A/N: This is just a quick update because I haven't updated this in a few months. Please excuse any mistakes! I do not own the X-Men or any other Marvel characters!

Summary: Things aren't always what they seem.

Warning(s):

italics = urgent tone being used, thoughts or telekinetic conversation

Chapter 6

Infant Rachel opens her ocean eyes, scanning her surroundings as best as she could for someone stuck, lying on their back. She starts whining and thrashing her tiny limbs around. The infant was sick of staring at the white ceiling. Before she could cry, she heard a deep growl, which caused her emotions to switch, causing her to giggle and preventing her from having a meltdown.

Her father comes into view, eliciting a big, gummy smile from her. She gets excited, kicking her legs and making Logan chuckle. "What's up, princess?" He picks her up in one swoop and nuzzles his nose into her neck, making the baby smile happily. Logan takes her out of his bedroom and shuffles his way to the kitchen to warm up a bottle for her.

He laughs as he recalls the earlier part of the day; Rachel was particularly harsh with Jean when it was time for her to eat. The baby threw a major tantrum, screaming her lungs out. Anyone who attempted to calm her down failed miserably, resulting in even louder screams. Logan walked in carrying some bags from his quick trip to the store. The shrieking of his daughter frightened him, and he was on edge because he believed that she was in danger. He moved over to the crying baby her mother held after Marie informed him of the problem and peered into Rachel's tear-filled eyes. "Princess. Drink your milk." He says it in a strict tone.

The baby stops screaming and sniffling cutely as her little nose and cheeks are bright red. Logan kisses her Rudolph nose and then motions to the bottle on the counter. "There you go, Jeannie." It was clear that Rachel was a daddy's girl; she easily listened to him, and Jean sometimes struggled to feed or change her diaper.

The funny memory made him chuckle deeply as he checked out the temperature of the milk. It wasn't too hot or too cold, so he rubbed the bottle nipple against his daughter's lips, watching her latch on to it. He brings the baby back upstairs, letting her eat and relax in his arms as he lays in the bed with his back against the headboard. There was a knock on the door. The person behind the door opens it before he can consent to them entering. As he looks at Ororo, his feelings of growing annoyance abruptly halt. "What are you doing awake, darling?"

In the process of climbing into the bed, she allows the top of her cleavage to protrude slightly from her nightgown while simultaneously stretching her arms out against the mattress. "I missed you next to me."

The sincerity of her words brings a smile to his face. He leans over carefully so as not to interrupt Rachel's feeding, and he kisses Ororo's soft lips. "I miss you more." As frustrating as it was, Logan had agreed to Jean's custody schedule; he would keep Rachel in his room from Thursday nights to Monday mornings. Since this was a new arrangement, Logan did not want Rachel's midnight outbursts to disturb Ororo, so Logan stayed in his room with the baby instead of her loft.

Ororo gently reminds him. "My love, I don't mind if Rachel joins us in the loft. I enjoy her company." Ororo gently rubs the baby's hand with a single finger. She smiles as Rachel's tiny hand grips her finger. "See! She agrees with me."

Logan chuckles watching his girls interact. He pulls the empty bottle out of Rachel's mouth, resting it on the nightstand beside him. "Damn Rae, you finished the whole bottle." Ororo slaps his arm, chastising him for his foul language around the infant. He shrugs her off and glances at his alarm clock; it reads 4:00 AM.

"Do you wanna go on a jog, Ro?"

His girlfriend nods as she lightly groans, leaving his king-sized bed. "I'll meet you out back." She leaves to go up to her loft to change. Logan pats his daughter on the back for a few minutes, smiling as he hears a loud belch. After burping her, he surrounds her in the middle of a bunch of pillows on the bed and then proceeds to put on his workout clothes in the bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom in a black tank top and gray basketball shorts, he looks for the baby carrier he bought at Macy's. Before strapping it to his body, he quickly changes Rachel's diaper and puts her in a new pink onesie. He bundled her with a pink beanie in case the gentle summer morning briskness was too chilly. After a few precautionary tests involving playfully shaking the infant, Logan strapped the device to his chest and securely placed Rachel in it. He then knelt with his hand on her head to ensure she would not fall out like a dollar out of a stripper's bra.

Once he was satisfied, he lightly jogged downstairs. He met Ororo in the back, who was tying her sneakers up. Logan smacked her ass as he walked up from behind. He smirked as she jumped in the air with a squeak. Ororo smacks his arm. "Where's your manners, sir? How would you feel if, in the future, someone did that to Rachel?"

"I don't need to worry about that, Ro."

"Why not?"

