The mother-to-be was released from the hospital exactly twenty-six and a half hours after she was admitted, however, she was put on complete bed rest the reason being that the next time she had contractions they would HAVE to deliver, and they wanted to deliver as close to her due date as possible.
She could go to the bathroom and that was about it.
Anything else she needed was to be brought up or done by the X-family and she hated being waited on, it reminded her of her time that she spent as a Goddess in Africa - she couldn’t do anything on her own, without having the constant need for a body guard to be with her and she hated it then too.
She was her own woman, and liked it that way.
She understood it was for the safety and the protection of her and her unborn child and, she would have done anything for the little being growing inside of her but she was sick of asking for favors and conversations that started with “do you mind?...I would do it but Hank is being mean again.”
There was a knock at the door “come in,” she attempted to prop herself up on some pillows but gave up on it when she kept falling back.
It was Rogue and Gambit popping their head in grinning “hey Chere, you feelin’ up for some company?”
“Oh Goddess! Yes, please!”
Her--for the lack of a better term Brother and Sister, came in with two boxes that were marked ‘ORORO’ in big block lettering in black permanent marker if she wasn’t mistaken; those were her copies of all the photos she was in over the years.
Everyone had there own albums of memories, the one rule was that if more than one person was in a photo, you had to make a copy for all of those involved-there were countless numbers of second, third and fourth remakes of photos thanks to all the group shots everyone insisted on taking; and Rogue had a bag from a local craft store.
“What is all this?”
“Just a little project, sugah!” she winked “the professor thought it would be a good idea.”
“He did? Or is he making stuff up so I won’t go crazy.” The snow haired weather witch grinned
“A little from column B and a little from Column C” was the response coming form the two-toned hair Southerner.
“Chere, Remy t’ink you mean a little from column A a little from column B.”
Rogue mulled it over for a moment and Ororo tried to hide her laughter “Do Ah?” she looked at Ororo’s face “oh whateva ya’ll know what I mean.”
“The professor thought it would be neat, to have a scrap book of the Xmen and you before the little X-baby is born. You now moments of us growin’ up wit you and such. Show the babe what its gettin’ inta.”
“Awe that is a sweet idea.” Ororo nodded, she gave it a passing thought earlier on in the pregnancy. However, she never gave it another thought until Rogue just now mentioned it.
“I guess it would save from everyone telling stories that started off with ‘Hey Baby Munroe, did we ever tell you about the time we got your mom drunk, or arrested,’ or anything else embarrassing. Deal?”
Rogue made a face: “to be fair we never tied you down and got you drunk, we just bought you the alcohol, especially on your twenty-first birthday how were we supposed to know you never drank tequila before?”
Ororo rolled her eyes that was by far the worse hangover she ever had-they ordered twenty-one drinks off the menu to celebrate her 21 years on the planet.
She was fine until the tequila, even now she finds herself fighting the urge to vomit when someone hands her that...poison.
“And Chere, you were the one who dragged us to that protest and got us arrested with you.” Remy LeBeau stated with a hint of humor in his voice.
Ororo rolled her eyes as she remembered the Animal Rights protest against the Canadian hunt on seals and having to call Logan to bail the three of them out of jail “details, details!”
Rogue cocked her head to the side “So baby Munroe huh?” Ororo nodded “so you aren’t going to give the baby Scott’s last name?”
“Rogue, Chere, dat ain’t none of our business.”
Ororo shrugged “I do not know to be honest. He made it clear he did not want anything to do with this one, when he told me to abort, I know he tried to make up for it. Those words still stung, and he never did make an effort after that visit in the hospital.”
Remy bit his cheek no one talked to his sister like that he took her hand “Remy sorry, Stormy.”
“Do not be.”
There was a friendly silence between the three friends and in much needed attempt to change the subject Ororo broke out the boxes with the photo albums in and spread them over the bed Ororo picked one up and looked at it.
With her index finger, the African beauty, traced over the faces. She smiled lightly and said, "Oh, I remember this...” she showed the photo to Rogue and watched her friend crack up laughing.
