Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.
Groaning and wrapping a pillow about her head, Jubilee wondered just why there was someone calling her name so early in the morning. Light streamed in from the curtains and her door clattered against the wall with a bang that set her teeth on edge. Feeling a tugging at her blanket, she trapped it between her legs and didn't care that her feet were poking out so long as the rest of her was warm.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" Illyana cheered again and again.
"Unless I was in a medically induced coma it's not Christmas yet Yana, lemme alone." Jubilee mumbled.
"But Ju Bee we're gonna be late!" Illyana protested, a devious smile finding her as she cheated on a promise with her brother.
Sunlight and the sensation of falling were the last things Jubilee recalled before she fell below the chilly waters of the lake, bursting to the surface screaming and gasping for breath. Looking to the dock, Illyana stood there laughing loudly before racing back off to the cabin, leaving her irritated future sister-in-law treading water.
"You...fuaf...agh...Yana!" Jubilee sputtered.
"We're going to be late for breakfast!" Illyana yelled back over her shoulder, taking the stairs two at a time.
"Whoever isn't teaching you time zones is gonna get a butt whoopin' when I get back to the school!" Jubilee screamed, treading water to the shore as she shivered.
Trudging up the steps with a dire need of a coffee, threw a baleful look to the rising sun knowing any further sleep was denied her. Shivering at another breeze, she hurried her pace when something silvery caught her eye in the brush. Wondering at it and picking it up, she recognized it after a moment having picked it out herself, the pink bubblegum flavour always making her giggle thinking of the Conehead movie.
"Roguey got some, way ta go!" Jubilee squealed, one last look around to make sure there weren't any more littering the brush.
Finding a spring in her step, she rushed the rest of the way up and found Pete standing at the door with a cup of coffee in hand and a bag over his shoulder. Leaning in to kiss her atop her brow, the tip of her nose then to be followed by a kiss to her lips, she purred and slung her arms about his neck and hugged him good morning.
"What's the hurry Pete?" Jubilee asked, trailing along side him to the truck to find so much of their things packed.
"If we don't hurry we may be later for breakfast." Pete said, tossing the bag in and wrapping his free arm around her waist.
"Dude, it can't be any earlier than eight and I know your...uh, the folks are two hours behind." Jubilee protested, catching herself and enjoying the thought.
"Mamma normally starts breakfast at six, if we want it hot we have to be up for six thirty." Pete chuckled, catching the dread in his fiance's eyes.
"Every...day?" Jubilee whimpered.
"Early to bed and early to rise..." Pete added.
"Makes Ju Bee a dull girl." Jubilee pouted, though soon rewarded with another kiss.
"I promise I'll bring breakfast in bed as often as I can sneak it past Mamma." Pete swore, hugging her tenderly.
"I love you Pete." Jubilee said softly.
"I love you, my Jubilation." Pete replied, leading her off to the cabin to find Illyana already rushing past with the last of her things.
"Just remember, we're family now! Means I got years of bein' a big sister to catch up on! Startin' with the rule about not gettin' mad, but even!" Jubilee yelled after her, a raspberry thrown in reply as the younger girl skipped past.
"So, where's Roguey and Logan?" Jubilee asked, settling down on the porch to enjoy her coffee and the company she shared it with.
"Showering." Pete said though the hint of blush spoke volumes.
"You mean, conserving water showering? Or get Yana outta the cabin just in case shower?" Jubilee asked, thinking it must have been the later for how dark the blush grew.
"I fear the latter, they...looked out of breath already." Pete confessed.
"Great, there goes any chance of a hot shower after my dip, guess I'll snag one after breakfast. Well...I supposed I should get dressed." Jubilee grumbled, pounding back the last of her coffee before pecking Pete on the cheek.
