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Chapter 4: That was then, This is now


A loud thunderclap roused Ororo from her nap.

“Goddess, how long have I been asleep?” She thought while rubbing her eyes. Slowly, Ororo got up and rearranged the blanket on the couch. She stretched her back and turned off the snowy-screened television.

“Guess I’ll go up to bed now” Ororo closed the Rec. Room door and proceeded toward her bedroom. Another rumble of thunder shook the house and she huffed.

“At least the storm will help me sleep.” She thought. Ororo entered her bedroom and threw her robe on the floor next to her bed. She snuggled underneath the covers and looked at the clock on the nightstand. 3:00 a.m. Ororo moaned as the red numbers stung her darkness-adjusted eyes.

“I really need to get some rest.” Ororo tried to refocus eyes by staring at the picture herself and Logan on their wedding day, just after the ceremony. She reached over and picked up the small frame.

“I swear I don’t remember taking this picture. Hell, I don’t even remember the ceremony.” Ororo placed the photo on her chest and closed her eyes. She was trying to regain her memories, but easily drifted into sleep.

///////The entire day had been incredibly stressful. Ororo had spent most of the morning and afternoon making last minute wedding preparations, such as picking her dress up and getting her hair done. She had decided that, in order to save some money, she was going to coordinate the wedding herself and by the time she arrived at the church, Ororo was exhausted. She was walking up the large, stone steps outside the church, mentally going over things when she nearly walked into Yukio.

“‘Ro, there you are. You’re running late.” Yukio was tapping her foot impatiently and waving her finger in Ororo’s face. The Maid of Honor was allowed to do such things since she was responsible for helping Ororo keep a handle on things.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Ororo growled as she pushed past the smaller woman. Yukio followed her into the building.

“Is everything here okay?” Ororo asked.

“Yes, everything has been taken care of, the entire wedding party has now arrived and guests have been arriving for the past half hour. Relax, will you?” Yukio tried to soothe her friend. The two women entered the room that had been designated as the ladies’ dressing room. Emma and Jubilee were already dressed and talking in a corner while Marie curled Emma’s hair.

“Sugah, we was startin’ ta think you weren’t gonna show.” Marie said. Ororo walked behind a small screen and began changing clothes.

“Believe me; I’ll feel a whole lot better when today is over.” Ororo sighed while she pulled her dress from its plastic cover. She draped it over her body and stepped away from the screen.

“Tell me what you think? I had it specially designed.” She said. The three other women in the room all expressed their approval of Ororo’s wedding dress. It was a floor length white gown that exposed one shoulder and had a mid-thigh long split going up the right side. The accompanying bridesmaid gowns were similar, except they were light blue and had short sleeves.

“Very nice. It suits you. ” Emma declared.

“Jimmy won’t know what hit him.” Yukio laughed.

“I want to wear something like that to my wedding.” Jubilee added.

Pleased with herself, Ororo took the dress off the hanger and proceeded to slip the garment over her head. She was doing fairly well until her shoulder strap got stuck around the mountain of curls piled atop her head. Ororo struggled a bit until Yukio noticed her situation.

“Good Lord, woman. Hold on a minute, I’ll help you. You don’t want to screw up that hair.” Together, they managed to get Ororo’s gown on and her seams straightened. Satisfied, Ororo sat down in front of a large mirror and quickly scanned the room.

“Jubes, Where’s my tiara?” She asked after a minute.

“It’s over here with us. I’ll get it.” Jubilee got up and produced a rhinestone tiara with a veil attached and walked toward Ororo. “May I do the honors?” She asked. Ororo nodded and Jubilee carefully placed the tiara on Ororo’s head and put the veil over her face.

“Thank you, madam” Ororo said; her mood improving. She had just begun adjusting her veil when a nervous knock came from the door.

“Who is it?” Marie chimed.

“Only ’De best dressed man ‘dis side o’ Memphis.” Remy’s voice answered from outside.

Ororo grinned. “Okay, let him in. We’re all decent.” Marie crossed the small room and opened the door. Remy stepped in and tipped an invisible top hat to the ladies.

