Jean waited several moments after Logan had left the room before she ran from the kitchen, looking for Ororo. She simply couldn’t wait to see if what Logan had told her was true. She had to track her down and drag the truth from her.
She had suspected that Ororo would eventually sleep with Logan. Despite the cold and aloof front that Ororo presented to the world, Jean knew that there existed a very different side to the powerful woman. A passionate, carefree side to her personality that she guarded very closely; a side that she only shared with a select number of people.
Because of this, sleeping with Logan was inevitable. Ororo simply would not be able to resist him for too long. But Jean had never thought that it would happen as quickly as it did.
She found Ororo in her classroom, quietly grading papers behind her desk.
Jean strode into the room, crossing her arms indignantly as she stopped at the desk.
Ororo never too her eyes from the stack of papers in front of her, or looked up at her friend. “Really Jean, it is a little early yet for theatrics, do you not agree?”
Jean smiled slightly as she leaned forward. “You little trollop you.”
Ororo looked up, a delicate brow raised in surprise. “Pardon me?”
“You slept with him and you never told me.”
Ororo turned her attention back to her papers. “Really Jean, I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Jean chuckled as she leaned across the desk. “Don’t play dumb with me missy. I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth a few minutes ago.”
Ororo set down the pen in her hand and looked up at Jean.
“Since I know I did not tell you any such thing a few moments ago, I must assume you are referring to Logan. Although at this moment, I do believe that horse’s ass is a much more apt description.”
“So it is true?”
Ororo sighed loudly. “How I ever thought to keep this from you is beyond me. Yes, it is true, Logan and I have slept together.”
Jean squealed in delight and pulled a chair up to the desk. “Spill ‘Ro, I want details.”
Ororo laughed picking up the pen once more. “You are worse than the students.”
Jean snorted loudly. “Be that as it may, I want to hear everything.”
Ororo leaned forward, her voice dropping as she imparted the details. Jean waited tensely. “Well if you must know the truth, it is all very simple. We simply crawled into bed and fell asleep.” She sat back, turning her attention back to the papers.
Jean sat there for a moment, stunned. She shook her head, and lifted her hands into the air. “Come on ‘Ro, you know that’s not what I’m asking about.”
Ororo looked indignant. “You asked if Logan and I slept together, did you not? I answered the question you asked of me. Really, what else could you mean?”
Jean stood, pacing in frustration. Somehow she had lost control of the conversation the moment she’d walked into the room. “I was trying to use a euphemism. I may have asked if you slept with him, but that’s not really what I wanted to ask. I was trying to be polite. What I really wanted to ask is if you two are dancing in the sheets.”
Ororo paused to think a moment and then shook her head. “In the sheets, no. But we did dance recently inside my greenhouse.”
Jean reached up to pull at her hair. “Don’t be cute. I want dirt and smut and I’m not leaving this spot until I get it.”
Ororo chuckled. “If you wish, I can direct you to a local adult bookstore. Perhaps they will have what you are looking for.”
“Very funny. I can see that you’ve no intention of sharing with me. Fine, if you won’t spill the beans, I’ll just go find Logan. He sure seemed willing to share a few minutes ago. Maybe he’ll give me the damned details.”
Ororo laughed, waving Jean back. “You win. I shall tell you what happened. Goddess knows that Logan might tell you a great deal more or less than you really wish to know.”
Jean sat down as Ororo told the story of the cat and mouse game in the woods and the resulting bout of lovemaking that followed.
Jean sighed happily at the end of the story feeling an urge to find Scott and spend several hours making him extremely happy. “Wow, that sounds like quite an adventure.”
“That is one way to look at it. I prefer to think of it as a lovely and joyous experience.”
Jean giggled. “There is that.”
Ororo giggled as well.
Jean grabbed her hand in her own. “Please tell me that this wasn’t a one time thing?”
“I shall answer that on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“Do not let Remy find out about it. He does not care for the fact that Logan and I are dating.”
You have no idea. Jean thought to herself. But to Ororo, she merely smiled and nodded. “Scout’s honor.”
Neither Jean nor Logan mentioned the incident in the kitchen involving Remy. And surprisingly, neither did Remy. Although Logan was tempted several times to go after the young man and pummel him. He managed somehow to restrain himself. His restraint was due in large part to the reaction he could expect out of Ororo for beating on her brother.
