Owen and Eileen woke late the next morning, they expected to find the house empty, with Logan already having taken Marie to school, they were surprised however to find him in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Eileen engaged him in small talk as he worked, after her offer to help was declined, and about ten minutes later, a fresh from the shower but rather flustered looking Marie, rushed into the room.

"Damn it Logan, why didn't you wake me up, I'm going to be late!" she complained exasperatedly.

"Yeah, you are,” Logan confirmed with a grin, “I've already let Chuck know, he was surprisingly understanding given the circumstances, you're only going to miss first period, which is English today, a class you are well ahead in so there's no problem with that, your sleep was more important, so is your breakfast, I made your favourite, eat up," he said, planting a soft kiss on her lips, as he handed her a plate and sent her off to join her parents at the table.

"Why am I not surprised you've memorised my entire class schedule," Marie replied, with a happy smile.

"Not just your schedule, your progress reports too, you definitely can't miss calculus," he added with a chuckle.

"Yes, I can," Marie replied with a roll of her eyes, "It's stupid anyway, I'm never going to use any of that rubbish ever in my life, it's such a waste of time, I could be learning useful stuff instead."

"Useful stuff like what?" Logan teased, as they all dug into their breakfast.

"Well if I knew that I'd already know it and then I wouldn't need to learn it," Marie returned with a cheeky grin, "I'm sure there are plenty more useful things than calculus, and algebra."

"So, what about after high school, have you thought about college, what major you're going for?" Owen interjected curiously, and calculatingly, when the playful banter began wind down.

"I'm not going to college," Marie replied decisively.

"What?! Why not and since when?" Logan asked immediately in surprise. Admittedly they hadn't moved on to the college discussions yet, Marie still had another year left of high school, but he was surprised all the same, he had just assumed she would attend. There was a local college he knew several of her friends were going to, they could make it work.

"There's no point, it would be a huge waste of money for no benefit, I want to be a momma, a real momma, not one that dumps her kids in day-care and goes off to work for six hours a day," Marie answered plainly, "It's going to be bad enough having to be away from her so much to finish school but I know you won't let me out of that, no way am I going to sign up for another four years of studying for a stupid piece of paper that doesn't mean anything useful."

Logan was quiet as he thought over her response, as usual it was well thought out, logical, and reasonable. "Fair enough," he eventually replied in acquiescence to her wishes. "You know you can if you want though, right? The money's not a problem, I understand what you're saying about the time commitment but we can make that work," Logan assured her.

"I know," Marie replied, smiling back at him lovingly. She knew he would try his best to rearrange the stars in the sky if she asked him to but she had already thought about it and made her decision.

Owen still looked unconvinced. "So you don't want to be a veterinarian anymore, huh?" he asked, trying to sound light and teasing.

"Nah, going to have my own little critters to worry about," Marie replied with another bright smile. "Don't get hung up on it daddy, momma doesn't have a college degree, or a job, she spent all her time raising me and looking after the both of us, are you saying there's something wrong with that? Why is that good enough for momma but not for me?" she asked, pointedly but gently.

Logan tried not to grin too broadly at her response, goddamn his little woman was a spitfire! Eileen on the other hand burst out laughing, as Owen looked simultaneously amused and chastised.

"Touché," he replied good naturedly, "I'm just your dad, I'm allowed to worry about you, it's kind of my job, you are well within your rights to forgo college, I just don't want you missing out on anything."

"Neither does Logan, plus he worries about me enough for both of you so you don't have to worry there. As far as I see it, I'll be missing out on more by not getting to watch my baby grow up than by not studying for a piece of paper - speaking of studying for pieces of paper, I'm stuffed, let's go?" Marie suggested, turning to Logan as she pushed her mostly empty plate away. She hadn't told him yet but she was working with Storm to get ahead on her studies, in the hope she could sit her final exams, and graduate, early.

"Why don't we drive you to school today?" Eileen asked cheerily.

