"Hey kid, you miss me?" Logan asked cockily, as Marie continued her headlong dash down the stairs and threw her arms around him.
"Mm, nah!" she replied sarcastically, her face buried against his chest as her arms tried to squeeze the life out of him.
He wrapped his own arms around her, he had missed the feel of her there, and he hugged her back tightly. She had put on some weight since he had seen her last he was pleased to note, she had been a picky eater since he picked her up and he had always been just a little worried about her light weight, especially so when he held her tiny, limp body on top of the statue. He had had nightmares about that moment for weeks afterwards, and had to stop himself several times from packing up and legging it back to New York to make sure she was alive and well. The phone, and being able to talk to her, had helped him beat that urge to a degree.
He felt her shift then, pressing closer to him, and then suddenly jerk back, a guarded expression on her face. Before he could say anything, several people joined them in the foyer. Ignoring them, Logan made a suggestion to Marie.
"What's say me and you go get some lunch and catch up," he asked with a grin.
"That would be great, I'll just go change," Marie replied, giving him another quick squeeze before shooting up the stairs she had only just a minute before come down, and before he could voice his opinion that she was fine and didn’t need to change.
As soon as she was out of earshot his welcoming committee approached.
"Logan, it's so good to see you," Jean spoke first, as she stepped forward to hug him. She had always been hands-on with him but that didn't mean he had to like it, he gave the briefest hug in return and avoided her attempt to peck him on the cheek.
"Good to be back," he replied, no point being rude with any attempt to make clear he hadn't returned for any of them.
"Will you be staying long?" Ororo asked serenely, as she greeted him.
"Don't know yet," he replied honestly, he would have to talk to Marie first before making any decisions.
"I do hope you will," Ororo continued, "Rogue has been quite distant and unhappy the last few months, she perked up considerably when she saw you coming up the drive, I'm sure she would love to have you around also."
Logan genuinely smiled at her comment, it turned into an amused chuckle when he caught the dark look Scott directed toward Ororo. "I'll make sure to ask her while we're out," Logan commented. “What's curfew at this place? I don't know how long we'll be," he asked, just to see if he could rile Scott a little more.
"Eight," Scott replied immediately. Logan instantly picked up the lie but before he could call him on it, Charles entered the foyer and spoke.
"Curfew is ten on school nights for the seniors, as today is a Friday ordinarily Rogue may stay out a bit later, though as it is her birthday, Logan, I would ask that you have her back by seven, some of her friends have organised a surprise party for her this evening," he stated with a welcoming smile.
"Will do Chuck," Logan replied, he hadn't planned to have Marie out that late anyway, he only needed long enough to get answers out of her as to why she had been keeping secrets from him while he had been away.
Marie clattered back down the stairs then at breakneck speed. "Come on, let's go," she said mock impatiently, she was beaming and seemed about to burst with joy.
"See you later," Logan threw over his shoulder, as he guided Marie out the door he had not long entered. He had brought his pack in with him but it could go back into the truck for now, he wasn't going to waste time taking it up to his room now.
"So darlin, where we heading?" he asked, as he started the shiny new pick-up truck that Marie didn't know yet was hers.
"Yukon," she replied cheekily.
"I know it's your birthday and all but I think that's a bit far to go for lunch," Logan chuckled back.
Marie mock pouted before giving him a name, and directions to a place in town, and they set off. It wasn't long before he noticed nervousness begin to creep into her scent. Watching her out of the corner of his eye he noted the furrow in her brow, and the teeth worrying her lip. He pulled the truck swiftly into a parking lot at the edge of a manicured park and stopped.
"Come on Marie, out with it," he stated gently.
She turned to him, opening her mouth to speak before snapping it shut again. She popped open her door and motioned for him to follow her, before making her way over to a picnic table tucked out of the way under a tree. He followed along and as she pulled herself up to sit on the table top, he moved to stand in front of her, his hands resting on her thighs.
After a moment she looked him dead in the eye and softly, and uncertainly, stated, "I'm pregnant."
"I figured as much from the bump," Logan replied, confirming he had indeed felt the swell hidden under her oversize jumper when she had hugged him in the foyer. "It's mine?"
"Of course!" Marie answered immediately, sounding only a few degrees below angry scorn, "Could only be yours."
Logan was conflicted, on the one hand he was ecstatic, she was having his baby, on the other, she was still so young. This definitely hadn't been intentional, though thinking back on their interactions they hadn't really done anything to prevent it. There was also the nagging fear that maybe she didn't want the baby, why else would she not tell him, she must have known she was pregnant for at least a few months.
Trying to assuage his fears he asked next, "So, why didn't you tell me?"
When she looked up at him again, she had tears in her eyes. "I just... I didn't... you sounded so lonely every time you called, I knew you didn't want to come back until the legal stuff was, right, and I was worried that if I told you you'd either want to come here immediately, or it would make you feel even worse about having to stay away, and-" she dipped her head- "a tiny part of me was scared that if I told you, you might change your mind and not come back,” she finished in a rushed whisper.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Darlin I would never leave you, especially not over a baby, shit kid, babies are amazing, fantastic, you're having my kid darlin, our kid! I'll admit I'm a little worried about this being pretty quick off the mark but we can handle it. And you're right, it would have been hell staying away and knowing, I'll make it up to you now though." He planted a kiss on her forehead as she smiled happily, a few tears still managing to leak past her lashes.
"So, does anyone else know? Do you know what it is? How have you been, any morning sickness? Come on, give me some details," he added, after a few moments just holding her.
Marie laughed at his eagerness. "No one else knows, I wanted you to be the first to know, I think Scott might be suspecting though. So that means I don't know what it is, I considered finding a doctor away from the school but that would have drawn suspicion sneaking out alone for appointments and I wanted you to be there for that. Morning sickness wasn't bad, I managed to pass it off as a mild stomach bug, I thought someone was going to catch on when I started chowing down on crackers and ginger tea but no one seemed to notice."
"You must be about five, and a bit, months along now," he said, resting his hand against the swell of her abdomen, hidden from view under her baggy clothes.
"Twenty to twenty-two weeks, or thereabouts," Marie confirmed. Just then she felt a gentle roll of movement inside her. "Did you feel that!?" she asked, excitedly, as the baby kicked again.
"I did," Logan replied in awe, pressing his hand tighter against her stomach. "Hey, little one, go easy on your mama," he said with a chuckle a moment later, after a particularly large movement.
After a few minutes the baby seemed to get comfortable and the movement stopped, Logan slid his hand from her stomach around her waist and pulled her close. With a soft kiss, he lifted her off the table, and gently set her down on her feet. "Come on mama, let's go get you fed," he said, taking her hand and leading her back to the truck, a satisfied grin plastered on his face.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for missing yesterday's upload, I had to make a 9 hour round trip to pick up my new kitten and, yes, I forgot... I offer kitten kisses by way of apology :)