Summer Home [X-MEN FIC]

Closet

Today Rachel Summers sat on the edge of her mother's bed while she prepared to move into her husband's room. For a little bit Rachel's parents had to figure out how exactly they were going to do their marriage. As the vows go, "til death do us part" and well, both Scott and Jean had died since then. Finally they were both back (at the same time, good heavens) and they figured out what they needed to. There was no denying that Rachel's parents loved each other and secretly… she still hoped that they'd try to have a baby Rachel in this timeline. It nearly broke her when she first found out about Nathan being born to Scott and Madelyne but she was merely a girl then. Now she was older, more mature, and had come to terms with the radical life she shared. 

At the moment Rachel was watching Jean clean out her closet of the various costumes she wore over the years. Currently, her mother donned the costume dubbed "Marvel Girl" which was a huge throwback. Once Rachel had taken up that name but there was no way she'd be caught dead in that get up. It was far too girly for her taste. It looked like a simple lime green sundress with long sleeves, yellow gloves, mask, and boots to boot. On Jean, it still looked good but as far as Rachel was concerned, she'd look like a donkey in her mother's outfit. 

Jean was simply beautiful. Long flowing red hair, fair skin, and green eyes… it was pretty obvious how Scott fell for her personality aside. Rachel is practically the sporting image of her mother except she had chopped her hair much shorter and her face had red markings on it. Rachel was also a tad stockier compared to Jean's long legged beauty but she never let that bother her. Rachel fumbled with style and decidedly, she was a tomboy. 

Having her curiosity get the better of her, Rachel asks why exactly Jean was wearing her Marvel Girl costume again. 

"Hm," Jean straightens out the hem of her dress. "I feel like it represents a sort of rebirth. Somewhat like the Phoenix but… well, I'm not. After Phoenix, I never kept a hero name. Sometime before that I was Marvel Girl and most of the time I was just plain old Jean Grey." she explains. "It's a little strange I know, but…"

Rachel nods in understanding, "Yeah, I get it." She peers behind her mother and spots the various iterations of the Phoenix costume through the years. It remains mostly the same with its most notable Phoenix insignia on the chest and its sash around the hips; the only thing that really changes would be the color scheme.

As if on cue, Jean pulls them out and folds them up. "I don't imagine I'll ever wear these again." she remarks, "But there are so many memories attached to them."

Rachel raises both her brows, "Like as a reminder of the force of power you've given up?"

Jean partly opens her mouth in awe. Rachel hadn't a need to read Jean's mind and yet she hit the nail right over its head. "Yes-- precisely." The woman lingers over the red iteration and smiles a bit. "I recall someone telling me you've worn this one before."

"Yeah," Rachel runs an embarrassed hand through her short red locks. "Back when I was the Phoenix…  Yeesh, back then it was only me and dad."

"What was it like with only him?" Jean inquires, curious as to Scott's parenting skills without her present. 

Rachel leans back on her elbows and looks towards the ceiling. "Oh y'know… normal single dad things I feel. I kinda missed when he used to call me sweetheart. I truly felt… special." 

Jean pauses and turns to look at her daughter with a wide grin. Adorable, simply adorable. Rachel must have felt her mother's eyes on her because she stiffened a bit. "Maybe I over shared."

"Oh honey, not at all." Jean turns back and her eyes land on the last and by far the oldest costume she ever owned: the original Xavier School uniform. She, Scott, Bobby, Hank, and Warren had all worn similar black and yellow units that covered most of their body from head to toe. Jean simply kept it for nostalgia (because it was far too small for her at this point) but she'd hardly taken the time to look at it. She only done so once to move it into this room and now twice moving out of it. Jean also wondered if Scott also kept his somewhere. That would've tugged at the heartstrings. 

Jean pulls out the old costume and Rachel gives a slow whistle. 

"Wow, that's an oldie. I've only seen that one in photos." Rachel comments, looking at it once over. It was certainly no fashionable feat and it was probably why students had taken to wearing different uniforms-- or lack thereof-- in the years that followed. 

"Yep." Jean nods in agreement. "But I still love it." She neatly folds it up and puts it with the others.

Having fueled her nostalgia trip, Jean levitates the items from her closet just as Scott walks in. He raps on the doorframe to make his presence known. "How're my two favorite girls in the whole wide world?" he asks rhetorically with a plastered grin. He was ecstatic that he and Jean would be sharing a room again, meaning that all things were mended. They were doing their marriage their way. 

"Actually dad," Rachel begins, "we're on the moon. Not on Earth."

Scott rolls his eyes behind his glasses subtlety and reiterates. "Right so… my two most favorite girls on the whole wide moon. Mm, doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

Rachel shrugs with a laugh. "Whatever, we'll come up with something that sticks, you'll see."

"Mhm," Scott turns toward Jean. "All wrapped up here?"

Jean nods and floats her assortments out of the room and into Scott's next door. Officially, the room would be dubbed "Mom and Dad's room" from now on. She goes over and kisses the corner of Scott's mouth. "Guess we'll be sleeping good tonight." she remarks. 

Overhearing, Rachel crinkles her nose in response. "Um, hello? I'm still here. I don't even want to know if that was some sort of innuendo."

"I thought you wanted yourself to be born." Scott teases, earning a cuff to his ear from his wife. 

"Right right, whatever. I'm out." Rachel floats over and shares a hug with her parents and before she goes, Jean has one thing to say in the rapport she shares with her husband:

>"Scott, Rachel told me that she misses when you used to call her sweetheart."

>"Really?" comes Scott's reply. "I'd thought she grew out of it."

>"Clearly not. She still wants to be daddy's little girl, who can blame her?"

>"Oh, alright. That's fair."

Scott ruffles his daughter's hair good-naturedly. "Seeya later sweetheart. Maybe we can do something later, just me and you." he offers. 

"Really?" Rachel asks in nearly a squeal. Quickly, she simmers down her excitement and puts on her grown woman mask. "Oh, alright. That sounds lovely." Soon she leaves and as soon as she's out of eyesight, she begins to put a spring in her step. 

"Well," Jean looks up at Scott. "Off to our new room then."

Scott swiftly scoops up his wife into the bridal style hold. "Yeah, just like the honeymoon we never got to have."

"Yeah about that--"

"Shh…" Scott presses his lips to Jean, instantly shutting her up. 

"Oh, you…" Jean giggles as Scott begins to carry her away like the knight in shining armor that he is. "Wait--"

Jean turns her head back and uses her telekinesis to close the closet door. That way it was closing on a chapter of separation in her life. No more would she stay solitary under the same roof as her husband. 

Now, as soon as she opens the closet door in her new room it'll open the chapter of togetherness. Then they could both have their old costumes occupy the same space and perhaps reminisce on the old times. 

It was symbolic, just like how she was wearing Marvel Girl again.