-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-
With Marie laying face down on the bed, still wet from the shower, Logan eased himself atop her and rubbed his hands together before starting to massage her shoulders. Listening to her mewling voice, he gently worked the hot rub in to the bruised flesh before trailing further down her spine. Pressing his thumbs in ever firmer, he found her threshold and eased the tension out of her back.
"So we'll wait ta try that one again till we're back home and got a proper shower ta work with." Logan chuckled, Marie just nodding her head with a blissful sigh.
"Was still fun." Marie purred.
"How's yer back?" Logan asked, his hands trailing up to her neck to gently run his thumbs up and down it.
"Between the advil and...oh god whatever you're doin', just peachy." Marie moaned, arching her back with a crack and crick earned from sleeping out in the brush for a spell.
"Good ta hear Darlin', cause from the sound o' things out there everyone's just about ready ta leave." Logan said.
"Pity." Marie sighed, flopping her head down to the bed.
"Right shame." Logan agreed.
"Logan?" Marie asked, looking to their reflection cast in the mirror atop the dresser.
"Yeah babe?" Logan asked, laying down with her to stare with her.
"You think we can go back to...sharing a bed?" Marie asked.
"Not just recreational like?" Logan asked, a finger trailing down her side to find rest upon her hip.
"Sleepin' like, me in your arms fast asleep." Marie said.
Logan found himself lost to her green eyes full of trust and love, enjoying the warmth of her skin against his with nothing between them but their own inhibitions. Placing a kiss to her shoulder, he looked to her and knew his answer as if there were any other choice after what they had shared.
"I'm willin' ta give it another try...s'long as you promise if I go wakin' ya up you get outta bed if I'm havin' any sort o' nightmares." Logan offered, resting his chin against her arm to hold her reflected gaze.
"Promise." Marie replied.
"And promise not ta go laughin' if I'm havin' some idjit dream I can't rightly be held responsible for." Logan added.
"Just what sort of dreams do you have Mister Logan sir..." Marie asked innocently working her southern drawl.
"You'll know 'em if ya see 'em." Logan chuckled, nibbling at her ear.
"Can't be any worse than what I..ahem, dreamt last night with Jubes." Marie giggled, trying to fight the grin that threatened her at seeing his interest.
"Oh? Just what sort o' dream was that?" Logan asked throatily.
"Sorry, for me to know and you to wonder about." Marie purred, rolling over to place a kiss against his lips.
"Tease." Logan laughed, reluctantly rolling out of bed.
"Time to go?" Marie asked, following suit and rummaging through the dresser.
"Yep, sound o' things out there we're holdin' up the convoy. You get dressed, I'll start packin'." Logan related as he started rummaging through the drawers and throwing everything onto the bed.
Tossing garments over his shoulder willy nilly, he had to pause coming across a certain drawer of intimates when he found a box that answered a question he had earlier. Holding it up for inspection, he threw Marie a wink as she turned to blush at him surely out of habit.
"Was wonderin' why I smelt bubblegum, guessin' you didn't bring 'em?" Logan asked, doing a quick count and finding all but the two they had used still accounted for.
"You can thank Jubes." Marie said, snatching the box.
"Thought they weren't...you know." Logan said, gathering up the last of the garments.
"She said she wanted to be safe, just incase." Marie answered, sorting through her clothes to fill her bags.
"Guess that's somethin' else we should start thinkin' about, since we're bein' intimate." Logan added all the more seriously.
"For as long as we can..." Marie sighed.
"Till I hear otherwise Marie, we still got all...the time...in the world." Logan assured, with emphasis placed on the last words.
"Promise?" Marie asked meekly, unable to meet his gaze.
"Promise, you're worth fightin' for Marie and you know I'm a man who loves a fight." Logan promised, his hand finding hers over a pair of his boxers.
"Did we just swear on yer gitch?" Marie asked a moment later.
"I'll have to think o' them as my lucky drawers now." Logan chuckled, folding them reverently and placing them gently into his bag before zipping it up.
