Chapter Seventy-Eight:


The aroma of spices wafted through the mansion the next morning, carrying a distinctive Cajun signature, and Tessa smiled as she took in the familiar scene in the kitchen.

Remy and Lucas were busy whipping up a rather large breakfast of pancakes, sausage, hash browns and biscuits, adding their own seasoning to give the food more of a kick. Both men had donned white aprons over their clothes, and Lucas was standing at the stovetop, stirring what she surmised had to be scrambled eggs with a whisk, while Remy was getting out plates and juice glasses from one of the cabinets.

Now she understood why Lucas had requested that she skip the large, crowded breakfast served up for the students and staff of the Westchester Academy earlier that morning. He and Remy had obviously been planning on surprising Rogue with a Southerner breakfast. It was a sweet gesture, one that she knew Rogue would appreciate, and she certainly didn't object to it, either.

For just a moment upon entering the room and catching a whiff of the food cooking, she'd thought she was back in New Orleans, which she knew was probably the desired affect the two men had in mind. They were all feeling a tad bit homesick being away from the Guild, after all.

Behind her, she felt a familiar presence approaching, and she reached out with her telepathy to briefly touch the tiny spark of life growing inside of her friend's womb before focusing on the mother-to-be.

Good morning, Marie, she sent, without turning around, accompanying the words with a mental smile of greeting.

"Mornin', Tess," Rogue yawned, tying the belt of her black satin robe around her waist. "What's goin' on?"

"It seems that our boys have cooked up a surprise," Tessa replied evenly.

Rogue followed her gaze, and a broad grin broke out across her face at the sight waiting for her. "A surprise, indeed," she agreed with a chuckle, then stepped into the kitchen and cleared her throat to make her presence known. "What's all this, boys?"

"Bon matin, chere," Remy replied, looking up as he placed the dishes down on the counter. "An' dis be petit déjeuner, what's it look like?"

"Ah can see that it's breakfast, swamp rat," Rogue retorted with a smile. "Ah meant what's the occasion?"

"We're celebratin', mon amour," Remy informed her.

"Celebratin' what?" Rogue asked, her nose scrunching in confusion as she made her way across the room to peer over Lucas' shoulder. "Mmm, that smells good."

"Thank you," Lucas replied with a small smile.

"We're celebratin' de newest addition t' de famille, dat's what," Remy answered with a grin. "Y' hungry?"

"Ah'm starved," Rogue corrected. "But don' tell me ya'll expect me t' eat all o' this by mahself?"

"Well, y' are eatin' fo' duex now, chere," Remy said teasingly. "But non, de quatre o' us can scarf dis mess down t'gether. Dat's why I tol' y' t' go back t' sleep when y' started t' get up fo' breakfast earlier. Wanted t' surprise y' wit' a home-cooked meal, not t' mention let y' get yo' rest."

"Are ya gonna suck up mah entire pregnancy?" Rogue inquired, raising an eyebrow, and Tessa pressed her lips together in amusement, wondering the same thing.

"Dat depends," Remy retorted. "Y' gon' get all moody an' crazy like Mercy did?"

"Probably," Rogue admitted with a shrug.

"Den de answer is oui," Remy informed her with a smirk as he headed over to the refrigerator. "Remy learned from Henri's mistakes."

"Can Ah do anythin' t' help?" Rogue asked.

"Non," Remy shook his head, pulling out a container of orange juice. "Jus' take a seat, an' we'll take care o' de rest, hahn?"

"Fine," Rogue said, sinking into a chair with another yawn. "Where's everyone else?"

"Monseuir Summers an' de rest o' de staff are runnin' deir mornin' classes," Remy answered as he began to pour the orange juice into a tall glass. "Jean sent Kitty an' Lance in t' town t' get some groceries, dey took a few ot'ers wit' dem t' help carry t'ings, an' Worthington locked himself in one o' de offices t' take care o' some business type dealin's fo' his company."

"Worthington Industries is a very affluent corporation," Tessa commented evenly as she began to help prepare their plates, putting an equal amount of pancakes, sausage and hash browns on all four, but giving Rogue the extra biscuit.

