Authors Note: I have no excuses for not updating sooner. I can only beg your forgiveness, thank you for being such amazing fans of this story, and pray you enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 21 – Love Isn't A Choice

"Logan it's not often I find you sitting at the opposite side of my desk, to what do I own the pleasure of your company?" Xavier said asked politely as the burly man shifted in the seat in front of him. The professor took in the tight lines in the Wolverines face and watched him raise an eyebrow; even without the use of his telepathy the older man knew that this conversation would not be an easy one. "Rouge"

Logan nodded his head slightly in confirmation as he mulled over the words he wanted to use to begin. He knew that Cyke was the teacher's pet were the professor was concerned and the last thing he need to do was come off sounding like a jealous lover, although that was in fact exactly what he was. "I know I was wrong in how I left her when I went to look for Jean but you of all people had to know what she's always meant to me."

"I have never questioned if you loved her. However, as you just pointed out, your actions gave her more than a few reasons to suspect where it was that your heart truly lied." He replied. Logan was not one to come to anyone other than Rouge to talk and Xavier knew that he needed to choose his words carefully. As he stated the man's love for the girl was never questioned, in fact the professor had been grateful that the Wolverine had waited to claim her until she'd gotten older. Logan's choice in entertaining himself until Rouge had come of age; however was not a choice Xavier ever approved of. In many ways it was what had set this whole chain of events in motion.

"Does he? Does he really love her? Or is it the baby and the idea of looking like the perfect family that he's in love with?" Logan questioned in a tight voice, leaning forward in his chair almost as if challenging the professor to say that Summers loved Marie more than Logan could.

"I believe that you already know that answer Logan. What is it you are really here to ask me?"

"Do you think I'm wrong in fighting for her?" Logan sighed as he leaned back in the chair once again before continuing "Because if we're being honest with each other here, I don't give a damn about the Captain America wanna be, but I'd rather live my life in agony than be responsible for inflicting any kind of pain on her. I've already hurt her enough."

"Love isn't a choice Logan, not when you have fallen for who they truly are and in that case fighting for the one you love is never wrong. Being honest about how you feel, making sure she and her child are being taken care of while she and Scott are separated is in no way going to hurt her. But if you are looking for my approval in your crusade to abolish Rouge's marriage that is something I will not give you. Do I need to explain why?"

"Because the Wonder Boy's prefect and you think he deserves her and his child more than I do." He spat cutting his eyes at the older man behind the desk as he stood up with his fist tight at his side doing his best not to lose his composure.

"No, it's the same reason I would not approve of Scott trying to fracture the bond between you and Rouge either. The decision of who Rouge spends her life with needs to be her own without interference from you or Scott." Xavier clarified in a soft voice.

As tempting as Jean's offer was becoming in his head, he knew that Xavier was right. Marie needed him to love her enough to let her go if she chose to leave and she needed him to let her make a the decision on her own without his interference or Jean's for that matter. He gripped the back of the tall chair in front of the professor's desk and connected his eyes with the elder man in a request that was understood.

"Thank you Logan. I will make sure to speak with both Jean and Scott." He said with gratitude as a small smile graced his face. He had to admit he was proud of the choice the man currently exiting his room just made informing him in regards to Jean's proposition. It was proof showing how much he genuinely adored the woman he wanted so badly and how much he'd grown as a man who did indeed deserved her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, your friend Mr. Declan can be quite intimidating until I get his wife involved." Hank vaguely explained to the awaiting parents as he flipped off the ceiling lights to the room so that all was left was the soft night-light in the wall in back of the room and the glow of the ultrasound monitor.

"There is nothing as terrifying as Gabby when she's fuming and if there's one thing Dom has learned in their marriage it's the phrase happy wife means a happy life." Scott chuckled as he watched Marie pull up her shirt and lean back so that Hank could squeeze a small amount of goo onto her now obviously rounded belly.

"Okay you ready to take a look at your little one?" He smiled pressing the wand against Rouge's belly before continuing. "Heart sounds strong; all four ventricles look to be pumping, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two arms and two hands. This prefect strand of pearls here is the vertebra, which looks completely healthy. Both legs are presents and accounted for, as well as feet. Are you feeling any kicking yet?" Hank explained pointing at the screen as they went along so that Scott would understand everything was they were seeing on the monitor being that this was the first time to be present for one of Rouge's appointments.

"No not yet. Should I be?" Marie questions with a bit of anxiety present in her voice.

"Well it varies. Some women have reported feeling tiny flutters as early as 16 weeks but the average time is between 22 to 26 weeks. And since you're just now reaching you 24th week, we have awhile before we need to be concerned." Hank reassured "Would you like to know that sex?"

"I'd love to know actually, what do you think?" Marie questioned as she glanced up eyes shining with anticipation at Scott, who nodded in agreement.

"Well you better get ready for a lot of tea parties, unicorns and pink because you are going to be the proud parents of a little girl." Hank informed as pushed a few buttons on the keyboard to freeze a monitor screen before putting up the wand and flipping back on the room lights.

"A girl, are you sure? A little girl?"

"Yes, if there was any question I wouldn't have offered to tell you. Your little princess here certainly wasn't shy about showing herself." He said as he handed Rouge a small towel to clean off the remaining gel on her stomach as he waited for the pictures he printed out with the words IT'S A GIRL! written in a blank space next to a still frame of her tiny face.