-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-
"Do we need to hold hands or anything?" Jubilee asked, leaning against the grill of the truck looking to everyone else.
"Nope, just got to be in the truck! Shotgun!" Illyana chirped, rushing off to the passenger seat.
"You're sure it's not too much for her?" Marie asked of Pete, though squeezing Logan's hand for reassurance.
"I trust my little Snowflake and Pappa has promised to have the lane clear." Pete said, walking off to the driver seat and climbing in as the truck lurched at his weight.
"Uh, Pete? Why does the lane have to be clear, she can see where we're going right?" Marie asked worried though Logan eased her into the truck just the same.
"Of course I can Marie, but Pete just wants to be safe and make sure all the cats are in the house." Illyana answered though her eyes were still closed.
"Teleporting across the country and the first thing you mention are cats, why did you mention cats Yana?" Jubilee asked, hushing though as Pete looked to her with a finger pressed to his lips.
"If we come outta this like some crazy mutant cat people..." Jubilee mumbled as her brows furrowed.
"We could always ask Blue about groomin' tips." Logan chuckled.
Suddenly though silence fell over the truck as they all stared in awe at the glistening pool of light that had opened beneath them. Dazzling to the eyes, motes of dust danced in the rays of lights that rose from the welling luminosity. Looking to the one that had called on her own gift, Illyana looked to glow with her hair sparkling as she sat in the front seat of the truck. For the pattering beating of their hearts the world was lost to a realm of light, hints of all the colours washed away in white. With one last blink of an eye the world mundane returned though the cabin was long lost across the continent to be replaced with a farmhouse of red brick and a barn of weathered wood.
"Dude..." Jubilee whispered in awe.
"Wow..." Marie joined, looking about in disbelief.
"Yay! No tail!" Jubilee cheered, checking herself over.
"Told you." Illyana said, turning to face her sister to be with a raspberry.
"Yeah, yeah, you're awesome. Uh...who turned out the sun?" Jubilee asked as a shadow fell over her.
The answer came as her door was torn open to be pulled bodily from the truck into a hug that would put a grizzly to shame if they actually ever deigned to try. Lifted from her feet and listening to the flow of Russian in utter incomprehension, it was only Illyana's gleeful cry that enlightened her to her fate.
"Mamma!" Illyana cheered, climbing over her brother and out the window to tumble to the dusty lane.
"Illyana my daughter!" Mamma Rasputin cried, wrestling her daughter into the embrace and hugging them both.
"Here I thought Pete musta gotten his height from his Papa." Marie whispered, looking to the matron of the Rasputin household.
Climbing from the truck to join the rest, Marie and Logan found another in the company of the patron of the Rasputin's, Nikolai. Shaking hands and saying their greetings, both caught another peeking off to Jubilee and Pete wondering just when the news was to come. Catching Pappa Rasputin looking off after the couple, he looked back and threw a wily wink to them.
"Alexandra finally has her wish yes?" Nikolai whispered between them.
"Sir...uh, what do ya mean...?" Marie floundered.
Nikolia instead just tapped a finger to his nose telling he would keep the secret, instead pulling her into a hug and then offering Logan a handshake that surely could have crushed a lesser man's hand. Leading them off to join the rest of his family, they stood watching as Jubilee was looked over with Mamma Rasputin rambling away in her native Russian with pointed questions to Pete, her little Pitor, time and again.
"Jubilation?" Pete asked, settling behind her and wrapping his arms about her.
"Dude, you tell her..." Jubilee whispered, reaching for the chain about her neck to fiddle with something at it's end.
"Are you ready?" Pete asked with a kiss to her cheek, avoiding the questioning eyes of his mother.
"Yes, just like when you asked me." Jubilee replied, clasping her hands in front of her and smiling like a fool without a care.
