Chapter Six: Self Doubt and Reassurances

Kitty offered to take over driving on the way back to Westchester several times, but K only relented when they were back in New York, and then it was only for the last couple hours.

Finally, when the two women returned to the mansion, K stumbled out of the back of the jeep in a daze. She and Kitty headed upstairs and parted ways silently - the little ninja and the little feral easily sneaking through the house unnoticed. K made her way down to the room she and Logan shared only to find it completely empty. She stood there for a moment in shock, unsure of what the hell was going on or what it meant.

Of course, she figured she was asking for it … disappearing with only a note to explain her absence, and without any direction as to where exactly she was. Dazed at finding no husband and no note, K made her way back downstairs. She stood in the kitchen for a long moment, weighing it all out before she headed out toward the garage, grabbed her bag from next to the front door and threw it over her shoulder. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, so she looked over the key rack for her Harley key. But as she pulled the key off the hook, Remy's voice echoed quietly through the hallway.

"Leavin' so soon, petit?" he asked, watching her with a concerned expression.

K didn't know how to respond to him in the least, so instead of trying, she started towards the garage. "It looks like it," she replied under her breath.

"Wait, chere. You wanna find your les époux, and ol' Remy can take you to him. He's here," Remy promised, holding his hand out for hers. "He didn't go runnin' off nowhere. Not like some petit femmes I know dat needed some breathin' room." He offered her his hand again, aware that she wasn't entirely herself by her lack of smart assed commentary.

Wary and tired, K didn't know what to do otherwise, so she ignored his hand and followed him. He led her outside and towards the woods, but she was running on a lack of sleep and was admittedly in a foul mood after the events back 'home' with the downstaters. She was ready to fight, and her claws were coming out slowly the further they got from the house. She didn't know what he was up to, but she didn't like it.

There was a light on in the boat house and Remy smiled her way as he knocked on the door. When Logan opened the it, he was a little taken off guard by her angry expression. She looked like hell and was clearly not in the best of moods.

"Darlin' what happened?" he asked her quietly as he shifted his stance and pulled her closer, ignoring the claws protruding from her fist as he took her bag and kissed her. But even at that, she didn't relax until he nuzzled into her neck, and she got lost in his scent surrounding her.

Very suddenly, she retracted her claws and put her arms around him, melting for just a moment as Logan nodded to Remy then picked her up to carry her inside. He laid her down on the bed and climbed in next to her, waiting for the scent of her anxiety to settle so he could find out what was bothering her so much, and glad that she was back with him. She curled into his side and snuggled in, her anxiousness drifting away shortly before he kissed her temple. She gave him a weak smile and it wasn't long before she let her weariness take her over.

After a fitful night's sleep, they sat down to talk over coffee. After hearing part of it, he was understandably upset.

He was mad that she'd gotten into trouble, mad that Kitty had gotten caught up in it, and mad that she hadn't called him for help. It didn't help one bit that K agreed with him on every count.

This had happened on her turf, after all. Her cottage had always been a safe haven. It was where she'd gone to get away from the world, even when she was a part of it. She loved that place, and now that the sanctity of its solitude was broken, she didn't know that she could ever feel safe there again.

So much misery had happened to her since the last time she had been there, and now, thinking back on how easily those hunters had strode up to her lake, she found herself more and more depressed wondering if it may have been the last time she got to see the place.

But all of that sounded too sentimental, even in her own head. She didn't want to explain herself further, so instead of trying, she stood up to leave, fully intending to abandon the conversation.

Logan grabbed her arm as she tried to wordlessly pass him, and she pulled it away from him and looked more dejected than he'd ever expected her to after such a minor scuffle. "Where you runnin' off to now?" he barked in a tone of sheer disbelief, still wanting more details on how they'd gotten out of the road block.

But K refused to answer, too on edge from the implications of the cottage and the creeps …in all honesty she wasn't able to answer him right. Not when she wanted to hit something - and she didn't want that something to be him. She was so focused on getting away from him that she didn't even see Kitty as she approached the boat house.

The younger woman stepped out of her way as K broke into a run towards the woods, leaving Kitty staring at her retreating form as she left.

Kitty was almost to the boat house when Logan stepped out, looking irritated. He froze when he saw the bruises that littered Kitty's face and arms. "Half pint," he said as he let out all of his breath. "Are you alright?"

