AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Moira that I have living at Gatewood House is NOT Moira
McTaggert (sp?). Gatewood House is NOT in CA, but somewhere in the New
England/ Northeastern states... not sure where, exactly, but I'm working on
that. (Any suggestions? Email 'em to me, or post 'em in a review.)
Everyone can thank nappydiva for asking me to clear that up... and hon,
Jubes DROVE to where she is; if you had read more carefully you would have
known that in Chapter One. *blah, blah, blah* still indicates thought,
usually from Jubilee. Oh yeah—and I've changed the circumstances under
which she met the X-Men just a little.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the X-Men or Jubilee. Basically anyone you don't know is mine, so please ask me if you want to use them. Special recognition and thanks to Parodys, who wrote the wonderful story this is inspired by (THE HUNGER)
They found out soon enough. It wasn't long before Kaitlyn, Sherry, Vanessa, Jade, Adrienne, Abigail, Mara, Angela, Gwenevere, Lennier, Bambi, Finnigan, Rory, Janelle, J.C., and Rain came stumbling into the house causing raucous and merriment at sporadic intervals. The happiest chaos in years surrounded and permeated Gatewood House, and dinner was... significantly louder than usual. Wine and food were passed around, courtesy of Moira's, Tori's, Jared's and J.C.'s efforts. Jubilee regaled them with tales from Xavier's mansion, and had them all in stitches by the time the first bottle of wine had worn itself out.
It wasn't easy to maneuver around the table if you need up for something, because although Gatewood was big, it wasn't a cathedral. Consequently, there was much elbow-jabbing, oh-excuse-me 's, and please-would-you-pass- this 's. It was all so familiar to Jubilee, even though she hadn't set foot in Gatewood's loving interior for almost five years. She'd come here when she was about six, after her parents had died and she'd ran away from home for fear of death herself. It had been a little different then—it was just Sarah and two of her six identical sisters (they were septuplets), Sarah's second husband Joe, and her three brothers (Mark, Methuselah, and Marick). They'd found her, taken her in, and quickly made her one of their ever-growing make-shift family. It was soon after Joe had been taken out by an assassin and Moira had moved into their lives that Jubilee had decided that she wanted to learn more about her powers. J.C. had come along earlier, and he told her about Xavier. Sarah had told her to wait...
"Momma!" The voice of a young girl drifted through the dining room's side window. Not a second later, the voice's owner hopped into view from the side porch. Since it was dark out, Jubilee couldn't make out her face too clearly, but she appeared to be about thirteen...
"Hey, hey, Liatt! C'mon in and bring what homework you need help with!" said Jared, rising (with some difficulty) from his place at Moira's side.
"Liatt!?" Jubilee couldn't believe it was the same baby girl that she'd babysat for extra money almost... *Gosh, it's been about ten years!* Jared grinned at her as he slid around the table.
"She's grown up quite a lot, Jubes... there's much you've missed out on," he said, interrupted in the middle of his sentence by Jaxom, who'd inadvertently jabbed him in the gut with his elbow when he tried to pass Sherry some salt. Jubilee distantly heard the apology as she set a keen watch on the east dining room doors. The heavy oak panels were hand- painted in Japanese characters; she remembered the day she had sat and watched Joe lovingly create the masterpiece as a birthday present for Sarah, Kaitlyn, Sherry, Adrienne, Gwenevere, Jade and Abigail. Jubilee privately prided herself on being one of the few people who could tell the septuplets apart no matter what happened. Even Mark, Marick and Methuselah had messed it up sometimes—but she never had...
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Liatt, who burst through the east double doors with her arms full of books, a container of cookies, papers, and lugging a hefty schoolbag in tow.
"Yea Gods, toots... you look like an overburdened runaway! What'd you do—raid the classrooms?" Jared joked with the teenager. Liatt glared at him from behind a curtain of blond bangs and growled at him. The entire table erupted into laughter, another bottle of wine making its rounds now.
"She sounds just like you, Sarah!" Jaxom teased, laughing. Sarah hissed at him in response and swatted at him with the potholder she'd been using, and he promptly avoided it. He leaned back against the wall in his chair—which wasn't far at all—and stuck his tongue out at her. She replied in kind, then plopped down in her chair across the table from him. Liatt snorted amused.
