This story is A/U. Logan and Ororo are finally married and about to start their family. Ororo decides it is time to revisit her past in order to move on to the future. She hoped to discover family heirlooms. What she ends up finding will change her life forever.

/

"If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were."

Richard Bach

/

/

Chapter 1

"Logan, I think I see it!" Came Ororo's excited voice.

Ororo and Logan were down in the storage area of the mansion.

After a year of dancing around each other, Ororo and Logan finally decided to act on their feelings for each other. Two months after their official first date, Ororo discovered she was pregnant. They were promptly married in a small garden ceremony on the mansion grounds.

Now, at 7 months pregnant, Ororo had Logan moving heavy items around in the storage area, trying to find a trunk that contained what little was recovered from her childhood home.

From the time Ororo came to the United States with Charles Xavier, he made it his mission to find and collect anything that he could that belonged to Ororo or her beloved parents before their home was destroyed by a plane. He was not able to find much, but what he did find, he stored in a trunk. It had always been painful to look at any reminders of her childhood, so she never really knew what he had found. After some years, he had exhausted his search, and put everything in storage.

Now, Ororo was having a little one of her own, and she wanted to know if there was anything she could pass on to their baby.

Logan stopped to wipe some sweat from his brow.

"I hope so darlin, this stuff is pretty heavy. And who tha hell buried this trunk underneath all this shit? All the other trunks are lined up against that wall with name tags on them. Looks ta me like someone was trying ta hide it." He grunted while trying to move the last big piece of furniture out of the way.

Ororo laughed lightly. "Logan, first of all, watch your language. You cannot speak that way in front of our child. Secondly, why would someone hide my trunk? It is probably buried because it was one of the first ones stored here. Scott, Jean, Hank and I were the first ones here."

Logan was finally able to grasp the trunk in question, and carried it over and placed it at her feet. There was some dust on it, so he told her to cover her face while he cleaned it off. He grabbed a rag out of his back pocket to wipe the years of dust away. What he revealed was a burgundy trunk with gold trim.

"Well darlin, here ya go." His face suddenly became serious. "Ya sure ya want ta look in here, Ro? I don't want ya ta get upset looking at this stuff, or get disappointed with what ya find. May not be much of anything."

Ororo leaned over to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you for your concern, my love, but I think I am finally ready to let go. I have a new life inside of me. My former life has passed and it is time to start anew. Anyway, there must be something in here, or the Professor would not have bothered to keep it. Now, let us have a look, shall we?"

"There's a lock on it. Ya don't happen ta have the key, do ya?" He smirked at her.

Ororo quirked an eyebrow at him, before reaching for her lock picking tools. It was a useful skill she perfected during her short time as a thief, and she never let an opportunity to use her skills go to waste.

Ororo had the lock open in 35 seconds. A new record.

"Those are some pretty talented fingers ya got there darlin." Logan said suggestively as he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Wonder what else ya can do with them?"

Ororo leaned in close enough that her lips were grazing his ear. "So I have been told." her voice low and husky.

Logan crouched by her feet with his eyes closed, trying to keep his bodily reactions under control. Her voice was so sexy, he would get excited just hearing her.

Think about anything else, but her.

Greasy bike engine.

Kitty's cooking.

Scott in a thong.

Yup, that did it.

Finally he was able to open his eyes up and look at her.

"If ya keep that up darlin, we aint never gonna get this trunk opened."

Ororo laughed huskily as she reached out to open the lid. "Come Logan, let us see what is in here."

Ororo raised the lid slowly. The lid creaked loudly due to the years of being unopened. Once fully opened, they were assaulted by a musty smell with a hint of cedar.

Logan moved to peer over the top of the trunk to get a look at what was inside. As he feared, there was not much in there. He spotted a document box, and what looked to be a cherry wood jewelry box. He tipped his head so he could see Ororo expression. He caught a glimpse of disappointment in her blue eyes, but she quickly covered it up when she saw him watching.

He reached out to take one of her small hands in his. "Ya alright, Ro?"

She looked at him and just nodded her head. Ororo turned back toward the contents of the trunk and reached for the document box. She removed the lid and began to go through what was inside.

Ororo first came upon a stack of photos.

The first one was of her mother holding a baby. Tears gathered in Ororo's eyes as her finger lightly traced the features of her mother. This is how she always tried to remember her mother…ALIVE. Not the mangled, bloodied mess being crushed under fallen bricks. Logan moved to sit beside Ororo when he heard her whisper "Mommy" as a lone tear made its way down her face.

He looked down at the picture in her hand. He was taken aback by the beauty of the woman in the picture.

Ororo looked like her mother for the most part. N'Dare Monroe was about 2 shades darker than her daughter, but had the same flawless complexion. Where as Ororo had long, silky white hair, her mother sported a long mane of jet black hair with a kinkier texture. Although they had the same shape of almond eyes, Ororo's were blue and her mother's were as dark as coal.

Logan was surprised by that.

He had always assumed she got her eye color from her mother.

"She's beautiful. Ya look like her." Logan said softly.

Ororo turned and smiled. "Thank you. The memories of my parents has faded over the years, but I remember thinking she was the most beautiful woman in the world. It means a lot to hear you say that." Ororo gently placed the picture to the side and continued on.