"Mamma? Pappa? You've worked hard to raise us, to give myself and Illyana the lives you couldn't have when you were young. All you've wanted was for us to be happy, and today I can tell you I am the happiest I have ever been to be able to tell you this. I've asked Jubilation to share my life as you both share yours, as man and wife..." Pete said softly, having to pause to take a breath and rub at his misty eyes.
"I love both your children very much, I love Pete so much it hurts at times. So of course I said yes, that I'll marry the big lug." Jubilee picked up, showing off her engagement ring to the delight of her parents to be.
Unable to find any words as she found herself crying, Alexandra instead pulled both her son and newly found daughter into a hug. Coming up after, Nikolai took Jubilee into a gentle hug and kissed her upon the cheek and brow, wiping away at the tears that trailed down her cheeks with his thumbs just so much like Pete.
"Welcome home Daughter." Nikolai said.
With a trembling lip Jubilee couldn't halt the tears that came in a renewed wave, nor stop herself from pulling her future father-in-law into a frantic hug. Watching as Alexandra joined in with concern and worry writ in her eyes, Marie understood the bittersweet pain her friend suffered as her own heart twisted in sympathy. Finding her own solace with Logan, he held her close as they watched in silence as the family before them consoled their latest addition. Sneaking a peek beside them, Illyana stood holding her camera with some happy tears in her eyes.
"Lemme guess, yer recordin' this too?" Logan asked softly, a quick nod his answer.
"You are so makin' me copies Yana." Marie hissed enthusiastically.
"Only if you help me play it over the big screen in the den." Illyana offered with a sidelong grin.
"Yana, I'll get Kitty to help me play it on the frickin' Danger Room once we get back." Marie countered, grinning just as wickedly as her pint sized partner.
-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-
"Eat, eat! Don't be shy!" Alexandra called from the stove, working on the latest round of bacon and sausages.
Settled into her chair with a full belly as she enjoyed her tea, Marie watched with a lazy smile as Jubilee and Logan seemed to break out into a competition on who could finish their ridiculously sized pancakes that filled their plates. Across from her Illyana pecked away at her own petite pancake with a side of freshly sliced up apples and oranges. Father and son chatted softly to another over coffee, seeing the likenesses they shared down to the thoughtful quiet they enjoyed.
"More bacon?" Alexandra asked, tongs holding crispy strips in offer.
"Just a couple Missus...err, Mamma." Marie relented, catching herself.
"Does she eat like this always?" Alexandra asked in a conspiratorial whisper, pointing the tongs to Jubilee.
"Long as I've known her." Marie confessed, even if it hadn't been as long as she now felt she should have.
"But she is so thin! She doesn't...does she?" Alexandra asked, a gesture best left away from the breakfast table.
"No, no...I think she just burns it off." Marie assured, having to stifle a cough at her surprise.
"Maybe it is because she is special like Piotr and Illyana, both you and Mister Logan are special yes?" Alexandra asked, slipping one more piece of bacon onto her plate then.
Biting her lip at the question, Marie had never once thought of being a mutant as being someone Special. For those years of her life she had felt anything but, feeling cursed instead. Taking a calming breath at seeing her friends mother so innocently asking such a question without malice or maligned intent, she felt suddenly grateful for being able to call her Mamma too.
"Yes, we're both special, it's a bit of a long story really." Marie said in answer, gratefully taking the latest slice of bacon and nibbling away at it.
"Don't worry, we can gossip later when the boys go work the farm. Plenty of time then for long stories." Alexandra whispered with a smile and wink before making her rounds about the table.
Chuckling at the sight of the matronly woman offering up the freshly cooked sausage with Jubilee and Logan glaring another down for the bounty, she now knew just where the likes of Pete and Illyana had come. That Jubilee had feared the meeting before now seemed so foolish, that Marie herself had been able to join along now a welcome privilege. Seeming satisfied that everyone had been given enough to eat, Alexandra settled in with a hearty plate herself, sitting next to her daughter and chatting in Russian.
"Mother likes to be sure we're not losing our heritage." Pete remarked as he passed by picking up cleared plates.
