The following morning, Logan and K gathered up their little group and headed to coffee and breakfast as early as they always did - they were the first ones up more often than not. By the time the coffee was done, all three kids had their breakfasts in front of them and the two adults were starting to truly wake up the rest of the way.
So no one else was around as K and Logan read their paper and sipped coffee as the Howlett kids woke up. And no one was around to hear it when Logan tried to casually follow Cap's half-hearted suggestion. "You should come in with me to the tower," Logan said in an even tone.
"Is it that bad for all you guys when Carol leaves for ten minutes that you need me to go in and help you feel better?"
Logan snorted to himself at that. "Yeah. Spidey won't shut the hell up for five minutes and thinks I'm welcoming suggestions."
"And my presence will stop that how?" K asked with a laugh as she reached over to steal his coffee.
"It won't stop it, but it'd make it more tolerable for me," he replied with a crooked, muted smile. Instead of trying to get his mug back, he pulled her closer so he could kiss her.
"On that front, sure. But I don't think you're considering everything else."
"Wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. Might get a couple of the worst offenders off your back."
K raised an eyebrow as she watched him. "Alright. Sure. I'll go ahead and prove to you how wrong you are. What about the kids?"
"Kurt's supposed to be here this morning. He's still tryin' to guilt trip me on not namin' him godfather for all of 'em." He shifted how he was holding her to start trailing kisses behind her ear and down her neck. "And if you don't want to wait that long, we can take 'em with. Jan'd be happy to spend a little time with 'em."
"And the Summers?" K asked, though she was starting to lean back into him, distracted easily enough.
"Jeannie should have some time to relax. For the next few weeks anyhow. Let her get past the nerves." Logan was smiling into her hair. "And Scott's enjoin' a little time just the three of them, I'll bet."
And though that much was true, Logan had K distracted enough that she wasn't focusing hard enough to lay out how sticking around would help Jean and Scott to relax. He was playing dirty and she knew it.
Bamf.
"Oh, pardon me for interrupting," Kurt said, his tone pure amusement as his accent curled thickly around his words. "Had I known you were working negotiations for my next assignment as Godfather, I would have given you another hour."
K glanced up with a growl, but Kurt only grinned wider. "Two perhaps then?" he teased.
As K drew in a breath, her mouth opening to dress him down, Logan cut in. "Funny you should mention that," Logan said, finally drawing back from distracting K. "We can't possibly consider you for that any time soon." Before K could turn her anger to Logan, he gave her a look and covered her mouth with one hand just long enough for her to push his hand away.
But the damage was done. Kurt looked back at his best friend looking supremely insulted. "What?" He rested his hand over his heart. "Clearly, I am the best possible option. You must have been compromised at some point to think anything else." He turned to look over his shoulder, his tail twitching irritably behind him as he looked around the room. "Where is Jean? She'll unscramble your addled mind and set you right again, mein Freund."
"Not necessary," Logan laughed, though now K was watching Logan suspiciously - hackles raised. "But if you want consideration, all you gotta do is spend some time with the three of 'em."
Kurt paused, though he did not relax as he slowly turned back to Logan with a perfectly blank expression - save the single raised eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"It is."
"Then you're telling me that there is reason to watch for another baby?"
"Sure is," Logan said, smirking as K's eyes widened.
With a grin, Kurt teleported over to wrap K up in a tight hug - and entirely missed the look of sheer triumph that Logan was giving K, though to her credit, she didn't know if he was screwing with Kurt - or screwing with her. She was frowning at Logan over Kurt's shoulder as he grinned and Kurt practically sung out blessings in German. All while K lightly patted his shoulder. "Please stop that," she said, earning a boisterous laugh from Kurt before he held her at arms length and then kissed her cheek.
"Of course I'll watch them for you," he said, the smile threatening to break his face in half. "And where is it you two are headed off to?"
"Had to spend a little time with Steve and Spidey," Logan said.
"Ah, yes. They should be second to know," Kurt agreed. "Let them come to terms with how little time you'll be wasting with the Avengers from here on out."
Logan gave Kurt a dry look, but K grinned. "Just for that, you are absolutely 100% the only choice for Godfather."
"As if anyone else could come close," Kurt scoffed, then paused before he turned to the three Howlett kids playing nearby. "I'll take good care of them."
"Of course you will," Logan agreed before he got to his feet and clapped a hand on Kurt's shoulder. A moment later, he was wrapped up in a hug as Kurt showered Logan in congratulations - and Logan made sure to tell him to keep quiet.
