DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.
A/N: Big thanks for the reviews!
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CHAPTER 13
When Marie and her class returned to their room, Heather and Camille were waiting there anxiously. "God, Marie, where have you been?" Heather's gaze travelled over all toddlers, making sure no one was missing.
"I took care of Vincent's claws at the craft room." Marie placed her hand on top of the boy's shoulder, while the other women starred at her like she had grown a second head.
"The craft room?" Camille pressed out.
J.D. stepped forward and held his hands at least twenty inches apart. "With a giant file!" He suddenly noticed how loud he was and looked apologetic at the feral. "Sorry."
Marie frowned and became worried, when Chloe were nowhere to be seen. "Where's Chloe?"
"Her nanny picked her up."
Vincent approached Heather, his eyes twinkling with new tears. "Did I hurt her bad?"
At the sight of the boy's misery the woman's own uneasiness evaporated. She kneed down and patted his head. "No. The nurse only cleaned her wound and bandaged it."
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Marie hadn't been the only one afraid that Vincent would be feared and ignored by the other children, but her explanation seemed to have fruited and he was playing with Cameron and the twins now - the other kids in the all day kindergarten program. Suddenly his eyes widened in recognition at the new smell. His head shot up and he jumped to his feet, a bright smile lighting up his features. "Daddy!" He rushed over to the man leaning lazily against the doorframe.
Victor picked his son up, a grin on his lips when the small arms slung around his neck. "Missed me, cub?"
Vincent buried his nose in his father's neck, breathing in his scent. "Yes."
Marie kept her distance, though she watched father and son curiously – the older mutant's smile seemed genuine. Heather wasn't this careful and approached the two, disturbing the greeting and was rewarded with a predatory glare that made her shudder. "W- welcome back, Mr. Creed." She immediately regretted to have said anything at all as he bared one of his canines.
"Thanks." 'Yes, frail, fear me and learn your place.' His eyes burned into her and she didn't dare to come any closer. He never really liked this female – not that there were any females he liked, that is. Her posture and all screamed victim. No challenge. Though he would have had his fun with her, but his cub liked her, so he wouldn't touch her.
Scenting, he looked his son up and down, making sure he was alright. "Did somethin' happen I should know of?" His eyes were suddenly trained on the brunette, who looked startled up, meeting his stare. There was fear mixed in her scent, since their encounter, yet she mustered her courage and held his gaze, nearing him slowly and carefully.
"Well…" Marie pondered on her words, but Heather had somehow snatched Vincent's jacket and pressed it into the brunette's hands, almost pushing her towards the two mutants and the exit. "I'm sure you and Mr. Creed have a lot to catch up. You can go now, Marie."
The Southern spitfire had almost snapped at her, if she was nuts, but she held her tongue, after all the woman was her boss and she had to tell her about the baby soon. With a deep breath, she forced a smile onto her lips. "Thank you, Heather. See you tomorrow." She turned around to the children. "Bye, sweeties."
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Without another word, Marie followed Victor to his car – he apparently wanted to talk to her while driving. At least this way he couldn't skewer her without accident and endangering his son. When he revived the engine, his cold eyes narrowed on her. "Well?"
Marie told him the incident with Chloe and he luckily – and to her astonishment – remained calm and didn't seem angry. But Vincent began to cry anew – not afraid of his father's reaction – this amazed the brunette as well – but afraid Chloe might hate him now. The boy pleaded that he would let his nails be filed from now on without arguing and how sorry he was. "Are you mad at me, Marie?" He eventually asked. "For not telling you."
Marie turned around in her seat and smiled at the distressed child. "Ah'm not mad at you, sweetie. Ah can understand that you don't like the file."
"Nobody's mad at you, cub. It was an accident just like Marie said." He tried to keep the growl out of his voice – he didn't like it when his cub cried about some nothingness – or in this case a stupid frail.
"But Chloe will be mad!" Vincent sobbed.
