He stared at her blankly.
"What?" She sighed, and put her palm against his cheek.
"John. Listen. You want a family that loves you. I love you more than anything…and…in nine months, your gonna have a little kid that's gonna love you, too…" John knitted his eyebrows together, and pulled his hands back, letting her's fall to his knee. She sighed, and closed her eyes, lowering her head. They sat together in silence, neither one moving, for a minute, before Lily felt John's hands on her stomach. She opened her eyes, looking at his hands.
"A kid?"
"Mmmhmm…"
"Well…" He leaned over, pushing his lips against hers. "Fantastic. I'm finally gonna have a family that loves me…" She giggled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him. He held her around the waist, and kissed her shoulder. "But…Promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"You'll take your meds every time you're supposed to."
"I swear on everything…everything holy, everything unholy…" She smiled at him, and kissed his cheek.
"Love you, baby."
"Love you, too, John…" She rested her head on his shoulder, and he held her close, smiling.
Rogue pushed open the door, and paused. Lily and John were laying on her bed, fast asleep. Shaking her head, she crossed over, and gently shook Lily's shoulder.
"Lily…psst…Lily. Wake up…It's almost dinner time." Lily groaned, but nodded, looking up.
"Okay…" She watched Rogue leave the room, and rolled onto her side, lifting her eyes to see John still asleep beside her. Gently, she placed her hand on his chest, and shook him a bit. "John…psst…John…" He groaned, and rolled away from her. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Baby? C'mon, wake up…dinner time…" He shook his head.
"No, mommy…I don't wanna go to school…" She smiled, and kissed his cheek.
"Alright…you don't have to…Go back to sleep." She carefully climbed off the bed, and headed out of the room, running her fingers thru her hair.
She sat out by the pool, staring blankly down as the water rippled in the wind. John pushed open the front doors, and moved over behind her.
"Worried me, Lil…" She looked up.
"Hm?"
"I woke up and you were gone…" He put his arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Sorry…but you looked so cute…" He chuckled, and kissed her neck softly.
"Well…at least tell me where you're goin', even if I am asleep…" She faintly smiled, and nodded.
"Alright…"
"Did you eat dinner?" he asked. She shook her head slowly. "And why not?"
"I'm not hungry…"
"Babe, you gotta eat…you can't go without eating now…" She shook her head again.
"I don't wanna eat, at least not now…I'm just not hungry. I will eat breakfast, tho, I promise…" He smiled, and kissed her cheek. She turned her head, her lips meeting his, and smiled into it. They sat there, kissing, for a moment or two, when Lily pulled back, her head bowed, her eyes wide.
"Lil? What's up?"
"No…" she whispered, slowly standing up.
"No what?" She shook her head, tears in her eyes, as she spun around.
"No…God no…"
"Lily, what is it?" John stood, standing beside her, and looked at her, squeezing her hand. He saw her eyes trained on something in front of them, and turned, looking. A woman was walking into the building, who had shoulder length black hair and a tanned face.
"Please tell me she wasn't really there…"
"Lil? Who?"
"My mother…" she whispered, looking at John. John stared at her, and tugged his jacket off, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling up the hood, moving her to the wall.
"You stay right here, I will be back in a minute…" John jogged inside, and found Ororo in her classroom.
"Hey, John…"
"Storm? Can I borrow your car? I wanted to take Lily into town…" Ororo smiled, and tossed him the keys.
"Sure, John…be careful, though, and take her meds with her…" He nodded, and smiled at her.
"Thanks." John jogged down the hall, hiding from Lily's mother, and slipped into her room, snatching her meds before racing out of the building and dragging Lily to the car.
Lily leaned over in the car, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you, John…"
"No problem…" he said, sliding his arms around her. "I know how much you hate your mom…no matter what." Lily lifted her head, and kissed him softly, slipping a hand over his stomach.
"I love you…" she said softly, resting her head on his shoulder again.
"Love you too…" He rubbed his hand against her shoulder, and rested his cheek on the top of her head as they sat in the car, at the park, watching the lake. She sighed, and closed her eyes, giving him a light squeeze.
