Marie was talking animatedly with her friends, those who would still talk to the social outcast of the freak school at least, when the Professor telepathically paged her.
"Uh, I've got to go," she told her friends, beginning the process of manoeuvring her massive baby bump into the correct position to stand, when Pete hurriedly stood and offered her a hand up. "Thanks," she beamed at him, in response.
Her friends had accepted her relationship and pregnancy without a second thought, they all knew she was head over heels in love with Logan, and, though none would say it to his face, that he obviously was with her too. The school administrators were still a different story, they had lost count of the number of times Rogue had left the Professor's office in tears, a conversation with a teacher after being kept after class had ended in a shouting match, and there was the time she almost got suspended when Dr Grey had suggested Rogue should have an abortion. She'd actually hit the woman then, shouting at her that if she dared come near her again, or did anything to harm her child she would drain her dry. That had been followed up by a phone call from Logan, in full Wolverine mode, to reinforce that Rogue's pregnancy was under the care of another doctor and Jean's input was not needed. Of course, in true Wolverine fashion all that was conveyed with a lot more growling, profanity, and threats of bodily harm, should any of them harm Rogue, or the baby. Kitty had been listening in to that call and recorded it for posterity.
"No problem, is everything okay, do you need us to come with you?" Pete asked, remaining standing.
"You guys have classes to get back to, I don't want to get any of you in trouble," Rogue replied. In all honesty she would prefer the company, if only for the safety of having witnesses.
"Don't worry about it girl, what's the worst they could do for a late class, come on, I'll come with you," Jubilee spoke, jumping to her feet and taking Rogue's arm. "Besides, I'll do anything to get out of the last class of the day,” she reminded her with a grin.
The rest of the group bid them goodbye, and Rogue good luck, as the pair left the room, heading for the Professor's office, which was located near the front of the building. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, it had been a surprisingly long time since she'd been called to the Professor's office, she reached for the handle, jumping in surprise when the door opened before her. She was immensely grateful Jubilee was with her when she saw the door had been opened by Jean.
Warily entering the room at Jean and Jubilee's prompting Rogue was surprised to find that, along with the Professor, Jean, and Scott, there was another couple in the room. They were facing away from Rogue but even so they were still familiar, though she couldn't immediately place them, until the woman turned around.
"Momma?" Rogue murmured in shock. The woman before her was a little greyer, and a litter sadder than she remembered but it was definitely the mother she hadn't seen in two years.
"Marie!" Her mother cried, jumping to her feet and rushing to wrap her daughter in a careful hug, careful of both her skin and her giant belly. "Oh Marie, we've been so worried about you..." her mother broke off, as she began to weep as she gently pet her daughters hair.
Her father approached then, looking equal parts relieved as concerned. He reached out to hug her also, without a word.
"I did write you," Marie whispered, "After I arrived here... you didn't reply, I thought..." her mother's emotion was getting to her now and she began to tear up.
"We had to move," her father replied, "Not long after you left, we had the mail redirected but some busy body at the post office was stealing it and burning it, we never got your letters, we'd have been here so much sooner if we had," her father assured her.
"I'm so sorry," Marie sobbed, "I thought they would leave you alone if I was gone," she admitted. The attacks against her home had been bad enough, from the rocks thrown through the windows at all hours of the night, to the burning effigy on the front lawn. The final straw however was when a group of teenage boys doused her and her mother in milk when they went grocery shopping, that had finally prompted Marie to run from her childhood home.
"How did you find me?" she eventually asked, dabbing at her tears as she was tenderly led to a seat.
"We hired a private investigator," Marie's mother answered, "He managed to trace you to Canada but then the trail disappeared, with the stories going around in the area of a- a crazy wild man with knives he was... he thought it might have been... he said it was likely you were dead..." her mother broke out in sobs again.
"We heard about this place a few weeks ago, a haven for runaway mutants, we thought they might be able to help us find you, we weren't ready to give up yet," her father added, clutching his daughters gloved hand.
Marie laughed, once she'd processed the information she'd been given. "Logan's hardly a crazy wild man, well, maybe before he's had his coffee," she conceded, "And he only popped his claws because the other guy pulled a knife on him first, fair is fair after all. I hitched a ride with Logan at a place called Laughlin City, don't let the name fool you, then we got attacked by this creepy mutant named Sabretooth, and then these guys turned up and rescued us and I've been here since, I lived on site for the first year but now Logan and I have our own place while I'm finishing school here."
"Logan?" her father asked, glancing pointedly at her swollen abdomen.
"Yes dad, I'm not going to lie, you probably won't like him purely on principle, but I like him, he's a good man and he loves me, a lot, you don't put up with the shit he's had to put up with," she paused to glare pointedly at Scott in particular before continuing, "If you don't love the person you're doing it for."
The class bell rang mutedly from the hallway then.
"I apologise for the brevity of this reunion but perhaps Rogue and Jubilee could return to their classes now, there will be plenty of time for reacquainting after class is finished. Mr and Mrs D'Ancanto, I will open a room on our guest wing for you to stay as long as you wish, Rogue I will also open a room for you..."
"That won't be necessary," Marie replied, "Momma and daddy can stay with Logan and I, that won't be a problem," she stated, her southern fire leaving no room for argument.
"Shouldn't you check that with Logan first?" Jean asked snarkily.
"Logan trusts my judgement," Marie replied sweetly. "He'll be here after my class, you can come with us then, or follow us if you brought your own car?" Marie posed her parents.
"That sounds good, sugar, we'll follow you," Marie's mother replied with a smile. "Now you get to your class," she added, helping Marie out of her seat and hugging her again, before ushering her out of the room.
"Wow chica," Jubilee, the usual loud mouth, spoke for the first time. "I was not expecting that!" she exclaimed, "You okay?"
Rogue's eyes were welled with tears but she had a massive smile on her face. "I am fantastic!" she replied enthusiastically. "Come on, let's get this class over with!"
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000