Two small blue eyes looked up at the adults standing in front of them, blinking. His mother had always told Logan Jr. that his father was dead and now she was telling him that he was alive. Logan Jr. had always known that his family was odd and that weird and unnatural things happened to them, but for someone to come back from the dead?
"Logan?"
He heard his mother say his name and Logan Jr. turned away from the short burly man and looked up at her.
"Sweetie, did you hear what I just told you?"
Logan Jr. nodded. "Yes ma'am."
Ororo looked over at Logan and then back down at their son. The blank look on his face worried her. She reached out and brushed some of his unruly black hair from his forehead as she spoke. "Logan, are you alright child?" Again Logan Jr. just nodded and Ororo sighed. "Do you have something you'd like to say or ask about this? I know this must be awfully strange."
Logan Jr. thought about it for a while and then looked up at the adults again. He wasn't sure what they wanted him to feel or think. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to feel or think. Finally he looked up at his mother only. The blank expression still on his face.
"I need to find Uncle Remy before lunch to tell him that Aunt Marie said to get his Cajun self ready on time to go with her to her mothers' after lunch"
Ororo sighed again, "I'm sure that can wait Logan. Don't you think..."
Her words were cut short when Logan reached over and put his hand on her arm. He could see that the kid was trying to process the news and needed some time. Logan looked at Ororo and then down at Logan Jr's face. Ororo looked down at their son as well and finally saw in his eyes that he was more then a little confused. She knew that Logan Jr. was close to Remy so she figured he wanted to talk to him about this.
"Alright child. Go find your uncle."
The two adults watched as the small ten year old boy ran off towards the house. Then Ororo started walking towards the woods next to the lake and Logan followed. They were quiet for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts about their children, about themselves, about their family. It was Logan who finally broke the stillness.
"The kid's not use to the idea of someone returning from the dead."
Ororo nodded and in a very serious tone replied. "Yes, well Jean hasn't died and come back in over twenty years so the normally of that has warn off."
Logan smirked and then the two went right back to walking in silence though the woods. A lot of spoken words were never really needed between the two. Ororo and Logan could say volumes to each other with out a single word being spoken.
The setting they were in didn't escape them as they walked. They both realized where they were, that they were once again walking side by side in the woods, their woods. The wooded area south of the mansion, and next to the lake, had always been a special place for them. It was where Logan had first told Ororo he loved her, where they had made love for the first time, where Logan had asked Ororo to marry him, and in the small circular clearing they were quickly approaching, where the two were married and had their children's blessing ceremonies.
"I never thought I'd see this again." Logan said softly as they walked into the clearing.
Ororo watched him as he walked to the very center and stood in just the place he had on the night they said their vows. He looked almost as he had that night, only now his handsome face was a little more weathered. She watched as Logan looked up at the sky that could be seen though the gape in the tree tops and as she did the memories of that night came back to her.
Chairs for their family and friends had been set all around in a circle four rows deep. The middle of the clearing boasted only a simple alter, the high priestess from Ororo's ancestral village, and the two of them. They were married on a late summer evening when the moon was full and high in the sky. It was so full and bright, that the whole clearing, but mostly the couple exchanging vows, was bathed in a radiant sliver light.
Ororo was brought back to the present by a soft warm bush of skin against her cheek. Logan was standing in front of her wiping the tear that had rolled down her cheek away. "You where so stunningly beautiful that night, 'Ro. I've always loved the way you look in moon light."
"You were so handsome that night. All dressed up in your formal clothes, with your hair cut short and your face clean cut." She replied. The air around them began to swirl and the fall leaves began to dance hazily around their feet. Ororo looked down into Logan's eyes and then bushed some of his unruly hair from his brow. Neither said a word for a long time, but finally they each looked away and began to walk again.
