Charmolypi by erro
Summary: Set three months+ after X1.
Marie calls Logan back to the mansion at three in the morning.
Categories: X1 Characters: None
Genres: Adult, Angst, Dark, Shipper
Tags: None
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 12 Completed: Yes Word count: 21203 Read: 37512 Published: 03/20/2020 Updated: 03/31/2020

1. Chapter 1 by erro

2. Chapter 2 by erro

3. Chapter 3 by erro

4. Chapter 4 by erro

5. Chapter 5 by erro

6. Chapter 6 by erro

7. Chapter 7 by erro

8. Chapter 8 by erro

9. Chapter 9 by erro

10. Chapter 10 by erro

11. Chapter 11 by erro

12. Chapter 12 by erro

Chapter 1 by erro
Wearily Logan trudged through the worn door of the run-down motel unit he was staying in today. The three months since he'd left the mansion had been a bust, he'd made a beeline to the abandoned military complex he'd been pointed towards, hoping to find something, anything, that could point him in the direction of who he had been 'before'.

Hindsight was a great thing; hindsight rolled its eyes at his unrealistic hopes and dreams, and gave him an extra kick when he was down, after discovering absolutely zilch.

He hadn't called Marie for almost a month after giving up on the base, she knew how much he was hoping this might finally be a break, she would be equally as devastated. When he had finally called, she hadn't asked about the base, when he finally mentioned it, he could hear the pain in her voice as she admitted to him that she had assumed as much from his lack of contact, before hopefully, and shyly, asking if that meant he was going to come home now.

With a sigh he had reminded her, he promised he would come back, and he would never, ever, break a promise, but he wasn't ready to come back just yet. She'd extracted another promise from him then, to call more often, at least once a week. He had agreed with a chuckle, and since then they'd spoken every few days, he had even gone out and bought himself a cell phone so he wouldn't have to rely on finding a payphone, or a motel that allowed long distance calls. It also meant she could contact him, if for any reason she needed to.

It was Marie, and his promise to return, that saw him where he was now, a shitty motel just outside of Montreal. He was so close to her but still hadn't decided if he was ready to go back yet. He missed her like crazy, hearing her voice so often was the only reason he didn't immediately hightail it back to the school. His feelings for the girl were confusing him, he was starting to think this might be what people called 'love'. In which case, the rational part of his brain was telling him to stay far away; he didn't need love, and she was too young for him to be any good for her. At the same time, he couldn't stay away.

He'd slowly made his way East and had been uncertainly hanging out, near enough to the school that he could get back there quickly if she needed him but not close enough to draw attention. He'd worked his way through every cage fight in lower Ontario and Quebec, even into the states a couple of times in Michigan and Maine, but so far had studiously avoided New York state, he knew if he crossed that border that was it, he was going back, and this time it would be for good.

He hadn't been able to find a fight tonight, instead he'd tucked himself into a dark corner of the shittiest bar he could find and attempted to drink himself into oblivion. It took the bar tender throwing him concerned looks and hesitating to give him more alcohol before he realised, he'd probably drawn a bit too much attention to himself. He'd staggered 'home', just on the edge of drunk, and now he was collapsed on the stinking, saggy, excuse for a bed he'd been provided. Too wound up to sleep, even though he was tired, he just lay there and stared at the ceiling, which swayed slightly as the alcohol slowly worked its way out of his system.

It took a minute before he realised the annoying chirp he was hearing, wasn't a sound in his head but was, in fact, coming from the room. It took him a few seconds longer to remember what made that noise.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, jumping up suddenly, ignoring the dangerous tilt of the room as he moved. He dug around frantically in his bag looking for his phone, only one person had that number, and Marie wouldn't call at three in the morning unless it was an emergency.

"Marie!?" he exclaimed, as he answered the call. He was met by silence. "Marie are you there?" he asked, concerned by her lack of immediate response. He heard a breath, that sounded like a sob come down the line. "What's wrong Marie, talk to me kid," he pressed worriedly.

"I need you Logan," she said in a whisper, another choked sob filtering down the line. "Please... I need you."

He paused for a split second, his mind screaming over everything that might have caused her to call him for that. "Consider me there darlin, I'll head out now, I should be there by breakfast but what's going on Marie, what's wrong?" He began haphazardly throwing his belongings into his bag as he talked, he was not drunk anymore.

"Not on the phone," she replied with a sniffle. "Please hurry, I - I'm scared, I need you," she repeated, as she began to sob in earnest.

Logan whined unconsciously at the raw pain in her voice before reassuring her, "I'm on my way darlin, is there someone there who can stay with you until I get there?" He was tying his pack to the back of Scott's liberated motorcycle now. She sounded bad, whatever had happened it had affected her badly, he didn't want to hang up and leave her alone in that state but he had to hang up to drive back to her.

"No!" she replied, sounding suddenly anxious, "No, just you," she repeated firmly.

"Alright-" he slid his room key under the locked front door of the motel office before jogging back to the bike- "You're at the school though, right? You're safe?"

"Yeah," she replied, "Just hurry, please."

"I'm hurrying darlin don't you worry, bikes all packed and ready to go, I have to hang up to drive though, will you be okay until I get there?" he asked directly, if she promised he knew she would be fine, she would wait for him before doing anything rash.

"Yeah," she replied, he could hear the hint of a smile in her tone, "Yeah I'll be okay, just get here quick."

"I'm about five and a half hours away darlin but you can guarantee I'm hurrying, gonna set a few new land speed records on the way," Logan replied with a grin.

Marie giggled tearily in response. "Be careful too," she added, "See you soon." A muffled click signalled the line closing, he instantly zipped the phone into a jacket pocket as he mounted the bike and kicked it to life. He roared out of the parking lot seconds later and headed south.
Chapter 2 by erro
It was just after seven when he roared up the school’s driveway, he'd managed to cut more than an hour off his trip thanks to that convenient little red button, and miraculously managed to avoid any cops. He didn't bother to stow the bike in the garage, simply skidded to a stop outside the front entrance, grabbed his pack, and leaped up the stairs.

Jean was at the door when he threw it open. "Is everything okay?" she asked, "The Profes..."

"What's wrong with Marie?" he demanded, if anyone would know it should be Jean, right?

"Marie?" she asked confused.

"Rogue," Logan clarified with a growl, annoyed with himself for letting slip Marie's real name.

"Uh, she's fine?" Jean replied, sounding uncertain, "She's probably still in bed, I haven't seen her yet this morning."

Logan was moving past her before she even finished her sentence, feeling his apprehension levels increase. Marie hadn't told anyone here but called him instead, what was going on.

He was halfway up the stairs to the dorms when a slight girl, with dark blonde hair, and a big brown eyes, came rushing the other way. "Doctor Grey, something's wrong with Rogue, she's locked herself in the bathroom and she won't come out, I tried to phase through the door but she screamed at me and threw stuff, and..." Logan gently shoved his way past, as he ran the rest of the way up the stairs and down the hall, following in reverse the path the girl had taken to get to them on the stairs.

He could hear Jean and the girl hurrying along behind him, he got to the room he needed, the one with Rogue's scent firmly ingrained in it, along with two other girls. It didn't cross his mind that, though one of those girls had come looking for Jean, the other might still be in there. He barged in, ignoring the startled shriek from the half-dressed girl on the other side of the room, as he made a beeline for the room’s bathroom door.

"Marie?" he called out, not waiting for an answer before he slammed into the closed door he assumed was the bathroom, feeling the frame splinter as the lock tore out.

A huddled figure on the floor, smelling of pain and misery, mumbled without looking up. "Go away, I just want Logan," before she broke into sobs again.

"So which is it kid, you want me, or am I going away?" he asked with a chuckle, as he knelt down on the floor in front of her.

Her tear stained face immediately jerked up to stare at him in disbelief. "You're here?" she whispered.

"In the flesh darlin," he reassured her. He wasn't prepared for her to suddenly launch herself off the floor, throwing her arms around his neck as she clung to him desperately.

"You came," she said, as she half sobbed, half laughed into his shoulder. He continued to reassure her, returning her tight hug before she began to sob in earnest.

He held her for what felt like several minutes, ignoring the confused faces of Jean, and Rogue's roommates, who appeared in the doorway watching the scene in confusion. After a while he pulled her back, gently wiping tears from her cheeks with his still leather gloved hands, and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear he asked, "Will you finally tell me what's wrong Marie? I've been worrying nonstop the whole six hundred k trip." He didn't like her tears, he wanted to see her beautiful smile again, he'd missed it so much.

Her eyes squeezed shut as more tears leaked out and she numbly nodded in the direction of the sink. With a look of confusion Logan stood up and stepped over to the vanity, scanning the area for whatever she wanted to show him. He froze when his eyes skimmed over a little plastic stick lying in the sink, he gingerly picked it up. It was definitely a pregnancy test, turning it over his eyes immediately fell on the result; two little pink lines, which the legend advised meant positive.

Marie was pregnant.

Staring between the test and the girl in question a sudden, sickening, feeling of dread washed over him. He could understand a teenage girl being upset about being pregnant but a teenage girl who had a mutation like Rogue's, and even now disliked even the briefest touch by most people...

"Marie… kid, tell me what happened," he gently prompted, as he left the test in the sink and moved back to gather Marie into his arms.

Jean moved into the room behind him, and took a look at the test, confirming the result for herself, she looked a little annoyed, and equally as concerned, until Marie started to speak.

Her voice was muffled where her face was buried in Logan's jacket, sobs choking her words up even more as she whispered. "It was Sabretooth... when Magneto had me, he made Sabretooth watch me to make sure I didn't escape but he didn't like 'just watching'... he- he kept saying he wanted me to 'scream for him' but he couldn't cut me because Magneto wanted me alive so... so he... he..." Marie broke off, as she began to sob again in earnest.

Logan felt his heart drop at her whispered confession, he hugged her tighter, he should have known. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked softly, as he placed a gentle kiss on her crown.

"I- When you touched me, you fixed everything... I just- if I ignored it, it didn't happen," she admitted her thought process to him. "Now I don't know what to do," she said, clinging to him tightly.

--

Logan carried Marie down to the med lab at Jean's insistence. She wanted to do a sexual abuse examination but Marie flat out refused, not even Logan could convince her. It was almost as if it had only just happened, she was reacting as she should have at the time of the attack. He supposed it was understandable, so much had happened at the original time. If this new development hadn't reminded her, she may have been successful in blocking it out permanently.

"Alright, okay sweetie, at least let me take a blood test and we should check on the baby too," Jean finally acquiesced.

As Jean set about collecting what she needed and setting up an ultrasound machine, Logan turned to Marie. "How have you been, you haven't been getting sick I take it?" he asked, she hadn't mentioned anything when they'd talked.

"No," Marie replied, cuddling up to him where he was standing next to her on the bed. "No morning sickness, Kitty mentioned the other day that it was three months since I arrived, I realised I hadn't had a period in a while, since before I got here, I guess I was busy trying to catch up with school I didn't notice the time passing... I stole the test from your secret stash by the way Jean, so, you're one short," she added with a grim chuckle.

"That's okay," Jean replied, offering her a soft smile in return, "But you really should have said something if you suspected," she added.

"I didn't want anyone else to know, I figured if it was nothing, I didn't have to think about it again, if no one else knew I wouldn't be reminded... when it was positive... I freaked out, part of me didn't think it was possible I guess." She wiped away fresh tears before holding out her arm to Jean, for her to take her blood.

"Alright, let's have a look at the foetus now shall we," Jean said, once the blood samples were labelled and set aside.

It didn't take long for Jean to have the machine ready to go, Marie tentatively lifted her shirt to reveal her still flat abdomen as she lay on the bed clutching Logan's hand tightly; she hadn't let go of him for more than a few seconds since he'd got back. It took a few moments of moving the probe around before Jean declared the baby present and accounted for.