"An' Logan?" Rogue asked from the table.

Remy flinched, his hand going to his sore shoulder. "Yo' pere is down in de Danger Room wit' some o' de students," he informed her.

Although Rogue didn't laugh out loud, Tessa heard the other woman give a mental snicker.

"So it's jus' the four o' us, huh?" Rogue mused with a small smile. "Like ol' times."

"Except without giant mutants terrorizing the city," Lucas remarked with sarcasm, lifting the skillet away from the hot stovetop.

"Or Sentinels trying to kill us," Tessa added evenly, taking a step to the side so that Lucas could scoop eggs onto each of the plates she was preparing.

"We had some good times, didn't we?" Rogue laughed, tossing her long hair over her shoulders as Remy placed the glass of orange juice down in front of her. "Thanks, sugah."

"Bienvenu," Remy replied, leaning over to give her a kiss. "How y' feelin' dis mornin'?"

"Ah'm fine," Rogue assured him with a sweet smile, her hand going to her stomach. "We both are."

"Bon, dat's what Remy likes t' hear," Remy said with a grin, pressing a kiss to her forehead before coming back to the counter and picking up two of the plates of food.

"That one belongs to Marie," Tessa told him pointedly, gesturing to the one with two biscuits instead of one. "Don't switch them."

"Oui, mon capitaine," Remy said with a sarcastic salute, but he took the afforementioned plate and placed it down in front of his wife, along with a fork and knife. "Yo' breakfast, chere."

"Why thank ya, garçon," Rogue retorted, and he gave a dramatic bow in response before taking a seat in the chair next to her. "Tess, Lucas, ya'll hurry up an' get yo' food, so we can eat."

"Start without us," Tessa ordered her evenly. "You need to keep your strength."

"Ah've got strength t' spare, sugah," Rogue snorted, flexing a tan, slender arm in reminder of her powers. "But if ya insist, Ah'll start on mah food."

"I insist," Tessa confirmed.

"Y' heard de femme, chere," Remy drawled, taking a bite of his eggs. "Eat up."

Remy seems pleased with the news of her pregnancy, Tessa heard Lucas think in her direction, and she gave him a curt nod of agreement as she picked up her plate and carried it over to the table.

They will make good parents, she replied, setting down her plate and then heading back over to the counter to pour herself a glass of orange juice. I am intrigued to see what kind of powers their child will develop.

Lucas chuckled inside her head, making his way over to the table with his own food. If its manifestation happens anything like Remy's did, we're in for a rough road.

We will manage, Tessa said calmly.

We always do, Lucas grunted.

The two of them sat down at the table, letting their telepathic conversation fade, and tuned in to what Remy and Rogue were talking about instead. Husband and wife were bickering lightheartedly over whether or not Rogue was going to break Remy's hand seven and a half months from now when she went into labor.

"You'll be lucky if that's all she breaks, LeBeau," Lucas pointed out with a gruff chuckle.

Remy winced as he took a bite of his eggs. "Y' got a point dere, mon ami."

"Don' worry, sugah," Rogue replied, her green eyes twinkling with amusement. "Ah reckon Ah can always call Logan in an' break his hand instead. After all, his bones can mend themselves pretty damn quick."

"Dat's okay, Remy gon' take his chance," Remy said with a smirk. "I be t'inkin' dat if yo' pere is in dere when y' start screamin' yo' head off 'bout how y' wish Remy was dead, he be too happy t' accommodate yo' wishes."

Despite herself, Tessa smiled. While Remy was suave and cocky on the outside, she could sense that he truly did have a healthy amount of fear for the man known as Wolverine. After their Danger Room session, from which Remy had returned limping and sporting some minor bruises, the two men seemed to have come to some sort of understanding, though, and Tessa was relieved. The last thing Rogue needed during her pregnancy was to be worrying about her father and her husband trying to kill each other.

"I called de famille dis mornin'," Remy announced after a few minutes of eating in silence.