"I won't have my children not being able to speak to family when they come visit." Alexandra said before returning to her chat.
"Remind me to get a crash course in the basics, so I know when someone's talking about me." Jubilee remarked, finishing her last bite of pancake and claiming victory over Logan.
"Don't worry Jubes, they're just talkin' about how the squirt woke ya up this morning." Logan chuckled, leaning back in his chair to enjoy a sip of his coffee.
"Piotr, you didn't tell me Mister Logan knows to speak Russian." Alexandra accused of her son, Pete looking to his friend curiously.
Marie found herself joining in, Logan looking about the room in realization of his statement full of surprise himself. Looking thoughtful as he listened to the matronly woman talk to him with Illyana joining in merrily, he slowly joined in finding it a struggle at first but soon finding his pace. Listening to his gravely voice lapse into fluent Russian, she found herself enthralled.
"Whaddya know." Logan said with a smirk.
"This is the long story?" Alexandra asked pointedly to Marie, a nod her reply.
"Speaking of dips, lets get some dishes done so I can shower in peace." Jubilee remarked, pushing away from the table to help her beau with cleaning the kitchen.
"Illyana, go help her dry." Alexandra said to her daughter, though smiling at the mischief she had been in.
"Yes Mamma." Illyana dutifully said, gathering up the last dishes to take to her brother.
"Lemme give ya a hand..." Marie started, freezing in her seat by the look she found herself caught in.
"Sit, please. You're guests." Alexandra urged, Marie relenting with an appreciative smile.
"Good, now tell me all about Piotr when you were still students at this Xavier's School. He spoke much of you both, you and Mister Logan, and the manly Duck." Alexandra said.
"Manly duck?" Marie asked, simply lost.
"Haha! Oh I gotta remember that, Mamma Rasputin thank ya." Logan barked in laughter, wiping a tear from his eye.
"What?" Marie asked.
"Mare, sounds like ol' Pitor there has been talkin' about Bobby. Ya know what a drake is right?" Logan asked.
"No...wait...ya mean?" Marie asked looking between both to find them nodding.
"A male duck, remind me ta get that kid a certain hockey jersey." Logan chuckled.
-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-
"I hope you do not mind helping Mister Logan." Nikolai said, pulling out the old beat up field truck.
"No need ta call me Mister, much obliged to lend a hand." Logan replied, a chainsaw slung over his shoulder as he hopped into the bed of the truck.
Rubbing his eyes, not for the first time this morning a nagging sense of deja vu struck him, this time wondering at why helping to fell some trees in the back acreage was nagging at him. Looking to Pete, dressed in jeans and flannel with a worn pair of work boots, he saw the concern in his eyes. Waving him off, he lost himself to the wind in his hair and the scents stirred in the breeze as they rolled through the fields with some classic country playing over the tinny radio.
"You've been distracted friend." Pete said over the rattling of the truck.
"Restless mind." Logan replied, his eyes lost to the stand of trees off past the grassy fields.
"Work is good for that, sorting out thoughts." Pete added.
"So what's the plan o' attack?" Logan asked.
"You fall the tree, I haul the tree, Pappa cuts it up until lunch. Then we come tomorrow with the tractor and trailer to bring it back to split." Pete explained.
"Wood for the winter?" Logan inquired, Pete nodding.
"Might not be burnt until next winter but by then it will be dry and give good warmth." Pete said.
"Nice spread your folks got here, cattle?" Logan asked, looking about the rolling hills.
"Yes, beef herd." Pete replied.
"Regular cowboy." Logan chuckled.
With a herk and jerk the truck pulled up to the stand of trees and died with a sputter and backfire. Jumping out and walking up with an axe slung over his shoulder and a chainsaw in hand, Logan looked to the woods and had to blink away the hazy image that met him with the far off mountains suddenly near and the air filled with wilder scents. Shaking it off, he wandered into the woods aside Pete who called on his gift to tower over him with a thick chain slung about his shoulders.
