Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Story of How Accidents Happen

Life coaches always shower people with self-motivation cliché sayings, you know the kind. 'You are responsible for your own happiness, you gotta grab life by the horns and get what you want.' Man, have I taken these empowering quotes to the next level or what?

I have truly changed my life around in the most fuckintastic way imaginable. A future version of myself gave me all I've ever wanted, only for my stupid present self to throw it all away. Confusing much? I'll explain.

Two weeks ago I was Remy LeBeau, the most happily married man in the universe. My wife is simply the most amazing woman I've ever met, she turned me into the father of a bright and captivating little boy. My son Oli is a five-year-old handsome little fellow.

I had it all and never meant to gamble with my family. Nothing should have ever come between us, but my idea of being a dutiful hero did. That and some huge misunderstanding. What I know is that I have lost what I had: a beautiful loving wife and the privilege of being 24 hours of the day near my boy. He's the smartest child you'll ever meet and also happens to be the spitting image of me, except for his bright blue eyes. I love Oli and Anna to death!

My wife is the woman I've loved for the longest part of this goddamn life of mine. I've waited and suffered, hoped and prayed that someday that girl would be mine. And then, one fine day my wish was miraculously granted. I proposed and shockingly enough she said yes. However, that was not how it was originally supposed to be, apparently. As I mentioned previously, that was a present I gave myself.

On my wedding day, my wife told me that one month earlier she had received a visit from no other than myself to tell her that she was pregnant with my child. Remy from the future, that's how she called him.

In his timeline, she hadn't known she was pregnant, went on a mission, got badly injured, and had a miscarriage. I never even knew I got her pregnant because our child's life was lost anyway, so what good would it be to have the two of us mourning? So that's why she decided she would spare me of the heartbreak. She could carry that burden for both of us. That is my Roguey, always saving my ass from all kinds of misfortunes.

When I finally discovered all the truth, knowing that it was one of the reasons my Anna pulled away from us, I gathered all my strength to unlock the full extent of my powers so I could travel to the past to try to fix our future.

I believed her time-traveling Remy story because, there's no denying it, it does sound like something risky and dumb that I would do. A truly amazing feat, right? Lucky for me, it worked.

Then, years later when a beautiful and mysterious woman sought me for my help, telling me my version from the future had also visited her and promised I was the one who would help her save his daughter, of course, I believed her. I have a son so I know I'd do anything to save him, I would never back away from that lady's request.

The woman told me that my future-self had shared details of how we would manage to steal some magic potion from HYDRA headquarters together. Hell yeah, I didn't doubt the lady for a second and embarked on a mission with her, leaving my wife behind, believing in my heart she would understand I was fulfilling something that Remy from the future had intended me to do. Little did I know that I was digging up my own grave by following that woman.

Long story short, this woman claimed her daughter was dying and silly me agreed to help her get a special compound that she needed. We invaded an old HYDRA base and got past the security to retrieve it. Following that, all kinds of shit happened. Eventually, we got in trouble and stranded in some foreign country. We ended up camping somewhere, it was freezing cold at night, and we had only the clothes on our backs. I suggested we get undressed and close up together since each other bodies were the warmest thing around. You know, removing clothes and sharing body heat can keep people warm and potentially save you from hypothermia.

And then, surprisingly, in the middle of the night, we were met up by no one other than Rogue. Yes, that's my wife, she saw me naked with another woman and got it all wrong. Who wouldn't? I don't blame her at all.

So, Anna Marie, Rogue, my Mrs. LeBeau, my beautiful wife, my eternal love flame saved us from our predicament but kicked me out of her bed that very same day and since then I've been trying to get back in good graces with the woman I adore.

It hasn't worked so far, but I managed to knock her up yet again. Funny thing is that before all that shitshow with Joelle happened, Anna and I were trying for a second baby for four months. Every time her period came, she felt disappointed in herself and cried. It was awful! And in the end, all it took were those unpremeditated 'accidents' and bang! Another LeBeau on the way!

'How the fuck did this happen? Are you guys morons or what?', That was what Bobby unceremoniously asked us when we broke the news. And since then, everybody asks us that very same question whenever they hear about our situation. Anna always tells people that it was an accident. An accident!

