Chapter 9:
Emma sighed as she pulled into the driveway of the house. She hoped Andi was going to be pleased with this little gift; it was something every kid wanted.
Emma had purchased a car for Andi. Granted, she didn't know how to drive, but that could be remedied with a few lessons. And she or Ororo could take her down to get her learner's permit tomorrow.
Ororo's car wasn't in the driveway; Emma was glad. She was used to showering in the mornings; but because Ororo had to get up and attend to the new boy at the school, she would take the bathroom first. Emma didn't begrudge her the change in turns; she just disliked having her morning routine disrupted.
She went into her room, discarding the clothes she wore, then wandered nude into the hall and grabbed a towel from the closet, smiling. Her penthouse apartment in the city might be furnished with all the latest appliances and amenities, the same with her mansion in Massachusetts, but there was something comfortable and homey about a small house like this in the suburbs. Maybe she'd have to think about getting herself one for when she felt like getting away from everything.
Still thinking, she walked down the hallway and reached for the bathroom doorknob. She was about to turn it and go inside when it opened from within of its own accord and Andi stepped out, nude and dripping water.
She gasped in startlement, her hands coming up to cover her mouth and her face going red at the sight of her teacher standing there unclothed. Emma barely noticed. Her eyes had fastened on the ugly red scars on Andi's body.
Andi turned and fled back into the bathroom, red-faced and mortified. "I'm sorry, Emma!" She wailed from inside the bathroom. "Please don't be mad, I thought I was alone…I'm so sorry!"
Emma sighed and went back down the hall, getting another towel and returning to the bathroom door. She opened it a crack and handed the towel in. "Here, Andi," she said. "Put this on, and come out. We need to have a talk."
"Are you dressed?" Came Andi's timid voice.
Emma sighed and wrapped her own towel around her nude body. "I have a towel on. Andi, I'm not upset; we're both girls, there's nothing you have that I don't. You don't need to be embarrassed. I don't mind. Your Mom and I ran into each other nude yesterday in the hall while you were out riding your bike. It didn't faze her. You don't need to be ashamed, Andi."
"My mother would make me stand in the corner after my spankings and make fun of the way I looked," Andi said hesitantly. "You won't do that?"
Emma took a moment to regain her composure. It was a horrible thing to do to a child still developing. "No, Andi, I won't," Emma said. "Andi, it's kind of difficult to stand here talking to someone I can't see. Will you come out?"
Slowly the door opened, and Andi came out, wrapped in the towel. Emma smiled. "Andi, come to my room. We need to talk."
"Can I get dressed first?"
"No, because I want to take a look at your scars. I know a very good plastic surgeon; he should be able to remove those."
"Really?" Emma nodded, and steered Andi into her bedroom. Andi sat on Emma's bed, and Emma carefully pulled down the towel to see the red circles on her shoulders, right where the muscles and tendons of her arms joined her shoulder blades. She traced the two parallel lines down either side of the girl's spine, then examined the square shaped scars over the girl's kidneys. Then she turned the girl around and tugged on the front of the towel. Andi hung on to the towel stubbornly, but when Emma insisted, she slowly dropped the towel. Emma probed the scars on her chest, then had Andi lie down as she checked her ribs and hip scars. There were also some pale, thin white lines across Andi's hips and upper thighs, then more wrapping around the hip and continuing behind Andi. Emma rolled her over, feeling envy. Andi had a wonderful body naturally; Emma had had hers surgically altered. She inspected the thin white lines, and asked Andi, "Where did you get these?"
"What?" Andi twisted her head to look, and saw Emma looking at the thin white lines. "Oh, those were from a cane." Emma sighed, and patted Andi's knee as she said, "You can get up."
Andi sat up, wrapping the towel around herself, looking at Emma enviously. "I wish I looked like you," she said. "You're so perfect."
Emma laughed lightly and dropped her towel, arching so that Andi could see the thin white line under her breast. "Andi, do you see this line? There's one under the other one, too. This is not my natural body, Andi, I had myself surgically altered to look like this. I had scars on my body, just like you do."
Andi stared openmouthed. "I never thought of that," she said. "How much do you think it would cost to have my scars removed like that?"