There were various pictures of the small family during their time in Cairo. There were also some of the few times her mother had taken little Ororo back to her tribe to visit. That did not surprise Ororo since her father was a famous photographer.

What DID surprise her was a picture she found at the bottom of the stack. There was a man who looked like a younger version of the Professor and a baby who looked like her.

Ororo furrowed her brow as she examined the picture closer. Logan noticed her troubled expression.

"Ro, what's wrong?"

She looked at him and opened her mouth, only to close it again and look back at the picture.

Maybe I am seeing things, she thought.

"Logan, who does this man look like?" She handed the picture to Logan for inspection.

Logan knew exactly who it was. "It's Chuck Ro, ya know that. Why?"

Ororo took the picture back from him. "Yes, that is what I thought, which is why I am confused." She looked over to Logan who was patiently waiting for an explanation.

"Uh…well, I just do not understand why this picture exist. I was never aware that the Professor knew my parents. Yet, here is a photo of him holding me as an infant." She then turned the picture over to look at the back

/

Charles,

I took this picture the night we came to say goodbye.

I thought you would like to have it.

I am so sorry for how things turned out,

But I thank you for the sacrifice you have made.

I shall never, ever forget you.

Love Always N'Dare

/

Ororo shook her head in confusion.

When had her mother been in the US? The picture was taken in Charles very office.

Why had she come to say goodbye to Charles?

Why had the Professor never mentioned knowing her mother?

Love always?

"I do not…I…what does this mean Logan?" She turned to him hoping he could make some sense out of this for her.

Logan took the picture from her hand and read the back. It made no sense to him. Why would Chuck keep it a secret? What was the big deal? Logan could see that his wife was getting worked up over this. He did not want her getting upset.

"Hey. Hey, look at me darlin." He placed his fingers under her chin to raise her eyes to his. "It's probably nothing. Maybe he didn't want to upset ya by talking about them. I know as well as anyone how sad ya get when ya think about them. Let's finish looking through the rest of this stuff, and then if ya want, we can go ask him about it, alright?"

Ororo nodded her head. Yes, Logan was right. Technically, she never asked if he knew her parents, so it was not like he lied about it.

It was a reasonable explanation.

So why did it not make her feel better?

She let out a frustrated sigh and turned back to Logan.

"Yes, Logan. You are correct. I am getting upset over nothing. Now, let us look through the rest of this. Unfortunately, there is not much here."

Ororo reached in and took out a yellow envelope. Logan was neatly stacking the photos, when he realized Ororo had gone still beside him. He turned to look at her to find her studying two sheets of paper.

Inside was her original birth certificate and birth record…both issued in the state of New York.

"No…no, this is not right. Logan, what is going on?"

Logan took both pieces of paper from her and studied them.

Now he was really confused.

Ororo had told him that she was born and raised in Cairo and then Kenya until the age of 7 when the Professor found her and brought her to the US.

So why were they both looking at a birth certificate issued for Ororo Iqadi Monroe by the state of New York?

"I don't know Ro. Did anyone ever tell ya that ya were born in Africa, or did ya assume? It's possible ya were born here. Wasn't yer dad from here?" He questioned lightly.

Ororo sat back, trying to recall why she thought she had been born in Africa. After 5 minutes, she realized that although she did not remember anyone feeding her that information, the Professor never corrected the assumption. Obviously, he knew she was born here, so why had he not just said something?

Ororo had a faraway look in her eyes. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

What was he hiding?

The papers were giving her a headache, so she handed them to Logan and picked up the jewelry box.

Logan discreetly put them to the side with the picture of her and Chuck. Even if she did not ask him about these things, he would. He could not remember his past, and it took him years to accept the fact that he may never know.

Now his wife was discovering her past may not have been what she was lead to believe. But unlike him, there was someone who could fill in the gaps, and he would make that happen for her.

Ororo slowly opened the top, surprised to be greeted with the strings of Canon in D. Her full lips tilted up into a smile as she listened to the melody. It was one of her favorites. She placed the box on the closed lid of the trunk so she could examine the contents.

Inside were a set of beautifully jeweled hair combs. They looked to be handmade and of tribal origin. She imagined they probably belonged to her mother.

Next to the combs, she spotted two matching bracelets. One was for an adult, the other for a child. She picked them up to examine them closely.

Identical bracelets in platinum with round brilliant diamonds. She recognized the maker immediately.

Tiffany and Co. Hmm…probably from her father, she thought. After all, he was from New York.

Finding nothing else inside, Ororo closed the top of the jewelry box and was about to put it back in the trunk, when she realized there was a small drawer at the bottom.

Slowly she opened the small drawer that was lined in black velvet, to reveal what looked to be a letter.

Ororo removed the letter and placed the jewelry box on top of the trunk. She opened the neatly folded paper to reveal handwriting that was oddly familiar.

Logan noted how Ororo's brow was scrunched in concentration and confusion. He leaned over to get a look at what she had.

"What ya got darlin?"

Ororo looked over to Logan, and then back at the letter in her hands.

"Ro?…?"

"Oh, sorry. I found a letter addressed to my mother, however, the handwriting…well the handwriting looks very familiar." She said with confusion in her voice.

"Yer dad's?"

"No." She looked at him then. "No, not my father."

He sat back a bit feeling the apprehension flowing off of her. "Well who?"

"Charles."