Logan alternated between watching the monitor and watching Marie. The baby was fine, chilling out in his or her own personal hot tub, its heart was beating visibly, and it looked like it was sucking on its tiny thumb as its legs periodically kicked jerkily. Marie's expression was initially shock, as if she hadn't truly accepted there was indeed a baby inside her until that image appeared. She cried some more but after a few moments a soft, watery smile broke out as she watched the baby move about. Jean was busy checking out all the details, confirming babies age, length, and normal development, and checking the placenta placement.

Once that was done, she turned to Marie with a serious expression. "What are we doing from here? You have some options, you can continued with the pregnancy and keep the baby, I'm sure the Professor would be happy to help you out anyway you need, you can continue the pregnancy and adopt the baby out, or perhaps give guardianship to the Professor, a lot of the students are his wards so baby wouldn't lack for 'family', or you can terminate, you're too far along for a medical abortion - that's where you take medication to stimulate a miscarriage - so it would have to be a vacuum, or D&E..." She broke off as Marie began to sob again.

"I can't-" Rogue said shaking her head, "I can't think about that right now, I..." she stopped, eyes squeezed tight shut as she tried to get her breathing back under control.

"When did you do the test?" Logan asked suddenly.

"I waited until Jubes and Kitty fell asleep and did it last night, probably about eleven, I couldn't look at it for hours, I rang you about ten minutes after," Marie replied.

"You haven't slept all night?" Logan commented, confirming his suspicion Marie nodding her head in assent. "You need sleep first, we can come back to this discussion later, is that alright Jean?" Logan asked.

"Sure, it's a big decision, take your time," she agreed. "And you should get some sleep too Logan, you don't look like you slept last night either, your old room is still available," she confirmed.

With a quick nod of thanks Logan picked Rogue up again, hugging her to his chest as he carried her out of the room. He didn't bother with pretence and made straight for his own room, if anyone asked, it was because Rogue needed uninterrupted sleep, which she wouldn't get in the dorms. The girl herself didn't comment when Logan lay her down in his own bed, except to remind him to be careful of her skin as he slid into the bed with her. He had shucked his usual flannel and wife beater, in favour of a long-sleeved thermal shirt, he had kept the jeans but discarded the belt, and had kept socks and gloves on too; they were both covered enough.

After the stress of the night both fell asleep quickly, Rogue with her head resting on his chest, the steady thump of his heart pulling her into slumber, Logan with his nose buried in her hair letting her familiar scent calm him.
Chapter 3 by erro
Waking hours later Logan was surprised to find Rogue already awake, her breathing steady and even, and her scent, thankfully, lacking tears. He could feel her little hand between their bodies where they were still cuddled up close, resting on her abdomen protectively.

"You feeling a bit better now?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," Marie replied but didn't comment further for several minutes. "Would you be mad if I kept the baby?" she asked unexpectedly.

"What? No! Why would you think I would? And why do you care what I would think?" Logan asked puzzled.

"Well... it's not your baby, and Wolverine hasn't shut up with his growling inside my head since I found out but I have no idea what exactly he's mad about..." she answered, trailing off as she turned surprised eyes up to him.

"You have Wolverine in your head?" Logan queried, "Have you told anyone about that?"

Marie smiled. "The Professor knows, we were both kinda confused when we found him sulking around in the shadows, the you in my head kept quiet about him but promised he wouldn't be a problem, you even helped me build his room, though he really doesn't spend much time in there, I like having you and him around so you kinda have free reign inside my head to come and go as you please, you always go back to your rooms when I ask so I don't have to lock you up like the others."

Logan chuckled. "No offense kid but that's the most bizarre statement I've ever heard in my life," he commented, hugging her so she'd know he didn't mean it in a bad way.

Marie giggled in response. "I know. So, any idea what exactly is upsetting Wolverine?"

Logan sighed. "He's angry with himself, for not protecting you, he's angry at Sabretooth, for hurting you... he's not angry at you though darlin, and definitely not angry at the baby. I take it with me and Wolverine inside your head you have a fair idea where my thoughts are at in regards to you-" he continued at Marie's sheepish nod- "The baby might not be mine but it is yours, it's a part of you, I'm going to try not to influence you one way or the other, because it's your... it's in you so it's your choice, but if you go through with this and keep the baby I will still be here for you, for both of you." He felt Marie sigh in relief as she hugged him tighter.

"Thank you, I know how you feel about me, and I don't want to screw up what we have, I feel the same way and I want what we have to grow, eventually, I don't want baby to be a road block in that, I want you to love him, or her, too," Marie admitted.

Logan tapped her chin up so he could look down into her eyes. "That won't be a problem darlin."

"Good," Marie replied with a nervous smile, "Because I'm keeping it."

Logan smiled in return, leaning forward to place a quick kiss on the end of her nose. "I know," he replied, "I saw it on your face the first time you saw it move," he added, at her surprised and questioning look.

Marie smiled fondly as she remembered, the strong feeling that washed over her as she had watched the tiny human being wriggling around inside her. They lay in contented silence for a while before Logan suggested they get up, he could do with a shower after his road trip and Marie needed to eat, he declared. Once they were both showered, separately, and dressed - Logan pilfered some clothes from Marie's room while she was showering - they made their way down to the kitchen.

Lunch had finished already so they helped themselves to food in the kitchen. Logan made Rogue take a seat while he fixed for her, leaving her to begin exploring something she really hadn't thought she'd ever have to think about, pregnancy.

"Aww, baby is the size of a peach!" she declared, showing Logan her phone, displaying the progress calculator she had found on the internet, why it compared baby's size to fruit she had no idea, though it was kind of cute she added.

"Yeah, you're not going to think it's so cute when baby's the size of a watermelon and wants out," Logan replied with a chuckle.

"Oh God, that- that was imagery I could have done without," Marie replied, trying to stifle her horrified laughter at the thought.

While they were eating Marie felt a gentle psychic tap at her mind, opening up to the connection she heard the Professor's request for her to come to his office once she was finished eating. "You get that too?" Logan asked when her focus turned back to them. With a nod she slowly continued eating, trying to tamp down the rising nausea, caused by stress as opposed to the baby inside her, as she tried not to think about the multiple ways this meeting could go. She hoped Jean was right and the Professor would be as supportive as she had suggested.

When they were finished eating Logan took her hand, before pulling her closer and wrapping his arm around her as they walked. Whatever happened she could do this, she had Logan and he would be there for her, no matter what.

--

"Rogue my dear, I trust you slept well?" the Professor's gentle, soothing voice, floated across the room to her, as Logan held the door for her.

"Yeah, I did," she replied, flashing a grateful smile at Logan. Also present at this impromptu meeting were her teachers, Scott and Ororo, Jean entered the room too as they were taking their seats.

"Jean has filled us in on your condition, and the circumstances surrounding it, I, personally, am terribly sorry for what you went through my dear, and for not picking up on your underlying distress, you are very good at hiding things my dear but you don't need to do that, we are all here to support you," the Professor stated simply.

Rogue flashed him a grateful, though tearful, smile, her confidence that this situation was going to be alright was growing.

"In the past we have offered individual counselling to students who have been, victimized, you are not alone Rogue, as unfortunate as that is, and we have decided to also offer counselling in a group setting going forward in the hope it will allow you all to draw strength from each other, and support each other, an announcement will be made in the coming weeks once dates have been scheduled, we can also offer you individual counselling if you would like?" Xavier offered.

With a quick glance at Logan, Marie smiled as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I'm okay on that front but thank you," she replied.

"Certainly, Jean has advised of your options at this stage, have you had a chance to give the situation more thought?" he continued.

Taking a deep steadying breath Rogue replied, "Yes, I've thought about it and I will be keeping the baby."

"That's a big decision Rogue," Jean commented, "A life altering decision, are you sure you've considered all the ways that will impact your future?"

"Yes, I think so," Rogue replied confidently, "Either way, I'm not going to kill my baby, that would be worse than what he did, in my opinion, and it won't help anyone, least of all my baby."

"Alright then, your due date, based on the scan is December fourth, we can play around with your class scheduling closer to the end of your pregnancy to work around the birth and anything that comes up around then, you are officially excused from gym class, doctors’ orders, you can join in if you want to but don't overdo it, I would recommend you take part in the summer classes this year, at least, to make up for any time you take off when baby is born, I'd recommend around a month to recover and get baby settled, probably closer to three if you opt for a caesarean delivery. Health wise, baby is so far so good, we'll do another scan at twenty weeks to confirm gender, and if you have any concerns in the meantime let me know, we don't want to do too many scans but other things like listening to the heartbeat and stuff can be done more regularly. I've put together a list of books and resources you might want to read up on in preparation, and I printed off some photos for you from the ultrasound," Jean finished with a smile, as she handed over an envelope she'd brought in with her.

Rogue pulled out the pictures, gently running a finger over the grainy image as she smiled down at the baby, her baby. Her whole life was about to get flipped on its head again but this time she didn't mind so much. "Thank you," was all she could say.

"The other issue is going to be living arrangements," Logan added, "Can't have a new-born in the dorms disturbing all of the kids, and wherever Rogue gets moved to it's probably better to do sooner rather than later so she can get settled in plenty of time."

"Indeed," Xavier answered, "I was actually going to ask if you, Logan, would be up for the task of renovating some rooms to give Rogue a small suite, a bedroom, bathroom, and nursery at least, there are some empty rooms on the teachers wing that would suffice. I expect you are staying for the time being?"

"Yeah," Logan confirmed, "If I can get a look at the rooms, I can make a list of materials and get started straight away."

"Excellent, we can settle the details later, Ororo can show you the rooms and make sure they can be made suitable for the new mother," Charles replied, with a warm smile directed at Rogue. "For now, we best all get back to our classes, though Rogue you are excused from attendance for the rest of the day, I expect you back at class bright and early on Monday."

"Yes Professor," Rogue replied, with a smile as she stepped around his desk to hug him tightly, this had gone a lot better than she had expected.
Chapter 4 by erro
It took Logan three months to finish renovating the rooms the Professor had earmarked for Rogue, the two next along from his own room. Aside from letting Rogue pick the colours he was painting various rooms, Logan had neither told her, nor allowed Rogue to see, just what exactly he was doing, so she was absolutely busting with excitement on the Saturday of the morning he had told her everything would be ready.

She rushed onto the cafeteria at breakfast time, as quickly as she could with her expanding belly, knowing Logan that would be exactly where he was. True to form he was sitting at the teachers table eating, a second plate was sitting beside him ready for her, he'd been very particular about making sure she was eating, a lot, and often.

"Slow down kid, eat first," he told her before she could even ask about seeing the rooms. With a groan she sat down and began to eat, "Slow down, you'll give yourself a stomach ache, or throw up all that good food again later, your room's not going anywhere," Logan teased.

Half an hour later Logan led her, and a small gaggle of interested onlookers, mainly the other teaching staff, and a few of Rogue's friends who would no doubt be visiting regularly, up to the new suite.

It had originally been two large bedrooms, each with an ensuite and walk in wardrobe, from the hallway the only sign anything had changed was that one of doors had been removed. Rogue was a little disappointed to note it was the door between 'her room' and Logan's room.

He opened the door and stepped in backwards, watching her face closely as she followed him in, it took a moment for what she was seeing to filter through. This room was huge, to her left was a small kitchenette tucked into the corner, a sitting area was set up nearer to the large windows that bathed the room in sunlight, there was a bed slightly off to one side in the middle of the room, a doorway on the right led through to her own bathroom, then tucked in between the bathroom and a small internal hall, was a study area already set up with a desk and computer.

