Here's chapter 5. It's a little longer than the other chapters. Thanks again for the reviews. Zuzu, I'll find a current pix of Wolvie's son and clear some mix up from your PM I received. I hope you did not get into too much trouble with your dad;)
Chapter 5 – Confessions of an Ex
Thanksgiving Dinner – two hours after arrival
After a bunch of small talk and catching up with friends in between eating, everybody got curious on just how Eris knows Jean. "Well when Jean was fifteen turning sixteen, she and Charles came to visit Sydney, Australia, for a meeting with my father, Harrison. My dad is an architect and agreed to help Charles transfer the mansion into a school and board type setting. I was responsible for looking after Jean during the week since we are close in age," Eris looked to Jean for confirmation while everyone nearby listened attentively. "Come to find out that Jean has a similar telekinetic power as me and we showed a few tricks to each other. We also did some things that seem unnatural for Jean to be doin'."
"Such as . . .?" Rachel asked curiously about her mother's untold teenage stories.
With a devilish smile to Jean, Eris remembered how they celebrated Jean's sweet sixteen birthday. "When your mother turned sixteen, I took her to a bar to celebrate Aussie style. Since our drinkin' age is a lot younger than America, I decided to break her in early."
Jean now flushed red of embarrassment could only shake her head and cover her face with one hand, she swallowed her pride to listen where the story is going. "So anyways, I started Jean more of something easy. Beer. So far, she was able to handle it. Ya know for a sixteen year-old, you attracted a lot of guys back then."
"Oh please, she still does it now." Betsy said grinning at Jean. Everybody chuckled.
"So, as the time passed by talking and flirting our way for a free drink, Jean started to look at the mechanical bull near the back corner of the bar and . . ."
Cutting Eris off with widened eyes and covering her mouth, Jean knew what she is going to reveal and in a playfully threatening look not to tell anymore. "Eris, shut up!"
Ororo, Betsy, Jubilee, Logan, Kitty, Piotr, Rachel and Kurt all looked at Jean with jaws dropped and wide eyes of the partial revelation. "You rode a mechanical bull!" Jubilee said in her best high-pitched voice.
"Oh, God," Jean said since they put two and two together.
Getting Jean's hands away from her mouth and gave Jean a wicked smile. "See Ray, yer mom was not all that innocent to begin with." Everybody chuckled at the thought of Jean doing something completely out-of-character.
"Well continue on Doc. Was she any good?" Jubilee asked with excitement in her voice.
"Jubes!" Jean yelled to her for the prodding to get an answer.
Half-hugging Jean to comfort the embarrassing blow she is about to endure, Eris continued telling the story giggling all the way through. "Okay. So Jean eyes the mechanical bull in the back corner of the bar. And she nudges me that she wanted to try it out. I looked at her suspiciously and looked at the bull. I told her 'why not, it's yer birthday' and headed to the back. So, knowing the operator I asked him to do a favor and he obliged."
Jean was already turning bright red of utter embarrassment, but still listened to the story. "So Jean gets on the bull, wearing jeans; a black tank; and a straw cowboy hat, that I borrowed, and gave her the okay. At first it was a little jarrin' to watch, but as she got used to the motion, it was second nature. Actually, it was a little too second nature. If ya know what I mean," Eris said winking at Logan who cocked an eyebrow and a smirk. Others were just looking at each other confused.
"Are you finished yet?" Jean pleaded to Eris out of desperation.
"Aww, come on Jean. It wasn't that bad. Even if you gave many men the absolute fantasy they will always go back to," said Eris while still stroking Jean's back comforting her now humiliated friend. The others chuckled at Jean's embarrassment. After Eris's story of Jean's teen years, Betsy got curious of her friend about Jean's situation with Scott.
"So Jean. Now that you're back, are you going to fight to get your husband back?" Betsy bluntly said with a raised eyebrow.
Some of the people nearby heard the question and looked to Jean for an answer. Jean knew it was coming, but had a way to walk around it. Jean looked to Betsy sternly and holding her wine glass to her mouth, she says "Well, Betsy. I would prefer to have that conversation between family than to air out my business to everybody. I think it is wise to have that talk with the people involved in the marriage."
