Marvel owns the characters that you recognize, and we are not making one
red cent off this story. Jacques, Frances Benoit, Therese, Red Beard McCartney,
belong to Missy Red and Kaleidopy. If you use them without our permission,
we will send the Assassins after you, and they take no prisoners.

Devil Days
Part Eight
MissyRed & Kaleidopy

Three days later, Tante walks quietly in the upstairs hallway. Hearing a
scream coming from the boy's room, she rushes inside. The boy was screaming
in his sleep. She quickly sits on the bed, before she could touch him, his
eyes fly open. "Dey comin', dey comin' for me." He screams over and over.

"No Chile, you are safe now." Tante pulls him into her embrace. She rocks
him softly in her arms. "It's over, they will never touch anyone ever
again.
Tante promises. You are goin' to be jus' fine."

"Non, non," He cries uncontrollable. He begins to shake his head as if he
is
still trapped in his nightmare. "Dey comin' back."

"Chile, everythin' is goin' to be all right. Jean-Luc is goin' to make sure
dat no one will ever hurt you again." Tante tries her best to comfort him.
As he trembles in her arms, she begins to stroke his back. "Remy, has Tante
ever lied to you?"

The boy slowly calms down as he is rocked in Tante's arms. His eyes begin
to
get heavy as his tears stop. The last thing he hears before sleep claims
him
is Tante's humming.




Downstairs, Jean-Luc finishes signing several documents and gives them to a
man. "Everythin' is legal?"

"Yes, signed, sealed and delivered." The man puts the papers in his
briefcase and pulls out another document and gives it to Jean-Luc before he
locks it. "And here is your copy."

"How come dis didn't take long?" Henri asks the man, their lawyer. "Usually
dis can take years b'fore it is finalized."

"Normally adopting a child could take anywhere from two to seven years,"
The
lawyer explains as Therese comes in carrying four glasses of wine. Grabbing
one of the glasses, he smiles up at her. "Thank you." Returning his
attention to Henri and Jean-Luc, he continues. "But the court saw this case
entirely different. One, the child is homeless. Two, he is a mutant, and
the
court knows mutant children are very hard to adopt, almost impossible if
you
ask me. Three, it didn't hurt your chances that you could provide the child
with not only a stable home environment, but an education that can be
financed for the best schools in the world."

"Oui, dat he will have." Jean-Luc picks up his glass of wine and take a sip
before he speaks again. "De Chile will never want for anythin' as long as I
have somethin' t' say 'bout it." He glances over at a smiling Therese. "You
seemed t' like de idea as well, Filleuse."

Therese smiles to herself, Jean-Luc was her god father, not only has he
raised her since she was thirteen years old but she has always considered
Henri her big brother. "It's going to be nice to have a little brother
running around the house."

"He's gonna be a handful." Henri grins over at Therese. He gives her one of
the wine glasses and holds it up in the air. "A toast, t' de newest
LeBeau."
He slips his arm around Therese's waist. "You goin' t' spoil him, I can see
it now."

"And you won't?"





A few hours later, the boy opens his eyes to see Jean-Luc and Tante sitting
on each side of his bed. Therese was sitting in the rocking chair with
Henri
standing by her side. Jean-Luc places his hand on the boy's forehead. "De
fever has broken, how you feel, Petite?"

"My head hurts, M'sieu LeBeau." The boy replies softly. He watches as Tante
begins to shake a bottle of medicine. "Non Tante, not de stuff again. It
taste horrible. My head don't hurt dat bad."

"Open your mouth, Chile." Tante orders him as she measures a dosage. She
waits until he swallows it before giving him a glass of water. "Drink dis
down and get dat terrible look off your face. It isn't dat bad."

"You don't have t' take dis stuff for a week." The boy leans back into the
pillow. He hears Henri laughing at him across the room.

"We came up 'ere t' talk wit' you, Petite." Jean-Luc covers the boy back up
with the sheets and blankets. He smiles a slight smile as tears begin to
mist in his eyes. "I would be honored if you would be my chile, mon fils."

"You mean it?" The boy tries to get up, totally unsure what he had just
heard. He looks over at Henri and Therese, who both nod. Tante gently
forces
him back down into the pillow.

"I mean it." Jean-Luc answers him. "Dere is nothin' I want more dan t' give
you my name. You make me proud if you accept my offer."

"Oui," The boy suddenly gets up and falls into Jean-Luc's chest. He starts
crying. "Didn' t'ink nobody loved me, never thought anybody cared till you
came along. Merci, M'sieu LeBeau, merci."

"Papa, Petite!" Jean-Luc corrects his new son. "You call me, papa from dis
day on." He holds the boy tight in his arms.

"What we goin' t' call mon frere, Pere?" Henri asks as walks over to the
bed
where his father continues to hold his new brother.

"His name is Remy!" Tante speaks up as everyone looks at her. When the boy
looks at her with a confusing look on his face, she wipes his wet face with
a tissue. "Remy told me his name yesterday." She smiles at the child. "You
talk in your sleep when you have a fever, Chile."

"I do?" The boy looks at her with a confused look on his face.

Tante winks at him before she looks over at the others.

The boy looks at Tante. He begins to realize what Tante was up to. She
wanted to be the one to give him a first name. Thinking a second he likes
the name "Remy." He then looks up at Jean-Luc, who nods in agreement. "Den,
Remy it is." He hugs the boy again. "Remy LeBeau."


The End
Coming Soon:
Growing Pains