Disclaimer: see ch 1
Warning: mention of spanking
"What's up, Scotty?" Gabriel asked as he was coming down the stairs.
"Just spending some time with Nate and Nathan at the lake."
"You're wet."
"We got in the water."
"Oh."
"Have you ever been swimming, Gabe?" Gabriel shook his head. "Want me to teach you? We can work in the Danger Room until you're comfortable enough to get in the pool. I know we're having a cookout next month for the 4th of July, and everyone will be swimming…"
"I didn't think we were doing anything next month?"
"Why not?"
"Alex will be in Hawaii."
"And? He'll be celebrating with his family, I'm sure. This'll be Dad's first Independence Day since coming home. He wants to go all out. That means cookout, swimming, and fireworks."
"Ok. You can teach me how to swim, then."
"Alright. Now I'm going to go up and change, and then Nate and I are going to start working in the nursery before Maddie gets back. Dad said dinner is with the Starjammers tonight."
"Ok, Scotty. I'm going to go to the gym for a little while. Alex is… He's really mad, still."
"He hasn't said anything to you, has he?"
"A few things…" Scott scowled.
"Let's go. You're telling Dad."
"It's not a big deal, Scotty."
"Yes it is. Alex might be pissed with Hope, but that doesn't give him an excuse to take it out on you."
"But if I tell Dad, Alex will be mad at me, too." Scott shook his head.
"Then Dad'll talk to the Masters about keeping him out of those competitions he's already signed up for. Look, Gabe. Alex is our brother and we should want to protect him, but when he's saying things to you that he has no business saying, he needs to be held accountable. You can tell him I forced you if you're worried."
"I don't know, Scott."
"Gabe, if you don't want extra Danger Room sessions, you'll go talk to Dad."
"That's not fair."
"No, it isn't, but neither is the way Alex is treating you. Let's go." Scott handed the cooler to Gabriel and grabbed his other arm, forcing him upstairs. They got to the third floor and Scott scanned his thumb before opening the door.
"Hey. Do I want to know why you're dripping and in your boxers, Scott?"
"I went in the water. I'm going to get dressed. Gabe has some things he wants to tell you." Gabriel looked helplessly at Scott as he went into his room to put on dry clothes.
"Gabe? What's up?"
"Um… Alex has been a little mean…" Chris narrowed his eyes.
"What is he saying to you?"
"Stuff about how I'd have been better off an orphan, and that I'm just here because you like being in charge of people because it gets you off, and you can be in charge of me for a while since I'm… technically ten."
"Alexander Philip!" Alex came out of his room, scowling.
"What?"
"You know, kid, I'm already second guessing my decision to let you go on that cruise next week. Lose the attitude or Xavier will have just wasted his money." Scott stepped out of his room and leaned against the wall.
"Except my parents gave their approval, and that's really the one I need, now, isn't it?" Chris frowned at Alex and pulled out his phone. He looked at it for a moment and then pressed a button. "What are you doing? Dad. Dad, no. I'm sorry! Dad, please!"
"Hello Andrew, it's Chris. No, he's unharmed for now, but our boy has been a handful these last few days. Did he not call you yesterday? Hm. No, it was brought to my attention that he and his girlfriend have been sneaking around and he has been marking her neck. He's been fussed at and given new rules where she is concerned, as well as assigned a good number of lines to help the lesson sink in. Now I'm being told he's taking his anger out on his brothers and quite honestly has been nothing but disrespectful to me. I threatened him with no longer allowing him to go on the cruise Professor Xavier has kindly paid for, and he informed me that it's not actually my decision. I was hoping for a little support. Mmhm. Sure. One moment." Chris pressed a button. "You're on speakerphone now."
"Alexander, I don't even know where to begin. The three of us had a very long talk with you about what we expected from you and Lorna, and you gave us your word that you would be nothing but respectful. While I understand wanting to kiss your girlfriend, you are both much too young to be marking one another. It ends now or you're done dating until you can support yourself. Now as for the issues with your brothers, I believe Chris is more than capable of handling that, with my blessing, in the way he usually handles punishing you three. And while your mother and I do have legal custody of you through the adoption, you are part of the X-Men now because you pitched a fit to join. We explained that that meant Chris would act in our stead instead of Xavier since he was your birth father, and you agreed. This isn't the first time you have used us being your legal guardians over him, but it had better be the last. If he says you're off the cruise, you're off the cruise. And son, if he feels the need to pull you off, your time at home will not be pleasant. You will be grounded the entire month- no surfing, no competitions, no friends, nothing. And if this attitude of yours doesn't clear up, then… then I'll take a page out of Chris' book and spank you myself! Am I understood, Alexander?"
"Yes, Dad. I'm sorry."
"I don't want a call like this again, young man. And I'm not happy that you were told to call me yesterday and you didn't. I'm tempted to lock up your surfboard anyways!"
"No! Please! I promise I'll behave!"
"You'd better, Alexander. I'm extremely embarrassed right now. One more toe out of line, and I'll be on the next flight to New York."
"I'll behave," Alex said quietly. He heard sighing on the phone.
"Alright, then. You know how much I hate scolding you, son. I'll let you go and let your dad handle this from here. We love you and we'll see you in a couple weeks, ok?"
"Love you, too."
"Thank you, Andrew."
"Take care of our son, Chris." Andrew hung up and Chris put his phone in his pocket.
