She was going to just change her shirt and maybe fix her hair. That was all.
Unfortunately, changing shirt and fixing hair somehow managed to turn into full-scale shower, change outfit twenty times, put on some lipstick, eyeliner would be nice too, spritz perfume, find those cute shoes that you never had the opportunity to wear before, and, oh yeah, that necklace and earrings set would go nicely with the outfit you finally choose to wear.
She ran down the stairs in the most ungraceful manner ever for a girl in a skirt and heels. She was glad that everyone's attention was on someone else at the time.
She skidded to a stop at sight of a hysterically laughing Logan, bent over and clutching his stomach, in the foyer while everyone just watched him with amused expressions on their faces. Well, everyone but Scott, who seemed to find none of this funny.
"What's going on?" Rogue whispered to Jubilee.
"Oh, the usual: Logan laughing at Scott. You missed the introductions, you know. The little girl's Margaret but she likes to be called Maggie. She looks like she's got a real death grip on his hand, doesn't she? And the baby -- oh, gross, is he drooling on his shirt? -- his name is Jack. But I think the best part of it was when the Professor got all flustered and didn't know what to call John. It was like a scene out of Chinatown, I swear. He's John...no, he's Ben...John...Ben...John...Ben... Real classic comedy being acted out right here in the mansion, I'm telling you."
"So what do we call him?"
"John Ben? J.B.? Amnesia Boy?"
"Jubilation..."
"He said to just call him John. Said something about getting used to the name and all, you know?" Jubilee's attention had been on Logan the whole conversation but she turned slightly to look at her friend when she noticed Rogue's shoes. "Are those new shoes?" she asked. "Wait a minute, did you change?"
"Just my shirt." Rogue kept her eyes glued to the still laughing Logan but she could feel her face turning hot under Jubilee's stare.
"I'm pretty sure you were wearing jeans this morning. Are you...are you wearing perfume?" Jubilee sniffed the air around Rogue and tried to smother her giggles. "You are! And you're finally wearing that skirt I bought for you!"
"Shut up."
Jubilee just chuckled lightly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed. I wouldn't dare tell anyone that you made a conscious effort to look pretty for anyone."
"Yeah, right," Rogue scoffed. "This coming from the reigning gossip queen of Westchester county."
Jubilee just grinned happily but Rogue wasn't paying attention to her anymore. She fleetingly noted that all the X-Men were here -- huh, when did Hank arrive? -- but she was more interested someone else.
And there he was, standing by the door, looking more than a little uncomfortable.
He was holding his baby in one arm -- Jack was sucking on the ends of John's shirt lapels, a big goofy toothless smile on his face. The little girl she remembered from the museum was practically glued to John's side, clutching his free hand to her chest. She had a mixture of alarm and curiosity expressed on her face as she watched Logan doubled over in laughter. There were two dogs sitting quietly next to them.
"It's not that funny, Logan," Scott said crossly.
"The hell it's not! It's frickin' hilarious!"
"It's just a coincidence, all right?"
"Coincidence, my eye! He's even got the same hairdo as you!" Logan was pointing to the smaller dog, a Pomeranian who just cocked its head at him.
"She." It was the first time John spoke since Rogue came stumbling down the stairs.
"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Scott the dog is a girl? Oh God, this is even better..." Rogue didn't think it was possible for a person to laugh as much and as hard as Logan did at this particular moment. So that's what a tomato and a wolverine hybrid would look like, she thought as Logan's face gradually became more and more red from laughter.
The other dog, the bigger dog, started to bark at Logan and jumped on his back.
"Logan, down!"
Everyone fell silent as they just looked at John in amazement. Did he just tell Logan to get down?
It took a moment for them to realize that he was actually talking to the dog.
"You named your other dog Logan?" Jean asked, disbelief written all over her face.
It was now Scott's turn to laugh hysterically. "How do you like them apples?" he yelled out to Logan who suddenly became very very quiet.
