April 6, 2010 ; April 11, 2010

Rather serious-y, with just a touch of humor. Set at the end of the series finale.

Picking Cannonball's brain a little.

Notes: I own nothing.

Sort of short.

12. Family-Man

To Sam Guthrie his family always comes first.

It meant the world to him.

Family, that is.

His was large, but close-knit.

The photo of the nine of them, taken just a few minutes before he'd left Kentucky behind, stared at him from the night stand.

With a sigh, Sam picked it up and held it just inches from his face, studying the faces of his siblings in the fading light that trickled in through his window.

Paige.

Melody.

Jay.

Jeb.

Lewis.

Joelle.

Elizabeth.

Cissie.

Peggy Sue.

They were his life, but also the reason he'd left Kentucky.

He'd wanted to stay, but he knew that Professor Xavier could help him learn to control his powers.

He missed them—oh, how he missed them—but he knew that one day, possibly in the not-too-distant future, he would see them again.

For now, he would rely on his memories of them.

Playing House with Paige and Melody in the make-shift clubhouse in their back yard.

Teaching Jay and Jeb to fish.

Helping Lewis learn to tie his shoes.

Rescuing Joelle, Elizabeth, and Cissie from too many spills to count: into ditches, out of trees, off of horses… Those three had gotten into some real sticky situations, and had always relied on Sam to get them out.

And chatting with Peggy Sue, the baby of the family, who was smarter than a lot of people gave her credit for.

The only people missing from the photo were Mama and Daddy.

Daddy, of course, had died from the lung infection after many years hard at work in the mines. Sam missed him terribly, often reflecting on the way his pa would talk, and the way he encouraged his children to be hard workers and not take anything for granted.

Mama had been behind the camera, taking the picture. She had had to keep reminding her children to squish closer together and smile and look at the camera. She had refused to join them to pose for a picture, though for what reason Sam still didn't know.

She had mailed him the photo a few weeks later, after having it developed and framed.

Now, as the faces stared back at him, Sam knew that no matter what, his family back in Cumberland was most important.

But the family he had here, the X-Men, came in a pretty close second.

The photo that hung on his wall, the one that he saw every time he left his room, had been taken just a few weeks ago, after their battle with Apocalypse had ended successfully and a few of the team had been allowed to return to the Institute.

The School was a God-send, a second home to all of them. For many, it was the only true home they'd ever know. They were family, and Sam was proud to call himself an X-Man.

As the seconds ticked closer to lights-out, Sam fell into a peaceful slumber, content with the knowledge he was where he was meant to be.

Notes: Er…Not so happy with the ending, but it works.

And we'll say Jean's telekinesis took care of taking the finale photo.

Influences, Borrowed Ideas, and Other Random Crap:

Peggy Sue (AKA the littlest sister)'s name came from veasley-veasley-krum's fic "Hello, Hello, Hello, How Low?", considering Sam's Wiki article doesn't name her.

"Jay" is actually Joshua. Not sure how they got "Jay," but who cares!

Sam's Wiki article is awesome for info. Several of his siblings are Mutants. If Marvel makes a Season Five of XME, let's petition for inclusion of Husk, Aero, Icarus, and Jeb (whose codename I do not know.), among others. Yes?

Two other influences were Scribbler's "My Sam" and MizzMarvel's "Changes."

Playing house, etc, came from my imagination. I would guess that Sam would oblige his siblings, teach them things, and save them from falls and such.

Words: 495

Time: A few hours?

Other: Um. I'm working on a few more of these, as well as some other ideas.

I love that I'm getting positive feedback. Even if it is only from, like, two people. Lol. =)