Back at the mansion lunch was in full swing. Everyone was out on the kitchen deck fighting over bottles of ketchup and sacks of chips. Kitty was putting Rogue and Remy's daughter Raven, into her high chair, while avoiding Jubilee and Bobby who were having a sword fight with foot long hot dogs. The professor and Hank were sitting on the other side of the deck talking to Emma about the Mass. academy's rush outbreak of mumps among the teens there. Elizabeth was talking happily about the latest fashions with Rachel, while also watching Nate and Sam playing catch with a football. She found herself unable to stop smiling. She loved being home even if it did hurt to be there with out Warren.
Jean just stood near the edge of the deck watching the lake. She'd seen Ororo and Logan slip into the woods and couldn't bring herself to look away. For some reason she wanted to see the look on Ororo's face when they came back out.
"You gonna eat, sug?" She heard Rogue ask from behind her. Jean just shook her head. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and she smiled a little. "I'm alright, Marie."
Rogue squeezed her friend's shoulder and then bumped hips with her playfully. "Of course you will be sugar. The Phoenix always raises above it all."
Jean turned to look at her friend and gave her a warm smile before hugging her briefly. Rouge was right. She would raise above what ever was about to be thrown her way. She only hoped that her wind rider would be at her side when she did.
"Oh well now I see how it is." Came a voice from the kitchen door. Everyone whipped around to see Alexandria standing there with a mock hurt expression on her face. "You all leave me in that sterile little box of a medical room all alone and come out here on a day like this and have a party with out me.. Well I guess we know where I stand around here."
Rachel's smile widen at the sight of her sister and she quickly bonded over to her and engulfed the slightly taller girl in her arms. Nate and Kitty were right behind her. Nate smiled as he picked Alexandria up and spun her around with a laugh.
"Ah, your all better, Lexie.. Your as dramatic as ever you drama queen."
Everyone laughed including Jean who was walking towards her children with a bright smile in her bright green eyes as well as on her lips. "Alight Nate, put the girl down. She's still not back to one hundred percent yet."
Alexandria smiled down at her older brother as he held her up in the air by her waist. "Yeah you big oaf put me down!" She smacked him on the shoulder as she wink at him. Nate winked back and instead of sitting her down on the ground he gave her a little toss upwards. Just as his hands released her Alexandria could feel a mass of air surround her body and in the blink of an eye the girl was in the air.
The warm air felt heavenly as it caressed Alexandria's skin. She closed her eyes and went higher as she filled her lungs with the sweet autumn scents of up state New York in the fall.
"Alexandria!" She heard Jean calling from the ground. "Alexan.. Rachel where do you think your going?" Alexandria opened her eyes to see her sister joining her in the air and started to giggle. "Alexandria, didn't Hank tell you no flying? And Rachel your not helping. Sam... Rouge! Now come on your suppose to be an adult! Well you lot come down please."
Jean stood there, hands on hips, trying to get the air born group down when her son walked over chuckling.. "Mom.."
"Yes Nathan."
Nate chucked again. "You know you can fly too. Why not go up and get them?"
Jean shot her son a warning look and then cracked a smile. She kissed his forehead and then took off into the air to join the others.
Two sets of legs stuck out from under the sliver convertible in the mansion's driveway. The left foot of each set wiggled as the two people under the car completed the old changing that the larger of the two males had started before his young nephew had shown up. Remy and Logan Jr. slid out from under Ororo's car at the same time, sat up together, and whipped the oil from there hands in the same way, on their jeans. Remy looked down at his little helper and smiled.
"T'anks for de help, petite." Remy said as he got up from the ground with a grunt.
Logan Jr. nodded with a smile. "I got your back Uncle Remy. I know Aunt Marie would be mightily mad if you were still tuning up all the cars when it was time to go see her parents."
Remy flinched. He had planned this little afternoon of playing auto mechanic to get out of having dinner with his mothers-in-law. Not that he minded Irene, although she did give him the creeps from time to time, but it was the idea of listening to Raven go on and on about this and that. It was quite clear from which of her mothers his darling wife got her mouth.
"So," Remy said as he passed Logan Jr. a soda from the garage's fridge. "Ot'er then wanting to help out y'ur ol' uncle Remy, why you hiding in here with me petite?"
