By the time Logan and Scott, followed by Jean and two very excited little boys, got into the house introductions were complete between Helen, Peter and Tricia, and a squalling Keaira was being unveiled as she wailed for her next meal.
Tricia fussed over her delightedly, as Marie made herself comfortable to feed her. Jean announced she needed all the details about the little girl, and good naturedly demanded to know why news of her arrival had not reached the mansion yet.
"Uh, well, I guess we forgot," Marie admitted, "It was the anniversary, and then she arrived and then I slept most of the next day, while Logan was busy with the boys, and then mom - it's been a busy couple of days!"
"Anniversary? I thought you guys got married in April?" Jean asked confused.
"We did," Marie replied with a soft smile. "Keaira was born on the anniversary of the day we met, October twenty-third."
Tricia began asking questions then. Marie retold their story for her, detailing how and where they had met, their trip north across Canada, settling into the cabin. She told her about Sabretooth, and getting introduced to the school, getting kidnapped and being rescued. She told her mother about their time apart, while Logan had been repairing the cabin, and the day she had written the letter home - it was the day she had found out she was pregnant, and she was feeling particularly alone that day because of not being able to share her joy. She told her about how school had gone, her friends, memorable field trips, and the day Logan came back and she could finally reveal her secret.
They talked about the boys birth, and juggling school and new babies, Marie gushed about how great Logan was at being a dad - which made him just a little uncomfortable when all the women in the room beamed at him - and how he would stay up all hours of the night to tend to the boys so she could get enough sleep to study. Marie asked Logan to pass her the photo album as she burped the baby, then handed her off for quick cuddles, before she had to go back to sleep. They spent hours pouring over the album matching pictures to events that had already been detailed, until they got to the day they had left the mansion to return home.
"Why did you leave?" Tricia asked worriedly, her daughter had had friends there, surely they would have had a job opportunity for her, and she could have been around people, instead if out here in the cold wilderness.
"We asked the same thing," Scott replied with a grin, "Even offered them both jobs to try and convince them to stay but these two are too stubborn for their own good!"
Marie laughed. "We needed our space to do our own thing, besides, it's nice up here, the people are nice, town's nice and close, there's lots of activities, good hunting, and enough space for the boys to go wild without bothering the neighbours."
"You have neighbours?" several people asked surprised, to which Marie pointed off in several directions and told them how far away each neighbour was.
"So, what did you do on your trip anyway?" Jean asked curiously, flipping through pages of the photo album.
Marie detailed all the significant places they had stopped, since leaving the mansion on the first of March the year before. By April they had made it as far as Banff and spent a week hiking the national park trails - there were a lot of photos of that. After several pages of tramping and scenic shots there was a full-page picture of Marie in a gorgeous white dress, accompanied by Logan, Liam, and Aidan in jeans and dress shirts, the boys were wearing little waist coats too.
"Oh my God, it's beautiful!" Jean gushed, "I’ll admit, I had just assumed you guys went to a courthouse and signed paperwork when you said you 'got married'," she admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed by her own poor assumptions.
"To be honest, that's all I planned for if we bothered getting married, it really wasn't high on my list of priorities but Logan had other plans... We turned up at this place called Fairmont Chateau, at Lake Louise, and Logan was all like 'happy birthday', I figured the stay at a fancy hotel was my present, until I opened this big box on the bed and inside was the dress. Then he told me we were getting married, in four days, on my birthday, it was literally the day from which I could legally marry and Logan was all like 'done'. He did everything, without even telling me, the dress, the flowers, and he flew Kitty and Jubes out for the weekend to be bridesmaids," she turned the page, showing more photos from the day.
"And the boys were the ring bearers, Logan was so convinced they would drop the rings he had them on little chains, attached to their jackets, like a pocket watch… It was a good plan because it turned out they were more interested in trying to eat them." She smiled wistfully, "It was amazing, absolutely perfect… Even better than the 'better late than never' sixteenth birthday party Logan threw for me back... November, that first year, seven months after my birthday."
They leafed through photos from the wedding weekend, there were even a few of Kitty and Jubilee, confirming they had indeed been there, even though they had never breathed a word to anyone. There were more of the boys, including one of Liam shaking a stick at a bear that was standing on the opposite shore of the little lake they were visiting, trying to scare it away.
After a few pages the pictures went back to their journey, more scenic shots, photos of the boys asleep in their car seats, one of Marie fast asleep as well. There were photos that looked like they were from a bar, which Marie explained was owned by a friend, there was even a photo of the family with Jack and Alice. The next page was turned and met with surprised gasps.
"Oops, I forgot about those," Marie replied, in mock innocence.