Down the hall there were two doors, the first opened into the nursery, that had been painted the soft yellows and purples Rogue had picked out after the twenty-week scan revealed she was having a girl. The nursery furniture was light, natural wood colour and matched nicely, not to mentioned there was literally every piece of furniture she could ever have possibly needed. A pile of soft toys on top of the dresser caught her attention, there were several teddy bears, a stuffed unicorn, a fluffy yellow duck, and a ragdoll that was obviously custom made if it's two tone hair, that matched her own, was anything to go by.

She was so overwhelmed by everything around her she almost forgot about the last door, she assumed it was just a cupboard but who knew what Logan might have hidden away in there. Her mouth dropped in surprise when she opened the door and realised it led directly into Logan's room. She turned to him questioningly.

"You’re going to need someone to help you with the baby, especially at night, consider me there," he said with a grin, adding, "I can wall it up again when it's no longer needed."

She threw her arms around his neck, as best she could, whispering so just he could hear her, "I'll never not need you." Logan just smiled in response before moving her back down the hallway and asking her to finally voice her thoughts on how he did.

"I love it!" she replied, thanking everyone who had a hand in the setup, right down to Jubilee for her provision of the fluffy yellow duck. Her biggest thanks were for Logan though, with all the changes that had been made she could understand why it had taken three months to complete, but it was definitely worth the wait.

An even bigger surprise came later, when she overheard Logan and the Professor at lunch discussing the suite. It turned out Logan had paid for a lot of the furniture, including all the nursery furniture, out of his own pocket, and was refusing the Professor's attempts to reimburse him.

--

She was lying on her new bed, in her new room, later that evening, it was almost dinner time but she was exhausted after packing all her belongings, with Jubilee and Kitty's help, and moving everything to the new room, with help from several of the boys. She had decided to take a nap before going down for food but so far hadn't been able to sleep. A knock sounded at the door and she called out a quick 'come in', expecting one of her friends bringing up something she had forgotten about in her move.

"Hey kid, thought you might be stuffed so I brought you up some dinner," Logan commented as he stepped into the room, the smell of Marie's favourite Chinese takeaways quickly filling the room. "What's wrong darlin?" he asked worriedly a moment later, as he set the food down and hurried over to her where she sat, suddenly sobbing, on the bed.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong, just stupid hormones," she said, laughing through her tears. "You're amazing Logan, you do so much for me and I can never thank you enough, and then you go and drive half an hour to get me dinner on top of everything else." She hugged him tightly.

"Thanks isn't necessary darlin," Logan replied, returning her hug. "Now that the waterworks have shut off, am I plating this or are we eating out of the boxes?" he asked, as he stood and returned the four steps across the room to the 'kitchen'.

"Boxes, saves doing dishes later," Marie answered with a smile.

They sat on the couch to eat, a TV mounted on the wall on the opposite side of the room providing them additional entertainment, though Marie was enjoying dozing cuddled up next to Logan. A sudden thought occurred to her and she mulled over it, until the next ad break when Logan muted the set and told her to spill; he always knew when she was thinking or wanted to ask questions.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way but this room is kinda cramped," she said, casting her eye over the abundance of furniture.

"Yeah, it is, it'll work better as a living room without the bed," Logan suggested, smothering a grin.

"I suppose," Marie replied, before posing curiously, "But then where would I sleep? A bed is probably more important than a living room."

"For eight months you're just gonna have to make do I guess," Logan replied with a shrug.

"And after eight months?" Marie asked curiously, Logan clearly had plans he wasn't being entirely forthcoming with.

"Well, after eight months either you'll be happy to stay like this, or maybe get rid of the couches, or we can get rid of the bed and you can come sleep in my room down the hall," he answered, "Up to you."

"... Why do I have to wait eight months to do that?" she asked, after a surprised pause.

"Because then you'll be eighteen," Logan added, still without looking at her.

"But... why do I have to be eighteen?" Marie asked confused, "Age of consent is seventeen, why can't I move in now?"

He finally turned to her. "Because I want you to take your time, and make this decision based on your own wants, not your needs. You'll *need* help with the baby, and I'm happy to help, but I don't want that to be the basis of our relationship, I want us to be together because you want *me* as much as I want you. If you move in now the others are likely to think I pressured you into it to help with the baby and I don't want that, not for you, not for us, we have plenty of time to take it slow. ... Also, I'm a bit of an asshole when it comes to women sharing my bed and I don't think that would be a good thing for you in your current condition," he said, with a pointed stare at her belly.

"Are you implying you want to have sex with me?" Marie asked cheekily.

"Yes, yes I am," Logan replied bluntly, with a grin.

"And what if I wanted to have sex with you too?" she asked, "It seems to me now would be a perfect time for it, I can't get any more pregnant after all," she chuckled.

"That is a fair point but I can't do all the things I want to do to you with baby in the way, also, the idea of having sex with a chick who's got another human inside her is a little, unsettling..." Logan admitted, growling good naturedly when Marie laughed at him. "Besides, there's better things to do right now, like this, this is good," he added, cuddling her closer to him, sighing contentedly when she lay her head back down on his chest and he could kiss the top of her head.

--

Logan offered to take Marie into town to the mall a couple of weeks later, she wanted to stock up on baby clothes now, and she needed some more maternity clothes for herself too. Somehow he ended up with Jubilee and Kitty in tow but they admitted they really just wanted a ride to the mall, they were going to shops Marie wouldn't be and they didn't expect him to hang around and wait for them to be finished, they had already organized for someone else to pick them up.

The girls did tag along with them for a while, mainly because they wanted to squeal at all the tiny baby clothes apparently, tiny socks seemed to be their favourites if the pitch of their squeals was anything to go by. Logan was glad when they were finally gone, Marie too it seemed when she sank down into a thickly padded rocking chair on display as soon as they were gone.

The sight of Marie in the chair reminded him that that was one thing missing from the nursery, he had been reading up with Marie about new babies and parenting. A chair in the nursery would be helpful for getting baby back to sleep in the middle of the night, it looked comfortable for breastfeeding too, which Marie was adamant she was going to try, and succeed at.

They ended up buying the chair, and its matching footstool, along with a baby capsule, stroller, and enough clothes for a tribe of African pygmies - all the books and forums mentioned babies pooping themselves, a lot - they bought cloth diapers, and some disposables too. Marie added a breast pump and baby bottles, at Logan's insistence, it would make feeding baby less obtrusive for Marie if he could feed baby pre-pumped milk while Marie was in classes, or overnight so she could sleep.

Once they had all the baby stuff, they moved on to shopping for Marie clothes. She had discovered the joys of yoga pants and boy did she ever understand why so many moms wore them - they were so comfy - but hers had stretched as far as they could around her baby belly so she needed to find something new. Thankfully the store they went to had maternity yoga pants, so she bought several pairs. She also bought maternity tops that doubled as breastfeeding tops, and a couple of dresses, including one Logan picked out - his choice was a little clingier than she would have picked for herself but the way his eyes lit up when he grinned down at her sizable baby bump, before running a hand gently over her belly, definitely made it worth it.

That was the one thing that had surprised her most, she was used to, and Logan's own memories confirmed, his movements always being direct, deliberate, precise, firm and controlled. Except when it came to her. Right back from that very first time he had wrapped his arm around her on the train and hugged her, she knew from his own thoughts that that had been when he had realised she was special to him, he wanted to take care of her, for no other reason than he liked her, and she liked him.

But the tenderness he showed her bump, the casual gentle touches, took his care to a whole new level. He wasn't touching to comfort, or even to confirm his presence, he was just touching because he could, because he felt like it. The Logan in her head told her it was Wolverine's way of bonding with the baby, and proving to her that he wasn't a threat to her offspring. That alone made her feel even more content and happy, that he cared enough to be planning ahead and preparing in that way. It made her believe he was telling the truth when he had told her that it didn't matter that the baby wasn't biologically his, he really did love it because it was hers.

She opted to change into her comfier new clothes as soon as they were paid for, better fitting leggings and the dark green patterned 'Logan dress', before they continued shopping. They stopped at a few more stores, before grabbing lunch in the food court where they bumped onto Jubilee and Kitty again. They left when they were finished lunch, neither noticing the shadowed figure who watched them from a distance as they drove away.
Chapter 5 by erro
Rogue walked down the hall to the room that had been designated for the support group. The Professor had talked about getting in a psychologist or counsellor to officiate the meetings but had decided, after consulting with a few of those who had expressed support of the group and would be participating, that they would be more comfortable opening up with someone they knew and trusted. Ms Munroe had offered to oversee the group, her personality was a good fit being empathic and encouraging, while also strong and calming.

When she entered the room, she was surprised to find there were already several girls there, everyone looked nervous, and a few looked on the verge of tears. Spotting any empty seat next to Jubilee, Rogue took it, shifting around until her baby bump was comfortable. She noticed their eyes on her, some surprised, some sad, all compassionate. She hadn't said anything to the other students about how she got pregnant, she assumed some thought she was just a slut and had been sleeping around, though after today she supposed everyone would know, even if she couldn't bring herself to share her story.

Logan had encouraged her to but aside from him, by default her roommates, and the small group of teachers, she hadn't yet found the courage to open up and talk about what had happened. She wasn't sure she wanted to but she would sit in at least, and try.

Ororo entered the room shortly after, smiling encouragingly at the group in attendance, she couldn't help the pang of sympathy and regret that washed through her, sympathy for what these girls had suffered, regret that they hadn't realised or made more of an effort to support them earlier. Taking a seat, she called the meeting to order, the group was meeting in a small classroom at the end of the hall, the door was left open for anyone else who wanted to join but far enough away from the main school body that no one would be overheard by passers-by.

--

Logan stalked silently down the hall, he knew where Marie was, he knew what would be happening in the meeting. He had been watching girl after girl slip down the hallway for the last half an hour but what struck him the most was the small group of boys who hung around, some looking almost longingly down the hall but refused to step foot down there. Finally making up his mind Logan stood, glancing encouragingly at the boys, before he turned and walked toward the room in question, he missed the curious, hopeful looks shared by the boys but not the tentative footsteps as some began to follow him.

When Logan stepped into the room several people looked confused, some looked uncomfortable, the girl who had been speaking, quietly and haltingly, stopped. Everyone stared in silence, except Marie, she smiled at him, through tears, before she reached over and hugged him as he sat down beside her.

Ororo was obviously unsure what to say or do, she was clearly curious about just why exactly he was here. He decided to put her out of her misery and open up, not least of all because of the curious faces now peering around the door frame into the small room.

"You're all wondering why I'm here, aren't you? My presence probably makes some of you uncomfortable, and for that I'm sorry but ... survivors, because that's what you all are, come in all different shapes, sizes, and genders. This group isn't just for the female survivors, you guys can come in," he gently prompted the boys gathered at the door, several of them took him up on the direction, slipping silently into the room and taking seats, others stayed and continued to watch.

"You're not a survivor, no one can hurt you," one girl whispered bitterly, from the other side of the room, as she swiped at her own tears.

"I guess that depends on your definition of hurt, I can't be physically injured, for long, but some hurt goes deeper than just the physical. This is going to surprise a lot of you, most of you... everyone except Rogue. You all know I was in at least one lab. I can't remember a lot about my time in there, what I do remember usually comes back in nightmares, sometimes those nightmares are being chained down in a tank of liquid and having molten metal drilled into my bones, sometimes those nightmares are being beaten and tortured, chains weaved with barbed wire, baseball bats full of nails, juiced up cattle prods... Sometimes those nightmares are being drugged and tied down, chained up... violated." He stopped as he saw the looks of understanding cross the faces around him, Rogue laced her fingers through his, and squeezed his hand comfortingly. He didn't like to talk about the labs, and when he did, never in the entirety of the experience. Rogue was the only one before now to know everything he knew about his time in the labs, and only because she had seen his nightmares.

