“Logan, what on earth are ya teachin’ them? It better not be anythin’ yer not s’pose t’ be teachin’ them,” Marie chided as she entered the clearing in the back of the mansion.
Logan looked up from his crouched position on the ground and quickly erased a bunch of lines he had scribbled in the dirt. Putting on a completely innocent face, Logan grinned at her. “Hey, darlin’. I was just showing the boys something.”
“An’ what were ya teachin’ the boys?” Marie pressed, crouching down next to Logan. She stayed close enough so that he would be able to smell her perfume. Logan had a weakness for her perfume. Whenever Marie wanted Logan to do something for her, all she needed to do was spray perfume in a few certain places and he was hers.
Logan set his jaw, stubbornly refusing to tell her anything. So Marie went to her next victims. Their four year old sons. There was nothing Hunter and Chase wouldn’t do for their Mommy.
“Chase, Hunter, what was Daddy teachin’ ya?” Marie asked, smiling brilliantly at the two boys.
Hunter and Chase stared at each other, their dark eyes locked. As Marie watched, Chase began scratching at his eyebrow while Hunter was running his fingers through his dark brown hair. It was a sure sign that the identical pair was going to slip up and tell her what she wanted to know. Marie knew her boys very well and could tell that Chase was going to be the one to give in first. He was scratching at his freckled nose with his right middle finger, a sure sign that he was going to tattle on Daddy.
Logan knew that as well and pointed a finger at his son. “No telling, Hunter. We agreed that we wouldn’t tell Mommy.”
“Daddy....” Hunter whined, his lower lip sticking out in a pout that every agreed he had inherited from his mother. “Unca Scott says lying’s bad.”
“But what does Uncle Remy say?” Logan prompted, a slight grin playing at the corners of his lips.
Chase flashed the four year old version of his father’s infamous smirk. “Lyin’ is only bad if ya get catched.”
“Mommy catched us,” Hunter reminded their father. “Does that mean we hafta tell her?”
Marie grinned at Logan, wanting to see him solve his present dilemma. She watched him stutter and stammer, glancing back and forth between the two eager faces of their sons. He rubbed at the back of his neck, starting to say something, then stopping several times.
Taking pity on her poor husband, Marie plopped herself down in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Ah’m gonna let ya off the hook this time, sugah, but ya may not be so lucky next time.”
Logan let out a relieved sigh and pressed his face against her hair. His arms went around her waist and he began running his fingers up and down her stomach. Hunter and Chase quickly got bored now that there was no longer a conflict and began drawing stick figures in the dirt. Marie simply watched her two boys, unable to believe that she had had a hand in creating them.
It was nearly five years before that Marie had learned that she was pregnant. She and Logan had been married for three months, she had been able to control her power for six days and suddenly her euphoric went up a notch when she learned that she was pregnant. The only annoying part was that Logan had figured it out before her. Marie had woken up the morning of the seventh day to find Logan staring at her from across the pillow. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face and quietly informed her that she was pregnant. A few weeks later, a home pregnancy test confirmed the fact and she and Logan had announced it to the rest of the mansion’s inhabitants.
The entire time that she was pregnant, Logan had treated her as though she were made of glass. While, at times, it was touching, for the bulk of the time it drove Marie practically insane. He was always hovering over her, making sure that she was all right. That she wasn’t tired. That she didn’t strain herself in any way, shape or form. More than once, Marie had grabbed hold of Logan’s face and pulled it within inches of her own and told him, point blank, to stop being such a caveman and let her be. The first time, Logan looked like she had punched him in the gut. His eyes just got really big and he seemed to stop breathing. By the seven hundred and eighty-second time he just smiled and promised to behave himself.
Again, it was Logan who discovered the latest twist in her pregnancy. Like the morning he had told her that she was pregnant, she had woken up to find Logan staring at her, a wide grin playing on his lips.
“Right now I hear four heart beats,” were his exact words.
Later that morning, Jean had confirmed the fact that she was carrying twins. There had been some concern that, because of Marie’s tiny frame, there would be complications in the pregnancy. Telling Logan that had been a very bad idea because he had become even more protective than he already had been. For the remaining six months of her pregnancy, Logan had rarely let her out of his sight. The only time they were really apart was when they were teaching and when Logan went out on missions.
