Disclaimer: The suits at Fox own these guys, I'm just playing with them.

A/N: Well, it looks like Logan's little family has climbed into my head to stay for now. Ship warning!! Thanks to catherder and alaidh, once again, for the beta.

BLESSINGS

The Penthouse, Fogle Towers, early April 2034

Logan woke with a start. He put his hand out on the bed, to the place Max usually occupied, even though she slept very little. It was cold and abandoned. She had evidently been gone for some time. He looked over at the crib beside the bed, where the moonlight shone through the window, and sighed. He hadn't heard a thing, but Max obviously had. Casting a quick glance in the direction of the clock, then at the vacant space beside him on the bed, he made his decision. He quickly pushed up to a sitting position, dragged his legs over the side of the bed, and sat there for a moment to allow himself to wake up properly. He quickly transferred into the wheelchair and grabbed his glasses.

Wondering why he had woken, he rubbed his arms, suddenly feeling the chill of the night and finally realizing that was what had awakened him. He grabbed the sweater and pants he'd left hanging over the end of the bed the night before, and quickly pulled them on. He unlocked the brakes and quietly wheeled out of the room. Logan stopped briefly and looked into his son's room in passing. Eleven year old Ben was spread-eagled across the bed, his dark hair tousled. Logan quietly entered and covered him. As with most kids, the bedclothes had headed for the floor through the night. His father often accused him of fighting tigers in his sleep. Ben stirred briefly and rolled partly over, but didn't wake.

Quietly rolling through the apartment, Logan thought he heard movement in the living room. Max occupied a corner of the sofa, and was gently dozing while baby Eva sucked at her breast. The silvery moonlight illuminated the side of her face and made her hair shine blue-black where it sprayed across her shoulders and neck. She cradled the baby in her right arm and her feet were curled up under the faded red bathrobe, one of Logan's, to which she had taken a liking some years before, and which she had resurrected from the back of the closet. Her left hand rested on her knee. A stray beam of moonlight also lit the side of the baby's face. Logan could see her mouth and the fingers of one hand moving as she suckled.

The wheels of the chair hummed on the floorboards as he approached the woman and the swaddled child. He was, as always, entranced to witness this most intimate of moments. He drew as close as he could, hesitating, not wanting to spoil the moment and looked at Max critically. She looked tired and thin. The ancient red bathrobe emphasized the pallor of her skin. He gently adjusted the back of the robe where it had fallen down her back. He hadn't realized how prominent the bones of her neck and shoulders had become, and frowned in worry.

"Hey," he whispered when she looked up at him. "Why don't you go back to bed?"

"I will, just as soon as this little lady is done," she responded and gave a small smile.

Logan ran his hand through her hair, bringing their foreheads together for the softest of touches. "You look exhausted."

Max, for once, didn't dispute it. She closed her eyes and drew one of her feet up even further underneath her on the sofa. Eva was a difficult, unsettled baby, and wasn't sleeping well. Max was only partially recovered from the delivery, and had become much more run-down than she cared to admit, even to herself. The difficult pregnancy, her constant nausea throughout and bleeding in the later stages, had left her worn out. Her robust X5 constitution had taken a beating, and the lack of rest was hindering her normally phenomenal recuperative powers. She had lost a lot of weight, while Eva had thrived, but the lack of rest was starting to tell.

"Too much shark in her cocktail?" Logan smiled at her.

"Yeah, way too much," she wanly smiled.

"You need to rest."

"Well this little girl thought otherwise..." she caught the worried look on his face. "Don't worry, I will, just as soon as she's done." Max patted the sofa beside her. "Come and sit beside me."

"In a minute. You want a drink?"

She nodded, "Thanks."

Logan backed up and headed into the kitchen, returning with a large tall glass half-filled with water. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she said again and smiled sweetly. "Thirsty work." She took a long drink, closing her eyes as she did, and set the glass on the table, then nodded her head in the direction of the opposite end of the sofa. "Come on, keep me company." While Logan reversed and circumnavigated the coffee table, she slid in a finger and gently pulled the baby off her breast, which elicited a small cry of protest. She swung her feet round onto the floor and propped Eva up on her knee with a hand cupping her chin. Then she rubbed Eva's back gently, giving a small giggle at the huge burp that erupted from the tiny child. While she was doing this, Logan, in a smooth, well-practiced move, transferred from the wheelchair to the other end of the sofa.

Max held the baby close and leaned back into him, swinging her legs up on the opposite side, and once again curling them up underneath the bathrobe. He gently wrapped an arm around the two of them. Eva turned her head in toward her mother, greedily searching for the other nipple. Max softly guided the questing mouth. She relaxed into Logan's shoulder, her free hand finding his. He used his other hand to brush a stray hair out of her face, and smiled down at her.

"Mmm, nice," she said, snuggling harder against him.

"You are most welcome, young lady," he responded, sounding like a gentleman from a period movie.

They remained in a silence, broken only by the sounds made by the feeding baby, until even they ceased and the child slept. Eventually, Logan said, "Why don't you go back to bed. I'll take care of her. Go on."

Max slowly uncurled herself from his grasp and carefully handed the child to Logan. Eva, sated, barely stirred as her father enfolded her in his warm embrace. Max dropped a kiss on top of his head, crushing the rumpled, graying hair, then grabbed the tall glass of water and left him. She was soon asleep, while Logan, holding his sleeping daughter, silently awaited the dawn and pondered the changes in his life that Max and his two beautiful children had brought, still wondering what benevolent force had been working its magic to give him so many blessings.