"Alright, what are we doing today?" Logan asked, at breakfast a few days later.

"I have to study this morning, and then I'm teaching this afternoon, so you're going to have to entertain these two all day, sorry," Rogue replied, thankful for the respite, of sorts, the different activity gave her.

"Okay, what are we doing then trouble and mini trouble?" he asked the kids.

"Monkey needs a cage!" Ava announced. "You promised you'd build one for us," she reminded him.

"Honestly, I'm surprised the chipmunk is still alive," he admitted, the thing had turned out to be a lot more malnourished than they had originally realised, but had been eating well. Its eyes were just starting to open as of that morning, and Ava was convinced it was going to run away. James had lost interest in it after the first day, and it had migrated to living in Ava's pocket since then.

"We will build a house for the chipmunk then, that means a trip to the hardware store, are you up for that little guy?" he asked James. The last time they had gone out he hadn't handled it well, admittedly the mall probably wasn't the best place for his first exposure to the wider world. This time however James was eager to go, so after seeing Rogue off for the day they sat down to design a chipmunk heaven before heading out for supplies.

As they were unloading everything from the pickup they borrowed from the school's garage, Logan wasn't surprised to spot Scott watching them from a distance. It wasn't the first time he'd caught him doing that but so long as the guy was going to keep his mouth shut about shit that didn't concern him, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted as far as Logan was concerned. This time though it looked like he was going to approach, Logan groaned inwardly as he spotted him advance, and continued to ignore him as he measured lumber.

He'd sent the kids off to find ear muffs, for when he used the saw, but he noted how they too paused and warily watched Scott make a beeline for Logan.

"Morning," Scott greeted tensely.

"Yep, it still is," Logan returned.

Scott flinched at his biting tone. "Look, I wanted to apologize, I was out of line, I shouldn't have..."

"Why not? Why shouldn't you have said it? It's what you think isn't it? Hell, at least you were being honest," Logan replied tersely.

"Yes, I'll admit, those were the first thoughts that went through my head, but I should have finished thinking before I opened my mouth," Scott answered, "I know you would never do anything to hurt Rogue, and the two of you... well, you just fit together, honestly I'm surprised you managed to find anyone who could tolerate your stubborn ass but Rogue can, I think she's good for you, and I think you are good for her too, she's a lot more comfortable and relaxed when you're around, I'm not too proud to admit that. Though I do think she's too young to be playing mom, she is good with the kids, and they love her to bits, so, whatever you're doing, it's working, and I wish you both the best."

Logan stopped his work as Scott spoke, turning his full attention to the man as he apologised. "Thanks Scott, you should probably go tell Rogue the same but approach carefully, she's still pretty pissed with you," he replied.

"I've actually already talked to Rogue, it was you I was more worried about but really, in hindsight, Rogue was definitely the more confrontational of the two of you," Scott admitted, sounding thoughtfully confused at that fact.

"Don't try and blame that one on me, she was a sassy brat with balls of steel before I ever laid eyes on her, she walked into a goddamn fight bar, alone, in the middle of nowhere, for God's sake, then stole a ride from me, from *me*, *after* I popped the claws, then when I caught her and tried to turf her out, she sassed me on the side of the goddamn road, while trying to beg a ride. She's something else that girl, real southern spitfire, and she's amazing," Logan informed him, love and pride evident in both his tone and the look on his face.

If he hadn't already realised it over the proceeding days it would have been impossible to deny now, Logan really, truly was head over heels in love with the girl. "I need to know though," Scott said, "When did you realise you loved her? And why did you leave?"

Logan paused thoughtfully. "When did I realise I loved her... that's a good question, I realised I had potential to fall for her in my truck, she asked... a question that nobody had ever asked before, it got my attention. I started to think I might already have fallen for her on the train, when she ran away after she drained me the first time, right before Magneto turned up. I knew for sure I loved her when I held her on top of the statue, when I thought she was dead, the thought of having to live without her... hurt more than anything Sabretooth or Magneto could have done to me.

"I left because she wasn't old enough, even though she was legal, just, I wanted her to finish school, grow up a bit, without me as a distraction. I was planning on coming back for her eighteenth birthday, then when I called, and she told me she was already graduated, and she was on the team... well, there was no way I was letting her on the team without me right there beside her, not gonna risk losing her again, and like I said before, if she's old enough to risk dying, she's old enough to live," Logan smirked, "Does that answer all your questions?"

Scott nodded with a grin, he'd never say it to his face but the Wolverine sure had a serious soft spot, one just the perfect size for Rogue to crawl into. As he turned to leave another thought occurred to him. "What was the question she asked?"

Logan grinned and shook his head. "That's between me and her," he replied. "Oh, by the way, we've set a date, we're getting hitched on the fourteenth of May," he called back to Scott as the guy was leaving the room.

