Marie was still in shock by the time Logan sat her down in her room and gave her a bottle of water. The first words she spoke were, "You can't leave me...you can't."
He knelt in front of her and gently stroked her cheek, "I don't want you to lose this baby, kid. I don't think I could allow that."
"But...I can't do this alone...I definitely can't do it with Scott! You can't go, Logan! You can't!"
Logan shushed her and pulled her into a hug as he stroked the back of her head in an effort to calm her. After a few moments of her soft sobbing and trembling, he pulled back to look into her face, "It'll be OK. You're gonna get through this baby...you're strong." When she started to shake her head he shushed her and wiped the tears from her cheeks, doing his best to ignore the intense pain in his own chest as he watched her cry.
As he realized that he'd have to live his life without Marie and a child that could very well be his, he grew less sure about how "OK" everything would be. There had to be something they could do to keep from getting separated.
His thoughts were interrupted by Marie's soft sniffling within his arms, "I love you."
"I love you too. Try not to stress out too bad, darlin'...it's not good for the baby."
She took a deep breath as he kissed her forehead and pulled her into his arms, "It'll work out...it has to..."
Marie nodded unconvincingly as Logan kissed the top of her head and attempted to whisper reassuring words to her.
Meanwhile, Jean walked into the kitchen, where Scott was sitting, nursing an unidentified drink. He glanced at her and grunted, "Thanks for showing up and supporting me today...oh right...you didn't."
She sighed and walked over to him, "Scott...you know how I felt about it...how did it go?"
"Better than expected actually...not only does custody look like it's going my way, but my lawyer managed to convince the judge that Logan's a danger to the baby...in order to have a shot in hell at retaining custody, Marie's agreed to file a restraining order against him."
As Scott smirked and took another sip of his drink, Jean's mouth dropped open, "Are you serious? That's terrible! Why would you let something like that happen?"
"Marie's the one who let it happen. She didn't have to stay with the animal."
Jean narrowed her eyes, "What's happened to you? Why are you so filled with hate?"
Scott suddenly slammed his glass down, "First he took you...then he took Marie...and then he tried to take the thing I've only ever really wanted! He has no regard for anyone else's feelings! Why should I care about his?"
She jumped at the forcefulness of his voice, "Scott! Marie was your wife. What about her? What about that innocent child?"
"Just like you, Marie is better off without him...and so is that baby if it is his. That child will have everything it ever needs."
"...except its real father..."
Jean said as she walked out of the room, clearly disgusted with the person the Scott she once knew and loved had become. He was left alone in the kitchen, sulking over his alcohol.
"Don't leave..." Marie whispered as her tiny fists clenched onto Logan's shirt so tight, her knuckles turned white.
He'd laid in bed with her that night until she fell asleep, but in order to keep the boy scout from making the custody fight an even bigger living hell than it already was, he decided not to sleep in her room.
Unfortunately for Logan, Marie was having none of that. He let a hand drift over her belly and kissed her forehead as he smirked slightly. How could she sleep with all of that action going on inside of her?
If Marie slept behind him, curled into his back with her swollen stomach pressed against him, he was often favored with kicks, bumps and random shifts, courtesy of the ever active baby she carried.
Despite the random interruptions to much needed sleep, he couldn't help but smile at the sensation. Knowing how strong and active the baby was was just another reaffirmation that this was indeed his child.
As he brushed another kiss over her forehead, he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent.
During the next two weeks, Marie barely left Logan's side. She was a somber, emotionally raw shadow that followed him from room to room throughout the mansion...constantly contemplating their impending separation.
He didn't mind. He'd just wrap an arm around her and pull her to his side before kissing her forehead and fighting the urge to shed his own tears.
The two were so wrapped up in their own state of grief, they barely noticed the somber Jean watching them throughout the two weeks. She immediately went to Scott and gave him a warning: "soften your deal with Logan and Marie, or find yourself single again".