Rogue looked up from her hash browns. "Ya tol' 'em about the baby?" When he nodded, her lower lip sneaked out into a pout. "Remy, Ah wanted t' tell Mercy mahself."

"Je suis desole, Marie," Remy apologized. "I couldn' help it. Was so excited dat I had t' share de good news, an' mon pere was practically giddy wit' delight when he heard."

"Ah bet," Rogue murmured with a smile.

"Mebbe y' should give dem a call later on," Remy suggested. "M' sure dat dey're all dyin' t' talk t' y', chere. Y' could call Bella, too, if y' wan' an' tell her de good news."

"Ah'm sure Mercy tol' her the minute ya hung up the phone, swamp rat," Rogue drawled with a slight smirk. "But Ah think Ah'll take yo' advice an' call 'em this afternoon t' catch up."

"I believe that would please Jean-Luc immensely," Tessa told her. "It does not take a telepath to know that he has missed your presence as of late."

"Ah miss him, too," Rogue sighed and took a long sip of her juice. "An' Mercy an' Henri an' Tante Mattie an' Bella an' Theo an'-"

"We get de picture, chere," Remy cut her off with a chuckle. "Y' miss de whole famille."

"Yeah," Rogue agreed ruefully. "Ah really do."

"Speaking of family," Lucas cleared his throat. "How did your discussion with your mother go yesterday?"

Rogue scrunched up her nose, poking at her food with her fork. "Ah don' know, Ah t'ink it's gon' take some time fo' some o' de t'ings Ah learned t' really sink in, ya know?"

"That is to be expected," Tessa assured her. "This is not an easy situation, and you have handled it admirably."

"Thanks," Rogue said with a faint smile. "In some ways it's easier wit' Kurt there, since he's already had t' go through this, but at the same time Ah feel like the odd man out. He's had years t' work through his issues wit' her, an' Ah've only really had a day or two."

"S' gon' take time, p'tite," Remy told her seriously. "But if y' wan' Remy's opinion, Mystique, she be tryin' t' make t'ings right wit' y' an' Kurt an' Logan."

"Ah know," Rogue murmured. "An' Ah figure if Logan can get along wit' her, an' Ah use that term loosely, after findin' out she kept the truth from him all these years, then Ah should be able t' jus' roll wit' the punches, right?"

"You'll do fine," Lucas promised her with a gruff, but affectionate smile. "Rolling with the punches is your forte."

"Thanks, sugah, Ah..." Rogue trailed off suddenly, her expression turning into one of dismay, and Tessa sensed that she was about to be sick. Without another word, she bolted from the table and rushed out of the kitchen, heading for a bathroom, leaving Remy and Lucas staring after her in confusion.

"Morning sickness," Tessa observed evenly. "It should last through the first trimester."

"It's not gon' make her sick de whole pregnancy?" Remy inquired, looking in the direction his wife had disappeared with concern.

"No," Tessa replied, shaking her head. "But there will be other less pleasant symptoms in the future. I suggest you prepare yourself for the mood swings, my calculations suggest that Marie will be extremely temperamental."

"We didn't need your calculations to figure that out," Lucas said with a smirk. "Our Marie has quite the temper as it is."

"M' a dead man," Remy groaned. "She gon' go crazy over some li'l t'ing like me movin' her razor an' beat moi t' death wit' de pillows."

It was certainly an amusing mental image, that was certain, but somehow Tess found it unlikely. It was much more probably that Rogue would simply shove him out of bed so hard he fell and broke his arm.

"Imagine if we were in New Orleans right now," Lucas said with a wry smile. "Bella is in the last trimester of her pregnancy, and no doubt driving Theo up the wall. If she and Marie joined forces..."

"Don' even say it," Remy protested. "Y' gon' give me nightmares, mon ami. De duex o' dem love t' team up t' torture moi." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Still, it'd be good t' see Bella an' Theo, not t' mention de rest o' de famille. S'been a long week, hahn?"

"It has at that," Tessa murmured.