K still didn't know if Logan was serious or not though, and when he pulled her over by the waist, she very nearly shoved his hands off of her. She didn't feel different. But she had cried for Jean when she found out that she was expecting. And that wasn't normal for her. So she wasn't quite sure what to make of any of it as the two of them headed for Logan's Jeep.
They were halfway to the city before K had to turn the music down. "You were talking about Jean, right?" K asked. "I don't have to .... I don't know. Plan out your funeral before I kill you, right?"
Logan couldn't help himself but to smile her way. "Why? You thinkin' about another one?"
"Logan."
"I wasn't talkin' about you, sweetheart," he said, one hand over his heart. "If you were pregnant, I wouldn't tell you over coffee. I'd tell you in bed, where I had you to myself."
"And you're going to let him think that I am until when?"
"Probably until Jean and Scott announce it," Logan laughed. "I never said it was you. You never said it was you. Let him rile himself up."
K let out a breath of relief and leaned back into her chair, watching the scenery pass them as they drew closer to the city. "He's going to get you back."
"Eventually," Logan agreed.
"You better hope he doesn't mislead anyone else," K said warningly. "That is a whole different issue, you know."
"He can keep his mouth shut," Logan said, shaking his head. "He's always been able to keep it quiet when he needs to."
K watched Logan for a moment, though she didn't argue with him on it. Kurt could keep a secret. If he wanted. She just didn't know that the fuzzy blue elf would want to keep something of that caliber secret.
Kurt of course had dove into his duties as temporary care taker of the three Howletts, and after all the build up that Kurt had done over himself ... he was finding that he had to work for it. The girls were happy to play however Kurt wanted, but after Kurt had declared himself as a pirate so often, James had taken it on himself to 'arrest' him.
By any means necessary.
Kurt was in the middle of reading a story to the girls, who were sitting across from him - cross legged on the floor - when James launched himself at Kurt and wrapped himself halfway around his neck in an attempt to take him to the ground. "James!" Kurt exclaimed as he tried to keep from going over all the way, though it was a trick for how much James was fighting him. "What are you doing?"
"PIRATE!" the little boy growled out, shocking Kurt and at least tipping him off to what was happening.
"James, I have always been a pirate," Kurt laughed, twisting to get the little guy off of him. "Why is it a problem now?"
"Pirates are bad guys, and I'm gonna be a good guy when I get big -so ..." James shrugged then took a running start at him again, though this time, Kurt was ready and scooped him up , tickling him and trying to keep him from further interrupting story time.
All the screaming and shouts caught Scott's attention as he passed by the room, and he paused in the doorway, smiling to himself at how scrappy James was - and how well the little guy was doing all things considered. "What's going on here?" Scott asked.
"Uncle Scooter!" James gasped. "Help!"
For a moment Kurt looked supremely insulted all over again and he paused long enough to give James such a look before he held him tightly and teleported across the room - earning a peal of fresh laughter. "You are mistaken, little one," Kurt said. "I am your uncle. He's just your Scooter."
"Nuh-uh," James sang out, grinning up at Kurt. "You're a pirate and he's my uncle."
Kurt's tail flicked irritably as he looked over at Scott. "Then I have bad news for you, my young friend because," he said, shifting James in his arms so that he was facing Scott and Kurt was talking over his shoulder. "Scott here is the son of a space pirate." Kurt's tone was one of pure triumph, sure that he'd turned the tables on James' streak of favoritism if he was going against pirates.
"Nope," James said - pure confidence in his voice. "He's not a pirate."
Scott started to grin, especially since James' expression was exactly the same as Logan's when he was flat out refusing to listen to anyone else's logic.
"He is," Kurt insisted. "His father is a space pirate named Corsair."
"We-llllll," James drew out. "That's not Uncle Scooter. That's someone else. Uncle Scooter isn't a 'pace pirate. That's just dumb."
Scott broke down laughing openly at that, particularly the expression on Kurt's face when he finally sighed and set the boy down, allowing him to run over to Scott with a grin that Scott rewarded quickly. He threw James in the air a few times before he set him down to run laps around the room, and only then did he finally ask: "Where's Logan and K? If you're babysitting."
"He had to go to the tower," Kurt said with a weary laugh as he slumped into a seat. The girls had gotten tired of waiting for a story and had moved on to coloring by the window by that time. "He brought K with him." Kurt grinned wider. "He had her distracted to the point that she wasn't even teasing anyone. I don't think she managed a sentence the whole time we spoke."