Obviously, Scott still loved Jean, so he had his lawyer contact the judge, who then called them back into an emergency litigation.
The bitch of a judge then claimed that Logan could remain in the mansion to live and work, but not have any personal, one-on-one interactions with Marie for the remainder of her pregnancy. If Marie did allow the contact, she would risk losing her custodial privileges and Scott would be named primary caregiver of the child after he or she was born.
Marie said nothing in the court room and neither did Logan.
To them, they were still being torn apart. What good was being under the same room if they're not even allowed to be in a room alone together?
Three torturous weeks later, Logan hadn't been able to so much as hug her.
It wasn't just the fact that he couldn't kiss and make love to her...it was the fact that he couldn't help her. She was all alone now and very heavily pregnant. He couldn't be there to help her put on her shoes, get up out of that impossibly low couch in the den or fix her a midnight snack if she needed it.
She was completely without the help that Logan had constantly provided her with.
During one afternoon, Logan was walking back into the mansion from the garage and was immediately greeted by the sounds of glass shattering and pots and pans noisily clanging. When he rounded the corner, he found a group of students crowding in front of the kitchen door with their mouths agape.
Logan pushed through them, "Move it! What's going on in here?"
Before anyone was able to answer, Logan stepped into the doorway just in time to witness Marie chucking a gigantic frying pan at Scott, who was darting around the kitchen in an obvious attempt to dodge the flying objects.
Just as Marie reached to pick up the knife block, Logan grabbed her wrist, forcing her to drop it to the floor as he pinned both of her arms to her sides, "Marie! Calm down...the baby."
He held her from behind as she screamed, "He did it! He did it on purpose!"
Jean entered the room just in time to hear those words, "What's going on in here?"
"Ask him!" Marie shrieked before spitting in Scott's direction. "I hate you! I wish I never fucking knew you, you piece of shit! You lying, deceitful, low life son of a fucking bitch! I will kill you!"
Logan had never heard her so angry before...nor felt her so strong. He was actually having problems trying to restrain a pregnant woman who was almost a foot shorter than him and at least 150 pounds lighter.
What had Scott done now?
That's when Logan saw it...the lock box, open on the kitchen counter with, what appeared to be, several packets of Marie's birth control on one side and another, very similar looking unmarked packet of pills on the other side.
"Scott...what is going on in here?" Jean asked again, stepping further into the kitchen.
Logan let Marie go, fearing that all the work she was putting in to get lose might hurt her or the baby. She marched over to the island and picked up the lock box, "See this? These were my birth control pills...you wanna know how I know?" Marie held up a packet and pointed, "Weeks one through three are pale green...week four is always white...now I remember the week when all my pale green pills suddenly became white, but I just figured the manufacturer was doing something different..." Marie held up the packet of sugar pills and yanked off the fake label Scott placed on there to reveal the word "placebo".
Marie yelled at Scott, who Logan noticed was bleeding from the head...good girl..."Seems someone was filling my prescription on their own!"
Jean's mouth dropped open, "Scott...tell me it's not true..."
"It's...it's..."
Jean took another few steps to him and narrowed her eyes. She was digging into his mind since it was clear he wasn't going to provide any answers...
She suddenly covered her mouth, then slapped him as hard as she could before running out of the kitchen. Scott looked back at Marie, "You refused to do it. I figured, if I got you pregnant, you'd realize you actually did want to have a baby."
"It wasn't A baby I didn't want, Scott...it was YOUR baby I didn't want." She allowed Logan to take her hand, "I'm calling my lawyer."
Logan dutifully grabbed the lock box and followed Marie out, figuring he could beat the shit out of Scott later.
Marie was much more hopeful as she sat in the courtroom with Logan behind her and Scott sitting across the aisle next to his attorney. Everyone rose when the judge entered.
She looked at them over her reading glasses, "I didn't expect to see you back so soon...Mrs. Summers seems to have a complaint to bring forward concerning YOUR character Mr. Summers...let's hear it."
