Chapter Nine: The Wedding Planner
X-Mansion's Interior 2:20 a.m. (or two hours and twenty minutes after midnight)
"Oh, Julius! You're so sweet!"
Julius barely managed to catch his balance completly before Angel threw herself into his arms, clutching him tightly around the neck, despite the bulge that represented their daughter. He realized something after a couple minutes and tried to turn his head in a way that let him see her face; he couldn't find one.
"Honey, why are you crying?" he asked, noticing the wet spots on his shirt. Tear-sized wet spots that were spread out in a funny little pattern thing. "I'm confused..."
"I...I..can't..." She broke off the words but continued to cry, tightening her arms around his neck to the point of almost choking him. It loosened after a moment and hiccuping sounds came from her instead of the previous tears. "I...love....I love the flowers, Julius," she managed before breaking into tears again.
I'm going to kill Landon, Julius thought, awkwardly petting her hair and back like he would a puppy. The motion seemed to work since her hiccupping sobs faded into muffled sniffling sounds against his shoulder. It's actually a good idea as long as Angel doesn't freak out this much all the time. Maybe it's just the baby... I need to make a note for future reference. Flowers will get anything, so it seems.
"What in the bloody hell are you people doing up at after midnight?" Nanaki's voice demanded before her bedroom door came open and she appeared, glowering and looking ready to kill someone.
He struggled to think up a response but Angel kept breaking his concentration.
Fortunately, Angel found their excuse by holding up the somewhat crushed flowers he'd given her. He wasn't sure what they were and was even less sure now. Most of the blossoms had been crushed, though a few still remained despite the crushing they'd taken from the strange little couple.
"Julius brought me flowers and said he wants me and Amy to come back," she said, petting her stomache again. The exact kind of petting he wasn't allowed to do; it wasn't fair. "Your daddy's being nice again, sweetie."
Being nice again? When wasn't I being nice?
"Cute. Now do you want to shut up and go to bed, Angel?" Nanaki asked, giving her younger friend a look that could have stunned a horse.
It fell short on someone of Angel's intelligence and mental compacity.
"Of course, Nanaki." She petted her stomache again then leaned up and kissed Julius on the cheek, starting back to her room, flowers in hand. She stopped at the doorway and turned back. "Good-night, Julius. I love you."
"Yep. Me, too," came the reply despite the door that closed before his words could complete. He started away then turned back, staring at the closed door ."Wait a minute. You're supposed to come back now and we'll live happily ever after, keeping my daughter from ending up like you. Angel...Angeeel...Angel?"
"Go away, Julius. Amy and I need to sleep," came the reply, though it was slightly muffled against what must have been a pillow. The sound of a door locking came and when he tried the lock it didn't budge. Nanaki and Toad had vanished back into their room, her muttering swears.
"ANGEL!"
"Go home and go to bed, mon ami. Mon ange needs her rest as does de bebe," Remy announced, picking him up by the collar of his shirt. He walked downstairs and deposited the still somewhat shocked twenty-four-year-old outside the door, slamming it in his face.
Julius stared at the door, thinking he could be mistaken. "That...was...not...fair."
X-Mansion's Kitchen 9:30 a.m.
Rogue tried to ignore the sound of bickering from the table and remembered why she'd been so happy for the girls to get an apartment of their own. It had meant the bickering between Angel and Remy would stop plus Logan would give up some of his overprotectiveness. She'd been wrong.
"Animal is just fine, Remy." Angel petted her stomache, staring at the food in front of her for a full minute before she began shoveling it into her mouth with little use to her fork. She finished half the plate within almost two minutes and gulped down half her milk. "Besides Julius is gonna help me and Amy move back into the apartment."
"Remy wasn' aware you'd move out, petite," Remy muttered, glaring down at his own food and eating with much more grace than their ward. He even wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve before picking up his fork again. "Remy t'ought it was just a temporary t'ing."
"Nope. I left because Julius was mean but then last night he brought flowers and I love him again...Amy does, too. Right, sweetie?" She returned to eating but kept one of her hands against her stomache, tapping her fingers against what might have been her daughter's head.
"Dat not a very nice t'ing ta do ta the chile, mon ange."
"It ain't hurtin' her, Remy. 'Sides, it's already gonna have problems with Julius for a father."
Rogue sighed, giving the entire table a glare. "Angel, Remy, shut ya mouths and eat ya damn breakfasts," she commanded with a tight lipped glare, darkening the look when it looked either of the two would argue with her words. Silence followed as both went back to eating but this time, in silence.
Silence didn't last long.
"It's too early, Jean. Leave me alone!" Tara stalked into the kitchen ahead of the former X-woman and began filling a plate with barely a glance back. She focused on the food only after giving a wave-nod combination in Angel and Remy's direction. "Morning, guys."
"Mornin', Tara."
"Mornin', petite."
Jean followed after a couple of moments, brandishing several different flower books and a dress of some sort covered in a plastic-like material. "Tara, you need to try on your wedding dress!" she screeched, waving the dress around in a way that caused several strangers stares and Tara to duck.
