| Patience, by stormfreak Chapter Five: Warning: Sudden Death can Cause the Destruction of a Family Oh, Bright Lady, no. She saw the water before she saw the cliff. Although Ororo had lived here for six years, she didn�t recognize the land from above. She had been in the waterfall, but never above it. Rogue was already there. Standing naked on the cliff, she stretched her arms out. The mist sprayed across her bare skin, and she was smiling. Laughing. Maniacally. "Storm!" she screamed. "Ah know you hear me! Ya tell that fucking swamp rat that Ah did love him! Ah�d have given my life for him! An� Ah�ll love him foreva, from t�hottest corners of Hell, an� Ah hope ya neva have any peace with what was originally an� foreva mine!" And with that, she was off the cliff. Storm adjusted her flight downward. Oh, is this all? she thought, genuinely relieved. My goodness, this was dramatic. Remy jumps this cliff every morning. Rogue can swim. She�ll hit the water, but she won�t drown. The water is too deep for her to strike her head, and she�s too proud to � Oh, Goddess. Oh, sweet Goddess. I am dreaming. Bright Lady, tell me my vision is wrong. And she willed the winds to move her faster. She saw Rogue�s body as it hurled through space, growing closer and closer to the ground. The winds picked up as she felt her body go faster and faster, coming closer and closer to Rogue�s body. If I can just reach out and � It happened by pure instinct, not by logical thinking. It has been proven that in a panic, a person can forget vital information, and Storm�s case was no exception. She reached out and grabbed Rogue�s wrist, preparing to fly upward. She felt the jolt surge throughout her whole body. Storm screamed, and her whole body felt as if it was turning inside-out. A gust of wind blew, and Storm plunged into the water. Breathe�I can�t breathe�the water! The water was turning red. Dark, dark red. Crimson. She felt the spirit of her child leaving her. Her tiny, tiny, baby was drowning, being swept downstream, and she could hear it screaming. Everywhere, the water was turning red, red with the blood of her child. Even the water that ran from the top of the waterfall had turned to blood. it was seeping into her hair, turning it red. She reached out to grab her child, to swallow it and give it life again, but it had disappeared. From the bank, she heard Rogue�s laughter. She turned her head in time to see the blood frothing from Rogue�s mouth, her eyes glassing over. Bones poked through her body, but she still spoke. Ya�ll neva have peace, Storm, until Remy an� I are back togetha again! In Heaven, in Hell, on earth � whereva! And with that, Storm�s head went under the river of blood. * They had fought steadily ever since Rogue�s death. Remy stuck to his guns and not attended the funeral, and despite Ororo�s desire to attend, she hadn�t gone either. If she had been single, or even without children, she would�ve disregarded his wishes and attended anyway. But it was only the second week of school, and despite the fact that there was only half a school left, the education of Harare Academy students would continue. Besides, half of the money was his, and half of the decisions made in the house were his. Actually, way more than half. And for the first time in their marriage, Ororo genuinely began to resent him for that. What in this house is really mine? she thought one morning in the midst of all the usual morning chaos. Remy had bought their car when they had arrived in Zimbabwe, and recently, his motorcycle. He made twice as much money as Ororo did teaching, and the house had been built by Remy and his co-workers. Even her precious rocking chair had been carved by her husband and presented to her as a Christmas gift, shortly before the twins were born. Was she just a mere mother figure in this house, and nothing more? Their first major blow-up had come about three weeks after Rogue�s death, when Ororo decided to cut her hair. She had been out shopping with some other teachers from Harare Academy when they passed a small beauty salon in the village. Before she knew it, she was sitting in a chair directing a stunned young woman to cut her silver locks to her shoulders. When it was all over, there was enough hair on the floor for two, maybe three women. Ororo had looked in a mirror and tilted her head to the side. It was so short! And she loved it. The lack of hair drew attention to her face and her bright blue eyes, making her look much younger. Remy, on the other hand, had a different opinion. "What da fuck did you do dat fo�!?" he screamed, slamming down the portfolio he was holding in his hand. A recent merger had failed miserably, and Remy�s demeanor had been harsh ever since. "Do not use that kind of language with me!" she had shrieked back. "I am not one of the town whores who litter your watering hole!" Remy raged on as if he hadn�t heard her. "When I married you, did I play dictator an� come up wit� a whole pack of rules � �Wear this, you can�t go dere�"? He threw his hand across the table, shattering a drinking glass in the process. "NO! I made only one request! �Don� cut your hair!