It was a colour photo of Jean Grey and Ororo both looking the like they were showering in flour: they were baking a birthday cake for Charles Xavier’s birthday and a flour fight started between the two mutants both of them were covered head to toe in flour and were laughing and shrieking so loud the surprise was ruined for Professor Xavier (they ignored the fact that they were trying to surprise a psychic.)
In the photo Ororo: who was wearing a black tank and faded blue levi’s was trying to be all serious and take a nice photo, despite being covered in baking product and, she was leaning up against the chef’s counter in the middle of the kitchen her head cocked to the side and a hand under the chin she looked almost like a model-the flash bulb flashed at the same time catching Jean trying to sneak up on the weather witch to dump the rest of the flour up on Ororo’s, now whiter hair. No one remembered the last time they laughed that loud and long.
In between giggles Rogue nodded her head “Ah had ta help ya wash your hair cause ya couldn’t tell if ya got the flour out.” She wiped the tears coming out of her eyes and she saw the stupid split face grin Remy had on her face and smacked him lightly in the chest “as in her head was over the sink, ya pervert!”
Remy blushed “Remy can dream, non?”
“No!” yelled both girls and ran into a fit of girlish giggles again, they were never going to get through this project, not that Ororo minded.
~ ~ ~
Moments passed and quiet chuckles of laughter and picture trading kept the life long friends busy; it was Remy’s grumble that made Ororo look up “Remy don’t remember dis photo being taken.”
Ororo took the piece of developed film from his hand “neither do I.” she showed it to Rogue - the photo in question was of Gambit and Storm curled up like two cats in the back of the X-Van sleeping soundly.
Rogue smiled “ah don’t remember who took that one, but ah think it happened when we were driving back from Los Angeles ta see Jubiliee.”
Storm’s heart melted at the sound of Jubilee’s name, she was now living in Los Angeles with her Aunt Hope who adopted her after her parents Dr. and Mrs. Lee were accidentally killed by hit-men “you took a photo of us sleeping?”
Rogue raised her hands “ah didn’t take the photo!”
“Ya still let it happen, Chere.”
Rogue stuck her tongue out at the Cajun male in the room.
“I miss her you know, Goddess, sometimes I thought that child was going to be the death of me-but my heart broke when she told us she was leaving,” Rogue took her friend’s hand “she still emails me and sends me photos and things, but it is not the same.”
“Speaking of Jubilee,” Rogue passed Ororo another photo and the former thief broke into a wide grin “I still have that shirt somewhere.”
The photo was taken one Christmas two or three years ago Jubilation Lee and Ororo Munroe were standing in front of the mansion’s Christmas tree the older of the two was holding a black and purple T-shirt, the gift from the Chinese-American teenager that read “Worship me like the Goddess I am”
“Why don’t you wear it?”
Ororo dead panned, without missing a beat:“I don’t believe in labeling myself.”
She ducked at the swat the was coming from Rogue in another fit of giggles “I wore it around the house when she gave it too me, but to be honest I was never a T-shirt person, she understood that. I do use it to sleep in though,” Ororo put it in the pile of photos they were going to use for the scrap book.
There were more moments of photo sorting and reminiscing when Remy broke out into a split face smile “was this Halloween, Stormy?”
She rolled her eyes at the nickname and looked at the photo and smiled “that photo was supposed to be tore up” she showed Rogue the photo.
The developed film piece was a photo of Hank McCoy and Ororo in Hank’s laboratory their arms were wrapped around each other-each mutant was wearing white lab coats and safety goggles with big smiles on there faces; Ororo didn’t look to be that much older than high school her normally snow white hair was multi colored in front of her face Ororo shook her head; “College level chemistry Hank decided to let me figure out what happened if I mixed two chemicals instead of just telling me. My hands were green for a week and my hair was five different colours as you can tell from the photo.” Ororo’s snow white hair was replaced with quite literally chunks of colour that would make any resident punk proud.
“Ah thought you couldn’t dye your hair because of your mutation, Sugah?”
Ororo shrugged “I guess a chemical reaction that affects the skin is different then hair dye.”
Remy frowned “why would you want to colour your hair Stormy? Remy likes your hair.”
