A series by November

Chapter 55: Old Friends and New

As if trying to offset the recent developments in a world hostile to them, old friends and alumni came home to Xavier’s for the holidays. They sought haven. Warren was in town, as was Havoc and Gambit. Art came for two days. Leah stayed for several, playing with Maggie, baking cookies with Rogue and Cassandra. It was calm and mundane and wonderful.

Logan and Marie picked Ray and Cassandra up at the airport. They appeared well-rested and happy. Ray was first off the plane, tanned from a marine biology elective, hair light blonde, long and shaggy. He shook Logan’s hand and hugged Rogue. Logan decided that he liked gay men. They weren't a threat.

Cassandra was next, smiling and relaxed. "Hey guys!" She hugged Rogue, then Logan, who hugged back with only slight hesitation. His eyes met Rogue's and she smiled, grounding him. Cass was none the wiser.

As they drove back to Westchester, laughing and catching up, a gentle snow fell. Even Logan was relaxed enough to joke around.

On the night before Thanksgiving Rogue and Logan threw an impromptu party. He went out for beer and Rogue chatted with Leah, Cass, and Ray. There was a knock at the door and Marie called for them to come in.

It was Rakim. He was holding a bottle of Merlot and wearing a leather jacket. Rogue made the introductions to Cass and Ray.

Rakim couldn’t keep his eyes off of Ray. Ray shook Rakim’s hand and didn’t want to let go. They sat and drank the Merlot and an arc of energy appeared to crackle between the two. Leah was amused.

Jean and Scott came, Jubilee, and Hank and Art. Leah stopped mid-sentence when Cody came in.

"Oh my god, Marie, who is that?"

"That would be Cody."

"Damn."

"Go for it. He’s a great kisser." She grinned. Leah looked at her, slightly scandalized.

Later, as Rogue and Logan were in the kitchen, Cody joined them. "Marie, that girl is cute!"

"Which one, sug?"

"In the green sweater, dark hair."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. What’s her name?"

"Her name is Leah. Go talk to her."

"What if-?"

"Go talk to her, Cody."

The ate and drank and were merry and Marie’s apartment was bursting at the seams. Cassandra, Bobby, and Hank got into a heated debate about linguistics and the preservation of language. The conversation and camaraderie were so good that the single people didn’t mind that Rogue and Logan, Ray and Rakim, and Cody and Leah were all caught up in grand dramas of their own.

The next day, the usual dinner was crowded and Xavier made a toast to the guests of the house, saying and caring nothing about who was or wasn’t a mutant. They were all his guests, and they all charmed him as much as his graceful hospitality charmed them.

They had many things to be grateful for. Ray was glad for "old friends and new." (There was no question to which new friend he was referring.) Cody was thankful for being safe and alive. Kayla seconded that.

Rogue was glad for friends and family. Logan wondered, did she mean him and Maggie? Because her family in Meridian was certainly nothing to be thankful for. Maggie was grateful for turkey and pumpkin pie.

Logan was grateful for "having my sorry ass intact for another year."

In truth he was thankful for so many things he couldn’t even begin to list. He had been around for twenty one years, and not once in them had he been home until now.

After dinner the usual turkey-stupor football festivities ensued. Logan, Bobby, and Ray were the most vocal watchers. Rogue and Rakim chatted on a couch in the back of the room.

"I’m trippin’ over that guy, Marie." Rakim said blissfully.

She grinned and clapped her hands. "Yay! And I think he’s tripping right back."

"Ya think?"

"I know. Between you guys, Cody and Leah, there was enough electricity in that room to power New York."

"What about Cody and Leah?"

Marie laughed. Only someone caught up in a romance of his own could fail to notice the way the two were snogged up against each other all night.

On Thanksgiving day the snow fell thickly and the kids built the traditional X-Men snowmen. When they were bored with that they went to the hill at the far corner of the Xavier estate and went sledding. Bobby convinced Rogue, Logan, and Maggie that they all could fit onto his sled and they flew down the hill. Rogue held Maggie and Logan held them both. Maggie shrieked with delight.

On Sunday, Cass and Ray left. Rakim took them to the airport. Leah had left on Saturday. On Sunday night, glad that they were alone, Marie and Logan made love quietly while Maggie slept in the next room.

On Wednesday Cody announced that he was divorcing Stephanie and had accepted a job in the city. He would be moving to Westchester so that he could be near Kayla.

As December deepened and Christmas grew near, Rogue was humming and happy. She thought a bit about her father and it was like a sore spot often remembered when bumped, but forgotten when not. The three of them decorated the Christmas tree with gold and silver ornaments. Logan lifted Maggie to place the star.

She made cookies, so many cookies they were sick of them by Christmas and even Logan‘s voracious appetite couldn‘t deplete them all, oatmeal and chocolate chip and peanut butter and sugar angels with sugar frosting colors.

Rogue and Logan went shopping for Maggie one day while she was in school. Logan navigated through Toys ‘R’ Us, not minding the crowded store, just pushing the cart where Marie wanted, letting her fill it. That afternoon they wrapped the presents and wound up having sex amid wrapping-paper snippets on the floor. They left the windows open to air the room out after. They were late for picking Maggie up.

The week before Christmas Rogue took her last final and went to the mall in White Plains. She had no clue what to get Logan for Christmas. She spent a few hundred dollars at a cigar shop, then wandered the mall aimlessly.

Meanwhile, Logan obsessed about what to get Marie. He went to the jewelry store and looked at platinum and diamonds and silver. While the clerk wrapped up the earrings, he eyed a display of engagement rings and wondered what style she would like. Wondered if he had the courage. He didn’t now. Maybe February. Maybe her birthday.

He saw a purple silk dress clinging to a mannequin in a store window. It was a simple sheath with beads at the bottom. He went into the store and asked to buy it "in the same size as the mannequin." They wrapped the dress lavishly and he took it home. On the night of the Christmas party she slipped into it. It clung to her perfectly, its violet color so intense it was breathtaking. She put her hair up and wore his diamond necklace. He saw her and wished he’d bought the ring.

This year the three of them walked down into the foyer for the party. Logan was absurdly proud that Rogue wouldn’t dance with anyone else. That night Rogue stood guard at Maggie’s door while he took the presents out and placed them around the tree. She filled their stockings with candy and nuts. Hers and Maggie’s were old, Rogue had made them out of red velvet the first Christmas she had Maggie. Logan’s was green velvet with bells, his name embroidered in the same gold thread as the other two. She slipped in the Cubans when he wasn’t looking.

Gifts placed, cookies eaten and milk drank, they stood facing each other in the bedroom. He held her face in his hands and watched her eyes before he kissed her. Her dress shimmered between blue and violet in the candlelight. His hand moved slowly up the soft silk covering her side. "I wanna cut this right off of you," he said.

"Don’t you dare." she said, although the idea of him unsheathing his claws to cut her out of her new favorite dress turned her on. They made love as the candle burned down and snow fell and Christmas came to Westchester.