Adventures in Childbirth
Disclaimers: This story is co-written with dizi. Jessie belongs to her and is used with her permission. Victor Creed, Jubilation Lee and Logan belong to Marvel and are used without permission. All other characters belong to dizi and myself. We are not making any money from our cold hearted kidnapping of the Marvel characters. We will put them back where we found them, a little shaken up but okay.
A/N: This story follows the story line created by dizi in her stories 'Waiting' and 'No Place Like Home'.
The mansion was quiet. The X-Men had been called out to California to rescue a group of mutants that had been kidnapped by a pharmaceutical company needing "volunteers" for their latest X-gene screening test. He had been left behind to watch Victor Creed and because both their mates were at the end of their pregnancies.
He was going to be a father. He had a lot of trouble squashing the concept into his head, it was so big. He and Creed called a truce when Logan had brought Jessie to the mansion almost a year ago. She had been attacked in their home and was not able to contact Vic for help. Logan and Jubilee had responded to her call. After discussing it with the X-Men and his mate, Creed had agreed to allow the team to guard her. He was not happy about it but when he smelled her pregnancy, he jumped at it. He was in no position to protect his breeding mate. He took up residence in the sub-basement holding cell to satisfy the pantywaist X-Men. The only ones who trusted him were Wolverine and Jubilee.
Logan still snickered to himself when ever he saw Creed's behavior around Jessie. He was attentive and loving, almost to the point of nausea. In the last three months, he had almost become domesticated. Now, when the team is out and Logan is left to guard Sabretooth, he would let him out of his cage to wander around the mansion. Creed never strayed far from his mate. Logan could understand it. He was never far from his own mate, especially now. The bond made sure of that.
All ferals bond with their mates but Jessie's empathy made her bond with Creed considerably stronger than Logan and Jubilee's. Logan can still argue with Jubilee. Creed cannot argue with Jessie, and Jessie will not argue with him. It was funny to watch them negotiate the finer points of their relationship. It was almost a dance, each cooing at the other, trying to make their point. He and Jubilee just let 'er rip and made up later. Too bad they cannot fight like normal couples. Make up sex is great. But then, make up sex is how Jubilee and Logan got to where they are today.
Jubilee's pregnancy changed her in many ways. Her powers tripled in intensity and caused havoc with the electronics in the mansion. She was not allowed to touch any of the computers or TV's. The coffee pot was moved to Ororo's room each night and brought out every morning to prevent Jubilee from frying it. She was allowed to make toast whenever she wanted but the toaster had to be replaced each time she used it. Scott had arranged to have two hundred toasters delivered to the mansion during her third month. They were going through an average of three a day and only had six left.
Sex had become wild for them. They quickly found out that pregnant women had an incredible sex drive and they took full advantage of it. Her powers raged out of control during sex starting around her fourth month. The X-Men were frequently treated to loud explosions after which, Logan would wander around the mansion, his sideburns singed off and a silly grin on his face.
He found the other occupants of the mansion in the den, watching a movie. Creed and Jessie were in their usual position, twined together on the sofa. It had become so normal to see them wrapped in each other's arms that Bobby had taken to calling them JessieVic. It had gotten to the point that all the residents did the same. Vic was rubbing Jessie's bulging stomach and purring loudly.
Jubilee was sitting on the other end of the couch with a sullen, sleepy look on her face. Pregnancy was not wearing well on her. She was very small and the bulge of his child could qualify for its own zip code. She was one week overdue and she was huge. Between trips to the bathroom and trying to find a comfortable position, she did not get much sleep last night.
Jessie was totally opposite. She was almost a Madonna, she was so serene. Her pregnancy had been very smooth and she appeared to be enjoying the experience. Creed had calmed so much since the moment he smelled she was pregnant that Logan was concerned about his ability to live in the wild again.
He walked up behind his wife and kissed the top of her head. "How are ya feelin', darlin'?" he asked.
"I'm as big as the mansion, my feet are so swollen that I can't wear shoes, I have enough heartburn that I could light up New York, I have to pee every five minutes 'round the clock, and I'm constipated. How the hell do you think I feel?" she snarled at him.
Oh, great. One of those kind of days. Now, Logan had sensitivity training. All the X-Men had it. Scott insisted. Logan's presence in the classroom did not indicate that he had paid attention to what was said. Usually, he was the most forward thinking member of the team. He believed that people should be accepted for their own merits, not their gender. He knew too many superpowered women to be careless with his words but occasionally, he would pop a doozie out there. This was one of those times.
"Look at it this way, Jubes," he reasoned. "Ya don't hafta worry about if yer socks match. It's not like ya can see yer feet anymore."
The sharp intake of breath from JessieVic was his first clue that he had said something wrong. The next clue came in the form of a paff that slammed into his chest and knocked him out of the den into the hall. The last clue came from Jubilee herself. She was wallowing in the cushions of the sofa, trying to get out and swearing a blue streak at him. When she started to threaten the continued existence of a certain body part of his that he could have sworn was her favorite, he knew he was in big trouble.
