Marie slowly opened her eyes, a smile breaking out on her face as she remembered what day it was.
"What are you so happy about this morning?" Logan murmured, from where he was spooned behind her, placing a soft kiss on her bare shoulder.
"Do you hear that?" Marie asked softly.
Logan paused and listened. “Hear what?" he asked, confused when he heard nothing.
"Absolutely nothing," Marie replied, "No more alarms to wake the boys up, I can finally sleep in!" She sighed happily, school was finally done, for the year, and for her, forever.
"Now where's the fun in that?" Logan asked, "I can think of much better things to do than sleep, obviously you can too seeing as how you're awake."
"Shh, I'm training my brain to stay asleep," Marie replied, closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep. That lasted all of ten seconds before Logan's hands started moving, tickling down her side where her singlet had ridden up. "You are absolutely impossible Logan," she laughed.
"Shh, you'll wake the boys up and then we'll really have to stop," he replied, nuzzling into her hair as his hands continued wandering.
"You jinxed it," Marie stated with a sigh a minute later, when a baby started calling out from the next room and she rolled over to pull herself out of bed.
Logan watched from the bed as she slipped on her silk robe, before moving out of their bedroom to collect the waking twins. She returned a moment later with a baby in each arm, and crawled back into bed with them. He rolled over and pulled both babies into his arms as Marie got comfortable, she reached over a minute later and plucked one giggling infant from his arms to start feeding, while he entertained the second.
Once baby one had eaten his fill, they swapped babies and Logan took a satisfied looking Aidan with him, to their small kitchenette, to get himself and Marie breakfast.
Two hours later they were done with breakfast, and well on their way to being ready for the day. The boys were entertaining themselves with their baby gyms in the living room, and Marie and Logan were entertaining themselves in the shower.
"Thank god they can't crawl yet," Logan commented, when Marie finally stepped out of the shower and began to towel herself off. He followed her a moment later, and watched her reverse strip show with a leery grin. Just as she was finished dressing, someone started knocking on their suite door.
"Hurry up and get dressed," Marie kissed him quickly, mildly annoyed she didn't get to watch him dress - oh well, she could just undress him later as compensation. She shut the bedroom door on her way to the suite door, watching Liam push himself up on his arms and try to wriggle his way towards the interesting new sound he could hear as she went; it wouldn't be long until they were crawling.
"Gee, I wonder what took her so long," Jubilee commented, with a sly grin at her companion.
"Sorry, hope we didn't interrupt anything," Kitty added with a giggle.
"Luckily for you, you didn't, five minutes earlier though and you'd have had a seriously pissed off Wolverine to deal with," Marie replied, sharing their mirth. She waved the girls in, not at all surprised that they immediately moved across the room, and each picked up a smiling infant.
"To what do we owe this pleasure," Logan asked, only sounding mildly sarcastic, as he walked out of the bedroom, pulling his shirt over his head.
"Well, sorry to say but we came to steal your woman," Jubilee stated matter of factly.
"Yep," Kitty chimed in, "Today, being our first day as former slaves, I mean, students, freed from the shackles of the evil educational establishment, even if only temporarily for some of us, we are going shopping."
"Do I get some say in this?" Marie asked, arms crossed over her chest, trying to look annoyed.
"Nope," Jubilee answered, "We've all been cooped up too long from all that pointless brain work, and you even longer because of 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2', so today, we shall liberate you! Back us up here Wolvie!"
Logan grinned. "They're right darlin, go, have some fun. You want me to watch the boys or do you plan on commandeering them too?" he asked Jubilee, though it was Marie that answered him.
"We'll have to take them with us because Jubilee, the super shopper that she is, makes every trip to the mall last hours and they'll need feeding in the meantime."
"I thought Dr Grey was trying to make you put them on baby food?" Kitty asked.
"They won't eat it," Logan replied with an amused chuckle, remembering the looks of shock and horror both boys had given when they had tried to spoon food goop into their mouths. "Same as the formula before that, Mama tastes better apparently, can't say I disagree," he added, with a smirk.
"TMI Wolvie," Jubilee laughed, as Marie and Kitty blushed. Logan just grinned as he fished the truck keys out of the drawer they lived in when they weren't in his pocket.
"Take the truck, the stroller's already in the back, the three of you will have to take the front bench with the car seats in there, no way in hell I'm trying to move them. Enjoy yourself," he directed at Marie, planting a kiss on her lips as he slipped the keys into her pocket - any excuse to cop a feel. "I’ve got to finish that new training sim for Chuck, when should I expect you back?" he asked, as he made his way out the door.
"We'll be back by two for the boys nap," Marie answered, looking pointedly at Jubes to say ‘they would not be a minute late’.
As soon as Logan was out the door Kitty jumped into action. "Let's get you two ready for your adventure," she announced, marching into the boys room with Liam in her arms, to dig out the cutest outfits she could find. Marie just laughed as Jubilee hurried after her, no doubt to critique and change whatever outfits Kitty chose.
