Ten

The clock had barely had struck 8 o'clock, when Nathan's booming voice rang out, "He's here!" He was waiting impatiently for Logan to arrive, after having called him to invite him over for breakfast only an hour ago. He had been standing at the front door, pacing, waiting for his father since. When Logan's Audi S8 pulled up to the curb, he all but shot out the door and ran down the walkway.

From the living room window, Ororo watched as Logan jogged around the hood of his car and skidded to a stop before Nathan. The two made a simultaneous move to each other, stopped, wavered a bit, earnestly shook hands and then within mere seconds, embraced each other tightly.

Ororo's eyes smarted with tears, but she held them back. She was overjoyed for both of them and was smiling brightly when they came into the house, their arms slung around each other's shoulders.

Logan had never seen anything more beautiful than her at that very moment. The genuine emotion on her face squeezed his heart and he had to take a few quick breaths to quell the erratic beating of his heart. He slowly extricated his arm from around his son's shoulders and went to stand before Ororo. Bending slowly, he ghosted his lips against hers, savoring the dewy softness of them. "Morning darlin'," he whispered.

Her eyes closed, welcoming his lips on hers, she replied in kind, "Good morning to you too."

Nathan's clearing of his throat brought them out of the temporary haze they were both caught up in. They both turned to look at him, Logan sheepishly and Ororo blushingly.

Logan and Nathan looked at each other and began laughing spontaneously, their obvious joy bubbling over.

"Can we eat before you two get into it?" Nathan asked jokingly, turning towards the kitchen.

"'Ro?" Logan's voice was soft, inquiring and sensitive to what he knew she must be feeling. Although they had decided to give a relationship a shot, he knew that a part of her had to have been feeling agitated at the role he was about to take on in Nathan's life.

She smiled weakly at him. "You two go ahead, everything is set up in the kitchen."

"Aren't ya coming?" Logan asked, his brows furrowing.

"Yes, I just need a few minutes."

The tears in her eyes were evident and he knew she was holding on by a thread. Logan slowly walked up to stand before her, his arms going around her waist. He didn't like the stiffness in her body. "What's wrong, darlin'?"

She started to utter that nothing was wrong, but his stern look demanded the truth. She wanted to voice her fears to him, tell him everything that was bothering her, but she stubbornly remained quiet.

Their eyes locked, each waiting for the other to say something.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Nathan asked, poking his head around the entranceway. "I'm starving."

Ororo slipped out of Logan's embrace, missing the sudden warmth of his arms. Without a word, she turned to follow Nathan, but not before Logan stopped her by grabbing her hand. "We'll continue this later."

Throughout the meal, Nathan kept up an excited chatter, attempting to catch Logan up to speed on his life. However, even though he was listening intently to his son and commenting when warranted, he kept an intense gaze on the woman who sat across from him…the woman whom he can feel through every pore was slipping away from him. Fearing that she was about to renege on her consent to give a relationship a try, he made up his mind to confront her and lay all his cards out on the table…once he got her alone.

"What're yer plans fer today, son?"

"Son," Nathan repeated softly. "I like that."

Logan grinned. "Get use ta it."

"Jeremy and I were gonna hang out, but I rescheduled to spend time with you, Dad."

Logan's grin said it all. "I could get use ta that," he said parroting Nathan's words from a minute ago.

Nathan turned to his mother. "Will it be ok for me and Dad to spend some time together?"

Ororo smiled softly, tinged with a bit of sadness. "Yes. I have some things to take care of before I visit your grandfather so you both could have your guy time."

Nathan whooped. "Great! What do you want to do today, Dad?"

"Well, I have a meeting with my manager today and then I'm free fer the rest of the day. If ya want ta tag along ta the meeting, that's fine and then we can take it from there."

"Cool. When do we leave?"

"I want ta talk to yer mom a bit, so in about an hour?" Logan's eyes held Ororo's while he answered his son.

Nathan, as intuitive as ever knew when his presence wasn't needed. "Ok. I'll go clean up my room in the meantime."

"Yes, please do," Ororo interjected with false cheerfulness.

As soon as the boy was out of earshot, Logan turned to Ororo. "Ok, spill it."

She turned to him, cocking a brow. "Spill what?"

"The reason why ya seem so distant this morning?"

Ororo sighed and stood, gathering the dirty dishes and remnants from their breakfast. "I am not distant. I have a lot on my mind."

