Chapter Seven: Spreading the Love

"You're coming with us, K. That's all there is to it," Jean told her, Storm, Rogue and Kitty stood behind her, and a few of the women were smirking as K peeked through the crack in the front door of the boat house with a sheet wrapped around herself.

"I'm busy. Don't try again later," K tried to argue as Jean used her abilities to keep the door from closing, even going so far as to open it further. Kitty smiling widely with a blush high on her cheeks, her hand over her eyes when she saw a glimpse of Logan in bed, barely covered with the blanket, waiting for K to return.

"Jean, let it go. She can come with some other time," Kitty said, laughing to herself that the newlyweds were still taking every opportunity to jump each other.

"No, we're all going. It's traditional. Come on, K," Jean pleaded. "You don't even have to get dressed up, just let's go."

K looked at her a moment, weighing it all out, and knowing full well how to end the conversation suddenly. She nodded her head and agreed, blowing out all of her breath at once. Logan looked openly disappointed in the background until K simply dropped the sheet that was wrapped around her and started to step out of the door, buck naked.

"Fine. If I don't have to get dressed, let's go," K said, her head held high as Logan wrapped the blanket around his waist and swore, ready to pull her inside and lock the door.

"What l are you doing? You can't go anywhere like that!" Jean hissed, shaking her head as K stopped and looked at her as if she was the one misbehaving.

She put her hand on her hip and tipped her chin up defiantly. "You just said I didn't have to get dressed up. This is my outfit today. Special request from my husband, so that's what I'm wearing," K said, keeping a straight face as though Jean was chastising her for wearing the wrong skirt to church.

Ororo smiled, turning her head with a broad grin and laughing to herself at K's boldness. As Jean tried to reason with her, Ororo had to cover her mouth as she watched Logan grab K by the arm and pulled her back inside.

"Don't you start with me, mister or I will snatch that blanket off you right now," K warned, getting Logan to back off a hair as he closed the door, though Ororo began to chuckle behind her hand at the threat that was most definitely not hushed enough for just the two of them.

"Come on back to bed, or get dressed and go before you give Jeannie a heart attack," he told her with a little frown, wishing she'd come back and make good on some of the promises she'd made earlier.

K smiled at him. "What did you think I was trying to do, sweetheart?" K asked him before she gave him a quick kiss and snatched off his blanket and sent him back to their bedroom. Before he could get all the way back she opened the door again and Ororo openly grinned at Logan's retreating backside.

"K, please get dressed! All of us would rather be with our men than shopping, but -"Jean started to say before K cut her off.

"Then be with them. Go. Get naked, have some fun for Christsakes. You, my fine friend need to get laid. No shopping today. I'm serious," K said, making a shooing motion with her hands. "Surprise your men, they'd be happier with that than they would ever be with any piece of crap you pick up at the mall."

Jean was openly stunned as K closed the door and got back to her planned activities for the day, with Logan's laughter echoing through the boat house. The ladies of the mansion stared at each other mischievously before Ororo was the first to respond by nodding her head.

"She has a point of course," Ororo said with a trouble making smile. "And I think I'm a bit bored with shopping myself." She grinned and turned back towards the house to draw Forge's attention from his work in the hangar.

Kitty blushed deeply and giggled before she followed Storm's lead. "She is a team leader. Gotta follow her example," Kitty replied then rushed off, looking for Piotr, while Jean and Rogue stared at each other.

"What has gotten into everyone?" Jean said, frustrated. "This is Christmas coming up … seriously. There is serious last minute shopping to be done."

"You're not wrong? But ...from the memories I saw when she leant me her power? She's got a good reason to stay in bed," Rogue replied as they started up toward the car. As much as Rogue would like to act on her desires, she still didn't have things with a fine enough handle to act on that impulse.

And since Jean and Scott were in the middle of a small argument at the moment, the pair of women headed out to brave the last minute shoppers together.

Hours later, Logan and K were in the kitchen of the mansion where Kurt was working on the evening's dinner when Jean and Rogue returned, laden with shopping bags.

Jean shoot K a look and tilted her chin skyward. "What are you doing out of bed?" Jean asked, a snarky tone to her voice.

Logan raised an eyebrow and Kurt grinned wider, but K gladly derailed Jean's little burst of snarkiness. "Hydrating," K said pointedly as she tossed an empty water bottle into the garbage.