� Was dat so fucking hard!?" How could she tell him that she smelled the blood of her dead child in her hair? That the saline scent had seeped into her skin? That she would cut her skin off and discard that, too, if she could? She left that night, took his motorcycle and rode around the beautiful countryside. The wind whipped through her newly shortened hair and under her sundress and made her feel alive. She rode around for hours before returning the bike, sans a full tank of gas, which they argued about the next morning. After that, it seemed as if they fought about everything under the sun. Remy began to take more business trips, which began to last up to a full week instead of the usual two days. Ororo took over the science department at Harare Academy, causing her to stay late at the school. It didn�t really affect the children�s lives � James stayed late for football practice, Ajita was still in the orchestra, and Leila Jean was in an after school ballet class � but she knew they all felt the strain. The constant chatter in the LeBeau house had been silenced. Even the mornings were far quieter, which each child tiptoeing around trying not to draw attention to themselves. And still, as the weeks turned into months, Rogue continued to haunt Ororo�s dreams. Sometimes she killed Ororo, sometimes one of their children. Sometimes she married Remy, sometimes she didn�t. Sometimes, she lived, sometimes she died, and sometimes she lived in agony before she died. It got to the point that Ororo became afraid to close her eyes. For in sleep, she was forced to deal with what she couldn�t while she was awake. * Ajita placed her bow and violin down and stared out the window. School was rolling along slowly, with the Christmas vacation approaching on Friday. Their replacement teacher, Mrs. Van Dusen, was nice enough, but after Ajita and James had lost Miss Sanford, they were both a little wary of the addition. Although none of the children had been filled in on who their teacher had been, Ajita knew that her mother�s accident had something to do with her talking to her teacher at night. She had seen the confrontation from the school cafeteria, where she and her siblings had been eating breakfast before a window breaking disturbed the peaceful morning. Ajita knew that her mother could control the weather, sort of. She had watched one day as her mother had made a small rain cloud to water her flowers in the back yard. She had seen her father laugh as her mother had created a powder-like substance and thrown it down his shirt, causing him to yell and shake it out of his shirt. But she had no idea that her mother could command the forces of nature on such a grand scale. Was her mother a freak, like Augustine had said? Was her brother a freak? Was she? Would her mother turn the weather on her one day if she got mad enough? The wind was howling outside. Ajita wanted to go into the living room and watch television, but she was afraid to leave her room. Lately, all her mother and father did was fight, and her mother had been on Ajita�s case ever since. It�s all my fault, she thought miserably. If I had just told when the lady first came to my window, none of this would�ve happened. She opened her door quietly and looked both ways before dashing down the hall to the boys� room. James was sitting on his bed reading aloud to Leila Jean. Deejay, who was nearly a year old, was on his knees pushing a toy truck around the room. He squealed when Ajita slipped into the room as shut the door behind her. "Jiji! Jiji!" he cried, getting to his feet and stretching his arms over his head. "Deejay, you�re too big to keep getting picked up," Ajita scolded, but hoisted him up on her hip anyway. "You�re a big boy; you can walk now." She stroked his head. "Geez, Deejay, your head�s kinda warm." "Mommy says that�s common for babies who are growing new teeth, " James answered, not looking up from his book. He was still in his practice uniform, his cleats dangling from the foot of the bed. Leila Jean had leaned all the way back, her gray eyes