Jane Bayfield gazed at the man beside her who was watching the baseball game intently. The young boy at bat hit the ball and the man was suddenly on his feet screaming “Yes! Run Tommy!” She also rose from her seat on the bleachers to encourage the boy to run his hardest. He made it to second base safely and the next boy went up to bat.
“I see all of that extra practice has really helped Tommy,” she approved softly. The man turned to her and smiled before giving her a quick kiss and whispering “I think having a mother has really helped him, too.”
Jane’s eyes teared up at this comment and she could barely get out a “Thank you, Mike.” Through her suddenly tight throat. She had been trying really hard to be a good mother for Tommy the past year and a half, and her fiance’s approval meant a lot to her.
Jane had met Mike two years ago shortly after she had moved from her home in Pennsylvania to Florida for a job teaching at an elementary school. He had accidentally hit her and her bike with his car and waited with her in the emergency room for 3 hours to get her arm x-rayed. She ended up with a broken arm and a date with the man who would become her fiance.
Jane moved in with Mike and his now five year old son six months later, and she had been working hard to make their little family work. Mike’s first wife, Caroline had left them when Tommy was only 2, so he had few memories of her and considered Jane to be his mother. The first time Tommy had called her ‘Mommy’ she had actually cried with joy. Now they were watching Tommy play his first little league game, just six months away from their wedding.
They decided two months ago when they got engaged to have a small ceremony with just friends and a few of Mike’s relatives as both of Jane’s parents had died several years before. She had never imagined getting married so young (she had just turned twenty-three) but she loved Mike and Tommy, although sometimes she wondered if she loved the normalcy of their little family more than anything.
Her childhood and teenage years had been blissfully normal but sometimes in the back of her mind she felt as if she had endured a lifetime of hardship, and it was this feeling that compelled her to seek out a normal life with a normal job and a normal family. But sometimes she felt like she didn’t quite belong in this suburban setting, as if she were destined for something more in life.
A yell of excitement from beside her jolted Jane out of her thoughts and she realized that Tommy had made it to home. She got up and clapped with Mike, pushing all of her doubts from her mind.
§––––––––––§
“Alright Tommy, keep your eye on the ball,” Mike said knowingly before throwing the ball softly towards Tommy. The small boy grabbed for it with his glove but missed. “That’s okay son, just let the ball come to you. Now throw it back; that’s it, aim with your glove.” Mike encouraged. Jane smiled from her spot on the deck, enjoying the interaction between her ‘boys.’ The idea of playing catch in the backyard seemed so small town and adorable to her. That is until she caught a rogue ball to the temple.
{‘Come on, I’ll take care of you.’ he said softly. ‘Ya promise?’ she asked in her southern drawl. ‘Yeah, yeah I promise...’}
“Jane... Jane, are you alright?!?” she opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Mike whose eyes were filled with worry, and Tommy, who looked like he was on the verge of tears. “I’m weally sawwy Mommy!” Tommy choked out.
“Oh honey, it’s alright, Mommy is just fine!” Jane assured the wild eyed little boy. She sat up slowly with her hand pressed against the tender spot on her temple.
“Why don’t you go get Mommy an ice pack, buddy?” Mike asked the frantic child and when he was out of earshot he turned to her “Jane, I think we should go to the hospital, you might have a concussion, you got hit right in a soft spot,”
“No, really I’m fine,” she affirmed, shaking off the odd voices she had just heard in her head.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Story Notes:
Bear with me, Rogue and Logan will be making appearances shortly.