Logan. Jr. just shrugged his shoulders as he opened the can with a hiss. He took a long, fast drink that made his eyes water and then he sighed. Remy had to hide his smile. Logan Jr. sounded just like his Stormy when he sighed.
"Momma told me that the man I saw with you before is my father." Logan finally said.
Remy nodded. "Dat's de tru'h mon ami. That be de Wolverine himself, which makes him your papa." Remy watched as a hundred and one questions crossed the little boy's face and tried his best to answer the ones he was brave enough to ask. and some he wasn't. He told him all about how they thought he was dead but wasn't, and how Alexandria had found him and Elizabeth, and how they all came back.
Logan Jr. listened and then after a long pause said, "Why couldn't Lex have just left him there. I don't need a dad.. I have two moms, and I have a brother and sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles." Logan Jr. sighed again and then threw his arms around Remy. "And I have you.. I don't need him, I have you!"
Remy looked down at the boy, he didn't know what to say or do so he did the only thing he could. He hugged the boy back and held back the tear in his eye.
Logan and Ororo stepped out of the woods and headed towards the house. Nothing more had been said between them but they both knew that there was still love between them. It was different, yet ageless, and it was real and safe. As they got closer to the house they both cracked a smile.
"Looks like they started the party with out us." Logan chuckled.
Ororo laughed in return and then shook her head. "Barely out of the med lab and that child is already in the air."
"Well she is her mother's daughter." Logan said as he watched Ororo take off into the air. He smiled to himself as he watched her grab their daughter from behind and spin her around. He even continued to smile as he watched them play with Rachel and Jean. He nodded to the others as he walked up onto the deck and barely said a word to anyone as he made himself a plate. Then he leaned against the wall and watched the group of flyers as he gnawed on a hamburger.
Then his attention was drawn to Remy and Logan Jr. The way that Logan Jr. was clinging to Remy answered a lot of his questions. 'Well it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me to find my place around here again. Maybe it would be easier if I...' Logan stopped his thought when he saw the way Elizabeth was looking at him. He flashed her a smile and nodded. He had promised her and his daughter he wouldn't take off.. As hard as it was going to be, he had to stay. For them as well as himself.
"Logan?"
He heard his mother say his name and Logan Jr. turned away from the short burly man and looked up at her.
"Sweetie, did you hear what I just told you?"
Logan Jr. nodded. "Yes ma'am."
Ororo looked over at Logan and then back down at their son. The blank look on his face worried her. She reached out and brushed some of his unruly black hair from his forehead as she spoke. "Logan, are you alright child?" Again Logan Jr. just nodded and Ororo sighed. "Do you have something you'd like to say or ask about this? I know this must be awfully strange."
Logan Jr. thought about it for a while and then looked up at the adults again. He wasn't sure what they wanted him to feel or think. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to feel or think. Finally he looked up at his mother only. The blank expression still on his face.
"I need to find Uncle Remy before lunch to tell him that Aunt Marie said to get his Cajun self ready on time to go with her to her mothers' after lunch"
Ororo sighed again, "I'm sure that can wait Logan. Don't you think..."
Her words were cut short when Logan reached over and put his hand on her arm. He could see that the kid was trying to process the news and needed some time. Logan looked at Ororo and then down at Logan Jr's face. Ororo looked down at their son as well and finally saw in his eyes that he was more then a little confused. She knew that Logan Jr. was close to Remy so she figured he wanted to talk to him about this.
"Alright child. Go find your uncle."
The two adults watched as the small ten year old boy ran off towards the house. Then Ororo started walking towards the woods next to the lake and Logan followed. They were quiet for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts about their children, about themselves, about their family. It was Logan who finally broke the stillness.
"The kid's not use to the idea of someone returning from the dead."
Ororo nodded and in a very serious tone replied. "Yes, well Jean hasn't died and come back in over twenty years so the normally of that has warn off."
Logan smirked and then the two went right back to walking in silence though the woods. A lot of spoken words were never really needed between the two. Ororo and Logan could say volumes to each other with out a single word being spoken.
