A/N: I really appreciate all of your consistent feedback!
Under normal circumstances, Sunday was Ororo's favorite day of the week. The first Sunday in November dawned cool and crisp, the orange autumn light danced through the window of Logan's apartment and the air was scented with the smell of breakfast. Despite all of this, Ororo woke with a sense of foreboding. She was ticking down the seconds until Rogue called (or didn't) and Logan exploded in anger.
As he stood at the counter humming some nonsense tune to himself and turning bacon in a skillet, one couldn't guess that her boyfriend was a man with a short temper. Normally, the catalysts for Logan's bursts of rage were people who he didn't particularly care for. Ororo had seen him fight with coworkers, strangers at baseball games and even Remy and Scott a time or two. He had never yelled at her. She was the one who cooled his hot-head, talked him down so he was rational again and most often got him to apologize. She wasn't sure she could handle that temper being turned on her.
"Morning, darling," her boyfriend smiled at her from the kitchen when he spotted that she had woken up.
She sat up, forced a smile and returned his greeting. "You made breakfast. I thought it was my turn." She crawled out of bed, dragging the comforter with her to shield her body against the morning chill.
"You looked so peaceful. I got hungry and didn't want to wake you." He kissed her head, brushing her tangled bangs back.
Despite the predicament she was in, Ororo found herself taking a moment to really look at Logan. He was still in the boxer briefs and wrinkled white tank he had slept in and his thick dark hair was disheveled. His facial hair went way past five o'clock shadow and she supposed to some he might look a hot mess. But poised there, in the early light of the day, holding a plate loaded with scrambled eggs and bacon, she was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that it was the simple things she loved about him. Logan wasn't a terribly complicated man; give him a good meal, a good brew and a good game and he was pretty much happy. There was nothing about him she couldn't read after nearly five years, no part of them that was a mystery to her. He was always honest with her, even about tough things. How could she keep this from him?
"You keep looking at me like that, darling, and breakfast is going to be cold." He smiled devilishly at her.
Making up her mind, Ro steadied herself and opened her mouth. "Logan, I have to tell you something important."
"All right," he set the plate down, "Is it what's been bothering you the last week?"
"Yeah." Ro's stomach turned to knots. "It's kind of serious."
"Nothing I can't handle," he smiled again to lessen the tension. "What is it, Ro? Are you pregnant?" he chuckled.
"Funny you should mention that…" Logan's cell phone began to buzz from the counter. He shot her an apologetic look as he went to silence it. He must have caught a glance at the caller ID though.
"It's Rogue," he said. "I'll call her back in a minute."
"No!" Ororo wasn't even aware that she yelled until Logan gave her a startled look. "I mean, you should answer it. What I need to tell you can wait."
"All right…" he said when Ro shoved the phone into his hand. "Hey squirt," Logan greeted his surrogate sister.
Blood pounded furiously in Ororo's ears while Logan made pleasant small talk. She busied herself with retrieving a carton of Donald Duck orange juice and pouring two glasses. So far nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Logan was laughing, asking her about her glasses, about what had been going on lately. Ororo strained to hear Rogue's answer.
"She wants to talk to you, Ro," Logan said, handing her the phone.
"Hey Rogue," Ororo tried to keep her voice casual.
"Hey Roro. Look, I know you wanted me to tell him today, but I can't do it over the phone. I have to do it in person." Rogue sounded sheepish.
"Why don't you come by today then?" her own voice sounded too chipper to her ears but Logan hadn't seemed to notice.
"No. I can't. I mean…" there was some scuffling and the sound of a door being pulled shut. "I just told Remy."
"How is he?" Ro glanced nervously at Logan, but he was making coffee.
"He was shocked, to say the least. He wants to go to the doctor with me later this week to make sure I am…pregnant." Ro said the word slowly.
Ororo silently absorbed this. It was a step in the right direction. "All right, but I think you really need to make it down here."
"I will, I just need a moment, you know? It's been confusing." Rogue's voiced cracked. Ro realized how she must be feeling and felt bad for the pressure she put on her at the Halloween party.
"Jean and I will come visit you tomorrow. We'll have girl's night. We'll catch up and figure things out."
"Ok," Rogue sniffled. "I'm just a little scared about this whole thing. I can't tell how Remy feels about it all. He's walking around all shell-shocked."
"Give it time. I'll talk to him when I can. It'll be ok."
"More trouble with the Cajun?" Logan asked Ro after she had hung up.
"They're just going through some things," she sat down to eat.
"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Logan forked a helping of eggs into his mouth.
"Yes," Ororo said hastily. "Remy got a job offer in New Orleans. Rogue's worried about having to move."
"She can't move anywhere until she gets her diploma," Logan said. "Remy understands that." Ororo nodded, diverting her attention to her plate. "You upset he's leaving, darling? He's kind of like a brother to you."
"There are a lot of changes going on," Ro shrugged, wondering why she felt close to tears. "I guess they're starting to take their toll."
