She pulled a small weed from the manicured grass and tossed it to the side.
“Hello, Rafe.” She said sitting in front of the headstone.
“There is something I need to talk to you about.”
Ororo ran her hand over the smooth marble.
“You know that Logan and I have been dating. I’ve told you this before… Well… he’s asked me to marry him… And I am going to say yes.”
She sighed and looked around the cleanly kept cemetery.
“I needed to come here… because I feel guilty. Guilty for loving another, when I loved you so very much. Logically it is ridiculous for me to be feeling this way… but sometimes logic does not apply.
“I suppose I was— I am afraid that my feelings for Logan somehow betray my feelings for you… But I guess if that were true, I would not be feeling this guilt. It is the chicken or the egg story all over again.”
She gave a short laugh.
“I love you this day, as much as I ever have. I always will.
“I love Logan too.
“I don’t love him more than I love you, nor do I love you more than him… It’s just different. And I suppose, in the end, that is all that really matters.”
She stood.
“I must go. I have not discussed this with Ame yet. I am sure you have seen what a wonderful child she is. And not to stab, but Logan has had a great hand in that. I hope you approve.
“I promise I will always keep you in my heart, and in the heart of our daughter as well.
Ororo kissed the tips of two of her fingers then touched them to the gravestone.
“Please continue to watch over us.”
* * * * *
“Ame, could you come with me? There is something I would like to talk to you about. A couple of things, actually.”
“Did I do something bad?”
“Nothing that I know of.” Ororo said with a smile.
Ame smiled as well and took her mother’s hand. They walked to one of the boat docs together and sat down.
“Is this something bad?” the young girl asked, her bare feet dangling over the edge.
“No, I do not believe so.”
“What is it?”
Ororo looked at her a moment longer before responding.
“Logan and I have been talking about possibly getting married, and we wanted to know how you feel about that?
In all honestly, Ororo had a pretty good idea that Ame would not have any problem at all with it. But her reaction was not the one she had expected. The child just sat there with her jaw hung open, her eyes wide as plates. To the untrained eye, she wouldn’t have appeared to be breathing.
“Ame?” she asked finally, when the child’s silence was beginning to set her unease.
“Really?” Ame whispered. Her eyes had not blinked in all this time.
“Really.”
Ame clenched her eyes shut and began to jump up and down on the wooden doc, squealing all the way. Much more the response Ororo was expecting.
“I take it this agrees with you?”
“Yes! Yes! Oh, yes!” She squealed and threw her arms around her mother.
She gasped suddenly.
“Can I be in the wedding?” she asked pulling away. The plates were back.
Ororo seemed to be pondering very carefully.
“Well… I seem to be in need of a maid of honour…”
Ame hugged her again, so tightly that Ororo thought she might choke.
“Wait, wait, wait, Ame. There is something else we need to discuss. And before you give me your answer, I want you to think about it. And I really mean think about it. At least for one day, but you can take as much time as you need.”
“What is it?” Ame asked, for she couldn’t imagine anything of more importance that her mother and her favourite ‘uncle’ getting married.
“Logan asked me to speak to you about this, because he did not want to put any extra pressure on you. …After we are married, Logan would like to adopt you.”
“…Adopt me?”
“Yes.”
“But… I’m not… I mean, you’re not… Don’t you halfta be an orphan for that?”
Ororo smiled. “No. You don’t.”
“So, if uncle Logan adopted me… what would that mean?”
“He will be your father… officially.”
Ame chewed on her bottom lip. Ororo knew what she was thinking.
“But… what about my real dad?”
“Rafe Wallace will always be your father. And I will always love him. But he is not here. Not in the way we would like him to be.”
Ame sat back down. “I wish I knew him.”
“I wish you did too.”
Ame was quiet then.
“Ame, I—we do not wish to pressure you with this. If your answer is no, Logan will not be offended. He will fully understand. And no one says it has to be now. If you like, we could wait a few years.”
The child still said nothing.
“I am sorry. I never should have brought this up. It is probably too much for someone your age to handle.”
“No, I’m glad you asked me. Does Grandma Natty know?”
“Yes. I called her last night. Would you like to go and talk with her?”
“I think so. Could we go tomorrow?”
“Of course.” Ororo said. She extended her hand to the girl and the two of them began walking back to the house.
“Mommy, what does a May-Dove Honour do? Is it something with birds?”
* * * * *
Natsuko Wallace sat quietly in the rocking chair her husband had made her as her youngest granddaughter explained to her, her current dilemma. She was already fully aware of the situation, but listened intently none the less.
“…I mean, I love Uncle Logan, and I kinda already think of him as my dad sometimes, but…”
“But what about Rafe Wallace.” Natsuko finished for her.
