Author's Note: Here's the beginning of my sequel to Betrayal and Desolation! I know it's kind of slow in coming, and I apologize. I have a few other stories going too and I'm trying to prioritize. It would help to read Betrayal and Desolation if you haven't already. This won't make sense if you don't. Updating is going to be slow too and I beg forgiveness in advance. If you have any questions, feel free to message me!

It was about 3 months after all that had happened on Stryker's Island. Victor and I had gone to Central Park that day and regrouped. We'd decided that is would be safe enough to go up to my cabin in Canada, so that's what we did. Gambit had made contact about a month and a half ago and said that my sister, Nesha, had safely met a Professor Charles Xavier and was now in his care at some mutant institution in New York. He also gave us the news that Logan had lost his memory. Stryker had shot him in the head with adamantium bullets. This news resulted in a fight with Victor because he had been the one that had held me back from going to help that day. All in all, however, life was normal…ish.

I had taken up my job at the thrift store I had owned before all had gone down. People asked questions, but I avoided them. Victor laid low in fear of coming across one of the few people who had seen him when he had been up here wreaking havoc. In all honesty, we were in hiding, but we made the best of it. Nothing could equal the feeling I had when I came home to Victor burning something on the stove. A huge grin would split my face and we would fight down the flames together. It was perfect. I couldn't help but wish that he had just come with me all those years ago in Africa. We could've had this life long before now. But I was grateful that we got to have it at all. It was all I ever wanted.

………………………………

One particularly chilly evening, Victor and I were cuddled up on the couch in front of the blazing fireplace. He had an arm around me and was absentmindedly rubbing my shoulder. "How was work?" he asked.

"Fine," I chuckled.

"Why do you laugh?"

"That just seems like a far too mundane question to have just come out of your mouth."

He smiled. "You're right. Forgive me for trying to be too normal."

I snickered and laid my head on his chest. "Is today Friday?" I yawned.

"Yes."

"Good! No work tomorrow."

"How is that guy you hired working out?"

"He's a great help. I'm glad he has no weekend life, so I can."

Victor chuckled deeply. "Me too. Did you, by chance, remember that tomorrow is our anniversary?"

"No," I stated bluntly. "Is it out The Day We Met anniversary, The Day We Got Together anniversary, or The Day We Reunited anniversary? I know you like to celebrate all 3 and confuse me, so I'm just clarifying."

"The day we met."

"Ah." I let my mind time travel back to that day in 1939 New York City. We had immediately hated each other. He too had apparently reminisced because he started quietly laughing to himself. "What are you remembering?" I asked, almost reluctantly.

"When Jimmy and Nesha accidentally left us behind. I don't know what made me grab your hand when we ran after them. I just remember wishing you hadn't pulled it away when you did…even though I loathed you."

"Yeah, I remember you staring at where our hands had been. That was a very awkward moment."

"It really was."

I sighed, "I miss our respective siblings. When it was the four of us, nothing could stand in our way."

"Jimmy doesn't remember that we are siblings."

"I know, and that makes me indescribably sad. He doesn't remember anything about us. At least he won't be plagued by war dreams anymore."

"True. Speaking of, have you had anymore of those flashbacks since the day we hunter the Summers boy?"

"No, thank God. They scare me." I yawned again, the heat from the fire combined with Victor's body heat making me drowsy. "I think I'm going to bed. You coming?"

"I'll be in in a bit. Wait up for me."

"Then what's the point of even going? I should just stay here."

"Well…that's true. So…off we go." In an extremely unpredicted jolt of movement, I found myself in his arms, and we were racing through the hall to our bedroom. I couldn't breathe until I was safely deposited on the bed. Finally, I sighed in relief.

"You can't just walk places can you?" I demanded.

He grinned and crawled atop me. "Walking wastes time." He kissed me then and all my annoyance melted away. As the night progressed, our clothing melted away as well.

Over the next few weeks, I became starkly aware of the fact that my period was running late…very late. I didn't mention it to Victor. I didn't know anything yet and there was no use getting him…well, whatever he'd be. Reluctantly, I picked up a couple pregnancy tests from the nearest Walmart and rushed home. It was the day Victor went hunting, and I wanted to do this alone.

The dread, the fear, and the anger at the sight of the word pregnant engulfed me. I threw everything away and grabbed the spare. Same response. I was very close to breaking everything in the house, but somehow, that element of restraint that Nesha had always been able to utilize won out and I simply sat on the couch and stared into space.

The sun was just starting to go down when Victor returned with a sack full of venison. He threw it all in the deep freezer in the utility room, then came in and started washing his hands in the kitchen sink. "Hey," he called in greeting. When I didn't respond, he turned and leaned on the counter to dry his hands. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

I blinked a few times and began, "We have a problem, Victor."

