Scott walked up the stairs and was about to turn into the teachers' wing when out of the corner of his eye he saw Logan vanish into the girls' wing. His pace quickened, afraid that the professor's impression of the feral had been wrong. He heard the lock of Jubilee's and Kitty's room shut and he immediately tried the handle, but it was locked, so he began to throw his fists against the wooden door. "Hey, open up at once!"

Several other doors opened and girls poked their heads out into the hallway, but Scott ignored them and continued his assault till the firecracker eventually opened the door. "Geez, Cyclops, you gonna rip the door from the hinges!"

But her teacher ignored the bubble gum chewing girl and pushed past her into the room to find Logan slumped on one of the desk chairs, his arms resting on the chair's back, while Pete sat on one of the beds with Kitty next to him, holding a note pad and pencil. "What's goin' on?"

"Could ask you the same, bub." Logan answered but his piercing glance betrayed his words.

"Why on Earth are you in a girl's room with the door locked?"

Closing the door Jubilee popped her bubble and flopped down next to Kitty on her bed. "You know, Wolvie suggested a foursome, but I don't mind fivesome. The more the merrier."

Logan didn't need to scent the air to notice the other man's rage and he had – not for the first time – the urge to sew the firecracker's mouth shut. "Calm down. Yellow's talkin' shit. I wanna plan a surprise for Rogue's birthday."

Kitty nodded, unaware that her black haired friend had hit a sensitive subject. "Rogue said she can't think of anything she would want and eventually came up with a rattle for Becca."

"It's nice that she thinks of her daughter, but it's Rogue's birthday." Colossus put in and saw his teacher frown.

"Rogue's birthday?"

"Yes, her birthday, One-Eye. Sit down and shut up or go and shut up." He saw the other man contemplate a moment and finally sink down on Jubilee's bed. "Ok, what did you three came up with?"

"Firstly I had a brilliant idea for a present." Jubilee responded proudly and saw Logan's hitched brow. "Since she was here, she never went swimming with us. First it was because of her mutation and then because of her belly. So I thought we – that's Pete, Kitty and me - present her with a bikini."

"You know the winter is just around the corner, Jubes?" Scott chimed in.

Kitty pouted about her teacher's objection, he had apparently forgotten about the young mother's birthday. "And? Summer isn't that far away and she'll have enough time to get used to the thought of accompanying us to the lake."

Another thought troubled Logan, though he liked the kids' idea, and he narrowed his eyes on the firecracker. "Don't tell me you of all people decided on the color, Yellow. Rainbow-stripes ain't to Rogue's likin'."

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Wolvie." The girl skipped to her feet and walked over to a dresser, rummaging in one of the drawers. After a moment she returned with a plastic bag, from which she fished a forest green bikini top. "Whaddaya think?"

"Not bad." Logan had to admit and shoved the mental picture of his little Marie wearing that piece to the back of his mind.

"And we got a rattle for Becca." Pete added and retrieved the toy from the bag in Jubilee's hand.

Kitty saw the appreciating nod of Wolverine. "I'll bake a birthday cake."

"You won't!" Jubilee shouted wide eyed.

"A cake is a nice idea." Logan argued and was rewarded by an are-you-nuts-glare from the Asian.

"Only if you want Rogue to spend the next night hugging the toilet seat." Scott explained and then faced the petite brunette. "Sorry, Kitty, but your mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving were almost deadly!"

"Yes! How the hell could you pour spoiled milk into the food, Kitty?"

"How should I know that the milk wasn't fresh anymore? The expiration date said it should be fine," the brunette tried to defend herself.

"You said that the milk wasn't that fluid anymore," Pete chimed in, remembering the day after Thanksgiving and the girl's explanation.

"I already said, I thought it was grease." Maybe now was the time to phase through the floor?

Logan had listened to the conversation and decided that a cake was a great idea, but Kitty wasn't qualified for the job. "Fine, no cooking for Half-Pint."

"But I like to cook and bake!" The girl shouted her cheeks red from either embarrassment or agitation.

"To like something doesn't necessary mean to be good at it," Scott explained and saw the upset expression of the brunette.

Jubilee shoved the bikini back into the bag and hid it in the drawer under her lingerie, before turning around and staring at Logan expectantly. "What do you have for Roguey, Wolvie?"

The Canadian only smirked at the chatty teen. "Nah, it's a surprise and you can't control your mouth." A chuckle escaped his lips at her annoyed expression. "But I have somethin' else planned I'd need your help with."

"Don't you want that to be a surprise, too?" The girl muttered with a pout, her eyes narrowed at her teacher.