"I think you have some apologies to give, Alexander. Then we're going to talk, and you're going to have to persuade me to not use the strap for this. And son, one more issue out of you, and I will pull you from the cruise."
"Yes sir. I'm sorry, Gabe. I was out of line and I shouldn't have said anything like I did to you. I'm glad you're here, and I know Dad wanted, and still wants, you here because you're part of our family."
"And?"
"I'm sorry for being such a jerk, Scott. And I promise I'll apologize to Hope, too, when she gets back."
"And?"
"I'm sorry, Dad. I've been very disrespectful to you. I'll do my best to work on it."
"Ok. Let's go to your room." Alex nodded and headed to his room. Chris looked at Scott and Gabriel and sighed.
"I'm going to work on Maddie's list. Nate's helping me, and the other me has Nathan in the Danger Room. Gabe, feel like helping?"
"Sure."
"Ch'od, Raza. You two might want to head to the gym for a few minutes. Alex is about to get… loud."
"Send someone to get us when it's clear," Ch'od said as he and Raza stood. "We will check on the ship." Chris nodded and Scott quickly led Gabriel through the connecting door before mentally calling for Nate to join them.
"He's in a lot more trouble than I thought he'd be," Gabriel told Scott quietly. "I didn't mean it. I can't believe Mr. Masters said he'd spank him, too!"
"Yeah… But look, Gabe. Alex has been pulling the 'no legal rights' thing for a while, and I'm honestly shocked Dad let it go this long. And you know darn well he'd've switched me or strapped me if I was acting like Alex. He definitely would have taken the belt to you. Alex just… He and Dad always clashed, Gabe. He's always had issues with authority. Honestly, Mom was the only one who could actually handle him."
"I still feel bad for getting him into trouble."
"You didn't. He got himself into trouble, and you just called him out on it. And had you not done it, I would have, and Dad probably would have spanked you for lying." Gabriel rubbed his butt.
"I don't like it when he does that."
"Me either. I really don't like when he does it to the two of you, but…" Scott shrugged. "I can only keep you guys out of so much trouble. Now. Here's the list Maddie left for me to do. I'm waiting until next week to build the cribs, so anything involving the beds is out. And I can't get her suitcase because it's in our room, and I'm not allowed in there right now."
"Why not?"
"Because her wedding dress is in there, and it's bad luck for me to see it before the wedding."
"Why?"
"Yeah, Dad. Why?" Nate asked, coming in and sitting down.
"I don't actually know where it originated, but it's just an old superstition. Saturday, I'm not allowed to see her or hear from her until she's walking to me in her dress. I think nowadays, it's more so the groom can be surprised and in awe of the beautiful bride coming to him."
"But you guys are far from a typical wedding. You know, 'first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.'"
"I don't see you complaining about being created," Scott said, with a raised eye.
"Scotty… Did I ever get married? Before Nathan saved me, I mean." Scott sighed as he pulled out the box that had the changing table inside.
"You married D'Ken's sister- not Lilandra- and dethroned him, becoming the Shi'ar emperor."
"I… I was the emperor?"
"That was your title when you… you know. With Dad."
"What happened?" Nate asked.
"If you don't know by now, then I'm not going to be the one to tell you," Scott said. "It's a future that will never happen, so we don't need to worry about it."
"Do you think I'll find someone?" Scott shrugged.
"I don't know. I won't say it's impossible, but if you're going to space, it'll definitely make things a bit harder. I think there's someone out there for everyone, but not everyone wants to look, you know?"
"Not for me," Nate said, sadly. "No one wants a guy who can't have kids. Nathan and Domino proved that." Scott frowned.
"I don't like how that went down, but Nate, there are plenty of people out there who don't want kids. You'd be perfect for them, because there's no chance of accidental pregnancy." Nate shrugged and Scott sighed.
"And what about the fact that I might want kids?"
"Then I'll do everything I can to make sure you have kids, even if it's through adoption. Look, Nate. You're twenty two. You have plenty of time to find someone and settle down, alright? But enjoy this time right now. You're only young once."
"You're younger than me and getting married-"
"Yeah. But my plan was to wait to propose until about now. I was hoping this summer, Dad would take us on his ship for the summer, and I could propose to your mom in space. Getting married a week after graduating… becoming a dad shortly after… Nate, I wouldn't change a thing, but it's not exactly how I envisioned my life going, you know? And I'm thrilled I'll get to actually hold you and Carrie soon. It's-" Scott looked around the nursery. "But I wouldn't want you to settle down faster than you should. Take your time. It'll happen. And when it does, I'll be the first in line to say I told you so."
"Yeah, yeah. So what are we building?"
"A changing table," Scott told him. "Here, Gabe. These are the instructions and hardware. Hold on to them so they don't get lost while I'm trying to get the pieces out. Nate, read over what tools we'll need and then grab them from my kit under the kitchen sink."
"You know, you joke about Carrie being bossy, but you are, too," Nate grumbled as he stood up to look at what he'd need to get from Scott's mini toolkit.
"I'm a leader, and I'm leading a job. Now hush. I need to think."
"You could be a bit nicer, Scotty. We don't have to help, you know."
"You don't, Gabe, but Nate does. Father's orders."
"And if I just go somewhere else instead of bringing the tools?" Scott looked up at his son and frowned.
"You really want to test it?"
"No sir."
"I'll be nicer if you guys help instead of distract me, alright?" Nate and Gabriel nodded before Nate left to get the tools.
"What can I do?"
"What's step one?"