Logan couldn't help but smile as Jean rolled her eyes, unable to keep from chuckling at K's commentary before she left the kitchen. Especially with Kurt laughing outright.

"Honestly," Rogue muttered, looking a little embarrassed as she followed Jean, laden with nearly as many bags as she was.

"You shouldn't pick on her like that," Kurt said as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "She can't take the innuendoes."

"I dunno," K said as she watched the two women go, the gears in her head clearly turning.

"Whatever you're thinkin', just don't," Logan warned leaning on the counter next to her, though Kurt paused and looked between them, grinning wider at K's reaction to him.

With her best shocked and innocent look K stared at Logan, wide eyed and open mouthed. "What did I do?" K said in a breathy tone, one hand resting over her heart. "Why would you assume I'd do anything that was less than helpful?"

Kurt broke down laughing as Logan cocked an eyebrow at her his crossed his arms over his chest as she turned to push him against the counter.

"Trouble. Maker," he replied, sliding his hands around her waist as a smirk slipped seamlessly onto her previously innocent expression.

"Ye of little faith," K whispered, leaning into him for a kiss before nipping at him and slipping out of his grip to head down the hall. "I'll be right with you, love. You boys have fun. I have to do something incredibly important." She waved over her shoulder leaving Logan and Kurt to stay out of trouble together.

There was a solid two seconds of silence before Kurt broke it, entirely unapologetically. "So, should you get the whiskey or should I?" he asked, grinning.

"Pool or am I your sous chef?" Logan asked as he headed for one of his hiding spots.

"Sous chef, of course," Kurt replied, gesturing to the pot in front of him. "Clearly I need to get into character and yell at unsuspecting underlings while I work."

"Every time you yell, I'm going to take a shot," Logan replied as he returned with a bottle and two glasses.

"You'll be drunk before me then," Kurt teased as the two of them started up early on the holiday festivities. "You can't expect me to allow you to hydrate yourself with water."

Logan grinned Kurt's way and handed him the first shot. "No, that would be cruel."

"And unusual," Kurt agreed, tipping back the glass.

K found Rogue unloading her bags in her room, with the door wide open she knocked on the door frame and leaned there with her arms crossed, smiling at her. "Hey there Dixie belle. Whatcha doin'?" K asked her, earning a sassy smile from Rogue.

"Aren't you supposed to be workin' Logan over?" Rogue asked, blushing a little as she thought of K's memories.

"Gotta let him heal a little. Don't want to break him," K replied as she strode in to flop down next to her. "What about you? Don't you ever get to make Remy squirm?"

"Not like that," Rogue replied. "I just gotta live vicariously through other people's memories." She gave K a pointed look at that and returned to her purchases leaving K a little taken aback.

"Oh. Well, that just sucks," K said, thinking of how awful it must be to have glimpses into other's memories of intimacy, unable to experience it first hand. "How do we remedy that?"

Rogue just laughed at her."We don't sugar, I gotta get control of my abilities before anything like that could ever happen," she replied, a hint of sadness to her voice.

"Oh. Come on," K said, frowning at her for a moment. Though after a moment, she tipped her head to the side and frowned. "Do you want to? Not control the powers, I mean do you want to get down and dirty?"

Rogue slapped her arm, looking incredulous. "Of course I do! I just can't."

K wrinkled her nose at that and shook her head slowly. "Gotta be a way," K decided, her voice clearly showing how unconvinced she was.

"Don't you think I've worked every angle of this?" Rogue asked, sadness and frustration clear in her tone.

"You're missing something. There has to be a way," K replied.

Rogue just shook her head, irritated at the implication that she hadn't pursued every angle. "Well, if you figure it out, let me know," she said dryly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some presents to wrap and I'd like to do it in private." Though she wasn't angry with K, she truly wanted to change the subject and wasn't going to try to hide it.

K smiled at her in spite of the cold shoulder. "Alright, have fun," she told her as she strode out and down the hall to Jean's door. She had just raised her hand to knock when Jean called her in.

"What brings you to my boudoir? Need to borrow it?" Jean teased.

"Maybe. Um. Unless that's an open invite to ring Scott's bell and … in that case, I think I'll have to pass. Thanks for offering though, very generous," K teased with a grin that was met with an entirely unamused glare from Jean.