But Kitty had other things on her mind, considering how upset K had looked before she'd disappeared into the woods. "Why did K run off?" Kitty asked, her voice firm and even, clearly illustrating that she thought Logan had done something wrong.

Logan shook his head. "We were talking about your scuff up, and she got up and left. I was goin' after her until I saw you lookin' beat to hell," he told her, sniffing the wind to find K's direction. "Look at you. I've never seen you so bruised up from a little brawl."

"Did she tell you all of it? How she snapped when a few of them were dragging me to their truck … she snapped, Logan," Kitty said, flustered when she couldn't say what she thought could have happened. "They beat her way worse than I got it. I know they knocked her out in the beginning. I don't know how she got up from it."

Logan furrowed his brow. He didn't tell Kitty that K hadn't said anything about that part. In fact, all she'd really told him was that they were jumped and both of them took a few licks before they managed to get out of it. "How do you know they knocked her out?" Logan asked, warily watching Kitty's reaction.

"Well, the first guy broke his hand when he hit her. She went limp after that and they carried her to the bed of one of the trucks," Kitty replied. "She wasn't fighting them so I assumed that meant she wasn't awake."

Logan looked more tense as he thought it over. Clearly, he was missing a lot out of the story. He shouldn't have been surprised. The details she gave were sparse, more of a rundown than an actual story when he stopped to think back about it. "Tell me everything that happened, Kitten. I wanna know all of it," he told her, holding her by the shoulders.

Kitty glanced toward the woods where she knew K had disappeared and took a deep breath before she went through it. Logan pushed for every detail that Kitty could remember, and become very quiet when Kitty told him about K's total meltdown of an attack on the men. The description on how she went from next to nothing at all, not even defending herself to raging destruction hit him close to home.

But at least now he knew why she was so quiet. Aside from the experience itself being emotionally draining, it was absolutely devastating to the mind when he went into that red haze. No matter how it turned out for him, good or bad, the sense of guilt and failed responsibility was overwhelming. "How long did it take her to act like herself again?" Logan asked quietly.

It wasn't exactly comforting though when Kitty simply stared at him, shaking her head.

"How long, Kitten?"

Kitty shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and looked away as she hugged herself. "She didn't speak for about four hours," Kitty replied, feeling guilty herself now.

Logan openly stared at her, realizing that it must have been really bad. It never took him more than an hour at worst to force himself past the self blame afterward.

"But she wasn't acting right even when we got back," Kitty added.

Logan let out a breath and quickly gave Kitty a kiss on the cheek before he darted off to catch up with K, running in earnest as he looked for her. It took him longer than he was proud to admit before he finally spotted her as she ducked off the trail and into the thick underbrush. He followed, though it wasn't a lot of fun for him with both of them moving silently. She was fast, even when she was moving so quiet and it had him frustrated when he realized her scent wasn't especially strong.

When she thought she'd lost him, she sat down on a log, hidden in the ferns and tried to sort through all of it. It wasn't just Kitty. Or the cottage. She just didn't know how to deal with him and she needed to breathe.

Logan watched her as she sat with her head in her hands, stony faced and still, the scent of tears lightly finding its way to him on the breeze, and he tried to decide the best way to handle this when she so clearly wanted to be alone. He wasn't sure where that line was, and he wasn't about to push her away by crossing it. He hated the hesitation.

After a little while though, K finally sighed and as she looked up to the sky, she pulled her hair down and wiping the tears from her face with the heel of her hand. She was in the middle of mentally scoffing and chastising herself. She felt worthless, though she couldn't find the anchor point to tie that sensation to. The rage that had flowed when she realized that Kitty had been in eminent danger was something she hadn't tapped into in decades. She both loved and hated when it happened. She loved the laser focus, the sensation that the world was moving in slow motion as her body went into overdrive.

But she despised the loss of control over her actions and emotions as her rage washed over her, subduing all mercy and empathy. In truth, she knew it was terrifying to her victims, but it was pretty damn scary to herself as well. She felt guilty, more so when she realized that she didn't know if it was the attack on Kitty or the way the guys were handling K herself that had tripped her over that edge. It didn't exactly matter though, since she felt as though she was failing one way or another.

