Chapter 17 - Blessings

Manhattan, New York.

According to plan, Scott had agreed to meet Karen Wilson at Alex's apartment in the city. Since the Hellfire Club was already aware of its location, the X-Men figured it wouldn't raise any suspicious about they knowing that Wilson was in fact Emma Frost. Thus, the woman gave Scott a ride to a fancy French restaurant downtown, where she hoped to invade his mind and discover some of the X-Men's biggest secrets. A few team members, including Professor X, followed the couple using the X-Van.

"How's your lobster, Scott?" Emma asked her date while sipping from her champagne flute.

"It's delicious, Karen. Thanks for the invitation, but as I've told you yesterday, you didn't need to go through all this trouble over a flat tire."

The blonde flashed him a seductive smile. "It's been my pleasure, darling. So… what does a fine gentleman like you do for a living?"

'Help me out here, professor,' Scott sent into Charles Xavier's head, who rapidly responded.

'I'm already inside Emma's mind. Just keep indulging her, Mr. Summers, so far you're doing a fine job.'

"I'm a commercial pilot," he told her and discoursed for several minutes about the wonders of flying amongst the clouds, while Emma pretended to pay attention. Soon, Scott noticed Rogue and a strange black-haired man entering the restaurant. 'Kurt,' he concluded, quickly changing his trail of thoughts in an attempt to keep his mind away from any X-Men related matter while conversing with the female telepath. "What about you, Karen?"

"Oh, I have a Psychology degree. Harvard. But I'm on a sabbatical year right now… You know, traveling around, spending some of daddy's money," she grinned, slightly bowing her upper body over the table. "What's the point of earning cash if you can't waste it, right?"

"Right," Scott gulped his food, averting his uncovered eyes from her cleavage. He glanced at the black-haired man at the table across from him, who was discreetly hiding his face behind a menu. 'Professor?'

'Almost done, son.'

Emma waved at the waiter and ordered a fine Portuguese liqueur and some chocolate dessert, while Scott sticked to a simple expresso. While the sexy blonde purposely licked her spoon, he had to remind himself that she was only trying to seduce him in order to get to the X-Men. She was the enemy. Scott looked down at his left hand, where not so long ago a wedding ring used to rest. He forced his mind towards the memory of his beautiful auburn-haired wife and their peaceful life in Alaska. 'Not so peaceful during the months that preceded Maddie's death,' his mind reminded him. But soon his errant thoughts trailed over to another gorgeous redhead. Jean Grey. 'Stop it. She is, or was, Wolverine's girl. She's trouble. Or is she?' Jean, who was currently taking care of his son. His baby boy, Nate. 'I'm doing this for Nate.'

'Scott, please try to focus,' came Charles' telepathic plea.

'Sorry,' he apologized. 'I need to get the hell out of here, professor. Did you manage to do everything you needed to?'

Xavier replied. 'Yes, I did. Emma thinks she has extracted the mansion's address from your mind. Our plan has worked, Scott. You may leave now. Get on a cab and meet us at the mansion.'

'Okay.' Scott stood up and moved behind his date, placing her furry white coat over her bare shoulders. "I had a really nice time, Karen. Thank you."

They walked together to the restaurant's foyer. "You know, darling… The night doesn't have to end now," Emma whispered slowly in his ear. "My penthouse is only a few blocks away…"

Scott swallowed hard. "I-I'm sorry, I… I have to pick up my son. I left him with a friend."

The woman made a disappointed scowl and bit her lower lip. "A raincheck then, huh? I suppose a girl can live with that. Do you need a ride home, handsome?"

"No, thanks. I'll grab a cab."

When her car arrived, Emma placed both her hands on Scott's shoulders and tiptoed to place a wet kiss on his lips. "I'll call you, darling. Good night."

A cold, unnatural voice left his throat. "Good night."

Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center, New York.

