A/N: Thanks so much for the wonderful praise you've all given! I especially want to thank an anonymous reviewer who gave me the idea for the Christmas gift…it worked well (I hope!).

Oh and Sprinkles, I'm glad to have helped out your writer's block! Thanks for the "drunk from eggnog" idea, too! And not to worry…they'll have a date before too long, I promise…

I might still write a "end of the night" part for the next segment, so maybe a 'real' kiss will happen, as per Sprinkles' and Blades' suggestions…Who knows? My muse hasn't told me yet!

Disclaimer: yadda, yadda, yadda…don't sue…I'm a poor college student and it's not my fault my muse makes me use these guys!

Ok, now on with part 3…

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Part 3: Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time…

          As Ororo entered the den, Remy swiftly came up to her and dipped her. With a cocky smile, he planted a sweet kiss on her lips and then lifted her back to her feet.

          "Remy!" She squealed. "Let me go!"

          "But you be under de mistletoe, chère." He grinned, pointing up.

          "I do not care!" Ororo laughed.

          "Ah, you break dis boy's heart, Stormy."

          "Do not call me that."

          He flashed her one of his more charming smiles and let go of her waist with a slight bow. She laughed and then looked around the room for Logan as Remy sauntered back to Rogue, trying to look innocent. Logan had gone back to their original chair and she slowly made her way over there. After all, he still had to open her gift. She sat on the armchair and placed the box in his lap.

          "I hope you like it." She said.

          With a nod and a wink, Logan carefully opened the package. Two long velvet pouches were inside and he lifted one with a sideways glance at Ororo. She sipped her eggnog, trying not to seem too anxious as he opened his gift.

She is just so beautiful, he thought randomly.

With a slight shake of his head, he pulled the silk string and the pouch opened up. The lights glinted off metal and he pulled out an amazing decorated sai. The handle was wrapped in black leather and a silver thread was wound around it. A traditional Japanese dragon was etched into the metal with just a hint of green and red color in the tiny crevices. He opened the other pouch and slid out a matching sai. Instead of a dragon, it was a bonsai tree etched carefully into the metal. Upon closer inspection of both sais, he noticed a few Japanese characters etched on the base of the metal. Honor. Loyalty. Respect. Love.

It was Logan's turn to be dumbfounded. He had seen sais similar to these in Mariko's house so many years ago and he remembered noting how beautiful they were. Ororo must've seen them, too, when she had come for the wedding, he realized.

"Ororo…" He trailed off, looking up at her. At that moment, Ororo couldn't remember when she had a larger smile on her face.

"I'm so glad you like them."

"They're wonderful."

He leaned up and gave her a gentle kiss. Again, a tingling sensation ran up Ororo's spine and it was her turn to pull away first. He noticed she was blushing and turned away, trying not to notice her increased heart rate and the scent of desire washing over his senses.

"Merry Christmas." They said at the same time and it broke the sudden tension. They broke into laughter and suddenly noticed everyone else in the room. Ororo realized they had been in their own little world for most of the morning and she stood up.

"I'm going to pass out some more gifts, Logan." She announced.

"Yeah, me too." He nodded, placing the sais carefully to the side of the chair.

He watched her walk towards Remy and Rogue and sighed. Her hips had such a subtle yet amazingly sexy sway to them. As she walked, her hair seemed to float around her, almost like a halo of sorts, he mused. Her laughter reached his ears and it was one of the best sounds he had ever known.

Jesus, bub, ya got it bad.

He blinked a few times and came back to reality. Jubilee was walking towards him with a present and he quickly remembered it was Christmas, which he had forgotten while he was lost in his thoughts. He put on his best smile, which was more of a sideways grin, and tried to forget about his deeper feelings for Ororo for the rest of the morning.

Later that night…

          The annual Christmas party was well underway by 10pm that night. Most of the 'X-Family' was in attendance and everyone was gathered in the den. Christmas lights were hung on the mantle and over the windows, giving the room a soft glow. The scent of pine hung in the air and it mingled with the sweet smells of apple and pumpkin pie. Sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies were laid out. Of course, this was after Jean had to make up a new batch, all the while giving Logan an evil, knowing glare.

Earlier in the evening, Logan had made sure the eggnog was the real deal with a little help from his good friends Captain Morgan and Jack Daniels. Most people didn't even notice, as per usual. He had perfected what he called the 'Eggnog Ratio' of the two potent alcohols a long time ago and he managed to get just about everyone drunk at every Christmas party. (Plus, he noted, it helped that Jeannie made sure there was a constant circulation of rather full wine glasses.) He chuckled to himself as he looked around at the results of his (and Jean's) handiwork.

Charles was extremely talkative and kept laughing at very stupid jokes. Rogue was hooking up a karaoke machine, which was never a good sign, and Jubilee was enthusiastically helping. He noticed with a wince that she had a large cup of eggnog in one hand.

Oh well, he inwardly chuckled. Not like it'll kill the kid.

Scott was feeling pretty good, he noticed. He was using his hands quite a lot when he was talking, which was always a pretty good indication that good old One Eye was on his way to getting plastered. Jean had a little sway to her step, as did Ororo. In fact, they were defiantly leaning on each other for support as they walked into the kitchen, laughing hysterically as they went. Remy was pretending to be fine as he talked to Rogue, but Logan could hear him slurring his words every so often. Bobby was having a little too much fun making icicles for the tree and had made a few for Hank's fur. Being the distinguished doctor that he is, Henry proceeded to smash caramelized popcorn in his friend's hair.

