Y'all know the dilly yo, that I don't own these characters, marvel or anything else. Blah blah blah

Author's Note: Okay, I'm getting nearer to the end. Woohoo! Hopefully I can get the next chapter out before all my midterms starts and my period of hibernation and studying begin. Oh… the life a student is a painful one! Read, review and enjoy everyone!

On with the story…

The Wedding

Chapter 15

A pungent smell of salient blood could be scented from a mile away. Thus, standing only five feet from the man, the smell was even more putrid.

"Logan, what in the world happened to ya?" Rogue exclaimed as she pinched her nose and attempted to hide her shock from his ghastly sight.

In every crook and cranny of the brute feral man's body, dried blood dwelled. "It's not mine." He stated in a low tone.

"Well, that's a given… ya wouldn't look so satisfied if it was. Go get cleaned up though. Ah don't want Jeremy t'see his godfather like that." Rogue urged as she pushed her teammate in the direction of the showers.

Logan, however, headed for the elevators.

"She's not awake yet and she still looks pretty bad." Rogue warned.

He just grunted before the doors closed.

When they opened again, he practically ran towards the room. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that he needed to see her right there and then. He entered the room but found that she was still unconscious.

Hank and Scott looked over at the intruder, but quickly turned their eyes away without saying a word.

Logan took a seat next to his fallen goddess, and shook his head. Although revenge had been sweet while he committed the act, sitting before her, the gratification disappeared. Even though deep down he knew it wasn't his fault, on the surface, he felt responsible for the state she was in. Perhaps if he had never been involved with her, she wouldn't have been a target. Perhaps if he had shown her that he truly cared about her, he could have protected her. Perhaps if he had just told her what he really wanted to say all this time, things could have been different.

Too many speculations and not a definite answer in sight was giving him a headache.

"Hey Wolverine. She doing okay?" Scott asked from across the room.

Logan turned his head to his X-leader and had almost forgotten about the other party in the room. Then, his eyes fell upon the baby in the case and the redhead on the bed. "What happened, Cyke?" He asked worriedly. He wanted to get up and check on them, but at the same time, he couldn't tear himself away from Ororo's bed.

"We had a girl." Scott responded and forced a smile.

"Congratulations." Logan commented and didn't want to push the subject further.

"Life's never simple living here, eh?" Scott asked lightly though he was obviously strained under the immense pressure of caring for his family.

"The day we were born, nothing was simple anymore." Logan responded simply. The two men gave a nod of understanding to each other before turning back to their ill loved ones.

-xoxo-

He stuffed another big spoonful of Double Chocolate Fudge ice cream into his mouth as he gazed absentmindedly at the television screen. It was playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, his favorite showt, but he couldn't even focus on even one of the turtles let alone try to keep up with the storyline of that episode.

The noise from the television eventually became too overbearing and he turned it off. Another spoonful entered his blue lips and he frowned. Everything in his life was so miserable at the moment. Storm, Jean and the baby were still in poor condition and he didn't know how to help any of them. The whole house had been feeling rather grim from the current situations. A brighter note was that Betsy and Warren were together again, which meant him and Warren were friends again. Yet, in actuality, he had lost a best friend to hang out with since Betsy was constantly with Warren now. He wasn't jealous in the least bit and he wished his friends the best, but he was reminded of how lonely his own life was and how the loneliness had been around for a rather long time now.

The last person he had a somewhat meaningful relationship was Lorna, but that was years ago and they were practically kids then. Not to mention, she was completely in love with Alex now.

Bobby clutched his chest for the dramatics – oh, another stab at the heart.

"It's amazing that you're still as lean as you are. All that ice-cream would have gone to my thighs." A smooth but unusually nervous voice said from behind him.

"I'm sure you have a good plastic surgeon to get rid of it… actually I know you do." Bobby commented bitterly.

"Ouch." Emma said jokingly, though she winced a bit from his attack even if she had expected it. She walked around the couch and stood on his left. He didn't look up.

"Mind if I sit here?" She asked awkwardly.

"Hey, it's a free country. You can sit wherever you want. You usually do whatever you want anyway so why is it so different now?" He asked sneeringly.

"So, I guess you're still pretty pissed at me…" She began as she sat down next to him.

