A knock on Logan's door broke through his mental haze.
"Oh, crud. Whadya want, elf?" He turned to glare at the door.
"Ve need to use ze vashroom, Herr Logan.
Logan stood up and went to the door, then opened it and stared at Kurt in stupified amazement. "So?"
"Beesha!!" the scream echoed down the hall from the bathroom.
"Oh," sighed Logan. "Crud. Sorry, Kurt."
===========================================
Logan handed Ruhko another animal cracker and glanced at the store the other two had gone into, wondering how buying some barrettes could take that long. But then he didn't understand how shopping for anything could take as long as Rogue and Steph took. He was just glad he'd bought the jumbo box of cookies, Ruhko would've shredded him by now from boredom if he hadn't had them to distract her with.
He leaned back against the fountain and put his hands into the pockets of his new jacket, thinking of the past week and a half. Steph and Rogue were making steady, though painfully slow progress with learning to control their voices. Rogue's flying lessons were a little more nerve-wracking, she'd hit the wall just that morning trying to fly through his window and now sported a rather drastic bruise up the side of her face. This was the first time either girl had asked leave from classes since Steph had come, and Chuck had been glad to give them permission to go shopping during the quieter part of the day, provided Logan went with them. He'd agreed, proving, he thought, that fatherhood was even more damaging to the brain than Steph's powers.
"Nurmy," said Ruhko, reaching over his shoulder from the baby backpacker she rode in.
He handed her another cookie and glanced back to make sure she was leaving her image inducer alone. All three of the girls were wearing collars for this trip, Ruhko a thin pink dog collar with the inducer on it, and the two older girls matching jeweled ones to shut down their powers for a time so that they could relax and just be kids.
Logan growled to himself softly, causing Ruhko to coo in delight and lay her ear on his back. He grinned and did it again, a steady rumble like purring, then returned to his train of thought. Neither girl had said a word all the way to the mall. Steph's terseness he could understand, she was used to not talking, but he was worried about Rogue, who should have jumped on the chance to air her views of the world.
"Nana coumvo lala bumm," whispered Ruhko, still listening to him growl.
And then there was the little incident with Peter Rasputin the other day: Steph and Rogue had gone off in the woods to practice flying and Ruhko had tracked them. Peter had followed and gotten knocked out when the two 'big sisters' had seen their favorite baby running up them and greeted her loudly. He'd had to sit on the girls to keep them from leaving then and there. Thankfully the kid was alright, it would've killed Kitty to have something happen to him....
Logan groaned as he caught sight of a store clerk gently but firmly pushing his two girls out of the jewelry store. -Crud, not again. What'd they do this time?-
Both girls turned to watch the clerk go back into the store, rolled their eyes and shrugged at each other, then began slapping at each other and giggling soundlessly.
-Oh, Lord, not that again.- Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut.
A hearty guffaw made him look up at a tall, dark-haired guy with a blue- eyed baby girl on his back.
"Who trusted you with kids?" asked the guy, grinning from ear to ear.
"They're mine," growled Logan.
Nomad's eyes widened. "You get married?"
"No, I just got kids." He glanced back at Ruhko as she reached a slobbered cookie toward the other baby, babbling hospitably.
"Geh?" asked the other baby, staring at her in shock.
"Nurmy," Ruhko assured her, grinning toothily.
"Oh!" Bucky hid her face.
"Ain't seen her hide from anything before," commented Logan in surprise.
"She doesn't meet many kids her age." Nomad joggled his baby packer gently.
"Neither does Ruhko, I'm surprised she didn't' try ta eat her." Logan caught sight of Steph standing on the far side of the fountain, throwing water at Rogue, who was finally using her voice to say things that Logan himself wouldn't say. "Oh crud."
Nomad looked too and leaned against the fountain to keep from falling as he laughed hard. "Boy, you've got your work cut out for you, don't you?"
"Go ahead, yuk it up," growled Logan. "You got a girl yerself there, bub. Just wait'll she gets older."
Turning away from his old friend, he stomped over and caught Rogue's arm (she being the least likely to try and poke him in the ribs and make him flinch). "What d'ya think yer doin'? That's the third store ya bin thrown outta. Come on, we're goin' home."
Two sets of eyes stared at him in mock repentance, and he growled and herded them out to the car.
"Rogue rode in the front on the way here," he said quickly, to stem any dispute. "So it's Steph's turn."
Two raspberries answered him as he crawled into the backseat of the car to strap Ruhko into her carseat.
"Nurmy?" she asked, looking half asleep.
He gave her the rest of the box, knowing that the car would look like a disaster area and started untangling the belts and buckles.
"Baby," she said clearly.
