Chapter 1

Ororo stood looking over her room, struggling for the millionth time with her decision to leave the X-Men. She didn't realize she was crying until she felt the drop of water on her hand. Wiping her face, she thought back to her conversation with Charles earlier that day.

"Charles, there is no other option. Either I leave or continue to put the team and the students at risk," she replied, looking out the window that provided the Professor with a magnificent view of the grounds.

"I understand. I do not agree with your solution but I understand," he replied, "How long will you be gone?"

"As long as it takes," she replied, turning to face him, the weather outside turning from sunny to gloomy, reflecting the mood of its mistress. Wiping her eyes with a tissue offered by her mentor, Ororo turned back to the window and with the wave of her hand, corrected the weather.

"I wish there was another way," he said, taking her hand in his and looking up at her.

"So do I but I feel this is what's best for all involved," she replied, leaning over and kissing his cheek, preparing to leave.

"One last question, Ororo," Charles began. She stopped and turned toward him.

"Does he know?"

"No and right now, I would like to keep it that way."

Done packing, she zipped the bag and picked it up, heading for the door. She stepped out into the hall, gently closing the door behind her. Moving through the halls like a thief in the night, she made her way to the garage. Though she knew her friends would be angry with her sudden departure, Ororo felt it would be easier on herself as well as the team. But she was wrong.

The truth was, she didn't want to face all of the people who she knew would argue with her decision and try as the Professor had, to make her change her mind. As their faces flashed in her mind, the tears started falling again. Remy, Rogue, Kitty, Hank, Bobby, Kurt, Charles, Scott, Jean, Logan.

She wiped her eyes angrily at the thought of the person who was the reason for her hasty departure. Stay focused, she told herself, opening the door that lead to the garage.

Damn, she thought spying the one person she really didn't want to see.

Logan, dressed in a white tee and jeans, stood in the corner of the garage, tinkering with the engine on his bike. He had told her once that when he had insomnia, he liked to go to the garage and work on his bike. She guessed that this was one of those nights. Though he had music going while banging away at a piece of metal, she knew he knew she was there.

"Making a run for the border?" he asked jokingly, not looking up.

"Something like that," she replied, approaching the white Dodge Charger that had been a birthday gift to herself.

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Logan looked up to see her throwing a large suitcase in the trunk.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, watching her close the lid to the trunk and walking toward the driver's side door.

"Yes," she said curtly.

Logan knew that he had no right to ask her but his love for her made him ask the question anyway.

"Where ya going?"

Irritated by his question, Ororo snapped. "That's no longer your concern," she replied bitterly, feeling the hurt of his dismissal all over again.

"Ro," he began, regretting once again the conversation they had that ended their 3 year relationship. He had determined that in order to ensure her safety, he needed to end the relationship rather than risk her being hurt by one of his many enemies. He knew it was only a matter of time before they learned of his relationship with the weather goddess and he couldn't stomach the thought of something happening to her because of him.

What he didn't realize when he made the decision, was how much he would miss being with her. She had become a calming balm to his constant anger and he missed how she was able to get him to calm down with just a look or even a touch.

Most of all, he missed their friendship. Ororo had become his best friend, someone who never judged him and always supported him, even at the risk of reprimand or injury, she had his back. He had learned the true meaning of loyalty by watching her interactions with and support of him and their teammates. He had tried his best to emulate her but had fallen short.

Instead of being loyal to his heart and his love for her, he had succumbed to his fears. His fear of not being the man she needed and deserved. The fear of loving her as much as he did and possibly not being able to protect her, if the need arise. His fear of finally finding happiness, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before that happiness was shattered. Bad luck and heartbreak had followed him as long as he could remember and it was because of his love for Ro, that he broke up with her. A warped way of thinking, but that was how he felt.

So instead of proposing on their anniversary like he should have, he broke it off, having convinced himself that he was making the right decision. She was a strong woman, she would get over it soon, he had thought.

