Disclaimer: Characters not mine, never have been, never will be, etc, etc, etc. Sigh.
Author's Notes: Thanks for hanging on this long, and for giving so much wonderful support. I've told many stories, but for some reason, this has (and continues to be) one of my favorites. I hope you're enjoying reading it just as much as I'm liking writing it. Angst, sap and sex...can't ever get enough of them;)
****
Unexpected
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
Eighteen months later
"No."
"Ma Madeline..." Remy gave his daughter a firm look. "Sit still for Hank."
The toddler looked up at her father with her mother's brilliant green eyes and smiled, displaying the pearly baby teeth she'd only recently grown. With her fine, red curls pulled into twin pigtails and her dimpled cheeks, she was irresistible. "Papa."
"W'at, petit?"
"No."
"I'd imagine that's fun to hear all day," the doctor said wryly, adjusting his glasses.
"Dere be no stoppin' her when she get goin', mon ami." The Cajun man grimaced. "An' she been goin' since her mamán leave on de mission."
"Well," Hank warmed up the cold metal of his stethoscope, lifted the ruffled lavender hem of Madeline's romper and pressed the device against her back. "Her breath sounds are good," he said after a moment.
Remy frowned, although he was obviously relieved. "You be sure? She not comin' down wit' somet'ing?"
Being quite used to his friend's over-anxiety where his only child was concerned, Hank simply shook his head. "No, she's perfectly healthy." He patted Madeline's head and she beamed at him. "Probably just missing Rogue."
"Mama," Madeline said on cue. "Where Mama?"
"She's starting to make sentences," the doctor commented, obviously pleased. "Smart girl."
Remy nodded proudly. "Smart as de whip…she be her mamán's girl."
"Don' listen to him, Hank. She's been her daddy's gal since the womb." Rogue entered the infirmary, a little worn, dragging her feet just a bit, but none the worse for wear as far as Remy could tell upon a cursory exam. His wife had been gone for almost two weeks on a mission with Storm, Jean, and Cyclops in South Africa, and seeing her unharmed made him release a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in for that entire time.
"Mama!" Madeline stretched out her chubby little arms towards her mother.
Rogue let her travel bag slip off her shoulder. It landed with a soft thud on the floor as she went to her daughter. With protected arms, she picked the little girl up from the exam table and held her as close as she could. "Is somethin' wrong with her?" she asked her husband, suddenly worried.
"Non, ma chere," he replied, tugging gently on the miniscule white sandal that encased Madeline's foot. "I jus' t'ought she migh' be catchin' somet'ing from de ot'er petits in de playgroup, dat be all."
"But she's not. I give her a clean bill of health," Hank finished for him. "Don't forget, however, that she's due for her next set of immunization shots next week."
Rogue instinctively held her baby tighter. Shots were just generally all around awful, especially when she was helpless to make Madeline's pains go away. "We won' forget, 'cause Ah'm sure yer gonna remind us a million times 'fore then."
He smiled. "I will endeavor to not become a pest." Madeline yawned, and cuddled her head up against the high collar of Rogue's uniform. "It looks as though someone is ready for her nap."
"We be goin'." Remy picked up Rogue's abandoned bag as she carried Madeline towards the door. "Merci, mon ami."
Rogue smiled at the doctor. "Thanks, sugah."
"You're welcome. Good to have you back with us," he told her.
"Say bye-bye, Madeline," Rogue encouraged the little girl.
"Bye-bye," the baby said sleepily.
As they made their way through the mansion and out onto the back lawn, heading for the boathouse in which they'd been living since their wedding, Remy reached for Rogue's gloved hand. "Maybe you be needin' a nap, too, ma chere?"
"Ah am a 'lil bit tired," she admitted. "It wasn' a breezy vacation, Ah'll say that much. But we did what we set out to do, an' Ah guess that's all we could do." Rogue squinted in the bright, afternoon sunlight to see him better. "Ya'll 'pparently held down the fort."
"Not'ing to it, ma belle," he grinned. "Jus' me an' de ice cube an' de Kitty. An' de Professor, o' course. We keep t'ings runnin'."
Rogue hesitated. "Any word from Logan?"
He shook his head. "It been six months, chere. He come back when he be ready. Dat jus' his way."
"Ah know." She rubbed Madeline's back. "It's just…Ah shared a room with Storm for the past two weeks." There was a pause as they reached the front door of the boathouse. "She dreams 'bout him, Remy. Like Ah used to dream 'bout…" Rogue stopped. "Ah just want her to be happy. Ah want everyone to be. 'Cause Ah am."
Remy held the door open for her, and as she passed by, he kissed the top of her head. "Let's be puttin' de petit t'bed. De we talk, oui?"
She threw him a look over her shoulder. "Do we gotta talk, sugah? Ah'm not really in a talkin' mood."
He followed her into the cotton-candy pink nursery and set her bag down on the seat of the rocking chair. "W'at you in de mood for den, chere?"
"Ah guess yer jus' gonna hafta hold on to yer britches an' find out." Rogue laid Madeline into her crib and unbuckled her sandals. Their daughter was already asleep. She smiled and ran her finger down the little girl's cheek. She could only imagine what Madeline's skin felt like, and it still stung a bit. "She's gettin' too big for this thing, Remy." Rogue sniffed suddenly as she set the tiny shoes aside.
Remy was behind her in a flash, gently massaging her shoulders through the Lycra of her form-fitting suit. "De bébés…de grow up fast. No cause t'be sad 'bout it, ma chere."