"Yeah, yer a baby, darlin'." He got the straps all snapped together and to the seat in the right places and pulled the ends to make sure they were snug enough.
"Uh uh," she shook her head. "Baby!"
"Oh, ya mean Bucky. Yeah, she's a baby. Ya saw another baby, eh, darlin'?" He grinned at her.
She grinned back and growled. "Daddy!"
He sobered and glanced at Rogue, who looked back innocently, though he knew darn well who'd taught the little one to call him that.
A sudden jab to both sets of ribs made him bang his head solidly on the roof.
"Arrgghh! $# it, Steph!"
She looked back coolly from the front passenger seat.
"Don't give me that crap, I know who that was." He tapped his nose, scowling, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
Still scowling, he went around to the driver's side and got in, pulling a chewed-on doll out from under himself and chucking it into the back.
The first part of the drive home was quiet, but as soon as they were out of site of the city it started up again.
Slap! giggle, giggle. Slap! Wack! Smack! Wap!
"Rogue! Stop hittin' Steph! Steph, yer not helpin'! Don't make me stop this car...."
===================================
Logan lay on the couch with his head up on the arm, staring blankly at a soap opera while Ruhko sat on his legs and chewed on a walnut.
"Hey, Logan." Bobby came in and sat in the arm chair.
"You done classes?" Logan turned a bleary glance toward him.
"Yup. Homework and all." The kid sat back and put his hands behind his head in satisfaction.
"Uh huh." Logan frowned at him. "What did ya do ta Rogue?"
Bobby's cocky attitude vanished, and he sank into the chair, smelling like guilt and shame. "We had a fight and I said something stupid."
"I figured that. What'd ya say?"
"I'd rather not say."
Snikt.
"I told her if she thought you were so great she should go be your girlfriend!" blurted Bobby.
Logan stared at the kid in horror. "What the...." He glanced at Ruhko and left the rest unsaid. "That was a dang dumb thing ta say."
"I know," said Bobby miserably, his blue eyes dull.
Logan saw his pain over it and sighed. "Did ya apologize?"
"I keep trying," whispered Bobby. "But she keeps trying to kill me every time I get near her."
"I told her ta quit throwin' school books." Logan lay his head back and thought, then dug in his pocket and handed the kid a hundred dollar bill. "Go 'n buy the biggest box a chocolate that'll buy, along with some real fancy flowers. Maybe if ya leave those where she'll find 'em she'll forgive ya."
"Thanks!" Bobby grinned gratefully, his eyes sparkling again.
"Yer welcome." Logan lifted his head again and looked at Ruhko as she growled and drooled black.
"What's she eating?" asked Bobby uneasily.
"Chewin' on a black walnut." Logan looked around the floor and pointed. "Hand me that red dog toy, would ya?"
Bobby did so, and he handed the toy to Ruhko, who sniffed it, looked it over, then chucked it back onto the floor and resumed worrying the nut.
"How about the ducky?" Bobby picked up a big yellow rubber duck and held it up to Ruhko.
"Don't...." Logan winced as the teen squeaked the toy and Ruhko responded with terrified, helpless tears. "Squeak it," he finished, gathering her close and giving Bobby a dirty look. "Go stand in th' corner."
"What for? I didn't do anything," protested Bobby.
"Ya made my baby cry," growled Logan.
"I didn't know she was afraid of the duck!"
"Go stand in the #$% corner!"
"But...."
"How much sleep have you had recently, Logan?" Charles rolled into the room, his dark eyes full of laughter.
Logan blinked and tried to remember. "About half an hour's worth last night, right before Ruhko got into the conservatory and ate 'Ro's orchids," he said at last.
Charles nodded. "I will take her for an hour or two every school day from now on, so that you may rest and then teach your automotive class without worrying that she will destroy something."
"You think you kin handle her?" Logan looked at him doubtfully.
"I handle you." Charles smiled.
"Whatever, Chuck. It's yer funeral."
Charles smiled at him, then glanced at Ruhko and nodded. "You should get some sleep now, before you say or do something that you will regret. I will alert you if she wakens."
Logan blinked and looked down at the drowsy baby, then eyed the Professor suspiciously. "What'd ya do ta her?"
"Nothing, I think that this is the effect of a jumbo box of animal cookies." Charles's smile widened, his expression soft as he watched Ruhko lose her battle against sleep.
"Oh. Right." Logan felt his own eyes slipping shut. "Thanks, Chuck."
Charles watched them sleep for a few minutes, noting how the baby girl was listening to Logan's heart and how his arms were wrapped around her protectively. Wiping away a tear, he turned and wheeled out of the room.
-It is good to see him loving someone who can return his love,- he thought as he returned to his interrupted English Literature class.