"What do you want, K?" Jean asked. "I mean, outside of just keeping Logan on voluntary bed rest indefinitely?" It was a clear attempt to coerce K into acting a little more like a grown up. "We should be setting an example, not having marathons."

"An example?" K asked with a scrunched up nose. "We set an example in classes and on missions. What happens in the bedroom is not what we set examples with." K's frown morphed into a grin. "Besides, I was serious earlier, sister. You do need to get some tension out, but that's not why I'm here, I have a much more noble cause than pointers for you."

Jean looked up at her from her bed, shaking her head already. "No, K - If she wants help, she'll come to me or Charles," Jean said, determined to not get in the middle.

K frowned and stepped into the room a bit further, going so far as to join Jean on the bed and start handing her things as she wrapped. "Well, that's the thing. I don't think she will, or she would have already. And you know … even I know you can just flip her switch. You gotta offer her the help. She'll take it. I'm sure of it," K replied.

"Not everyone lives and dies by how much sex they have K. It's not that important to most people," Jean replied, with K taking it as a jab at her animalistic side.

"Well not if they haven't done it." K said, her arms crossed. "Or if they're not doing it right. If it's not a good time, you need practice. Practice makes perfect right?" K said, frowning at the redhead as she let out a sigh and abandoned any hope of just finishing her wrapping job.

"That's not the kind of thing I want to get into the habit of doing for people, K," Jean said reasonably. "It's up to her to learn to control them."

"I understand that, I do," K said, reaching over to rest her hand on Jean's arm. "But this is for a special circumstance, and it might be something that she has to shoot for once she gets more of an idea of what the reward is."

"You are shameless," Jean said, though she had to smirk at her way of thinking.

"I'm not the only one," K pointed out. "Don't think I don't know the reason you two were so on board to get Logan married." Jean stared at her for a moment before K stood up and left her with her thoughts.

She nearly ran into Ororo as she headed down the stairs, and the goddess was looking more than a bit windswept.

"Have some fun, 'Ro?" K asked with a grin, happy that at least one of the ladies had followed her advice.

Ororo simply smiled her way, looking every bit the troublemaker that she was."Yes, quite a bit actually," she replied, half laughing as she ascended the stairs bound for the attic with Forge hot on her heels a moment or two after as he followed her.

When she found Logan, he and Kurt were in the danger room, slicing and dicing with Scott in the control booth. Scott smiled at her as she took the seat next to him, watching the two friends tear it up, though they were both a bit off in their motions. "Are they drunk?" she asked as she leaned forward and Scott had to chuckle.

"Little bit," he said. "Which is why I'm babysitting again."

K looked to the panel, checking that the microphone was off before turning to Scott. "So, you need to show me how to run this thing," K said, looking at the buttons and switches, monitors and what not.

"Yeah? Why the sudden interest?" Scott asked as he tweaked a setting on the aliens attacking Logan below and was rewarded with a rushed curse before Kurt had to teleport Logan out of the way.

"Well, mostly so you don't have to be here for every session with the wonder twins. You have other things to take care of," K said innocently.

He grinned at that, then suddenly he turned his head towards her,"Wait. What else do I have to do?" Scott asked, his brow scrunched up.

Without looking up from Logan she calmly replied as if she was discussing the weather with him.

"Your wife needs a good roll in the sack. Every day. For at least a week," K told him as one of the creatures below flung Logan into the glass in front of them, shaking the wall.

Scott's mouth dropped open and it was clear he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Excuse me?" he asked sputtering.

K turned and met his gaze with all sincerity. "You heard me. It's not like you wouldn't get some good out of it either. You could do with some endorphins too, big guy." He continued to stare at her as she passively watched the goings on below. "It's not a criticism at all, Scott. I promise. But ...take my husband for example," she said, gesturing towards the bloodied, snarling man below, who was tearing into anything close to him.

"Sure, he's all sunshine now, but I heard he wasn't the easiest to deal with before," she said, looking to Scott for his reaction.

Scott shook his head with a breath of disbelief, trying not to laugh at how incredibly understated K's commentary was. "Now," K continued before Scott actually answered. "What would that kind of action have on those that haven't been so rightfully angry for so long? It's good for you both. Get on it," she said with a finality. "Go get your redhead."

Scott had to laugh at her, though he couldn't help but grin as K stood up. "Where are you going now?" he asked. "Don't I need to teach you?"

