Marie rushed down the hallway to catch up to Hank, who was scurrying off to his next class.
"Hank! Wait up!"
He paused and turned around, "Good morning. How's Logan fairing with his daughter?"
"He's getting better...it's a learning process for him." Hank gave a single, pronounced nod as he continued walking. Marie walked beside him, "I actually need your help. Do you know of any mutant friendly pediatricians in our area? I think it's important that Emily gets a check up."
Hank stopped in his tracks and scratched his chin, "I think I know of a practice in White Plains...I'll get back to you, alright?"
Marie nodded, "Thanks."
When she returned to Logan's room, he was scrubbing spit up off of his t shirt. She laughed a little, "What happened?"
He gave up on the shirt and just took it off as he groaned, "I finished feeding her that bottle and was bouncing her on my knee, then all the sudden, she turns into the exorcist."
Marie stuttered a little when she was faced with the challenge of having to think and look at his naked chest at the same time.
He must've said something, because he snapped his finger and waved his hand at her, "Kid...did you hear me?"
She cleared her throat and shook her head, "What? Sorry."
"I asked if Hank gave you the number to a pediatrician yet."
"Um, no. No, he's going to have to get it to me later."
Marie managed to peel her eyes away from his naked upper body long enough for him to fish a shirt out of the dresser. In the meantime, she diverted her attention toward Emily, who was happily dozing in the baby swing near the corner of the room.
"Glad you figured out how to strap her into that by yourself."
He nodded, "Yeah. That thing's a miracle worker."
"Just don't keep her in it all the time."
He pulled his shirt over his head, "Why not? She seems to love it."
"It's not good for her development. She needs tummy time so that she learns to move around by herself."
Logan crossed his large arms over his chest, "Tummy time?"
Marie nodded and went over to Emily to wipe some drool off of her chin, "Think of it as baby exercise. I mean...would you have those...arms...if you didn't exercise?"
"Speaking of which, I could use some time in the gym...you think you could..." he said as he motioned toward Emily in her swing.
She nodded, "Sure thing, hon...no problem."
"Thanks, kid...I owe ya one."
A few days later, they were at the doctor's office, waiting to have Emily examined. Logan sat with Emily on his lap as Marie sat in the corner flipping through a magazine. Marie set the magazine aside and stood as the doctor entered the room.
She smiled, "Good morning...so this is the baby girl Hank was telling me about. I'm Dr. Lee."
"Marie."
"Logan."
She shook Logan and Marie's hand and took Emily from Logan, "She looks just like her daddy!"
As she began examining the baby, Marie crossed her arms, "Do you think she's going to have Logan's mutation?"
"Hank mentioned you have a healing factor..."
Logan nodded, "Yeah."
"What about you, Marie?"
Marie scrunched up her eyebrows, "Um...I can absorb other people's powers."
She checked Emily's ears, "Well, there's a chance she can have both of your mutations or just take after one of you."
Logan and Marie's eyes widened as they realized the misconception Dr. Lee was operating under. They suddenly began shaking their heads and verbally stumbling over each other to correct the doctor's mistake.
"No no no-"
"I'm not-we're not-
Logan was the first of the two of them finally able to form a cohesive sentence, "Um...Marie's not Emily's mom."
Marie nodded in agreement and laughed nervously, "Right...nooo kids have come outta this oven."
Dr. Lee, who was slightly taken aback at their extreme and insistent denials, simply smiled and nodded, "Oh...alright then."
As the examination concluded, Dr. Lee handed Emily off to Logan and jotted down some notes.
"Everything ok, doc?"
She nodded, "Ears are clear, weight and height look great. No fever...she's perfectly healthy, but I want to make sure you bring her back for her check ups every couple of months."
As the days turned into weeks, Logan grew into the role of father a bit more. Although he wasn't the traditional, lovey dovey, baby talking dad, he did respond well to Emily's moods and needs.
When someone called Emily cute, he eventually graduated from grunting to actually saying "thanks".
He slowly but surely started falling in love with his daughter. He did actually recognize that she was "cute", but the closest he ever came to admitting it was calling her a "looker".
Logan started teaching self defense and battle strategies in the Danger Room while Marie looked after Emily. Every now and then, Storm would babysit, but that was only if Marie was in class or working.
One fateful evening, when Emily came down with a fever, he began seeing Marie in a whole new light.
She had just returned from going out to eat with Jubilee when Logan rushed down the hallway to greet her. He had his daughter in his arms, wrapped in a blanket.
"Logan, what's wrong?"
He presented a clammy and warm Emily to her, "She's burnin' up..."
Marie took the baby from him and kissed her head, "Oh...she is warm. Go get Hank."
A few minutes later, Hank walked into the room, "Have you called Dr. Lee?" They shook their heads in unison as he pulled a tiny light out of his pocket and shined it into Emily's eyes, "I'll give her a ring to see if she'll make a house call."