"Figured you were puttin' yer game face on for the hauling." Logan said in conversation as they walked.
"Yes, and now I don't have to worry about you falling a tree on me." Pete added with a chuckle though his eyes held worry.
"I'll try and get my head in the zone Petey, sorry." Logan apologized with a sigh.
"We are all here for you if you need us, I will always be here to hear your worries you might have." Pete said softly, giving his friend a gruff pat on the back that nearly toppled him forward.
"I think I deserved that." Logan laughed, grinning up at the big man next to him.
"Come, I will show you the trees to cut." Pete remarked.
Easing into an easy routine, it was much as Pete said and Logan knew, losing himself to the work and letting his mind wander in the breaks between the calling of timbre. Finding one of the few cigars he had left, he enjoyed a smoke as he worked the chainsaw with familiarity to unerringly fall the tree just where he wanted it. Trimming a few troublesome branches, he turned to watch Pete wrap the chain about the end of the tree and heft it off through the broken brush. Finding an old rotted out stump to sit on, Logan stubbed out his cigar and saved the rest for later as he took a heady breath of the woodland air.
He'd chopped wood plenty enough times out at the school, gone off to fall a few trees out in the back ends of the Estate that had looked troublesome, but in this moment and time he couldn't push off the nagging sense of deja vu and knew in his heart that he had done this for a living at one time. Trying to force the memory to the surface, a chill down his spine and a sense of dread left him to let the ghosts of that buried past lay still. Taking a calming breath, he took notice of his name being called and wondered just how long he had been lost to thought when he noticed Pete standing there looking on him.
"Logan?" Pete asked once more, earning a nod this time.
"Sorry Petey, mind wanderin'." Logan apologized, gratefully taking the bottle of water held in offer.
"We are almost done my friend, Pappa says he'll need help with the rest before lunch we fall the trees so fast." Pete said proudly.
"All you bub, hell I right feel like a slacker waitin' for you to come back ta show me which trees ta cut." Logan confessed.
"Yes, but we only want the ones that could be bad come winter when Pappa goes hunting." Pete replied, wandering on through the brush looking for another.
"Widow makers right?" Logan asked, wondering at the words after he spoke them.
"An apt name my friend, yes. The trees that could fall, or with bad branches that could break." Pete said with his eyes hunting through the brush and looking into the boughs.
"This where you and Yana used to go camping?" Logan asked, his eyes joining in the search for likely dangers.
"Yes, the other reason we always kept it safe." Pete answered.
"What sort o' game ya got lurkin' around." Logan asked.
Pete turned to look to him with questioning eyes, Logan raising an eyebrow back at him though he couldn't hide the smirk. The wind carried tell of deer and pheasant, tracks of all sorts of game littering the forest if one knew where to look. In the game trails he'd seen rabbits and weasel tracks, even swearing at the very edge of his hearing he heard a wolf howl once.
"I know you could tell me Logan." Pete chuckled, carrying on into the brush.
"Might just have ta see if your Pappy wouldn't mind himself a tracker this winter." Logan remarked thoughtfully.
"I am sure Pappa would welcome your company." Pete said with a smile.
Wandering for another twenty minutes and just as long back, they found the patron of the Rasputin clan making short work of one of the few trees left. Killing his chainsaw, he waved them over and brushed the shavings from his clothes before pulling up his safety glasses.
"All good Piotr?" Nikolai asked.
"Yes Pappa." Pete answered, letting his gift fade before hugging his father.
Smiling with his crows feet crinkling, Nikolai pulled his glasses down and waited for his son to bring another log up to start cutting down to size. Joining in, Logan helped to make quick work of the last few trees. Packing the tools up in the truck, Nikolai waved them both him and Pete over as they started to climb into the bed of the truck.