"Oh, crud. Whadya want, elf?" He turned to glare at the door.
"Ve need to use ze vashroom, Herr Logan.
Logan stood up and went to the door, then opened it and stared at Kurt in stupified amazement. "So?"
"Beesha!!" the scream echoed down the hall from the bathroom.
"Oh," sighed Logan. "Crud. Sorry, Kurt."
===========================================
Logan handed Ruhko another animal cracker and glanced at the store the other two had gone into, wondering how buying some barrettes could take that long. But then he didn't understand how shopping for anything could take as long as Rogue and Steph took. He was just glad he'd bought the jumbo box of cookies, Ruhko would've shredded him by now from boredom if he hadn't had them to distract her with.
He leaned back against the fountain and put his hands into the pockets of his new jacket, thinking of the past week and a half. Steph and Rogue were making steady, though painfully slow progress with learning to control their voices. Rogue's flying lessons were a little more nerve-wracking, she'd hit the wall just that morning trying to fly through his window and now sported a rather drastic bruise up the side of her face. This was the first time either girl had asked leave from classes since Steph had come, and Chuck had been glad to give them permission to go shopping during the quieter part of the day, provided Logan went with them. He'd agreed, proving, he thought, that fatherhood was even more damaging to the brain than Steph's powers.
"Nurmy," said Ruhko, reaching over his shoulder from the baby backpacker she rode in.
He handed her another cookie and glanced back to make sure she was leaving her image inducer alone. All three of the girls were wearing collars for this trip, Ruhko a thin pink dog collar with the inducer on it, and the two older girls matching jeweled ones to shut down their powers for a time so that they could relax and just be kids.
Logan growled to himself softly, causing Ruhko to coo in delight and lay her ear on his back. He grinned and did it again, a steady rumble like purring, then returned to his train of thought. Neither girl had said a word all the way to the mall. Steph's terseness he could understand, she was used to not talking, but he was worried about Rogue, who should have jumped on the chance to air her views of the world.
"Nana coumvo lala bumm," whispered Ruhko, still listening to him growl.
And then there was the little incident with Peter Rasputin the other day: Steph and Rogue had gone off in the woods to practice flying and Ruhko had tracked them. Peter had followed and gotten knocked out when the two 'big sisters' had seen their favorite baby running up them and greeted her loudly. He'd had to sit on the girls to keep them from leaving then and there. Thankfully the kid was alright, it would've killed Kitty to have something happen to him....
Logan groaned as he caught sight of a store clerk gently but firmly pushing his two girls out of the jewelry store. -Crud, not again. What'd they do this time?-
Both girls turned to watch the clerk go back into the store, rolled their eyes and shrugged at each other, then began slapping at each other and giggling soundlessly.
-Oh, Lord, not that again.- Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut.
A hearty guffaw made him look up at a tall, dark-haired guy with a blue- eyed baby girl on his back.
"Who trusted you with kids?" asked the guy, grinning from ear to ear.
"They're mine," growled Logan.
Nomad's eyes widened. "You get married?"
"No, I just got kids." He glanced back at Ruhko as she reached a slobbered cookie toward the other baby, babbling hospitably.
"Geh?" asked the other baby, staring at her in shock.
"Nurmy," Ruhko assured her, grinning toothily.
"Oh!" Bucky hid her face.
"Ain't seen her hide from anything before," commented Logan in surprise.
"She doesn't meet many kids her age." Nomad joggled his baby packer gently.
"Neither does Ruhko, I'm surprised she didn't' try ta eat her." Logan caught sight of Steph standing on the far side of the fountain, throwing water at Rogue, who was finally using her voice to say things that Logan himself wouldn't say. "Oh crud."
Nomad looked too and leaned against the fountain to keep from falling as he laughed hard. "Boy, you've got your work cut out for you, don't you?"
"Go ahead, yuk it up," growled Logan. "You got a girl yerself there, bub. Just wait'll she gets older."
Turning away from his old friend, he stomped over and caught Rogue's arm (she being the least likely to try and poke him in the ribs and make him flinch). "What d'ya think yer doin'? That's the third store ya bin thrown outta. Come on, we're goin' home."
Two sets of eyes stared at him in mock repentance, and he growled and herded them out to the car.
"Rogue rode in the front on the way here," he said quickly, to stem any dispute. "So it's Steph's turn."
Two raspberries answered him as he crawled into the backseat of the car to strap Ruhko into her carseat.
"Nurmy?" she asked, looking half asleep.
He gave her the rest of the box, knowing that the car would look like a disaster area and started untangling the belts and buckles.
"Baby," she said clearly.
