A/N: Kristi steps up to the podium
Ok, before yous all bludgeon me to death with your keyboards, lemme give
you the Reader's Digest version of what is a very, very, very long story.
(note the use of multiple very-s.)
It took me long enough to finally get this chapter going after Christmas
break, but having to see my dad's family always does that to me. But I get
a nice pattern going, my muse is being cooperative for change, and I'm on
Cloud Nine thinking I would have this up by the end of January. Then I get
to the final scene (of which I'm sure you all know its contents) and I
start to get a little stuck. But after a mental meltdown, I get through it!
And I actually liked what I wrote for once! Then came February 5th- I was
in the IMC during lunch finishing up my last A/N and waiting for the
Internet to open so I could upload the chapter. One of my friends calls me
over to her to find a book, so of course, I go. Not two minutes later, I go
back to my computer, go to access my floppy disk, but the computer tells me
the A drive isn't working. I grumble and roll my eyes, thinking it was the
computer's fault, and try again. Same message. So I go to reach out and
jiggle the disk, but my finger meets nothing. My disk was gone. And I only
save my chapters onto that floppy. Not my H drive, not the G drive, not
another disk- that one and only that one. Here I had this 14-page chapter
written, and now I was at square one. Ever since then, there has been a
huge problem with peoples' floppy disks being taken right out of the drives
when they get to see some one, get things from the printer, etc. So since
then, I've been rebuilding this chapter based on what I had in my memory.
And being the brilliant-beyond-brilliant person that I am, I neglected to
look at the screen half the time, so my brain gives me a million pictures
of arbitrary points in space, piles of homework I wasn't doing, shadow
puppets my fish looked like it was making with its tail, but nothing I
could have used. So this everything could resurrect or rewrite until it
seemed good. Then, as if the situation couldn't possibly get any worse, my
computer gets a virus the day after I finish this leaving me with no
internet connection for the past two weeks. Which wouldn't have been so
terribly bad my mom hadn't taken it upon herself to decide that it would
just so gosh-darn nice if the family gave up the internet for Lent. She got
our internet service cancelled while I was at school, and since the
computers at school have the world's strictest content advisors, there
wasn't much I could do but wait for Easter. It's times like these I hate
being Catholic. rolls eyes
Thank you to anyone who is still reading this or even remotely playing
attention.
I still don't have my disk back either, by the way.
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 18: Butterflies and Basketball
Tenth Street Park Sunday, November 2nd 1:35 p.m.
"C'mon, make your move," Max locked into an unremitting stare with her daughter. Mentally calculating the angles at which Lex could dribble the ball around her, she allotted just enough power to stop her. If Lex won her third game in a row, she'd spend the rest of the gloating relentlessly over the fact that she had defeated the self-proclaimed Queen of Basketball yet again. Max still wasn't usually apt to play when there wasn't any cash laying on the game, but this one was for pride. Well, that and the right to gain back her proverbial crown. Logan had decided to stay home, making the excuse that he had some informants to call, but Max knew he'd just been trying to cover his ass. Lex had already shamed him on the court once, not to mention at pool and chess. "Gotta put some dignity on that delicate male ego somehow," Max thought to herself with a rueful smirk. "Right or left, Lex, take your pick."
Meeting Max's stare, Lex figured she'd already noted her options. Listening carefully, Lex decided that the people closest to them were about three hundred yards to the upper left behind a grove of trees. "Too far to see or hear anything," she reasoned, dropping the ball and charging straight ahead and starting to jump clear over Max. Leaping up to catch her, Max's fingers just barely missed Lex's side as she suddenly pulled herself down and to the right, running and dunking the ball with ease. "Oh yeah!" Lex cheered as she began her victory dance. "Face it Mom, you're not as young as you used to be," she walked over and rumpled Max's hair just like Max did to her when she was a child.
"Lucky move," Max gulped down the remaining contents of her water bottle.
"The Queen's one hell of a sore loser," Lex laughed. "And here you're the one that complained that we never do this anymore. Or was that before you remembered that I can totally kick your ass."
"I'm not complaining. Just stop gloating," Max sighed and smiled.
"Ok, spill," Lex sat down next to Max and crossed her arms.
"Spill? About what?" Max shrugged.
"Mother.." Lex narrowed her eyes.
"No, honestly, what?" Max racked her brain.
"You keep getting that spacey look in your eyes. And that's that patented Max Guevara 'something's-bothering-me-but-I'm-too-proud-to-say-anything' look."
Her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights, Max tried to keep her cool exterior intact, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine," Lex emphasized. "Nice try, but I know you better than that."