The Stormy in question rolled her eyes again “you call me that one more time, and pregnant or not I am going to hurt you.” She glared but her lips tilted up to let the Cajun know that she was playing, partially. “To answer your question, I lived in Africa and have white hair-wouldn’t you want to try to dye it to be some semblance of normal?”
“Mais, cheveux d'Ororo d'amour de Remy”
Ororo rolled her eyes “I admit I love it too. Now. I mean many of the girls I know where sold into sex slavery back where I grew up, we would literally wake up and the person you fell asleep beside was no longer beside you...and when you look ‘exotic’ the way I do you will do anything too look like anyone else just so you know you won’t wake up dead, or worse.”
Remy and Rogue bowed there heads “sorry, sugah, we didn’t know.” Rogue took her gloved hand and put it into Ororo’s “so, did you ever figure out why you can’t dye your hair?”
Ororo nodded “there is so much water in me and static because of my mutation it kind of...sucks out the colour.”
“So how long did that last?” referring to the photo with her and Hank.
Ororo muttered “long enough for me to miss my normal hair,” she thought about it and put it in the pile of photos they were going to use “at least it would work as a lesson ‘don’t let Uncle Hank let you mix chemicals to get-’”
She was cut off by Rogue’s high pitched scream, it was some weird mixture of: anger, laughter and disgust: “ORORO IQADI MUNROE!”
Ororo’s eyes widened at the use of her full name by one of her team mates “you know its not fair that you know and use my full name and I don’t even know your first.” Ignoring the photo that Rogue was waving around.
“What is this?”
“A photo, chere.”
“Shut ya trap Remy, ya know what I mean.” She shoved the photo is Ororo’s face and Ororo would have laughed if she wasn’t scared that Rogue probably would have hit her.
The older woman looked at the photo “I did not even know that was taken.” Ororo shook her head “besides it was your idea.”
“What was your idea, chere?” Remy questioned feeling left out all of a sudden.
Ororo took the offending photo from Rogue’s hands and passed it too the Cajun that sat between the two women: it was a photo of the two women Rogue was sitting on the floor in between her friend’s legs. The mocha hands of the weather witch was running through Rogue’s two toned hair with a comb and her dainty fingers, If you looked closely which was hard to do in the photo, you would see that Rogue’s hair was done in tiny micro braids, It Ororo looked like she was getting ready to do the other half when the photo was being taken: “wow Remy be impressed, Chere, How long did that take?”
“Too long!” both girls said at once and giggled again.
“Close to eight hours I think,” Ororo nodded “yes, something like that, to do her whole hair.”
Remy wolf-whistled “vous des dames êtes fou, why did you girls do it?”
“Boredom.” Ororo shrugged “okay not really, it was a really hot summer out and all the girls wanted their hair braided so we can keep it off our face and necks, and instead of a quick French braid like Jean wanted and what I had, Ms. Complicated seen the corn rows and micro braids on T.V and asked if I knew how to-”
“Of course Miss. ‘of course Ah can do it’ ova hear didn’t tell me it was gonna take eight hours.”
Ororo uncharacteristically shrugged, “you did not ask.” She fought the urge to call her child.
Remy rolled his eyes and put the photo in the ‘keep’ pile. He laughed as he picked another one running his hands along the developed film making sure he did not accidentally set charge to it “Remy ‘member dis one. Thanksgiving, non?”
Ororo looked at the photo, smiled and nodded-the photo in question was of Ororo and Logan laughing and smiling together; she was on his back and he was
piggy-backing her around the compound.
“He said he ate too much of Jean’s cooking and he ‘needed to work it off with a beautiful woman’-So I jumped on his back, I knew that wasn’t how he meant it. However, I was quick to point out that my weight will add extra resistance to his work out and he didn’t specify what kind of work out.” She winked; “I have not seen many photos with me and Logan in them. Rogue remind me to change that in the future, okay?”
She watched her friend nod and she placed the film in the pile for their little project.
“Sugah, its way too quiet in here, can I turn on the radio do you mind?”
Ororo shook her head “I do not even know if it still works, I have not used it in so long-but go ahead my friend.”