"Jean, knock it off. My wedding dress is NOT white, it's silver or black." She finished loading her plate then went to the table to take a seat beside Angel. She picked up a fork from the table and began to eat, ignoring Jean and the evil glare she was recieving from the latter.
"Want some salt or jelly?" Angel asked, sliding a condiments tray over with a quick motion to the mentioned items. She stood and picked up her plate, dropping it into the sink on her way out. "Thanks, Rogue."
"Ya welcome, sugah."
"This is your dress, Tara Toynbee. I had it sent via air mail last night!"
"Nope. Nanaki's ordering my dress; she has taste."
Jean huffed. "Like I don't?"
"Bingo."
The Apartment 11:45 a.m.
Tara Toynbee stared at her reflection in the mirror then made a face and attempted to fit her rather large, entirely too traditional train out the door without tearing her dress. It was a tough fit especially since the area just outside the door was crowded with friends and so-called well wishers, inlcuding the ever sulking Jean.
"You're beautiful, Tara. It fits you sooooo much better than the white frock Jean chose," Angel announced, adjusting the train that had gotten caught on one side of the bathroom door. She stood for a minute with her hand at her chin, studying Tara then frowned. "Wait a minute. No veil."
"I don't want one."
Nanaki shrugged after a moment, studying her sister-in-law. "Your wedding, but it's part of tradition to wear the veil," she said with another drink from the glass beside her. No one was sure what she kept drinking, though it seemed to smell horrible, if anyone could judge by Jean's distasteful expression. "What do you think, Jean?"
"The white dress would look better. It's tradition. You're killing the tradition, Tara, but if that's what you want..." Jean allowed the sentence to trail off, leaving any of them to feel in the blank.
Tara didn't even hesitate with an answer. "Yeah, I like the silver dress.."
"Okay. What did you have in mind for entertainment..?" Rogue picked up a nearby notebook and pen, beginning to make notes across the semi-filled sheet of lined paper. The top had been decorated with a mixture of flowers and funky looking heart shaped things.
Three different pairs of eyes, one green, one brown, one black on red, focused on Nanaki at the moment when she took another drink from her glass. The rim froze at barely an inch below her lips and she shook her head.
"Don't even ask it."
"Come on. Pleeeeease, Nanaki? How often do I ask you for stuff?" came the response from the bride-to-be. She brought her hands together in an almost begging position then wrung them together, gazing slightly up despite the fact that she was standing full heigth, without couching for once. "Angel, a lot but me? Rarely. Please say you will before Jean finds some teeny bopper new coming band to play there or Logan hires a rock band that'll destroy the entire thing. Please, Nanaki. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeeeease."
"No, I'm getting drunk. I can't sign up to sing at a wedding while I'm drunk," Nanaki muttered after taking another drink from her glass. She put it back on the table in such a way that made the ice chink and a large crack appear in the glass.
Angel grinned. "Nanaki, you don't get drunk. It's a save thingy from your mutation," she said then went silent at Nanaki's glare. She returned her attention to the article of clothing she was attempting to sew; it was turning into a eight-armed child-sized sweater. "But ignore me..I'm just the mother to be.."
"Sugah, be quiet and go back to your sewing."
"Umm...Angel, are you having a squid?" Tara blinked at the two-thirds sewed half of the sweater with it's seven and a half arms. It was green with white stripes and had oddly shaped footsies.
She stared at it a moment then shook her head. "Julius said that I should get prepared 'cause the kid might end up having a mutation, though he's not sure," she explained, holding up the garment for inspection.
Natasha coughed several times to cover a snorted laugh. "That doesn't mean you're going to have a squid, Angel," she said after glancing down at her friend's stomache. "Although...you might be set to have twins.."
"You're what?! Twins?"
Audible gasps were heard here from several different people, including a visage of swear words from Nanaki's direction before she re-filled her glass. "No, no twins. One kid is bad enough and I have a feeling that if she takes after either you or Julius...God forbid, both...one kid will be enough," Nanaki predicted, gulping down her drink then fixing another. "Twins. No way in hell."
"I'm going to make a terrible mother and then...then Julius will be right again."
Angel burst into tears.
"Angel, you won't make that terrible of a mother," Tara said, patting her friends back then going back into the bathroom. There was silence for a moment except for the sound of Angel's sobbing and Tara moving around within the bathroom. "Besides, if Nanaki can reproduce and not have the anti-christ or end the world, how much worse could you do?"
Angel cried harder for a moment then laughed.
"Hello, wedding planner here...or did we all forget about the wedding to remind the world that the demon spawn is about to reproduce with a date rapist."
"Jean?" Nanaki's voice drew everyone's attention then everyone noticed the now redness of her eyes and the heavy smirk present. "Shut up bothering the mother-to-be before I go find baby daddy and make you deal with him."
"You can't insult me! I'm Jean Grey-Summers! I've come back from the dead more times than the guy off Tales from the Crypt!"
"Good for you. I'm Nanaki Celesta Lucifer-Creed and I have a split personality. Now shut up."
"Well I never...!"
Apocalypse's Current Headquarters...... 5:00 p.m.
