Shortie didn't eat her breakfast of eggs, bacon, and blueberries. It had been prepared in an allusion to the day's holiday: American Independence Day. She took the fruit off her plate and walked out of the dining area back to her room. She noticed many American themed centerpieces on every table she passed by, glittering in the good old red, white, and blue. She was familiar with the holiday; the park she lived in had always displayed spectacular fireworks for all spectators to witness with their families. She could only recount one clear memory of fireworks in the park. Running around with the other children in the dirt had concealed her identity of a riffraff and solidified her distaste for other children and fireworks when one had handed her the burned end of a used sparkler. She didn't have the scar anymore, but she remembered the burn clearly.
She reached her room as soon as Logan had pulled a shirt over his torso. He reprimanded her to knock before entering, making her giggle. He had only slightly frightened her one time, that being when she wandered off without permission a few miles away from the estate. "Don't give me a reason to scare you, kid."
"You don't scare me, daddy."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a scary monster that loves me." Damn, she knew where she stood.
Soon enough noon came around. Shortie was with Ororo in her room. Ororo had taken the liberty of getting Shortie her first bathing suit. She had gotten three of the same design, a simple black one piece with a dressy flow over the pelvic region, making it look like a little black dress. The smallest size had fit her perfectly. Ororo beamed at the cute girl, proud of her guess work. She led the girl to the pool outside, where multiple mutants were swimming in the blistering sun. Shortie opted to sit on a chair shaded by an umbrella whereas Ororo jumped straight in for a dive, figure working nicely in her newly bought bikini, with students and staff alike admiring her glistening skin.
Logan had found a chair and pulled up next to Shortie with two water bottles in hand.
Classes were postponed to make time to celebrate Independence Day indefinitely, complete with a cookout scheduled from noon until midnight. Staff was to chapperone, but were told that later into the night the students would be led inside, permitting the adults to not have to deal with a completely dry party. The pool was being freshly cleaned to be trashed again, a huge grill was being scraped, the grass was freshly cut (only by coincidence). There had been a stash of fireworks to be ignited by around ten or so, carefully hidden away from the knowledge and grasp of mischievous students for the school's first year of displaying them.
Logan could tell that Shortie was both hot and bored. She drank her water within a few seconds, crushing the bottle when she was done. She laid her head on her arms, feeling the drowsiness from the sun take effect.
Logan shook her lightly, "You shouldn't lay in the sun without sunscreen, you could get sunburn." He looked around and found a stash of sunscreen bottles at the table at the other side of the pool. As he walked over, the women of the facility had been exclaiming not so subtle flirtations aimed at him. It was hot enough for him to wear shorts and a wife beater, but not enough to take of the boots. The odd fashion sense only served to entice the girls even more, to his embarrassment. He had grabbed a bottle and scurried over to their table, squirting the lotion on his hand, then finally getting it on Shortie's back, legs, arms, and face areas.
"You know how to swim yet?" He asked as he rubbed the last bit in her face. She muffled a no. When he finished, she lowered her head again with intention to take a nap. He shook her alert, earning him a stink eye.
"Come on, I'll get in with you. I can teach you how to swim if you want."
She peered over to the pool, noticing a vacant shallow end. She nodded her head, then he took her hand and walked to the steps leading in. She was a bit wary at first, but descending into the water only felt like a cool bath to her. She stopped going in when the third stair cut her off at her collar bone, then retracted back to the first step. Logan was halfway in the shallow end before he looked to see her standing defiantly on the step.
"Why aren't you coming in?"
"Too many people."
"They're all in the deep end, they ain't gonna bother us. Get out and jump in, I'll catch you."
She was a bit apprehensive but nonetheless complied and walked to the base of the shallow end. His arms were already extended for her as she reconsidered. He started giving her his own stern glare, which proved to be the perfect incentive to jump. As soon as she hit the water she was in his arms, laughing with unexpected joy. She chimed for to do it again, and did so, about seven more times after. Logan decided that now would be more appropriate to incorporate some swimming lessons.
"It's real easy, kid. Just reach your arm over like this," He raised an arm over his head, hand cupped, "then you hit in in the water, do the same with the other arm, and kick your legs the whole time."
He held her in place while she practiced the mechanics of it. She was bored of the exercise shortly, requesting that their lesson stopped and for her to wade around on the steps since she couldn't touch the bottom with her feet. He carried her over and sat on the ledge. Ororo had since made her way out of the water, still receiving cat calls (which she didn't completely disgust) from horny young men.
Shortie had known that today was Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, but Logan had forgotten to explain the significance of the holiday. When she asked, he simply explained that today marked the anniversary of the United States officially declaring themselves a country rather than a part of the British Empire of the eighteenth century. He made it brief and frank, knowing that even though she was of above average intelligence, she was still too young to learn of the paradoxes and circumstances of the whole ordeal. In a quick reiteration, he stated that this day was centered on American freedom. She had tried to recount similar events and stigmas of the era.
"When did slavery end?" She inquired.
"1863. Why?"
"How can today be about freedom if we still had slaves? That's just stupid."
He looked at her, dumbfounded. Most kids saw today as a day full of greasy food, fireworks, s'mores, and "freedom". It had likely crossed his mind at one point, but he never actually poignantly thought about such a historical issue. It did make sense for her to think about it like that. He had been born a few short decades after the Emancipation Proclamation had signed by Lincoln. When he studied the topic, he felt a justified scorn towards the sixteenth president, who had no respect for state's rights, in his opinion. He was rather glorified for "freeing the slaves", although they didn't have much to go to after being released.
