After the surgery, Matt had to stay in the hospital for a few days, but he was allowed visitors. However, he was so doped up on morphine, that he wasn't much company. He made it home in time enough for Christmas, though his leg was in a full brace, and he wasn't moving much. Christmas was a hectic time in the Hanson house. Everybody was coming to visit: Zac and his family, Mackie and his family, Jess and her family, Avery and Dylan, Zoe and Chris, Sarah and her band, Taylor and his family, Harry, and Psylocke and Jarod were all coming for Christmas dinner. Taylor and Mackie and their families were staying in their own houses, however. Including Lori, Jack, and Jordan there were at least 60 people, but nobody was willing to do an actual head count. Babsie and Ike decided to give Lori the night off, and cater supper. Natalie had two weeks off, so she was nowhere to be seen, and the house definitely classified as "mad."
Carmen was getting dressed for Christmas dinner, and putting on her new dress, which was two sizes smaller than her Homecoming dress, and she was unbelievably happy about it, but it still wasn't enough. Part of her troubles recently had been the lack of control over her life. But now, at least she could control her food and the way she looked on the outside. Dieting was also bringing her and Esme closer together. The twins had been drifting apart since Esme had become the "popular" one, but when the realized that they were both dieting, the decided to stick together. The got up every morning and exercised, and then praised each other when they barely ate. Carmen was dropping pounds like crazy, and even Esme was looking thinner. Esme had never been overweight, and even Carmen wasn't extremely overweight, and now she wasn't overweight at all, she was in the perfect weight range for her height, but she remembered the old saying, because as she and Esme constantly reminded each other, "You can never be too rich or too thin."
Meanwhile, everyone was trying to enjoy the Christmas party, and most of the family was succeeding. Matt, Cosmo, and Duke, however were all moping about. Matt because he was stranded on the couch and couldn't run, Cosmo because he missed Lisa, and Duke because he missed Mindy. And throughout the whole thing, Toby was trying very hard not to start painting on a wall.
After much begging, Tobe had finally persuaded Babsie and Ike into letting him paint on his bedroom walls. So every time he got inspired, a new mural appeared. And what could he say, Christmas was inspiring.
Now that everyone was present, Storm and Rogue decided to "unveil" the "secret project" that they had been working on for a while, with a little help from Mystique, who had been prompted by Storm on what to do. Climbing onto the coffee table, the seven-year-old called out,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to present, the Mutant Girls!" And with that Rogue and Storm walked into the room. The two of them sat on the coffee table, Storm with an acoustic guitar and Rogue with a set of bongos in her lap. Without further adieu, the two began to sing. First they sang a few Christmas carols, letting everyone sing along, but finally they moved on to a couple of songs that they had written. The last song was just the two of them harmonizing with the guitar. Rogue started singing first,
"You think you know me, but I know
you're wrong. Just as I don't know you.
For every day I am a different person.
Not just every day but every hour
and every minute and every second.
Who I was yesterday I'm not anymore.
However, the mes of he past are stored up
Inside me.
I'm yesterday, tomorrow and today.
I'm 18, but I'm also 3, 9, and 48.
Never the same, I never know what to
expect, who to expect.
My identity is cyclical in evolution itself.
Who am I going to be today?"
The song was slow and beautiful, and hypnotized everyone in the room until finally they broke off, and everyone began to applaud.
"Hey Ike," Zac said, "It looks like we might just have another group to sign to MOE Records, what do you think?"
"I think that if they want to, they're serious about this, and their mother agrees, you're absolutely right." The two girls looked longingly up at Babsie.
"Well, if you both want to be signed, I have no problem with it, but why didn't you two tell anybody you'd started a band?" Rogue and Storm looked at each other, communicating in that silent language that only twins who spend every waking moment together can manage.
"Well, we aren't really a band, just the two of us. Besides, Storm and I have been writing songs together since we were eight, we just never showed anybody." They chuckled, but everyone else was surprised, they had no clue that the girls wanted to be musicians, other than marching band. As Christmas always does, the day sped by, over before anyone was ready for it to end, but for the first time in a while, a happy spirit seemed to by settling over the older children.
+A.N. - The above song/poem "Me," belongs to Joyful, if you really want to use it, just ask!+