Chapter 7: Standing Outside the Fire
Author's Note/Disclaimer: One more chapter, one more epilogue, and I swear this bad boy will be done. Thanks for sticking with me for the long haul. I promise several sequels. *g* As usual, these people aren't mine, but I'd like to pretend for a while. And especial thanks to Laura, who kicks ass, because I've put her through almost 80,000 words of this crappy story. You're the best beta ever.
We call them cool
Those hearts that have no scars to show
The ones that never do let go
And risk the tables being turned
We call them fools
Who have to dance within the flame
Who chance the sorrow and the shame
That always comes with getting burned
But you've got to be tough when consumed by desire
'Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire
We call them strong
Those who can face this world alone
Who seem to get by on their own
Those who will never take the fall
We call them weak
Who are unable to resist
The slightest chance love might exist
And for that forsake it all
They're so hell-bent on giving, walking a wire
Convinced it's not living if you stand outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you're standing outside the fire
There's this love that is burning
Deep in my soul
Constantly yearning to get out of control
Wanting to fly higher and higher
I can't abide
Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you're standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Standing outside the fire
Life is not tried, it is merely survived
If you're standing outside the fire
--Standing Outside the Fire, Garth Brooks
The ride back to Logan's cousin's house seemed almost as long as the midnight run Jondy'd once taken through the snow. This time, no men on snowmobiles were chasing her, but that still didn't make her feel any better. She'd seen the Manticore bitch die at her own hand, but that didn't make up for the fact that Max was still lying in Logan's arms, looking like she was out for the count.
They'd cleaned off most of the blood and rebandaged Max's injured calf. Jondy's arm throbbed, but not too badly. The wounds she and Syl had taken to the arm from those knives back at the camp had been shallow anyway. But their baby sister had taken a good bash to the head. Tawny made some stupid remark about it being good that Max had a head harder than Zack's. Logan kept stroking Maxie's hair. Max groaned a little sometimes, but her neck or spine didn't seem broken. Luckily Lex remembered the way back to Brianna's, since Logan wasn't exactly paying attention to the drive. Lex had always been good at tracking.
Jordan didn't say much as they drove down the highway. He didn't even flinch when they passed through the deserted border checkpoint that Logan's cousin Johnny had said to use. Sometimes he'd look at her with an odd expression on his face, but Jondy wasn't sure how to read it. He'd willingly taken her nephew onto his lap after her legs fell asleep, but he hadn't said anything since then. No one had said much of anything. Maybe Jordan was having second thoughts, now that he'd seen exactly what her life usually entailed--not that she was thinking of him in that way in the slightest. But being cramped between two decidedly good-looking Cale men was warping her thoughts.
"Little sister?" Lex's soft voice broke the silence. Jondy looked up, meeting his dark eyes in the rear-view mirror. "We're here."
Logan shifted next to her, accidentally digging his elbow into her ribs as he moved Max around til he could open the door. As the Aztek and the Jeep pulled up in front of the house, an endless stream of people seemed to pour out onto the front porch. Zooming in on the crowd, Jondy noticed a few familiar faces.
"What happened? What the hell did you do to my boo? Don't make me put a smackdown on your skinny white ass." Original Cindy pushed her way forward, jumping the three steps down to the front lawn. "Is she okay?" Jondy recognized the woman at her heels as Star, and there was no mistaking Alec's smirking face.
"Shit, Logan. I didn't think anyone could take Max down." Alec actually looked worried as he took Max's limp body from Logan. Jondy stumbled out of the car after Logan, trying not to trip over him. Jordan managed to catch her before she could fall.
"The mission was a success, but we ran into some unexpected opposition. We took out the base of operations, but lost one soldier and one civilian in the process." The matter-of-fact tone of her own voice surprised Jondy. It was the same way she would've reported to Zack or the Colonel, years ago. Logan's blue eyes widened, but he didn't say anything.
"Who were the casualties?" Alec's eyes were worried, though he wore the same carefully-blank look that Zack might've.
"Jace," Krit answered, coming to stand beside her. He had a defiant look on his face, almost as if he dared Alec to admit that he wasn't Ben. Krit and the others knew that Alec existed, but none of them had ever had the pleasure of spending time with him. Jondy still saw Ben's face when she looked at Alec sometimes, even though she'd known him since the standoff in Terminal City nearly four years ago.
