The Wonder Years

Her brow bunched in confusion and curiosity when she was called from biology class stating she had a package in the foyer. She couldn't imagine who would be sending her a package but figured it had most likely come from her family in Africa. As she rounded the corner to the foyer she saw no packages, but as she moved further into the foyer she spotted a deliveryman holding a large bouquet of the most beautiful wild orchids she had ever seen, she instantly knew they were Cleistes Rosea a native to Venezuela and Ecuador. Her face took on a look of complete shock, which turned into a bright smile when the deliveryman attempted to call her name, informing her that these flowers were indeed for her.

"Or…ro…uh, Miss Munroe?"

"Yes, that's me," Ororo said as he handed her the flowers, which she couldn't take her eyes off of.

"Just sign here please."

"Thank you," Ororo said after signing her name and then seeing the man out. After shutting the door she went about searching for a card that would tell her who had sent her such a lovely and expensive gift. She had already told herself that it was Victor, who she had been seeing for a couple of weeks now, since her release from the infirmary. He had already sent her roses, tulips, and carnations. She frowned a bit as she walked into the study hall, after not finding a card.

"Nice flowers," The familiar voice of Logan spoke out from the shadowed rows of books.

"Thank you," Ororo said as her smile quickly faded as Logan approached.

"Wild Orchids right?"

"Yes Logan, what do you want, why are you here, are you following me?" She snapped going on the defensive as she turned to face him, and it was then that she noticed the small class seated at one of the far tables.

"Logan, could you please join us so I can finish my lecture?" The History Professor called out, and Logan whose suddenly cold gray eyes bore into Ororo, causing her to shiver a bit. Guilt filled her over her words and for jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"Uh..Logan…"

"Forget it darlin, I get it. I finally get it," He said as he stuck his hands in his pockets and turned to walk off. Ororo closed her eyes and silently cursed herself for her behavior. She hadn't meant to be so curt with Logan but it seemed that that was the only way she found that she could deal with him and her feelings for him. She'd made herself believe that if she remained angry with him and brushed him off he'd leave her alone, and out of sight out of mind. It didn't seem to be working for her, not even her numerous dates with Victor, which were all wonderful, could take her mind off Logan for very long, and it didn't help that Victor in some ways reminded her of Logan.

She looked back toward the table where Logan sat and tried the gain eye contact with him, but he purposely avoided her eyes and completely ignored her. With a bowed head she left with flowers in hand.

The windows of the sports car fogged over as the young occupants groped and prodded each other, both seeking a little skin. When one of the two decided to quicken the pace by slipping a hand up the other's thigh and under her skirt, the make-out session quickly ended.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelped as she shoved her suitor back forcefully.

"Aww come on, what's the deal?"

"The deal is you're moving a little faster than I'm ready for."

"Oh come on Jubes, we both know you're hardly virtuous and pure," The teenage boy high on his hormones spoke as he again reached for her, only to have his hands dejected again.

"It doesn't make me a whore Pietro," Jubilee said with a frown on her face as she began to rebutton her blouse.

"Maybe not but making out with me tonight in the same spot you made out with Dominic Petros last night, kind of does," Pietro said with a chuckle.

"Screw you."

"Well, I was trying…"

"One more crack and we'll see just how fast you really are," Jubilee said as she allowed her powers to illuminate her hand.

"Come on Jubes, please I got money on this."

"Excuse me?"

"A hundred bucks, and I'd be willing to share with you, 50/50."

"Ok before I totally fry your ass, tell me exactly what this bet is about," Jubilee said as she crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the passenger window.

"Well, Vic and I…" Pietro started only to have Jubilee, who bolted upright at hearing the name, cut him off.

"Vic, as in Victor, as in Victor Creed?"

"One and the same, anyway, he bet me that he could go all the way with one of the Xavier girls before I did."

"Son-of-a-…."

