Title: Healing Time

Disclaimer: They belong to Marvel. I'm just borrowing the characters for entertainment.

Dedication: This is for Crystal, who won't stop bugging me until I post a new story. Lol. Hopefully this story will satisfy her for a while…

--- Xavier's Institute ---

She sat up in her bed, tired and still feeling sick as she took another sip of her drink. It was eleven-thirty at night and the room was already 80 degrees but Jean was still feeling cold. She looked at the clock again and sighed. Scott was on the other side of the world on a mission and she wished he was here. Calling him at this hour was not a good idea so she went to the closet and grabbed her last blanket. She covered her body and went back to bed, shivering.

--- On the Blackbird ---

Scott sat in the jet chair and sighed. He should be home this instant and cuddling with his newly wedded wife, rather than let her be alone in the bed, shivering. He knew Jean didn't get sick often and when she did she was always feeling the worst. He looked up from his book and nodded to his partner. Logan sat down and looked at the book. 'How to Understand Your Girlfriend and Her Moods'. Logan smiled and shook his head.

"I take it ya never understand Jeannie when she says she doesn't want any?" the gruff man joked and Scott shook his head.

"Vhen she doesn't vant vhat?" Kurt interrupted.

Scott ignored the furry-elf's question. "No, I just don't understand her when she says she wants something but then doesn't mean it or something." Scott said and sighed.

"Ah, Kitty does zat too!"

"Don't try to understand women, kids," Logan said, still using the term he called them when they were still teenagers. He was glad that Ororo wasn't with them in this mission. "Women are the eight wonder of the world, I tell ya. Yer just gonna be addin' more trouble into yer mind."

"Vhat is wrong, Scott? Ve finished ze mission early. Aren't you glad?" Nightcrawler asked as he leaned into his padded seat and studied his field leader.

"It's Jean." Was all Scott said looking at the time.

"What's wrong with Jeannie?" came Wolverine's voice.

"She's been sick the last few days, she wouldn't admit it but she didn't sound the same, plus I called Ororo and she confirmed it. Jean is hardly sick and when she is, she's at her weakest." Scott said seriously and shut the book.

"Well, we're gonna be landin' soon, so ya'll be there to save her." Logan said and smiled at the overly worried man.

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm saving her or she's saving me." Scott mumbled.

Jean was coughing as she sat up and moaned softly as her head felt like it had a bad hang over. She took a drink of water and lay back down, lightly panting from the effort. She felt horrible and wished she had the guts to call Scott but didn't want to sound whiny to him. She thought she heard a soft 'thump' noise and sat up, but she fell back, her head feeling dizzy.

"Jean?" The all too familiar voice was ringing in her ears and she opened her eyes slowly. Scott didn't even bother to change his X-Men uniform into a more comfortable one.

"Scott? You're back early," she croaked out, "or did you run away from the mission just to see me?" she smiled despite her dizziness.

Scott smiled faintly. "No, the mission was way easier than what we thought it would be. The poor little girl was hiding in the sewer when we found her. Took us quite some time to convince her to come with us, especially with Kurt's and Logan's appearance." Then he pointed to his visor. "And this little thing didn't make it better."

"I should have been there. I could help."

"No, silly. You're sick. Really sick. So stop arguing with me about your condition. I know better." He smoothed her hair back as he talked.

"And I thought I was the doctor."

"Yes, you are. A very stubborn doctor who wouldn't listen to her husband when he told her to rest," Scott said, grinning and lay a soft kiss on her forehead.

Jean smiled dreamily. "Hmmm… I always like the sound of that."

"Really? So how are you feeling today, my dear wife?"

"Much better ever since you came through that door."

"Ah, I see that the fever has made you all sentimental on me, Mrs. Summers." Scott mocked at her.

"Hey, I'm sick here," Jean complained. "You should be taking care of me, instead of mocking me."

Scott chuckled. "I know, I know. Do you need anything? Food? Water? Any medicine?"

"No, I'm fine." Jean closed her eyes, trying to sleep. "Just go chance your uniform and join me in bed, will you?"

"It will be my pleasure." And Scott disappeared behind the bathroom door only to appear ten minutes later in a more casual and comfortable clothes.

Scott went to his side of the bed and slipped beneath the layers of blankets, wrapping his arms around the sleeping woman. Jean then turned around so that she was facing him and mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. It was then did Scott realise how warm her body's temperature was.

He shook her body softly. "Jean, you sure you're okay? Your body's temperature is high."