"You've probably all heard this before, but what happened to you is not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't do anything to deserve it, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and some evil fucking people took advantage of that. Maybe you were hungry and needed food, maybe you had nowhere to sleep, maybe you had nowhere to hide, maybe you couldn't run away. It doesn't matter, it shouldn't have happened but it did, and it wasn't your fault," he said calmly.

One sobbing girl to his left, probably no older than fourteen, softly asked, "How do you live with it though, knowing what they did..."

"You do just that," Logan replied, "You live, nothing pisses off evil people more than seeing those they tried to hurt holding their heads up high and keeping on going. You fight, you build yourself up and try your best to protect those around you. Don't live in the past, don't let that experience hold you back, be everything you can be not what they tried to make you."

"Sometimes I feel like the bad person..." another girl spoke, "I want to hurt him like he hurt me..."

"No, you don't," Logan assured her, "You want him to know what you felt, and know how it hurt you, you want him to understand and you want him to make it better somehow. Nothing he can do can make it better, nothing he can do can undo what was done, nothing will make him understand how it made you feel. I don't know if that helps though, these people, they don't care, sometimes they are so evil they can't care."

"I just want to make them pay for what they did, I don't care if they feel sorry, or if they understand how I felt, I just want to kill them," another girl said bitterly, "And that hurts me more, because I feel like I lost a part of me, the nice part that would never want to hurt anyone..."

"That's a normal feeling, it doesn't make you a bad person, you want to protect yourself, and those around you, by any means necessary," Logan stated, though maybe that was just him justifying his own behaviour, as far as he knew most of those who had done him harm were dead by his own hand.

Slowly the conversation began to shift back to people's individual stories, more of the boys slowly filtered into the room as they got more comfortable with the idea of being included. Plus, no one thought any less of the Wolverine for being here, the guy was the biggest badass on campus, if he could live through something similar to what they had, and talk about it, what did they have to be afraid of.

The meeting lasted a lot longer than the hour it was scheduled to but no one complained. Logan held Rogue's hand as she eventually broke down and detailed what had happened with Sabretooth, she likewise held Logan's hand securely when he was asked for more details of his treatment in the lab. Even though the details he gave were horrific Ororo, and probably most of those in attendance, could tell his story was still sanitized, and a good thing too, Ororo imagined there would be enough nightmares tonight with stirred memories without fuelling them with more graphic imagery.

When the meeting was over several students approached Logan, thanking him for giving them the courage to speak. Ororo watched in awe as he tenderly reassured, and comforted each teen that came to him, even going so far as to hug one girl as she sobbed on his chest. Logan might be a badass but he was also a good man, even if he did try to hide that fact sometimes. Personally, she felt like she understood him a lot better now, and she could understand why Rogue felt the way she obviously did about him.

"Thank you, Logan," Ororo said to him gratefully, once most of the students had left. "I think you helped them a lot more than I ever could have." Predictably Logan just shrugged and grunted a half-hearted acknowledgment in response, before turning his attention back to Rogue.

Ororo watched with a soft smile as Logan helped the girl out of her seat, hugged her tenderly, before leading her out of the room and off to bed. She couldn't help but feel like the pair were a lot closer than anyone else thought, not closer physically but closer on a much deeper, emotional level. She wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they eventually became a couple, the sneaking suspicion that Logan was just waiting for her to be old enough was a surprisingly welcome acknowledgment.

--

Late the next morning, being a Saturday, Logan made his way to the kitchen to grab breakfast for him and Marie, unsurprisingly her sleep had been interrupted by nightmares so he was leaving her to sleep in.

As he approached the kitchen, he nodded in greeting to Charles, who was nearing from the opposite direction. As he got closer to the room he was aiming for he could hear the conversation inside, or rather, the interrogation; it seemed the gossip mill was in full swing this morning.

"I cannot comment, on who was there, what was said, anything, if you think there is information to be had, take your rumours to the individual in question," Ororo stated in exasperation.

Logan grimaced resignedly before entering the room. Unsurprisingly neither Jean or Scott wanted to start that conversation directly with him it seemed.

"How was Rogue last night?" Ororo asked with a smile.

"She had a couple of nightmares but she's good, she's still asleep so I figured I'd grab food for her," Logan replied, he wasn't going to offer anything further, if they wanted to know they would have to ask. It didn't take long for Jean to speak.

"There's a rumour going around that you were at the group meeting last night, is that true?" she asked, ignoring the 'are you insane' look Scott was shooting her.

"Yeah, I was," he answered.

"I don’t mean to step out of line here but, don't you think it would be healthier for Rogue if she took some steps to... recover, without you there to hold her hand?" Jean suggested.

Ah ha, so that was her problem, she had been making more and more comments trying to push him to take a step back and let Rogue 'do it on her own' for a while now, and it was really starting to irritate him. Sure, Rogue could do this but he wasn't about to abandon her and make her do that.

"You know, I managed to get out of Rogue why she called me as opposed to telling anyone here when she first found out she was pregnant… she told me it was because she knew I would understand what she was feeling," Logan stated, waiting to see if those hearing his comment would come to the right conclusion. "I didn't just do what I did last night for Rogue, all those kids needed it, they needed someone who would really understand, and no offence to 'Ro, that wasn't something she could really do."

"Are- are you saying..." Jean eventually proposed, looking wide eyed between Logan and Ororo.

Neither replied, leaving the group to come to their own conclusions, as Logan continued to make breakfast for himself and Rogue. Nothing was said for several minutes until Rogue and Jubilee walked in.

"You should still be in bed kid," Logan smiled at her, "Seeing as how you're up though, sit down, your breakfast is almost ready." With a grin Rogue hugged him, and thanked him, before taking a seat at the crowded kitchen table.

The girls chatter, light and happy, as if they didn't spend the night before reliving some of the most traumatic moments of their lives, lulled the rest of the group into a feeling of ease. No more was said about Logan's involvement in the group.
Chapter 6 by erro
"Hey Rogue, um, something's come up for this Friday, when we're supposed to be doing your check up, but I have some time now, do you want to come down to the lab now so we can get it done?" Jean asked cheerily, sticking her head in Rogue's open bedroom door.

"Oh, no thank you, Logan's out at the moment, I'd rather wait, I don't mind rolling it over until next week, everything seems to be fine and normal, baby’s still doing gymnastics inside of me so I'm pretty sure she's alive," Rogue chuckled, not making any attempt to move from where she was lying on the bed in a pile of pillows.

The pillows had appeared after a bad night’s sleep when she had complained half-heartedly about the mattress not being the right shape. Two hours later Logan had turned up at her door, along with Jubilee, and Kitty, all three of them carrying piles of various size and shape pillows for her. It was hilarious, though at the same time it did make lying down a lot more comfortable.

"Oh, it's okay, there's no need to bother Logan, it's just a check-up, you don't need him to hold your hand," Jean commented dismissively, smiling at her encouragingly.

"It's not that, Logan likes being there, he worries too much if he isn't reassured regularly that everything's okay," Rogue replied, grinning at the memory of Logan freaking out the first time she got Braxton hicks, even though she told him it was perfectly normal he had carried, literally carried her down to Jean 'just to make sure'.

"Of course he says that Rogue, he'd be all kinds of an asshole to tell the pregnant teenager 'look kid I'm busy, go bug someone else', Logan may be an asshole sometimes but that would be a whole new level for him," Jean laughed, as if it was the most hilarious thing she had ever heard that Logan might actually want to be involved with her baby. Seeing Rogue's conflicted and confused countenance Jean added patronizingly, "You really can't rely on him so much Rogue, you know Logan, eventually he's going to get sick of being tied down and he'll take off again, I don't want you to get hurt when that happens, I mean, when was the last time he went out fighting, or drinking, he hasn't been anywhere, or done anything in months that wasn't some sort of errand for you," Jean added.

Rogue didn't bother pointing out that surely that fact alone voided Jean's entire statement, with a scowl she simply repeated she would see her sometime next week.

"Alright," Jean replied placatingly, as if Rogue were a child who wanted to dress herself even though she'd put all her clothes on inside out and her shoes on the wrong feet. "I'll be in the lab all afternoon if you change your mind," she added before leaving.

--

It wasn't until the next day that Jean's comments really hit Rogue. Logan had stopped by her room, or rather, through her room. He would often use the internal hallway from his room to hers, to check in with her before he went out, or downstairs, to see if she needed anything. On this occasion he was going out.

"Just heading out for a bit kid, you want me to bring you back anything?" he asked, a perfectly harmless comment he thought, so he was immensely confused when Marie promptly burst into tears. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, as he knelt down on the floor beside where she was seated on the couch.

"I'm sorry - I'm sorry I need so much, I'm sorry you have to take care of me, you don't have to, I won't be upset if you want to go do your own thing, you don't have to look after me all the time, if you want to go out and fight, or get laid, or something, it's okay, you don't- I'm not trying to hold you here and..." Marie hiccupped through her sobs.

Logan looked confused for a minute. "I know," he replied eventually, "But I don't want to do any of that, I want to take care of you, I'd much rather be here with you than out there, hey, listen to me-" he bumped her chin up to get her to look at him- "I only do that shit because I'm bored and got nothing better to do, now, with you, I got something much better to do, besides, if I need a fight the danger room gives one hell of a better fight than I'll get in any cage," Logan replied with a chuckle. "Now what brought this on, who's been in your ear, cause the Marie I know would never think so low of me as to think I'm just filling in time hanging around."

"Jean, she said you were just hanging around and doing stuff for me because you didn't have the balls to tell me to screw off and take care of myself, that one day you're going to get bored of me being so needy and take off," she told him, wiping her eyes, before blowing her nose on the tissue he handed her.

"Well, she's wrong darlin, dead wrong, I'd have hoped I'd have said and done enough to have proved that to you by now," Logan said, trying to sound hurt even as his grin told her he was teasing.

Rogue giggled. "Yeah, yeah you have, I'm sorry, it's just these stupid hormones, and she said it and my brain started freaking out, thanks Logan, for everything," she reached over and wrapped her arms around his chest, hugging him tightly.

"It's not a problem darlin, now, back to my initial question, anything you want me to grab you while I'm out?"

With a grin Rogue replied, "Kiwi's, the yellow ones."

"Aren't there any in the kitchen," Logan asked confused, he was sure he'd seen some in the last few days.

"There were," Marie replied, "I ate the last of them yesterday, there's only green ones left now but the green ones... don't agree with me, for some reason."

"Alright, yellow kiwis it is," Logan answered, dropping a kiss on top of her head as he stood and headed for the door.

"And pretzels," Marie added. " ... And sardines."

"What the fuck?" Logan stopped. "Kiwis and sardines?" he asked to clarify, looking humorously disgusted. "That is the weirdest combination yet kid, congratulations, it sounds positively disgusting," he said, after she nodded her confirmation that that was indeed what she had said, before he grinned and headed out the door.

--

His mood deteriorated as he got further from Marie. How dare Jean fill her head with that shit, when she should be resting, and comfortable, and most importantly, not worrying! He was determined to give her a piece if his mind and as he hit the ground floor, he could hear her voice floating down the hall from the direction of the kitchen.

Slamming the kitchen door fully open he stalked into the room, noticing all eyes turn to him immediately, the few kids in the room had the good sense to move away, some slipping out the other doors away from the kitchen. Spotting Jean almost immediately he stalked toward her.

"Why the hell would you say that to her? Why would you tell her I was going to leave? The poor kid is freaking out enough without you filling her head with bullshit worries," he paused to give Jean a chance to answer, when all she did was stare at him open mouthed, he continued. "For the record, I am not going anywhere, any of you tell Rogue otherwise and I will be getting all the fighting I need, right here, kicking your ass. That girl, and that baby, mean more to me than you can ever comprehend and I will not be going anywhere without the both of them right by my side, so you get that through your head right now and stop trying to drive a wedge between us Jean."