"Fine, I just feel like both you and Jondy are keeping something from me," Max reluctantly fessed up. "And I wanna know what it is."
Now it was Lex's turn to flinch inwardly. "It's nothing," she lied.
"Really? Because you two have been pretty quiet. Especially Jondy, which I would never have believed unless I'd seen it myself," Max began to wonder of she really was making something out of nothing.
"We don't have a secret," Lex chose her words carefully. Technically, that wasn't a lie. It was Logan who had the secret. She and Jondy, and Brittany, just happened to know what it was. And Max would find out what it was. Eventually, he's gotta do it, Lex reasoned inwardly.
"Hey, what time is it?" Max grabbed Lex's wrist to look at her watch. "If we hurry, we can meet up with Jondy for lunch, she got off at 1:30."
"And I can tell her all about my pretty new crown," Lex adjusted an imaginary crown on top of her head.
"Don't get so used to it, Your Majesty," Max rolled her eyes and loaded up her bag.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Denatto's Pizza parlor 1:57 p.m.
"She started asking," Lex warned Jondy when Max got up to go to the bathroom. "About.?" Jondy made sure she was hearing Lex right.
"Well, not that flat out," Lex referred to the ring. "But she said she thought we were hiding something from her."
"Well what'd you say?"
"I said we didn't have a secret. Which is technically true, because it's Dad who's hiding something. We just know what it is."
"Ooo, sneaky. I like it," Jondy nodded in approval. "But he'd better do it soon. And it had better one hell of a plan to require this much time."
"Maybe he's scared she'll say no," Lex shrugged.
"C'mon, she moved back her and lives with him. So long as he knows the littlest, most remote thing about her, he knows how much that means. And they're practically married already. All that's missing is a little piece of paper making Max's last name Cale."
"Good point," Lex agreed.
"Hey, I don't remember is I ever asked you this, but would ever change your last name. You know, if Max does. Or if they have any other kids."
"No," Lex shook her head.
"Care to elaborate?" Jondy prodded, finding Lex's answer rather hasty, like this was something she'd thought about before.
"It'd just be too. weird, you know? Like, I'm not a Cale. I never have been and now moving to a new city doesn't change that."
"Your last name is your line of consistency."
"Exactly."
"You think you'll be getting any little brothers or sisters?"
Lex shrugged, "I could really care less. I mean, say they do have more kids. I'll be closing in on sixteen by the time the first one would be born. And by the time that kid could hold a conversation or play basketball, I'll be moving out. So they really wouldn't be a like brother or sister at all, it would take a good twenty, maybe thirty years for the age gap to sort of even itself out."
"Do I detect a hint of bitterness?" Jondy was a bit surprised.
"No, not bitter- realistic," Lex corrected, cocking her head in Max's direction, who was heading back to the table.
"What?" Max looked between the two, as she sat down to silence.
"Just making jokes at your expense," Lex covered easily, putting front a grin.
"Wow, what I shame I missed that," Max sarcastically snapped her fingers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jam Pony Monday, November 3rd 10:32 a.m.
"Where the hell did you go, Boo?" Original Cindy waved her hand in front of Max's void face, snapping her back to reality. "You aiight? You just went off into yo' own little world there."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."
"About the "big secret" again?"
"Yeah," Max sighed. "but, c'mon, I need to get my mind on something else. I hear you scored some sugga's number last night."
"Yeah, but ain't nothin gonna happen. Another science fiction girl."
"Maybe you can give her number to Normal," Max laughed.
"He does seem to know they type," Cindy cracked up. "Or Sketchy; foo' wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
"Save whatever half-brained humor amuses you lowlifes for after work. Runs. Go. Now," Normal walked up behind the two at the counter and tossed them a pile of packages.
Caught off guard, Max and Original Cindy
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thursday, November 6th 12:17 p.m. The Penthouse
Logan nervously glanced across the kitchen at Lex as a tight knot formed in his stomach. Despite the feeling that he had begun to form a bond with her, he couldn't seem to bring himself to speak. Everything had been arranged and tomorrow night he was finally going to do it. He was going to ask Max to marry him. The only left to do was tell Lex. "C'mon," he mentally scolded himself. "What the hell are you so afraid of? That she'll throw a tantrum and try to stop you?"
"What?" Lex looked up from her laptop when she felt Logan's eyes on her for too long.
"Um," Logan took a deep breath, "Lex, can you, uh, keep a secret?"
"Have I made myself out to be an overtly talkative person?" Lex set the computer beside her as well as the bowl of ramen noodles she was eating. Studying the hesitation in his eyes, Lex smiled inwardly and quipped to herself, "Buddy, I've been holding this secret for a damn long time."