K smiled in response. "Maybe later. I think hubby needs to push himself. Kurt is about to tap out and Logan's just going through the motions down there," she replied, leaving the control booth She opened the door to the danger room and slipped in, interrupting the simulation for a second. Both Kurt and Logan looked toward her, questioning why she was there as the sim restarted, attacking all three of them, though Kurt grinned crookedly her way and simply teleported out to leave the two of them to their game. Logan was taken back by both Kurt's sudden departure and K's appearance, and began to fight with a greater ferocity once he watched K get flung across the room.

In the booth, Scott was enjoying the show. It was clear that K was set on bringing a breath of fresh air to everyone she could and Logan was absolutely trying harder with her in the sim with him.

Jean joined Scott in the booth not long after K had left to fight alongside Logan. The couple in the booth watched the couple in the simulator work towards each other with a vivid ferocity. Without any warning, Scott killed the program, leaving both ferals looking around themselves, dazed at the sudden loss of targets.

"What gives, Scooter?" Logan shouted up. "We were just getting' goin'."

"I know. That's just it," Scott explained, barely stowing the smirk for his more practiced 'business' face. "Start together this time. New simulation."

The two little ferals shared a look as they approached each other, neither of them sure where this was headed. As Scott reset the system, they met in the center of the room, and Logan leaned over to give her a kiss. "Lookin' good out there, darlin'."

She grinned back at him as the room shifted.

Scott had changed the scenery to a dark industrial complex, and within a few moments, the two ferals were overrun by attackers. Logan instinctively pushed K behind him, not expecting her to turn around, and with the two of them back to back, moving together hacking and slashing MRD agents all around them, Scott smiled at the scene below.

"That's what I hoped would happen," he said to Jean, who was watching the events unfold, wide eyed. "Logan's biggest downfall, outside of his hot temper, has always been that he couldn't watch his back very well. With her? I have no doubt these two could clear the room in record time."

Which was precisely what happened. As the last couple of agents began to retreat, Scott threw in a sentinel, surprising K to the point that she lost her footing, though Logan caught her before she hit the ground. "The hell is that damned thing!?" K half shouted as Logan helped her to her feet.

"Sentinel. Nasty business," Logan replied. "Follow my lead, darlin'."

K hesitantly did as he said, hot on his heels as he ran up to the robot, climbing one leg and K did the same to the other. Logan was on its shoulders when he removed the head, and K dodged the falling hunk of metal before she sank her claws in and slid down it's chest, pulling wires out as she did so. By the time Logan's feet hit the ground, the pair had sliced it right down the middle into two large hunks.

"Alright you two. Enough damage for today. Forge is gonna have his work cut out repairing this one," Scott said, the smile evident in his voice as he reached for the comm to call Forge about his new project.

"Scott, let him get it later, he's um …. Busy with Ororo right now," K said, pulling a face and shrugging her ears up to her shoulders as the others realized where Forge was.

Logan laughed outright and pounced at his wife, pinning her easily as she kissed him, arms around his neck. The simulation room cleared itself of everything but the damaged sentinel.

"Lock up when you're done, Logan," Scott said, laughing when Logan waved a hand over his shoulder at him as he kept up the fresh makeout session next to the broken sentinel with K.

Scott flipped off the mic and turned toward Jean with a trouble making grin, on his feet in a moment and clearly focused on her. "Scott. What are you doing?" Jean asked, smiling in spite of herself at his line of thought while Scott strode up to her, and picked her up to kiss the sense out of her, following the feral's lead all the way upstairs.

Jean was surprised later that evening long after K and Logan found their way back to the boat house that Rogue pulled her aside asking for help controlling her powers. "Can you turn em off for me? Not permanent, just for Christmas," Rogue asked. "We can work on them after the holiday, but I want to try and give Remy a surprise."

Jean's eyebrows popped up and she nodded silently for a moment. "Yes, of course. Are you sure?" Jean asked.

Though Rogue just gave her a dry look. "I'm more than sure, and long over livin' like a nun. Just gotta find a way to make this happen. Been far too long in waitin'," she replied, thanking Jean for her help ahead of time and surprising her as she made her way through the halls hanging up bundles of mistletoe in preparation of Christmas.

The plan that the girls had set into place to get Logan on their side to help Sam? Yeah, that didn't work at all. It seemed that Logan being nice outside of class equaled him being tougher in class.

