"Mommy?" a confused voice called out rousing Marie. She cracked open one eye, closing it again quickly as she rolled away from the bright sunlight filtering through the window.
"I'm here Lucy," she called back, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she stretched.
"Mommy, where are we?" Lucy asked suddenly, from the general vicinity of her right elbow.
Marie's eyes flew open, the events of the night before flooding back to her. Her eyes flew open as she reached for Logan, her hand connecting with an empty warm spot on the bed beside her. She was sitting bolt upright in the bed before her brain had time to realise the sheets were still warm, he hadn't gone far. She spotted him immediately, standing in the bathroom doorway, glorious bare chest exposed, jeans fitting snugly around his hips; he looked good enough to eat, and he was hers again.
"Lucy, I have a surprise for you," Marie said softly, a smile creeping across her face, turning to the little girl regarding her curiously. From where Lucy was standing Logan was directly behind her, she hadn't seen him yet. "Turn around," she prompted, watching as Lucy's brow scrunched in deeper confusion before she turned.
"Daddy?" Lucy breathed, from where she stood rooted to the spot. Logan watched as her shock slowly melted to delight. "Daddy!" she squealed, running across the room to where he could scoop her up so she could wrap herself around him, making a sound somewhere between a laugh and sob. "I knew it wasn't a dream!" she declared a moment later, pulling far enough away to look at him, a broad smile still lighting up her face.
"It wasn't a dream cutie pie, I'm here, I'm home, and I'm never leaving you again," Logan reassured her, before she threw her arms around his neck again and the pair hugged each other tightly again.
"You promise daddy?" Lucy murmured into his neck.
"I promise Lucy," Logan replied, smiling as he placed a kiss on her temple.
"Wha’ happenen?" a sleepy voice asked, as Levi stumbled into the room, rubbing at his mostly closed eyes. He stopped when he saw Logan and Lucy hugging. "D-daddy?" he asked uncertainly, looking from Logan to Marie, and back again.
"Yeah sweetie, it's daddy, he's home now," Marie said, watching as the little boy stood uncertainly in the doorway.
Logan gently set Lucy down on the floor as he crouched down to the little boys’ level. "Hey Levi, I'm sorry you haven't gotten to meet me before, you want a hug?" he asked gently, waiting for the little boy to approach.
"Come on Levi, daddy gives the best hugs, even better than mommy's but don't tell her I said that," Lucy said, as she ran across the room to her brother, whispering the last part in his ear.
Levi giggled, before he shyly took a step toward Logan, Lucy grabbed his hand and tugged him forward as his apprehension melted away and he ran across the room, launching himself at Logan hard enough to knock him off his feet. As the pair rolled to the floor, both laughing, the little boy wrapped himself around Logan, just like Lucy had done, well, as best as he could with his shorter arms and legs.
"I love you daddy," the little boy declared, from where his face was muffled in Logan's neck.
"I love you too little buddy, more than you will ever know," he told him. They lay on the floor, just the two of them, until Lucy crawled into their hug too.
"Mommy, you too," Levi called, waving Marie over to them.
Marie chuckled. "As comfortable as the floor looks, the bed looks more so, why don't you all come up here," she suggested.
"That sounds like a fantastic idea," Logan declared, rolling himself to his feet, with a child in each arm. Levi ended up sitting on his hip, his chubby arms still wrapped around Logan's neck. Lucy on the other hand ended up upside down, giggling so hard she could barely get out the words for daddy to put her down. Sliding her down gently, until her hands touched the ground, Logan caught her by one ankle and tossed her onto the bed, before diving on after her. It was another hour of cuddles before the first tummy rumbled, requesting breakfast.
--
"Hey Marie, we have small problem," Logan called into the bedroom, where Marie was getting dressed. He still had Levi, riding on his hip, the little boy had refused to relinquish his grip so far. Lucy was sitting at the table, watching him closely.
"What?" Marie asked, stepping out of the bedroom, tugging a jersey over her head. Logan just took a moment to watch her, a loving smile on his lips before he replied.
"This place didn't come with breakfast, should we go out to eat?" he asked the kids as much as Marie.
"No, I'll go get some food, there should be something close by, you stay with these two cuddle monsters," Marie replied, grabbing the keys for the car before she kissed him deeply, giving Levi and Lucy both a parting kiss as she headed out. Bringing back some food would be faster than trying to get the kids dressed, and pry Levi off Logan.
"Alright then, should we get dressed while mommy's getting breakfast?" Logan asked his charges.