From the corner of her eyes Marie saw Victor roll his eyes and grasp the steering-wheel tighter. This was a situation he couldn't handle – not without bloodshed and she somehow doubt he would raise his claws against his son. "Hey, Vinny. How about we buy chocolate or something and you'll give it to Chloe tomorrow, telling her how sorry you are." Suddenly the boy was calm, but his father growled at her, but kept quiet.
"You think she won't be mad then?" Hope was evident in his voice and features and he wiped his tears away.
Marie ignored the growl from the driver seat and smiled at the toddler. "Sure, Vinny."
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Instead of stopping the car in front of her apartment, Victor surprised her by halting at the parking lot of the next store they came across, that happened to be a Wal-Mart. He fished a cigarette from the package in the glove department, his emotionless eyes on the confused brunette. "Will you get out and buy some crap so the cub'll stop the whailin'?"
"M-me?" Marie starred at the mutant stunned. Maybe getting out of the car wasn't such a bad idea – at the moment he didn't seem in the mood to strangle her – and maybe he would simply drive away, leaving her behind.
"Yes you." He flipped his lighter open and didn't miss the disapproving glare the woman shot him when he lit his cigarette. "Get the cub and hurry. Don't wanna spend all day for this shit!"
Vincent was smiling and opened his safety-seat's belt, while Marie didn't move an inch. So much about leaving her behind… "Why me? He's your son!" Not so long ago, he had told her that Vincent was not her business.
He took a drag from his cigarette and growled at this persistent female. "It's your stupid idea, Stripes!"
The way he said her nick-name, made Marie confident and bolder – he wasn't really angry, just grumpy. "And he is your son, Victor!" She held his glare, ignoring the chill running down her spine. "Come with us and pay at least."
"Wtf!" She wasn't backing down, he could tell, though a trace of fear lingered in her scent. To his dismay, Vincent beamed at her idea.
"Yes, daddy, come with us!"
Murmuring curses, Victor starred daggers at the brunette, but opened his door, not missing the boy gapping about his choice of words. Outside the car Vincent was immediately between the two adults and took each their hands in his small ones and began pulling them towards the entrance eagerly. The large mutant inhaled the calming nicotine and earned yet another glare of the brunette – but ignored her.
Marie had confirmed her impression that his son's welfare was one of the primary objectives for the moody and unpredictable feral. Thus, she mustered her courage and snapped at him, when he exhaled directly towards her. "Smoking is bad for a child! Vinny doesn't have a working healing factor!" When the boy had fallen once at kindergarten and his knee had been bleeding, Marie had been surprised at first that the wound didn't knit back together immediately, then that it only took four days to heal without leaving a scar – there was a healing factor in the background without a doubt.
The growl was vibrating in his throat. "I hadn't smoked in front of my cub, if you had moved your ass quicker and had taken him with you out of the car!" She could be happy that he was in a rather good mood today, but she apparently decided to try his nerves further when she took a cart and helped his son climb into it. "What's that for?"
Marie smiled evilly at the feral man, knowing that he would hate it. "Vinny told me he was never in a toy store before." She didn't miss his jaw clench and how his cold eyes centered on her. "This ain't a ToysRus, but Ah'm sure Vinny will have his fun."
The toddler's large eyes sparkled with joy. "Can we look at the toys, daddy? Please?"
Victor growled and made some other customers look scared their way. "Fine. But only ten minutes." 'Won't hurt. And I could watch her with the cub. Gonna have to pay Consuela a visit. If there ain't a good explanation of why she had her fuckin' cell turned off, I'll need a new baby-sitter and Stripes seems to be the right one for this job.' Not that he had another choice if Consuela wasn't available any more. 'Ain't like there's a frail waitin' for me at home.' He furrowed his brows as he reminded his latest victim and her current whereabouts in his holding-cell under his house. 'Well, she ain't an option even if she's still alive.' He flicked his cigarette onto the pavement and stepped on it before entering the store. 'I don't have to forget to get rid of her body tonight.'
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A/N: I hope you liked it!