It had taken Marie barely two weeks to figure out that Logan had spies in each and every one of her classes. Since Marie taught the younger kids, it was easy for Logan to bribe them with candy. If Marie so much as stumbled, one of her kids would suddenly have to “go to the bathroom” and before they came back, Logan would be in her room to see how she was doing.
More often than not, Marie was feeling very homicidal thoughts about her husband. It was almost a blessing when the twins had been born. Instead of hovering over her at every moment, Logan was hovering over the two tiny beings that they created together. Their two perfect little boys. Granted, Mare was a little on the biased side, but Marie didn’t really care. Logan was on her side, anyway.
It hadn’t taken everyone long for everyone to discover that the boys took after Logan. Right from the start, both of them were capable of arching their eyebrows exactly as their father would.
“Ya know what, guys, Ah think that Auntie ‘Ro is waitin’ fer ya in the kitchen,” Marie said, grinning over at the pair.
The words were barely out of her mouth before Hunter and Chase were rushing towards the mansion chanting, “Ice cream! Ice cream!” over and over. It was a tradition. Every afternoon, Ororo would have ice cream with the twins and take them up to her garden.
Alone at last, Marie pushed Logan onto his back and straddled his waist. Lacing her fingers through his, Marie leaned over so that her face was inches from his. “Now, sugah, are ya gonna tell me what ya were up t’ or am Ah gonna hafta force it outta ya?”
Logan groaned, clutching at Marie’s hips. “And what makes you think that we were doing anything wrong? Don’t you have any faith in me, Marie?”
“Oh Ah have faith in ya, sugah,” Marie assured him. “Ah just happen not t’ trust ya when ya get the boys out here fer a pow wow. Last time ya guys were out here plotting, poor Scott ended up with green hair. Ah’m just lookin’ out fer everyone’s well bein’. The three o’ ya are very dangerous when ya get together.”
“You worry too much, darlin’. The boys and I are perfectly capable of behaving ourselves,” Logan insisted, unable to meet her eyes.
Marie arched an eyebrow and pressed herself fully against Logan, her elbows resting on either side of his head. “Ah happen t’ know that the three o’ ya are incapable o’ behavin’ yerselves. Do Ah need t’ remind ya o’ what happened t’ Jubes favourite yellow jacket? Or how ‘bout Jeanie’s cell phone? Remy’s chili.”
“I’ll have you know that Gumbo deserved getting extra peppers put in his chili,” Logan interrupted, barely able to keep a straight face.
Marie nodded her head. “Sure he did, Logan. Ah believe ya. Really Ah do.”
“And you don’t because...?”
“Because yer name is Logan an’ Ah know ya better than Ah know mahself,” Marie informed him, grinning broadly. “An’ Ah happen t’ know fer a fact that Remy an’ ya have some sorta male posturin’ thing goin’ on. Only difference is ya have two allies.”
Logan shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not my fault that we have two amazing boys who happen to believe in divine justice.”
“Divine justice? Logan, tormentin’ Remy is hardly divine justice,” Marie snickered, rolling her eyes.
“That’s a matter of opinion, darlin’.”
“Yer screwy in the head, Logan, but Ah love ya anyway,” Marie told Logan, pressing a kiss to the tip of Logan’s nose.
Logan smiled broadly, his entire face lighting up. “I’m glad to hear it, Marie. ‘Cause I happen to love you a whole lot. You, Hunter and Chase mean everything to me.”
Marie had only intended to kiss Logan quickly, but she should have known better. Now that they were about to kiss without any barriers, Logan took great pleasure in kissing her. He would often spend many hours doing just that. It drove her insane when he did this, but Marie had her own form of revenge.
Micro minis and high heels. They drove Logan insane, especially on public outings when Logan had to behave himself.
“So.... Are ya goin’ t’ tell me whatcha got planned?” Marie asked once Logan had finally given her back possession of her lips.
Logan, Rogue. I need you in my office immediately, Charles called out suddenly.
With a moan, Marie dropped her head onto Logan’s shoulder. “Duty calls, sugah. Looks like we’re not takin’ the boys t’ the movies.”
Logan kissed her temple, holding her tighter for a moment. “I’m sure we’ll be back in time for the movie. It’s still early. We’ve got about five hours till the movie starts anyway. We’ll be back in plenty of time.