Marie kicked back, laying back in the swinging daybed hanging from the porch. Normally she wouldn't be sitting around outside at this time of the year but it was an unusually warm fall day, and she was sick of being cooped up inside. So, while Logan and the boys were busy adding onto the boy’s playhouse, Marie bundled herself up, made herself comfy in a little fur blanket nest, and relaxed with a book resting on her again bulging belly.
She was simultaneously reading and watching the boys as they toddled around in their snowsuits and gumboots, looking like plump little snowmen, as they passed Logan random tools, nails, and various rocks and sticks they came across in their explorations. It was very cute, as they usually were.
She was out of things to do to prepare for the new baby, due in only two weeks. Jubilee and Kitty had both come to stay for a month during Summer Break from their respective colleges. They had spent the time catching up, helping with the boys, decorating the new girly nursery, and packing lots of pre-prepared meals for the deep freeze, so she and Logan would be able to spend more time with the boys, and new baby, once she arrived. It had been equally as relieving as it was sad when the Terrible Twosome had left but the boys, picking up on the sadness of the parting, made it all better by giving everyone lots of hugs.
They'd had five weeks of peace and quiet and family time since, though Helen and Peter were due to arrive in about a week. They were only able to stay for two weeks but Helen and Marie both wanted her present for the birth this time around, so they were hoping the timing would work out. The whole 'family' hadn't been together since the boys first birthday the year before - the 'grandparents' hadn't been able to make their second birthday in person, due to Peter being ill, but 'Uncle Andy’ had flown out loaded with gifts from everyone.
Marie often wondered if her boys were just a little bit too spoiled, then when she thought about not spoiling them, she decided she couldn't do it. Baby gave a rolling kick inside her belly, turning her attention back to her book as it slipped out of her hand with the movement. It fell to the porch floor with a thud, and was followed by a muffled curse. She saw Logan look up, startled - he was always so damn jumpy around her when she was pregnant - before he chuckled and waved one of the boys to him to whisper something in his ear. A few moments later Aidan was at her side passing the book back to her.
"Thank you, sweetie," she told him, ruffling his hair in lieu of a kiss or hug, she couldn't move or reach around her belly to do either right now.
He babbled something akin to 'you’re welcome', before launching into a two-year olds version of show and tell about a rock he had found. Eventually he lost interest in that and, leaving the rock in her hand, wandered off to see what his brother was playing with.
The view out the large windows of the cabin had changed quite a bit since they first moved up to Whitehorse permanently. The wide-open views of the hillside and valley beyond were now partially interrupted by the short fence Logan had built, to keep the boys from wandering off into the surrounding forest. A rather fancy two storey playhouse stood off to one side - though the upstairs was so far inaccessible to the toddlers, planning ahead Logan had called it when he had built the little play mansion. There was also a small playground with swings, a slide, and a sandpit with a myriad of trucks and little diggers to move the loose material. It was any kids dream backyard.
Logan joined her a while later, immediately fussing over her to make sure she was warm enough. Once she had finally convinced him she was, she shifted so he could join her on the bed. They sat in contented silence watching the toddlers play, until the sun began to sink toward the horizon and Logan insisted everyone go back inside.
As she watched her sons 'eat' their dinner later that night, getting almost as much in their hair or down their fronts as in their mouths, Marie decided again that she liked the way her life had turned out. She hadn't taken an easy road to get here but she loved where it had brought her, despite the ups and downs she wouldn't change a thing. The look on Logan's face, as he attempted to rescue some of the boy’s food, led her to believe he felt the same.
--
A plump middle-aged woman stepped out of the taxi that idled in the driveway of the sprawling mansion. As the driver retrieved her bag from the trunk the woman rechecked the address, scrawled in her daughter's neat handwriting, on the letter she had barely put down since she had found it.
"You're sure this is the right place," she asked the taxi driver again, for the third time since they had turned off the road.
"Yes ma'am, this is Xavier's School, and there's the man himself," he replied, waving toward the bald man in a wheelchair who was rolling to a stop at the top of the front steps.
Hurriedly, she pulled out her purse and paid the taxi driver, who then bid farewell to her, also acknowledging the man he had identified as being Charles Xavier, before he got back in his car and pulled away.
"Hello sir, my name is Patricia D'Ancanto, it has recently come to my attention that my daughter attends, or did attend, your school," she politely introduced herself.
"That is quite possible," the cultured man replied, "Come to my office and I can review the school's records and see if we can find her, my name is Charles Xavier I am the headmaster of the school, we cater primarily to mutants, I assume your daughter is a mutant. What is your daughter's name?" he asked, as they wandered through the richly appointed foyer and into an equally as well-organized office.