"This is lovely Victor," Ororo said with a very pleased smile as they parked in front of the pond they visited on their very first date.

"I remembered how much you liked it last time," Victor said as he leaned back in the diver's seat, throwing his arms over the back and settling them around Ororo's shoulders. "Damn, you're so beautiful you know that?" Ororo couldn't help but blush over the compliment. She often marveled at the fact that not so long ago, boys didn't seem to notice her at all, but now she had two of the most popular boys from rival schools telling her she was beautiful.

"Thank you," She spoke with a slightly bowed head, to which Victor reached out and slowly lifted her chin so she was eye to eye with him.

"May I kiss you?" Victor whispered as he leaned into her a bit. Ororo nervously bit her bottom lip as she thought about it. "If it's too fast, or if you're still not over…"

"LOGAN!" Jubilee yelled out as she entered the garage, the place a couple of the students had told her Logan was, working on his bike.

"What?" Logan growled back, pissed that yet another person had come to disturb him. Although, he hadn't found Jubilee's intrusion as nerve-wracking as Emma's or Jean's had been.

"We have a problem, Ro's out on a date with Vic…"

"Sounds like her problem, not ours," Logan quickly cut her off seemingly disinterested. Even though the thought of Ororo anywhere near Victor Creed angered him.

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to tell you asshole. I was out with Pietro tonight and he told me he and Victor had a bet to see who could have sex first with one of the Xavier girls. Well, I can tell you Pietro struck out tonight, but the night's still young for Victor Creep and Ro. So, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know what you're gonna do," Logan said as he quickly mounted his bike and strapped on his helmet. "But I gonna kill that motherfucker if he's laid one finger on Ro."

"How are you gonna find them?" Jubilee questioned. Logan simply lifted his head and took several deep sniffs and then sped out of the garage.

Even as he approached and his nostrils filled with the faint scent of sands and sable, Ororo's favorite perfume, and the nauseating scent of Victor's singed flesh, Logan knew that Ororo was long gone. And though there was a large part of him that wanted to finish what he knew Ororo couldn't, he was overwhelmed with thoughts of where Ororo had gone and whatever Creed might have done to her. He figured he could always come back later and finished the job since it didn't look like Creed wasn't going anywhere for a while.

He was a bit surprised at where Ororo's scent had led him, but also happy by the revelation. He propped the bike against the tin wall of the shed and moved to the door, where he paused, taking a deep breath and mentally trying to brace himself for whatever lay behind the door. "Ro," He called out as he entered the small dark room and the whimpers he had heard from outside instantly stopped. "I know yer here darling, so please talk to me," Logan said as he closed the door behind him and stood allowing his acute night vision to kick in, and when it did he took a step to where Ororo sat with her knees curled to her chest, in a far corner. "Ro,"

"Leave me alone, please don't come any closer," She spoke out in a soft cry; her voice sounding hoarse from what Logan could only assume was from her crying.

"Ok, baby," Logan said as he stopped and held his hands up a bit. "I won't come any closer, but I ain't leaving ya either," He looked around before finding a place to settle on the floor. And so they sat that way in silence for nearly an hour before Ororo spoke again.

"Do you know what he did to me, Logan?" She asked but in such a tone it was as if she was talking to herself. Logan didn't reply he just closed his eyes, squeezing them tight, trying to block out the images that were flooding his mind at that moment. "Why did he do that to me, I don't understand…why did you do it, what's wrong with me?" At her words, a vicious flash of lightning lit up the sky, so bright it blazed through every crack in the shed, illuminating the room, and Logan looked over and could clearly see Ororo's puffy and bloodshot eyes burning into his own.