"It's gotten closer to Angel's due date. When exactly am I allowed to take vacation time to be with her and the baby?" Julius asked, trying to ignore the cat that was weaving between his legs and rubbing up against him. It was a hard task in itself, made harder by Apocalypse's unblinking stare.
"When is the child due, Julius..?"
"Angel's just now going into her fifth month, I think but it would be easier for us both if I could get some time off right now," he repeated without acknowledging the cat that had begun to wrap it's tail around his legs. Mr. Twinkletoes annoyed everyone but mostly Julius. It was almost like the cat knew he was hated and had to stay around to make sure.
"I'm sorry but right now isn't a good time, Kanteon. I plan to invade Normandy within the next few weeks.."
He blinked. "Normandy? Do you even know what Normandy is..?"
"No," came the response from Apocalypse, though he never lifted his head up. It remained focused on the calender open before him. "Don't they have penguins or something similar..?"
"That's ANARCTICA."
"Are you sure? Jax was talking about Normandy...and said it had penguins because it was cold."
Julius sighed. "Normandy is a code word as are cold and penguins."
That brought their employer's head up, sharply. "Code words? I didn't authorize any new code words!" he said, rising about halfway and looking around. "Mr. Twinkletoes. Mr. Twinkletoes!"
"I'm going to explain this once. Listen to me, okay? Once.." Julius held up his hands then removed a black permanent marker from the drawer, beginning to draw on the table. "Normandy means Jax's girlfriend, Natasha. Penguins is a codename for her friends- Landon's fiancee and my baby's mama. Cold means that someone's pissed off, more than likely Natasha. Do you get it or do you need another demonstration, Apocalypse?"
Apocalypse stared at the written on wooden table before him then frowned, giving Julius a look that said everything even before he opened his mouth. "You owe me another table and Landon owes me an invitation to his wedding," he said then waved his hand. "You're dismissed. Get Out. Leave."
"Do I get off early for Amethyst or not..?"
"Not..." Silence for a moment. "Amethyst..? My God, you people need therapy...that poor child.."
"Her mother's name is Angel."
"That explains it. I thought I said to get out? LEAVE."
"When do I get vacation time? I mean, I've been a good worker for going on seven years," he reminded his employer with a scowl. He glared at the cat that had begun to curl it's tail around the nearby coffee mug, hissing every now and again. "I'm sick of that cat, too."
"Mr. Twinkletoes is good for business," came the absent reply.
"Good for business? Good for business?! GOOD FOR BUSINESS..?! How is a stupid, overfed, white cat good for business?" Julius demanded, hissing at the cat then causing the room to shake and several items to fall off the shelves.
"Break it, you buy it, Julius."
"Do I get time off or not?"
"No."
He glowered. "Why not?"
"Is it two months before your son's due?"
"Daughter, and no."
"There's your answer."
"You suck."
"Maybe so. Mr. Twinkletoes, show Kanteon the way out of the room.."
Julius stalked after the cat, too irritated to mind the fact that he was being led around by an overfed, white cat with a waddle to his walk. He slammed the door shut then their lasts words, his own and Apocalypse's, repeated themselves.
You suck.
Maybe so.
"Bad image," he mumbled then walked off, twitching every couple of seconds as though he couldn't get the words out of his head or the mental image they had created.
The Apartment 11:25 p.m.
"Can we please elope in Mexico, Landon? Pleeease."
"Stop begging, Tara."
Tara propped her feet against the wall and balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear while standing on her head. She wrapped her tongue around the straw on the opposite end of the room and attempted to take a drink that way, spilling it across the floor.
"Why can't you even consider it? I mean, do you really want to wear a hot pink tux to your wedding?" she demanded, flipping over and beginning to clean up the mess. She swiped at the coca-cola mess that was beginning to run. "...I spilt another drink...."
"I thought you didn't drink alcohol?" came the reply over the sound of some video game in the background. The sound of Jax's voice accompanied it.
"I don't except Nanaki left a couple bottles of alcohol here..and I wanted to try some things. It's actually really good. You got any alcohol over there?" Tara asked, yawning but pouring herself another coke and Jack Daniels from the many bottles scattered on the table.
"Yeah.."
"Wanna play 'I've Never'..?"
"No."
"Hang up the phone, Tara. The wedding planner is back," Jean announced, strolling through the door with a bunch of brouchures and pamphlets in her arms. She wrinkled her nose at the empty or half empty bottles then tossed her brouchures and pamphlets onto the nearby couch. "We have to plan a honeymoon."
"See we can still go to Mexico, Tara. Honeymoon."
Tara hung the phone up in his ear then glared at Jean. "What if I don't want a honeymoon? You've already killed my wedding with Pepto Bismal (sp?) colors and not allowing me to elope," she muttered, picking up a couple of pamphlets and rifling through them. "Ooh. Cancun. Where's Cancun..?"
"I don't know. I had something like this in mind..."
She took the brochure and flipped through it, staring at the pages in shock. "ANARCTICA? Why in the bloody blue blazes of hell would we want to honeymoon in ANARCTICA?!"