Night
The sun was still setting when the family arrived at their destination. Logan parked the car, Morph shifted back into their human form, and the others got out with their belongings. However, the building's sign confused them a bit.
"You said we were going to a hotel, this is a motel" Laura said.
"A place with rooms and beds, they're the same thing" Logan replied.
Everyone went inside, and Logan headed to the front desk to get rooms. A few minutes later, he returned with two keys.
"I got two rooms. Yours has two beds" Wolverine said.
"But there are three of us, Dad" Gabby pointed out.
"I'm sure one of your siblings who love You a lot won’t mind sharing a bed with you."
"And how many beds does your room have?" Gabby asked, and Logan looked confused.
"One." Did she expect more beds?
"If there’s only one bed, where’s Morph going to sleep?"
Logan was about to explain that, as a couple, they shared a bed, but Morph spoke first.
"I'll sleep in the bed, and your dad will sleep on the floor" Morph said with a playful wink.
With that, they headed to their rooms, which were across from each other. They said goodnight before going in. Logan collapsed onto the bed, letting out a groan of exhaustion.
"Tired, Logan?" Morph asked, shifting back to their gray form and starting to change into pajamas (which was really just one of Logan’s old t-shirts).
"I don’t want to sound like I don’t love my kids, but those children drain me. I should’ve thought of something else…" Logan said, not moving from the bed.
Morph sat next to him. "Next time, you can take us to a water park."
Logan moved closer to his partner, resting his head on their lap. "I really don’t know what I’d do without you."
Morph blushed slightly and ran their fingers through Logan’s hair. "You’ll have all night to recharge for tomorrow."
"I don’t think it’ll be enough, but having you in bed will help."
Night fell, and everyone went to sleep. Logan was curled up, hugging Morph. Meanwhile, in the kids' room, Akihiro slept alone while Laura shared the other bed with Gabby. However, despite it being midnight, the youngest woke up.
"Laura" the little girl said, gently shaking her sister's shoulder.
"Mmmhh" Laura mumbled sleepily.
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"Then go" Laura muttered in her half-asleep state.
Gabby climbed out of bed, put on her slippers, and quietly opened the door, closing it softly behind her. She looked down the hallway but couldn’t tell where the bathroom was, so she opened the door across the hall.
Morph was sleeping peacefully, Logan hugging their back. When Morph felt their shoulder being nudged, they thought Logan was just Moving in his sleep, but then they heard a voice that definitely wasn’t his.
"Morph…" Gabby said, her little hand still on their shoulder. Morph began to open their eyes.
"Oh, hey sweetheart" they said sleepily.
"You said my dad would sleep on the floor."
"Yeah, but I felt bad, so I let him up on the bed" Morph said. "Is something wrong? Why are you awake?"
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"Oh, okay." Morph got up carefully, trying not to wake Logan.
As they walked down the hallway, Morph noticed the door was slightly open. They were sure Logan had locked it earlier and now More awake wondered how Gabby had gotten in.
"How did you unlock the door?" Morph asked, glancing at her while they opened the bathroom door.
Gabby simply popped out her claw and wiggled her hand a little.
"I should’ve guessed."
Morph closed the door, took Gabby’s hand, and began walking her down the hallway. After a short walk, they reached two doors side by side—one labeled “Men” and the other “Women.”
"Here" Morph said, but Gabby didn’t let go of their hand. "What’s wrong, sweetheart? Didn’t you need to go to the bathroom?"
The little girl looked at them for a moment before speaking. "I know I don’t have to ask if you and Dad are going to get married, but I wanted to know… if that happens, can I call you Dad too? Or since you’re not a man, should I use another word?"
Morph felt something warm in their chest and smiled at her. "You can call me whatever you want, Dad, Mom, whatever you come up with. And you don’t have to wait until I marry your dad to do it."
"Okay." With that, she let go of their hand and went into the bathroom.
Morph leaned against the wall, smiling softly. But then they heard someone running. Looking down the hallway, they saw Logan approaching, clearly worried.
"Do you need to go to the bathroom too?" Morph asked as Logan stopped beside them.
"What?" Logan said, just realizing the bathroom doors were right there. "No, I woke up and didn’t know where you were."
"So you panicked and came running to find me?" Morph said with an amused smile.
Logan blushed slightly, embarrassed. "Yeah… pretty much."
"I just brought Gabby to the bathroom" Morph explained as Gabby opened the door, spotting her dad.
"Oh, hi Dad! Do you need to go to the bathroom too?"
Meanwhile, back in the kids' room, Akihiro stirred.
"Hey, Laura" he asked.
"Mmmhh."
"Do you think Gabby knows where the bathroom is?"
"Mmmhh."
"Aren’t you worried something might happen to her alone?"
"If someone tried to mess with Gabby, I’d be more worried about them than about Gabby" Laura said sleepily but confidently.
Her older brother chuckled. "Yeah, you’re right." Then he went back to sleep.
Later, when Logan and Morph were back in bed:
"Weird that I didn’t wake up when Gabby came in" Logan said.
"You were exhausted. Besides, I doubt your subconscious registers Gabby’s scent as dangerous enough to trigger your senses."
"Maybe you’re right." Logan looked at Morph beside him. Ever since he’d found them outside the bathroom, they hadn’t stopped smiling. "What’s got you so happy?"
"Gabby asked if she could call me Dad" Morph said, moving closer to Wolverine.
"Oh. And what did you say?" Logan placed one hand on Morph’s back.
"That she could call me whatever she wanted."
"Well, I hope she doesn’t call you Dad" Logan said, and Morph looked surprised. "It’d be confusing since she calls me Dad. She’d have to call you ‘Daddy’ or something like that."
Morph chuckled softly before giving Logan a kiss and falling asleep in his arms.