Chapter 8
The last few weeks of Rogue's pregnancy seemed to drag on. She became increasingly tired and uncomfortable, and was prone to fits of telling Gambit off because "this was all his fault". Gambit could never help himself, and would often reply that it takes two to make a baby - and then promptly run for cover.
There were a few false alarms with labour too. However, at a little after two in the morning, three days past her due date:
"Congratulations," said Tante Mattie as she passed the small bundle to Rogue, "you have a son."
"Oh," Rogue said in a half strangled sob as she looked down at her baby. "Remy, we have a boy."
Gambit sounded a little choked up himself: "Oui, chére. We have a boy."
"We decided on Olivier," Gambit told the family at breakfast some hours later.
"I can't believe you didn't wake me," Mercy muttered.
"You heard the man," said Henri. "It was the middle of the night. I don't know about you, but I need my beauty sleep."
"It's not working," said Gambit.
"So?" Mercy demanded. "When do I get to see my nephew?"
"When Rogue wakes up, I guess," Gambit replied. "Or alternatively, when Olivier wakes Rogue up."
"Well," said Jean-Luc. "Can I say congratulations?"
"Thank you, Père," Gambit said.
"Roguey," Gambit said, tentatively opening the bedroom door. "We've got visitors..."
"It's okay," Rogue replied. "They can come in."
The door opened the rest of the way then, letting Gambit, Jean-Luc, Henri, Mercy, Claude, and Lucian in. Henri was carrying a breakfast tray.
"Did you want the light on?" asked Mercy, a little put off by the half-light in the room.
"Umm, no." Rogue replied, a slight smile on her face. "I don't think that would be a very good idea."
"Why's that, chére?" Gambit asked as Henri put the tray down on Rogue's bedside table.
"Come see," Rogue said, her smile turning into a grin as she shifted Olivier slightly.
"Mon dieu," Gambit breathed, his eyes landing on his son's own ones of red-on-black.
"I remembered that you were light sensitive," Rogue said. "I wasn't sure if Oli was going to be the same, but he didn't seem to like it with the lights on all the way so... But then he is only a few hours old, so it might not have been related at all."
"May I hold him?" asked Mercy.
"Sure," Rogue replied.
Mercy carefully extracted Olivier from Rogue's arms and moved away from the bed slightly so that Jean-Luc and Henri could see him. Claude and Lucian looked too, although truthfully the teenagers just felt awkward about the whole thing. Gambit sat down on the side of the bed, his eyes not moving from his son, regardless of who was holding him.
"He has my eyes," he said softly.
"We noticed that," Rogue replied with a slight smirk for his dazed tone.
Afterwards, Gambit walked his family out of the bedroom, and after he closed the door he turned the dimmer on the light switch, increasing the brightness in the room. Olivier was now asleep in his crib, which had been set up in their bedroom instead of his own room for now.
"Umm..." Rogue said, just as she was about to put her first bite of breakfast into her mouth.
"This is as bright as I can comfortably deal with," Gambit said. "Any brighter and I need sunglasses or to be introduced by increments."
Rogue nodded "Okay."
Gambit sat down in the office with Jean-Luc, Henri and Theoren.
"So," said Gambit. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Test day," Jean-Luc replied.
"I get a test?"
"Non," Theoren said. "Although we should probably give you one."
"We're assigning the tests for this quarter," Jean-Luc said. "Tillings for the apprentices and Tracts of Passages for everyone else."
"Well, except the Masters," Henri said with a grin.
"That goes without saying... or so I thought," Jean-Luc replied dryly. "How many apprentices do we have this time?"
"Deux. Xarles and Rosemarie. Xarles has been working under Sven," Theoren said and then grinned when Gambit winced. "Sven is not that bad. And Rosemarie's been working with Charlene."
"What do you think Remy?" asked Jean-Luc.
"Umm, I'm thinking 'what are we trying to teach Xarles by sticking him with Sven?'" Gambit replied.