"What kind of problem?"

I slowly turned my head to look at him. "I'm pregnant."

His eyes narrowed and he froze. "Wait…you're what?"

"Don't make me say it again!!"

He tentatively sat the towel down on the counter and took a few slow breaths. "Ok. Ok, we…"

"I don't want it," I interrupted.

He stared at me, shocked. "Ok, baby, we need to talk about this. Don't make rash decisions." He quickly crossed from the kitchen to the family room and sat down in front of me on the couch. He reached for my hand, but I pulled it out of his reach. "Elena…please think through this."

"I can't handle kids. I've never been good at it. Between the two of us, we'll traumatize the child or accidentally kill it in the crossfire of one of our fights."

"You don't know that!"

"But I know us! I know you…and me. I can't bring a life into the world unless I know I can care for it."

"But that's why you would make a good mother! That's why you should give this a chance. If we can't handle it, we'll put it up for adoption." The steadiness of his voice and the want in it caused me to reconsider the situation. I looked at him. His eyes were begging me. I broke down into tears and dove into his arms. He stroked my hair, quietly murmuring, "Shh. It's ok. It'll be ok."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do this, Victor," I sobbed.

"Hey, I know you. You've endured through far worse things."

I laughed wearily. "Ho do you know how bad this is going to be?"

"How bad can a kid be?"

I managed to forget about the fact that I was pregnant for a few days until the morning sickness set in. One rather brutal morning, I was puking my guts out and Victor was kneeling beside me, holding back my hair. The upchucking subsided for a glorious moment and I leaned my head against the cold bathtub. My entire body was quivering and all I wanted to do was sleep. Victor brushed my hair out of my face and murmured, "I'm sorry, baby."

I batted his hand away half-heartedly and weakly smiled. "This is all your fault," I joked.

"Well, I won't take full credit, but I'll take 85% of it."

I chuckled which disturbed my stomach again. I had no idea what source my body was pulling from because I hadn't eaten for a couple days, but despite that, crap was coming out. I moaned as my innards tangled and vaulted around. Finally, after and hour on the bathroom floor, I stopped puking long enough to leave. Victor gently lifted me into his arms and took me back to the bedroom. He distributed me on the bed and went to go get a wet wash cloth. He came back and softly brushed my face with the cloth. The cool water felt remarkably good on my sweaty forehead. "Thanks," I whispered.

"Mhm." We remained silent after than and within a few minutes, I was finally asleep.

The first month or so went in the same manner, but eventually I got to go back to work. That went on for another six months. By then, I was avidly annoyed by my enlarging midsection. Victor would walk past the bathroom door to see me staring in the mirror with a deep set frown on my face. Usually he laughed and moved on, but today, he came in and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "You look fine."

"I look like Dukes."

He snorted and laughed into my shoulder. "Nothing close! You females are way too hard on yourselves." I continued frowning at myself in the mirror. "Hey," he spun me around in his arms so he could look me in the eyes, "if it makes you feel any better, I don't think you've ever been sexier."

I fought a smile and ultimately lost. "That's what they all say."

"Because it's true! There is nothing more attractive than knowing the girl you love has a part of you growing inside."

"How do I know you mean that?"

"You can smell if I'm lying…but if that doesn't do it, this should." He kissed me deeply.

When he broke it off, I took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I think that did it." He smiled and hugged me close, his face resting between my neck and shoulder. I relished the closeness. Any kind of contact with him gave me a sort of high that carried me through the rest of the day.

"I love you," he purred against me neck. I shivered from the vibration.

"I love you too, you overgrown cat." A playful growl rumbled out of him. He looked at my face, feigning insult. "You know it's true," I finished with a grin.

He shrugged. "On occasion."

I left his embrace and walked out to the hallway. I chuckled and muttered, "Meow mix."

"Where did you hear that?!" he demanded.

"Nesha. She said Wade came up with it."

Victor nodded ill-temperedly. "That he did."

"I like it! I think it's cute."

"Well, maybe from you it would be ok, but Wade…no."

"You know, that's a very amusing scenario. Picturing Wade calling you that."

"I don't think he found it quite so amusing. He never said it to my face again after the first time."

"Smart guy. I miss him…and John…and Bradley. I really do. They were great guys. God damned Stryker," I snarled, suddenly pissed. "He ruined everything!"

Victor quickly walked up and placed a hand on my stomach. "Not everything," he said soothingly.

I closed my eyes and calmed down. "You're right. He can't ruin this."

2 months later

I woke up because and extreme pain had shot through my body. I laid there a moment, unsure of what had happened. Then it happened again and I became aware of moisture on my sheets. "Shit," I muttered. I got up and looked at the pinkish-red spot on the blue cloth. "Shit," I said again. "Victor! Wake up!"