"So you have dogs named Scott and Logan," Jubilee said. "Huh...what are the odds of that happening?"
"Err...well, we just kept the name the shelter gave Logan. Scott...actually, Scottie...she was my wife's dog. She named her."
"Sorry..." Logan said contritely. Scott stopped laughing then too, looking a little embarrassed.
"No, it's all right. It's actually...it is pretty funny. You guys do actually look like the dogs, you know?"
Logan looked at the dog that jumped on him and realized that the dog did indeed look like him. "What is he? Part wolf?"
"I think the shelter told us that he's a mix breed, part Husky, part Labrador, or something like that. He's very easygoing. Likes to wander off a bit though..."
There was a pause in the conversation then, an awkward silence descended on the group. Rogue was reminded of the other time when there was an awkward silence, a long time ago.
John cleared his throat -- obviously he never got over his dislike of these kinds of silences, Rogue thought. "So you don't get along with him, huh?"
Logan snorted. "That's putting it mildly."
"You know that's funny too."
"Why's that?"
"Because the dogs -- they love each other."
"What?!" Logan and Scott said together.
"Yeah, they groom each other. When Logan wanders off, Scottie will follow him. Sometimes Logan will let Scottie ride on his back. They'll be curled up next to each other when they go to bed too."
"Oh my God, they sleep together!" Kitty exclaimed. "Do they snuggle too?"
"All the time," John grinned. "We were even thinking about having one of those doggie commitment ceremonies for them."
Everyone started to laugh, even the Professor couldn't suppress his snickering.
It was probably the only time that Logan and Scott could agree something -- this was not so funny anymore.
--
Rogue and Jubilee took John on the grand tour of the mansion. Maggie was still holding onto his hand, refusing to let go even with the promise of a popsicle and the chance to meet and play with the other kids here. Jack had fallen asleep a long time ago, still drooling on John's shirt.
"So that was the kitchen. I guess we should show you where you'll be staying," Jubilee said. "It's upstairs. I think the Professor gave you guys one of the bigger rooms. So...um...let's go upstairs!"
Jubilee let John walk ahead before pulling Rogue aside for a moment. "You know, feel free to jump in anytime, Rogue. I mean, what the hell? Are you going to say anything?"
"Wh...what are you talking about?"
"We're suppose to be doing this together, Rogue! And your mumbled responses are leaving much to be desired." Jubilee sighed dramatically when Rogue didn't have an answer to that. "Just...just try to think of something to say, all right? It's getting a little weird with me doing all the talking."
Rogue gave her an incredulous look.
"Yes, I did say it was getting weird with me doing all the talking! I'm not that big of a motor-mouth, okay? I, too, like the other person to talk also. I believe that's what they call a conversation. And besides that, you really want me to point out that I'm not the one who got all gussied up for a certain someone's big arrival?"
Rogue gave her a disgruntled look. "All right, all right. I'll try to be more...conversational."
"Um...you guys coming?" John called out from the top of the stairs.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Jubilee responded. "We're coming!"
Jubilee and Rogue hurried up the stairs and continued the tour.
"So...that way is the girl's dormitories and that way is the boy's. But you'll be over here with the staff. This is my room, I share it with Kitty," Jubilee said, pointing to the door decorated top to bottom with pictures cut out of magazines -- pictures of various celebrities. "Err...she's such a celebrity hound, that Kitty. Nothing but gossip gossip gossip with her... If you ever feel the need to know who's dating whom in Hollywood, she'd be your source! Heh..." Jubilee laughed nervously. "Anyways, that's Rogue's room over there. Rogue? Don't you have something say?"
"Uh...yeah, that's my room."
Jubilee rolled her eyes at her weak response. "And over here's your room."
She opened the door for all of them, mouthing the word 'lame' to Rogue as she passed by.
They stood in the middle of the room, looking around.