In the first breath she likely would lash into Logan for “picking” on him. And in the next she would likely lash into Remy for his childish behavior in the kitchen. Neither conversation was one that Logan wanted to be witness to, let alone part of. So he held his temper and he waited. There would be a time to get even with him later.
In the meantime, there was a certain resident weather witch that he had to get revenge on for the snowball in the face a few days ago. So, like all intelligent and cunning men that had passed before him, he turned his attentions to a much more worthwhile goal: vengeance against Ororo.
He knew that Ororo would most likely expect him to get back at her. There was no way she would buy that he was letting her snowball attack slide. So he had to plan carefully. He began by asking Bobby Drake for a favor.
“Drake.”
Bobby jerked slightly at Logan’s gruff tone. “Yeah Logan.”
Logan sighed at the look on the young man’s face. “Ya ain’t in any kind of trouble, I need a favor.”
Bobby didn’t look convinced. “What do you mean you need a favor?”
Logan grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall. “Come on, I ain’t gonna bite. Just come with me and I’ll tell ya what the favor is.”
A few moments later, Bobby stared in disbelief as Logan told him what he needed him to do. “You’re serious.”
“Course I am. So will ya do it or not?”
“Am I going to get in trouble?”
Logan sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose as he wondered when Drake had become such a damned goody two shoes. The kid used to drive him and half the adults in the mansion nearly insane with all manner of pranks. Now he was balking at helping Logan with one when no one would even know he was involved. Maybe he’d been hanging out with Scott too much.
“No, cause no one’s gonna know ya helped me.”
Bobby hesitated.
Logan snapped. “Just do it all ready. I don’t got all day.”
Bobby sighed and did as Logan asked.
Logan smiled. “Now was that so hard?”
Later that day, Logan found Ororo as she was coming out of the mansion, pulling on her gardening gloves.
Her face lit up in a brilliant smile as he strode up to her and fell in step beside her. “Hello Logan.”
He reached out, putting his arm around her waist as he let her lead him along. “Hey beautiful. Where ya headin’?”
She held up her hands. “I was going to the greenhouse to work for a couple of hours. I have some plants that I am trying to force for spring that I would like to check up on. Then of course there are the poinsettias Jean asked me to grow this year that must be looked after and I must begin replanting some of the larger plants. Would you like to give me a hand?”
He scowled. “Help ya no, keep ya company yes.”
She smiled, reaching for the door knob. “That will be even better.”
Logan reached out, taking her hand from the doorknob and opened the door for her. He waved her ahead of him. “Ladies first.”
Ororo smiled and crossed the threshold. Her foot hit the small wire that Logan had planted earlier and set off his trap. Above her head, a bucket full of ice cold water tipped over. The icy liquid, which was as near to freezing as Bobby could manage without it actually freezing it, cascaded down onto Ororo, soaking her to the skin.
She gave a startled gasp, jerking at the shock of the cold water and stood very still for several moments. Slowly she turned, her soaked clothing sticking to her body like a second skin as she pondered Logan with an icy stare.
Logan stood behind her, chuckling. “Got ya.”
She gave him a strange smile. “You really think so?”
He only had a seconds warning before her eyes frosted over and she promptly formed a rain cloud over his head. He stood there for several moments ignoring the soaking rain she had covered him with.
She looked at him as she allowed the rain cloud to dissipate and began to laugh. She was still laughing when she reached out to draw him inside.
His foot hit the door, shutting it behind them.
She was still laughing as he helped her remove her soaked clothing, his lips firmly fastened to her neck as he began to dry her off and warm her up all at the same time.
Christmas was coming. Everyone at the mansion could feel it. It hung in the air like an invisible fog touching everyone and everything. No on seemed immune. The students were hanging decorations in their rooms and discussing what they had asked for that year. They walked through the halls singing carols and there was a very real sense of togetherness and family coming over everyone.
Even the adults were feeling the joyousness of the season. Hank spent a great deal more time outside his lab, forgoing time spent on his projects to help decorate the mansion. Jean and Scott took numerous trips to the mall with students who had chosen to spend their vacation at the mansion. Even Remy and Rogue were seen building several snowman villages throughout the grounds. It seemed that everyone had caught the Christmas bug. Even Logan.