"Ah'm not. Well…maybe Ah am. Just a 'lil bit. Ah mean…she's the only one we'll prob'ly ever have, so Ah just…" He effectively stopped her by lightly blowing into her ear. His body pressed against her back. "Ah hope that's for me, sugah…an' that it ain' just yer damn bo staff."
He laughed, making her shiver. "Ma Madeline not be de only one missin' you. We got a big bed, chere, an' it get very lonely w'en you not dere."
Rogue turned around and looped her arms around his neck. "Poor darlin'…tell me what Ah can do to make it up to ya."
"Gambit can t'ink o' a few t'ings…" With that, he scooped her up and carried her out of the nursery.
The sun had almost completely set by the time they got around to talking. With his shirt unbuttoned, but not stripped off, Rogue was able to curl up alongside his chest, and feel the comfortable weight of his arm around her shoulder. She closed her eyes for a second, breathing in his scent, feeling his heart beating just underneath her ear and just reveling in the lingering pleasure. "Ah love ya, sugah," she said, breaking the silence.
He looked down at the top of her head. The golden-red light from the setting sun that streamed through the window had turned her normally auburn hair into a fire-red to rival the Phoenix's. "You better, chere. Gambit had t'read dis magazine for de femme's t'master dat last trick."
She craned her neck around him to see the magazine lying on their nightstand. "Cosmo? Ya went out an' bought that?"
"Anyt'ing for you, ma belle."
Rogue's eyes narrowed as she read the address label at the bottom corner. "Are ya sure Kitty's not missin' it?"
When she looked back at his face, she was pleased to see him properly remorseful. But in his own defense, he explained, "It was like takin' candy from de.."
She sat up, her hands on her shapely, bare hips. "Thought yer stealin' days were over, sugah."
He pulled her back into the circle of his arms. "Once a t'ief, always a t'ief, chere. Still love me?"
"Well…Ah'm kinda stuck with ya now," she sighed dramatically. "Ya grow on a gal." Rogue tweaked his exposed nipple. "Like a wart."
"Dat's sexy, chere."
She was just about to reply when the very loud sound of Madeline crying as she woke up filtered through the baby monitor. They both sat up. "Oh…it's way past dinnertime, sugah! Ah bet she's starvin'!"
"Gambit have all de fun o' feedin' de petit for two weeks." Remy settled back into the pillows, tucking both of his hands behind his head. "He happy t'hand over de pleasure t'you now."
Rogue threw him a dirty look as she slid out of bed and reached into a chest of drawers for fresh clothes. Madeline, while pretty and girly and lady-like in so many other ways, was a notoriously messy eater, especially now that she had control over her own food for the most part. "Yer such a gentleman, swamp rat."
He grinned at her. "I try hard. Ayez un bon temps, ma chere."
If she'd had a pillow handy, she would have thrown it at him. Have a good time, indeed.
****
The next morning, it was payback time, and Remy felt every second of it as Madeline played with the scrambled eggs on her high-chair tray. "Yum-yum," she told the rest of the table, looking down at the mess she'd made.
"You know…she says that, but I'm not entirely sure I've seen any egg actually make it into her mouth," Jubilee commented, sipping her orange juice.
"I'm kinda jealous," Bobby said, smiling at the toddler. "I wish I could play with my food and get away with it." As if thanking him for his support, Madeline extended her arm towards him, offering a crushed handful of egg.
"Don' encourage her." Rogue took Madeline's hand and wiped it clean with her napkin. "She's already a terrible flirt."
"It must run in the family," Storm said, staring listlessly into her coffee cup.
Remy gave her a little wink, hoping to at least put a smile on her face. "You be callin' dis Caj'n a flirt, chere?"
"No, sorry." She lifted her head. "I was talking about the other Cajun at the table." Because it would make him happy, not to mention get everyone to stop giving her sympathetic looks, she smiled when she said it.
A pause followed that was neither comfortable, nor awkward. Madeline babbled something that sounded like "egg". Finally, Scott cleared his throat. "Training in twenty minutes. Remy and Bobby versus Kitty and Jean." He squeezed his wife's hand. "At noon, Rogue, I've got you and Hank going up against me and Storm. Jubes…" He paused. Jubilee's training was a sensitive subject ever since her primary trainer had left without a word to anyone in the middle of the night six months earlier. "One-on-one after your classes. Okay?"
She shrugged. "I guess. Whatever."
Just then, the Professor entered the dining room with Hank walking by his side. "Good morning, everyone," he greeted them. He smiled at the baby who sat in the high-chair between Rogue and Remy. "She doesn't really like eggs...but she's quite happy, having her mother back."
"She not de only one," Remy tossed in.
Xavier nodded, but hesitated before continuing, "Something was delivered here early this morning," he began. "Hank and I have been trying to examine it through its packaging, but our efforts have been in vain."
Jean set down her tea. "Why don't you just open it, then?"
"Because it's not addressed to me," the Professor said. "It's addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Remy LeBeau."
The couple blinked simultaneously. "A package for us?" Rogue asked. "Ah haven't ordered anythin' lately."
"There was no return address. Perhaps you should come down to the lab and open it."
Scott pushed his chair back. "The lab? For a simple package, you're certainly taking a lot of precautions."
"With good reason," Hank answered for the Professor. "The package weighs approximately ninety pounds and sets off metal detectors."
Rogue swallowed and looked at her husband. "Ah'm guessin' it's prob'ly not silverware."
He took her hand. "We go find out, chere."
Jubilee perked up. "I'll watch Madeline," she offered. Their daughter gave her one of her best smiles and used her arm to sweep all of the eggs that remained on her tray onto the floor. "All gone!" she announced.
"Hey," Kitty told the teenager as she and the older team members left, not so subtly hiding laughter behind their hands. "You volunteered."
