Alright ladies and gentlemen, here is the awaited sequel to Rebirth. Now, be patient with me because there's a few things I want to do before I get into the meat and potatoes of the story. I promise it will be there, I swear but not until September probably. I'm not going to have a lot of access to a computer with Internet access for the rest of the summer, except in between my entire messy summer.
HOWEVER I promise to have it all written by the time I go off to school at the beginning of September. This is the sweet first chapter and maybe I'll have the second one up before I head off to the cottage on Saturday. In fact, I'll try really really hard.
Gambit will be in this story, in fact, in the next chapter, but I know nothing about how he actually gets into the whole X-men mix so I'm making up my own.
Oh, and for those who are reading this before Rebirth, Logan is so OOC you might want to puke.
Thanks!
Chapter 1
Logan awoke with a start to realize Jean was not in bed with him. Immediately, he was worried. Jean rarely got up in the middle of the night and this was the end of two weeks of constant waking up. He made his way carefully to the closed bathroom door and knocked gently.
"Jeannie?"
"I'm fine Logan," he heard weakly.
"No, you're not."
"I am," she insisted. "Go back to bed, I'll be out in a minute."
"What is going on?" Silence greeted him and he strained his ears to understand, eyes widening as he heard her retching. Without warning her he was coming in, he opened the door and was greeted with her curled around the toilet, red hair piled in a knot at the base of her skull. Without a word, Logan took a seat beside her, rubbing her back. When she eventually sat up and leaned towards him, he easily pulled her into his arms.
"Are you sick?"
"Probably just something I ate," she managed to groan.
"Darlin' it's been two weeks," Logan pointed out. "You haven't been eatin' the same thing for two weeks."
"It'll pass Logan," she said indulgently. In reality, she was just as worried. Odd things had been making her rush to the bathroom lately to empty her stomach when she'd been feeling perfectly fine before hand.
Logan could do nothing but sight. "Back to bed?"
"Yeah." Carefully, so as not to upset her stomach again, Logan and Jean made their way back to their bed, Jean immediately curling up against him.
"Feel better, Darlin'," he murmured as he drifted off to sleep. "Love you."
The next day after morning classes, Jean tracked Ororo down for girl talk over lunch.
"I'm late," Jean said when she was sure no one else was listening in. Ororo had broached the subject of Jean's sickness and they'd briefly discussed the possibility of pregnancy.
"Are you sure," the dark skinned woman asked unnecessarily.
"Definitely. I've been like clockwork since the beginning," Jean stated.
"You're the doctor Jean," Ororo pointed out.
"What if I am, 'Ro?"
"What do you mean?"
"What is Logan going to do?"
"He loves you, Jean, what makes you think he'd be something other than happy?"
"This is Logan we're talking about. You know he's apprehensive about passing on his genes because he knows nothing about them," Jean answered. "What if he doesn't want it?"
"You don't even know if you're truly pregnant or not," Ororo tried to calm her down.
"'Ro I'm throwing up at the weirdest times and my period is late, what else could it be?"
"Stress?"
"There is no stress," Jean insisted. "For the first time since I got back that I can say without any hesitation that I'm completely happy.
"Before you freak out get a test. Make sure before you jump to conclusions," Ororo suggested.
Jean sighed. "You're right."
Ororo grinned. "Of course I am."
Jean scoffed. "Come on, we should get back to class."
Jean sat in the bathroom she shared with Logan looking at the stick in her hands, her mind still trying to process the blue lines that had started to show. She was pregnant. Her mind couldn't decided if she was terrified or excited. There was a lot to consider about bringing a child into the world she currently occupied.
"Jean?" Logan had just returned from his class, the extra credit one he taught at night for the advanced and the challenged.
"In here," she called back.
"Again?" he asked, voice immediately becoming concerned.
"No, not this one," she answered, hoping her voice didn't sound as shocked as she felt.
"Then why have you locked yourself in the bathroom?" With a simple thought, the lock clicked and she allowed the door to swing open slightly in invitation. He stepped in and found her seated on the toilet.
"Jeannie?" He finally caught sight of the object in her hands.
"Logan," she said fearfully. "I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"I'm pregnant," she repeated as she looked down at the stick in her hands, tears blurring her vision. Logan crouched by her, hands on her knees.
"Are you sure?" he asked softly. Jean nodded, hair falling in her face from the messy bun she'd thrown her tresses into.
"Jeannie, look at me." Tentatively, she raised her eyes, surprised to find his shining with an unreadable glint.
"Do you want this?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Do you?"
"I'm going to be a father," he whispered to her in awe. Her mouth almost dropped at the happiness she could feel flooding over their link.
"You want this child?" she whispered, amazed.