"798? I remember when she bailed about nine months before Max took down Manticore, but…" Alec nodded towards little Max, who stared at the group from the safety of Jordan's arms. "Who's the father?"
"Victor Sanchez. Lab tech. You knew him?" Jondy fell into step beside Alec as they moved towards the porch.
Alec swallowed, a look of almost regret flashing across his face. "Vic was a good guy. He still owes me 50 for some cigs."
"He's in the good place," Syl said, appearing from around Krit's other side. Jondy knew Syl meant well, saying it to comfort Alec just as she would've any of their brothers and sisters, but the other X-5 just gave her a blank look, not knowing what she meant.
"Logan?" His cousin Brianna turned towards him as she pushed the crowd of people back into the house. "Is everything--" She trailed off as she caught sight of Max, now back in Logan's arms. "You can put her in the guestroom."
They marched through the house, up the stairs. Jondy noticed that her siblings automatically fell into step as they trooped up the front staircase. Even Alec and Star fell in. Star was pretty enough to be made in Manticore, and there were still plenty of transgenics running around Seattle. Maybe Cindy's new girl was more than meets the eye too.
"Max? Max, wake up." Logan shook her slightly as he set her on the bed. Her head lolled back against the pillow. Tawny gently pushed Logan away before examining the wound on Max's head.
"She should wake up in a few hours. Maxie took a conk to the head like this before when Tinga pushed her out of the tree when we were training in the yard." Tawny grinned at Jondy. "Remember, little sister? Zack was so worried that he carried her back the entire way. He didn't talk to Tinga until Lights Out." He smoothed back the blood-matted hair from Max's face with a gentle hand. "She'll be fine, Logan. I promise."
"And the baby?" Logan settled on the bed, lying down beside Max. Jondy watched as his hand reached out to tentatively touch Max's stomach through the black spandex of her cat suit. "I don't know how seizures affect a fetus."
Tawny shook his head. "Field med never covered babies." His large hand reached out to touch Max's belly. "I'm sure my nephew's just fine."
"Niece," Syl corrected from where she stood, leaning against Krit. She moved towards the door, pulling Krit with her. "We should give Maxie some air."
"Maybe get her into a bath, Logan. That might wake her up. Maxie hates cold water." Tawny shot Jondy a look from the doorway. She nodded, understanding the silent command to make sure both Max and Logan were okay. "Want some grub, little sister?"
As Jondy shook her head, Tawny left, closing the door behind him. She noticed that Logan's hands shook as he began to unzip Max's black vest. He stared at the zipper for a while, as if he couldn't decide how it worked.
"Logan?" He looked up, a startled look on his face. Jondy gently removed his hands from the zipper, pulling it down for him. "I'll run water for a bath if you want." Syl said the tub was big enough for the two of them.
For a moment, the distant look left Logan's eyes. He gave her some semblance of his usual brilliant smile before he started extracting Max from her vest.
The bathroom was about what Jondy thought it would be. Logan's family seemed to have a fetish for large tubs. She hadn't even seen a bathtub until she was almost ten years old. She also hadn't bathed alone until about that time either. Turning the faucet on, she still couldn't help staring at the water in wonder. Her own tiny ocean, less threatening than the tank had been. Maxie and Eva always loved training sessions in the tank, daring each other to see who could stay under longest. All that practice helped, she guessed, when you had to hold your breath under the ice.
Just when the water had filled most of the tub, Logan carried Max in, wrapped in a faded bathrobe he'd found somewhere. Once her foot touched the lukewarm water, Jondy could see a shiver run up her sister's body. Logan settled her against the back of the tub, supporting Max's body with his arm. Max twitched again, this time slowly opening her eyes. She whimpered softly. "I'm gonna kill that bitch," Max muttered as she buried her face in Logan's shoulder.
"Already taken care of, baby sister." Jondy reached out, lightly touching the place where Max's head hit the wall. "Wasn't fair that you got to have all the fun taking out Manticore, so we decided to do it without you this time."