"Come on, Zo. You're never gonna break a hold like that. Twist, damnit," Logan growled at her as she tried to break his grip. She tried, hard but it just wasn't going anywhere. Eventually, he let her go, telling her to get it together and be ready next time. She was practically in tears when class ended, and in her anger, she confronted him, demanding to know why he was being so hard on her.

"Didn't you say you wanted better than a C?" Logan asked, looking slightly confused.

"No, I was asking for Sam! She has to get better than a C to stay here, or her parents will pull her out next semester," she replied in tears.

"Ah. I see. So you don't care about your grade then," Logan said, nodding to himself.

"No, I do, but jeez, no one can break your damn grip," she said confused as his stance relaxed a hair.

"Sure you can. You're just doing it wrong," he replied, totally unperturbed.

Zoe finally cried out in pure frustration as Logan approached her, trying to calm her down before he gently guided her through the move and explained it more thoroughly. His grip was just as solid as before but with the more targeted coaching, Zoe barely managed it on the third try, surprising herself as he smirked.

"Listen closer the first time in class and you'll do fine," Logan told her as she beamed at him. "Same goes for your friend. You damn kids are so busy worryin' about other crap you forget where you are. Concentrate and you'll be able to do what I tell ya."

He was right, of course, and Zoe relayed the message to Sam, and the two of them seemed laser focused the next class session, earning them Logan's attention and scrutiny as he singled them out and pushed them harder than the rest. They found that when they did exactly as he directed, they could do what he asked, but missing a step, or trying to improvise ended up with them unable to perform at all. They were heading into winter break when the girls approached him, wanting to know where they stood.

"You got a test before Christmas, girls. You can figure it out then," Logan replied coolly as he punched in his code for the danger room.

"But we need to know – my parents won't let me continue without a B or better!" Sam told him, looking completely desperate.

Logan paused and took the girls in, considering their dilemma. "What difference does it make, this week or next?" he asked standing halfway in the Danger Room.

"Please!" Zoe pleaded.

Logan slid his cowl on as he considered them. "Tell you what. Go change into something to work in and meet me back here in fifteen minutes. If you two can find me and hold your own, you'll be doin better'n average. Otherwise, you'll have to impress me on your test next week."

The two girls shared a look before both of them darted off for the locker room as Logan chuckled to himself. They still had no idea who they were dealing with. While he waited for them to return, he started his simulation, ripping and fighting with various random opponents until Scott's voice echoed down to him from the control booth.

"The girls are here – you have a program in mind for them?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, why don'tcha throw up somethin' I can hide in, then let 'em try to find me," Logan replied as he waited for the room to change.

"Logan – take it easy on them," Scott said. "They're going to have to do the torture test next week, and you know they just want Sam to stay. This could be a good step for the school if she can live locally and attend with her parent's backing."

"I need them to see why I push them so hard, Scotty," Logan told him. "And I'm not gonna do a damn thing to screw with the school. You know that. Or you should."

The door to the Danger Room opened up and the girls entered, making the illusion flicker for a moment until the seal latched properly. They were stunned to find themselves in a deep green forest, with ferns nearly as tall as Logan was.

"Wow," Sam said, taking in her first real session in the danger room with the holograms in full swing.

"Yeah, amazing technology an' all that hogwash," Logan said waving it off. "Here's the deal girls. You played hide an' seek as kids, right?" Both girls nodded hesitantly. "Well, that's what we're doin' today. I'm gonna hide and you're going to try to find me before I attack. Now, I'm not gonna be the only thing out here lookin' for you. You gotta take down whatever comes at you – even if you think it's friendly. I'd like you to do it without your powers too. Got it?"

The girls looked nervous but before they could answer him properly, Logan melted into the underbrush. When Zoe stepped forward to try to ask him for more explicit instructions, she quickly realized he was long gone.

"Oh crap," Zoe whispered. They'd never seen him do anything even close to this and he'd just been standing right there. She didn't even know he could do it. They had imagined that he was just bold and in your face wherever he went and somehow, him and his bright yellow uniform had vanished. She scanned the forest around her carefully, looking for even the slightest indication of his signature yellow, finding nothing.

"You're not going to find him like that, Zoe. You could have been right on his tail and lost him. This is not an easy exercise. I suggest you get moving," Scott's voice echoed down.