drooping sleepily. "How can you stand to be that close to him, Leila Jean?" Ajita questioned. "He hasn�t taken his bath yet." She held her nose. "Pee-yew!" "Shut up, Jita," James responded. "Or I�ll throw my dirty socks on your face." "Gross!" Ajita replied. "No one wants to smell your stinky socks!" "Jiiiiii-taaaaaaa!" Leila Jean wailed. "I wanna hear the rest of the story!" "Ignore this ignoramus," James dismissed his sister with a wave of his hand. "Don�t call me names!" Ajita yelled, setting Deejay down. "You can�t call me names! I�m the oldest!" "So what? I�m bigger than you! Ignoramus! Ignoramus!" "Don�t call me things you can�t spell, James!" Their arguing was interrupted was a choking sound. Ajita whipped around in time to see David Jaffe fall to his knees, vomiting violently. Leila Jean began to scream. James stood up. "Oh, no," he gasped. Ajita flew down the hall, her bare feet thumping against the hardwood floors. "Mommy! Mooooooommyyyyyyyyy!" She reached the living room, where her mother was tossing fitfully on the couch. "Mommy, wake up! Something�s wrong with Deejay! Mommy!" The slap came without warning; fast as lightening and hard as a 2x4. Ajita fell to her bottom just as her father entered the front room. Ajita touched her hand to her lip, which was beginning to swell. Tears jumped in her eyes. Her mother spanked her, yes, but she had never, ever slapped her in the face. "Daddy!" James had entered the room. "Something�s wrong with Deejay!" "What?" Remy dropped his briefcase and ran to the boys� room. His voice cut through the air a second later. "ORORO! ORORO!" He rushed back to the front room. "Ororo!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook hard. Ororo woke up. "What-what the goddess?" "Sonet�ing�s wrong wit� Deejay." "David Jaffe," she gasped, and jumped off the couch. Ajita puled herself to her feet slowly. She took her hand away from her lip. Her fingers were dabbled with dots of blood. It was already beginning. Ajita threw open the front door and began to run. * Deejay had stopped vomiting by the time his mother had raced into the room, but his head was still burning. Remy ran to grab a cool cloth while Ororo took his temperature. "Oh, Goddess," she murmured after a moment had passed. "103.6." "I�ll go get Paw-Paw Adam!" James cried, and he ran before anyone could stop him. Ororo placed her youngest son on her shoulder and began to pace back and forth. Her words were soothing, but her nerves were shot. She hadn�t the slightest clue what was wrong, and Remy�s demands to know what his condition was did not help the situation. "Do I look like a doctor?" she snapped, when Remy�s incessant talk began to wear thin. "You his motha � you should know what�s wrong wit yo� son!" "Oh, fuck off, Remy!" she screamed. "I am so sick of you telling me that I am these children�s mother! You think I do not know that, when I am here most of the time taking care of them?" David Jaffe began to cry, but neither parent paid attention. "What t�hell are you tryin� to imply?" Remy stepped into Ororo�s line of vision, his eyes blazing. "You tryin� t�say day I�m not here fo� my kids?" "Oh, you are here," Ororo hissed. "When you are not traipsing off on one of your little business trips!" "It�s a business trip! I�m on business! You act like I�m off gettin� drunk an� getting� my dick sucked!" "Who knows what you do when you are away?" Remy grabbed her wrist, and Ororo nearly dropped David Jaffe. "You listen, Weather Witch," he growled low in his throat. "I am a good husband an� a good fatha, an� don� you eva forget dat. You betta remember who brings the money home an� who puts a roof over yo� head." Ororo felt her heart pounding, but she locked her steely blue eyes with her husband�s. "Take your hands off me, you filthy swamp rat," she said coolly. "Or else you and I are going to have serious problems." They stood eye to eye for a moment, the anger in the air so thick it could be cut with a knife. Remy let his wife�s wrist go. "I swear, woman, one day you gonna push ole Remy too far wit� yo� words," he threatened. "And what? You will hit me? I wish you would, Remy. I would enjoy stomping the shit out of you." "And a good time was had by all," Adam�s booming bass voice filled the small room. He set his medical bag on the floor and turned to Ororo, his green eyes twinkling. "Ororo, hello! Why do you look so worried? I am here, and everything�s going to be just fine. Now, please hand me this good-looking lad so I can see what is making him sick." Ororo turned over her son and walked out of the room without saying a word. "It�s good