The snow that had fallen sometime during the night had turned the mansion grounds white, giving them a clean, innocent look perfect for the day. The early morning sun glinted off the white powder, chasing the ice crystals across the lawn and up the walls of the mansion, teasing and taunting the inhabitants to wake up.
With a muted groan, Rogue glared at the beside clock that read eight am. She could clearly hear Jubilee and Kitty giggling as they got dressed and swore that mornings were for weird, deranged people.
“Come on Rogue!” Jubilee’s excited voice had Rogue moaning and burrowing deeper into her blankets, the clink of metal on metal echoing in her ears as the tags she wore shifted against her skin under her pajamas, exhaustion clung to her after being up all night talking to Logan or rather the Logan in her mind.
“Yeah Rogue, its like Christmas morning come on. Get up!” Kitty joined Jubilee at Rogue’s bedside and smirked at her friend. This was something they both knew would be a chore, getting Rogue outta bed in the morning since the other girl was definitely not a morning person. In fact Rogue was apt to spend the morning in bed and get up sometime around twelve if left to her own devices.
“Go ahead, I’m sure you’ll have fun,” Rogue yawned and rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head to block out the sunlight before closing her eyes and snugging back into the warmth of her bed.
“Uh huh you gotta come to. They won’t open gifts without you there,” Jubilee declared as she grabbed the blankets, jerking them off Rogue with a snap of her wrist and tossing them aside. Jubilee barely had time to realize that Rogue was dressed in a pair of men’s boxers, and an oversized t-shirt before Kitty was jerking her back from the bed.
“Come on,” Kitty laughed at the dark glare from Rogue. “You know you wanna find out what Santa brought you.”
“Not at the moment,” Rogue muttered reaching for her housecoat and slippers. The housecoat had appeared a week after Logan had left, folded neatly on her bed in a familiar color - dark forest green- and the slippers that were more like moccasins that trailed up her legs to mid calf had appeared a week and a half after the housecoat. Grabbing her gloves she followed the others out of the room, knowing they wouldn’t leave her alone to crawl back into bed she trudged along behind them.
It had been four months, six days, and twenty two hours since Logan had left but who was counting and Rogue didn’t really feel all that Christmasy. Matter of fact all she really wanted was Logan back here, wanted to have him around because all these people scared her on a level she didn’t want to think of. The boys flirted with her, the girls invaded her space and none of them were overtly careful cause for her to be concerned.
Stepping into the kitchen she headed for the coffee pot and poured a cup, ignoring everyone in the room as she sipped at the dark brew before making a face and heading for the fridge to pull out the flavored coffee whitener.
Stepping through the doorway with a slight smile on her face Jean noticed Jubilee and Kitty sitting at the island, ingesting bowls of cereal, Rogue stood by the sink staring out the window at the freshly fallen snow with a pensive look on her face. The familiar long green housecoat covered her body and not for the first time Jean wondered where she’d gotten it from.
“Morning,” Jean greeted everyone in the room easily, warmly.
A chorus of mornings greeted her followed by a barely audible grunt from Rogue. “So is everyone ready to open presents?” Jean asked softly eying a yawning Rogue, it was normal for her to be distant and growly in the morning, a side affect of having so much of Logan inside her.
“I guess,” Rogue muttered turning with her coffee cup and heading for the doorway. “Don’t know why we couldn’t do it at a decent hour though. I mean its not even eleven in the morning..”
“Sorry, she’s being a grump this morning. Spent most of last night up pacing I think,” Jubilee whispered to Jean who immediately got a slight frown on her face and concern flooded her eyes.
“Rogue how was your night last night?” Jean asked as the others slipped away.
“Same as every night,” Rogue replied with a tight smile. “Why?”
“How late were you awake?” Jean asked softly, it wasn’t a matter of how late she was up, it had to do with what she was doing.
“I don’t really know . Logan and I were talking,” Rogue declared with a real smile, a light coming into her eyes at the mention of the burly Canadian whom she’d gotten attached to.
With a secretive smile Jean nodded and grabbed her own cup of coffee, the mere fact that Rogue focused on the Logan in her mind was hardly surprising. After all the young woman loved him and Logan - clueless, stubborn Logan refused to face the simple fact that he loved her right back. Instead he was focused on Jean something Jean was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable about not that there was much she could about it when Logan wasn’t around!
Moving with Rogue into the large rec room Jean smiled at the massive spruce tree that was decorated with lights, tinsel, and ornaments that the students had made. Spotting Scott Jean moved over to sit beside him, leaving Rogue to sink to the floor beside Jubilee and Kitty.
“Alright! Everyone ready for this?” Scott asked as he smiled at the group of students that sat gathered in the room. After a chorus of agreements and the arrival of the Professor Scott got down to the business of passing out the massive pile of gifts for everyone.
With a soft sigh, Rogue opened the ones handed to her until she had a small mountain of clothes, gloves, jewelry, and girl stuff that she had no idea how she’d use beside her. Laughing at Kitty when she got a gag gift, Rogue was actually enjoying the festivities even as the last of the gifts were handed out.
Digging through the paper to make sure that something hadn’t been missed Scott frowned slightly as he realized that a small, nicely wrapped package had been pushed to the back of the tree and buried under a ton of wrapping paper. Pulling it out he frowned at it for a few seconds before he searched for the tag.