"Mmmhh…" she moaned sleepily in her sleep. "I'm fine, Scott… Just stay with me, it's nice and warm. The fever will go away by itself…"

Scott raised an eyebrow at her comment. That wasn't something he thought would come out from a doctor's mouth. "Jean, c'mon, at least let Hank take a look at you."

Still with her eyes closed, she snuggled closer to Scott for warmth. "Trust me, Scott… I know my body very well…"

Sighing in defeat, Scott just hugged her closer to him. He hadn't plan on falling asleep, but apparently the mission had taken most of his energy. He closed his eyes contently.

Somewhere between the night, Scott was awoken with a start when he heard moans coming from the figure beside him.

"Jean, you okay?" His voice filled with worry. "What do you feel?"

"Scott…" She was breathing heavily as she tried to speak. "I-I can't breathe…"

Just like any other man, he panicked. Professor Xavier who sensed his fear quickly alerted Hank of Jean's condition and informed Scott to bring her down to the infirmary immediately.

"It's okay, Jean. You're gonna be fine." Said Scott as he carried her into the lift. Jean was still gasping for air.

Scott allowed Hank to do his job while he waited outside, pacing back and forth. Perhaps he was over reacting since Jean was just having a fever and difficulty in breathing sometimes occur. But the fact that his wife looked terribly ill made him worry beyond belief.

"Scott," Hank called as he walked out of the infirmary.

Scott whipped around immediately and asked. "How is Jean? Is she okay? What happened to her? She is—"

"Slow down, my friend." He smiled. "Your beautiful wife is finally able to sleep peacefully, do not wake her. Let her rest." He paused and then continued before Scott could ask again. "She's fine, Scott. Just needs a total rest for the rest of the week and I can assure you that she'll be back to her normal self. Why didn't you bring her down earlier?"

"She refused to come down," Scott said as he cursed himself in his mind for taking things too lightly.

Hank chuckled. "It seems like your stubbornness has rubbed upon her. As I recall, you too have a strong dislike towards the infirmary and refused to be brought down. Jean had to float you with her TK."

Smiling sheepishly, Scott asked. "Can I see her?"

"Of course. She's resting now and it will be long before she wakes up. I'm sure you're planning on spending the night here with her, so I've prepared a bed for you." And the huge man walked away.

Just as Scott was about to enter the room, Hank turned around and said, "Oh, and one more thing, my friend. I almost forgot to inform you that your child is in perfect health. There's nothing to worry about. Jean's fever won't be causing any crisis to the baby."

Scott's back was facing Hank so he wasn't able to see the expression on Scott's face.

'Your child?'

'The baby?'

Scott was rooted to the ground with his hand still holding the brass door handle tightly. He didn't know how long he had been standing that way. It could be five minutes or one hour, and suddenly it dawned on him what Hank had been telling him earlier.

"A baby…" His voice was a mere whisper.

Removing his gaze from the floor, he looked at his sleeping wife with a huge grin on his face. 'I'm going to be a father!' his mind squealed, praying that he hadn't been projecting his thought.

Scott grabbed the chair and sat beside the bed all night. The tiredness within him was replaced with indescribable joy as he held Jean's hand and toyed with her wedding ring. It seemed like yesterday when he proposed to her…

--- Flashback ---

Both of them had been dating for years and ever since Jean agreed to be his girlfriend, Scott had been rehearsing the scene where he would go down on one knee and present her with a ring, asking for her hand in marriage. He thought he would be confident and wouldn't make a fool of himself, but he was wrong.

He couldn't sleep the previous night. His mind kept on playing the scene of 'what if Jean said no'. When the sun made its first appearance, Scott got up and went for a ride with his bike. He made several trips and when he got home, the dining room was already filled with students who never seemed to stop eating.

Ororo was busy making pancakes with Kitty hovering over. She was certain that Ororo added some kind of special potion to make the pancakes edible. For some unknown reason, Kitty could never bake anything successfully. Perhaps it was one of her gifts.

He spotted his favourite red head sitting beside the Professor, sipping her cup of tea slowly and it made his hear skipped a beat. He grabbed a chair beside her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Morning, sweetie."

Placing the cup down, she replied, "Morning. Where have you been? I couldn't find you in your room." Then she added, "And I also check the Danger Room."

Scott smirked. "I went for a ride. Y'know, watching the sun rises."

Jean gave him a bemused look. "Since when do you like watching the sun? And why didn't you wake me up? We can watch it together."

Scott gasped in mock horror. "And risking my life in the process of waking you up? No, no. I don't think it's worth the try, Ms. Grey."

Jean smacked him of the arm. "Says who I'll bite your head off?"

"Ow! And says who you're not gonna do that?" Scott said, rubbing his arm.

