Logan peered over the top of his newspaper. "Something on your mind, Stripes?"
The girl wandered over to him on the sunny balcony and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Ah'm hungry," she said.
He sighed because she hadn't righted herself in her sleep or grown into the pain in the ass he recognized. With her Stuck as a small kid, he had no idea what to do with her. "Jean needs her sleep," he answered, folding the paper, and tucking it under his arm. "Let's go."
"Are we goin' to get food?" she asked him.
"Sure," he said, leading the way to the lobby. When he spotted a clothes store on the ground floor, he made a beeline for it. He pushed her inside and whistled to the bored-looking teen behind the counter. "See this kid? She needs new everything. Get her kitted out and I'll be back in ten minutes with pancakes."
He looked down at the kid when she held onto his hand. "Don't go," she said sadly. "Ya'll eat all the pancakes and Ah won't get any."
"You need new clothes and I've already eaten," he said, easing his hand out of her grip.
She held his hand again and he sighed. "Fine," he said, looking at the teen again. "Kit her out while I sit over there and read my paper."
The teen and another worker busied themselves fetching clothes for Anna while she watched them from Logan's side. She had hated getting measured and took the tape, curling it around her left fingers and hand while she waited. Twenty minutes later, Logan looked up from his paper again. He noticed how Anna pouted at the mirror. Snorting to himself, he put the paper to one side and walked over to her. He scooped her up and stood her on a stool in front of the tallest mirror. "What do you think?"
Anna leaned against his chest, glanced at her reflection, and scowled. "Too much pink," she whispered in his ear.
"I thought as much," he chuckled, setting her down on her feet. "Go find something you like." He watched her and remembered the last time he had taken her shopping, back when she hated him and his gruff opinion. He had vetoed every outfit she picked, and she had retaliated by ditching him at the mall and taking off for three days straight. He shook his head at the memory.
"Daddy, Ah like this one!" Anna called from the middle of the second rail of clothes.
Logan smiled, caught off guard. "This is what it feels like," he muttered to himself and walked over to her.
#
Several hours later, Logan scanned the fifth newspaper of the day while he sat in the shade beside the hotel pool. The shrieks of the kids playing in the water irritated him, but he drowned it out until he smelled Jean.
In her bikini top and long, sweeping skirt, Jean sat opposite him with a frown. "About last night," she said, scooting her chair closer to him in the hope they could speak privately yet publicly.
"I enjoyed it too," he answered, turning another page.
She exhaled and watched Anna turning a large water cannon round in circles. "Any improvements?"
"Yeah, she listens to me and hasn't ditched me yet," he muttered, searching for any articles about boulders or weird mutations.
"About last night, Logan," Jean repeated, tapping his arm. "I've been thinking about Scott all morning."
He looked at her. "I've been thinking about you."
Jean sighed again and tried to lie to herself. She had thought about Scott, not Logan. She hadn't thought about Logan. She couldn't think about Logan. She gazed at him and he locked eyes with her. They could hear Anna arguing with another kid but neither of them looked her way until they heard her scream.
Logan and Jean leaped to their feet and almost knocked the table over. They glanced in the direction of the pool and only saw a triumphant boy grinning as he spurted other kids with the water cannon.
"Anna," Jean called out, approaching the pool.
Logan followed her and almost suffered that promised heart attack when he looked down at the bottom of the pool. It took him less than thirty seconds to jump in the water and resurface with a dazed and crying Anna.
A panicked Jean turned her fury on the boy at the water cannon. "Where are your parents?" she asked loudly. "Who does this boy belong to? Where are his parents!"
While Logan hugged Anna and carried her up the steps and out the water, a woman came forward with a cocktail in her hand. "What's the problem?" she asked, taking her expensive sunglasses off, and tipping the rim of her sunhat up slightly. "My Hunter's only playing."
"My Anna almost drowned," Jean replied tersely, glancing at Logan who gave a nod her way to reassure her Anna was unharmed.
