xp_logs | Thanksgiving- Alex and Mr. Dane

Backdated to Thanksgiving. When Alison drags Lorna and Mrs. Dane off to have a little bit of girl talk, Alex is left with Lorna's father. Alex takes the opporunity to ask Mr. Dane about something that he's been thinking alot about lately. It shouldn't be a suprise to anyone.

After dinner, Alison grabbed Janice and Lorna and with a well-concealed encouraging smile at Alex, pulled them both out, chattering about catching up and girl talk. Lorna, looking much more relaxed than she had in a month went along laughing, caught between her mother on one side and Alison on the other. She kissed her father on the cheek before she was swept away. Paul looked after her fondly then smiled at Alex, "Looks like we've been abandoned."

Alex too smiled after them. The change in Lorna just by having her parents here was amazing and he wished he'd thought of this sooner. And he caught Alison's encouraging smile and couldn't help a small blush. "Yeah, looks like we have. And uh...actually I have something important I'd like to talk to you about."

Paul sat back in his chair, one eyebrow raised, looking much like his daughter. The boy looked nervous but not more so than he usually did. His mind automatically shuffled a mental list of what he could want to discuss. "Sure, what about?" Coffee would be good, he thought and glanced away to find the coffeemaker he knew would be somewhere nearby.

Following Paul's glance, Alex got up and went over to the coffee machine where Lorna always kept a fresh pot brewing. He poured Mr. Dane a cup before getting a coke for himself from the fridge. He was glad for something to do to collect his thoughts and took a deep breath before he returned drinks in hand. "Well, umm...remember that marriage conversation we had a few months ago?"

It was probably a good thing that Paul wasn't yet holding the coffee because he would have dropped it. As it was, there was a slight pause in his reaching for it while he processed the information. "Ah…yes. I do. You expressed that you thought you and she were far too young to think of marriage and that you wanted to wait a few years."

Alex took a deep breath, Mr Dane's reaction to only that little bit was a bit startling but he knew he had to do this. For Lorna...and for him. "Well, it's not so much the marriage part I wanted to ask you about." Once he'd gotten rid of the coffee cup he took a seat near Mr. Dane, elbows resting on his knees as he leaned forward. "I do still think we are too young for marriage. But...I wanted to ask your permission to at least propose." He held up a hand, stopping Mr. Dane from saying anything. "Please, let me finish or I may not be able too. I have a reason...She...after this whole ordeal, she was convinced no one would want to help her...or support her. Even now, I think she's afraid I'm going to leave her..." Alex had been looking down, but then he lifted his head. "I want to do this, to show her I mean it when I say I will never leave her. I want to give her that guarantee that someday...I will marry her and take care of her for the rest of our lives." Then he ducked his head again...afraid of the response he would get.

Paul set the coffee mug down carefully and regarded Alex solemnly, considering his reasons and his conviction both. "Becoming engaged isn't a guarantee of future happiness. My sister…was engaged several times before she married. How far away is someday, Alex? People change."

"I don't want a guarantee of future happiness. Hell, we live here which is an almost guarantee that our futures won't be exactly happy. But..." He took a deep breath, biting the inside of cheek as he looked up again. "I want her to know, no matter what happens, that I will be there for her. I don't want her to have to question that...ever again." At the mention of when he looked away again. "Someday...I...can't say. When we're ready. But this at least guarantees a someday."

Paul was silent for a while, studying the young man in front of him. He thought of the way that Lorna spoke of Alex and the way she looked at him and Paul wished that she'd never grown up at all. "It's Lorna's decision ultimately. We've tried to protect her, tried to teach her to make smart decisions over the years and I think we did a good job. But we aren't enough anymore. She's my daughter and I'd die for her but I can't run her life. She's chosen you time and again. I can't believe that she wouldn't do so again." Paul sighed. "You can't imagine how terrifying this is, as a father."

Alex playfully rolled his eyes then ducked his head. "You have no idea how terrifying this is for me. Not this decision, asking you I mean. Because I don't want to do this without your permission sir. She is your daughter...and I want you to feel comfortable with the man who is going to take care of your daughter." The strain in his voice showed just how important Mr. Dane's blessing meant to him.

Man…he was just a boy. And he wanted to marry his little girl. They were both just children…too young for this… Paul shook his head. "Lorna is a good judge of people. If she wants to marry you, then I can think of no reason why I would stand in her way. Ask her." He extended his hand to Alex. "I think you might just be almost good enough for her."

