2
It's one o' clock in the afternoon when Laura and Kenny's cab reaches the Institute. The surroundings on the drive here have somewhat relaxed the former—country settings. She knows
her creators prefer to create their facilities in cities, as a snub to the authorities who cannot detect them. She's pointed out a few cows and a horse to Kenny on their way here; the little girl was delighted.
They arrive at the gates, and Laura studies the large, stone structure ahead of them. It looks like a proper school. It has a massive lawn and forests behind it; she sees a basketball court
on the side. No one is outside, but she suspects that is because it's pouring cats and dogs out right now.
She approaches the side of the gate, and finds a speaker box. Below it is a button; she presses it.
"Xavier's Institute, do you have an appointment?" It's Jean's voice.
"Uh—yeah," Laura says.
"Oh, hi Laura! Come in!" The gate makes a sound, the driver yells for her to get back in the car. She complies, and the cab makes its way up the long gravel driveway.
…
"I'm so pleased to meet you!" the redheaded lady, Jean says, with a brilliant smile. "What a beautiful little girl! Her name is Kenny, right?"
"Yes," Laura says, overwhelmed by so much hospitality at once. The inside of the school is very impressive; she really hadn't expected such finery in an institution for poverty cases.
"How old is she?" Jean coos, all eyes for Kenny, who is sucking her thumb in her mother's arms.
"Six months." Laura pauses. "She's really bright," she says, a little proudly. Laura doesn't like to volunteer information about her charge, for fear that somebody will clue
into the fact that she and her daughter are different.
"I'll bet she is. Come on, I want to show you everything." Jean starts down the corridor.
"What—you're personally showing me?" Laura is surprised.
"Why not?" Jean asks, smiling. "Someone else is covering the phones for me. I want to reassure you that this isn't some kind of workhouse or messy end for you two. If you
end up trusting us…we can help you change your whole life. It happened for me."
"Really?" Laura asks, following her.
"I was a prostitute and a drug addict about three years ago," Jean says without shame. "I had these horrible headaches, so I took everything under the sun to get away from it. Didn't
have a great background either…you know how it goes. But I completed Office Assistance courses here, and Xavier hired me as his head secretary. In exchange for such a sweet set-up,
I put in about fifteen volunteer hours in a week. It's easy stuff, makes me feel great, and life's good."
"How does he pay for all of this?" Laura asks. They are entering a room containing a massive wooden staircase—possibly mahogany—with thick rugs, oil paintings, and a black-and-white
checkered floor, probably ceramic. Everything is well-maintained.
"Xavier is a billionaire," Jean says. "The school runs on the money he makes off investments, and volunteer work. Donations too, but that's not as reliable a source. We hold
fundraisers—Xavier's can sure throw a good party. Oh, by the way, this is the grand staircase. Upstairs are the hallways to the dormitory wings, and the offices."
They move on to the next room. "This is the library," Jean says, showing Laura a room chock full of books. Several people are in it, gathered around a coffee table, discussing something;
they're all holding the same book. Laura notices they are about her age, and come from obviously different walks of life.
Moving on, Jean leads her past what she calls the 'Rec room'. There is a large, forty-two inch flatscreen TV playing a movie; the room is accordingly dark. Several people are eating popcorn.
Laura inhales deeply. She'd once eaten popcorn, with a cousin; she likes it, but doesn't own a microwave or a stove and therefore can't make it herself. She pauses—Kenny stiffens
too, looking at her—and sniffs the air again. There's something familiar. Ah-hah! she thinks vindictively. It's Kenny's father, Poo head. She can't see him in the room—she doesn't think
he is actually present—but she can smell that he has been here before, just recently.
"And now for the other rec room, with the pool table," Jean says.
…
Julian freezes, clutching the pop can so hard he's dented it. It's her, and the kid, with Jean.
He's standing in the kitchen, rooted to the spot. He'd better move soon, because the kitchen is on the initial tour, and he sure as hell doesn't want to talk to Laura. Not here,
at least. He really, really wants to hide his presence at the school from her. This is because Laura became so invasive into his life that she threatened to reveal his secrets. He'd
had to leave when she'd become violent, throwing dishes at his head and screaming that he was a 'fucking, cheating, lying piece of shit'. She is perfectly sweet and stable
with the kid; it's him she can't handle.
It's not his fault he's in a mess with her. Well, not really. He was in a very bad place when she'd approached him, on a rooftop. He'd flown up there to think, to cry over the
deaths of a few of his best friends. They had been mutants, like himself, and had been executed by a hate group called the Purifiers. He'd been vulnerable, and with
dead friends, he had no one to turn to.
Laura had approached him and offered him consolation in the form of distraction; despite his better instincts, he'd followed her into a cheap hotel room and they'd
done stuff. Safely, of course; he wasn't a complete idiot.