With his piece said he turned and silently walked back out of the room. He chuckled to himself as he watched kids scurrying to get out of his way, it took a moment for him to recall a conversation he had overheard some months earlier. The kids had been talking about how to tell when their teachers were mad so they could stay out of their way to avoid extra homework or chores, one of the kids had mentioned knowing how mad Wolverine was by how quietly he walked, the quieter he moved the more mad he was, which the kids had lamented meant it was harder to hide from him. Seemed they were learning to count on some of their other senses to keep track of him and his moods.

--

"Well, that was unexpected," Jean commented, once Logan was hopefully well out of earshot.

"What on earth did you say to Rogue!?" Ororo asked shocked, she'd seen some strong reactions from Logan when it came to the girl but this was by far the most severe.

"I just suggested to her that she shouldn't rely on Logan always being around to do stuff for her and should try and start standing on her own two feet... I suppose I did say he might not be sticking around long-term, I mean, he's always been a loner, and he has left her behind once before don't forget," she replied. She hadn't thought there was anything wrong with preparing the girl, surely if she was adjusted to the idea it would be easier for her when Logan did eventually disappear.

"I'm with Logan on this one," Ororo responded, "He might have left Rogue here before but I honestly don't think it had anything to do with not wanting to 'stick around long-term', I mean, they were in near constant contact while he was gone, and he dropped everything and rushed back the second she asked him to. I'm going to say this now, because, much like where your thoughts were no doubt coming from Jean, I think certain people here need to start adjusting to this idea- I think Logan is setting up for a relationship with that girl, an honest to god, until death do us part, kind of deal," Ororo shrugged with a smile, "And I think Rogue is fully on board with that idea."

With a grin, she stood and left the room quickly, hopefully the other two would think over her statement before reacting. In case they didn't, she didn't want to be anywhere nearby when the shit hit the fan.
Chapter 7 by erro
When Logan returned, he was surprised when one of the kids ran by, calling to him, 'the Professor wants to see you in his office'. "Tell him I'll be there in ten minutes, got to drop this stuff off first," Logan replied, waving a bag in the kids’ direction. He didn't wait for a response, just started straight up the stairs.

About five minutes later he was back, Marie was asleep when he got to her room so he had left the snacks on her kitchenette counter for her when she woke.

"What can I do for you Chuck- I can come back later if now doesn't work," he added, eyeing up the others in the room.

"Now works very well thank you Logan, could you please close the door, as much as the walls have ears in this place, I would at least like to make an attempt at privacy," Xavier replied with a chuckle, directing Logan to take a seat once he was done.

"I feel like a kid who's been called to the principal's office for bad behaviour, either that or this is a fucking bizarre porno," Logan commented, taking the offered seat with a grin. Ororo and the Professor appeared amused by his comment, Jean and Scott not so much, though the latter did have to actively school his features to avoid the grin that tried to show.

"Not exactly the former, and definitely not the latter, there is an issue of some, shall we say, gossip, going around the school and I felt it best to get your take on it, possibly head the rumours off before the situation gets out of hand," Xavier advised.

"Gossip that involves me?" Logan asked sceptically, which one of the brats would be suicidal enough to try and make up crap about him, surely they knew he would find out who started any rumours eventually and sort them out.

"There is a rumour that you, and Rogue, are involved in an illicit relationship," Charles stated simply.

Logan frowned. "I'll admit we're close, right now she needs support but I swear there is nothing more than that going on, I'm here to help her, and eventually help her with the baby so she can focus on being a mom and finishing school, that's it, end of story. Do you know who started that rumour? For Rogue's sake I'd like to get it knocked on the head quick, she doesn't need anything else to worry about right now... her weird food cravings are getting her enough attention," he sniggered, thinking about the sardines and kiwis he had brought home at her request.

"Unfortunately, I think I may have inadvertently 'started' this one," Ororo announced apologetically. "It seems a comment I made, which, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have made, was taken out of context. My comment was never meant to imply that you would be inappropriate with Rogue, I simply said that I knew you felt very strongly for her and I could see the two of you becoming a couple in the future," Ororo added with a scowl, she really hadn't meant for her comment earlier that day to be blow out of all proportion like it had been.

"Would you say you agree with Ororo's statement?" Charles asked Logan.

"Wholeheartedly," Logan replied bluntly. "Look, I didn't intend to come back here until Rogue graduated, I didn't want to be here in the meantime because, quite frankly, I'm in love with her, but, I can't have her, not yet, she's too young, too inexperienced, she needed to live a little, be a teenager, have some fun, do stupid shit with her friends, so I chose to stay away to let her have that. This baby has changed things, a lot, for her mostly but also for me, the one thing that hasn't changed though is that she is still too young, I have no intention of pursuing her, and I still want her to have the opportunity to go out and do stupid shit with her friends - not until baby's born though - but I'm going to facilitate that from a little closer to home than I had initially planned. If anyone doesn't like that state your objections now but keep in mind, I really don't give a fuck."

For several moments silence reigned before Charles replied with a nod, "That seems like a reasonable response, thank you for your honesty. Does anyone have any objections to the statements made?" he addressed the room.

"My only concern is Rogue developing a co-dependency, I know you think you're helping her Logan but she really is becoming excessively reliant on you, which could cloud her judgement in any future relationship, creating a stockholm like effect," Jean stated.

"Rogue is relying on me a lot physically right now, I can do things to help make her pregnancy easier, like redecorate her rooms, drive and get her snacks, but other than that, I don't see what you're seeing Jean, Rogue has a wide network of supports around her and she has taken advantage of opportunities to open up to others as well, she is self-limiting her activity for now because she is trying to take it easy on the baby, her friends understand and they often bring activities to her, or just hang out in her room so she can relax but still be included, once baby is here she will get out and about with her friends more, I'll make sure of it, I still want her to be a teenager and have some fun," Logan replied with a shrug.

"But..." Jean began, pausing then in thought, "I suppose, I... I'll admit, I'm worried you'll leave when you get bored, or get sick of playing dad, you barely tolerate the teenagers, babies are a lot more irritating... I worry what that would do to Rogue," she finally admitted.

"That would destroy her, just like if anyone else here walked out on her or shut her out of their life, and it will never happen, like I said this morning, Rogue and that baby mean more to me than you'll ever know, they are the closest thing to family I've had in all the life I can remember and I will not give that up willingly, if I leave it'll only be with them right beside me but I don't want to do that, as much as some of you irritate the fuck out of me, I consider you friends too, maybe even a fucked up kind of family, I like that, didn't think I would but I do, and Rogue needs that too," Logan replied, he was surprising himself with how easily he was opening up about 'feelings', of course it was Marie they were talking about, and he could talk about her all day.

"Does Rogue know how you feel about her?" Scott asked suddenly.

"Some," Logan admitted. "From the statue incident she got all my early thoughts and feelings for her, they've only grown from there, but she said she tries not to pry into them, she knows I think she's too young and she respects that, mostly."

"Mostly?" Scott asked with a grin.

"She's already tried to convince me the age and experience issues are null and void now that, quote, 'hello I'm pregnant can't get much more experience than that', I shot that down pretty quick though," Logan replied with a chuckle.

"So, you'd be happy if she decided to go off and have sex with one of her friends?" Jean asked disbelievingly.

"That's her choice, she's free to do that, I will respect her decisions, until she's mine I won't get in her way, I'd be one hell of a hypocrite to begrudge her random one night stands," Logan replied pointedly, his lifestyle before Rogue was about as far from celibate as one could get after all.

"What if she chooses a relationship with one of her peers rather than you?" Jean changed tack slightly.

"That is her decision too," Logan answered. "But if you really thought there was any chance of that we wouldn't be here right now, having this conversation," he added, with a shit-eating grin.

Sensing all objections had been raised, and dealt with, Charles spoke again. He didn’t have an issue with the proposed relationship, in fact, much like Ororo, he felt the pair were perfect for each other, and he respected Logan's decision to wait on Rogue before allowing a progression in their relationship. "Rogue is seventeen, in the state of New York that is legal, however, this is a school, and while you don't teach in any capacity, in the interests of fair policy, sexual activity under the age of eighteen is frowned upon, and certainly no formal announcement of a relationship prior to that age. Curfews still apply, though some leniency will be afforded to Rogue given her condition, all else I will leave to your, and Rogue's, discretion."

"Understood," Logan replied with a nod, "Now, if that's all, I got Rogue a snack before and I want to go see if she's awake yet because I cannot believe she is actually planning on eating it," he said with a chuckle. The impromptu meeting was adjourned, amid chuckles over Rogue's weird cravings, Logan wasn't the only one who had caught her eating odd combinations of food in the last few weeks, she had apparently been discovered combining tuna with chocolate fudge ice cream, and nachos with strawberry sauce, only days before.
Chapter 8 by erro
Things didn't come to a head for a few more weeks. Rogue suddenly became unreasonably irritable and snappy, and would then burst into tears and apologize profusely. Everyone tried to handle it as well as they could, blaming hormones for the trouble, but Logan couldn't help the nagging suspicion that something else was going on.

Early one morning he was woken up by a soft tapping at his door. "Logan? Can I come in?" Marie asked quietly.

"Come on in kid," he replied. "Everything okay?" he asked, concerned, as she tentatively opened the door and stepped into the room.

"... No," she eventually replied, blushing bright red where she stopped awkwardly in the middle of the room, before she continued, "I know you said you didn't want to ... move our relationship to the next level until I was older but... oh God ... imhornyashellandicantgetmyselfoffwiththisstupidbellyintheway!" she finished in a rush.

Logan frowned, he'd caught something about her wanting to do something and her belly… "You want to try that again kid, a little slower, what's your bump getting in the way of?"

Marie blushed even redder, as she hung her head and repeated, "I'm horny, that's why I've been such a bitch lately, but I can't... I can't... take care of it myself, because the stupid bump is in the way."

"Uh, okay..." Logan replied uncertainly, just what exactly was she wanting him to do about it? It almost sounded like she wanted...

"Okay? Just okay? That's it!? For fucks sake Logan I need you to... I want..." she cut herself off with an irritated growl before turning around walking out with a parting, 'never mind', thrown over her shoulder.

It took a few minutes for Logan to get his brain back in gear, the woman of his dreams, literally, just walked into his room and asked him to get her off and he totally fucked it up. With a sigh he rolled out of bed and followed after her, sure enough he stepped into her room to find her lying on the bed crying.

"Scoot over kid," he mumbled, nudging her over to make enough room for him on the bed too.

"No, it's okay, I shouldn't have asked, it was stupid, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that, and I'm sorry for getting mad, and..." He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.

"You just surprised me is all, you can come to me for anything Marie, and this is obviously something you really need, I can make an exception," he added with a wink, sliding into the bed behind her, spooning her comfortably as his hand came to rest on her belly.

"Um, so, uh do I need to do something?" she asked a moment later, when he made no effort to do anything further.

"Yeah, lie still and relax," Logan murmured into her shoulder, as his hand gently massaged her belly.

Marie could feel the odd sensation of the baby moving around inside her, baby was always pretty active in the morning, she liked to stretch in the morning, but she was also very active whenever Logan was around, right now she could feel some part of baby, pressing back on the spot where Logan's hand was touching her belly. He huffed a little laugh as he poked back gently when baby kicked his hand.

After several minutes Logan felt Marie finally relax, slowly his ministrations shifted, his hand sliding up to her breasts. Her arousal, which had been hanging in the air for weeks, grew, and he took that as his cue for his hand to travel in the other direction. Slowly and gently he shifted her position, never leaving off touching her, until he got his hand between her legs. She was so wet her panties were soaked, and she unconsciously bucked against his hand as he began to touch her.

