A series by November

Chapter 64: Yes

It was an ordinary Saturday morning in March when he decided he couldn’t stand it anymore.

He woke early and watched her sleep, dozing and waking himself, through dreams infused with her. The sunlit waking moments seeped brightly into the dreams. He dreamed of floating and clouds and Marie and light and sex.

He woke and she was watching him. She smiled when his eyes opened. For a long time they lay there without speaking, smiling at each other. She stroked his smooth chest, felt his arms wrapped around her.

“Marry me,” he said. It slipped out against his will.

Her eyes were huge. She didn’t expect it, not like this.

His heart was thundering and he thought he might throw up. He got up and dug in his sock drawer for the ring box. He handed it to her. The black velvet was old and stiff. The diamond shone in the morning light.

She looked at it, then booked at him. Her hands were shaking. She blinked.

“Is this really happening?” She felt half-awake and her thoughts were like molasses.

“Yeah, darlin’. It’s yours if you’ll have me. I never thought I’d say this but it’s an actual family heirloom. It goes back to my dad’s mom.”

She dropped the box and he was attacked by long hair and soft skin and warm breath. She pinned him to the bed and wrapped her arms around him so tight that he could barely breathe. “Yes,” she breathed into his ear. “Yes, yes yes.”

They stayed in bed for hours, talking.

“Put on your ring, darlin’.”

“I’m sorry. I got so excited I dropped it.” Her accent was strong.

“That’s okay.” He plucked it from the messy sheets and slid it on to her finger.

“It fits. It‘s perfect.” She held her hand up into a shaft of sun where it threw colored sparks.

“Good.”

“You really want this?” She asked.

“Yeah," he smiled. "I want you to be my wife. I wanna be Maggie’s dad.” She pressed her lips together and he thought she was going to cry.

“Just Maggie?” she teased.

“Naw, darlin’. I wanna knock you up chock-full of babies.” She laughed loudly at the imagery, waking Maggie up.

“One at a time, okay?”

“Whatever you want, Marie.” She hadn’t seen him smile like this in a long time.

Maggie came in. “Why are you two still in bed?”

“Come cuddle, Blue.” Rogue said. She climbed up onto the bed, laying between them where he patted. Her hair shimmered a deeper blue than her nightgown.

“We have some news for you, Bluebell.”

“What news?”

“How would you like for Logan to be your dad and for us to get married?”

Maggie grinned. “It’s about time.”

The tickle assault was from both sides and Maggie shrieked.

Later, Logan started coffee and she put her hand over his. “No way, love. We’re having breakfast in the dining hall. I’ve got bling to show off.”

“Okay,” he said, amused. He was also perversely proud of making her "his." He also wanted everyone to know.

They walked down the stairs to the foyer and into the dining hall. Marie put her shields up and made a game of who would notice the ring first. She couldn’t quite get the smile off her face though.

“Morning, Essie,” she said. Essie now ran the kitchen and was behind the cafeteria ladies slicing her gourmet bread.

“Morning, Marie. You look pretty today.”

“Thanks, Ess.”

“Hi Essie,” Maggie said.

Essie stood on her tiptoes so she could see Maggie. “Well hey baby. How are you?”

“Good.”

No one was up yet except the younger kids. They sat down at a new table and Maggie went over to sit with the kids. Jean and Storm wandered in, fresh from a run in the garden.

“Mornin',” Logan said and Rogue waved. Still, no one had noticed.

Rogue sipped her coffee and when Jean sat across from them, she saw the ring and shrieked. “Oh my god. That’s gorgeous!”

Storm gracefully sat next to Jean, eying the ring. “Congratulations,” she smiled softly.

“Thank you.”

“Let me see.”

Rogue dutifully held out her hand to Storm. “Beautiful. I love the cut.”

“Family heirloom.”

“Really?” Jean said, perplexed. “How did you-”

“Not my family. His.”

Jean’s face lit up. “Oh, I’m so glad Mariah found you.”

“I need to call her.” Logan said, draining his juice.

“So when’s the wedding?”

They looked at each other and shrugged.

A yellow streak jetted across the room, straight to Rogue. Jubilee grabbed Marie’s hand and squealed. Logan winced. “So the rumors are true!”

“Rumors? Already?”

“Kids,” Jubilee said. “I heard them talking about bling-bling.”

“Damn, they’re quick.”

“So when did this happen?”

“This morning.”

Logan ate a croissant and put his arm around Marie. He idly stroked his fingers through her hair.

