* The X-men and their world belongs to Marvel.

Okay, so the story starts out a little slow, but trust me, it will pick up real soon!

Please review!

"Scott, this is silly. It's the middle of winter! What could be so important that you had to drag me up to the roof and not even let my get my coat? Do you want me and your unborn child to freeze?" Jean Summers asked her husband as her led her blindfolded up the stairs to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. "And this blind fold is stupid. If I wanted to see I could just connect our minds and look through your eyes."

Scott Summers bent slightly to kiss his wife's head of long red hair. "Don't you dare. I went to all this trouble to be romantic and it would be such a pity for you to ruin it."

"Oh, so all it took for you to be romantic was to get me pregnant?" Jean quipped, rolling her eyes before remembering she was blindfolded.

Scott didn't answer, just smiled to himself. He knew how lucky he was to have this amazing woman in his life. Everything about her made him want to jump around like some lunatic, singing. She was beautiful; with her emerald green eye, long wavy red hair, porcelain perfect skin, and angel carved face. But she was more than just physically beautiful. She had the heart of a saint, a laugh like tiny bells, and the mind of a genius. Oh and her smile! He could still remember when they were kids, when they first met at the Institute. She was this brilliant beauty and he was an awkward tall gangly kid; but she didn't care. She was nice to him and offered him friendship, which soon became love. He thanked God every day for her being in his life, and twice ever since they found out she was pregnant. He hoped for a little girl, just like her amazing mother.

"Your quietness is unnerving me." Jean joked. "Do I have to poke around your mind to find out what this is all about?"

"We're almost there, be patient." He whispered in his loves ear, making her squirm with pleasure. He knew that his wife could easily find out his surprise, with her being one of the world's most powerful telepaths. He was surprised that their telepathic link, made when they were teenagers, hadn't already given it away.

"Okay, we're here." Jean felt her husband's pride and happiness radiate off of him before he removed her blindfold. She let out a small gasp as the cloth fell away, revealing her surprise.

It was the mansion's roof, but instead of it being covered with snow and ice like it should have in the middle of January; it was covered in greenery. Grass and flowers covered the roof floor, while trees, bushes, and flowerbeds decorated the scene. It was a beautiful garden scene, complete with fountains and stone benches. Even a swing with ivy climbing up the side occupied the rooftop! Past the roof top, she could see the grounds were still covered with snow. She really didn't need a coat, like Scott had told her (she wasn't surprised about that, Scott would never do anything to put her in discomfort, especially since they found out she was pregnant), because there seemed to be a shield around the roof, keeping in the heat of a late summer day.

"Oh, Scott." Jean whispered, tears falling from her eyes. She was the luckiest woman on the planet, finding a guy like him.

"Storm helped with the weather, and one of the students helped grow the grass and flowers." Scott said nervously. He wasn't the type to do grand gestures, he was just too shy. Sure, he could save her from Sinister or Magneto, but that was easy. Finding the right worlds to tell her how much he loved her or doing corny romantic stuff never came easy for him. He just hoped that he had done good.

"Its beautiful." Jean cooed, wrapping her arms up and around his neck. Her pregnant belly prevent her from falling into his arms completely, a place where she always used to fit just right. She looked up into his red visor covered eyes, not wishing for the first time she could see them bare.

He too wrapped his arms around her. At the same time, they looked down at the belly that was stopping them from getting closer to each other. Meeting each other's eyes once more, they grinned.

"Come on, I made dinner." Scott said, leading her over to particularly beautiful part of the garden where a blanket was spread out along with a candle light dinner.

"Wow," Jean said with surprise, looking down at the prepared meal.

"Don't worry, Dani made the meal. I didn't want to ruin the evening by poisoning you." Scott said, coming up behind his wife and nuzzling her neck.

"Is there anything you did by yourself?" Jean teased, giggling like a teenage girl as he spun her around.

"Yeah, I got you up here and I did that." He embraced her once more and nodded at a full grown tree, planted firmly at the corner of the roof. Looking closer, Jean realised it was the old oak that used to occupy the courtyard on the school grounds. The tree that they meant under, the tree that they first kissed under, and the tree that he proposed under. There was something different about it though (other than its new home), on the trunk scratched into the bark was a heart and instead was written "Jean and Scott 4ever".

"I remembered how you always wanted me to do that, every time we met under it. But I wouldn't because-" Scott tried to explain, but Jean interrupted.

"But you didn't want your friends to see because you thought they would tease you." Jean laughed.

"Hey, don't laugh. They still might. I'm taking a big risk here." Scott said, comically seriously.

Jean laughed again, making him smile. "So help me down here, this belly makes it difficult to sit down. What a cruel man I married, making a pregnant woman have to sit on the ground to get a decent meal."

Scott frowned, suddenly worried. "I'm sorry Jean! I wasn't thinking! I'll go get a table and chairs and come right bac-"

Jean covered his mouth to silence him, and smiled. "I was only teasing, love. But seriously, help me sit down."

