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Chapter 5


Remy took a long swig from his empty liquor bottle and stumbled through the door, leaving it wide open. Kendall closed her robe and returned to the foot of the staircase.

“Stormy, what ‘chu doin’ up so late.” His accent coming out harsh and mangled due to his drunkenness. Kendall rolled her eyes at his use of her mother’s nickname. Remy tried to walk over to the stairs, but only got halfway before falling over, breaking the bottle in his hand.

“Damnit.” He slurred. “I wasn’t finished wit dat.” Remy tried to get up but wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Kendall helped him to his feet and she threw his arm around her shoulder. This wasn’t the first time he’d come home in this condition, but it was the first time that Kendall had to deal with him.

“Come on, Uncle Remy. Let’s get you to bed.” Kendall, avoiding the broken glass, managed to get Remy to the foot of the stairs.

“Stormy, when’d chu cut your hair?” Kendall grinned a little.

“I’m not your Stormy, Remy, I’m Kendall.” She protested. Remy removed his arm from Kendall’s shoulders and took her face in his hands. His red on black eyes scanned her face. He was slightly breathing through his mouth and Kendall could smell the strong liquor on his breath. She fought down the electric sensations that were shooting around her body while Remy tried to recognize her. After what seemed like an eternity, Remy smiled at her and pinched her cheek.

“Stormy, chu can’t pull anyting on old Remy.”

Kendall broke free of his grasp and put his arm back over her shoulders. She blew a strand of hair away from her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows. Remy’s room was somewhere on the third floor and there were a lot of stairs between there and where they were.

“Okay now, up the stairs we go.” Kendall guided Remy up about three stairs when he started talking .

“Stormy, honey, stairs are overrated.” Remy was waving his free arm and was leaning his entire weight on Kendall. She stumbled and they both ended up on the floor again. Remy landed roughly on Kendall’s ankle and she felt something snap. Remy laughed roughly as Kendall winced in pain.

“Take it easy, Stormy, Remy’s not young as he used ta be.” He laughed again and Kendall appraised her injured ankle. She definitely felt a fracture and held her leg as straight as she could while the bone healed itself. By the time Kendall got back on her feet, Remy had gotten up a few more steps than before and was singing a some in his mangled French accent. He was nearly up the first flight when he somehow missed the last stair and ended up back where he started from.

Kendall rushed to his side as Remy swore loudly in French. She removed his long brown duster and checked him for injuries. Remy had a large bruise forming on his chest and a bump on his left arm. Kendall was starting to get annoyed. The only thing keeping her from leaving her uncle on a heap on the floor was the fact that she felt sorry for him.

“Alright you.” Kendall said. She helped him off the floor and decided that the stairs were no longer an option. Kendall replaced his arm around her and took Remy to the Rec. Room, carrying his duster under her arm.
Upon reaching her destination, Kendall sat her uncle on the couch and tossed his jacket onto his lap.

“You stay here while I get you some ice, okay?” Kendall shook her finger in her uncle’s face.

Remy half-heartedly saluted. “Okay, Stormy.”

Kendall nodded and took off toward the kitchen. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to think. “What in the world was he out for tonight?” She wondered. “He only does this when something’s really bothering him.” Kendall reached the kitchen and opened the freezer. She prodded around for a minute and removed a tray of ice. “He’s getting too old to run around like a drunk at all times of night.” Looking around, Kendall found a large dishtowel and dumped the ice into it. She twisted the towel around the ice and returned to the Rec. Room.

“Back so soon?” Remy mumbled from the couch.

“Yeah, I…” Kendall was speechless. Remy had somehow removed his shirt and now sat on the couch examining his bruise. His auburn, yet gray-streaked, hair hung loosely around his shoulders. Even though he was getting on in years, Remy LeBeau was still quite striking. Kendall took a deep breath and sat at the end of the couch. She crossed her legs and put one of the pillows on her lap. She patted the pillow gently and Remy took the hint. He laid his head on Kendall’s lap and she put the ice pack on his bruise. He groaned at the coldness and coughed. Kendall held the ice pack in place for a while and just watched her uncle breathe.

“Stormy, Women are evil.” Remy moaned. “All o’ them, poison to da man’s soul.”

“Really?” Kendall replied, slightly offended.

Remy continued. “Dey temp chu and tease chu, but you can’t have dem. A man give so much o’ himself until she decide dat she done wit this. Then she thro’ you out like garbage and laugh in yo’ face.”

“Is that so?” Kendall started to get an impression as to what inspired this round of drinking.

“But you not like dat, Stormy.” Remy muttered. “You not evil, like ‘dose others. You sweet ‘n pretty ‘n caring ‘n everyting. Kendall unconsciously started to wind her fingers in Remy’s wild hair as he continued. “De Wolverine is a lucky man to ‘ave a good woman like you. I don’ tink he knows ‘dat.”

“I’m fairly certain that he does.” Kendall answered. Remy took Kendall’s free hand and put it against his chest. He then let his arm fall and it found Kendall’s bare calf.

“Dat little girl o’ yours is a good one too.” He groaned. “You and de wolverine did good wit her. She’s gonna be quite de heartbreaker someday, Stormy. Why, if I was twenty years younger I’d………” Remy yawned deeply.