He smirks, saying, "She's not allowed to date until I'm dead." He begins to jog up the field, leaving her behind in disbelief.

"But you can't die!" Ororo stood there, shaking her head at him, before snapping out of it and jogging to catch up.

The couple jogged together in laps through the large field; they completed ten laps in under an hour and forty-five minutes. Ororo dragged her tired legs to the swinging chair on the back patio. She pants, feeling her heart pound out of her chest as her rushing blood flows through it. Logan reaches inside the mini fridge and throws her a bottle of cold water. She desperately twists the cap off and finishes the entire water bottle, quenching her thirst.

Logan sits next to her, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. His fatigue quickly fades due to his healing factor. He closes his eyes, enjoying the breeze on his skin. "You doing that, babe?"

"Nope, that is all Mother Nature." She giggled softly, closing her eyes as she embraced nature's attempt to cool down their bodies. The mention of her controlling the wind stops her playful mood. She sighs and admits, "Logan, I really miss my powers."

Her hand reaches out to the air, frowning as the breeze doesn't excite her. Her blue eyes are welling up as a small whimper escapes her lips. Logan felt bad; Ororo's powers were still a sore subject for her. He felt bad for his joke. "I'm sorry, darling. I was kidding." He stands up over her and kisses the top of her white hair.

"Don't worry, babe, we'll find a way to get your powers back."

Hours later, after a quick nap, Professor Xavier calls Ororo into his office. She quickly gets dressed, makes her way to his office, ignoring the need to knock, and walks in. "Yes, Professor?"

"Well, look who it is! Hey beautiful."

Her eyes looked up at the familiar voice, and she took a startled step back. Standing before her were Beast, Xavier, and her ex-fiancé, Forge. Xavier gently gestured to one of the empty chairs in front of his desk and said, "Ororo, please take a seat."

The tall woman felt her knees wobble and managed to sit as she was instructed. Her chest rose up and down quickly. Her mind is racing, but somehow she calms herself down. Her smooth, long leg crosses the other, and she rests her chin on her hand.

The headmaster calmly explains, "Hank and I decided to add Forge on to help you get your powers back." The three men waited for a response from her, but all they got in return was piercing eyes.

Forge clears his throat, "Yes. They called me a few days ago, and we discussed some details over the phone. We would like to go over the plan with you." Forge felt a pain in his chest, kicking himself over his past decisions. He had missed his past lover very much.

The blue beast takes over. "My dear goddess, Forge has come up with something wonderful! He can help you gain your powers back." He walks over to her, handing her a blueprint for a medical device.

Ororo looks at her furry blue friend, studying his face, then turns to her ex as he takes over the explanation. "I have some friends that can help send down some of the things I need, and in a few days, you will get your powers back. You'll feel even better than before, I promise, Ro."

Charles tries to read his toaster child's face, but she is stone cold. He even tries to read her mind; however, she shuts him out. With a sigh, he speaks up, "Ororo, talk to us."

She stands up and shoves the blueprint into Forge's chest. "Leave now." Before she turns away, he grabs her arm, and Ororo sees red. "Let me go!"

She yanks her arm as Hank presses a hand on her shoulder. "He just wants to help. We want to help Ororo. Please don't be angry at us for trying to help."

His touch burned her shoulder, and she yanked from him as well. Everyone in the room jumps at the sudden banging of the door against the wall. Logan panted heavily as his eyes scanned for his mate, whom he smelled in distress as he was downstairs warming up a bottle for his daughter.

"Having a party without me, Chuck?"

Ororo automatically stands by his side, hugging his arm for comfort. Xavier shakes his head. "No, Logan. We were just discussing Ororo's treatment to gain back her powers."

Logan stares at Forge and growls, "What's that got to do with the robot over here?" He instinctively pushes Ororo behind him, immediately going into a defensive stance.

Charlie begins to speak, but Forge cuts him off. "I came up with a device to help Ororo. In about two months, she'll be back to normal."

Logan smelled the cocky stench. The beast in him attempts to take over and maul the half-man, half-robot. Logan turns his head slightly toward his woman. "You want his help, darling?"

"No, I do not want Forge's help." She sternly said this while her eyes shot arrows at her ex. Logan gently brushes his fingers on her thigh, calming her nerves. Logan smirks and looks at Forge. "You heard the lady. Leave."

Charles slams his fist against his desk. "No! Ororo needs her powers back, right? You two left me in charge of finding her a plan to get them back, and I have done that!"

Ororo, who stood at five feet, eleven inches, felt like she was two feet tall as her adoptive father yelled, which rarely happens. How could he be mad at this? Forge had taken her for granted and broken her heart. Surely Charles remembers the depression she went through.