"Why?" he mumbled.

"Because I'm not driving myself to the hospital! Get your ass up!"

"The hospital? What's…….OH!" He practically fell out of bed in his haste.

I snarled when another round of pain hit. I grumbled, "I feel as big as a battleship and now the enemy ship is shooting at me."

Victor stopped and chuckled for a minute. "That's a good one, babe."

"Does it look like I'm trying to be funny?!"

"Oh…right. Sorry." He grabbed me up and took me to the truck.

I said, "Good job. Now, go put a shirt on."

"Jesus," he sighed as he ran back inside. I couldn't help but laugh at the poor guy. He was scared out of his mind. Another wave pf pain hit and my fists clenched to the point that my claws extended. Uh oh. Needed to avoid that once we were in public. I planned to explain away Victor's claws by telling them he was shooting a movie about humans degrading into cats and I had to call him off set for this. It was approximately 6am and the sun was just rising. Canada was extremely quiet in the early morning hours and it made my growls seem all the louder. Victor came running out of the house again and jumped in the driver's seat. He had managed to remember the keys and I almost felt proud of his for it. The engine rumbled to life and very quickly we were off.

"We never discussed a name," I said through the eye-crossing pain.

"No we didn't. Any you prefer?"

"I dunno. We don't even know what gender it is. I'm sure they're going to get onto us for such pitiful pre-natal care."

"Like you give a crap. Nothing should be wrong. It was attached to your body and should've had healing benefits."

"True." I quietly groaned. "I don't suppose I should bother with an epidural. It probably won't work."

"Probably not." We were on the main road now and about ¼ of the way to town by that point.

"What names to you like, Victor?"

"Um…I like Danielle and Magic for girls."

"Magic is cool! Argh!" I doubled over in pain again.

Victor took one of my hands and squeezed. "Hold on, babe. We're almost there."

"Almost doesn't cut it! Boy names, come on. Keep my mind off the pain."

"Ok, ok, um…Jared, Andrew, Adam, John, Paul, George, Ringo."

I burst into laughter and couldn't stop for a minute. "Ringo most definitely," I told him.

"I thought so too. What's not amazing about a drummer with a huge nose?"

"Ringo is by far the best Beatle."

"Well, John's up there too."

"We digress!! For a boy, I was thinking Joshua, Cameron, or Alexander."

"I like Alexander."

"So, Magic for a girl and Alexander for a boy?"

"Sure."

"Your last name?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Hmm…Magic Creed, Alexander Creed. Magic Romanov, Alexander Romanov. If it's a girl, we go with Romanov, a boy, Creed."

"Alright…of course, you could just marry me and we wouldn't have to worry about it."

"I'm in labor, you nitwit! I am not going to marry you in a hospital for convenience's sake! I need some sense of romance in that particular event."

"But you will marry me?"

"That was the stupidest and most lame ass way to ask, but yes. I will marry you. Just not today," I growled through gritted teeth. We were maybe five minutes away from the hospital and the contractions were growing closer and closer together. "Victor, I have a small requirement if I'm going through with this."

"And that is?"

"DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!!!!"

He laughed loudly and whipped the truck into the hospital parking lot. We sped to the maternity ward doors and skidded to a stop. Victor jumped out his door and ran around to my side. I pushed the door open and he gingerly lifted me out of the truck then jogged to the building doors. It wasn't busy inside. Honestly, it was rural Canada. Just how busy could it be? The nurse behind the counter glanced up as we came in. She jumped up and grabbed me a wheelchair. Victor sat me in it and answered the nurse's questions in a gradually shakier and shakier voice. Finally, she wheeled me towards a delivery room. Victor was simply following behind, wringing his hands and muttering unintelligible questions and concerns. The nurse and I ignored him.

They accepted me into a delivery room and started prepping me. The pain was becoming overbearing and all those people's hands doing something to my body was very quickly becoming annoying. Victor had stayed out of the way until he noticed how overwhelmed I was becoming. He pushed through the bustling nurses and leaned over me, totally blocking my view of the chaos. "How you doing, baby?"

"I hurt, I'm annoyed, too many people are touching me, and there's a little bugger inside that wants out."

"Hang on tight. It'll be over soon."

"I know, but soon isn't quick enough." He smiled and kissed my forehead. Finally, a doctor showed up and told me to push. I wasn't sure how to go about that, so I experimented with a few different muscle contractions. I found one that worked, but it hurt like hell.

"That's it!" the doctor encouraged.

I groaned. Why was I causing myself pain? I kept pushing, but I begged myself, pass out. Just pass out. After a good 20 minutes of pushing and groaning and begging somebody to make the pain stop, my vision started blurring. As everything started black, I vaguely heard a small wail, and then I was out.