"Piotr, lets enjoy our time away from the house. Little Snowflake's camp is not far, lets have lunch like the herdsmen would." Nikolai urged, leading the way with a cooler in one hand and a canvas bag in the other.
The hand of his father was seen with the care to the campsite, freshly cleared and even a fire built ready for the spark from his flint and steel to the tinder. Weathered adirondack chairs sat about fire, the three men easing into them as they waited for it to catch. Working their way up from large branches to a split log, the flames danced wildy through the grate steel thrown overtop the ring of rocks. Out of the cooler came some seasoned beef kabobs to sizzle and tempt them with their alluring aroma, some fresh picked mushrooms from the canvas bag to join them.
"Herdsmen eat good." Logan chuckled, lighting up the stuff of his cigar for a puff.
"Fish in the rivers, wild game. They are welcome to the bounty of the land. I am too old to ride with them, maybe once Piotr would have taken my place but I am proud of my boy the artist and soon now husband." Nikolai said with a beaming smile, looking on his son with every ounce of sentiment writ in his craggy weathered features.
"I'm glad to call him my friend Nikolai, glad to meet the man who raised him right." Logan said.
"I am glad too Logan, he always spoke well of you. I am happy to know he has a friend like you, happy to meet you. Do you like Vodka?" Nikolai said, fishing for a bottle out of the canvas bag.
"I've been known to enjoy a swig now and again." Logan chuckled as the wily old man pulled the cork with his teeth.
"Good, I have been saving this bottle for the day my Piotr came home with a wife. How do the movies say? From Russia with love?" Nikolai asked, raising the bottle up.
"Guessin' ya don't got no glasses in there for a toast?" Logan chuckled.
"We don't need no stinking glasses. To my son for bringing home a wife, I have another bottle for the day Alexandra gets her second wish." Nikolai said, taking a swig of the bottle before passing it off.
"Second wish?" Logan asked after enjoying a swig his own and handing it off to Pete who looked as though in that moment he could use a drink.
"Grandchildren." Nikolai grinned.
-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-
"I never really thought people did this." Jubilee giggled, her hands over her mouth as she sat next to Alexandra.
"Oh my gawd he is so cute!" Marie squealed.
"From the day Piotr was born I knew he would take after Mamma, look at those feet of his. I knew he would grow into them." Alexandra said showing the picture of the baby Pete.
"How old is he here?" Jubilee asked, pointing to one picture.
"Four, he wanted to ride with Pappa." Alexandra said, a picture of a young Pete sitting in a saddle with his father.
"Look at his little cowboy hat, it's adorable." Marie cooed.
"I still have it, Piotr gave it to me when I was big enough." Illyana added, peeking overtop the album.
"Oh god that's got heirloom written all over it." Jubilee said with a smile, looking to the rest of the pictures.
"Heirloom?" Marie asked, elbowing her friend with a smirk.
"Uh..." Jubilee started, looking to her Mamma who was eyeing her expectantly.
"I think Ju Bee was thinking about babies." Illyana teased.
"Someday...after I've forgotten about those feet." Jubilee conceded with a visible shiver.
"Don't worry daughter, there is plenty of time for grandchildren." Alexandra said with a hug.
"Course there is...we haven't even, ya know." Jubilee grumbled.
"There is plenty of time for that too." Alexandra teased, flipping the pages.
"Whoa, is that you?" Marie asked.
Alexandra looked to the photo and trailed a finger down it, still a young girl then she stood with Nikolai next to her dressed in their wedding best. Family and friends stood around them, a rustic church in the background.
"I think my little Piotr was sneaky his last visit, this photo shouldn't be here." Alexandra said though smiling all the while.
"Somethin' tells me our Piotr figured you'd be pullin' out the family album." Jubilee chuckled, staring at the wedding dress with a finger resting atop it.
"Do not underestimate the Rasputin's daughter. All that quiet of theirs is because they're always so thoughtful, like Pappa like son. They never forget anything, and I just remembered the story I told Piotr once over this photo." Alexandra said as she eased it out of the sleeve.