Down in the lab, the mood instantly sobered. The package was wrapped in plain brown paper, addressed in thick, black marker, and sat behind a shield of protective plastic. "We don' know who left it?" Remy asked.
"No fingerprints showed up, and the security cameras picked up nothing unusual. It was left on the front doorstep." The Professor looked at them. "It's up to both of you to decide what to do with it."
The couple exchanged another look. "What'd ya think, sugah?" Rogue asked softly.
"Gambit be curious," he admitted. "But say de word, an' I blow it sky high."
She licked her lips. "Ah'm curious, too." After a second, she nodded. "Let's open it an' see."
When the paper was carefully removed, they found themselves staring at a metal box, one foot by one foot with extremely fine grating across two sides, too fine to allow them to see inside. "W'at de hell is it?" Remy asked, squinting at the grey object.
"I couldn't hazard a guess if I tried," Hank admitted.
Storm shook her head. "I don't like it. Something's just not right about this."
"My first instinct is to agree," the doctor continued. He took a step towards the object in question. "But the scientist in me..." As he stepped closer, the box began emitting a low humming sound and a previously unnoticed panel on the top lit up. "Stand back!"
Remy stepped in front of Rogue as everyone else moved away from the device. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a playing card. "Gambit take care o' dis." After a second of holding the card between his fingers, he frowned. "W'at's goin' on?" He shook out his hand. "De card ain' chargin'." Remy looked at his wife. "I be broken, chere."
"You're not broken," Scott said. After a second, he lifted up his sunglasses.
"Scott!" Jean's voice was sharp with warning, but when nothing happened, she gasped. "Scott..."
"It's a power dampener. I saw something like it…when we rescued Rogue from Antarctica." He blinked, and looked around the room for a second, free and clear of the red-tinted glasses. His gaze eventually wandered back to his wife. Scott smiled. "God, you're beautiful."
Jean reached out her hand, blinking back tears, and ran her thumb over his eyebrow. "And your eyes are blue. I never knew that."
Hank shook his head. "Fascinating. A portable dampening field. I wonder how far it extends around the room. We'll have to run more tests, of course, to make sure there's no side effects from the..."
Remy heard none of this. He turned to his wife, pulled her towards him with two firm hands on her hips, and lowered his mouth to hers in a deep, full-contact kiss.
****
"Are you having trouble sleeping, Ororo?" Storm turned her head to see Hank as he entered the parlor. When he got closer and saw the child he'd brought into the world eighteen months earlier fast asleep in her arms, he made a noise of understanding. "Oh, I see."
"They deserve a night alone with their new toy," the weather goddess commented, gently stroking Madeline's baby-fine curls. "I don't mind looking after her. Because you're right…" She paused. "I can't sleep anymore."
Hank moved around the couch and sat down next to her. "Is there anything you wish to talk about with an old friend?"
A hint of a smile crossed her face. "There isn't much that escapes the gossip circuit, Hank. I am sure you know more about my personal life than you ever wanted to." He waited a moment for her to go on. "The worst part is just not knowing where he is. Whether he's safe or not….alive or…alive or dead. If I just knew something…anything…"
"He's too connected to this place, to us, to have died without one of us feeling it," he replied with what he hoped was reassurance. "Logan is a restless soul. Like an unpredictable wind."
"I know." Storm's voice was soft. "And no one can calm the wind."
"No one…except you, my dear." Hank stood up. "Goodnight. And please…try to rest yourself."
When he was gone, she hugged the little girl in her arms closer to her chest. Remy and Rogue's daughter smelled like powder and baby shampoo from her bath, a clean, sweet smell that made Storm's chest ache for the child she'd lost only a month after he'd vanished. Logan's child. It was a secret she'd shared with no one, not even the trusted doctor who'd just left her side. There wasn't any reason to worry anyone now. As best as she could figure it, the baby had only been with her for two months, before some unknown cause had made it flow from her body in the middle of the night. The blood had been washed away, but the pain and grief, she would carry them forever.
She stood up, cradling Madeline as she slept. "At least I can be your godmother," she whispered to the child. "And whenever I'm called, I will take care of you as if you were my own. I promise."
****
"Mind-blowing sex" was a phrase that got tossed around in conversations between Rogue's fellow female teammates, not entirely casually, but usually heart-felt. She'd always thought it must be subjective. Making love with Remy in the cave had been wonderful, but there had been pain that never quite went away entirely, even through the pleasure. She'd convinced herself that mind-blowing sex must only happen on rare, once-in-a-lifetime occasions. If you were lucky.
Now, however, Rogue understood it. And she understood that the other woman had no idea what it really meant. Mind-blowing sex didn't just mean explosions all throughout your body, or the inability to think about anything but the person above you….or below you, or beside you, or behind you…it meant sex with the singular goal of melting into the man you loved, merging into him, becoming part of him, but only if that man was her Cajun husband.
She'd lost track of the time since they'd locked themselves in the boathouse with the dampening field generator, but they were definitely into the early morning hours. After all, it had taken most of the day for Hank and the Professor to run the necessary tests on their strange, new present. The wait had only been bearable in the moments when the device was turned on and she could reach for Remy's hand.
Or pick up her daughter without gloves. Even now as she came down from the heights only he could drive her to, Rogue felt herself tear up. It had been a day she'd never forget as long as she lived, and it had all started with his kiss. After that, Jubilee had brought Madeline down to the lab. And for the first time, Rogue touched her daughter's cheek. And it was the softest thing in the world.
