"Scott, I need you to watch Rachel while I go to Valerie’s room," Jean told her husband, as he stood in front of the mirror, tying his bowtie. It was the day of Logan and Valerie’s wedding and Jean was supposed to be helping the bride get ready.
"Okay, where is she?" Scott asked.
"Here I am Daddy," Rachel said, walking out from behind
Jean and running towards him.
Scott bent over to pick up his three year old daughter. "Come here, Baby doll," he said as he scooped her up in his arms and tossed her in the air a few times.
"Okay, don’t let her eat anything that’ll mess up her dress, and I’ll be back just before the ceremony," Jean told him. "How do I look?"
Scott rested Rachel on his hip and smiled at her. "You look wonderful. Doesn’t mommy look wonderful?" he asked Rachel.
Rachel grinned and nodded.
"Well, I don’t think I look so wonderful," Jean said, placing her hands on her well rounded belly.
Scott walked over to her and placed a kiss on her lips. "If you have the slightest headache or if you can’t hold your shields up I want you to come back here and rest," he told her firmly.
"I will," said Jean. "I’ve felt fine the past couple of days, and I feel great today."
"Good. Where is Christopher?"
"He’s in...no wait," Jean paused and turned her head slightly. "He’s in the kitchen. I don’t think he could wait for the reception to eat."
"Why am I not surprised?” Scott said, smiling. “He’s a growing boy."
"I’ll be back later," Jean told him.
"Bye mommy," said Rachel.
"Bye baby," Jean called back.
"So, what do you want to do while we wait?" Scott asked.
"Let’s paint," Rachel suggested.
Scott chuckled. "I don’t think Mommy would be too happy with that."
As Jean rode in the elevator to the third floor where the bride was getting ready in Ororo’s room, she was struck by a sudden pain in her head. She let out a groan, and placed the palms of her hands on her temples.
Then as soon as the pain had begun, it ended, leaving Jean grasping the railing with one hand and her stomach with the other. She tried to control her breathing before the elevator door opened.
Stepping out of the elevator, she gave herself a few seconds to recuperate before she continued down the hall. She passed Logan as she rounded the corner.
"Afternoon, Jeannie," he said, smiling.
Jean put on a fake smile to cover up what had just happened. "Were you trying to take a peek at the bride, Logan?"
"So, what if I was?"
Jean shook her head and continued down the hall. "You know that’s bad luck," she called back at him.
"Val, your dress looks absolutely divine on you!" she said as she walked through the door.
"Thank you," Valerie smiled.
"Sorry I’m running late. I had to take care of Rachel," Jean told them.
"You only missed Logan trying to break the door down," Ororo said. She was behind Valerie making sure the train was secured.
"Yes, daddy was being very persistent about wanting to see Valerie," Kayla said. "But I made him leave."
"You look very pretty as well Kayla," Jean told her.
Kayla grinned at Jean and twirled in her dress. "Thank you Aunt Jeannie."
"Oh God I’m so nervous," Valerie said. "I feel like I have a ton of butterflies in my stomach fluttering around."
"Don’t worry," said Kitty, coming out of Ororo’s bathroom. "All you have to do is walk down the aisle, say I do and leave."
"And hope Logan says the right name," Valerie joked. The rest of the women paused for a moment, staring at Valerie who was smoothing out her dress. Jean looked at Kayla who was busy trying to put on lipstick and completely oblivious to what was said.
"Kayla, not too much or your daddy will fuss," Valerie said.
"Okay," said Kayla, closing the tube.
"How have your headaches been lately?" Valerie asked Jean.
"I haven’t had one since the day Senator Kelly was killed," Jean fibbed. "But it’s getting harder for me to hold up my shields. And the Professor has had trouble keeping me from sensing his thoughts."
"Really?" Ororo asked.
"That’s interesting," Valerie said absently.
"I thought the Professor was the best at maintaining a mental block?" said Kitty, slightly confused.
"Well, I don’t get his full thoughts...just little snippets," Jean explained. "Maybe I’m just having an extreme case of maternal instinct."
"If someone will get me my bouquet, I’m ready to head downstairs," Valerie said, changing the subject.
"I’ll get it!" Kayla shouted, anxious to help.
Kayla ran recklessly towards the box that held the flowers. As she ran she tripped on the leg of a table and began to fall head first. Both Jean and Valerie reacted by grabbing her arms to steady her. Jean was immediately hit with another sharp pain in her head. She kept her grip on Kayla to keep from losing her own balance. Distorted images began appearing in her head causing more pain.
Confusion broke lose as Kayla also began to scream, and Kitty and Ororo ran to stop Jean from falling. The images began replaying in Jean’s mind but she couldn’t make any sense of them. As Valerie pulled Kayla out of harm’s way, Jean’s grip on Kayla loosened.
Kayla stopped screaming as soon as Valerie let her go, and went over to the bed to get a pillow to prop Jean’s head up with.
"Jean?" Ororo called, "Can you hear me?"
Valerie handed Kitty the pillow, who gently lifted Jean’s head to place it under her.
Jean could hear Ororo calling to her, but she couldn’t answer because she was too caught up in the images flashing through her mind. They kept replaying, over and over until the last one froze. Jean saw a woman lying on her side on a wet floor, and a pair of hands reaching, touching the body to roll her over.
Jean sucked in a breath and opened her eyes. Ororo and Kitty slowly came into focus, along with Valerie who was standing above them.
"Are you okay?" Kitty asked softly.
Jean sat up and tried to catch her breath. She nodded her head and rubbed the perspiration from her forehead.
"Should we call for Scott?" Valerie asked.
"No, don’t," Jean said weakly, "I’ll be fine. Scott will just overreact and I don’t want to ruin your day."
"But what if you have another bad spell? Scott will be pissed if we don’t tell him, regardless of what day it is," Kitty said.
"I’ll tell him after the wedding," said Jean. She started to stand up but her stomach got in the way. So Valerie held out her hand and pulled her up while, Kitty and Ororo supported Jean’s sides and back.
"Aunt Jeannie are you okay?" Kayla asked timidly. She was standing behind Valerie watching with wide eyes.
"Yes, Kayla I’m fine. Are you okay?" Jean asked.
Kayla nodded her head and said, "I won’t tell daddy or Uncle Scott about what happened."
Jean smiled and said, "Thanks Kayla, I’m going to tell Scott later." Jean didn’t want Kayla to get the idea that keeping information from Logan was a good thing.
"Valerie, can I go find daddy before it’s time to start?" Kayla asked.
"Sure, sweetie. You have plenty of time," Valerie told her.
The women watched as Kayla left the room. "Do you think she’ll be okay?" Valerie asked.
"It probably just scared her." Ororo said.
Kayla shut the door and stood in the hall by herself. She lifted her hands up and stared at them flipping them back and forth. When she had touched Jean it had felt like needles poking her skin over and over. She didn’t know what to do, because images had also started to flash in her head. Thinking she was the only one that saw them, Kayla didn’t mention it to anyone. She had seen the woman lying on the wet floor and someone flipping her over. Kayla closed her eyes and tried to picture the woman’s face again.
Her eyes flew open at the memory of two white streaks. "Momma?" Kayla questioned. Wondering where the memory came from, Kayla walked down the hall in search for her Dad.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it took me so long to update. You guys are so going to hate me for the next couple of chapters.