"What kind of task do you think they would be best suited to do for their Tilling?" Jean-Luc said.
"Oh. I don't know. Steal something?"
"Y'know Père," Henri said with a grin. "I think Remy is under the assumption that we just pick these things out of a hat."
"Indeed," Jean-Luc said. "Sven, for all his faults, is brilliant with computers. I believe an interest in computers was one of the reasons why he accepted Xarles as his apprentice."
"Right," Theoren said, pushing forward and opening a folder. "If we look at his history, a lot of the jobs he did with Sven were computer oriented. Now we've got several jobs here involving the acquisition of data -"
"Wait a second," Gambit interrupted. "Do you rig the Tillings so that they'll pass?"
"Don't be absurd," Jean-Luc said with a frown. "We try to organise the Tillings so that the apprentice can demonstrate his strengths as well as his weaknesses. It's a rite of passage so it certainly shouldn't be easy, but neither should success be outside of the realm of possibilities."
Gambit accepted this and the three went through the potential jobs. Then Jean-Luc asked him to pick out a job for Rosemarie. He suspected that the three of them had already decided on which job they would pick for her, and this was just a test to see what he'd do. Evidentially, they were satisfied with his choice, for none of them contested it.
Deciding on the tests for the Tracts of Passage - the official name for rank progression within the Guild – was very much the same except that Jean-Luc, Henri and Theoren were not quite as interested in the Thieves doing jobs where their strengths lay. In fact, if anything the opposite seemed to be true, as Gambit observed almost a perverse pleasure in deliberately choosing jobs where they were weakest and taking them out of their comfort zones. But as Gambit well knew, second chances at the Tilling weren't lightly given out, whereas the Tracts of Passage was supposed to be tough, and the only penalty of failure - aside from the failing part - was that the Thief had to wait at least a year before they were allowed to try again.
"Wait a second," said Gambit. "My final test involved stealing a pendant off the daughter of a jewel thief. Seeing as how we're playing more to people's weaknesses than strengths with these..."
"Yeah, you did kind of rig that one in his favour, Père," said Henri.
"Had to," Jean-Luc replied. "You were supposed to marry Bella Donna when you turned eighteen and we couldn't have you still as an Expert rather than a Master. Besides, the point of making the Tracts of Passage difficult is to separate the mediocre from the great, and seeing how you act under pressure is one way of doing just that. It may have taken you deux years, mon fils, but you escaped from that madman who did those experiments on you on your own. If that's not proof of your ability to survive under pressure, I don't know what is."
"To say nothing of the fact that your lock picking and stealth had made a significant improvement," Henri said. "Which, quite frankly, as you were already rather good before you got abducted, is saying something."
Gambit laughed.
"All right then," said Jean-Luc. "I believe there's one more."
"Right," Theoren said. "Rogue."
"Rogue?" Gambit asked, looking at them with raised eyebrows. "Umm, I don't know if you've noticed this, but she's just had a baby not deux weeks ago... Now might not be the best time to give her a job."
"Just because she's a new mother doesn't make her useless," Jean-Luc said.
"I never said that. I just meant -"
"Don't worry, Remy," Theoren said with a wave of his hand. "We'll give her a nice open-ended job which she can complete at her convenience. You won't have to worry about those 2am feedings putting her off her game."
"Ahh, I remember 2am feedings," said Henri.
"Yeah?"
"Oui, I remember rolling over and prodding Mercy until she got up."
Theoren laughed.
"Now," said Jean-Luc. "We know that Rogue's strength is in identity fraud –"
"Of all varieties," Theoren said with a smirk.
"- so we should test her in another area," Jean-Luc finished.
"Not vehicle theft," said Henri. "She was working with Mercy on gemstones..."
"Let's make her do a B&E," said Theoren. "Something with low-key security."
"Household? That's about as low-key as it gets."
"Let's not insult the fille."
"Upper-class household," Jean-Luc said. "Some society femmes have quality imitations as well as the real thing. Some of them are even smart enough to keep them in a private safe when they're not wearing them."
