Victor was finally taking a break.

Ria had convinced (forced) him to take the time to sit down and eat while she went to bed that night, and he agreed (relented) only when Jimmy said he would stay and keep an eye on her. They were close enough that Victor could still hear everything, down to their heartbeats, and in all honesty, the mansion was a safe enough place that it could have been left at that, without the runt having to stand guard. Victor knew that deep down somewhere, but he wasn't good at rationalization when it came to Ria.

What he was getting good at, however, was making unlikely friends.

"I just don't get it," Ellen said as she sat across from the massive feral.

"What's not t'get?" Victor asked tiredly. He had gone through several helpings of dinner, and now that Ellen was joining him, he was almost getting sleepy.

"Uh, hello? All of it?" she slammed a textbook down in front of him. "I just don't see why we have to study math."

Victor snorted. "Take it up with the professor, kid."

Ellen rolled her eyes. "I'm here to control my mutation, not find x. But...can you help me?" she cracked the book open and looked at him hopefully.

The big mutant raised an eyebrow. "Don't think that's a great idea, kid."

"Why not?" she asked, ignoring him and finding the right page. "You've been around a long time."

"Not long enough to wanna find x."

"Long enough to end up living in a school, though, just like an old man professor."

He raised his lip in a snarl. "I can't say it enough, can I?" his voice was a low growl. "I. Don't. Wanna. Be. Here."

"Then where else are you gonna go?" Ellen asked.

This kid was really good at getting on his nerves.

"I keep tellin' these people. The only reason I'm here is for Ria. Those assholes want her back, and I ain't givin' her away."

"So what makes you think you could raise babies on your own?"

"I know what I'm doin'!" he snarled, torso flexing as he stopped himself from jumping up.

Ellen didn't even flinch. The girl was made of steel. "I think you need help. You don't even want to do my homework with me, and you expect to raise my nieces?"

"And nephew," he growled.

"Fine, you can raise that one." she wrinkled her nose. "But for real. If you aren't even going to try to help me with math, you have to do something else."

"Why?" he asked, irritation lacing his voice.

"Because you're old. Old people always have something good to say. Tell me a story or something so I don't completely die of boredom."

He rolled his eyes. "Do you get this from Ria?"

"Get what?"

"The constant talking."

"She doesn't talk that much. Well, she talks more than you do." she looked around. "Where is she, anyway?"

"With the runt." he grunted. "Restin'."

"That's all she does now." Ellen peered at the remnants of Victor's last helping of dinner. "What's that?"

"Beef and potatoes."

"Can I have it?"

He looked at her dangerously. "Excuse me?"

"Can I have your leftovers?"

"You askin' your alpha for his leftovers?"

"You're not my alpha," she argued. "People don't have alphas."

"I ain't a human, and neither are you." he growled. "And besides...humans have kings. They elect presidents. It's all the same thing, kid, just with fancier names."

"But...it's different," she folded her arms over her chest. "People aren't just animals. They don't just listen to the meanest guy."

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't they? Either way, yer part of the family. That means you listen to me."

Ellen rested her chin on her hand. "Well...I guess it can't be that bad, right?"

Victor considered her for a moment. Ellen was starting to grow out of the church girl routine, it seemed, and honestly, he was glad. He didn't know how he was supposed to stand the way she sometimes just reeked of private school naivety. Now, though, after just a short while with all the little mutant kids at Xavier's, her horizons were broadening. It was a relief to see her growing up and acting more like someone who belonged in his family.

The sass she liked to give him, though...he could do without that.

"I'll keep you safe, kid." Victor grunted.

"Yeah, you'd better. Otherwise Ria'll kill you."

He rolled his eyes. There it was. The fucking sass.

"So...you helping with math, or you telling a story?" she shoved her textbook forward. "Because I really do have to finish this, and I really do need your help with it."

He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Fine. Let's find x."

-0-

"I can't do this," Ria sank down onto the bed.

Logan looked up from his place across the room. "Mmh?"

With both hands on her swollen belly, Ria met the male's gaze. "This. Any of this."

"You can have 'em, Ria."

"No, I can't!" she snapped, eyes brimming with tears. "I'm not even that close to the end and I'm already fucking miserable…"

Logan sighed. He really wasn't equipped for this. When he had agreed to sit with Ria and keep an eye on her for his brother, he didn't realize that it was going to mean a lot of crying about things he wasn't prepared for. Honestly, how much did he know about pregnant ladies? Not that much. He just knew that this particular one was very, very upset, and he had to figure out how to make her happy again before Victor barreled through the door to tear his ribs out.

"My feet hurt," she said, not needing any conversational prompts. "My back hurts...everything hurts. And I'm fucking huge, Jimmy! I'm huge. How fucking big do I have to get?"