She was beautiful he thought, as he watched her drowning in the sensations he was producing in her. When she finally came, he kissed her shoulder gently but didn't stop. He made her climax twice more, not stopping until she was lying on the bed almost catatonic in pleasure. With a final kiss, he rolled off the bed and tugged her covers up, leaving her to sleep for a while longer. Stepping into his own shower moments later he wrapped a hand around his painfully hard shaft as he closed his eyes, picturing the gorgeous woman he'd just seen writhing underneath him, the same pleasure filled look on her face. Damn, maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all.

Later that morning Rogue made her way down to breakfast with a big smile on her face, she wasn't bitchy that day, or any of the days following.

--

Logan briefly wondered if their near daily activity met the Professor's definition of 'sexual activity' but decided he really didn't care; it was what Marie needed and he was going to do it whether Chuck liked it or not. It's not like they were actually having sex, or like anyone knew what was going on, though if he kept grinning like an idiot, and getting hard every time Marie smiled at him a certain way, they might start to catch on.

"Rogue seems a lot happier these days," Ororo mentioned suddenly.

"Yeah, though she's started commiserating with beached whales lately," Logan replied with a chuckle.

"Has she mentioned more about what she's planning for her delivery?" Jean asked, she had gone over all the options with them both at one of her check-ups but aside from saying she would think on it, Rogue hadn't really made any hard or fast decisions.

"She mentioned not wanting a c-section unless medically necessary, and no drugs, I think she's just wanting to play it by ear and let baby come when and how she's ready to," Logan replied, "Aside from those two things she doesn't seem to have any hard and fast preferences."

"Well, okay, just let me know what happens when it happens so I know when to be on standby, even if it's one in the morning, when she's got to an hour in of contractions four minutes apart, and one minute long, or if the contractions are more frequent than that all of a sudden, wake me up," Jean reminded him.

"Will do," Logan confirmed again, he didn't mention that Marie had also said she didn't want the doctor hovering, wanting her left out of loop for as long as possible as she didn't want to be pressured into anything.

"So, what's the latest on the delivery date pool from the baby shower?" Ororo asked conspiratorially, "Have you made a guess yet Logan?"

Logan glanced back over his shoulder to make sure Rogue wasn't close, before he answered with a grin, "I figured she'll be annoyed with me so I had Jubes sneak it in secretly, I reckon she's going over, my money's on the tenth, I even narrowed it down to sometime between five and seven am, that kid is just far too comfortable, but still predictable."

"Who's predictable?" Rogue asked, walking up behind him.

"Baby," Logan replied, nodding to her belly, "With her early morning exercise routine."

"Ugh, yeah, some days I swear she's trying to kick her way clear out of me," Rogue replied, pulling a face, "As much as I love her, I'm gonna be glad when that part's over, anyway, I gotta go, see you all later." She waved before she moved out of the room.

"She's going to be so mad with you if that prediction is right," Ororo said with a laugh, once the girl in question was out of the room.
Chapter 9 by erro
It was pitch black when Logan suddenly jerked awake, he wasn't sure why he had woken so suddenly but as he did his mental check, running through each sense to see what he could pick up from his environment, he noticed an odd scent. Throwing back the covers he stood, and padded over to the open door that led to Rogue's room. They had taken to leaving it open over the last few weeks, as Rogue approached, and had now passed, her due date, just in case she needed to call to him in the middle of the night.

It was through that door that he could now pick up this new scent. It was an odd smell, damp and sweet, and he felt like it was probably something to do with the baby. He followed the scent to Rogue's bed, where she lay fast asleep. Tugging back her blankets, gently so he didn't wake her, he observed the damp patch on her bottom sheet and her nightie, which was riding up nicely to show a lot of thigh and a little ass cheek; and he was going to stop that train of thought right there...

He tucked the blanket back over her gently, if he had to put money on it he would say that was amniotic fluid but it was nowhere near the amount Jean had said to expect when the waters broke, though she had also mentioned the possibility of leaks leading up to birth. He had just decided it must be a leak, and was about to head back to bed, when he heard Marie's breath catch, and he sensed her body tense unconsciously.

Glancing at the clock, that read a little after midnight, Logan took a seat on the couch and waited. About five minutes later there was another hitch in her breathing and more tensing. With a grin Logan settled deeper into the couch, silently making himself comfortable as he settled in to wait for baby's arrival. He couldn't help the smug grin as he caught the date on the clock, looked like the little rascal was indeed going to arrive on the tenth like he had predicted. He fell asleep again not long after one and was woken by a sharp gasp from the bed, a little after half past three.

"Logan!" Marie called out loudly, as she tried to catch her breath after the significant contraction.

"It's alright, I'm right here," he murmured soothingly, as he shifted from the couch to the bed to help her move.

"How long?" she asked, once she was seated on the edge of the bed.

"I've been here since just after midnight, your waters been leaking a little but when I realised you were having contractions, I figured it was best to let you sleep," he told her.

"I wondered why I was damp, should probably get changed now that I'm up, before I get cold," she said, as she gingerly lifted herself into a standing position.

Ten minutes later she was clad in a fresh nightie, with one of Logan's flannels on top for extra warmth, though Logan also turned up the heat on her air con so she would be more comfortable. She was slowly walking around the room, pausing when she needed to, shifting position regularly, and just generally trying to distract herself from the discomfort of what her body was doing. Logan helped where he could, supporting her when she needed it, getting her heat pads, and gently combing her hair up, as they waited.

It was almost five when the contractions hit their minute long, every three to five minutes. And Logan mentally began to count down as he softly massaged Marie's lower back as she leaned over her dresser. She was obviously uncomfortable, with her contractions being obviously painful, but she was so far handling the process well.

It was half five when Logan sensed Marie's pain levels suddenly increase. "What's happening, what do you need?" he asked gently.

"I don't know, something's changed, I think- I think she's moving, I think we skipped a step, she's on her way out," Marie said between breaths. It quickly became apparent she was right, the contractions where lasting the full minute but coming about every one to two minutes.

"I'm going to duck out for a minute and let Jean know we're ready for her, okay darlin, I'll be back before you know it," he told her gently, placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. He got a whimpered response of 'hurry', before he slipped out, into the main hall, and jogged down to Jean and Scott's room.

Knocking on the door, loudly, thanks to his metal reinforced knuckles, he impatiently waited for movement on the other side. When he could hear those inside were moving, but not fast enough for his liking, he knocked again.

"What's wrong?" Jean said a moment later, throwing the door open as she tugged her dressing gown on.

"Baby skipped a step, we've just jumped straight to minute long every two minutes," Logan told her, turning and heading back for Rogue's room before he was even halfway done with his sentence.

Jean rushed after him, trailed by a half awake, confused looking Scott. It took Jean two tries to get Scott to realise she was telling him to go to the med lab and get the birthing kit she had prepared earlier. By the time she got to Rogue's room Logan was back in his position, supporting Rogue, soothing her gently and whispering encouraging words to her as the girl moaned and whimpered and panted her way through contractions.

As Jean checked on Rogue's progress she grinned up at Logan. "She's skipped a few steps by the look of it, baby's crowning already, you're almost there Rogue, keep doing what you're doing," she added her own encouragement as she settled back to monitor and wait, shutting the door firmly against bystanders, who had been woken by Logan's early morning wakeup call, and come to see what was happening.

--

An hour later, with one final push, Marie felt her little watermelon, as Logan had teasingly begun calling the baby, slide out of her completely, falling gently into Logan's waiting hands. She didn't have the strength to open her eyes as she anxiously waited for baby to make a sound, sighing in relief as the piercing wail she had been waiting for split the air. After a few moments, and with some coaxing from both Logan and Jean, she was able to adjust her position to turn and sit down against the waterproof squabs Scott had brought up from the med lab for her.

In an instant Logan had placed her tiny, wailing, ick covered daughter against her chest.

"Oh... she's so beautiful," Marie smiled tiredly through tears.

"Isn't she just," Logan added, a tender smile on his face as he watched Marie run a finger over the little girls features. "And check out that hair, no wonder she was such a feisty little thing, red hair, she's definitely gonna be trouble," he said with a chuckle, the wet mop of hair looked dark brown but his eyes could pick out the definite red hue that it would go once it dried.

For about fifteen minutes they sat in relative silence, just watching the baby, stretch and yawn, and gaze wide eyed at the world around her. She turned her attention to Marie, staring up at her as she reached for her face, clearly recognizing her voice. Baby surprised everyone when Logan spoke again, and she immediately turned her attention to him.

"Hey little watermelon, you know who I am too huh?" Logan said softly with a smile, watching in fascination as baby grinned gummily at him, before smacking herself in the face with an uncoordinated fist as she tried to get it into her mouth.

"Looks like she's hungry, do you want to try and breastfeed her now?" Jean asked, the placenta would need to be delivered shortly but there should be time for a quick feed first.

--

At seven thirty, just as the anxiously waiting crowd was getting ready to call it a morning and head down for breakfast, the door they were waiting on finally opened.

"Well?" Ororo asked excitedly, hoping against hope it wasn't a false alarm. They'd been in there long enough she didn't think it was.

"Mommy and baby are doing well, they can take visitors for a little while but then they both need to rest," Jean answered, stepping aside to let the eager crowd peer into the room.

Rogue was propped up in the freshly made bed, clutching her tiny little bundle of pink swaddled baby, she grinned up at those who were waiting, and gestured for them to come in. So many faces craned to get a good look at the little girl, the faces obviously too much for her, she promptly shut her eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

Logan was shifting the bassinet to the ready at Rogue's bedside while she showed off her daughter, he hung back for a while eager to observe her comfortably relaxed demeanour, before she yawned widely. "Alright, that's enough, time for mommy to get some sleep, baby will be waking you up again before you know it," Logan said, moving through the crowd to pick up the sleeping baby so she could be put to sleep in her own bed. Rogue pouted as he took baby away, before calling him back so she could kiss her goodnight.

"Oh, and what's her name, have you decided yet?" Ororo asked, names had been flying around for months but Rogue had been keeping her final pick quiet.

"Lydia," Rogue said softly, "Lydia Evangeline Logan."

Logan froze before turning away from the sleeping child to regard Rogue in surprise, she was watching him, a small, hopeful smile in her face. It was the only name he had; would he be willing to give it to her child. With a chuckle and a smile at her, Logan turned back to the baby, his smile growing even bigger as he watched her sleep, Rogue really did want him in her life, in her child's life. Nothing would make him happier.

Ororo 'aww'd over the name before she gave Rogue one final hug, and ushered everyone out of the room to let the little family sleep.

"You don't mind, do you?" Marie asked uncertainly, the sudden thought that she probably should have asked Logan first before assuming, making her self-conscious in her uncertainty.

"I don't mind in the slightest, I'm glad I could give her something," Logan replied, lying down on the bed beside her so she could snuggle down beside him, resting her head on his chest.

"Maybe one day we can give her some siblings too?" Marie suggested sleepily.

"Already planning the next one huh?" Logan replied with a chuckle, "That sounds like a good plan darlin."
Chapter 10 by erro
Logan was sitting on the couch in the deserted rec room, alternating bouncing Lydia on his knee and whooshing her up into the air as she giggled madly. It was a stark contrast to the screaming little devil she'd been for the last week, though he blamed that entirely on the cold she'd had.

So much had changed in the last six months since the infant arrived, the first few weeks had been one hell of a learning curve, for both himself and Marie, but they had managed to get through the initial figuring things out phase without killing each other, or Lydia, though there were plenty of tears from Marie at times as she, with all the sense of a hormonal new mother, tried to assume blame for her baby's initial erratic sleep schedule, and ear-piercing screaming. Logan, and everyone else who shared their floor, was glad he had done such a thorough job of sound proofing the suite.