"So you won't reveal your plans of the state of your marriage," Betsy says while looking at Emma's reaction from the side.
"It will come in time. But for now, I have a dessert to scarf down."
Jean was satisfied with her actions since Betsy didn't press on with more questions. Although, the reason that Emma is becoming more peeved is that the many of the X-Men still see Jean married to Scott. It won't be for too long.
As the laughter died down, and the food all gone, everybody started to head out to their rooms. Rachel accompanied her mom to her guest room on the second floor. Rachel opened the door and turned the light on to reveal the room Jean will be staying temporarily. "I know it's not much now mom, but you kind of surprised us," Rachel said almost embarrassingly.
"It's okay Ray. I wasn't expecting much."
Jean put her luggage near the wardrobe and looked at Rachel seriously. Rachel sensed the immediate change in her mother's demeanor and looked at her sadly. "What's wrong mom?"
Jean heaved a deep breath, knowing what she is going to ask for. Jean gestured Rachel to sit on the bed. Jean couldn't sit. She was too anxious. "Ray, as you know . . . your father and I . . ."
"You're not gonna get back together, are you?"
"It's the best for the both of us. I mean, we weren't the same as before. Everything changed between us. And me being gone for this long to have Scott and Emma together, there's nothing to take back."
"So you're just giving up then?"
"Scott gave up on this relationship before Emma came. Somehow, I gave up trying." Jean looked down to the floor disappointed at the whole situation. Sensing Rachel's anger, she knew what is to come.
"But you can't just let her win!!" Rachel said nearly yelling.
"Ray, this is not a competition!"
"Your just going to let that bitch gloat all over this place on how she took dad away from you?!"
"What do you want me to say Ray?! I'm going to stay in a loveless marriage and be miserable the rest of my life?! Scott and I don't feel the same way towards each other anymore. This is the only way." Jean tried to calm down before the whole thing becomes heated. Unfortunately, Rachel doesn't see it the same way.
"I can't believe this mom. You're just going to throw everything away?!"
"That was your father's fault when he turned to Emma!"
Jean once again calmed down and looked towards her now defeated daughter. Jean sat down next to Rachel and comforted her by stroking her back. Rachel, now realizing that her mom and dad were not getting back together, she started to cry. Jean pulled her closer and rocked her back and forth. "Shh, sweetie. It's going to be okay. We'll work things out. We'll try to figure out how we can still all be under the same roof without going at each others throats. This is just going to be one of those obstacles we need to overcome."
Wiping her tears away, Rachel looked at her mother. "I don't want you guys to divorce."
Looking how hurt Rachel is, Jean kissed her on her forehead and hugged her. "I know. I don't think too many people do, but I don't know what else to do."
Sitting on the bed silently trying to calm both of their nerves, Jean took Rachel's chin for her to look up. "I'll tell you what. Eris and I are planning to go on an After-Thanksgiving shopping spree. You wanna come?"
Rachel smiled at the thought of shopping to clear her mind. "Can Kitty and Laura come?"
"Sure. I need to get to know you guys once again. What better time than to go shopping."
Mother and daughter smiled at each other and continued to comfort each other in their embrace. "I missed you mom."
"I missed you too."
Unbeknownst to them, Scott was out in the hallway listening to their conversation. He had a lot of thinking to do before he could talk to Jean about their break-up.
Day after Thanksgiving
After a long shopping day in the city, Jean; Eris; Ororo; Kitty; Rachel; and Laura, hauled their numerous shopping bags into the mansion. "Now that is what I call an economic improvement in the American system," Eris said as she tirelessly sat on a step on the foot of the staircase. "You guys really gave my Black Card some work out."
Ororo is leaning against the banister rubbing her sore foot. "Well, you did offer to pay Dr. Kingston."
"True, true. Well, let's see if I can haul these bags into my room," Eris looked up to the top of the stairs in agony. Slowly the girls all went up the stairs descending to their rooms.
As Jean unloads her many purchases on her bed, she heard a knock at her door. Pausing with what she was doing, she headed to the door to open it just to pause suddenly. She sensed Scott on the other side. She took a deep breath and turned the door knob just to see Scott with a nervous smile on his face. "Hi."
