Family Ties

CHAPTER TWELVE




CHAPTER TWELVE

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A/N Goddess
Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™ and Prophetic Muse,
I think the geometrignats are massing for attack… InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are special in a good way for
archiving. J ProPhile
is being a smutbunny in the Pacific Northwest so he won’t read this for a bit,
but he still gets a gold star, and Jubilee, Tex and Ramsey get more muse kibble
for their efforts, lol.
Readers/Reviewers: *happy dance *
Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!

 

 



Storm sighed wearily and counted the
seconds until the light turned green.
Three flat tires, one hailstorm and a tornado warning since New York and
they were finally in Illinois and miraculously on time. “It’s about an hour until we reach your
cousin’s house,” she informed Kitty, sighing inwardly as the red light finally
changed.

 

“Mmmm…” Kitty stifled a yawn and managed a smile. “You know, I don’t think we’ve ever spent
this much time together before!”

 

“Is that a positive or negative?”
the older woman inquired, but her smile suffused any archness in her tone.

 

Kitty made a noise that was akin to
a laugh but bordered on another yawn.
“It’s a shame, I think…all these years I’ve been at the Institute and we
haven’t really gotten to know each other.”

 

Storm arched a brow and glanced at
Kitty, reluctant to fully take her eyes off the road, even for a brief
moment. “What’s inspired this surge of dingding?”

 

Kitty blushed faintly. “It’s not a surge…I just think we don’t know
each other that well and it’s kind of a shame…”

 

Storm’s smile went from theoreticto ato actual as an idea popped into existence.
“Ah…this is because you think Logan and I are becoming more serious,
isn’t it?”


Kitty shook her head
emphatically and turned down the radio at the same time, Tom Petty’s voice
fading to near nothingness in the process.
“No, it’s just…well, you know pretty much everything about me and all I
know about you is that you lived in Africa most of your life, you used to be a
goddess and you and Logan are… um… bonding.
A lot.”

 

It was Storm’s turn to blush. “My child,” she finally said, “all women are
goddesses. Always.”

 

Kitty was not sure whether to laugh
or not, but the twinge of a smile on Storm’s face let her giggle. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“As your instructor at the
Institute, I should not make my private life and it’s details known to you, but
as your foster father’s…friend…I suppose you can ask me a few questions…”

 

“Uh…”

 

S wai waited for almost a full
minute. “Yeeeeeeees?” she finally
drawled.

 

“Uh…damn it!” Kitty made a face. “Now my mind’s blank!”

 

Storm snorted. “Tell you what…I’ll leave the offer open all
weekend. If you think of any deep,
burning questions you’d like to ask me, you have until we park at the Institute
Sunday night. Deal?”

 

Kitty nodded. “Deal…”
After a moment, in a much less certain voice, she asked, “Is
there…anything about me…?”

 

Storm’s smile became distinctly
lopsided. “I’ll let you know.”

 

 

 

The effect, Storm thought, was
rather like a girl grenade [1] going off.
The engine had scarcely stopped running when Kitty sprang out of the car
as if on fire, squealing incoherently in response to the gaggle of females
pouring out of the massive stone house. Amidst the “Ohmygods” and random sounds
of delight, Storm eased out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and strolled
around to stand at the front, merely waiting.
She had to smile at the sight of Kitty swarmed by family who wanted her,
who cared about it, nevermind that they most likely were not aware of the true
reasons for her estrangement. Let
her have this happiness. We can deal
with the fallout later, if, Goddess forbid, there is any…

 

Kitty, red-faced and still giggling, broke away from a fierce embrace and
took her affectionate assailant by the hand, leading her towards Storm and away
from the other women. “Esther, this is
Miss Munro…”

 

“Please,” Storm said, extending her hand in Western courtesy, the gesture
still vaguely alien to her even after all her years away from her tribe, “call
me Ororo.”

 

Esther smiled brightly. “What a
beautiful name! So much nicer than
Esther,” she sighed, making a face.

 

Storm smiled easily. “Your name comes from Ishtar, an ancient goddess…”

 

“Really?” the dark-haired girl said, looking mildly proud. “I know it’s religious significance but I
never knew that…” She grinned again. “Learn something new every day! Come in, come in! It’s bound to rain again… We can do introductions in the
kitchen!”

 

Storm found herself swamped by Kitty’s cousins, second cousins, second
cousins once removed and relatives that no one was quite sure just how they
were related. It was like Kitty never
parted from the clan, she realized, watching the girl fall into conversation
easily with people she had not seen for years.
And these same people, she found with some surprise, welcomed her as if
she were family, too. “Hey,” Esther
finally shouted above the din, “Kitty brought a friend…Ororo Munro!”

 

“Hi, Ororo,” the women all chorused, then giggled at the juvenile sound of
the mass greeting. Storm waved in
response, not trusting herself to speak without laughing just then.

 

“Ororo, you’re more than welcome to stay with us here…Kitty said you had
taken a hotel room in town…”

 

“This is a time for family,” she began, but Kitty cut her off with a
pleading look. Sighing, she said, “If
you’re sure it is no problem…”

 

“God knows I have the room!” Esther said, the din around her rising
again. She motioned for Kitty and Storm
to follow her and wove her way out of the kitchen. Once in the much quieter living room, she said, “They won’t even
notice we’re gone for a good half hour…One of the Aunts had a mole removed so
they’re all off on horror stories!”

 

Kitty rolled her eyes. “The Aunts,”
she explained to Storm, “are Channah, Hannah and Hanna. All spelled differently,” she added at
Storm’s bemused expression.

 

“How ever do you tell them apart in conversation?”

