CHAPTER 18

Food and Family

"Hey, Paige," Bobby called to the fifteen-year-old girl who was cooking her third batch of fried chicken at the stove, "did you account for the piranha that's wolfing down all of your buttermilk biscuits and gravy like it's nobody's business?" He made an unmistakable motion toward Rogue, who was seated in front of him on a stool at the large kitchen island. "Or did she just happen to sneak by you like she usually does everyone else?"

"You mock me now, Drake," Rogue retorted, purposely tearing a biscuit in half and dunking it into the oversized gravy bowl. She turned and unceremoniously shoved the chunk of food into her friend's mouth. "But wait until you taste this."

The stunned expression that was initially painted on Bobby's face quickly transformed into one of blissful pleasure. All but melting onto the seat next to Rogue, he reached for another piece. "Where on Earth did you learn how to make these things? And would it be weird if I just stopped now and proposed marriage to you on the spot?"

Paige smiled shyly at the compliment, before turning her attention back to cooking. Although she didn't say anything out loud, she was clearly pleased at the praise. Rogue, however, pointed to the other side of the kitchen where Sam was shucking corn. His head had jerked up at Bobby's flippant question, not really sure how to take the joke.

"Sugah, you better ask her brother's permission first before you go about marryin' her," she cautioned Bobby, laughing. "Ah'm willin' ta bet Sam can beat ya senseless five ways from Sunday."

Bobby, for his part, had the sense to look sheepish. "Sorry, Sam. Didn't mean anything by it." He claimed another biscuit and happily took a generous bite. "These are awesome! I can't stop eating them."

Sam grinned as he went back to his earlier task, accepting the apology. "It was our Momma's favorite recipe. She taught Paige how ta make 'em when she was little. Now she makes 'em jus' as good as Momma did," he beamed proudly.

Chewing rather obnoxiously, Bobby declared, "Well, you should think about starting a business — seriously. This is diehard, kill-your-best-friend-for-the-recipe kind of stuff!"

Rogue's hand, which had been inches away from snatching another biscuit, stopped abruptly in mid-air. She turned to glare at Bobby. "Wait a minute… ain't Ah yoah best friend?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup," Bobby replied evenly, polishing off yet another piece and licking his fingers clean, "and I stand by what I said. If it came down to a choice between you and these biscuits, you wouldn't even stand a chance. Snowball in hell, actually."

Rogue used her right arm to roughly shove Bobby off the kitchen stool, causing him to crash onto the floor with a resounding thud.

"Hey!"

"Ah'm sorry, sugah," she said sweetly, pulling the platter of biscuits closer to her, "Did you say somethin'?"

"This is exactly why those biscuits will win over you every time," he grumbled, righting the stool and taking a seat again. He tried to reach past Rogue for another biscuit, but was unsuccessful. "Quit being a snack hog!"

She protectively wrapped her arms around the platter and threatened, "Touch mah biscuits an' die, Ice-Boy."

"Ya biscuits, chère?" called a voice from the doorway. All four occupants turned to see Gambit waltzing into the kitchen. He was wearing an old gray t-shirt and sweatpants that were stained with splotches of paint, as was the black bandana loosely tied around his head. "Drake gettin' his hands on t'ings he shouldn't be touchin' again? Want I should teach him a lesson?"

Rogue kept her eyes warily on Bobby as she shifted the platter of biscuits to her left, where Remy came to stand, silently offering him some. "It's okay, sugah," she answered him. "Ah wouldn't wanna be th' one ta ruin 'Ro's homecomin' party today. Ah can always kick his ass tomorrow."

"You wish," Bobby mumbled, casually walking to the other side of the island. Without warning, he swiftly reached out and snagged the platter out of Rogue's hands, claiming the last two biscuits for himself. "Oh, sweet victory!" he declared as he exuberantly popped one of the pair into his mouth.

Rolling her eyes at his antics, Rogue stood up and sauntered over to the far counter, where she pointedly picked up another tray full of buttermilk biscuits. She took her time choosing one off the top of the pile and then sunk her teeth into a slow, unhurried bite of it. With another arch of her eyebrow, she wordlessly threw the challenge to her friend.