"So talk ta me, 'Ro," he beseeched as he too stood to help her. "Aren't we supposed ta be sharing thoughts, feelings and other things in this relationship?"

She sighed. "What do you want me to say, Logan?" She scraped the remnants of their food into the garbage disposal. "I am happy for both of you, but…"

He walked over to stand behind her where she was standing by the dishwasher. He wrapped his arms around her middle, drawing her against him. "But what, baby? Tell me."

She reached up and caressed his arms. "I am worried that he would not need me anymore now that he has you…especially after last night."

Logan sighed, lowering his chin onto her shoulder. "What happened last night?"

Ororo exhaled loudly. "We had a brutally honest conversation. He was upset and rightfully so. It was tough hearing him voice aloud what he was thinking and feeling. But I think we are at a new level of understanding in our relationship. He is very wise for his age."

"What did ya tell him?"

"The truth…about everything and everyone involved."

"What did he say?"

She swiveled her head back and forth where it rested on his chest. "He said he was not angry and he does not want to lose me because of this."

"Ya see, darlin'? Nathan loves ya and I don't think there's nothing or no one who could change that. He'll always need ya…just like I'll always need ya."

"Do you mean that, Logan?" She whispered. "That you need me?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," he replied in kind. "Ya're forgetting one fact, darlin'. We men will always need ya women. No matter how old we are and who come inta our lives."

With gentle pressure on her shoulders, he turned her around to face him, without breaking the embrace.

Looking up at him, she saw her reflection mirrored in those sterling grays that she loved so much. "It is good to know that I am needed. Thank you."

"Ya don't have ta thank me. I have a feeling that me and the kid are going ta need ya a lot more in the near future."

"Is that so?"

"Uh huh," He pulled her closer and brushed his thumb across her cheekbones. "A lot more."

With a slight turn, she yielded to the temptation and rested her cheek in his palm that now lay against her skin. She instantly felt treasured by that simple touch of intimacy. Forcing her chin up with his index finger, he made her meet his eyes. His hands closed around her face and lightly, tenderly, his thumb glided over her lips. "Definitely gonna need ya, baby," he whispered before that wonderful mouth melted onto hers and she felt that she had come home after years apart from him. For the first time in years, no, in her life, she felt complete.

His mouth slanted across hers, persuasively parting her lips. His tongue paused, hovering on the brink of great discovery before it slipped between her lips to sample the sweetness of her mouth. She heard her own moan of pleasure echo his as her arms came around his neck. He moved closer, pressing her body between his and the dishwasher. His hard, strong arms molded her to the length and hardness of his body.

His kiss was long and deep and thoroughly sexual as his tongue dipped into the hollow of her mouth, withdrew and then probed again. "Never think that ya're not needed," he breathed in her ear after having charted a path there with light kisses across her cheek. "Never doubt that I need ya."

Logan tilted her head back once more and holding her jaw firmly between his fingers, kissed her with a passion that stole her breath and reason away. "Ya're all that I need, baby. All that I need."

Ororo grappled with his hands in order to bury her face in his shirt to inhale the scent that was uniquely his. "I need you too," she whispered shyly.

He heard her and joy filled his heart. Her softly spoken words spoke volumes too him. She was an independent and proud woman and for her to admit that she needed him was a huge step and no doubt had taken a lot of courage and trust on her part. He was humbled by it and he made up his mind then and there to never let down that trust and faith.

She lifted her head to weigh the effects of her confession. Intense eyes, burning with an internal light, greeted her. His look was unlike anything she had ever seen and she was powerless to stop the effect it had on her.

Logan tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "Ya sure ya don't want ta hang with yer boys today?"

Her chuckle rumbled in his ear. "My boys, huh? As wonderful as that sounds, I do have a few things to take care of before I visit Dad at the nursing home."

"How about dinner tonight? At my place? I want ya and Nathan ta see my home."

She smiled. "I would love that. Text me your address and I will come over straight from the nursing home."

"Ya got it babe," he said winking at her. He glanced down at his watch and whistled. "Gotta go, sweetheart. See ya later." He leaned down and kissed her again, applying a sweet suction to her mouth, as though he wanted to draw her into himself. "I'm gonna get the kid and leave. Are ya going ta be alright?"

"I will be fine, Logan," Ororo whispered, feeling her toes curl as she drank in her fill of him.

He tossed her a heart stopping smile before turning around and walking out of the kitchen.