"Did you take out the computer system?" Max winced again.
"Lex sent them a worm that ate a hole in their files. Their records of little Max may still be recoverable, but nothing was transmitted between the time the MiBs attacked and we blew the place. Whoever the buyer was shouldn't know about you or the baby." The water in the tub seemed to magnify Max's belly, enlarging the bulge.
Max's arms wrapped protectively around her stomach as she turned to face Logan again. "I guess you figured it out, huh?"
Logan nodded slowly, his eyes dropping to Max's stomach. Jondy couldn't read the expression on his face. He hadn't said anything about the baby on the ride home. She wondered if the reality of the situation had even sunk in yet. "The Manticore bitch told me." His voice was quiet and calm--too calm. And that was a sign for Jondy to head downstairs to face the rest of her family.
"I'll see what grub I can scrounge," she said hastily as she stood up. She leaned in, kissing the top of Max's head. "Don't kill each other. We went through all that effort to get you both out alive." Logan and Max both gave her a startled look as she closed the bathroom door behind her.
The house was quiet as Jondy moved down the back stairs to the kitchen. She was surprised to find only her own siblings crowded around the table.
"Brianna and Johnny took the kids over to her sister's place," Zane said, handing her a sandwich and a glass of milk. "Maxie awake?" Taking the plate from her brother, Jondy noticed that her siblings had carefully crowded themselves around one side of the table and the kitchen counter behind, leaving Alec, Jordan, Star, and Original Cindy with an entire side to themselves. After what they'd just been through, Jondy almost couldn't blame her siblings for keeping themselves separate from Alec. She still wasn't exactly sure how to treat him. But this was ridiculous.
Taking an empty seat between Alec and Jordan, she took a big bite of sandwich before answering. "Cold bath'll do the trick every time. Just like with--" Her nephew sat in Jordan's lap, attention completely focused on his sandwich. Somewhere between the car and the kitchen, he'd found a stuffed bear to cling to.
"So what happened? One of Asha's boys left five messages that the black helicopter boys were after Max on my cell, and by the time I bust my ass down here, you've cleaned everything up." Alec fidgeted with his sandwich, carefully tearing it into neat sections. "And your family isn't exactly spilling on details. I'm not 493. Psy-Ops spent six months figuring out why I didn't go fucking insane like your brother. Max's dragged me into this family shit. I deserve to know what's going on."
Alec's blue eyes met hers defiantly. "Max's pregnant," Jondy answered simply. "And because she has that special DNA shit or whatever, Manticore wants her and the baby."
"Baby?" Alec choked. "Max's pregnant and she orchestrated a rescue operation to break into a government facility that would give anything to get its hands on her again. She been smoking crack with Sketch or something?" He shook his head. "Must've fallen on her head one two many times or something."
"Naw, they just put a little too much mule DNA in Maxie. When she and Jondy were paired up, all they did was get into trouble back at Manticore. Maxie's too used to getting her own way, cuz she just had the Colonel and Zack wrapped around her little finger." Krit actually gave Alec a semi-friendly smile. "If it was me or Tawn or Eri or something, Zack would've smacked us and told us to move on, soldier. Focus on the mission." Jondy was surprised by the trace of old bitterness in her little brother's voice.
"But that's what saved us, Krit. If they hadn't taken Jack…" Tawny's face tightened. "Zack wouldn't let anything happen to us after that, especially not Maxie. So we bailed, and he saved all our asses."
"But how many times did you ever wish you were back?" Alec countered softly. "I still hate her sometimes for messing my world up. It was hell, but I knew it. And it was safe."
The room became quiet again. Jondy saw Syl's hand slip into Krit's, and even Tawny's hands seemed to shake slightly. Jordan's hand found hers under the table. "We're out now." Jondy shrugged at Alec. It wasn't like they could go back, even if they wanted to. "And this is the third time Manticore's gone down. Maybe it's for good."
"You never know if you've defeated an enemy until you count the bodies," Star countered in her soft voice. Jondy noticed her brothers and sisters look up in surprise at the girl, but Alec didn't seem too perplexed.