Logan usually abhorred the holiday and avoided celebrating it like the plague. It never seemed to represent a time of hope and renewal for him as it did for others. Often times, the holiday filled him with a kind of dark melancholy; a cloud of some darker emotion that usually took a couple of weeks of solitude in the wilds of Canada to break.
Logan understood the need for the holiday; hell he understood the need for all of the major holidays that he’d been forced to celebrate in the years since he’d joined the X-men. But Christmas was the only holiday that affected him emotionally.
Halloween was fun; he’d always greatly enjoyed the mythology behind the holiday. Disguising ones self to avoid detection by the darker forces of hell was something he could very easily relate to.
Thanksgiving was nice; hell he loved a good turkey dinner and an excuse to watch football all day and drink beer. And Easter wasn’t so bad if you ignored the damned colored eggs brought by some demented rabbit. He even somewhat liked the fourth of July; any excuse to have a cookout with more beer was more than okay in his book. But he avoided Christmas.
He often wondered if maybe something had happened to him on that day; something that had left an echo of memory in him that still managed to affect him despite his amnesia. Maybe he’d lost someone he cared about near that time; maybe it was his way of expressing a sense of loss and homesickness for the life and possible family that he would never know. He had no way of knowing the truth.
But this was different. This year something had changed for him. Instead of being filled with a gloomy irritability when he realized that the holiday was coming up, he began to look forward to it. He felt almost eager for the day to arrive; almost as if he were a kid again looking forward to opening up his gifts on Christmas morning. He had no doubt that Ororo and Rogue were responsible for that change in him.
So for the first time that he could remember, he was looking forward to celebrating the holiday. In fact, he had even gone with Jubilee to the mall without too much of a struggle. She hadn’t even had to pout once to get him to take her.
She had taken off as soon as she entered the building, yelling back that she had her cell phone if he needed to find her.
He chuckled as he watched her run off, for once enjoying her exuberance and high spirits. He spent the next hour wandering, trying to pass the time until he could drag Jubilee back to the mansion.
He’d thought to use the time to find a suitable gift for Ororo. He’d given her many gifts during the holidays over the years; the ones that he’d been home for anyway. But he wanted this year to be different, special. In years past the gifts had been simple. Things that he’d seen somewhere during his travels that had reminded him of her. Simple things that spoke of friendship and trust.
But now things were different. Now they were dating and what he felt for her was a very far cry from friendship. So he wanted to give her a gift that would show her that he thought of her as a great deal more than a friend. So far he’d had little luck.
He had been in and out of several shops and was just about to give up for the day and track down Jubilee to drag her ass back home when another store caught his eye. He stepped closer, the glitter of gold and sparkling jewels twinkling in the display lights as he pondered.
Logan knew that much of his past life was a mystery. There was a shroud in his mind that hid many of his earlier memories. It was a veil he had yet to pull aside. But there were moments in his life, even though he was unable to remember them that he knew without a doubt that he had or had not done something before.
And he knew, as he stood staring into the jewelry shop window, that he’d never before bought the woman he loved a dazzling piece of jewelry.
Oh he’d bought an engagement ring before, intending to place it on the hand of a woman he’d thought he couldn’t live without. But he’d never bought something dazzling and gorgeous for a woman just for beauty’s sake.
A ring had a purpose, a function. It was a mark, a symbol that told others that the woman was spoken for; that someone had claimed her as his own and the woman had accepted that claim. And while it might be beautiful, and it might bring out the beauty of the woman, it was not worn purely for the sake of beauty and pleasure.
He realized that was what he really wanted to buy for Ororo: something that was beautiful in its own right but would also look beautiful on her; something that she would wear with pleasure; something that would make her think of him. His mind made up, he entered the shop.
An unoccupied salesman approached him, flashing a brilliant smile. “Bonjour mousier. I am Jean Pierre, ‘ow may I ’elp you?”
Logan stepped up to the case and began looking around. “I’m not sure. I’m looking for a gift. Somethin’ special, somethin’ unique.”
Jean Pierre smiled. “Is it for a man or a woman?”
“It’s for my girlfriend.”