As though she'd known what was going on, Madeline had reached for her face, a habit Rogue thought she'd broken her daughter of when she was much smaller. This time, however, the little girl pressed her tiny hands on either side of Rogue's mouth. "Mama okay," she'd asked.
Rogue had nodded through her tears and kissed all ten of her daughter's chubby little digits in turn. "Mama okay," she'd repeated hoarsely.
Remy had watched it all, held her hand when he could, taken Madeline from her when her happy tears began to worry the child, and waited for whatever was going to come next. He was like a steady rock, never once mentioning the potential drastic changes in their lives that this device could bring about. Still, it was there in his eyes when he looked at her. Hunger and desire sparked fresh, given new hope.
But when Hank had declared the device safe for at least short-term use, and after Storm had volunteered to take Madeline for the night, nothing had stopped him from picking her up and carrying her to the boathouse…although he had let her carry the box.
And now he was entwined with her, dropping little kisses along her flushed neck as the intensity of orgasm dissipated into the warmth of afterglow. Remy lifted his head from the crook of her neck and kissed her languidly, taking the time to savor the feeling of their tongues meeting and melding. He made a noise in the back of his throat, an erotic sound of pure contentment. "I won' ever be tired o' dis, chere." His lips met hers again. "Dere be a million kisses t'make up for."
Rogue ran her hands up and down his sweat-slick back, enjoying the sensation of each dip and ridge created by his muscles against her bare fingertips. She shifted underneath him, closing her eyes briefly when a leftover shiver of pleasure hit her. "It's like Ah'm livin' in my very best dream," she whispered. "Ah just wanna stay in it…an' never move again. S'that okay?"
He replied with another kiss. "Not a dream no more, ma belle."
As much as Rogue wanted nothing of the outside world to touch them that night, a thought nagged at the back of her brain, getting more insistent by the moment. "Remy," she began, regretting the words even before she said them. "Ain' ya curious…who gave this to us?"
It took a second for him to reply. "Far as dis Caj'n can tell…dere be only guess."
"Erik," she said. The mood stilled somewhat, and she looked up at her husband. His eyes were averted, caught between anger and confusion. She couldn't blame him. Erik had hurt their family so much, but if he had sent them the ability to be together in every sense of the word, it would be very hard to hate him. "He called it his technology, sugah. An' now…it's here…in our bedroom."
"Gambit know dat." Without warning, he eased out of her body and flopped onto his back beside her. Biting her lip, Rogue glanced over at him as he scrubbed his hands down his face. She waited for him to go on, but when he did his words floored her. "He mus' love you, chere. Not dat I could blame him…but he love you a lot. T'give you dis gift, but wit' anot'er man." Remy turned his head to see her. "Not sure I could do de same in his place."
"Ah think ya would," Rogue told him, honestly. "The last thing ya are, swamp rat, is selfish. If Madeline needed a new heart…ye'd cut out yer own an' give it to her." She rolled onto her side and hooked her leg around his, suggestively. "Ya married me, not knowin' we'd ever get to be together like this." She kissed his shoulder, letting her tongue dance over the salty patch of skin for a brief second. "He migh' love me…at least, his version o' love…but Ah'm here. An' Ah got no plans to leave 'til my time's up."
His reply was rough with too much emotion. "Promise, chere."
She let her fingers trail over his ribs before she held up the back of her hand for him to see the rings on her left hand. "Ah already have, sugah."
Remy sat up, forcing her up as well. She could see passion burning in his eyes as he grasped her slender shoulders in his rough, but gentle hands. "Dis t'ing change our sex life…but dere not'ing dat can ever change de way I feel 'bout you. You an' ma Madeline…you be w'at dis t'ief live for now."
"We're not goin' anywhere, Remy, Ah swear." She cupped his stubbled face in her hands. "Ah swear."
He pushed her back down onto the rumpled sheets with the force of his kiss, but she offered up no complaint. Tender, sweet lovemaking had its place, but that time was about pure need. He took her hard and fast, and she got back as much as she gave from the wonder that was his body. Rogue kissed his face all over afterwards as he tried to stay awake, loving him for the effort. Eventually, she urged him to give in and within seconds, she had a very heavy, very asleep man resting on her breast.
She lay awake awhile longer. There really wasn't any way to contact Erik; he'd made sure of that, but she could thank him for this one small thing within the part of her heart that was able to forgive him for her kidnapping and Madeline's premature birth. He was a chapter in her life that might never be closed as long as she continued to work with the X-Men and interact with the rest of the world's mutants. But Remy and Madeline were a much more important chapter. For the first time in a long time, Rogue fell asleep, and let the past rest.
****
At the same time Rogue was releasing her inner demons, Logan was wallowing in his. The room he'd rented was directly over a tanner's shop in Vancouver, and stunk of tanning oils and dead animal skins. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and a blanket to keep him warm; he hadn't even removed his boots. Cold wouldn't kill him as it might any other man, but neither would it do him any good to get frostbitten.
But he would have been freezing even if he were bunking down in Jamaica. She wasn't sleeping beside him, he couldn't just turn over and touch his Storm, kiss her soft lips, bury himself within the searing heat of her body. He was thousands of miles away from home, but a million more away from what he needed the most.
And all for the sake of his foolish pride, his unwillingness to forget his painful past. He cursed in his sleep, calling out for her, needing her as he might never have needed any other woman before her. Why couldn't he have told her the one thing she needed to hear? When she was finally ready for the details, the three short words that would have solved everything, when she was ready to say them, he'd frozen. And been unable to say what was at the very core of his soul.
"Love you…Ro," he grunted into his pillow. "Love you."
Leaving might have been cowardly, but staying away was the best thing he could do for her.