But she hadn't.

She held up her hand, cutting him off. She took a deep breath, trying to regain control.

"All I want to know is why," she said, asking the one question that had been a constant reframe in her head since the night at the restaurant. They had managed to avoid each other since except during work situations where things were kept strictly on the job at hand.

"Because it was something I needed to do," he replied simply.

"Really? Something you needed to do," she asked quietly, her eyes betraying her anger, "After every fucking thing we have been through, breaking up with me was just something you needed to do?" The rumbling peals of thunder emphasized her words.

Logan looked up at the angry woman and knew he had taken her there. Of all of the people at the mansion, the last person he thought he would hear cuss was her. She was the epitome of self-control, discipline and decorum. But after their conversation, he noticed as well as the others, that the goddess was struggling with control over her emotions, resulting in some tumultuous weather patterns around the mansion.

So much so that, a few weeks after the break up, she voluntarily stepped down from her position as co-captain, allowing Jean to fill in for her until she was able to resume her post. She took her role as co-captain very seriously and did all in her power to do what was best for the team. So for her to voluntarily step down, he knew that she was once again putting the needs of the team before her own. After that, things seemed to go downhill for her. Charles reluctantly placed her on light duty, only requiring her appearance at meetings. Her training classes were divided up among him, Scott, and Remy, who was now stepping up to help fill the void being left by Ororo.

Outside of the meetings, he had only seen her in passing from a distance. They had not spoken to each other about what happened that night. Now, she stood before him, demanding an explanation for his actions.

Logan, knowing that there was nothing he could say to make her understand, looked away from her, unable to bear seeing her pain.

"Fine," she whispered, getting into her car and driving away, leaving behind the betrayal and heartache, and moving forward toward an uncertain future.

Logan winced at the sound of the squealing tires as Ororo left the garage. Instinctively, he knew that it would be a long time before he saw her again. Though the beast within surged with the desire to go after its mate, Logan suppressed it, turning back to his bike, knowing that it was too late.

Four months later

Logan had noticed that for the past few months, Hank would leave the mansion the same day of the month, spending several days away. Initially, he put the observation out of his mind, figuring that Hank was involved with some type of experiment or something or other that require his monthly presence. That is until Logan passed Hank in the hall one day on his way to the Danger Room. Speaking to his colleague, Hank made his way to the elevators, whistling a tune. Logan, out of habit, sniffed and stopped in his tracks when he picked up a familiar scent of lavender and vanilla. There was only one person he knew who wore it. Ro.

To his knowledge, no one had heard from or seen Ro since she left the mansion. The team had been devastated when Charles broke the news of her departure. He explained that she had taken a sabbatical and would be in touch soon. None were more hurt than Remy and Kitty, who were especially close to her. Remy stormed out the room, heading who knew where, only to return days later.

After his return, Remy, who wasn't a big fan of Logan to begin with, became hostile toward him, taking any and every opportunity to lash out at him. They nearly killed each other during a Danger Room session where instead of working as a team, Remy turned on him, waging a full assault. If it had not been for Jean's interference, one of them would have died.

The team had tried to track her down but being who she was, Ororo knew how to disappear without a trace. No one had been able to get a bead on her until now. Logan, trusting his senses, started watching Hank closely, monitoring his movements and his trips away. Two months after he smelled the scent, he decided to follow Hank when he left the mansion around the same time as he had the previous months.

Logan followed Hank to a small town, 50 miles south of the Institute. Hank led him to a house a few miles outside of town, set back from the main road. Logan parked his car a block down from the driveway and raced back toward the house through the small track of woods that hid the house from view from the road. Perched in a tree, using a set of high powered binoculars, Logan spied Hank standing on the porch, his black medicine bag in hand. When the door opened, Logan gasped in shock as a very pregnant Ororo stood at the door, smiling at Hank as he stepped inside.

