Ryan and Logan sat outside the exam room door. The doctor would not let the Wolverine stay because it made the Rogue uneasy. Angelica was sitting by the young mother-to-be's bedside.

Actually, Ryan was sitting. Logan was as close to pacing as could be done on a chair.

Ryan felt for the feral mutant. His woman was in a hospital, the fate of their baby at stake. Ryan also got the impression that the relationship his Emote had been working so hard to rebuild rested on the answer of the doctor inside.

"I love her."

The first words, surprisingly, came from Logan.

"I know."

"She's my…sanity, my sanctuary, ya know? I'd give up everything in my life just to have her safe, happy and by my side, yet I blow it by one stupid word. A name that's not hers."

Emote was a counselor, by trade as well as by gift. Ryan knew only when Emote was working on a client. He'd been told little about this couple, but he knew enough to understand why they had reached into his fiancee's heart.

These two could have been…and had been…Angelica and himself.

"Women are strange, ya know? They're weaker, physically, than men, yet emotionally, they could bench press us into the sky. Part of that emotional strength carries the idea that love is sacred. Ya don't cheat on love. Emote told me once that people don't know how much weight feelings carry. Otherwise, hurting others wouldn't be nearly as easy as it is. You hurt her, Logan. Ya gotta face that."

Logan turned to the other man, his anguish over the situation making him unusually open to revealing his emotions. "But what if she won't let me? What if she leaves me again? I'm barely living as it is, and she's only a room away! And now that we have a baby? I NEED her!"

Ryan sympathized, he really did. He knew what it was like to have your life's happiness wrapped up in one woman. These two, the gruff cage fighter and the untouchable Southern belle, had made a bond that, if shattered, would leave them two lost and wounded souls, two halves of a once whole heart.

"She loves you, Logan. Give her your love in return. That may be all that holds you together right now. That, and that baby inside her."

---

Emote hated hospitals. She'd woken from her first bout with insanity in one. But she knew the necessities of being here for Rogue…and the baby inside.

The doctor had told both women that the baby was okay, but that the emotional trauma the mother was going through would have to be resolved, because next time the baby might not be so lucky.

"Doc, can you give us a few minutes before you tell the guys outside?"

The doctor knew of Emote's power, and agreed.

Angelica looked at Marie, holding her bare hand. "You have a choice, Marie. You have to make it now."

Rogue nodded. "What would you do?"

"Listen to my heart, my instincts, and the baby."

//The BABY?//

//Would you like me to show you, or wait for Logan?//

"Wait, I think. So, listen, huh?"

"Yep."

Marie closed her eyes. Using a technique Emote taught her, she blocked all sounds from her ears, all light from her eyes, all taste from her tongue, all scents from her nose, all sensation from her fingers. She went into her private "room", where she could feel only herself and her emotions.

*He hurt me* Do we want him back, though?

The one feeling Marie could hear through her "room" was

//YES//

She opened her eyes. "Call him in." ~*~*~*~*~

Logan felt like he was going to his execution. She was going to leave him. Well, he loved her enough to let her, but he would die inside.

Marie looked at him. "Logan…" She stretched out her hand.

He grasped it, feeling grateful. If nothing else occurred, the fact that Marie could touch others was a gift, one of only many she deserved.

The doctor spoke. "The baby's fine, but the two parents MUST fix what's wrong. It may not be next time."

Emote nodded. "Ya wanna `feel' your baby? I can only do this once. It's difficult for me."

Logan and Marie looked at each other and nodded eagerly. The last thing they wanted to do was hurt Angelica, but they wanted to try.

Emote put on hand on Logan's and one on Marie's stomach. She `connected' the three.

//Mama? Dada? ~warm, wet, safe, happy~//

//Baby// That thought was both Logan's and Marie's ~happiness, gratitude~

Emote `disconnected' the three and looked at the parents. "We'll let you be."

Crossroads Hospital had often experienced mutants. Redmond was well-known for tolerance of the new brand of humanity.

But rarely had so much of a relationship been riding on words spoken here.

"Can you give me a second chance?"

Marie smiled…and Logan's heart started beating again.

"We can try. We can't continue from where we left off, but we can start again."

Logan was so glad that he'd stood at the crossroads…and was allowed to follow the right path.

So was Angelica, for both their sakes.