For the next couple of weeks Rogue tried to adjust to sleeping longer and more deeply than usual, something which forced her to go to bed early if she wanted to be on time for her first class of the day. Every day she wok up to nausea that sometimes made her just want to snuggle back in but often sent her to the toilet. Either way, she would get ready and take her prenatal vitamins before reluctantly heading downstairs. Scott always greeted her with a sympathetic smile when she would flop down at the table, a glass of orange juice and toast in hand since that was all she could force down so early. They had decided to tell 'Ro about the pregnancy as soon as possible since she was the other team leader and needed to be aware of any significant changes that might affect which team was sent on a mission. Without Rogue, Scott's team was going to be lacking serious combat skills, although he was sure that they could compensate for the months she would be out of commission. So 'Ro knew, and she would pat the younger woman's hand when she sat down and murmur that it was just a phase she would progress out of in a few months. Rogue would manage to get her stomach under control—for the most part—in time to teach, and then lunch would roll around, and she would pack in almost twice as much as usual. Her combat training class seemed to easily accept her plan to make Nate her teacher's assistant, and if any of them thought it was unusual that Ms. Rogue declined to spar, they never breathed a word of it in her presence.
It was in that class that Rogue first heard the rumors, though. Two days after Rogue found out she was pregnant, the whole school seemed to buzz with theories as to why Dr. Grey had mysteriously vanished. When Rogue went to Scott about it later that evening, he looked as confused as she felt when he said he had no idea what was going on. Then he said he guessed that they'd have to lend Jubilee to the other team, to even out the numbers. Rogue looked at him like he was crazy and asked if he was trying to kill Logan. Scott asked her if she cared, and Rogue just shrugged , gave Scott a look and replied that he was the best choice after her as far as physical attacks went. Scott shut up at that point.
Soon Rogue was too distracted by other things to give Jean's disappearance the slightest attention, like several missions where she had to sit back and watch her teammates go out without her. Scott had given them some excuse about Rogue being needed at the mansion, and if they didn't swallow it hook, line and sinker, at the very least they quit asking questions. Rogue did catch Jubilee watching her intently when she was visiting after one particularly grueling mission, but her friend left for her dorm shortly after without saying a word about it.
Hank performed an ultrasound two weeks after Rogue's pregnancy test and concluded that she was in fact eight weeks along. Rogue's head spun a little at that because she suddenly had a due date thirty-two weeks later, and that just seemed a little surreal to her. She left the med lab to tell Scott, preoccupied by that number. Thirty-two. It seemed far away and yet much too soon.
Her focus on internal matters, Rogue didn't hear the footsteps behind her as she waited for the elevator. However, once she was inside and had turned around, she almost shrieked to find Logan standing at the elevator door. He looked at her for a moment and stepped in before the damn door had a chance to close. Rogue would have glared at him, but that would be telling him that he had some way of affecting her, which of course he didn't. Of course he didn't.
Staring straight ahead, Rogue tried to think about anything except the large man next to her. It wasn't really working, although he hadn't said a word to her, either. In fact, now that she thought about it, they hadn't spoken since his return to the mansion. She told herself that was a good thing. They had no reason to talk.
His voice made her jump a little only because she had just been reaffirming to herself that they had no need for speaking to each other. In a typical Logan move, he was leaving the elevator ahead of her when he turned his head just a bit and said softly, “Congratulations.”
Rogue could only stare at his back as he walked quickly down the hallway. That was when she remembered his keen sense of smell and cursed. There must be a difference in her now that she was pregnant, and Logan had picked up on it and correctly deduced its cause. Damn damn damn. Rogue wondered if he would keep his mouth shut about it. She couldn't see any reason he wouldn't, but it was obvious that she had never really known him as well as she once thought she did. Maybe she should make the announcement sooner rather than later.
Rogue barely noticed when the elevator door closed, shutting her inside. Absently she pressed the button to open the doors and stepped out. Here was another reason to talk to Scott. They would need to plan how they were going to tell their teammates, their students. Perhaps they should have talked this over already, but they hadn't.
Scott was in his office grading papers when Rogue found him. She smiled to see him sitting there, absorbed in the task at hand. He stuck his tongue out a little when he graded. Rogue liked to tease him about it.
“Testing the air again, honey?” she asked with a laugh. The pet name was still comfortable with him despite the fact that they were just friends now.
Scott looked up and mock-glared. “I don't know what you're talking about!” he protested.
Rogue was still chuckling as she came forward to lean against the side of his desk, but then she sobered up. “Ah saw Logan on my way up from my appointment,” she told him. Strange how that was the first thing to pop out of her mouth.
Scott frowned. “What did he want?” he demanded, taking her hand in his.
She smiled uncertainly. “He didn't bother me. He just...congratulated me. Ah think he smelled it on me—the pregnancy, you know?” Rogue admitted with a shrug.
Leaning back, Scott looked at her closely. “Are you okay?”
Rogue shrugged again. “Ah'm fine, really. It just made me realize that we'll probably have to make an announcement soon. Do you...maybe we could announce it after combat practice or something?” she suggested.