--
Two hours later breakfast was eaten, dishes were washed, and the family was parked on the floor in front of the crackling fire as Logan got a start on catching up missed bedtime stories. He remembered this particular book from when he used to read it to Lucy, a long, long time ago.
Marie regarded the group, happy but with an undercurrent of sadness. Lucy had had that book read to her twice since Logan disappeared, once by her, and once by Victor, after that she refused to let it be read again, declaring no one did the voices right so it would have to wait for daddy. Lucy wouldn't even stay in the room when that particular book was being read to Levi. Marie was glad she had grabbed that book when she had seen it in Levi's room.
"Oh my gosh!" Marie suddenly exclaimed, jumping up and rushing for her bag.
"What's wrong?" Logan asked curiously, when she didn't immediately fill the rest of them in on the reason for her sudden flurry of movement.
"I can't believe I forgot, I've been sitting here enjoying having you back," she said, pausing in her frantic search of her bag to wipe tears from her eyes. "Dad's still out there somewhere, looking for you, I need to call him." Her fingers finally brushed against her phone, clutching it tightly to draw it out. She turned it on, hoping it had plenty of battery, it should, she usually had it turned off while she was at the mansion, anyone who needed her could either walk up the stairs and find her or ring her extension.
As the phone started up, her notifications showed fifteen missed calls, quickly scrolling through them she noted all were from the generic school number, Jubilee, or her Uncle's direct dial. Ignoring those with a scowl she opened her contacts and hit the shortcut to dial Victor. The line rang and rang, as Logan continued to read to the kids. Giving up on the call, Marie sent a text instead. 'Call me. Urgent! :)' she typed, hoping her little smiley would mean he wouldn't worry about her use of the word 'urgent'.
Less than a minute later her phone rang, caller ID telling her it was Victor, she hit the answer button but before she could even say hello Victor was already speaking.
"Marie, where are you?" he demanded.
"Let me guess, Uncle Charles finally called you?" she asked, mildly irritated. "What story did he give you?" she asked, after he confirmed that was who he had been speaking to when she rang.
"He said they found Logan but he wasn't, alright, he hinted he was feral, escaped the labs quarantine, and they believe he kidnapped you and the kids," Victor filled her in.
She knew Logan could still hear her from where she had moved, outside onto the cabin’s porch, but the kids wouldn't be able to hear her, she didn't want to worry them about the adult issues that had arisen. "Did he by chance happen to mention when they found Logan, specifically the fact they found him two months ago and didn't tell either of us they had him!" Marie told him.
"What!?" Victor queried incredulously, "You're fucking kidding me!" he fumed.
"Logan said at first, when they rescued him from the lab, everything was familiar but he couldn't remember how or why, when he started to get comfortable, he asked questions, specifically he asked for me, he overheard Hank telling Charles they needed to reunite us. Charles instead tried to talk me into leaving the school, move to the new school in Arizona. Logan by that point had realised everything wasn't as it seemed, escaped the quarantine and overheard Charles's plan, he hid out until night and came to find me, we're currently at a campground in the Adirondacks," Marie informed him.
"And you and the kids are okay?" Victor asked gently, seeking her assurance.
"We are so far past okay," Marie replied, tearing up as she smiled back at Logan through the window of the cabin. He winked at her as he continued to entertain the children on his knee and at his side, blowing her a kiss as he paused to turn a page. "God it's so good to have him back, Lucy was so ecstatic, once she believed her eyes at least, and Levi, he took a bit of prompting initially but he hasn't let go of Logan ever since that first hug, even sat in his lap to eat his breakfast, I'm gonna have to pry him off with a crowbar at some point so I can have my own cuddles," she giggled happily.
Victor chuckled in response, though she could hear his own emotion welling up as he asked what campground they were at. Hurriedly she gave him the name and address, and the cabin number they were in.
"Alright, Xavier's asked me to track you and the kids down and see you 'safely' back to the school, I take it you're not going anywhere without Logan, and he has no intention of going back to the school?" Victor filled her in and queried.
"That's a hard yes to the first one, and a not yet to the second, he want's answers first, at the very least, as to why Charles tried to keep us all apart and didn't tell him what he knew about him when his own memory was fuzzy," Marie replied.
"Agreed, I won't tell Charles I've found you then, leave him to sweat it out, for a few days at least," Victor replied, with a dark growl. "I'll be there in about four hours," he added.
"We'll see you then," Marie answered, it would be good to see him again, especially so under the circumstances.
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