Playdates and Permission Slips

12. Calling Out

Author: Godessreiko

Summary: Ororo is feeling sick, so it's a great time to annoy her.

Author's Note: Cee, your up next! :D

Logan looked at Lucas with the proverbial light bulb in his own head. Finally! After all that crappy karma from last week's pot luck, Logan finally caught a bloody break. Of course he felt awful with Ororo paying the price, but his plan was to absolutely make it up to her.

Lucas watched as Logan thought hard. He could almost see the gears in the older man's head turn. Adults, he thought. Always good for a laugh.

Logan handed Lucas his phone and rubbed his stubbled chin in contemplation. If all went well with his plan he may end up avoiding Jean, Sil, the birthday party, and kids in generally while getting his time with his Roro all to himself. Although he was going to miss his own little booger. And now that he thought about it, Lucas was quite enjoyable too. But they would all be with friends, thanks to his plan, and so would he. He grinned like the Ceshiar cat when Lucas told him that his Mom said it was ok to come over after he took Lucas to soccer practice.

Lucas couldn't believe it! Not only was he going to be able to play today, but he and Nate would be crashing Rachel's party too. Lucas couldn't help but to like Logan more and more. He even insisted that he call him Logan, and not Mr. Howlett, like other people told him to. Nya Nya to all of them. Although he did think it was strange when Assistant Principal Frost told him about that and got really angry about it. It wasn't any of her business. Lucas shrugged off the thought, and asked Logan if he was sure about all of this.

"Whadya mean, am I sure, kid?"

"You don't have to do any of this. I mean taking me to and from practice, dropping me of at Nate's, and taking Mom some medicine. That's alot."

"Aw common. What else are friends for?"

"Dude, how dumb do you think I am, especially for a kid?"

"'Scuse me?"

"You and I both know that you don't want to be my Mom's friend." Lucas now had his own Cheshire grin that left Logan's wanting.

Oooo, Logan thought. Busted by a fourth grader. Lucas then decided to drive his point home by making loud kissy-face noises in the empty echoing hall.

"Alright, alright," Logan said waving his arms about in surrender and will to do just about anything to make him stop.

Lucas loved being right. "But you might have some competition on the way." Logan groaned aloud. "I know noticed that Nate likes to come over alot...alot alot." Logan slapped his forehead and let his hand slide down his face, the last thing he needed was to have a brawl with a child. "Oh, I almost forgot. Dad wants to try again with Mom too."

"What?! Since when?"

"Since he told me last night. Duh!"

Oh dammit all again, Logan thought.

Lucas saw the sad look flash across his face. "You know, my Mom likes the green and yellow tyonal for colds, and really bitter green tea. I think it tastes like chewing on a tree, but she swears by it."

Logan rubbed the kid's head before he ran off to get his practice gear. "You're done at five, right?"

Lucas nodded and headed out. As Logan watched him go, he didn't think a simple trip to CVS would compare to anything that her ex could give her.


~*_*~

Ororo put down her cordless phone after hanging up with her son. Thank goodness for small miracles. Lucas wouldn't come today all wound up and bouncing off the walls with used energy on a day when she really couldn't keep up with him. Today of all days, too. She reached for her bedside tower of boxed tissues, and sneezed into one she almost shredded ripping it out of the box.
own
She absolutely hated this. Stupid ugly bottom feeding shrimp. That harpie knew that she loved shrimp no matter how much they clogged up her sinuses and nasal passages or how puffy they made her throat and face. Oh, Ororo looked at her face her vanity mirror, lets not mention the big red itchy hives either.

Good thing no one, outside of Lucas, was going to see her this way. Not that she staked her reputation on her looks, but damn, Ororo hoped that she wasn't contagious. Sometimes ugly can be airborne. She couldn't help but to giggle at her own off color humor.