“Ah, we ‘ave many zhings which she might enjoy. What exactly are you looking for, earrings, a pendant, a ring per’aps?”
Logan chuckled at the sly undertone and shook his head. “I think some earrings would be good.”
“Very well, we ‘ave a very fine selection. Would you prefer gold, silver, per’aps gemstones?”
Logan shrugged, a bit overwhelmed by the choices. “I have no idea.”
“Per’aps if you described ‘er to me, I might be able to suggest somezhing.”
“She’s tall, slender, very elegant. She has dark skin, platinum white hair and a pair of blue eyes that you easily get lost in. Like a clear summer sky after a new fallen rain.”
Jean Pierre smiled. “Do you per’aps ‘ave a photo?”
Logan pulled out his wallet and pulled out a small snapshot he’d had for awhile. It was a shot of Ororo when she had been unaware of the camera. She was looking off into the distance, her eyes focused faraway, a small mysterious smile on her face. He’d never figured out where it came from, or even why he carried it. But it had remained in his wallet for a long time.
The salesman looked Ororo over carefully, muttering to himself. “You are dating madam Ororo. You ‘ave exquisite taste mousier.” He handed the photo back to Logan.
Logan couldn’t hide his surprise at that statement. “You know her?”
“Oui, but of course. She ‘as come in many times to purchase trinkets for zhe young girls zat are often with ’er.” He pointed to the photograph, a slight smile on his face. “I ‘ave somezhing zhat fits ‘er perfectly. Let me go and get zhem.”
He walked down to another small case, reached into it and pulled out a pair of earrings. He brought them back to Logan and set them on the counter before him.
Logan looked down at them in astonishment.
Before him sat a pair of tear drop shaped sapphire earrings winking at him. Their blue color changing slightly as the angle of the light shifted; moving from a dark deep rich blue the color of the ocean to a blue sky at twilight and every shade in between. They looked like two beautiful drops of water sparkling in the light of the shop.
Intrigued, Logan stared at them for several moments.
They reminded him of Ororo’s brilliant blue eyes and how they changed depending on her mood. How they made him stop and take a moment to stare at her in wonder. And how easily they drew him in, and before he could stop himself, he’d fallen deep into them.
Those jewels also reminded him of how she smelled just come in from a new fallen rain. Fresh and new as if she had spun up from the very rain drops that dotted her skin. At that moment she was free, not held by Earthly ties or needs. She was something unspoiled and untouched by the evil and hatred around her.
He picked them, turning them this way and that as he watched them change hues.
He nodded to himself as he studied the gems. They would suite her very well; and they would be special enough to show her what she was beginning to mean to him.
Jean Pierre watched him study the earrings. “Zhey are beautiful, no?”
Logan nodded, still turning them, watching them sparkle in the light. “Yeah, they are.” His voice was soft, thoughtful.
“Madam Ororo was in ‘ere a few days ago, admiring zhem. She was very taken with zhem.”
Logan smiled. He could very well believe that Ororo had been admiring the earrings. They were perfect.
“Well, mousier what do you zhink of zha stones?”
“They’re perfect.”
“And what of zhe setting?”
Logan shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m not real crazy about it. It’s the stones that catch my eye more than anythin’ else.”
Jean Pierre reached into a case and pulled out several other earrings. He pointed to them, and Logan studied them as well. “And so zhey should. But zha setting is meant to enhance zhe stones, not detract from zheir beauty.”
Logan looked at the earrings and realized that it wasn’t really the setting that bothered him; it was the metal they were set in. Everyone used gold in jewelry. It was considered by the world over to be a precious metal. But its overabundance made Logan feel that it was a commonplace material. He wanted this gift to not only make her feel special and unique, he wanted it to actually be special and unusual as well. And for that, gold simply wouldn’t work.
“She doesn’t wear a lot of gold; It doesn’t suite her.”
“You are absolutely correct mousier, gold does not suite ‘er. Per’aps platinum instead?”
Logan thought a moment and nodded. Platinum would suit her very well. It was the right color and it was also somewhat rare in jewelry. “That might work. How long would it take?”
Jean Pierre took the sapphire earrings from him and began filling out a receipt. “A matter of only two dayz once zhe metal for zhe setting ‘as been chosen.”