"You weren't the only ones who escaped," Star continued in her soft voice. "Some of us just waited a decade before we followed you out." The girl gave a crisp salute when every head turned towards her. "X-6381, reporting for debrief. Director Renfro sent me on my first solo two weeks before the base was compromised. I went to ground like the signal said. Met up with some of my squadron in Vancouver, and they said that half of us died in the fire. And I saw how many the witch trials took out two years ago." Jondy could still see the shadows of all that in Star's green eyes--eyes just like Jen's had been. "Manticore's still counting our bodies. So's the NSA or whatever agency they hired to take us out."
"Do you still wish you were back?" Alec repeated. Star actually seemed to flinch at the fierceness of his stare. Jondy had never seen Alec look so much like Ben as he did now. Star didn't answer for a while, even after Cindy put her arm around the younger girl. Jondy wanted to protect her from Alec's questions, not just because Star was what Jen could've been, if Jen had lived this long. But Jen had been the first victim of the seizures that took Jack, and might've taken Max. At least Manticore did something right and corrected the faulty gene eventually.
"I don't think any of us need to answer that, Alec." Star wore that daring look that Jondy knew too well--something you shot to a CO when you didn't agree with his order, but weren't quite sure how to say it. "But you can't go home again."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You mad?" Even those two words made the pounding in her head increase. Max winced as Logan's gentle fingers massaged the shampoo around the sore spot on her head.
Logan tipped her head back, pouring a bowl full of water over her hair before answering. "I'm not mad. Your brothers said you just found out, and we haven't exactly had time to talk." He set the bowl down, giving her a serious look. "What are we going to do about it?" He wore his Eyes Only face, his blue eyes unreadable behind his glasses. Max hated when he gave her that look.
"It's not like we can sell it like it's a litter of puppies or something. Though knowing the cocktail mess Manticore made of my genes, the baby could pop out with long ears and a tail." Max wrapped her arms around her stomach. All that was protecting the baby from the world was a uterine membrane and a thin layer of skin, anyway. "Jondy was pregnant. Said the baby looked kinda like a fish when she miscarried."
There was another silence. She could see the thoughts working through Logan's mind. "Zack's baby. She doesn't know about Adam. And she won't know about Adam, because if she did…" No one knew what would trigger that suggestion that Manticore planted in Zack's brain. And if it came down to her brother's life, or the father of her child--she didn't need to face that choice again. "Well, we were going to get married anyway…" Logan's fingers reached out, intertwining with hers. His free hand pushed back her wet hair as he leaned in to kiss her. "Dammit, Max. I'm not losing you again. And if you ever pull shit like that again, I'll--"
"You'll what? Get Alec to kick my ass?" At least he was smiling again. His eyes looked a little watery behind his glasses, but he was smiling. Maybe their baby would have her daddy's smile and his beautiful blue eyes. She pulled him down for another kiss. "I love you."
Logan's arms tightened around her as he pulled her closer. "I know, Max. I know. I'm still dragging you to see Sam as soon as we get back to Seattle." His hand reached under the water, touching her belly. "So we'll have someone else we have to look after in a few months?" He grinned. "Someone besides Alec, that is."
"About six and a half months." Six and a half months, and she'd have a real family of her own. A little piece of her and Logan to terrorize the world. "Shit, we're having a baby." Something that would depend on them for the next eighteen years.
"Congratulations, Mama," Logan said, kissing her ear. "But if it's a boy, I hope he doesn't take after the Cales."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max and Logan still hadn't come downstairs by the time they finished cleaning up the kitchen. Alec and Tawny made comment after comment about Max and Logan's sex life, once her big brother realized that Ben's twin wasn't a bad guy after all. The thought of Tawny and Jordan was frightening enough. She didn't need to imagine what three of them could get into, or if Seattle was even big enough.
"Logan's cousin said they were gonna crash at her sister's for the night, so we've got the whole house. The little girl's room's too fem for my taste, but I can sleep anywhere." Alec flopped back in an armchair in the large room off the kitchen. Brianna had called it a great room--the floor space alone would be enough to accommodate all of them.
"We'll take Sam's room. Original Cindy likes the girly-girly sometimes. Butch ain't all bad, but sometimes you just want all woman." Jondy noticed some of her brothers' eyes fixating on Star and Cindy as Star leaned in to whisper something in the other woman's ear. "And no, Alec, you cain't watch."