****
To Be Continued (so close, but yet, so far)
Author's Notes: Thanks for hanging on this long, and for giving so much wonderful support. I've told many stories, but for some reason, this has (and continues to be) one of my favorites. I hope you're enjoying reading it just as much as I'm liking writing it. Angst, sap and sex...can't ever get enough of them;)
****
Unexpected
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
Eighteen months later
"No."
"Ma Madeline..." Remy gave his daughter a firm look. "Sit still for Hank."
The toddler looked up at her father with her mother's brilliant green eyes and smiled, displaying the pearly baby teeth she'd only recently grown. With her fine, red curls pulled into twin pigtails and her dimpled cheeks, she was irresistible. "Papa."
"W'at, petit?"
"No."
"I'd imagine that's fun to hear all day," the doctor said wryly, adjusting his glasses.
"Dere be no stoppin' her when she get goin', mon ami." The Cajun man grimaced. "An' she been goin' since her mamán leave on de mission."
"Well," Hank warmed up the cold metal of his stethoscope, lifted the ruffled lavender hem of Madeline's romper and pressed the device against her back. "Her breath sounds are good," he said after a moment.
Remy frowned, although he was obviously relieved. "You be sure? She not comin' down wit' somet'ing?"
Being quite used to his friend's over-anxiety where his only child was concerned, Hank simply shook his head. "No, she's perfectly healthy." He patted Madeline's head and she beamed at him. "Probably just missing Rogue."
"Mama," Madeline said on cue. "Where Mama?"
"She's starting to make sentences," the doctor commented, obviously pleased. "Smart girl."
Remy nodded proudly. "Smart as de whip…she be her mamán's girl."
"Don' listen to him, Hank. She's been her daddy's gal since the womb." Rogue entered the infirmary, a little worn, dragging her feet just a bit, but none the worse for wear as far as Remy could tell upon a cursory exam. His wife had been gone for almost two weeks on a mission with Storm, Jean, and Cyclops in South Africa, and seeing her unharmed made him release a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in for that entire time.
"Mama!" Madeline stretched out her chubby little arms towards her mother.
Rogue let her travel bag slip off her shoulder. It landed with a soft thud on the floor as she went to her daughter. With protected arms, she picked the little girl up from the exam table and held her as close as she could. "Is somethin' wrong with her?" she asked her husband, suddenly worried.
"Non, ma chere," he replied, tugging gently on the miniscule white sandal that encased Madeline's foot. "I jus' t'ought she migh' be catchin' somet'ing from de ot'er petits in de playgroup, dat be all."
"But she's not. I give her a clean bill of health," Hank finished for him. "Don't forget, however, that she's due for her next set of immunization shots next week."
Rogue instinctively held her baby tighter. Shots were just generally all around awful, especially when she was helpless to make Madeline's pains go away. "We won' forget, 'cause Ah'm sure yer gonna remind us a million times 'fore then."
He smiled. "I will endeavor to not become a pest." Madeline yawned, and cuddled her head up against the high collar of Rogue's uniform. "It looks as though someone is ready for her nap."
"We be goin'." Remy picked up Rogue's abandoned bag as she carried Madeline towards the door. "Merci, mon ami."
Rogue smiled at the doctor. "Thanks, sugah."
"You're welcome. Good to have you back with us," he told her.
"Say bye-bye, Madeline," Rogue encouraged the little girl.
"Bye-bye," the baby said sleepily.
As they made their way through the mansion and out onto the back lawn, heading for the boathouse in which they'd been living since their wedding, Remy reached for Rogue's gloved hand. "Maybe you be needin' a nap, too, ma chere?"
"Ah am a 'lil bit tired," she admitted. "It wasn' a breezy vacation, Ah'll say that much. But we did what we set out to do, an' Ah guess that's all we could do." Rogue squinted in the bright, afternoon sunlight to see him better. "Ya'll 'pparently held down the fort."
"Not'ing to it, ma belle," he grinned. "Jus' me an' de ice cube an' de Kitty. An' de Professor, o' course. We keep t'ings runnin'."
Rogue hesitated. "Any word from Logan?"
He shook his head. "It been six months, chere. He come back when he be ready. Dat jus' his way."
"Ah know." She rubbed Madeline's back. "It's just…Ah shared a room with Storm for the past two weeks." There was a pause as they reached the front door of the boathouse. "She dreams 'bout him, Remy. Like Ah used to dream 'bout…" Rogue stopped. "Ah just want her to be happy. Ah want everyone to be. 'Cause Ah am."
Remy held the door open for her, and as she passed by, he kissed the top of her head. "Let's be puttin' de petit t'bed. De we talk, oui?"
She threw him a look over her shoulder. "Do we gotta talk, sugah? Ah'm not really in a talkin' mood."
He followed her into the cotton-candy pink nursery and set her bag down on the seat of the rocking chair. "W'at you in de mood for den, chere?"
"Ah guess yer jus' gonna hafta hold on to yer britches an' find out." Rogue laid Madeline into her crib and unbuckled her sandals. Their daughter was already asleep. She smiled and ran her finger down the little girl's cheek. She could only imagine what Madeline's skin felt like, and it still stung a bit. "She's gettin' too big for this thing, Remy." Rogue sniffed suddenly as she set the tiny shoes aside.
Remy was behind her in a flash, gently massaging her shoulders through the Lycra of her form-fitting suit. "De bébés…de grow up fast. No cause t'be sad 'bout it, ma chere."
"Ah'm not. Well…maybe Ah am. Just a 'lil bit. Ah mean…she's the only one we'll prob'ly ever have, so Ah just…" He effectively stopped her by lightly blowing into her ear. His body pressed against her back. "Ah hope that's for me, sugah…an' that it ain' just yer damn bo staff."