"What would say if I told you I was going to ask Max to marry me?" Logan blurted out.
"It's about damn time," Lex leaned back and crossed her arms. Noting that Logan didn't let out the breath he was holding, she loosened up and smiled, "That means ok."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Logan smiled back, "Good, good. That's good."
"Need a thesaurus?" Lex tried to lift the tension that had settled between them. She briefly debated whether or not to tell Logan she'd known of his intentions for far longer than she cared to think about. "What has it been? Six weeks now?" Lex combed through her mental calendar. Deciding to wait on gloating until after she'd relayed the news to Jondy and Brittany, she realized she was still missing one vital piece of information. "So, when?" she asked Logan.
"Tomorrow night, I have everything arranged."
"Guess that's my cue to get lost," Lex laughed.
"Actually no, I wasn't gonna do it here, so where you go is your call."
"Well, I was gonna head over to Aunt Jondy's anyway," Lex partially lied. She'd been meaning to spend more time with her aunt, but in reality she wanted to buy herself some time before she faced the two of them. Unsure of what to say next, it was all Lex could do not to squeal when her cell phone rang. It was the perfect way to bow out of the kitchen.
"Hello?" Lex answered as she dug the phone out of her backpack.
"Hey. You ok? You sound flustered," Kayla was more used to Lex answering her phone with an indifferent mumble.
"Um, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Lex gathered her things and made her way to her room. "Guess what Dad just told me."
"He's gonna do it?!" Kayla's voice rose in excitement.
"Yup."
"Why does it seem wrong that I'm a hell of a lot more excited about this than you are?"
"Stuff like this is weird for me, you know that," Lex shrugged.
"Yeah, but you could still show a little enthusiasm," Kayla threw her eyes up to the ceiling. "What he'd say when you told him you knew?"
"I didn't. First I wanna tell Aunt Jondy and Brittany about it."
"Ok, so when? Where? How? C'mon, give me something to go off of," Kayla begged.
"Tomorrow night, not here."
"That's it?"
"Yeah," Lex laughed. "What more should I have asked?"
"All the little sappy romantic details," Kayla cooed.
"Ooo, yeah! And then we could, like, sit around and talk about it while we paint our nails pink and look at pretty dresses," Lex said in a high- pitched voice that dripped with sarcasm.
"That was uncalled for," Kayla mumbled.
"You ask for it," Lex laughed, shaking her head and digging behind her pillows for a remote.
"Well if you're not gonna tell me anything else now, what cha doing?"
"Watching a movie," Lex started up the disc inside her DVD player.
"You wanna tell me which one?" Kayla walked over to the rack next to her own TV.
".random acts of unpredictability? If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced," Lex recited the lines verbatim along with the movie.
"Have I told you recently that your obsession with The X-Files is bordering on unhealthy?" Kayla instantly recognized Mulder's line from the beginning of the movie.
"You have now," Lex grinned. "But isn't it just as sad that you have all the stuff and know it just as well as I do?"
"It's your fault. You got me into it," Kayla skipped ahead once her disk started playing. "Now c'mon, pause yours so I can catch up. It's my turn to be Scully," she smiled, referring to the game they used to play as kids, each taking a character's lines and seeing who could imitate them better.
"Fine, but keep in mind you're going head to head with the master."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Friday, November 7th Jam Pony 9:57 a.m.
"So what's this big night you got with Lover Boy?" Original Cindy nudged Max with her elbow, waggling her eyebrows.
"It's just dinner," Max shrugged, trying to mask the grin that fought to spread across her face.
"Boo, that's what you always used to say. And that was a helluva lot more than just dinner."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, I believe you call it Lex," Cindy crossed her arms.
"Funny, very funny," Max quipped as she picked up the package lying on the bench and shoved it in her backpack.
Sighing, Cindy shook her head, "Original Cindy ain't tryin' to be funny. I just Logan might have a little something up his sleeve here. The big secret maybe," she emphasized the last sentence with a wave of her hands. Max opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't find the right words to say before Cindy cut her off, "Uh-uh. Not this time. We're gonna get you all girly-ed up tonight and I don't wanna hear any whinin' about it."
"But-," Max started
"Nope," Cindy stuck up her hand. "No way you're talkin' yo' ass outta this one," she grinned as she turned Max towards the ramp leading out in the bitter fall drizzle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jondy's Apartment 6:27 p.m.
"Hold still for two minutes, will ya?" Jondy pleaded through a mouthful of bobby pins as she struggled to keep a hold of Max's hair.
"What are you doing to me?" Max reached up to feel what Jondy was calling her latest 'masterpiece'.