Alec shot Original Cindy his easy grin. "I had to ask. A good businessman knows that you never turn up the offer of an opportunity." Before Jondy could launch something at him, Alec tumbled out of the chair and behind the couch for cover.
"The rest of us can crash here. The couch looks like it folds out, and it's not too cold out." Tawny stood, measuring the floor space with his eyes. "Bigger than the barracks."
"Maxie and Logan need to buy a home or something. We need a base of operations." Krit stood, removing cushions from the couch. "Even though I don't know if I could stay in one place, if we didn't have to run."
"Been in Seattle for three years. It's not a bad city." Alec pulled the mattress out of the couch before flopping down on it. "Asha talks about wanting to move back to San Fran, but her boys are based out of Seattle, and I don't think they'd move the whole operation."
Jondy settled herself on the far side of the mattress from Alec, little Max automatically snuggling up against her. "I miss the city. I miss my bridge. I haven't been back since Zack made us all move."
"Maybe they mixed gypsy blood in our DNA, Jon. Tinga's the only one who settled--and Maxie now." Zane was quiet for a moment as he laid back on the floor. "Zack's not around to tell us to leave, but I still do it. Can't stay put."
"Hook up with a member of a rebel cell. That'll keep your ass in enough danger to make you feel like it's old times again." There was a soft smile on Alec's face. Maybe Alec and Asha were on the track to being more than fucking buddies. The X-5 yawned and rubbed at his eyes. "Guess we're obliged to finish off the job, huh?"
"That's been our mission for the past thirteen years." Syl dragged the couch cushions into a pile, curling up on them next to Krit. "The objective has always been to finish the mission."
"Dunno about you boos, but Original Cindy's heading off to bed. If you see my girl before I wake up tomorrow, tell her I'm gonna put a smackdown on her ass." With an arm around Star, Original Cindy headed towards the hallway. "But I'm glad that y'all came back. Been enough strife and shit with this family."
Tawny rummaged through a duffle on the floor, grabbing some clothes and heading after the two women. "I'm up for a shower. Someone save me a patch of floor."
Jondy looked down at her nephew, already asleep. His face was probably the only part on his body that was clean, but a bath could still wait until tomorrow. She was tired for once. Usually after a mission, her adrenaline went so far into overdrive that she didn't sleep for two days. But this time…
Jordan stood in the middle of the room, looking lost. Jondy hoped he didn't notice the glare Zane was shooting him from the floor. She scooted closer to Alec, making room between little Max's sleeping body and the edge of the mattress. "There's still room, Jor." The nickname sounded natural to her ear. He was almost family anyway.
He hesitated for a moment. He had that lost look on his face again. "I think I'll just take the boys' room. You guys probably wanna review the mission or whatever." Jordan made his way to the door, looking less and less the confident jackass that Tawny had hauled with him two days ago.
"Cale," Zane barked. Her brother still lounged back on the floor, but Jondy recognized the look on his face as one that Zack had learned from the Colonel. Jordan looked over his shoulder, startled. "Get your ass back here, soldier. A troop always bunks together the night after a mission."
Pausing in the doorway, Jordan stood with one foot in the hallway and one foot in the room. Jondy thought that would've been symbolic somehow in one of those pre-Pulse movies, someone hovering on the verge of a decision. But like most of her brothers and sisters, she had an obsession with anything that would explain the world before it went to shit.
"We're not gonna put the moves on you or anything," Alec spoke up. His mouth curved into a suggestive grin. "Unless you want us to. I got Logan in a closet one time--"
"Tawny's already proved what an X-5 can do. I've already got the 411," Jordan drawled back, almost an identical grin on his face. He took up the empty space on the mattress, snagging a pillow from the floor. Jondy groaned as the two men started exchanging stories over her head. There were places she didn't need to go when it came to her siblings' sex lives.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Without opening his eyes, Logan knew Max was awake. Her warm body tensed in his arms briefly before relaxing against him. Moving his head forward, he kissed her bare shoulder. "You're safe now, Max. You're both safe now." Her hand came up to cover his on her stomach. There was a time only three years before when Logan thought moments like this could only be a dream. They'd been living on borrowed time since he first got shot in the back. But it was all worth it to have Max in his arms, and to be able to feel the warmth of her skin against his. They had six and a half months before they'd become a threesome. He didn't know how that would change their lives, but from where he stood now, the future actually looked like it wouldn't try to screw them over.