After that night, Xavier had approached him and given him a card; he'd accepted the offer gratefully, and had moved to the Institute, off the streets. And then one
day—five months later—on an errand for the school during his volunteer time—he'd run straight into disaster, which was the late second-trimester Laura, in dire straights.
Of course he'd argued that she was a prostitute and it couldn't be his; she'd come right back and said that she'd begun feeling sick that morning. He did remember her
puking before he'd left the hotel. And she claimed she'd been on the rag two days before, and he was her first home-run client since. Then he'd asked about abortions,
and she'd (of course) been pro-choice. Putting the onus on him to come up with a way to support them.
He'd been afraid to reveal to her that he was a mutant—what if she betrayed him for money from some bounty hunter?—so he'd spoken with Xavier, and the man had
helped him support the girl and the kid. For a while, Julian had tried to live with her, helping her when she was too pregnant to do normal things herself; when the
situation turned almost life-threatening, Julian had left. He'd been back once or twice to check on them; he'd paid her rent, and slipped envelopes under the door,
full of money Xavier had given him. Julian figures she is the most expensive prostitute ever, seeing as he now pays a lifetime subscription for one night.
And now she's here, at the school. He's frozen with fear. He takes a moment to calm himself down, then decides to visit her at the apartment tonight. He'll give her
money and warn her off the institute.
…
Laura freezes. Kenny pouts; a spoonful of food is hanging in the air, inches away, because her mother is now looking at the door. The girl makes a supreme effort and clamps onto the spoon;
Laura lets her have it, then sets it down and creeps to the door.
Knock knock.
Laura knows it is not someone from the facility, as she feared. It's him. She takes a deep breath, composes herself. As much as she doesn't want to see him, she should not cut him off if he attempts
to approach her and Kenny. He is the other option to give her daughter a livelihood.
She opens the door.
"Hi," Julian says, looking awkward. He hasn't changed much; his hair is perhaps a little longer. His eyes dart past her to Kenny, who is now banging the spoon on her feeding table.
"Oh look…it's Poo head," Laura says sarcastically. "He's come back for more. Kenny, want to do some target practice?"
Julian looks annoyed. "Watch what you teach the kid about me. You're really gonna screw her up."
"She's already screwed up beyond belief," Laura says. "I don't see what harm telling her the truth will do."
He rummages in his coat pocket. Laura hears jingling. Then he pulls out a folded envelope.
"This should cover things," he says, and hands it to her. Laura raises her eyebrows. "Thank you," she says stiffly. It's more humiliating than being paid for sex services. "About time. I ate my last
piece of bread last weekend, and Kenny is out of food." The bottle she is eating came from the institute.
"I thought it was enough. I tried to calculate stuff last time." Julian pauses. "I hit up the landlord again and paid him, too," Julian says.
"What do you mean 'again'?" she asks. "I paid it last time, with the money you gave me."
A pause. "He's a dirty fuck," Julian says, realizing what's occurred.
"Watch your language!" Laura snaps. A tiny, enthusiastic 'fuck!' is heard from the table, in the background. Kenny sounds truly delighted.
Julian closes his eyes and sighs. "I'm sorry."
"That's the first apology I've heard lately," Laura says, sneering.
"What do you want? I—oh, forget it. Look, I just came to gave you the money…and warn you."
"About?"
Julian pauses. "There's some sicko named Xavier targeting single moms, right now. He—"
"I know a lie when I hear one," Laura cuts him off. "I saw you at the Institute, today." She's sure as hell not telling him that she smelled him.
"Oh." Julian wavers. "Look…just don't come, okay? I'll bring you money. You got up in my business too much last time, and—"
"No, I will not do that," Laura says angrily. "Our daughter deserves a chance like this. I'm not going to rob her of it. And neither are you. You need to man up and step up to the
plate." She pauses. "And, quite frankly, I fail to see how I 'got up in your business last time'."
Julian leans against the doorframe. "You interrogated me when I left the place, and when I came back. You went through my clothes. When you thought you found evidence,
you screamed and attacked me."
"I'd just had a baby," Laura says. "And I thought you were cheating."
"We didn't even have a relationship," Julian points out. Kind of something she'd never wanted to hear, seeing as she did like him and all. Laura remembers the sinking feeling she'd
had at the thought that there was someone he did love. Someone else.
"Well, I didn't know that," Laura says. She's holding her elbows.
"I was just taking care of the trouble I caused you. I don't even know you." Julian shifts. There's a lot he doesn't know about this girl that he's in a mess with; they never talked
much. "I wasn't cheating, anyways. I was going to the Institute, to volunteer. But I didn't want you to know."
"Oh." Laura pauses. "Why?"