"Max, it looks great. And it'll be even better if you don't move your head," Brittany assured her.
"Keep you hands still while you're at it," Lex shook up a bottle of white nail polish. "It's hard enough to work with these stubs you call nails."
"Mmmm, Original Cindy knows what that's all about, baby boo," Cindy smiled as she meticulously applied Max's eye shadow.
"Is all this really necessary? Do you guys know something I don't?" Max whined for the millionth time since they'd started their work a half an hour ago.
As Jondy, Lex, and Brittany exchanged cautious glances, Original Cindy just laughed and shook her head, "Yeah, we know about the girly arts."
"Exactly," Brittany quickly agreed.
"Alright," Jondy stepped back and smile triumphantly. "How does that look?"
"Girl, you got some hidden talent there!" Cindy smiled.
"Nails are done, but not dry," Lex and Brittany finished up the topcoat and waved away some of the collecting fumes.
"Now can I see a mirror?" Max cocked her head over towards the couch, where all the rest of the bottles and cases were.
"C'mon, for the full effect you gotta look in a big one," Jondy guided Max down the hall to the bathroom.
Seeing the reflection that greeted her, Max opened her mouth, but couldn't find what to say. Small sections of her hair had been brought up into loose buns on the top corners of her head, with the tendrils coming down and blending into the rest of her softly curled hair. The light brown eye shadow and lipstick came to blend into her skin, enhancing both her stare and her pout. "I like it," she finally nodded with approval.
"You'd better, after all the slaving I did," Jondy laughed.
"Your nails should be dry in a few minutes, so I'll go find your dress," Lex backed out the doorway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Space Needle 7:15 p.m.
"You'd think scaling something heels would be easier than that," Max shook her head as she walked into the old tower. "I mean, these things are so pointy, they seem like should stick in something." Logan, stopping in his tracks, tried beyond hope to stifle a laugh. "What?" Max looked over shoulder.
"You," Logan smiled with a wave of his hand.
"Well, do I get something more than a 'you clean up nice' this time?" Max asked with a smirk, sauntering over to where Logan had stopped in his tracks.
"Hell yes," he grinned as he lowered his lips to hers for a long, lingering kiss. He had tried to pry details about Max's dress out of Jondy, but she never acquiesced. And, of course, being true to her nature, she had joked that 'Logan Jr.' wouldn't be disappointed, making his face flush into about twenty different shades of red. But she was right; the overlapping layers of black silk came into points just below Max's knees, but left enough length in the slits to tease her thighs. Hugging every curve along the way, it them came up to outline her impressive cleavage, which was usually hidden from anyone's view. Pulling back into reality, Logan smiled down at her, resting his hands on her hips. "You look incredible."
"So do you," Max brought his mouth back down to meet hers, his charcoal- colored suit driving her libido crazy. "So you gonna tell me why I had to get all girlied-up or you makin' my guess?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Logan promised, willing his eyes to look at something other than her chest before it entailed physical pain.
After a pleasantly quiet meal of Poulet chez Cale, which Max openly admitted she could never get tired of, Logan took a deep breath, and a long gulp of wine, as he gathered his nerves.
"Logan, are you ok?" Max's heightened senses picked up his slight but sudden change in demeanor.
"No, yes, um," Logan's brain and tongue were out of sync. "Um, I hope so."
"Logan.?" Max furrowed her brow. Now she was positive the evening had some ulterior motive behind it.
Standing up, Logan fell back on his more traditional ways and dropped to one knee beside Max, taking her hand.
"Oh my god," Max gasped, barely above a whisper as she knew what was about to happen.
"Max Guevara," he ignored her comment, mostly for his own sanity, "from the moment I met you, you've filled my every thought, dream, and fantasy. You saved me in more ways than I can count and gave me a reason to wake up every morning. When you left, I was sure I could never find another reason to smile. The only thing that kept me going was the belief that you were alive and you still loved me. Now that you're back again, I don't know how I got through those years when just a thought was enough. I love you and need you in every way possible," Logan reached into his pocket and took out a little black box and slowly opened the top to reveal a ring that nearly took Max's breath away. Sitting atop a gold band was a deep red ruby, donned with tiny, shimmering diamonds on each of its sides, "Will you marry me?"
For a second that seemed to stretch into eternity, Max stared into Logan's eyes, dumbfounded and speechless. A little voice in the back of her head started screaming, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god! You will not cry! Don't cry! Holy shit, this is actually happening! Say something! Words! Now! One word will do!" Drawing in a deep breath and trying to blink her forming tears, Max tentatively opened her mouth, hoping to whatever higher power was out there that the right words would come out. Her lips formed a cheshire cat grin as she nodded fervently, "Yes," she whispered.
