Chapter 12 - The Baby Face Is Multiplying

Alyssa still hadn't seen any sign that the reporters outside of her house would leave her alone, though she hadn't given them anything to work with. It wasn't like she was going to trumpet her breakup to the world, not when it had been so hard to give up the amazing relationship that she had with James. But it was just getting more obvious with summer break between semesters that she wasn't spending all of her newfound free time with James. So it was just a matter of time before someone asked about it.

And still, somehow, when a reporter asked her where her boyfriend was, she wasn't quite prepared for it and just sort of blinked at him. "Not… here," she said, flushing a brilliant red. She did great on the other side of an interview, but clearly, she was no good at being the interview subject.

"Then the rumors that have been swirling around about you and James Howlett breaking up — can you dispel those for us now?"

"I…" She blinked at the cameraman and bit her lip. "No, I can't."

"Have you seen the pictures circulating the internet?" Another reporter asked, shoving past the first.

"What pictures?"

"The ones of him and several different young ladies," she replied. "Did this end because of a roving eye?"

Alyssa shook her head quickly. "No, no, no," she said. "No, that's not — no, no. He's so, so sweet, and if someone asked for a picture he would — no, he's not that kind of guy, I promise!"

"Then what triggered the split?" More lights seemed to appear from nowhere, shining in her face.

"It — it wasn't anything specific," Alyssa said, feeling trapped and blinded by everything around her. "I just… I'm not cut out for being an X-Man's girlfriend, that's all."

The cameras started clicking faster, and for just a split second, no one asked any questions — but then, the dam broke, and they all started at once, digging for more information, demanding the details on how she'd dropped him, where she was going from there, if she was over the idea of dating other superpowered people if they weren't on that particular team …. Anything entirely inappropriate was shouted out as well.

Alyssa tried to find a way around all of the reporters, her whole face red down to the tips of her ears. "Guys, no, just — no, I just want to go to college — and can't you leave me alone?" she spluttered, trying to find an out.

"Come on, you know how people want to know these things," one of the nearest ones. "Spill. Give someone else a scoop for once."

Alyssa turned his way and frowned before she shook her head. "I'm not going to do that to James. I still care about him, and I'm not going to turn around and do a kiss-and-tell interview or anything else you're looking for."

"Does that mean you plan to reconcile after college?" someone shouted from the back.

Alyssa flushed red. "It means we're still friends, and the rest of it is between him and me," she said. "I don't ever talk about personal details on my show; the accidental kissing tape was an accident."

"Is there any more footage you'd like to release?"

"No," Alyssa said, turning even redder. "I just want to run my podcast and go to college. Please!"

"Are you planning to sell any exclusive footage? It would easily pay for your college!"

But that seemed to open a flood of offers, and Alyssa suddenly felt sick. Just before she got into her car, she heard one of them starting up their wrap up — and more or less announcing it as open season.

Alyssa let out a miserable noise and put her head in her hands before she picked up her phone to call James; he deserved to know what had just happened, after all. "James, some reporters ambushed me about our breakup," she said as soon as he picked up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm — I'm — yeah, I'm okay," she admitted. "But I accidentally admitted to breaking up with you? They were asking about it like it was already a thing, and I — and now, they're basically calling you the hottest new bachelor and — and I'm so sorry."

"Oh, come on," he said thickly. "You're kidding me. You have nothing to apologize for. You just got caught by underhanded reporters. I know you can't grasp that. Not your style."

"I wanted to warn you," Alyssa said.

"I appreciate it, thanks," James said. "But don't talk to them, alright? They'll just get worse."

"Yeah, I won't do that again."

"And if you end up in trouble, call me. Please."

"I will," she promised. "You or Kari. She already promised she'd rescue me from anyone stupid."

"Kari's headed back out on tour soon," he told her. "But I can always send Krissy or Kaleb if you need a quick exit. I know they'd go along with it."

"You're all such heroes," Alyssa said with obvious affection. "I really, really appreciate it."

"Hey. You've seen how most reporters are. We gotta take care of our favorite."

Alyssa couldn't help but smile at that. "Take care of yourself, James. Please."

"You too."

Halfway through July, the breakfast scene with Elin's parents began to repeat itself, which was a small shock to Chance, since Logan and K had been almost avoiding them and blaming it on Kurt's little shift in schedule. But Chance felt like he and his father-in-law had just gotten into an almost-understanding that didn't involve murder — when Logan stopped his concentrated glare at nothing from behind his newspaper abruptly.

He quickly put the paper down and narrowed his eyes at Elin, almost like he wasn't seeing Chance at all. He watched her for a long while, even after she put her tea down and met his gaze. He just seemed to be glaring at her.