Scott offered his wife a timid smile before helping her get down and settle. He poured her a glass of lemonade with ice cubes and handed it to her before getting her a plate together.

"You really didn't have to do all this Scott." Jean said, placing a hand on his arm.

"No, I guess I didn't, but I wanted to. I want you to be happy. And I was feeling guilty about having to leave you all those times for missions with the X-Men, when you needed me. I should have been rubbing you feet or going out and bringing you food when you had cravings, but instead I was-"

"Saving the world? Yeah, that's really horrible of you." Jean laughed. "Scott, I can take care of myself. Sure, it would have been nice to have you with me every second of the day, but I knew the world needed you more. You're the leader of the X-men! I really couldn't expect you to take maternity leave."

Scott massaged Jean's aching back, making her sigh with pleasure.

"And besides, if I could have come along with you guys on missions if you really felt that bad about leaving me." Jean sighed, closing her eyes and lulling back her head.

Scott frowned again. "That's not funny Jean."

The idea of putting Jean and their baby in danger scared him to death. It was bad enough when Jean was always going out on missions with the X-men, but when she wanted to continue to do so after they found out she was pregnant, he flipped out. If he had his way, he would put her in a soft padded room where nothing could ever hurt her. The same with their baby. But he knew that wasn't ever going to happen.

Scott stopped rubbing her back, an idea just coming to him. Actually, he'd been thinking about it a lot, but he never really considered it as much as he did now.

Jean looked around to see why he stopped, raising an eyebrow. "Dear?"

"Jean," Scott said slowly. "What would you think about, about us retiring? You know, once the baby's born. We could move away from the mansion and buy a house. That way our baby wouldn't have to grow up with all this chaos. We wouldn't have to fear for him or her every second of everyday."

"What?" Jean quickly (or at least, moved as fast as her belly would allow) spun to fully face Scott. "But this is our home! The baby's family is here! How do you think everyone would feel if we just stole away with their niece or nephew? I know being superheroes isn't exactly the quiet life that most people would want to raise a family in, but this is who we are. And like it or not, the baby wouldn't be any safer away from here. We're still mutants, and there's a good chance our baby will be one too. This is the safest place. At home, with our family. End of discussion."

Jean struggled to stand up, but once she did she strode across the rooftop to the edge. There she stood, arms crossed, like some mystical ice queen. Scott scrambled to follow her.

"I'm sorry Jean; it's just that I'm so worried about our kid. I want what's best for him or her. I want to be the best dad I can be. I know what its like to grow up with no parents, and I don't want our kid to have to live the same way because we get killed on some mission." Scott said softly.

"I know, I understand," Jean sighed still looking off into the distance. "I'm afraid too, but I know that if anything happens to us, our baby will still have a family with the X-men. And they'll be able to protect her better than anyone."

"Yeah, I guess- wait, her? You said her?" Scott repeated.

Jean turned and smiled up at her husband. "I found out yesterday, I've just been waiting for the right chance to tell you."

Scott beamed as he picked up his wife and spun her around joyfully.

"Scott! Stop it!" Jean laughed. Scott smiled sheepishly before he carried her back over to the blanket and laid her down softly. He then laid down next to her, playing with her hair as he looked into her eyes.

Jean knew how much he wanted a girl (she read his thoughts loud and clear) and she was happy that he was so happy. She knew she shouldn't have used the news he wanted so badly as an excuse to change subjects. She knew how scared he was and she felt the same, but a part of her told her everything would be okay if they stayed at the mansion. It was the first place since developing her powers that she found a home, friends, and a family. She had been locked away in a mental hospital because she told her parents that she heard voices. Things became worse when they discovered she really did hear people's thoughts and was a mutant. Drugs can solve mental problems, nothing could cure her from being a mutant. After such a traumatic childhood and finding a haven here, she didn't want to leave. She wanted her little girl to feel safe and normal at the mansion. To be proud of her powers she was bound to have. Hopefully Scott wouldn't bring up leaving again.

"I'm glad it's a girl. I want her to be exactly like you." Scott told her, still beaming as he leant forward to kiss her again.

Suddenly a whirling sound filled the air and the X-Jet hovered into view. Leaves and parts of the picnic dinner flew away from the blasts of air from the jet. The door opened and Hank leaned out the door.

"Sorry for the interruption," The blue furred man beast called. "But it's an emergency. The Brotherhood has attacked a hospital where there were rumours that they experimented on mutants. We need to go now."

Scott and Jean groaned, as Scott got to his feet and helped up Jean.

"I'm sorry, we'll celebrate later. And go over the girls' name list again." Scott kissed Jean's forehead before jumping into the open jet door.

Leaning out, Scott called. "I love you Jean! With all my heart!"

Jean waved until the jet flew out of sight. She really did love it when Scott found the right words. Walking over to the swing by some yellow rose bushes, she say down and hoped with all her heart that her baby's father would come home safe tonight. Maybe retirement wouldn't be such a bad thing…