Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X Men, and I definitely don't own Hugh Jackman...although I wouldn't mind renting him for a day or so...

James Logan Howlett woke up every morning at 6am.

By 6:15, he was in his home gym in the basement of his large, suburban home, working out.

At 7:30, he was in the shower. By 8am, he was grabbing a granola bar and a bottle of water, then saying goodbye to his wife in the garage as they climbed in their respective cars to head to their respective jobs.

Logan was a retired pro-football player turned entrepreneur who was the COO of a successful sporting goods company. While the financial benefits of his job were enormous, he found it increasingly monotonous.

His wife of seven years, Jean, was a plastic surgeon who owned a private practice.

On the outside, they looked like the perfect, all-American couple. They were wealthy, attractive, and lived in a picturesque suburban neighborhood...but after the beautiful couple sat down to a delicious dinner at 7pm, then retired to their professionally decorated master suite, they got into their massive, California king bed, then laid down and fell asleep on opposite sides of the mattress without so much as a good night kiss.

They put on such a good front for their friends and family that, at this point, no one would believe them if they admitted that it had been nearly six months since the last time they had sex, or that they barely speak more than five words to each other in a day.

Logan was starved for affection, and his wife seemed perfectly content to live out the rest of her days in the cold, sniping shell she'd carefully crafted for herself.

She'd been with him through so much...he felt guilty every time the word "separation" made its way to the front of his mind, so he stuck with it, smiling in public and putting an arm around his stiff, cold wife so that no one would ever suspect the truth.

Jean made it a point to "remind" him to keep up their appearances for co-workers, family and, most importantly, their friends/neighbors: the Creeds.

Logan never liked the Creeds. The guy, Victor, was an obnoxious jerk, and his wife, Emma, couldn't get anymore snobby if she was the queen of England, but Logan put up with them because they lived a stone's throw away from each other...and the Creeds had the only pool in the neighborhood.

From his master bathroom window, he could see directly into their perfectly manicured backyard complete with outdoor kitchen and large saline pool.

Emma and Jean were the epitome of "frienemies" with their constant, back-handed compliments and gossiping behind each other's backs.

They were always trying to one-up each other. From designer bag purchases to their rose bushes...they were always in some sort of weird competition with one constantly trying to make the other jealous.

Logan never understood the whole "keeping up with the Joneses" attitude...until Emma and Victor had their child two years ago.

When they went over to the Creed's to deliver a tray of lasagna and their well-wishes, he felt the first pangs of jealousy. As he watched Emma and Victor beam with pride at their brand new baby boy, he realized that he didn't have it "all", so he and Jean set off on project "make a baby".

Ten months in, they decided to consult a specialist. It was then that Jean was diagnosed as "infertile".

While he tried to reassure his wife that there were other avenues they could take to have a baby, Jean wanted to listen to none of it, and immediately gave up.

With his dreams dashed and his wife's disregard for his feelings on the matter, their intimacy began to take an even bigger nose dive until it got to the point where it is now.

They stopped doing the things normal, happy couples should do, and Logan found himself trapped in a picturesque, suburban hell of his own making.

Logan's boring life was turned upside down, however, when the Creeds hired a new nanny to take care of their young son.

It was 4:30, and time seemed to ground to a tedious halt at the office.

It was a Tuesday.

Logan hated Tuesdays.

Tuesdays meant that you were still missing the previous weekend, but too far away from the next weekend to have any hope of relief.

He had been in back-to-back meetings with distributors, marketing teams, image consultants, and press today, so he didn't have the chance to get any actual work done...and now that he had 30 minutes until he left the office, he was having a hard time feeling productive...so he exercised the privilege he had as the Chief Operating Office of the company...he left.

Logan felt excited...almost naughty, as he made his way to the parking garage and climbed into his brand new Audi A8 sedan. The break in his routine was giving him an emotional high that he rarely experienced.

When he arrived home, he was relieved to see that his wife hadn't gotten the same idea, and that he would have a few moments to himself before she got home and they started sniping at each other.

He parked in the garage, then walked back down his driveway to retrieve the mail and the paper.

When he got to the end of the driveway, he noticed an unfamiliar car parked out on the street outside of Victor and Emma's house.

Just as he glanced toward the front door of their house, a young woman emerged. She couldn't have been more than 19 years old.

Her dark hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and she wore a tank top with extremely short gym shorts.

She seemed to move in slow motion as she bounded down the Creeds' front steps, then walk down the stone path to her car.

Since her outfit left little to the imagination, Logan could tell that she had an amazing body...and right now, he was having a helluva time trying to tear his eyes away from it.