Logan reached for his wallet, pulling out his credit card never once asking about price. “That would be perfect. Thanks for the help Jean Pierre.”
He looked up a beaming smile on his face. “You are most welcome mousier Logan.”
A few days later, he was in the kitchen with Scott, Jean and Ororo discussing what to have for Christmas dinner. Everyone seemed to want turkey again but Logan was trying to veto the idea.
“Look, I like turkey as much as the next guy, but the bird we had at Thanksgiving was huge. There was so much left over, I’m still tastin’ it whenever I belch.”
Ororo chuckled as he brought her the glass of tea that she’d asked for. “That is so attractive Logan.”
Logan shrugged as he sat down. “Well it wasn’t my idea to serve a twenty plus pound bird.”
“Ah, but you forget that it was not my idea to invite twenty-one people to dinner either.”
Logan and Ororo both turned accusing eyes on Jean.
She held up her hands, a look of pure innocence on her face. “Let’s not start playing the blame game here; Thanksgiving was my idea, the guest list was not. Having said that, does anyone have any constructive suggestions about Christmas dinner?”
There was a stiff silence in the room.
Jean sighed. “Fine, I give up. You’ve all got two days to come up with something. I have got to get the menu drawn up so I can figure out how much food I need.”
Logan chuckled, rubbing his hands together maniacally. “Time to send Scott into the fray.”
Jean turned an evil smile his way. “Actually, Scott refused to go this time; he even suggested I send you in his place.”
Logan snorted. “Fat chance of that happenin’.”
“Look, I need a suggestion. If this dinner isn’t going to involve turkey, I need something to replace it and the side dishes to go with it. Is there anything special that anyone used to have that might be nice to have this year?”
“Does it have to be just one thing?”
Jean gave Ororo a questioning look. “What do you mean ‘Ro?”
“Well, why not have everyone choose a dish that is special to them? Then, you can make that person responsible for getting the ingredients and preparing it. It will allow everyone to contribute and keep any one person from being overwhelmed.”
Jean look thoughtful. “Kind of like a potluck Christmas.”
“Sort of yes, but with a little more meaning I think.”
Jean nodded. “I like it. I think it’s a great idea. I’ll start spreading the word right now. Why don’t you tell me what you will be serving “Ro? That way I can start a list and have an idea of what the menu will be.”
Ororo thought for a moment. “I would like to make a dessert, if I may. Something that I remember my mother making for me when I was very young.”
“Alright, one dessert. What about you Logan?”
“I can do a really mean standing rib roast.”
Jean looked at him in surprise for a moment. “Alright, main course settled. I’ll get everyone else on board and we’ll get the menu settled on. This might actually work.”
Later that day, Logan ran back to the jewelry store to pick up Ororo’s gift. He had left the mansion rather hurriedly. He’d even been forced to avoid Ororo when she’d spotted him from her loft room. He’d ignored her as she called after him, pretending he hadn’t heard her.
Jean Pierre smiled as he walked in. “Ah, mousier Logan, I will get zhem myself. Give me but a moment.” He walked into the back room and was gone for several minutes.
Logan tried not to fidget as he waited for Jean Pierre to return.
Jean Pierre suddenly appeared a small black box in his hands. “’ere zhey are. Zhey are simply stunning. Please, look.”
Logan took the box from his hands and opened it and for a moment forgot to breath. Stunning wasn’t the word for them, they were exquisite. The platinum they were set in brought out the blue of the sapphires to an even greater degree than before. It was almost as if they had copied Ororo’s eyes, and set them in the box.
Logan closed the box. “They’re perfect. Thank you.”
“You are welcome mousier. Give my regards to madam Ororo and Merry Christmas. ”
“I will. Merry Christmas Jean Pierre.” Logan left the store whistling.
When he got back to the mansion, the box safely tucked into his coat pocket, he tried to sneak in the back to avoid detection. He wanted to tuck Ororo’s gift into his room until he could con someone else into wrapping it. He knew that the store would have gladly gift wrapped it if he’d asked. But he wanted to wait until the last possible moment so he could keep admiring them.
He opened the back door into the kitchen and silently swore when he saw Jean and Ororo sitting at the table.
“Hey Logan, we were just talking about you.”