He laid on the floor in the hall, waiting for his lung to heal as Jubilee finally got out of the cushy couch by rolling on her side and pushing herself up to her feet. She stomped over to him, still swearing and bright pink plasma swirling around her hands. She was nearly to the point of tossing the shining ball at him when she gasped and grabbed her belly. The glow winked out as she moaned. Logan could smell the pain she was feeling.
"Jubes?" he questioned. "Are ya alright?"
She held up her hand for quiet until the pain passed.
"That was worse than the others," she gasped.
"'Others'?" Logan growled, getting to his feet and taking her arm. "Whadaya mean, 'others'? Have ya been havin' these pains fer a while?"
"Since yesterday evening," she told him as he escorted her to a chair.
"Why didn't ya tell me?" he yelled.
"We've been in four times with false alarms already," she told him as she lowered herself into the chair. "I want to be sure this time. I'm tired of going home still pregnant."
"When will ya be sure? When the baby's hangin' outta ya?" Logan shook his head at her stubborn nature. "How far apart are they?"
"About four minutes," she told him.
"Shit Jubilee," he swore. "This ain't no false alarm."
"I'm still not sure," she complained.
"C'mon, darlin'. Yer goin' ta the hospital."
"But what about Jessie? She can't stay here alone. And you have to put Vic back in his cage."
The scent of amniotic fluid filled his sinuses just as Creed jumped up, Jessie in his arms, and started swearing. The front of his pants were soaked with the sticky liquid.
"They're comin' with us," Logan told her.
It took them a while to get to the car. Jubilee needed to stop every few minutes and hold on to Logan until a contraction passed. By the time they stood beside the car, Jessie's labor had also started.
"I'm not sitting next to Vic," Jubilee insisted. "He smells like a wet dog and I'm already nauseous. I'll sit with Jessie but not him."
"I wanna sit with my frail," Vic told him stubbornly.
"Jessie, will you sit with me?" Logan asked Creed's mate.
"I prefer Victor but since you're his friend, I'll sit with you."
He flipped the keys to his Jeep to Creed. "Drive," he ordered. "I'll watch Jessie."
"She's my frail, I'll sit with her." Creed snarled.
"Why don't I drive," Jubilee asked them, sarcastically. She and Jessie were left to hold each other up as the two men argued. Jessie's labor was progressing quickly and Jubilee was beginning to worry. If Logan and Creed did not get this straightened out soon, they would be having their babies in the garage. It took a moan from Jessie to end the argument.
"Get in," Creed ordered. "I'll drive."
They tore out of the garage and onto Greymalkin Lane, making the turn on two wheels. Vic was in the drivers seat with his knees bunched up near the dash. Jessie was sitting behind him, slouched in the seat with her legs pressed against the back of his seat. He did not dare move the seat back. Logan was sandwiched between the two women holding hands with them both. Alternately, as each woman had a contraction, she would attempt to crush his hand. The scents of pain and amniotic fluid were thick in the car. Logan was getting nauseous and his hands were killing him.
Jessie was in the midst of a particularly strong contraction when he heard Creed hiss in pain.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded through gritted teeth.
"Sympathy pain," Creed said with a small moan. "Do I turn left here?"
"Right," Logan confirmed. Jubilee started another contraction and squeezed his hand as hard as she could just as Jessie eased off on the other one.
Creed made a wild right turn and barreled down a narrow street.
"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" Logan yelled.
"Ya told me 'right'." Vic protested.
"'Right' as in yeah," he growled. "This is a goddamn blind alley."
"How in the hell should I know?" Creed demanded. "I don't live in this fucked up town. I'm just a prisoner here."
"You're a guest," Jubilee corrected. "Can't I just go to the baby holding part, Wolvie? This hurts."
"I know, darlin'," he told her, hissing with pain as Jessie mashed his hand. "We'll get through this together."
Creed found a spot to turn the car around and retraced his path back to the road.
"Go straight," Jubilee told him. "Oh, damn. Here comes another one." Her breathing became uneven, moaning in pain. Her hand grabbed Logan's and began to squeeze as hard as she could. Logan was horrified to see her hands start to glow.
"Concentrate, Jube." he warned her. "Yer powers are activatin'."
"I'm trying, dammit," she hissed. The glow continued to brighten as her powers revved up. Jessie finally released his hand, signaling the end of her contraction and Logan quickly grabbed Jubilee's other hand and tucked them both under his arms.
"Let 'er rip, Jube." he instructed as he braced himself for the paff. A loud 'fwump' reverberated through the car as Jubilee's contraction peaked and her powers activated. Smoke poured out from under Logan's arms, filling the car with the acrid stench of scorched flannel and burning human flesh.
"Whoa!" Creed yelled. "What the hell are ya doin', Runt?" He cranked open the window and leaned out to gulp a lungful of fresh air.
"Her powers 'r outta control," Logan told him through his teeth. "Hank thought this might happen." He leaned back to catch his breath and heal some before the next round.
"Now he tells me," Vic mumbled. "Don't the X-Men have a collar?"
"Of course we have one," Jubilee said, her breathing still labored as the contraction wound down. "It's locked up in the Med-Lab."
"Great!" Creed said snidely. "Just fuckin' great! How in the hell are we gonna sneak ya inta the delivery room when yer spittin' fireworks?"