The setting they were in didn't escape them as they walked. They both realized where they were, that they were once again walking side by side in the woods, their woods. The wooded area south of the mansion, and next to the lake, had always been a special place for them. It was where Logan had first told Ororo he loved her, where they had made love for the first time, where Logan had asked Ororo to marry him, and in the small circular clearing they were quickly approaching, where the two were married and had their children's blessing ceremonies.
"I never thought I'd see this again." Logan said softly as they walked into the clearing.
Ororo watched him as he walked to the very center and stood in just the place he had on the night they said their vows. He looked almost as he had that night, only now his handsome face was a little more weathered. She watched as Logan looked up at the sky that could be seen though the gape in the tree tops and as she did the memories of that night came back to her.
Chairs for their family and friends had been set all around in a circle four rows deep. The middle of the clearing boasted only a simple alter, the high priestess from Ororo's ancestral village, and the two of them. They were married on a late summer evening when the moon was full and high in the sky. It was so full and bright, that the whole clearing, but mostly the couple exchanging vows, was bathed in a radiant sliver light.
Ororo was brought back to the present by a soft warm bush of skin against her cheek. Logan was standing in front of her wiping the tear that had rolled down her cheek away. "You where so stunningly beautiful that night, 'Ro. I've always loved the way you look in moon light."
"You were so handsome that night. All dressed up in your formal clothes, with your hair cut short and your face clean cut." She replied. The air around them began to swirl and the fall leaves began to dance hazily around their feet. Ororo looked down into Logan's eyes and then bushed some of his unruly hair from his brow. Neither said a word for a long time, but finally they each looked away and began to walk again.
Back at the mansion lunch was in full swing. Everyone was out on the kitchen deck fighting over bottles of ketchup and sacks of chips. Kitty was putting Rogue and Remy's daughter Raven, into her high chair, while avoiding Jubilee and Bobby who were having a sword fight with foot long hot dogs. The professor and Hank were sitting on the other side of the deck talking to Emma about the Mass. academy's rush outbreak of mumps among the teens there. Elizabeth was talking happily about the latest fashions with Rachel, while also watching Nate and Sam playing catch with a football. She found herself unable to stop smiling. She loved being home even if it did hurt to be there with out Warren.
Jean just stood near the edge of the deck watching the lake. She'd seen Ororo and Logan slip into the woods and couldn't bring herself to look away. For some reason she wanted to see the look on Ororo's face when they came back out.
"You gonna eat, sug?" She heard Rogue ask from behind her. Jean just shook her head. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and she smiled a little. "I'm alright, Marie."
Rogue squeezed her friend's shoulder and then bumped hips with her playfully. "Of course you will be sugar. The Phoenix always raises above it all."
Jean turned to look at her friend and gave her a warm smile before hugging her briefly. Rouge was right. She would raise above what ever was about to be thrown her way. She only hoped that her wind rider would be at her side when she did.
"Oh well now I see how it is." Came a voice from the kitchen door. Everyone whipped around to see Alexandria standing there with a mock hurt expression on her face. "You all leave me in that sterile little box of a medical room all alone and come out here on a day like this and have a party with out me.. Well I guess we know where I stand around here."
Rachel's smile widen at the sight of her sister and she quickly bonded over to her and engulfed the slightly taller girl in her arms. Nate and Kitty were right behind her. Nate smiled as he picked Alexandria up and spun her around with a laugh.
"Ah, your all better, Lexie.. Your as dramatic as ever you drama queen."
Everyone laughed including Jean who was walking towards her children with a bright smile in her bright green eyes as well as on her lips. "Alight Nate, put the girl down. She's still not back to one hundred percent yet."
Alexandria smiled down at her older brother as he held her up in the air by her waist. "Yeah you big oaf put me down!" She smacked him on the shoulder as she wink at him. Nate winked back and instead of sitting her down on the ground he gave her a little toss upwards. Just as his hands released her Alexandria could feel a mass of air surround her body and in the blink of an eye the girl was in the air.
