Logan gulped, almost visibly.
Rogue flipped through the book in her hands, "Lots of women have water births hon...it's supposed to be a beautiful, natural thing."
He shook his head and almost covered his ears before willing his eyes to look back at her. Shit. She was serious! Marie was about 35 weeks along, and was busy finalizing her birthing plan, much to Logan's dismay.
"Kid...what ever happened to those days when the dad stood out in the waiting room and smoked a cigar? Why can't I be one of those guys?" he said as he leaned his head back against the headboard.
Marie sat next to him, gauging his reaction as she spoke, "Sugah, I need you there with me...I need you to support me in this. I know it ain't necessarily what you want, but it's what I need."
He gave her a long look before he took a deep breath and nodded, "Fine...but I'm not getting in some tub that'll get filled up with blood and shit."
She sighed and kissed him on his lips, but on the inside, she was wringing his neck. It was like pulling teeth to get this man involved in her pregnancy...but honestly, what did she expect? He was Logan. She was downright lucky he hadn't left yet, but she secretly counted down the days until she woke up to find his room empty.
Marie looked down at the book and got up, walking to her desk. She stood with her back facing him, keeping her eyes down on the book in her hands. She was only pretending she was reading. She was frightened of doing it alone. She wasn't sure how much faith she could put in Logan. She didn't want to depend on him for anything because she felt that, in the long run, he would let her down.
She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear him stand up and walk behind her. He wasn't stupid. He knew her well enough to know when something was on her mind. He looked down as he stood behind her.
Logan figured that, as always, his tough guy act was backfiring on him. He realized that the last thing she needed to be stressing about was whether he would be there for her.
Of course he would. There's no way in hell he could wait outside of some hospital doors, smoking a cigar while he listened to her call for him in agony. He shuddered at the thought. Just let anyone try to stop him from being by her side. They would walk away with one less limb.
He bit his lip and swallowed his pride. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and put his hands on her belly. She smiled and leaned her head to one side as he kissed her neck as he sang so softly she felt the need to hold her breath in order to properly hear him. He kissed her ear and swayed softly, "I see it showin'...the seed inside you...baby do you feel it growin'. Are you happy you know it...that you're havin' my baby..."
Marie would have laughed if it wasn't so heart warming. Logan was singing. He wasn't just humming a random Bruce Springsteen tune...he was singing the world's corniest song about her...to her. They stood like that for a little while before he turned her around and kissed her lips, "Better not tell anyone else about this, kid. I won't change one damn diaper if you do."
She laughed softly and kissed him again, "Your secret is safe with me."
---------------
Rogue had been to almost all of her doctor's appointments without Logan, per his request. He claimed he didn't wanna be seen at a chick doctor's office. Jubilee had accompanied her on a few and she would typically return, give him a thumbs up and go on with her day.
During her last visit, her doctor determined that Marie had marginal placenta previa, meaning her placenta was partially covering her cervix. It had developed some time in the past few weeks because of the growth and shifting of her uterus. It was a condition that could possibly make a vaginal delivery life threatening.
When he saw her face, he immediately knew something was wrong, but she dismissed him, half heartedly claiming everything was fine. A few days later, he couldn't keep dealing with the silent treatment, so he took her out to try to cheer her up.
When she stayed silent throughout their entire lunch at a local diner and refused a trip to the mall, he brought her back to the mansion to confront her. She shrugged out of her jacket and numbly moved around the room, taking off her shoes and running a hand through her hair.
He put a hand on her back and gave her a concerned look, "Kid...what's up?"
She put her head in her hands, "I really don't want to talk about it right now. If you had been there, I wouldn't have to keep thinking about it or have to explain it again."
He sighed and pulled her into his arms, "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
She pulled away, "At one point, you have to start caring more about me than what people think about you."
He growled and stood, "What the hell else do you want from me? I fucking wrote letters...I sang to you-do you know that every night, I talk to that baby like an idiot?"
She stared at him in surprise for a moment before she raised her voice, "Why didn't you tell me this? Why don't you let me in? You know I'll never tell anyone else and ruin your so-called reputation...you need to tell me how you feel..you need to-"
She paused for a moment and flinched, but tried not to show any pain, "I don't wanna talk about this anymore."
He took a step forward, "You ok, kid?"
"I'm fine", she said quickly. "Just...leave me alone for a while, ok?"