"That's my problem," Logan said through the pain. The wounds were healing now but pain still zinged across the singed nerve endings.
Logan actually had ninety seconds where he did not have to absorb paffs or have his hands clasped in a bone crushing grip. It was heaven. He finally had time to heal his bruised hands and burned flesh.
But it could not last forever. When Jessie began to groan and pant with her next contraction, Logan could have cried. His hands were busy holding together his torn and burned chest when Jessie groped for them. Not finding the comforting limb, her hand landed on his upper thigh and dug in. Thirty seconds later, his other thigh was also being given the same treatment but this hand was glowing. It was quickly joined by the other hand. Logan was whimpering in pain.
She did not blast him this time. The contraction was shorter and much less intense which was good. Not only for his thigh, but for the rest of them. Jessie had been protecting Creed from the pain of her labor by partially closing the link between them. This last contraction shattered the block she had erected and the full force of the pain traveled down the bond and slammed into Creed. Suddenly, he was in enormous pain.
He could not control the reaction. His foot slammed down on the brake and the Jeep fishtailed as the brakes locked up, leaving a long smear of tire rubber on the road. The driver of the car traveling behind them saw the brake lights and came squealing to a stop inches from the rear bumper of the Jeep.
Vic stumbled out of the car, one hand on his back and the other cradling his belly. He was furious. He had every intention of gutting the driver for having the balls to follow too close. The poor driver saw the huge form stomping over to his car, rage clear on his face, and began to shake. Sabretooth was in full control now. He had to protect his mate and unborn cub.
He stopped when he felt the bond pull him back. Jessie needed him. He looked back at the Jeep and saw her pale, frightened face leaning out of the window.
"Victor?" she called. "I'm okay but Jubilee needs to get to the hospital. She's close."
He quickly came to his senses. He never wanted Jessie to see Sabretooth. He had been keeping his personalities separate for as long as he had known her. Sabretooth was the animal she sensed but did not know and if he had his way, she would never know him.
A small hand poked out of the window on the other side of the car and a long stream of plasma shot skyward, exploding in a multicolored display of lights.
"That's flippin' great," he mumbled to himself. "Drivin' all over this backwater berg with two laborin' women and one's shootin' off fireworks. Can it get any worse?"
His answer was the sound of distant sirens, coming closer with each second. He ran back to the car and jumped in, gunning it and peeling away from the scene.
"Where's the flamin' hospital?" he demanded. "The cops 'r on our tail."
"Keep yer heads down," Logan told the women as he vaulted over the back of the passenger seat. "Yer gonna hafta shoot yer paffs out the window, Jubilee, or yer gonna hurt Jessie."
"Yer frail hurts my mate, I'll gut ya," Creed growled.
"It ain't like she can help it," Logan protested. "Turn right here."
"Ya knew she was overdue and ya didn't have the collar out where ya could grab it. Kinda stupid, ya know."
"If Jubes had told me she was in labor, I woulda got it before Hank left." Her response was a hard slap to the back of his head.
"Ya couldn't smell it?" Creed demanded, incredulously.
"She's been in pain fer the past month. The baby's big and hurtin' her hips." he defended.
"So ya got used ta smellin' pain from yer frail?" Vic was still surprised. The runt had always been so protective of the little firecracker. If anyone caused her pain, they would wake up in traction several days later.
Logan squirmed uncomfortably. "It's my fault she's in pain," he said in a low voice that only Creed could hear. "If I'd kept my pants zipped, she wouldn't be hurtin' so much."
"Right," Creed snorted. "Like ya'd ignore a tasty morsel like Jubilee. Ya love her as much as I love Jessie. Hell, you were the one what told me about the bond and why I couldn't get it up fer any other woman. Face it Runt, she's got ya by the short hairs and ya love it."
Creed pulled the car into the parking lot of the hospital and parked near the entrance. It was not actually a parking spot but he made it one. The fire hydrant would just have to find somewhere else to squat.
"C'mon Runt," Creed said as he and Logan extracted their respective mates from the back of the car. "Let's go have some pups."
They were just being directed to labor and delivery when they heard the sirens pull up in front of the hospital.
"Take 'em upstairs," Logan instructed Creed. "I'll take care of the cops."
"But Wolvie," Jubilee protested.
"Don't worry, darlin'," he said kissing her softly. "Ya ain't havin' my kid alone. Go with Vic. I'll be up as soon as I can." He strode off toward the front entrance of the hospital to meet the local constabulary.
"Jubilee?" Jessie said as they were wheeled to their rooms. "I'm scared."
"Me too," Jubilee told her. "We have to hold it together or the guys'll go ballistic and start tearing things up."
"Not Victor," Jessie said confidently. "He's too gentle to do that."
Jubilee just shook her head. They have had had this argument before. Jessie just could not see Vic in his Sabretooth mode. They had all tried to tell her but she had never seen Creed's other side, the part of him that can kill without a second thought. Logan had told her that even if she were presented all the evidence and a fully feral Sabretooth, Jessie still would not believe it.
"Logan will," Jubilee confided. "He's blaming himself for my pain. Oh..." She began to moan as another contraction hit. Tucking her hands into her armpits, she desperately tried to reabsorb the energy she was producing. She tried to tell Creed to call the mansion but the pain took her breath away. The only thing she could do was moan.