--
"Ooh, we totally need to take you in here Roguey," Jubilee said, obvious excitement in her voice, as she turned the double stroller in Rogue’s grasp towards the brightly lit lingerie store she had spotted.
"There's no point," Marie laughed, "Logan just tears everything off, literally, I've gone through four maternity bras already in the last few months just because he was too impatient to wait a few seconds. Besides," she added after a pause, all mirth dropping from her tone. "I'm not pretty enough to do it justice."
"What the hell Rogue, don't talk like that," Kitty responded, pulling the group to a stop, "You're gorgeous, so gorgeous in fact you've managed to score yourself the hottest guy on the damn continent, even if he is a little scruffy. Besides, you wouldn't want to make Logan a liar, would you?" Kitty winked at her.
"What do you mean?" Rogue asked, looking confused.
"Oh that!" Jubilee exclaimed, grinning at the memory that popped into her head, "Scott picked a fight with Logan once and was going on about how Logan was just going to break your heart when he abandoned you, and leave you miserable for the rest of us to look after when he got sick of being tied to 'an average looking mother', Logan absolutely lost his shit, I was sure we were going to be scrapping Cyclops bits off the walls by the time he was done but he managed to keep his cool long enough to tell Scott, and I'm paraphrasing here because Logan was a lot more explicit, there was nothing 'average' about you, and how as far as he was concerned you are the most gorgeous woman, inside and out, that he's ever met, and that never in a million years would he ever 'get sick of' you, and the only way he'd ever be 'leaving' was with you and the boys right by his side where you all belonged."
"It was so sweet," Kitty added, hugging Rogue closer to her. "Has Logan really never told you any of this?" she asked incredulously.
"Well," Marie blushed, "He says stuff like that all the time, I just figured he was horny and trying to get in my pants... though he has always been pretty sweet, and sometimes painfully honest, ever since I met him."
"So we, and by we I mean you but we'll help you pick it out, should totally get him a little something so he can enjoy his gorgeous woman," Jubilee started again towards the store.
"I wasn't kidding Jubes," Rogue tried again, "I really can't do this stuff justice, I'm a mother now, I'm flabby and covered in goddamn stretch marks," she groused.
"Don't worry, they have stuff for that," Jubilee grinned, "Though I would have been certain Logan would have fixed you right up in that department with those healing hands of his," she added, sounding mildly curious.
Rogue blushed and admitted, "He did offer but I said no."
"Why?" Kitty asked curiously, "If they make you so self-conscious why not let him fix it for you? You know he'll do anything for you."
"Because it hurts him every time he does it and I don't want to be hurting him constantly, I guess... I guess I also felt like I deserve it, to not be so pretty anymore, because of... well, because of the baby that isn't his," she finished miserably.
"Okay, serious time out." Kitty pulled them out of the flow of human mall traffic and sat them down on a bench. Turning the stroller towards Rogue so she could see both her sons, Kitty started talking.
"Do you think Logan blames you for this, really, because you and I, and Logan too, all know the only person to blame for this situation is Sabretooth. Logan loves both these little boys exactly the same, they are both his sons as far as he's concerned, and yes, I've heard that come out of his own mouth. And he loves these two only slightly less than he adores you. There is nothing wrong with you, there is nothing wrong with either of your son's, and you do not 'deserve' to be punished for what that asshole did to you, not by your sons, not by Logan, and definitely not by yourself. You are amazing Rogue, I think so, Jubes thinks so, Logan won't shut up about how fantastic you are. Your boys are the luckiest kids around, yes, they've been thrust into the middle of a shitty situation but with two parents who love them as much as you and Logan do, they are going to grow up to be absolutely fantastic people. Stop selling yourself short Rogue, stop beating yourself up over things that aren't your fault, and stop laying blame at your own feet when it doesn't belong to you."
Marie sniffled softly, as a lone tear ran down her cheek. "I'm a horrible mother," she whispered, as Jubilee and Kitty both sat closer beside her and wrapped their arms around her, before either of them could protest she continued. "Sometimes I’m terrified I don't even love him."
"Who? Logan?" Jubilee asked, looking confused.
"No, Liam," she clarified.
"Well now we know for sure you do," Kitty replied. At Rogue's surprised look she continued, "Sweetie if you didn't love that little boy you wouldn't care that you didn't, the fact you do care shows you do love him, because you're worried you're not showing him enough that you do but you are, everyone can see that."
"Yeah, just don't accidentally spoil him over Aidan by trying too hard," Jubes added, with a grin and a hug.
"Thanks guys, I don't deserve you two," Marie told them, with a watery smile as she returned her friends hugs while she watched her sons dozing in their stroller. She could feel her doubts and fears weakening just a little bit more, she did love both boys, she knew she did, she was mainly worried about the 'one day', far in the future, when she would have to tell them about Liam's biological father; would both boys still love her just the same?
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