K considered her options, worried that her rotten luck was going to rub off on those around her. And that was when she got the first whiff of Logan's scent on the breeze as the wind shifted ever so slightly. Logan finally made his presence known a few moments later, silently moving in to sit next to her. He put an arm around her and pulled her close, then kissed her with no warning, leaving her a little confused when she realized that his anger was entirely gone.

"You alright, sweetheart?" he asked her quietly.

Without thinking it over further, she answered honestly. "No. Not really. I'm sure I'll get over screwing this one up," she admitted as he pulled her almost into his lap.

"You didn't by the way Kitty tells it," he told her, trying to reassure her. "You did the best you could at the time."

She shifted and shook her head. "I think I'm going to have to sell the cottage now," she said, sure that her heart was going to break when she said goodbye to her little slice of heaven on earth.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "If you love it, keep it. You just need to be sure I'm with you next time you go. Let me do my job and protect you." He gave her a quick kiss. "Don't sell it."

She studied his face as he gave her a small smile. "Besides, I wanna see it," Logan told her. "We broke in my place real well. Gotta do the same for yours." He finished with a grin, waggling his eyebrows – in a blatant attempt to get a smile.

She smirked a little and nodded. "Fine, I'll wait until you've christened it," K said before she gave him the long 'hello' kiss that he'd expected the night before. "Then I'll get rid of it."

"Come on, let's go home. I know just what you need after a fiasco like that. Just wish I could have seen you do it," he told her as he got to his feet and pulled her with him. She shrugged lightly, following his lead instinctively before Logan kissed her on the temple.

She was highly entertained to discover that his treatment for her overload consisted of spoiling her rotten with food, moonshine, and a very frisky husband.

It was just before school started that Chloe and Zoe found themselves watching the driveway with a serious note of anticipation. Zoe's girlfriend had gotten her parents to make an appointment to speak with the faculty of the Institute about enrollment, and the girls were on the look out, holding their breath when they finally showed up.

They watched from the room adjacent to the entry, when they stepped inside, and after a quick chat with Sam's parents, K led the adults down to the professor to fill out the required paperwork for Sam to attend leaving the girls to their own devices.

"I can't believe you're going to be in school with us!" Chloe beamed at Sam, bouncing in place. The put their heads together plotting out which classes to take as K came out of the office, though she was sure to smile at the girls as she passed.

"Don't go too far, now. This will be a quick one," K warned as she grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen.

"Why is it a quick one?" Zoe asked, worried that this wasn't going to work out the way they'd hoped.

"They already hit me up for riding lessons. When they come out, we're going to head to the barn for an evaluation. You ready for that, Sam?" K asked before she took a drink. Sam was grinning but nervous as she nodded, sticking one leg out to show K that she'd worn appropriate footwear. "Great. We'll decide which days you'll be staying after school to ride. Though, I'm sure with a little hard work you can keep up with Zoe and Chloe's class."

Sure enough, Sam's parents were out a few minutes later, excited to see if Sam would take to horses like she always swore she would, given the chance. K took her time with Sam while her parents hovered the whole time, watching K carefully as she worked with their only daughter. Once they were in the barn, K pulled a saddle and bridle for her then carefully chose a horse – a very sweet but not entirely pretty appaloosa. K gave her the one on one time needed to prepare her then took her to the round pen on a line where Sam mounted up for the first time. The little lesson moved at a good clip until K had Sam trotting off line and directing the horse on her own. Sam was grinning at the end of the lesson, and her parents were pleased.

"What kind of riding do you specialize in, Mrs ..." Sam's mother asked, watching K carefully.

"Howlett. All styles. I tend to teach a mixture of dressage and western. The western saddle is the most secure for beginners, but the dressage teaches them to be gentle on the animal while having a greater amount of control over the entire body while being more aware of their own," K replied evenly.

Sam's mother seemed pleased at the explanation. "Well, wonderful. Just wonderful. Sam, did you want to stay here for a few hours with your friends, or ..." Sam's father offered.

"Yes! I'd like to stay – if that's alright," Sam said sheepishly.

K smiled back at her and nodded, looking entirely relaxed. "I'm sure that's fine. One of us can give you a ride home in a bit," K replied. "I'm pretty sure Mr. Summers had some errands to run anyhow." It was plain to see that K was a natural at easing the parent's concerns that the staff may have been too casual with each other, having heard the girls refer to K simply as K.

