Five days later, the first Saturday, Logan brought Emily to the mansion to see Marie. He was surprised when Marie almost immediately suggested Emily go play with her friends for a while.
"I know you came to see me baby but mommy and daddy need to talk real quick first, okay? I'll see you again real soon, sweetie," Marie commented, giving her a quick kiss, before the little girl disappeared with a smile. Emily seemed very happy with the idea her mommy and daddy were finally going to talk.
"Please Logan, it's important," Marie said, when she saw he was about to object.
As per usual since he had first laid eyes on her, he was powerless to resist her request, and with a grudging nod, he followed her to the Professor's office. He was surprised on entering to find everyone, all their pseudo-family, gathered.
"I thought *we* had to talk?" he asked gruffly.
"We do, but everyone needs to know this," Marie replied, taking a seat, gesturing for Logan to take the other even though she knew he wouldn't. "I'll just come straight out and say this, I know you won't believe me but... this is your baby," Marie stated bluntly, resting her hand on her belly.
"You're right, I don't believe you," Logan replied emotionlessly, after he gave her a brief once over.
Marie nodded sadly, before nodding to Jean who stood, a slip of paper in hand and handed it to Logan.
He took the paper and glanced over it, his eyes catching on the sentence that read, in bold black letters, 'Probability of paternal parentage of Donor A: 99.9%'. Glancing back at Jean for confirmation, he saw her nod.
"It's true Logan, you are the father, I oversaw the DNA test myself," she said softly.
In silence Logan finally took the prior offered seat, studying the paper some more as the information sunk in. Eventually his head came to rest in his hands as he finally began to accept the news, tears burning hotly in his eyes, though he refused to let them fall. "Is this why you left?" he asked, without looking up.
"No," Marie replied immediately, "No, I didn't even find out I was pregnant for a few weeks after."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Logan demanded, finally looking up at her so she could see the pain in his eyes, hiding behind the swirling cover of anger.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me; I didn't know you could do DNA tests before a baby was born, I thought I'd have to wait until he was here... I knew you wouldn't believe me without proof," Marie admitted, catching the softening in his eyes as he accepted the truth of her response.
"I'm going to have a son?" Logan whispered softly a moment later, staring back down at the paper. "I don't know what to think right now," he honestly responded.
"I know," Marie replied, just the hint of a smile turning up her lips, "That's why I wanted to tell you now, Emily will be fine here, you... you go and do whatever you need to do to digest this information," she replied, offering him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. He didn't respond but to nod mutely, and Marie opted to take that as her cue to leave, leaving him with the rest of their family. He would likely ask more questions, Jean and the Professor had her leave to answer any and all questions he might have, and the others would help him adjust to the new reality.
--
Logan listened to Marie's footsteps fade away as his mind whirled with thoughts and questions. The deep-seated anger he had been suppressing, since he had first seen Marie's swollen abdomen, had promptly fizzled out as soon as he had seen the DNA results, the only problem now was that he now didn't know what to feel. He knew what he was thinking though.
"Has she told you she's using?" Logan asked, directing the question to Jean, who confirmed with a nod. "And the baby?"
"Physically he appears to be fine, there's no sign of obvious external deformity, or cleft palate malformation, she's been clean for two weeks now, and yes, I am doing random tests to be sure she's not sneaking anything, hopefully she's detoxing early enough so baby isn't born in withdrawal, as for neurological problems... we won't know until he's born," Jean advised.
"What- what is she planning on doing with the baby?" he asked softly.
"She wants to discuss that with you directly before making any decisions," Jean advised.
Logan went quiet for a moment, considering his next question, his attention was distracted momentarily when Jean handed him a photo of the baby, from the scan she had done the week before.
"Does anyone know yet why she left?" he eventually asked.
"I believe it may not have been entirely Rogue's decision to leave you," Charles responded, catching Logan's surprised reaction. "I have been counselling Rogue, and before you ask, yes, she has given me permission to share anything I feel is pertinent with you all, though I have explained to her the necessity for her to open up to people on her own also, just please keep in mind, she is in a very fragile state right now so if she does open up to you, be supportive, she is being honest about having made mistakes, compounding those mistakes would not be helpful," Charles warned.
"What do you mean not her decision?" Logan pressed.
"It seems Rogue's battle with control may have stirred up remnants of previous absorptions, she mentioned headaches, and feeling mentally 'fuzzy', doing things she didn't really remember during these times, when she left you was one of these occasions, there was a desire, in her mind, to 'run' but she couldn't determine where it came from... I have given this further thought and I am wondering if early hormonal changes, relating to Rogue's pregnancy, may have contributed to her instability," Charles advised.
