Family Ties

CHAPTER THREE




CHAPTER THREE

Disclaimers
Apply

 

A/N Goddess
Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™ and Prophetic
Muse, thanks for the deer earworm…*shudder *
LOL… InterNutter, TC and Maxwell
Pink are lovely little bunnies for archiving!
ProPhile is still above average ;) and Jubilee and Tex get gold stars
just because I said so.
Readers/Reviewers: See? I do
love you! Really! And to those who will read this eventually
on AFFN: I didn’t forget…I’m just out of the country for a while and can’t
access the site without big heap trouble. L

 

 

“This is fucking insane,” Scott
muttered, shoving the last of Jean’s shoes into the closet.

 

“Not really…the black strappy ones
are for short dresses and the black flat ones are for Capri pants…the black
shiny ones are for…”

 

“I meant this!” he said, waving his
arms like pinwheels, indicating the whole situation. “Though you do have an unhealthy amount of footwear.”

 

“Love me, love my shoes.” She took the last handful of hangers out of
a box and handed them to Scott. “The
way I see it,” she said prosaically, “we can do one of two things. We can do what the Professor says, which is
pretty much what we would have had to do in a year or so anyway, or we can act
like children and bitch and moan about it. If we do things this way, we’re
actually better off. We don’t have to
look for an apartment, we’re getting a ridiculy goy good deal on rent, and we
don’t have to be far from our friends and…well, our family. If we fuss about it, we’re just showing the
Professor that he was right, that we are too young…”

 

“What about school?” he asked,
fiddling with the hangers. “Jean, you
wanted to go to med school…how the Hell are you going to do that if you have to
work all the time?”

 

“Tons of people do it all the
time.” She gave him a gentle nudge
towards the closet. “Those shirts won’t
hang themselves. I’m going to see about
making something for dinner… Kitty brought some stuff from the kitchen so we
wouldn’t have to go shopping and Doctor Reyes is going to call tonight so I
want to be where I can hear the phone.”

 

“Cecilia’s calling?” Scott asked as
she trod from the room. “Why?”

 

“Ah…well, I called her earlier today
to ask about Tabby’s old job…” Jean
grinned. “It wasn’t available but she
thinks she might have an opening for me!”

 

“Whoa.” Scott blinked.

 

“Like I said, this isn’t so
bad.” Jean practically skipped down the
stairs, her bad mood from earlier in the evening had been evaporating steadily
in the face of reality. It’s not so
bad…we’re actually living together! We aren’t being forced to split up, no one
is calling my parents… This thought
gave her pause, though. The Professor
had given her until the end of summer to inform her parents of her change of
marital status or he, in good consciencehe phe put it, woulde toe to. She sighed as she entered the kitchen,
pausing to simply stare and process her surroundings. I’m not even eighteen and I technically have a house… I’m married, I’m still in high school, and I
am a semi-responsible adult. I think
I’ll schedule the panic attack for seven p.m. on Tuesday next.

 

 

 

It was nearly an hour and a half
later when Scott trekked downstairs to find Jean poking at a pot of something
suspicious with a wooden spoon, also supplied by Kitty. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I’m not sure…” She gave the substance another poke. “I think it might still be breathing.”

 

Scott peered over her shoulder and
snickered. “Kitty made matzoh ball soup
again. Apparently, that’s what it’s
supposed to look like. Or some variant
thereof. I think it grows if you let it
sit too long. Like cous cous.”

 

“Ah…” Jean frowned and gave it one last half hearted poke. “I hope it’s a painless death…” She turned the fire down underneath it and reed
ed
the lid. “Even if it isn’t, it’s almost
hot, I think.”

 

“I thought I heard screaming,” he
murmured, edging past her to get a cold soda from the fridge. “How did we end up with more coat hangers
than clothes?”

 

“Magic. Cecilia called…”

 

“Oh?” He held out one of the cans of soda and Jean took it, opening it
and taking a deep drink before smiling at him brightly. “Are you going to tell me or do I have to
guess?”

 

“Well, she said she needs a nurse’s
aide in her office, to help with some of the mundane stuff like taking vitals
and such, and if I register for weekend training classes at the community
college, the job also counts as the lab section of the course and I can be a
certified nurses’ aide before the end of summer!”

 

“That’s…good?” he said, not quite
sure of the proper response.

 

“Of course it is!” She put the soda down so she could pace and
gesture. “I went online earlier and did
some research…if the Professor lets me, I can finish high school this summer as
a home school situation and get my diploma before September. While I do that, I can work full time and
also take the rest of the college boards and be in college by Spring!”

 

“Ah…” Scott felt overwhelmed all of a sudden. He wandered to the heavy
wooden table under the casement windows facing the lake and sat on the edge of
it, staring down into his soda can pensively.
“What if he doesn’t let you?”


She shrugged. “I checked into that, too… The schools I can
apply to will accept a GED just like a regular diploma and I know I’m
going to do well on the boards. I’m not
worried!” The soup made a disturbing
burbling noise and she shut off the fire entirely. “Dinner’s ready.”

 

Scott made the appropriate noises of
interest as they ate, nodding and murmuring as Jean went on about how the job
at Cecilia’s office would look good on her college applications, how it would
actually help her in medical school and then veered suddenly onto the topic of
repainting the living room. Part of him
was disappointed that she did not even seem to notice his relative silence as
she talked on, and another part of him was glad she had not. He really could not think of the best way to
tell her he was finally starting to have doubts.