"If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it, I don't have a problem taking her except that her friends usually pick her up at the end of the drive and they'll all be in class by now, I don't really want her walking all that way," Logan admitted.

"I was thinking much the same thing," Eileen replied with a grin, "Is that okay with you Marie?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Marie replied, with a sad smile directed at Logan. He helped her out of her seat, accepting the quick kiss she stood up on her tiptoes to press to his lips, before she hugged him tight.

He had already packed all the books she needed for class today, and the essay that was due for handing in for English, she may have missed the class but she could still hand in the assignment, technically it would be on time so long as she got it to Ms Munro before the end of the day. Her coat was also ready and waiting for her, and her boots, which Logan put on for her. She had tried to give up the boots, in favour of flats she could slip on and off easily but he had insisted she didn't need to do that, and took it on himself to manage her shoes for her.

Logan carried her bag for her to the car, before kissing her goodbye as he held the car door for her. He was unusually tense but when she asked if he was okay, he just shrugged it off and said he'd see her after class, giving her an extra kiss when her parents weren't looking.

It didn't take long before the questions started once she was alone with her parents, obviously her mother had been busting to grill her.

"So, how long ago was it you met Logan again?" Eileen asked, turning in her seat to face, where Marie was sitting in the backseat.

"It was almost two years ago that we met, then after the whole 'let's kill Rogue' thing he left for a while, headed back to Canada for about six months, we kept in touch on the phone a lot," Marie smiled fondly at the memories.

"How old is he?" Eileen asked next, noting the instant negative reaction Marie had to the question; she had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer to this question.

"He doesn't know," Marie answered softly, turning away to look out the window. She hated thinking about the massive black hole that was Logan's past, mostly because it affected him so badly and her own empathy wouldn't allow her to ignore that.

"... How does he not know?" Owen asked curiously, glancing at his daughter in the rear-view mirror as he drove, catching the tear she quickly swiped away before she answered.

"When Dr Grey tested him, to try and figure out what was done to him, how old he is, to try and give him some answers... she determined his body as at the approximate developmental age of an average thirty-five year old male... but Logan doesn't age, he hasn't since he woke up naked in the snow with no memories, he's been 'thirty five' for at least seventeen years now, that he remembers. Before that... no one knows, not anyone he's been able to track down at least," Marie answered.

"So, he could be at least fifty-two?" Owen asked, in uncomfortable shock.

"Or he could be several hundred years old, there is literally no way to know without finding someone who remembers him from before," Marie steeled herself as she answered, if her parents were going to have an issue, now was going to be when.

"Before what?" Eileen asked quietly, noticing her daughters distress.

"... Logan was experimented on, because of his mutation, by government, or military, or some combination of the two, something they did during that process damaged his brain, his mutation basically means he can grow his brain back but, obviously, it couldn't grow back the neural pathways that were his memories. The few memories he does have of before he woke up in the snow... they did horrible things to him, removed organs, tested chemicals, and the most horrific was when they coated every bone in his body with metal, they did it all while he was awake, probably because it was too hard for them to knock him out, not even a local or pain relief, nothing, it was sheer agony," she shared quietly, swiping away several more tears.

"How does he remember that if he doesn't remember anything else?" Owen asked confused.

"Memories born out of fear or trauma are stored in a different area of the brain to regular memories, just like memories that control basic functions like talking, eating, using tools, even things like reading and math, are stored in another area, so whatever they did was specifically targeted at erasing his memories of his life, they were probably trying to make him controllable- if he didn’t know any other life he wouldn’t fight them," she said. She'd had much the same thoughts early on, wondering if it was possible that the rest of Logan's memories were still in his head somewhere. Back when she had still been on friendly speaking terms with Jean, the doctor had given her a full rundown on brain functions, to help her understand what she had gained from Logan's healing touch.

"Why did he tell you about such horrible things?" Eileen queried worriedly.