"Thank you so much Hank. I just can't tell you how much it means to me." Rouge giggle sitting up to hug the big blue man's neck as she took the two copies of the photos scans the he offered her, glancing briefly at Scott who was still standing quietly next to the to her with his right hand steadily rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Well you madam are welcome even if I didn't really do anything. I have to get running to my next appointment; if you'll excuse me. I'll give you some privacy, Congratulations." He replied shaking Scott briefly before leaving them alone.

It's was a girl, the vision of a little replica of her mother filled his head at the thought, a miniature Marie that no one would ever be able to take away from him. She'd be his daughter, his little princess that he could love with all his heart and spoil with all his attention.

"Scott? Earth to Scott?"

Scott turned to stand directly in front of his wife as her voice broke through his bliss. Placing his hands on the swell of her abdomen he was in awe with how much he was already in love with someone he'd never met. God help him, she already had her daddy wrapped around her finger.

"Are you upset that she's not a boy?" she questioned as she laid her hands on top of where Scott's now rested.

"God no….. I'm so….. Thank you." There were no words for the adoration he already felt for his daughter. Even thank you was not enough, but it was all he could offer at the moment.

"For what?" she whispered as she lost her breath when he leaned his forehead to rest against hers.

"For today, for letting me be here…for the time we spent together…for being my wife." He said tracing roundness of her stomach where his little girl now laid lightly with the tips of his fingers. "for my daughter."

Moving her own hands up his forearms to rest on his strong biceps as she tilted her head back a little to meet his crystal blue eyes with her own. Oh how she hoped their daughter had those eyes, those captivating soulful orbs that she could get lost in for hours. "You're just as much responsible for her as I am, you know."

She was so close, her lips just a couple of inches away from his, all he had to do was lean his head forward slightly and he would be able to taste her again. That sweet softness he missed so much was his for the taking all he needed was a sign from her that she wanted him too and there it was the tip of her tongue darting out to wet her already moist lips.

"Hank I was hoping we could…. Oh excuse me; I didn't realize he had an appointment in this room." Jean voice filled the room as if an atomic bomb erupted as the barged in the room looking as if she was studying the clipboard she had in hand.

"Its fine, we're finished." Rouge sighed as she hopped off the exam table and headed out the door her irritation radiating off her in waves.

"We need to talk later." Scott stated in a hard tone to Jean not sparing her glance as he followed his wife out of the room. "Marie wait."

"I'm sorry, I know was rude… I just." Rouge immediately began to spew as she turned to face the father of her daughter, she was fuming, and in a way she had no right to be. After all even though he was still legally her husband, he was with Jean and she was living with Logan.

"Stop, you have no reason to apologize, especially to me. If anything I should be apologizing for Jean's behavior, she's had a hard time accepting the fact that we're over. Still that's no excuse for her constant interruptions or her incivility towards Kitty and Jenna." Scott admitted as he ran a worried hand through his hair.

After talking with Dom, Jase, and Bobby a week ago he come back to the room to a scantily clad Jean insisting that he sign the divorce papers and they set a wedding date. It dawned on him in that moment what a major mistake he'd made; he was only going to be causing her more pain by giving her false hope by staying with her out of obligation. She wasn't the same women he'd loved so dearly all those years ago, and he was nowhere near the boy he had been when he had fallen for her. She had broken him, his time without her had hardened him, and Marie had brought the man he was today to life. It had become apparent that it was time he was honest with not only Jean but himself as well, and it was that very night he packed his things and left his love for Jean in the past where it belonged.

"What…When….When did that happen?"

"I moved into the west wing few days ago, your old room actually. I'm not sure why you looked so shocked, I told you that night at the cabin it was you that I loved and I meant it. Being with Jean should have never happened, I know that now. And as much as I wish I could go back in time and change everything that happened that night in New York, I can't, I may not have fought you our marriage like I should have then but…" Scott paused as he brought his hands up to frame her face before he continued "I feel I must warn you I am going to fight for marriage now."

"Scott I…" Marie looked down as she used her hands to pulls his down away from her face to settle on her shoulders. Share in moment in private was one thing but here in the hallway anyone could wonder up on them and having him touching her was that way was just too tempting, too intimate.

"Look, I know you're with…" Scott paused unable to complete the sentence. "I have no right to you after everything that's happened. Nevertheless, you are still my wife, you are carrying my daughter, and I need you to know that I do love you, I always will, I always have."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"Nothing, you don't have to say anything. I'm doing this knowing full well that you might choose to stay with him. Which is why knowing we are having this little girl means so much to me. Because no matter what happens, no matter who you choose, she will always be apart you of that no one will ever be able to take from me."

"Hey darlin' you all finished up?" As soon as the doors began to slide open he could alert them to his present fast enough. Seeing him with his hands on her, even if they were only placed on her shoulder, had his jealous raging instantly.

"You got to be fucking kidding me?" Scott hissed, his head falling back as his hands dropped to his sides before turning away and walking into the open elevator that the animal had just existed from.

"Yeah" She answered, her head swirling with how quickly the atmosphere changed around making her bit off balance her as Logan pulled her into an embrace. Peering over Logan's shoulder connecting eyes with Scott, Marie couldn't help the sadness that swept over her as the doors slid closed between them.

"How'd it go? Everything's good, right?" Logan asked as he pulled the slips of paper from her hands to look them over.

"It's a girl" she said aloud as she watched his eyes move across the words that she know were written there. The smile that broke across his face was one she'd never seen before, so why her heart broke a little at seeing it she didn't understand.

"We're having a girl?"

"Yeah"