Rogue

Chapter 6

Rogue stood there for a minute looking at Mikael, taking efforts to memorize his face. She threw Mikael one last smile before she slid into the car. A smile didn't leave her face on the way to her father's house.

She watched from the backseat of the car as the driver drove up the long driveway to the front of a mansion. Her jaw almost dropped. It has a gorgeous flower garden in the front yard.

Her smile slowly disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

It was huge house, the kind in which most kids dreamed of growing up. Secluded among trees on one of Boston's most exclusive streets.

"We're here," Atty. Hammond announced.

Rogue hesitantly stepped out of the car as Atty. Hammond led her inside.

"Come, this way."

All Rogue could do was nod as she clutched her backpack.

It has a front door that could accommodate a family of brachiosaurus. She walked into the polished wood floors with her heart thudding in her chest. Once inside, Rogue saw the interior was just as lavish as the exterior. Great paintings covered the walls with beautiful high arched windows.

Footsteps came down the hall and Rogue looked up to see a guy, who seemed just about her brother's age, coming towards them.

"Who is she attorney?" the guy asked. He gave her a concerned look.

Rogue just smiled weakly and averted her gaze on the floor.

She heard another footsteps coming down the hall. Another pair of shiny leather shoes appeared at the foot of a vast curving staircase that probably went to heaven.

"Red, she's your sister, Rogue." The voice said.

And there she was, standing opposite a man she barely knew. Her father, a stranger.

She was 13; he was 68. Meeting him properly for the first time, a hundred questions rushed through her mind.

Why did he leave us? Why he never contacted us? What kind of father he is?

Rogue looked up to see the owner of the voice. Face-to-face, the questions she had prepared to ask him evaporated. There was no surge of anger.

"Welcome home, Rogue," her bother said. Red went up to his room leaving the two of them in awkward silence.

Here was a man, charming, elegant, with greying hair and sad eyes - and all too human. Not the monster, the bastard, she had conjured up in her mind in place of anything tangible.

The very real hurt and longing she felt came rushing in heavy waves making her shed buckets of tears.

Her father took a hesitant step forward and stopped.

She didn't know what to say, or what to do. She was overwhelmed with mixed emotions and didn't know what to feel first.

"A-are you Rufus Gates? A-are you really my... f-fa... ther?" she asked tentatively.

He nodded. "Yes, I am." His smile was sad yet radiant. He outstretched his arms, beckoning her.

But Rogue remained where she was standing as tears continued falling down her face, her lips continued quivering.

"Go to your father, Rogue. He misses you so much the way you miss him too." Atty. Hammond gently pushed the small of her back.

Rogue took a step forward, and another hesitant one to another, until she stopped a few inches away from him. She stared at the man's face. She looked at his hands holding out to her.

She slowly raised a hand, reaching for his. She couldn't help a massive sob when he held it, "Daddy..." she mumbled

He gently pulled her to him as she cried. He hugged her so tight while she clung to him, both of them wept at their reunion. She could his feel his lips kissing her head helplessly, mumbling her name over and over. She could feel the pain in his voice. His remorse and happiness. His love for her.

"I'm sorry, Rogue... I'm so sorry for leaving you and your brother. I'm sorry for everything you've been through..."

The loneliness of being abandoned for years had surfaced in waves but she pushed it back. There was no need to feel lonely anymore. She had a father now. She didn't need his apologies because he was not the only one at fault.

They stayed that way until the heartbreaking cries turned into silent sniffles. But her father's hold on her hadn't loosened. In fact, he would squeeze his hold from time to time and his lips wouldn't leave her head.

There were still questions but she knew they had time for them later. Right now, she just wanted to bask herself in this warm feeling.

When Rogue had finally gathered her bearings, she gently pulled herself out of her father's embrace. She looked at him in the eyes and smiled shyly.

They sat at the comfortable sofa, holding each other close.

"M-mom. Sh-she would tell me how she r-regretted having me, that I was nothing but a horrible mistake. W-Why?" Rogue hiccupped out.

"No, no Rogue, that was the alcohol and the drugs talking. Your mother loved you very much. It was all my fault. Her depression... made her a different person than she used to be," Rufus said.

"She made a choice when she could have chosen to rise above it. She's even dragging my brother to hell with her. She thought she had lost everything but she still have us...she just never realized it." Still sniffling, Rogue looked up from his father's shoulder and into his eyes.

"I'm proud of the girl you've become. You're smart and level-headed. I couldn't ask for a better daughter." Rufus looked at her, pride gleaming in his eyes.

"Reeve raised me well."

"Help me convince your brother to move here."

Rogue nodded between each sob. Her father was grinning at her, his eyes twinkling with happiness.

She was introduced to the rest of the family. Everyone was welcoming: hugs, you-look-goods, and how-are-yous. For the most part, she went along with it all, a tourist in her own life. She took a lot of pictures; she ate up the meals she never had eaten before.

It was only at night, while trying to sleep in an unfamiliar bedroom, she thought, had her parents' relationship not gone adrift, would have probably have felt like home away from home.

She finally allow herself to cry a little for the last time. It was her brother's request to stay strong and she will be.