She sniffed back to her bed, grabbed her pink "Fight Breast Cancer" Eagles quilt and wrapped it around herself when she went to her business office to catch up on her stores. She did note that she looked like a pink human sized beef taco, but was too warm and cozy to care.

After seeing way to damn messages on her answering machine, she got to business. The first message was from the assistant manager of her Manhattan store.

"Hello, Kitty? This is Ororo."

"Oh hi, Miss. Monroe. I didn't mean to disturb you." Ororo bit her tongue so she wouldn't tell her that she did anyway. "Wow, you sound awful."

"Thanks, Kitten. What's wrong?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. But the winter-line came in today."

"No it couldn't have. That would make it three weeks early."

"Was there a shipping error?"

"No, there couldn't have been. I triple checked those,along with all my managers. Hold on for a second."

While she put the young lady on hold, Ororo checked her invoice records for that store. Then she had a very bad feeling sneak up on her. She quickly listened to some of her other emergency calls she'd miss from her other stores.

All had the same problem.

Her entire winter merchandise, had been sent to her stores long before the date she'd had signed up for them. None of her stores had the room to store any of it, and there was no way she could put her new winter items on the floor so early in the fall season. People were still buying summer clothes.

This was a disaster. She needed space for five stores of merchandise, and she needed it fast. Once she found that, she would kill whoever screwed this up. Well maybe not kill, she thought, but definitely seriously maim them. And it would hurt, alot.

"Kitty," she asked when she picked up the conversation again,"how bad is it?"

"There's roughly about eighty to one hundred boxes in the store. We tried to make a pathway so that customers can walk, but it kinda sucks. Most of the boxed are stacked behind the counter. Let's just say that it's not astecically pleasing. We had alot of shoppers think that we were moving, but most felt kinda uncomfortable. I thought that was ironic since were all about wearable comfy couture, right?"

Forget maiming, someone just got re-upgraded to dead.

Just as she began to mentally list the ways of killing whoever was responsible for this her intercom came on.

"Hello, Stan?"

"Shh, good afternoon Miss Monroe. You still sound very sick."

"It'll go away eventually. Did you call to check up on me again? With all this attention, I'm bound to get better quickly."

"Be still my heart."

Ororo giggled, no matter what kind of day she was having a flirt session from the old man with the young heart always made her feel just a little better. She reminded herself to give his family, the Lee's, all the school fashions as a type of preteen focus group, to see what would work or not.

"Well young lady, if I told you that I called out of concern I would be lying this time. There is a man here to see you. He signed his name as a Mister James Howlett. He just told me you call him Logan. Do you want him to be sent up?"

"Yes please," Ororo knew she sounded like an eager little girl being offered candy. She also knew Stan would tease her mercilessly about him later.


~*_*~

On his way up to Ororo's apartment, Logan got antsy. He shifted the drugstore bag in his hand and wrapped his hand tighter around the flowers he had also stopped to get. He thought that the lilies and white roses with the surrounding tiny ferns reminded him so much of her hair. He couldn't resist. When the doors of the elevator dinged open, he prepared himself for the disappointment of seeing her home filled with expensive flowers from her ex.

When he had his fist up to knock on the door, he heard the paddle of quick footsteps and the door opened in a flourish before he could gather his thoughts.

He looked at the still beautiful woman wrapped up like a baby or a taco and gave her a cute pout.

"Don't look at me like that, silly. I look ridiculous and I feel icky too. And now my vocabulary stinks as well."

Logan snorted. He was glad she still kept her sense of humor. "You know you don't look that bad. Instead of looking like a glamorous supermodel, you kinda look like a glamorous supermodel who was attacked by a kindergarten class of sniveling brats and after a long glorious fight they were finally able to take you down after using biological warfare that all children have. Uncovered sneezes and boogers."

Ororo through her head back and laughed."Thank you, Logan. I really needed that. I had a really crappy day." She let him sit next to her on her white leather couch. The heat from his tightly clad denim thigh made her shiver.

