Marie was the last one in the house and consequently the last one to enter the dining room. Extra tables had been set up around the perimeter of the room so that everyone could enjoy the meal together. She paused in the doorway and marveled for a moment how she could have stayed away for so long. Everyone was talking and laughing at once and it was music to her ears. She realized there was no excuse good enough for having missed out on this for the last several years.
Michael and Catherine were seated at either end of the long dining table, surrounded by their three children and their spouses. Gabe and Hannah were there as well. Bobby and Jubilee sat at a card table with Jeremy and Dana. Marie felt a grin tug at her lips. They were probably teaching them about how useful a mutation can be when it comes to pulling pranks on people. They themselves had been in constant trouble growing up. That meant the only remaining seat was at a table with Scott, Caleb, and sitting with his back to her, Logan. Marie huffed out a frustrated breath. Of course she would have to sit with Logan. She seriously considered asking Jubilee to switch with her but knew she didn't want to endure the teasing that would come with it. She could be an adult about this. She squared her shoulders and entered the room.
Logan's senses had picked up on Marie before she even entered the room. He could feel the frustration rolling off her in waves. He didn't have to be a genius to know he was the cause of it. He really hadn't planed on kissing her like that but the urge had been too great for the Wolverine in him to ignore. When he heard her announce that she was gaining control of her skin, it had been the first thing that had popped into his head - having those luscious lips under his and begging for his touch. He sensed Marie's shift to determination and knew she was moving toward him.
Marie pulled out the chair and slid gracefully into the seat. She refused to let Logan know how strongly that one kiss had affected her. It was not going to spoil her perfect holiday with her family.
Catherine clinked her spoon against her glass to get everybody's attention. They all quieted and she gave a nod to Michael who folded his hands and bowed his head. His rich baritone filled the room. “Lord, we want to thank you for the bounty you have graced us with in the past year. We're fortunate to be able to make a living from the land; land that you made fertile and fruitful. I ask you to bless my family; both those who are here and those that were unable to be with us. Family is one of the greatest gifts a man can have. Thank you for the friends that you've given us and the food that graces our table. If the food's half as good as it looks, I'll be a happy man. Father, in your name we pray. Amen.”
A chorus of Amens followed the blessing. Catherine only shook her head and smiled at the part about the food. “You'll never change, Michael. That must be why I love you so much. Now, what are you thankful for Gabriel?”
They went around the room, each telling what they were most thankful for from the past year.
Jubilee couldn't help herself when it was her turn. “I'm most thankful that Marie came home so I won't have to suffer through another family dinner with a bunch of moronic males for company. The elder generation excluded of course,” she added graciously.
“Jubilee Summers!” Susan groaned.
“Just telling it like it is, Mom,” Jubilee grinned. “And like always, I'm thankful for my family who love me no matter what I say or do, no matter how outrageous, and who love me because I'm a mutant, not in spite of it.”
That brought tears to Susan's eyes.
Scott was thankful that business was so good for he and Logan that he had had time for a fly fishing trip in Montana last summer. Bobby admitted it was nothing more than the fact that his favorite driver had won the Nascar Sprint Cup series this year. Caleb was thankful for his brother, Bobby. Without him, he'd have to wait forever for a cold beer on a hot day. Scott and Logan had to agree with him on that.
When it was his turn, Logan looked reluctant to speak but he new from experience Catherine wouldn't let anyone eat until he said something. With his eyes downcast, he said in his usual gruff manner, “I'm thankful for all of you. For taking Tyler and I in and making us a part of your family.” He raised his eyes and looked at Jubilee. “Even if it means I have to put up with a certain obnoxious Firecracker.” Jubilee only grinned at that.
Marie was last and there was no doubt what she was most grateful for. Sitting between Scott and Caleb, she reached out and grasped their bare hands in hers. “I'm thankful for the ability to touch. It's been so long since I've felt normal. This is the greatest blessing of all.”
Her parents were astonished. Questions flew at her from every direction and she answered them all with a smile.