"My Hunter was only playing," the woman repeated in an annoyed tone. "If you have nothing else to say I suggest you take your drama elsewhere. My family and I are regulars here, we know all the staff and my Hunter loves being poolside."
When the woman walked away, Jean couldn't help herself. "I'll show you drama," she murmured, flexing her left hand, and levitating a chair several inches forward and into the path of the woman. A shriek and a splash were heard in quick succession and the shocked woman in the hat floated to the surface of the pool with the cocktail glass still in her hand.
Jean returned to the table where Logan cradled a sniffling Anna. "Are you sure she isn't injured?" she asked, leaning over to check Anna's face for any signs of a bruise or cut.
"She's a little shook up but I think she'll be fine," Logan answered and winked at Jean.
#
"Why did he push meh?" Anna asked Jean, snuggling against her, and fighting against the need to sleep.
Jean hugged her and stroked her hair. "Sometimes there are no reasons," she explained. "He was mean because his mom is mean and maybe her mom was mean to her. Did you see her fall in the pool?" Anna nodded, her eyes slowly closing. "That's called karma," Jean added quietly. "Karma is what happens when you're mean."
Anna's eyes opened and she looked at Jean. "Am Ah mean enough for karma to come get meh?"
"I don't think karma would want to discipline you, you have me and Logan," she assured the girl gently. "Hunter and his mom lack discipline and kindness which means we should feel sorry for them."
"Are ya sure, Mama?" she asked sleepily, her eyes closing again.
Jean smiled, surprised by the word but not sorry to hear it. "You called me mama."
"Does it piss ya off or make ya happy?" Anna asked with a cheeky grin, sitting up suddenly and looking more awake.
A sighing Jean sat up too and tapped Anna's nose. "Has Logan used bad language in front of you again?"
"He does it all the time," she tattled and talked about all the moments she had heard Logan swear. "He said a real bad word earlier when he paid for mah clothes."
"When did he say the bad word?" Jean questioned her, trying not to smile.
"When she handed him the check," Anna explained tiredly. "He said a word that started with an F and ended with a C."
"Did he?" Jean said, tucking Anna in again. "Logan's naughty but he's allowed to swear because he's old and grumpy."
Anna's eyes slid shut again and she yawned into her pillow. "Can Ah curse if Ah'm grumpy, Mama?"
"No, now go to sleep," Jean whispered, placing the tips of her fingers against Anna's temples.
#
Logan dumped the newspapers in a trashcan while Jean settled on the couch with a glass of wine. "She asleep?"
"Finally," Jean answered, switching through the news channels. "And yes, I used my powers again. Don't shame me, I'm trying just as hard as you are and I'm still failing as a mom."
"Failing?" he said, grabbing a beer from the fridge and joining her on the couch. "You ain't failing, Jean."
"I have to lie in bed with her every night until she falls asleep, and she almost drowned today because we were too busy talking about last night. I'm a failure as a mom, Logan. This is terrible," she complained, sipping her wine, and cringing at the taste.
"It's all they had in the store down the road," he said in his defense, shrugging and snapping the cap off his beer.
"What made us think we could be parents?" she asked him, putting the glass down on the coffee table and changing the TV channel because she recognized the news anchor as an anti-mutant campaigner.
"You're being too hard on yourself, Darlin'," he reassured her, taking one of her hands in his and squeezing it gently. "We ain't the best parents in the world but we're what she needs."
Jean gazed at him. "We're not her parents, Logan. Two days ago, we were two instructors ready to murder her."
He nodded at that. "I wanted to throw her off the side of a mountain," he admitted gruffly. "She's always been a pain in the ass."
Agreeing with him, Jean still held his hand. "Yes, you're right. Remember when she rode your motorcycle across the grounds and into the lake?"
He growled at the memory and drunk half his beer in one gulp. "Why'd you think I dragged her on that camping trip?"