Bobby snorted at her actions, not really wanting to accept defeat, even though he had clearly lost the round. Mumbling with a full mouth, he quoted sourly to his two friends, "A plague on both your houses…"

The others laughed at the grumpy expression he had on.

- oOo -

A few hours later, Logan was pulling into their make-shift driveway with Ororo beside him in the passenger seat. She had been discharged from the hospital less than an hour ago, with a clean bill of health. But that didn't prevent him from glancing in her direction every few minutes to make sure that she was all right.

"You can stop that already, Logan," she declared with a touch of amusement sprinkled in her voice. She half-turned in her seat to address him. "I'm fine. I will not disappear, so you can start blinking again at any time," she teased him, placing a loving hand on his arm. "You'll dry out your eyes, the way you keep watching me so intently."

He parked the car in front of the building they called home and shut off the engine. Reaching down to unbuckle his seatbelt, he said defensively, "You can't really blame me, can you, darlin'? I almost lost you a number o' times these past few weeks. Not somethin' I can take lightly."

She grasped onto his hand and squeezed it lovingly. "But you didn't lose me. That's the important part," she emphasized, catching his gaze. "I am right here… with you. And I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah," was all that he could manage to whisper back. He could feel his throat beginning to tighten with emotions that he didn't want to deal with in that moment. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, before clearing his throat and gesturing over to their home. "You sure yer up fer this already, babe? I know it was Sam an' Paige's idea ta throw you a homecomin' party, but I can always tell 'em ta eighty-six it fer the meantime. Take a raincheck when yer feelin' stronger."

Ororo shook her head at the notion of cancelling. "No, a party sounds like an excellent idea right now. We could all use a little bit of fun after everything that has happened."

She smiled over her shoulder at him as she turned to open the passenger side door. Cautiously, she placed one foot firmly on the ground before moving to do the same with her other foot. But before she could do so, Logan had jumped out of the vehicle and rushed around to her side in three seconds flat, grabbing her elbow to assist her the rest of the way out.

"Logan, you are being ridiculous," she scolded, frowning slightly at his overprotectiveness. "I can get out of the car by myself."

"I know you can, babe. Jus' humor me fer the next few days, okay? Let me take care o' you."

Without any further argument from her, Logan shut the car door behind them and activated the alarm. He slipped the keys into his pants pocket. Taking her arm, he lead her toward the side entrance, allowing her to set the pace of the short trek toward the building.

"You are going to drive me crazy in the coming days, aren't you?" He could hear the tinge of laughter hidden in the tone that she used.

"Ev'ry single chance I get, darlin'," he confirmed without apology. Logan punched in their security code on the keypad and then pulled the steel door open, holding it secure while Ororo stepped inside before him.

The first thing that caught her attention was the lack of noise, or any kind of sound at all, coming from any room in the house. It was obvious that no one was home. While Ororo was glad to finally be back in their house, it felt oddly un-homey in that moment, without the constant chaos that their friends typically brought along with them.

She turned to Logan in confusion. "Are you certain everyone knows I was being discharged from the hospital this morning? Perhaps there was a misunderstanding on the day or — "

"Relax, 'Ro." He ushered her through the unusually quiet house, heading straight for the opposite end, where the entrance to the bar was located. "They're settin' everything up in the bar fer yer party," he clarified, resting a reassuring hand on the small of her back. His expression abruptly switched into one of concern once more. "Babe, why don't you rest up in our room first? We can always meet up with everyone else later on."

She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed his lips sweetly. "I feel perfectly fine, my love. Now, will you please stop fussing over me and open the door? I have been looking forward to seeing our friends and being home for the better part of the past week."

"All right, darlin', if you say so." Logan turned the doorknob and opened the door.

A second later, there was a chorus of voices shouting excitedly, "Welcome home, 'Ro!"

A/N: I originally had more scenes planned out for this part, but ultimately decided to cut the chapter in half because I didn't want to have a chapter break in the middle of Ororo's party. Well that, and the fact that the plot bunnies tend to get lazy when the chapters are longer and drawn-out. Wouldn't want them to lose focus now, would we?