"So, the voices in her head made her do drugs and drink herself into oblivion?" Logan asked, somewhat sceptically.
"No," Jean admitted, "That was a coping mechanism, the drugs started with prescribed benzos, for depression, when she found out she was pregnant, at first she thought in one of her 'fuzzy phases' she had slept with someone, that's when she started drinking, and progressed into street drugs, when she found out her dates, realised it was your baby... she was just feeling lost and didn't know how to get back. She thanks you for 'kicking her in the ass', she's trying to come back Logan, for you, for Emily, for this new baby--"
"Daniel," Logan interrupted, his lip quirking minutely, "She wanted to call a boy Daniel," he clarified. "Is there anything else I need to know?" he queried suddenly.
"Not right now," Charles replied, sensing the desire to escape that was growing in Logan.
"Can I leave Emily here for the day? I'll pick her up before bedtime," he assured them.
"Of course, if you need anything else, anything at all, let us know," Charles responded, even as Logan was already on his way out of the room.
"... Is he alright?" Jubilee asked softly, once Logan was gone.
"I think they'll both be fine, it may take time but they will be fine," Charles said. Logan and Rogue both loved each other too much to let this stand between them forever.
--
Logan wandered into the overly noisy cafeteria, this was one of the reasons he and Marie had originally left the mansion and bought their own place. How teenagers managed to make so much noise, while eating, he had never been able to figure out.
It didn't take long for him to spot Emily, sitting next to Marie, almost sitting on her knee as she ate her dinner. The seat next to the little girl was empty, so he moved to claim it.
"Hey daddy, where'd you go?" Emily asked, cheerily.
"Just out for a while squirt, you have fun today?" he replied, as he pulled food onto his plate.
"Uh huh, me and mommy went swimming, and for a walk in the forest, and we had a picnic for lunch, and then we played hide and seek, and I won, Nicky said I cheated cause I hid in a tree but it's not my fault he didn't look up," Emily chattered away happily, though the last comment was made with a slightly evil looking grin, and promptly drew a grumpy shout from across the table.
"That's my girl," Logan commented with a chuckle, even as Emily just smiled sweetly across the table at her friend.
By the time dinner was over Emily, Nicholas, and Oliver had again forgotten their squabble, and begged to be allowed to watch a movie before bed.
"Hey Marie, can we talk?" Logan asked quietly, as they stood in the doorway of the teachers’ lounge, watching the kids throw popcorn at each other as their movie got going. With a nod, she followed him outside, where they could get a bit more privacy.
"So... you okay?" Marie asked, as Logan helped her sit down on a bench in the rose garden.
"It was a shock, I didn't expect that but I'm goo- I've accepted it, I'm a little disappointed to have missed so much but nothing that can be done about that now, where do we go from here is the question," Logan replied, sitting down opposite her, for the first time in a long time actually stopping to look her in the eye.
"As much as I love my babies, I'm not in the right head space to be full time mommy to a new-born right now, everyone here has offered to help out with care but... I would prefer if he was with you and Emmy, if he can't have his mommy, I'd want him to have his daddy... if you think you can handle that?" Marie suggested, even as her eyes flooded with tears.
Logan avoided looking at her, even as he nodded his agreement. "That sounds like a plan, I can bring him to visit you every day too, while Emmy's at school would be the easiest... if you're having any more check-ups and stuff, I'd like to be there," he indirectly asked.
"Sure, I don't think Jean's planning any more check-ups though, and I'll make sure someone lets you know when he decides to make his grand entrance, I'd really like for you to be there," Marie replied.
"I'd like that too, I'll do my best to be there," Logan promised. "So, when is little Danny due?" he asked, flashing her a smile when she looked up at him in surprise.
"You remembered?" she commented, clearly referring to the name she had suggested last time she was pregnant, in case Emily had turned out to be a boy. "July fourteenth is his due date, Jean's hoping he goes a little over, he's a little on the small side... that's my fault unfortunately, I should have been taking better care of us, I'm sorry," she murmured, refusing to meet his eye.
With a sigh he replied, "What's done is done Marie, no point beating yourself up about it now, and I... I didn't really help I suppose, but you're doing the right thing now, that's what counts."
They chatted a bit more about the baby, until Logan figured the kids movie should be about finished and he excused himself to collect Emily.
"Logan..." Marie called out, almost shyly, waiting until he turned back to her before she barely whispered, "I wasn't with anyone else, I just wanted you to know, I- I just need you to know..."
With a nod to let her know he heard her, which she probably didn't even see as she wasn't looking at him, he turned again and continued on his way.
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