"Don't worry about the cost," Emma said. "Would you like it done?"
"Yes," Andi whispered, her fingers tightly clasped in her lap.
"I'll take care of it," Emma said, then she tilted her head, hearing the sound of a car pulling up. "In the meanwhile, there's a present for you outside. Consider it a late eighteenth birthday gift." Andi crawled across the bed and peeked through the blinds.
"Wow," she said, impressed. Emma joined her at the window.
"What do you think?"
"He's gorgeous," Andi said happily. "Are you sure he won't mind?"
Emma blinked, then suddenly realized what was going on. Remy had had a day off, and he was supposed to take care of mowing the small yard. She had talked him into going down to the car dealership with her to drive Andi's new car home, but she'd told him to take the long way back so she would have time to break the news to the girl. Remy had just gotten out of the car. It wasn't the car Andi was looking at; it was Remy.
Emma gasped once, then started laughing. Andi looked at her with such a puzzled look on her face that Emma started to giggle harder, and finally fell on her back on her bed, laughing helplessly. And sat there, smiling uncertainly, while Emma spluttered and gasped and choked. Finally, sensing Andi's impatience, she sat up and wiped her streaming eyes. "Not the man, the car," she giggled. "I bought the car for you!"
Andi looked out the window again. Remy was getting the lawnmower started, and he waved at her in the window. If he realized she was only wearing a towel he didn't say anything, or seem shocked. Red-faced, Andi scrambled off Emma's bed and ran for her room. Emma heard drawers opening and slamming, and minutes later, Andi came out fully dressed. Without a further word she headed out, ostensibly to inspect the car but also to see the man, if the thoughts buzzing around in her mind were any indication. Emma got up, still chuckling, and decided to delay her shower in favor of going out to check on Andi.
* * *
Remy turned back to the lawnmower, smiling. Andi was a pretty girl; he wondered if she'd gone out shopping with Emma yet and had her first wolfwhistle. With her figure, she wouldn't be lacking in that particular experience long. Though he'd only seen a little of her from the window, wrapped in that bulky towel, he had no doubt that any boy out there would think she was gorgeous. He wondered who the lucky guy would be to be able to go out with her; not many, if Ororo had her say. There wouldn't be that many guys out there who would meet Ororo's expectations.
Andi came bouncing out the front door, and Remy grinned to himself again. She was wearing a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a dark-green long-sleeved bodysuit that showed off her slender figure and trim waist. The neckline of the top dipped low over her chest; not scandalously low, but low enough that a tiny hint of cleavage showed. A subtle tease, one that Remy was sure Emma had taught her. Her long brown hair fell to her waist, and Remy liked the way it looked loose. "Emma says this is mine," she said, walking over to the car
He loosened the choke-hold he had on his appreciation of her beauty, just enough to let the mental tendrils reach out to her. His empathic powers weren't as strong as hers; but her empathy would pick up on his emotions. He walked over to her, placed a hand gently on her shoulders, and opened the driver's side door. "Hop in," he said. Andi slid into the drivers' seat, and her slim hands stroked the new leather of the seats. Remy almost smiled at the thought of her hands stroking some boy. He wondered what Ororo would say to that!
She was asking him a question, and he tore her mind away from the wandering his mind was doing to bend over, leaning in as he showed her what the various instruments on the dash and console meant. He paused in his explanation to look down at her, and instantly regretted it, because from where he was standing he could see straight down the front of her top. She wasn't as well-endowed as Rogue, but he could definitely think of things a boy would want to do to them.
Think Ororo would let anyone touch her, Remy? came a dry chuckle in his mind.
He continued to explain car function to Andi as he thought back to Emma, Be a shame if 'Ro didn'. She a beautiful girl.
Wish she knew that, came Emma's mindvoice, slightly exasperated. I ran into her coming out of the shower. She was so embarrassed about her body she retreated into the bathroom until I got her another towel…Oh, get that thought out of your head! She's 'Ro's adopted daughter. I'd never do that to her. Emma gave Remy a naughty look; his mind had conjured up an image of both her and Andi nude. However, her low self-esteem might be helped if she spent some time around members of the opposite gender who did think she was pretty…though I think Ororo might be a little uncomfortable with that.