Kendall smiled, but didn’t respond. She felt his hard chest muscles rising and falling with his breathing and was trying to ignore the way his fingers were tracing crooked circles on her leg.

“Goddess, was he always this touchy with my mother?” She thought.

“Stormy, sing t’ me like you used ta.” Remy asked. Kendall had no idea what he was talking about. She knew her mother liked to sing to those she loved, but apparently she used her voice to soothe her drunken associates to sleep. The only song that Kendall could think of was the lullaby that her mother used to sing to her as a child.

Kendall sang softly and gently massaged the top of Remy’s head. She would’ve translated the tune to English, but she was too tired. Remy’s body relaxed more and he quickly fell into a deep sleep. After a while, Kendall stopped singing and hummed quietly. She looked into Remy’s face. He was definitely becoming an older man. His hair had gray stripes. A few wrinkles had developed in the corner’s of his mouth and eyes. Kendall noticed that her uncle’s hands seemed to be ten years older than the rest of him. They had all sorts of old scars and scratches, most likely from living off of what he could get his hands on for so long.

Kendall yawned again and placed Remy’s hand on his chest. She then realized that getting up without disturbing him wasn’t going to happen. Giving up, Kendall propped her head on her arm and let her uncle’s labored breathing calm herself to sleep.



************************************************************


The early morning sunlight streamed into the Rec. Room and roused Kendall. She still had the pillow on her lap, but her uncle was nowhere to be found. Kendall stretched her arms over her head and stood up.

“It can’t be later that six.” She thought. Kendall’s stomach growled and she rubbed it while walking toward the kitchen. The sound of her parent’s voices fully awakened her and she rubbed her eyes. Kendall entered the kitchen and sat at the table, next to her father. Ororo turned around from the cabinets and greeted her daughter.

“Good morning, dear.” Ororo chimed.

“Morning.” Kendall replied shortly. Logan eyed his little girl warily.

“Doesn’t look like you had a great night.” He joked. Kendall nodded slowly and laid her head on the table. “I was babysitting Remy last night.” She mumbled.

Ororo joined her husband and daughter at the table and slid Kendall a cup of coffee. “We know.” she replied. Remy was in here making coffee and swore he just left me in the other room.” Logan chuckled and Kendall drank some of the steaming coffee. It was sweet and full of milk. Mothers always seem to know just what you need.

Logan fingered his daughter’s damp hair. “So, what else happened last night?” He questioned. Kendall just looked at her parents for a moment. There was no use in lying to them, her mother could tell when she lied. Her father could smell them coming from two miles away. Kendall was pretty sure they already knew about the incident at the lake and they were just toying with her.

“I went swimming in the lake.” She replied.

“What do you think of Clint?” Ororo asked. Kendall shook her head and swallowed more coffee.

Ororo nodded and drank some of her water. Logan got the signal and changed the subject. “What’s the plan for today, mistress?”

Kendall drank more coffee and though for a while. “Well, first off I’d like to put on some clothes. After that I don’t really know. This evening, I have to pick up Jubes from the airport.”

“Well, that’s sounds like fun, you two going out tonight?” Ororo asked.

“I don’t know” Kendall replied. “Depends on what Bishop wants to do.”

Logan lifted an eyebrow as Ororo continued her questioning. “Bishop’s flying in too.”

Kendall shook her head again. “Chuck said that he’d show up around here sometime today.”

Ororo fingered one of her daughter’s twisted locks. “Do you want me to braid your hair for you?” She asked. Even though Kendall could do it herself, she enjoyed it more when her mother did her hair.

“Probably, but it’s going to have to wait until after lunch.” Kendall grinned. She finished her coffee and some of it dribbled down her chin. She wiped it away with her sleeve while her father smiled and her mother cringed a little. Suddenly, Logan turned his head toward the door. He turned around again.

“It’s gonna get crowded in here pretty soon. You two wanna cut out?” He asked.

Kendall stood up. “Yeah, I need a few hours in my own bed before I can face the public again.” She put her mug in the sink and hugged her parents. Kendall went past the table and grabbed and apple as she left the room.

Ororo took her daughter’s place next to her husband. “She’s definitely your child.” She said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He replied.

“She had no reason to frighten Clint like that.” Ororo continued. “He was just lost.”

“The girl was doing exactly what I taught her, staying alert and defending herself.” Logan stated. “How in the hell was she supposed to know who he was?”

Ororo shook her head and put her hand atop his. “Goddess, what have I gotten myself into?” she asked, grinning widely.

Logan placed Ororo’s hand against his lips and kissed it gently. “I don’t know, but it’s too late to turn back , especially now.”

Ororo sighed again. “We are going to have to tell her sometime.”

“When is up to you, darlin’.” He replied. Ororo kissed her husband. Once again, he was correct. They didn’t have the luxury of time in this matter and Kendall, as well as everyone else, was going to notice sooner or later.

“Tomorrow night, at dinner.” She decided. “We can announce it then.”

“Okay by me” Logan replied. He got up and took his wife’s hand. “Come on ‘Ro. This place is gonna be a madhouse in a minute.”

Ororo placed her glass in the sink. “Yes, I should get out of these pajamas, shouldn’t I”

Logan grinned as they walked toward the back door. “I always thought so.”





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