He laughed, making her shiver. "Ma Madeline not be de only one missin' you. We got a big bed, chere, an' it get very lonely w'en you not dere."
Rogue turned around and looped her arms around his neck. "Poor darlin'…tell me what Ah can do to make it up to ya."
"Gambit can t'ink o' a few t'ings…" With that, he scooped her up and carried her out of the nursery.
The sun had almost completely set by the time they got around to talking. With his shirt unbuttoned, but not stripped off, Rogue was able to curl up alongside his chest, and feel the comfortable weight of his arm around her shoulder. She closed her eyes for a second, breathing in his scent, feeling his heart beating just underneath her ear and just reveling in the lingering pleasure. "Ah love ya, sugah," she said, breaking the silence.
He looked down at the top of her head. The golden-red light from the setting sun that streamed through the window had turned her normally auburn hair into a fire-red to rival the Phoenix's. "You better, chere. Gambit had t'read dis magazine for de femme's t'master dat last trick."
She craned her neck around him to see the magazine lying on their nightstand. "Cosmo? Ya went out an' bought that?"
"Anyt'ing for you, ma belle."
Rogue's eyes narrowed as she read the address label at the bottom corner. "Are ya sure Kitty's not missin' it?"
When she looked back at his face, she was pleased to see him properly remorseful. But in his own defense, he explained, "It was like takin' candy from de.."
She sat up, her hands on her shapely, bare hips. "Thought yer stealin' days were over, sugah."
He pulled her back into the circle of his arms. "Once a t'ief, always a t'ief, chere. Still love me?"
"Well…Ah'm kinda stuck with ya now," she sighed dramatically. "Ya grow on a gal." Rogue tweaked his exposed nipple. "Like a wart."
"Dat's sexy, chere."
She was just about to reply when the very loud sound of Madeline crying as she woke up filtered through the baby monitor. They both sat up. "Oh…it's way past dinnertime, sugah! Ah bet she's starvin'!"
"Gambit have all de fun o' feedin' de petit for two weeks." Remy settled back into the pillows, tucking both of his hands behind his head. "He happy t'hand over de pleasure t'you now."
Rogue threw him a dirty look as she slid out of bed and reached into a chest of drawers for fresh clothes. Madeline, while pretty and girly and lady-like in so many other ways, was a notoriously messy eater, especially now that she had control over her own food for the most part. "Yer such a gentleman, swamp rat."
He grinned at her. "I try hard. Ayez un bon temps, ma chere."
If she'd had a pillow handy, she would have thrown it at him. Have a good time, indeed.
****
The next morning, it was payback time, and Remy felt every second of it as Madeline played with the scrambled eggs on her high-chair tray. "Yum-yum," she told the rest of the table, looking down at the mess she'd made.
"You know…she says that, but I'm not entirely sure I've seen any egg actually make it into her mouth," Jubilee commented, sipping her orange juice.
"I'm kinda jealous," Bobby said, smiling at the toddler. "I wish I could play with my food and get away with it." As if thanking him for his support, Madeline extended her arm towards him, offering a crushed handful of egg.
"Don' encourage her." Rogue took Madeline's hand and wiped it clean with her napkin. "She's already a terrible flirt."
"It must run in the family," Storm said, staring listlessly into her coffee cup.
Remy gave her a little wink, hoping to at least put a smile on her face. "You be callin' dis Caj'n a flirt, chere?"
"No, sorry." She lifted her head. "I was talking about the other Cajun at the table." Because it would make him happy, not to mention get everyone to stop giving her sympathetic looks, she smiled when she said it.
A pause followed that was neither comfortable, nor awkward. Madeline babbled something that sounded like "egg". Finally, Scott cleared his throat. "Training in twenty minutes. Remy and Bobby versus Kitty and Jean." He squeezed his wife's hand. "At noon, Rogue, I've got you and Hank going up against me and Storm. Jubes…" He paused. Jubilee's training was a sensitive subject ever since her primary trainer had left without a word to anyone in the middle of the night six months earlier. "One-on-one after your classes. Okay?"
She shrugged. "I guess. Whatever."
Just then, the Professor entered the dining room with Hank walking by his side. "Good morning, everyone," he greeted them. He smiled at the baby who sat in the high-chair between Rogue and Remy. "She doesn't really like eggs...but she's quite happy, having her mother back."
"She not de only one," Remy tossed in.
Xavier nodded, but hesitated before continuing, "Something was delivered here early this morning," he began. "Hank and I have been trying to examine it through its packaging, but our efforts have been in vain."
Jean set down her tea. "Why don't you just open it, then?"
"Because it's not addressed to me," the Professor said. "It's addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Remy LeBeau."
The couple blinked simultaneously. "A package for us?" Rogue asked. "Ah haven't ordered anythin' lately."
"There was no return address. Perhaps you should come down to the lab and open it."
Scott pushed his chair back. "The lab? For a simple package, you're certainly taking a lot of precautions."
"With good reason," Hank answered for the Professor. "The package weighs approximately ninety pounds and sets off metal detectors."
Rogue swallowed and looked at her husband. "Ah'm guessin' it's prob'ly not silverware."
He took her hand. "We go find out, chere."
Jubilee perked up. "I'll watch Madeline," she offered. Their daughter gave her one of her best smiles and used her arm to sweep all of the eggs that remained on her tray onto the floor. "All gone!" she announced.
"Hey," Kitty told the teenager as she and the older team members left, not so subtly hiding laughter behind their hands. "You volunteered."
