Disclaimer: I do not own.
Author's Note: This chapter has more laughs than the last one. There should possibly be a higher rating for sex talk, but if you freely roam the internet, trust me, you already know how babies are made.
Sunday Morning
When Honor finally came out of her room, she was very quiet. She walked against the walls like a rat and kept her eyes on the floor. At least she hadn't tried to run away in the middle of the night. She moved around the kitchen like a ghost: Rogue was always amazed by her stealth abilities. Of course, if she made a little noise sometimes, this whole awkward aftermath might've been avoided. When she finally settled at the table with her grits and toast, Remy finally tried to broach the subject.
"Catin, about last night, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean to. I was just excited."
Black and blood eyes firmly on her spoon, she merely nodded.
"And I'm sorry 'bout… What you saw. I certainly didn't mean for dat, either."
Again, a silent nod.
Rogue could see that Honor was suffering. Like Remy, she was trying to bury an unpleasant memory. He'd made his peace and she clearly didn't want to acknowledge it, so as far as Rogue was concerned, the matter was settled. Time to change the subject. She went to the freezer and told Honor: "Whenever my momma had a bad night, you know what she had the next mornin' to make herself feel better?"
Honor looked up at Rogue expectantly.
"She'd make an eggo and put big scoops of ice-cream on it," Rogue finished, pulling out the box of eggo waffles and chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice-cream. "Ah think we could all use a treat."
Honor's face split open into a mischievous grin. "Ice-cream for breakfast?"
"Yep. You wanna get the plates?"
Her uncertain but hopeful eyes looked to her father, and when he didn't protest, she leapt out of her chair to get plates and forks. While her back was turned, Rogue flashed Remy a confident smile.
"Anything special ya wanted to do today?" Rogue asked her.
For once, Honor did have a plan. "I'd like t' ride my bike today. But it's been so long, de tires are prob'ly flat."
"Ah'll take ya up to the gas station and we can fill'm back up."
Rogue should've figured Honor would want to be outside and alone today. Remy got the same way whenever he wanted to sort through his thoughts. The two of them were more alike than they'd ever know. At least once a day, Remy would tell Honor or Rogue that his little girl was so much smarter or kinder or better than he was at her age. Rogue tried pointing out that Honor had a lot more advantages: a mother, a home, an education… If Remy had been given any of those things, he could've been just as smart and kind and good. But ever the cynic, he said: "Sayin' y' could do it, and actually doin' it are two different t'ings, chere."
After ice-cream and waffles for breakfast, Rogue grabbed a shower and Honor got dressed. As usual, the younger girl wore boots, black leggings, a little dress (white today), and big sunglasses. Her milky white arms were bare, and Rogue knew they'd be bright red by the time she got home. She rubbed sun blocker on Honor's face, shoulders and arms, and then they drove to the gas station with Honor's bike strapped to the back of the convertible.
"Ah'll just leave ya there," Rogue said. "It's about three miles from the house. Ya can just ride back. Ya know the way, right?"
"Yeah."
Rogue sighed into the silence. How Remy ever got this child to talk, she'd never know. They'd had such a good day yesterday. Rogue thought maybe things would be different now: maybe Honor would actually interact with her freely. Instead, every day was a battle. It never seemed to matter how much they bonded. Every day, Rogue had to prove herself again.
"Ya alright, sug? You're quiet, even for you."
Honor slowly turned her head towards Rogue. "You and my papa were havin' sex last night, weren't you?"
Rogue's face burned. "Yes we were. Ah'm really sorry you saw that. We thought you were asleep, sugah." Then, she added to herself: "Ah told him it was a bad idea."
"Do you want t' get pregnant?"
"Not right now…" Rogue's stomach knotted. "That ain't the only reason people do that. We're taking precautions."
"What?"
"Precautions. You know, methods to prevent getting knocked up."
Honor raised an eyebrow, and Rogue remembered she was talking to a girl. Her understanding of sex was very limited and probably a little obscure.
"Birth control," Rogue finally said. "Condoms. Do you know what that is?"
Honor was quiet, but her gaze was very intense. Finally, she said: "Momma said only bad girls use condoms."
Rogue's whole head burned bright red. She gripped the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles hurt, and she mentally counted to ten before she responded. "That ain't true, baby. People use condoms when they don't wanna get pregnant or catch a disease. Ah use 'm because Ah can't take birth control pills. With mutants, ya never can be sure how they'll react to medication, and that ain't something you wanna gamble on."
"I didn't mean t' make y' mad, Rogue. I knew Momma lied t' me about a lot a' t'ings.
"Well, Ah'm sure she had her reasons, sugah."
"She told me babies came from de cabbage patch."
Rogue waited for Honor to smile so she knew it was a joke… But she never grinned. Rogue tried to cover her own laugh and said: "Are ya bein' serious?"
"Sí, sí. I asked her where I came from, and she told me de cabbage patch. Made sense at de time. M' birthday's in September, which is harvest time. And Cajuns call dere little kids mon chou, so it all made sense t' me."
Rogue shook with repressed laughter. The funniest part was Honor's unflinching seriousness. Her voice was steady and hollow, as if describing a traumatic event, and her eyes were dark and wide.
"Ya got the truth eventually," Rogue said. "Didn't you?"
"Sí, sí. Some boys on de playground finally told me."
"Boys on the playground?" Rogue tried to keep the horror out her voice and failed.
"Yeah! Momma made me look like a real idiot! I mean, I knew de cabbage t'ing was total malarkey, but I didn't know de truth was so much worse! I was so mad at her! When I got home, I t'rew my book bag on de ground and called her a liar. Her face got all white and she said 'Whatchyou talkin' 'bout, chere?' When her face gets white, dat's how you know she's in trouble! And I told her dat babies didn't come from de cabbage patch and sex was gross. And she just fell over laughin' – like you tryin' not t' do right now! She said, 'Ya wanna talk about it?' And I said, 'No! You're disgustin'!' Dat got her all serious, but I wouldn't listen t' her den. I locked myself in m' room, and I t'ink she was too embarrassed t' bring it up again."
"She wasn't embarrassed," Rogue said seriously. "She knew questions about sex would lead to questions about your papa, and she didn't want to talk about him."
The car pulled into the gas station by the air pump. Honor went to step outside, but Rogue grabbed her wrist and held her still.
"What did the boys on the playground tell you?"
She shrugged and looked away. "Dey said you have t' have sex t' make a bébé. Dat a man and a woman take all dere clothes off and rub dere privates t'gether. Den de man's prick plants a seed in de woman's cunt, and nine months later, she shits out a bébé."
Rogue thought she could handle the matter with more confidence and grace than Belle, but she found herself completely dumbfounded. She had no idea that 'On knew what these words meant, let alone how to use them in a sentence. So instead of taking the opportunity to educate and bond with her stepdaughter, she let Honor get out of the car, fill up her bicycle tires with air, and ride down the highway.