He noticed the shaking and he helped her change her position so that she was laying on her side on his thighs. His hands caressed her back and shoulders over her blanky. Before she could object she had a coughing spell right into his leg.

"I am so sorry."

His deep chuckles reverberated through her. "Don't you dare worry about that. You're allowed, sicky."

"Funny haha." She looked at the flowers next to the plastic bag and smiled at them. "Thank you so much for those. I really needed something nice, and the attention too." She leaned into his caress of her neck. "What's in the bag?"

"Oh I almost forgot. Lucas told me that you liked Tynoyal and green tea. Let me go make you some, and put these flowers in some water. There's some tissues in there too." He reluctantly helped her sit up and tucked her quilt around her more.

Logan made his way into her kitchen and wasn't surprised at all. It was functional, but definitely minimal. No extravagance was wasted here. He remembered the one time he had been over the Summer's, Jean's high taste in life to up residence in her kitchen. Marble counter tops, designer cabinets, the latest high tech refrigerated. It was like Jean was trying to make up for something. He didn't get that vibe here.

Simplicity and comfort. That's what he felt here.

He sat the teapot on the stove and turned it on. He also found a vase in the miscellaneous bottom drawer. "I guess everyone really does have one of those."

When he came back into the living room he was carrying the vase of lilies and a dark blue mug with steaming green tea. She smiled graciously at him, and his heart kicked over. Outside of the things he did for Laura, this was the only other time he felt truly appreciated.

"Did you want some tea too," Ororo asked as she sipped her mug.

"Oh no, Darlin', I got more than enough of that stuff when I lived in Japan."

"What? You lived in Japan, ooo where?"

Before he could answer, the phone rang. Ororo looked at the caller ID and saw that it was her son. She pouted at Logan, then picked up the phone. After the brief conversation, she told Logan that Lucas would be running late and that the third and fourth grade classes would be going to Washington DC for a feild trip in a couple of weeks.

"You know, I remember Laura saying something about that." Logan shook his head realizing that was more money not in his wallet.

"This tea is so good. So you were about to tell me more about your life in Japan."

Logan rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I spent some time in the military. I was all over the place. Japan was one my favorite places to go."

"Really? Which branch were you in?"

Logan took his time answering, and was glad when the phone rang again.

Ororo glared at her phone and answered it with a brisk and curt, "Hello."

"Hey, Ororo, it's me Jean."

"Hi, Jean," Ororo said with very little enthusiasm.

"Wow, you sound really sick."

"So, I've been told."

"Is something else wrong? You seem agitated."

Ororo went into the story of her merchandise. Logan listened carefully with a furrowed brow. There was something fishy about the whole episode.

Jean listened as well, and was sympathetic. Wanting Ororo in a much better mood, she changed the subject to Rachel's party.

"Oh crap," Ororo said. "That's today! Good thing I already got her gift."

"She is really looking forward to seeing you. She's hoping for a sewing lesson soon."

"I can't guarantee that I'll be there unless this medicine kicks in."

"Alright then, at least try. Oh and Laura is waving hi at you." Jean paused, and then added stiffly, "she seems quite taken with you."

Ororo blushed, and was very thankful that her friend couldn't see it. "Yes, well we've ran into each other a bit lately. She's a fun little girl." Ororo looked at Logan beaming with pride. "I think she gets her more amiable qualities from her father." She didn't quite understand Jean's unbelieving snort.

"Try and make it around five. Dinner is at six and there should be some parting going on still. Hopefully by then Scott will come home and I can get a break from these hyped up kiddies."

After their good byes, Ororo hung up and plopped back down into Logan's lap. "Ugg,I need a break."

"So, do you really think that you're gonna be able to make it to Rachel's party?"

"I hope so. I didn't want to say so over the phone, but my gift to Rachel was a child's sewing machine. I thought she'd get a kick out of it."

