X-Men-First Class: Rise or Fall
Chapter One Hundred Sixty Two
Author's Word: Apologies to the left, right, up, and down to all of you, fam. I'm so sorry this has taken so long to get up. My head went into a distracted spin due to my newfound dedication to do the George Jefferson thing (more on that later). Please enjoy and review!
Before the front way could properly allow him entry, the Canadian mutant found himself bombarded by the small creature stampeding down the stairs.
"Daaaaaad!" Cody latched onto his neck. "Guess what?"
Arms supporting the growing boy's lower half, Logan gave off a brief thoughtful hum before coming back with, "You're all packed for reform school?"
"No," Cody shook his head then informed, "You're old."
Logan ruffled his hair. "Tell me something I don't know the next time." He started for the stairs with him. "Where's your mama?"
Cody put his nose to work. "With Smiley."
Long thin needle coursing smoothly through the pattern she currently worked on, Kayla looked to the side of her. The younger female proved more captivated by the decoration on her finger than adding lace to the edge of her half-finished throw pillow.
"Yes, I believe it does glisten brighter by the fireplace."
Glancing over from her near trance, a warm expression filled Maya's face. "That is where he first gave it to me." She smiled at the males coming in next. "Wolverine."
Logan tossed Cody over onto the middle of the wide bed, making him holler out a laugh.
He shared an embrace with Maya, who left her sewing in the chair to go to him. "Hey, Smile." He kept a lock on her wrist as they separated, examining the ring he had only seen few glimpses of since she did not wear it on the range. "That's my girl." He wiped a thumb across her cheek.
Maya looked upon him happily then determined, "I better get some more note review in. Nothing but papers and quizzes until school is finally out."
"Eh, don't worry about it," Logan dismissed. "You'll catch a real challenge next year."
"Oh gee, I can hardly wait." Maya turned around to gather her yard goods and asked of Kayla, "Same time tomorrow?"
"And the next day and the next," the woman answered. "Good night, dear."
"Sleep tight, darlin'." Logan left a kiss on the girl's forehead as she passed through.
"Good night, Cody Wody."
"Night, Smiley," he called after her then somersaulted off his parents' bed. When his parents started up their usual lip locked greeting, Cody came over and batted at his father. "Beat it, Dad." He got up to share the chair with his mother, unable to sit too far on her lap because of the growing stomach.
Logan nipped at his son's neck in jest before dropping down onto the floor facing them.
Kayla held the pajama clad boy as closely as she could, sighing contentedly as she also touched her middle. "September never felt so far away."
"Can I help name the baby, Mama?" Cody requested. "I don't want her gettin' stuck with somethin' gross like Codicat."
Logan kicked the child's foot with his own lightly. "Should've gone ahead and called ya Codidodo."
Kayla took her son's hand as she looked into his face. "CoCo, you do understand that it's very possible you'll have a new brother instead of another sister, right?"
Cody only shrugged. "Sure, Mama. Can I hear a story now?"
Kayla directed, "Go get under your covers and I'll be right there."
Cody scrambled up and received a little jab to the side from his father as he darted out.
Logan and Kayla kept a steady gaze after him.
IIIIIII
At the heavy grunts, Victor stopped off inside the gym. The moment he looked in, he dashed over to the youth attached to an arm curl device.
"Shades, what do ya think you're doin'?" Victor pushed him back on the bench. "You know you can't work out alone."
"I know, but I thought it would be okay so long as I kept it at a low setting," Scott defended.
"Two hundred?" Victor read. "That's what, four of you? Get out of there." He lifted him up and off by the waist.
"It wasn't so hard." Scott rubbed one arm and attempted to hide a small wince. "I just really want to bulk up to help my pitch. I figure if I work out an hour a night after dinner and take in a few hundred more calories—"
"Whoa, whoa." Victor held up a hand. "Let's slow it down, ace. You overdo it and end up sprainin' somethin', your season's over."
Scott dipped his head. "You're right."
"Just got to take it easy, that's all." Victor put his hand on his shoulder. "And get some sleep. You know you got school in the mornin'." He applied a swat to his lower bottom. "And no more private workouts, ya got me?"
