Jubilee sat up in bed as soon as her clock struck 7 o'clock. She hadn't been able to sleep that night, she was too excited. Taris was coming in his dad's private jet to pick her up and take her to Canada with him. The other X-Men were on vacation today, leaving her and Moira MacTaggert as the only people left in the mansion. Moira had told her it was okay if she left and took a vacation as well, the older woman was going to take her vacation later.
Leaping out of bed Jubilee started to pack enough clothing in her duffle bag for a week. A whole week with Taris! I can't wait! She couldn't remember being this excited before. Sure she'd been excited when the X-Men started going up to Canada once a year to train with Taris and his family, but it'd never been just her before, and never for vacation. Winter was in full blast up there and it was going to be very cold Taris had said. Jubilee didn't exactly enjoy the freezing temperatures of Canada in the winter, but it was worth it to her to see Taris.
What was more exciting was that her eighteenth birthday was coming soon. Only 5 more days. 5 more days and Jubilee would be an adult. Taris had turned eighteen last year along with Jade, they were born on the same day as the other two of their quadruplet group. It had amazed Jubilee when Taris had told her that he was only one of a quadruplet group. She had trouble remembering all their names, he had alot of siblings. Twelve children, how did his mother manage that?
Hearing the soft rumble of Sabretooth's private jet made Jubilee pack faster. Fastening her bag closed she looked into the mirror and realized she had forgotten to change out of her nightclothes. She ran over to her dresser and grabbed a long sleeved dark blue t-shirt and some jeans. Changing quickly she snatched her brush and ran it through her hair. When there was a knock at the door she jumped out of surprise.
"Coming!" She said while finishing her ponytail. Over the last couple years she had grown her hair out, it was now down to the end of her lower back where it meets her rearend. Taking a last look at herself she went over and opened up the door. Seeing Taris in his long sleeved grey sweater and blue jeans made Jubilee smile. He looked like he hadn't aged one day since he was fifteen. "Heya Taris." His broad smile made her smile back.
"Hey Jubes." Grabbing her waist, Taris greeted her with a kiss on the lips. "Ready to go?" He questioned, his voice had deepend considerably since he was young as well.
"Yup! Let me grab my bags." Taris stopped her with an arm around her, a smirk on his face.
"But if I let you carry your bags that wouldn't very gentlemanly of me now would it?" Jubilee smiled and smacked him lightly on the arm. He raised an eyebrow and grabbed her bags of her bed like they were as light as a feather. Together they walked out to his father's jet and walked up the ramp, waving good bye to Moira before the door shut. Taris placed her bags in the cargo hold and came back up the cockpit. "Alright, let's get going shall we?"
With a smile at her, Taris actived at the flight sequence and soon they were soaring high up over New York. The trip was long, but Jubilee amused herself by reading a book while Taris remained at the pilot's seat for the whole trip. His dad would probably kill him if he took his eyes off the controls for a single moment.
When they arrived at Taris' home in the mountains of Canada they saw his family gathered outside, bundled up in layers against the freezing cold. Taris and Jubilee layered extra clothing on top of what they were already wearing and grabbed their parkas from the back. Letting the door open they were blasted by the cold air, the wind whipped at them with frozen ice particles. They exited the jet with care so they wouldn't slip. No words were said until they were all inside the house where it was warm.
Jade immediately hugged Jubilee when they entered. Her red hair was tied back into a braid so it wouldn't get in her way. Jubilee spied JJ sitting on the couch in front of the fire watching the whole ordeal through his shocking green eyes. They shared a knowing glance as his eyes caught hers. Finally Jade let go of Jubilee and just stared at her.
"Wow, Jubilee, you've... grown." Jubilee blushed at Jade's appraisel.
"Jade, the term is matured." Jade gave her a half smile, embarrassed that her mom had to tell her the correct term. They were correct either way though, Jubilee had slowly matured over the years. She had filled out where a child would not. "How've you been Jubilee?" Mrs. Creed asked her now.
"I'm pretty good, you?" The older woman smiled at her.
"Good as usual."
"Now that we've all had fun greetin' Jubilee can we get outa the door way?" Sabretooth said from his position where he was pinned against the doorway from the masses of children trying to talk to Jubilee all at once. His children obediently moved out of his way so he could close the door, the younger children trying to drag Jubilee to their rooms so she could see all the changes to their rooms and the new toys they got while she was gone. She just smiled and said 'maybe later' to their disapointment.