And just like that, it was set. Sam was to be the very first non-resident student at the Xavier Institute. There was just one concern that Sam and Zoe had and now was as good a time as any to address it. Sam's parents waved goodbye as K led the horse back into the barn and the girls waited only a moment before they followed her.

"K, can we ask a favor?" Zoe said shyly as K pulled the saddle from the horse.

"Sure. Never hurts to ask," K replied, not really paying attention as she began to brush the appy out.

"We're a little worried about Sam's grades."

K froze for a moment, as she suddenly figured where this was probably leading.

"Her parents say she can only stay if she keeps her grades at a B ... minimum," Zoe said, grinning sheepishly.

"I'm not much of a tutor, Zo," K said in a slightly more brisk tone.

"No, we're not worried about academics. It's combat," Zoe said quietly. The three girls were holding their breath as K sighed and let her shoulders drop.

"I'm not going to ask him to go easy on you. Not when he's right," K replied, not looking toward the girls yet.

"But he never gives anyone better than a C. Ever," Chloe complained.

"Then do better than C work. If you want a better grade in his class – impress him," K said shortly, irritated that the answer was so clear.

"But Jubilee can't even get better than that," Zoe argued with Chloe nodding her head in agreement.

"That's because Jubes doesn't push herself. She tries to float on their friendship. Push hard – I mean hard. And you'll get your B. Hisako got one last semester," K said as she put the brushes away.

"But Hisako nearly killed herself!"

"Then I guess you know what it takes. It probably wouldn't hurt to ask him for extra help after class if you need it," K pointed out as she led the horse down to his stall.

"Extra time with the sadist? Are you crazy?!" Zoe shouted.

K stiffened up and paused to glare at them over her shoulder before she locked the horse in his stall then stalked toward them to look at them properly. "Zoe, you're pushing it. He's not a sadist. Work harder. Ask him what it will take to get better than a C," K said calmly, though there was no denying the edge to her tone.

"I just don't understand why we even need a combat class. Not everyone is going to go on to try to be on a team. Most of us just want to live," Zoe grumbled.

"Alright. You want my help, fine. Come on, girls," K said, grabbing a hold of Zoe's hand and dragging her behind her.

"Where are we going?" Chloe asked, but K refused to answer. But the sisters got it as the garage came into view, where Logan was tinkering with K's motorcycle. "No!" Chloe whispered, trying to get K to stop, but K just raised an eyebrow as she called out Logan's name. He turned slowly, his eyebrows drawing together when he saw Zoe struggling against K's grip while she dragged her closer.

"The girls have a question," K said, shoving Zoe toward him as he turned around fully to face her, not bothering to stand up, his grease stained hands resting on his thighs as he waited. "Go on girls."

"What … what would it take to get better than a C in combat?" Zoe said nervously.

Logan watched her thoughtfully for a moment as she looked ready to run. "Definition of a C is average. Do better than average," he replied.

"But how do I know what average is?" Sam asked – not having met Logan yet, and blissfully unaware of his 'other' identity.

"If it's as good as everyone else in class, it's average. Do better," he replied, leveling her with his glare. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm busy." He growled their way but then leveled a finger at K. "Not you," he said staring at his wife. "I got plans for you."

K grinned as the girls made to pass her by, more than ready to leave the two lovebirds alone and get as far away from them as possible.

"Does everything he say to her sound dirty?" Sam asked as K's laughter echoed behind them.

"Yes. Every single thing he says to her. All the time," Zoe replied.

"You're exaggerating, Zo. He's not that bad," Chloe said. "You just have a dirty mind."

"Yeah? Well another week or so and she can judge for herself," Zoe said, still angry with Logan's answer of 'work harder'. Of course he wouldn't be a help. But she was sure she had a way around it so she led the charge to go talk to Mr. Summers instead, sure he would have a more appropriate answer for her.

But that only meant that she was even more upset when she got done talking to him. "Sorry girls. This is one area he's right. If you want a better grade in his class, you'll have to earn it. And don't even ask – it is a required class," Scott told them calmly.

The opening day of school snuck up on them fast. Scott posted up fliers for the various clubs and trips they'd planned for the year and once again, K's classes were very full – though most of the students were staying on just as a means to relax and socialize. Those that were most interested in advancing signed up for the weekend riding club that promised trail rides and more advanced techniques.