"You didn't put those in did you?" Logan asked, from where he was in the kitchen with Helen and Peter cooking up the food Marie had prepared earlier. He knew exactly what photos would have gotten that reaction.
"Of course," Marie replied cheekily, as Helen made her way across the room to see what was causing the fuss.
There on the page was a collection of photos of Logan, bare chested in a chain link cage, even a few action shots from various fights so there was no mistaking what was going on.
"So, Logan fights people, in cages... is that his job?" Tricia asked, looking concerned.
"Logan fights more for fun than anything else, though that was the last time he fought, and only because the crowd asked so nicely, I asked very nicely too," Marie commented coyly.
"Very nicely," Logan murmured with a snigger, from the kitchen, though Marie and Peter were the only ones to hear.
"And you took the boys in?" Jean asked, "They let you?"
"It's not a 'bar' bar, it's a restaurant bar, so we went there for dinner, there were other families there too for dinner, and then Logan got asked to stay. The boys were asleep by the time the fights started, and slept right through," Marie replied reassuringly. She wasn't stupid enough to put her boys in that sort of danger, Jack's bar was safe, it didn't have the rough crowd that some other places did.
"But Logan fights people, in a cage, for money?" Tricia repeated, still trying to wrap her proper upbringing around the thought.
"Yes momma, he did fight people, in a cage, for money, a lot of money," Marie confirmed, smiling to herself, she had always wondered what her mother would think of that.
"And, that's legal?" Tricia asked incredulously.
"Strictly speaking, no, but so long as no one gets too badly injured, or complains, the cops tend to turn a blind eye, especially out in the small towns where entertainment is scarce," Logan replied.
"So, what do you do for money then, what's your day job?" Tricia asked curiously. Several others perked their ears to catch his answer, no one really knew what he did for a living, though Helen and Peter knew he had had a job when he lived in Nova Scotia.
"We live off interest and investments mostly," Logan replied dismissively, "Don't have a steady job, haven't for about seven years actually, don't need one, means more time to focus on home and the kids."
"So, what you're saying is, you're a rich bum," Scott replied, trying to hide his surprise behind humour. Logan chuckled and agreed readily. "So that's how you got the girl," Scott added with a smirk.
"Hey! That was uncalled for," Logan added, looking mildly annoyed.
"Indeed," Marie agreed, glaring at Scott.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I'm sure you married Logan for more than his money," Scott replied cheekily, turning the photo album around, still open to the cage fighting photos.
Marie gave up trying to be offended and laughed outright, Logan just shook his head, still trying to appear offended. "Come on time for dinner," he commented, as the last of the food was set out on the table, "More smack talk after I've fed my wife."
Toward the end of the friendly meal Keaira began to cry, it was feeding time again, and Logan's nose was telling him she needed a fresh diaper too. He told Marie to stay and eat while he went to change her. Baby joined them at the table for a time before her hunger grew too great and she began to grizzle in earnest. Marie gently took her in her arms and moved to a more comfortable chair, and as their guests finished eating they migrated to the couches to continue conversation.
The photo album came into play again as Marie detailed the rest of their road trip. Redecorating the boy’s bedroom, their first birthday, first Christmas in the cabin, there were photos of Marie's reaction when Logan told her she was pregnant again. Jean was fascinated that Logan had picked up on the hormonal changes associated with Marie's pregnancy before she had herself. There were photos from Marie's nineteenth birthday, a page declaring 'it's a girl' accompanied by ultrasound photos, and the boys second birthday.
These major events were sprinkled with photos of the boys on adventures with their playgroup friends, and other family outings. The building progress of their playground, and a variety of pillow forts, blanket tents, and a variety of photos of either Logan or Marie captured in cute situations. Logan's favourite photo was the final photo in the full album, a photo of a pregnant Marie, with a little boy on either side of her, all three fast asleep while the boys hugged Marie's belly.
"There's no photos of the boys when they were little?" Tricia noted.
"That's a whole other album, for a whole other day," Marie replied with a laugh, as she lay the fed, burped, and now softly snoring Keaira against her chest. Her tiny nose scrunching when it came in contact with Marie's fuzzy jumper, until she found a comfortable spot to continue snoozing.
Shortly later the boys began to yawn, leading to Logan hoisting one up in each arm to carry them off to bed. They insisted on giving mama and sister a kiss before bed, and begged mama to read them a bedtime story, eventually relenting when daddy promised to read them two. Helen and Peter opted to turn in early also, and followed Logan downstairs. Scott and Jean also made an excuse to take their leave, taking all the guest bags and following Marie's directions to the two ground floor bedrooms that had been set up for the new guests.
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