“..and he screamed like a banshee the little tyke. Oh my stars and garters. I’ve never seen anyone so scared of a jellyfish before” Belladonna almost went under the table, laughing hard. Father chuckled and winked at me, as I tried to hide my embarrassment.
“Henry, be nice. Jimmy was only four years old and that was the first time he saw one.” Mother stepped into the kitchen. The lines of fatigue dissolved when she smiled at us. Then she tried her “stern face”, but failed miserably when father agile as a cat leapt up from the kitchen table and had her in his arms the next second.
“Well, if it isn’t the ravishing Dr Reyes McCoy gracing us with her presence? Have you met Belladonna? Didn’t I tell you that Jimmy would inherit my good looks and knockout charm? How else could he bring home a beautiful girl like that?” Mother rolled her eyes, and hit him playfully on his chest.
“Put me down you beast! Hello Bella, I’ve just seen your mother. We are expecting your little brother anytime soon” Belladonna flashed mother a smile. Yet I knew she wasn’t as thrilled at the news as some would expect. She had been the only child for sixteen years. In her own words, she had long passed the age when you wished for a sibling in your letter to Santa. She was used at getting spoiled rotten by her father, and didn’t have to compete with anyone besides her mother for his attention. She did hide her feelings though, as she had seen how the prospect of having another baby made her parents so happy. Mr. LeBeau was happy, her mother didn’t seem to be. That’s why Bella and me thought it safer if we went home to me. Now though, as I sat with Bella at our kitchen table, I wondered what was worst. Letting your father tell your girlfriend toddler stories or listening to Mrs. LeBeau screaming and cursing at Mr. LeBeau?
“Rogue let you check her up? And no limbs are missing. I’m impressed my good doctor. Beg your pardon Bella, but your mother has a somewhat heated temper “
This time, Bella’s smile was a bit more genuine.
“No need Mr. McCoy. Ah know, as well as mah poor papa.” Father kissed mother on the forehead before gently putting her down. She gave him a hug and then went to the cabinet for a mug.
“Yes I can imagine Gambit gets the brunt of her temper. But please Bella, don’t call me Mr. McCoy. It makes me feel old. Call me Hank, Henry or even Beast, will you?”
“If ya say so Hank” She obediently responded and father chuckled .
“That’s a good girl. Jimmy, make sure to take good care of her, will you?” I hid my face in my hands as Bella laughed again.
“Daad!”
“What?” father looked puzzled, glancing at Bella
“Do you think he is embarrassed?”
“Ah think so” Bella giggled. Her red on black eyes glittering mischievously. She and my father got along very well.
“Henry!” mother chided as she poured strong coffee in her cup
“If you don’t stop teasing him, I’m gonna tell them what you did when we first started dating!”
“What did he do?” Bella asked with a huge grin. Father shook his head
“There’s no need! Jimmy weren’t you about to show her what you made in the lab? I brought it up to your room”
“Yes!” I got up quickly, relived to have an excuse to leave them.
“You coming, Bell?”
“Nice saving” mother murmured to father as she snuggled up to him. He chuckled and put his strong blue furred arms around her waist as we left the kitchen. I had my room in the attic. It was spacey with high ceiling. And impossible cluttered I realized as Bella had to hop and criss-cross thru clothes, gadgets and comics laying on the floor, then had to wipe off a pile of unsorted stuff on the bed as she carefully sat down.
“Sorry for the mess” I offered the apology, standing in the doorway, feeling suddenly awkward. She was beautiful, even at sixteen. Auburn curls, cut short and large eyes. The color she’d got from her father, but her looks strongly reminded of her mother. She smiled beautifully at me, she was confident, but there was a shimmer of awkwardness in that smile.
“No problem Jimmy…Is this..?” She reached for the holo-image that stood at my bedside table, the only furniture that wasn’t cluttered. I was about to shout to her to be careful, but she had already lifted it up.
“Yer mama? Yer real mama?” I nodded silently, unable to move as she traced a finger along my birthmothers features.
“She’s beautiful. Ah’ve seen pictures and the records uncle Xavier keeps. Papa sometimes tells stories about her.” I didn’t answer, and she looks up at me, the smile wavering on her lips.
“Ah’m sorry Jimmy, Ah didn’t want to..”
“No” I cleared my throat and moved forward, gently taking the statue from her.
“It’s ok. Really. I don’t remember her much. Fuzzy images mostly. Mum and dad tells me about her sometimes”
“Ya don’t have one of yer papa? “
“No…it broke” my hands shook as I carefully put the statue back.
“Ya could make a new? Or ask Ill..” She stopped as I shook my head, almost fiercely.
“No, I don’t want one. I don’t want anything of that bastard!” my shout made her flinch, and I instantly regretted my outburst.
“I didn’t mean to shout Bell. I’m sorry. It’s…I don’t know. I remember even less about him than my mother. But it’s this feeling...I feel like I hate him…but I don’t know why. He died at the same time as mum. It was some accident, no one wants to tell me what happened. ” I didn’t even realize how much I opened up for her. She sat in silence as I vented my frustration, walking back and forth in front of her.
“There must be something horrible, that they don’t think I’m ready to handle. But I’m seventeen years old, and I had my Wakening when I was thirteen! Shouldn’t I be able to handle the truth?” There I finally paused, glancing at Bella who had her eyes downcast. I silently cursed myself. She hadn’t had her Wakening yet. Of course she had the X-gene, but her powers hadn’t manifested yet and it was painful for her.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”
“No no, it’s alright Jimmy, ah understand ya. Ah would be mad too if it was mah folks. “
“Yes but I shouldn’t have brought up..”
She smiled sadly
“It’s okay Jimmy. It’s like puberty, sometimes it’s late. Ah know I’ll have a Wakening, an It’ll be wonderful! And pa promised me that the celebration will make Illyana bloody Rasputin bloody Pryde’s look like a dull tea party!”
“I’m sure it will” I replied, and she looked suspiciously at me. I had never understood why she and Illyana didn’t get along. They never had. And their mutual dislike for each other increased when Illyana had her Wakening. She was a telepath and would become quite gifted if she trained properly. I liked her, she was a great artist and had made the holo-statue of my mother as a Wakening gift to me.
“Hmph! Too bad she wasn’t a flatscan!” Bella looked slightly apologetic at me, then shrugged
“Not that it’s bad..,but…”
“ It’s a bit demeaning, calling someone that” I tried not to sound lecturing, it was bad enough that I didn’t share her dislike for Illyana.
“Not really. Ah mean…it just a stupid word an' all. Ah mean fla…baseline humans calls us freaks and muties. It’s just a description. And ah don’t mind them, really. Ah mean, Susie Summer’s a flatscan, an she doesn’t mind being called that, an' she’s mah best friend. “ I shrugged, and she squirmed slightly. The silence stretched until she broke it.
“ So…what are ya gonna do about yer folks? Will you try to find out the truth or let it be? “
“ I want to know what happened, but I don’t know how. “
“We’ll figure out how” she smiled at my surprised look
“Ya didn’t think ah wouldn’t help ya? Aw c’mon thick head. Of course ah’m gonna help ya. Ah didn’t just inherit mah pa’s devil eyes. The blood of the best thief in the world runs in mah veins! Now, c’mere and ah’ll help ya forget yer troubles for a while”
The dream fades as I watch myself bend forward to kiss her. I’m surrounded by the opalescent blue light, a soft humming in my ears as the machine is working to take me back in time. New dreams unfolds, some short and blurred, other long and detailed.