Jean stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine, but you're going to compensate me for that."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Yes, and you can start by taking meout fordinner tonight." Jean gave him her most innocent smile then she stood up from her chair, kissed him, and went to get ready for her first class. Scott just sat there with a silly grin on his face until Professor Xavier shook him out of his reverie.

During her third class, Jean was conducting a Biology test when a little girl appeared at the doorway carrying a single rose on one hand and a card on the other. She recognised that it was the girl from one of Scott's classes.

"Hi, Emily, what can I do for you?" Jean said as she bent down to greet her. "Is your wound hurting you?"

Emily looked at her bandaged hand and shook her head, then she handed her the flower and the note. "Here, they are for you, Dr. Grey. Mommy said that we must thank the person after they help us, so I'm giving you a flower and a card. I made it myself." The girl announced it proudly.

Jean smiled happily as she took them from her. "Aw, thank you, they are beautiful."

The little girl grinned from ear to ear and she skipped back to her class. She stopped as if remembering something and ran back to Jean's class.

"Dr. Grey?"

Jean turned her back once more to face her. "Yes?

"I forgot to give you one more thing." She reached down her pocket and pulled out a note. "Here, this one is from Mr. Summers. I think he wants to thank you too." Then she ran away again.

Jean read the note and bit her lip to keep from smiling. It said, "Meet me at 7. Wear your best dress. ♥ Scott"

Scott must be up to something, she thought, because he normally didn't care what outfit she wore. She could wear tattered clothes and he would still say that she was beautiful. Nevertheless, Jean followed his instruction and met him at exactly 7 o'clock later that night.

Scott who was already waiting for her at the hall held his breath as Jean finally made her appearance. She was wearing a white dress which she just bought when she finally convinced him of taking her and the other girls shopping. Though he had been complaining the whole time they were shopping, he had to admit that it took a man's breath away as Jean descended from the stairs. He had almost forgotten the reason why he took her out that night.

"Your carriage awaits you, My Lady," Scott said, offering his hand to her.

Jean smiled sweetly as she accepted his gesture. "Thank you, kind Sir."

Jean asked as he opened the car's door for her. "Where are you taking me tonight?"

"Oh, nothing special," he replied. "We're just going to have dinner at this new French restaurant. It has a silly dress code that we must obey."

Jean nodded her head.

Scott didn't talk much during the ride and it worried her a little. This wasn't his usual self. Well, he could be an introvert kind of guy but not towards her. She glanced briefly at his face and it was quite clear that there was something on his mind.

"Scott, are you okay?" She reached touched his hand which was resting on the gear.

He flinched slightly from her touch. "Huh? What?"

"Are you okay? You seemed… preoccupied with something."

"Uh, yeah. I'm great. Nothing to worry about." He smiled. "Tonight is about us."

There was something amiss about that sentence and Jean intended to find out. Sooner or later.

Ten minutes later, they had reached their destination and were led to their table by a waiter. Several people turned their attention to Scott as they studied his appearance. There was nothing wrong with him other than wearing a pair of sunglasses at night. Scott, however, was too nervous to even consider their glares. He was quite used to it anyway.

Jean who was able to sense their thoughts about her boyfriend placed her arm around his, thinking that these people were the cause of his anxiety.

"Here is your table Mr. Summers. My name is Oliver. You can call me when you are ready to place an order." The young man said politely, placed two menus in front of them and left.

Scott looked at the menu in front of him without really reading it. His mind was in a mess.

'Oh God! This is the time! How am I gonna say it? No, calm down, Scott. You have practiced this scene for the millionth times! Everything's gonna be okay…' he told himself.

'No! What if she said no? What if she doesn't want to be married? We never really talked about having a family. What if she—'

"Scott?"

His chain of thoughts was broken as Jean touched his hand once again. "You sure you're okay? You don't look well at all." Said a concerned Jean. "We can go home if you want to. Whatever it is that you have planned, I'm sure we can do it another day."

"No, no!" Scott refused immediately. He couldn't back out now. "I'm really fine, Jean."

"But—"

"Trust me." He gave her a smile despite his nervousness, took her hand in his and kissed it lightly.

"Alright, then."

Scott tried his best not to alarmed Jean anymore. For the rest of the meal, they talked casually about the school, the children and a little of their relationship.

When they were having their dessert, the same waiter appeared at Scott's side, bringing a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne in it, then he poured some into two glasses.

Jean waited until they were alone and asked. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing. Can't a man treat his girlfriend this way?" He raised his tulip shaped glass and said, "To us."

