A few days later, Logan walked into the kitchen to find Emma in her high chair, making a mess of a chopped fruit salad as Marie was busy cleaning the kitchen, "No baby girl, we don't throw our food."
Logan cleared his throat as he eyed Marie's reaction to his presence. She seemed calmer than normal and not as angered by his existence. She glanced in his direction, acknowledged him, then got on her hands and knees to scrub up the sticky mess Emma had made on the floor below her high chair.
He just stood by the door and watched for a while.
When Emma started fussing and kicking, Marie sighed and stood, "Mama's hands are sticky right now darlin'...I'll get ya outta there as soon as I can."
Logan cleared his throat and stepped forward, "I can get her...if it's ok with you."
Marie narrowed her eyes a bit at him and took a deep breath. He could have sworn she was preparing to give her another, 'Get the hell away from my kid' speech, which was why he was completely surprised when she said, "Fine."
Logan cautiously approached the little girl who was desperately looking for a way out of her confinement. She reached up at him with sticky hands and whined, "Wan owwwwt!"
He slowly and carefully picked her up out of her chair and brought her to his chest. She smiled brightly up at him with all five of her tiny teeth, "Wango wash?"
Logan couldn't help but smile back at the toddler before looking to Marie for help with translation. Marie was still puttering around the kitchen, trying to clean when she looked up, "She wants to wash her hands."
"Oh...ok."
Logan took the little girl over to the sink and turned it on. He held her forward as she stuck her hands under the stream, splashing and giggling softly. Marie approached with a dampened towel and wiped Emma's face and hands before kissing her nose, "All clean!"
Emma raised her hands and smiled, "Awww keeen!"
Logan brushed some hair out of her face and stared at her eyes...so far, it was the only thing he shared with her. Marie watched him for a second as he gazed at Emma, "Remy said she's me from head to toe...except her eyes. Everyone could tell..."
Marie looked down and moved away, trying in vain, to busy herself with cleaning the kitchen. She had fallen silent and seemed to be biting her lip.
Jubilee entered the kitchen and smiled brightly at Emma, who squirmed in Logan's arms at the sight of her favorite aunt. Logan set the girl down before she rushed over to Jubilee and attached herself to her legs.
"Heya gorgeous! Wanna go watch television?" Jubilee asked as she glanced at Marie, who nodded in approval.
Once the two left the room, Marie and Logan stood across from each other in awkward silence. He ran a hand through his hair, "She's amazing, Marie."
She went to the sink and washed her hands as she spoke without looking up, "I know..."
"I'm so-"
"Don't. Don't even waste your breath. I don't care about your apology and I don't want it...not right now at least."
He fell silent once again and shoved his hands into his pockets, "You're gonna hate me forever, aren't you?"
She laughed bitterly and looked back at him, "Hate..." Marie turned around to face him as she crossed her arms and continued, "Without you, I wouldn't have had Emma, so no...by default, I'm not allowed to hate you...but I can't trust you anymore...and that still breaks my heart everyday. You were my only family...my closest friend...and you shattered me into a million little pieces."
Logan's head drooped, "I dunno what to say, kid...you don't want an apology..."
"I want a promise."
He looked up hopefully, "Ok...I can do that."
"I want you to think long and hard about the responsibilities of being apart of my daughter's life...and then, by the end of next week, if you honestly realize you can't trust yourself to fully be apart of her life...I want you gone for good."
Logan gulped slightly, "How will I know?"
Marie smirked, "Emma wakes up at 7am every morning. I expect you at our room no later than 7:01."
"Wait...what?"
She tossed a towel at him, "You're gonna learn what it takes to be a father...in other words, you're gonna do everything Remy's been doin' for the past year and a half. Good luck."
"So, I took your advice."
Marie crawled onto the bed next to Remy, who was reading. She curled up next to him and nuzzled into his neck as he smiled and put the magazine down, "Oh really? What advice was that?"
"I'm lettin' Logan spend time with Emma."
Remy raised his eyebrows and kissed her forehead, "Wow...when?"
"Startin' tomorrow. I told him he has a week to figure out if he has what it takes to be a full time father...after that, if he doesn't think he has what it takes, he leaves and never bothers us again."
Remy nodded slowly, "Wow...pretty straight forward...do ya think he'll survive?"
Marie shrugged, "Who knows...he held her today and seemed to be mesmerized."
He brushed her hair from her face and smiled, "Well, you've got me mesmerized belle."
She blushed and giggled as he grabbed her and playfully tossed her onto her back before climbing on top of her and tickling her sides. She giggled uncontrollably and squirmed beneath him as he leaned down and kissed her neck, "Mmm my Mississippi belle..."
She ran his hands through his hair and brought his lips down to hers for a loving kiss. He ran his hands all over her body as he nipped at her earlobes and pulled down the top of her nightgown to attach his lips to the soft flesh there. She gasped and arched her back as he laid soft kisses across her chest.
Remy hiked her nightgown up and squeezed her thigh as she pushed down his pajama pants to free his erection. He moaned against her skin as he reached beneath her gown to softly finger her moistening pussy.
Marie reached down and guided his shaft toward her entrance as he kissed her neck. She sighed happily as he filled her with his length.
He looked down into her eyes and smiled, "Love you, gorgeous."
"I love you too, LeBeau..."
Their bodies rocked together in perfect unison as they held onto each other and made passionate love.
Unfortunately, Logan's sensitive hearing had picked up on their entire encounter. He quickly left his room and rushed to the kitchen, hoping the distance would drown out Marie's deliciously soft cries of passion.
He dipped into his stash of beer and popped the cap before taking a large swig.
'That should be me', he thought as he mentally replayed the sounds Marie had made as Remy pumped into her.
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