Without any words to break their gaze, Logan slipped the ring on her finger and cradled her face in his hands as his face rose to meet hers in a long, sensual kiss. Max snaked her fingers through is hair as that little voice peeped up again, "Max Cale. Better get used to it."
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Ignore the chapter after this one- it's the same. For some reason the site uploaded it twice. And given the way it's been working for me, I'd rather not push my luck trying to delete it. And to answer AngelZ's question- let's say for this fic that Logan can walk. When Joshua's blood cured him of the virus, it repaired his spinal cord as well. Never realized I hadn't mentioned that, so thanks!
Well, between bad luck, grounding, Lent, and procrastination out the wazoo, that certainly took long enough. But now that DA is really so over and done with (and I haven't watched any of my tapes since Freak Nation aired), my DA-mode just hasn't been happening. Now really- how many of you are reading this? Because after this chapter took so long, I'm not sure if it's in me to continue this story. Yes, I know I'm a review junkie who has begged on, oh, every chapter before, but really, I would expect that most of yous have lost interest after so long. So if you want to see another chapter- speak now or forever hold your peace. (heehee, wedding joke..)
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 18: Butterflies and Basketball
Tenth Street Park Sunday, November 2nd 1:35 p.m.
"C'mon, make your move," Max locked into an unremitting stare with her daughter. Mentally calculating the angles at which Lex could dribble the ball around her, she allotted just enough power to stop her. If Lex won her third game in a row, she'd spend the rest of the gloating relentlessly over the fact that she had defeated the self-proclaimed Queen of Basketball yet again. Max still wasn't usually apt to play when there wasn't any cash laying on the game, but this one was for pride. Well, that and the right to gain back her proverbial crown. Logan had decided to stay home, making the excuse that he had some informants to call, but Max knew he'd just been trying to cover his ass. Lex had already shamed him on the court once, not to mention at pool and chess. "Gotta put some dignity on that delicate male ego somehow," Max thought to herself with a rueful smirk. "Right or left, Lex, take your pick."
Meeting Max's stare, Lex figured she'd already noted her options. Listening carefully, Lex decided that the people closest to them were about three hundred yards to the upper left behind a grove of trees. "Too far to see or hear anything," she reasoned, dropping the ball and charging straight ahead and starting to jump clear over Max. Leaping up to catch her, Max's fingers just barely missed Lex's side as she suddenly pulled herself down and to the right, running and dunking the ball with ease. "Oh yeah!" Lex cheered as she began her victory dance. "Face it Mom, you're not as young as you used to be," she walked over and rumpled Max's hair just like Max did to her when she was a child.
"Lucky move," Max gulped down the remaining contents of her water bottle.
"The Queen's one hell of a sore loser," Lex laughed. "And here you're the one that complained that we never do this anymore. Or was that before you remembered that I can totally kick your ass."
"I'm not complaining. Just stop gloating," Max sighed and smiled.
"Ok, spill," Lex sat down next to Max and crossed her arms.
"Spill? About what?" Max shrugged.
"Mother.." Lex narrowed her eyes.
"No, honestly, what?" Max racked her brain.
"You keep getting that spacey look in your eyes. And that's that patented Max Guevara 'something's-bothering-me-but-I'm-too-proud-to-say-anything' look."
Her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights, Max tried to keep her cool exterior intact, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine," Lex emphasized. "Nice try, but I know you better than that."
"Fine, I just feel like both you and Jondy are keeping something from me," Max reluctantly fessed up. "And I wanna know what it is."
Now it was Lex's turn to flinch inwardly. "It's nothing," she lied.
"Really? Because you two have been pretty quiet. Especially Jondy, which I would never have believed unless I'd seen it myself," Max began to wonder of she really was making something out of nothing.
"We don't have a secret," Lex chose her words carefully. Technically, that wasn't a lie. It was Logan who had the secret. She and Jondy, and Brittany, just happened to know what it was. And Max would find out what it was. Eventually, he's gotta do it, Lex reasoned inwardly.
"Hey, what time is it?" Max grabbed Lex's wrist to look at her watch. "If we hurry, we can meet up with Jondy for lunch, she got off at 1:30."
"And I can tell her all about my pretty new crown," Lex adjusted an imaginary crown on top of her head.
"Don't get so used to it, Your Majesty," Max rolled her eyes and loaded up her bag.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Denatto's Pizza parlor 1:57 p.m.
"She started asking," Lex warned Jondy when Max got up to go to the bathroom. "About.?" Jondy made sure she was hearing Lex right.
"Well, not that flat out," Lex referred to the ring. "But she said she thought we were hiding something from her."
