X-Men Christmas
CHAPTER 3: VISITORS
It was a couple of days later and everything was going fine it would soon be Christmas and the mansion seemed a bit empty with so many students away. The only ones left there were Sarah, Clarice, Vincent, Kai, Rogue, Kurt, Amanda and Ray, it was very quiet. It was kind of odd for everyone to be in the mansion with so little they were all used to seeing at least two or three people in a room.
Although there was an upside and that was there was a bit more privacy at the moment so that was good at least. Kurt however was waiting patiently for his father and mother to show up. He had missed them a lot and when they had planned on them coming over here, he had been looking forward to it for over two months.
Although patience was a virtue it was now becoming one that he was starting to feel a lack of. Ororo had gone to pick them up at the airport and drive them back and they were thirty minutes late so far. His mind thought of things like what if their flight had been delayed because of a snow storm somewhere, or that Ororo's car stopped working?
He tried not to come up with all sorts of scenarios because his imagination kept coming up with things that were worse and worse and his nerves were starting to fray because of it. He was laying on his bed looking up at his ceiling trying to think on anything else. He looked to his left and saw a photo he kept there of him and Amanda, that always brought a smile to his face knowing that he was lucky to have her in his life.
He sighed getting up and decided to go see if there was something to do, he thought of eating but all this waiting around didn't make him want to eat anything. He went looking around to see if anyone was still here, he knew Ray was off with Pam today and that he had been invited over to her place for dinner.
The others should be around here at least he figured and went looking. He came across Amanda, Rogue and Vincent watching a movie. "Hey vhat's up?"
"Hey Kurt," Amanda smiled as he sat down next to her on the floor while Rogue and Vince were on the couch. "Just watching one of those Christmas films they play."
"Ya know I don't mind these but why do they got ta shove so many down our throats? Ah swear there is nothing but this stuff on. Even the movie channels are showing them." Rogue sighed she didn't mind this film so much but she could use a decent flick.
"You're still not mad we're not watching Black Christmas are you?" Vincent asked her, they had found that movie earlier an older Canadian horror film. Given that Vince didn't like horror films and Amanda didn't want to watch that a few days before Christmas she had been out voted.
Rogue sighed knowing that they had a slight difference in movies but you couldn't like what everyone else liked. "It's okay, ah just wish for somethin' else, after awhile all these really old ones just kind of blend together for meh."
Kurt smiled and shook his head, his foster sister even at this time of the year could still find something not to like. But he had to admit that she was better this year then the last year, he had noticed how she seemed a bit depressed before he had left. It was good that she was doing a bit better this time around.
So Kurt sat down with them watching, eventually Amanda rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped up his tail around her waist. It had been a bit odd at first when he started doing that but Amanda soon found to enjoy it. Sometimes she would play with the tip or something. She soon found out just how sensitive his tail was and knew several areas that were actually slightly ticklish.
Kurt was enjoying the moment until he heard a car pull up and there was only one car out at the time as well. "Zhere here!" He shouted and teleported without warning, meaning Amanda no longer had anything to lean on and fell to the floor.
She landed with a small yelp before hitting ground and looked up with a huff at Kurt's little slip in remembering about her. She got up and smoothed out her clothing and looked at the other two, both trying not to laugh at the sight. "Well come on don't you want to meet them?" She asked as she left.
Rogue was a little hesitant but Vince gently pulled her up and assured her that they would like her. She wasn't so sure but she might as well meet them. Meanwhile Kurt had teleported to the front of the mansion. He saw Ororo get out of the car and then followed by two people with some grey in the hair.
Kurt called out to them in German and immediately they had their arms opened as he ran and the three united in a deep hug. Ororo smiled at the sight, it was good to see family together and she could hear the three of them talking in German happily, about what she assumed was how things were going for each of them.
Kurt was delirious to see his family again, and as it turned out their flight had been a little late getting in, but he didn't care. "Mother, Father I'm so glad that you came. I'm really happy you could be here this year." He told them in his native tongue.
"Oh trust me son I think this is a good idea," His father smiled and padded him on the back. "We could use the break and we've never traveled much before anyway."
"Yes and I'm looking forward to meeting this Amanda girl of yours and this sister too," His mother told him making Kurt get a slight blush hidden under his fur. It didn't take long as they were joined by the three others there.
"Mozher, Fazher. Zhis is Amanda," He told them switching back to English for now as Amanda stepped forward. She was a little nervous about meeting her boyfriend's parents after all it took a long time for her own to finally accept Kurt after everything.