Jean did the same thing and clink their glasses. She took a sip of the sparkling wine and let the taste linger in her mouth for quite some time. She must admit that Scott did have a good taste in choosing this kind of stuff.

When she placed her glass back, she noticed that Scott's glass was already empty. Apparently the man needed the drink badly.

"So…" Jean eyed him curiously. "Do I have to pry into your head or are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

Scott swallowed heavily. "Umm… I-I just…"

"I'm waiting, Scott."

"Uh, I…" He was fumbling with something in his pocket.

"Yes?"

"Happy Anniversary!" The moment the words came out, he felt like slapping himself. 'Damn! Where did that come from! What anniversary!'

"What anniversary?"

"You forgot of our anniversary?" Scott did a quick mental calculation in his mind before saying. "The anniversary of our… first date!"

Jean laughed. "Scott, I remember when our first date was. And our fifth year anniversary isn't until next month!"

"Ah, next month is our official fifth year anniversary, but today, is thefifth anniversary of our un-official date, after you broke up with that… what's his name? Dumb dumb?" Scott said mockingly. Truthfully, he didn't even know the date of their 'un-official date' was, but for the sake of his sanity, he had to make up something.

"It's Duncan." Jean corrected.

"Right, Duncan. We went out together. Not exactly a date, but that was the beginning of our relationship. Don't you think that is something we should celebrate about?"

"Okay, fine. You win." She smiled sweetly but her expression turned somber. Why did he like doing this kind of things to her? "I'm sorry I don't remember that."

"I like surprising you."

The smile returned to her lips. "Thank you."

He smirked. "Thank me with a kiss."

Without giving it a second thought, Jean leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Scott responded to it immediately and gave her a long passionate kiss. When they felt pairs of eyes were looking at them, Jean broke their kiss. Feeling a slightly dizzy as she leaned back on her seat.

"Wow, remind me to do this more often," said Scott as he too, felt as if he was sitting on a cloud.

Jean could feel her cheeks turned the colour of her hair as she heard whispers among the people. Some were good and lovely but some were just criticising them.

"What do you say we leave this place, Scott?"

"Great idea, Ms. Grey."

-----

It was nearly midnight when they finally got home and until then, Scott hadn't had the guts to pop the question to her. And now, he was standing in front Jean's bedroom room door whishing her goodnight.

"Thank you for the lovely evening, Scott. It was really great."

Scott smiled vaguely and gave her his last kiss before he said goodnight. "Love you, Jeannie. Goodnight."

"Love you too."

He waited until the door was closed and his expression turned desperate. He was angry at himself for ruining the perfect chance. He walked away reluctantly and took a stroll around the garden to clear his mind.

'Be a man, Scott Summers! Doesn't that kiss mean anything to you? She loves you! She wouldn't say no.'

Scott looked up to where Jean's room was. He could see her shadow playing across the window.

'C'mon, make up your mind! Are you gonna propose to her or what?'

"Fine!" he said it out loud.

-----

Jean was already in her nightgown ready for bed when she heard the unmistakable sound of someone knocking on her window. She knew who it was because when she was younger, she often got a late night visit from that someone.

"Scott, there's such thing called a door, you know." She gave him a reproachful look as she opened the window and let him in. "What if you're not careful and fell down like last time?"

"Jean, that was like when we were twelve," said Scott. "I can handle this very well."

She sighed. "What do you want? Shouldn't you be in your room?"

Scott gulped audibly. 'This is the time. Do it now, Scott!" his mind was telling him.

He took both her hand in his as his face turned serious. "Jean?"

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I've been playing this scene in mind for so many years and when the right time came along, I thought I would be able to do it just fine. But I couldn't. I love you. I love you so much that I couldn't even find the right words to say to you. You mean the world to me."

Jean watched him in surprised silence and when Scott knelt down on one knee, she bit her lips from trembling. She saw him reaching down to his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. On top of the white satin bed, lay the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

"Jean Elizabeth Grey, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

'Please say yes…'

There was a long agonising silence as he waited for her answer. And when Jean finally let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, a drop of tears fell down from her eyes. She nodded her head when she couldn't find the voice to reply.

"Yes…" she said in a throaty voice, "yes, I will marry you, Scott Summers…"

Scott's face broke into a huge grin. He picked her up from where she was standing and swung her around, laughing all the way.

"Yes!" he said between laughter. "We're going to get married!"

Jean who still had tears in her eyes, smiled fondly at him as she placed a finger to silence him. "Hush! You're going to wake everybody!"

"Who cares? I want them to know." He put her down and then he yelled again.

"Scott—" she said. Jean was beginning to realise that she had no control over her actions. She lifted herself ever so slightly from the ground and kissed him softly on the lips.

