Six months ago....
Trying to catch the breath she'd taken away, Kurt laid on top on Rachel a moment longer before rolling off and pulling her close in a loving embrace. In turn, his wife nuzzled up to his side, laying her head in the hollow of his shoulder, wrapping a long, bare leg over him. The sun had barely begun to illuminate their bedroom as morning dawned. The two had discovered making love early in the morning was a perfect way to start the day.
Over the baby monitor in the nursery, they could hear Gracie beginning to stir in her crib. With a sigh, Rachel knew the baby would be wanting her breakfast soon and her body began responding to that stimulus. But for now, still flushed from her climax, she laid close to her Blue, running her fingertips over his muscular chest, loving the feel of his velvety skin up against her naked body.
Idly, she fingered the silver crucifix that lay gleaming against his dark fur in the pale light. It had been a Father's Day present to replace the one guards had ripped off him when he was imprisoned at Alkali Base. This one, like the original, never left his neck.
The couple had established new lives here since landing at Xavier's school four months earlier. Rachel had settled into the role of wife and mother. Kurt had adopted the role of X-Man. She would have been lying if she'd said she was thrilled with Kurt's desire to join Xavier's elite team. And, even now, she got a lump in her throat and a hard knot in her stomach when she watched the Blackbird winging away from her over the horizon. Knowing that there might very well be a day when Kurt would not be coming home.
But, even though she still struggled with her fear, a sizable amount of pride in her husband was there too. And, it didn't hurt that he struck a fine figure in his form fitting, ultra flexible, kevlar armored uniform. In fact, the first time she'd actually seen him in it, the first thing she'd wanted to know was how fast she could get him out of it...
Kurt all but purred with contentment as he ran Rachel's long hair through his three fingers. He took his responsibilities as husband and father very seriously. He had prayed that this school would be a good, safe place for his little family. It was that and so, so much more.
Gracie had been born within days of their arrival here. She was over a month early. Dr. McCoy suspected Rachel had been in process of being induced as he found substantial amounts of Pitocin in her blood stream. But, even without that, the tremendous strain on her – both physical and mental – was plenty enough to push her into labor. A cesarean was very risky given her physical state. But, between her broken ribs, bruised body, and shattered mental state, they had all wondered if she would even be able to give birth any other way.
Kurt remembered holding Rachel's hand, watching helplessly, as his wife struggled to bring Gracie into the world. Fortunately for them, Aunt Lumi was an old hand at midwifing and after a long, exhausting labor that Rachel couldn't have survived without her help – tiny Luminista Grace was born. With the exception of her slim tapered tail and mutated two-toed feet, she was a tiny replica of her mother.
Kurt loved Gracie with an intensity he'd never known before when he held her in his arms for the first time. It was the kind of love that inspired men to change the world. So, when Xavier approached him with an offer to join the X-Men's team, he gladly accepted. Rachel had been slow to give her blessing. He understood her fears and did his best to ease her apprehension. But, even after she gave in to his desire, he still saw fear cross her features every time he got ready for a mission.
"I'm coming back." He'd always promise, taking her and holding her close. "I'm not going to leave you or Gracie." Little did he know that, one day, she would be the one to leave.
Rachel started to pull herself out of bed, as Gracie's sighs and cooings began to turn into whimpers and grunts. Kurt pressed her back down with a long, sound kiss.
"I'll go get her." He whispered, pulling on his pajama bottoms, giving his daughter's mother a few more minutes of peace and quiet. She heard him picking Gracie up and pleasantly conversing with her in German. And, while she was grateful she had a husband who never shrank from his share of domestic duties, she wished he'd hurry as her chest was becoming painfully swollen and sore. He brought a hungry, freshly diapered Gracie into their room. She babbled insistently to her father as he nodded his head and agreed with her. Sheets pulled around her form, Rachel shook her head and held out her arms to receive the child. Sometimes she felt, if she wasn't breast feeding, she'd never get the chance to hold her daughter.
Kurt felt a certain kind of pride and contentment as Rachel settle Gracie in and he watched the infant nursing at Rachel's breast. He perched above them, his feet grasping the bedpost easily, his tail curled up behind him. He looked like some kind of guardian gargoyle watching over the mother and child.
It used to embarrass Rachel when he'd watch her feeding Gracie, now it was a chance for the two of them to talk or plan, or just a chance for the three to spend time together.
By now, the sun was fully up and the school was coming to life. Kurt lazily crawled off his sentry position and stretched, working the rest of the kinks out of his long, limber frame. "I have to go to Vancouver today. The professor wants us to meet with officials there. There seems to be-"
"Today?" Rachel interrupted. By the surprised, slightly skewed look on her face, he knew he'd forgotten something.
"What?" he asked, grateful his wife was far more organized that he was. She kept heir home from falling into chaos.