The two girls looked at each other nervously then simply began walk. A few minutes into it, Sam nearly screamed when an MRD officer rushed her from nowhere. She dodged him before striking out, and hitting him in one of the acceptable spots that Logan and Scott had deemed 'down'.

The game went on for nearly twenty minutes before Logan slipped around them and took down Zoe. Sam didn't even hear it when he slipped up behind them and pulled her into the brush.

When she whipped around to ask Sam a question, she got a chill as she realized their teacher had just totally removed her girlfriend from the scenario and her only clue to her disappearance was the rustle of a few ferns on either side of the path. But she still had no idea which direction he'd taken her. Logan's voice echoed from what felt like miles away.

"Just you now, Sam. Don't forget your training," Logan taunted, knowing perfectly well the girl was scared half out of her mind and on the edge of panicking. Sam strained her ears as she listened for him, searching for any indication as to where he might be, predictably hearing nothing until she saw a flash of yellow from the corner of her eye. She turned to face him just as he dodged in, grabbed a hold of her arm and wrenched it behind her back. She panicked at first, but fought back as he'd taught her. He blocked everything she threw at him until she remembered their first lesson and actually got a hit in. Immediately, he smirked and let her go.

"Whadda ya know. You do remember," Logan said looking pleased. "End simulation, Slim."

Just like that, the forest faded away to the smooth metal walls they were so familiar with, Zoe was sitting tied and gagged in a far corner, but the ropes melted away with the simulation. "Not bad, Sam. Zo – you need to focus," Logan told her with a scowl.

But, in spite of all of it, Sam was unable to wait until grades came out, and had to ask. "So ..how did I do? Was that good enough for a B?"

He turned to look at her as he pulled his cowl back off, considering her. "Yeah. I think you've done better than the class as a whole. Don't make me regret it – I want to see you working just as hard next semester."

Thrilled at his answer, she rushed forward, and gave him a quick hug before she realized who she was hugging as Scott snickered in the booth. "Alright, get outta here before I change my mind," Logan growled out.

At their last class before finals, Zoe and Sam wondered if they'd actually embarrassed him when he didn't test them, skipping over both of them and ignored them completely. To make matters more vexing, he slipped out before either could talk to him and it took Jubilee cluing them in that they'd need to talk to Jean now to get their grades.

"What about our finals for combat?" Zoe asked Jean nervously after rushing up to her office after the end of class.

"Oh, Logan turned those in last week," she replied.

Sam and Chloe paled. "Oh crap. When? What did I get?" Sam asked, convinced that she was screwed and that Logan had just been screwing with them.

Jean unintentionally 'heard' her line of thought and took pity on the girls, and sat down to look it up and see what Logan had given both of them.

The few minutes that it took her to find their final scores, was agonizing even after Jean found the files on the girls that Logan had given her. And to their utter shock and delight, both Zoe and Sam had managed a B-.

Jean shook her head with a smirk. "If your parents take issue with that, let me talk to them. I'll personally let them know that Logan is the toughest teacher on staff to get a good grade from and that a B- is phenomenal for his class," she promised. "You two should be proud, but a warning – he'll be expecting that level of work from you next semester. Your B this time will be a C next time unless you improve significantly."

The girls looked sick at the thought. "He's trying to kill us," Sam whispered, suddenly seeing Zoe's interpretation of him as a sadist.

What a rotten thing to do – give report cards out just before Christmas break started. But, that was exactly what happened every year. The few students that had loving families that were safe to visit got to head home with proof of the work they'd done while away. This was a two fold problem for Chloe and Zoe, however.

On one hand, they got to see exactly where they stood, and generally it was a good thing, but on the other hand, they saw students leaving for a few weeks that got to see their families. Their parents knew where they were, of course. On their initial arrival at the institute, and on hearing that the girls' parents had helped them to run, the Professor contacted them to let them know their daughters were safe, cared for on a 'special scholarship' and working towards graduation.

This however was the second Christmas that Chloe and Zoe hadn't seen their parents, and both girls were getting terribly homesick. They were sitting in the living room with Jubilee discussing their grades they'd just received. Jubilee was beyond ticked off that Zoe had managed to pull a B in Logan's class.

"That's not fair – why didn't I get a B? I deserve one!" she whined.

And Zoe had aced everything else, but in spite of her otherwise stellar list of straight A's, she stared at the B on the paper with a silly grin. She'd really worked for that. K was right, asking him for extra help and really, really trying did pay off and she felt as if she'd earned it. In fact, she found herself vaguely wondering if an A was possible.