"Hi, Scott. Is there something you need?" Jean said with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Scott ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ground. "Can I talk to you?"
"Yeah, sure," Jean said and opened her door widely to let him in. This is it, Jean thought to herself.
Scott looked over to the bed where it was covered with shopping bags full of clothes and shoes. "I see you girls bought the whole store," Scott jokingly said.
Jean took a few steps away from the door, but enough space between Scott and her. She just smirked. Someone gained a little more of a sense of humor while I was gone, Jean thought. "You know us girls. We go all out when a big sale comes along," she sarcastically said. They both gave a nervous laugh. The two just looked at each other in silence and Jean broke eye contact because of the awkwardness that has occurred in time. Not sure how to act around him anymore, it is better off to start talking. "So, how are you and Emma doing?"
Surprised of the question, Scott just cocked an eye at her. "Um, we're doing good. Had some rough patches along the way, but we worked through it."
Jean nodded that he is doing well. "Good."
Another awkward silence permeated the room. "Look I . . .," they both said at the same time. They chuckled seeing how ridiculous it is getting. Scott gestured to Jean to sit down. Jean nodded and went over to the chair near the window. Scott took a seat on the edge of the bed facing Jean.
"Let me start by saying that it's good to see you again. Every one of us missed you."
Jean cocked an eyebrow at the comment. "Everyone?"
"Okay, maybe not everyone. But you know what I mean." Jean nodded in understanding and for him to continue on. "First of all, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I handled things with our marriage. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what I was thinking. Since the whole thing with Apocalypse, I don't know what to think anymore. I know I will feel guilty about how our marriage was handled until the day I die. I feel horrible for hurting you. But . . . do you have the heart to forgive me?" Scott looked away from Jean after his speech waiting for the massive blow of anger from Jean. It didn't come.
"I knew when our marriage was hitting rock bottom when you made a vow of celibacy to straighten things out in your head. It was a sign that you put a pause on our marriage. That everything that we had was on the back burner. Instead of facing the problem, I denied it and accepted your wishes," Jean said in a tone of sorrow. She now looked toward the window where the day was slowly dwindling into evening and reminisced her lonely days as a desperate housewife. "You asked for space, I gave you space. You asked for time, I gave you the time. I even gave up sex. For months, I put up a façade that I was okay when I wasn't. I remember one night when I tried to reach out for you and you brushed me away from my touch like I was a disease. I used to cry myself to sleep since then."
Listening to Jean's confession about her lonely months, it made him all the guiltier than ever. Jean continued her confession trying to hold in her tears. "When you do your morning routine and leave to let me sleep in a little more, I'm actually awake waiting for you to leave. Once you're gone, I go in the shower to wake myself up from a sleepless night. It just ends up me sliding down on the shower floor crying my eyes out. It was my way to try to get through the day without having a breakdown." Jean slowly turned to face Scott, now with his head hung low in guilt. "I'm not mad at you, Scott. I'm just disappointed. You went to Emma instead of me. You talked to her about our situation, not me. Hank was right. I should have dealt with our marriage problems earlier than later."
Scott looked up to see Jean close to crying. He moved off the bed and kneeled in front of her to get a good look at her. Scott lightly caressed Jean's cheek to get her attention. "I never meant to hurt you, Jean. I am so sorry that I put you through that. I didn't know. I didn't know . . .," Scott trailed off and he is come close to tearing up himself out of guilt.
Jean slowly took Scott's hand off her cheek and looked at him. "I can forgive you for the past, but it's impossible for me to forget Scott. Your betrayal will haunt me for the rest of eternity for me. And now I have to end it."
Jean got up from her seat and walked over to the wardrobe to pull out a brown briefcase. She pulled out a manila envelope and turned around to face Scott. Scott stood up from his position and followed Jean's moves. Jean walked over to Scott and handed him the envelope. He took it and looked at Jean with confusion. "Since nobody turned in an official death certificate because of circumstance, we're technically still married. Since you and Emma seemed to be doing well with each other, I figure this would be better for the both of us."