"The femmes or their husbands?" Theoren asked with a smirk.
"Heh, you do wonder about how many brain cells they have sometimes," Henri said as he picked up the phone and hit the speed dial button for the Minister of Tome's office. "Linda, Henri here. We need a list of high society women who've had children in the last year. Merci."
"We do?" asked Gambit.
"What? You don't approve of stacking the deck?" Henri asked. "Besides, we're making this up on the fly. Helps to narrow down the choices a bit."
"Besides," said Theoren, "it's up to Rogue how she goes about this. There's more than one way to case the place than to take advantage of them both having kids under one."
"Something wrong, sugar?" Rogue asked, not looking up from Olivier who was busy getting another meal.
Gambit sighed and sat down beside her on the lounge. "Long day. 'Test day' as Père called it. We were deciding what tests the apprentices should do as their initiation, and the Thieves due for promotion should do to prove they earn one."
"Ahh."
Gambit was silent for a moment.
"Last one we talked about was yours," he admitted finally.
"Mine?" Rogue asked in surprise. "What? There's no such thing as maternity leave in the Thieves Guild?"
"Depending on what you're doing, kids can be an asset," Gambit replied. "Or don't you remember using your pregnancy to your advantage?"
"Hmm," was her non-committal reply.
"Anyway, officially I haven't told you anything," Gambit said and paused when Rogue snickered, "but there's not going to be a deadline or anything like that. And unlike your Tilling you don't need anyone to follow you around; you just need to report to your sponsor your progress as you go along."
"Who's my sponsor? You?"
"Probably. I just... I don't want you to feel pressured or anything."
"Why would I feel pressured?"
"Well, to get it done. I mean, because it is an important job, but Olivier's more important."
Rogue quirked an eyebrow at him. "You're not making some 'the woman's place is in the home' kind of insinuation here, are you?"
"What? No!" Gambit objected. "That's not what I meant at all. Okay, I don't know if you've noticed this, but Olivier's only deux weeks old and you've been breastfeeding him, so your sleeping patterns are out of whack again, and there's only so much I've been able to do to help and -"
Gambit stopped and stared when Rogue started laughing.
"You're right," she said, noting the perplexed expression on Gambit's face. "I haven't had to wake up at two in the morning since the diner. Which do you suppose is worse? Getting up multiple times during the night, or getting up once and having to go to work?"
"Roguey," he said with a slight smile, "I haven't got any objections to you having a career - never did - I just think that Olivier should be our priority right now and -"
"And I agree."
"And I don't want you to rush into this job either," Gambit said seriously. "As I said, no deadline. Well, no official deadline anyway."
Rogue laughed.
"Sometime before the end of the year would be ideal," he said with a slight smile. "I'd rather you took your time and did the job when you're ready to do it, rather than feeling like you have to do it now, but be too tired from looking after Olivier and end up messing up."
"I promise I won't rush into it," Rogue said solemnly.
"That's all I ask."
"Are you done now, Olivier?" Rogue asked, turning head back to Olivier. "Aww sleepy boy."
"He's always sleepy," Gambit grumbled. "Is he ever awake?"
"Occasionally," Rogue replied in amusement.
Gambit was out shopping a couple of weeks later when he got the distinct feeling he was being watched. It wasn't 'sexy man turning a few heads' being watched either, which he quite enjoyed. No, there was an uncomfortable feeling about this one. After making a mental note to check with Theoren if Rogue had been taught the art of tailing yet (he didn't think so), Gambit continued about his business as if he hadn't sensed he was being watched. He hoped they were enjoying watching him buy baby supplies.
After buying what he needed (yes, he did actually purchase things on occasion), Gambit made his way out to his motorcycle. He took his time packing everything away in the motorcycle bags, at the same time doing a visual check of his ride for any signs of tampering and also tried to see if he could spot his mysterious watcher without giving away that he'd seen them. His motorcycle seemed fine, but he couldn't spy the watcher.