He let out an exasperated breath and rushed from the room. As soon as he closed the door, she doubled over in pain, grabbing a hold of the chair to remain upright. She took a few deep breaths as her thoughts ran. Could this be real labor? The doctor had mentioned something about random contractions...but she wasn't sure they were supposed to hurt this bad. Marie cringed again and hissed as she felt wetness slowly move down her thighs. She looked down and gasped in horror.
Blood.
Her knees grew impossibly weak as she stumbled toward the door, holding the underside of her belly. She weakly called his name before collapsing and losing consciousness.
--------------
Logan went down to the garage and sat down on his bike. For a moment, he seriously considered leaving for a brief trip, but his conscience got the better of him. He eventually calmed enough to return to her room to apologize to her.
As he approached her door, he smelled blood...her blood. He broke into a run and crashed into the room, nearly tripping over her limp body as it laid just a few feet away from the door.
He yelled desperately, "Help me! Somebody help!"
She was so pale...so still. He fought back the urge to hyperventilate as he looked at the pool of blood that had formed below her, "Marie...open your eyes..."
He took her body in his arms and was thankful to hear Jubilee in the doorway on the phone with an operator to 911. He rocked her as she slowly blinked her eyes open and cringed from the pain. She shuddered and looked up at him as sweat glistened on her forehead, "Logan..."
He rocked her and nodded, "It's ok kid...you're gonna be ok."
It felt like an eternity before the ambulance finally arrived. He carried her out and put her in the back, riding with her. She cried out in pain a few times, but he could tell her strength was failing.
When they reached the hospital, everything sped up. They were rushed into a room and given a once over by her doctor. Logan felt like panicking when even the doctor looked worried. She looked up at Marie, "Marie...I need you to focus, alright? There's no time for a c section. If you wanna give her a chance, you're gonna have to push her out."
Marie whimpered as another pain hit her, "B-b-but I though you said I c-c-couldn't..."
"Marie, just concentrate. You can do this. Don't think about anything else but your baby, ok?" The doctor turned to the nurse and spoke in low, urgent tones. In response, the nurse scattered and before they knew it, an incubator and team of medical personnel had gathered around it.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" he asked.
A nurse, who somehow was not occupied doing something else, lightly touched Logan's arm, "She has a condition called placenta previa sir. She may have just suffered a placental abruption. Normally, we'd perform a c section, but she's too far progressed and the baby is in distress...she's lost a lot of blood..."
Logan shook his head as he tried to process all of the information he just took in. He turned back to Marie and tried to force a reassuring smile, but the moment she whispered "I'm scared" he almost lost it. He was terrified, too.
A few minutes later, the doctor and some nurses were coaching her through her pushes as Logan held onto her hand, clutching it to his mouth. With every push, she grew paler and weaker...he could feel her hand growing colder.
She cried out and collapsed back onto the bed, panting wearily, "I can't anymore...no more."
The doctors in the room exchanged worried looks, "Marie...your baby needs you. She needs you to help her live, now come on mama. Push!"
Logan leaned in and rubbed her forehead, "One more, kid...one more and you can rest." He helped sit her up as she gave him a brave, but shaky smile as she pushed with all of her might, crying out with the last of the strength she had left.
Logan panicked as she took a few deep, labored breaths before closing her eyes and falling limp in his arms, "Marie! Marie!" The long, loud beep of the heart monitor was deafening in his ears.
He allowed himself to be shoved aside as her limp body was overwhelmed by medical personnel. It was then that he saw his daughter being rushed away to the incubator. He could see that her tiny, limp body had a frightening bluish tint to it before the medical team crowded around her, working vigorously to revive her tiny body.
Logan looked on helplessly, "What's wrong with her...them? What's going on? Marie!"
A nurse looked up and took him by the arm. He was so frantic that he forgot how to fight back, he simply stumbled out as she yanked him out of the room, "Sir, you need to give them room to work. I'll be sure to keep you updated."
He didn't know how long he had been crying, but his voice shook deeply as he spoke, "That's my daughter in there...and that's...that's my Marie..."
The nurse gave him a sympathetic look and nodded, "I know, sir, and I promise you, they are doing their best. Now please, just calm down and I will be right back with an update, alright?"
Logan trembled as he collapsed against a wall and put his hands in his face, sobbing heavily. Meanwhile...both heart monitors in the delivery room still showed no signs of life...
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000