"Got you, Coach." Scott turned to jog out.
Victor only shook his head in pleasure at his diligent player.
IIIIIII
As his older class proceeded out for the day, Hank called over, "Sean, could you come here a minute? I think you'll be interested to see this."
"Now Hank, you know I could never in good faith look at exam answers." Sean walked over to the scientist's desk then glanced around covertly. "But if they "accidentally" get lost and somehow wind up under my door and I just happen to see them then it's no one's fault."
Clearly humored, Hank said, "The only thing you're going to see is the inside of your text book." He opened one drawer and removed the green and yellow outfit within. "And this."
Sean grinned widely. "Alright! You finished it." He took the uniform for a closer look.
"Sorry it took so long. There's been a lot going on around here."
"That's okay. I'm just glad to be able to shove my old one back into the abyss of my closet." He met eyes with the older mutant and quickly amended, "Not that our original uniforms did not exceed groovy standards."
"Believe me, after hearing Alex's very detailed opinions on those outfits, no comments can jar me." Hank then added seriously, "Only see to it that nothing becomes of this one."
Knowing what he meant, Sean nodded. "Right. Thanks again, Hank." He headed out to catch up with the rest for lunch.
IIIIIII
Entering the nursery, Charles smiled at his older son shaking the lion's head rattle for the entertainment of the youngest one inside the bassinet.
"Having fun are we?" Charles came close and knelt to place his arms around the ten-year-old. "Did you tidy up Bounty's cage?"
"Yep," Joey nodded proudly.
Charles next mentioned, "And Xander's barn?"
The deer meets headlights crossed the boy's face then. "Umm…"
Understanding completely, Charles patted his bottom. "See to it that it gets done as soon as you're home from art class."
"Yes, Daddy," Joey agreed. "Promise."
"Fifteen more minutes, you two." Charles looked towards the baby. "Then someone needs his nap."
"Aww, poor Brian," said Joey.
"Yes, being able to sleep in the middle of the day. I can't think of anything more horrid," Charles quipped, leaving the pair to their merriment.
Cody arrived inside the colorful room next. "There you are. Why aren't you outside?"
"Me and Brian don't have much time left to play," Joey explained. "He has to take his nap soon."
Cody sighed. "I don't see how you have so much fun with him. He hardly does anything. Besides, I thought you wanted a sister."
"I did." Joey smiled at the ever squirmy newborn. "But now I can't picture having anybody but Brian."
His friend mumbled, "That's 'cause he's little."
Joey looked over. "I'll be out before recess is up."
"Okay, okay." Walking back out of the room, Cody made his way downstairs.
Observing from where his brother carried on a three-way ball toss game with Scott and Becky to Sean and Maya talking it up about some book between them under a tree, Logan's gaze settled on the one on a bench. The Veteran walked to where the boy leafed through a stack of trading cards.
Feeling the shadow over him, Frank looked up. "Hey."
"Hey. I tell ya, glowworm, if you looked any lower," he sat beside him, "a gopher'd start chargin' you rent." He bumped shoulders with him. "What's eatin' you?"
Frank quieted then told him, "Mother's Day is coming up."
"Ah," Logan responded.
"Last year's was the best ever. It was me, my mom, and Erik. No brothers in sight. Now, it's just me again."
"Erik's still here," Logan reminded him.
"I can't talk to him," Frank admitted. "I didn't think he'd be happy about Mother's Day but he was last year. I'm sure that was 'cause of my mom. Now that she's not here…."
Logan patted him on the knee. "I may not have known her too well but I know your ma is one of a kind. That's why she's off doin' what she's doin'. But it's plain as day how wild she is about you; lovin' you as is. As much as she's on your mind now? You're on hers ten times as much."
"Thanks, Wolves," Frank said softly. "I sure hope so."
"Cody?"
The boy in question looked away from them to where he heard Maya's voice. "Yeah?"
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He flapped out his arms. "Yeah, sure."
Sean extended a hand. "Come here, Code Man."
