CHAPTER 44

Winter was arriving any day now as the temperatures dropped and would hide the colorful leaves under a white blanket soon. After the breakfast Logan and Rogue had decided to take their girls for a walk in the garden. Laura had two of the gray school sweaters on over her new clothes that reached down till her shins, shielding her from the cold.

The awe in her bright green eyes as she picked a red-yellow maple-leaf up for the very first time, warmed Marie's heart. She was glad that the child still held the innocence to enjoy such a simple thing as a walk through the nature after all what the little girl had to endure in her short life.

Logan had lifted Laura up to inspect an abandoned bird's nest in a tree and soon the toddler was climbing on the lower branches with her father's hands hovering close to her body in case she would lose balance.

"Here is another acorn, Rogue!" screamed Laura and tore it off a branch to drop it into Marie's waiting hand.

The young mother shifted Becca so the nosy infant wouldn't grasp the acorn and try to put it into her mouth. "That's great, Laura!" Then her voice was redirected to the baby. "No, honey, that's nothing to play with for ya yet." Becca grimaced and Marie quickly picked up one of the colorful leaves that lie in the baby seat, twisting it between her fingers. "Oh, look, honey! All those colors!"

Becca began to reach for the leaf and her mother breathed a sigh of relief to have stopped her brawl before it had begun.

Suddenly Laura saw something crawl up the tree and she immediately held her small hand in front of it and the little insect climbed on her fingers. She lifted it up and held it curiously towards Marie's face. "What's that?"

"Eww!" The older brunette jumped back. "That's a spider!", she eventually brought out and heard her mate snicker about her uneasiness. It wasn't that she was afraid of spiders, she just didn't like them and especially not inches away from her face.

Startled, Laura looked to her father. "Is it bad?"

Now Logan's laughter hollered through the garden and the beginning of the woods. "No, kid."

The uncertainty vanished from the toddler's features and a small smile tugged on her lips while Logan lifted her down from the tree. "Can I have it?"

Marie narrowed her eyes at her mate. "She's just like you!" She saw his smirk and knelt down in front of the girl. "Umm, Laura, the spider would miss its tree."

Logan felt his mate's eyes burn into him and he chuckled before tousling his clone's hair. "The spider wouldn't like to be locked up, kiddo."

The toddler contemplated a moment. "Locked up is stupid!" She said eventually and sat the insect back onto a branch with a heavy heart.

"That was the right decision, kid," praised the Canadian and lifted the baby-seat up.

X X X X X

The students began to scurry all over the mansion's grounds as the bell for the break rang. Bobby carried the basketball over the lawn to his waiting friends at the court, but to his surprise all of the boys were gathered in one spot. "Hey, what's up?"

"That must be the Wolverine's daughter, that's up," answered a younger boy with red hair and pointed towards the treeline, where Rogue, Logan, Becca and a little brunette girl were collecting leaves.

"His daughter?" Iceman asked surprised and faced the other boys. "Am I the only one not knowing of this?"

Just in that moment Pyro approached with Kitty and Jubilee in tow. "Who's that runt?"

"Obviously, you ain't, Iceman," replied another student.

"Wolverine has a kid?", asked Bobby again. "How did that happen!" This exclamation made him the center of disbelieving stares.

"Did you sleep during sex ed.?" muttered Kitty.

Jubilee watched the young parents and smirked. "Seems like karma came around the corner and bit Wolverine in his sexy ass."

"Let's say 'hi' to them, Jubes," suggested Kitty and both girls walked towards Rogue and Logan.

"Hi, chica, whatcha doing?"

Marie ignored her mate's low growl and smiled at her two friends. "Hi! We collect acorns to make things with our hands."

"And leaves!", peeped Laura and held some up into the air.

"That's right, Laura."

Suddenly the students watching them caught the toddler's eyes. "Huh? Where does all the peoples come from?"

"They live here, kiddo." Logan explained and wondered if it was a good idea to expose the troubled child to the other kids. "This is a school."

"What's a school?"

"A place where children learn new things."

"I was at school!" The girl exclaimed with mixed feelings, remembering the lab.

Marie began to rock the cranky Becca and tried to keep her smile intact. "Yeah, sweetie... Let's get in the house and wash our findings."

X X X X X

Later that day Marie was glad that both girls were having their nap after they had lunch at their room and made a bracelet and a necklace out of the acorns and Logan had helped Laura glue her beloved withered leaves onto a paper. At first the toddler watched a little wary and wasn't sure what to think of the idea to pull a string through a hole that the adults made in the acorns – as was the feral - , but soon she helped eagerly and was even giggling when Becca had pushed on the glue tube and had covered Logan's cigar, gluing it to the leaves.

Marie chuckled as she watched the feral free his cigar. "Ya ain't gonna smoke it, sugah?" The glare she received told her everything. "Logan, ya're nuts!"

Grunting the Canadian went to the balcony and lit his cigar. It didn't take long till the French doors of the neighbored room opened and Jean sauntered towards his spot leaning against the balustrade. ' Jesus! Can't that chick leave me alone?'

"Hey, Logan. How are things?" She scrutinized his tensed jaw and the way he stared over the vast lawn. "Stressed?", she eventually asked and let her delicate fingers rest on his shoulder.

Logan felt his inner animal snarl at the audacity of the redhead – only their mate was allowed to touch him that way. He immediately turned around and shrugged her hand off. "Nope, Red."

"Really?" She stepped closer and flashed him her seducing toothy smile. "There are leaves sticking to that cigar of yours." His answer was a low growl in warning, but Jean didn't waver, though a chill ran down her spine. "How is the girl?"