"Yer only this big 'cause there's three cubs."

"So?"

"If you were smaller, it'd be bad." he stood from his chair and crossed the room to sit next to her. "Yer glowin', Ria."

She let out a long breath. "I knew this was going to be hard. I'm not stupid. I probably sound like an idiot, but I know how pregnancy and all this works." she looked down at her hands. "I helped a lot of girls when they were pregnant. I even helped with a couple births back in the day. You know, before anybody went to the hospital." she let out a little laugh. "God, I sound old. It's just...so different to actually be the one doing it."

"Glad somebody knows how it works, then." Logan grumbled.

"You guys never knew anybody with a bun in the oven?" Ria asked, finally wiping her eyes, smearing her already smudged mascara.

"We were in the service. Just fought in wars. Ain't much time for babies on the front lines." he motioned for her to turn toward him and went to work on fixing her makeup, wiping it away with his thumb. When Victor inevitably came thundering in, he would rather see a Ria that looked like she was being taken care of than one with makeup running down her face.

"Kinda funny how that works." Ria said. "So much killing, and now it's the opposite. Sorry. That was cheesy."

"Yeah, well. Not like Victor's ever gonna stop killin'. Enjoy it while you can."

She furrowed her brow. "He does what he has to."

"He does what he wants. Nobody can ever tell him what to do for very long. Only reason it worked in the army was he got to do enough killin' that it kept him satisfied." Logan sat back, pleased with his work. Her eyes were still puffy, but at least her makeup was better.

Ria looked at the man she was beginning to consider her brother in law. "I know what he is, Jimmy. I knew from the moment I met him."

"He's-"

"Brutal. Savage. I know." her amber eyes were trained on his face. "He trusts the sabretooth, just like I trust the leopard. What do you trust?"

Logan narrowed his eyes. "Myself."

"You've got those big nasty claws, and you won't even let the wolverine out to play with them once in awhile?"

His jaw tensed. "I ain't my brother. I ain't a killer anymore."

Ria rolled her eyes, her previous mopey mood seeming to have completely left now that she was presented with his challenge. "I doubt that."

She saw his nostrils flare. "You don't know me, frail."

"And you don't know me, runt."

He let out a snarl and she sat back, satisfied. "You're a fuckin' pest, that's what you are." he growled when he saw her little smirk. "An' your cubs will all be pests, too."

"Can't wait for them to meet their grouchy Uncle Jimmy," she grinned.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't push me like you push him."

"I don't push him," she argued as Logan stood up.

"Whatever you say." he grumbled. "Count yerself lucky that he won't push back."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

He shrugged as he poured himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle Victor had been keeping on the small dresser in the corner. "My brother's a big, mean guy. I've never seen him let anybody push him around the way you do."

Ria couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah, well. That's what happens when you big tough guys try to mess with girls like me."

"Get so annoyed we die?"

She gave him a dark look. "Keep that up and I'm telling Victor you've been in his alcohol stash. Which, by the way, rude of you for teasing me with that when I can't drink."

Logan rolled his eyes and downed his glass. "Nice try. He's too focused on keepin' you happy to care about it."

"Yeah, well." she huffed, knowing he was right. Then she sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. "I'm hungry again. Escort me to the kitchen?"

With a little smile he hoped she didn't see, Logan gave a nod and put his glass down. He had to admit, keeping an eye on Ria wasn't the worst job he had ever had, and while he wasn't as protective of her as Victor was, knowing that she was safe and sound gave him a calming feeling. When she was out of his sight, he was always a little worried, concern for his unborn nieces and nephew tugging at the back of his mind. He had never imagined that he would be back in a family situation with Victor, and yet here he was, closer than ever and actually not fighting with his brother that much. Past the occasional squabble, they were getting along incredibly well, and he was realizing now how much he had missed his older sibling.

Ria, who was already having to resort to a slight waddle, led him out of the room and towards the kitchen. As the two approached, a tense, stressful air settled, and they gave each other a confused glance before Ria pushed the door open to find a snarly Victor and a grumbly Ellen. Ellen's math textbook was sitting open in the middle of the table, a few large gashes running through it. A few broken pencils were scattered around the mostly-empty dishes, and the longer Ria looked at the scene before her, the more confused she got.

"What the hell is going on?" Ria snapped.

"These goddamn math problems're ridiculous," Victor snarled.

Ellen was holding her head like it hurt. "See? See why I asked you for help?"

"You asked a guy who ain't been to school since before the Civil War!"

"I figured you're so old you would know!"

Logan leaned against the door frame, an amused smirk on his face. Was this Victor's best attempt at being a helpful family man?

Ria stomped forward, pulled a chair out, and plopped herself down in it. "Jimmy, get me some food. Somebody give me a pencil. We're solving this shit, without ripping out anymore pages."