Chapter Fifty-Three:


"What can I get fo' y' ladies?"

Mercy smiled up at the waiter as she dropped her shopping bags down on the pavement beside her chair. "I'll have a strawberry margarita, si'l vous plaît."

"Very good, mademoiselle," the waiter nodded, jotting her order down on his notepad before looking to the other three women for their requests.

"I will have a glass of white zinfandel," Tessa said, not even bothering to glance at her menu as she handed it back to him.

"Ah'll take a Pepsi, please," Rogue said, flashing him a half-smile as he took her menu.

The waiter turned to Bella, who sighed heavily. "Jus' a water fo' me, merci," she said, and as soon as he left their table she groaned, leaning back in her chair. "Y' know, dis whole no alcohol, no caffeine t'ing is jus' no fun."

"Now y' know how I felt when I was enceinte wit' Jacques," Mercy chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. "Don' worry, y' only got a few months left."

"A few?" Bella snorted in disgust. "I don' know if I can take anot'er five months o' dis torture."

Rogue smiled to herself, amused and sympathetic at the same time. Bella was excited about being a mother, there was no denying that, but the morning sickness and the nausea that came with being four months pregnant was quickly dampening her mood. It had been only yesterday that the doctor told her and Theo that they were having a baby boy, so today the girls had decided to go shopping for baby things, all in a soft blue.

Theo's gonna have a heart attack, Rogue thought with a silent laugh. We bought more t'day then we did when we when Mercy was pregnant wit' Jacques.

"Actually," Tessa said evenly, not bothering to look up from the magazine article she was reading in TIME. "We spent fifty-seven cents less today than the shopping spree in which we purchased the things for Jacques."

The other three women rolled their eyes, used to Tessa's "computer mind" as Remy liked to call it. It was amusing, sometimes, to watch her speak with Emil, because Remy's cousin was so vivacious and energetic, while Tessa was serious and practical. Emil enjoyed frustrating the mutant thief so much that Rogue was half expecting Tessa to throw him off of the rooftops one of these days.

"I might at that," Tessa replied, glancing up for a moment, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smirk, before her eyes turned back to her reading.

The waiter returned with their drinks just then, and after he'd left to attend to other tables, Bella leaned forward to place her hand over Rogue's. "Marie, chere, y' do realize dat yo' next t' have a baby, non?"

"Don' remind me," Rogue groaned, brushing a loose strand of her white locks away from her face. "Jean-Luc's been droppin' hints every chance he gets. Keeps goin' on about how the two o' ya'll have started families o' yo' own, an' how he wishes Remy an' Ah would do the same."

"I t'ought y' wanted kids?" Bella asked, sipping her water through a straw.

"We do," Rogue confirmed with a nod. "It's jus' we're not sure this is the ideal time fo' it."

Mercy wrinkled her nose. "What do y' mean?"

"I believe Marie is referring to the mutant dilemma which we face currently," Tessa offered, turning the page of her magazine, still not bothering to look up. "For any child of her and Remy's will most certainly be a mutant."

"Exactly," Rogue sighed, shaking her head. "Ah mean, Ah'm a second generation mutant as it is, maybe even third or fourth generation, fo' all Ah know. Ah guess we're jus' worried 'bout how everythin's gonna go down, that's all."

"But y' haven't given up on de idea, right?" Bella inquired.

"Right," Rogue nodded. "We're not tryin' fo' kids right now, but whatever happens, happens, ya know? We're still young, there's plenty o' time fo' us t' start a family. Besides, a few years ago Ah never thought Ah'd be able t' touch anyone, much less have children."

"But now you can," Tessa reminded her, her gaze lifting to meet Rogue's own. "Magneto's bracelet allows you complete control over your absorbency powers, and you've made considerable progress on your own with learning to delay the imprinting. One day you might not even need the bracelet anymore, you should be able to hold back your powers on your own."

"Yeah," Rogue said with a small sigh, knowing that day was still a long ways away. Tessa was right, though, she had improved her control, by a good ten seconds so far. When Tessa had first suggested the idea to her not long after her wedding, Rogue had been skeptical, not wanting to risk hurting her friend and not seeing the point of it when the bracelet she'd received from Magneto worked perfectly.

Tessa, however, had pointed out that it would be nice if she didn't have to wear it for the rest of her life, and so Rogue had agreed to work with the telepath twice a week for a few hours, in intense conditioning with her powers. Carol helped from time to time, too, when Rogue opened her link to the other girl. It was easier for Carol, who had an outside perspective, to see the inner workings of her powers. In theory her powers were psionically based, which meant that her mind was most likely the key to controlling them.

It would be nice t' be able t' control mah powers on mah own some day, Rogue thought, running her fingers across the smooth metal of her bracelet. Until then, at least Magnus has good taste in jewelry.

This earned a snort from Tessa, who didn't think Magneto had good taste in anything.