The Canadian noticed her change in tactic. "What do you think, Jeannie?" His dark eyes bore into her as he continued. "She wasn't allowed to be a kid until today. Only a labrat. A weapon-to-be."

"She needs time," mumbled the doctor. Jean felt truly sorry for the little girl and was mortified at what they had found out about the lab, but the fact that Rogue had immediately decided to take care of Logan's clone made her rage boil – she hadn't missed the love-filled gaze the feral's eyes had held the evening before. 'That little pest makes herself look holier than the Pope!'

'Oh, hadn't thought that!' He thought sarcastically and took another drag – the cigar definitively tasted odd, but he wouldn't let it go to waste if he could help it.

His silence made her a little bolder and so Jean traced her fingers down his arm. "If you need someone to talk to..."

The growl rumbled in his chest as he pushed away from the balustrade, his eyes burning into the woman. "I have someone to talk to." He was shoving past her, but she caught his arm.

"I'm sorry, Logan." Jean said hastily, this wasn't going like plan. "But don't you think it's a little too much for Rogue. She's still so young." She hoped he wouldn't pick up on her faked worry.

"She ain't as fragile as you make her believe she might be." Logan hissed and put his cigar out on the marble floor before opening the door to Marie's room. He stormed in and caught the French door just before it could fall into its lock loudly and wake the kids. After searching his pockets for another cigar to chew on, the feral fetched a beer from his fridge and emptied it in a few gulps.

Marie watched her enraged mate from the corner of her eyes as she lay next to Laura on her bed with her history book in hand. 'Can't that chick see when someone wants to be left alone?' her inner Logan grumbled in sympathy with his real him.

'Ya would think she should be more sensitive with her gift...' Her gaze followed Logan pace through the rooms.

Suddenly he stopped and locked eyes with the teenager. "I gonna go down." With that he left for the Danger Room – he needed to vent the anger that had built up since last evening when he had found out about the experiments that were carried on to create the perfect weapon based on his DNA. The professor had told him an hour before that the files Scott had copied from the lab contained data on twenty-two failed clones and that the successful number 23 was subjected to a hard physical and psychical training since the day of her birth. They had planned to put her under so much pressure that her X-Factor would activate and her mutation would manifest even before she hit puberty.

Marie knew he would come back in a few hours and would be ready to talk and she would be ready to listen to him patiently – as he usually did for her.

X X X X X

As Marie had predicted the Wolverine was after his workout in the mood to tell her what was troubling him and about what the professor had informed him this noon. The young mother felt tears pool in her chocolate eyes and she buried her face in Logan's t-shirt, muffling her voice. "Those bastards!"

The Canadian only grunted and cradled her petit frame further to his chest as they lay on Marie's bed next to a still sleeping Laura. Becca had already finished her nap and was now babbling happily on her blanket under her baby-gym, reaching for the swinging purple star above her head.

"What are we gonna do with her during classes?" The brunette asked after a while and pulled back a little so their gazes could lock, their fingers of one of their hands were laced and he drew lazy circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

Logan took a deep breath. It was one thing to have a sleeping baby sit at the sidelines of the gym, but he doubt that a lively three year old would do the same, not to mention the situations in Marie's classes. "Cyke could keep subbin' for me for the rest of the week."

A mischievous smile formed on Marie's features. "Ah could skip a few classes."

Logan scowled playfully down at his mate. "Nice try, Kid." He leaned forward and captured her lips in a slow kiss that soon became more heated and desperate. When a moan escaped Marie, the feral tightened his embrace and pulled her further onto his chest, one of his hands travelling south to her demin clad butt. Her fingers ran through his dark hair while her tongue explored his hot mouth, making him growl/purr in delight.

"What are you doing?" asked a sleepy voice and the lovebirds froze before breaking away and Marie scurried from Logan's embrace while he wiped their salvia from his mouth with the back of his hand. He would have laughed about his mate's embarrassed blush, if the piercing green eyes of his clone wouldn't have dug into him like knives.

'Shit! She's gonna tell!' panicked Marie and flattened her hair. "Umm… N- nothing…"

"Choo!" Laura wiped her nose with the sleeve of her new pj's and Marie noticed the girl's dark circles under her eyes and placed a hand onto her forehead.

"Gosh, baby, ya've got a fever!" Her worried gaze met her mate's. "Logan, Ah fear she's gonna come down with something."

It was strange for Logan to be confronted with sickness, it was hard for him to handle if someone he cared for was injured or Marie had her monthly cramps, but a simple cold was something he had never experienced – at least as far as he could remember. "What should we do?" Since Becca's birth he knew how to handle a baby with stomachache or hiccups, but until now they have been lucky and their little girl always stayed healthy.

Marie palpated Laura's neck – the toddler looked quite uncomfortable and was like frozen in shock. "Open up your mouth, please." The older brunette demanded and reached for the bedside lamp and switched it on.

Laura stared up at her with wide fearful eyes, but decided by the serious tone in her voice that she should better obey and don't ask questions – doctors never liked it when she didn't follow their instructions or even dared to ask something. Maybe Rogue was also a doctor?

Marie looked into her throat as good as her tongue allowed it. "Does it hurt when ya swallow?" The toddler stared up at her and shrugged.

His young mate's actions amazed Logan and he wondered where that sudden knowledge came from – when Becca had her first colic she seemed as clueless and panicked as he felt. "Jeannie should have a look at her, don't you think, Marie?" Logan stood up and picked the toddler up.

Marie didn't like the idea that they had to ask the backstabbing bitch for help, but it was better than to look for a doctor in town at the moment. "Might be the best." Marie lifted the pillow up. "We'll move Laura to your bed and Ah'll switch our beddings." She saw his hitched brow. "The last Ah want is Becca to become sick, too."

X X X X X