While the girls discussed their grades, and their plans for the new semester, there was a soft knock on the door. Chloe jumped up, assuring Ororo that she'd handle it since she was fairly involved with Forge under a bundle of mistletoe.

When Chloe opened the door with a grin, she took one look at the couple behind it and froze, mouth open. It took her a moment before she started to cry, and threw her arms around her mother's neck as they tearfully greeted each other. Zoe jumped up to see what the commotion was, throwing herself into welcoming them, also tearfully greeting them as Storm made her way over to kindly suggest they all step in out of the cold.

"How did you get here? Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Zoe asked, smiling as she cried.

"We got a letter about a month ago from one of your teachers saying you were down, so we sold a few things and took all our vacation time to come see you. We're here for a week," Their father told them.

"Who was it? Which teacher?" Chloe asked, though she was pretty sure that she knew.

"I'm not sure … it was signed with just a 'K'. Is that something that sounds familiar?" her mother asked, concerned about the kind of teacher that might go by a letter only, though an old Ed Harris movie with a hooker that went simply by 'V' popped to mind.

"Oh, she's great – but she's not here right now. She and her husband left yesterday," Zoe said with a grin.

"Yeah, she's really helped us out," Chloe added. "She saved us when we were running."

Don't tell them about any of the experiments that were done to her, girls. I'm not sure they'd be very understanding, Jean's voice echoed in their heads.

"So she's a newer teacher then?" their father asked as he extended his hand to Jean. "Ted Schroeder, pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, our newest," Jean replied warmly. "And the students love her."

The Schroeders drew the correct conclusions that she'd been pulled from trouble at the same time as their girls. None of it mattered though. They were thrilled that the girls were safe and hadn't ended up in some prison camp for mutants.

The camps had been billed as 'settlement camps' but they'd seen the undercover pictures that the Brotherhood had put up on billboards showing what the government was doing when they captured a 'dangerous' mutant. And if the girls were to tell the truth about the family as a whole, it would have been fair to say that their father was staunchly anti-mutant until his daughters were revealed to be gifted.

Now, he spent much of his free time researching the mutants' side of what was happening in the world. And he didn't like the fact that what he had been finding was grim. Rumors of gruesome and barbaric experiments being performed on unwilling participants was starting to find their way to the general public. He was worried for his daughter's welfare, and wanted to be sure this 'school' wasn't some cover for a lab that would harm them. He could hardly take his eyes from Jean though, having easily recognized her.

When Scott stepped into the room, heeding Jean's telepathic prompt, Schroeder paled. That visor was unmistakeable. He ran through all he'd learned and read about the X-Men, both good and bad. Of course, Jean had overheard his thought process and realized quickly that she'd have to find a way to let Mr. Schroeder understand that the Brotherhood was generally built of bad guys intent on ridding the world of non-mutants, even if their current wave of propaganda sounded like a human rights campaign. She introduced herself and offered them a tour, simply to reassure them and personally spent a solid half hour talking with them and assuring them that the girls could go home at any time, and that their transportation would be taken care of.

"How do you afford to keep your doors open if you're offering free tuition and board, not to mention transportation to all these kids?" Mr. Schroeder asked, still not entirely convinced that this wasn't a masquerade for a detainment center.

"Our founder is a very wealthy man that is very wise in investments. In addition, to supplement that, we do receive several grants from several private donors. The Worthington Foundation, and the Maria Stark Foundation has both been very generous in recent years as well, making our students eligible for exclusive scholarships from both," Jean reported cheerfully.

Schroeder's eyebrows went up on hearing the big names. The rest of their tour was uneventful. The Schroeders would be staying in a suite that Xavier kept open just for occasions like this, though quite honestly, it had rarely been used. The girls were thrilled to spend hours on hours with their parents for the first time since they had to go on the run. They were even more tickled when the day before Christmas, K and Logan returned from their impromptu disappearance.

Their parents were tickled to meet her, though shocked at her diminutive size. After watching at the tall almost supermodel-like women of the institute, K seemed like a miniature, especially seeing as she stood several inches shorter than the girls, though her presence made up for it.

To say that most of the kids at the Institute were in a good mood would be an understatement of massive proportions. Those that were new were nervous, sure that their new life was going to be one filled with disappointments. The teachers and staff at the school however, were not going to let that be the case. Nearly everyone had made a concerted effort to make sure every child in the building was getting at least a couple things under the tree.