to see you and your wife are getting along so well, Remy," Adam laughed as he took out his stethoscope. "For a minute there, I thought the two of you were having trouble." "Adam, I don� want t�hear dis right now," Remy replied. "All I want t�know is what�s wrong wit� my son." "I�m trying, but I�ve been here a minute." Adam ran the stethoscope over David Jaffe�s tiny chest. "How is your wife sleeping lately?" "T�same. She still has those nightmares, but she won� talk t�me about �em" "I figured she was still having bad dreams. The weather�s been terrible at night. But I wish she�d confide in someone." Adam dug into his black bag and withdrew a rectal thermometer. "Aw, Doc, d�ya have to put dat in his ass?" "Despite modern technology, this is still the most accurate way." Adam rolled the child onto his stomach. "This is never pleasant," he murmured. "Have Ororo come see me before the week is up. I�d like to give her a pill to take at night to regulate her sleeping pattern, and maybe have a heart to heart with her." He inserted the thermometer, and David Jaffe howled. Adam laughed. "Good for you, Deejay. You are a bona fide heterosexual." Remy laughed. It felt wonderful. The past few weeks had been so tense that laughter was rare in what once was a joyous household. "Remy?" "Yeah?" "Why didn�t you go to the funeral?" "I don� want ta talk about it." "I think it would help if you did." "It was four months ago, Doc." "Humor me anyway." Remy sat on the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. "I just didn� want ta go, okay? Dese people we�re talkin� about � dey never wanted me to be wit� Ro. They wanted me with Rogue, and when Stormy and I got together, they all hated me for taking her over Rogue � and hated her for taking me away from Rogue." "But you should�ve gone anyway. I think it would�ve helped your wife." "Helped her how?" "It would�ve given her some peace, I suspect. You know she holds herself accountable for Rogue�s death." "I�ve told her a million times dat it�s not her fault-" "So what? You can�t control how she feels." Adam removed the thermometer and wiped it with an alcohol swab. "Hmm. 104.2." "It was 103.6 when Ororo took it." "Rectal?" "No." "Then it was probably inaccurate, or it has risen since then." Adam took out a large bottle of alcohol and a sponge. "Quick, Remy, remove all his clothes. I�m going to give him an alcohol bath, and that should lower his temperature a little." As Remy removed his clothing, Ororo stood in the doorway. "Remy, have you seen Ajita?" "She�s not wit� James?" "No. I thought she was with you. Adam, did Ajita go with James to get you?" "No, James came alone." Ororo stuck her head out the door. "James! Is Ajita in her room?" Pause. "No!" Ororo�s eyes grew wide. "Remy, where is she?" "I-I don� know!" "Remy," Adam said slowly. "Not to scare you ar anything, but�your door was wide open when James and I arrived." "Oh, my God!" Ororo cried. "Stay here. I�ll find her." Remy ran for his jacket and his motorcycle keys. * Harare, Zimbabwe was a huge city � the capital, in fact � but the neighborhood in which Ajita and her family lived in was small and cozy. Everyone knew everyone, and everyone looked out of everyone, especially the children. So it wasn�t a big surprise when two of her father�s coworkers, Rasaan and Panell, spotted Ajita walking down a dusty road no more than fifteen minutes after she had fled. "Hey, look!" Panell yelled, loud enough for Ajita to hear. "It�s Ajita!" "Ajita!" Rasaan, the younger of the two, picked Ajita up and gave her a big hug. "What on earth are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" "I ran away," Ajita replied, bold as brass. "And I am not going back!" "That�s not a very good idea, child," Panell replied. He was married with children of his own. With six boys, he had a soft spot in his heart for Remy�s two girls. "Bad things can happen to a little girl alone at night." "I�m not afraid of anything!" "Good for you, girl," Rasaan laughed. He was the youngest worker at the ice cream factory, a mere nineteen years of age. Remy had taken Rasaan under his wing when Rasaan took Remy�s place as an ice chopper. "But Panell is right. Why would you want to run away from home? I thought you loved your mommy and daddy." He looked at Ajita again, closer. "What happened to your lip, Ajita?" Ajita lowered her eyes. "Mommy hit me," she muttered, and fresh tears sprang to her eyes. The two men exchanged confused glances. "You mommy did this?" Panell asked. "Yes. I was trying to wake her up and she hit me." "Ohhhh!" Panell laughed. "That sounds like an accident to