Down in the lab, the mood instantly sobered. The package was wrapped in plain brown paper, addressed in thick, black marker, and sat behind a shield of protective plastic. "We don' know who left it?" Remy asked.
"No fingerprints showed up, and the security cameras picked up nothing unusual. It was left on the front doorstep." The Professor looked at them. "It's up to both of you to decide what to do with it."
The couple exchanged another look. "What'd ya think, sugah?" Rogue asked softly.
"Gambit be curious," he admitted. "But say de word, an' I blow it sky high."
She licked her lips. "Ah'm curious, too." After a second, she nodded. "Let's open it an' see."
When the paper was carefully removed, they found themselves staring at a metal box, one foot by one foot with extremely fine grating across two sides, too fine to allow them to see inside. "W'at de hell is it?" Remy asked, squinting at the grey object.
"I couldn't hazard a guess if I tried," Hank admitted.
Storm shook her head. "I don't like it. Something's just not right about this."
"My first instinct is to agree," the doctor continued. He took a step towards the object in question. "But the scientist in me..." As he stepped closer, the box began emitting a low humming sound and a previously unnoticed panel on the top lit up. "Stand back!"
Remy stepped in front of Rogue as everyone else moved away from the device. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a playing card. "Gambit take care o' dis." After a second of holding the card between his fingers, he frowned. "W'at's goin' on?" He shook out his hand. "De card ain' chargin'." Remy looked at his wife. "I be broken, chere."
"You're not broken," Scott said. After a second, he lifted up his sunglasses.
"Scott!" Jean's voice was sharp with warning, but when nothing happened, she gasped. "Scott..."
"It's a power dampener. I saw something like it…when we rescued Rogue from Antarctica." He blinked, and looked around the room for a second, free and clear of the red-tinted glasses. His gaze eventually wandered back to his wife. Scott smiled. "God, you're beautiful."
Jean reached out her hand, blinking back tears, and ran her thumb over his eyebrow. "And your eyes are blue. I never knew that."
Hank shook his head. "Fascinating. A portable dampening field. I wonder how far it extends around the room. We'll have to run more tests, of course, to make sure there's no side effects from the..."
Remy heard none of this. He turned to his wife, pulled her towards him with two firm hands on her hips, and lowered his mouth to hers in a deep, full-contact kiss.
****
"Are you having trouble sleeping, Ororo?" Storm turned her head to see Hank as he entered the parlor. When he got closer and saw the child he'd brought into the world eighteen months earlier fast asleep in her arms, he made a noise of understanding. "Oh, I see."
"They deserve a night alone with their new toy," the weather goddess commented, gently stroking Madeline's baby-fine curls. "I don't mind looking after her. Because you're right…" She paused. "I can't sleep anymore."
Hank moved around the couch and sat down next to her. "Is there anything you wish to talk about with an old friend?"
A hint of a smile crossed her face. "There isn't much that escapes the gossip circuit, Hank. I am sure you know more about my personal life than you ever wanted to." He waited a moment for her to go on. "The worst part is just not knowing where he is. Whether he's safe or not….alive or…alive or dead. If I just knew something…anything…"
"He's too connected to this place, to us, to have died without one of us feeling it," he replied with what he hoped was reassurance. "Logan is a restless soul. Like an unpredictable wind."
"I know." Storm's voice was soft. "And no one can calm the wind."
"No one…except you, my dear." Hank stood up. "Goodnight. And please…try to rest yourself."
When he was gone, she hugged the little girl in her arms closer to her chest. Remy and Rogue's daughter smelled like powder and baby shampoo from her bath, a clean, sweet smell that made Storm's chest ache for the child she'd lost only a month after he'd vanished. Logan's child. It was a secret she'd shared with no one, not even the trusted doctor who'd just left her side. There wasn't any reason to worry anyone now. As best as she could figure it, the baby had only been with her for two months, before some unknown cause had made it flow from her body in the middle of the night. The blood had been washed away, but the pain and grief, she would carry them forever.
She stood up, cradling Madeline as she slept. "At least I can be your godmother," she whispered to the child. "And whenever I'm called, I will take care of you as if you were my own. I promise."
****
"Mind-blowing sex" was a phrase that got tossed around in conversations between Rogue's fellow female teammates, not entirely casually, but usually heart-felt. She'd always thought it must be subjective. Making love with Remy in the cave had been wonderful, but there had been pain that never quite went away entirely, even through the pleasure. She'd convinced herself that mind-blowing sex must only happen on rare, once-in-a-lifetime occasions. If you were lucky.
Now, however, Rogue understood it. And she understood that the other woman had no idea what it really meant. Mind-blowing sex didn't just mean explosions all throughout your body, or the inability to think about anything but the person above you….or below you, or beside you, or behind you…it meant sex with the singular goal of melting into the man you loved, merging into him, becoming part of him, but only if that man was her Cajun husband.
She'd lost track of the time since they'd locked themselves in the boathouse with the dampening field generator, but they were definitely into the early morning hours. After all, it had taken most of the day for Hank and the Professor to run the necessary tests on their strange, new present. The wait had only been bearable in the moments when the device was turned on and she could reach for Remy's hand.
Or pick up her daughter without gloves. Even now as she came down from the heights only he could drive her to, Rogue felt herself tear up. It had been a day she'd never forget as long as she lived, and it had all started with his kiss. After that, Jubilee had brought Madeline down to the lab. And for the first time, Rogue touched her daughter's cheek. And it was the softest thing in the world.
As though she'd known what was going on, Madeline had reached for her face, a habit Rogue thought she'd broken her daughter of when she was much smaller. This time, however, the little girl pressed her tiny hands on either side of Rogue's mouth. "Mama okay," she'd asked.