Grinning, Cody rushed over to get snug in between them.
IIIIIII
Putting away stray boxes of cereal and cookies, Erik paused production as his daughter skipped into the room.
She announced, "I'm going to cheerleading practice, Papa."
"Alright, Sweet Imp. But first," he held up one snack package, "care to tell me exactly when you children will learn to tidy after yourselves?"
Her attention went to his pockets. "Isn't that why we have moms living here now?"
"Oh very funny." Erik removed an Oreo and handed it to here. "Here and perhaps I'll change your pet name to Sweet Tooth."
Becky smiled at him, "Thank you, Papa," and took her leave again.
Erik next reacted to the robotic barking coming his way next. "And who do we have here?"
"Hi, Unca Ewik," Kiki greeted as the small McCoys toddled in.
"Hi," Trav grinned up.
"Hello, you two and…" He glanced down at the electronic puppy Kiki carried. "Fido?"
Kiki giggled and Trav said, "No, we named him Metal Mutt."
"Meta' Mutt," Kiki parroted.
Trav explained, "It made me think of you because you got him for us and we love you so much."
"You want cookies?" Erik deduced.
"Yes, pwease," Kiki confirmed.
"Come, come." Erik picked them both up to sit next to each other. "No dogs at the table."
Kiki left their stuffed animal beside her chair.
Erik gathered two Oreos a piece for them in addition to glasses of milk.
Trav looked up at him with twinkling brown eyes. "I like chocolate chip better…"
Gaze going Heavenly, Erik still swapped the boy's cookies out. "Are you deliriously happy now?"
"Yes," he beamed, "thank you."
"Thank you," Kiki echoed.
"Thank you for seeing me through my old age." Erik then decided to finish putting things away in order to pull up and join them for a treat.
IIIIIII
After arriving in the park, Cordelia's attention lingered with the small children rushing around the playground area. She noticed the line-up of mothers on the benches and could not help shaking her head and wondering why the concept of playing eluded them entirely.
At the tap on her shoulder, she spun around quickly then had to narrow her eyes at the shielded face before her. "Is that you in there?"
"As far as I know. Actually I would have been here sooner," he removed the darkened shades that covered his brown eyes, "but I had a time explaining this ensemble to my father."
Cordelia eyed him up and down. "Considering your usual fashion, I'm a little thrown, too."
"Couldn't risk your great virtue with the X-Men, could we now?" He watched her hand glide down one forearm uncertainly.
"Thanks for coming," she said.
"Thanks for getting in touch." He extended an arm towards an open bench. "Shall we?"
IIIIIII
Tugging the massive red and white cooler over, Cody left it at the speaking men's feet.
"Here ya go, Uncle Vic."
Peering down, Victor saw what the child had retrieved. "Hey, thanks Mite."
Dan commented, "Kid's got some kind of muscle on him. This your nephew, Creed?"
"Yep," Victor dipped to slip one arm around him and Cody leaned in against his leg, "my kid brother's boy."
Dan asked Cody, "Why didn't I catch you at try-outs?"
Cody answered, "I don't play too much baseball, sir."
"Cody's a karate man," Victor further explained. "He doesn't have practice on Mondays so I get to hire him out. Here, Mite." He opened the cooler and removed two juice boxes from it. "Take one of these over to Frank."
"'Kay, Uncle Vic." While the coaches called the players and cheerleaders over for refreshment, Cody returned to the bench and held the juice out to the other boy there. "Here."
"Thanks." Frank accepted it and went to work unwrapping the straw.
Cody sat down, taking a long sip. "It sure was swell of Emma to get those fancy new uniforms for the guys."
"Yeah, I know," Frank concurred.
"It's funny, though."
Frank looked at him now. "What is?"
"The way Joey's first ma, that no-good one, up and left him like she did. Now he's got a ma that's a million times better. Just like mine and Raven, too. They wouldn't leave their kids for anything." Cody humped one shoulder, facing forward. "Course, I don't know what kinda ma would…"
Growing completely silent, Frank stood up and began making his way across the field.