Scott looked mildly surprised at hearing that, filing it away for the time being.
"They'll be home later tonight, but until then ... I'll have to deal with our Wolverine's backward thinking little privateer," Kurt teased with a wicked twinkle in his eyes.
"I can take the girls to play with Rachel," Scott offered. "She's a little lonely without them anyhow."
Kurt's shoulders drooped for an instant before he turned back to Scott - losing track of James as he giggled and looked for a good place to ambush the dread pirate bluetail. "I hate to ignore them, fearless. If it would be easier on you, feel free to bring Rachel to play with us here. I'm sure she's got the good sense to appreciate a proper pirate."
Scott smirked and shook his head. "Let's hope not," he said before he called the girls over to join him and Rachel ... just about the time James leapt from the couch to attack Kurt - startling him enough to get a loud 'eep' and Kurt's tail stuck straight out.
But as funny as all of that was to Scott - including the dressing down Kurt tried to give James as he belly laughed, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on up at the tower with the Avengers ... and why K would be going with Logan for this run. Unless it had anything to do with Logan honestly looking at slipping further into the Avengers.
Not that he could worry about that too much when he clearly had three little girls insisting on him playing with them - to Jean's obvious delight.
When Logan and K got to the tower - only to enjoy a little private makeout session in the elevator to the top floor - she honestly wasn't expecting much of a welcome. So it ended up being a lot more confusing than she'd signed up for when it wasn't just the usual song and dance that went hand in hand with a non-member hero visiting. In fact ... if K didn't know any better, she'd have thought her beloved husband had just brought her in to recruit her.
"We've been so sadly misbalanced too far into the testosterone leagues for far too long," Natasha said as she met up with Logan and K shortly after they stepped off the elevator. "Come on, we're starting up a sim - just the girls while the boys try to figure out what this school is going to need."
"I didn't come here to run a sim," K said, frowning at her. She and Natasha had barely had more than a few sentences between them since the run-in with the Hulk back when K was expecting Abbey. This ... was more than Natasha had said to her ... ever.
The little redhead paused and tipped her head quizzically. "Are you going to argue with me, Carol, Janet, and the boys that wanted you to come and play?"
"I thought I was just coming to keep my sweetheart company." K was frowning deeper as Logan leaned over to kiss her temple and Natasha looked as though the argument was decided.
"Humor them for me," Logan said at a level only K could hear, though Natasha had no trouble reading his lips and shooting a glare his way.
"You're going to owe me one," K warned. "Big time."
"What else is new?" Logan replied, then took a moment to kiss her while Natasha crossed her arms and looked as though this was trying her very last nerve.
"Malen'kiy dyadya," Natasha quietly said, though Logan ignored her for a moment longer. "Cap's got some blueprints he wanted you to weigh in on."
"That's not my kinda thing, princess," Logan said.
"Still. They want you involved."
"They?"
"Stark is pushing for what he thinks is needed. Cap wants to rein him in."
"Ah," Logan said, letting his chin fall to his chest. "Got it. But if you wanted someone to hit Stark, shouldn't it be my sweetheart?" he teased, which at least got a crooked smile out of Natasha.
"Long term, yes, but in order to really blow his mind ... I'm taking her with me. You go and do what you can. We'll be working while you boys have your tea party." K glanced back at Logan as Natasha pulled her along. "It's severely overdue for you and I to have some shared time in the simulator anyhow," Natasha informed her once they were out of easy earshot - though not far enough that Logan missed it.
He frowned deeper as he watched the two women disappear. He didn't like the idea of two of his favorite women getting into a contest for several reasons. The fact that he wasn't sure how much Natasha trusted K didn't help matters - even if she had married Logan and had kids with him that so far, everyone that met them had adored them. Those two had too much history from before between them and too much of that had been with one side or the other pitting the two women against each other. And in spite of the fact that both of them were working for the same side, there was a low-key attitude from both of them that exuded a challenge. It was a mark of how much K had gotten to Natasha that she even reacted. It wasn't as surprising to see it from K, however. Not when every step Logan knew she'd taken had been a push to make her prove herself. Body language-wise, she seemed perfectly at ease, but the scent was the little tipoff to Logan that said how much K was expecting the Avengers or the X-Men to push her into something she really didn't want to do.
