Chapter 5
Jane adored thunderstorms and had since she could remember. Usually she and her dad would curl up with hot cocoa in front of a window, usually the window seat in her parents' room, and watch the rain pour down. This time, however, Logan was teaching through the storm and Jane sat in the living room, watching the torrential down pour, a smile playing about her face. She was startled out of the storm by a loud pounding on the large oak front doors in the room on her left. Since everyone else was busy in meetings and classes, Jane took it upon herself to answer the door.
It wasn't the first time she'd done it and her inherited telekinetic ability had been developing at a very rapid rate. While in the mansion, her parents didn't worry about her much. Michele, who had fallen asleep on her sister's lap, woke with her sister's movement.
"Door," Jane answered simply. Michele nodded and followed her twin. It took their combined strength and some telekinetics to get the door open.
"Can we help you?" Michele asked, standing side by side with Jane. The twins took in the soaked stranger's brown hair and ruby glasses.
"Are you new students?"
Jane didn't like the hard edge to the man's voice but caught herself before she said anything. "Technically, we're not old enough to start school," she answered.
"Oh," he replied, obviously confused.
"Jay? Where are you?"
"At the door, Aunt Marie," Jane called back.
"What are you… Scott?"
"Rogue."
Marie was torn between welcoming him back and throttling him for leaving. "What are you doing here?" she finally settled on. "Not that I'm not happy to see you," she amended.
"I'm coming home," Scott answered.
"Scott?" Michele asked Marie. "You know him?"
"He was one of my teachers," Marie answered, handing a steaming mug to Jane.
Michele screwed up her nose childishly. "You're old," she said bluntly to Scott.
"Michele!" Marie scolded, but Scott was chuckling. Michele and Jane exchanged a slightly confused look at the complete turn around in the man's attitude. Where his voice had held a hard edge before, it was now calm and almost happy.
"Come in, Scott," Marie finally invited. "Is your stuff in the car?"
"Yeah." Marie exchanged a look with Michele and Jane before leading Scott away for a warm beverage.
"Aunt Marie," Jane called just as they were about to turn the corner to the kitchen. The adults turned.
"Rogue, this is Emma Frost," Scott spoke up. "She made the trip with me."
Marie smiled warmly, unperturbed when Emma took a minute to return the gesture. "Scott and I were going to get him something to drink to warm him up," Marie offered. "You're welcome to join us."
"We can't just leave our bags in the car," Emma protested. Marie watched Jane and Michele exchange a disgusted look and shiver amidst all of Emma and Scott's bags.
"Let us know where you want them," Michele spoke up.
"We'll get them later…" Scott started, awed at the presence of his stuff.
"The closed door," Marie told the twins, "Just down the hall from your room." Smiles brightened the twins' faces.
"Okay," they said in unison as Marie, Scott and Emma made their way to the kitchen.
-as
"Jean," Marie exclaimed, startled. "I thought you had class."
"Classes got out a few minutes ago," Jean answered, turning to face Marie from the counter. Then her eyes settled on Marie's companions.
"Hi Jean," Scott said, his eyes taking her in behind his glasses.
"Scott, how are you?"
"Wet," he answered with a chuckle. Jean managed a smile.
"I can see that," she replied. "I was just making PB and J. You want one?"
"I'll pass," he answered, watching Jean set out five sandwiches and three mugs.
"Thunderstorm means sandwiches and hot chocolate at a window," Marie explained, picking up one of the sandwiches.
"That's new," Scott remarked.
"Jane started it," Marie replied with an affectionate laugh. "It's hard to tear her away from a window during a storm." As if on cue, Michele and Jane charged into the kitchen, huge grins on their faces.
"Aunt Ro says we can eat in the conservatory if we're careful," Jane squealed excitedly.
"Did you say thank you?" Jean asked, presenting each girl with a sandwich and Michele with her own hot chocolate mug. Scott as surprised at the motherly tone in Jean's voice, especially with students. She'd never been so matronly with the Institute's residents before.
"Can we have cookies too?" Jane asked sweetly, carefully balancing her plate on one hand. Jean shot her a look.
"Two hands on your plate, young lady," she scolded and Jane immediately gripped the rim of her plate with her empty hand.
"Please?" Michele added, her lower lip jutting out in a pout.
"I'll bring them with me," Jean relented. "You go get everything ready." Michele and Jane scampered off, huge grins on their faces.
"Don't run in the halls," she called after them before turning back to Scott and Emma.
"What about you guys? Tea? Coffee? I think Bobby left some chicken noodle soup from the last batch," Jean offered.
"Your soup?" Scott asked, momentarily forgetting the twin redheads.
"It never seems to last long anymore," Jean answered, withdrawing the tin from the freezer. Scott turned to Emma.
"Why don't you get dry and changed," he offered. "I'll bring up the soup when it's done." It didn't take much persuasion to make Emma leave. Marie went with her to show the way, leaving Scott and Jean in the kitchen.
"You look good, Jean," he remarked softly as she plunked the frozen soup into a pot on the rapidly heating stove.
She smiled. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."
"Everything's good?" he asked, coming to stand beside her at the stove.
"Better," Jean admitted with a full-blown smile.
"So you and…" Suddenly, the tension in the room grew.
"Logan and I are still together," she affirmed.
Scott's gaze dropped to that all-important finger. "But you're not…"
Jean shook her head. "We barely find time to make our family work as it is," she admitted with a laugh. "We'd never have time to get married."
"Family?" The astonishment in Scott's voice was a tangible thing, one that made Jean laugh inwardly.
"Jean?" Logan chose that minute to poke his head in. Jean shot him a look before he could pick a fight.