"There's nothing wrong with you darlin and I…"

"Then why, why did you and Victor treat me so badly? You both lied and told me things, made me believe I was special and when I started to feel things when you'd gotten me where you wanted me, you mistreated me," Logan had to bow his head shamefully at these words, this was the first time he could actually fully see and understand how he had hurt her. "I know I'm not a beauty queen like Jean and Emma, but I think I'm a good person with a good heart, that can give so much love. And I'm loyal and honest those are good traits I think, so why wasn't that enough?" She asked and again buried her face against her knees and began to cry. Logan slowly slid to sit in front of her, he gently reached out and grasped her hand, and although Ororo didn't pull away from him she did seem to cry harder, making her entire body shake with convulsions.

"Roro," Logan called to her softly and gently, using the nickname he only whispered in her ear while they made love, slow and tenderly. "I'm so sorry for hurting you and as for Victor, I swear ta God if he did what I think he did, I'm gonna kill him," He had to pause and reign in his anger.

"He didn't rape me. And believe it or not Jean was the one who warned me and told me that Victor had some kind of bet going to get me into bed. So, now to top all this off I owe her, and will have to thank her when I see her," Ororo announced frowning a bit at the idea of it, while Logan danced for joy inside at the news that Victor hadn't violated her in the way he had feared.

"I think Jubilee might have twisted Jean's arm, literally, she was the one who told me and I went out to find you. Ya gotta know that none of this is your fault, it's our fault, Victor and me, we're the villains in this. And contrary ta what you believe yer beautiful, so beautiful it's damn near intimidating, that's why it took me so long to even talk to ya, you weren't like all the other girls here, ya always seemed to know what you wanted and where you were going, and I never thought in a million years that you would ever give someone like me the time of day."

"But I did and I also gave you my heart," She intervened lifting her head to stare at him, which caused him to bow his again, unable to face the pain he saw in her eyes, a pain he knew he had caused. "And I want it back," She whispered in vain since Logan heard every word, and the words elated him, for she was acknowledging that she still loved him.

"If I were capable of giving it back to you Roro I would, but I'm not that strong and let's face it I'm a selfish bastard," He joked and she giggled despite herself. "I love ya, still…always and forever, and I'm gonna hold on to ya anyway I can, for as long as I can," He spoke as he reached out and caressed her face, and she tried to shake him off.

"Don't," She mumbled as she shoved his hand away only to have him place it back against her face.

"I love you so much and I need ya," Logan said as he leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers.

"Don't Logan," She said as she closed her eyes trying to block the sensations Logan's closeness was awakening in her. "Please don't."

"I'm not asking ya ta…I don't wanna…we don't have to do anything you don't wanna do, but can I just hold you, that's all."

"Why?"

"Cause like it or not Ro, yer inside of me, yer all around me, I'm drowning in ya, and it feels like home. And I don't want to lose that feeling, ever."

"Just let me go," Ororo whispered to him even as she allowed the full weight of her body to melt into his, which he welcomingly embraced in his arms.

"I don't know how to let you go," Logan whispered back against her hair as he shifted her upon his lap and cradled her inside his arms, where she lay silently and soon sound asleep.

He could feel the weight of unseen eyes bearing on him, but it hadn't set off any warning signs in his head that would normally have him bolting up, claws out, readying to do some damage. So he slowly opened his eyes to find sapphire ones staring back at him.

"This doesn't change anything," She said softly as she continued staring at him, her brow now bunching a bit. He reached out and gently stroked some of her hair from her face, and she closed her eyes reveling in his touch, letting her mouth fall agape just a bit before coming to her senses and remembering what she had just said to him. "I don't want to go there with you again."

"You don't?" Logan posed the question in a challenging tone, knowing that she was lying to him and probably to herself.

"I can't. You and I…we were toxic together. It was unhealthy."

"It wasn't always so bad," Logan spoke lowly and Ororo could see the hurt in his face.

"No, not all of it, but I just can't risk going there with you again. I can't do it again Logan."

"No, we won't…we won't do it like we did before, this time it can be different."

"How?" Ororo asked sincerely interested in hearing Logan's idea, and silently praying that he said something valid that would allow them to reconnect.

