hurried off.
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Sniffle, sniffle.
"Mom! I'm fine. Honestly! It's just a little cold."
"No you're not, Jeremy. You're sniffling and you're still cold," Rogue said and gently tugged on her son's nose.
"That's the whole point! In order for me to get rid off the cold, I have to be all warmed up. And the least I could do is have a walk outside."
"You know, I think you're right. You could warm up by taking a walk."
"I told you. So, can I go now?"
"Not yet, young man. I'm not finished." Jeremy scowled in annoyance. "I did say you could go for a walk but I did not say outside."
"What!"
"You got it. I meant in the mansion. You could show Rosalyn around," Rogue suggested.
"Merde! #Shit!# She's not going to talk to me. Not after I make such a fool of myself."
"Now, now. She's your date and you're not going to ditch your date after a small episode, are you?"
"No way, mom! No gentleman ditches his date. I'll be on my way now. See you later," Jeremy declared and walked down the corridor towards the living room.
'Remy sure has the boy tamed,' Rogue thought in amusement as she cleared her bathroom.
'Hey sugah. Could you come up for a second? Thanks Swamp Rat.' Rogue sent out a message to Remy telepathically.
"Yes chere, you called for vous Roi #your King#?"
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"Okay, here goes nothing. Do or die," Jeremy mumbled as he walked with a racing heart. His feet felt as heavy as lead and his hands were cold and clammy. He clenched his hands into fists and shoved them into the pockets of his NASCAR sweatshirt. He had pulled the hood over his head and his head was bowed, emerald-onyx eyes staring fixatedly to the ground.He walked into the living room silently, standing away from Kurt and Rosalyn. He was still too embarrassed to greet Rosalyn. He felt vicious anger sear his mind again but it died away just as quickly as it surfaced. He might be angry at Remy but there was no way he could be angry at his pere for long. There was something about his pere that made him lovable and adorable despite his world-class annoyance.
Kurt heard a scuffle near the threshold of the living room and looked up discretely. He saw Jeremy shuffled restlessly and he tried to make eye contact with Jeremy without alerting Rosalyn to Jeremy's presence. He did not want to make Jeremy any more uncomfortable than he already was.
'Come on Jeremy. Look at me,' Kurt hoped as he tried to call out to Jeremy telepathically. Jeremy must have heard because he looked up. Kurt gave a minute nod in Jeremy's direction and excused himself, saying that her date has arrived.
Rosalyn whipped her head around and smiled at the blushing boy. He smiled back tightly. Rosalyn patted beside her seat, indicating for him to have a seat beside her. He gulped a lump in his throat and made his way slowly over to her. Kurt passed by him and whispered a word or two of encouragement.
He sat beside Rosalyn stiffly, suddenly unsure of what to do. All of his confidence had gone down the drain. A moment passed and they were still like how they were a moment ago. Rosalyn leaned a little over to Jeremy.
In Jeremy's mind: 'SHE'S LEANING OVER TO ME!'
"Relax," Rosalyn said quietly. She could see that Jeremy was nervous and all tensed up. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Slowly she moved her hands over to his sweatshirt, her hands resting softly by the hood. Immediately Jeremy snapped his eyes shut tightly. He knew what Rosalyn was going to do. He bowed his head further down. That little motion did not deter Rosalyn from doing what she wanted: To get Jeremy's hood off.
Slowly and silently Rosalyn pulled the hood back and down, lightly running her fingers against Jeremy's smooth and reddened complexion. A shudder ran down Jeremy's spine and he clenched his fists till the knuckles turned white.
A minute passed and neither Jeremy nor Rosalyn had moved and Rosalyn was still staring at Jeremy, who still had his head bowed.
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"Aww man. Come on petit. Do something and stop ignoring your date." Remy groaned in irritation as he watched Jeremy and his date. "Do you think we should do something about this, chere?"
Rogue twirled around in her husband's embrace and stared into his enchanting eyes, concern lingering in them. She thought over what he said and shook her head. "No. I think you've done enough damage to our baby for today."
"Chere, you wound Remy," Remy pouted, tightening his husky voice a little and quivered his lower lip.
Rogue swatted Remy on the arm and smiled.
"Let's leave them to their own devices," Rogue said as she sashayed her way out of her husband's embrace and to their bedroom, "By the way, something is waiting for you in our room."
Remy's eyes lit up at the thought and raced out towards their room.
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Rosalyn gave a small sigh and thought, 'Looks like I have to be the initiator.'
Slowly, she hooked a finger under Jeremy's chin and lifted it up. Jeremy reddened even more and kept his sight fixated to the floor, still too embarrassed to face her.
"It's okay, Jeremy. I'm not going to laugh at you," Rosalyn pleaded as she caressed Jeremy's cheek. He shook his head vehemently.
"Please…" Rosalyn whispered so softly, the pleading distinctly audible.
Jeremy felt his heart constricted a little as his sharp hearing picked up on the thread of hope in her barely audible voice. He steeled himself with disappointment and raised his gaze with the speed of a sloth and moved his eyes to look at Rosalyn. She smiled shyly at him and said, "Hi."
"Hey there," Jeremy croaked as he forced the words out of his dry mouth.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah...I will be."
Silence. They kept glancing at each other, quickly averting their eyes when the other met their eyes. A thought struck Jeremy and he looked at Rosalyn until he had her attention.
"Um, how about a walk around here? I could give you a tour," Jeremy offered hesitantly as the crimson colour in his face drained.
"I'd like that." Rosalyn smiled.
Jeremy stood up, running his hands over his clothes to smoothen out the wrinkles and reached out a hand to her, "Shall we begin?"
Rosalyn smiled warmly and slipped her hand into Jeremy's. Grasping her delicate hand gently, he pulled her up by his side.
"This mansion was built by…"
Jeremy explained to Rosalyn as they walked across the mansion's living room, hand in hand.
(!#$&End of Flashback&$#!)
Jeremy scrubbed roughly at the tears that caressed his cheeks and his tear-blurred eyes. A shadow passed quickly which Jeremy caught at the corner of his eyes.
Jeremy turned on his heels and called out. "Pere? Is that you?"
Silence.
"Pere…"
Silence.
'I must be going crazy. Totally crazy,' Jeremy thought and shook his head as he clambered out of his bedroom window and into the freezing cold of the night.
Author's Note: This is only the beginning to the whole story…or is it? Anyway, I hope you would review and tell me what you think of this chapter because I thought I suck at some parts.
Thanks for reading again…