Creed's knees buckled as Jessie groaned and griped her bulging belly. They panted in tandem, breathing through the pain, Jessie as she was taught and Creed as his instincts told him.
The escort/orderly backed into a corner of the small elevator, trying to get away from the huge man in such obvious pain and the tiny woman glowing with restrained power.
"Why do I get all the freaks?" he mumbled.
The hospital accepted mutants, no questions asked. Mostly it was because Charles Xavier was their biggest patron. His donations alone had paid for most of the equipment they had in the emergency room. They could not afford to offend him by denying treatment to mutants. That did not mean that all of the employees were comfortable treating mutants, only that the official policy was that they accepted them. The hospital had been firebombed twice for their pro-mutant stance. Xavier had rebuilt it each time.
Creed was stopped at the nurses station by an older nurse who handed him a handful of paperwork to sign. His growl of protest was stopped by her stern look.
"They will need to change and get hooked up to the monitors," she told him in a no nonsense voice. "You have time to sign these." She grabbed his massive arm and dragged him to a chair and pushed him down. He immediately popped back up.
"I want ta see Jessie," he demanded, growling loudly.
"You will," she told him, "after you sign the paperwork." She shoved him back into the chair and stood beside him, her arms crossed. No one bucked the system when Ethel Crump was in charge.
He growled at her threateningly. She was not impressed. She had been dealing with doctors who thought they were God's gift to medicine for forty years. If she could take a swelled headed doctor down a few pegs, she could deal with an expectant father, even one as big as this one. She never knew the danger she was in.
Creed quickly signed the paperwork and handed it back to her. The Runt would have to do his own.
"You're with Mrs. Creed?" she asked. Vic grunted in response. "Where is Mrs. Lee's husband?"
"Downstairs tryin' ta get out of a parkin' ticket." Creed told her as he trotted down the hall toward Jessie's room.
Logan made it upstairs an hour later, a number of slips of paper in his hand and a scowl on his face. This baby was going to cost him a small fortune in fines.
He too, was stopped by Ethel the Hun and forced to sign the admitting paperwork but he did it with a little more grace than Vic. He only growled at the woman once before signing the papers.
"Where the hell have ya been?" Creed demanded as he came out of Jubilee's room, his chest still smoldering. "She's way outta control and I can't get anyone at the mansion ta pick up the phone."
"They're on a mission," he told the frantic feral. "I was busy doin' a two step with the police, tryin' ta convince 'em I had an emergency. Ya owe me a thousand bucks, by the way."
"What?" Vic demanded.
"Coulda been two but I talked 'em down. I'll pay the fines 'cause ya can't but ya gotta pay me back."
A moan floated out of Jessie's room. "I'm goin' back ta my frail," Vic said. "Yer turn ta play crispy critter fer the firecracker. I gotta heal." He slipped into the room across the hall from Jubilee's.
Logan was about to open the door to his wife's room when he heard Creed roar in anger. He barreled through the door into Jessie's room and found Creed holding a frightened, green clad man against the wall by the throat. The rage pouring off the huge man trying to trigger his own. Logan damped it down as best he could but the animal in him saw his arch enemy threatening a human and wanted to attack.
"Creed!" he barked. "Put him down."
"He had his fingers where they shouldn't be," Creed growled. "Only one who's been there is me."
'Dammit, I knew we should have brought Vic ta the classes.' Logan thought.
"He's doin' a cervical check," Logan told him. "He needs information."
"Like that?" Creed demanded.
"It ain't like he's telekinetic," Logan reasoned. "He's needs ta touch her ta get the information he needs ta deliver the baby."
Creed's eyes narrowed in ire. The young doctor was nearly in tears from fear.
"Ya don't hafta like it," Logan told him, "but it hasta be done. Get back ta Jessie. She needs ya."
He gave the doctor one more shake and dropped him to the floor. Logan helped the shaken man to his feet and dusted him off.
"He'll behave fer now," Logan told him, "But ya gotta be careful. I can't protect ya if anything happens ta Jessie or the baby."
"Is he always like this?" he hissed.
"He's on his best behavior right now," Logan told him. "He doesn't want Jessie ta see him loose control. Yer best bet is ta try ta convince her ta have an epidural."
"I already asked her," the doctor cried. "She doesn't want one."
"Well then, yer on yer own. Jessie's an empath and she's bonded ta Vic. Her pain's coming through the link ta him so he's feeling a lot of what she is."
"They're mutants?" the man squeaked.
"We all are," Logan informed him. "I gotta get back ta my wife before she blows up her room. Any more problems, deal with 'em yerself. Just make sure ya tell him what yer doin' before ya do it."
Things quieted down after that. The staff was careful to explain to Creed what was happening and what they were doing before ever touching Jessie. Jubilee continued to paff with each contraction and Logan did his best to minimize the damage to the room. After an hour, his shirt had been burned off and his jeans were in tatters. Creed would switch places with him for fifteen minutes of every hour to allow Logan time to heal the worst of his injuries. They met in the hall during one of the switch overs, Logan was smoldering and pale.