Marie protectively cradled Emily as Logan continued fetching cool wash clothes to place on her head. When Dr. Lee arrived, she took her temperature, "How's her appetite?"
Logan scratched his head, "She just ate 8 ounces of formula."
She continued examining the baby, "Any vomiting?"
Marie shook her head, "No."
Dr. Lee sucked her teeth, "102...pretty high, but her body's doing what it's supposed to. At this age, her she's being exposed to a lot of common bacteria and infections for the first time. The fever is simply an external signal that her body is fighting them off and forming immunity against them."
Logan raised his eyebrows, "Sooo...does that mean she's sick?"
"Random fevers are pretty common for babies her age. She might be teething, she might be fighting off a mild infection, but whatever it is, it's not serious. She's still eating and acting like herself, so all we need to do is give her some baby tylenol to get her fever down. Just monitor her fever and keep her comfortable...there's a chance she's going to be cranky tonight because, obviously, having a fever is never comfortable."
When Dr. Lee left, Logan gave Emily her tylenol and gently rocked her. Later that evening, when they tried to put her to bed, she started fussing and crying, so Marie picked her up.
He ran a hand through his hair, "Damn...I haven't eaten since lunch."
Marie took Emily and waved him off, "Go get somethin' to eat. I got her."
"You sure?"
She nodded and waved him off again, "We're fine."
"Thanks, kid...I'll bring you back some dessert."
When Logan returned about an hour later, he found Emily fast asleep as she lay curled into a sleeping Marie's arms. He smiled and stared at them for a while before silently sitting at his desk to eat, watching them the whole time.
At that moment, he decided he needed to do something special for Marie. Overnight, she'd taken on the role of Emily's adoptive mother and his parenting guardian angel without one complaint about her lack of sleep or lack of free time.
While girls her age in the mansion were out partying or enjoying carefree Saturday afternoons, she was guiding him through diaper changes or helping make baby food for a child that wasn't hers.
Four years ago, he may have promised to take care of her, but she was actually the one now taking care of him and the thing that was now most precious to him - his daughter.
The universe works in mysterious ways.
About halfway through his meal, Marie slowly opened her eyes and whispered, "Hey..."
For some reason, in that moment, he found her to be more beautiful than he'd ever seen her. Naturally, Marie was a pretty girl. He'd always known that. He'd always recognized that...but now...she was a beautiful woman.
************SPECIAL AUTHOR'S NOTE***************
Most of the people who regularly read my materials know that I appreciate constructive criticism, enjoy witty reviewer banter and I love creative use of curse words within reviews (I especially love it when people get passionate about hating/loving the characters), but I recently received a private message from a reader that, in my opinion, was BEYOND rude. Apparently, because this person didn't like the fact that I usually give Logan a daughter (and why I usually give him a daughter), they took it upon themselves to personally berate me and insult my parenting skills (big ass no-no). I don't know if this person forgets that this is FANFICTION and not real life and the opinions and elements expressed in my stories are not at all representations of my beliefs/personal experiences UNLESS EXPRESSED before hand (i.e. "Logan's Favorite Hiding Place"). I just like writing him with a daughter...just like I like writing him with Marie instead of Jean. It's kinda my prerogative, right?
Besides that, let's face it, most stories, including my own, paint him as being kind of dysfunctional with women. What better way to force him to recognize the error in his former man-whoring ways than giving him a beautiful daughter whom he feels the need to protect from womanizing men like him? I do like to be able to paint the picture of an ideal, protective father-daughter relationship because it's something I've always wanted and, unfortunately, never got. (I honestly think that's the reason why I give most of my fic characters daughters anyways)
I am lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who is an amazing father to our son, so I recognize how beautiful a relationship between father and son is, I just think it's funny to watch Logan squirm around extra girly parts. That's IT.
I blocked that reader because I don't come here to have my parenting skills knocked or my personal beliefs picked apart. I have family and in-laws for that. Insulting me personally will not be tolerated and I don't think anyone should have to subject themselves to that kind of treatment when they're just here to read/write fanfic. I just come here to deliver smut and fluff to Rogan lovers. I'm not trying to reignite a war between the sexes, start a debate about politics, race or even talk about my personal life. I just want to talk about fluff, smut and how sexy a certain two mutants are together. If you have a problem with my story, please feel free to simply stop reading and move on. There is NO need to message me with insults or attempt to push me into changing the beliefs you think I have. There are plenty of other very talented Rogan writers on this site and beyond that might be writing a story that you 100% approve of. Say what you want about my story, but do not come after my personal life or attempt to attack me as a parent.
Again, thank you to all of my faithful readers. I'm sorry for the extra long author's note. As usual, feel free to review/exchange witty banter, etc. You know how it is.