K and Logan made their way up to the mansion, the festivities for the day already getting into full swing. K made her way towards the kitchen, and was promptly surprised when one of the mouthier students suddenly grabbed her on her way in, only to pull her into a sloppy kiss. She pushed him away, ready to slap him when he pointed up, grinning as he backed away.

"Mistletoe. Can't be mad, just wishing you a merry whatever," He backpedaled quickly though when Logan grabbed a hold of him, growling until K put her hand on his shoulder, looking at the boy.

"Very funny. Don't try that crap again. You got your laugh," K told him, wiping her mouth. Logan releasing him, though it was painfully clear he wanted to clock him one. Before they could turn around though, Rogue tapped Logan on the shoulder, and pulled him into a kiss as soon as he turned to face her. His natural reaction to her was certainly shock and he tried to pull back away from her, only realizing that she wasn't absorbing his abilities or memories once he pulled loose. Rogue grinned at him, as K started to smile.

"Found a way, did ya?" K asked, her arms crossed.

Rogue grinned outright. "Yeah. Sorry about that, Logan, K. Didn't want to try it out on Remy until I knew for sure." She smiled and gave K a quick hug. "Don't worry, I won't do it again," she promised before she skipped off positively chipper looking for Remy.

K handed Logan a cup of coffee, and kissed him as he took it, but he pulled a face, scowling at her when she pulled back.

K let her shoulders slump. "Is it that bad?" she asked, not surprised at all when he frowned deeper, nodding his head as he looked toward where the Quentin Quire had disappeared. K let out a sigh of longsuffering. "Fine. I'll wash up then," she promised, slipping off to the bathroom to clean her face quickly. Logan growled her way when she returned, giving her little kisses and nips up and down her neck, kissing the breath out of her when he finally met her lips.

"Better," he grumbled low, trouble making light dancing in his icy blue eyes. Her eyes drifted to his lips as she leaned into him, coffee and current company forgotten as they got a little more involved.

For once it was K that was pushing to drag him off and have her way with him.

The festivities were just starting to get going when Betsy looked around the room, glancing over the thoughts of those around when she noticed that Logan and K were missing. She reached out, looking for him and had to laugh, catching him at a time when she most definitely should not have. She quickly backtracked and covered her mouth with one hand, blushing brightly on realizing what was going on.

Warren asked her if she was alright when he realized the particular shade she'd turned. "You aren't spying on anyone are you?" Warren teased. "What should we call that? Peeping psychic? You should be ashamed…"

She looked up at him with a shocked expression before she swatted at his arm and she pulled him into a deep kiss, mentally telling him to move to an empty room so she could show him what she'd 'overheard.

They rushed down the hall, nearly bumping into Logan and K as he pulled her with him back towards the party, both of them grinning and looking like they had plans other than a dinner party to attend to. Warren was taken back at Logan's behavior, but didn't have time to process as Betsy pushed him into an open office, locking the door behind them as she started her own attack on her angel.

Logan was dragging K towards the front door with Jean shaking her head as she realized there was little chance that they were going to stick around much longer. "Are you two staying for dinner?" Jean asked, knowing that wasn't going to happen.

"Sorry, Jeannie. Got to take care of somethin'. Be back when we can," Logan said as he snatched up K, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her toward their bungalow.

They passed Jubilee and Paige who were having a snowball fight with a few other kids on their way. "Where you goin', Wolvie?" Jubilee asked.

Logan didn't miss a step, shouting to her as he passed. "Goin' to unwrap my present." He smirked, squeezing K's thigh when she squirmed, always irritated about his innuendos around the students.

Most of them giggled, catching his meaning while Jubilee simply rolled her eyes. It seemed like every spare second he had lately was being used in bed with K. "Doesn't the honeymoon phase taper off at some point? It has to be exhausting," Jubilee deadpanned just before Paige hit her with a snowball.

The two ferals barely made it back in time for dinner, though they kept to themselves, and they looked completely relaxed. As soon as the group was done with their traditions, the couple curled up in a window seat together. Logan's legs surrounded her as she leaned into his chest, the pair of them watching the goings on as the rest of the staff passed out presents to the students in attendance. It was probably the most peaceful Holidays in memory and neither of them could think of a time where they'd been so perfectly contented.