Thankfully it hadn't taken long for Lydia and Marie to settle into a fairly solid routine, and Marie was able to restart classes in early January. Which had seen Logan take on a lot of Lydia's class time care. Marie thought it was adorable, watching Logan wander around the mansion with the little girl in tow, often asleep with her little cheek resting on his shoulder, or sitting in her baby rocker, gurgling at him between bouts of gumming whatever toy or blanket was in her reach.

He didn't help by talking back to the little girl, it wasn't unusual to hear some bizarre single sided conversations taking place, interrupted by baby babbling or squeals, which Logan always took as her agreeing with him on whatever subject the were discussing.

However, the students learned quickly not to dare mention how cute it was anywhere in Logan's hearing, except Marie of course, she could get away with murder but if anyone else dared to so much as 'aww' at the Wolverine blowing raspberries, or whisper about having seen him lying on the floor playing peekaboo... all hell broke loose, and by hell they meant one scary looking mfer came to growl and stare you down until one just about pissed their pants. Wolverine might be a giant teddy bear where the infant was concerned but that was about as far as that concern went.

He still ignored a lot of comments he overheard, though the students probably didn't realise, especially those girls standing outside the rec room door right now trying not to squeal at the spectacle they'd seen. He couldn't really be mad with them though; Marie was with them and was leading the squee brigade. The sound was loud enough for Lydia to pick up too, and she began to squeal and kick her legs animatedly when she realised her mother was nearby.

"Is that momma?" Logan asked the little girl with a grin, "Can you hear her, can you? Where is she? Where's momma hiding?" He held the little girl up so she could see over the furniture as she looked around the room, wide eyed, as her big brown Marie eyes searched for her mommy. She squealed again excitedly and reached out to Marie when she stepped into the room.

As Marie hung over the back of the couch beside him, cooing a greeting to the little girl, Logan felt the familiar warmth of contentment washing over him. How quickly, and seamlessly, he had settled into 'domestic life' had surprised even him, he had been intending, when he eventually returned for Marie, to take her on a road trip, maybe infect her with a bit of wanderlust so she might drift with him for a while until he could bring himself to consider 'settling down'. Instead, his own wanderlust had disappeared. Somewhere between leaving her at the school fifteen months ago and Lydia being born, the idea of upping sticks and disappearing into the wild had lost whatever appeal it had had. Especially when he stood in Lydia's room in the middle of the night and watched her sleep peacefully, then Marie would sneak up behind him and wrap her arms around him and watch too, but mostly when he crawled into bed at the end of every day, wrapped up in the beautiful girl he had somehow fallen in love with, and for some unknown reason loved him back.

At least, he assumed she did. They never spoke of their relationship in terms of love, or even need, in fact, they hardly spoke about their relationship at all. It just was. Ever since that morning, at exactly twelve oh one am, when Marie had crawled into his bed, wrapped herself around him, and whispered that it was her birthday now, she was eighteen, and could she tell him what she wanted for her birthday. He'd replied, 'Sorry darlin, I already got you a present but it's not ready to open yet.' In typical Marie fashion she just shrugged and replied, 'Well I'll consider this my present to myself then, and it is definitely ready for unwrapping.'

He really had tried to hold himself back, given Marie's track record in the sex department he had expected her to be, even if involuntarily, a little scared, and need to take it slow, with a lot of reassurance. She apparently didn't share his concerns, and made it very clear she was very ready for a full-on physical relationship, though he still took his time. It had been amazing, both of them falling asleep, exhausted but finally satisfied after months of being together but not 'together'. They had finally fallen asleep not long before dawn, only to be woken up about an hour later by a hungry baby.

It turned out no formal announcement of any kind was required to cement their relationship. When Marie's bed disappeared out of their 'living room', nothing was said, there was no fanfare, or complaints, everything continued as it had. For that they were both grateful.

In the here and now though, Marie had finished baby talking to the little girl still in his arms and moved on to talk to him, as she placed a soft kiss on his bearded cheek.

"Me and the girls are going to the mall, need to do some clothes shopping for the little weed before she grows out of everything, can I kidnap my own baby to take her with us, pretty please, I'll make it up to you later," she added in a suggestive tone.

"Mm, I don't know, how would you make up something like that?" Logan replied with a grin, keeping hold of the little girl as Marie tried to pluck her out of his hands.

"Well," it seemed Marie was going to play along if the path her hands had suddenly decided to follow instead was any indication. "It could start like this-" she ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest- "Maybe a bit of this-" gently squeezing across his crotch- "And maybe a bit of this-" she murmured, right before she bit down hard on the juncture between his neck and shoulder, using his sudden distraction to slide Lydia out of his hands.

"You little sneak!" Logan chuckled in response, as he leapt up and vaulted over the couch, following after Marie as she quickly disappeared out of the room with her prize, who continued to giggle madly at the fun new game she was part of.

He cornered them right before the garage, pining Marie to the wall with a grin, she didn't put up much of a fight as she was laughing too hard. "I'm gonna have to get you back for that you little minx," he commented, pulling her tight against him so she could feel the beginnings of his hard on, from her teasing. "How long are you gonna be?" he asked, switching tack to tease the side of her neck with little kisses and nips through the veil of hair that covered her skin.

"Probably a couple of hours, we'll be back before Lydie's three thirty nap," Marie replied, though now that she said it she was beginning to reconsider her plans, maybe she would just stay right here instead.

"Oh seriously! Come on you two, Logan you get her all night, can't we just borrow her for a couple of hours!?" Jubilee commented cheekily, from where she had wandered out of the garage to see what was holding Marie up.

With a chuckle Logan released her. "Have fun, stay out of trouble... all of you," he added, glaring pointedly at Jubilee.

"No problem, we'll have them back before you know it," she said, grabbing Marie's non-baby occupied hand and dragging her away.

"I'll get you something special, sugar," Marie called back, followed by a chorus of 'eww's and 'TMI's from her friends.

With a chuckle Logan watched them go, not leaving his post until he was sure Lydia was safely buckled into her car seat, and Marie had flashed him her signature 'see you soon' smile.
Chapter 11 by erro
Logan glared at the clock again, for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes.

It was ten past four, and Marie still wasn't back. He was trying to control the urge to ring her and demand to know where the hell she was, it was well past Lydia's nap time, not that he needed to remind Marie of that, he knew he was just being paranoid, and he needed to trust Marie. Maybe they'd just lost track of the time, or were stuck in traffic.

It was eleven past four.

"Fuck it," Logan muttered, pulling out his cell phone he hit the speed dial for Marie's phone. It rang, and rang, and rang. Just as he was about to give up and hang up the line clicked. He could hear a baby crying but no one spoke. "Marie? Marie are you there? Marie?!" He was beginning to think something was terribly wrong, images of broken bodies, in broken cars, in a ditch on the side of the road, were flashing through his mind, when a chilling sound cut across the line.

The dark chuckle, moments before the line went dead, turned his blood cold.

Going back to his phone he pulled up his contacts and dialled Jubilee's number, the phone was answered on the second ring. "Logan?! Give me a sec... Rogue it's okay, everything's going to be okay..." Jubilee was clearly panicked as she spoke to someone in the background.

That someone turned out to be Marie. "It's not okay, he has my baby!" She stated, equally as panic stricken. "I need- I need Logan, I need Lydie, oh God he has my baby!" She broke down in sobs, on the verge of hyperventilating, when Logan interrupted across the line.

"Jubilee, where are you?" Logan demanded; he'd heard enough to know this was very bad.

Jubilee quickly told him where they were, and explained that Sabretooth had run them off the road, damaging their car, before grabbing Lydia and taking off. She assured him they were stranded but unharmed. Logan told her he would be there soon and to keep reassuring Rogue, Lydie would be back with her before she knew it. He burst into the teachers’ lounge as he was hanging up the call, giving everyone who was there a brief run down on what he knew of what had happened.

Scott followed him to the garage to take a second car to collect the car full of teenagers, Charles went immediately to Cerebro to begin searching for Lydia and Sabretooth, Jean and Ororo went to the sublevel to prepare for a mission, one to stock the med lab, the other to begin pre-flight checks on the jet; it shouldn't take long to collect the girls and for the Professor to track down Sabretooth.

As he sped down the highway Logan tried to hold the sheer terror, that was his worry for Lydia, at bay. Surely Sabretooth hadn't kidnapped her to harm her, she was biologically his child after all, but why had he taken her!

He saw a car up ahead off the side of the road, a police car parked on the shoulder beside it. Shit. The last thing they needed was law enforcement getting involved in this. Pulling up, skidding to a stop on the loose gravel on the side of the road, he leaped out of the car before the engine had even fully died. Jubilee was talking to the cop, assuring him everyone was fine, she was giving the cop a sanitized version of how they were run off the road by another motorist who had then taken off, it seemed she was leaving out that they had had a baby with them who had been taken. Logan discretely nodded his thanks to her as he moved over to the group of girls sitting on the grassy bank beside the car, most comforting Rogue and trying to help her hold it together.

Rogue threw herself into his arms the minute she saw him, sobbing and babbling incoherently about Lydia. She had the presence of mind to keep her voice down so the cop didn't overhear her, as she explained in detail exactly what had happened. Scott rolled to a stop a short time later, heading directly to the cop to assure him the girls were being taken care of and would be gotten back to their boarding school, a tow truck had also already been sorted out to come and collect the car before the end of the day.

The cop had finished taking statements, and waited for the car to be emptied of personal belongings and shopping, before he slapped a sticker on the car so any other passing officers would know the wreck had already been cleared. Quickly the teens piled into the two cars that had arrived to pick them up, and they sped off back to the school.

Part way back to the mansion Logan's phone rang, being answered by the cars handsfree, and they were patched into a conference call with the mansion, and Scott in the other car.

"Charles has located Sabretooth, and Lydia, she is unsettled but unharmed, we're ready to leave as soon as you get back," Jean advised hurriedly.

"We'll be there in three minutes," Scott replied, before ending the call.

"I'm coming," Marie demanded immediately, a fierce determination replacing her earlier anguish.

"It's too dangerous Marie," Logan argued, not taking his attention off the road as he sped home. Marie would be nothing but a distraction, and if he knew anything about reading an opponent, her being there, would likely play right into Sabretooth's plan, whatever it was.

Before Marie could argue further, he pulled sharply into the school’s driveway, gunning the car up to the front door, skidding to a stop in a spray of gravel right out front. He was out of the car and inside as Scott pulled up beside him on the driveway in much the same fashion, and followed him in. Logan hit the call button for the elevator, Scott joining him as the doors opened, before the doors could close again Marie had slipped into the elevator.

"It wasn't a request," Marie snapped at Logan, as the doors slid shut.

"Marie, you're playing right into his hands darlin, this is what he wants, he's trying to torment you..." Logan started, trying to explain his reasoning to her.

"I'm going. To get. My baby," Marie ground out, her tone meant to shut him up.

The elevator opened in short order and Scott and Marie leapt out and headed toward the locker room. Logan faltered, pausing momentarily as a stab of pain shot through his chest. His pause didn't appear to be noticed before he started after the pair, though Marie noticed that he wasn't with them by the time they got to the locker.

"What?" she asked worriedly, noticing the suddenly wary, guarded look Logan was wearing.

"Nothing," he muttered, as he stepped past her into the room and roughly yanked out his uniform and began to change, otherwise ignoring her.

Marie shrugged off his odd behaviour, she had more important things to worry about right now than him getting butthurt over her asserting herself in a serious situation. Scott handed her one of Kitty's training uniforms, acquiescing to letting her come but warning her to say behind the rest of the team, reminding her she had no formal training. He too was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of her coming along.

The rest of the team dressed quickly and disappeared to the briefing room. Despite the fact he had started changing first Logan took his time, waiting for Marie to finish dressing before he turned to her. Giving her an appraising once over he nodded as if satisfied, she was indeed presentable as an X-Man.