"You're going to the med lab," Logan decided. "Right now." He got to his feet and walked around the table, still ignoring Chance.

Instantly, Chance was on his feet as well, honestly concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," Logan said, though his tone and body language told the two of them that this was one of those "no room for argument" moments. He didn't take a step back until Elin sheepishly got to her feet and gave her father a tired look.

"This isn't funny," she said, trying to glare.

"No, it's not," Logan agreed. "So move it." He took a hold of her arm and led her off, still ignoring anyone but Elin. When they got to the med lab, Logan glanced around to be sure they were alone, then told Chance to shut the blinds and keep it private. "We got a problem," he called out at just over his usual volume.

Chance was looking downright scared by the time Hank came over to see what was going on, though the good doctor wasted no time guiding Elin to a few tests when he caught her scent.

"I'm getting some seriously conflicting scents," Logan said. "Lot stronger than it should be, too."

Hank nodded to himself. "You're far enough along that we can take a look on an ultrasound and see what the story is, my dear," he said in a rich, reassuring tone to Elin as he got her set up.

Logan stayed back with his arms crossed, his focus on Hank now more than her as he waited to hear what he had to say. Elin, however, by that point was just looking back over to her dad and nearly holding her breath. After so long of watching Chance pine for kids, she had barely started to accept that she was giving him what he wanted. And now, she was terrified that this one thing she'd managed to do for him would be torn from him, afraid that something was wrong, or that she couldn't do it.

Finally, Hank let his shoulders drop and even smiled their way. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about," he promised. "In fact, it looks as though both of your little ones are perfectly healthy for this stage in their development."

"Both…" Chance almost breathed out, looking like he might pass out.

"Wait, what?" Elin said, though she looked almost panicked. "You … what?"

Hank turned the screen her way so he could point out what he was seeing to her. "Congratulations, Elin. You're having twins." Elin just stared for a long moment, but she didn't seem to have a good way to even react other than stunned silence, so Hank put a hand on her arm in an attempt to give her some physical stimulus to ground her. "If you come back in a few weeks, we'll have a more distinct profile for you to look at," Hank told her gently.

She blinked a few times and then nodded slowly at that. "Oh."

"But… she's okay? They're okay?" Chance asked, almost unconsciously reaching for Elin's hand to squeeze it.

"I'll double-check the blood once it comes through, but she certainly seems to be perfectly healthy," Hank said.

Chance nodded slowly, resting his other hand on Elin's shoulder before he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Hey, whatever you need, remember?" he whispered to her.

She nodded slowly again. "I need a minute."

"Alright," he said, helping her to clean up before she took the moment he gave her to get a hold of herself apart from the others.

When she seemed to have pulled herself together a little bit, she sat up and let her feet hang off of the bed she was in, then looked between the three men, letting her gaze land on her father. "It's going to be alright, right?"

Logan nodded at that, though when it looked like Elin was on the verge of tears, he unfolded his arms and made his way over to wrap her up in a reassuring hug. He looked over her shoulder at Chance. "Get over here and help," he rumbled out, and Chance immediately jumped to help, pulling his arms around Elin from the other side so that she was well and truly surrounded.

"I'm still not ready to share this," Elin told him. "Can you wait to tell this part until we have the pictures?"

Chance nodded. "Yeah, we'll surprise them on their anniversary."

"You can tell them now … just not all of it," she said. "I'm entirely sure no one missed our exit from the kitchen."

"Yeah, I think our sneak is blown," he agreed, tightening his hug.

"Not sorry," Logan told them.

"No, I really appreciate it," Chance said quickly. "You were looking out for her — for us."

"It's my job," Logan pointed out.

"Mine too," Chance said. "I'll take good care of all three of them, I swear."

Logan reached over to clap a hand on the side of Chance's neck. "You're not alone in that, kiddo."

Chance couldn't help but smile at that and nodded before he turned back to Elin. "I can do all the talking if you want, but I think you should be there so Mom doesn't, you know, think something is horribly wrong with you," he told her.

"Give her a minute," Logan said as Elin nodded.

"Hey, I'm fine hugging you," Chance said. "I'm just… planning ahead. Sorry."

"Shut up," Elin said with a little laugh. "No … no 'sorry'. It's just a lot to take in, okay?"

"I just hate to see you get overwhelmed," he said. "Just want you to be happy, that's all."

"Well … getting overwhelmed is going to happen anyhow," she said. "This is massively huge?"

"Yeah," Chance said, nodding seriously. "But, ah, you can blame me… I'm the twin here."

"Oh, I absolutely do," she said, though both Logan and Hank were shaking their heads.

