Kitty woke up to Lee's crying. Apparently she was wet and needed to be changed, so Kit went and took care of it. It was so early in the morning that she didn't know if Rogue would be gone yet or not, but the note on the counter told her that she was. It read: Kit, I'm off to work. If Jubes comes home, tell her I need to talk with her about our leaving here soon. Umm...I got more milk on the way home yesterday, it's in the fridge. Love, Rogue.
The restaurant was filled with only a couple of people. Two usuals, herself, a traveler, and Joe in the back. The passerby who was sitting in the corner booth by himself hadn't ordered anything yet, so Marie walked over.
She twirled her pencil in her gloved a hand a moment, then spoke. "Hi, my name's Vickie and I'll be your waitress today. Is there anything I can get you?" The young man looked up a second, then looked back down at his menu. He wore a dark coat and matching sunglasses that shaded his eyes even though it was hardly necessary.
"I'll have your two eggs and biscuit plate and my friend who's coming in will have the sausage eggs and ham plate." Marie nodded as she wrote the order down.
"Can I get you anything else sir? Anything to drink for either of you this morning?"
"I'll have a coffee and my friend will have a water."
"So one eggs and biscuit, a sausage eggs ham, a coffee, and a water. Will that do you?" He nodded his affirmation and she turned to the back of the restaurant.
Joe called to her from the back, "Yo, Vickie, you got a phone call back here! Hurry up and take it, then get back to work!"
Rogue put her order papers, receipts and paperwork down and turned to Joe. She smiled patronizingly at him, and slightly disgustedly, then took the phone from his hand.
"Yeah, this is Vickie."
"Hey Vic, it's Michelle."
"Hey, what's up? Is Lee okay hon?"
"Yeah, yeah, she's fine, I'm actually calling about Tracey. She came home about an hour ago and I told her you wanted to talk to her, you know, and why. She said that it didn't matter what we did because she's moving in with some girls from the bar tomorrow anyways."
"Jub...Tracey said that did she?" Kitty smirked on the other end of the line, that was the first time Rogue had slipped up with their fake names since they'd left Westchester. "Did you talk to Charles about it yet?"
Marie noticed that the back table's food was up and she motioned to Joe that she'd get it in a second. He pointed to his wrist to tell her that she was using too much time on the phone and she nodded exasperatedly.
"Yeah, I just got done before I called you. He said that he hadn't expected anything like this would happen, but that it was really up to her. That she is an adult. He said that he would be talking to her shortly and trying to convince her not to move out, but that there's not much we can do otherwise. He also said that when, yeah, he said when, we can come back to Westchester, he knows she'll come."
Marie nodded subconsciously at the phone, then replied. "Alright, so now we just wait to hear what her final decision is. Then we go from there. I know he thinks it is only a short matter of time now until things are cleared up, but I don't know what to believe anymore. I hope he's right, God, I hope he's right hon. I should go, Joe's getting cranky with me. I'll talk to you when I get home tonight. Give Lee a kiss for me, bye."
She put the phone down and took the hot plates from the counter under Joe's glare. Jubilee wanted to move out. How could she? Well, she was more and more distant. Not coming home most nights, getting back at all hours if she did come back. The girl had been used to more luxury even before the mansion and the school. Things now were probably getting extremely difficult for her emotionally, but hell! She shouldn't be putting anyone in this position. The position of having to decide whether she'd be alright on her own, whether she'd last, whether she wouldn't need them. She was an adult, but had hardly any common sense.
Marie put the coffee and water down on the table and looked at her customers a moment before putting the plates down on the table. She saw that the young man was staring out the window. He turned to her slightly and she saw that his glasses were off his face now. She could see his eyes, and she's know those eyes anywhere.
She jumped so high when she saw the man's face that she nearly dropped the full plates of food on the tiled floor. It simply couldn't be. She had covered her tracks so well. But that was him, yes, it was him. If she looked carefully enough, hard enough, she could tell, it really was him.
The younger man was looking at her with a hardened gaze now and she knew that time on the road without his wife must have been hard on him. "Miss...I know this isn't one of the finer establishments in Canada, but I would like my food to stay on the plate if you don't mind."
"Bobby...it's really you isn't it?"
The young man scowled hard at her as she sat opposite him. She looked at him with amazement and pure excitement. He looked at her carefully, trying to recognize her, but couldn't at first at all.
"Excuse me, but why would you call me Bobby? My name is Chris and I don't believe I even told you that much. Vickie, I suggest you get back to work before I call that boss of yours over here."
Marie realized that he couldn't make her out, her dyed hair, no accent, she reeked of vanilla, and her eyes had blue colored contacts in them. She'd taken nearly every precaution possible.
"Think Chris, think. Southern accent, white streaks in my hair, brown eyes..."
The young man sat there impatiently, but soon saw what she was talking about. He did know her. If the said changes were made to her appearance, she would be Rogue from Westchester.
"Rogue...God...you look so different. Right, I'm sorry, Vickie...what are you doing here?" The woman smiled and sat back, excited, but no longer apprehensive.
"I've been here for about three months now. We came north and have been traveling around ever since. Moving about every month to make sure no suspicions were aroused."
"Yeah, we've been doing kinda the same thing. But why have you been here three months if you usually move around nearly every month?"
Marie hesitated for a moment. Should she tell him about Kitty? If she did, then they would all stay together, but she assumed they would anyways. None of them would want to leave the presence of someone familiar and friendly. Besides, he had never seen Lee, and he needed to. Then he, Kitty and Lee could all be together, finally.
"I had to stay here with my friends who came with me. The ones who were in my group. There were three of us. Umm...Tracey, who really, really likes yellow..." she couldn't say their names aloud, so she hinted and gave their fake names.
Bobby sat across from her with a hopeful, but doubtful look on his face. He knew that the other person could have been Kitty, but then there was just as good of a chance that it was Ororo or Jean.
Rogue could see his anguish clearly on his face and continued hurriedly. "And...Michelle. She was with us too. She...uh...was the reason that we had to stop here for so long. It wasn't practical for her to travel anymore. A month after we came here, she gave birth to her daughter Lee...who's now two months old Chris. Two months..."
The man in front of her had tears streaming down his face. "Lee...that's my middle name."
"Yeah, I know. Tracey thought it was a funny name for a girl, but it fits her so well."
"Is she doing well...umm...Michelle and Lee?"
"Yes. Very. Life is never perfect. I'm sure you've seen more than your share of that thus far, but Lee has helped her through so much these past several months."
"She's here then...like right now?" He turned to look around him, as if looking for her, as if he expected her to be there right that moment.
"She's back at our apartment. She usually stays home while I work. She stays there and takes care of Lee. I'm going to take off early today. Here..." She took a napkin out of the dispenser at the end of the table and wrote an address on it. She passed it across to him with a weary smile. "Take this. Go there in about a half an hour. That's our apartment. Bring whoever it was that you were assigned to go with. She's going to be so happy. She's missed you so much, and Lee is so cute."
He took the paper with shining eyes and nodded. Rogue stood up and walked back to Joe. "I'm sorry Joe, but I'm out of here. I have to go home. I might see you tomorrow. I really can't say right now. Bye." She tossed her apron on the counter and took up her trench coat. She smiled at Bobby as she left to walk home. The walk didn't seem so long or cold. She had great news for Kitty and she couldn't wait to get back and tell her. This would change everything for them. Kitty wouldn't have to worry about Bobby anymore, and Lee could grow up with her father.
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Story Notes:
Jubilee isn't characterized right in here, but it works for the story. Special thanks to my beta, Autumn.