"Anna Marie D'Ancanto is her name, but she went by Marie for most of her life, and yes, she's a mutant, I suppose," her mother replied, noting with interest the surprised look that came over the man's face.
He immediately wheeled himself to a filing cabinet, pulled open a drawer and removed a file. He flipped open the file and scanned its contents, before murmuring a 'yes, very interesting,' as he moved back to his desk. Once in position he addressed the new comer directly.
"Mrs D'Anacanto, please take a seat," he began.
"Please, call me Tricia," she interrupted, as she sat down opposite him.
"Certainly, Tricia, your daughter did indeed attend this establishment, she arrived in November almost three years ago, here she was known among her peers by the name Rogue, she graduated in January of last year, well ahead of her peers, though from her records that was not unusual, she no longer lives on campus, she opted not to attend college, and she now resides in Yukon, Canada, with her husband--" he was cut off again by Tricia's surprised exclamation of 'husband?'. “Yes, I understand Rogue and Logan were married last year, they are expecting their third child any day now I believe," he advised.
With a flourish he opened the file and slid it across the desk towards the woman. Sitting on top of the pile of papers was Marie's yearbook photo, along with that there were several photos of Marie at various school events, her seventeenth birthday party, and graduation. Next came several photos of the twins, and a family photo which included Logan. It was the only photo, that he knew of, of Logan, the man was incredibly adept at avoiding cameras.
"Is that ... her husband?" Marie's mother asked, pointing to Logan.
"Yes, indeed, that is Logan," Charles replied.
Marie's mother narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the man in the photo before commenting, "How old is he?"
Charles tried to smother his grin, the typical response of any parent finding them self in this situation he was sure, he had had much the same reservations himself about the unlikely pair at the beginning. Deciding truth was the best option he replied, "Mr Howlett's exact age is unknown, he was victim of some rather dubious government experimentation on mutants some decades ago which has resulted in some loss of memory, however he is believed to be somewhere close to two hundred years old."
Tricia's eyes opened wide in shock. "But- but he doesn't look a day over forty!" She stammered.
"And he likely never will, his mutation includes a healing aspect the result of which decreases the aging process, if not rendering it completely obsolete, Rogue appears to have taken on this mutation also, though the exact extent of how much of Logan's mutation she has metabolized is unknown," he began. At Tricia's confused look he elaborated. "Rogue did not have an easy time from the point she... left your home, she first came to our attention when another mutant attempted to kidnap her - it is not only the government that will use mutants for their powers, sometimes it is our own brothers, and Rogue's mutation is very powerful - she and Logan were brought to the school for protection, unfortunately we failed her and she did end up being kidnapped, she almost died, surviving only thanks to Logan using Rogue's mutation to absorb his own and heal her, however, it had the unintended side effect that after several instances of the pair using their mutations to heal Rogue, from one thing or another, her DNA rewrote itself, it appears permanently, and she developed her own version of Logan's mutation, she has also permanently taken on the mutation of another mutant who could shapeshift, and to a lesser degree the mutation of the mutant who kidnapped her giving her a degree of magnetism."
"So, this Logan was with her before she came here?" Marie's mother asked.
"From what I understand they met on the road and had been traveling together for some time. When they stopped moving, to wait out the winter snow, that was when the mutants that had been following Rogue were able to catch up to them, when they decided Rogue should stay at the school and continue her education here, rather than a public school, Logan left for a time. I will admit I was unsure at the time the exact nature of their relationship, and whether I should be welcoming Logan back if he did return, however, when he returned, your daughter made it very clear that her allegiances lay with Logan, and that if we didn't allow him to stay, she was leaving, obviously none of us wanted that, including Logan, so we allowed him to stay. Their twins were born three months later, and Rogue graduated six months after that, they left the following spring to make their way back to their home in Yukon, both keep in touch, and Rogue's friends regularly visit them when they can, I believe a pair have recently returned from such a trip just this last summer, Logan and Rogue haven't returned for a visit yet, though Logan does return to the school from time to time to assist," Charles briefly advised.
"He leaves her all alone with baby twins?" Tricia asked aghast.
"The school has a private jet that Logan utilises to make the trip, it's only a few hours that way, I don't believe he's left Rogue alone for longer than a few days at a time, and their boys are very well behaved," he replied with a chuckle.
"Am I- are you able to give me their contact details so I can contact them?" Tricia asked, after a moment’s consideration.
"I would be happy to ask them if they agree to that," Charles nodded, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you only just now attempting to make contact with Rogue?"
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