Drinkin’ Ain’t Always a Good Idea Hours later, Kitty Pryde staggered out of a cab and into the mansion. The scent of alcohol permeated the air around her as she stumbled into the living room. With a sigh, she plopped down in front of the TV and looked around for the remote. She slowly began sliding off the leather seat and giggled. “Lookin’ fer somethin’?” Logan asked, standing in the doorway with sweat pants on. “Go m’away, Log’n!” She slurred. Kitty swung her arm to hit him, but managed to toss herself on the floor completely from her momentum. “Easy, Kitten. You look like you’ve had a rough night.” He said, carefully placing her back on the couch. He sat next to her, casually pushing her upright as she leaned to the left too far. “Like YOU’D know, Mr. I’m-too-busy-with-Jubilee-t’talk-to-me!” She said angrily. Logan was taken aback for a moment and then gently pushed her upright. “That’s not what today was about, Kitty, and you know it.” He sighed. He knew talking to her while she was this drunk was pointless, but he also knew she would probably be sick in a few minutes. The last thing Logan wanted to worry about was Kitty vomiting in her sleep, so he continued with the conversation. “The fuck it wasn’t!!” She softly yelled. Her finger was wavering in front of Logan’s face in a somewhat accusing fashion. “Why don’t we talk about this tomorrow?” Logan suggested, holding her accusing finger gently. “Coz I wanna talk NOW!” She complained, rather loudly. Kitty yanked her finger from his hand and hit herself in the nose. “OwwWWWwwww...” Logan rolled his eyes and offered his hand. “Then let’s go outside before you wake the whole house up. It’s nearly 3 in the morning, y’know. Yer lucky I heard the cab pull up at all.” He pulled her off the couch, despite her protests. “But...but...ok.” She mumbled, leaning on her friend for support. “Jesus, Kitty, how much did you drink tonight?” “I dunno...maybe eight or twelve shhhhots...” She murmured, looking to him with drunken eyes. They finally made it to the terrace in the back yard and Logan sat her on a bench. He quickly sat next to her to keep her from falling and she leaned against his chest, sighing.  “Kitty, why did you drink tonight, darlin’?” Logan asked in a quiet voice. “Coz you were bein’ mean and payin’ attention to Ju’lee and...” She trailed off. “And coz th’Prof is sick and dyin’...” “I know that hurts, darlin’, but drinkin’ doesn’t help.” “Funny, makes me feel good.” She argued. They were both quiet for a few minutes and Logan sighed. “I’m sorry about today, Kitty.” Logan said softly, brushing her soft curly brown hair from her face. “You SHOULD be!” She stated, only slightly angry now. He paused, trying to think of a response she would understand. “It wasn’t about you and Jubes. I was in a shitty mood and I took it out on you, Kitten. I’m sorry.” He said, nearly pleading. He hated to think he made Kitty, his Kitten, drink until she was completely smashed. Logan closed his eyes to fight back tears and continued to hold the young girl. “I...I know.” She finally said, a tear falling on Logan’s bare chest. “I jus’ don’t know what t’do, Logan.” “Yeah.” He sighed. “I know the feeling, kiddo.” “Hey! I ain’t no kiddo!” Kitty protested, sitting up. She tried to be serious, but she couldn’t help it as a smile crossed her face. Logan smirked. “Yer a kiddo until I say otherwise. Got it?” He stated. She tossed her hands up in surrender and then fell on the ground, face-first. Logan tried to catch her, but she fell too quickly. “Oh shit...” She grumbled. “Lemme help you.” Logan offered. Kitty held up her arm in defeat. He quickly scooped her up off the ground and placed her on her feet. “Eh, not too bad. Just a little scrape on yer forehead.” He lightly wiped away the blood and she stood there, like a helpless child. Without another word, Kitty hugged Logan fiercely as if she were holding on for dear life. Sobs quickly followed and Logan just held her, knowing it was better than trying to talk her out of it.   *  *  *  *  *  Days passed and then weeks. Soon those weeks turned into three months. Charles Xavier had gotten progressively worse and could now only talk through telepathic conversations. His vocal cords had completely disintegrated only three weeks after the initial diagnosis. He rarely left bed and was almost always sleeping. The Professor was slowly losing his ability to write or even feed himself. The Legacy Virus was spreading too fast to be countered or treated with any experimental drug available. As a result, the good Dr. Henry McCoy practically lived in his lab, except for the one hour every other day he spent teaching molecular biology to Jubilee. Even though she wasn’t in Massachusetts, the X-Men made sure Jubilee did not fall behind in her studies. Logan began to strengthen her fighting skills and taught her about Asian culture, along with basic lessons in Japanese. Bobby became her math teacher, much to her chagrin. Along with gymnastics, Kurt taught her some sword skills that Jubes had grown found of. Gambit showed the young girl the fine art of card playing and stealing. Along with Remy, Ororo had shown Jubilee how to pick locks and break into houses (which had shocked almost everyone in the house). Ororo Munroe was now almost five months pregnant and had only gone up two sizes, but Hank said she was doing fine. She agreed, to the surprise of Logan, and continued to go about her normal everyday business. "Don’t ya think you should take it easy, Storm?" Jubilee asked, smacking her gum and flipping through her biology text. "I am, Jubilee." She stated, raking up some leaves. "Shoor. That’s why yer raking instead o’using yer powers."  "Sometimes, child, using our powers can cause greater strain on our bodies than merely raking leaves." Ororo answered. "Whatever." The young teen grumbled. "Logan’s coming over." Storm smiled, but didn’t turn around to face him. "Jubes, how long has she been rakin’?" He asked, a bit concerned but mostly sarcastic. "Ooh, I dunno. About an hour maybe?" She answered as a bubble popped in her face. " 'Ro." He said. "Enough raking." "And what am I to do then?" She asked, looking to him. "Maybe have lunch?" Logan said with heavy sarcasm. "Hell, it’s only two in the afternoon." "Yes, I suppose it is." She nodded, leaning on the rake handle. "I’ll be in shortly." And then she continued to rake the autumn leaves. "If you ain’t in the house within thirty minutes, I’m gonna send Jubes back out here t’spy on ya and drag ya into the mansion, got it?" Logan said flatly. "Got it, love." She smiled, kissing his cheek. "I’ll be in, not to worry." He nodded and, along with Jubilation, began walking back to the house. Storm grinned and crouched down to pick up the leaves. Suddenly, pain seared through her stomach and she fell to her hands and knees.  "By the Goddess!" Ororo gasped out. "L...Lo...Logan!" She yelled out. He spun and was running to her in less than a second. With the book forgotten on the ground, Jubilee was close at Wolverine’s heels as he skidded into the dirt next to his wife. "Ororo!" He exclaimed. "What’s goin’ on?" "I...I don’t know...." She said, cringing in pain. "Jub--" Wolverine began. "On it!" Jubilation interrupted as she darted towards the house. Jubilee slammed into the back French doors and yanked them open as fast as she could. She tripped up the stairs leading to Henry’s medical lab and then she slid on the carpet. Jubilation grasped onto the door handle and burst into Hank’s lab.  "Hank! It’s Ororo!" She panted, pointing in her direction. Without asking a single question, the medical doctor had grabbed a med-kit and was out the window with the grace of a feline. He had run across the mansion’s property and was by his patient’s side in less than fifteen seconds of Jubilee’s cry of help. The woman was still hunched over in obvious pain and Logan was trying his best to sooth her. Then he noticed the blood and looked to Hank with desperation in his eyes. Henry quickly took out a Shi’ar medical device that could read a person’s vital signs and physical status. He ran the scan quickly and then had Storm lie back, as best she could. With the Ororo holding Wolverine’s hand, Hank felt her stomach and reached back into the kit for a painkiller. She did not protest, knowing full well that Beast would never endanger the baby, and he injected the drug. Jubilee ran towards them as Nightcrawler teleported onto the scene.   "Kurt, we need to get her into the medical bay! Now!" Henry McCoy ordered. "Hold on, Ororo." Kurt said, kneeling next to her. He lifted her very gently and, leaving the others behind, teleported the sick woman and himself to the med-bay.