"Because…" Julian wrinkles his nose. "There's stuff about me that I didn't want to share with you…and I still don't, not really."
"Like what?"
"None of your business," he says.
"That's your daughter. I have a right to know what you're tied up in." Laura's eyes are angry; if he's got bad people looking for him, and they find out he has a daughter…
Julian is evidently having the same thought. He takes a deep breath; maybe he should tell her, seeing as their kid would probably inherit some of his qualities. He wavers, then decides to
just get it over with. Whatever happens will happen.
"You ever heard of mutants?" he asks.
Laura freezes. "Yes," she says cautiously. She thinks he might mean her. She prepares to deny it vehemently, slam the door in his face, get Kenny and run before the hate groups find her.
"Well, that's me," he says.
Silence. Laura blinks. This was not what she expected at all, in any sense of the word. On his side, Julian waits for her to start yelling. He knows she can't call the police as she doesn't
have a phone; but she could raise a ruckus and then the landlord might call.
The Purifiers tap the Police communications network.
"Oh," Laura says. Suddenly, some things make sense. She considers. "Come in," she says.
…
"So Xavier's is really a mutant school?" she asks. They're sitting at the table, Kenny now in her crib, snoring slightly. And Laura has shared some pertinent information with him.
About her being different, too.
"Yeah." Julian pauses. "You'd fit right in." Now that he doesn't have to conceal his difference from Laura, he doesn't feel so urgently that she must stay away. She won't get him in
trouble. Well, any more than she already has. His eyes move briefly to the girl in her crib.
"I'm planning to," Laura says. She hesitates. "Look…I overreacted. Before."
Julian stiffens. She's talking about the big fight.
"I might've gotten a little crazy. I was mixed up physically…and here I thought you were cheating." She pauses. "I kind of liked you."
"Oh." Julian runs a hand through his hair. "You and me, we just don't work. We clash. It's just a personality thing."
"It was situational," Laura argues. She hesitates, then reaches across the table and threads her fingers into his hair. He freezes, winces slightly.
"Laura…when we…I went with you as a distraction. I really needed something else to think about, and you helped me. I didn't care about the sex…it was having someone else to
be around. That's why I came with you." He pauses. "No offence…but I don't want to date a prostitute."
"I'm not one anymore." Laura looks him in the eye. "You changed that, you sure did. And I'm going to train to be something else, so I never will have to be one again. It wasn't like
I wanted to be one, but what do you do when you've got no one and nothing but the clothes on your back?"
Julian looks at the table.
"It doesn't change what you were," he says, strained.
"Do you even like me?" Laura asks, insulted. She pulls away and stares at him, her face twisted slightly.
Julian takes about a minute, his mouth opening and closing as he thinks of different things to say. "Laura…I…that's a loaded question…a really loaded question…" he says finally,
looking confused. Like he hasn't even thought about it much.
"Answer me." Laura folds her arms. It hadn't occurred to her that it hadn't occurred to him. Now that was a long sentence that barely made sense to her.
"No. Maybe. I don't know." He sighs. "Like I said, it's a loaded question. You're a loaded question. I think...maybe…if I had met you a different way. It's just too hard to get over the
fact that you're a smart girl, and you let men do whatever they wanted to you—for money. That's just dumb. And you sometimes behave trashy—and you dress trashy. And you're
always putting me down."
"You like that," Laura says, surprised. He'd laughed, in the past, when she did it. Sometimes he'd ruffled her hair affectionately; now, thinking back, that hadn't really been something
someone did to their partner. She didn't like the other things he'd said, but that part (oddly) concerned her most.
"I like it when it's a joke. Sometimes—a lot of the time—you weren't joking."
"I just had a baby claw it's way out of my butt. Excuse me for being cranky!" Laura snaps.
Julian sneers. "That's not a reason to throw a plate at my head."
"I told you. I was mixed up. I admit I shouldn't have thrown things. Everyone makes mistakes," Laura says. She hesitates. "We could try again," she says. "Unless there's someone else."
"Uh—" Julian's instincts tell him to lie. "No, I'm not seeing anyone."
Laura waits.
"Look, I just don't know, okay? This is a lot to take in. I haven't even spent much time with positive thoughts about you. When we met—I was grieving. I barely paid attention. After—all
I could think about was 'holy fu—dge, I'm a dad, and a real sh—um, crappy one at that'. I didn't have time to notice you."
He pauses. "I'm sorry."
"Well, we have a child," Laura says. "That's kind of a thing we have in common right there. We could go from there. I like you…we could go from there." She pauses. "Of everyone I had to
service…I'm glad it was you that knocked me up."
"Er, thanks," Julian says awkwardly. He's just been told he's a prostitute's best customer; is that like being told he's not a severe asshole but a mild one? He shifts. "I guess…we could try,"
he says, after a while, in a small voice. "I can't promise you I'm going to fall for you. We can try raising the kid together, at least. But if you try to hurt me again, it's a no go. And you can't
tell people you were my hooker."