Noticing the stride, Victor called after him, "Frank," the boy looked back, "where you off to?"
"A walk around," Frank answered. "I'll be back before it's time to go." He continued on.
Looking in the direction of his nephew, Victor found Cody enjoying his juice and kicking his feet merrily.
Putting a vice lock around his own juice box, the red substance slowly spilled out, secreting down Frank's hand. He tossed it into the first trash can he passed and wiped the residue on his blue jeans. Discovering a stray can on the ground, he kicked it as hard as he could for several paces. When he found himself outside of Hope Park, he decided to go in. He then ceased moment when he spotted Cordelia beside some guy in a black hood and gray sweats.
"Hey, Cordy." The thirteen-year-old headed their way and upon closer observation knew the guy looked nothing like the girl's steady beau.
Her head whipped over at his voice. "Frank, what are you-" She indicated the one next to her. "This is Morrie's friend from school." She faced him. "This is Frank. He's—"
"A mutant." Standing straight up, he made a path for him. "A powerful mutant."
Frank stood taken aback. "Who are you? How do you know about us?"
"Because we're the same."
Sighing heavily, Cordelia came to him. "Frank, this is Fabian Cortez."
"Cortez?" It only took seconds for Frank to remember the name. "From that crew that attacked you at the mall? Those Acolytes? What's he doing here?" He eyed her specifically. "What are you doing here with him?"
"Ah, the pestering little brother," Fabian said somewhat dreamily then smiled. "How I love it."
"Frank, everything is okay," Cordelia assured. "We're just talking."
At Fabian waving a hand over him, Frank took a step back. "What do you think you're doing?"
Fabian in turn asked, "Do you have any idea what you can do? I sense it. Right about… here." He sent a wave from his hand towards the younger teen's chest.
Frank gasped at the intensity that coursed through him. His eyes lit up followed by his entire body.
"Fabian, no!" Cordelia glanced all around them. "Not here."
"Yes, yes, public's eye." Frank gestured towards Frank as the sensation faded just as quickly. "It was only a moment. These pea brains would have thought nothing more than the sun got to him."
Frank touched his head and arms. "How…" He looked to Fabian in utter astonishment. "How did you do that?"
"Because that is what I do," Fabian explained plainly. "Only now I should be going. My people and I have business in this area. Cordelia," he bobbed his head before returning visage to the entranced one, "hope to see you again, Frank."
"Wait," Frank called after him when he took off in a sprint.
Fabian held an arm up as he moved onward. "Really can't."
Taking Frank's wrist, Cordelia looked at him and they both let off a unison, "Whoa."
IIIIIII
Once he felt the contents of Xander's feed bag reach the very bottom, Joey removed it and ran fingers through his horse's mane before unloading the fresh hay.
Joey glanced back at the one finishing up the sweeping. "Thanks a load for helping, Cody. Now we have plenty of time to get ready for training."
"Or…" Cody propped up the broom in one corner. "We could skip it and take Xander on a run."
"What?" Joey looked upon him in near humor at the very suggestion. "You know we can't do that."
"Oh why? It's just Alex and the guys. Not like we'd be missin' a session with your dad or anythin'."
Joey insisted, "We can't miss a session with Alex after what happened last time. We'll get spanked."
"You know you can worm your way out of that one," Cody said simply. "You've got Alex around your finger."
"I don't want to be in trouble with my brother. Please, Cody? Let's just go." Joey began leading them out of the barn.
Cody grudgingly followed with an utterance of, "Brothers, brothers, brothers…"
After they made the change into appropriate X-Men attire, they joined Havok, Vapor, Lighthouse, and Cyclops by the opening of the woods.
"Where's Banshee?" Silver Cat asked.
"On the satellite with Beast and the Headmasters," Havok told him. "They wanted him to try out his new flight suit right away." He then got down to the task before them. "Alright, so you four are to make it out to the river and back here before Vapor can get a hold of you. Cyclops, you're leading the charge and Light—" He spoke louder at the one seemingly miles away. "Lighthouse, are you here or not?"
Lighthouse raised his head. "Sorry, here."