Dat your way o' saying she needs to hang aroun' boys? Usually teenagers' mothers and guardians try to discourage dat kinda t'ing. I kinda t'ink Ororo might have somet'ing to say about it. Remy was amused.
She's eighteen. She can make her own decisions. She doesn't need anyone's approval, though she might still ask 'Ro about it. But I think she'll go and do what she wants, regardless of Ororo's approval or not, as children are wont to do. Their conversation stopped abruptly as Ororo's white convertible pulled up in the driveway behind the new car.
Ororo got out, looked at Andi, playing with the stereo in the car, and turned to Emma. "A late birthday present, Emma?"
Emma nodded. Ororo arched an eyebrow and said, "I assume you will be arranging for her to have lessons? I do not feel quite equal to the task of teaching a teenager how to drive."
"Of course," Emma said reassuringly.
Ororo looked at Remy, at Emma, then at Andi, who was turning the volume up on the stereo, having found a song she liked. Ororo decided to bring up the issue. Andi would never hear them over the noise. "And I assume you will also be arranging for lessons in other areas?" Remy coughed, almost choking, and Emma looked at Ororo speculatively. Had the other woman heard what they had just been discussing, or did she just have a hunch?
"Unless you have objections, yes…but keep in mind even if you don't want her to hang around other boys her age, she'll probably end up doing so on her own."
Ororo smiled, but there was ice in the smile, and lightning in her eyes. "I have no objections, provided Andi has none. But, Emma, she is not just another girl. Do not treat her as such. If someone hurts her I will take steps, and they will not be pleasant ones. Do you understand?" She crossed her arms.
Emma nodded. "I understand perfectly. I wouldn't let anyone hurt her either, I consider her as a neice, after all. I promise."
Ororo tipped her head back, regarded her thoughtfully, then nodded. "As long as you are careful who you introduce her to, I have no problems, then." She swept past them into the house, and Remy and Emma were left staring at her back in astonishment and confusion.
Andi stuck her head out of the driver's side window. "Can I go for a ride?"
Emma turned to Remy. "Think you could do that? I want to have a talk with Ororo."
Remy looked at Emma, at the house, then turned to Andi. "You need to get a learner permit b'fore we do dat. How 'bout you an' me go get dat now?"
"Okay," Andi said happily, scooting over into the passenger seat and turning down the radio.
Emma watched them go, then walked back into the house, where Ororo was calmly unpacking the bag she had brought. She leaned against the kitchen door for a while, watching, then picked up a package of ground beef and put it in the freezer. "You surprised me," she said.
Ororo looked up at her. "One does not need to be a telepath to see Andi's increasing interest in the opposite gender. Also, of the two of us you have the most experience, and you have been taking her out shopping. I saw no need to delay a conversation that we would have to have eventually." She arched an eyebrow at Emma. "I also saw no need to deny Andi what she would eventually do on her own anyway. I would rather have whatever boyfriend she has bring her home by the front door than have her attempt to climb the tree outside her window to get back in."
Emma blinked. "I'd have thought, as protective as you are of her, you'd hate the idea of a boy around Andi."
"I do not like the idea," Ororo admitted, "but she also cannot live the rest of her life avoiding a male touch. And you have seen, and…slept with…enough men to recognize a bad intention. And you also care enough about Andi to be sure that should a boy approach her with such an intention, you would take care of it discreetly." Ororo put the orange juice in the refrigerator.
Emma took the pot of leftover chicken soup from the fridge and put it on the stove. "I saw Andi's scars," she said finally. "They look terrible. I told her about the plastic surgeon who did my work; I asked her if she would like to have them removed." She poured herself a glass of apple cider and sat down at the table. "Do you think it's a bad idea?"
"Of course not," Ororo said. "I was actually thinking of approaching Xavier about them. Andi is dreadfully self-conscious about them and about her body. That is actually the first time I have seen her wear anything that exposed more than a half-inch of skin below her neck." She sighed, and set the coffeemaker. "I have no doubt Remy will take care of her lunch at a McDonald's somewhere. Let's eat now. I'm hungry."