"They just broke her waters," he explained to Creed. "They used a crochet hook as long as my claws ta do it. I don't feel so good."
"Buck up, Runt," Creed said chuckling. "Ya get a pup in the end."
"I know, but it's like watchin' someone torture her."
A crash down the hall made both of them jump and take a defensive stance. A tangle of pink clad legs waved above an overturned linen cart was accompanied by cries of surprise. Several of the nurses, unused to seeing a half naked man on the labor floor, had collided with the cart knocking it over. Two heads rose over the sheets and pillowcases and returned to staring at Logan's broad, heavily muscled, and very naked chest.
Creed chuckled as they straightened up. "Ya made a few conquests."
"Ain't like I'd do anythin' about it," Logan told him. "Jubes would kill me."
"Ya can't do anythin' about it," Creed corrected. "The bond won't let ya."
Creed suddenly gasped and fell to his knees. "Yer on yer own," he ground out. "Somethin's changed." He crawled back into Jessie's room.
A nurse met him in the room and helped him to his feet.
"I know she's transmitting her pain through the link but you have to get yourself together," the young woman told him. "She's in transition. This is the worst part if the whole thing. She needs you to be strong now."
"Ya don't smell like a mutant," he said, his eyes narrow with suspicion and pain.
"I'm not," she told him. "My brother's a telepath but I'm completely human. Come on. Let's get you changed into scrubs."
He looked at her in surprise. A sympathetic human. He never thought he'd ever meet one.
"Victor Creed," he introduced himself.
"I know," she told him as she pulled a set of scrubs from a shelf. "I also know you're Sabretooth."
He took the clothing from her arms. "Why don't ya turn me in?" he asked. "There's a huge bounty on me."
"I don't like some of the things I've heard about you but you deserve to see your child born." she told him. "I won't turn you in."
"Why not?" he asked.
"She's changed you," she told him as she took him to the bathroom to change. "You're not the same person you were before you met her."
"How do ya figure that?"
"We've met before. You took out the chief of police in Moscow five years ago. I was there. I saw what you did."
"That was in his apartment," Creed told her. "The only thing I smelled was blood."
"It was mine," she told him. "I never got the chance to thank you for stopping him. Now I can."
"What's yer name?" he asked.
"Tatiana," she told him. "I'll be taking care of Mrs. Creed. Peggy will have the baby. Now get changed. It's almost show time."
Vic emerged from the bathroom dressed in the hospital scrubs, feeling like he had put on a straight jacket. The entire outfit was several sizes too small. The shirt strained to cover his chest and ended above his navel. The pants threatened to rip if he made any sudden moves and stopped six inches short of his ankles. He felt ridiculous.
Tatiana could not stop the snort of laughter at the sight of the big man. He looked like he was wearing his kid brother's clothes.
"Don't laugh, frail," he growled. "Ain't ya got nothin' bigger? I look stupid."
She tried in vane to smother her smiles. "That's the largest size made," she told him.
A dark haired woman entered the room wearing scrubs and a paper bonnet. She looked all of twelve.
"Mr. Creed, I'm Dr. Madison," she introduced herself. "Dr. Corbett is in with your friend and his wife. I will be helping your wife deliver your baby." She smelled nervous.
"Ya look kinda young," he said. "Ya ever done this before?"
"A couple of times," she told him. "I'm a resident here but I'm fully qualified to deliver this baby."
"Waidaminute," he growled. "I don't want a doc who don't know what they're doin' deliverin' my kid."
"Mr. Creed," Ethel the Hun said sternly from behind Dr. Madison, "Your friends' wife needs Dr. Corbett right now. Dr. Madison knows what she is doing."
"How long ya been working here?" he asked Ethel.
"Twenty-eight years," she told him. "Twenty on the labor floor."
"Ya keep an eye on her fer me?" he demanded.
"Yes, Mr. Creed," she sighed, "I will watch her. That's why I'm here."
"Good," he said as he sat down on the stool beside the bed. The tearing of fabric echoed through the room as his pants split from waist to crotch.
"Whoops," Tatiana said. "Sorry Mr. Creed." She slipped her jacket off and handed it to him. "Tie this around your waist."
"Thanks," he said as he wrapped the arms of the jacket around his waist and tied them in a knot. "What's with Jubilee?" he asked Ethel the Hun.
"Her baby is very big." she told him.
"She gonna be okay?" he asked. It amazed him how worried he was about the obnoxious firecracker.
"She will be fine. You need to worry about your own wife." Jessie was not his wife but he did not correct the scary nurse. Jessie was so much more that just a wife. She was his life, his connection with the human part of him that he had denied for so long. Without her, he was less. Less human, less a man, less everything. Her love kept him sane. Even now, writhing in pain, he could feel her love shimmering over him. Without her, he would die.
"I got to push," Jessie whimpered.
"You may push when ready," Dr Madison told her.
"It's okay, little girl," he murmured to her. "Just do what yer body tells ya ta do."
Jessie pushed. By the end of the contraction, she was shrieking with the pain and Vic was growling.
"Why is she screaming?" he demanded.
"Because it hurts like hell," Ethel the Hun told him. "You try shoving a watermelon through your butt, then we can talk about pain."