Nancy couldn't stop her tears. She pulled Marie out of her chair, enveloping her in a tight hug and pressing her cheek against her daughter's bare one for the first time in over 12 years. John gave Marie an equally big hug and pressed his lips to her forehead. He brushed the tears from Marie's cheek, a look of awe on his handsome face. “Marie, baby, you should have told us what you were trying to do.”
“I know, Dad, but I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up if I wasn't able to control it.” Marie smiled through her tears, reveling in the touch of her mom's soft hands in hers.
“This is truly a day to give thanks,” Michael proclaimed.
They returned to their seats and the food was passed around the table amid exclamations of how good it looked and smelled. There was turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry salad (that no one actually ever ate but Catherine insisted they had to have, it was tradition), green bean casserole, Jello, and of course, pumpkin pie and apple pie for dessert.
Marie filled her plate and thought fleetingly of the extra workout she was going to have to fit in next week. Doing her best to ignore the man seated across the table from her, Marie turned her attention to Caleb. “So how's it going defending the innocent mutants of the Rockies?” Caleb was a lawyer who specialized in mutant affairs and never seemed to lack for interesting cases.
“Really good. I've built a pretty solid client base and I'm actually thinking about opening my own office.”
“Good for you! I always figured you for the smart one out of this generation of Summers males.”
“Hey!” Scott protested, “Wasn't I the one who was the valedictorian of his high school class?”
Logan dug into his meal with gusto and did his best to sneak only an occasional surreptitious glance at Marie throughout the meal. Her hair had been scooped back in a hasty ponytail after the football game and Logan found himself studying the line of her throat and the very female curve of her shoulder. He could smell the the vanilla lotion she used and thought he'd be happy just having her for dessert. He would start by nibbling on that sensitive spot at the base of her throat.
Marie was enjoying herself despite the neanderthal sitting across from her. Jubilee had slid a slice of pumpkin pie in front of her and finished it off with a large dollop of whipped cream. Having eaten her fill Marie was still determined to finish it, too. She was licking whipped cream off the back of her spoon and nodding at whatever Scott had said when she heard a faint growl emanating from Logan. Her startled gaze flicked up and clashed with his. The heat she saw there made her falter.
Through the haze of lust that swamped him when Marie's pink tongue darted out to lick the spoon, Logan barely heard whatever it was Scott and said to him. For the life of him, he had no idea what any of them had been talking about. He shifted in his seat and grunted a noncommittal reply.
“Okay,” Caleb agreed, “then we'll all meet at the Spoke tomorrow night. I believe it's time for me to teach you another lesson in how to play pool, cousin.”
So they were going out tomorrow night. Good, Logan thought. That would give him plenty of opportunities to irritate delectable little Marie.
“Count me and Jubilee in,” Marie said as she focused back on her cousins. “We're gonna need a break after our shopping marathon tomorrow.”
“Good grief,” Bobby complained, “how can you two even think about going shopping on Black Friday? It's a nightmare!”
Jubilee just smiled an evil smile. “You have no idea, Bobby. You haven't seen anything until you've seen Marie and I at a really good sale at 5 a.m.!”
*************************************************************************
When everyone was finished, Nancy and Susan began stacking dishes to take to the kitchen but Marie stopped them. “We'll get it Mom. You did the cooking so we'll do the cleaning. Right, Jubes?”
Jubilee mumbled something under her breath and then smiled at her mom. “Sure we'll do it. Right, Bobby?”
“Hey, I'm not helping unless they're helping,” he protested and pointed at Scott and Caleb.
“They'd be more than happy to help,” Marie assured him, giving each of them a pointed look.
“Oh, look,” Scott smirked, “Logan wants to help, too.” Scott took the stack of plates from his mom and shoved them into Logan's hands. He pushed Susan out the door along with Nancy.
“You seem to forget that I'm older than most of you combined,” Logan grumbled. “I should be in there sitting with your grandparents.”
“Sorry, babe,” Jubilee grinned. “If you don't look a day over 35 and you don't feel a day over 35, then you must be 35. Besides, I don't see you buddying up to Grandpa or trying to kiss my Grandma.”
“Jubilee!” Marie exclaimed in horror.
“It's true, Chica. You're only as old as you feel. Did he feel like an old man when he tackled you and tried to inhale your tonsils?”