"Pissed? That doesn't describe half of what I feel right now! How could you lie to me all this time? It was one thing being the number one bitch on the planet, but did you really have to toy with me like that? Geez.., you're a stinking telepath for god sakes'! You knew that I had this stupid crush on you and if you didn't feel the same way then, you should have just told me! Did you really have to lie and convince me that Warren was your boyfriend? Did you really think that I was so pathetic that I didn't even deserve the truth?!" Bobby exploded at her, arms flinging wildly in his rant and chocolate ice-cream flying all over the place. Half of it landed on Emma and her new designer dress. She looked down at her ruined Oscar de la Renta and then back at the fuming Bobby. She clenched her teeth for a split second but couldn't hold back any more.

"EXCUSE ME! I never thought you were pathetic! Goddamn it! You were the one who was sewn to that Brit for the past five months! I thought you were with her and toying with me. All those stupid flirtations and you actually pretending that you cared about who I was inside and not what people thought of me… I'm sorry if I was stupid enough to be convinced that maybe for once, I actually had a nice sweet guy who liked me for the girl inside and not for my exterior! How was I to know that you and Betsy weren't a real couple? Every time I saw you, you were with her! For those little moments when I got you alone, you made it seem like I might mean something to you and then she comes prancing in and claiming her territory again. And you can talk about me being a telepath and how I should have known about what you wanted. The truth is, despite what you and the rest of this household thinks, I'm still a human being with values and I don't pry into the minds of the men that I'm falling in love with! I'm not that despicable and I thought maybe… I could just let my guards down and get together with someone and learn about his habits and desires and needs and wants the old-fashioned way. But thank you for proving that I was absolutely out of my mind when I thought I could have done that with you." Emma yelled furiously, stood up and headed for the exit. She was done with him and she was going to leave before he saw her cry for she had been shedding way too many tears in the past few days, and frankly, it was unnerving.

However, she felt a strong grip on her right wrist, pulling her back.

"You're not going anywhere until we sort this out." Bobby's low calm voice stated matter-of-factly.

"We already did." She said and tried to pull her wrist back with her eyes completely focused on his grasp and unwilling to gaze up into his brown eyes.

"Oh no, we haven't! Let's re-trace what you just said… back to the part where you said you were falling in love…" He began.

"Oh just shut-up! Have I not been humiliated enough already?" She cut him off angrily and glared into his eyes, tears hanging on the corners of her own.

"Ohh…fuck it." Bobby murmured and pulled her into his arms to land a huge deep kiss on her. When he pulled back, she unexpectedly slapped him across the face.

"Oww! What was that for?" He exclaimed as he let go of her to rub his sore cheek.

"For pulling another stunt! And you accuse me of leading you on." She scoffed while trying to oppress the bit of mirth that she had received from the kiss.

"There is no winning with you! I finally get it now though… you're insanity is what making me crazy over you!" He pointed at her accusingly, the wild revelation having just dawned on him.

"Now, you're just being absolutely moronic. Forget that we ever had something going on – which was basically nothing. As soon as things cool around here, I'm leaving this odious mansion. And everything will go back to the way it was, and I wouldn't be blamed for everything anymore." Emma spat out before she turned and headed for the door. Part of her wanted him to stop her again, but he didn't this time.

She didn't let her disappointment show though. She held her head high and walked back to her room. When the door slammed shut and she was in the privacy of her own room, she flopped on to her bed and smothered her head into the pillow. Those wretched tears were back.

-xoxo-

Grasping three daisies in hand, he ambled stealthily into the room. First, he approached his godmother's bed and climbed onto the chair beside her bed. He placed one daisy carefully on her bedside table and blew a kiss to her sleeping form. "Get well soon, Aunty Stormy." He whispered quietly before sliding off the chair.

His next patient was his unpredictable Aunty Jeanie. Uncle Scott had dozed off in his chair, so Jeremy made sure he was extra quiet so not to wake him. He knew how cranky Uncle Scott could get since papa had ranted many times about the painful danger room sessions. Although, Jeremy couldn't understand how something as wondrous as the danger room could ever be painful.

He walked towards the patient's bedside and placed the second daisy right next to her pillow. "J'remy hope you get well soon too, Aunty Jeanie." He whispered lowly and blew a kiss at her.

Then, his third patient - the most precious thing he had ever seen. He had never seen a real baby before considering he was the youngest in this huge mansion and he had only existed for three and half years. But the tiny being in the clear plastic box amazed him. It was like finding a treasure still in its treasure chest.

"Hiya." He whispered to the sleeping babe.

"I bought y' une fleur." He said in his mix of English and French. He didn't know where to place the flower, however, and so he put it on the floor next to the incubator.