Laura tilts her head. It's not a big victory—he's basically told her he doesn't even care if she lives or dies—but it's something at least. "I'm not lying about myself to please you," she says.
"I said my hooker," he repeats.
"Oh. Fine." Laura hesitates, then leans across the table and kisses him on the cheek, sort of to seal the deal. He stiffens.
"I should go," he says. "It's late and I've got a long ride back to the institute."
"Stay," Laura says. "We can go there in the morning together."
He hesitates. "Where do I sleep?"
"In the toilet, where you belong. Kidding, kidding. With me."
"Oh." Julian thinks for a moment. "Okay."
After this they go to the plain twin bed—quietly so as not to wake Kenny—and sit down. Julian immediately lays down, hoping she won't expect anything; he's really not in the mood. He's still thinking
of her as a hooker, and that thought just kills him and any kind of arousal he might feel. Laura pulls off her pants, tosses them on the floor, but then turns off the light and lays down as well.
"Goodnight," she says.
"Night," he replies, relaxing a bit. He thinks, long and hard, as he hears Laura begin to snore a bit. He doesn't think he'll ever manage to sleep—and with that thought, he does.
…
The next morning, they set out for the mansion, after settling accounts with Laura's landlord, and packing up the few items she and Kenny own—half of which were the latter's. Julian sits in the front
seat of the cab, and she notes that he tries to be put as much space between himself and her as is physically possible in each situation.
She catches his eyes, though, in the passenger mirror when grins over Kenny's mind blowing enthusiasm as they pass a cow.
"Wish life was that simple again, hey?" he says, perhaps a bit embarrassed at his reaction. Julian is afraid to admit he finds Kenny as cute as a button; he fears to be involved with her, or Laura, or
any of this. But he's doing it, and she guesses that is what really counts.
"Yeah," Laura says, looking out the window again.
At the mansion, Charles Xavier greets them in the foyer, beaming and telling Laura he's so glad she's giving them a chance. Jean is with him; she suggests that since Julian is already established,
she could just move in with him.
Xavier says that's a wonderful idea. They beam and Laura has a fleeting image of their faces cracking apart from so much smiling.
Julian clears his throat. He does not want this, but at the same time he finds it impossible to say no. He's responsible, he put his dick in it and now he has to suffer the consequences. He decides he'll
leave it up to Laura. If she needs the help, she can have it.
"That sounds good," Laura says cautiously. She thinks it will be better for Kenny, to see her two parents together and treating each other civilly. Less chance for her to have problems later on. She
thinks briefly of her mother, and then of later, the pale, stiff face, like a dead bird. Gone.
…
"I've got it," Julian says, lifting the crib mentally. This moving day has been the first time he's moved anything with his mind in front of Laura, and he's still a bit nervous. What if she freaks
out? She tends to say and do exactly what she's thinking, like she doesn't care about what other people will feel about her actions.
The crib floats by her; she hesitates, then reaches into the green field. When she pulls her hand away, it is pink, like its been vigorously massaged by the energy. "It tickles," she says,
smiling. Kenny sucks her thumb shyly in her other arm.
"POO!" Kenny squeaks suddenly, waving at Julian.
Laura doesn't answer her, and the latter affects not to notice this transgression. It's going to be hard to break the baby's earlier training, as on lonely, angry nights she had sat beside Kenny
with the one picture she had of Julian and taught her to call him 'poo head'.
"Here good?" He is indicating a corner beside the large bed. Laura nods, liking the fact that it's near the window.
"I think that's it," she says. Her few possessions—three tattered outfits—have been moved to Julian's closet, and the box of Kenny's toys are sitting on his study desk. That was all she
owned. A mini fridge had been purchased and stocked with baby food by the institute, along with a changing table and a supply of diapers. Building the table had been quite a challenge,
and Julian had gotten mad several times and kicked it over.
"Awesome. I've got Law now." He picks up a small stack of books off a chair and heads for the door, then pauses. "You can use my computer and start looking at what you want to do,"
he suggests. "I'll be back in about three hours." He gives her a very small smile.
"Okay," she says, smiling back. She watches him go, then puts Kenny in her crib. She already knows what she wants to do for a career: she wants to help children in need, since no one
helped her when she needed it. Also, it would be the kind of job that Kenny could attend with her at times.
Laura sits down at the desk and turns the computer on, thinking how much has changed in the past few days. For the better, at last. There will be challenges, but she's determined to
make it work, and she's also realized that, very luckily, Julian is not a bad guy and will probably make a good partner in rearing Kenny. Maybe he'll grow to like her, too.
Kenny snores.