After a quick debrief meeting in the war room, the X-Men were dismissed for the night. Scott couldn't help but feel disgusted with himself… He'd been led by a more than attractive woman, but he too had led her into believing he was interested. What made him even angrier was the fact that, hadn't him known Karen was the enemy, he would probably have slept with her. 'Not all that glitters is gold,' Scott reminded himself. He glanced at his watch - it was nearly ten o'clock, which meant that it was past time he went downstairs and liberated Jean from baby duty.

Once he stepped into the infirmary, he noticed that Nathan's bag was resting fully packed on the corner metal table, where he had left it a few hours before. He peeked inside the bag - the bottle of milk he had prepared for his son was still untouched. "Fuck," he muttered, stomping towards Jean's bed beside Rachel's incubator. Why the hell hadn't she fed Nate yet?

"Jean?" He shouted from twenty feet away, his voice filled with annoyance.

"Shush," he heard her calm reply and stopped dead in his tracks. He realized the woman was sitting on the bed with Nate laying in her arms. She was breastfeeding him, the soft smile on her lips generating an incongruous contrast with the reddish tinge in her green eyes.

The sight sent butterflies to Scott's stomach. "Sorry," he managed to say in a hushed tone. "You've changed your mind."

"Yeah," she admitted, his presence making her suddenly insecure. "I'm sorry I didn't wait for you. Nathan was hungry, and I thought I'd give it a try. I honestly didn't think it would work, but he started sucking so… naturally… I couldn't stop him," she looked Scott in the eye. "I hope you don't mind…"

"No, of course not. It's fine, I… I'll come back later."

"Please stay," Jean said before the man could turn around. "If you leave, it'll mean this situation is too weird for both of us. Stay."

Scott remained silent for a few seconds, and then nodded. "You're right. We shouldn't make a big deal out of this," he agreed, moving around to grab a chair and sit a few feet away from her. An embarrassing silence followed, prompting the man to make conversation. "How's Rachel?"

"A little better. She's been depending less on the ventilator for the last couple of hours," Jean explained, grateful for the distraction.

"Good," Scott replied. "Did Nate behave?"

"Like an angel. Ororo was kind of mad, though. I think she was hoping to use this babysitting opportunity to convince Forge of making a baby," she giggled, and Scott responded with a small grin. He then nodded at his son.

"Was it easy? Or did he struggle to suck?"

Jean blushed. It was hard to find the right words to describe breastfeeding to a total stranger. "A little, at the beginning. It took a while for the milk to start flowing and… he became a bit impatient. But we've been at this for the last half an hour, so… I think both of us got this now," she explained, caressing Nathan's hair. The baby was wide awake, looking straight at her.

"You know… I never thought I'd see a scene like this again…"

The woman stared at Scott's face, locking eyes with him. "I know what you mean. I never thought I'd be breastfeeding someone else's child before my own."

He didn't look away. "Is that the reason why you've cried?"

Jean glanced down at the boy and sighed. "Part of it, yes. Also, because I never thought I'd be doing this alone," she confessed, and noticed that the toddler had stopped sucking. "I think we're done here," the telepath carefully raised Nate in her right arm and used her left hand to pull her shirt over her breast.

Scott stood up. "Here, let me help. I'll make him burp," he picked his son from her arms.

"Thanks. So, how was your date?" He heard her asking.

"Oh, it wasn't really a date. It was more like a… mission."

The redhead raised an eyebrow at him, skeptically. "That bad? Did she have bad breath or something?" She teased.

"Something like that, yeah," he laughed. "I hope Xavier doesn't ask me to go out with her again…"

"What? Xavier?"

"Told you… It was a mission, not a date," he winked at her and started moving towards the infirmary's door. "Thanks again for looking after Nate. What time can I bring him down tomorrow?"

"Any time. I have to feed Rachel every three hours, so… I'll probably be awake."

"Is seven a.m. okay? It's his usual bottle time."

"Yes, it's fine. Good night, Scott. And thanks."

"Night, Jean," he replied, this time being able to recognize his own voice.

Worthington's Enterprises Headquarters, Manhattan, New York.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Warren Worthington the Third was using his lunch break time to go through the newspapers. One particular report brought a smile to his perfectly shaved face.