Alex whole face lit up at that and he could barely sit still as he reached out to take Mr. Dane's hand. "Thank you Mr. Dane. I promise, you won't regret this." He then stopped realizing how bad that sounded. "I mean, not the you would, uh...oh man..." He gave a strained smile the older man. "You know what I mean, right Mr. Dane?"

Paul laughed and hauled Alex closer, clapping his hand on his shoulder in friendly way. "I do, Alex. I even dimly remember asking Janice's father for permission to marry her and I think I was just as nervous if not more." He grinned. "He turned me down."

He couldn't stop the bright grin that again erupted on your face. "Really?" Somehow that made him feel a bit better about the whole thing, but Alex did have one question. "What did he say when you married her anyway?"

"By then he was okay with it. But I had to go rock climbing with him first. And hiking. And hunting." Paul picked up his coffee and toasted the old man's memory. "He kept saying no until I nearly killed myself during the white water rafting. He liked me a lot better after I woke up in the hospital."

Alex's eyes went wide at that story and was thankful it didn't take waking up in a hospital to get Mr. Dane to say yes, though he would have done it if he had too. "Oh, I bet. I'm thankful that you don't need that much convincing from me...though know I would do it in a heartbeat." He mimicked the toast with his can of soda, totally forgetting he was even holding it until then.

"You might but Lorna would have my head if I tested you like that. She's a bit fiercer than her mother was at her age." Paul smiled then his eyes sobered. "You've been with her this last month, is she doing well? Her phone calls always sound so forced."

Taking a sip of soda so he could think, Alex ended up sighing before he spoke. "She's been on and off. At first she was terribly clingy and refused to even see anyone but me. And now, I think she's doing better but then...she does something to show how much she doesn't really believe we are all there for her. That we still love her even after all the bad things she was forced to do..." He closed his eyes and ducked his head, letting his blonde hair fall in his eyes. "It's part of the reason I want to do this so badly. I want her to not have to question anymore..." And while we were separated, I realized I couldn't live without her. Alex mentally added.

"But she's doing better? She always says she is and then she changes the subject. She even said that she quit that...team-thing that she had been a member of." That had been a horrifying phone call, listening as she explained just what she'd been doing for the past year and then being blithely told that they weren't to worry anymore because she had quit.

"I...I think so. She's actually going out of the suite now without me so I'd say that's a good sign. But she won't leave the house and won't mingle freely with others like she used to. I suspect it's going to be a while before we get that far but she is better compared to before." Alex sighed, not even wanting to touch the X-men issue since it relieved him to no end that Lorna was no longer a part of it, especially after Scott's injury.

Paul winced and bowed his head. "I wanted to bring her home. After the first time...I wanted her home. I let that Xavier talk me out of it and then Lorna fought with us. Every time something happens I beg her to come back and she says no. This time...I was sure that she nearly said yes." He sighed. "She's my baby girl, my flesh and blood. I hate seeing her like this."

Alex swallowed the large lump that hard grown in his throat. "When I was told I could go see her..." He took a deep breath. "I entered the room and she was so scared that I would leave her. Seeing her looking so lost and helpless like that...it...I don't think I'd ever been that scared in my life, or, well it was like one of those times, ya know?" And Alex had had many. It ranked up there with the plane crash, blowing up in Hawaii, Scott's injury and Her.

"Will you get her out of here? For three years it's been nothing but misery here for her. This place is vile." Paul's hands tightened on the coffee mug.

Well, Alex wasn't so sure about that. "I don't know, sir. Right now we are still planning on going back to Hawaii for the spring semester. But after that...I'm afraid I don't know." He did want to protest, saying the only family he had was here, but he understood where Mr. Dane was coming from.

Paul realized that he would have to accept that. Lorna would go where the boy went but Paul didn't fool himself into thinking that it was Alex's decision alone. "I suppose that will have to do." He checked his watch. "I wonder where the girls went? Janice will scold me if I have dessert without her."

"I bet they are down in the kitchen. Lorna's been trying all sorts of new recipes up here and the product of that labor is down for the masses to enjoy. Bet she wanted to show off a bit before they were destroyed." Alex just grinned, still practically floating on air after their conversation. He stood up and took Mr. Dane's empty cup to put in the their suite's sink and deposit his own soda in the trash. Then it just hit him. I'm going to ask Lorna to marry me... His grin just got brighter.