me, Ajita. I�m sure your mommy didn�t mean it. Sometimes, people do crazy things in their sleep. Why, when I was in the Army, no one could wake me up without nearly throwing a brick to my head. One night, a fellow soldier tried to wake me up by shaking me, and I snapped up and nearly choked him to death!" He chuckled again, and Ajita laughed. She suddenly felt better. "Now, come on. I�m gonna call your daddy, and he�ll come to get you, and everything will be okay. You�ll see." Rasaan kissed Ajita�s cheek, and she promptly fell in love with him. * "Hello!?" Remy was speeding on his motorcycle when his cell phone rang. "Remy, old pal! It�s Rasaan." "Look, I don�t have time-" "Relax, Remy. Ajita�s fine. Panell and I have her right here at the White Swan." "The bar!? You took my daughter to a bar?" "Calm down. She�s with Panell and me, safe and sound, drinking a glass of chocolate milk and charming all the drunks." Remy calmed immediately. What did it matter where she was, as long as his daughter was safe and sound with two men he trusted? "T�ank you, homme. I�m on my way. Do you mind explainin� somethin� t�me, though?" "Yeah, boss. What?" "Why in t�world did Ajita run away?" * "You hit her!" "Remy-" "In t�face! How could you!?" "Remy! I swear, I do not remember-" "Are you calling Ajita a liar?" "No! I am telling you that I do not remember Ajita coming to wake me up! I certainly would not slap her over something like that!" "Oh, you wouldn�t? Seems t�me dat you are a little slap-happy lately-" "How would you know!? You are never here!" The phone rang. "Ignore dat," Remy demanded. Ororo rolled her eyes and answered. "Hello? Oh, hi, Mary!" She sat on the bad, her back to Remy. "Really? Oh, that sounds marvelous! No, my husband is home � he can watch the children. For a change." Laughter. "Okay, I will meet you in an hour." She hung up. "An� where t�hell do you t�ink you�re goin� tonight?" "Oh, Remy!" Ororo placed her hands on her hips. "I am going out with a few teachers � is that okay with you, Master?" "Don� you t�ink dat�s kind of insensitive, considerin� yo� baby�s sick and yo� daugha ran away tonight?" "Well, la-de-da, Remy LeBeau! Since I am such a rotten mother, you can watch them all night, and in the morning, astound me with your revolutionary methods of parenting!" "We�re not done talkin� about dis, Ro." "Fine. You can run your mouth while I shower. But talk to the wall � I think it cares about what you have to say more than I do." She stalked into the bathroom door, slamming it behind her. "Ro!" Remy jiggled the doorknob. Locked. "Ro!" He slammed his palms against the door. Nothing. "Daddy?" James stood at the doorway, a frightened look on his face. Ajita and Leila Jean stood behind him. "What is it, son?" Remy said, his voice slightly shaking. He put his face in his hands and sighed, trying to calm down. "N-nothing. We-we just came to say goodnight." Ajita spoke up. Remy took a deep breath, then walked to the door. He kissed the top of his son�s snow white head, then his twin sister�s, kneeling to hug her tightly. "We�re glad you�re home safe, Jiji," he murmured in her ear. Ajita threw her arms around her father�s neck and kissed him. "I�m going to marry Rasaan," she whispered in his ear. "Really? Well, he�ll be lucky t�have you." Remy smiled, making a mental note to rearrange Rasaan�s face so he wouldn�t be so handsome. "Night, Daddy," Leila Jean kissed her father�s other cheek. "Goodnight, Mommy!" they all called at the same time. "Night!" Ororo yelled over the running water. "C�mon, lemme tuck all y�all in tonight," Remy suggested, and followed his children out of the master bedroom. * He had talked to Ajita again, convincing her that Mommy�s slap was just a mistake, and no, she wouldn�t get punished for running away. He read Leila Jean a bedtime story, and smiled when Leila Jean was asleep before he even finished. He visited James and talked for what seemed like forever about football, football, and more football. Finally, he reached into David Jaffe�s crib and felt his forehead. It was considerably cooler. The house had calmed down considerably since a few hours ago. Adam had given Ororo medicine for David Jaffe�s virus, and it seemed to be working considerably. Ajita was safe, and his wife was going out for the night. Maybe a night out with friends would give her a little peace. I have been gone often, Remy thought. She�s stressed out, raising these kids and holding down a full time job. She deserves a night out. He walked into their bedroom and stopped short, his jaw dropping. Ororo had apparently reached waaaaay in the back