“Here you go Rogue, it was hid,” Scott said by way of apology handing the package to the young woman with a warm smile.
“Thanks,” Rogue said setting her empty cup aside and digging into the paper even as Jubilee and Kitty leaned toward her.
“Wonder who it’s from,” Kitty whispered softly to Jubilee. She knew exactly how many presents Rogue had cause she’d counted because she didn’t want to get Rogue something little. Besides that, all the gifts from everyone at the mansion had already been given out.
“Maybe it’s from Wolvie,” Jubilee snickered behind her hand as Rogue tossed the wrapping paper aside and began pulling at the tape around the cardboard box.
Lifting the tape up, Rogue swore softly as it began to tear instead of peeling off only to freeze as she realized everyone was staring at her in silence. “Uh..” she could feel the heat of the blush staining her face grow exponentially.
“Come on girl, we’re dying here,” everyone laughed at Storm’s words as they stared at the box.
Turning her attention back to the box, Rogue managed to get the tape off and pulled out some packing foam to reveal a carved obsidian box. Pulling it out she barely heard the gasps from those around her as she ran a hand over it before jerking a glove off and tracing the intricate carving atop the box.
“Whoa that’s so cool!” Jubes whispered reaching over to touch it and getting slapped in the process. “What? I just wanted to know if it’s as smooth as it looks!”
“It is,” Rogue whispered tracing the vines across the top and down the sides.
“Well open it,” Storm encouraged quickly as the girl sat there running a bare hand over the lid a stunned look on her face along with a familiar look in her eyes, one that Storm had seen many times. A look that appeared every time Logan sent a gift.
“Yeah Rogue, you gotta.”
“I don’t think so,” Rogue whispered tightly. It was probably empty, the box itself had to cost plenty..
“Come on open it,” Kitty prodded gently. “You know you want to.”
“I swear you two are going to drive me grey!” Rogue laughed, unconsciously touching her streaks.
“Naw, that’s Wolvie’s job,” Jubilee declared with a wink and a giggle. Being Rogue’s roommate meant that they got a free show when the gruff man came to the forefront of Rogue’s mind and she would sit for hours talking to him. Last night was no different although why Rogue would feel the need to take the conversation into the bathroom was beyond her.
With a laugh Rogue held the box up looking for the latch to open it with and found none. Tilting the box up she smiled at the key taped to the underside of the package with a silver chain. Peeling the tape off carefully she turned the key over and frowned until she caught the slight indent on the front. Unlocking the lid, Rogue lifted it slowly expecting an empty box, or perhaps a postcard or something. Instead she nearly dropped the box when she realized what was sitting nestled in the red velvet interior.
“Oh my God!” Kitty gasped and stared as the lid opened to reveal the interior of the box.
Nestled on a gold stand was a small, delicately painted china doll that spun slowly, twirling as a soft, indistinct but familiar song played. In one of the small indents of the box, surrounded by red velvet was a small jade carving of a wolverine and beside it was a slim silvery chain that ended with a heart shaped diamond pendant set into the elaborately carved letter M. One that was large enough that everyone would notice when she wore it. One that had to have cost a pretty penny as well.
“Wow,” Jubilee glanced at Rogue. “Who sent it do you figure?”
Rogue smiled softly and traced over the designs, picking up the jade and relishing the softness of the stone, “Oh I know. Hey Sugah.”
“Damn here I figured I’d beat it,” Logan’s growl had everyone whipping around to stare at the man lounging in the doorway watching Rogue with a patient, warm smile on his face and his customary jackets half undone.
“I’ll forgive you this time,” Rogue looked at him seriously before grinning and jumping to her feet to run to him. She squeaked as he crushed her to him in a bear hug before depositing her on the floor and leaning back to study her.
“Sorry took so long. Got held up at the border by a snowstorm,” Logan shrugged adjusting his pack carelessly and glanced at the rest of the group. “My room still open?”
“Of course,” Charles said and the other man nodded and turned to leave the room pausing only when Rogue tugged on his hand before she hurried back to grab her new jewelry box and rejoin him leaving the other gifts behind.
“So did you find out whatcha wanted to?” Rogue’s soft question filtered back into the room even as Logan’s low chuckle wrapped around her voice.
“Sorta. I’ll tell y’all about it while I put my shit away. You look great, been eating properly have you? How’s things been going for you?”
“Oh very good. I do have to ask you though about a conversation we had..” Rogue’s voice faded away leaving those in the rec room sitting in stunned silence.
“He came back,” Scott muttered glancing at the Professor uneasily, fear and a tinge of jealousy coloring his vision.
“Of course,” Charles said turning his wheelchair toward the door. “You thought he was going to leave Rogue here?”
“Uh..”
“Sorry, he wasn’t. That was never part of the plan Scott,” Charles said and whirred out the door leaving a stunned silence in the room. “Never part of our deal. Something you might have known if you’d been paying attention.”
Scott flushed slightly as the Professor disappeared out the door and glanced at his fiancé before sighing softly. No, leaving Rogue behind had never been in the deal that Logan and the Professor had made - Logan considered the girl his and that was the end of it.
With a smile Scott shrugged, “Well looks like we’re gonna have to shift everything around for dinner. And someone’s gonna have to find another chair.”
Amid the laughter in the room, Scott felt the tension and fear fade from his mind. Logan wasn’t after Jean and that’s all that mattered!
The end
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