 

er ser snorted. “You don’t have
to…they’re joined at the hip so where there’s one, the other two are in
tow. Just say “Auntie…” and they’re
off!”

 

Storm’s smile became more full as she considered this. “I appreciate the offer, Esther,” she began,
but Esther waved her off.

 

“Please, stay with us…a friend of Kitty’s is family to me!” She favored her young cousin with a sisterly
arm around the shoulders. “The way our
family is, we have to make our own bonds and keep ‘em stronger than simple
blood, right Kit? And friends are the
family we choose, so that means…” she made a flourishing gesture as if waving a
wand over Storm’s head, “Mazel Tov.
You’re a Pryde.”

 

“Ugh,” Kitty said, “that might not be a good thing.”

 

Storm felt a strange swell of emotion and had to avert her eyes. She was not exactly sure why she wanted to
cry just at that moment, but she felt foolish for feeling so. “Thank you,” she murmured after several
seconds.

 

“Now,” Esther carried on brightly, “when can I meet this boyfriend of
yours? And is he really in the circus?”

 

Kitty colored slightly, a tendency that she had whenever someone spoke of
Kurt. “Well, he used to be full time
but this is just a sort of special appearance thing…” For several heavily edited minutes, Kitty told Esther all about
Kurt while Storm felt as if she would drown in the cacophony of voices coming
from the kitchen. It was for this
reason that she was taken off guard when Kitty asked her a question. “Oh…Pardon?”

 

Kitty shot her a worried glance before repeating, “I wondered if we might
be able to go see the Wagners later tonight…Kurt and Logan are supposed to get
to the camp thing around nine…”

 

Storm felt it politic not to point out that Kitty had neglected to mention
Piotr in her question. “It’s up to
Esther…this is her wedding weekend, after all…”

 

Esther bounced on her toes for all the world like a thirteen year old girl
rather than a twenty something year old engaged woman. “Let’s go!
I have got to get away from these women! I’m going to be weddinged to death
soon! I swear, if I wasn’t afraid my
mom would kill me and Yaya would haunt me, Harry and I would elope!”

 

“Harry?” Kitty asked with a raised brow.

 

“Harry,” Esther repeated firmly.
“And don’t you start on me, too!”

 

Kitty held up her hands in a warding gesture. “Not saying a word…”

 

 

 

It was w how hours later before Storm had the chance to ask Kitty, “What’s
so funny about the name Harry?”

 

Kitty stifled a chuckle and responded, “When Esther was a kid, she named
all her pets Harry. Her dog, her cat,
her hamsters, her goldfish…all Harry.”
Kitty shrugged. “She said it was
a nice, docile name…”

 

Storm found it very difficult not to laugh. “I see…” She glanced at
Kitty and found she could not contain herself.
They both burst out laughing.
“Her pets are all named Harry,” Storm finally chuckled.

 

“Shhh,” Kitty hiss frantically, “here they come!” They had arranged with Esther’s fiancé to pick him up before
going to surprise Kurt and Logan and, Kitty shuddered to think, Piotr, a brief
lapse of etiquette in otherwise conservative Sephardic wedding
preparations. As Kitty had explained to
Storm earliere ene engaged couple were not supposed to see each other for a
certain amount of time before the ceremony, but Esther felt that was not only
ridiculous but unpractical for planning purposes. “Can you see what he looks like from here?” she murmured.

 

“No,” Storm replied, leaning forward across the steering wheel. “The light’s in my eyes…”

 

“Probably nebbish…an accountant or something,” Kitty muttered. “Damn front porch light…”

 

Storm ca sig sight of Harry first.
“Oh…my…”

 

“What?” Kitty said excitedly.
Esther and Harry had come around the rear of the car to slide in behind
Storm, so her view was impeded. “Does
he look like an accountant?”

 

“Kitty, Ororo,” Esther said a tad breathlessly as she scooted across the
rear bench seat, “meet Harry. Harry,
this is my cousin Kitty and her friend Ororo.”

 

“Hey there,” Harry rumbled.

Kitty blinked and made a noise that sounded like “eep.” Harry was easily six and a half feet tall,
pierced, tattooed, and wearing an entire cow’s worth of leather. S rec recovered first. Eyeing Harry’s wild mane of curly red hair,
she said, “Nice to meet you.”

 

“Same here,” he grinned, shutting the door behind him.

 

“Tattoos,” Kitty finally managed.

 

Harry shrugged, still smiling.
“Technically against Jewish moral law, but like my rabbi told me, if
this is the worst thing I ever do in my life, then that’s a blessing in and of
itself!” [2]

 

That seemed to ease Kitty’s surprise a bit, Storm thought. “We’re going to the circus,” she said
dumbly. Or not… Storm groaned
inwardly.

 

Esther made a face. “She’s not
nuts…she’s just scared of tall people.”

 

Storm glanced in the rear view mirror.
“You aren’t, by chance, an accountant, are you Harry?”

 

He laughed. “Nah…I rebuild Harleys
and American heavy metal.”

 

“Classic Chevys and the like,” Esther clarified, giving him an adoring
look. “We met when I blew a main seal
on my Impala.”

 

“That car was a boat,” he said fondly.


 

“Yeah, but it was my boat!”

 

Kitty glanced at Storm and smirked.
“Well, he is wearing a dog collar…”

 



[1]
I am such a thief. That phrase is from
“A Civil Campaign” by Lois McMasters Bujold.
*sigh * I am such a Miles groupie.
I think I have short man syndrome.
Go figure. Lol

[2]
Actually a response on Judaica.com to a question about tattooing and Judaism.