disclaimer: All recognizable characters are owned by Marvel, except Jenny who is MINE! (though I have been known to share if you ask nicely.) I expect to make no money off this fic. Dammit.
Human and the Demon
by Dizi
Chapter 15
Kurt wanted everything to be as close to perfect as possible.
He knew just what he was going to say and had from the second he realized what he was going to do.
He had the ring in his pocket - he kept checking to be sure - which even Remy approved of.
Dinner was to be a barbeque at the mansion very similar to the one at Jenny's house the day after they had met. He knew the occasion had a special place in both their hearts.
And an excited Lacy had promised to keep Jenny distracted in case she became suspicious.
He was ready.
He was prepared.
He kept telling himself he was confident.
Now, he just needed to make his hands stop shaking.
"Soooo, what's going on?" Jubilee popped her gum. She had just gotten over being totally mad at everyone - especially Wolvie - for not telling her about it when Jenny had been hurt. She didn't like it but understood not being told when she was missing, but they hadn't told her anything until she had called on her own just a few days ago. Being brought back for the barbeque had helped her temper enormously, but actually seeing Jenny up and around had clinched it. Though the tantrum she had thrown would stay in all their minds for a very long time.
"Hmm? We're just getting everything together to take back to my place tomorrow." Jenny laughed placing a stack of CD's in a duffle bag. "I swear, Logan got every CD I own to make sure I had what I wanted."
"I know what you're doing." she rolled her eyes. "I meeean, what's going on? Everyone's excited about something."
"Huh? I'm excited to be going home." Jenny said distractedly, looking for stray possessions.
"Me too." Lacy brought in her clothes. The women had taken her shopping and, like Jenny so long ago, Lacy found herself inundated with clothes.
"But there's something else." Jubilee insisted.
"There's the barbeque, which I don't understand." Lacy mused. "Isn't it still too cold outside for grilling?"
"It's a guy thing." Flexing her arms, Jubilee strutted around the room in a caricature of a heavily muscled man. "Mucho macho. Scott takes any opportunity to grill. Would have done it for his own wedding if Jean hadn't thrown a fit about it."
"So we're excited about leaving, you're happy to be here, and Scott's excited to be cooking outside in the cold." Jenny shrugged. "Maybe everyone else is just in a good mood."
"It doesn't feel like that's what it is, but I'll figure it out. I always do eventually." Jubilee declared in a confident tone. "So, Lacy, have you decided on a name yet? You only have another month, right?"
"Six weeks and he gets to see everyone, and my body's my own again. Maybe I'll be able to eat Remy's gumbo." Lacy grinned. "I was going to name him after Danny, but I just couldn't do it because Danny really didn't like his name. He was a III, and I don't think he'd want his son to be a IV, especially since he and his father argued about us having kids. I don't think they wanted to chance their grandchild being like me. So Kurt and I looked at some names on the internet. I think it was his accent or something, but I started looking under German names, and we found one that means 'the blessed one'. Well, I think we've both been blessed in finding all of you. So his name is Zelig Daniel." Lacy beamed rubbing her belly.
"That's great! Totally cool!" Jubilee exclaimed and cooed in the vicinity of Lacy's stomach. "Hi, Zelig, it's your Auntie Jubes."
"Yer sure 'bout this?" Logan was leaning against the wall of Kurt's room. "Promisin' yer life ta someone else is a big step."
"Ach, vhat else am I to do?" Kurt opened the velvet covered ringbox feeling he need to look at it again. "I love her and vish to spend our lives togethzer."
"But do ya think she's ready fer that?" Logan raised a brow.
Kurt held out a hand fingers spread. "Zat is vhy my hands keep shaking."
"You're wearing that?" Kitty exclaimed before she could stop herself.
"What's wrong with it?" Jenny looked down at her jeans and flower print shirt. "It's just a barbeque."
"Uh,yeah. Right. Don't know what I was thinking."
"See?" Jubilee whispered near Jenny's ear. "I told you something's up. Kitty-cat can't keep anything secret."
Jenny shrugged. "It's probably just a going away surprise. Though I don't know why, I'm going home not across country."
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." From behind them, Lacy gave Kitty a frown .
"Dat's what you gon' wear?" Remy demanded with raised brows.
Logan rolled his eyes - you could tell when he spent time with Jubilee. "Jenny might get suspicious if he wears a tux."
