Early Start

K was making a point of lavishing Abbey with attention. It's not that the little girl was missing out - she certainly got to be involved when it came down to snuggling with Rachel and Scott or Jean or her parents … it was just that K knew that sooner or later, there would be three tiny ones and she didn't want her to get lost in the chaos. She was concerned that the little one might feel neglected once the babies were born, so she tried to show her ahead of time how special she was when they had time alone, just the two of them.

K had stood up to get something for the both of them to nibble on and Abbey chased after her, tripping over her own feet and smashing her little teeth through her lip on the floor. Her heart dropped when she heard the tell tale thunk that wasn't immediately followed by giggles or an 'oops', and instead, a heartbeat after, Abbey let loose a mournful sort of cry that only got worse when she saw the blood on the floor.

K swept her up and snuggled her as one of the twins kicked her, though it was more distracting to Abbey to get nudged than it was for K as she tried to look at her lip. Abbey cried huge crocodile tears as K gently took stock of things then hugged her tightly, rubbing her back as she told her she'd feel better soon. And to her surprise, a minute or so later, Abbey quit crying and sniffed as K pulled her back to look at her again then kissed her on the nose. Abbey wiped her mouth, looking at the blood with her brows smooshed up. K took her to the kitchen on her hip, Abbey clinging to her.

"Let me see it, flicka. I have to make sure you don't need stitches," K told her - because it had sounded like a full teeth-through-the-lip affair. Abbey squirmed but finally held still when K set her on the counter to look her over. To her relief, it didn't go all the way through, and it was only barely bleeding, though it had bled enough that it was all over Abbey's teeth. K could see that she'd be fine, but it was going to swell and hurt.

She took Abbey to the freezer to let her choose a popsicle before the two of them made a snack. But when Logan got in a few hours later and heard about Abbey's fall, he picked her up, cuddling her and he tried to take a look at it, too. "Sweetheart, there's no cut here," he said to K, wincing enough to get a giggle as Abbey bit his finger.

"You're kidding. That isn't supposed to start up this quick, is it?" K asked, rushing over to look at her for herself.

"No tellin'," he replied with a little shrug, vexed himself at the possibility of their little girl already healing quickly. "Maybe she'll have other abilities when she grows up. You'll have to ask Charlie when he comes down for tea."

"Oh, is that the big plan now? They come to me?"

"Well if you're gonna hide? Yeah. They will," Logan replied before giving Abbey a kiss on the forehead and setting her down.

It was clear when Charles and Jean made their way down that they'd missed the little afternoon tea parties, particularly since K's outlook on most affairs around the house and out was markedly different than the other residents of the institute.

When they arrived, it was just after K had gotten the water hot, and with a muted sort of bamf since Kurt had taken up the job of getting the little group there quickly, and always looking for excuses to play with his favorite tiny girl.

Of course, Abbey squealed in delight when she saw him. "Poof! Poof!" Abbey shouted out as she ran on her tiptoes toward Kurt, arms outstretched. Jean couldn't help but giggle at Kurt and Abbey as Kurt teleported around the room until Abbey had simply lost her balance, landing on her backside and belly laughing at him.

"Easy on the fire and brimstone, big guy," K said, waving away the scent as Kurt tossed Abbey in the air and Jean was took over on the tea while Charles settled in to watch the group with Rachel.

"Apologies. I simply was carried away, liebling," he grinned, as Abbey yanked on his soft fur trying to get him to make funny faces at her, and then melting into laughter as he complied, finally snuggling into his fur as he held her.

"Yeah, these kids aren't going to be spoiled at all," K said with a little smirk, shaking her head before she turned toward Charles. "Abbey's healing," she said with no lead in whatsoever.

"How?" he asked, turning her way with a frown firmly in place as Rachel slept on in his arms.

"Thought you might know. She busted her lip and in a couple of hours it was gone," K said. "Logan had no ideas either. My healing didn't kick in until I was around ten or so."

"Fascinating. We may have to have Hank look her over. Why don't you take her with you later for your appointment? Hank will play a game with her while Celia does your monitoring."

"I really hate that everyone knows what I'm doing and when," K grumbled, though it admittedly was hard to miss when she was down in the lab four times a week.