To think that this latest twist in their lives had started in the middle of the night, when Lucas and Remy burst in the front door, barking out a warning about Sentinels close behind. The four of them had quickly packed a few duffle bags with clothes and other necessities, before grabbing their motorcycles and hitting the highway to avoid being captured or leading Trask and his operatives right to the LeBeau estate.

They had managed to take down the Sentinels pursuing them as they fled the city, and they'd given the soldiers following them the slip, then decided to head to Charleston to check up on the boy Matthew that Tessa and Rogue had helped escape from the soldiers the week before. Little had they known that by doing so, they would stumble across a link to Rogue's past, and the family she had thought destroyed.

Things had happened quickly after running into Lance Alvers in Charleston, and the past three days had been a bit of a blur for Tessa, so she could only imagine how dizzying it was for Rogue. It was probably for the best that she had been reunited with the X-men in stages, small groups at a time, because Tessa had a feeling that if she'd been thrown into everything all at once, it would have been a lot more difficult for her to adjust.

And while Tessa missed the familiar surroundings of New Orleans, she could not begrudge Rogue this happiness, because she could see the years of hardened grief slowly falling away from her friend after the discovery that the X-men still lived.

"Since we're on the subject of home, Tessa and I," Lucas said, glancing in Tessa's direction for confirmation, and once she nodded, he continued. "Just wanted you to know that whatever you and Marie decide, we'll support that decision."

"What are y' sayin', mon ami?" Remy demanded, his brow furrowing.

"He is saying," Tessa clarified evenly. "That should the two of you decide to remain here with the X-men rather than returning to New Orleans, then so will we."

"Y' would do dat?" Remy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Where you go, we follow," Lucas grunted with a nod. "We are a team, remember?"

"And a team sticks together," Tessa added.

Remy was silent for a long moment, staring down at his food, and then he shook his head, smiling faintly. "Don' know yet what we gon' do, haven't really sat down an' talked 'bout it wit' Marie yet, but merci, mes amis. Dat means more t' me dan y' know, an' I know dat it gon' mean a lot t' Marie, too."

Sensing, the overwhelming gratitude and relief washing over him, Tessa smiled. "Whatever you decide," she reiterated. "Take your time, think things over. This isn't an easy decision to make, I know, and it won't be easy for Marie, either."

"Mebbe de quatre o' us need t' talk it out t'gether, den," Remy mused, nodding thoughtfully. "Not t'day o' course, but soon. Give Marie a week or two t' get t'ings settled wit' de X-men b'fo' we bring it up, den we'll see what happens from dere."

"A sound idea," Lucas agreed, spearing a sausage link on his fork.

"I concur," Tessa nodded.

"Bon," Remy said with a sigh. "M' gon' go an' check on Marie, make sure dat she's okay."

They watched him leave the kitchen, and Lucas shook his head sympathetically. "He doesn't like these pregnancy symptoms anymore than Marie does."

"No, he doesn't," Tessa replied. "But they both know it will be worth it, to hold that baby in their arms."

"Another LeBeau baby..." Lucas chuckled, taking a bite of his sausage. "It's an exciting thought."

"I find the prospect of a baby in the family to be most invigorating, too," Tessa agreed with a faint smile. "Of course, the child will no doubt be a handful."

"With those two for parents?" Lucas retorted. "Undoubtedly so."

"I have no desire for children of my own," Tessa murmured. "But I think I will enjoy the chance to interact with Marie and Remy's child."

"You mean teach the kid big words to use to drive Remy crazy?" Lucas asked dryly.

"But of course."


Translations:

petit déjeuner- breakfast
quatre- four
Bienvenu- welcome
garçon- waiter
duex- two
moi- me

A/N: I am really sorry about the long wait for this chapter, guys. I had some stuff come up that had to be taken care of, but the good news is that it's over now and I am going to start work on the next post today so hopefully there will be another update later this week. Thank you all so much for your patience, and for the reviews concerned about my absence. For those of you keeping track, there will be 100 chapters total for this story, so don't worry, there are still quite a few left.