Laughable, I know! I just go along with it. If she wants to label it as an accident, then that's what we'll call it. She hates my guts right now, I'm not pissing her off anymore than what I already have.

That makes me laugh inwardly. First, because it was not only one "accident". Secondly, as Bella Donna, my ex, aptly pointed out when I told her about it, it's not like Rogue and I were hanging out naked when she tripped and fell on top of me.

And finally, because making sweet love or having wild angry sex with the person you cherish the most in your life is no accident. It is meant to be and bound to happen.

We got something going on, we always did, there's that chemistry, that static in the air whenever we are within close proximity to each other. People have often complained about how uncomfortable we make them feel because of the tangible sexual tension between us. So, you see, it's not that hard to imagine how the accidents happened, but even so, I'll tell you exactly how they did.

Two weeks later after the incident with Joelle and being rescued by my wife, I had failed all attempts to get my Anna to believe the simple truth: I hadn't slept with that woman. I never cheated on my wife.

I understand it must have been difficult for her to get past the visuals she had seen, her husband, the father of her only child naked with another woman. But, come on, five years sharing her bed, her body, her life with me and she still didn't trust me at all? She just didn't want to listen to my story, she decided I was a cheater who hadn't hesitated before throwing the excellent life we had together out of the window. She hated me.

We were still navigating the practicalities of being a separated couple who shared custody of our son. That was going to be the first time I took Oli out like one of those divorced dads do. I decided I was going fail-proof, I was taking him to the zoo.

To keep things simple while we were giving our marriage a break, we had decided that on weekdays as I worked in the mansion both of us got equal access to our boy. Saturdays would be exclusively daddy and Oli's day, Sundays would be only Anna and him.

Storm brought him to me, not her. That stung, exactly as Anna had probably intended. Ororo smiled at me apologetically, she knew just how I was feeling broken inside with our separation. She was my greatest support at a time when everyone else was quick to judge and blame me for what happened. At that stage, Anna was feeling cheated and belittled. She was angry at me while I was still shocked and numb, not quite believing that was indeed happening to us.

In my mind, I had done nothing wrong. Okay, perhaps I should have told her what I was doing, I should've kept her informed. Oh, well! There are just so many what-ifs...

Oliver looked at me expectantly. Clearly, it bothered both me and Oli the fact that Anna was not accompanying us.

"Why can't Mommy come, Daddy?" He asked me as soon as he saw me and ran into my arms.

"Let's see... Well, she's afraid of the lions, the elephants, and... the snakes."I offered a lie to calm down his little broken heart.

"But why? Mommy's so strong. She can knock them all down!" There was no fooling that little boy of mine.

Just then, Emma strolled in and took a good look at the two of us and she passed us by. Coincidentally, Anna had dressed Oli in khakis and a button t-shirt and I was wearing pretty much the same ensemble. He was my mini-me through and through.

"I can't stand you much right now, LeBeau, but I have to say that you and Oli are looking adorable." Oliver flashed her a huge smile. He's cute and he knows it.

'I'm sure that the single dad with his cute little son on tow is going to get many telephone numbers.' Emma said inside my head. I don't like calling women names, but she's such a bitch if there ever was one! She sneered at me and I shook my head vehemently.

"Not interested, mon ami." I said.

"Not interested in what, Daddy?"

"Never mind, son. Your auntie Emma is just being a little bit silly. Are you ready to go, my little champion? We are going to have so much fun today. Say goodbye to your aunties."

Oli skipped his way to both Emma and Ororo and gave them a little hug. Emma bent down and kissed the top of his head, Storm messed with his shaggy hair.

"Have fun, Oli." Ororo called out. She smiled broadly while watching both handsome boys go. I knew how she loved the two of us dearly and wished deep in her heart that Anna and I would reconcile and be together soon.

The day was bright and warm, my handsome son and I strolled hand in hand through the zoo. Oli was mesmerized at all the animals he had seen only in his storybooks.

We had been to the zoo before, two years ago. But being five years old meant he had already forgotten all about it. So, there were lots of "Wow!" "Awesome!' "Can we have one of those in the mansion?"

My thoughts, however, kept going back to the good old times: my wife, my kid, and myself hand in hand, lips stretched into huge smiles, hearts exploding with joy. My mind played tricks on me, reminding me how much fun it was the last time the three of us had enjoyed that very same place together.