"To be fair," Hank said, "this is an issue from the mother's side. The father has nothing to contribute as far as multiples go."

Chance shook his head. "No, no, it's still my fault somehow. I just know it," he said seriously, though his eyes were twinkling Elin's way.

"It is. And I'll never let you forget it," Elin said, perfectly straight-faced.

Chance smiled and then leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I'm just going to have to spoil you twice as much," he said.

"You alright now?" Logan asked, ignoring his son-in-law, who he was sure was asking to get hit by Elin.

"Yeah, I think so," she said before she gave her dad another little squeeze and sat up straighter. "Time to face the firing squad."

Chance smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I'll do all the talking, and you can hide when we're done," he offered. "After my dad dies of happiness, of course."

Elin gave him a little smile. "That is so not how it's going to go," she said, shaking her head as Logan gave her a quick kiss on the temple and then headed for the door.

"Take your time; no one will know anything until you're ready," Logan said over his shoulder.

Chance watched Logan leave and then turned to Elin and pulled her into a hug again. "I know I said I wanted two, El, but you didn't have to knock them both out at once if you wanted to get it over with," he had to tease her.

She felt tears prickling at her eyes at the reminder of their deal and at the thought of having to do this again, but to cover for her reaction, she punched him in the arm hard. "So not my idea. At all. Punk." Her voice wavered, but he was too busy rubbing his sore arm to notice; she had used a bit more force than she meant to.

"Love you too."

"You know you make it hard to be mad at you even when you earn it with all the … sweet … love yous and whatnot," she said, trying and failing to hide the fact that tears were starting to slip down her cheeks.

"That must be really frustrating for you," Chance said, though he took a step forward and brushed his thumb over her face where he could see the tear tracks. "Hey, I'm sorry, alright? I don't meant to make it worse when I know twins is a lot."

"I'll manage," she said, brushing his hand aside.

"You don't have to manage alone," he said, still watching her carefully, his earlier excitement gone when he could see how shaken she was.

But that just made her feel guilty; she didn't want him to not be happy after she'd gone to all the trouble of giving him what he wanted. That was stupid. So, she cleared her throat. "I thought we were going to tell your parents."

"When you're ready," Chance said without looking away from her.

She waved off his concern. "I'll never be ready, but we're going to have to face them before your mom decides something bad happened."

"Alright." Chance brushed off her cheeks once more and kissed her forehead before he offered her his hand and they headed upstairs, to where Annie was cleaning up after the breakfast rush and Scott was sitting with K and baby Kurt just chatting over the newspaper — though all three adults looked up when the two of them arrived.

"Are you alright?" Annie asked, drying her hands on a dish towel and looking honestly concerned Elin's way — exactly as Elin had warned Chance she would be.

"I'm fine," Elin said, then crossed over to take the seat Logan had been sitting in before the rush.

"You sure?" Scott asked with a raised eyebrow her way. "That was quite the exit."

She shrugged one shoulder up but didn't really go further than the usual: "I'm always fine. You know that."

Chance glanced Elin's way and then gently slid his arm around her. "She really is fine, Dad," he promised.

"Yeah, learn to trust, Dad," Elin had to tease, which got a snerk out of K.

Annie smirked as she sat down across from the two of them in her apron. "Well, I'm glad to hear that."

"Yeah, well…" Chance glanced at Elin as if he was double-checking his permission before he took a deep breath, but she simply took her mother's coffee and turned to watch him with one eyebrow raised. "We'll have to take a few more trips down to Hank to, you know, make sure it's a healthy pregnancy all the way through."

Scott almost froze, but Annie was much faster, gasping delightedly before it seemed like she couldn't get around the table fast enough to wrap both of them up in a hug at the same time, one arm around each of them. "That's amazing!" she gushed, holding them tight.

K was smirking to herself as she scooted over a little to give the three of them some room … and to get out of Scott's way when he finally recovered enough to join in the celebrating and the hug as well.

"When are you due?" Annie asked.

"If you believe Hank, sometime in March," Elin said. "Maybe April if it goes too long."

"Congratulations," Scott said, breaking into a huge smile at last. "You two are going to be amazing parents."

Elin let out a sigh at that but did her best not to give him the same argument she'd already given Chance. "You two are too much alike."

Scott smirked. "Sorry in advance. I promise I'll keep him in line and make sure he spoils you properly."

"I'm sure that's already covered," she replied.

Annie pulled them both into individual hugs. "This is so, so wonderful!" She wiped just below her eyes as her emotions got the better of her before Chance simply had to tighten his hug and kiss her cheek.

"Love you, Mom," he told her, which had her crying more openly in obvious joy.