Saturday Afternoon at St. Rose
Angelo leaned back in his seat as the door of the confessional quietly thudded closed. Saturday afternoons were always busy, and today was thankfully winding to an end. It must be almost three, so if he got out of here by three-thirty, then he'd have a half hour before he needed to prepare for the evening mass, and then dinner. He could have sworn that he'd seen Rosalie pulling a block of cheddar out of the groceries this morning, so dinner would probably be...
The sound of the confessional door loudly banging open and shut pulled him from his thoughts.
"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."
Oh. Oh no. Angelo bowed his head and muttered a quiet expletive.
"It’s been...ehhhh," the terminally cheerful voice trailed off as its owner tried to remember her last visit. "...um..."
"Jubilee..." he started, helplessly.
"...a really, really, really long time since my last confession."
"Jubilee, do we have to do this?"
A hand slammed against the confessional's dividing wall, rattling the paneled screen. "Hey! You're not supposed to let on you know who's in here!"
He snorted derisively and peered at her shadowed figure through the grillwork. "Because I've never met you before in my life. Right."
"Angelo..."
His name carried a threatening note that he was altogether too familiar with, and it reminded him that sometimes it was better to go along with her, even if she was being a little delusional. He sighed. "That is indeed unfortunate, my child. What sins have you to confess today?"
"Oh!" The there was a loud thud and the wall shuddered violently as Jubilee bounced in her seat, immediately perking up. "Well, okay. So. I've been having. Um. Illicit relations with this man..."
Angelo squeezed his eyes shut and clutched desperately at the rosary tucked away in his pocket.
...llena eres de gracia
"...and that completely wasn't my fault..."
el Señor es contigo
"...never had a sense of humor to begin with..."
bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres
"...and y'know, if she hadn't left it out on the counter, it wouldn't have happened anyway!"
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús
"Right, Angelo?"
Santa María
"Ange?"
Madre de...
"Hey!"
...Dios? "Jubes?"
"You so totally weren't listening, were you?"
Angelo opened his eyes and saw Jubilee's silhouette pressed up against the panel as she tried to eyeball him through the wooden screen. "Of course I was."
"Liar."
"Hey! Is that any way to talk to a man of God?" he admonished. "Now, for your penance go out there and say five Hail Marys and five, no, ten Our Fathers."
"Okay." Jubilee was silent for a moment. "Is that it? I can never remember."
Just tell her to go. Tell her. To go. "You're supposed to say the Act of Contrition before you leave," he said, quietly banging his head against the back wall.
"Ah. Ange?"
"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishment, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
"Right. Oh, my God, what he said. Amen. Bye!"
The door on the other side of the confessional crashed as its occupant bolted back into the church. Angelo heaved a sigh. He... appreciated that the other X-Folk had been so supportive of his decision to enter the priesthood. Not that they wouldn't have, (there was Kurt after all,) but the impromptu visitors were sometimes a bit much to take. He supposed he should get out there and make sure Jubilee didn't burn the church down lighting a candle.
The confessional door banged open and shut again.
"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."
"Oh, fuck you, Ev. Not you too."
"Once a year, man. Like clockwork." Everett leaned into the panel. "We miss you."
Angelo's face creased into a grin. "Yeah, I miss you guys, too."
The door creaked open on his side of the confessional, spilling shards of stained glass colored light into his lap.
"Um, Ange? How does a Hail Mary go again?"
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