"Looks like she one-upped you again, Jax," she said calmly, smiling through her eyes. She was tall for her age, Jubilee decided, feeling a tinge of maternal pride in that she'd predicted the girl would be tall when she'd taken her first steps. Her hand instinctively went to her stomach. *Will I be this happy when it's over? Will my baby bet this loved in return? Don't be _stupid_ Jubilee... of _course_ everything will be fine. You're _family_ here... you're LOVED here. This is NOT Xavier's mansion, bless his heart. Crap! I forgot to call him... not that it really matters all that much. And he can't call me, because I didn't give my phone number to him; and I didn't take my com badge with me. Sorry, guys, you're gonna have to get along without me now. Heh—I wonder how long it'll take them to figure out I'm not going to come back?*
"I have homework in reading, which is okay; that's just simple stuff. I've also got Algebra, so I'll need your help there, Dad..."
*I bet you Rogue will be the first one to figure it out. Gambit won't want to believe it; Beast just won't accept that. The Professor won't think about it, neither will Wolverine (if he's there at all), but they'll agree with her once they here it.*
"Hey, maybe you could help me with spelling, Momma!" Liatt was going on about homework, oblivious that Jubilee was even there. But that was okay, Jubilee thought distractedly, because she was used to being treated like that.
*I wonder how Cyke will react. Huh... he'll probably keep going on about how I'm a 'team player' and that I wouldn't desert them like that. Only I'm NOT deserting them... I'm protecting them... Oh, gods, I wish...*
"HEY, JARED!" Sarah yelled suddenly, "YA FERGOT SOMONE!" She tossed the potholder at his head. He was too quick—or too practiced, Jubilee couldn't decide—and easily caught the offending mitt. Jubilee smiled, rubbing her stomach absently.
"Hey, Liatt," she spoke up quietly and tenderly. The teen blonde whipped up her head, and her jaw dropped.
"JUBILEEEEEEEEEEE!" she shrieked, and threw herself on Jubilee, who was rather luckily sitting on the east end of the dinner table. "I haven't seen you since I was out of _diapers_!" she exclaimed half-accusing, half- musing.
"Hey, I've missed you too, kiddo!"
The second bottle of wine disappeared much slower than its predecessor had. Liatt had completed all of her homework and had gone home long before it was finished. Goodnights were exchanged with much kissing, hugging, and I- love-you 's. Everyone saw Tori to the door as she left for her job as night security, sending her out the door with a mug of steaming coffee and a slice of C.J.'s brownies. Bambi and Lennier left amongst much affection to go clubbing, saying they would be back at dawn. Frenchman and Adrienne, getting cat-calls from all corners of the house as everyone departed for their respective bedrooms, opted to stay up and watch an old movie.
"Aw, c'mon! Who'd want to miss 'The African Queen'!?" he'd yelled, serious and sarcastic all at the same time. Adrienne and Frenchman were a solid couple, but they had yet to actually get engaged much less set a date to be married. They talked all the time about marriage and family, but never seemed to get a move-on with it.
Jade (one of Sarah's sisters) and her girlfriend Vanessa had retired earlier on, but they called out sleepy salutations as the rest padded softly to their respective rooms. Lying awake in Sarah's bed, Jubilee listened as everyone except the couple downstairs and Sarah got ready for sleep. From the rooms beside Sarah's she could here C.J. and J.C.'s pillow talk, and Jason and Abigail's nightly debate... tonight it was politics.
Sarah sat at her desk by the darkened window, reading paperwork by lamplight. Her flame-red hair hung down her back in countless braids, and it shimmered with a life of its own under the dim yellow light. She was concentrating hard, a frown creasing her forehead. Her skin, though pale under the best circumstances, looked ashen and deathly in the sallow illumination. Jubilee squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of Sarah's eyes so she could tell what her sister-friend was feeling. But all she could manage was just that they were dark, and her vision was blurring with sleepiness. Sighing half in frustration, half in contentment, Jubilee fell asleep with her hand lying protectively over her abdomen.
Sarah turned to her sister-friend lying in her bed. She smiled tenderly, and went back to the mountain of paperwork she had to go through in order to set things right.