After a moment's consideration, Gambit got on and started his motorcycle. His gut told him it hadn't been tampered with and he'd long learned to trust his gut. Nevertheless, the feeling of trepidation stayed as he turned into traffic, and remained a few blocks later. Whoever was following him had obviously gotten into a car and was probably one of the vehicles behind him; a Chevrolet Impala, a Toyota Camry and a Maserati GranCabrio. No other motorcycles that he could see, but he kept an eye out for any all the same – personal experience told him it was easier to tail someone (and get away with it) while riding a motorcycle than driving a car.
He turned left at the next intersection and the Impala and the GranCabrio came with him. He turned left again, but both cars went straight ahead. Either they were both innocent, or one of them was familiar with tailing people. Gambit wasted no time debating, and instead used his motorcycle's speed, size and manoeuvrability to his advantage to cut through traffic and make sure that whichever driver it was that had been following him couldn't catch up with him again.
As soon as he was certain the danger had passed, Gambit made his way back home.
Rogue was asleep on the couch by the time Gambit returned and he grinned at the sight before scooping Olivier up out of his bouncer.
["Hey Olivier,"] he said. ["How you doing? Having a nice little rest were you? Come on, let's let Mama sleep for awhile, no? Is that a smile I see? Are you smiling at your Papa? I think you are!"]
Gambit grinned back at Olivier as he carried his son out of the room and into his own. It wasn't exactly a big beaming smile, more like the faintest hint of one, but still, that was more than what he'd been able to do a couple of weeks ago.
["What do you think, Oli? Little bit of jazz?"] Gambit said as he switched on the stereo. ["Ahh yes, the music of kings. You know, Oli, don't ever tell your grandfather I said this - or your uncle either for that matter - but if you were to ever decide you'd rather be a jazz musician than a thief, I wouldn't stand in your way. Of course... musicians don't make very much, so you'd probably have to take up stealing on the side anyway."]
Then Olivier started crying and a nasty smell hit Gambit's nostrils.
["No?"] Gambit asked as he high-tailed it to the changing table. ["You disapprove? Of course, you're quite right; as your loving father I should steal a record deal for you."]
Gambit's chuckle was interrupted by a grunt in protest of the odour and he dumped the nappy into the garbage as quickly as possible.
["How can something so smelly come out of someone so little?"] he asked. ["Ahh, Olivier. Don't tell your Mama, but someone was following me today. Our eyes give us lots of advantages, my son, but there's a price to pay; vigilance - bordering on the paranoid. I wish it was paranoia, I really do. But don't you worry, I'm going to keep you safe, and I'm going to make sure no one ever experiments on you like they did on me. I -"]
Gambit's speech was interrupted this time by Olivier deciding to urinate on the nice clean nappy he had just been about to put on him. Gambit rushed to get the front of the nappy in place before her could be hit with the spray and gave his month-old son a dry look.
["And I suppose that's what you think of my promises then, huh? So cynical for such a young age,"] Gambit said, reaching for another fresh one. ["Well, fine, if you're going to be that way about it, I'll just have to teach you how to look after yourself then."]
Olivier urinated again.
["You're going to piss all over that one too?"] Gambit demanded. ["Just how much does your Mama feed you?"]
"Just enough, I hope," Rogue said, feeling rather pleased that she'd actually understood the last thing he said.
Gambit looked over his shoulder and spotted Rogue leaning against the doorway.
"Oh hey chére," he said. "How long have you been there for?"
"Just arrived," she said with a slight yawn. "Having fun?"
"I was, until Oli decided he hadn't dirtied enough diapers today. Have a nice nap?"
"I didn't realise I was so tired. I can't wait until the 2am feedings are over."
"Neither can I," Gambit replied, "and I'm not even the one getting out of bed."
"I'm sure," Rogue replied drolly.
AN: There's a panel in the "silent" issue of X-Treme X-men wherein Gambit is walking down a crowded street and all the heads of the women are turned in his direction *giggles*