Rebirth and Redemption

Chapter 3

That night after all the dancing and eating that the students, staff, and faculty of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning could endure, Jean and Logan returned to their brand new executive suite; as Charles called it. Their rooms were the first to be completed and they were the only ones living there, for the moment. As they walked slowly in, Logan, without closing the door, grabbed Jean and turned her around to face him. Looking deep into her eyes, he said three words. "I love you" before he leaned her over and kissed her.

As they kissed, Jean lifted one of her hands and waved it twice, closing and locking the door. Jean could feel Logan through his pants and her dress and righted herself. She looked at him and with one movement, grabbed him telekinetically and flew up the staircase and into the bedroom. Landing in the center of the giant bed, she simply atomized his suit. He looked at her through the semi-darkness; for Jean was surrounded by a glowing, pink aura, and whispered, "Whaddya do that for? That was my best tux"

"That was your only tux," Jean smiled. and there on the floor lay the newly reconstituted suit. Logan, taking this opportunity, reached around Jean and unzipped the wedding gown, which fell around her bare torso. She slowly got up and let the dress completely fall off of her, and then returned to the bed. She moved towards Logan, his now naked body angled towards her.

"I love you too" she finally said.

Jean was now lying next to Logan, their sides pressed to each other. Logan then leaned and slowly climbed on top of her. He drew close to her and kissed her with more passion than ever. He felt her mouth open to his and he explored, moving from her lips, to her neck, to her ear, and back to her lips. Through this she silently moaned in satisfaction. Logan moved his hands, letting them explore her body fully, until both were panting in ecstasy. Jean gasped as she felt Logan enter her, and at last, all coherent thought escaped them.

Three months later, Jean was lying upon hers and Logan's bed, listening to his ragged breath in the early morning. December had descended upon them quickly and the first frost covered the Institute, while the windows; covered in fresh ice, sparkled as the moonlight hit them. Looking about she saw the twinkle of Christmas lights hung along to top of the wall and on a miniature tree. She looked over at her husband and saw that his breath had become misty as it was expelled. She shivered at the thought of cold and slowly began to heat the molecules in the air telekinetically. Finally when the room was toasty and warm, nearly making her sweat, she slowly got up into a seated position at the end of the bed.

Her classes began at 8 am this morning and she had to get up and take her shower. She lifted her robe, covered herself, and made her way into the bathroom. Before she got to the door, however, her vision blurred, her head swam and her stomach churned menacingly. She knew the signs of nausea well enough and she ran for the door, threw it open and; holding a hand over her mouth and her eyes closed and found the toilet. Her scarlet hair cascading before her face, she retched heavily into the bowl. After several moments of this she finally lifted her head from the seat and leaned against the wall opposite it. Clutching her stomach she felt another wave of nausea roll over her and she scooted back over to the toilet.

She did this twice more within the next thirty minutes. Finally she lifted herself off the floor and went to wash her face. Logan, while she had been barfing, had awoken and was banging on the door. "Jeannie!! What's wrong! Are ya sick babe?!" He bellowed from the other side.

Jean remained silent and continued to wash her face. While doing so, she probed telekinetically for something that could help her understand what was going on. In her head she listed all of her symptoms, and none of them were viral or bacterial in nature. Perhaps fungal she silently thought, and hoped. Finally her telekinetic sensitivity to all atoms found what she was looking for, and did she find it. In the lower cabinet to her left were several dozen boxes of pregnancy tests. She opened the door, and grabbed four boxes from the front row. Tearing open the first box she read and followed the instructions. In quick succession, she opened and used all eight tests at her disposal. Each of them had a single happy face in the answer screen. Jean started to think back to when she had had her last period. Counting the days, she realized that she had missed it by four weeks. Swallowing hard, she got into the shower, deciding that she would wait to tell Logan until he too had woken up properly.

The hot water soaked into her skin as she stood in the shower, pouring over her like liquid fire. Her skin was a little more red than usual and yet all she could do was stand there. After several minutes of this she finally came to her sense and began washing off. As she got out of the shower, she looked out the bathroom window, and realized that dawn was approaching faster than she had anticipated. drying her long red hair, she tore back into the bedroom, only to find Logan sitting upon the bed with a frustrated and annoyed expression on his face.

"What the hell is wrong, Jeannie?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Nothing" she said curtly. "Everything's fine, Logan, nothings wrong."

"That's bullshit and you know it. Now what the hell is going on?"

"Logan, not right now, I need to get ready to go teach my classes."

Jean made for the closet, only to find that Logan had beat her there. Standing in front of the door, he merely shook his and. "You ain't goin' anywhere, babe. Not until you tell me what's up. And also, considerin' the fact that I heard you barfin' up a storm in the bathroom this mornin', you ain't goin' anywhere that school."

"Logan, I am not sick, okay! And anyways, I would prefer consulting Henry before I go anywhere near the classrooms. I just have a hunch that he will be able to tell me exactly what is going on, instead of some stupid test." And without knowing, Jean uttered the one word that answered Logan's questions. He bolted for the bathroom and before Jean could stop him he found the eight pregnancy tests, still laying on the counter top.

"Jeannie, what does this mean, exactly" Logan called from the bathroom.

Without answering, Jean followed her husband into the bathroom and found one of the cartons. She held it up to him, allowing him to read the instructions and results. Once he finished he looked back down at the test in his hands, and looked up at Jean. His mouth slightly ajar, his eyes traveled down to her stomach. Placing his hand on her stomach he smiled. Jean looked down at him and cocked her head. What are you thinking?? she called into his mind.

Hopin' that it's a boy. Logan silently answered.

For the first time since reading the test, Jean smiled.

It was a little while later that Jean and Logan arrived in the X-Infirmary. Hank was off doing some new experiment; lost in the sea of beakers and graduated cylinders and whatnot. Finally, after waiting several minutes, Jean and Logan called out to Dr. Henry McCoy.

"Hank!!!"

"Fuzzball!"

With that Beast came jumping over the scientific instruments, with his teeth barred as if to bite something or someone. "What!!" he screamed but upon seeing who had called him, Hank slowed and came before the two. "Sorry, I am very busy right now; trying to find a way to use solar power to fuel the Blackbird, yet my tests have not been fruitful. So, how can I help the two of you??"

"Henry, we need your medical help." Jean began, "You see this morning I woke up with severe nausea, and well, I took a pregnancy test. I need to know for sure."

"Ah, well then, you came to the right place then. Here, follow me." Beast led them to the main part of the Infirmary, where six medical tables stood. Jean began to get on one when Beast brought out a very large and seemingly outdated machine. "Lift your shirt a little Jean, if you will. Watch out, this is cold." and with that Beast rubbed a substance that made Jean's body shiver up and down. Hank flipped a switch and grabbed the ultrasound piece and placed it atop her abdomen.

The screen remained black for several minutes until finally an image that looked close to television static popped up. Hank moved the instrument up and down, side to side, until he came across a pomegranate sized ball. "There we are!!" cried Beast.

"That's it? So, that confirms it does it, Henry?" Jean asked after two silent moments.

"Yep, it looks like you are in fact pregnant. I'd say about three to five weeks give or take. So, we need to get a plan started for you and we need to get Moira here to ensure that everything will go smoothly. I'd say you should be due sometime in mid August. Judging by the size of the fetus, around the fifteenth to be precise." Beast commented.

"Alright then, how 'bout we go get you back to bed darlin'?" Logan asked hesitantly.

"Logan, there will be no need for that." Beast said. "Jean is able enough to go to her classes for the time being. No, she will need to rest more later next year. No need to worry just yet."

"Good, I don't want to sit around eating bonbons all day." Jean snarled.