Chapter 11

Jean sat in the kitchen nursing a warm cup of tea.

The day had been long. She was physically and emotionally exhausted. She tried to lie down with Scott to take a nap, but could not sleep. She rubbed the back of her neck to get rid of the tension there. Just then she heard someone walk in.

Logan.

"Hey Jeannie, ya look like ya could use a massage. I can help ya out with that. Always was good with my hands." He quipped, but with less enthusiasm as usual.

Jean didn't even notice, nor did she give a verbal response. She flashed him a fake smile that didn't reach her eyes, before turning back towards the window.

Logan moved to sit down next to her.

"What's up Jeannie?"

Jean sighed before answering. "I'm just tired and…worried." Jean looked up at him.

That was why she couldn't sleep.

Ororo and the baby

Scott

The Professor

Their faces played in her mind like a merry-go-round.

Logan gave her a raised eyebrow with a questioning look. He could tell she was troubled.

Jean noticed Logan staring at her and gave her head a shake. Not like he was not going to find out anyway.

"Today has been…" she stopped, not sure what to say. She took a drink of her tea and started again.

"Ororo. She came down to the med lab needing medical attention. "She's…pregnant."

Logan's breath hitched.

Jean noticed the change in breathing.

She observed his face. He seemed a little on edge, but didn't look…

Surprised.

That was puzzling to her. She knew that when the rest of the mansion residents found out, there would be a resounding gasp through the halls.

Ororo and sex could not possibly be in the same sentence.

She was secretly waiting for someone to proclaim it must be some kind of spiritual pregnancy or something.

Jean narrowed her eyes at him. There goes that nagging in the back of her mind again.

"Pregnant huh. Everything alright?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant.

Jean gave her head a little tilt and continued to observe him.

"Yes, thank goodness. Hank thinks she needs a few days of bed rest and she will be alright to get back to her regular schedule."

Logan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"She still in tha lower levels?" He wanted to be able to go visit her without anyone seeing him.

"No. No, she is staying with the Professor tonight. She will probably be in her own room tomorrow." She watched for his reaction.

He watched her watching him. He changed directions.

"Well that's good news right? I would think ya would look happier."

She knew he was onto her. She would let it go.

For now.

"It's not that Logan. I'm so happy they are both OK. I mean, when the baby's heartbeat came up on the monitor strong and steady…it was the most beautiful thing I ever heard. Ro cried and then she reached out to touch him. It was amazing." Jean paused before she continued.

"It's just, when she first got there, she had convinced herself that she was going to loose the baby. She was so distraught and there was nothing I could do. The only other time I had seen her so despondent is after the Forge Incident. I thought that was bad but this…this was so much worse." She said as silent tears fell.

Logan looked up at the mention of the name.

He had heard the name mentioned in hushed tones a few times, but he had never found out anything about him.

He never cared.

Until now.

Now he knew something had gone down with him and Ororo.

"What he do?" His voice low and serious.

Jean looked at him and then stared down into her mug. She wasn't sure she should be sharing this with Logan, but she needed to talk to someone, and for once he was showing an interest in someone other than himself.

Crazy day.

"Cerebro is the brain child of the Professor and Magneto. When they split ways, the Professor wanted to make some adjustments, just in case Magneto tried to infiltrate it or something. He enlisted the help of a local inventor named Forge. Inventor is actually putting it lightly. Anything he was able to conceptualize in his mind, he could create." Jean caught Logan's eyes with a smirk on her face.

"It was his mutant ability. Anyway, when Ororo met him, she fell in love instantly. I could definitely see why. He was the definition of tall, dark and handsome."

Logan gave a snort at that. Jean looked at him with a smile.

"No really. He was of Naive American descent. He had long, dark gorgeous hair, stood about 6ft 5in, broad shoulder, dark eyes. He was an Adonis. He was also 26 and Ororo was just 17." She paused and the smile left her face.

"Scott, he heard us talking and found out about it one night and went straight to the Professor. He made it clear to both Ororo and Forge they were not to see each other. Ororo begged and pleaded with him. He finally broke down and agreed they could date. He treated her well, a real gentleman. Never, ever pressured her to be intimate with him. He was Ororo's first boyfriend and she was totally under his spell. They seemed so happy."