Ororo smiled, her fingers drifting up to touch her kiss-swollen lips. Moving around in a sensual haze, she went about cleaning up the kitchen before getting started on her errands.

Charles Xavier was sitting in his wheelchair that had been an extension of him for seventeen years now, by the window in his room overlooking the beautiful gardens that was part of the nursing home's impressive grounds. He relished the privacy because for some baffling reason he was in a contemplative mood today, his once brilliant mind returning to memories of happier times and not so happier times. His mind became occupied with memories of meeting his beloved Moira as a freshman at Harvard University, falling deeper and deeper in love with her as they navigated life together as orphans, and then later building a life together as husband and wife.

He smiled as he remembered the birth of their daughter Jean, their miracle baby, after doctors upon doctors had told them that Moira would never be able to conceive. Then there was Ororo, a blessing to them later on in their lives when there was no one else for her to turn to upon the death of her parents, their very best friends. Even though Ororo was not his child, he loved her as much as he loved his sweet Jean. Their family life was happy by all standards and he had everything he had ever dreamed of.

Growing up, he and Moira had afforded both Ororo and Jean every opportunity because they had both hoped that at least Jean, the apple of their eye, would have followed in their footsteps and make her mark in the world of academics. But fate had other plans and had dealt him a blow that had taken everything away that he held dear. The loss of his beloved Moira to the ravages of ovarian cancer was the death knell to his soul, his very existence. His life had ended that day her eyes closed and he was more or less living on auto pilot after that.

All attempts at trying to move on from losing Moira didn't work, until one day he took a really good look at his two lovely girls. He had realized that he did indeed have something to live for and in Jean, he saw his beautiful Moira. Deciding that they had all needed to reconnect as a family after suffering such a devastating loss, he had taken his girls to a brief summer vacation in the Catskills, where he himself had spent a great deal of time with his parents before a drunk driver had taken them away from him. Little did he know that he would come to regret that decision.

That blasted cocksure, selfish Howlett boy had singlehandedly ruined everything he held dear. He was responsible for Jean's pregnancy, his cruel fight with Jean and subsequently his accident that left him a paralyzed former shell of himself.

Charles sighed long and hard. His life was never the same after that horrible accident. He blamed Logan for losing Jean to the debauched lifestyle she had become hooked on after given birth to his only grandchild and all but abandoning the child. He blamed Logan for all the strokes and other ailments he had suffered since. And he blamed Logan for his dear beautiful Ororo having to toss all her hopes and dreams aside in order to care for him and Jean's child. She never once had the chance to spread her wings and rise to the incredible potential he knew she had locked inside of her. He blamed that damned race car driver for everything that went wrong in his life and took perverse pleasure in making his life a living hell with sending him those blackmail letters.

The man didn't deserve the life he had now. The man deserved the same pain, anguish and unimaginable sense of loss he had suffered for the past seventeen years. It had galled him all these years that Logan had been allowed to live a relative successful and happy life, while he and Ororo were forced to live with the crappy end of the stick. He knew he was dying, so he had nothing left to lose in seeking some form of retribution on Logan Howlett.

When he had accepted the fact that his body was rapidly deteriorating and he wasn't long for the world, he had quickly decided that there were two loose ends he needed to tie up. One was to do whatever was in his severely limited power to make Logan suffer, to make him feel pain in some way, shape or form. He had wanted to make Logan hurt and feel scared. So he had threatened the one thing he knew meant everything to men like Logan…his celebrity status. Hence, the letters threatening him with exposure as a deadbeat father.

The second and most important loose end to tie up was to bring his wayward daughter home. He knew that he couldn't go to meet his beloved Moira without making things right between him and Jean. He also needed his daughters to mend their long standing feud. So, it was with great delight that he had hired a private investigator to find her. Once she was found, he had wasted little time in sending her letters, encouraging her to come home and make things right.

All this was done in much secrecy as possible. Ororo of course knew none of this. He didn't want to think about what will happen if she ever found out that he went behind her back and revealed Nathan's paternity to Logan and to heal the rift between her and Jean.

The soft rapping on his door brought him out of his memories. He maneuvered his wheelchair to turn as Ororo poked her head into the doorway. "Come on in, my dear," he called out warmly.

"Good afternoon, Dad," Ororo replied as she stepped into her father's room, quietly closing the door behind her. She walked further into the room, where shadows danced due to the late afternoon sun. Other than making sure he was fine, she was here with a single purpose in mind. She would not be leaving here until she received an explanation from this man who had loved her as his very own daughter for the past twenty years. She needed to comprehend his reasons for sending those letters to Logan.