"You know it's getting so close to being over," Jean said encouragingly.

"I know," K said as Kurt sat down next to her, grinning alongside Abbey almost looking like bookends. She leaned toward them to touch foreheads with Abbey as she giggled. "Doesn't make it feel any better right now though."

"I know. Now," Jean agreed as she brought the tea over for the group - including a tiny cup for Abbey. The group started their tea, enjoying each others company and Kurt's insistence on playing with Abbey as if it was a proper high tea when K realized she hadn't seen Kitty in a while.

"Is Kitty around? I can't remember the last time we talked," K said suddenly, looking at Jean.

"She and Piotr decided to take a break from the hard life of a hero," Kurt said in almost a drawl. "Zimtzicke."

Jean gave him a dry look and answered in a much more reasonable tone. "They went for a road trip two days ago. I'm sure you'll see her when she gets back." K watched Jean for a moment after she'd answered, then turned to watch Kurt, who still looked irritated. It was obvious that they knew something … but didn't want to share.

A few days later, K woke from her nap to a familiar scent of cinnamon drifting in the air. She roused herself and made her way to the kitchen where Kitty was at the stove, pulling a pan from the oven. "Oh, you're up! I was going to surprise you," she said with a grin, setting a massive pan of cinnamon rolls on the stove.

K watched her for a moment as she settled into a seat. "Is that my recipe?"

Kitty blushed right to her roots and lifted one shoulder to her ear. "You don't mind do you? I kind of … sorta ... copied it from your cottage." She tried to smile, but it came out almost like a grimace as if she was sure K was going to yell at her. But instead, K shook her head lightly and headed over to start a fresh pot of coffee.

"No, sounds good, actually. Just need some fresh coffee to go with it," K replied, though Kitty was still watching her nervously as she measured the grounds. "So, Katherine. Where have you been traveling outside of my cottage?" K asked, turning to face the nervous young woman.

But instead of a shy look, Kitty grinned in response. "I didn't actually go to your cottage this time. I copied it when we were up there last. No. This time, I was in Chicago, seeing my mother. It's been a long time – too long, honestly. She's supposed to come to visit in a few months."

K scrunched her nose as she watched Kitty pull a bowl from the cabinet to mix up some frosting for the rolls. "And …." K said, moving across the kitchen to take her seat, her back already killing her from the short time standing upright.

"And, you and I are going to spend a little time together while Pete talks with Logan," Kitty continued, blushing bright red.

K tapped her fingers on the table watching Kitty smile to herself. "Mmm hmm. Go on. Say it out loud. I wanna hear you say it," K said, smirking over her coffee cup.

"I've already said yes, but since my dad is dead, and Logan's kind of like a father …." Kitty said, stopping to take a deep slow breath through her teeth as she bit her bottom lip. "I need to know if we can use your cottage for our wedding. It's just the prettiest little place. We want to do it in the fall, if that's alright." Kitty's heart was beating out of her chest as she bounced on her toes, her fingertips resting on the counter as she waited for K's answer.

"Absolutely not," K said stiffly, looking at her as if she'd lost her mind and Kitty's entire expression fell.

"What? But, I thought … it's just so pretty there," Kitty said, totally crestfallen.

"No. You can't get married there. No way. There just isn't room for a crowd there, and the woods will be full of hunters," K told her. Kitty looked disappointed, but it was plain that she understood her reasoning. K tipped her head to the side as Kitty deflated, watching the young woman carefully. "However, I would be tickled if you'd like to use it for your honeymoon..." K said with a sly smile on her face. "It's particularly excellent for those activities. I recommend the stairs in particular. If you get around to looking over his shoulder, the view is spectacular."

Kitty's mouth dropped, her cheeks turning the deepest shade of red. "Oh my God," Kitty choked out, searching for the words. "I don't … don't want to know … oh…. Augh. But ...the view … would be great. Thank you! I'm going to just … mind bleach …." She let out a full body shiver. "Who thinks about the view when they're doing that?"

"I have no idea. To be honest, I forgot there was a lake there last time I was on the stairs," K chuckled, working now toward getting Kitty to just shut down, and she did K couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

Kitty was knocked mostly comment-free, still shaking her head occasionally and looking over to K now and again, muttering 'oh my GOD' from time to time as she almost aggressively finished her baking. "I just told you that I think of him as my Dad and you go and … try to put images in my head!"

