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Catharsis

Chapter 2

Jean stopped at the head of the stairs, bludgeoned with the smell of frying eggs. Nausea rolled over her as she held her breath trying not to take in any more of the offending odor until she got control of herself. So consumed with the effort not to run to the bathroom, she didn't hear Scott step up behind her.

"You're not suddenly afraid of the stairs are you?" He joked, settling his hands at her waist. "Or is it Logan's eggs?"

She laughed aloud, nervous at how close he was to the mark. "I just realized that we have a Danger Room session today, and I'm not dressed for it."

"Really? I completely forgot." He kissed her neck gently. "You are rather distracting in the morning."

"Stop it." She brushed him off, unable to focus on anything but keeping the contents of her stomach where they belonged.

"Okay, then." Scott let her go and took the steps down. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Mind over body, mind over body. I can do this. "Dry toast."

It was Scott's turn to laugh out loud. "Now that's funny. Seriously though, hun. Pancakes? French toast? Cereal?" He turned back to her and all his amusement evaporated when he saw her face. "What the hell is going on with you?"

Jean could only run past him, turn left down the hall to the common bathroom and slam the door behind her. :I'm okay.:

"Like hell!" He said through the door, even the heavy wooden door couldn't muffle his concern. "I said that you looked pale yesterday, but you wouldn't listen. You're not taking care of yourself, Jean!" He paused while she retched again. "I'm going to get Hank."

:Don't! I'm fine, this is totally normal.:

"Normal? For what? The unending flu?"

Washing her mouth out with water from the sink, Jean glanced at her reflection. She did look terrible, but truth be told, a part of her was so relieved. Such strong morning sickness was a sign of a healthy pregnancy. Yet, this is not how she wanted to tell Scott. She had always imagined some sweet gift for him, a football or a cheesy t-shirt that said 'World's best Dad' or something sappy and saccharine. But, when had her life ever been sappy or predictable?

She opened the door and smiled. I really hope I don't smell like puke right now, that is not how I want him to remember this moment. "It's not the flu."

Scott shook his head, completely clueless. "Fill in the blanks for me, Jean. Don't make me guess, you know how much I hate that."

Whispering, she hoped that no one was hiding around the corner. "I'm pregnant."

He tilted his head to the side as if he hadn't heard her properly. "What?"

"Pregnant. About ten weeks."

"Oh my god." He swept her up in his arms and spun her around. "Oh my god!" He put her down suddenly, grasping her shoulders and holding her out at arms length. "How long have you known?"

"A while, I just wanted to make sure that we were really, really pregnant before I told you."

"Really pregnant? There's a difference between pregnant and really pregnant?" He waved it off. "Doesn't matter. Let Hank know we're meeting him in Medbay, I want him to check you out." He grabbed her hand and led her to the elevator down the hall. "Please don't tell me that you told him before me."

"No one knows Scott." She stopped, pulling her hand away. "And I don't want anyone to know, it still too soon."

"What do you mean? Ten weeks, that's good right?"

"We're not even out of the first trimester yet, chances of miscarriage go down to ten percent after the thirteenth week. Let's at least wait until then."

Scott nodded, his jaw set. "Agreed. But no more missions, no Danger Room. You're retired from here on out."

"I can't do that Scott. You still need me." She motioned down the hall to where the rest of the team was eating in the kitchen. "They need me too. I'll cut back and not engage in combat, but I'm still doing fieldwork. I'm essential, don't try to tell me that I'm not."

Holding his hands out to her for truce, he projected calm. "Let's not argue about this now. I want to go downstairs and get a first look at my baby."

Jean accepted his hand with a reluctant smile. " 'My baby'. Like you were the only one to be involved."

"How many people does it take? Have we been doing something wrong all this time?" Scott squeezed her hand and led her to the elevator.