Scott nodded slowly. “That's probably the best way. I noticed how you've just been doing flying practice the last few times. They're probably wondering anyway, since usually you're a powerhouse during practices. Combine that with not going out on missions, and they might guess something is up,” he said.
Rogue grinned a little. “Ah think Jubes might have guessed. She gave me a look after that last mission,” she admitted.
Scott smiled back. “So, how was your appointment?”
Rogue blushed a little when she remembered exactly how the ultrasound had taken place. “The procedure itself wasn't quite what Ah expected, but Hank said that the heartbeat is strong and development looks good. Ah think it looked like a little peanut! Hank's going to print us off some pictures. He said Ah'm eight weeks along! So my next ultrasound will be in three months, and then we might be able to tell whether it's a boy or a girl. Ah...would you like to be there for that?” It was hard to know what to offer and what not to at this point. They were kind of taking a crash course in “Having a Baby With Your Best Friend.”
However, Scott's eyes lit up at the suggestion, so Rogue knew she had been right to make it. “I'd love to be there, if you'll let me. I know we're just friends and everything, but it's still my first child too, Marie,” he said.
Rogue nodded, her eyes tearing up a little of their own accord. Damn hormones! “Ah'm glad the baby will have a father around, even if it's not the most conventional way,” she told him honestly.
To her surprise, Scott looked at their linked hands with a small frown. “You know, I wanted to talk to you about that. I don't want you to avoid getting into a relationship—loving someone—just because you might feel like you're taking the baby away from me. As long as I can still see him or her, I don't care who else you bring into your lives as long as they're good for you both. I want you to be happy, Marie, and I definitely don't want to be the source of your unhappiness,” he said seriously. Then he grinned. “After all, things that make you unhappy tend to end up broken, and I like my body in one piece!”
Rogue smacked him lightly on the shoulder, which still sent him back into his chair with an “umph!” She put her hands on her hips and said, “That's not funny, Scott Summers!”
He was still grinning. “Only because it's true!”
Rogue narrowed her eyes at him playfully for a minute before turning serious again. “Thank you, though. Ah don't know that Ah'm ever going to find someone Ah feel like that about--” again hung unspoken between them. “Ah probably would have done something stupid like that if you hadn't spoken up, at least to the point of worrying unnecessarily,” she confessed.
“I know,” Scott replied with a smirk.
Rogue just shook her head at him and said, “Ah'll let you get back to your grading. Ah'm so glad Ah took care of mine before lunch!”
Scott shuddered. “Yech. Morning classes. They're almost as bad as morning people!”
Rogue stuck her tongue out at him childishly before she slipped out the door. He returned the gesture.
Feeling in much better spirits after her conversation with Scott, Rogue decided that a work out was necessary. Hank had warned her about what she shouldn't do while pregnant, but that still left plenty of options. As long as she kept her weights in the low end and didn't completely exhaust herself with the cardio, she would be fine. She headed upstairs to change into a pair of running shorts and a tank top, thankful for the climate control of the mansion as she glanced out at the snow and ice outside.
Logan knew that something had shifted inside of him when he let himself admit Rogue's pregnancy. It was as if a barrier he'd erected within himself had come down, and he was left facing that darker part of himself he always kept as firmly leashed as possible. Only now he really didn't want to keep the leash so tight. Full of anger at himself, anger at Rogue, and a deep desire to hold her in his arms again, he spent the next weeks in a fog of emotions that left him even more likely to snap at stupidities or brood dangerously around the mansion. Students and adults stayed out of his way. He vaguely wondered what had happened to Jean after he found her in the med lab, but her disappearance wasn't exactly a priority in his mind at that point. At least she wasn't getting in his way this time if he could help it.
Logan observed Rogue using his senses since he knew he couldn't get her to talk to him. He noticed that she had morning sickness as soon as she woke up that dissipated after an hour or so. She looked so tired lately, even though the sound of deep, even breathing could be heard from behind her door from eight o'clock at night until her alarm clock went off at seven o'clock in the morning. He thought she might have lost a little weight, probably from the vomiting and the way she hardly seemed to eat anything in the morning—not that he blamed her. Despite all of that, though, she glowed, more beautiful than ever. He thought maybe her breasts were a little larger, which he definitely appreciated. He could tell by her scent that she was reasonably healthy, and intellectually he knew that the morning sickness was just one of the body's ways of reacting to the pregnancy. Of course, he got a small amount of amusement that Scooter's kid was giving her so much difficulty—then again, when he thought about that, he was back to being angry at her for jumping into Scott's bed in the first place.
Logan had just gone to his room after congratulating Rogue on her pregnancy—and getting a big-eyed shocked look for his trouble—when that line of thinking started again. Since he had already spent a few hours in the Danger Room that day, he decided that a work out would probably help ease some of the tension. He knew he had to start his campaign for Rogue soon, or she might get so wrapped up in the pregnancy that she wouldn't have time to be distracted by his attempts to gain her forgiveness and maybe get her love back. He missed her, and he could admit it to himself when he was alone. It did make him feel even more annoyed—this time mostly with himself—so he slammed out of his room and headed down to the gym.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A little interlude. Nothing too special. We'll get to that next chapter. ;-)
Chapter End Notes:
So, did I set up the next chapter pretty well?