Several hours later, Piotr and Logan came in, smelling strongly of whiskey and smoke, and looking rather somber. Kitty watched Logan, biting her lip again as she waited for his reaction. He narrowed his eyes at her before stalking over to K and kissing her, more or less ignoring Kitty just to get her to speak up.

"Well? Did you two …. talk?" Kitty asked, watching Piotr sway – clearly drunk.

"Yep," Logan replied as he picked up Abbey from K's lap and nuzzled the giggling girl.

"And are we good to go?" Kitty asked, waiting expectantly.

"Half-pint, you're a grown woman. If he's gonna make you happy, you know damn well I'm behind ya," he told her, an instant before Kitty grinned and rushed over to attach herself in a hug.

"Then I have to ask you a question too, Wolvie," Kitty said, looking more like a teenager suddenly. "Since my dad is gone, and you've always been there for me … would you give me away?" She asked, looking very nervous for a few seconds until Logan grinned at her, and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'd be honored," he said quietly as Abbey wiggled to the ground. Kitty didn't waste the opportunity and darted in to wrap her arms around him for what was once a rare chuckle as the pair embraced. "I'm proud of you punkin'."

Kitty was grinning and bouncing when the hug broke up and it wasn't long after when the betrothed left the boat house.

"So, what did you boys have to say that took an entire fifth to get through?" K asked him, smirking as she guessed at the answer.

"Oh, the talk went quick. He asked, I told him the same thing I just told her, and followed it up by making sure he knew that if he hurt her I'd kill him," Logan replied nonchalantly. "Then I just tried to get him sick."

K couldn't help but laugh as she got up and made her way to him, kissing him slowly with her hand resting on the side of his neck. "It looks like there's going to be a wedding."

"Jeannie'll love havin' a side project, I'm sure."

Rachel wasn't quite two weeks old yet, and K had weeks to go, but she had been hurting for hours, and she'd done everything she could think of to keep her cool and be calm. But, finally, she couldn't help but sit up suddenly, her arm across her belly as her stomach clenched hard.

"Come on. It's not gettin' any better. Time to go," Logan told her. She'd been fighting him to leave for nearly an hour, sure that this was just another false alarm. But they both realized that wasn't the case when they caught the scent of blood.

"I'm bleeding," she said quietly through gritted teeth. He didn't wait for her to stand, instead picking her up and carrying her out past Jean who had come to keep an eye on Abbey should she wake up.

"But … it's too early," Jean said, looking openly alarmed. "She's just barely at 32 weeks …"

"I'm just takin' her up," Logan said as he headed for the door.

K was in worse pain than she could remember. It hurt to breathe and she felt as if her back was breaking and she was being fileted at the same time. They weren't quite to the front steps when Kurt appeared and teleported them both to the lab. K was hurting too badly to pay attention to the dizziness she usually felt when Kurt teleported with her. She was already nauseous from the pain so the scent of brimstone didn't even phase her.

"Easy, mein Freund. Hank will help," Kurt said as Hank came to her side.

"She's bleedin'," Logan said evenly, managing to keep his concerns in check as he made sure that she was as comfortable as possible. Without waiting any further, Hank rushed the exam finding that not only was she bleeding, but she wasn't nearly dilated enough to be in as much pain as she was. Kurt had the foresight to rush the ultrasound over, and Hank dove in, checking for heartbeats and finding both.

"We don't have time to wait for Celia. You need surgery. Right now," Hank said firmly as he slipped an inhibitor collar on her. K didn't argue or even raise a hand to argue. She found it was hard to speak when it hurt so badly that she couldn't breathe anymore.

Logan and Kurt moved her to the surgical room as Hank scrubbed down quickly, though Logan was sick with worry as they set her on the stainless steel table. Hank rushed over, medications and surgical equipment ready on a tray. He had her sit up and lean onto Logan while he administered a spinal, and K tried hard not to scream or move while the needle found its way between two adamantium plated vertebra. She was shaking as Hank told Logan to get her to lay down.