"Good because you're secondary command. Let's see how fast you can make it back." Havok then signaled, "Go!"
Vapor shifted out of sight into the thick of trees while the younger boys began their trek.
When they made it close enough to the lake, Silver Cat took Eel's arm to cease their movements. He then guided them over to the other side of a tree.
"What are you doing?" Eel whispered.
"Aren't you sick of those guys always bossing us around? They'd be lost without my senses and they can't even fly like you can."
"But Havok said—"
"We'll impress him big time if we make it back on our own," Silver Cat put forth.
"Well…" Eel considered it. "Maybe just this one time."
Silver Cat grinned eagerly. "Great, this way." He indicated for them to get belly low and move along quietly.
"Okay, here's the plan," Cyclops started as soon as they made it to the water. "We—" He turned around, finding himself short of two companions. "Where'd they go?"
Lighthouse glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, no idea but good. I could use some space from Cody. Like an ocean."
"Trust me, I understand but we need everybody." Cyclops raised his communicator to his lips. "Eel, Silver Cat? Come on, you guys!" He groaned in complete frustration. "We are going to do lousy on this exercise thanks to them."
"Havok," the aforementioned one looked back at his name, "we're here!" Eel stopped right at his heels.
"Nice time," Havok commended then peered up. "Where are the others?"
"Who cares?" Silver Cat piped up. "They were bein' dead weight so we ditched 'em."
Havok immediately glared. "You what?"
"I think I may be able to help you out." Vapor headed away from the trees with the Eye Scream Team in tow.
"There you are." Cyclops jabbed an irate finger towards the younger boys. "What'd you think you were doing with that stunt?"
"It's called winnin'," Silver Cat said matter-of-factly. "Maybe you should try it sometime."
Cyclops glowered behind his visor. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hey, knock it off right now." Havok got in between both sets of boys. "What is going on today? If you guys are in a fight about something, you know not to bring it on the training field."
"Talk to Cody," Cyclops advised. "He's the one starting stuff."
"No, he's not," Eel felt the need to defend.
"Yeah," Silver Cat crossed his arms. "You Eye Scream Dweebs think you're so great. You know my uncle is only helpin' to coach you to make sure you don't mess up." He eyed Lighthouse next. "And you're just some charity case to my dad."
Before either older boy could say a word, Havok reiterated, "I said that's enough. Cyclops, Lighthouse, wait over by the treehouse. I'll call you back by communicator."
"Gladly," said Lighthouse as they followed the direction.
Facing the younger pair now, Havok said, "You two know there's no misbehaving during training, period." His gaze settled on Silver Cat. "And I don't know why you're in the mood to start fights but I'm not having it." Havok then instructed, "Both of you, take your gloves off and hold out your hands."
While Eel forlornly started to, Silver Cat scoffed and started in a run back towards the house.
Before a blood pressure attack could result on the part of their instructor, Vapor intervened with, "Would it be alright if I had a word with him?"
"Good luck," Havok granted.
As Vapor headed off, Eel grasped Havok at the leg. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to act bad, really."
"Eel," Havok stroked his hair, "go to your room for a little bit, okay? I need to finish up with the others."
"Yes, Havok," the boy complied.
Feeling a boiling point at his temple, Havok touched one hand to the spot and sighed. He really wished the world would give him a little warning whenever it decided to flip upside down on him.
IIIIIII
Back in his own bedroom and regular clothes, Cody found some tranquility in bouncing up and down on his mattress.
"Go away, Havok," he said to the inevitable knock.
Another teenager stepped inside. "Your nose needs fine tuning."
"Oh hey, Leon." He dropped down onto his knees. "Your buddy's pretty sore, huh?"
"Can you blame him?" Leon sat facing him on the bed. "I have to say, I didn't know you were the kind to cause unnecessary mutinies."
Cody regarded him strangely. "Is that like making mutants?"
Leon hid a smile. "A mutiny is a revolt or rebellion against established leadership."
"Oh," the boy nodded, "that American thing."