His mother looked at her and smiled, "Vell now you look as lovely as you do in those photos our son sent to us. I'm so happy our little Kurti found himself a nice girl." She said in English that was not as good as Kurt's. After all they had been learning it over a year ago in case they needed to talk with any of the adults looking after their son.
Although at the name 'Kurti' a few things happened. Amanda gave Kurt a smirking look, while he shut his eyes at that. Then there were Vince and Rogue who had heard what his mother had called him. They shared a look with each other and both knew that they would have fun with this later.
"It's very nice to meet you both," Amanda said politely to them and they returned it in kind. Then they set their sights on Rogue and she felt a little uncomfortable with it. Miss Wagner stepped up first and then to Rogue's surprise smiled at her.
"And you must be Rogue, Kurt has told us all about you and it's so nice for our son to find himself a lost sibling." She told her as she was truly glad for it. She and her husband had never been able to have children, which was why they considered Kurt a god sent to them.
They knew that Kurt had been lonely growing up with no other siblings and the fact that he found one, even though she wasn't related by blood was still incredible in their books. "And I hope zhis isn't too farward but ve vould love to get to know you more."
"Yes any family of Kurt's is family to us," Mr. Wagner told Rogue as she stood next to his wife.
Rogue was taken aback by this, she had no idea what to say to them. It was a very kind gesture by them to say that she would be accepted into their family as well. Kurt was the only family she really had in this world, given that she didn't really consider Mystique much of family. "Ah…Ah don't know what ta say."
"I say go for it with a thank you at the end might be the way to go," Her boyfriend tol her with a smile, he was a bit envious of her for a moment. A family is the one thing that he always wanted but never really had. It was one of the things that they connected on with each other. But if she was offered a bit more of an extended family well he knew that she deserved it.
Rogue looked at him for a moment and the truth was she was touched by this, she wasn't sure how to take it after all it took her awhile to start thinking of Kurt as her brother, how would she feel about his parents? The Wagners decided to let her think about it but they would keep the offer open to her. Besides they wanted her to get the know them as well, after that it was when Mr. Wagner looked at Vincent.
"Well now who is this?"
"Vincent Freeman, Mr. Wagner," He said politely to the older man.
"Oh so this is the boyfriend," Kurt's mother had heard about him from Kurt but her son hadn't been able to send a photo of him as yet like he had a few other letters he sent them. "And don't be so formal, you can call me Jimaine and my husband's name is Stephan."
"Nice to meet you both, but if you'll excuse me Ororo looks like she could use some help," He noticed all the cases that Ororo was taking out of the trunk of the car. He went over to help and the older woman was grateful for it, she took one of them while Vince carried the rest without effort.
Jimaine looked a bit surprised at that, "Strong one isn't he?"
"Oh you don't know the half of it," Amanda then looked at Rogue, "Isn't that right?" Rogue had a feeling she knew what the girl was talking about trying not to blush. Even after all these months they still talked about that incident and it was really getting old fast. But she didn't want to threaten her in front of the Wagners about bring that topic up again.
-Later that Day-
After the Wagners were settled in and were getting to know the people that were important to their son's life there was another visitor to the mansion. Only this time it was Logan that heard the ring of the bell, it was a bit odd since he thought the gates were closed. Normally you needed the code to open it, and if you had that you normally had a key for the front door.
The other way normally was when you pressed the buzzer for someone to answer the gate's speaker. Logan grumbled something about needing a butler under his breath, he was already having some trouble with this Christmas thing, normally he'd prefer to just go out and be by himself. It wasn't like he really celebrated it before but with Sarah in his life a lot of things had changed.
He figured the kid deserved to have a Christmas so he had stayed, he remembered how she had looked around at all the decorations, and when her eyes had lit up when they put on the lights for the tree for the first time. She had just sat there looking at it for fifteen minutes actually. When he had asked her why she was just looking at it she only said that she thought it was beautiful.
He was glad thought that she was getting better with interacting with others too, he remembered how they had their first snowball fight this winter. At first X23 had been a bit more aggressive then he would have liked but after a bit she was learning to actually have a bit of fun.
And after they found out that she had a killer arm most wanted her on their team. He still grinned at the memory of her taking out Bobby with a snowball to the back of his head from over ten yards with a fast strike. The poor kid didn't know what hit him before he pitched face first into the snow.
His mind coming back to the present as he reached the door, through the glass he could make out a form and he was surprised to see who it was. He opened the door as he looked at the person there, a woman in her thirties, with slightly tanned skinned and long blond hair. "Surprised to see you here."
Dr. Deborah Risman, the woman that literally gave X23 life stood there. Once a member of Hydra she had changed sides to work with SHIELD. Currently she was the chief medical officer in charge of SHIELD's team X-Force. And she was currently trying to bridge the gap in the relationship of her daughter X23.