Someone had attacked an empty warehouse in Westchester the night before. He picked up his smart phone and dialed Xavier's number. Soon, the older man's face appeared on the screen.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Worthington."

Angel was grinning from ear to ear. "Good afternoon indeed, professor! I've just read the news… You guys played those Hellfire Club morons perfectly!"

Charles responded with a grin of his own. "Indeed, my friend. Our plan has ran smoothly, thanks to Scott Summers."

The blonde man became silent for a moment. "Do you trust him, sir?"

"Of course, Warren. Scott is a mutant trying to survive and make a difference in this world, just like the rest of us. As a matter of fact, Cyclops has gone through his first Danger Room session as an X-Man just this morning."

"Cyclops, huh? Nice codename. How did it go?"

"Better than I could have imagined. I suppose we could say his performance was almost… natural," Charles told him, obviously impressed by Scott's fighting skills.

Warren lifted his brows. "Really? I'd never have figured that guy could fight. What about the rest of the team? What do they think of him?"

"Is this some kind of inquisition, Mr. Worthington?" Xavier asked.

"You know me, professor. I'm a businessman, I'm always balancing risks and benefits," he replied, crossing his arms. "I just think we need to be extra careful, especially since Malice's ordeal."

"Well, I can guarantee to you that Cyclops' intentions are the same as ours. So far, he's been nothing but helpful. Ask anybody in the team, or even Ms. Grey for that matter. They'll all vouch for Scott."

"Jean? Why?" Warren questioned.

"They've become good friends in the past days, I presume due to both being parents. Anyway, son, can we count on you in our Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Yes, sure," Worthington responded absently, suddenly noticing a brow package laying on his desk. "I gotta go, sir. See you."

"Goodbye, Warren. Take care," the professor said and turned off the call.

Angel grabbed the package. It had his name and the company's address on the front. He turned it around, seeing that there was no sender's identification nor address. He used a paperknife to open it and found a cheap cell phone inside with a note attached that read 'Keep it charged all times, and don't you dare not answer when I call. This is our little secret, flyboy.'

Warren didn't have to think hard to figure who the sender was. 'Asshole!'

Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center, New York.

Two days later, Dr. Henry McCoy was checking his notes in the infirmary; he was being closely followed by an anxious mother and an impatient godmother.

"What do you think, Hank? Are her lungs strong enough to sustain her outside the respirator?" Jean asked for the tenth time.

"Oh, for the goddess' sake, Beast! Just answer her," Ororo pleaded.

The doctor put the charts away and smiled at both women. "I think it's time to test that theory," he replied, moving behind the incubator. He opened the plastic cover and examined Rachel's heart and lungs once more. The baby's eyes were momentarily open, and he used the opportunity to test her pupils' reflexes. "She's been without any sedation since seven a.m., breathing with minimal ventilator's parameters. Right now, little Rachel is doing all the hard work by herself. Let's remove the endotracheal tube, shall we?" He said, emptying the adjoined cuff and carefully pulling the tube out of the newborn's airway inch by inch. Jean watched attentively as her daughter's chest rose and fell spontaneously for a couple of seconds, her own breathing stopping momentarily. She locked eyes with McCoy - he was smiling. She let out a breath in relief and sat back on her bed, eyes filled with tears. Ororo embraced her, also crying.

"It's one o'clock now, ladies. We should maintain Rachel inside the incubator for at least another 24 hours. In the meantime, Jean, you should keep giving her your milk through the catheter. If her clinical condition remains stable, you can try to breastfeed her tomorrow," Beast explained. "Storm, can you keep an eye on Rachel? I must examine Jean's surgical wound now."

"Sure," Ororo replied, wiping her blue eyes with the heel of her hands.

The redhead followed McCoy to the other side of the infirmary and laid on the medical bed. The doctor cleaned the tissue around the cesarean scar and started removing the stitches with a sharp scalpel.