"How about I reword it: It's about freedom from the British. That's all."
Shortie had felt conflicted about this day. The aesthetics and fun were impossible to ignore, as was the hypocrisy defining the holiday. She decided to let it go and enjoy the time that they had there, rather than focus on the negative. A positive future can never be seen in the dark.
They were called from the pool to get plates and get in line for food. Logan and Shortie made about tenth in line, paper plates in their hands.
"The most American thing you can do is have a hamburger and a hot dog." He informed.
"Never had them."
"You'll like them, I'm sure."
They got their food and sat at a bench near the pool. Logan devoured the pile of food he had while Shortie picked at her burger. She couldn't explain it, but something didn't seem right with the food. Logan told her to just take a bite of it and decide if she liked it or not. She did and she nearly spit it out, but knew better, and swallowed it anyways. Her face told him more than enough. He suggested the hot dog next. She bit and swallowed, but this was even worse, and made her puke her stomach contents into the bushes she luckily reached.
Hours rolled by as the sun slowly made its decent to the mountains. There was approximately an hour or so left of sunshine left, creating a pleasant view of the sky. She noticed a large oak tree blocking the sun slightly. She made a small vow to herself to soon climb it to the very top before winter came. The girl had been picking the miscellaneous flowers from the garden that had grown too big, prompting even more competition for sunlight and water. Having herself a decent bouquet, she raced over to Logan and promptly handed them to him, beaming with an expectant face. He had developed a blush as he heard the contained giggles and awes of the surrounding mutants. Regardless, he took them and thanked her, giving her a kiss in the head. As soon as she left he tossed them to the center of the table he sat at.
Shortie ran back to pick flowers for her Auntie Jean and Uncle Scotty, as well as her favorite friend, Storm. She wanted to get some for her grandfather as well, but he wasn't outside with everybody else. She figured a picture would suffice.
When she was a few feet away from the plants, a loud spark erupted right in front of her, making her squeal in fright. She walked passed it and encountered another almost immediately. She started running from the beds, only to have the sparks fly at her within seconds from the last time. She shrieked every time, drawing attention she would not appreciate. She was suddenly picked up by Logan. She buried her face into his chest, lightly crying. He was able to figure out who the culprits were; two teenage twin brothers. If he recalled correctly, they both shared the mutation of supreme eyesight, seeing everything with clarity in the intense sun, darkness, and the ability to see everything in superb detail, thus aiding their aim.
An angry Logan sat his daughter down on a chair. He told her that he would be right back, ruffling her hair. He walked over to the unsuspecting duo, who were currently applauding their success. They were too blinded by their cockiness to see Logan behind them, and by the time they noticed him, his hands were tightly gripped on the back of their necks. He raised them off of the ground and started walking. The twins helplessly flailed about, yelling of the injustice being done to them. Their commotion diverted everybody's attention from Shortie to Logan, something she appreciated. He stopped, then threw the duo into the pool, ruining their remaining cherry bombs. He walked away before they started their bitching, which was heard in the distance. He wore a smirk as he walked over to his laughing daughter.
"Thanks daddy."
"You're welcome, sweetheart."
The desserts had finally been served on a table away from the sitting area. Staff had the luxury of first selection, Logan included. He left with a slice of chocolate cake, a chocolate chip cookie, and some chocolate covered strawberries. He sat back down in his claimed spot when Shortie wormed her way into his lap. He proceeded to eat the cake, one bite to him, the next he fed to her. He split the cookie with her and gave her all of the strawberries; he was too manly to eat those.
As Shortie sucked the chocolate off of the fruit, she heard a loud boom shake the sky. She looked up and saw faded streams of gold in a willow tree like shape. She saw a light stream into the sky, exploding into a magnificent mix of red and green, with a boom following it seconds after. They all kept coming, coloring her awestruck. They came in red, green, gold, purple, blue, yellow, orange- every color she knew. Some had projected the shape of a smiley face, some into other simple objects. They reached a point in the show where they only featured red, white, and blue fireworks.
"Wow!" She yelled. Logan laughed at her wonder. "Where did these come from?"
"China, a long time ago. We set them off to resemble the sounds of guns and canon balls being fired during the war that won our independence from England. They're being set off a safe distance from here so we don't get hurt."
They had continued to flash until a magnificent two minute finale rocked the sky. The whole populace applauded the surprisingly amazing first year of fireworks. Shortie had never been so enchanted with anything in her entire life. It was only when the light of the fireworks dwindled into smoke that she realized it was dusk. The outside lights were alight, signaling that it was time for the student body to get back inside the mansion while the adults let loose.
Logan carried a tired Shortie to their bedroom, sitting on the edge of her bed as she rambled on about what a great day she had. Hank and Scott passed his room, with Hank asking if Logan was going to join them in their night of debauchery. He had to decline the offer.
"I'm sure the Professor wouldn't mind just one night, Logan. You earned it." He discretely flashed some liquor from his deep pants pocket so she wouldn't see it but he would get the hint.
"Figures that you became the boring stiff parent." Scott joked as they walked away. He would've usually countered, but Logan was feeling tired that night. Parenting really took it out of him, but he didn't mind it at all.
"Daddy?" Shortie said, eyes dropping. He grunted.
"You're not boring. You kick ass." He laughed again, bending down to kiss her and say goodnight. He slept that night pleasantly, with no nightmares, just flashes of color against darkness. He smiled in his sleep, if only for a brief moment.