That week was a hard week but she forced herself through it, she went shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables, drank lots of water, and carried the photo of her family around constantly with the never-ending reminder to herself, 'I'm doing this for us'. Two days before Emily's birthday party, on the day of her actual birthday, Logan texted Marie, asking if she was coming to the party, and if she was, did she want him to tell Emily about her being pregnant or would she do that herself. A text seemed too impersonal a response so she sucked up her nerves and phoned him.

"You want to talk to Em?" Logan asked immediately on answering the phone. He didn't even bother with a hello, and sounded almost angry, maybe he was assuming she rang to let the little girl down and say she wasn't coming. She couldn't blame him; it wouldn't be the first time she had let Emily down lately.

"Um, yeah, I- I would like that," Marie replied, she had rung to speak to him but the idea of hearing her daughter's voice again, for the first time in months, was even more appealing right at the moment.

She heard Logan call for the girl, followed by the heavy patter of socked feet, before a breathlessly excited voice broke the line.

"Mommy!?" Emily almost squealed.

"Yeah, it's me sweetheart, happy birthday my big girl, how have you been?" she asked, smiling wistfully as she listened for her answer.

"I'm good, daddy made me pancakes for breakfast, with blueberries, just like you used to make, and we're going to the zoo today, to see Valentine, and I want to see the lynx too, and..." Emily paused, as if she wanted to say more but wasn't sure if she should.

"And what baby girl?" Marie prompted.

"I- I wish I could see you too, mommy," Emily whispered, catching Marie off guard; she had to clear her throat before she could reply.

"I'll see what I can do sweetheart, if I can't make it today, I'll see you at your party at least," Marie replied, holding back the tears that were again threatening to fall.

"Really!?" Emily responded, then squealed happily, "Daddy, daddy, mommy said she's coming to my party!"

Marie heard Logan murmur a response to her, before Emily turned her attention back to her call and began to chatter away animatedly. After about half an hour Logan interrupted, reminding Emily that if they were going out she needed to go and get ready, leading to Emily reluctantly bidding goodbye.

"You go get ready sweetheart, and can you give the phone back to daddy and tell him I need to talk to him, pretty please?" Marie asked, hearing Emily's slight pause before she agreed.

"Mommy wants to talk to you, daddy," she heard Emily say, sounding confused.

"Thanks squirt, off you go now," Logan commented, before she heard the phone get picked up from where Emily had, by the sound of it, set it down on the kitchen counter. Marie held her breath, as she prayed Logan wouldn't just hang up on her, letting out a silent, relieved sigh when she heard his voice filter over the line. "You better not let her down Marie, you've promised to be there, you had better be," he spoke, gruffly but still with the hint of gentleness he had always used when speaking to her.

"I'll be there Logan, um, also, she asked if- if she could see me, today, would it be alright with you if I met you guys at the zoo for a while?" Marie asked hesitantly.

"... Sure," Logan responded, sounding just as hesitant.

"Thank you, and um, I've kinda been out of the loop for a bit, what- is there anything she's been asking about for her birthday? I'm a little stumped on what to get her," Marie added.

"You don't have to worry about a present, I told her the one I gave her this morning was from both of us..." Logan began, before Marie interrupted.

"I'm grateful for that, I really am but... I owe it to her, I owe her something to make up for what a shitty mother I've been the last few months," Marie insisted firmly.

"Honestly, just you showing up will mean the world to her," Logan replied softly, "But if you insist, she's had her eye on one of those American Girl Dolls... give me a sec, the catalogue's around here somewhere... the one she wants is... Blaire - still don't get why the hell they name dolls - it's got curly red hair and green eyes. I told her maybe for Christmas but if you want to do it for her birthday I don't have a problem with that, and if you need some money I'm happy to pitch in," Logan offered.

"No, no, money's fine, just don't know if I could get it here in time, if I get it overnighted through Amazon... thanks Logan, I appreciate it, I'll see you later today," Marie replied, smiling despite herself, that conversation hadn't been too hard.

"Wait," Logan called, as she began to hang up, "The baby, did you want me to tell her or..."

"No, you've handled the big stuff alone for long enough, I'll tell her, when I see her today," Marie promised.

"Alright, where should we meet you?" Logan asked, apparently hopefully optimistic that she would indeed turn up.

"I'll meet you at the wolverine exhibit," Marie answered.

"Okay, she usually likes to go there first..." Logan reminded her.

"I know, I remember, I'll see you there," Marie signed off, smiling happily as she finally hung the phone up.