Intrigued? I hope so! Ok, I'll try to post something soon, as I've just gotten new inspiration courtesy of the HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME soundtrack; it's awesome guys, you have to check it out! NEway, more coming soon. Any suggestions on where I should be going with this/ ideas on what YOU want to see happen? R/R and let me know. Meantime, everyone take care and Many Happy Blessings! –Aurora Magician
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the X-Men or Jubilee. Basically anyone you don't know is mine, so please ask me if you want to use them. Special recognition and thanks to Parodys, who wrote the wonderful story this is inspired by (THE HUNGER)
They found out soon enough. It wasn't long before Kaitlyn, Sherry, Vanessa, Jade, Adrienne, Abigail, Mara, Angela, Gwenevere, Lennier, Bambi, Finnigan, Rory, Janelle, J.C., and Rain came stumbling into the house causing raucous and merriment at sporadic intervals. The happiest chaos in years surrounded and permeated Gatewood House, and dinner was... significantly louder than usual. Wine and food were passed around, courtesy of Moira's, Tori's, Jared's and J.C.'s efforts. Jubilee regaled them with tales from Xavier's mansion, and had them all in stitches by the time the first bottle of wine had worn itself out.
It wasn't easy to maneuver around the table if you need up for something, because although Gatewood was big, it wasn't a cathedral. Consequently, there was much elbow-jabbing, oh-excuse-me 's, and please-would-you-pass- this 's. It was all so familiar to Jubilee, even though she hadn't set foot in Gatewood's loving interior for almost five years. She'd come here when she was about six, after her parents had died and she'd ran away from home for fear of death herself. It had been a little different then—it was just Sarah and two of her six identical sisters (they were septuplets), Sarah's second husband Joe, and her three brothers (Mark, Methuselah, and Marick). They'd found her, taken her in, and quickly made her one of their ever-growing make-shift family. It was soon after Joe had been taken out by an assassin and Moira had moved into their lives that Jubilee had decided that she wanted to learn more about her powers. J.C. had come along earlier, and he told her about Xavier. Sarah had told her to wait...
"Momma!" The voice of a young girl drifted through the dining room's side window. Not a second later, the voice's owner hopped into view from the side porch. Since it was dark out, Jubilee couldn't make out her face too clearly, but she appeared to be about thirteen...
"Hey, hey, Liatt! C'mon in and bring what homework you need help with!" said Jared, rising (with some difficulty) from his place at Moira's side.
"Liatt!?" Jubilee couldn't believe it was the same baby girl that she'd babysat for extra money almost... *Gosh, it's been about ten years!* Jared grinned at her as he slid around the table.
"She's grown up quite a lot, Jubes... there's much you've missed out on," he said, interrupted in the middle of his sentence by Jaxom, who'd inadvertently jabbed him in the gut with his elbow when he tried to pass Sherry some salt. Jubilee distantly heard the apology as she set a keen watch on the east dining room doors. The heavy oak panels were hand- painted in Japanese characters; she remembered the day she had sat and watched Joe lovingly create the masterpiece as a birthday present for Sarah, Kaitlyn, Sherry, Adrienne, Gwenevere, Jade and Abigail. Jubilee privately prided herself on being one of the few people who could tell the septuplets apart no matter what happened. Even Mark, Marick and Methuselah had messed it up sometimes—but she never had...
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Liatt, who burst through the east double doors with her arms full of books, a container of cookies, papers, and lugging a hefty schoolbag in tow.
"Yea Gods, toots... you look like an overburdened runaway! What'd you do—raid the classrooms?" Jared joked with the teenager. Liatt glared at him from behind a curtain of blond bangs and growled at him. The entire table erupted into laughter, another bottle of wine making its rounds now.
"She sounds just like you, Sarah!" Jaxom teased, laughing. Sarah hissed at him in response and swatted at him with the potholder she'd been using, and he promptly avoided it. He leaned back against the wall in his chair—which wasn't far at all—and stuck his tongue out at her. She replied in kind, then plopped down in her chair across the table from him. Liatt snorted amused.