At the smoky voice of his adopted daughter, Charles' face morphed into a smile. However, one look at the serious expression marring her exquisite features and he knew something was wrong.

She bent over him from behind his wheelchair, gently squeezing his shoulders and pressing a chaste kiss to his weathered cheek. He reciprocated her affection by reaching up to pat her hands still resting on his shoulders.

"How are you today, Dad?" Her voice was soft, but tinged with a bit of tension.

"I am fine, my dear. But I fear you are not," he replied lovingly. "What is the matter?"

He most certainly did sound fine. No slurring words or struggling to form words. Ororo sighed then withdrew from him. She removed her purse from her shoulder, taking out the letters he had sent to Logan. Before leaving with Nathan, Logan had retrieved the letters from his car and gave them to her, trusting her to do what she must with them. Quietly, she placed her purse on his desk before going to kneel before him, holding out the letters towards him.

Charles looked at the letters, immediately recognizing them, then back to gaze at his daughter. With a heavy sigh, he pulled away from her and maneuvered his chair to the side of his bed.

Ororo was confused. There was no surprise or shock at being caught registering on his face.

"Ororo, I only did what was right. I…"

She interrupted him, quickly standing to her full height. "Do you honestly think that what you did was right?"

"I most certainly do, dear daughter," Charles retorted. "I think it was way past time for him to accept responsibility for his actions."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her by tossing her an angry look. For a moment she was reminded of a younger, sharper Charles Xavier.

"For years, I have had to sit by and watch him have a happy life, while my life was destroyed." There were no doubts who the 'he' was.

"Why do you hold him responsible?"

"Because he is responsible for everything that went wrong after that summer vacation. He had to pay for all that he has done to our family," Charles voiced forcefully.

"So you thought sending threatening letters, with my address on the envelopes was the way for him to pay?" Ororo asked bewilderingly.

"I knew that eventually I would be found out. And I do believe that it was high time that he claimed Nathan as his son."

Ororo's gasp was the only audible sound in the room after that declaration. "How did you ever find out that Logan was Nathan's father?" She gave up all pretenses and said Logan's name.

Charles tossed her a wry smile. "I was not that detached from my daughters to not know what was going on. I knew Jean was engaged in sexual activity before we went on that vacation. I knew she and that Howlett kid were spending a lot of time together and it did not take a genius to figure out what two young adults with raging hormones were up too. Then two months later, she announced that she was pregnant and then I did the math when Nathan was born. And as Nathan grew older, the more he resembled him."

"But why not say something, Dad? Why threaten to destroy the man's career…a career he has worked very hard at achieving? Why put Nathan's life in jeopardy like that?"

"It was time for justice…justice for the wrongs he helped heaped on my family," Charles replied bitterly. "He should pay for what he has done."

Ororo was rooted to the floor, her eyes glued on the man she had always had so much faith in. The man whom she had depended on for guidance. The man whom she had sought refuge from when the world and its people became too cold. The man whom had taken in an orphaned black girl and treated her as a daughter and called her daughter. She gasped in horror as she finally realized that that man no longer existed. Before her was a man she did not recognize, a stranger…a bitter, unhappy stranger.

"Who are you Dad, to be the judge, jury and executioner?" Ororo demanded vehemently. "Why would you hate a man so much that you would want to ruin him?"

"I am a man who loves his family and wanted the best for his daughters!" He responded just as passionately. "A man who sacrificed so much to make sure his daughters had the best of what life had to offer, only to see it all go down the drain. Do you know what it has done to me to see you of all people be forced to live the life you are living?"

"I had the best. I do not regret my life," she said softly. "I am happy with my life."

Charles barked a harsh laugh. "You have had enough tragedy in your young life, Ororo. You are a brilliant, beautiful and loving young woman who should have been travelling the world, uncapping that potential you have locked away or doing something that you loved. Instead you were stuck caring for an invalid father and a child who is not even your own!" He took a few moments to catch his breath before snarling maliciously, "Thanks to Howlett, your choices in life were taken away from you!"

"I made the choices to do what I did!" She shouted. Almost immediately, she took a few deep calming breaths to curb her temper. Lowering her voice, she said, "Given the chance, I would do it all over again. Your accident was unfortunate and its results even more so. What choice did I have other than to care for you? With Jean too busy to think about anyone but herself, I had to make sure that you receive the best possible care with our limited resources…just as you made sure I was safe and well taken care of when my parents passed away."