But the moment was broken when Max's stomach rumbled. He opened his eyes to find her brown ones laughing at him. "Junior's hungry," she said, rolling over and stretching. She pushed back the comforter, contemplating the shape of her stomach. She still seemed too thin for Logan's taste. Women were supposed to gain weight in pregnancy, not lose it. But the past few weeks had been rough, and peace wasn't exactly something X-5s were guaranteed for any period of time.
"Think he wants eggs?" Logan grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and maneuvered his body towards the wheelchair that sat next to the bed. Max slipped out from under the covers and tossed him a pair of boxers and a shirt.
"Pancakes?" She turned a plaintive look towards him as she pulled another shirt over her head, and the pair of sweats that Jondy had dug out of a duffle bag. "With that boysenberry syrup drizzled all over them…" Her stomach rumbled again.
"And a bowl of cream for the kitten?" Snagging her by the back of her shirt, Logan dragged Max into his lap for a kiss. He wheeled them both towards where the exoskeleton sat by the door, his own stomach growling. "Did we even eat yesterday?"
After Logan slipped into the exoskeleton and a pair of track pants, they moved down the stairs towards the kitchen. Peering into the great room, it didn't surprise Logan too much to find the X-5s still sprawled out asleep. It surprised him a little to find Alec, Jondy, and his cousin curled up on the hide-a-bed, but he was past the point where X-5 sleeping arrangements bothered him. He knew that he'd never understand Max's brothers and sisters and their attitude towards sex. It was just safer not to dwell on it too much.
The only two who seemed to be missing were Zane and little Max, but the question of their location was answered when Zane walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a bathrobe that was way too small for him, with a towel-encased little boy in his arms.
"Maxie?" Zane's voice was soft as he peered over Logan's shoulder.
"Here, big brother." Max moved around Logan and into her brother's free arm. Even her nephew wrapped his arms around her neck. Max automatically shifted the boy to her hip, a gesture that Logan knew would come in handy.
"How's your head?" Zane reached out one of his large hands and felt Max's head with the same gentle touch that Tawny had used.
"Feels like the day Tinga knocked me out of the tree." Logan saw Max wince as Zane touched a particularly sensitive spot. Her free hand found his and she squeezed it reassuringly. "The others still crashed?"
"Even Jon's still asleep. The last time she slept this much was when she was…" Zane trailed off, his gray eyes distant. "I don't care what that little brother of ours says, he still snores worse than I do."
"Do not. That was Syl." Krit yawned as he made his way past them to the bathroom. Syl trailed at his heels, barely awake. "Glad you're back with us, Maxie." Both leaned in to kiss Max as they passed by. "If you're taking orders for pancakes, Logan, we'll take two more."
"Pancake?" Little Max echoed. "Whatsa pancake? Mama makes oatmeal for breakfast." The little boy made a face.
Max set the little boy down, giving him a light shove towards the bag Jace had packed of his clothes. "Uncle Logan'll start making breakfast while you get dressed, okay?" The little boy hurried off into the great room, the towel trailing behind him.
"So this means I'm cooking breakfast for--" Logan tried to mentally take a count, but fell short. Barcode numbers swam before his eyes. "Twelve?" And nine of those twelve didn't exactly eat like normal people.
"Alec and the girls brought provisions with them, if that helps. And I can help fry up some bacon," Zane offered, adjusting the pink bathrobe he wore. Logan averted his eyes as the X-5 casually retied the bathrobe around his waist.
"Just put some pants on, big brother. Pink isn't your color," Max called as she dragged Logan off towards the kitchen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Before she even bothered opening her eyes, Jondy elbowed the bodies on each side of her so that she could roll over onto her back. Her muscles screamed the same way they had back at Manticore, after a long training mission. At least the slash on her arm didn't ache as much. If it wasn't for the comfortable mattress and the smell of bacon frying, she could almost be back at Manticore, crammed into a cot with one of her brothers and sisters the way they did sometimes at night. But neither the brown head on the left or the blond on the right could exactly be called brothers. One looked exactly like her brother, but that didn't do anything to help the illusion.