"Do you zhink I should change?" Kurt frowned at his reflection. "Perhaps a different shirt, ja?"
"Non, non, de Wolverine be right. Jenny, she gon' wonder if you dress nice." Remy was quick to reassure.
Kurt took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and walked out the room.
Logan grinned. Showtime.
Jenny was surprised when no one started clearing the table after dinner. They all stayed seated as if waiting for something. Jubilee gave her a knowing look.
Craning her head and looking all around, Jenny saw several pairs of dancing eyes and a couple knowing smiles but no indication of 'what was going on' as Jubilee had put it.
Standing Kurt cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and cleared it again.
The silence was instant and the anticipation palpable.
Jenny's grin was huge. Kurt had a surprise for her.
"I zought it appropriate to say zis vith our friends around us as zey introduced us and have been part of our relationship in a vay." He began as he made his way around the table to Jenny. Kurt had purposely sat on the other end so she wouldn't see how nervous he was. "Jenny, as you know I zought about our vords after ve talked. I realized vhat I truly had been vorried about vas losing you. After coming so close two veeks ago, ze idea vas painful to me."
Reaching her, Kurt took one of her hands in his. "Vhen I understood zat, I knew vhat I vant, what I need, is to be vith you for ze rest of our lives."
The smile had slowly faded from Jenny's face, leaving it blank. As she looked into his yellow eyes she began to feel like they were alone while he bared his heart to her.
"I vant to share our lives togethzer, to be vith you vhatever may happen, and to have you vith me. I vant to grow old vith you, and meeting Lacy has mad me see I vant to haf children vith you. To see you vith our child inside your body, for us to haf someone to love and care for who is part of us both."
Kneeling, Kurt reached into his pocket and pulled out the ringbox. "Jenny, I ask zat you join vith me for ze purpose of becoming a family." He took a deep breath. "Jenny, mein liebling, vill you do me ze great honor of becoming my vife? Vill you marry me?"
He opened the box and Jenny's gasp filled the room. Inside against white velvet was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The thin white-gold colored band gleamed in the light and a large round diamond flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds sparkled blindingly.
Overwhelmed by emotion, Jenny leaned forward and kissed him with all her heart, trying to convey how much she loved him with the simple act of a kiss as she couldn't speak.
Applause and whistles interrupted them. Pulling away, tears were streaming down Jenny's face. With a half-smile Kurt wiped them away. "Is gut, ja?"
Tears continuing to fall, Jenny's eyes met his and Kurt was stunned by the heartbreak he could see in them. "No. I-I'm sorry, but I- I can't marry you." Jumping to her feet Jenny ran out of the room as it again turned silent.
"This is quite an unforeseen circumstance." Hank said quietly.
"Damn." Logan swore. He'd had a bad feeling while listening to Kurt's speech and now felt like it was partially his fault.
"Ah don't undahstand." came Rogue's confused voice.
"Yeah, we all know she loves you, so why'd she say no?" Bobby said what they had all been thinking.
Stunned, Kurt was still staring at the door Jenny had run through.
"You don't seem surprised, Logan. Is there something you'd like to share with us, or more specifically with Kurt?" Charles suggested quietly, having felt the other man's resignation rather than shock like everyone else
Blinking as he collected his scattered thoughts, Kurt said before Logan could reply. "Nein, mein freund, not zis time. Jenny and I needs must speak alone."
Jubilee waited for the smoke to clear after Kurt teleported away and the whispers to start before whispering herself, "Wolvie, do you know why she said no?"
He sighed. "Yeah, kid, but it ain't my secret ta tell. This one they gotta work out fer themselves."
When he appeared in the hall outside her room, Kurt could hear Jenny crying. He didn't bother knocking but simply walked in.
Jenny was curled into a ball in the center of the bed, her whole body shaking with the force of her sobbing. He hesitated a bare second before climbing on the bed. Wrapping his body and arms around her, he silently offered all the comfort and understanding he could without knowing what was wrong.
Time passed, he didn't know or care how long. He continued to hold her until eventually Jenny cried herself to sleep and Kurt followed her shortly after.
It wasn't when Jenny got out of bed in the early morning hours that woke him, it was the cold air as she opened the balcony door. Rolling over to lay on his back, he considered waiting to talk to her but didn't think waiting would help.
