They had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with the other teachers and the students that didn't go home for the holiday weekend. Bruce enjoyed the quiet time with Sif and having no lessons to prepare for five days. Since they had harvest festivals on Asgard, Bruce didn't have to explain the holiday to Sif. With Christmas approaching, Bruce asked if he and Sif could have a longest night celebration.

"What would this detail?" asked Xavier.

"Going outside to welcome the moon and stars," said Bruce. "You can't have a longest night celebration inside. It's a school, so we can't have the raunchy singing and the drinking of large quantities of mead. All Asgard holidays seem to include lots of mead. We have a bonfire and pray to Odin to keep us safe until the light returns after the longest night of the year."

"You can have your Pagan ritual," said Xavier.

"You say Pagan like it's a dirty word, I don't insult your religious beliefs." Bruce walked away, realizing Xavier couldn't read his mind like a book. Xavier could read his mind, but it wasn't as easy as reading a Misgardian mind. "I'll tell my students that Sif and I are going to pray for the sun's return and they can join us if they wish. Thank you."

That night, Bruce lay in bed by his wife, unable to sleep.

"What's wrong?" asked Sif.

"I'm one of the monsters that people light bonfires to keep away," said Bruce.

"You shouldn't think of yourself that way," said Sif.

"Why not?" Bruce wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife. Susanne's significant other saw Bruce as a monster, and he was far from the only one.

"We all have our monsters," said Sif. "As an Asgardian, I'm much stronger than Misgardians and could do real damage to them if I didn't watch myself. When I teach them self-defense, I have to remember how fragile they are."

"I can keep the Hulk from coming out most of the time. But when I'm in terrible pain, it's hard to have the focus to keep him away." Bruce pointed to his head. "He's always here. I'm learning to accept that I am not separate from the Hulk."

"I see the news. Non-mutants think everyone in this school is a monster," said Sif. "Professor Xavier nearly killed you. You're hardly the only monster inside these walls."

"He didn't," said Bruce. "He wouldn't have let me starve to death."

"How can you forgive him?"

"It shows how desperate he is," said Bruce. "To starve someone so they don't leave. He needs me more than I need him. We can live quite well off my royalties from my superconductor. However, I like teaching and he now knows to stay out of my mind."

Sif kissed Bruce's cheek. "I find your control to be a beautiful thing. It only makes me love you more."

Bruce pulled her nightgown off her. While kissing her, he removed his pajama pants. No more talk.

xxxx

Logan sat in on Bruce's advanced-placement class. Afterward, Logan said, "It was fun to watch, but I have enough trouble adding and subtracting."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," said Bruce. "I haven't used my feeding tube for a week and the Hulk hasn't come out since he totaled Cyclops's car. Letting him out is good for my mental health, and you might enjoy battling him."

"Sure, I'm game," said Logan. "I haven't fought him since we were both in Canada."

"I don't remember seeing you," said Bruce.

"The Hulk met me," admitted Logan. "You didn't."

"Let's head to the danger room." Bruce now understood why Logan drew his claws when they met in the hall.

Bruce set the lock on the danger room door to open when the code was entered or to Logan's voice. That way if Logan was in too much pain, he could just yell for the door to open. Since Bruce left his clothes outside, all he had on were the pants Tony had designed for the Hulk. Bruce, finally, let himself feel all he pent up anger he had from the last month or so. When he awaken from being the Hulk, Bruce saw Logan smiling at him.

Sif ran over with his clothes. "I watched some of it."

As he dressed, Bruce had trouble keeping his eyes open. "Logan, I think you wore me out."

"Sif was manning the controls," said Logan. "She sent some obstacles our way."

"I couldn't have Logan have all the fun," said Sif.

Bruce leaned on Sif. "May I lean on you?"

Sif put an arm around him. "Anytime. Do you need the tubing that fell out?"

"No," said Bruce.

Logan threw the tubing into the trash can. Then Bruce walked with Sif back to their bedroom. Bruce crashed on the bed. In his dream, Logan was growling and showing his claws. Objects came out of the wall to blast them or throw things at them. Then rain and lightening came down from the danger room ceiling. He woke up with Sif's arms around him.

"How do you feel?" asked Sif.

"Good. You fell in love with him first," said Bruce.

"I love you - big, small, green or brown," said Sif.

Bruce looked at one of his tanned arms. He was kind of brown. It wasn't like he was going to use sunblock when he healed. Bruce cuddled her, letting one of his hands fall to her baby bump, and smiled.

"Logan is a berserker," said Sif. "A normal person would have stopped. He kept arousing your anger until you slammed him into the wall hard enough that he become aware of his pain. Then he went after you once more and called it a day."

"Does that bother you?"

"No, Thor can go berserk. It upsets him greatly," Sif said. "He will attack friend and foe alike and there aren't reinforced metal walls to throw him against on Asgard. You just have to keep out his way until he exhausts himself or comes to his senses."

"You're seen that state in Thor, so you recognized it," Bruce acknowledged.

"That's why I made the thunderstorm," said Sif. "I figured a little water would calm Logan down. He didn't even notice it until he came to his senses. We can't go back to Asgard."

"Why not?"

"On Asgard, you were like a rubber band pulled just before snapping," Sif explained. "You never bounced all the way back, you would always have some tension in you. You were always working trying to use up that tension. Here you're more relaxed."

"Are you alright with us not going back?"

"I think you and Dagmar will both be happier here." Sif put her hand over the hand touching her belly. "I'd miss Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee. And the younger children need someone to talk to that isn't a teacher."

"Do you like the name Dagmar?" asked Bruce.

"I picked it," said Sif. "You chose her middle name."

"She is going to to be called Dag."

"Dag is a nice short name like Sif and Bruce," said Sif. "And she'll have another name once she gets her power. We knew when we got pregnant that she is half-hulk."

"I'll have to tell the doctor if she gets too big," said Bruce.