This kiss was different than their previous kisses. This kiss was tender. It was slow and cautious…gentle and sweet. She felt how soft Scott's lips were and how warm his touch was.

"Jean..." Scott murmured against her lips.

"Shut up, Scott," she murmured back as she deepened the kiss.

They stood there kissing for what seemed like hours (though Scott calculated it was probably more like seven minutes), and neither of them seemed to want to part from the other.

When the kiss finally ended, she pulled away from him slightly. They were both short of breath and Scott looked about as flushed as Jean was. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, and its accelerated rhythm perfectly matched hers. Jean watched as the ring was slipped onto her ring finger and all she could do in return was to muffle a sob.

Sitting in the quiet and cold room, Scott smiled tenderly as the sweet memories kept playing in his mind. His eyes landed on his wife's abdomen when he remembered Hank's words.

'Your child.'

He reached out his hand to touch it. There was a child inside it. The life which they had created out of love. He swore silently to himself that he was going to be the best father for his child and gave him or her everything that he as a child didn't have.

He didn't know how long he had been staring at their little miracle, but when he looked up he found Jean's eyes were looking at him lovingly.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi, yourself, handsome."

"How are you doing?"

"I don't know. You tell me. I'm sure you have terrorised Hank about my condition."

"You can say so. He said you're gonna be okay and you must rest. A lot." And then added, "For the sake of our child."

Jean giggled. "Honey, I can promise you that once I am out of this place, we can resume on our Baby Plan Number One."

"No, we are not going to."

"Why not?" Jean said with a slight frown. "I thought you want us to have children?"

"Jean, we don't have to try anymore." He calmed her down. "We made it."

"What did you say?"

"I said we made it." His grin got wider. "You're pregnant, Jean!"

"I'm… what?"

Scott could only laugh heartily at his wife's reactions. "Honey, we are going to be parents! You and I!"

At that Jean felt as if all her strength had been returned to her. She sat up from her bed, holding Scott's face in her hands. "Oh God! Are sure about this? How? When? I mean…"

"Hank told me that. He thought that we already knew about this pregnancy, so he was just informing me that the baby is fine. There's no harm done to it."

"I-I'm… Oh, Scott, I can't believe we're going to be parents!" She threw herself at him and sobbed.

"I know. It's just so amazing. We have a life growing inside of you…"

Just when Jean was about to reply, Hank came into the room. "Oh, pardon me, my friends. Is this a bad time for me to come in?" He asked when he saw the tears on Jean's face.

"No, no at all, Hank," said Jean. "In fact, we need you here."

"I am at your service, Jeannie."

Still trying to contain her emotion, Jean said, "Hank, Scott told me that… that I am with child."

From Hank's expression, Jean realised that the man was waiting for her to continue.

"Is that real?"

It took a moment for the genius scientist to understand what just happened. "You are not aware that you are pregnant, are you, Jeannie?" he asked in a shocking tone.

"So it's true…"

"From the test result, you are six weeks pregnant. I'm surprised you are not aware of this pregnancy. Forgive me for being so blunt earlier, Scott."

"Not at all, Hank. If you didn't tell me that, we won't even know about it."

The 'Beast' then laughed aloud and Scott was sure it could wake the dead. "Congratulations to both of you!" He then went to Jean and gave her a bear hug. "I'm sure you'll make a great Mom."

"And you too, Scott." He turned to the young man beside him. "I'll leave the two of you for a moment, Jean. Call me whenever you need anything, Jean."

Jean nodded her head and muttered a thank you.

The moment the door was closed, the young couple hugged and kissed. Scott pulled her head down and took her mouth in an endless, drugging kiss that stole her breath and stunned her into mobility. No words were needed as their mind combined as one…

Somewhere around seven months later, Nathan Christopher Summers were brought into the world after 36 hours of labour. And once again, Scott found himself sitting at the very same place where he had been eight months ago, watching his wife slept peacefully after going through so much pain. He kissed her gently and his gaze fell onto the little baby placed protectively beside his mother. Unlike his mother, the baby began to stir when Scott laid a kiss of his forehead. A small whimper coming out of his mouth and Scott immediately picked him up, cradling his son gently in his arms.

"Hush, little one," he said softly. "Mommy's resting. You don't want to disturb her, do you?"

As if understanding what his father was saying, Nathan calmed down. His bright blue eyes looking up to him.

"That's my little boy. Go back to sleep, Nate. Daddy will be here to protect you." Scott began to hum a soft nursery rhyme and watched at the little eyes in front of him began to close again.

--- THE END ---

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