Which meant this little pow wow with Cap and Stark had to be short. He did not want to leave his wife hanging with every woman on the Avengers who had been pressing her to switch teams anyhow.
When Logan turned the corner into the board room where Tony and Steve were, it was clear that Natasha was spot on in her estimation of what the two of them were up to. Tony had it in his mind to do more technologically advanced improvements while Steve thought it best to keep it as down to earth as possible. Which made it so much harder for Logan to step in and say his piece once both of them pressed for his thoughts.
"As much as it pains me to say it," Logan said, shaking his head at the layouts both had stretched out - Steve's on paper and Tony's floating over it on the holo table - "Stark's got the right idea."
"Ha!"
"Whatever tech these kids run into is gonna be more than what we have to work with now. Best to get them up to speed on everything you can," Logan said, and when Tony looked overly smug, he had to add: "But you need the low tech too. Last thing you want is a buncha kids with no sense if they don't have a screen in front of 'em."
"That's strictly an opinion," Tony said with a wave, but Steve grabbed onto the point with both hands.
"I'll bet you can't make it through a sim without relying on your tech," he said. "Bet you haven't even tried it have you?"
"I don't need to," Tony said, doing his best version of insulted and aloof. "That's why I made the armor."
"He's afraid," Steve said to Logan as the two of them stood there with their arms crossed with identical amused expressions with Logan agreeing with a muted 'mmhmm'.
"Of what?" Tony argued.
Logan and Steve shared a look. "Money where your big mouth is, Stark," Steve said. "Head down to the simulator and take someone on."
"I can hold my own just fine," Tony insisted, though he seemed to be rising to the bait as he led the way down to the simulator, grumbling the whole way.
The two of them shared a look before they started walking behind Tony, and Logan had to tell Steve "I'm not on board for usin' my wife to make a point with him."
"Leave it up to her. It's not like any one of the girls already on the team wouldn't take up the opportunity to slap him around a little," Steve said quietly. "Don't worry about it, Logan."
Logan frowned, and for the first time really rethought how smart it was to ask K along. Tony had a way of irritating her in a very specific way, and generally she tended to ignore him as much as possible.
But there wasn't much that he could do about it when, by the time he and Steve got down to the simulator Tony had already started chatting with K. That on its own would have been worrisome, but when Logan saw that Natasha, Carol, and Jan were all grinning? "Damnit," Logan breathed out just loud enough for Steve to hear.
"Hey, relax," he said. "She's gonna have to deal with him if she's going to join."
Logan almost did a double take on hearing it. So far, Tony was the one pushing for K to join the team. Steve had been quiet about it. So he had to wonder first and foremost what had changed. And what exactly the Avengers were trying to accomplish by trying to persuade K to join them too.
It was a questionable at the bare minimum and troublesome when he thought about how Mac and Heather had tried the same thing while they were in Canada ... only it was mild encouragement for their daughter to try and sway Abbey.
"I need to talk to you about this requirement of so much time," Logan said before they could step into the group. "It's not gonna work."
"Of course it is," Steve said with a frown. "You'll just need to help me get her on board too. If she and the kids are here with you while it's time to practice, it's not a problem, right?"
"That's not the point," Logan said, stopping Steve from going forward. "I said I'd help you plan out this school. I didn't say I'd do anything beyond that."
"I know," Steve said, looking more authoritative as he squared up. "But it's going to take some time and I don't want you to think that I'm trying to pull you away from your family. Besides." he gestured to where K had her hands on her hips, laughing at Tony's so called 'ready' stance. "It would help keep SHIELD off of her back."
It was like he'd hit just the right button as Logan let out all his breath in a woosh. Fury never had backed off on wanting to 'chat' alone with K. Avengers status would put a stop to that.
"Has to be her choice," Logan said finally as the two of them joined the team that was lined up along the inside of the simulator.
"Of course," Steve said, frowning at Logan as if he was crazy for suggesting otherwise.
"Hey. Hey, did you guys bring popcorn?" a voice asked from directly over head and both Logan and Steve looked up to see Spider-Man suspended upside down from a web and looking far too excitable for either of them to tolerate.
"This was your play all along then?" Logan asked as he watched Spidey for a moment.
"It's the right move, Logan," Steve said. "Protect your family by letting us help."
Logan shook his head and crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall. "Kick his ass, sweetheart," he called out, which got K to turn and give him a once over as she looked over her shoulder at him.