Logan and Ororo shared another laugh. This time she sat up and a little closer to him. Logan slipped his hands behind her head and on her back to bring her closer. Ororo knew that her eyes must have been the size of flying saucers. Logan didn't mind at all, after all his favorite color was blue. His one hand fell through her unbrushed hair and brought her forehead close to his lips where he planted a soft petal like kiss to it. With her hair tickling his nose, he inhaled and couldn't think beyond the coconut smell. Ororo suddenly felt ugly and awkward in her Zelda tee shirt and her blue and orange sushi print pajama pants. She felt Logan's thick digits pull away her quilt and roam her arms and her waist. His mouth was still on her head, and it curved upwards when he looked down at her top.

"Are...are you laughing at me," she asked slightly miffed.

"No," he mumbled into her hair. "I just didn't take you for a gamer. No wonder where Lucas gets it from."

Ororo exhaled the breath she'd been holding. "For a minute there I thought you were going to kiss me."

"I was Roro."

She opened her mouth to question yet another nickname, then remembered he said *was*. "What stopped you?"

He leaned into her again, this time palming her entire waist with his warm hands and his hard arms. With his mouth and nose still where there were he replied, "I don't know if you're contagious." This time he let her see his grin.

She punched him in the arm hard, then giggled right along with him.

She really should have seen it coming. It's guaranteed. Every time something goes right, or she's having a good time her Fun-o-meter goes off. That's when something crappy is bound to happen. So it was no surprise to her when there was a knock on her door. Ororo reminded herself to have a talk to Stan to make sure he buzzed her for *all* of her guests. Before she unlocked her door to open it, she thought about how Stan always did his job well. He never let anyone up by themselves. Except for police officers. Knowing that she wasn't in trouble, didn't stop the sinking feeling she got. Someone else must have bullied Stan into letting them inside.

Ororo put on her most expressionless face, mussed up her hair even more and opened the door while picking her wedgie. "Hello, Tchalla."

~*_*~


Scott looked at the world clock on his office wall. 3:33. He dialed his secretary. "Monet, could you please tell Charles that I'm headed out now. I reminded him earlier about my daughter's party."

"Sure, Mister Summers. Would you like for me to call Jean to tell her you're on your way?"

"No no no." He realized that he had just about interrupted her. "I have one more important thing to do."

He had all but slid down the stairs and out to the parking garage. The Benz was found by instict. Once safely inside the car, he took out his personal cell phone and inhaled slowly before dialing the number he had memorized. Scott thought about what he was going to do very carefully. There was nothing wrong with it. The nagging feeling that he had to justify it was the mental ass kicker.

But no, he refused to dwell on it any more. Ali was a friend. A good friend.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang. When he was about to close his phone he heard a husky voice answer.

“Scott?”

“Hey Alison. I...uh, didn't think you were there.”

She couldn't help it. This dork made her giggle. And she hated doing that, it made her feel young and stupid all over again. She didn't need that. Then why was she waiting with anticipation at his voice. “What can I say Scott? I screen my calls.”

“Oh. Well then, I feel lucky.” Scott grinned hoping that she could feel the lightened mood he was in. “I was wondering, since Rachel loves your class, if you would mine coming to her birthday party? You don't need to worry about bringing anything, and I'm headed out your way now. I can give you a ride,” he added sounded enthusiastic and just a little eager.

Allison thought about it. Rachel seemed to take after her father, and Ali adored that. She also remembered Jean's icy greeting. She was no threat to her. Jean always got whatever she wanted. If she really wanted her husband's attention, then by God she had it. There was nothing Alison could do to get in the way of that.

Not even confess her developing crush.

“What time will you be here?”

“I'm a block away, and there isn't much traffic.” Scott knew that even if there was traffic he would have jumped out and ran. He rubbed his temples. Alison was just a friend. Ok ok, a friend he really liked spending time with, and who made him laugh, and who... His thoughts began to scare him. He loved his wife. He liked his friend.