Logan had talked K into assisting in his self defense class, seeing as the student's most hated part of his class was when someone had to attack him. He reciprocated by joining her group for the trail rides – since the group being big enough that another adult being there for backup was not only a good idea, but required by Charles.

Things were starting to chug along well, everyone's classes were fuller than they could remember, and the mansion was bustling with activity all the time. By the time the holidays were drawing close, everyone was well into their routine. It was all the more disruptive when Logan started packing their bags.

"What now?" K asked. "You need to get away from me already?" she teased.

He smirked, and picked up her half full bag. "Nope. We're going to spend a little time at your place. Long overdue," he told her.

Her smile fell as she shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It's been winterized already and I'm not in a rush to go back." she said, half afraid that just by being there something bad would happen.

"Sweetheart, we're goin'. The boat house is nice, but I've heard Kitty talkin' about your place and I wanna see it. Sooner the better," Logan said, his tone indicating that there wasn't an option here.

"But winter's not her best season. Fall is when it's best," she argued, trying to find a loophole anywhere.

"Don't matter. I'm not waitin' a year to get you up there. Snow don't bother me one bit. So let's go. If you really don't want to go that bad, we'll go to my cabin instead," Logan offered, pausing for just a moment to shoot her a crooked grin. "Of course, we go to my place we might as well plan on stayin' till spring," he told her. "Seein' as we'd be snowed in before you know it."

"What about the riding club?" she asked.

He smiled at her with a little shrug. "Kitty has it covered if the kids want to go," he told her, pulling out a winter coat for her. "She'll find someone to help that can pass for responsible."

It was decided then. She finished her packing and the two made it to the kitchen before Remy stopped them. "You goin' north, Mon ami?" he asked Logan, who nodded in response.

"Kinda in a hurry too, Gumbo. I'll see ya in a week or so," Logan replied as K stopped dead.

"A week?" she was shocked.

"Something wrong with that?" Logan asked with a frown as he pulled her to the garage, though her only response was to smirk and shake her head slowly.

He started the first leg of driving, following the same route that she'd taken with Kitty. K had taken over before the bridge, telling him it was her favorite part of the trip, aside from getting to her place. Logan was smirking to himself as they crossed into the upper, with K smiling in spite of the wind advisories on the bridge that required they go across in convoys, and the jeep rocking and getting pushed with every hard blow over the straits as they passed. When they got close to the cabin, K frowned to herself and the little bit of nerves she'd erased perked right back up.

There wasn't much snow, but the road out was freshly plowed. She turned to Logan. "Did you call Bill?" she asked, curious as to how long this was planned.

He shook his head slowly. "Nope. Wanted you all to myself," he replied.

K let out a little 'hmm', and cautiously turned down the road, following the path all the way to her place, finding that there was even a path to the door that was shoveled out. "Does he do this all winter?" she wondered aloud as they went up to the locked cabin door.

Everything was in place, no scent but dust lingering in the air as K pulled in some wood to start a fire. Logan looked around the place with a little smirk on his face. It was better than Kitty had described. Simple, but cozy. Well insulated, and the view, even though the lake was frozen, was fantastic. The water wheel still turned, but a bit slower than before even though the creek apparently was not yet cold enough to freeze.

Logan locked the door behind her when she came in, and stalked up behind her. K knelt down in front of the wood burner and jumped as Logan carefully picked her hair up off her neck from behind and started in, nipping and kissing her neck with his free arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer. They didn't get much further though when there was a knock at the door.

K gave him a quick kiss then straightened her clothes out and sat up as Logan answered the door, finding Bill and one of his friends, shocked to see K's husband there.

"Oh, good, you're both here," Bill said, unconvincingly. "Had to check on you, K. There was a bunch of them down staters got cut up on the road after you left last time. We been keepin a close eye out for strangers since then."

K nodded, pulling off an innocent look very convincingly as she quietly replied with a soft tone that had Logan trying hard not to laugh. "Oh, that's … awful."

"Thanks for lookin' out for her," Logan said, his hand outstretched. "Good to know she's got an extra set of eyes on her when I'm not around."

Bill looked down as he took Logan's hand to shake and nodded. "Sure. No problem. Kind of a hard habit to break, if you know what I mean. Just give a call if ya need anything," Bill replied.

Logan nodded once before he closed the door and turned back to K, ready to start in where he'd left off. "He's mad I'm here," Logan said as he slid next to her on the rug, diving right back in with the necking.