Taris had watched the happenings from the side lines. Seeing the easy way Jubilee conversed with his family, and how she interacted with his younger siblings made him smile. She was a treasure for sure. Somehow sensing his desire to speak to her Jubilee looked towards him, her brown eyes sparkling with amusement from something his younger brother Michael said. Taris' breath caught in his throat at her beauty for the second time that day. He could never get over the fact she'd grown up right in front of his eyes. From a energetic little girl who was infatuated with the color yellow to a gorgeous young woman who made grown men stop in their tracks to admire her. She walked up to him, Ty hanging on to her hand, trying to get her to come with him so she could see his room.
"Ty, you can show me later okay?" The little boy looked sad at Jubilee's answer to his constant nagging but he let go of her and went to play with his brothers. "Whatcha doing Taris?" She asked him, her long black hair was flipped over her shoulder in it's long pony tail.
"Just watching you." He said simply. His blue eyes admired her figure, making Jubilee squirm from the attention.
"Not much to watch." She smarted back. He smirked.
"You sure about that." Taris pulled Jubilee into his arms and casually ran one of his hands down her body starting at the shoulder and ending at her bottom. She gasped at his touch while he just smiled. Raising his eyebrows multiple times rapidly Jubilee giggled.
"Whatever."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
For the remainder of the day Jubilee and Taris hung out together, goofing off and playing pranks on his unsuspecting siblings. When dinner time came around they ate seperately from everyone else, sitting out on his balcony. It still amazed Jubilee how big Taris' house was, it rivaled the Xavier Institute in size easily. It even had it's own danger room so the children didn't get bored. Currently Jubilee and Taris had just finished their dinner, they were just sitting together in companionable silence.
"I missed you while you were gone you know." Taris was the first one to break the silence.
"I know, I missed you too." Jubilee replied. She and Taris' love had only grown stronger through the years. They talked on the phone all the time, iming eachother and emailing.
"I'm sure." The quiet returned after their shared words. It wasn't much of a conversation but it was special to both of them. It was their own special way to confirm to eachother that no matter what they still loved eachother. As one they rose, Taris took their dishes to the sink where his mother was washing them, while Jubilee just sat on his bed. When he returned Jubilee had changed into her pajamas. Glancing at the clock Taris realized they should get to sleep since they had a late dinner. He stripped down to his boxers and undershirt for modesty's sake. The first night back Jubilee always stayed in his room with him. As they climbed into bed together Taris couldn't help but feel like this was right, that them together was the most perfect thing ever. Giving Jubilee a kiss goodnight they slowly drifted off to sleep with thoughts only of the person next to them.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Taris was the first one to wake up as usual the next morning. Stretching he climbed out of bed and got into the shower. Dressing quickly he exited the bathroom just as Jubilee entered it. When she exited the bathroom Jubilee found herself alone in Taris' room. Leaving his room she wandered down the hall and down the stairs into the kitchen where breakfast was cooking, Dezra and Jade busy flipping pancakes and sizzling bacon.
Seeing Taris seated at the table with numerous others Jubilee sat down next to him just as Jace, his blind older brother, was led downstairs by his younger sister Victoria. Jubilee admired Victoria's beautiful blonde hair that the girl kept at chin length always, and her shining blue eyes that she inherited from her father. Jace just looked strange with his combination of bright red hair and sightless blue eyes. The pair sat down next to them, Jace was carefully guided into his seat.
Jubilee turned to the kitchen's archway as Dezra and Jade brought out the many plates of food. Everyone started snatching food from plates while some telekinetically moved the food. Jubilee waited until the multitude of hands were out of her way before grabbing some bacon, sausage, and chocolate chips pancakes. Pouring syrup over everything she started to eat.
"Today we're going skiing." Taris commented while shoving a huge forkful of pancake into his mouth. "Did you bring enough warm clothing?" Jubilee nodded her affirmative instead of speaking because even though Taris didn't care about table manners, Jubilee did.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Jubilee stood on top of a snowy hill staring at Taris while he easily skiied to the bottom. Now that he had easily done it he was yelling at her to do it. She hadn't been skiing in a long time, and even when she had the chance she was not very good. Yet she continued to do it because Taris always convinced her it was fun and that she'd get a hang of it soon enough. Yeah right, I'm SO not a skiier. Launching herself Jubilee started to ski done the white slope.