Ororo slowly walked over to the window to put some distance between her and her father and the escalating tension. "And as for Nathan…I do not, absolutely do not regret taking care of him and treating him as if I had given birth to him. I loved him from the very moment Jean told me that she was pregnant with Logan's child and that is why I fought Jean tooth and nail not to do anything foolish and put herself and the baby in jeopardy."

Charles eyes remained riveted to his daughter's back, absorbing all she was revealing. "Do you not see, Ororo…that it was Howlett's fault that you had to sacrifice your hopes and dreams to take on those life altering tasks?"

"It is not Logan's fault. And if you want to toss around blame, where does that leave Jean?" She said unkindly. "You said it was time for Logan to accept responsibility. What about Jean? Do you not think that it is time for her to accept responsibility as well? Logan has believed it or not, stepped up to the plate and is now a part of my life and Nathan's life. He is trying his best to be a father."

He laughed, a grim, vicious sound. "He will finish what he started Ororo. He is going to destroy your lives as he did Jean's. Jean was as much a victim of Howlett's actions as you were."

"What?!" Ororo cried, swiftly turning around to impale her father with an intense blue gaze. "Dad, I think it is time that you realize that Jean is not an angel and never was."

"Jean is my daughter, my miracle child!"

With that proclamation, Ororo loss whatever cool she had left. Spearing her father with turbulent eyes, she said, "That may be, but it does not detract from the fact that she is and has always been irresponsible. Jean never gave a damn about anyone but herself. She never gave a damn about you, else she would have been here helping me take care of you, giving you the love and comfort you need! She never gave a damn about Nathan, the sweetest child ever, one that she felt pain to bring into this world. If she did, she would have been here, being a mother to him, encouraging him and loving him!"

"You want to toss around the blame to Logan, well do me a favor and toss it around to your daughter too. She carries as much accountability in this whole blasted affair. Do not make Jean out to be the martyr here, Dad, because she is not. You talk about choices…we all had choices. I chose to stay, be the responsible one and do what you do when you love your family. Jean's choice was to traipse about like a damn whore, wrecking everything in her path and leaving a trail of destruction in her wake!"

Charles' eyes widened briefly before narrowing. "Jean did the best she could have given the circumstances."

"Really now?" Ororo bit back incredulously. "The circumstances had called for her to be responsible and to be an adult. There were no excuses. It was the time for the both of us to band together and face the obstacles together. Instead she showed her true colors and took off, not once giving a damn about you, me nor Nathan!"

Charles' shoulders slumped in defeat and tears coursed down his pale cheeks. He knew when he was beaten. He was never going to get her to understand his position on the entire affair. He sighed as he raised teary eyes to her. "I was hoping that you would understand my position, Ororo."

"Dad, I love you, but I cannot disregard what you have done to Nathan and Logan. I also cannot continue to allow you to keep on your blinders where Jean is concerned."

"And I love you too, Ororo, but I have to spend whatever time I may have left on this earth ensuring that he does pay a price for what he did to us."

Ororo simply shook her head. She took a serious look at him, noticing the weariness in his seated frame and wrinkled face. His antipathy for Logan was palpable, so much so that she could taste it. The realization that he was a dying man, a man who will no doubt die being eaten up by his loneliness and unhappiness, didn't bowl her over, but it still gave her pause. Pause to decide that there was no way he was going to take her and Nathan down that road. "I am sorry, Dad. I am sorry that you feel that you have to live out your remaining days so angry and bitter over things that were beyond our control."

"I am sorry too Ororo. Sorry that you never received the chance to show the world what you are truly made of," Charles whispered brokenly and tiredly.

There was nothing left for her to say. He was a lost cause and by the looks of it, he needed some rest. She walked over to where he was, kissed the top of his bald head and reiterated, "I love you, Dad." With her back straight and her head held high, she grabbed her purse, turned and walked out of the room. His broken sob wrenched at her heart, but she didn't turn around and go back to him, electing to let the words of their emotionally draining conversation sink in. Her tears didn't begin to fall until she was seated inside her Jeep. As if Mother Nature sympathized with her, the skies opened up and let loose a shower of rain.

Chapter 11 Sneak Peek – Logan and Nathan have a candid conversation.