She was lucky he needed her to watch the newbie doctor. She was close to getting her throat slit for her smart mouth.
"She's a good pusher," Dr. Madison remarked. "Do you want to see your baby's head?" she asked him.
"Really?"
"Sure. Come here." He walked around the bed to stand between Jessie's legs. There, in his own special paradise, was a patch of downy brown hair that did not belong to Jessie. He caught the scent of the baby as he saw the head rotate in preparation for the final move out into the world. His eyes were wide with wonder.
Jessie grunted and began to push again and Vic ran back to her side to help her get into position.
"Yer doin' great, baby," he said, his voice thick with emotion. Once again, she shrieked at the end of the contraction. This time she had a good reason. The head emerged and Dr. Madison suctioned the mouth. She slipped her fingers around the upper shoulder and pushed down on the head. The shoulder popped out with a wet slurp. Lifting the head, the body slipped out and the baby was born. She quickly laid the baby on Jessie's now deflated tummy and Tatiana began to dry the bloody, wet form.
"Congratulations," she told them. "It's a boy."
Vic could barely see his son. For the first time he could remember, he was crying. He leaned over Jessie to get a good look and to locate the unique scent of his son.
"You might not want to do that," Ethel the Hun warned.
Before he could even growl at the woman, the baby peed, hitting him in the eye.
Forty-five minutes earlier:
Logan went back to Jubilee's room shaking his head. Creed was in so much pain from Jessie's labor that he had to crawl back into her room. He was thankful that his bond with Jubilee did not include the transfer of physical sensations.
"Jubes, you won't believe what's happenin' ta..." He was not able to finish his comment. A paff hit him dead center of his chest and slammed him against the open door. He slid to the floor, stunned and smoking. Looking up, he saw scorch marks on the ceiling and walls. The overhead light was just a collection of dangling wires. Jubilee had been busy.
"Are you alright?" a pretty nurse asked as she loomed over him.
"Gimme a minute," he told her weakly.
"I've called Dr. Corbett," she told him. "The baby's heart rate is dipping and not recovering well."
He sat up quickly, ignoring the spinning room. "There somthin' wrong with the baby?" he demanded.
"Maybe," she admitted. "It could be just a cord position problem but we may need to intervene and deliver her quickly."
"Are ya talkin' C-section?" he asked, scrambling to his feet.
"There is the possibility," she told him.
"Wolvie?" Jubilee whimpered from the bed.
He rushed over to her side. "I'm here darlin'."
"I changed my mind," she said, tears falling down her cheeks. "I don't want a baby anymore."
"Oh, sweetheart," he said as he brushed the tears from her face. "I know it hurts. Yer almost done, I promise." He looked around for the nurse. "Can she have somethin' fer pain?"
"The anesthesiologist is on his way," she told him. "She's going to need an epidural no matter what we do."
The young man Logan last saw dangling from Creed's hairy fist walked into the room.
"Mr. and Mrs Lee?" He looked up and saw Logan. "I'm Dr. Corbett. Thanks for helping me out over there, man." he said to Logan. "I owe you, big. He could have killed me."
"Buy me a beer later," Logan told him. "What's goin' on?"
"The baby's having what we call late decerations," he told them. "It's most likely that the cord is caught in a bad position. Every time Mrs. Lee has a contraction, the cord is compressed and the oxygen supply to the baby is cut off. The baby isn't handling it well. I believe the safest course of action is to do a Cesarean."
"Jubes?" Logan turned to his wife.
"I wanted to deliver naturally," she protested.
"Darlin'," Logan began.
"Mrs. Lee," Dr. Corbett butt in. "I understand both you and your husband are mutants. If I allow this situation to continue, your baby could have brain damage. If your child is a mutant, and chances are that it is, brain damage can make whatever power it develops uncontrollable."
"Jubes, we can't let that happen," Logan told her. "I know ya wanted ta have this baby natural but the important thing is that we have a healthy, living baby."
"Oh, God," she moaned. "I gotta push."
"Call anesthesia, stat," Corbett told the nurse. "Get her prepped for surgery. I'm going to scrub." He left at a fast walk.
"Pant, darlin'," Logan coached. "Can I be there with her?"
"Of course," the nurse told him. "There are scrubs on the shelf in the bathroom. Find your size and change. I'll stay with your wife."
"Thanks," he said as he got up. He kissed Jubilee's sweaty brow and brushed the escaped hair out of her eyes. "Be right back darlin'. Keep pantin'."
He looked at himself in the mirror. Not bad. A little snug across the chest and hips but not too bad. The only thing that stuck in his craw was that he had to roll up the pants ten inches.
When he left the bathroom, Jubilee was being wheeled out of the room. He followed closely, coaching her to pant with each contraction. He was glad she had stopped paffing everything. The change in the focus of her pain and her fear for the baby must be suppressing her powers.
The nurse stopped him at the operating room door as they took Jubilee in.
"Here are some shoe covers, a mask and a cap." she told him, shoving the items into his hands. "It will take them a little bit to get her ready for surgery. You have time to call someone if you need to. I'll come and get you when we're ready for you."