of her closet and chosen her best "husband-and-kids-what-husband-and-kids?" dress for tonight�s outing. It was sheer cotton, blue, short, and tight in all the right places. Her matching blue pumps complimented her curvy legs and shapely rear end, and her shorter hair flattered her face. Remy burst out laughing. He couldn�t help it. He laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks and he became short of breath. It irritated Ororo to no end. "What now?" she snapped. "I�m sorry, love," he gasped. "It�s just dat if you t�ink you�re leavin� my house dressed like dat-" he laughed again, "you hit your head back in August a lot harder dan I thought." "Your house?" Ororo questioned softly. "Do you not mean our house?" "Our house, my house, your house, the neighbor�s house - hell, dis bedroom, to be honest." Ororo sighed. "Fine, Remy. I will humor you for one minute. What is wrong with my dress?" "Nothin�. You look fantastic." "So you are wasting my time because�" "Because you look like a single woman dat�ll get hit on all night." "So?" "So!?" "Yeah, so? I still have on my wedding ring. I am not trying to hide anything. You loved this dress when I wore it last." "I don� care. I don� want you wearin� dat, not tonight. Change your dress." "Remy, I will toss on a sweater-" "Change your dress." "Fine, damn it! I will put on some flat shoes-" "Change the damn dress!" "You cannot tell me what to do and what to wear! I am not your property!" "You are my wife and you will not leave dressed like dat!" He reached for her arm, and Ororo slapped it away. He grabbed her again, and Ororo delivered a slap to his left cheek that sent him reeling. It all happened in a blur. Remy and Ororo were only about four inches apart, but Remy was much heavier. He grabbed Ororo by her waist and picked her up, with her screaming and pounding her fists in his back. His intent was to carry her to the bed, but a blow to his ear sent them both falling to the floor, with him on top. Ororo began to scream at the top of her voice, swinging wildly as thunder rumbled outdoors. "Ororo!" he cried, trying desperately to grab her flailing wrists. The windows were shaking with the force of the thunder outside, and Ororo�s eyes had lost their blue orbs. Losing it�she�s losing it. "Ororo, calm down! Stop it!" "Get off of me�oh Goddess, help me�get off�" "Ro, I can�t do dat until you calm down, baby!" He reached to grab her wrists again, but a blow misguided his hand and it crashed across her nose. A river of scarlet trickled down her nose. Oh, shit! "Get off of me!" Remy jumped up immediately, helping his wife to her feet. Her dress was torn, exposing her left breast. Her hair was in complete disarray, and the heel on one of her shoes has broken. But nothing stunned Remy as much as the unbridled, raw fear in Ororo�s eyes. Her body was shaking and she was breathing heavily. "Ro � your dress � I�m sorry-" "You bastard." The quietness in her voice shook Remy to the core. "You lousy fucking bastard." "Ro, it was an accident-" "An accident! A fucking accident! Like what happened to Ajita was an accident, right?" Remy was too shocked to reply. "RIGHT!?" "Right." Remy took a step forward. "Love, your nose is bleeding-" "I know that!" Ororo stepped backward. "Stay away from me!" She collapsed on the bed and began to sob. "Oh, Goddess�I cannot live this way anymore. This has not been working, not for months now�" "Ororo, I know dat�" Remy sat next to Ororo on the bed. "Adam said he wants to see you before t�week is out � give you somethin� t�stop yo� nightmares-" "My nightmares?" Ororo sat up, wiping the blood from her nose with her right hand. "My nightmares? This marriage is my nightmare." She locked eyes with Remy. "You are my nightmare." "Wh-what?" It came out a whisper. "I cannot live like this anymore, Remy. It was bad enough when I became the mother figure, but now you have reduced me to your sole property." Ororo�s voice began to waver. "Nothing I ever do is good enough � the house is not clean enough, the way I raise the children is not good enough, my hair my clothes � nothing! The children are miserable; they hardly ever see you anymore, and all I do is yell �" "Stormy. Ororo." Remy reached out to his wife, but she shrank away as if Remy had the plague. "I do not want this life, Remy. Not anymore." Remy felt the heat in his body rise. "What t�hell d�you want from me, Ro � a divorce?" He saw the answer in her eyes before she spoke. "Yes." * "Daaaaaaddyyyyyyy?" a soft voice cut through the silence. Remy rolled over deep in a turmoiled sleep. "Daaaaaaddyyyyyyy?" Louder now, more