“The two of ya were sittin’ alone in the kitchen talkin’ ‘bout me? That can’t be good.”
Ororo chuckled as she walked over to him and gave him a kiss. “Yes, Jean and I were trying to figure out just where you ran off to this afternoon in such a hurry.”
“Just somethin’ I had to do in town. Why, did I break curfew or somethin’?”
Ororo slapped his shoulder as Jean chuckled. “No.”
Ororo wrapped her arms around his shoulders, looking directly in his eyes. “But I find myself wondering just what it was that would cause you to ignore me when I know very well that you could hear me.”
He smiled, wondering at her public display of affection. “Ya really sure I could hear ya?”
She smiled once more, an evil glint in her eyes. “Most definitely.”
“So, what do ya think I was doin’?”
“Given that Christmas is fast approaching and the fact that we are currently enamored with each other. I assume you were out shopping for a gift, for me.”
Logan chuckled at her words. “In that case, I suppose this is the part where I play stupid and pretend that I’ve got no idea what yer talkin’ ‘bout?”
Ororo chuckled. “I do believe it is.”
“Then I have ta say that I’ve no idea what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”
Ororo dropped her arms, turning her attention back to Jean. “Jean, do try talking some sense into the man. He does not seem to understand the game.” She walked to the door, leaving them in the kitchen.
“Where ya goin’ darlin’?”
She stopped, smiled sweetly at him and walked out of the room.
Behind her Logan chuckled as he went to the fridge to grab something to drink. He sat down across from Jean at the table, slowly drinking from the bottle.
She leaned across the table at him, her voice low and soft. “Did you get her something?”
“Course I did. I haven’t completely lost my mind.”
“Can I see it?”
“What, and have you runnin’ off to tell her the first chance you get? I don’t think so Red.”
“Really Logan, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t trust me.”
“It ain’t ya that I don’t trust Jean. It’s that connivin’, cunnin’ woman that just left that’s got me worried. I know ya wouldn’t tell her, intentionally, but she has a way of wheedlin’ the truth out of ya.”
Jean didn’t look convinced.
“Come on Jean, ya know how hard she is to surprise. Every year she tries her damnedest to find out what we buy for her. And every year someone caves and gives it up. I want to actually surprise her this year.”
Jean nodded slightly. “Did you at least get her something good?”
Logan smiled, taking another sip from his soda. “Yeah, it’s good.”
Jean leaned forward, her tone scheming. “So don’t you feel the urge to brag a little bit?”
Logan nearly laughed at the hopeful note in her voice, contemplating her out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe.”
Jean leaned forward, her tone pleading and threatening at the same time. “Come on Logan, give it up.”
This time Logan did laugh, even as he marveled at the conversation. A couple of months ago, they wouldn’t have been able to talk like this. A couple of months ago and he wouldn’t have been able to control what he said to her. A couple of months ago and he would have been trying to seduce her where she sat. It was amazing what a couple of months with Ororo could change.
“A little impatient aren’t ya Red?”
She chuckled. “I can’t wait to find out. Besides, I want something to hold over her for awhile. Like how she kept quiet about sleeping with you.”
“So it’s a bit of revenge then?”
“Damned straight. So will you tell me?”
“I don’t know Red.”
“Will it at least surprise her?”
“Yeah, I think this’ll manage to set her on her ass.”
Jean sighed loudly. It was a pitiful sound.
Logan took pity on her and pulled out the box he’d just picked up. He handed it to her without saying a word.
Jean opened it, her jaw dropping at what she saw inside. “Logan, these are absolutely gorgeous. They must have cost a fortune.”
“They did. But all I could see when the salesman showed ‘em to me was Ororo’s eyes. They remind me so much of her eyes.”
Jean nodded, agreeing with him. She tilted the earrings slowly, watching them sparkle in the light. “She is going to flip.” She handed him the box.
“I know. So keep it to yourself, all right.” He took it, closing it with a sharp snap.
“Oh, she isn’t getting this one out of me. I want to see her face when you give her these.” She reached out and touched his arm as he drank his soda.
He looked at her, seeing a strange look in her eyes.
“You did good Logan.” She patted his arm and left him to his soda.