Logan ignored the laughter coming from Scott and the mortified look on Marie's face. “Fine, I'll help but I'm not washing them,” Logan muttered, wondering why he stuck around here in the first place.
He stalked toward the kitchen with the dishes and Marie spun around to glare at Scott. “You couldn't just let him go watch football with the rest of the men? And Jubilee, did you have to bring that up?”
Scott looked offended. “What about us men? We're stuck in here helping you clean.”
“Yeah, but you're family so you really don't have a choice,” Jubilee announced. “Logan's a guest. And seriously, babe,” she turned to Marie, “it wouldn't matter if he was 500 years old. The man is hot and you know it.”
“Logan hasn't been a guest in this house for years,” Scott snorted derisively, unable to let it go. “Admit it, Marie, you're just afraid you'll end up kissing him again if he gets too close.”
“I am not going to kiss him! He kissed me!” she protested.
“Whatever, Chica,” Jubilee grinned, “but last one to the kitchen has to wash the dishes!”
***************************************************************************
When they were done, most of the family was found huddled around the television watching a football game. The older women wandered back into the kitchen where the talk invariably turned to what everyone’s children were doing. Since they were out of earshot it was generally a safe topic.
“Nancy, is there something going on between Marie and Logan?” Susan asked Marie’s mom.
Nancy looked puzzled. “What do you mean going on? You know that he and Marie don’t get along. They’ve always seemed to rub each other wrong.”
“Well I wouldn’t say anything but when I went to check on Hannah earlier, the kids were all out in the yard playing football. While I was out on the porch, Logan tackled Marie and it looked like they were kissing. I didn’t want to be accused of spying so I came back inside. Though they were doing it right in front of the rest of the kids.”
“Do you think that could be what was wrong with Marie during dinner?” Catherine asked no one in particular.
“Why would you say that, Mom?” Melissa asked.
“Didn’t any of you notice how uptight and on edge she seemed? I noticed it last night when she got here, too.”
Caleb chose that moment to make an appearance in the kitchen, on a beer run for the football watchers. “Caleb, do you have any idea what’s going on with Marie and Logan?” Melissa asked her son.
Caleb stopped and looked around at the four expectant faces. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.” He realized now he should have avoided the kitchen and made Bobby get their drinks. It was common knowledge that his mom, grandma, and aunts would be sharing information on all of their various children at this time.
“We just thought that there seemed to be some, well, tension I guess you could say, between the two of them during dinner.”
“We all know that Marie and Logan have never gotten along the best. That’s never been a secret,” Caleb said.
“We’d been given the impression that maybe things had changed,” Susan hinted.
“I don’t know anything about anybody,” Caleb held up his hand to ward off any further questions. “If you think there might be something to talk about, you’d better ask somebody who knows something and that definitely isn't me.”
“Well, that wasn’t very eloquent for a lawyer, was it?” Melissa asked her son.
“I plead the fifth,” was all Caleb would say as he headed for the fridge and grabbed a couple of soft drinks.
When Caleb made no further comment Susan went to the kitchen door and shouted for Jubilee. “Honey, could you come in here for a minute?”
“Whatever it is, I didn't do it. It was Bobby,” Jubilee said decisively as she came through the door.
“I don't even want to know, Jubilee. But I was wondering if everyone had fun playing football this afternoon,” Susan said to her daughter.
Jubilee threw a questioning look at Caleb. “I suppose so,” she said, drawing the words out. “Why do you ask?”
“We just thought it seemed like Marie was a little tense during dinner. Did she get in an argument with someone?”
“No, she seemed fine to me.” Jubilee gave Caleb a scathing look when he gave a derisive snort. In an attempt to divert their attention, Jubilee said, “Maybe she’s just thinking about that presentation she has to give when she gets back to work. You all know she worries about that kind of stuff a lot.”
“That’s probably it,” Caleb agreed with a nod of his dark blond head. “We all know she’s obsessed with her job.” He stopped at the doubtful looks on the women’s faces. “Hey,” he pretended to be listening to something, “I think I hear the guys calling me. I’d better go!” He grabbed the beers and was gone in a flash.
“Me, too!” Jubilee piped up and was gone almost as fast as Caleb.