"The wound has healed superbly, Jean. Nonetheless, I'm still concerned about your wellbeing. May I remind you that you've recently been through an hemorrhagic shock? You should be resting in a proper bed with the lights out, you know?"

"I know, and I will. As soon as I can take my daughter upstairs with me."

"Why did I have the feeling you would give me that exact stubborn answer?" Beast scolded her but grinned. "How is the milk extraction going?"

"Much better since I've started feeding Nate. I feel like I could provide milk for a whole army of babies now," she joked, making Beast chuckle.

"Let's hope you don't have to. Apropos, do you intend to keep nursing Nathan after you start breastfeeding Rachel?"

"Of course. Why would I stop? That would be plain mean to him and to Scott," Jean replied indignantly.

Hank put both his hands up. "Hey… I'm just saying, it will become quite tiresome for you."

"I can handle it," she told the doctor, not leaving any room for argument.

"All right, wonder woman. You're free to go," Dr. McCoy said. "Can we at least count on you later to attend to our homely Thanksgiving dinner?"

Jean smiled. She did have a lot to thank for. "We'll see."

xxxxx

Later that evening, the X-Men gathered around the dining table for Thanksgiving celebration. Dinner was cooked by Anna Marie, Ororo and Kurt and supervised by Remy - his ribs were still too sore for him to waltz around the kitchen like he'd done in the previous years. All the mansion's inhabitants had dressed up for the occasion. Jean, however, hadn't showed up, as Scott quickly realized.

Xavier and Kurt said the prayers, to which they all replied "Amen." They thanked for their lives and truthful union, and wished for a safer world for both mutants and humans. Despite the joyful occasion, some remembered their leader's recent departure with sadness. Jubilee complained about not having received any news from Logan, and even called him 'a selfish jackass'. Charles lamented that not even himself could tell if his friend was dead or alive. The table went momentarily silent, and Warren felt guilty but didn't say a word. A few minutes later he heard Scott asking Ororo about Jean.

"She's staying with Rachel," the woman answered.

Worthington noticed how the older Summers wolfed down his food and soon excused himself from the table. Yeah, he would need to have a serious conversation with this guy, sooner than later.

A couple of minutes later Scott was in the infirmary looking for Jean. He found her standing beside Rachel's isolette, eyes closed. She was praying.

"Hey," he whispered, making her turn her head in his direction. "I'm sorry to interrupt you."

"Oh, hi Scott. Do you need anything?" She asked.

"It's dinner time, you should be upstairs," he said in a hushed tone.

The redhead shook her head. "No, I have to stay here. Someone has to look after Rachel."

"That's why I'm here. I've already eaten, now you go," he told her calmly.

"Scott, I… I don't know… I should be with her."

"Jean, it's Thanksgiving. Everybody's reunited upstairs - Ro, Warren, Hank, the professor… You haven't left this room for a whole week," he said. "Look, Rachel's sleeping, so is Nathan upstairs. I'm not needed anywhere else. I'll call you if anything changes," the man said, pulling a chair to sit in front of the baby.

"But… I'm not even properly dressed. I look like a mess," she tried to argue.

'As if you could ever look bad,' he thought. "You look fine. Go."

Jean glanced at her daughter sleeping peacefully inside the incubator, and then back at Scott. "Go," she heard his command one last time, and nodded while smoothing her hair.

"Thanks. I won't take long."

The woman ascended the stairs and walked through a long hallway, finally entering the crowded dining room. "Oh my stars and garters, it is a true Thanksgiving miracle," Hank exclaimed, and everybody turned to look at the redhead. Her housemates greeted her with warmth and excitement. Warren stood up to pull a chair for her, while Bobby quickly filled her cup with water and Ororo served her some turkey. From the opposite side of the table, Jean heard Jubilee saying "I almost forgot Wolvie's girl lived among us," followed by Anna Marie's scolding about how rude it was to call a woman someone's girl. Finally, her eyes stopped on Xavier's face, who raised his wine glass in her direction. 'Welcome to the family, my child,' he spoke softly into her head. Jean raised her water glass and smiled.