It was clear that the spinal had started to work when her legs suddenly felt as if hot water had been poured into them. The sensation crept up her body to her ribcage, alleviating the pain quickly, which in turn, took away much of the stress K had been feeling. Her face once in a tight grimace relaxed and she was even managing to take a full breath. "Okay. Wow. That … okay," she muttered as Hank tied her arms tightly to the table and quickly got started.

"Kurt, are you scrubbed in?" Hank called out as Logan stayed by her head, trying to keep her focused.

"On my way," Kurt called out. "Though this will be my first attempt at aiding and abetting a delivery, I have full faith that it will be perfect." K couldn't help but smirk at him as he made his way past her to act as Hank's assistant - even if Logan didn't look overly amused.

"You okay?" Logan asked quietly, and K nodded, though her frown started again as she could feel the vague sensation of pulling as Hank worked. It was almost an out of body experience as she could feel something but not …

She was careful not to look anywhere near the blue fur that she could see in her peripheral vision, afraid that they might become the stuff of nightmares down the road. It didn't hurt, but the feeling of pressure as they pushed and pulled to remove the babies was unsettling. But Hank was working fast.

Logan was at her side, watching her carefully and holding her hand when Celia came in. "What happened?" she said, alarmed as she dropped her coat and rushed to scrub in.

"Abruption," Hank replied as he pushed hard on K, and the first baby made her way into the world. Celia took over on the little girl, rushing and fussing as she cleared the baby's airways and started down her newborn checklist. Within a few moments, her tiny, soft, squeaky cries echoed in the sterile stainless room, settling down only when she was wrapped up tightly. K's heart rate was slowly increasing with her nerves, but she was looking decidedly out of it, and her eyes were beginning to roll in her head.

Another big push on her from Hank and he carried the little boy to join his sister with Celia, who had just wrapped up the girl. "You can hold her for a moment," Celia said as she carrying her to Logan. "They'll need oxygen and support for a while. They're too small."

The little boy took more work on Celia's part. He was limp when she started on him, almost blue looking. He didn't want to breathe well on his own, but after a few minutes, he too cried out incredibly quietly but very angry as Celia cleaned him up.

"Hank," Logan said nervously, as he watched K's eyes close, her lips were slightly parted and she was white as a ghost.

Hank looked up to Logan, and realized that his patient was bleeding too fast as he tried to finish up, not yet ready to remove the inhibitor until he'd finished trying to straighten out the mess K was, and making doubly sure that he'd left no instruments behind. He rushed what he was doing and suddenly tore off a glove, to remove the collar quickly and then went back to watch that she was healing as quickly as she should.

"Hey, sweetheart," Logan purred out as K stretched out on waking. "You ready to meet our little ones?"

K nodded as she opened her eyes to find Logan wearing an incredibly peaceful smile that positively knocked her for a loop. She sat up quicker at that and glanced to the bundle in his arms - though she frowned when she saw the lines and leads coming from the little one. Before she had a chance to really think about it, though, Logan turned to her and passed her the tiny bundle. "Our daughter," he said as she took her from him, smiling at the little one in spite of herself.

"Hey, tiny,tiny girl," K whispered at the sleeping infant. She was sporting the tiniest coat of black peach fuzz on her head, and looked nearly identical to her sister though far smaller.

Logan turned to her again, one eyebrow raised as Kurt made his way over with the same array of lines on the second baby. "And our son," he told her, as Kurt rearranged the lines.

"I'll trade you," Kurt said with a smirk, as Logan helped to pass the girl to him. "Lucky for them I am so fuzzy and warm to snuggle."

K looked up at Kurt with a little smile. "Yes. Unimaginably lucky," she agreed. When she got to hold her little boy though, she couldn't help but gasped when she saw him. There was no mistaking his father. The little guy had pitch black hair and a unbelievably tiny version of Logan's nose, though he was wearing oxygen tubes and the clothes were even bigger on him than they looked on his sister.

"Poor kids' got no luck," Logan said, a smirk on his face as he watched her stare at the little boy. K did her best not to tear up and failed as her hand covered her mouth tightly. Logan moved to sit next to her, wrapping his arm around her as she tried to relax. "Darlin', you said you wanted him to look like me – you don't gotta cry about it now."

"They're just so … early," she said softly.