"Jean, you an I… we're going to have a baby."
The emotions that flashed over her face fluttered at both ends of the spectrum. Finally, she burst into tears of happiness, wrapping her arms aound him and sliding to the floor, the test still clutched in her hand. He picked her up easily, depositing her on their bed.
"I love you," he said, kissing her passionately.
Jean broke away with an ironic smile. "You know doing what you're thinking is exactly what got us here to begin with," she quipped.
He only smiled, his fingers making quick work of her blouse. "I didn't hear you complaining," Logan murmured, crawling up her body.
"I'm not," she promised.
"Good," he breathed, sealing his lips to hers.
Jean was zoned out in classes the next day, her had in the clouds. She'd not only managed to keep down her dry toast and orange juice, but she was pregnant. The students couldn't figure out what was up with their beloved doctor.
"Jeannie?" Logan called, stepping into her classroom between classes. She looked up her eyes shining.
"Hey," she said sweetly as he approached, allowing him to drop a kiss to her cheek.
"I wanted to check on you," he admitted softly.
Logan, she projected affectionately. I'm pregnant, not dying.
"You still have to be careful," he told her out loud. "And we're going to have to mention this to Chuck."
Jean winced. "I forgot about that," she admitted. "I might have to cut back on the missions I go on."
Logan's face scrunched up. "You will cut back."
"Eventually," she promised, "but I have about five months before I can't go anywhere."
"Jean…"
"No, Logan. I will be working with the team. 'Ro can't deal with losing me for too long, not after Scott." Ororo had taken over as team leader after Scott's abrupt departure, a move that had baffled most of the younger members. The expectation was that Jean would take Scott's place but Jean had never wanted the position and deferred it to Ororo.
"You're…"
"I know and I promise to only go when I'm truly needed. Now shoo. I have a class to teach."
"When do you want to tell the professor?"
"Tonight?" she questioned.
"Sounds good," he answered, kissing her hard. The students who were milling about the room applauded loudly and Jean blushed. Logan sauntered out of the room, his face smug.
"So?" Ororo quested, catching Jean as she was locking up the classroom. The weather-witch could tell there was something different about her redheaded friend, but even thought they'd spoken about pregnancy the previous day, Ororo didn't want to assume anything.
Jean grinned shyly. "I'm pregnant," she confirmed. "I told Logan last night."
"And?" Ororo pressed.
"I'm having this baby."
"What about Logan?"
"He's been overprotective," Jean answered with a roll of her eyes, remembering the way Logan checked in on her after each class.
"So he's happy?"
"Over the moon."
"I told you," Ororo teased.
"Don't celebrate just yet. He almost took my head off when I told him I wasn't cutting back on my missions until my fifth month."
"Jean! You can't do that! The things we do are dangerous," Ororo protested.
"It would be longer if I had my way," Jean shot back as the two women made their way down the hall.
"Logan would kill me if anything happened to you or the baby."
"I'll be extra careful," Jean promised. "But I'd go stir-crazy just teaching."
"You have another person to consider," Ororo tried.
"And I'll be careful," the redhead repeated. "Logan's been trying to argue with me all day and hasn't changed my mind."
"Can we make a compromise?" Ororo suggested.
"I'll go to five instead of the seven months I'd originally planned?" The glint in Jean's eyes told Ororo she was teasing.
"Something like that," Ororo agreed. "Until you start to show."
"What?"
"You're a prime target if someone unfriendly notices you're pregnant…"
"Ororo, that's ridiculous!"
"No it's not, and you know it," Ororo shot back. "It's true."
Jean glowered slightly. It was completely true. She was strong but if she was ganged up on because she was considered the weakest link… and with her fear of Phoenix and lack of knowledge as to the effect of using her mutation on her baby, Jean was suddenly reluctant.
"'Ro…"
"I'm right, Jean, you know it."
"You are," the redhead agreed reluctantly, "but not for the reasons you think."
"Does that mean you'll listen?"
"We'll play it by ear," Jean decided. "I still want my five months."
"Logan's going to kill me," Ororo groaned loudly. Jean laughed.
Jean? The redhead looked up sharply from the test she was creating, regardless of the fact that she know no one was in the lab with her.
Yes, Professor?
I need you and Rogue to do something for me.
Rogue and I?
And I'd like it kept out of the logs.
I'm not sure I understand.
I would like the two of you to find something, or rather someone for me.
Jean chewed her lower lip. It wouldn't be dangerous and it wouldn't necessarily require her to tell Xavier aobut her pregnancy. If she and Rogue were finding someone, it wouldn't be a problem…
When do we leave?
Gah! It didn't upload properly the first time so I hope you guys enjoy this better... Sorry about that! This probably makes much more sense too...