"Breakfast, Jon." She opened her eyes to find Tawny's face peering at her over the back of the couch. "Logan made pancakes." Her brother waved a pancake under her nose before eating it. "Maxie's up too."
That was enough reason to get up. She thrashed with the blankets for a moment. Sometime in the night, the guys had decided to each curl up with one end of the covers, pinning her to the mattress with the blankets. It wasn't until she kicked Jordan that she was finally able to move. Alec just muttered something about Asha and rolled back over. Tawny only watched her with that smirk on his face. "Food's not going anywhere, little sister. Zane's already nuking more bacon." But when you set any amount of food out for her siblings, it automatically became a contest to see who could get to it first. And the others already had a head start.
"Someone say breakfast?" Original Cindy waved as she moved towards the kitchen. "If somebody ate all the eggs, Original Cindy's gonna put a smackdown on their transgenic ass."
Perched on the back of the sofa, Jondy could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen. Peering around the great room, she saw that only Alec was still asleep. Jordan blinked up at her, looking like he wasn't quite sure where they were. "Aunt Sara?" The younger Cale yawned and rubbed his eyes again. "Aunt Sara, when--" He blinked and sat up, his cheeks flushing. "Jondy."
"Second though, little sister, hit the shower first. Everyone else's done their duty, and that way, Zane'n Logan'll be done with the third round of food by the time you're done." There was a wicked look on Tawny's face. "There might be enough hot water left for one shower…"
Out of habit, Jondy slugged her brother, knocking him to the floor. He landed on his feet easily, tumbling out of range of any other blows. He ended up at Original Cindy and Star's feet, Star giving him a shy half-smile. Maybe the X-6s didn't pull off the same antics that they had in the barracks at night. Or maybe Jondy's siblings deviated from the standard Manticore X-class norm.
"Better hurry up, boo. I think Golden Boy just headed off towards the bathroom." Cindy pointed out in the hallway towards Jordan's retreating figure, disappearing behind the bathroom door. But two could play at that game, and Jordan Cale didn't know who he was up against.
The door was shut and locked, but that didn't mean anything. Jondy could hear the sound of water running, which would cover the noise of whatever she decided to do. Kicking the door open was overkill, but since the lock was one of the simple push-button variety, it was something even her three year old nephew could pick.
She scanned the floor for any bobby pins or small metal objects that she might need. Looking in the open door of the boys' bedroom, Jondy found a pushpin stuck into the wall. That would work. It only took a quick jab and flick of her wrist to pop the lock on the door. And because the water was still running, she doubted Jordan heard her.
The door swung open slowly, revealing a bright blue and yellow fish carpet on the tile floor, and a tropical patterned shower curtain. She could see the top of Jordan's soapy head over the top of the shower curtain rod. Debating between casually slipping into the shower next to him or assaulting him as he got out, Jondy perched on top of the sink to wait. If it had been any of her brothers, she would've found her way to the water heater and turned the hot water off. Or she would've just beat them senseless before they got to the shower. But Jordan Cale was an unknown factor, and she still wasn't sure how to handle him exactly.
Jordan seemed to be in a courteous mood. The water turned off seconds later. But before Jondy could dart out the door, the shower curtain opened, revealing Logan's youngest cousin in all his glory. He didn't have the washboard stomach of an X-5, but he was still a fine specimen of the male species. And doubtlessly, being 'hung' ran in the Cale genes.
His blue eyes widened as he stood there, dripping wet and paralyzed. Jondy just stared at him, taking in every inch of his body. Not bad at all, for a norm…
And with the speed of panic, or maybe a transgenic, Jordan grabbed his robe and fled down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"And then she was staring at me like she wanted to devour me. Logan, stop laughing! She just looked…hungry…"
Max laughed softly, trying not to look over at where the two Cales stood, fixing pancakes.
"10 to 1 Jondy'll have him for her next heat," Krit said around a mouthful of bacon. One by one, her brothers set dollar bills on the table.