“Well somebody's not telling us everything,” Nancy said knowingly.
Caleb was relieved he had made it out of the kitchen before they grilled him any more. He was just glad he was usually on the other side of the questioning. He dropped of the drinks and then went looking for Marie and found her sitting on the floor around the coffee table in their grandpa’s study. Jeremy and Dana had talked her into playing a board game and were in the middle of a game of Hi-Ho Cherry-O.
“Scram, kiddos. I need to talk to Aunt Marie for a minute.”
“But I’m winning,” Jeremy groaned.
“Just go get a cookie or something. You can have Aunt Marie back when I’m done.”
Amid more moans and groans, Caleb was able to usher the two out the door and shut it firmly behind them. “Man, that was close,” Caleb said as he took a seat across from Marie.
“What was close? And what was that all about?” Marie motioned toward the closed door.
“I went in the kitchen and started to get the third degree from the moms about what was up with you. Then they brought Jubilee in and started interrogating her.”
“Why?” Marie looked alarmed. “Did somebody ask you why I was here? Why would they ask you? You couldn’t possibly know.”
Caleb looked confused. “Know about what? Is there a problem with you being here, Marie?”
Marie stopped her tirade, realizing how guilty she must sound and tried to look innocent. “No. Why would you think there was a problem?”
“Marie, you have got serious problems,” Caleb eyed her with a doubtful look. “You aren’t having a breakdown or anything, are you?”
Marie folded her arms on the table and lowered her head to rest on her arms. “I’m sorry, Caleb. I guess I’m just a little stressed out.” She raised her head enough to glance at him through the platinum strands that had escaped from her ponytail. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Sure, honey,” Caleb assured her and then looked alarmed. “You’re not pregnant or anything, are you?”
Marie rolled her eyes. “No, you dork, I’m not pregnant. Why does everybody assume that? You have to have sex to get pregnant. And having sex is kind of hard to do with life sucking skin.”
“Too much information,” Caleb warned. “And how do I know what yo've been doing since you've started controlling your skin?”
“You sstarted it, not me. Anyway, the reason I came home for Thanksgiving was because my doctor strongly advised me to before I ended up in the hospital. I guess I’ve been pushing myself a little too hard and too fast the last few years and it’s finally catching up with me.”
Caleb didn’t look too surprised by her revelation. “And here everyone else’s biggest concern is that they think there’s something going on between you and Logan.” Marie looked startled. “That’s right. They all think you and Logan are doing the nasty.”
Marie’s eyes got huge. “They actually said that?”
“What would you prefer, the horizontal mambo?” At Marie's horrified look, Caleb grinned. “Of course they didn’t say that. Can you see your mom saying, ‘I wonder if my daughter and Logan are doing the nasty?’,” he asked doing a poor imitation of a woman’s voice.
“So what did they say, genius?”
“Didn't you just tell me I was the smartest man in the family just a few hours ago?”
“Caleb, please tell me what they said.”
“Aunt Susan just happened to see that kiss Logan planted on you during the football game.”
Marie groaned and buried her face back in her arms. “Great. Now they probably all think there is something going on.”
“Look at it this way. At least they don’t know you’re on the verge of a breakdown.” Caleb put a companionable hand on her shoulder.
“Technically, it’s not a breakdown. I’ve just got to learn to get enough sleep and take better care of myself.”
“Well, you came to the right place if you want to learn how to kick back and take it easy.”
“Thanks, Caleb,” Marie gave a wan smile. “I was hoping I could count on my family.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, wish I did, they're owned by Marvel (who obviously doesn't know how to use them the right way). I'm just playing with them when I can!
A/N: Thanks again to all the reviewers! It just makes me happy! :) And yes, they're finally going to eat! BTW, I was going to wait to post this until tomorrow but it's my birthday so I'm giving it to you a day early! Enjoy!
A/N: Thanks again to all the reviewers! It just makes me happy! :) And yes, they're finally going to eat! BTW, I was going to wait to post this until tomorrow but it's my birthday so I'm giving it to you a day early! Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
Coming up next, down at the Twist and Shout, I mean the Broken Spoke! Be prepared, it's gonna be a long one!