"Well what'd you say?"
"I said we didn't have a secret. Which is technically true, because it's Dad who's hiding something. We just know what it is."
"Ooo, sneaky. I like it," Jondy nodded in approval. "But he'd better do it soon. And it had better one hell of a plan to require this much time."
"Maybe he's scared she'll say no," Lex shrugged.
"C'mon, she moved back her and lives with him. So long as he knows the littlest, most remote thing about her, he knows how much that means. And they're practically married already. All that's missing is a little piece of paper making Max's last name Cale."
"Good point," Lex agreed.
"Hey, I don't remember is I ever asked you this, but would ever change your last name. You know, if Max does. Or if they have any other kids."
"No," Lex shook her head.
"Care to elaborate?" Jondy prodded, finding Lex's answer rather hasty, like this was something she'd thought about before.
"It'd just be too. weird, you know? Like, I'm not a Cale. I never have been and now moving to a new city doesn't change that."
"Your last name is your line of consistency."
"Exactly."
"You think you'll be getting any little brothers or sisters?"
Lex shrugged, "I could really care less. I mean, say they do have more kids. I'll be closing in on sixteen by the time the first one would be born. And by the time that kid could hold a conversation or play basketball, I'll be moving out. So they really wouldn't be a like brother or sister at all, it would take a good twenty, maybe thirty years for the age gap to sort of even itself out."
"Do I detect a hint of bitterness?" Jondy was a bit surprised.
"No, not bitter- realistic," Lex corrected, cocking her head in Max's direction, who was heading back to the table.
"What?" Max looked between the two, as she sat down to silence.
"Just making jokes at your expense," Lex covered easily, putting front a grin.
"Wow, what I shame I missed that," Max sarcastically snapped her fingers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jam Pony Monday, November 3rd 10:32 a.m.
"Where the hell did you go, Boo?" Original Cindy waved her hand in front of Max's void face, snapping her back to reality. "You aiight? You just went off into yo' own little world there."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."
"About the "big secret" again?"
"Yeah," Max sighed. "but, c'mon, I need to get my mind on something else. I hear you scored some sugga's number last night."
"Yeah, but ain't nothin gonna happen. Another science fiction girl."
"Maybe you can give her number to Normal," Max laughed.
"He does seem to know they type," Cindy cracked up. "Or Sketchy; foo' wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
"Save whatever half-brained humor amuses you lowlifes for after work. Runs. Go. Now," Normal walked up behind the two at the counter and tossed them a pile of packages.
Caught off guard, Max and Original Cindy
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thursday, November 6th 12:17 p.m. The Penthouse
Logan nervously glanced across the kitchen at Lex as a tight knot formed in his stomach. Despite the feeling that he had begun to form a bond with her, he couldn't seem to bring himself to speak. Everything had been arranged and tomorrow night he was finally going to do it. He was going to ask Max to marry him. The only left to do was tell Lex. "C'mon," he mentally scolded himself. "What the hell are you so afraid of? That she'll throw a tantrum and try to stop you?"
"What?" Lex looked up from her laptop when she felt Logan's eyes on her for too long.
"Um," Logan took a deep breath, "Lex, can you, uh, keep a secret?"
"Have I made myself out to be an overtly talkative person?" Lex set the computer beside her as well as the bowl of ramen noodles she was eating. Studying the hesitation in his eyes, Lex smiled inwardly and quipped to herself, "Buddy, I've been holding this secret for a damn long time."
"What would say if I told you I was going to ask Max to marry me?" Logan blurted out.
"It's about damn time," Lex leaned back and crossed her arms. Noting that Logan didn't let out the breath he was holding, she loosened up and smiled, "That means ok."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Logan smiled back, "Good, good. That's good."
"Need a thesaurus?" Lex tried to lift the tension that had settled between them. She briefly debated whether or not to tell Logan she'd known of his intentions for far longer than she cared to think about. "What has it been? Six weeks now?" Lex combed through her mental calendar. Deciding to wait on gloating until after she'd relayed the news to Jondy and Brittany, she realized she was still missing one vital piece of information. "So, when?" she asked Logan.
"Tomorrow night, I have everything arranged."
"Guess that's my cue to get lost," Lex laughed.
"Actually no, I wasn't gonna do it here, so where you go is your call."
"Well, I was gonna head over to Aunt Jondy's anyway," Lex partially lied. She'd been meaning to spend more time with her aunt, but in reality she wanted to buy herself some time before she faced the two of them. Unsure of what to say next, it was all Lex could do not to squeal when her cell phone rang. It was the perfect way to bow out of the kitchen.