Logan’s fears that Ororo would try to figure out her gifts were well founded. It was a ritual that had yet to change in all the years that he’d known her.
She was like a little kid as the holiday approached; begging and pleading for the smallest trace of hint of what her gifts might be.
Logan rather enjoyed teasing her relentlessly, giving her false clues right along with real ones to see if she could sort out the truth. And to keep her gift a secret, he kept it on his person until the Christmas eve, when he handed it to Kitty to wrap for him. Even then, he did so only because he knew that Ororo was going to be with him the entire evening and wouldn’t be able to snoop.
Christmas morning dawned and Ororo woke everyone somewhat early to unwrap their gifts. She had gone a bit overboard with everyone. But then again, she gave gifts so rarely.
For Jean, she bought a beautiful red silk robe. For Scott she had put together a kit of supplies for keeping his favorite cars looking showroom new. Hank received a first edition book of poetry by his favorite poet.
And to Kurt, she gave a lovely black and white onyx rosary and a new pair of custom made sandals to wear in the monastery. For Rogue, she had bought a beautiful bomber leather jacket. Remy received a lovely trench coat and several decks of cards.
When it came time for Logan to open his presents, she smiled at him and reached behind her, handing him several boxes.
He raised his eyebrows at the gifts. “Seems like ya might’ve gone overboard darlin’.”
She smiled, chuckling. “I could not help myself; I simply love Christmas.”
He smiled with her and began opening her gifts. He was pleased to see that she had bought many of his favorite things.
There were several packages of his favorite cigars, a case of his absolute favorite beer (a brand rather difficult to come by in the United States) and premium brand of leather polish for his favorite boots. He finished the final package and turned to Ororo, kissing her cheek. “Thanks darlin’, I love it. I’m surprised ya were able to get ahold of the beer though.”
“Hank helped me with that one. I have one more surprise for you Logan.” She reached behind the side table and pulled out a rather large, flat box. She handed it to him, a pleased look on her face.
He took it from her, raising an eyebrow at its weight.
She merely shrugged, urging him to open the box.
He opened the box and reached inside. He pulled out a new leather jacket, soft and supple as velvet, its scent filling his nostrils. He looked at it, stroking it. The leather was so soft, with such a fine grain he knew that it hadn’t come cheap.
He looked over at her, a pleased expression on his face. “’Ro, this is fantastic.”
She watched him, a pleased expression on her face when he slid it on. “I noticed that your favorite jacket had become quite threadbare and worn. And while I do not expect you to discard it for this one, I thought you could use something new.”
The jacket felt smooth and soft against his skin. He slid his hand down the front of it relishing its texture. “Thanks ‘Ro.”
“You are very welcome tough guy.”
Smiling Logan reached into his pocket, pulling the small box from his pocket. “Merry Christmas Ororo.”
“Oh Logan. How thoughtful.” She eagerly unwrapped the small box he had given her, saving the bow by placing it on her head.
Logan chuckled at the picture she painted, her hair full of bows, a look of concentration on her face as she tore the paper.
She opened the box and her mouth fell open in surprise and awe. She looked up at him, sheer delight written on her face as she reached into the small box and pulled out the sapphire earrings he had picked out.
She held them up, letting them twinkle in the light. “Logan, these are absolutely breathtaking.”
“Yeah, they are.” Logan looked at her, not talking about the earrings.
She blushed slightly and pulled the earrings from the box to put them in her ears.
He watched her, enjoying the sight of the sapphires sparkling on her delicate earlobes. He felt a surge of desire fill him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him tenderly.
“Logan, this is too much; this must have cost you a fortune.”
“It was worth it; just ta see the smile on yer face right now. They match yer eyes.”
Ororo reached up to touch them, a trace of disbelief on her face. “They are truly lovely Logan, I will treasure them; always.”
“I’m glad you like them.”
She reached out, touching his chest lightly, her voice low and only for him. “And later, when we go to bed, I will wear them and nothing else.” Her soft voice caressed his ears seductively.
He growled, drawing her close, his lips melting against hers. He had to fight down the desire her words evoked as he pulled back from her.
Her face was flushed, her eyes sparkling as brightly as the earrings. She reached up to touch his stubbled face gently.
“Merry Christmas Logan.”
“Merry Christmas Ororo.”
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