"Hello Logan," She said to him knowing that this man would never like her, and she couldn't blame him either. "I managed to get time off and…Well you know why I'm here, but if I'm not welcomed then can you at least give this to Sarah?"
Logan saw the present and for a moment he considered doing just that but he knew that X23 wanted to see her. He remembered how she had invited Risman to her first real birthday here. At first he hadn't liked it, in fact he never liked it but Ororo had pulled him aside and told him that it was something that Sarah needed.
He didn't like the things that this woman had done in the past, he wasn't sure what kind of a mother she was but when he thought back to someone like Mystique, at least Risman was trying to make up for the past. Logan gave a gruff growl to himself and stepped aside, "Yeah well…Might as well come on in if you came all this way. Wait in the living room and I'll get her."
"Thank you Logan," She told him honestly and he just grunted and left.
Logan went and soon found his daughter in her room reading a book. He had to admit that she liked to read for some reason, 'Must get that from Risman cause she sure don't get it from me.' He said to himself.
"Hey kid, ya got a visitor downstairs." He didn't say who and for a moment she looked at him confused. Then she smelt it, it was faint but there was a small hint of a certain perfume and a scent along with it. Her eyes widened a bit when she managed to place it and closed her book leaving it forgotten as she went with her father.
When they got the living room Sarah found Risman sitting there on a couch, she had put aside her coat and had been waiting. When the blond woman heard them come in her eyes went to X23 immediately. She got a small smile at seeing the young girl, inside of Risman she felt saddened and yet happy to see her.
She knew that she had a long way to go to make herself the mother she should have been but she was going to try. And seeing the young girl now always made her feel better knowing that she was living a life she deserved. It was only hard only seeing her from time to time, she wanted to be more a part of her life then she was at the moment. But deep down she knew at the moment this was all she had, and she should treasure it.
"I wasn't sure if you would be coming," Sarah told her as she sat down next to the woman. Logan was leaning up against the doorway just watching the scene.
"I know I wasn't sure either at first if I could make it," She stopped for a moment trying to think of what to say next. It wasn't always easy with them talking there was all this history that made it hard. "You look well."
"Thanks," Her eyes drifted over to the give on the table, "Is that for me?"
She smiled and handed it to her, "Yes I've got a lot of time to make up for. I just…I just wanted to see you and to wish you a merry Christmas."
Risman wasn't sure if there was anything else, the relationship she had with her estranged daughter wasn't easy and those silences they sometimes had were uncomfortable. "Well maybe I should go then." She started to get up but a small hand stopped her.
Deborah looked down at her young daughter as she was looking at her gift and then up at her. X23 wasn't sure what to think but over the past few months she had been getting to know this woman. It was a long and hard process for them to get close in anyway but she looked at her and she saw the loneliness in her. That was something she knew all too well.
"Where are you doing for Christmas?" She asked her and Deborah had no idea. She had no plans given that she had no one in her life really. She had just planned on going out to eat and then maybe head back to her place. "If you got no where to be…You could spend it here if you want."
"A-are you serious?" She asked her feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. This was something she had always wanted to do with her but never had the chance. Sarah nodded, she did want this. From what she had learned this holiday was supposed to be with friends and family and this woman in a way was part of her family.
She looked over to her father and Logan gave a low growl of frustration. He should have known this might have come up, and the look his daughter was giving him he just couldn't say no to her. "I'll go inform Chuck about this then."
"Thank you father," X23 told him and he just nodded and grumbled something under his breath. Sometimes he really had to learn to say no to that kid of his. And he just knew that Charles wouldn't mind it at all if Deborah stayed here for a couple of days. Deborah already had a small suitcase in her rented car outside. Given the weather she wasn't sure by the time she left that she could get a flight out and might need to find a hotel.
Now it looked like she had new plans for her own Christmas and she was looking forward to spending them with X23 and hoping to build a little more to the bridge the two of them were making together. "Thank you for this…It…It really means a lot to me Sarah."
Sarah nodded her head understanding what she meant, "I know and…I want this first Christmas to have all of us together it's only fair."
Deborah smiled as she gently ran a hand through her daughter's hair, she was growing up a lot here. "You're becoming a very smart young woman you know that?"
"I get it from my mother's side I guess," She said and there was a ghost of a smile on her face. It was enough for Deborah to smile at her young girl feeling a small lump in her throat at the comment. So far it was the closest thing she had come to calling her mother but she would take it.
NEXT UP CHAPTER 4: FAMILIES