Scott opened the envelope which contained some legal documents. Knowing what it was, Scott was surprised that Jean had already signed it. He looked to Jean from the papers to make sure it is what she wanted. "A divorce, huh."
"It's better for the both of us. I've been gone long enough for you and Emma to have a relationship evolve. This way, I can move on."
Scott looked back at the papers making a decision if it would be rude to sign it right there and now or give it to her the next day. Sensing his thoughts, Jean answered his question. "You don't need to do it now. You can give it to me tomorrow."
"I don't know what to say."
"There's nothing else to say. This is a decision I made. This is what I want. We're better off this way."
Not knowing what else to say, they heard a knock on the door which slowly opened. "Jean, dinner is . . . oh. Hi, Scott," Eris embarrassingly said when she popped her head in through the door. "Is this a bad time? Because I can come back."
"No, it's fine. We we're just finishing up here. We'll be right down," Jean said with a small smile.
"Okay."
Eris left as she closed the door behind her. Jean looked back at Scott as he was putting the documents back in the envelope. "So . . . I guess I'll see you later."
"Yeah. I'll see you later, Jean." Scott headed out while Jean looked around her room. When he opened the door, he took one last look at Jean. "Jean? Can we go back what we used to be?"
Jean looked at Scott with a small smile and answered. "Well, we did start out as friends. I guess there's no harm in ending as one." Scott nodded and smiled at her answer and left closing the door behind him. All Jean could do before heading out is to take a deep breath.
Later that evening . . .
After dinner, Jean stayed downstairs for awhile listening to stories with others when she wasn't around. After dropping off Rachel to her room, Jean decided to take a bubble bath after a long day.
Jean prepared her bubble bath and lit two vanilla and lavender scented candles near her tub. Her hair tied in a loose bun and dipped her worn out body into the warm bath. After a few minutes of soaking and relaxing, she heard a knock on the door. Sensing that it's Logan, she telepathically invited him in. Don't worry Logan. The bubbles are covering me up well.
Logan slowly appeared into the candlelit bathroom brething in the light scented candles permeating in the air and leaned on to the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. A smile appeared on his face seeing Jean, in her most natural state, in the bath tub and a thought of her naked crossed his mind. Jean saw his subtle facial expression and had to disappoint him. "Well, it looks like I just fulfilled one of your fantasies. Too bad I'm not getting out of this tub until you're gone," Jean said with a wicked smile on her face.
"Damn, Red. That hurts," Logan replied with the same sarcastic tone and a hand over his heart expressing his pseudo heartache. "So, I smelled that One-Eye was in yer room. You okay?"
"Yeah. We just had that talk of things to come."
Logan walked over to the tub and sat on the edge, expressing his concern. "And? How did he take it?"
"Besides that I made him even guiltier about what he had done, I think he is dealing with it well."
"So, no temper tantrums?"
"Why is it that you have doubts that I can't control my temper? Do you see any burned up walls or broken glass?!" Jean glared at Logan with his question of doubt.
Logan sensed a bit of anger and decided not to provoke her even more. "I'm not sayin' ya can't control ya temper. It's just ya tend to do it sometimes." Logan tried to give Jean his best smile, but all she could do is shake her head.
"You know, you're kind of ruining my bath here Logan," Jean said half jokingly.
Waving his hands up pretending to be offended, Logan started to get up. "Geez, I know when I'm not wanted."
"Logan . . ."
Logan chuckled at the sympathetic tone of Jean's voice. "I just came by to see if yer okay."
"I'm fine Logan, thanks."
"Okay. Well, I'll leave ya to yer bath or do ya want me to stay to help ya . . . dry off?"
Cocking an eyebrow knowing that Logan is back to his old tricks with her, Jean just chuckled and threw a washcloth at him and playfully said "Get out of here you little perv!"
"Night Jeannie," Logan said while he chuckled his way out of her room.
"Good night, Logan."
That's chapter 5. Please review. I'm still working on chapter 6. I'm stuck on how Emma is trying ask for forgiveness from Jean. I can see how it starts and ends, but not the middle. What do you guys want?