Out of fear she closed her eyes, screaming the whole way down. She could feel herself slide from side to side automatically from the snow. She screamed even louder when she hit a rock and started to fly, afraid of the outcome Jubilee tucked into a ball hoping that she wouldn't hit the ground to her. She was surprised when she softly landed in the snow. Hearing Taris' laughter she opened her eyes.
"You know... you really should... keep your eyes... open." He said amongst his laughter. Jubilee glared at him with her brown eyes staring into his blue ones. Grabbing some snow and padding it into a ball she hurled it at Taris smacking him in the face. "Hey!" He exclaimed when the white ice hit him. "That's it." He said as he grabbed some snow of his own. Jubilee realizing his intentions started to run. Ducking behind a tree she started to build her own snow balls. She leaped up into the air when ice hit her bottom. Spinning around to face her attacker, she was encountered by another snow ball, this time to her face. Squealing in indignation, Jubilee threw her own snow ball at Taris who quickly ducked behind a tree before it him.
Their game of snowball lasted until it started getting dark, then they called a truce and went back to Taris' house. When they got back to his house they sat cuddled together in front of the fireplace, warming their freezing bodies. No one disturbed them as they drifted off to sleep in eachother's arms.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The next several days passed in a whirlwind for Jubilee. She had gone sledding, skiiing, ice skating, snow balling, and paintballing in that time. And now as Jubilee relaxed in bed after waking up at 9 she felt very satisfied with her week. Deciding it was time to get up, she got out of bed, showered, dressed and went downstairs. The Christmas decorations in the house made Jubilee smile. She loved Christmas, not only was it a special time of the year to kiss boys under the mistle toe, but it was also her birthday. There was a huge pine tree in the center of the living room and presents were scattered around under it. Mistle toe hung from miselaneous places, the kids making funny faces at Jamie, the eldest boy, as he kissed his girlfriend Violet.
Taris was sitting on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. He looked up and caught her gaze. He motioned with his head towards the table where there was french toast and syrup. Grabbing a plate she ate quickly and joined Taris on the couch. I wonder when his parents are gonna let the kids open up their gifts. As if summoned by her thought Dezra and Victor entered the living room.
"Merry Christmas everyone." Said Dezra, her red hair was untied so it was hanging around her like a crimson waterfall. "And happy birthday Jubilee." Victor who had grown his blonde hair out had his hair tied into a loose ponytail. Everyone greeted them with a 'merry christmas' of their own. The children kept on glancing towards the gifts sitting under the tree and Dezra smiled. "Okay okay, go open your gifts." Victor sat down on the couch and pulled Dezra next to him so close that she was half sitting on him and half on the couch. She giggled when he nuzzled her neck.
Ty brought Taris and Jubilee their gifts and then grabbed his parents gifts before grabbing his own. Jubilee admired the wrapping on her present before Taris nudged her telling her silently to open it up. Reading the card she realized it was from Taris. Giggling, she got an idea. Slowly pulling the red ribbon untied she teased Taris with the suspense. Picking at the green wrapping paper piece by piece she revealed a brown box with a message on the top. I. The letter I was all it had on it. Opening up the box there was another message on a smaller box. Love. Was all it said. Opening that box she encountered another one with a message on it.You. It said.
I love you? Curiousity growing Jubilee opened up the box to find another box with a message on it. Will. It said. Opening the box there was yet another box with a message on it. You. Jubilee was begining to figure out the message, slowly. I love you, will you... will you what? Opening the box there was another box with the word 'marry' on it. Opening the box she discovered a small black box with the word 'me' on it. Opening up the velvet covered box Jubilee gasped. There sitting in the white surounding was a gold band with a huge sparkling diamond in the center of it that was surrounded by smaller diamonds.
Jubilee gasped when she saw the ring. Her eyes widened in surprise. She turned to Taris as if for confirmation for what she was seeing. Unaware of the fact that everyone in the room was watching, Jubilee continued to stare at Taris. He blushed while smiling. Realizing that she was making him uncomfortable and nervous she stopped staring.
"Will you?" He said. His blue eyes found her brown ones again. Tears were forming in her eyes. "Why are you crying?"
"These are tears of joy Taris, because I've never been so happy before." Jubilee replied, making Taris blush even more.
"So will you?" He asked again. "Will you marry me?" Jubilee smiled broadly towards her love.
"Of course."
End