He stood there holding the paper items the nurse had given him, still in shock at the speed at which they were moving. He should call the mansion and let everyone know what was going on but he could not form a coherent sentence to save his life. The only thing he could think of was that Jubilee was in trouble and this time, he could not help her. He watched them work on her, begging God not to take her from him.
Her head turned and she looked at him. Her eyes were wide with fear, silently begging him to save her. He quickly donned his remaining surgical gear and pushed open the door.
"We're not ready for you yet, Mr. Lee." the nurse informed him.
"Unless ya want the place ta burn down, ya'll let me in." he told them. "Jubilee's a mutant and if she pops, the whole place'll go up in flames."
"I'm aware that she's a mutant," the nurse told him. "I saw her room but that still doesn't mean you can come in here."
"She's scared," Logan argued. "Her powers are already out of control. If ya don't let me in, she's gonna start shootin' off fireworks."
"Let him in," Dr Corbett instructed from behind his mask.
"But hospital policy says," she started her argument.
"Hospital policy be damned," he raged. "Policy's no good if the hospital burns down. If he can keep her from loosing control, let him in."
The nurse shrugged and lead him over to a stool at the head of the bed. He sat down and put his arms around her head.
"I'm here, darlin'," he whispered.
"I can't smell you," she protested through the plastic mask over her face..
He pulled the oxygen mask down to her neck and turned her face to his. She buried her nose in his sideburns and inhaled deeply. The change was instantaneous. Her pulse and blood pressure dropped and she began to breathe in a more normal rhythm.
"That's weird," the anesthesiologist said in a low voice.
"What?" Corbett asked.
"As soon as she smelled him, her vitals improved."
"Maybe it's a mutant thing," Corbett said, not really interested. "Are we ready?"
"Yep."
"Okay people. Let's have a baby. Skin incision." he announced.
Logan and Jubilee talked quietly as the surgical team worked, discussing the team, JessieVic, the weather. Five minutes later, Logan head the words he had been waiting for.
"Uterine incision," Corbett announced.
Logan stood and watched as the fluid was suctioned. Corbett dropped the suction tip and reached in to pull the baby out. Dark hair appeared first, followed by shoulders and finally, his child was born.
"Congratulations," Corbett said. "It's a girl."
The combination of the scents of fear and Jubilee's blood with the added bonus of twelve hours without food finally caught up with him. He slid bonelessly to the floor, his head hitting with a 'clunk'.
"Wolvie!" Jubilee gasped.
"Did he just clink?" Corbett asked.
"More of a 'clunk'." the anesthesiologist corrected.
"It's always the macho ones." the nurse remarked, shaking her head.
"Is he in the way?" Corbett asked.
"Nah," the anesthesiologist told him. "He can stay there until he regains consciousness."
Hours later, Logan and Vic met outside the room their wives shared. Victor had a fistful of daisies.
"Well," Logan said. "We made it."
"Yeah," he said. "Had a boy. Victor William Creed. 8Lbs 4oz. Nice size."
"We had a girl," Logan informed him. "Joyous Logan Lee. 10Lbs 9oz. Big girl."
Vic whistled. "How did two small people have such a big baby?"
"Ya got me," Logan said with a shrug. "Jubes had ta have a C-section."
"She okay?"
"Still a little numb but her powers are back in control. How's Jessie?"
"Beautiful," Creed smiled. "She's asleep right now."
"I'll bet!" Logan turned toward him. "Vic, do ya think ya could do what the girls did today?"
"Ya mean havin' a baby?"
"Yeah. If ya could, would ya do it?"
He thought about it for a while.
"Nah," he said. "I ain't got the balls ta go through that."
"Me neither." Logan agreed.
Creed pushed open the door and entered the room, Logan two steps behind him. He heard Jubilee greet the big man and tell him Jessie was still asleep. He took one step inside the room and was met with a furious Jubilee. The paff hit his right shoulder. It was very low in power but disrupted the nerve transmission down his entire arm rendering it useless.
"Hey," he protested. "I though that was under control."
She paffed his other arm, effectively removing his claws from play. "It is," she snarled. "Who told you that you could name the baby without asking me?" she thundered.
"I thought you'd like it!" he protested.
"I do," she told him. "That's not the issue. We hadn't even decided on a name yet. Imagine my surprise when I see a name printed on the crib card. The nurse tells me you told them to do it. Dammit Logan, don't I get any say in this?" By the time she finished saying what she had to say, she was crying.
"Aw, Jubes," he said, trying to lift his useless arms to hug her. "I'm sorry but when I saw her, the name just popped out. I guess it's 'cause of how she makes me feel: Joyous."
He sat down on the bed beside her and she automatically scooted over to give him room to lie down. "We can change it if ya don't like it. Nothin's set in stone until the papers go to the county."
"I like the name, Wolvie," she said as she snuggled against him, taking care not to pull her stitches. "I just wanted a say in it."
"I won't do it again," he swore. "Next time, if there is a next time, I'll ask ya first."
Victor pokes his head around the curtain and looked at the cuddling couple.
"I sure am glad I got Jessie," he told Logan. "Jubilee's a ball buster."
"Yeah," he said with a smile, "but she's a lot of fun."
"Neya," Jubilee stuck out her tongue at him.
He retreated behind the curtain with a chuckle.