"Hello?" Lex answered as she dug the phone out of her backpack.
"Hey. You ok? You sound flustered," Kayla was more used to Lex answering her phone with an indifferent mumble.
"Um, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Lex gathered her things and made her way to her room. "Guess what Dad just told me."
"He's gonna do it?!" Kayla's voice rose in excitement.
"Yup."
"Why does it seem wrong that I'm a hell of a lot more excited about this than you are?"
"Stuff like this is weird for me, you know that," Lex shrugged.
"Yeah, but you could still show a little enthusiasm," Kayla threw her eyes up to the ceiling. "What he'd say when you told him you knew?"
"I didn't. First I wanna tell Aunt Jondy and Brittany about it."
"Ok, so when? Where? How? C'mon, give me something to go off of," Kayla begged.
"Tomorrow night, not here."
"That's it?"
"Yeah," Lex laughed. "What more should I have asked?"
"All the little sappy romantic details," Kayla cooed.
"Ooo, yeah! And then we could, like, sit around and talk about it while we paint our nails pink and look at pretty dresses," Lex said in a high- pitched voice that dripped with sarcasm.
"That was uncalled for," Kayla mumbled.
"You ask for it," Lex laughed, shaking her head and digging behind her pillows for a remote.
"Well if you're not gonna tell me anything else now, what cha doing?"
"Watching a movie," Lex started up the disc inside her DVD player.
"You wanna tell me which one?" Kayla walked over to the rack next to her own TV.
".random acts of unpredictability? If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced," Lex recited the lines verbatim along with the movie.
"Have I told you recently that your obsession with The X-Files is bordering on unhealthy?" Kayla instantly recognized Mulder's line from the beginning of the movie.
"You have now," Lex grinned. "But isn't it just as sad that you have all the stuff and know it just as well as I do?"
"It's your fault. You got me into it," Kayla skipped ahead once her disk started playing. "Now c'mon, pause yours so I can catch up. It's my turn to be Scully," she smiled, referring to the game they used to play as kids, each taking a character's lines and seeing who could imitate them better.
"Fine, but keep in mind you're going head to head with the master."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Friday, November 7th Jam Pony 9:57 a.m.
"So what's this big night you got with Lover Boy?" Original Cindy nudged Max with her elbow, waggling her eyebrows.
"It's just dinner," Max shrugged, trying to mask the grin that fought to spread across her face.
"Boo, that's what you always used to say. And that was a helluva lot more than just dinner."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, I believe you call it Lex," Cindy crossed her arms.
"Funny, very funny," Max quipped as she picked up the package lying on the bench and shoved it in her backpack.
Sighing, Cindy shook her head, "Original Cindy ain't tryin' to be funny. I just Logan might have a little something up his sleeve here. The big secret maybe," she emphasized the last sentence with a wave of her hands. Max opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't find the right words to say before Cindy cut her off, "Uh-uh. Not this time. We're gonna get you all girly-ed up tonight and I don't wanna hear any whinin' about it."
"But-," Max started
"Nope," Cindy stuck up her hand. "No way you're talkin' yo' ass outta this one," she grinned as she turned Max towards the ramp leading out in the bitter fall drizzle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jondy's Apartment 6:27 p.m.
"Hold still for two minutes, will ya?" Jondy pleaded through a mouthful of bobby pins as she struggled to keep a hold of Max's hair.
"What are you doing to me?" Max reached up to feel what Jondy was calling her latest 'masterpiece'.
"Max, it looks great. And it'll be even better if you don't move your head," Brittany assured her.
"Keep you hands still while you're at it," Lex shook up a bottle of white nail polish. "It's hard enough to work with these stubs you call nails."
"Mmmm, Original Cindy knows what that's all about, baby boo," Cindy smiled as she meticulously applied Max's eye shadow.
"Is all this really necessary? Do you guys know something I don't?" Max whined for the millionth time since they'd started their work a half an hour ago.
As Jondy, Lex, and Brittany exchanged cautious glances, Original Cindy just laughed and shook her head, "Yeah, we know about the girly arts."
"Exactly," Brittany quickly agreed.
"Alright," Jondy stepped back and smile triumphantly. "How does that look?"
"Girl, you got some hidden talent there!" Cindy smiled.
"Nails are done, but not dry," Lex and Brittany finished up the topcoat and waved away some of the collecting fumes.
"Now can I see a mirror?" Max cocked her head over towards the couch, where all the rest of the bottles and cases were.
"C'mon, for the full effect you gotta look in a big one," Jondy guided Max down the hall to the bathroom.