Kurt was in the holiday spirit, that was for sure. He had a Santa Claus hat on his head and was holding mistletoe in one hand. So far, he had managed to steal a kiss from Jean, Ororo, Jubilee, Kitty and even Emma. His goal was Rogue and he was trying to find a safe way to pull that off.

"Merry Christmas, mein freund." He greeted as he appeared next to Logan.

"Thanks, elf, but ya already said that about five times t'me tonight."

"Ja, it must be your verdammt eggnog!" Kurt laughed.

"I don't know what yer talkin' about, bub." Logan said, winking.

Kurt gave him an obvious wink in return and then leaned on his friend's shoulder.

"So I hear you're taking Ororo out for New Year's?"

"Word travels fast." Logan mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"It's good, mein freund."

"Why's that, Kurt?"

"Da Du bist das Verlieben."

Logan sighed. He understood his friend's words and he was grateful he spoke in German. Logan didn't want any eavesdroppers.

"Nein, ich liebe sie schon."

"Es freut mich sehr zu hören, dass..."

"Yo, Wolvie, you gotta sing for us!" Jubilee called over, ending the discussion.

"In yer dreams, darlin'." Logan replied, sipping on a glass of eggnog.

"Why not?" Kurt said, looking at his friend shocked. "You have a wunderbar voice! I've heard you sing in your shower!"

"Shuddup, Kurt." Logan warned, raising his eyebrow.

"Ah picked out a song everyone knows, sugah. Y'all do just fine!" Rogue encouraged.

          "Yes, Logan, why not enchant us all?" Hank called over. Logan glared at the good doctor but Hank just smiled his toothy grin and threw back a glass of wine like it was a shot.

          Out of the corner of his eye, Logan saw a flash of white and red. Ororo and Jean were each holding glasses of wine and waiting to hear his answer.

As he looked over at her, she did it. The ultimate clincher move. The 'no man can say no' move. The 'I better get my Canadian ass up there to sing if I ever want to see her naked' move. Ororo winked at him and gave him a sweet (albeit drunken) smile. If she had only done that, he would've been fine. But then she just had to go and lick her top lip in an extremely seductive yet challenging way. The move had been made. It was his turn to step up to the plate and he didn't dare miss the ball.

Not one to turn down the challenge, Logan put down his cup and gave Kurt a look that read 'I am so whipped'. Amid drunken hoots and catcalls, he made his way to the karaoke machine but didn't take the microphone Rogue held out.

"I won't need one a'those." He said simply.

"Izzat song ok, Wolvster?" Jubilee slurred, pointing to the screen.

"How's about this one instead?" Logan said, picking up a tape.

 Jubilee and Rogue nodded and quickly set up the machine. Everyone in the room had their eyes glued to Logan. Most of his friends were afraid to hear his gruff voice try to sing, but Ororo was smiling like a fool and Kurt was giving him a 'thumb's up'.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folk dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe

Can help to make the season bright

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow

Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa's on his way

He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh

And every mother's child is gonna spy

To see if reindeer really know how to fly

And so I'm offering this simple phrase

For kids from one to ninety-two

Although it's been said many times, many ways

Merry Christmas to you

They know that Santa's on his way

He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh

And every mother's child is gonna spy

To see if reindeer really know how to fly

And so I'm offering this simple phrase

For kids from one to ninety-two

Although it's been said many times, many ways

Merry Christmas to you"

As he carried the last note to completion, he noticed he had captivated (or maybe just shocked) his audience. Hank began clapping and soon everyone joined in. Rogue gave a few hoots and Jean began calling out 'encore!'.

"That was wonderful, Logan!" Charles said, smiling. "I never knew you could sing."

"And this is why." Logan cracked. Charles laughed loudly, again a sign of how drunk the man was, and suggested he sing another song.

"Ok, ok." Logan finally spoke up. "I'll sing one more, but I ain't using this stupid machine again."

Henry nodded in agreement and quickly sat himself at the piano that was to the left of the tree. After some fumbling with the keys, Hank started playing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

Ororo walked (or rather stumbled) over to Logan and stood by his side, smiling. He glared at her and was ready to give her a sarcastic comment about how drunk she was. However, he never got the chance.

"Thank you." She whispered, planting a kiss on his cheek. He inhaled and could smell the rum and wine mixed in with her natural scent. But he smiled at her and nodded.

Looking at his friends, they were all well on their way to being drunk, many of them leaning on each other or the piano for support. They were all waiting for him to start singing the song Henry had begun and he would just make them upset if he bagged out of it. Logan sighed and succumbed to his future: this was going to be a long night, but at least he was with a whole bunch of drunken people who just happened to be his family.

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Ok, I don't speak German whatsoever. I used an online translation thing, so I don't know if the grammar is right or completely messed up. Anyways, here's the "translation":

Kurt: "Because you are falling in love."

Logan: "No, I love her already"

Kurt: "I am very pleased to hear that…"

As usual, please R&R!!

~*PAF*~

Jubes