"Yes," Leon had to agree in amusement. "Would you like to tell me the reason for yours?" Cody only bobbed back and forth while hanging onto his knees. "Okay, then I guess I'll have to tell you the reason. You're upset at the attention your dad and uncle show Frank and Scott."
"I am not," Cody claimed.
"Yes, you are," Leon informed. "I'm also willing to wager this has something to do with your mother expecting..."
At that, Cody whacked him with a pillow. "Beat it."
Unfazed, Leon said, "Interesting choice of words." He seized one of the child's hands.
Cody tried to snatch away. "What're you doing?" He then received a smack. "Ow!"
Leon told him, "Giving you what I'm sure Joey is getting right now. Unless you want your best friend to suffer alone for your schemes."
When the protests ended, Leon resumed things. Completely uncertain about how such a treatment should be carried out, he applied a swift seven to the back of each hand.
"Geez!" Cody attempted to rub at them. "You ain't have to do it that hard."
"Good thing you heal," Leon laid out on his stomach, "real fast." The two males met eyes. "Listen, I'm not going to try to sell you on Frank and Scott. I know why you feel the way you do about Frank and Scott is associated with him. But picking fights? It's only going to turn out negatively for you, not them."
Cody sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"As for Alex," the college student went on, "that's another story. Besides the fact that he's my best friend, he's also one of our better instructors. You know that." Cody nodded admittedly. "Whatever your problem is, don't take it out on him. Because the best place to have Alex is on your side."
Cody flopped down near him. "'Kay." He bumped his head against Leon's arms. "Guess you pretty boys ain't so bad."
"I would say "we try" but that's not the case for a lot of us." Leon pressed an affectionate hand against the ten-year-old's back.
IIIIIII
After a brief calming shower, Alex made it into the intended bedroom. He remained in the doorway a moment, watching Joey work on something at his desk.
"What're you up to, kid?" he asked him.
"Al." He smiled, holding up the picture to him. "I made this for you."
The words "We Are Very Sorry" were written vertically in white with splashes of water colors filling up the entire background.
"Thanks a lot, Joe. I got to get you to start signing these before you make it big." Alex carefully laid the picture on the desk face up. "Though I'm not so sold on the "we" part."
Joey's face fell a little. "Please don't be mad at Cody, Al, please. I don't know why he was being that way today but I'm sure he won't do it again. Please don't hate him."
"Hey," Alex got in close enough to him to touch their noses, "no matter how bad, or mean, or wild any of you act, I could never hate you guys. Don't even think that. But I'll worry about Cody later. Right now, you know what we need to go over, right?"
Nodding, Joey held out his left hand to him. Alex grasped the small appendage and gave it five strong smacks. When he got to the right one, he dished out three.
"Don't want to wreck your art career," Alex felt the need to explain, picking his brother up into a hug.
Joey smiled at him. "Thanks, Al. I'm still really sorry."
"It's okay, but you have to remember how important training is," Alex emphasized. "If you go against direction again I'm going to have to spank you and that's the last thing I want to do."
"That's the last thing I want you to do, too," Joey said. "I just thought we'd impress you if we did it by ourselves."
Alex looked at him strangely now. "You already impress me. You're one of the best guys I have on the field. That's mainly because you know how to listen." He held him tighter. "I know I can always count on you."
Smiling in and out at that, Joey nestled against his shoulder.
IIIIIII
Gaze fixed on the departing sun, the dark haired girl leaned over the balcony seemingly trapped in ponder.
"Cordy?"
The blue eyes fell on the approaching one. "Hi, dream boat."
Frank came to stand beside her. "That guy. Can he really control powers?"
Cordelia thought of how to explain it. "Somewhat. The way I understand it is he feels them and enhances them, sometimes in bizarre ways. He crashed my sister's last party and we started talking."
"So are you with him now?" Frank wondered. "What happened to that Bench guy?"
Cordelia informed, "I'm with that Bench guy. Fabian's just—sometimes it's nice to talk to a mutant outside the X-Men spectrum."
Frank nodded quietly. "If you see him again… could you let me know?"