"There's an adjoining room over here. Err...bathroom, closet, bed, dresser... Oh crap, Peter was suppose to put together a crib for you. That idiot... I'm going to go find him and tell him off for you. Rogue, you continue the tour, I'll be right back." And with that, Jubilee was out the door.
"Jubilee!" The door had already slammed shut and Rogue had to turn back to look at him, a sheepish look on her face. "Uh...sorry about that."
John just stared at her, his brow furrowing slightly. "I remember you...from somewhere."
"You do?" she squeaked out.
Rogue felt her heart beat faster. He remembers me? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God...
Maggie tugged on his hand, making him bend down slightly. She cupped her small hands around his ear and whispered something to him.
"That's right. Now I remember," he said, straightening and shifting Jack over to his other arm. Maggie didn't have his hand to hold onto anymore so she just clung to the ends of his shirt with both hands. She hid herself behind her father but still looked at Rogue, a small shy smile curving her lips. "You were at the museum."
Ego deflated, Rogue tried to hide her disappointment. "Um...yeah, I was." She paused for a moment, trying to decide what to say next. "That was your wife with you...that day?"
"What? Oh, right. She was there too, wasn't she?" He looked lost in memory for a second before chuckling, "She thought you were my ex-girlfriend or something."
Rogue forced out a laugh. "Funny."
God hates me, she thought.
As if he could sense her discomfort -- or maybe he didn't want to talk about his wife anymore, she didn't know which -- he changed the subject. "So...are you a teacher here too?"
"Uh...yeah. Jubilee and I teach the kindergarten class here. Well, not so much teach but try to keep them occupied for most of the day." She paused for a moment, looking at Maggie who was still hiding behind her father. "Oh, hey, your daughter should be able to join us. We're doing finger-painting next week. She can come if she wants to."
He turned slightly to look down at Maggie who decided that suddenly the hem of her father's shirt was very interesting. "What do you think, Maggie? You want to try it out? Maybe meet some new friends?"
Her response was to bury her face into his side and her hands reaching out to cling to his arm that was holding up her sleeping brother.
"Come on, Maggie. Remember how much you liked going to pre-school?" Maggie just burrowed herself further, shaking her head 'no.' "Maybe some other time."
"Well...um...the invitation's open, if she wants to come later."
"Thanks."
It was a start, Rogue thought. She had a normal conversation with him, managed not to make too much of a fool out of herself, and also restrained herself from shaking him and demanding to know why he couldn't remember anything or anyone.
Yes. It was a very good start.
--
She couldn't sleep.
Not that she hadn't tried. She counted sheep, cows, the cracks in the walls and on the ceiling (probably should tell the Professor about those), back to sheep, then finally decided maybe a breath of fresh air was what she really needed.
She slipped out of the mansion quietly and walked aimlessly around the grounds.
After ten minutes of wandering, she realized she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.
He was standing at the edge of one of the koi ponds that dotted the gardens Storm had meticulously planned out. He was throwing bits of bread into the pond; she knew that Storm would not approve but didn't try to stop him. It looked therapeutic for him and she wasn't going to be the one to tell him that Storm had these fishes on a strict diet and feeding schedule.
He turned away from the thrashing fish, the last of the bread long gone now, and saw her standing on top the small hill that overlooked the pond. She started to descend towards him. She stopped when she was standing in front of him.
They stood there, just looking at each other. Him, curious about who exactly she was and what part of his past she fit into and wondering what she was going to do next because she seemed to be the most interesting one out of all the people he had met so far at this place. Her, wondering if reading all those trashy romance novels Jubilee had given her on her birthday had finally eaten through her brain because she couldn't think of anything to say to him, not even something lame and stupid like 'how are you?' or 'what's going on?' or 'still can't remember anything, huh?'
She instead choose to impulsively kiss him.
When she finally pulled back from his lips, she saw the look of surprise on his face and she blushed something fierce when she realized what she had done.
"Don't say anything," she implored. Then she started to run away, her hair flying behind her. She turned back briefly to yell out to him, "Welcome home!"