Rogue had nodded through her tears and kissed all ten of her daughter's chubby little digits in turn. "Mama okay," she'd repeated hoarsely.
Remy had watched it all, held her hand when he could, taken Madeline from her when her happy tears began to worry the child, and waited for whatever was going to come next. He was like a steady rock, never once mentioning the potential drastic changes in their lives that this device could bring about. Still, it was there in his eyes when he looked at her. Hunger and desire sparked fresh, given new hope.
But when Hank had declared the device safe for at least short-term use, and after Storm had volunteered to take Madeline for the night, nothing had stopped him from picking her up and carrying her to the boathouse…although he had let her carry the box.
And now he was entwined with her, dropping little kisses along her flushed neck as the intensity of orgasm dissipated into the warmth of afterglow. Remy lifted his head from the crook of her neck and kissed her languidly, taking the time to savor the feeling of their tongues meeting and melding. He made a noise in the back of his throat, an erotic sound of pure contentment. "I won' ever be tired o' dis, chere." His lips met hers again. "Dere be a million kisses t'make up for."
Rogue ran her hands up and down his sweat-slick back, enjoying the sensation of each dip and ridge created by his muscles against her bare fingertips. She shifted underneath him, closing her eyes briefly when a leftover shiver of pleasure hit her. "It's like Ah'm livin' in my very best dream," she whispered. "Ah just wanna stay in it…an' never move again. S'that okay?"
He replied with another kiss. "Not a dream no more, ma belle."
As much as Rogue wanted nothing of the outside world to touch them that night, a thought nagged at the back of her brain, getting more insistent by the moment. "Remy," she began, regretting the words even before she said them. "Ain' ya curious…who gave this to us?"
It took a second for him to reply. "Far as dis Caj'n can tell…dere be only guess."
"Erik," she said. The mood stilled somewhat, and she looked up at her husband. His eyes were averted, caught between anger and confusion. She couldn't blame him. Erik had hurt their family so much, but if he had sent them the ability to be together in every sense of the word, it would be very hard to hate him. "He called it his technology, sugah. An' now…it's here…in our bedroom."
"Gambit know dat." Without warning, he eased out of her body and flopped onto his back beside her. Biting her lip, Rogue glanced over at him as he scrubbed his hands down his face. She waited for him to go on, but when he did his words floored her. "He mus' love you, chere. Not dat I could blame him…but he love you a lot. T'give you dis gift, but wit' anot'er man." Remy turned his head to see her. "Not sure I could do de same in his place."
"Ah think ya would," Rogue told him, honestly. "The last thing ya are, swamp rat, is selfish. If Madeline needed a new heart…ye'd cut out yer own an' give it to her." She rolled onto her side and hooked her leg around his, suggestively. "Ya married me, not knowin' we'd ever get to be together like this." She kissed his shoulder, letting her tongue dance over the salty patch of skin for a brief second. "He migh' love me…at least, his version o' love…but Ah'm here. An' Ah got no plans to leave 'til my time's up."
His reply was rough with too much emotion. "Promise, chere."
She let her fingers trail over his ribs before she held up the back of her hand for him to see the rings on her left hand. "Ah already have, sugah."
Remy sat up, forcing her up as well. She could see passion burning in his eyes as he grasped her slender shoulders in his rough, but gentle hands. "Dis t'ing change our sex life…but dere not'ing dat can ever change de way I feel 'bout you. You an' ma Madeline…you be w'at dis t'ief live for now."
"We're not goin' anywhere, Remy, Ah swear." She cupped his stubbled face in her hands. "Ah swear."
He pushed her back down onto the rumpled sheets with the force of his kiss, but she offered up no complaint. Tender, sweet lovemaking had its place, but that time was about pure need. He took her hard and fast, and she got back as much as she gave from the wonder that was his body. Rogue kissed his face all over afterwards as he tried to stay awake, loving him for the effort. Eventually, she urged him to give in and within seconds, she had a very heavy, very asleep man resting on her breast.
She lay awake awhile longer. There really wasn't any way to contact Erik; he'd made sure of that, but she could thank him for this one small thing within the part of her heart that was able to forgive him for her kidnapping and Madeline's premature birth. He was a chapter in her life that might never be closed as long as she continued to work with the X-Men and interact with the rest of the world's mutants. But Remy and Madeline were a much more important chapter. For the first time in a long time, Rogue fell asleep, and let the past rest.
****
At the same time Rogue was releasing her inner demons, Logan was wallowing in his. The room he'd rented was directly over a tanner's shop in Vancouver, and stunk of tanning oils and dead animal skins. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and a blanket to keep him warm; he hadn't even removed his boots. Cold wouldn't kill him as it might any other man, but neither would it do him any good to get frostbitten.
But he would have been freezing even if he were bunking down in Jamaica. She wasn't sleeping beside him, he couldn't just turn over and touch his Storm, kiss her soft lips, bury himself within the searing heat of her body. He was thousands of miles away from home, but a million more away from what he needed the most.
And all for the sake of his foolish pride, his unwillingness to forget his painful past. He cursed in his sleep, calling out for her, needing her as he might never have needed any other woman before her. Why couldn't he have told her the one thing she needed to hear? When she was finally ready for the details, the three short words that would have solved everything, when she was ready to say them, he'd frozen. And been unable to say what was at the very core of his soul.
"Love you…Ro," he grunted into his pillow. "Love you."
Leaving might have been cowardly, but staying away was the best thing he could do for her.
****
To Be Continued (so close, but yet, so far)