The door to the room opened again and Ethel the Hun and a young, heavy set nurse entered each pushing a crib. Ethel went to Jessie's bed and the other nurse stopped at Jubilee's.
"Hold your arm out." she instructed.
Jubilee stuck her arm out with the hospital tag attached. The nurse read the tag and compared it to the bracelet on the baby's ankle. Joyous was sobbing uncontrollably. She helped Jubilee get the baby latched on then gave her a quick lecture on breastfeeding.
After the nurse left, Logan watched as a look of peace fell over Jubilee's eyes. She looked earthy, happy and more beautiful than he had ever seen her before. When he told her that, she smiled and tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"I love you," he whispered to her.
"I love you, too," she murmured.
Victor could not remember ever feeling more nervous. Jessie was still asleep and the baby did not smell hungry. Ethel the Hun insisted that he hold his son. Who did she think she was? He was not qualified to hold such a fragile person. He was Sabretooth. He killed people, he did not nurture them. Ethel refused to back down no matter how much he protested or growled. In the end, it took a little maneuvering but he had his son cradled in his arms properly.
"He looks just like you," Ethel remarked. "He's going to be a heart breaker, just like his father."
"I ain't no heart breaker," he growled.
"That's what they all say," she told him wryly.
"Am I doing this right?"
"You're a natural." she told him. "Call the nursery if he gets hungry. One of the nurses will be out to help your wife feed him for the first time. Congratulations, Mr. Creed. You have a fine family and with the way you treat your wife, you'll have many years together and more children to share."
He looked down on the sleeping face of his son. Billy looked like Winston Churchill but he had heard that all babies look squashed and old at first. The exception seemed to be Lee's kid. She looked like her mother in miniature. She was lucky. She could have looked like the Runt.
He heard Ethel make her way to the door and stop.
"If you light that thing in here, you will regret ever being born," she snarled at Logan. Vic caught the whiff of a Havana cigar coming from the other bed. The craving for nicotine rose in him. He needed a smoke and a drink. He could smell the anger rising in Logan and decided to do something totally out of character for him. He was going to save the Runt from being tossed out of the hospital.
He gently placed his sleeping son back in the crib and kissed Jessie.
"C'mon Runt," he said as he came around the curtain. "Let's go have a drink." Jubilee's eyes flashed with gratitude.
"Throw in a cigar and ya gotta deal," Logan said scowling at the formidable nurse.
"Deal," Creed agreed. "You'll tell Jessie where I am?" he asked Jubilee.
"Of course," she scolded him. "Go. Have one for me."
"Bye, darlin'," Logan said as he kissed her. "I got my cell if ya need anything."
They were gone five hours. When they returned, they were slightly plastered and their clothing was torn in several places. Vic was carrying a huge armful of daisys. Each had a large box of cigars that they had opened and were passing out with abandon. Everyone they passed left with a cigar hanging out of their mouth, even Ethel the Hun. She was not surprised. She had a drawer full of old stale cigars from past fathers.
The nurses saw Victor arrive with an armful of flowers and Logan had none. Opinion turned against him. The staff was beginning to think the taller man was the more romantic of the two. None of them saw the thank you Jubilee gave her husband for the five thousand dollar shopping spree he gave her at her favorite mall.
"Have a nice brawl?" Jubilee asked as she settled her back against his chest. Joyous continued to nurse with a concentration he usually reserved for combat or sex.
"Vic was in the brawl," Logan told her. "I got this way fighting off the old biddies in the mall fer the gift cards. Them women are dangerous. The Army needs ta hire 'em ta teach attack strategies ta the new recruits."
"This is the week for end of season sales," she told him. "I could have told you to wait until Monday."
"Too late now," he said. "At least no one got killed." He reached around and stroked the baby's cheek and Jubilee's breast, smiling proudly.
"You didn't kill anyone," she corrected. "That doesn't mean no one got killed."
Victor found Jessie awake and feeding their son this time. He stopped dead in his tracks as the sight. He was overcome with a feeling of protectiveness for his small family. 'I would kill anyone who threatened them,' he swore to himself.
"Yer so beautiful," he whispered reverently.
"I'm fat and sore," she corrected. "I can't be beautiful."
"Yer more beautiful than the night we made him," Vic told her. "Ain't nothin' like the sight of yer woman with yer baby at her breast."
"Can we have another one soon?" she asked eagerly.
"Give yerself time ta recover from this one," he chuckled. "Maybe next year we can have another. A little girl that looks just like her mom."
She scooted over to allow him room to sit beside her.
"I want a lot of babies," she told him. "I grew up an only child. It was very lonely."
"I'll let ya have as many as ya want but if ya get too run down, yer gonna stop."
"About every two years?" she asked hopefully.
"Sounds good ta me." he replied pulling her close and kissing her.
"Congratulations Logan," he said in a low voice.
"You too, Vic," Logan replied in the same low voice.
John Lennon said that life is what happens when you don't pay attention. Logan and Victor are learning that lesson now. Both realize that their lives will never be the same. As for Jubilee and Jessie, when they could sit comfortably, the realized what miracles they produced. It wasn't just their children. Out of the two most lethal men on the planet, they created fathers.