Nearly a month later, the weather was just starting to get warm enough to go outside without a coat and Jean was taking every advantage of mother nature's generosity. She had spread a blanket out on one of the lawns near the lake and brought a book with her to enjoy the afternoon. The baby was not yet showing, even if her pants did feel quite snug these days. Between the pages of her book she had tucked one of the ultrasound pictures that Hank had printed out for her. It was a reminder; now that the morning sickness had faded away that she was indeed pregnant, even if the picture was just a white gummy bear looking smudge in a field of black.

A branch snapped behind her and Jean tucked the picture into the pages out of sight. "Hey Rogue."

"Hey yourself." Rogue grouched, stepping down the knoll to join Jean. Rogue could no longer hide her future expectations, as her belly had rounded nicely beneath her clothes. She eased herself down onto the blanket. "I can't bend in the middle. It's the weirdest feeling to now have resistance when you bend. Nothing's ever been there before, and now it's constantly getting in the way."

Jean nodded, trying to offer understanding. "I felt so bad when you knocked the glass off the table last night."

"Oh yeah. I thought Remy was going was going to hyperventilate, he was laughing so hard. He just doesn't understand that I have a hard time remembering how big I've gotten." Rogue patted her belly. "I can't believe how fast everything is moving, he's going to be here in just three months. I'm going to be a mom."

Jean looked out over the water and at the shore on the other side. "But you're a mom now."

"I never thought about it that way." Rogue was wistful. "Remy's got of lot of diapers to do after all this."

"And laundry." Jean offered, nudging her friend with her elbow. "And cooking."

Rogue laughed so hard, she snorted. "Stop, it! You're going to make me cry."

Jean smiled and looked up at the cloudless sky and wished she could tell her friend that she understood. But she and Scott had decided not to share their happy news until after the amniocentesis results had come back from Hank, who even now was analyzing the data in the Medlab. She couldn't in her life remember a time when she'd been so happy, that life felt so good. Her baby was growing so well and looked perfect on every scan she'd been able to beg from Hank. Scott was walking on cloud nine; she'd never seen him smile so much. Life for the time being was quiet. Scott had quietly delegated a lot of their responsibilities to X-Factor to give time off to the team. Logan had taken off on his bike feeling the call of wanderlust. Hank was helping Moira MacTaggert with some research while being at the beck and call of two expectant moms. Life had settled into a predictable pattern and Jean loved every calm day.

Now she just had to wait until seven o'clock, when Hank had estimated the results to be completed.

"Earth to Jean." Rogue said, looking curiously over. "Where did you fly off to?"

"Oh, just a lot on my mind." Jean shrugged. "Nothing new."

"You know, with things being so boring around here, you and Scott should take a vacation. Go somewhere exotic and hot."

"Things aren't boring around here." Jean patted Rogues belly lightly. "We're sticking around in case anything happens."

"Nothing is happening. Unless you count my endless consumption of grapefruit, and I hate grapefruit."

"What is up with that?" Jean asked, genuinely curious.

"I have no freaking idea. And the heartburn afterwards, I tell you, I pay for it. But that's almost all I want to eat."

"Lord help Remy if we run out."

"That boy has to have a job, can't sit around and look pretty all the time."

"Speaking of which-" Jean checked her watch, 6:15. "We should head back."

At seven o'clock, Jean and Scott got into the elevator in silence, holding hands. He gave her hand a strong squeeze, but said nothing. She squeezed back and prayed.

Hank met them in the doorway to the Medlab with a wolf like grin. "Great news. Everything looks great, absolutely normal."

Jean felt her heart lope to a strange beat. "Normal? What is normal?"

Scanning the paper again, Hank pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one finger. "Male, homosuperior. Is that normal enough for you?"

"A boy! A mutant boy!" Scott hugged Hank, clapping him soundly on the back.

"Thank you, Hank. Thank you so much." Jean breathed out, feeling the weight that had settled since she took the pregnancy test two months ago lift from her chest. Everything was going to be fine.