The warm air felt heavenly as it caressed Alexandria's skin. She closed her eyes and went higher as she filled her lungs with the sweet autumn scents of up state New York in the fall.
"Alexandria!" She heard Jean calling from the ground. "Alexan.. Rachel where do you think your going?" Alexandria opened her eyes to see her sister joining her in the air and started to giggle. "Alexandria, didn't Hank tell you no flying? And Rachel your not helping. Sam... Rouge! Now come on your suppose to be an adult! Well you lot come down please."
Jean stood there, hands on hips, trying to get the air born group down when her son walked over chuckling.. "Mom.."
"Yes Nathan."
Nate chucked again. "You know you can fly too. Why not go up and get them?"
Jean shot her son a warning look and then cracked a smile. She kissed his forehead and then took off into the air to join the others.
Two sets of legs stuck out from under the sliver convertible in the mansion's driveway. The left foot of each set wiggled as the two people under the car completed the old changing that the larger of the two males had started before his young nephew had shown up. Remy and Logan Jr. slid out from under Ororo's car at the same time, sat up together, and whipped the oil from there hands in the same way, on their jeans. Remy looked down at his little helper and smiled.
"T'anks for de help, petite." Remy said as he got up from the ground with a grunt.
Logan Jr. nodded with a smile. "I got your back Uncle Remy. I know Aunt Marie would be mightily mad if you were still tuning up all the cars when it was time to go see her parents."
Remy flinched. He had planned this little afternoon of playing auto mechanic to get out of having dinner with his mothers-in-law. Not that he minded Irene, although she did give him the creeps from time to time, but it was the idea of listening to Raven go on and on about this and that. It was quite clear from which of her mothers his darling wife got her mouth.
"So," Remy said as he passed Logan Jr. a soda from the garage's fridge. "Ot'er then wanting to help out y'ur ol' uncle Remy, why you hiding in here with me petite?"
Logan. Jr. just shrugged his shoulders as he opened the can with a hiss. He took a long, fast drink that made his eyes water and then he sighed. Remy had to hide his smile. Logan Jr. sounded just like his Stormy when he sighed.
"Momma told me that the man I saw with you before is my father." Logan finally said.
Remy nodded. "Dat's de tru'h mon ami. That be de Wolverine himself, which makes him your papa." Remy watched as a hundred and one questions crossed the little boy's face and tried his best to answer the ones he was brave enough to ask. and some he wasn't. He told him all about how they thought he was dead but wasn't, and how Alexandria had found him and Elizabeth, and how they all came back.
Logan Jr. listened and then after a long pause said, "Why couldn't Lex have just left him there. I don't need a dad.. I have two moms, and I have a brother and sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles." Logan Jr. sighed again and then threw his arms around Remy. "And I have you.. I don't need him, I have you!"
Remy looked down at the boy, he didn't know what to say or do so he did the only thing he could. He hugged the boy back and held back the tear in his eye.
Logan and Ororo stepped out of the woods and headed towards the house. Nothing more had been said between them but they both knew that there was still love between them. It was different, yet ageless, and it was real and safe. As they got closer to the house they both cracked a smile.
"Looks like they started the party with out us." Logan chuckled.
Ororo laughed in return and then shook her head. "Barely out of the med lab and that child is already in the air."
"Well she is her mother's daughter." Logan said as he watched Ororo take off into the air. He smiled to himself as he watched her grab their daughter from behind and spin her around. He even continued to smile as he watched them play with Rachel and Jean. He nodded to the others as he walked up onto the deck and barely said a word to anyone as he made himself a plate. Then he leaned against the wall and watched the group of flyers as he gnawed on a hamburger.
Then his attention was drawn to Remy and Logan Jr. The way that Logan Jr. was clinging to Remy answered a lot of his questions. 'Well it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me to find my place around here again. Maybe it would be easier if I...' Logan stopped his thought when he saw the way Elizabeth was looking at him. He flashed her a smile and nodded. He had promised her and his daughter he wouldn't take off.. As hard as it was going to be, he had to stay. For them as well as himself.