"Hurry up, we have to go get *your* baby," he snapped, turning and stomping out of the room.

It took a moment for what he had said to sink in, Marie was halfway out the door when it hit her. With a gasp she froze, tears welled in her eyes as she clapped her hand over her mouth, he thought... "Oh god, I didn't mean it like that Logan, I swear I didn't mean it like that," she said, watching as he too froze a few steps ahead of her in the hallway. She threw herself toward him, wrapping her arms around him as she buried her face in his leather clad chest. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she sobbed.

Here he was, the man who strapped on leather to risk his life to save hers, now doing it all over again to save their daughter, and she had so cruelly and heartlessly hurt him.

"Our baby, Logan, I just didn't want to be left behind, I need to be there for her too, like you are," she tried to clarify, judging by the look on Logan's face though he wasn't in the right frame of mind to hear her out just yet.

"Whatever, this isn't helping her," he snapped, pushing her away and turning her around, guiding her towards the briefing room.

Ororo was laying out the entry plan as they entered the room, detailing how many people the Professor had detected in the area. A sudden spike of fear from the girl in front of him softened Logan's hurt some as he turned to her.

"What's wrong Marie?" he asked, a mite gentler than he had spoken to her previously.

"Why there?" she whimpered, "That's where Magneto was holding me, that's where...” she broke off, she didn't need to finish her sentence for Logan to know, this was where Sabretooth had raped her, this was where Lydia had been conceived.

"He's trying to torment you, this is what I was trying to explain, this- this isn't about Lydia, Marie, this is about you, he's trying to get to you, Lydia is just bait in his trap." He gently turned Marie around, cupping her cheek lightly, his hand protected from her skin by a fall of hair. "I know you want to get to Lydia, I know you want to be there for her, but you're just going to end up putting everyone in danger Marie, especially Lydia, if he threatens her, he knows he's got you. If you come will you trust me, stay on the jet, I'll bring Lydia straight to you once I've got her," Logan pleaded with her. He didn't want to see Lydia threatened any more than Marie did but he knew Sabretooth wouldn't pull that shit with him.

Marie paused, obviously conflicted, before she nodded. "I trust you Logan," she replied.

The team left not even two minutes later. It was only a short flight to where Lydia was being held. They didn't bother with subtlety, landing the jet in plain view of those who were waiting for them, before disembarking. Marie caught Logan's hand as he was leaving, and reached up to peck him on the cheek, if he noticed he didn't comment, barely paused, before he told her she could monitor the comms from the control console and hurriedly followed the team off deck. The hatch closed automatically behind him, leaving Marie feeling more alone than she had in a long time.

She sat down at the console, brushing away her tears. Lydia would be fine, even if Logan was upset with her, he wouldn't let Lydia suffer for that. She flipped the switches she needed to patch the comms through, turning the others down, and Logan's up, she wanted to know the minute he had baby.

She didn't have to wait long.

She managed to patch into the bodycam feed too and watched as Logan stalked into the lair, paused briefly as he scented the area, before stalking toward where he knew Lydia was. Several people tried to stop him, and were either gutted on the spot or thrown out of the way immediately, they weren't his objective so he was leaving them for the rest of the team.

When he stepped into the last room, the room that had been Marie's prison for mere hours but still featured in her infrequent nightmares, Marie froze. He looked around the room, before he called out quietly, "Lydie, where are you bubba?"

An excited squeal sounded through the audio link. "Dada!" Lydia called, drawing Logan's attention to the back of the room.

He stalked quickly across the room, spotting the little girl in a makeshift crib covered with a thick blanket. Pulling the blanket back, they both saw Lydia's grubby, tear stained face, staring up at Logan with a brilliant smile. "Hey kiddo, how you holding up?" Logan asked gently.

Marie was confused about why he didn't just grab her and get out as she watched him gently stroke baby's head reassuringly, before he turned around.

Sabretooth was standing right behind him.
Chapter 12 by erro
"Aw, poor kid's a little confused, seems to think you're her dad, as if the runt had the balls to fuck her mom, speaking of who, where is the bitch, all I want is another round," Sabretooth taunted.

"There's more to being a dad than supplying genetic material, and raping little girls isn't the socially accepted method for supplying that genetic material. I know damn well what you want with Rogue, that's why she's not here, and you're never getting your hands on her again, she's mine, so is Lydia, you should have left well enough alone," Logan growled in response, as his claws slid out in response.

Lydia chose that moment to let out a little sound, that sounded almost like an ‘Uh oh’. A rather ominous sound in the circumstances.

Sabretooth attacked a split second later but Logan was ready, throwing him back across the room to get him as far away from Lydia as he could. As the two closely matched mutants tussled, Sabretooth continued to try and goad Logan into losing his shit, telling him about what he had done to Marie, how she sounded when she screamed, what she tasted like when she bled... Marie sat at the console sobbing as she tried to push the memories away. She didn't want to think about that, she couldn't think about that, she needed to be sure Logan was okay, she needed to help him some way. She felt so useless sitting in front of a screen watching it all play out.

All of a sudden, she realised Sabretooth had Logan pinned, he had managed to distract Logan with some comment in his rambling. Marie knew she had to act fast, she had to do something, before Sabretooth had a chance to put Logan down. Flipping on the outgoing comm Marie spoke, "I love you Logan," was all she could think to say. It seemed to have the desired effect; he growled a deep rumbling growl before, with brute strength, he broke Sabretooth's hold.

The next scene played out in a blur of movement, and a confusing jumble of sound, but it ended in a victorious roar, as Logan stood over the mutilated body of his opponent. Sabretooth's head was several feet away from his body, and his entrails spread across the floor. As Logan surveyed the carnage he commented darkly, "Heal from that you son of a bitch," before turned back to the crib.

Lydia smiled up at him brightly, holding her arms up as she chanted, "Dada, dada, dada," excitedly.

Picking her up, heedless of the blood he was covered in, Marie watched as he hugged the little girl to himself and heard him murmur softly, "I love you so much bubba ... we go see momma now?" Lydia squealed again excitedly, as Logan made his way out of the room, and out of the building.

Rushing to the hatch Marie waited until she could see Logan approaching, the rest of the team falling back behind him, before she hit the release to open the hatch. He was on board before the ramp was even fully down, shoving Lydia into her arms before Marie could move.

She broke down as soon as she had baby in her arms again, falling to her knees as she hugged and kissed the little girl as she sobbed gratefully over her. Lydia seemed to think it was great fun getting mama hugs. It took a moment for Marie to realise Logan wasn't with her, he had continued past her and taken his seat, ready for the team to catch up and leave. Before Marie could move toward him, everyone else flooded on board and she was bustled into a seat of her own for take-off.

No one spoke on the return trip, when they landed, the first to speak was Jean, bustling Marie and Lydia to the med lab. Marie saw Logan heading toward the elevator, still in his leathers, and called out to him, he didn't acknowledge her as he stepped into the car and punched the door close button, leaving her alone with Jean and Lydia.

"Is everything okay?" Jean asked gently, as a single tear dropped down Marie's cheek.

"Oh Jean..." she broke off as she began to sob, "I said something... I didn't mean it the way it sounded, I really didn't... I hurt him, and I don't know how to make it better," she whispered, as the other woman pulled her into a hug.

"This is Logan we're talking about, he loves you more than anything Rogue, let him wind down from the fight, then talk to him, he's had just as rough a time as you have today, he'll be okay once he's calmed down," Jean tried to reassure her.

Marie nodded absently, before she handed Lydia over for Jean to check her all over to be sure she was unharmed. An hour later they were released and Marie made her way up to their suite, expecting to find Logan. All she found was a pile of shredded leather on the shower floor.

Now that Lydia was back with her mommy, she seemed to remember she had missed her nap and yawned widely. With a sigh, knowing it would throw off her whole routine, Marie climbed into her own bed with Lydia. She fed her, a little early but the girl seemed to enjoy the special treatment, until she fell asleep at the breast. Marie lay down to sleep with her baby, not content to let her out of her sight just yet. She placed a kiss on the little girls’ head as she slept, "Mommy loves you baby, so much, and so does daddy."

--

Hours later Marie woke, she and Lydia had done nothing but sleep and feed through what was left of the evening. Now it was pitch black. Marie could hear someone moving around in the suite, a momentary thrill of fear went through her, even as she prayed it was Logan, back from wherever he had disappeared to.

Wedging Lydia into place, with a pillow on either side of her, Marie got up. Throwing on her dressing gown she went to see who it was.

Logan was sitting on the couch, elbows resting on his knees, head hanging, an almost empty bottle in one hand. He didn't give any outward sign of acknowledgement to her approach but Marie knew, even drunk – or as close to it as he ever managed to get – he was fully alert, and knew she was there. She approached him slowly, kneeling down in front of him she ducked under his head, wrapping her arms around him as she buried her face in his chest.

For a moment he didn't move or make a sound, then he grabbed her suddenly, crushing her tightly to his chest, a sound like a sob breaking the silence as he held her. "I love you Marie," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too Logan, so much, so much more than I can ever put into words, I'm sorry I spoke without thinking, I'm sorry you took my words in a way I truly, truly, didn't mean them Logan-" she pulled back a little so she could look up at Logan's face - "Lydia is just as much your baby as she is mine, you've been there for her, for both of us, her whole life, right from the moment we knew she existed, I'm glad she has you as her daddy."

"I love her so much Marie, I'm sorry for what you had to go through for us to have her," Logan replied, pulling her back to him again. After several minutes Logan picked her up, scooting back on the couch and pulling her up onto his lap. "I'm sorry I left before, you needed me and a bailed and... that wasn't right, forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me for speaking without thinking," Marie replied.

"I do," Logan told her, "You're a mommy, and you were worried about your baby-"

"Our baby," Marie interrupted.

"Our baby," Logan replied with a chuckle, and a peck on her cheek. "Speaking of which, you missed her first word, sorry, when I found her, she got real excited to see me and yelled 'dada' at the top of her lungs. Pissed Sabretooth right off let me tell you," Logan chuckled fondly at the memory.

"I heard," Marie replied, with her own soft smile, "I was spying on you from the jet."

Before they could say anything more a frightened shout from the bedroom was heard.

"Dada!"

Quickly they both jumped to their feet and rushed down the hallway. Lydia was sitting up, surrounded by her wall of pillows, looking around her calculatingly. She smiled and giggled when she saw them, clapping her hands together and reaching for Logan. "Dada," she crowed, wrapping her chubby arms around his neck when he picked her up.

Moving the pillows, Logan climbed back into the bed, after stripping off his jacket and belt, taking Lydia back down with him. He gestured for Marie to follow suit, not satisfied until she was tucked tight against his side, her head resting on his shoulder.

Lydia wriggled over, until she was lying on both of them, her head resting on Marie's chest, and her legs kicking gently on Logan's stomach. "Mama," she announced, reaching a finger up to touch Marie's lips, she often did that while she was suckling, giggling when Marie kissed her finger tips. "Dada," she added again, reaching back for Logan.

She eventually ended up sliding down between the two of them when they shifted to flank the little girl. She fell asleep again in minutes, one hand tangled up in mommy's necklace, the other sleepily scratching at daddy's facial hair, until she went limp in sleep.

"I love you," Logan reiterated, as Marie began to drift off to sleep again.

"I love you too, forever and always, even when you're annoying, I still love you," she replied, with a sleepy smile.

"Me? Annoying? Never," Logan murmured, placing a kiss on her forehead as she giggled and drifted off to sleep.

He joined them a short time later, both girls wrapped in his arms as they slept, his family, his home, his life, his future.
End Notes:
The End

P.S. Sorry if the fight scene disappointed, my muse just wasn't interested to drawing that out, I tried to rewrite it several times but it just wasn't happening...
This story archived at http://wolverineandrogue.com/wrfa/viewstory.php?sid=4222