"Every time you mention that camping trip we get in a fight," she reminded him. "I used to think that was the worst trip of my life until two days ago." She left the couch when she heard her phone ring. "It's Scott," she said, smiling.
"Great," Logan grunted, watching the smile on her face as she answered the call. He scowled and went to fetch a second beer before he had even finished the first.
#
Jean stripped out of her clothes and put them neatly in the dirty laundry pile. She glanced at Logan as she told him about her phone call. "Scott agreed with me, the boulder isn't the cause of Rogue's problem."
"Which problem? She has nine or ten I can think of," Logan said huskily, lighting a cigar and scowling at the ceiling.
She frowned at him as she went to clean her teeth. "Do you have to smoke in bed?" He didn't answer and she peered round the bathroom door. "I don't like the smell of it."
"I can think of a dozen things I put up with, Jean," he told her, sitting up and switching the TV on.
"Seriously, Logan? TV in bed?" she sighed, pausing to wash and cleanse her face.
He didn't answer at first, skipping through the channels in search of something with motorcycles, cage fighting or women. "You tell Scott about our marriage?"
"You know I didn't," she said, leaving the bathroom with a towel in her hands. She watched him for a moment and dropped the towel in the dirty laundry pile. "Are you jealous?"
His glare snapped to her. "Why didn't you tell Scott?"
"Because he wouldn't understand," she told him gently. "You know I'm marrying Scott next month, Logan. Once this investigation is over, we need to go home and annul our marriage. I don't want Scott to find out about this."
"You don't want him finding out about this or us?" Logan asked, still glaring. He found a channel he liked and settled on it.
"You ordered the adult channels?" she said, rolling her eyes and sitting on her side of the bed.
Logan gave a shrug, focusing on the TV while he puffed on his cigar and watched the drama unfold on the screen. He noticed Jean's fingers gripping the edge of the sheets firmly and he smirked. "You jealous?"
Jean had been glancing between Logan's face and the TV. She had noticed the way he gawked at the naked women with their flexible bodies and pole dancing moves. She refused to answer his question. "They're not even that talented. I could do most of those moves in my sleep."
He chuckled and focused on the TV again. "I think they're talented. Look at the redhead on the left, she's more my type."
She watched the screen and almost became lost in the symmetry of the pole dancers' moves. The minutes ticked by and when the redheaded pole dancer was whisked into bed with a muscled patron of the strip club, Logan smirked at Jean, and Jean smiled at Logan. Her hand brushed against his and he crushed the tip of the cigar in the ashtray. She kissed him and their movements under the sheets soon mirrored the ones on the TV.
#
Jean woke to a crash in the lounge. She opened her eyes slowly and realized she had fallen asleep in Logan's arms. He grunted at her and left the bed, reaching for his clothes and looking her way. "I'll handle it."
"Logan, about last night," Jean said quietly, gathering the sheets to shield her nakedness when she sat up.
"I know," he answered, pulling on his shirt. He paused and buckled his belt before he headed to the door without a backward glance, leaving Jean to rest in bed for a while longer.
Anna stood on the dining table; her arms high in the air as she tried to reach the pendant that protected the lightbulb. She had the TV on in the background and had copied a rerun of an early morning burglary gone wrong. The intruder had attacked the security alarm, and she wanted to do the same. She pretended the light was an alarm and bounced to try and reach it.
Logan walked over to her; one eyebrow raised as he attempted to work her out. "Dancer?" he guessed, reaching for her.
She shook her head and pointed to the TV. "Nuh-uh, try again."
He lifted her off the table, looked at the TV and dropped her on the couch. "You're too young to be a cat burglar, Stripes," he said and ruffled her hair. He blamed himself for not gutting Gambit sooner, grabbed the remote and turned it to a channel with shabbily drawn and brightly colored cartoons.