"He didn't, when he healed me, I absorbed so much of him - he almost died - and I got so much from him that I got all his memories, and nightmares- and before you say he feels bad about that but there was no other way for them to save me... it was a cheap trade off really, and the little bit I have of him inside my head helps, he hides the nightmares and memories as best he can, so I don't have to see them," she explained.

"You have his nightmares?" her mother asked next.

"At the beginning, yeah, every night, sometimes a couple in the same night, the Professor thought it was just because it was new and fresh, and I was really stressed, you know, just about dying, and then waiting for Logan to wake up, it kind of does that to you," she chuckled grimly, "But I haven't had one for about six months now, even Logan doesn't get them so often anymore."

"Mr Summers, one of your teachers... he said there was suspicion that your relationship with Logan started back before you came to the school, that the two of you might not be being truthful about what was going on, that there might be some... manipulation, and... isolation..." Eileen looked uncomfortable as she informed her daughter of her worries.

Marie rolled her eyes, with a tolerant grimace, before replying, "I'm sure in the interests of full disclosure he also mentioned that he got trespassed from our home after the neighbours called the cops on him, and that he called the police on Logan when he was parked out front of the school waiting to pick me up, that him and his girlfriend have suggested multiple times I should murder my baby, and that they've forbidden me from having any contact with my friends outside of school, right?... Out of curiosity, what was their suspicion founded on?"

Eileen smiled as her daughter detailed her own allegations against the school staff, given their attitudes it wasn't a stretch to believe all her claims were true. "Apparently, the first night you and Logan were at the school you were found in his room in the middle of the night, doing 'something' that resulted in your mutation knocking Logan out," she answered. She and Marie had always had a very open mother-daughter relationship, and she trusted her daughter to tell her the truth.

Marie laughed. "Yeah, that was a pretty stupid thing to do, in hindsight, I went to Logan's room because I wanted to talk to him, he was the person I knew the best at that stage and I hadn't gotten to see or speak to him after he woke up from being attacked by Sabretooth. Logan was having a nightmare when I got there, I tried to wake him up, it worked, he woke up, unfortunately he didn't wake up fully until after he had accidentally stabbed me..."

"Stabbed you!" both her parents turned to her shocked.

"Yes, stabbed me - please focus on driving daddy - Logan has metal claws, they're kind of complicated so I think they are actually a part of his mutation and were just metal coated like the rest of his bones. He lashed out at the nightmare and I just happened to be there in real life, it wasn't intentional on his part, that was the first time I used my mutation intentionally though, I figured if I could suck in his healing I would be fine, and I figured he would too, I mean by this stage I'd seen him get wailed on by a half dozen guys, almost knifed, almost shot, shoot knifes out of his hands, get thrown through the windshield of a car sixty feet, get smashed through the trunk of a tree, then t-balled with a tree trunk... I figured if he could survive all that he could survive me, and he did."

"But... he stabbed you," Owen repeated.

"Yes, accidentally, and he totally freaked out when he realised what happened," Marie replied again.

"And now you sleep in the same bed as him... what if he stabs you again?" he asked.

"Yes, we sleep in the same bed, it's perfectly safe, Logan knows my scent now, he knows I'm safe and doesn't react around me anymore," Marie answered, she was starting to get sick of the conversation now. "Logan would never hurt me intentionally and he does everything in his power to avoid hurting me accidentally, I can't ask more than that, and if he does accidentally stab me again I'll just suck his healing out again," she replied, with an exaggerated grin, as they turned onto the schools driveway.

Eileen was still chuckling as she hugged Marie and wished her a good day, before the girl hugged her dad and walked off down the hall. The bell was just ringing for the next class to start but Marie was not hurrying, one of her friends spotted her and slowed down to keep her company on their trek to class.

"Mr and Mrs D'Ancanto, so you good to see you," the redheaded doctor they had met the day before greeted them, "Professor Xavier asked if you had a few minutes to chat?"

"Of course," Eileen replied, taking her husband's arm, so he couldn't say otherwise, as they followed her to the Professor's office.
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