Jenny was staring out over the lawn as she smoked a cigarette when he sat beside her. "I didn't think you'd come so quickly after I made a fool of you." Her voice was void of emotion.
"Do you love me?" Kurt asked gently.
Bowing her head, she whispered, "With all my heart."
"Zen you did not make me a fool." he said firmly. "Only if I vas so mistaken could zat be true."
"I can't marry you. I can't give you what you want."
"You are vhat I vant, liebchen. Tell me vhat is vrong." Kurt urged. "Tell me and I vill make it go avay."
"You can't. You don't understand." Her voice was full of a hurt from deep inside and tears were again forming in her eyes. "Th-they hurt me, Kurt. I w-was a kid, th-they tore me up i-inside. I had to have a-a hy-hysterectomy. I can't give you the family you want. I'll never be a mother. I can't have children."
Disappointment, self-recrimination, and relief warred inside him, but Kurt didn't allow himself the luxury of contemplating his feelings. Jenny was all that mattered now. "Zat does not matter to me. I vant to be vith you, for us to be togethzer. Zere are many children who need love, ve vill find zem and make a family."
Jenny shook her head. "You deserve children of your own. You deserve someone who can give them to you."
"Nein, I deserve someone who loves me, someone I also love. Zat is you. I vill not give up or change my mind. No matter how long, I vill wait. Ve vill be married." Kurt was confident, more than when he'd asked her to marry him. She loved him and now the only obstacle was convincing her of how much he truly loved her.
"I love you too! That's why I can't marry you." Jenny insisted.
"Nein, you are scared. I understand." He took the ringbox out of his pocket. "Zis vill be vaiting and so vill I."
Kurt put his arms around her and they settled back to watch the sunrise together. "Ich liebe dich." he murmured, kissing the top of her head.
"I love you, too." Jenny smiled and kissed his cheek, then turned back to watch the promise of a new day. Snuggling deeper in his arms, she settled back and they watched the sun come up until it was so bright they couldn't look at it any longer. Sitting up she felt compelled to remind him of her decision. "But I'm not going to marry you."
"Ja, geliebt."
to be continued.
German Key:
Ich liebe dich - I love you
note:
Shorty McGee- You hit him exactly the way I see him. You'll get more of that in the next short-story.
afreddiefan- Well, you got the proposal, but it probably wasn't what you thought, huh?
S- Of couse you did, I've been building towards it from the beginning! SOMEBODY still is making wedding plans...
Jinxeh- Yeah, too bad they don't have it in the movie. Alien technology fixes all ills. Um, well, almost all.
CaptainTish- I was pretty surprised, but they said it detracted from the story. Too bad. Sure he can, he has enhanced hearing. I think she was confident in the past that he would never ask it of her, but after the last incident he couldn't help it. She, on the other hand, realized he wasn't just being disapproving but was truly concerned for her. Makes a difference than someone saying "I'm not having MY woman..." Oh, and Lacy is more friend/sister relationship thing for both him and Jenny.
B Oots- It might not have been quite as romantic as it could have been but he was in a rush. Don't worry though, he's not giving up.
xmenloganfan- He was just a bit distracted before, and he's not always one to trust his feelings. I can't tell about Lacy but it's not what you think. It'll be obvious later though.
GothikStrawberry- She could have stayed with them, but she wasn't really comfortable there. She only stayed as long as she did for Jenny. And I can't tell you! It would totally ruin it!
MeadowLark4491- Thank you so much. I was afraid I was going a little too far out for him, but it just seemed right. I really appreciate your input.
For those that were totally shocked by the end of this chapter, you might reread the short story in "Jenny and the X-Men" titled 'Things to Remember'. Sorry, I can't remember what number it is. It talks about something Logan knows that no one else does, "something very personal and hurts deeply". I planned this from way back then. I'm actually proud of myself for that. I used to just write on the fly but this time I planned certain things from back then. Cool, huh? Also if you remember when Logan was telling Kurt about Jenny's past he didn't know if he should tell things 'he knew but the others didn't'. I didn't come right out and tell what it was but I DID hint there was more.
Next chapter! The team finds out why Jenny said no, and Jenny and Lacy get settled.
Almost forgot! From Tiffany's of course, for those that would like to see a picture of the ring described there is a link (or will be) on my bio as it won't let me put it in here.
Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi