Jubilee and Kitty looked at each other in disbelief, then at Rogue. Jubilee waved a hand in front of Rogue's face. “Hello, earth to Rogue? Anybody there? Come on, girl! You gotta have a baby shower!”
Rogue sighed, abandoning her online search and turning to her friends. “I wanna be honest. I don’t think I need all the stuff one gets at baby showers.”
“Why not?” Kitty frowned.
“There’s this thing I wanna do when the baby comes. It’s called...” she turned back to the PC, blushing a little. “Attachment parenting.”
“I read about that. But...” Kitty squeezed her friend’s thigh. “What if...?”
“What if I can’t touch it.” Rogue’s voice was barely above a whisper, but she pulled herself together and smiled shakily. “I don’t let myself think about that.”
“Oh, sweetheart...” Jubilee pulled her into a bone-breaking hug. “It’s gonna work out.”
“I want one of these.” Rogue held up a baby wrap, seemingly unfazed at the prospect of having to wrap herself and a tiny baby in about 5 yards of fabric.
“You sure? Isn’t that a little... crunchy?” Jubilee eyed the stylish baby carriers on the other side of the aisle. “How about one of these?”
Rogue hardly glanced at them. “I read about those on the net. They’re a health hazard, nicely speaking. Besides, have you looked at the price?”
Jubilee grabbed the price tag and made a choking noise in the back of her throat. “120 dollars?? I hope they mean Canadian.”
“And it only goes up to 25lbs. Supposedly. Most people say they stopped using it well before then.” She stroked the fabric of the wrap she was holding. “It might not be as stylish but you know me.” She grinned. “Style is in another room for me.”
Jubilee slapped her arm. “Oh please. You’re Style Girl.” She grinned. “Why don’t you use that as a codename?”
Rogue grinned back. “Maybe I should.” She struck a pose. “Maybe I’ll create a trend.”
“Give it up for my girl!” Jubilee cracked her gum loudly, acting as though she was taking pictures. Rogue laughed, but then she stopped mid-movement. Jubilee straightened. “What? You okay?”
A wide smile split Rogue’s face. “It kicked me.”
When Logan returned from the PE class later that evening, he found Marie standing in front of the mirror, her shirt pulled up. She was stroking her belly with a small smile.
“Hey darlin’.” He kissed the top of her head. “Had a nice day?”
She grinned. “Yeah.” Her look was saying ‘Ask me what happened’ loud and clear.
“What happened?”
Still grinning a little maniacally, she pulled down her shirt and motioned for him to put his hand on her belly.
A second later, Logan jumped back as though he’d been shocked. “It... It moved.”
“They do that.” Her pleased smile was belying her casual words. “And, I now officially have a bump.” She turned sideways and indeed, there was a definite bump visible beneath her shirt.
Logan smiled softly, putting his hand back on her belly. “Whoda thunk it.”
“What?”
“That seeing you like this would make me horny.”
Marie laughed, the sound carrying out the open window and into the grounds, her happiness laid out for all the world to see.
End of Chapter 5