"They're fine. Or they will be. You're fine. Everyone's alright. You took a few years off me, scarin' me like that, but we're all here. Abbey is pushing to see you too. So come on. You got what you wanted – ya cursed the poor boy into looking like me. Be happy about it," he said. She laughed a little in spite of herself, and leaned into him. "Now, what do you wanna name them?" he asked, with a twinkle of trouble dancing in his eyes.

"About that," K said as she glanced over at Kurt, who was cooing in German to their daughter. "I you know what I was thinking of …"

Logan kissed her tenderly when he heard her suggestions for names.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to do that." he said softly.

"I think it fits them. If you don't like either of them, you choose. I'm fine with whatever you'd like," she replied, feeding their son while the little girl slept in Kurt's arms and Abbey sat between K's knees on the hospital bed, watching the baby eat.

"What have you picked?" Kurt asked, smiling down at the little boy. "He'll be a small Kurt of course then, ja?"

"Nein," K laughed. "James Wagner and Rose Natalia."

"For their godparents," Logan added, which only got a delighted sort of laugh out of Kurt that had him snuggling little Rose that much tighter.

"Oh, yes. Of course," he laughed, looking fit to burst. "This completely makes up for you erroneously choosing Scott over me for Abbey."

"That was legal…"

"No, no, you can't take it back," Kurt said, though he couldn't walk away that easily with Rose still hooked up to monitors.

"Could you maybe give me my daughter so I can feed her?" K asked. "And you can go get her godmother?"

Kurt tipped his chin up but couldn't hold the hard line. "Yes, of course, but when I return, I'm holding my Godson." He pointed a finger at Logan, who had taken James from K and then passed off Rose only to return half an hour later with a very irritated Natasha, who had either been out on a date or on a mission.

She was swearing in Russian, though she stopped when she heard a little squeak over her shoulder. She turned, and the shock was plain to see when she saw Logan holding Rose. "Malen'kiy dyadya, eto slishkom skoro!"

"Yeah, they're early," Logan replied tipping his head for her to come say hello even as Kurt made good on his request and carefully picked James up from K and Abbey, cooing at him all the while. Natasha took a few cautious steps forward, only glancing over at K for a moment before she melted on seeing the little girl in Logan's arms.

One hand drifted up to shift the blanket that covered her chest and Natasha let out an uncharacteristic sort of 'oh' when the tiny girl stretched out her fingers. "How long does she have to stay here with all the monitors?"

"Only until she gets up to four pounds," Logan said, though that had Natasha's eyes wide.

"And where is she now?"

"Three - six," Logan replied. "She's got a little way to go." He shifted how he was holding the little girl to pass her over to Natasha, who looked almost overwhelmed as she automatically sat down in the nearest chair, a smile creeping onto her features that clearly looked like she didn't realize it was there. "She's got him beat by two ounces though."

"They're just so small," she said quietly. "What are their names?"

"The boy is James Wagner," Logan said, of course, earning a broad smile from Kurt and a crooked smirk from Natasha.

"And the girl is Rose Natalia," K added, which had Natasha blinking up at her for a moment.

"Ya khochu, chtoby ty byla ikh krestnoy mater'yu," Logan said.

Natasha was wide eyed for a moment before she looked down at Rose. "Moya krestnitsa?" She was lightly bouncing the little girl as she smirked more crookedly. "I'd be honored," she said, biting her lip.

"Did we wreck one of your missions?"

"No, I was out with Jessica, we had a spa day … it … it doesn't matter, really, this is better," Natasha said as she settled in. "You never speak Russian ..." Logan gave her a quick kiss on the side of her head and sat down with K as she wrapped her arms around Abbey and pulled her into her chest so they could watch the godparents swoon over the twins.

From German:

Zimtzicke - Cinnamon goat (it's an insult. Don't judge.)

From Russian:

Malen'kiy dyadya, eto slishkom skoro! - Little Uncle, it's too soon!

Ya khochu, chtoby ty byla ikh krestnoy mater'yu - I'd like you to be their godmother.

Moya krestnitsa? - My goddaughter?

(A/N) Well that does it for this volume. Keep your eyes peeled in the somewhat near future when the group returns in Volume Three of my 906 Universe with 'Feral Family Affairs'.