Part 2
Driving down to New York I can't help grinning like a fool. What does it matter what she wants to tell me? All that matters is that she's going to tell me the truth, that she trusts me. There are very few secrets that could upset me now. This is the woman I love and she's letting me in!
I arrive at the ritzy restaurant and give my name at the door. I feel a peace and anticipation I haven't for a while. I can see her across the room, she is talking to someone. As I get closer I can see that it's a girl. All I can see is her back. Either Emma is so caught up in the conversation she doesn't notice my entrance or she doesn't want to talk to me yet. She's nervous, I think. Why? Maybe I shouldn't be so calm. Still, unless she's leaving me I don't think she can upset me much. Or has she returned to what she was before? A disquieting notion but I push it down as I get closer. Finally she looks up and smiles. An emotionless smile. The girl turns and she introduces us.
"Nicole, this is Mr. Scott Summers, Scott this is Nicole Shaw."
The girl is made of diamond. Perfect blond hair, dressed entirely in white. Shaw. Shaw! Leader of the Hellfire Club while she was there, almost certainly Emma's lover for a while…
"Nicole is my daughter. She will be joining us at the school if you think that is fair."
So cool, bloodless. Is this for me or for her daughter?
My daughter, love. I am as passionate as always with you.
Feelings of desire, emotion, and perhaps even love flow into me and I relax again. I fell in love with a very different Emma Frost then most see and I still have difficulty being on the receiving end of the conventional version. I begin to think about her request. Her daughter at my school. Her and Sebastian Shaw's daughter at my school.
I did not say she had any relation to Shaw, Scott.
There is anger, only a little, but still anger, behind that remark.
Well, sorry, but, um… Her name?
Sometimes it is beneficial to prepare for possibilities. I was in a slightly precarious position at the time.
Amusement now. Both at my awkward attempt to explain and at herself. I can feel a bit of the uncertainty she had when she had this girl, the fear. The name was to protect the child slightly from at least one person. So it might not be Shaw's kid. It was someone's kid, not mine, but I can't be upset by that because I have two and neither is hers. I have no right to deny this girl her mother and… think of all the things I could learn about her mother!
"I think it would be wonderful to have you at the school, Nicole. What grade are you in?"
I've sat down now, beside Nicole, and I'm smiling at her. She is smiling back at me but it's the same smile Emma gave me earlier.
"I am in grade eight, Mr. Summers. Thank you for allowing me to attend your school."
I debate asking her to call me Scott. She's going to be a student but she's also Emma's daughter. Would she do it, she's so formal? Would she appreciate the gesture even if she didn't call me Scott? How do you act around your lover's daughter?
Scott made the announcement, to my immense relief. He did it while I was showing her to a private room. I wondered idly how she would respond to the very different feeling of this school compared to her old one. Rich students often have trouble fitting in. Most of my mind, however, was taken up listening to the X-Men's various reactions. The shock I could handle but Robert's speculation as to how I ended up with a thirteen year old daughter was quite offensive. Others obviously had the same opinion as he was silenced forcefully. Good, he has become quite horrible and petty lately. Despite the mainly polite outward reactions, however, most people had thoughts similar to Robert's. They had always thought me a slut and this was yet another proof. I refrained from psychically lobotomising anyone and went and lay down. This had not been an easy day. Even with how wonderful Scott had been. Oh, how I love Scott!