“Yeah.” Ame sitting on the elder woman’s bed, looked down at her feet swinging back and forth. “So what do you think?
Natsuko sat back in her chair and rocked a bit before answering.
“I think your father was Rafe Wallace. And I think your father is Mr. Logan. I think you have two fathers, that’s what I think.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“So you won’t feel bad, if I say yes?”
She laughed kindly. “Is that what you are worried about, little one? How I will feel?”
Ame nodded. Her grandmother smiled.
“My only wish for you in this life is that you are healthy and that you are happy and that you are safe. These three things I think you can find with Logan-san. He is a good man. And he and Rafe were good friends. He has helped raise you your whole life, and I must say I think he has done an excellent job this far. I’m sure Rafe would agree.”
When she then motioned for the girl to come to her, Ame immediately hopped off the bed and stood at her Grandma Natty’s feet. Natsuko took both of Ame’s hands and held them in her lap.
“You are very lucky. So many people love you and want you. This is not something to feel bad about. You should be rejoicing.
“As for how you feel, you should not worry that you might someday forget Rafe Wallace. All you need do is look in a mirror. He is there.”
She tickled Ame under the chin and the little girl blushed. Her mother had often told her that she had her father’s smile and that certain movements: a turn of the head, a narrowing of the eyes, was like Rafe looking out from behind her face.
Ame kissed Natsuko on the cheek.
“I love you grandma.”
She picked the girl up in a hug and laughed.
“I love you too, Little One. Just promise me one think okay?”
“Okay.”
“You do whatever makes you happy. Do whatever it is that your heart tells you to do. Promise?”
“…I promise.” She said and hugged her again.
* * * * *
Remy leaned back against the car and fiddled with the cigarette between his fingers. It wasn’t lit. The moment that Jerri found out cigarettes could kill, she made him promise her that he would quit. He was getting there, but every now and again, he felt the need to hold one. This was one of those times.
He didn’t like graveyards. It wasn’t the dead that bothered him, just that so many of his life’s ill events had been played out in them.
Of course, these graveyards were nothing like the ones back home. They were too flat. Not enough to look at; just a sprawling lawn with a few rocks and crosses sticking up every now and again. There was the odd statue, but those were getting rare. They were nothing to the New Orleans’ Cities of the Dead. They were just that: cities. Rows upon rows of building-like tombs. Some cities had street names. Generations of southerners buried in the same place and they were still open for business. Places of death, yet they were full of life.
He shrugged off a chill and put the cancer stick back in his pocket. He wondered how Ame had managed to rope him into this.
“…so I just wanted to tell you ‘cause I thought you should know first.” Ame said clutching the daisies in her hands. “Mommy doesn’t know I’m here. She might get worried ‘cause she worries too much about me. But I’m a big girl now… even though I still get scared sometimes at night. But mommy says that things scare her too so I guess that’s okay… I don’t think anything scares Uncle Logan. I bet nothing scared you either. I bet you weren’t afraid of anybody!”
She chewed her lip a moment.
“I hope you’re not mad. Mommy and grandma said that you wouldn’t be. I hope you’re not. You’re always gonna be my daddy. But… maybe it’s okay if I have two daddies. Cindy Rogers in my class has two daddies and she says it’s really neat and she loves them both. But I don’t understand how she can have two daddies when they’re both still alive?” She shrugged.
“Well, I gotta go, daddy.” She said and placed the daisies on the grave. “Uncle Remy’s gonna take me for ice cream before we go home. Then I’m gonna tell mommy and uncle… I’m gonna tell them it’s okay.”
She turned and began to jog off in Remy’s direction. She stopped a few feet off, turned and waved. “Bye, daddy, I love you!” she yelled back. Then continued to the car.
* * * * *
The wedding day.
Everything was set and everything was ready. There was only one element missing: the groom.
It wasn’t that late yet: twelve thirty and the wedding was not until three… Logan had told the Professor that there was somewhere he had to go, and to assure everyone, Storm and Ame especially, that he would not be late.
Everyone was wondering where a groom needed to go on his wedding day, especially when everything they needed was already at the mansion. They also knew that unless Logan chose to divulge it, they would never find out.
He’d been gone an hour, when Logan looked at his watch. It was time to be heading back.
He looked around. He had only seen two people there that morning. He guessed that most people did their visiting on Sundays.
He looked down once more at the black marble headstone.
“I’ll take care of ‘em, Rafe.” He said. “I swear it.”
With that vow, Logan turned and left the graveyard.
He had one more vow to make that day. And no power in Heaven or Earth would be able to save him if he were late for that.
The End
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