Then, his eyes fixed on the resting child again and unbeknownst to him, the words came tumbling out. "Don't worry. Y'll be fine. I'll protect y'."

As his father had taught him, as soon as a promise had been made, one had to see it through; and so, even though he was only three and half years old, on that day, Jeremy learned what it meant to be honorable to his words and loyal to a friend.

-xoxo-

Blink once.

Blink twice.

Her eyes finally opened and adjusted to the dim fluorescent light of the medical lab.

Her mind was a blur and she attempted to sort out her memories of the past couple of days. She turned her head to her left and was greeted by a daisy. A small smile appeared on her tired visage but it would only last a mere few seconds when her eyes finally landed on her somnolent husband.

"Scott?" She called though it was barely audible. Nevertheless, Scott woke up immediately and quickly took a defense stance. Jean let out a hollow giggle at the sight and Scott realized that it was his wife who had woken him. He smiled brightly as he bent down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Well, it's about time you came back to me." He greeted with relief.

"How long have I been out of it?" She asked.

"Too long. But welcome back, my darling." He said and kissed her again, but this time softly on the lips.

"Glad to be back. So what happened?" She queried since her memory was failing her.

Scott's face fell and he said gently, "We had a baby girl."

The memories came rushing back and Jean rapidly attempted to get out of bed. Her child came into her periphery now and an anguished cry escaped her when she saw the state her baby was in. Scott held her back down, however, and said firmly, "I just got you back and I'm not going to let you jeopardize yourself. Just lie back down and I'll bring her over to you."

She looked up at him doubtfully but followed his order nonetheless. He was her husband after all, and she trusted him.

"Good." He said simply before he went over to their daughter who was sleeping soundly. Ever so gently, he rolled the incubator and the respirator that was attached to it over to his wife.

"Meet our daughter, Jeanie." He said softly.

Tears welled up in her eyes and Jean reached out to touch the side of the clear case. "Is she… will she be…"

"Now that you're back, she'll be fine." Scott answered and sat on the edge of her bed. With one hand, he gripped his wife's hand, and with the other, he placed it protectively on the incubator.

"I'm so sorry, Scott." She choked out and the tears began to fall.

He looked her sternly in the eyes and said, "Listen to me, Jean. There isn't anything to be sorry for. You gave me a beautiful girl – you gave me a family. Never apologize for that."

"Okay." She murmured and her gaze shifted back to their daughter.

"Scott, what are we going to name her?" She asked suddenly as it dawned on her that the child was still nameless.

"Well… I've been thinking about that. What do you think of Sara?" Scott asked quietly. She looked at him again with disbelief in her eyes.

"Are you serious?" She questioned slowly.

"Yeah. I think it'll be a good way to honor your sister. Sara Rachel Summers." He responded with a smile.

Jean smiled in return and her eyes shifted back to their daughter. "Sara Rachel Summers… welcome to the world." She murmured.

Scott leaned in and kissed his wife's cheek.

He finally had a family again.

-xoxo-

The night cast a velvet black on his surrounding. The dim lights that could be seen from a distance were slowly disappearing as the fog rolled in. With the grace of a cat and the help of his Bo-stick he leapt over the brick wall. He landed on his feet without even a sound.

He adjusted his eyes to darkness – alert and ready for anything that she could throw at him. Yet, after following in the direction of that one light that illuminated from that one window on the great mansion, he had an inkling that she was completely alone. He also had a feeling that that was exactly what she wanted.

When he approached the side of the mansion's brick wall, he climbed up without any effort whatsoever. He knew that this would probably be the easiest part of his night. Hanging from the ledge of the lit room, he took a deep breath before he pushed the already slightly ajar frame open. He pushed his body over the ledge, landing quietly on his feet again.

Then he saw the blond tresses that peeked over the astute red leather chair.

"Bonsoir, cher." She said in a low sultry voice while she spun the chair around.

"Belle." He greeted curtly when his ruby eyes met her sapphire ones.

"Is dat how y're gonna greet your wife? Wit' such hostility?" She queried, an amused sarcasm draped over her words.

"Wife only in name, cherie. Remember dat." He said as his stance relaxed slightly. So far, she appeared calm, lucid almost. As he studied her even closer, he could faintly see a hint of that young Belle he had fallen in love when he was barely a teenager.

"How 'bout we make it more than in just name, den?" She proposed seductively, as she got up and let the silk white robe slip off her body, revealing a lacy slip dress that went only as far down as her mid-thigh.