 

 

 

Kitty was awake long before the sun
came up, pacing the lanai to burn off nervous tension. Two hours of yoga had done nothing to abate
her excitement, nor had some rather vigorous belly dancing in the Danger
Room. Her last resort had been
practicing some martial arts until she fell on her bottom and found out, due to
a rather rude and loud laugh, that Logan had been watching the entire scene
from the first kick to the last thud. Would’ve
been nice of him to say something first, she thought with a tinge of
annoyance as she snapped a dead leaf off the creeping ivy spilling over the
wall of the lanai. She almost did not
hear Amara searching the kitchen cabinets for breakfast but the creak of the
last door on the left, nearest the fridge, gave her away. “If you’re looking for the Captain Crunch,
Kurt ate the last of it sometime around ten last night.”

 

Amara looked up sharply and
glowered. “I do not eat such pedestrian
foods. I was looking for a bowl in
which to quarter my grapet.” t.”

 

Kitty sighed, already dreading the
recalcitrance sure to come. “There’s no
more grapefruit, either…” She did not
add that she had taken the last three to Jean and Scott the night before. Instead, she opened the fridge and took out
two cartons of yogurt. “Cherry?”

 

Amara’s glare wavered between the
carton in Kitty’s hand and the one on the counter. “Strawberry,” she said, taking the one from the other girl.

 

“I like cherries better anyway,”
Kitty lied, not wanted to pick unnecessary fights. “So…I heard you’re going to a concert next week?”

 

“Ugh.” She stabbed at the yogurt savagely witr spr spoon as she ranted
in Nova Roman. Kitty nodded blandly,
only recognizing names and places as Amara prattled at near-lightening
speed. “I won’t give him the
satisfaction of not going!” she finally spat.

 

“Ah…” Kitty took a spoon of yogurt thoughtfully. “You could always take
someone else, you know… I think Jubilee wanted to go. Maybe she can get a ticket, too…”

 

“They’re sold out.” Amara’s expression became thoughtful,
though. “That’s a good idea, Kitty…take
someone else…thanks!”

 

Kit Kitty blinked in surprise. “Amara said thanks. Huh.
It’s a time of miracles,” she muttered to the now-empty kitchen. She had barely finished her yogurt when
Rogue ambled into the room, yawning.
“No Captain Crunch.”

 

“Tell your boyfriend I’m gonna kick
his ass next time he eats all the good stuff.”

 

“He’s your half brother. You tell him,” Kitty said, though she smiled
when she did it. ra wra was just
through. Ink snk she’s up to something.”

 

“Can’t be near as bad as what
Lance’s is planning,” Rogue yawned, finding a grapefruit that Kitty had missed
in the back of the fridge before abandoning it to the trash, moldy spot and
all. “Don’t we have food without
sentience?”

 

“Storm’s going sing ing today. What’s Lance got up his sleeve?”

 

“He wants Amara to give up her
ticket so he can take someone else?”


“Oy. I think Amara’s planning the same thing…”

 

“Oy.”

 

After a moment of silence in which
Rogue found a box of granola bars behind the instant coffee, Kitty asked, “Who
do you think it is?”

 

“Huh? Oh…no one probably. Lance
is too nuts about Amara to seriously want to take someone in her place…”

 

“Hmmm…” Kitty was not so sure but did not want to voice that opinion just
then. Instead, she blurted out, “Kurt’s
family is coming to the states again!”

 

“Geez…don’t they have a home in
Germany?” Rogue asked, though good naturedly.
“What’s it this time? Someone
get conked over the head with an iron bar or something?”

 

“Dork. No, the circus got some special contract to perform in three U.S.
cites—Dallas, New Orleans and Chicago.
We lucked out…it’s the same weekend as my cousin’s wedding so he’s going
to come with me and perform a show with them!”

 

Rogue made a murmuring noise and
looked suddenly sly. “That’d explain
what Piotr was so kooky about this morning…”


“Huh?” Kitty paused, spoon halfway to her mouth.

 

“Piotr was up at the ass crack of
dawn, looking for some rebar or something in the construction crap
outside. He said he wanted to perfect
his strongman routine again. At least I
think that’s what he said…kinda hard to hear between the yelps as Logan chased
him across the lawn for making so much noise.”

 

“I wondered what all the racket
was…” Kitty frowned. “I’d forgotten Piotr’s family was involved
with the same group. Damn.”

 

“Aw, just picture it,” Rogue teased,
“stuck between the two of ‘em in the car all the way to Illinois, Kurt being
all protective and Piotr being…big…”

 

“Shut up!” Kitty muttered, burying
her face in her arms.

 

“It won’t be so bad,” Rogue said,
throwing the wrapper from her granola bar into the trash compactor. “Maybe Piotr will finally come clean and
admit it isn’t you he loves after all, but Kurt and they can elope to Vermont…”

 

Kitty stuck her tongue out as Rogue
retreated, laughing, from the room. She
barely had time to collect her thoughts again when Storm glided into the
kitchen as if borne on air. “Kitty…why
so glum?”

 

“Nothing,” she sighed, not wanting
to explain. “I’m going to see if Paige
wants to go shopping. I need something
to wear to Esther’s wedding.”

 

“Oh…you haven’t heard. Paige and Sam had to leave very late last
night. Their mother has taken ill and
it doesn’t look good.” Storm frowned as
she poured a glass of orange juice.
“Jono went with them, at Paige’s insistence.”

 

Kitty let out a small gasp of
shock. “What’s wrong with her? Mrs. Guthrie, that is…not Paige…”

 
“Not sure…though, from what the
Professor could gather, it sounds like cancer.” Storm sighed. “Oh, be
ready to leave at five o’clock Friday morning.”

 

“Pardon?”


“We…the Professor, Logan and
I…discussed things and it seems best if someone went with you and the
two…boys…to Chicago.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Storm winked at Kitty’s obvious
discomfort. “Look at it this
way…lightening works just as well on metal as it does on toads…”