To be honest, Rogue and the weather witch have been friends for so long their was no need for Rogue to even ask to turn on the stereo- and the act of Rogue asking kinda surprised the pregnant mutant. However, she saved-face. She was getting good at that.
Rogue leaned over and switched the channels “news. news. news. really dumb commercial” she said a little louder “who ever invented those radio commercials with the two people talking about stuff that no one cared about..needs to get punched..just sayin’” she went back to muttering to herself about why there is three different radio stations each one playing a different kind of ‘metal’ “hey what about this?”
The radio station just finished playing ‘fix you by cold play’ and was starting to play a new song that Ororo nor Remy didn’t get at first:
“You and I must make a pact
We must bring salvation back
Where there is love
I'll be there
I'll reach out my hand to you
I'll have faith in all you do
Just call my name
And I'll be there"
Remy rolled his eyes and so did Ororo “I believe the correct term for this is Irony if I remember high school English class” as she finally recognized the Michael Jackson song ‘I’ll be there’ “I didn’t like dramatic Irony in Shakespeare and I do not particularly care for it in my music Rogue, please find something else.”
“Everyone’s a critic,” and with that she turned off the radio.
~ ~ ~
It took another half an hour before the threesome could find something for Ororo and Professor sure they were group shots, like the one of the girls in the can-can line behind his wheel chair for this birthday, and although Ororo wanted to figure out how to use that photo for the scrap book as well.
It was important for her to find a photo where it was just her and the professor. However, the search was futile and it was getting to the point that she didn’t think she had any nice ones between her and the professor “et celui-ci?” Remy found a photo of the pregnant former goddess and her father figure playing chess although it was a cute photo Ororo was kinda vain about the crease lines in her forehead appeared trying to beat the powerful psychic in chess.
She shook her head.
She flipped through a few more “hey ‘Ro?”
“Hmm?”
“Ah didn’t know you and the professor went ta Cairo together.”
Rogue was holding a photo in her hands of what looked like to be Ororo and the professor standing in a Bazaar with the faint shapes of the famed pyramids in the background, the young Ororo had to be about the age of sixteen she looked malnourished and tired but she had a smile on her face.
Ororo nodded “thats where he ‘found’ me Rogue, I picked his pocket. You guys know the story. I guess it was only fitting that he took me back to where we met before he took me...home,” she shrugged, “goddess I look positively ill in this photo.”
“Being homeless will do that too you, sugah!”
Ororo rolled her eyes “you’ve been quiet old friend” referring to Remy “any reason in particular?”
Remy shook his head “I guess Remy just ain’t got nothin’ to say Padnat.”
The girls broke out into smiles again “thats a first,” the imagined to say at the same time.
Ororo filed through a few more photos and she suddenly held one to her chest hugging it as if it were a teddy bear and she was a lost child. The look of unshed tears in her sky blue eyes were heart breaking and quite curious to the onlookers that were sitting on her king sized bed “oh Goddess,” she whispered so softly Remy wasn’t even sure she said anything.
“Stormy?”
“They were supposed to be happy, Rogue, forever, remember? God I could I do this to her, to them?”
“Who, baby?” Even during the pregnancy Ororo had this calm regal heir about her, which is hard to do while vomiting in the toilet like she was doing. She always had this-sense of self and what she was doing, even during the hormone induced mood swings. So to see Ororo suddenly shake with this unshed emotion it made Rogue nervous. Very nervous.
Ororo suddenly dropped the developed piece of film like it was a hot piece of wood from the fire place and Rogue picked it up “awe darlin’” picking up Wolverine’s nickname for the snow-topped woman the photo was at taken in the mansion.
Ororo was wearing a Mrs. Clause like velvet red dress with white fur trim around the hem, collar and sleeves. She was sharing a kiss on the mouth with Scott. Jean’s Scott. The photo made the kiss seem more passionate then what it really was and Ororo couldn’t figure out why: Perhaps it was the dimly lit room, or the way Scott’s hand seem to find her hair, or her hand seem to find the side of his face.
Ororo cocked her head to the side she remembered that kiss well; it was before Scott proposed to Jean and well before the affair started.