Marie's lawyer rose with the damning lock box, "Your Honor, during a recent clean up of her room, my clients accidentally knocked this box, that belonged to Mr. Summers, to the floor. He failed to take it with him when he initially vacated their room. When the box landed on the floor, it opened and my client discovered that the man that she married had been secretly switching her birth control pills for completely ineffective sugar pills in an effort to impregnate her against her will and without her knowledge."
The judge actually looked disgusted, "This is a very serious allegation Mr. Summers...is this true?"
Scott's lawyer rose and buttoned his jacket, "Your Honor, my client can't be held responsible if Mrs. Summers accidentally took the wrong pills. There's no proof that he was the one who switched those pills out."
Marie's mouth dropped open, "What?"
Suddenly, all eyes turned to the back of the courtroom as Jean and the professor entered. All were surprised when they took their places behind Marie, next to Logan.
The professor had been traveling between London and Seattle in an effort to set up the new teams and schools.
The judge raised a brow at her, "And you are?"
Jean rose respectfully, "Dr. Jean Grey...I'm Logan's soon-to-be ex wife and Mr. Summers ex-fiance...presently his ex girlfriend. And this is Professor Charles Xavier."
The judge looked impressed, "Oh...I've heard of you Professor Xavier. You're considered to be a pillar in the mutant community."
Charles nodded and gave the judge a polite smile, "Thank you, Your Honor."
Scott's jaw clenched as Jean fixed him with a hardened glare.
The judge turned her eyes back to Jean, "...and what are you doing here Ms. Grey?"
Jean looked at Marie, "I know that Scott is the one who tampered with Marie's birth control...because he did the same to mine."
Everyone's mouth dropped open except for Scott's, whose clenched tighter as he looked down. The judge put Jean on the witness stand and asked her several questions concerning the birth control, then suddenly got to questions about Scott's character.
"Do you believe his desire to raise this child stems from a well meaning place?"
Jean stared directly at Scott before looking back at the judge and shaking her head, "No. I don't. I think he's become petty, selfish and vengeful. He hates Logan with his whole being. Why would we even venture to believe that, if the child isn't his, he'd be able to raise that child in a loving, gentle manner? I get that he wants to be a father...but there are so many needy children out there, why not adopt? Why does he feel the need to fight tooth and nail for a child who may have been fathered by the man he hates so much?"
The judge cleared her throat and sat back. She then turned her attention to the professor, "Professor Xavier, as you know, there is some question as to whether Logan is a danger to Marie's unborn child."
"Oh no...that's not possible, Your Honor. Logan may be troubled, but the person he would never harm intentionally...is Marie. He's taken care of her for years as a friend, protector and now, her partner. I can tell you that he poses no danger to Marie or the child she carries."
After a seemingly longer than normal recess, the judge returned to her bench to lay down a revised, temporary judgement, "The order against Mr. Logan has been lifted. He may resume contact with Mrs. Summers. As for Mr. Summers...I'm ordering that a DNA test be conducted on this child immediately after its birth. If it is proven that you are the biological father, Mrs. Summers will retain primary custody and you will have bi-weekly visitation rights. Mrs. Summers can expand these visitations at her discretion. Despite the fact that you are legally considered to be this child's father, I am modifying your parental privileges due to the nature of abuse-"
Scott's lawyer jumped up, "Abuse? There's been no abuse!"
The judge piped up angrily, "He hijacked her uterus! That, my friend, is abuse! Now, sit!" She glared at Scott's lawyer as he lowered himself to his seat, then resumed, "Now...due to the nature of abuse, if the child's DNA is a match with Mr. Logan's, he will be declared the legal father and no further visitation or custodial arrangements have to be made with Mr. Summers. Thank you and good day."
As soon as the judge banged her gavel, Marie jumped up and rushed over to Logan, giving him a huge kiss on the lips as she wrapped her arms around him.
It was over...for now.
Review please! Thank you so much for the kind words!