insistent. Am I hearing things? "DADDY!" Remy sat up with a start. "L-Leila Jean?" "Are you asleep?" the three-year-old asked sweetly. Remy sighed and looked into a pair of glittering gray eyes. "No, doll. I�m not asleep at all. Why are you awake?" "I�m scared. The rain scares me. Can I sleep with you?" Ororo greatly discouraged any of their children sleeping with them. But since Remy was on the couch and Ororo was in the bed, Remy found that he really didn�t give a damn. "C�mere, doll," he cajoled, and the tiny child leapt on the couch and snuggled her head on her father�s chest. "I wanna watch TV," she murmured sleepily. "Shouldn�t you be going to sleep?" Remy kissed his youngest daughter�s forehead. "Tomorrow is a school day." "Not�" Yawn. "Sleepy." She rubbed her eyes. "Wanna watch cartoons." "Go to sleep." "Daddy, you smell like beer." "Sleeeeeep, baby girl." Remy tickled his daughter�s nose, and she giggled. Seconds later, she was asleep, her head on his chest. Somehow, as usual, her hair had unraveled from the long braid that Ajita put in her hair every night, and it surrounded her face like an ebony curtain. Remy felt a lump rise in his throat. Lord, he loved his teensy Leila Jean. Adam had told him that according to her bone structure and her blood work, she wouldn�t grow taller than five feet tall. No matter � the small child had a heart as big as all of Africa. He loved all of his children, but he was fiercely sensitive about his youngest daughter. Ororo had brought the baby down to the ice cream factory back when she was about six months old. He received the usual calls of adoration and the joshing about being wrapped around Leila Jean�s finger. But Gunther, a man who never liked Remy and who had a thing for Ororo, had called out, "Hey, LeBeau! She�s awfully dark, don�t you think? Are you sure she�s your child?" Ororo had whipped around, her eyes wide and her blood draining from her cheeks at the implied. Remy � who was never big on words - had strode over to Gunther and proceeded to smash his jaw. His later defense when the police arrived with the ambulance - that the bastard had it coming � didn�t quite hold up, and he was placed in custody. Ororo and Adam came to pick him up, and Ororo didn�t bother to hide her disgust. They rode home in silence save for Leila Jean�s babbling. It hadn�t been the first time someone had questioned Remy�s paternity. The day she was born, a snide nurse made a comment that she looked nothing like Remy, and had turned to another nurse and tapped her skin, rolling her eyes. Two weeks later, one of Ororo�s fellow teachers jokingly asked if they had brought the wrong baby home. Even Adam had wondered once aloud how a white haired-woman and a brown-haired man made a black-haired child, although later he had shrugged and pegged it on science. He had been lying on the couch watching a football match when Ororo had dumped the baby on his chest. "Look at her!" she had yelled. "How could she not be your child?" "Ororo, I never quest-" "You punched a man over this. In the back of your head, you have always wondered. Now look at her! Quit looking at her skin color and really LOOK at her." Ororo ran her hands through the baby�s hair. "She has your exact hair texture, Remy, nothing at all like mine. See her lips? They are shaped like yours." She took Leila Jean�s hands and extended her tiny fingers, and Leila Jean giggled. "Her fingers, Remy. They are shaped just like yours. She has your hands." Remy held his giant hands up to Leila Jean�s tiny ones as she continued. "You are looking with the wrong set of eyes, my love." She laughed, her bad mood gone. "Now, I am sorry that I cannot produce light-skinned, blue-eyed children for you every time, but I will try to oblige in the future." With that, she has kissed Remy�s forehead and walked out of the room. Remy had never questioned that he was the father of Leila Jean. However, like most men, he had wondered when his daughter would begin to resemble him. He had studied her then, as he studied her now. Ororo was right. She did look like him. And as she grew older, she began to resemble him more. Her eyes were shaped like his, as was the crown of her head. Remy smoothed Leila Jean�s flyaway hair down as the rain outside raged on. She was so beautiful, lying there with her cheek pressed to his chest. Strange, he thought, how peaceful she was, as opposed to her mother, who was causing the storm. He wondered when the storm would be over. He also wondered the same about his marriage. * All right, y�all know the dealiyo. Take your asses to the epilogue, post-haste! |