Jean was trying to loosen up Scott at the Xmen Christmas party so she waited until Scott was beside one his X-sisters and held the mistletoe above their head using her telekinesis: the first kiss was a chaste peck on the lips almost resembled chickens pecking the ground for grain it was so quick.
Logan and Jubilee poked fun and teased until Ororo rolled her eyes and pressed her lips on the mouth to Scott one more time.
That’s when the photo was taken, right after Ororo’s hands found the side of his face and right before Scott moaned inside her mouth-the kiss was supposed to be innocent and a joke between friends but either party will be lying if they said it didn’t spark anything between the two leaders.
Ororo wondered if Jean knew that her husband would be the future father of her best friend’s baby if she would coax the two into kissing in the first place “Chere, Remy don’t t’ink its healthy dat you always blame yerself for le divorce of Scott et Jeannie Remy tink you should talk to someone about this, non?”
“Are you saying I need therapy?”
“If it helps, Stormy.”
Ororo rolled her eyes and blew the hair that fell into her face out of her eyes “I am supposed to be the ‘Ice Queen’ the woman who doesn’t break. How is it going to look that I need to talk to a doctor?”
It was Rogue’s turn to jump in: “every one needs someone ta talk ta, hon! there is no shame in that. Talk to the professor if ya need ta, thats why he’s there. But, Remy’s right Sugah what you are doin’ ain’t healthy-Scott fucked up and he doesn’t blame himself as much as you blame you. Hell Jean has been easier on ya then you have been on ya.”
Ororo ignored the comment and looked through more photos of her and Scott to find one for the scrap book, when she couldn’t find one she settled on the kiss, and threw it in the pile.
“So chere what are you going to do?”
Ororo grabbed a pillow from behind her and put it over her face like she used to when she tried to hold in her emotions, she mumbled incoherently into it she suddenly felt like a teenager on one of those WB Dramas that Jubilee liked so much.
She felt the tug on the pillow and she let go of it, “C’mon Stormy suffocatin’ yerself ain’t good for le petite.”
Rogue held back a grin “never mind what it would do ta ya.”
The Goddess knew that they were right “I know I should be happy that Scott has given me this miracle that I am going to be able to hold in my arms soon. I just..This wasn’t exactly the way I thought it would happen I Mean I am thirty-one years old, unmarried, pregnant and...l...” she reached for the pillow again but Remy threw it behind him. “I just figured, daughter of a Kenyan Princess, Former child Goddess,X-Men...I would be at a different place right now. I love being pregnant I just-”
“Thought it wouldn’t be with a married man who now wants nothing to do with it or you?” Rogue finished.
“Exactly.”
“Ororo, baby girl, listen to me-we’d been friends of a while. Ya?”
Ororo nodded
“Okay so then listen to me when I say YA NORMAL. Ya at a crossroads. Now this is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are ya now? Who have ya decided ya really are now? Don't think about who ya’ve been. Who are ya now? Who have ya decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully.”
Ororo sat slack-jawed at Rogue for a moment it was quite a day when Rogue started speaking philosophically and she knew she had to listen to her when she did.
“Fahgit about the Kenyan Princess, Goddess, Xmen stuff. Fahgit about the affair with Scott. Who are ya now, sweetie? Are you going to let one mistake ruin who ya are? Cause if ya are you should just stop living now ‘cause Lord knows I don’t think you can handle any more curve balls.” Rogue sighed, “I know I ain’t got no masters in bible studies and philosophy and stuff. But, there’s a sayin’ back where I come from ‘ya wanna know how to make God laugh? Ya tell him you’re plan.’”
Ororo smiled “I love you, you know. I’m sorry for being stupid.”
Rogue hugged her careful not to touch any skin “we’ll just blame it on the pregnancy.” Rogue winked “look we’ve been up here long enough, sugah, why don’t you get some sleep and we’ll talk later, okay?”
Ororo nodded she hugged Remy, made sure the photos were off of the bed, and shimmied down into the blankets. She had a lot to think about. Yes, about her future. More importantly she had herself to think about. Without Scott. Without Logan. And, without the Xmen.
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