“Sorry t’ interrupt.” He began. “but have any a’ you ladies seen ‘de man o’ ‘de hour?” Ororo froze and stared at Remy’s reflection in the mirror.

“The last time I saw him, he was with you guys.” Yukio answered calmly.

Remy nervously ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, well we ain’t seen ‘de man in ‘bout a haf’ hour.” Ororo’s eyes widened in alarm. She got up and stalked over to Remy. She grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and pulled him down to her eye level.

“What did you just say?” She asked through gritted teeth.

Remy was nearly hanging in Ororo’s iron grip. “He jus’ said he needed some air. We didn’t tink notin’ of it. Warren just noticed he was gone a while ago.”

Ororo tossed Remy aside and ran, barefoot, from the room. She was in a blind panic, running all over the church. Somewhere along the way, she lost her tiara and her hair had cascaded around her shoulders, but she didn’t care. Ororo was calling her lover’s name and praying with everything inside her that he hadn’t deserted her. She was running on pure adrenaline when she reached an iron door. Ororo pushed the handle and stepped out onto the roof.

“Logan.” She called “Are you up here?”

“Round here, ‘Ro.” Logan finally answered. Ororo ran around a corner and spotted her husband-to-be, sitting on the edge of the roof watching the sunset. Logan saw her coming in his direction and stood up. Ororo threw her arms around his neck.

“Thank the Goddess you’re alright.” She cried.

“Yeah, I’m okay ‘Ro.” Logan purred into her hair.

“Why did you run off like that?” She asked. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Not really sure, just got a little scared, I guess.” He answered truthfully.

Ororo broke their embrace and stared into Logan’s eyes. “Scared of what?” She asked tentatively.

Logan went back to his sitting place. “Hell ‘Ro. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

Ororo was astonished. “And leaving me at the altar was part of the plan!”

“Ororo, please. Hear me out on this one.” Logan shrugged out of his jacket and spread it out next to him. “Come sit down. Please.”

Ororo folded her arms and hesitated. She was mad at him. She wanted to stay mad at him and didn’t want to hear his excuses. Ororo was about to walk in the opposite direction until a thought occurred to her.

“Ororo. He called me Ororo. And he said “please”. Twice.” Ororo pondered these rare occurrences while she walked over to Logan and sat on his jacket.

“I’m listening.” She stated flatly.

Logan sighed heavily. “I’ve already told you that I’ve been married before…”

“Yes.” Ororo replied, cutting him off. “To a Ms. Silverfox, as I recall.”

“Yeah, but did I ever tell you how it ended?” Logan continued. Ororo though for a second and shook her head. Logan cleared his throat and went on.

“We dated all through high school and got married right after graduation. Things started off fine, but after I joined the Marines and we started jumping from city to city, I got really cold toward her. I’d stay out late, never listen to her about anything and generally treated her badly. Not to say, I didn’t love her. It was just that I was too busy being free when I wasn’t. Then one day, she asked me for a divorce. I’d have been an asshole to say no” Logan lowered his head. “Don’t you see, ‘Ro? I forced her away, and I don’t want that to happen to us.”

Ororo took his shaking hand in hers. “Love, you were just young then. We’ve been thought a lot together. Yes, there have been times when I’ve felt ignored, but I don’t let that bother me as much as I used to. You just get caught up with work, and I understand that because I know how much you love your job.”

Logan squeezed Ororo’s hand and she continued. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I love you and I’m not letting you force me anywhere I don’t want to be. With that in mind, I have the utmost confidence in our ability to…go the distance, as they say.”

Logan stared at Ororo in amazement. “How in the world did a schmuck like me end up with a lady like you?”

Ororo grinned. “Someone had to. Guess you just got lucky.” Logan nodded in response. Ororo stood up and brushed some of the dust away from her dress.

“Are you ready to become you husband now, or do I have to push you off this building?” Ororo asked, walking toward the door she exited the building through. She heard Logan catching up to her from behind.

“Well, if you’re gonna twist my arm about it…” Ororo punched him in the chest as Logan closed the door behind them.///////





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