--

"Okay, where should we go first, how about the otters?" Logan asked, continuing at Emmy's emphatic 'no'. "The eagles?... farmyard? ... Ooh, I know, the butterflies!" Logan suggested, setting off toward the bug area, Emily riding on his shoulders.

"No daddy!" she giggled, grabbing hold of his hair and forcefully turning his head toward where she knew the wolverine lived. "Valentine!" the bossy little now five-year-old declared.

"Ow, you know you don't have to yank so hard," Logan chuckled up at her, as he turned toward the exhibit.

"Serves you right for teasing," Emily replied matter of factly.

"Yes boss," Logan grumbled good naturedly.

They were still several yards from the wolverine pen when Emily suddenly tensed. "Mommy!" she squealed, accidentally yanking hair again, and kicking Logan in the ribs as she tried to jump up and down in her excitement. Hurriedly Logan lifted her off his shoulders and set her on her feet, she was running before her feet touched the ground, throwing her arms around Marie, who knelt down to hug her in return.

"Mommy you came, you really came!" Emily declared happily, kissing her happily.

"I did sweetheart, happy birthday my little angel, my super special big girl, I love you so much," Marie was replying, hugging and kissing the little girl back with as much enthusiasm.

"Mommy, where have you been?" Emily asked suddenly.

"Well, mommy hasn't been very well, I had to go away for a while, and..." Marie really didn't know how to explain, not in a way a five-year-old would understand at least.

"Daddy said you had to fight the people in your head, the ones who touch your skin," Emily whispered sadly.

"Um, yeah, in a way," Marie answered.

"Are you finished fighting them now? Can you come home now?" Emily asked, her big brown eyes pulling the world's most epic puppy-dog look.

Marie caught sight of Logan, standing a way off, letting them have their reunion. Though she knew he could hear every word that was being spoken, the expression on his face was unreadable. "Not yet sweetheart, but I promise I'll be around more now, I'll see you much more often, would you like that?" she asked.

"Every week?" Emily queried hopefully.

"As much as I can... I have a surprise for you too," Marie told her, watching Emily's eyes light up before she moved her hands to her stomach and stretched her loose flowy top tight over her stomach. "Do you know what's in here?" Marie asked, watching as her daughter screwed up her nose in a frown.

"Too much chocolate?" Emily asked, looking even more confused when Marie giggled, and Logan threw in a chuckle.

"Well, I won't lie, there's some chocolate in there too, but there's a baby in my tummy, here feel this-" Marie placed the girls hand against her belly- "That's him moving, you're going to be a big sister and have your very own little brother," Marie told her softly, ignoring the tiny rumble of a growl from Logan, who turned and walked further away.

"... How did the baby get in there?" Emily queried, still confused.

"Well, every mommy has tiny little eggs inside her-" Marie began.

"Like hummingbird eggs?" Emily asked.

"Even smaller," Marie replied. "And every now and then, one of those eggs grows, and a baby hatches out of it."

"Inside your tummy? Where does the shell go?" Emily queried again, visibly trying to wrap her mind around the concept.

Marie spent a few more minutes explaining to Emily, trying to hide her disappointment when Em turned to Logan to ask him if what she said was true; though really, what reason had she given Em to trust her, or her word. Thankfully Logan backed her up.

"So, when does the baby come out?" Emily asked a short time later, after they had moved away from the wolverine pen once Emily had spotted the elusive animal.

"Well babies grow inside mommies for nine months, your little brother's almost done cooking though, he should be coming out to say hi in about a month and a half," Marie replied, wondering if Logan would work out the dates. Would he realise it was his child, or would he think she had been cheating on him... Either way, he was still giving no reaction to her words, though Emily didn't seem to notice he hadn't spoken two words to Marie since he laid eyes on her.

The afternoon went well, they stopped for a snack by the duck pond, and then Marie announced she needed to go. The baby growing inside her made her tired, she explained to Emily, before wishing her happy birthday again, and reassuring her she would definitely see her again at her party on the weekend. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around Logan and hang onto him for dear life, while spewing endless apologies for her shitty behaviour but... the way he was looking at her told her, that might not be the best idea.

"Goodbye Logan," she murmured instead, smiling at him softly, though it couldn't mask the sadness in her eyes.

"Bye Marie," he replied, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder, where she stood beside him waving to Marie, who waved back before disappearing into the crowd.
Chapter End Notes:
Fun fact! I wanted to include this detail because it was cute and because I'm a bit of a nerd... For anyone who doesn't already know, Valentine is a real Wolverine, one of only a very select few kept in zoos in North America. She lives at Zoo New York in Watertown, NY... you know, in case anyone wants to go see her. Also, she is 15 years old as of Valentine's Day 2022.
You must login (register) to review.