That's what he kept chanting in his head as he got closer to his destination.


~*_*~

Ororo stood in the threshold of her door blocking her ex-husband from entering. To drive home her point of his unwanted company, she sneezed then coughed directly in front of him. Of course she covered her mouth, but his expression of disgust told her that she hit the nail on the head.

“Ew, gross, woman. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Logan heard T'Challa and decided to make his presence known. He stood up casually walked toward the door and leaned on it. T'Challa lost his controlled expression briefly. Logan liked that, a lot. He placed worn hands around Ororo's shoulders and let her back to the couch to sit down.

T'Challa reluctantly followed them and realized that this was the first time that he'd been in this home. There where bits of Ororo and Lucas's things everywhere. For the second time since he had shown up, he found himself at a lost. “Ororo, I didn't know you were ill. Was it the shrimp, again?” She looked up and glared at him. He laughed softly and sat down across from his ex and Logan, who had sat down next to her almost protectively.

Logan looked at Ororo who had her eyes squeezed shut and her head back and at T'Challa who was ruefully shaking his head. “Are you allergic to shrimp? Why on earth would you eat it?”

T'Challa didn't wait for Ororo to answerer, “The shrimp makes her allergies bad, and she eats them, well, because she can't resist.” He put emphasis on the last three words he said to make sure that everyone caught his double meaning.

If Ororo could have rolled her eyes without making her brain hurt even more, she would have done so right in his face. “If you knew that the shrimp would have bothered me, why didn't you say anything?”

“Would you have listened to me,” T'Challa asked back.

Even Logan smiled at that. He found stubborn women painfully attractive. A quick flash of Ororo at their first meeting flew threw his mind. He leaned in to tuck a loose soft lock of white behind her ear, and she gifted him with a smile. Both ignored T'Challa and his expression.

T'Challa looked for anything to break the mood, then it hit him. “So, Ororo how is that delightful business of yours?”

She opened her mouth to go on her tirade, then closed it immediately. T'Challa had never ever shown any interest in anything she did outside of raising Lucas. She seriously doubted his sincerity. She wondered about the timing as well.

Once again, before she had the chance to speak, the phone rand.

“That's it,” she cried. “I'm going to burn that thing,” she yelled at the phone when she went to grab it. “Hello,” she said out of breath and pissed.

“Ro, it's Jean.”

“Oh, how's the party so far?”

“You have to come quick, you're not going to believe who Scott just showed up with.”

After doing what she could to calm her friend down on the phone she excused herself to get dress. She was mad enough at just about everyone to bring a machete. The only adult not on her shit list right now was Logan. That thought warmed her up in places that hadn't ever been warm before.

Meanwhile downstairs the staring contest between both men finally came to an abrupt halt when Logan excused himself to grab a beer. He was glad fate introduced him to a woman who enjoyed the beverage as much as he.

While Logan was in the kitchen, T'Challa picked up the phone and dialed *69, and sighed in relief when Jean answered the phone. He knew the red head had always been in his corner when he and Ororo were happy together.

“Ro?”

“No, it's me her hus...T'Challa.”

“Oh, I didn't know you were there. I'm glad someone is there to take care of her.”

“Oh no Jean. It's not me. Someone beat me to it.”

“What?! Who? It doesn't matter? I take it she's giving you a hard time. Why don't you come to the party, and smooth things over?”

T'Challa grinned showing perfect teeth. He didn't even have to ask.

Logan heard T'Challa's half of the conversation, and quietly made his way up the stairs to check on Ororo. He found her door and knocked softly. “Roro, you ok?”

She opened the door in the most average thing he'd seen her wear yet. Skinny jeans and a Led Zepplin fitted tee. He still couldn't take his eyes off of her.

“Logan, do you mind coming with me? I may need someone to hold me back from committing several felonies.”

The last thing Logan felt was an obligation. In fact, he knew he that at least he was going to be highly entertained at Rachel's party.