Jean's face took on a somber look.

"A few months after Ororo's 18th birthday, Forge received a job offer from a government agency in Texas. Forge asked Ororo to marry him and move to Texas with him. Ororo didn't know what to say. This was the only home she had ever really known and her family was here. She asked him for some time to think about it. That night, they made love for the first time. The next morning she woke up and he was gone. He left a note saying that he was taking back his proposal since she could not give him an answer. After that, she sunk into a deep depression. Scott and Charles did everything they could to comfort her, but nothing worked. She would fly over the grounds for hours at a time. We had terrible storms for days. Then Scott found out about them sleeping together. He took off and tracked Forge down. The only person who knew where he went was the Professor. Forge and Scott got into a confrontation and Scott blasted his hand. He ended up having to have it removed, replacing it with a robotic one. Forge called Ororo and told her that Charles had sent Scott after him and about Scott attacking him. She was furious that they did that behind her back. The next day I went to her room and she was gone. No note, nothing. It took three months for us to find her in New Orleans. Remy had found her wandering the streets and his family took her in. We finally convinced her to come back and she brought Remy with her. Once she returned, she never spoke Forge's name again."

Logan couldn't believe it. What kind of man would propose to a woman, take her virginity, and then run out on her?

The same kind that has sex with her, gets her pregnant, and then turns his back on her, Wolverine answered.

"Shut up."

Jean looked at him in surprise. "What?"

He didn't realize he said it out loud.

He shrugged it off.

"Sound like things worked out fer her. Coulda been worse. She coulda married him."

Jean looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…yeah I guess you could look at it that way." She said while rolling her eyes.

Maybe it was better he didn't talk to people.

Where in that story did it sound like things worked out in her favor?

He almost sounds like the guy who…

Jean turned to look at him sharply.

There goes that nagging again!

"I just hope Scott learned from that and doesn't make the same mistake. He was so hell bent on finding out who is responsible for Ro's condition, he actually suggested Hank drug her so the Professor could invade her mind." She finished.

Logan jumped up off his stool. "Is he fucking psycho? Hank..he didn't do it did he? Did he?" He was yelling now.

Why the hell would he think it was ok to drug a pregnant woman?

If they so much as laid a hand on her…

She tried to calm him.

"No! No he didn't. None of us agreed with him." She urgently assured him.

Logan took some deep breaths trying to calm down. Jean continued.

"The Professor wants Scott to canvas local bars to find out if anyone remembers seeing Ro. Maybe the guy she was with is a regular and Scott can get a name. He's not supposed to go looking for him, but I don't know if I can trust Scott to do that. He is so angry. It's Forge all over again." She said with a sad sigh.

Logan groaned inwardly.

Scott was going to play detective.

He wasn't going to need to be Colombo to find out.

Harry's bar was one of the first ones he would come to once he hit the city…

He KNEW Harry would remember Ororo…

…and Logan was a regular.

This shit was never ending!

"Logan…LOGAN!" Jean's raised voice reached him. She reached over to lightly touch his arm.

"Where did you go just now? Is something wrong?"

Logan looked down at the hand on his arm. Any other time her touch would have been welcome.

Now, it was a hindrance.

"Naw, uh…I just remembered something I have ta do. I'll see ya later." He abruptly turned to leave. Before he walked out the door, he looked back to Jean.

"Jeannie, tell Ro I'm glad she and her baby are ok."

Jean's eyes widened in surprise. Logan rarely showed any concern about anyone.

"Yeah, sure Logan. I'll give her the message." She replied as she continued to study him.

He nodded in return and disappeared.

He sure seemed to be in a hurry all of a sudden, she thought.

There it was again…

nagging in the back of her mind.

She was missing something.

Maybe it's because I'm tired, she thought. Once she got some rest she was sure it would come to her.

She got up to dump out the rest of her tea and place her mug in the sink. She heard the roar of Logan's bike as he took off down the driveway. She smiled to herself and shook her head. Probably remembered he needed to get laid tonight.

He had better be careful about what he does with that thing.

A baby could show up on HIS doorstep.

Her movements stopped.

Logan was going to find someone alright.

He was going to have a nice friendly "chat" with Harry.

Little did good ole Harry know, he was about to develop a case of selective amnesia.