When she caught him staring, he played it off by smiling and waving. She smiled and waved back, then opened the trunk of her car.

Logan approached as she leaned into her trunk to start pulling luggage out and setting it on the ground around her.

"Hi. You must be Victor and Emma's new nanny...I'm Logan", he said as he extended his hand.

The young woman politely smiled back and put one of her bags down before taking his hand and shaking it, "Hi, yeah. I'm Marie...I saw your name on their emergency contact list and didn't realize that you're THE James Logan Howlett! This is so crazy!"

Logan was surprised when he actually had to stop himself from blushing, "Uh...yeah."

Marie noted his pained expression and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't feel like bein' hassled by fangirls when you're in your own neighborhood."

"No worries...really. It's always nice to meet someone who remembers my playing days." He watched her struggle to grab a box out of her trunk, "Lemme give you a hand."

"Oh. Thanks", she said with a shy smile.

He picked up the box and began walking inside as she carried a couple of bags, "So you're moving in here?"

Marie nodded, "Yep. Do you and your wife have any kids?"

Logan shook his head, "No..."

"Oh, well...one of the first things I do when I start a new nanny job is to find other kids that I can organize play dates with."

"Good idea."

Marie smiled as they entered the room. He heard Emma call from upstairs, "Marie, when you get done settling in, meet me in VJ's room so that I can show you how to organize his wardrobe."

Logan almost rolled his eyes. What two year old boy needs to have his wardrobe organized?

"Alright. I'm just bringing in the last of it", responded Marie as she led Logan to the basement, where her bedroom was.

He set the box down on the floor, "Well, there ya go...do you need anymore help?"

Marie smiled and shook her head, "No...this is it."

Logan smiled back before they made their way back up the stairs. She waited by the front door, "Well, let me know if you need anymore help carrying heavy boxes or...whatever."

"Ya know, it's not everyday a gal gets a football hero to help her with her boxes."

Again, he almost blushed as he stared at her bright, yet somehow, seductive smile, "I'll see you around, Marie."

A few hours later, he sat across from Jean as they nibbled on pot roast, baked potatoes and green beans. He got fed up with the silence and slowly cleared his throat, "I met Victor and Emma's new nanny today."

She took a sip of her wine and nodded, "Oh yeah. Emma mentioned her a couple of days ago. She's apparently taking some sort of hiatus from college for some reason...she's from the south. What was she like?"

"She's nice."

Jean sighed and took a small bite of her food, "Nice. Hmph."

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence before he spoke again, "I'm thinking about getting a truck-"

"What's wrong with the Audi?"

"Uhh...nothing. Just thinkin' that it's not really me, ya know?"

Jean smirked, "It's a great car. Sleek, professional...expensive. You'll get used to it."

Logan finished off his wine and stood, sighing as, once again, his wife completely disregarded his feelings and opinions.

That night, long after Jean fell asleep, he stayed awake, thinking about the beautiful young Marie.

The next afternoon, Logan was excited to see her walking down the street with Victor Jr. while he was getting his mail.

She favored him with a wave and a bright smile as he slowly approached her on the sidewalk, "Hi Marie...hey VJ. You guys go for a walk?"

Marie nodded, "Yep. It's such a gorgeous day, I thought it would be a pity not to take advantage of this amazing weather."

Logan raised a brow, "It's sweltering out here."

She laughed a little, "This is nothin' compared to a Mississippi summer."

"I guess not..."

Marie noticed the way he was staring at her and blushed a little, "Maybe you could join us on our next walk."

"Oh...well I work until 5-"

She furrowed her eyebrows, "I thought you owned your company..."

"I do, but-"

"So, you don't ever like to leave your office early?"

Logan sighed, "It's a rare occasion."

She shrugged a little, "What's the point of owning your own company if ya can't make your own rules?"

He nodded thoughtfully, "Good point..."

VJ's whining drew her attention to the toddler, which prompted them to say their goodbyes and part ways.

That night, at his silent dinner with Jean, he spoke up, "You ever notice that we work more than people who don't own their own business? Isn't the point of owning your own business working less?"

"We're dedicated to our crafts, there's nothing wrong with that."

He sighed, "We never even bother to take vacations. Remember when we said we wanted to just take a year to travel around the world...spend a week in Paris...tour New Zealand...stay in an overwater bungalow in the Maldives?"

"We were young and stupid then. Now, we're adults. We have commitments."

Logan dropped his fork to his plate, "Wanting to just take a break from working our asses off to be reminded about the important things in life and possibly reconnect..."

Jean laughed, "Right...let's just quit our jobs and go galavanting around the world."

He narrowed his eyes and stood before stalking out the room.

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