Anna looked up at him. "Are all burglars cats?" she asked, serious as she scowled.
"Not exactly," he said, stooping to check a smashed vase on the floor. Eyes narrowed at the price tag, he stood and swept the remains of the vase under the console table with his foot. "This is our little secret, you hear?"
She nodded and picked up the control for the TV. "Ah'm hungry," she told him.
"You're always hungry," he said, pointing to her room. "Go get changed and we'll grab some pancakes downstairs." He watched her run to her room, and he heaved a heavy sigh. "She's gonna be the death of me."
#
Logan read the newspaper by the poolside. He checked the sports pages first, cursed because the team he placed a bet on had lost and glanced at Anna. She spun the water cannon in a circle and stopped to wave at him. He chuckled and turned the newspaper to the first page.
Jean sat next to him and ordered an apple martini from a passing waitress. "About last night," she told Logan.
"I know," he grumbled, turning the page, and scanning the articles with a glance or two. "It's a little early to be drinking ain't it?"
"You're probably right," she replied, glancing at the woman with the sunhat at the opposite table. "Has she caused any trouble?"
Logan followed her glance and shook his head. "She won't even look this way," he said and tossed the newspaper to the side.
Suddenly, Anna's scream ripped through their conversation and they both leaped to their feet again. Logan steadied the table and reached the pool first, growling when he spotted the boy, Hunter, by the water cannon. Anna swam over to Logan, looking tearful. "He pushed meh in!" she said.
Logan stooped and scooped her out the water then snarled when the woman with the sunhat marched over with her husband. "Is there a problem?" the man asked him, shorter, angrier, and British.
"Yeah, there is. Every time my kid goes near the water cannon that little asshole you call a son throws her in the pool," Logan snarled.
"You're just like your wife, causing drama every time you come down here. If you've got a problem pal, I'm happy to help. I'll put you, your wife, and your brat in your proper places before you cause any further hassle," he warned, getting in Logan's face.
Jean gently pulled Anna to stand behind her. Moments later, a snarling Logan seized the man by the front of the shirt. "I'll show you drama," he growled, lifting him clean off his feet and throwing him in the pool. Anna peeked out from behind Jean and giggled when the man landed with a giant splash.
The woman in the sunhat shrieked for help, making such a disturbance the hotel staff came running. "They need to be removed," she cried angrily, pointing at Anna. "Look at her laughing, she caused the damn drama!"
When a growling Logan stormed back to the table, a frowning Jean sneakily levitated the sun lounger a few inches forward into the path of the woman again. She walked Anna to the table and soon heard the familiar shriek followed by a splash. She picked up the apple martini and made a little toast. "Here's to karma."
#
"Ah hate this hotel, it don't have a water cannon or nothing!" Anna shouted, standing on her tiptoes, and looking over the balcony at the pool below.
A growling Logan grabbed hold of her. "Are you trying to break your neck?" He guided her firmly back inside the hotel suite and locked the balcony doors behind them. "It's almost bedtime, Stripes. No pool time for you until the morning."
Jean finished putting the last of the breakables in the master bedroom. She glanced at Logan and Anna. "I like this suite, it's larger and look at that view."
Logan grabbed Anna again and pulled her away from the doors. "Don't look at that view," he growled sternly, pointing to her new room. "Go get ready for bed."
"Do Ah have to?" Anna complained, matching his scowl and with her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, you do," he told her gruffly, taking one step towards her.
"Ah'm goin'! Ah'm goin'!" she yelled at him, running to her room, and slamming the door shut.
"What?" he said to Jean, spotting her frown. "You wanted me to be stricter with her."
"Because you let her smash an expensive vase we had to pay for before we could move to this hotel," she pointed out, closing the distance between them. "Sometimes I wonder know what goes on in your head, Logan."
He smirked at her. His hands slid down her body to rest on either side of her hips before they rested on her shapely backside. "I'm trying the same as you are."
