| A/N: What the titles all had in common is that they are all titles of Stevie Wonder songs. Again, props to Addie Logan and bigupstotheravens. "Love Light in Flight" was taken from The Woman in Red soundtrack. "Something Out of the Blue" came from Where I'm Coming From. "Don't Wonder Why" was from Signed, Sealed and Delivered. "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" is courtesy of Talking Book. "Gotta Have You," is from the Jungle Fever soundtrack. "Isn't She Lovely" is from Songs in the Key of Life, Vol. II How Long Must I Suffer, by stormfreak Epilogue: Isn't She Lovely This morning, Mommy dressed me in this dumb suit and Auntie Rogue kept trying to brush my hair down. I hate the suit, but Auntie Jean says it's for a special occasion. She looks really pretty, her and my Auntie Rogue, dressed in matching blue gowns. My mommy keeps crying all the time because she says she's as big as a house, but Daddy said she's going to be the prettiest bride in all of New York. I heard Auntie Jean say that this one was a long time coming, because Mommy was afraid of a commitment, whatever that means. I know Daddy and Mommy fought for a long time after Chiaki was born because Mommy didn't want to marry Daddy anymore and Daddy was always saying you promised, you promised. And Mommy always said that marriage was nothing but a piece of paper and didn't mean anything. Then Daddy would say, we have two kids together, we need to be married. Then Daddy would slam doors and Mommy would run to tend to her garden and it would rain. Auntie Rogue would say Poor Ororo and Uncle Gambit would say Poor Logan, Stormy never should've lied to him. A lot of time had passed because I had another birthday, and Chiaki turned one. One day I was sitting in the garden with all my aunts and uncles. Chi was in her rocking swing when Daddy came in, looking mean like he always did. He told Mommy that she had thirty days to prepare a wedding or else he was taking my sister and me and he was leaving her. Mommy didn't say anything, she just went back to taking care of her roses. But it rained so bad that a window broke, and the nice tree that I used to play under was gone the next day. I guess that's why my Auntie Rogue meant when she keeps calling this day "Day Twenty-Nine," and everyone starts to laugh. Uncle Scott says it was a close call because Daddy had all his bags packed. I don't think Uncle Scott likes me much. He called me a bastard child after I bit him one day when he tried to take me away from my mommy. I remember Auntie Jean saying that Uncle Scott better be glad that Daddy didn't hear him call me that because Daddy would've poked Uncle Scott a new one, whatever she meant by that. So now I'm in this hot, itchy suit with his stupid looking pillow on it that Daddy says I can't drop or throw. Mommy's in this white dress and she looks like she has a pillow where her stomach is. Chiaki's wearing a blue dress and holding a basket in it with flowers in it, but she keeps trying to eat the flowers. And all my aunts and uncles are here, and my PawPaw Charles. I'm bored. I want to bite something, but Daddy says I can't bite things anymore because my teeth are very sharp and my jaws are very strong and I may hurt people, like my Uncle Scott. Chiaki's crying, reaching for Daddy, and we have to stop the ceremony so that Daddy can hold Chiaki. She throws up on Daddy's suit – guess it was all the flowers, but then she seems happy, so we keep going. I feel my eyes closing and I try to keep them open, but I feel hands on my shoulders, and I smell my mommy's sandalwood scent when she presses her lips against my forehead, and I feel myself drifting off to sleep. The last thing I hear is Daddy saying, "Toldja we shoulda got married earlier. What were we thinkin' havin' a wedding with almost three kids?" And I hear laughter, and I know everything's going to be okay from now on, with my pawpaw, my aunts and uncles, my sister and new baby brother, Mommy, Daddy, and me. END |