"Ororo, you will accept Forge being here, and you will let him help you. Do I make myself clear?"

Logan wanted to defend her but knew she certainly didn't need any help defending her. Ororo's strong. He anticipated her response to Charles but heard silence. She was still behind him, and he could feel her smooth skin on his fingers. He looks at her tear-stained face, surprised to see her defeated.

"Good, we will see you tomorrow after breakfast in the lab to discuss some more."

She walks off after being dismissed with Logan hot on her tail. "Ro. Ro. Ro!" At the top of the stairs, she turns around to face Logan.

He takes her hand and kisses it. "It's your treatment. You can decide how you want it. If you don't want him here, just say the word." He smirked as he unleashed his claws from his left hand. "I'll handle it." She smiles, trying to put on a happy face.

"It's alright, my love. If this is how I can get my powers back, then so be it." She kisses his cheek, then faces away from his embrace. "I'm going to rest for a while."

"Take my room, and I'll meet you there in fifteen minutes."

"LOGAN!"

The two of them turn toward the loud, raging voice. They heard the light clicking against the wooden floors as it came their way. It was Jean, with Rachel in her arms. "Logan! Did you leave Rachel alone with Marie and Jubilee? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Ororo slowly backs away as Logan rolls his eyes. She could feel his anger boiling and had too much of a headache to deal with him and Jean's bickering. She heard him respond, "How did I leave her alone if she's with two responsible and old enough babysitters?" Ororo loudly sighed, annoyed at how loudly she could hear them, even though she was already on the second floor in the teacher's dorm section. She reaches for the knob on Logan's door.

"Hey, Ro!"

She quickly pulls her arm behind her back and looks up at Scott, who is leaving his shared room with Jean. "Is that Jean yelling?" He asks with a slight frown.

"Yup." She refers to his annoyed look. "According to her, Logan leaving Rachel alone with Jubilee and Marie is a bad thing." Scott shakes his head. "I hope by the time of Rachel's first birthday they can get their shit together."

She hums in agreement.

Scott looks at her and sighs, "Ororo, I need your honesty. Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Staying by Jean's side!"

Despite her leader wearing his visor, the weather witch notices a slight withering in Scott's face. She wasn't an empath like Gambit, but she understood his troubles. For years, he had to deal with the sickening love triangle, and now he still couldn't get rid of Logan for good. His wife had an affair and had a baby that was biologically Logan's. Even though she just had to deal with a crush and didn't feel any betrayal, Scott was betrayed and has to be reminded every day.

She offers a compassionate smile. "Do you love Jean despite her mistakes?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel any hatred towards Rachel?"

"Hell no! I love her like she's my own. She's innocent."

Ororo lightly nudges his side. "Then you're doing the right thing by following your heart." She kisses his cheek and pats his back before moving away from the door to Logan's room. I hope he didn't notice me.

"Were you going into Logan's room?"

Well, so much for that.

"No." Her mind races to an excuse, and she blurts out, "He had a package arrive! I was going to leave it with him downstairs, but then Jean and him were fighting, so I was being nice and just left it on his bed." She waves at him and resumes walking to her loft. She leaps up and tries to harness the wind to get herself into her cozy bed, her face lighting up with joy as she sees it.

Boom!

Ororo lands face-first against the wooden floor. Groaning, she rolls over onto her back. Right, no powers. Ororo brushes herself off before crawling into bed.

After lunch, David and Ororo were in her greenhouse, planting some new plants. Ororo was relieved to discover that David had a natural green thumb; she had finally found someone who could assist her with all of the plants on the estate.

"Hey honey, I know you started your classes yesterday. Do you like them so far?" She asked as she checked on the leaves of her clematis plants. David pushes a large pot into a corner, then turns to her, wiping the back of his hand on his wet forehead.

He shrugs. "It's alright. It's pretty easy." He opens a bag of dirt and puts his beach shovel into it to fill up the pot. "It's like I already know what they want me to say."

"The material is too simple?" asks his adoptive mother, who raises an eyebrow. Jean and Charles were David's instructors at the moment. Ororo knew that they were teaching him basic math and grammar. She speculated that he might have mastered it before he even started attending regular school. "Did you learn it already from your old school when you were with your parents?"

David shakes his head at her question: "No, Mommy Ro. I don't know if it's easy. I never learned it, but when I'm near Grandpa Charles and Auntie Jeanie, I just know it before they teach me, I guess."

Ororo begins to process the information as the boy continues to fill the pot with dirt. Although David's telepathic abilities were well known, it was unclear whether he could read minds. She makes a mental note to speak with Charles and Hank. At least until her resentment toward them subsides.