"Yeah, yer a baby, darlin'." He got the straps all snapped together and to the seat in the right places and pulled the ends to make sure they were snug enough.
"Uh uh," she shook her head. "Baby!"
"Oh, ya mean Bucky. Yeah, she's a baby. Ya saw another baby, eh, darlin'?" He grinned at her.
She grinned back and growled. "Daddy!"
He sobered and glanced at Rogue, who looked back innocently, though he knew darn well who'd taught the little one to call him that.
A sudden jab to both sets of ribs made him bang his head solidly on the roof.
"Arrgghh! $# it, Steph!"
She looked back coolly from the front passenger seat.
"Don't give me that crap, I know who that was." He tapped his nose, scowling, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
Still scowling, he went around to the driver's side and got in, pulling a chewed-on doll out from under himself and chucking it into the back.
The first part of the drive home was quiet, but as soon as they were out of site of the city it started up again.
Slap! giggle, giggle. Slap! Wack! Smack! Wap!
"Rogue! Stop hittin' Steph! Steph, yer not helpin'! Don't make me stop this car...."
===================================
Logan lay on the couch with his head up on the arm, staring blankly at a soap opera while Ruhko sat on his legs and chewed on a walnut.
"Hey, Logan." Bobby came in and sat in the arm chair.
"You done classes?" Logan turned a bleary glance toward him.
"Yup. Homework and all." The kid sat back and put his hands behind his head in satisfaction.
"Uh huh." Logan frowned at him. "What did ya do ta Rogue?"
Bobby's cocky attitude vanished, and he sank into the chair, smelling like guilt and shame. "We had a fight and I said something stupid."
"I figured that. What'd ya say?"
"I'd rather not say."
Snikt.
"I told her if she thought you were so great she should go be your girlfriend!" blurted Bobby.
Logan stared at the kid in horror. "What the...." He glanced at Ruhko and left the rest unsaid. "That was a dang dumb thing ta say."
"I know," said Bobby miserably, his blue eyes dull.
Logan saw his pain over it and sighed. "Did ya apologize?"
"I keep trying," whispered Bobby. "But she keeps trying to kill me every time I get near her."
"I told her ta quit throwin' school books." Logan lay his head back and thought, then dug in his pocket and handed the kid a hundred dollar bill. "Go 'n buy the biggest box a chocolate that'll buy, along with some real fancy flowers. Maybe if ya leave those where she'll find 'em she'll forgive ya."
"Thanks!" Bobby grinned gratefully, his eyes sparkling again.
"Yer welcome." Logan lifted his head again and looked at Ruhko as she growled and drooled black.
"What's she eating?" asked Bobby uneasily.
"Chewin' on a black walnut." Logan looked around the floor and pointed. "Hand me that red dog toy, would ya?"
Bobby did so, and he handed the toy to Ruhko, who sniffed it, looked it over, then chucked it back onto the floor and resumed worrying the nut.
"How about the ducky?" Bobby picked up a big yellow rubber duck and held it up to Ruhko.
"Don't...." Logan winced as the teen squeaked the toy and Ruhko responded with terrified, helpless tears. "Squeak it," he finished, gathering her close and giving Bobby a dirty look. "Go stand in th' corner."
"What for? I didn't do anything," protested Bobby.
"Ya made my baby cry," growled Logan.
"I didn't know she was afraid of the duck!"
"Go stand in the #$% corner!"
"But...."
"How much sleep have you had recently, Logan?" Charles rolled into the room, his dark eyes full of laughter.
Logan blinked and tried to remember. "About half an hour's worth last night, right before Ruhko got into the conservatory and ate 'Ro's orchids," he said at last.
Charles nodded. "I will take her for an hour or two every school day from now on, so that you may rest and then teach your automotive class without worrying that she will destroy something."
"You think you kin handle her?" Logan looked at him doubtfully.
"I handle you." Charles smiled.
"Whatever, Chuck. It's yer funeral."
Charles smiled at him, then glanced at Ruhko and nodded. "You should get some sleep now, before you say or do something that you will regret. I will alert you if she wakens."
Logan blinked and looked down at the drowsy baby, then eyed the Professor suspiciously. "What'd ya do ta her?"
"Nothing, I think that this is the effect of a jumbo box of animal cookies." Charles's smile widened, his expression soft as he watched Ruhko lose her battle against sleep.
"Oh. Right." Logan felt his own eyes slipping shut. "Thanks, Chuck."
Charles watched them sleep for a few minutes, noting how the baby girl was listening to Logan's heart and how his arms were wrapped around her protectively. Wiping away a tear, he turned and wheeled out of the room.
-It is good to see him loving someone who can return his love,- he thought as he returned to his interrupted English Literature class.