Logan's mind struggled to understand what he had just seen. The sight of Ororo large with child was one that he imagined many times over the course of their relationship. He knew she was good with kids and wanted to be a mother some day. During one of his what ifs moments, he had envisioned what she would look like carrying his child. Now seeing her in the family way, he couldn't help but wonder if his vision had come true.

Before he knew it, he had made his way over to the house. He came to himself just as the door opened and Ororo stood before him.

"Ro," he said softly, his grey eyes meeting her shocked blue ones.

Before she could respond, a puddle of water appeared at her feet.

"Hank," she called out, leaning over, holding her stomach, as pain rippled across her abdomen.

"Logan," Hank said surprised, coming up behind her and seeing Logan in the doorway.

"Not now, Blue boy," Logan said, gathering Ro into his arms, "Lead the way."

Hank led Logan through the tastefully decorated home to the nursery, complete with a birthing table in the center.

"Logan," Ro whispered, as he laid her down on the table.

"Shh," he said, wiping an errant white hair from her sweaty brow, "I'll be in the living room."

She shook her head as she endured another contraction.

"Please stay," she panted, "I need you."

Without a word, he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. She smiled up at him as Hank looked up at her.

"Now, Ororo, my dear on the count of three, give me a big push. One, two, three."

An hour later, Hank offered Logan the scissors to sever the connection between mother and son. Logan, unsure what to do, looked down at Ororo. She nodded, giving him permission to cut the cord. Hank showed them both the baby and Ororo, exhausted from the ordeal, smiled before lying back and quickly falling asleep.

Logan sat in the rocking chair next to the bed, cradling the little bundle who arrived screaming at the top of his lungs. He had held the baby since Hank had completed his examination of both mother and child. Looking down at the sleeping baby, he instinctively knew he was holding his son. With curly black hair with grey streaks and blue-grey eyes, he had his mother's nose and mouth set in a face that looked like his own. His skin, the color of coffee with a generous splash of cream, showed that the baby was the perfect combination of him and Ro.

"Thank you for staying with me," Ororo said softly, her voice hoarse from sleep.

"Thank ya for asking me to stay," he replied, looking up at her.

After a pause, she said, "He has your eyes." She answered the unspoken question that hung in the air between them. He had wondered if his suspicions were correct and now that she confirmed them, the emotions that were raging within him spilled out. She saw the tears slide down his face before he lowered his head, the drops landing on the sleeping bundle cradled in his arm.

Ororo had never seen Logan cry and watching his emotional struggle tugged at her heart, bringing tears to her own eyes.

"Ro, I'm so sorry," he began, his voice breaking a bit as he looked up at her with red rimmed eyes, "I was afraid."

"What do you mean?" she asked softly, realizing she was finally getting the answer to her question.

"I'm a magnet for death and destruction, happiness was never part of the plan. So when things were so good with us, I knew that eventually something would happen to change that so I wanted to stop it before it did."

"So you thought breaking up with me would stop something from happening?" she asked evenly, not judging him, simply asking a question.

"Flawed way of thinking but yeah," he admitted, his voice stronger.

"Logan, I knew what I was getting into when we went on our first date," she told him, reaching out for his hand, and getting it, "I accepted you and everything that came along with you a long time ago. Whether we are together or separated, life is going to happen, both good and bad."

Squeezing his hand gently, she said, "I would rather face those things together with you because I know, no matter what, you will always be there to protect me. Us." She looked down at their son and watched as Logan looked down and smiled.

"So, what do ya say," she began, sounding like him, adjusting a bit, wincing when she moved too fast, waving him away when he looked up at her with concern, slightly standing, "Want to give it another go to see what happens?" She paused, looking up at him as he stood slowly and stepped closer to the bed. "Because I never pictured myself as a single parent."

"Sure, but under one condition," he replied, kissing the baby's head before gently laying him in his mother's arms.

"And that would be?" she asked, watching him squat so he was eye level with her.

"Marry me."