"So that's who he gets it from." Jubilee chuckled.
"Yes, Piotr took after me much but he is his father's son. I know just why Piotr put this photo here now, it is fate you said heirlooms. Come, everyone. We have a tradition to start." Alexandra said, setting the album down to lead them off to the attic.
With pieces of furniture sitting under canvas cloths and boxes stacked off in corners, Alexandra lead them off to one trunk set up on a table in its own little haven free from clutter. Illyana looked to her mother in a mix of surprise and glee, hushed as she started to skip about while Jubilee and Marie shared a look to another.
"Unlike my little Pitor who too after me I took after my Pappa. He was Russian, just as you think of them. Tall, broad chest, beard down to here." Alexandra explained with gestures, a hand resting nearly to her navel at the mention of his beard.
"But my Mamma, he could pick her up and carry her off. Petite you would say, quiet too. Pappa was boisterous, I always knew when he was home. I think we were both sad the day he could no longer pick me up like Mamma, pick up and twirl his little girl who grew not so little. We were poor yes, times were hard in Russia before and after the collapse. But when his little girl found the man who asked him for permission to marry, we had happiness." Alexandra said.
Opening the trunk she pulled out her wedding gown from years before and held it in her arms like a ghostly dance partner. It was a thing of beauty still, passed off to Illyana who held it dear.
"We were poor so we couldn't afford a new dress. Mamma had hers still, but I could never fit into it and no matter what she said, I wouldn't let sheers touch it. But Mamma Rasputin came to me one night, with this trunk in her wagon. It was some old truck bed pulled by horses now. The wagon, not the trunk." Alexandra explained with a girlish giggle as she stroked the trunk.
"Opening it, she took out that dress you see. It took but a few stitches to fit, it had been her Mamma's wedding dress and though she had daughters they all took after her in being like my own Mamma. So as I had no dress to wear, she gave it to me for my Nikolai to walk me down the isle of our church with that day and I have never forgotten how happy she made me." Alexandra finished with misty eyes looking to the two younger women.
"Wow..." Jubilee whispered, looking to the dress Illyana held so dearly.
"But remember, this is about how the Rasputin men are so very clever when they want to be, how they never forget anything. I told you that I told this very story to Piotr. My Jubilation, I know he calls you that and I want you to know you are ours now too. I have a dress for him to walk you down the isle with, that was the dress of my Mamma just like my Mamma Rasputin gave to me." Alexandra said, taking another dress out of the trunk and holding it up though it didn't fit her figure.
Walking up to Jubilee she held the dress before her that fell against her so easily. Without a dry eye amongst them they all helped her into it and found it fit nearly perfect, guiding her off to some mirror down in the master bedroom. Raising a hand to her lips that were trembling, Jubilee looked at herself and sniffled as the first tear fell down her cheek. Looking up to her Mamma, Alexandra wrapped her arms about her and hugged her dearly.
"My Mamma Rasputin did just this, hugged me so when I cried like you. Let us start a tradition daughter, make some heirlooms for those grandchildren you will give me someday." Alexandra whispered.
"Yes Mamma." Jubilee replied with a sputter laugh, a sharp breath taken trying to calm herself.
"You know you're next." Marie whispered teasingly to Illyana.
"I'll be Auntie Yana before that happens." Illyana replied haughtily.
"Careful what ya wish for Yana." Marie chuckled.
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Author's Note : Just wanted to thank everyone again, those enjoying and those who have dropped a review. FW Wandering and Jeannie I hope meeting the folks was interesting enough, it's not over yet :)
JayLaw, I suppose given Logan's only as old as he remembers that's some young love indeed shared iwth Marie tee hee.
Beth, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. Ink, hope you enjoyed Illyana's powers and indeed, Carpe Diem!
Thanks all and more to come soon! Enjoy!