"Part of growing up, darling. Doesn't mean it don't suck ass." A heavy arm looped over her shoulders. "It'll work out," he assured her.
Ororo smiled at him. "I'm lucky to have you," she kissed him. He tasted like orange juice.
"Don't I know it." He grumbled against her mouth. "What other boyfriend would let his girl drag his sheets all over the ground like they're a mop?"
Laughing, Ororo stood up and hurried over to the bed, taking care to lift his blanket off of the floor. She dramatically pulled it off of her body and tossed it over the mattress with a flourish.
"Better?" she asked, clad only in her underwear. Logan took one long, hard look at her.
"Much," he said, crossing the floor in two long strides and crushing her against him.
Breakfast was very cold by the time they got around to eating it, but Ororo felt a million times better than when she woke up. Jean called her around noon and insisted that the maid of honor accompany her on wedding cake taste testing. Logan declined an invitation, stating privately to Ro that he'd rather watch paint dry. He took off to watch the game at Scott's while the girls were out.
A few hours later Ororo returned to her apartment, feeling better about life and filled with every kind of cake imaginable. She was thinking of ideas for Jean's bachelorette party when Kioni called her. Ro was surprised to hear the voice coming out of 6D.
"Ororo, you have to see this," Kioni was wide-eyed in the doorway, looking excited.
Intrigued, Ro took her key out of their lock and followed her roommate into Wade's apartment.
"My God," she breathed.
At first, the room put her in mind of Hoarders, but then she realized that the space was much too clean for that. Also, no one on the TLC show had anything half as interesting as what was in Wade's studio.
The walls were covered from floor to ceiling in pictures of foreign places, old war propaganda posters and colorful magazine clippings. One side of the apartment's walls had been converted into long rows of continuous shelves, stacked with souvenirs, boxing gloves, framed photos and an entertainment center that looked straight out of the pages of a Best Buy catalogue. Gadgets that Ro didn't know were stacked everywhere, between books and CDs. One corner held a queen sized bed with black sheets and the other corner held a large cage. A bird studied them intelligently from his perch.
"Is that a Toucan?" Ororo asked in shock.
"It is." Kioni approached the open cage and extended an arm. The bird, Cable, hopped onto her without hesitation and emitted a sound not unlike the purr of a cat.
"Where did he get all of this?" Ororo reached out tentatively to stroke Cable's head. The bird leaned into her touch. His feathers were inky black and soft as silk.
"I do not know." Kioni's eyes swept the room. "I spent almost ten minutes just looking at it all. The only explanation I can think of is that he got it all while he was a soldier," she gestured to a photo of Wade in military fatigues. "But even so…"
Ororo just shook her head. "He has some explaining to do." Kioni nodded in agreement. They both turned their attention back to the bird. "Did you feed him?"
"Not yet. I cannot find his food." Kioni and Ororo searched the apartment for a moment.
"He said it would be easy to find," Ro said a few minutes into a fruitless search.
"You would think there would be instructions somewhere." Kioni peered around the cage. "Oh no…" she said. She pointed to a pile of crumpled and shredded paper lying in the bottom of Cable's cage.
"Oh God." Ororo said. "We better call Wade and ask what we should feed Cable." At the sound of his name, the Toucan took flight, leaping off of Kioni's arm and startling the two women. He flew ten feet into the kitchen and then landed on the refrigerator. He began whistling.
Kioni walked over and pulled the door open, revealing a shelf stacked with Tupperware containers labeled "For Cable". She pried the top off and reached in.
"Fruit." She announced, holding up a slice of papaya. Cable fluttered down to her arm and snatched it from her hand with his long beak. It was ivory and curved gently, tipped in a few stripes of bright colors.
Ororo and Kioni amused themselves by tossing the bird pieces of fruit one at a time and watching him catch it.
"He's really smart," Ororo observed.
"He seems to fit his owner," Kioni watched as the bird hopped around the room.
"How is his cage so clean after two days?" Ororo remembered a high school friend who had a parakeet. If her cage went without cleaning for even a day or two, it began to smell horribly. As if in answer, Cable flew into the bathroom. The women hastened to follow him.
"Cable," Kioni called after him. "Do not go in there. That is no place for you." She flipped on the light switch.
The toucan was perched comfortably on the edge of the toilet, relieving itself into the bowl.
They stared at it in shock for a moment.
"That is quite a trick," Kioni said at last.
"The real trick would be if he could flush." Ororo laughed. Cable looked at them, hopped onto the handle and moved his weight to the edge of the metal piece. The sound of rushing water filled all of their ears.
"That explains why his cage was open," Kioni joined Ororo's laughter.
"Wade is a weirdo," Ororo laughed later from the comfort of their own studio.
"But an interesting one," Kioni added. She opened a book in her lap and began studying.
"Cable's like Jinxie Cat." When Kioni did not register recognition, Ororo turned the television on and slipped a DVD from its case.
"You can study later." She told her roommate. "Sunday is for resting. And Meet the Parents."
Ororo let the antics of Ben Stiller chase her concerns away. She would worry about it all on Monday.
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