Alec shook his head. "She'll wait, I think. I give her three months."
"It's not gonna happen, boys." Jondy picked little Max up out of the chair next to Max and sat down in it. "Pass the grub, baby sister. If there's any left."
"Fresh pancakes, as requested, MacDuff." Logan set a plate in front of Jondy with flourish. Max couldn't help snickering, noticing that Jordan still stayed on the other side of the kitchen. Before Logan could head back to his cousin, though, Max tugged his face close for a kiss.
"So he forgave you?" Jondy asked as she poked their nephew as he tried to pull a pancake off her plate. "Too much time's wasted on shit like that. Just apologize, do it like bunnies, and move on."
"It's all about the borrowed time, baby," Alec drawled. His blue eyes didn't smirk as much as they usually did. "Too much time's been lent out in the first place."
"This coming from the guy who said he'd never get seriously involved with a norm," Max countered with a grin.
"We're not like that, to quote two of the coolest yet lamest people on the face of the earth," he snapped back with a matching grin. "You know I love you guys--not that way though--but damn, it took you long enough." He nodded towards her left hand, where her ring still sparkled. "You didn't ask for my approval, but you know I'm gonna give it anyway."
It surprised her, sometimes, how much Alec had grown up in the past three years. Or maybe it was that she was grown-up enough to admit that he didn't annoy her with his very breath anymore. Ever since that night he held her, after she told him about Ben…something changed then. He wasn't the brother she'd known at Manticore. He was as far from Ben as an X-5 or human being could be. He was a smart-ass and snarky and a downright pissy little bitch sometimes, but Alec was growing into a good man, and there were times when she was proud to call him family.
"I do have a question for you, Maxie," Lex spoke up. He'd put on his priest's collar again. She still couldn't reconcile big brother Lex and Father Alexander. "God's been willing to overlook a certain matter that you took into your own hands, but I'd like to see you follow through on it, here or back in Seattle."
Max swallowed. She twisted the ring around her finger again and looked up at Logan, who had taken the only free seat across from her. She owed it to him, to at least go through the ceremony. She owed it to both of them, and their child. And it wasn't like her siblings would hold it against her if it fell through. The world didn't really care about the reputation of one Max Guevara…
"My family's here, but my family's there too, Max. I don't want the circus that Aunt Margot cooked up for Bennett. I just want you." Logan took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. "The members of my family that matter are here with me now, in this room, and I'd be honored to marry you wherever you wanted." He smiled slightly. "It doesn't even have to be in public."
She could feel her family's eyes on her until even her nephew was giving her an expectant look. Max resisted the old urge to flee. It was never good when the Enemy turned this much attention to you. But this wasn't the Enemy. These were the people she loved, and loved her.
"I want Joshua to be there. He gets shafted out of enough as is, but he's family, and…" Max gave Logan a crooked grin. "I even know this church that we could probably use, and if we do it on a weeknight, Father Destry could probably throw the congregation out…"
"In the closet in the guest room, I have my mom's wedding dress. It might need a dry-cleaning and some altering, but…" His smile quivered slightly. "And it's not like you have to pick bridesmaids. I think I've already got my best men." Logan pushed back his chair and looked back towards his cousin. "What do you think, Jor? Be my best man? I think you've redeemed yourself in the eyes of the human race now."
Jordan stuck his tongue out at Logan. "Very funny, Itsy." He ducked as Logan lobbed a pancake at him. "Bree'll have your ass on a plate if you mess up her kitchen. But if you really want me…" The look on his face was serious for once.
"I do, Jor. You might be the only Cale I actually consider worthy of calling a relative. You almost got your ass shot off saving my life. I don't think Bennett or Robert would do that."
"Bennett might try to argue for your release. Robert would just give the guards his puppy dog look and try to convince them that way." Jordan's mouth twitched. "If you can't find anyone better, I guess I'll have to take the job."
"So we're heading home, Maxie?" There was almost an anxious note in Alec's voice, like he had some apologizing to do to someone.
"Yeah, guess we might as well head home." It was time to move forward with all this shit, since they were never exactly sure how much time they'd have.