"What!? You realise that's less than four months away right?" Scott replied, "Why so soon?"

Logan shrugged. "Rogue can't legally get married until she's eighteen, so we're doing it the week after her birthday. You got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, actually," Scott replied, before he grinned as he added, "Now Jean's gonna start harassing me to set a date for ours."

With a chuckle Logan got back to work on his project, as Scott left to head back to his next class.

--

It turned out building projects were incredibly time consuming when your helpers were less than four-foot-tall and had to continually have tools moved out of their reach. Though James was kept well entertained with a hammer, some nails, and a few off cuts of lumber - miraculously he only smacked his thumb with the hammer once - Ava wanted to be right in the thick of it 'helping', at least she caught on quickly to which tools were which. By dinnertime the cage was finished, and even painted in Ava's chosen colours; pastel green and lilac - it was a fucking eyesore!

Leaving the paint to dry they began packing up to head for dinner. Rogue met them at the wood shop door and James explained the... thing, he had made to her - it looked like a wood and steel porcupine, but apparently it was a boat - while Logan cleaned as much of the paint as he could out of Ava's hair.

They entered the dining hall late, probably the last to arrive, which had been Logan's plan. Most eyes looked up to see who it was coming in before turning back to their meals, until Logan called out and drew everyone's attention.

"Everyone listen up," Logan said, in what Rogue had once jokingly called his grumpy drill sergeant tone, "There's some rumours going around and I'm going to put some of those to bed now. Rumour one, Rogue and I are engaged, that is true, rumour two, Rogue and I have set a wedding date, that's also true, May fourteenth. Any questions?"

"Did you knock her up?" some cheeky little shit from down the back of the room yelled, causing Rogue, and several others to snigger.

"Nope, but I'll work on that after the wedding," Logan replied with a grin. Rogue rolled her eyes with a smile and moved off with the kids to get them some food, Logan joined them a minute later when there were no further questions.

As they sat down at the table with the rest of the teaching staff, the only spare seats in the room, Ororo said with a grin, "I hadn't heard any rumours about a wedding date?"

"Your gossip sources must be out of date Ro," Logan replied amused, even though he knew, if anyone had started a rumour it was either Scott, or whoever Rogue had told, assuming she had told anyone at all; they'd only set the date last night.

"Mommy, can I be the flowers girl?" Ava asked Rogue between mouthfuls.

Rogue was momentarily distracted by James who was trying eat a piece of steak whole. "Logan can you help the carnivore with his meat; of course you can be my flower girl sweetie."

"Do I have to wear a dress?" Ava asked.

"If you want to be a flower girl, yes," Rogue replied, ignoring Ava's rolled eyes as she sighed an okay. Now that she was getting more comfortable at the mansion she was showing off her attitude a little more, it was cute, for now.

"Have you settled any details other than date?" Jean asked, from the look on Scott's face Rogue knew he was ready to hear a whole spiel from Jean later. From what she'd heard among the gossip groups since she had arrived at the school, the couple had been engaged for almost four years with no wedding date ever having been set.

"No, no other details, we are in disagreement over the style of the ceremony," Rogue replied, ignoring Logan rolling his eyes; and he wondered where Ava's attitude came from, it was genetic she was sure.

"Really?! I'd have sworn Logan would have rolled over and given you anything you wanted," Ororo replied with a chuckle, snorting into her drink in amusement when Logan glared and growled in her direction.

Rogue laughed. "Apparently just stopping by the courthouse and signing paperwork isn't acceptable according to Logan," she replied with a shrug.

"Damn right girl!" Sarah chuckled, "Also, you don't argue with a man when he says something like that."

"I can if I want to, it just seems like a waste of money to me, and time, and stress, just sign the papers and be done with it!” Rogue really wasn't interested in anything big or flashy, never had been even when her mother had gushed about big flashy southern weddings; they were so boring!

"I'm not caving darlin, we're going the whole way - dress, flowers everything, you pick the details or I will," Logan replied, he was not going to argue on this point, he wanted her to look back on the day long into the future and remember it fondly.

"You have good taste, I can live with that," Rogue retorted with a giggle, heck the ring, the restaurant, the flowers on their date... yeah, she could definitely live with whatever Logan picked.

"It's alright Logan, we'll get her on the same page in no time, just give me a budget and consider it done," Jubilee announced from the next table with a grin.

Excited wedding chatter continued for most of the meal, Rogue quickly realizing she was definitely in the minority with her opinion, literally the only person opposed to a normal ceremony. Even the Professor made his opinion clear, by offering to host the ceremony and reception at the school. The subject didn't change until Rogue begged that if she agreed to have a full ceremony would everyone just stop talking about it, they agreed but Logan spent the rest of the meal looking smug at having won that argument.
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