Sure, he was a mutant, half the world hated people like him and he had no idea who he really was, but there were times when all that didn’t matter.
Like, when Marie was traipsing around their bedroom in nothing but her underwear.
Marie. His Marie.
He still had to smile at the thought. When he’d met her, she had been barely 16 and the sauciest little thing he’d ever seen – but even then he’d felt it. That there was more between them. He’d banished those thoughts into the darkest corners of his subconscious, of course, but seeing her grow up hadn’t helped matters. That he’d come back one day and discovered she’d filled out in all the right places.
Smiling to himself, he looked down at the wedding band on his finger. Today was their first anniversary. Well, they weren’t legally married, what with him not knowing who he was and all that, but he knew that this meant just as much to her. It meant more to him.
Marie was humming to herself, a towel slung around her wet hair, as she put on one of his flannel shirts. She had taken to wearing them to bed, and he loved the way their scents mingled inside the fabric. Now, as she was walking past him towards her vanity – girls will be girls – he caught a whiff of something in her scent that hadn’t been there before. “You been eatin’ somethin’ strange, darlin’?”
Marie automatically raised her arm to smell herself, but found nothing unusual. “Nah, don’t think so.” She smiled. “I have been eating a lot of gumbo lately, though. Does that count?”
Logan’s nostrils flared and he frowned in concentration. He had smelt this before, he recognised it. But he couldn’t place it. “Come here.” The Wolverine’s curiosity awakened, he pulled her onto his lap, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling deeply.
She couldn’t help but grin as he sniffed his way along her neck and into her cleavage. She knew exactly what it was he was smelling, but she wanted to see whether he could find out on his own.
After about 3 minutes of extensive Marie-sniffing, Logan sat back, grumbling. “I *know* that smell.”
It was mean, but she was delighted that he couldn’t place the scent. Grinning, she planted a quick kiss on his sideburns, then looked him in the eyes. “Ya’re gonna be a daddy.”
In retrospect it was painfully clear. He had done the stupidest thing a man can do when the woman he loves tells him that she’s pregnant.
At first, he had stared at her, speechless. Then he had stared at her some more. Then he’d said, “Oh.”
And now he was pleading with her through the door of Jubilee’s and Kitty’s room to come out and talk to him.
“Baby, come on out, okay? I didn’t mean it that way. I’m happy, really, I am.”
“Go away!” Tears in her voice. Damn.
“Please, baby, talk to me.”
The door was wrenched open and Jubilee glared up at him. “She totally doesn’t want to see you, so why don’t you go and have a beer or somethin’?” And the door was thrown shut in his face again.
“Goddammit, Rogue! Come on, I... Talk to me, darlin’, please.” He leaned against the doorframe, drawing a deep breath. He could smell the salty tang of her tears through the wood, barely there underneath Jubilee’s cheap perfume and Kitty’s incense sticks. The combination made him dizzy, and he hardly noticed when Kitty’s head melted through the door, glaring at him.
“She said you get one minute.”
Logan had thrown the door open and had passed through Kitty before she finished the sentence, and she yelped.
“Don’t do that!”
Logan ignored her, eyes fixed on Marie, who was wearing her Resolved Face. He’d have to weigh his words very carefully.
Jubilee popped her gum loudly. “So, say what you wanna say.”
His eyes still on Marie, he pointed in the general direction of the door. “Get out.”
“What?” Jubilee shot Kitty a look. “No way, Wolvster, we’re staying- Hey!” She didn’t get any further than that because Logan had grabbed the back of her jacket and was more or less throwing her at the door, which Kitty made intangible at the last second, and all they heard was a loud ‘thump’ as Jubilee hit the floor on the other side of the door, followed by a string of X-rated curses.
Kitty smiled awkwardly. “Going now.” She then beat a hasty retreat and phased through the door, leaving the Wolverine and the Rogue alone. Logan’s hearing, though, did pick up on what she said to Jubilee once outside: “I so hope they don’t 'make up' on my bed...”
Marie wiped at her eyes, smearing her mascara into the white fabric of her gloves. “So?”
Logan rubbed his neck, sighing deeply. “Look, I... I know I fucked up there. You just, you caught me off-guard, you know?”
She actually smiled at that. “Catching the Wolverine off-guard? That’s definitely a first.”
Smiling a little, he got on his knees in front of her, covering her hands with his. “Believe me. I’m happy. Very.”
The smile that lit up her face at his simple words eradicated every doubt Logan could have had about her forgiving him, and when she flung herself at him, burying her face in his hair, he caught her with a smile that rivalled hers.
After a while Marie looked up at him, grinning mischievously. “Do you wanna tell them?”
End of Chapter 1