"I'll be there in a minute, Logan," she promised. "Our stuff is on the island."
"The girls are getting antsy," he warned.
Jean graced Logan with an indulgent smile. "I'll be there in five minutes Logan. Take some cookies with you."
"Those girls are yours?" Scott asked in bewilderment once Logan had left.
Jean laughed out loud. "You couldn't tell? People have always mentioned how much like us those two are."
"I didn't…" Scott stuttered.
"Michele and Jane," Jean spoke softly. "They turn six in a month."
"You have twin girls." This was a development he had not been ready for in the slightest. He looked over Jean where she was stirring the soup, bowls and spoons floating from cupboards and drawers. "Six years old."
"Yeah. Tea?"
"Sure," he managed, still stunned. Then he was treated to another shock as Jean withdrew the teakettle, mugs, tea bags and spoons with her mind, filling the kettle with water and placing it on the stove without moving from the soup.
"That's impressive," he complimented.
Jean grinned. "With twin girls I had to be able to multitask," she explained with a shrug.
"How did you manage it?" Scott inquired.
"I had a lot of help."
"From him?"
"And others. Contrary to what you may think Logan loves these girls and he's been there for them," Jean defended.
"Through what?" Scott scoffed.
"He was there for their first words, their first steps, the first time Jane floated a toy into her playpen, the first time Michele went tearing down the hall because she'd heard Marie and Ro coming back after a mission…" Jean listed off, ladling soup into the bowls. "I know you don't like him, Scott, but he's been a great father to those girls."
"And you?"
"I can say with honest conviction that I'm happy," she answered, wiping her hands on a nearby towel. "What I have is exactly what I want."
"Without the marriage?"
"I've learned that marriage is just a formality," Jean said, facing him. "I don't need rings to remind me of who loves me and who I love." She picked up her sandwich plate and mug. "Trays are where they've always been."
At the door she stopped and turned. "Regardless of what happened, welcome back."
-as
"I don't like him," Jean heard one of her daughters say petulantly.
"Neither to I, Chell, but Mommy does, so we're going to be nice," she heard Logan respond as she stepped into the doorway. There sat her family, Marie included, ready to eat. Jane's head was back, watching the pouring rain, hot chocolate cupped between her hands.
"Mommy, do we have to be nice?" Michele whined, turning to face her mother. Jean smiled, knowing seventy-five percent of the room was aware of her presence long before she reached earshot.
"You know it's Grandpa Charles' rule that we're nice to every one under his roof," Jean countered. Logan grinned at her.
You don't care, he challenged psychically. You'd get a kick out of watching these two rip into Scooter.
Not here, Logan. Jean warned.
"But Grandpa will listen to you," Jane pointed out smartly.
"And I listen to Grandpa," Jean answered, taking a seat between Logan and Michele.
I love you, Logan projected, sensing her need to be secure in her family again. She smiled widely, the fear and worry dissipating quickly.
I know. I love you, too, she answered, briefly squeezing his thigh. Then she turned to her daughters.
"Eat," she commanded.
"Jean?" Marie asked after a while of quiet munching. "Does the professor know?"
"He'll call a meeting after he talks to Scott," Jean assured the younger woman. "Until then, we enjoy lunch and the storm."
-as
"She has twin daughters," Scott seethed as he entered his old room.
"And?" Emma responded coolly. "How is that going to change anything?"
"She's at home here. There is no way it'll be as easy to manipulate her into leaving."
"She still has fears and insecurities, right?" Emma asked carefully, taking a soup bowl from the tray Scott held out to her.
"Precious Wolverine seems to have her on pretty even ground," Scott retorted, spitting Logan's name like it was milk well past it's best before date.
"So we'll take away her foundation," Emma proposed swiftly. "Those she holds dear."
"Kidnap them all?"
"Why not? Magneto wants her on our side. We were told to do whatever we had to, to make sure she was with us," she reminded him. "Remember your last task here and how you couldn't go through with it? You need to make a change."
"Don't remind me," he snapped, tearing off his soaked shirt. "And don't change the subject. My failures are not on trial here."
"Kidnapping two little girls and a man made of metal is not going to be a difficult task," Emma scoffed.
"All of whom hate my guts, and you underestimate the people here."
"They're little girls!"
"And their father believes I'm Satan! I can't believe she… she…" Scott groaned, dropping to the bed.
"You're being melodramatic," Emma scolded, shifting over to make room for him.
"I'm being realistic. Plus, what about their mutations?"
"They're what, six?"
"Five."
"They don't have a mutation yet," Emma replied easily.
"She was listing off things they'd done! One floated a toy into her playpen and the other one has enhanced hearing."
"Mutations manifest during puberty Summers."
"They're children of two known mutants," he countered smoothly, falling into the familiar taste of his ex's soup.
"You're making excuses," Emma shot back. "If you were too chicken to do this you shouldn't have started."
"I'm not chicken," he defended.
"Plus, remember what Magneto promised you when we had her," Emma said, her tone seductive as she set aside her soup bowl.
"No Wolverine in my way," Scott growled, sounding remarkably like an angry Logan.
"Exactly. You get Miss Grey all to your little self," she murmured, taking his bowl and stowing it safely before straddling him.
"She has kids, things that tie them together," he tried, his hands coming up to frame her hips.
"You have the past, the things she knows best," Emma countered, leaning towards him.
"We'll get her on our side, you'll see."
-as
Apparently the dividers aren't working or this would have nice neat lines, as per usual. I hope you guys enjoyed this and now that I'm back with constant internet access and working my sorry little bum off, you should have 6-8 in the next 2 weeks.
Thanks to those who have reviewed and reviewed the last one especially. It's nice to know you guys are still with me.