Chapter 7
Ororo hadn't even stepped out of the mansion the next day when there was a knock. She opened the back door to see Joey standing there. "Mr. King was sick today," she said. "So he let me out early. I came right here."
"Come on in!" Ororo smiled at her and held the door open. "Remy hasn't gotten back from the store yet, so we'll have to wait for him." Joey stepped into the kitchen.
"I was just doing something in the dining room, so if you come this way, we can talk while I finish…" Ororo walked toward the darkened dining room. Joey followed her. Just as she reached the doorway to the dining room, the lights flicked on. Remy, Jean, Hank, and Charles called "Surprise!"
Joey stumbled backward a few steps, staring surprised at the dining room table. It was laden with a large chocolate cake, and several packages wrapped in bright paper with pretty bows and ribbon. The cake had 'Happy Birthday Joey' written on it in pink icing.
"Oh my gosh," She stuttered, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh my gosh!" She turned to Ororo and hugged her, tears of gratitude filling her eyes. "Thank you so much."
Ororo hugged her back briefly, and kissed the top of the girl's head before steering her gently toward the table. 'Eat your cake and open your presents before you say anything else."
Remy lit the candles on the cake, ad they sang happy birthday for Joey before she blew out the candles. Jean helped her cut the cake and put it on plates, then they all started eating. "Did your father send you a birthday card or anything?" Jean said casually.
"No," And they all heard the bitterness in her voice. "No, he usually sends me money for my birthday so I can buy what I want, but he didn't send me anything this year, not even a card." Tears filled her eyes, and she stabbed her cake with her fork.
Xavier frowned. That doesn't sound like Henry at all, he said to Ororo. He wouldn't forget her birthday like that.
Do you think maybe her nanny intercepted the card and took the money? Jean asked as Joey started chatting with Hank and Remy.
Why would she do that? Xavier asked, puzzled. Henry pays her for watching over Joey, so she'd have no reason to steal the child's money.
Jean shrugged. It was just a thought. Aloud, she said to Joey, "We didn't get you a lot of things, and we know you can't take them all back with you today, but Ororo and Charles thought that maybe you could change out of your jeans now and wear the new ones back. That way Mrs. Seward won't notice."
'You got me clothes?" Joey abandoned the cake excitedly and headed for the pile of presents. Amused, Hank took the remainder of the cake to the kitchen and Remy started handing her gifts to her one by one. "Dis is from me," he said, handing her a box. "Dis is from Jean, dis from Hank, dis from Charles, and dese two be from 'Ro."
Joey opened the packages. Jean and Ororo had each gotten her three pairs of jeans and four plain t-shirts in white, blue, green, and pink. Ororo had also bought her a new trowel, shovel, and rake gardening set. Hank had gotten her a small but thick field guide to flowers and greenhouse plants. It had detailed instructions on how to grow each kind of flower, when to fertilize and how often to water it, as well as full-color photographs of each plant. Joey exclaimed over the book, flew out of her chair to hug him, then opened Xavier's gift. Inside was a full artist's set; a box containing a set of colored pencils, oil pastels, watercolor and acrylic paints, and a set of good drawing pencils, with an eraser and a storage space for the large pad of drawing paper he had also told Ororo to get.
"How did you know?" she asked him with shining eyes.
"Henry told me once that his daughter loved drawing. He showed me a drawing you did that you'd sent him. He said he kept it in his briefcase all the time."
Joey fought tears again. "He doesn't love me anymore," she said, brushing the tears away.
"Joey, that's not true," Xavier said gently. "Your father's busy. He may have simply forgotten. He still loves you, I know he does."
"No he doesn't," Joey sad bitterly. "He always used to remember. He always sent me my birthday card every year, two days before, exactly. He promised me last year. But last year I was with my mother. He doesn't love me anymore because Maman died."
"It wasn't your fault, Joey," Jean said, distressed. She could feel the little girl's bitterness, and it hurt.
"But it was," Joey buried her face in her hands. "It was my fault. We were in the car going to the library because I just had to have a new book for my book report. I already had books at home I could have used, but I wanted something new, so I talked Maman into taking me to the library. She wasn't feeling well, but she got up anyway because I nagged at her. We were crossing the intersection I when another car slammed into the driver's side of the car. I heard Maman scream, and that was all. I screamed as my legs broke, and I passed out from the pain. I think I woke up several times over the next three days, but the doctors and nurses put me right back to sleep. By the time I woke up enough to remember what happened, Uncle Louis told me Maman was dead. I didn't even get to say goodbye before they buried her. They didn't let me go to the funeral. Afterward it was my cousin Francis who told me that it was my fault Maman died, and everybody hated me for that, and that was why I wasn't allowed to go to the funeral. And he said they hated me for what I'd done, and that was why I couldn't stay in France with them. I had to come here. Papa must hate me for causing Maman's death, and that must be why he doesn't love me anymore. Mrs. Seward says I should count myself lucky that he didn't just send me to an orphanage."