"Y' know what's nice?" Bella said, running a hand through her golden hair. "Here it is de middle o' November, an' de weather's still nice."

"Here, at least," Rogue said dryly. "Up north it's snowin' an' cold out."

"Don' know how y' stood it, Marie," Mercy said with a small shudder. "Don' t'ink dat I could live up dere, not even fo' a few days. I'd freeze t' death b'fore de end o' de week."

Rogue smiled, imaging she was right. It had taken Rogue some time to adjust to the colder climate of New York after her move from Caldecott, and at first she had dreaded going outdoors, but it didn't take long for her to grow comfortable with the cooler weather. Summers and springs in Bayville had been fairly warm, and winter, while cold, had always brought snow, something that she'd never seen much of before that. Her first snowfall in Bayville had occurred during her time with the Brotherhood, and she'd been so fascinated by it that she ended up dragging the entire household outside for a snowball fight.

Of course, snowball fights were a lot more challenging when a certain quick-footed mutant could peg everyone else in under a second.

"Anyone with common sense would simply wear layers," Tessa commented as she sipped her drink.

"So I guess that rules y' out, hahn, Mercy?" Bella teased.

Mercy rolled her eyes, thankfully refraining from sticking out her tongue, though Rogue had a feeling she was tempted to. There was something disturbingly funny about seeing a grown woman, a member of the Thieves Guild no less, sticking out her tongue at her friends.

"Jacques would like snow," Rogue said, steering them away from whatever bantering was about to begin. "He could build snowmen, go sleddin', learn t' ice skate... snow is like heaven fo' li'l kids."

"Maybe one day we'll have t' take him up dere," Mercy mused thoughtfully. "Fo' Christmas vacation one year when he's a bit older."

"Ah think that's a great idea, sugah," Rogue smiled.

"Maybe ya'll should wait 'till after Etienne's born an' grown a bit, so dat de two o' dem can play in de snow t'gether," Bella suggested, placing a hand over her swollen belly.

Mercy nodded, talking excitedly about the new baby on the way, and Rogue smiled sadly to herself, her heart grieving for a boy she never knew, but hopeful for his nephew and namesake. Etienne's death had deeply affected both Theo and Remy, so it hadn't come as much of a surprise when Bella and Theo announced they were going to name their son after him.

Personally, Rogue thought it was a wonderful idea, and a good way to honor Etienne's memory.

Mercy and Bella were laughing, looking through the baby things they'd purchased, and Rogue had to stifle a laugh when Bella pulled out the fuzzy pink sleeper, which they'd bought as a joke to scare Theo.

She was about to comment when her glass suddenly began to tremble slightly, the soda inside of it rippling. Frowning, she lowered her head, peering at the quaking liquid. "Tess..." she said softly.

Tessa didn't get a chance to reply, though, as the ground began to shudder a little, as if some great force was applying pressure to it. Mercy and Bella instantly fell silent, as did the other patrons at the outdoor cafe, sitting very still and very alarmed. Rogue, however, rose to her feet, glancing around, her eyes scanning the horizon for the cause of the disturbance.

"I'm picking up a strange energy force just behind those buildings," Tessa informed her, moving to stand beside her.

In the distance, they could hear people screaming, and the distinct sound of the streets being trashed. "Time t' check it out," Rogue said quietly, starting forward.

"Marie, what are-" Mercy called.

"Be right back, sugah," Rogue cut her off with a reassuring smile. "Ah'm jus' gonna take a peek an' see what's up. Ya'll stay here, okay?"

"I am coming with you," Tessa said bluntly, her tone not leaving any room for argument.

Rogue nodded, and the two of them hurried off towards the sounds of the disaster taking place ahead. As they drew closer, Rogue's heart started to pound. Could it be Sentinels? She hoped not, but just in case she was purposely not flying. Maybe if she wasn't using her powers, they couldn't detect her.

As soon as they rounded the corner, though, Rogue found that the Sentinels were not the cause of the disturbance, and she almost wished they had been.

Instead, there was only a crowd of people scampering to get out of the way, running in any direction except the one behind them, just trying to avoid being trampled. Rogue couldn't say she blamed them, if she'd been in their shoes she might have run, too.

But she wasn't in their shoes, she was a mutant, and a pretty darn powerful one at that. She didn't run from danger, anymore than she did from a fight.

And this was one fight she had no qualms about starting.

"Do you know who that is?" Tessa asked curiously.

"Yeah," Rogue nodded grimly. "Ah do. He's an old enemy o' mine, back from mah days as an X-man."

"I see," Tessa responded. "I suppose we should stop him before he does any more damage."

Eyeing the broken tables, the shattered glass, the crunched cars lining the street, Rogue was inclined to agree.

There, pounding one foot in front of the other, taking angry strides down the street, was none other than Juggernaut himself.



Translations:

enceinte- pregnant