Jean sighed, gazing at his face. "We can't keep doing this," she warned him quietly without moving away.
"She won't break any more vases," he promised her gruffly, kissing her.
She leaned into his passionate kiss and when they parted, she glanced in his direction. "I wasn't speaking about the vase."
"I know," he answered, heading outside to the balcony for a much-needed smoke.
#
Jean laid beside Anna again, soothing her into pre-sleep with a hand gently rubbing her back. "I'm certain you can fall asleep without me here, Anna. You're eight years old. Other children your age love sleepovers with their friends. What will you do when you go on your first sleepover?"
Anna thought about that and looked at her mama. "Ah'll take ya with meh and Daddy can stay here," she said. "Ah don't want him throwin' mah friends in the pool."
She tried to think of a good reason to explain why Logan had lost his temper at the last hotel. "Do you remember what I said about karma?" Anna nodded and she continued her explanation. "Well, Logan, like me, thinks naughty adults should be punished." Hoping that almost made sense, she continued. "Hunter's dad was mean, wasn't he?" Anna nodded again. "That's why Logan taught him a lesson."
"Is Daddy gonna throw meh in the pool, Mama?" she asked, sounding a little scared it might happen any minute.
"Not unless you want him to," she said, stroking the girl's hair. "Are you tired yet?"
Anna shook her head and yawned twice. "Ah'm never tired."
"I don't believe you," Jean smiled, putting her fingers against Anna's temples again. "Close your eyes and think of a dream that makes you really happy."
The girl closed her eyes and smiled too. "Ah'm at the pool and Ah push Hunter in the water before he does it to meh. Ah buy the pool and the hotel and kick everyone out so Ah can eat all the pancakes."
"I've heard of worst dreams. Goodnight, Anna," Jean whispered, lulling the girl into a gentle and dreamless sleep.
#
"What do you think about spanking?" Jean asked Logan as he settled down beside her in the bed.
He looked at her and shrugged. "I would need a beer and a smoke first, but you know I like your ass."
"I was talking about Rogue," she said, and slapped gently at his arm. "I don't think she's going to change back, Logan. Sometimes she worries me, and I've checked dozens of parenting blogs. I keep reading and reading, and I thought maybe we should try spanking her when she's naughty."
He grunted and gave it some thought. "I was tempted to take my belt to her when she crashed my bike."
Jean glanced at him before checking her phone and scrolling through a parenting blog she liked to read. "What stopped you?"
He turned the TV on. "She would've run, and we'd worked hard to earn her trust."
Jean shared his worries. "It's just an idea that crossed my mind. I didn't want to try it without talking to you first, but maybe all she needs is one spanking to understand the boundaries."
He chuckled at that and shook his head. "Jean, you're going about this the wrong way. Back in my day, every kid in this country had their asses tanned on a regular basis. It made them respect authority and work harder at toeing the line. If I had my way, it would still be the same today. They don't respect their parents because they don't lay down the rules like they did when I was Rogue's age. If I had acted like her, my pa would've murdered me on the spot, cracked open a beer and done a happy dance over my grave."
She cringed at his words. "I wasn't suggesting she should be afraid of us."
"Respect and fear ain't the same thing, Darlin'," he said. "If you want to give it a try, you go do it, but remember there's no turning back. You can't switch lanes if you get cold feet. One sniff of uncertainty from you and she'll dine on it for years to come."
A frowning Jean focused on her phone again. "Thanks, Logan. I'm glad we had this talk," she replied, shaking her head.
He looked at her. "You wanted me to be honest, didn't you? Kids are assholes. The sooner you remember that the better this parenting thing will be."
Jean saved the parenting blog under the bookmark symbol on her phone and switched off the TV. Logan growled at her, and she smiled. "I thought we could both do with some rest."
Thinking about it for a few seconds, he started to smirk. "I like the sound of that," he grumbled in her ear and slid his weight over to her side of the bed.