"I don't know that he's mad," K said. "Disappointed maybe," she teased as he lunged forward, biting her neck and making her laugh as he started his attack.

It had started to snow, and the fire was dying out when Logan threw a few more logs on. He looked over to his wife, half asleep on the carpet and wrapped in a throw blanket when he decided it was time to get her into bed. He slipped over to her and picked her up, startling her enough that she wrapped her arms around his neck, helping him to balance her as he carried her to bed. He smiled as he watched her stretch before she pulled the covers back and slipped between the flannel sheets she liked so much. The setting was perfect for some late season shenanigans - the warm bed and the cold air a winning combination to stay curled up and totally enamored with each other.

They were taking a break to actually nap when they heard a truck coming down her road. Before she could make it to the bedroom door however, Logan caught her arm. "I know Bill's yer buddy, but there's no God damned way you're walking out there in your birthday suit. Get in bed, and stay there," Logan growled out, taking K off guard, and earning himself a saucy grin at the same time that had him shaking his head.

He walked out long enough to see that the front door was locked before he came back and slid under the covers, curling up with her before she could start picking about his territorial tendencies. When they had finally finished their morning romp, he left her in bed, to make her some coffee, which he brought back with him with a cocky sort of smirk. "Going to have to feed you if you don't bounce back faster than that, darlin'," he teased as he handed her a mug.

"Better watch it mister. Turnabout is fair play," she teased as she sat up to take a drink. As she finished her sip and started to lower the mug, he took it from her hand, and set it on the bedside table as he kissed her. This was going to be a good, long week if it kept up like this.

The next few days were a blur for both of them. It was a replay of their time at his cabin, but with the addition of a few extra rooms to christen, and the added entertainment of snow, and feeding the fire to keep warm when they weren't tangled up together. They'd taken the time to get dressed for a change and were snuggled up on her couch, looking at the snow coming down on the lake when Bill knocked on the door. Logan let him in, unwilling to let his wife too close to another man – particularly one he didn't know and trust.

"Just stopping in to see if you two needed anything. I'm headed to town, so say the word," Bill offered, chuckling to himself at the sleepy grin on K's face as she deferred to Logan.

"I think we're good. Only gonna be around a few more days anyhow," Logan told him before something seemed to click in the back of K's head as the men chatted.

"Do you usually keep my drive open?" K asked suddenly, her nose scrunched.

Bill shifted from one foot to the other. "Well, I try to. Hard to check on the place if I can't get out here," he replied.

K sat up a little straighter and crossed her arms as she turned to lean against the back of the couch and watch him. "I didn't think you checked on it all winter. Thanks, but you really don't need to," she told him, earning a shrug from Bill as Logan carefully watched the interaction.

"I guess I just like it open. Gives me somethin' to do," Bill said finally, smiling sheepishly as he waved good bye.

Logan closed the door as Bill left. Looking at K seriously. "Don't come here alone," Logan said as he looked over his shoulder at Bill's retreating form through the window.

"Why?" she asked, dumbfounded "Bill's never given me any trouble," she said, shock clear on her face as she defended her old friend.

"I don't trust him. Something off about him," Logan told her, his face dead serious.

"Oh, come on, this is Bill," K said. "I mean. I won't, if it makes you nervous, but … it's Bill."

"Just … do as I ask on this one," Logan said, shaking his head on his way back over to her, though K noted that once again, he'd locked the door.

They were both worn out by the time they were ready to leave. K was so tired in fact, that he insisted they spend one more night just to sleep, of all things, even if she informed him that his logic was ridiculous.

He woke up the next morning to find her side of the bed empty and the scent of coffee thick in the air. He made his way to the kitchen, finding her busily making breakfast in nothing but his flannel. He came up behind her, and pulled her closer, nibbling on her neck again. "Not what I had in mind for breakfast, darlin'," he growled.

She turned off the stove quickly and turned to face him as he picked her up, both of them grinning and teasing about how worn out the other was.

Their timing on arrival back at the institute was impeccable. All of the preparations for the holidays was over, which meant that they didn't have to put up with any of that nonsense.

They had almost a week before Christmas hit, and Logan's plan was to spend most of it alone with her. He didn't however, count on the women of the mansion not letting her get out of their shopping trip.