A slight chill flows through her body; could this explain how he's an excellent gardener at the age of five? Now that she thought of it, she didn't teach him anything. It was as if working with plants came easily to him.

"Mommy Ro, are you and Logan dating?"

The question startled her. Regaining her composure, she asks, "Why are you asking, my darling?"

David stands by her, finishes his pot-filling task, and reveals, "I heard Jubilee and Rogue talking about you and Logan sitting in a tree. Jubilee says that means you two are dating." Ororo would have to discuss this with those two little gossiping hens.

"Logan and I are just good friends. You can say that we have a close, wonderful bond."

A raspy voice interrupts, "We sure do." Ororo blushes as their eyes meet. Logan confidently leaned his shoulder on the doorway entrance of the greenhouse with the left side of his lips curled upward. His ice-cold eyes stared into her crystal-like eyes in a trance. Between the two, the sparks were intense; even though they didn't jump on each other's bones in front of the minor, their synergy entangling was enough for the both of them.

The toothpick resting between Logan's teeth breaks in half. Logan spits the wood out on the grass. He breaks their intense stare and looks at David. "Hey buddy, are you ready for our trip?" David quickly takes off his gardening gloves. "Yeah!" Ororo chuckles at her son's excitement. Logan had promised David to take him fishing for the first time. Ororo would've gone, but David declared that the trip was for big boys only.

David kisses his mother on the cheek before rushing out of the greenhouse. She stands and calls out after him, "Go change out of those dirty clothes!" She sees him give a thumbs up and head towards the mansion. An arm slides around her slim waist, and she feels a hand grip her ass. Smoothing and sliding around to face her rough around the edges, wolf. "A close and wonderful bond, hmm?" He kisses the tip of her nose and playfully takes a lick at it.

"Ew!" Ororo swats him playfully but doesn't leave his embrace. "Do you disagree with me? Is our bond something ugly?"

He lets her go and grabs a stool, sitting on it. "No darling. You're right." He pulled her in between his legs, his face looking up at her as she stood over him. From where she stood, the sun rays beaming behind her looked like a full-body halo, illuminating her figure. "You know some rumors are floating around about you."

Her eyes broaden as a slight frown appears on her face. "Rumors about me?"

"Yup!" Logan puts on a serious face. "They say you're dating a rugged old guy who's a natural-born killer out for blood, and you're too pretty to settle for him." He teases and chuckles as she realizes he just made that up.

Her arms wrap around his neck, her nails gently scratching through his black hair. "Well, I suppose it is true. However, they did get some information wrong." She smiles.

"What did they get wrong?"

"I'm dating a brave, loyal man with a heart of gold. He may be cold on the outside, but I've seen him warm up a bit to me." She places a soft kiss on his lips before patting his chest. "Go before David has a fit." Logan smirks at her before walking off.

Jean sighs as she sits in the chair in her bedroom. Her arms held Rachel, who was wrapped up in a blanket, admiring her features. She sighs as she rubs her fingers through her daughter's hair. As Jena relaxed, her eyesight adjusted, and Rachel's hair turned from black to brown. Jean smiles as the mirage fades away, revealing her daughter's true features; she looks more like Scott than Wolverine.

Mind-controlling everyone around at once can be very tiring.

Jean lets out a breath and rubs her temple. A deep rumble began in her chest. The redhead knew what she was doing was wrong, but she couldn't stop now. Could she? She had to keep up with the lie now. She had Logan where she wanted him, always by her side.

"Hey, Jean!"

The telepath jumps as Ororo walks into the room. Jean saw a glimpse of Rachel from the corner of her eye and instantly used her mind on Ororo, as she usually does, to make Rachel look similar to Logan.

"You okay? I have been knocking for a while."

Jean blinks a few times before nodding, forcing a smile on her face. "I'm fine! What do you need, 'Ro?"

She could see Ororo blink a few times, but she acted naturally. Ororo lightly shook the fuzziness out of her head. The weather goddess stared at her closest friend, then slowly looked at Rachel before looking back at Jean.

"I was wondering if you have seen Rouge and Jubilee."

Jean answers with a sweet tone, "The last time I saw them was in the recreation room." Ororo smiles and accepts her answer, starting to leave. "Thank you, Jean."

As Ororo shuts the door, Jean lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. On the other side of the door, the weather goddess notices that the fuzziness in her head has faded. R-Rachel looked different, or was that my mind playing tricks on me? She thought. She realized she was still in front of Jean's room and quickly made her way to her room.