Ororo clamped her lips shut over what she was about to say, and just held her gently. "It wasn't your fault, Joey," she said instead. "Your father doesn't hate you. He couldn't; you're his little girl, his baby. Your mother's death wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it. You weren't driving the car that ran into yours, were you?" Joey shook her head wordlessly. 'Then it wasn't your fault. Here. Open Remy's gift before he dies of impatience." Joey took the package without comment.
Remy had bought Joey a huge box of French chocolates. Joey stared, bug-eyed at them, then looked at him with tears in her eyes. "How did you know these were my favorites?" She opened the box, took one out, and popped it into her mouth. "Oh, jeez, I missed these. Thank you all so much," and she went around the table hugging them all around the neck. She gave Ororo a thank you kiss on the cheek, and Jean, but both women noticed she was a little more restrained with her thanks for the guys. Hank and Jean set about clearing the table as Charles said, "You may leave the drawing things here. I don't mind. You can come here when ever you want to and use them."
"I can? Oh, thank you!" and she hugged him gently.
"Now, if a man is coming at you from the front, do this." Ororo stood straight and gestured for Remy to come at her. He stood in front of her, reaching for her, and she brought her foot forward to step on his foot effortlessly, then brought her knee up. Not hard enough to really hurt, but Remy acted like it did, doubling over, grabbing his middle, and falling to the grassy lawn with a melodramatic groan.
Joey giggled. "She got you good, huh, uncle Remy?"
Remy opened one eye and glared at her in mock dismay. "Enjoying dis, eh, p'tite?" he growled. "Let's see how well you learn!" he tackled her head on, bowling her over. Joey brought her knee up and pistoned it into his groin. She wasn't strong enough to hurt him, but he fell into the grass, groaning in feigned pain, then opened one eye as Ororo came to stand over him, hands on her hips. "You a good teacher, 'Ro," he said finally, grinning. "She learn quick."
Ororo sat down in the grass beside Joey and Remy, plucking a long stem and tickling his nose with it. "Well, she's a good student, don't you think?"
"Oui," he said, grinning. "She a good student." He grabbed the grass stem from 'Ro and said, 'Time to get you back for usin' me as your guinea pig!" He attacked her, rolling her in the grass as his hands traveled up and down her ribs, tickling her.
Ororo rolled around under him, laughing. She was acting silly, she knew that; she didn't normally roll around in the grass like this, but she felt better now that Joey understood what to do. She rolled over, pinning him down as she tickled him, and for just a second she wished Joey wasn't there and that Remy wasn't currently involved with a girl…
Remy sensed her thoughts, winked at her, and got up before she was tempted any further. They both turned as Joey cleared her throat delicately. "I could go," she said, with a shy grin.
"Oh, no, stay," Ororo said. "Remy had something he needed to do, right?"
Remy took the hint. "Yes, I did," he said. "See you sometime, p'tite.' He ruffled her hair as he passed her on his way back into the house. Once inside, however, he dawdled by the refrigerator, listening. Joey had her back to the house, so she didn't see; but Ororo did. And didn't mind.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
Ororo laughed as she sat back on the grass and played with the stem. "No, he is not," she said. "We are simply very good friends. Although, yes, we did go out once, for a brief time."
"Did you ever kiss?"
Ororo smiled. "Yes, we did."
Joey wrinkled her nose. "Was it yucky?" at Ororo's look, she blushed again. "Well, I saw this girl at my school once, she was a lot older, and she had this boyfriend, and they were lip locked all the time…us younger kids all thought it looked yucky, but I wonder if it really is."
Ororo considered that for a moment, looking up at the puffy white clouds in the endless blue sky above them. "It isn't 'yucky' if the person you're kissing cares about you, and you care about them," she said. "If someone tries to kiss you, and it feels yucky to you, then that person isn't the 'right' person. If it doesn't feel right, don't let them near you. Do what Remy and I showed you today; that should discourage him from going any further and you shouldn't have any more problems."
"Miss Ororo?"
She looked at the girl. "Yes?"
"Thank you." Joey turned pink. "For everything. The party, the presents, the cake and all that…I was kind of not feeling so good today, because nobody remembered it was my birthday, and I was trying not to care so much, but it still kinda hurt."
"Oh, Joey." Ororo ran an arm across Joey's back and pulled her closer to her side. Joey snuggled up next to her side, leaning against Ororo as she hugged her back, and they sat like that for a while. "I am your friend, Joey. I'll never take the place of your mother; I don't want to. But if you'd consider me a sort of big sister, I'd be honored."
"I've always wanted a big sister or brother," Joey said shyly.
"Well, while we're on that topic," Ororo said as she gently tweaked the tip of Joey's nose, "will you do something for me?"
'Sure," Joey said. "What is it?"
"Call me Ororo, like everyone else. You don't need to add the 'miss' if I'm your big sister."
Joey giggled and tweaked Ororo's nose back. "Okay, Ororo," she said happily.