Chapter 13 - Family Matters
Alyssa's parents had invited James to a Sunday dinner to get to know him — which was not something that he had ever experienced before with other girls he'd dated. As far as advice on how to approach them … there wasn't exactly anyone he could ask about what to expect, since for the most part, everyone in Westchester had been dating within the school — or kids with no parents.
Instead, he listened to his mother's advice, and he started out the visit on the right foot with Mrs. Fletcher positively enchanted by the fact that he had brought her flowers.
"These will look great on our dining room table," she said.
James gave her a muted smile as Alyssa pulled him inside and tried to help set the tone of things. "Mom, Dad, this is James Howlett. James, this is my Mom and Dad - and that's Kelly, my sister," she added, gesturing to the older girl who had just finished setting the table. She looked a lot like Alyssa, but with pointed ears and teeth when she smiled.
"Nice to meet you," James said, offering his hand to Alyssa's father. "Sorry it's taken so long to make arrangements."
"It's nice to meet you, finally," Mr. Fletcher said. "We've heard a lot about you."
"The good stuff," Alyssa assured him.
"That's a nice change of pace," James said quietly before he looked between the three of them. "Alyssa has only says good things about everyone. It's clear she thinks the world of you by the way she brags about everyone — when she's not talking about college. Of course." He couldn't help but give Alyssa a fond sort of smile, which had her blushing lightly.
"She'll be the good J. Jonah Jameson," Kelly said with a smirk that showed her teeth at the corner of her lips. "Excitable, but in a good way."
"It'll be nice to see the morning news without watching someone ready to have a stroke," James said, smirking Kelly's way.
"I mean, that Nolan kid on CNN is doing pretty well, but my sister will be better," Kelly said.
"He tries," James said as diplomatically as he could. He still wanted to get a hold of Nolan for five minutes considering how things had ended between him and Elin.
"And what about you?" Mrs. Fletcher asked. "Alyssa told us you're back on the team."
"Yes," James said. "There was a void that needed to be filled — happens every time someone changes schools or teams — this time it was a marriage and a baby."
"Those are pretty happy occasions," Mr. Fletcher said.
James nodded. "No one's complaining about Ariel, that's for sure."
"James is her godfather," Alyssa said with a smile. "He's adorable with her."
"You must be very proud," Mrs. Fletcher said, smiling wider since she'd seen the pictures of James with Lily and thought adorable was an apt description.
"It's hard not to like that little girl. Her dad is family and her mother is a good friend. We're a pretty tight-knit group," James said with a little smirk.
The Fletchers shared little smiles at that as the group of them sat down to the dinner table, and the conversation continued much like that — mostly filled with getting-to-know-you questions on both sides. Mr. Fletcher was a consultant, Mrs. Fletcher was a lawyer, and Kelly was working on her master's to be a CFO.
They seemed a little surprised to find that James had a standing fellowship with Stark Industries since the age of fourteen — though once he explained how invested Tony had been in getting him the education he wanted to see him with — and into MIT, along with the masters degrees he already had under his belt and the doctorate he was considering finishing, it put a little different spin on things, and made a lot of things they'd seen in the news make more sense.
"So, do you run the tech side of things on the team?" Kelly asked, genuinely interested.
"Sometimes. I try not to," James answered. "If something needs improvement, I'll do it, but I'm really not built for staying in a lab all the time."
Kelly nodded. "Not everyone's made for it," she said. "Alyssa couldn't work in an office, right, Lys?" she teased her sister.
"I'd die of boredom," Alyssa agreed fervently.
James smiled her way. "That's how it was working with Stark for the first couple years. Fun at first — but after a while … you fix everything that needs it then run out of things to do that are constructive."
"So, it's back to the X-Men," Kelly said, grinning her pointed smile. "That must be amazing."
"It's what I know best," James said. "And it helps me focus when I do get into the lab."
"I can't imagine growing up with the X-Men. That must have been a totally unique experience," Kelly said.
James gave her a little smile. "I … really don't have anything to compare it to," he admitted. "But I think it's the way to go."
"I'll take accounting, thanks," she said, shaking her head at him. "Little bit safer."
"Definitely," James said. "But someone's gotta do it."
"As long as you're doing what you love," Mrs. Fletcher said.
Alyssa beamed as she nodded along, obviously pleased that things were going so well with her family, even if James seemed surprised by how well it was going. But by the time dinner was over, it was clear that the Fletchers were at least happy for Alyssa and glad to see that the boy wasn't anything like the press had painted him to be, even if they weren't quite as excitable as she was over her new boyfriend.
When the night was over, James made his way back to the institute in a little bit of a daze. He was utterly convinced that it couldn't be that easy. Nothing was that easy.
"You look like you've been hit by a truck," Chance said when he saw James come in. "You alright?"
"Just waiting for something to blow up, that's all," James said before he ran his hand over his face and then through his hair. "As things tend to do." He looked Chance over for a moment with a frown. "What are you doing, anyhow?"
Chance held up his water bottle and shook it. "Taking a break. Your sister and I were sparring and I can't keep up with her. Never will be able to."
James had to smirk at that. "Good to know your limits, big guy."
"Yeah, well, what's blowing up with you, though? I thought things were going well."
"Nothing yet," James said. "Just got back from meeting Alyssa's family. I expected something to go wrong."
"And it didn't? That's great, right?"
James let out a breath of a laugh and gestured openly with both arms. "I'm the one used to the world ending around every corner. I don't know what to tell you. They were nice. It was quiet. I don't know what to do with that."
"Would you have preferred it if something did go wrong?" Chance asked with one eyebrow raised.
"No, but I probably would have at least had a chance to process it," James said flatly. "Don't worry about it. Just my paranoid PTSD head."
Chance smirked. "Need a hug? Someone told me one time that helps."
"I don't think hugging me will help you keep up with Elin," James said with a raised eyebrow.
Chance chuckled at that. "No, but it might help you, you goon."
"If you want a hug, I'm sure you just have to wait for my sister to come by."
Chance rolled his eyes at that before he got up and pulled James into a hug anyway. "Listen here, brother mine," he said with a smirk. "It's a big brother prerogative, okay?"
"Yeah? You got some stirring life advice for me?" James asked, though he didn't push Chance back.
"Yeah. Stop overthinking it when things go well. Sometimes, life is nice," Chance said with a smirk.
"Only for those that marry into the family, goober," James said.
"Yeah, no, sorry, you can't marry Chloe. That's weird," Chance shot right back.
"Oh, no … no no no, you misunderstand. No," james said, shaking his head. "That's … eeew. She's like a little sister."
"Hey, you're the one that said marrying into the family was a key to happiness somehow…"
"Marrying into my family, ya lunatic."
Chance just smirked. "So, being around your family makes people happy? Huh. Weird."
"Yeah, Sucks it right out of us though. Vampire."
"Explains why the family liked you, though. Makes 'em happy," Chance pointed out, still smirking.
"You're a terrible person, Summers," James said.
"I'm a delight, and you know it," Chance said with a grin before he couldn't help but mess up James' hair while he was at it.
"Hey, do me a favor would you?" James asked as he started to walk backwards away from him.
Chance grinned. "Whatcha need?"
"For you to not give my sister a stroke. I know you like to rile her …. But come on."
Chance gestured to his face. "I have told you repeatedly that this is just how my face is, James. She's the one that married it."
"I didn't say a thing about your face, big brother." James shrugged at him and turned to leave, refusing to explain anything further.
Chance just shook his head to himself. "Sure you didn't," he said, though he was smirking before he drained the rest of his water bottle and headed back down to catch up with Elin again.