Chapter 10:
"Whoops!"
Jean started to laugh hysterically as she telekinetically dropped a dry washcloth over little Henry's upper legs. Amanda spluttered as Jean laughed and Henry gurgled, then grabbed another cloth and wiped at the spreading wet patch on the front of her shirt. "Jean, it's not funny!"
Jean just laughed harder, and rolled over on her side on the bed and held her sides as Amanda glared at her in mock anger. Finally she sat up, wiped her eyes, and handed Amanda a clean diaper. Amanda gave Jean another mock glare as she slid the diaper under the little butt. Then she whipped the cloth off the boy's upper legs and immediately dropped the front of the diaper down, fastening the tabs. She snapped up the front of the little jumper and picked him up, bouncing him a little as she brought him over to the bed. She put him down on his tummy, patted his behind, and said, "Go and see your Aunt Jean now. Mommy has to clean up." Jean picked him up and cooed at him as Amanda turned, using the cloth to wipe up the puddle on the changing table.
She walked through the adjoining doorway into hers and Hank's room. Little Henry's nursery had been set up in her old room, because the adjoining door had been much handier for her to get up and go to him in the middle of the night without waking anyone up. Hank had woken up at first every time Amanda got up; but he'd gradually gotten used to it, and now slept through the midnight feedings.
Not that there were many of them. Henry was an amazingly easy baby to take care of, in stark contrast to all of Amanda's problems while she was pregnant. He went to sleep around nine in the evening and didn't wake up until seven in the morning. Rarely did he wake up for a midnight feeding. In the four months since Amanda and Hank had brought him home from the hospital, she'd only woken up six times for early morning feedings.
Hank came in, holding a page of the newspaper out to Amanda, who was in the act of removing the wet shirt. "He got you again?" When Amanda nodded ruefully, Hank chuckled. "He will grow out of it, beloved. Eventually." He hugged her briefly, then she tugged at the newspaper page as Jean came out of the nursery holding the baby. He saw Hank and stretched out his arms, gurgling happily, and Hank smiled, handing Amanda the page as he took his son out of Jean's arms. He swung the baby high in the air, then tossed him a short way up in the air, making Henry laugh. Jean went over to Amanda's side to look at the newspaper page.
She was looking at a picture of Bruce Garrett Senior. The article's caption read, New Law Declared Unconstitutional; Violates First Amendment Rights. Amanda read the article aloud.
"Noted mutant expert Charles Xavier spearheaded a massive protest against the new city law which declared that a mutant must seek treatment for their mutations. He declared that not only was the law unconstitutional, in that it denied the individual the right to choose whether or not to actually receive treatment, but that the treatment offered by the recently deceased Bruce Garrett Junior did not work. A search of the clinic run by the younger Garrett where he was supposedly reverse transforming mutants revealed a cellar full of bodies of people who had not survived the procedure. The discovery has sparked massive protest against the procedure by both civilians and city, state and federal personnel…"
Amanda stared at Hank, wide-eyed. "You mean Bruce was killing them? My God…I'm glad he's gone."
Hank smiled at her, then planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "Bruce's father is going to be quite busy the next few years attempting to handle the lawsuits being filed against him by relatives of the deceased. It's not going to be pretty. But the law has been repealed, and we're all safe." He tossed the little boy up in the air again, and Henry squealed with laughter as he found himself flying. Amanda dropped the paper and turned to her husband and child, and Jean picked it up and slipped unnoticed out of the room.
Scott was lying in bed, reading a book, when Jean came in. She stretched out on the bed next to him, reading the page over his shoulder for a moment before leaning over and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Got some good news," she said.
Scott put the book down and wrapped his arms around her. "What's up?"
""They've repealed that stupid law. You don't have to worry about hiding anymore. Hank just brought the paper in, and they found the bodies of the people Bruce was supposed to be helping in the cellar of the clinic. The world is safe for mutants again."
"Mmmm…" Scott kissed her. "So why don't we try to bring our own little mutant into the world?" He rolled over, pulling Jean on top of him. Jean giggled, straddling him, and leaned down to kiss him…
* * *
Rogue looked up from the café table as the man walked up. She smiled and patted the chair beside her. "Hey," she said.
"Hey," Mark Grayson said, sitting down on the chair with his cup of coffee. "So it's safe to come out now, I hear."
Rogue laughed. "Yeah, thanks ta then repealin' that stupid law," she said. "It's about time, to. Ah wanted tah see yah."
"What about your " Mark's voice dropped significantly, "boyfriend?"
Rogue waved a hand. "Ah'm not heah 'cause Ah wanted a boyfriend, Ah'm heah 'cause I jus' wanted a frien'. Ah thought maybe ya could use one too."
Mark looked at her, and smiled. "Yeah," he smiled. "Yeah, I could use one too." He took a sip of his coffee.
* * *
That's it for 'Forced Mutations'.
I am pretty much all out of ideas for this set of stories, though I'm sure certain of your imaginations are working overtime on a continuance. I did leave it open; if anyone reading this out there wants to pick up where I left off, go ahead. I'm thinking about a spin-off with Rogue and Remy and Mark Grayson…but if I do it will be quite a long time in the future.
My attention right now is finishing the 'Secrets and Shadows' storyline (yes, I hear people going yay out there). My next story is going to be the long-awaited sequel to 'Flames'. It's titled 'Fire and Ice' and you can probably guess by that title which X-Man is next in line for my particular trip into hell and back!
My other project is now under way; I'm trying my hand at writing a full-length X-Men novel. So far the rough draft is four chapters and thirty pages, and it's getting longer. When I do get it posted, it won't be on ff.net; I'm going to post it exclusively on a friend/fellow author/regular reviewer's (Felidae's) website as soon as she tells me she has it up. Don't worry; I will put up or send out notices to all my regular reviewers telling them when it goes up and where. It stars Logan, for all you Wolverine fans out there; any other details you have to wait for.
So what did you all think? I did get an email saying Bruce's death was rather anticlimactic (getting hanged by his tie was a bit melodramatic, but it just seemed appropriate to me, so I didn't change it) but overall I was rather pleased with the way it turned out. There are loose ends to tie up; Magneto, for one. But I'm just about out of ideas for this, so if anyone out there wants to pick up where I left off, feel free. I hope I see some of you for 'Fire and Ice', going up after the last chapter of Secrets and Shadows; but if I don't, I hope you all enjoyed the ride!
Sincerely,
Jaenelle Angelline