X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Family 10.8

Thanksgiving wasn't really a holiday Anna had celebrated before. She and her mother's weren't big eaters and it's not like they had any extended family to invite to a dinner. So if it didn't end up being just another Thursday, they would treat themselves by ordering extra egg-rolls from the Chinese place down the street.

The prep before was a little overwhellming to say the least. Sure Logan did most of the heavy lifting, both literally and metaphorically, but each student was assigned some stupid thing to do. Mash the potatoes, polish the silver, set the table, strain the green beans, wash the cooking equipment, blah, blah, blah.

Then there was getting dressed up. Kitty didn't mind, and if Anna was honest, she didn't either. It was more the fact that they were doing it for MacArthur than anything.

"He'll probably get all pruney if you don't wear a dress," Kitty said while putting on her pink earrings.

"He can suck my left one if he doesn't like it," Anna answered while squeezing into her tightest black skinny jeans. By the end, the pair looked like diametric opposites, but Anna still let Kitty paint her pinky nails pink as had become some sort of tradition since her birthday.

It was rare to see the others look so presentable. The boys were all in suits with matching ties aside from Kurt who insisted on wearing a yellow polka-dotted bow tie. Jean wore a beautiful dress in classic red in matching lipstick. Her hair was done in curls and flowed eligently on her shoulders. The only thing clashing with her otherwise stunning visage was the fat turquoise earrings.

"Wearing the training wheels?" Anna asked when they met at the bottom of the stairs.

"I have to. If I didn't, Xavier would notice and know I was up to no good."

"I wish you could be."

"I know, but trust me. The smoother this goes, the better, and then he leaves tomorrow."

Anna grumbled but she knew it was true. The less drama there is, the better.

"I'm all for women's emancipation, or whatever it is-" said MacArthor through a mouthful of spuds. "But don't you feel like you would fit better in a dress of some sort, Miss Ororo?"

Ororo stared back at the man from across the table. Her black suit with a coblat blue tie was imaculate. As opposed to MacArthor's tan suit with a mustard yellow button up undernieth which looked so wrinkled it was likely it was dredged up from the bottom of his suitcase. "My suit fits me perfectly well, thank you for your concern, Mr MacArhur."

Scott took the ninth or fifteenth sip from his cup of sweating water. "So, what did you think about the Mustang yesterday, Dad? Did all the work myself. Lowered it like you taught me, and even did an at-home alignment using some concrete blocks we had sitting around to prop up the wheels."

"Well, that 'at-home' part shows. When I got behind the wheel I could feel the car pulling to the right."

"I've been having issues working that out. Every time I get it on the blocks I can't seem to work out the issue. Do you think you could help me out before you go?"

"We'll see, son." MacArthur cut into his steak. "Other cars look good. I'm amazed you were able to make that screaming wreck of a Gremlin out there halfway respectable."

Anna felt her fist curl tight enough around a beam of wood under the table her nails caught the grain.

"That one was a, uh, labor of love." Scott gestured to Anna from across the table. "It's Anna's car, actually. We took it for a test drive a couple of days before you came and it did great!"