"Well, so far in our relationship there's been dishonesty, mistrust, and other people," He said not caring to speak either Victor or Emma's name. "So, we already know what not to do, this time we can try ta do the opposite of what we've been doing before and see how that works."

"That's it, that's your plan?" Ororo asked giggling a bit at what Logan was suggesting.

"Unless ya got a better one, other than being honest, trustworthy, and faithful with each other, yeah that's 'my' plan."

"Problem with your plan Logan is that I don't trust you," Ororo stated and Logan bowed his head a bit and then nodded.

"I guess I gave ya plenty of reasons not ta, but if ya give me a chance I can make it up ta ya, make it all up ta ya," Logan said as he looked at her with pleading eyes. "Come on 'Ro, all I'm asking for is one chance here, just one."

"If you were asking me to kill someone, that would be an easier idea for me to consider," Ororo attempted to joke, and Logan had to smirk a little, for he could see by her now relaxed demeanor he was wearing her defenses down.

"Just one chance, Ro," He repeated as Ororo regarded him in silence.

"Wait, that's it…that's where yer ending it? You can't leave it there, what happened next?"

"Well love, being that you're the police detective here I would have thought you'd know this ending. And given the occasion and the fact that you're here and your sister and your brother..." The older woman said as she sipped at her cup of tea, arching her eyebrows in amusement.

"Well, mom ya know Kaliyah has always been a little thick, she gets it from dad," The youngest woman in the room spoke.

"I heard that Kenya!" A gruff voice boomed from the other room and set off giggles from all three ladies. "I may be old…er, but I ain't lost my acute hearing yet!"

"I was just kidding Daddy!" Kenya called back in reply and was rewarded with a deep growl and then a grunt.

"Love, do stop that growling, you sound like a big old grizzly bear," His wife called out to him and he stuck his head around the corner of the room, throwing his wife a smile.

"Well, I didn't hear ya complaining last night," He said and threw her a wink, to which she coyly bowed her head and took another sip of her tea around a slight smile, as her cheeks took on a cinnamon hue. The two girls in the room looked at their mother and then at their father, and then at each other both with frowns on their faces.

"Ewww!" They both exclaimed.

"Ok, T.M.I. Dad," Kaliyah said as she crinkled her nose and shivered a bit, trying to shake off the images of her parents having sex.

"And how exactly do ya think you got here princess?" He asked as he leaned against the doorframe, with his arms folded across his chest.

"Oh, God, can we please not have this discussion?" Kenya asked as she playfully plugged her ears.

"Like you don't know about the birds and the bees and where babies come from, 'cause if ya don't yer about to be in for a very rude awakening in a couple of months," Kaliyah said to her baby sister as she reached out and rubbed her swollen belly.

"Yeah darlin, ya do know that's not water retention right?" Their father joked with a chuckle setting off another fit of giggles.

"I mean," Kenya cut in rolling her eyes at her family. "That I really don't want to know that you two are still having sex, and at your age."

"Our age," Their mother repeated. "48 and 49 aren't that old dear, and it is still very possible that you may have a little brother or sister in the near future," She added as she stared directly at her husband.

"Well, I'm still going with that whole stork theory, ok. My mind just cannot get around the idea of you two doing…it," Kenya spat out as if it were a curse word.

"How soon in tha near future darlin?" He asked his wife who smiled back at him loving the fact that even after all their years together he could still read her like a book. His question confused their daughters who once again stared at them, looking from one to the other.

"Well, the doctor said in about 37 weeks," She replied and the grin on his face grew even wider as he moved to where she sat, leaning down and scooping her up into his strong arms. He then dipped her a bit and gave her a long heated kiss, one that left both their daughters blushing. He then released her and nuzzled her neck before whispering into her ear.

"Thanks for the chance 'Ro."

"Thank you, for never letting me regret it, Logan."

"Happy 30th anniversary, darlin."

"Happy anniversary love,"