"Looks like she one-upped you again, Jax," she said calmly, smiling through her eyes. She was tall for her age, Jubilee decided, feeling a tinge of maternal pride in that she'd predicted the girl would be tall when she'd taken her first steps. Her hand instinctively went to her stomach. *Will I be this happy when it's over? Will my baby bet this loved in return? Don't be _stupid_ Jubilee... of _course_ everything will be fine. You're _family_ here... you're LOVED here. This is NOT Xavier's mansion, bless his heart. Crap! I forgot to call him... not that it really matters all that much. And he can't call me, because I didn't give my phone number to him; and I didn't take my com badge with me. Sorry, guys, you're gonna have to get along without me now. Heh—I wonder how long it'll take them to figure out I'm not going to come back?*
"I have homework in reading, which is okay; that's just simple stuff. I've also got Algebra, so I'll need your help there, Dad..."
*I bet you Rogue will be the first one to figure it out. Gambit won't want to believe it; Beast just won't accept that. The Professor won't think about it, neither will Wolverine (if he's there at all), but they'll agree with her once they here it.*
"Hey, maybe you could help me with spelling, Momma!" Liatt was going on about homework, oblivious that Jubilee was even there. But that was okay, Jubilee thought distractedly, because she was used to being treated like that.
*I wonder how Cyke will react. Huh... he'll probably keep going on about how I'm a 'team player' and that I wouldn't desert them like that. Only I'm NOT deserting them... I'm protecting them... Oh, gods, I wish...*
"HEY, JARED!" Sarah yelled suddenly, "YA FERGOT SOMONE!" She tossed the potholder at his head. He was too quick—or too practiced, Jubilee couldn't decide—and easily caught the offending mitt. Jubilee smiled, rubbing her stomach absently.
"Hey, Liatt," she spoke up quietly and tenderly. The teen blonde whipped up her head, and her jaw dropped.
"JUBILEEEEEEEEEEE!" she shrieked, and threw herself on Jubilee, who was rather luckily sitting on the east end of the dinner table. "I haven't seen you since I was out of _diapers_!" she exclaimed half-accusing, half- musing.
"Hey, I've missed you too, kiddo!"
The second bottle of wine disappeared much slower than its predecessor had. Liatt had completed all of her homework and had gone home long before it was finished. Goodnights were exchanged with much kissing, hugging, and I- love-you 's. Everyone saw Tori to the door as she left for her job as night security, sending her out the door with a mug of steaming coffee and a slice of C.J.'s brownies. Bambi and Lennier left amongst much affection to go clubbing, saying they would be back at dawn. Frenchman and Adrienne, getting cat-calls from all corners of the house as everyone departed for their respective bedrooms, opted to stay up and watch an old movie.
"Aw, c'mon! Who'd want to miss 'The African Queen'!?" he'd yelled, serious and sarcastic all at the same time. Adrienne and Frenchman were a solid couple, but they had yet to actually get engaged much less set a date to be married. They talked all the time about marriage and family, but never seemed to get a move-on with it.
Jade (one of Sarah's sisters) and her girlfriend Vanessa had retired earlier on, but they called out sleepy salutations as the rest padded softly to their respective rooms. Lying awake in Sarah's bed, Jubilee listened as everyone except the couple downstairs and Sarah got ready for sleep. From the rooms beside Sarah's she could here C.J. and J.C.'s pillow talk, and Jason and Abigail's nightly debate... tonight it was politics.
Sarah sat at her desk by the darkened window, reading paperwork by lamplight. Her flame-red hair hung down her back in countless braids, and it shimmered with a life of its own under the dim yellow light. She was concentrating hard, a frown creasing her forehead. Her skin, though pale under the best circumstances, looked ashen and deathly in the sallow illumination. Jubilee squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of Sarah's eyes so she could tell what her sister-friend was feeling. But all she could manage was just that they were dark, and her vision was blurring with sleepiness. Sighing half in frustration, half in contentment, Jubilee fell asleep with her hand lying protectively over her abdomen.
Sarah turned to her sister-friend lying in her bed. She smiled tenderly, and went back to the mountain of paperwork she had to go through in order to set things right.
Intrigued? I hope so! Ok, I'll try to post something soon, as I've just gotten new inspiration courtesy of the HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME soundtrack; it's awesome guys, you have to check it out! NEway, more coming soon. Any suggestions on where I should be going with this/ ideas on what YOU want to see happen? R/R and let me know. Meantime, everyone take care and Many Happy Blessings! –Aurora Magician