Xavier rolled in to the cafeteria. Some days he found his suite lonely and he liked to eat in the dining hall. “Five bucks says he already knows,” Logan said.

“Jesus, do people around here bet on everything?” It was a rhetorical question. Marie had lived there for nearly seven years and she knew it was true.

“Pretty much.” Jean laughed.

Xavier nodded and went to get his breakfast. He returned from the cafeteria line and they scooted down to give him room at the end of their table.

“Thank you Storm, Logan. Good morning all.”

They replied in a chorus of good mornings.

“So Charles, have you ever given a bride away at a wedding before?” Rogue asked, deadpan, and ate a bit of her roll.

“No, Rogue, I can’t say I... Rogue? Are you trying to tell me something?” It was rare for him to grin like that.

“No, I’m trying to ask you something,” she smiled. She and Logan were cuddling close.

He reached past Logan and laid his hand on hers. “I’d be honored.”

That morning they took turns using the phone. First Logan called Mariah.

“Hello.”

“Hi Ma.”

“Logan. How are you dear?”

“Great. I asked her.”

“And?”

“She said yes, of course. Otherwise I’d be very drunk and not calling you.”

“I’m so happy. Although I want you to know that you can call me when things are bad, too.”

“Okay.”

“Did you set a date?”

“It’s gonna be August eighth. Here in the garden.”

“Oh, it will be gorgeous. Lemme talk to Marie.”

“Okay. Love you.” It was the first time he said it to her, instead of writing it.

“I love you too honey.” He could tell she was smiling.

He relinquished the phone to Rogue and they began that mysterious girl-talk. It seemed to him that women changed immensely when they started talking about weddings. He cleaned the kitchen and half-listened. “Yeah. Oh yeah. Um, I’ve asked Charles to walk me down the aisle so I’m not sure who we’ll get to marry us. He married Scott and Jean but I want him to walk me down the aisle instead. Yeah. I think… Definitely Jubilee, Storm, Jeannie, Leah and maybe Cass. And Essie, she’s been like a mother to me. Well I’m hoping that if it rains Storm can make it stop, at least for the ceremony. White, silk. I’d love to! That would be so fun! Logan’s eyes will glaze over though. I don’t know. Scott, Hank, Bobby, probably Rakim. Logan’s friend John, hopefully. I need to ask him. Yeah. No...”

He tuned out the chatter. He didn’t care if she married him wearing a burlap sack and boots. He just wanted to marry her. He watched TV next to Maggie, not seeing the movement in front of his eyes, just pondering his good fortune, wondering how in hell he'd gotten her to say yes.

Later, he made a call of his own, a considerably shorter one. “Johnny. It’s Logan. Good. You? Listen, We're getting married and I’d love it if you could make it. August eighth. Great.”

Rogue had promised she would go shopping for her wedding dress with Mariah in Santa Fe, but the next day Storm, Jean, Essie, and Jubilee insisted on dragging her out to White Plains. None of the dresses were right. They were all too sparkly, too flouncy, or too plain. All the shopping trip did was cause them to disagree on bridesmaids’ dresses.

Marie took them to the fabric store and they each picked out a dress pattern. Marie told them to each pick out some satin or silk in a shade of purple and she would sew the dresses herself. They all told her she was insane. Jean was becoming quite pregnant and couldn’t wait until “this thing comes out of me” so that she could wear normal clothing.

Rogue was working in the student union one day, intent on her thesis, when she felt someone staring at her. She scanned the room and saw a fat girl with long curly black hair. The girl was staring as if everything about Marie was incredibly important, especially at her ring. Marie usually wore it with the stone in, but she was left-handed and it made writing uncomfortable.

Marie gave the girl the eyebrow. What the fuck are you looking at?

At the same instant she recognized the girl as Colleen Richardson, Dr. Kahn joined her. Colleen nodded in her direction and Dr. Khan turned to look. Marie couldn’t tell what they were saying. She felt adrenaline flow sickly through her gut and turned back to her data. Something was afoot and she didn’t know what and that bugged the hell out of her. She desperately wished she had Jean or Rakim with her. She scanned the large room for him but he wasn’t there. She knew that they were probably forming or had already formed an anti-mutant organization. Perhaps it was FoH, perhaps something more original.

And suddenly she knew without a doubt that someone was going to try to attack her.

She mentioned none of this to Logan. She could more than hold her own. All she would have to do was be careful and watch her back.