"I don't want to see her…I just want her to go away," Lily whispered, keeping her arms locked around him. He glanced down at her.
"What?"
"I don't want to see Vanessa Simon….I just want her to go away," she replied, lifting her head a little so he could hear her.
"Where would you like her to go, Lil?" he asked.
"Poof…" she answered, letting her head fall again. John ran his fingers thru her hair, and kissed her forehead, making her look up at him. He gently kissed her again, and felt her smile as he moved his hand to her cheek.
Lily curled up against him for a minute, and sighed, looking around.
"John?"
"Yeah, babe?" he asked, flipping thru the stations on the radio, before finally clicking it off.
"Can we go for a walk?" she asked softly, looking at him. He smiled at her.
"Sure…come on." They climbed out of the car, and Lily slid her hand into his, clutching onto his arm and resting her head on his shoulder as they headed down a path to take them around the lake. Lily sighed softly, and kissed his neck as they walked. John smiled, squeezing her hand, before he led them thru the trees, away from the lake, and off towards a pond that wasn't visible from the lake. She looked around, slightly confused.
"Where are we goin'?"
"I want you to see this pond…It's a greenish color, and it sparkles like an emerald…I thought you would like it." She smiled, slightly blushing.
"Oh, John…" He kissed her cheek, coming to a stop by the emerald looking pond, and sat. Lily stood, admiring it for a moment. When John tugged on her hand, though, she finally snapped out of it, and sat in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder to see the pond, too.
They were there for about an hour when Lily moved to the dirt, turning to see him. John raised an eyebrow.
"What's up? You usually sit in my lap until one of us falls asleep, or we need to leave." Lily giggled, and leaned over, kissing him.
"John?"
"Hm?"
"Would you do me a huge, gigantic favor?"
"Sure…what?" She leaned over, kissing him softly, and carefully moved her lips to his cheeks, kissing it. After a second, she moved her lips to his ear, and wrapped them around his earlobe, sucking on it for a minute. John's eyelids lowered, and he moaned, gripping her hands in his. Lily giggled slightly, and pulled back, looking at him.
"Heehee…"
"Uhhhh….Lily…." She smiled at him, leaned back over, and did to his ear again. This time, though, she kept her lips there.
"John…make love to me…make love to me here by the pond…" John looked at her, as she pulled back, and smiled.
"Alright…you sure?"
"Mmmhmm…I miss the way you touched me…I…I want you to touch me again." John smiled, and kissed her hard on the lips, pulling back and winking at her as he laid her back in the dust and grass.
His fingers slid down her front, and tugged her shirt over her head. Lily smiled up at John, and tugged his off, too. He bowed his head, kissing her neck and shoulder, as he pulled her bra off, setting it on her shirt. His lips trailed her skin to her chest, as her fingers wrapped around his jeans and the button.
"I love you so much, Lily," he said, kissing her shoulder.
"Oh, John. I love you too…I love you with all my heart…"
"Me too…"
"And I always will."
"I will always love you, too, baby," he said, kissing her again. Lily smiled up at him, her cheeks a faint pink color, and pushed her lips against his forehead as he bowed his head to kiss her chest. Lily undid his jeans, and pushed on them. John moved so they could slide down, and he kicked off his shoes, too, holding himself up like he was gonna do a pushup. Lily laughed, smiling at him. John smirked, and kissed her cheek.
"I love hearing you laugh." She smiled at him, and snapped the band of his boxers, making him jump slightly. He kissed her again, pushing her jeans down. He moved, taking off her shoes and jeans, and paused.
"What?"
"Why don't you roll over for a second? I wanna put these under us so that dirt doesn't get anywhere uncomfortable." She giggled, and nodded.
"Good idea…" He laid their shirts beneath them, and climbed back on top of her.
They showed up at the school, and as Lily headed inside, John lifted his eyes, watching her stop short in the doorway. At the other end of the hallway, staring down at her, eyes burning with hate, hands clenched into white knuckled fists, was Vanessa Simon.