"I'll see about it," Cordelia said noncommittally. "But Frank, we really have to keep this…"
Without hesitation he assured, "I won't tell anyone. Believe me."
IIIIIII
Tapping fingers against the door before entering entirely, Kayla did not stop moving until she reached where her son laid out in bed.
"CoCo, what's wrong?" She sat near his feet and rubbed his back. "Alex tells me you aren't feeling well? Do you want me to bring you up some soup for dinner?"
"Thanks, Ma," Cody sat up to look at her, "but I'm not sick. I just don't really feel like eatin' with everybody."
She cupped both sides of his face. "What's the matter? You know you can tell me."
Cody played with his big toe. "I was a pain at training today."
Kayla attempted to hide her amusement. "And why may I ask?"
"I don't know. It was dumb. I guess…" He looked up at her again. "I'm worried about the baby. I know you need a girl to make you happy."
Kayla did not find this remotely funny and it reflected in her expression. "Cody, what is that supposed to mean? You make me happy."
"Not like Jaycee used to. I know Maya makes you happy but she still belongs to that nurse who's never home."
"Oh sweetheart," Kayla wrapped secure arms around him, "I'm sorry if I did anything to make you feel that way. I love you so much and you couldn't make me happier."
Cody hugged her back. "You didn't do anything, Mama, honest. I love you, too. I just know we'll be better off with a girl."
"Honey," she faced him again, "you know a family can be perfectly happy with two little boys, right? Look at Joey's family."
"I know and the Xaviers are great but they're really weird." Cody eyed her seriously. "Have you seen how nice his dad is?"
Kayla gave into laughter at that. "Yes, not nearly as normal as we are."
Grinning, Cody concurred with a, "Nope. Mama, can I have soup now?"
"Coming right up." She kissed his forehead and stood to get it ready for him.
IIIIIII
"Easy, careful." Alex took the weight away from him to prop up on its holder. "Good job."
Scott hopped up on the bench. "It'll take me forever to get as big as Hank at this rate."
"Hey, Hank didn't spring up overnight you know," Alex reminded. "I'm sure he had to wait at least until he was six or seven."
Scott rolled his eyes playfully then narrowed them at the one who came into the gym next. "Well, well. Ready for round 2?"
Alex gave his brother a firm squeeze at the shoulder. "You okay, Cody?"
"I guess." He came over closer. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure," Alex replied. "Scott, go wash up."
As the older boy walked by him, Cody mumbled, "Sorry, Scott."
Glancing back, Scott responded, "Since that's as good as it'll get from you… it's okay." He left out with that.
Alex took a seat on the bench, facing the little boy. "You wanted to talk?"
Cody played with his fingers for a moment. "Sorry for givin' you such a hard time today. I was in a lousy mood. I didn't mean to bring Joey into it, either."
"I know none of that is normally like you. We're good." Alex gave him a look. "Except that you can count on an extra-long session tomorrow as soon as school gets out. If you act up, I'm spanking you then handing you over to your dad. Got it?"
"Got it," Cody nodded. "And thanks."
Alex slapped his stomach twice gently. "Get some rest. You'll need it."
Departing from the weight area, Cody returned upstairs to his room. He started putting his homework away into his bag when his father's scent along with something sweeter filled his nostrils.
Stepping inside, Logan held up a bear claw. "You uncle wanted me to deliver this. He likes you for some reason."
"I know it." Cody finished with his folders and accepted it. "Thanks." He went to get into bed.
Logan followed, bringing the covers up over him. "So I spoke to your ma." He locked blue eyes with his son's brown. "Something you want to tell me? About anything?"
Cody shook his head hard. "No, Daddy. I talked to Alex. Everything's okay and I won't do it again."
"That's not what I meant." When his son only focused on nibbling on the treat, he shrugged a shoulder. "Fine." He turned off the lamp and got down beside him.
Cody wondered, "Don't you have to work?"
"I got a minute." Logan fluffed a pillow under the boy's head. "You finish eatin' that and shut your eyes."
Nodding, Cody hummed contentedly as he worked to devour the sugary delight.