Seeing the reflection that greeted her, Max opened her mouth, but couldn't find what to say. Small sections of her hair had been brought up into loose buns on the top corners of her head, with the tendrils coming down and blending into the rest of her softly curled hair. The light brown eye shadow and lipstick came to blend into her skin, enhancing both her stare and her pout. "I like it," she finally nodded with approval.
"You'd better, after all the slaving I did," Jondy laughed.
"Your nails should be dry in a few minutes, so I'll go find your dress," Lex backed out the doorway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Space Needle 7:15 p.m.
"You'd think scaling something heels would be easier than that," Max shook her head as she walked into the old tower. "I mean, these things are so pointy, they seem like should stick in something." Logan, stopping in his tracks, tried beyond hope to stifle a laugh. "What?" Max looked over shoulder.
"You," Logan smiled with a wave of his hand.
"Well, do I get something more than a 'you clean up nice' this time?" Max asked with a smirk, sauntering over to where Logan had stopped in his tracks.
"Hell yes," he grinned as he lowered his lips to hers for a long, lingering kiss. He had tried to pry details about Max's dress out of Jondy, but she never acquiesced. And, of course, being true to her nature, she had joked that 'Logan Jr.' wouldn't be disappointed, making his face flush into about twenty different shades of red. But she was right; the overlapping layers of black silk came into points just below Max's knees, but left enough length in the slits to tease her thighs. Hugging every curve along the way, it them came up to outline her impressive cleavage, which was usually hidden from anyone's view. Pulling back into reality, Logan smiled down at her, resting his hands on her hips. "You look incredible."
"So do you," Max brought his mouth back down to meet hers, his charcoal- colored suit driving her libido crazy. "So you gonna tell me why I had to get all girlied-up or you makin' my guess?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Logan promised, willing his eyes to look at something other than her chest before it entailed physical pain.
After a pleasantly quiet meal of Poulet chez Cale, which Max openly admitted she could never get tired of, Logan took a deep breath, and a long gulp of wine, as he gathered his nerves.
"Logan, are you ok?" Max's heightened senses picked up his slight but sudden change in demeanor.
"No, yes, um," Logan's brain and tongue were out of sync. "Um, I hope so."
"Logan.?" Max furrowed her brow. Now she was positive the evening had some ulterior motive behind it.
Standing up, Logan fell back on his more traditional ways and dropped to one knee beside Max, taking her hand.
"Oh my god," Max gasped, barely above a whisper as she knew what was about to happen.
"Max Guevara," he ignored her comment, mostly for his own sanity, "from the moment I met you, you've filled my every thought, dream, and fantasy. You saved me in more ways than I can count and gave me a reason to wake up every morning. When you left, I was sure I could never find another reason to smile. The only thing that kept me going was the belief that you were alive and you still loved me. Now that you're back again, I don't know how I got through those years when just a thought was enough. I love you and need you in every way possible," Logan reached into his pocket and took out a little black box and slowly opened the top to reveal a ring that nearly took Max's breath away. Sitting atop a gold band was a deep red ruby, donned with tiny, shimmering diamonds on each of its sides, "Will you marry me?"
For a second that seemed to stretch into eternity, Max stared into Logan's eyes, dumbfounded and speechless. A little voice in the back of her head started screaming, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god! You will not cry! Don't cry! Holy shit, this is actually happening! Say something! Words! Now! One word will do!" Drawing in a deep breath and trying to blink her forming tears, Max tentatively opened her mouth, hoping to whatever higher power was out there that the right words would come out. Her lips formed a cheshire cat grin as she nodded fervently, "Yes," she whispered.
Without any words to break their gaze, Logan slipped the ring on her finger and cradled her face in his hands as his face rose to meet hers in a long, sensual kiss. Max snaked her fingers through is hair as that little voice peeped up again, "Max Cale. Better get used to it."
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Ignore the chapter after this one- it's the same. For some reason the site uploaded it twice. And given the way it's been working for me, I'd rather not push my luck trying to delete it. And to answer AngelZ's question- let's say for this fic that Logan can walk. When Joshua's blood cured him of the virus, it repaired his spinal cord as well. Never realized I hadn't mentioned that, so thanks!
Well, between bad luck, grounding, Lent, and procrastination out the wazoo, that certainly took long enough. But now that DA is really so over and done with (and I haven't watched any of my tapes since Freak Nation aired), my DA-mode just hasn't been happening. Now really- how many of you are reading this? Because after this chapter took so long, I'm not sure if it's in me to continue this story. Yes, I know I'm a review junkie who has begged on, oh, every chapter before, but really, I would expect that most of yous have lost interest after so long. So if you want to see another chapter- speak now or forever hold your peace. (heehee, wedding joke..)