There was no denying that she was the living definition of her name and Remy took a big gulp as he was suddenly whisked away down memory lane. They had shared so many great memories. She was his first love and if the circumstances had been different on their wedding day, he knew that they would still be together now.

Then again, if it weren't for the circumstances on his wedding day, he wouldn't have his son – the most valuable thing in his life.

She sashayed over to him, every part of her body inviting him to take advantage of the situation. She placed a soft hand on his face, pressed her half-naked body up against his and said in a sexy sultry voice, "Come on, Remy. Dere ain't anyt'ing wrong wit' making love to your wife."

His hand snatched hers and threw her off of him. She stumbled back and caught her balance just in time. Any trace of that adolescent innocent Belle was gone as her blue eyes became icy, cold – deadly.

"Give me what I came here for." Remy demanded firmly.

"If I ain't gonna get what I want, ain't no way in hell you're gonna get what you want." She hissed at him.

"No more games, Belle. It's time t'end dis sham of a marriage." He stated resolutely.

Instead of answering, Belle crossed her arms as she observed her husband. Then her lips curled up to an amused ominous smile. "Sure did take y' a long time t'find me." She simply commented, her voice cool and even.

"What can I say? Didn't know we owned a summer villa in de middle of nowhere." He replied sarcastically.

"Duex mois, Remy. It took y' two months to find me." She continued, still obviously pleased with herself for whatever reason.

"What is your point?" He asked finally as he was tired of her games.

"Y' didn't wanna find me, did y'?" She stated more than asked.

"What are y'…"

"Y' have doubts about wanting a divorce. Y' have doubts about marrying dat skunk head. Y' have doubts about settling down wit' une famille. Dere's still a part of y' dat wants to be wit' me and dat wants to honor dis marriage. Admit it, Remy. Y' still love me." She explained.

"Belle, don't do dis t'yourself." He said calmly. Sympathy and guilt was overcoming him. He had known that Belle was still in love with him, but he didn't know she would be so delusional about his lack of love for her. At that very moment, he would have rather faced a hundred scowling murderous Belles than the desperate vulnerable Belle in front of him.

"Don't do what? Remy, I know dere has t'be a part of y' dat still loves me. Y' don't wanna end dis marriage. Y're gonna come back t'me. I know it. De love we have is de kind dat will survive all obstacles. It'll always come back to just you and me." She argued adamantly, even desperately.

"Belle…please." He said uncomfortably as he ran a hand through his head.

"Please what? Remy, just tell me y'love me." She requested as she strolled towards him. He took a few steps back and she became dejected.

"Belle, dere will always be a part of me dat loves y' but not de part dat matters." Remy said gently.

"How can y' give up on us when we haven't even had de chance t' start? I can give y' all y' want. We can have une famille and…"

"I already have a family, chere." He interrupted her with the cold hard truth.

"Dat's supposed to be our family! I'm the de one who's supposed t'be de mere of your child. Dat is how a marriage works – dat is how love is supposed to work!" She yelled angrily, eyes burning with rage and contempt directed at her own life more so than him.

Without any trepidation, Remy walked towards his wife. He calmly took her into his arms and said, "Love isn't supposed t' work a certain way, chere. Life doesn't follow a plan."

"But it was supposed to for us… you're my husband, Remy. You belong wit' me." She sobbed into his chest, unable to let go of him at all.

"I'm sorry, Belle. I didn't want dis t'happen. I didn't want t'hurt y' like dis and on de day we took our vows, I meant it. But… I'm not going to apologize for de life I have now, de family I have now. Don't y' just want to be free, Belle? Free from de past dat will never result into a possible future? Free from a love dat doesn't exist anymore? Free to finally be happy?" He questioned as he lifted her chin up with his finger. She looked up at him with teary blue eyes and saw the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. The only difference was there wasn't a trace of love in his eyes for her.

"My life has always been about you." She murmured the truth that they both knew.

"It's time t' let it be more than dat." He said.

"Remy… can y' just hold me for one more night for old times' sake?" She requested softly.

"Maybe for a couple of hours…"

-xoxo-

The clock stated 3:30 a.m. in bold red neon. He untangled his arms from around her waist, and got out of bed quietly. He smoothed over this clothing and put his trench coat back on. He slipped his hand into his coat's inner pocket and the legal paper was still there. He let out a soft sigh of relief as he exited via the window.

He climbed down to the ground and took off in the same direction from which he came.

He was going home to his family.

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