Rachel shrugged. "Nothing." She shifted Gracie around to the other side to finish nursing. "I was just going to have those tests run today. But, I can reschedule. It's no big deal." She brushed it off. The thought of medical tests and examinations scared Rachel to the point she almost had to have a sedative. So, having an excuse to beg off from them was fine with her.
Kurt's hand went to his forehead. He had told Rachel he'd be at the mansion the day she had scheduled her appointment.
"Ach!" He cried out. "No, you have already rescheduled those tests twice, now!" He admonished her. Hank was going to string her up by her toes if she skipped out again. "I will see if I can get a baby sitter."
Rachel sighed. "All right, but if you can't I really don't mind." She gripped her free hand, to try to stop her tremors. "I don't think the results are going to be any different from last time." She smiled, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. The serum forced on her at Alkali lake had caused permanent damage to her fine motor control. It was predominately in her hands, causing them to tremble slightly. It wasn't going to end her life. But it did effectively end her veterinarian career. Without the motor control needed to perform surgery, gather samples, ready IV's, or one of the hundreds of other duties vets carried out, she felt obligied to give up her license. She was kept busy with her family, and would have probably let her license expire anyway. But, the fact that her the career she loved was taken away from her birthed an anger that always burned just beneath the surface.
It seemed everyone at the school was busy doing something that day. Even Kitty, who normally jumped at the chance to take care of Gracie, had to beg off. Kurt was just about to give up when Rachel's uncle, Joe Donivan, pulled into the drive. He and Rachel's Aunt Lumi got out of Joe's Escalade.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise!" Kurt beamed, clasping hands with his wife's uncle, then wrapping Lumi in a firm, but gentle hug as they came into the foyer.
After Gracie's birth, Kurt's sister, Jemaine, was called away by her mother to parts unknown. Lumi, had stayed here in America, rather than go back to Germany. Joe had invited her to stay at his manor in Georgia...Rachel's childhood home. The place where Rachel's mother, Rawnie's, spirit rested.
"I wish I could say it's all pleasure, but I'm here on business." Joe was bigger than life with silver hair and a matching silver beard that made him appear roguish and suave and very handsome. After learning of the lab Kurt had been imprisoned at when he was kidnapped in Germany, Joe had gone on a crusade to clean up his brother's company. Rachel had done her part by diverting hundreds of millions from her trust funds towards buying up stock. Between the two of them, and a very generous gift from Professor Xavier on behalf of the school, they were able to purchase a controlling share of Donivan Enterprises. "Dr. McCoy and I are meeting with the president's cabinet tomorrow." Joe had made some enemies, but in doing so he'd brought to light a disturbing arena of research using mutants as unwilling test subjects. Not just at Donivan Enterprises, but in many Bioresearch companies. It was enough to keep you awake at night.
"Speak for yourself!" Lumi thin body shouldered past the two men. Her thick accent continued. "I'm here to see my two girls!" Her withered frame was small and slight in stature, but that feeble coil held a powerful spirit that had been the family's beacon during many dark days. Kurt was respectful by nature, but he held a special reverence for this woman. Enough so that his daughter was her name sake. He firmly believed Gracie wouldn't be here at all without Lumi. Perhaps none of them would be. As he watched her make her way up the stairs, it occurred to him...
"Lumi!" He called out, catching up to her. The old woman turned her head questioningly. "Would you mind watching Gracie this afternoon?"
"Is the Pope Catholic?" She teased her devout nephew by marriage.
A good natured grin crept over his features as he nodded, shrugging. "The last time I checked." He winked.
"She is getting so big!" Lumi doted on the infant as Gracie enjoyed the attention, alternately smiling and looking surprised at her great aunt's expressions. The old spinster turned a wizen eye towards the new mother.
"You're already trying for another child." It wasn't so much a question as an open ended statement. She was answered by Rachel's blush.
Rachel sat down on the sofa as she felt her cheeks heat up. Neither of them had actually come out and said it, but she had hesitantly brought up the subject of using 'protection.' She knew most Catholic husbands as devout as hers would have been livid at the suggestion. But, she still felt that same warmth through her that she felt when Kurt responded to her fear with an encouraging smile. His voice was soft and soothing as he caressed her. "Would it be such a bad thing if we had another child?" He'd whispered. At that, she was completely won over. She let him inside her as he loved away any uncertainties she might have had.
Rachel cleared her throat as she realized she'd been silent too long. "Well..." she answered, diplomatically. "We're not not trying to get pregnant." In actuality, as many mornings as they had spent wrapped around each other, it would be a miracle if she wasn't pregnant again already.
Lumi smiled, starting to speak again, then fell silent. A dark shadow seemed to fall over her.
"Lumi?" Rachel reached out for her aunt, concerned at her expression. "Are you all right?"
Shaking her head as if to clear it, Lumi's smile returned. "Just someone walking over my grave." She assured her niece. Then she held the baby up to her mother, as Gracie began pouting. "I think someone is ready for her lunch." She smiled.