"I'm hopin' this one won't slip your lips." His hazel eyes swapped from one student to the next. "Rogue always hid her nose in her books and now she has the baby and the school to take care of. She deserves an evening full of fun and without worries."

"And you have an idea?" Kitty was bursting with excitement.

Logan steadied his nerves and senses for the high pitched screams of the two girls that were bound to echo through the mansion. "There is that club near the train station in Westchester, I know the bouncer-"

"You do? Cooool!" Jubilee squealed in delight while Kitty grinned from ear to ear. Logan winced as he placed his hand over the Asian's mouth.

"Yes, I do. And I thought that the three of you could accompany Rogue there and spend a nice evenin' with dancin' and stuff you kids do." Jubilee and Kitty high-fived, but the Canadian continued, his eyes centered on Pete. "Colossus, I'll give you 100 bucks for the evenin' and I trust you to give the change back."

The boy nodded and a shy smile plastered his lips. "Of course."

Scott was surprised at how much thought Logan had put into surprising Rogue and suddenly felt bad for forgetting about the girl's birthday, though it was marked like any other birthday of any of the mansion's residents on the calendar in the kitchen. He would have to speak with Jean and maybe Ororo to also get the young mother a little something.

His musings were interrupted by Kitty and Jubilee squealing even louder and hugging each other. "Curfew is at 11 p.m. and no alcohol for you." Scott didn't want to spoil their joy, but the rules had their reasons and if he would make exceptions to a few of the children, soon a bunch of the other students would bug him to give them the same rights.

Logan rolled his eyes about his fellow X-Men. "You'll always be in sight of each others and no makin' out. One baby is more than enough." He didn't like the idea of having boys lusting after his Marie while he wasn't even close enough to scare them away with his vicious growls or stares. It wasn't that he didn't trust his mate, but the animal in him hated the idea of anyone other than him touching his Marie.

Eventually, the girls let go of each other and calmed down somewhat. "And who's gonna baby-sit Becca while we hit the club?" Kitty asked, knowing the answer already.

"Who you think, Half-Pint?" Logan growled gruffly. He wouldn't leave his tiny daughter in the care of Jean or Scott of all people, Storm maybe. It was hard enough to leave Becca alone in the self-centered doctor's care during her checkups, while he was only a floor above shooing his class through the gym, but being gone for hours – having an eye on his Marie during her clubbing – was too much to bear for the caring father and protective animal in him.

The smiles on the females' faces were priceless. "You're such a great daddy, Wolvie."

"Not like that good-for-nothing Becca's real father is!" Kitty added.

'Huh?' His first reaction to Jubilee's words was panic that the chatty girl had somehow found out the truth and soon everyone would know it – including child care services. But on Kitty's words he almost breathed a sigh of relief – almost that is. 'Good-for-nothin'?' "What makes you think that?" He eventually inquired in a low voice.

Jubilee frowned at her mentor's somewhat hurt features. "Whaddaya mean, Wolvie? That jerk had his fun with Rogue and now won't take any of the responsibility for his kid. The son of a bitch just dumped it all on Rogue."

'Huh?' Those words stung right into his heart. "Sorry, if I repeat myself, but what the hell makes you think that?"

Kitty also wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "Rogue said that she had told Becca's father about the baby. And since you're the only one taking care of Rogue's baby - like the jerk who knocked her up should do - we assumed that he doesn't want to know of his daughter."

"Or has he already met your claws, Wolvie?" Jubilee's expression was slightly terrified that this might indeed be the reason why the guy had never showed up to visit his child.

Logan stared blankly at the teenagers before him and slowly shook his head no. What should he do now? Tell them that Becca's father wasn't such an irresponsible asshole they thought him to be? That he loved his two girls and would never abandon them? But that might be too revealing and do more harm than good.

"It's just good to know that Rogue and Becca have you, sensei." Kitty interrupted his train of thought.

"You should think 'bout having a few little feral kids of your own, Wolvie." Jubilee had a huge smile plastered on her face. "You have that daddy thing figured out already!"

Logan was stunned. "Have I?" That wasn't the smartest, most Wolverine-like thing he could have said, but the three nodding heads and smiling faces healed the throbbing wound to his heart that the girls' words had caused earlier.

Scott watched the conversation silently, his gaze trained onto the other man the entire time. Even though Wolverine tried to hold his impassive mask in place, the hurt shimmering in his eyes was impossible to miss and Scott suddenly felt bad for the other man, that the entire school seemed to hate him and he was unable to set things right. Not without bringing trouble to his family and the school.

When both senior X-Men stepped into the deserted hallway of the girl's wing Logan was still a little dazed by the whirlwind of emotions. "I got goofed on and praised at the same time." He eventually muttered and saw Scott nod, for once without giving a dumb remark.

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