Emma had been right, as she usually was. Oli and I were getting way too much attention from the unaccompanied women around us.

"What a cute little boy you have there." The girl on the cotton candy stand told me as I paid for my son's sweet treat.

"Thanks." Oil replied before I even had the chance to say anything. We adults laughed out loud at that.

"So, I see a handsome daddy but I don't see a mommy..." The lady eyed me with flirty eyes after giving me the once-over. I sighed at the awkwardness that I knew was lurking around the corner. That was happening for the fifth time already on that day.

"Well, it's complicated..." I started, only to be interrupted by Oli who was already fed up with women trying to chat up his daddy when all he wanted was to go see the next animal.

"My Daddy loves my Mommy and she loves him too. She's mad at him now but she's always mad at him for something, like when he gives me ice cream before dinner." Oliver stated very matter-of-factly. At the height of the wisdom of his five years of age, wasn't he right? Anna loves the drama, I love being on the edge of my seat all the while when I'm with her. I also love the banter, we both do. And, most importantly, we love each other. I knew she still did love me, and that's why we both hurt so much away from each other.

The lady was a bit disappointed at Oli's words. I simply shrugged, thanked her for the service, and let my son lead the way.

When we finally came home, it was early evening and Anna was anxiously waiting for us at the door after having blown my phone four times. As soon as she spotted my red car cruising through the driveway, she climbed down the steps to the entrance.

After parking, I was out of the car in half a second to open the passenger door and let my petite garcon out. Not without hearing him complaining that he was a big boy and he didn't need that child safety lock anymore first.

Always the anxious one, Anna ran towards the car and Oli ran into her wide open arms. It was as if they had spent weeks away from each other, but it had been just a few hours. She hated that she had to be away from our son for any period of time whatsoever and in her mind, that was all my goddamn fault.

"Missed me much, chére?" I asked her jokingly. I just love teasing her. I took in the beautiful sight of my estranged wife and realized I was holding my breath for a second. She still had that effect one. Always did! From the moment I first laid eyes on her until that very day.

"It's almost dinner time for him and you know it." She replied bluntly.

"Nothing to worry about there, mon amour. I'll make him his all-time favorite Daddy's mac and cheese." I told her.

She didn't look too pleased that I was using one of my favorite endearment names for her and frowned at me. I wished she'd just let me kiss that cute angry pout of hers away.

To make matters worse, Anna was looking so damn hot and pretty in that cute flowy dress of hers. I don't know if she did it on purpose or if she thought I'd have forgotten about it, but we had made love a couple of times when she was wearing that very same dress. I could just close my eyes and feel my hand running up her thighs, inebriated by her soft moaning, brushing that very same fabric aside.

"Let's go, Daddy! I'm hungry! Aren't you?" Count on Oli to cockblock us. Even when the action is going on inside my head only!

We headed to the kitchen and Rogue followed us eagerly. She had missed our boy and made sure she showered our little one with a million questions about the zoo and our fun day out. I had invited her to go with us, but she wanted to make our separation official by determining each of us should have an exclusive day of the weekend with Oli.

Seemingly, that's one of the things separated couples do. Since we cannot split our son in half, we have to spend time with him at alternate times. She was kind of breaking into my first day with Oli, which I bet my ass she wouldn't appreciate it if it were the other way around. But what's a boy in love supposed to do? We hadn't been this close to one another since that disgraceful day.

"You know, you don't have to do this." She said when she saw me busying myself in the kitchen, getting all the ingredients, and setting them on the counter.

"Why not? You mean I don't have to cook for my son? It's more than a pleasure." I replied honestly.

"I just thought you had places to be, with that woman..." She let it hang in the air, trying hard to sound neutral, tone of voice completely flat, but her words were charged with assumptions and jealousy.

I rolled my eyes at her. It's not like me rolling eyes at her, or anyone, for that matter. But I've told her a million times Joelle and I are not together. I also asked her to just go and absorb me already so she can learn the truth and stop this nonsense. But you know, she's as stubborn as a mule.

'There's absolutely no need to go down that road. I saw more than enough of you and that woman naked as it is.' She would always say.

"You say this is my assigned weekend day with Oli. So I'm going to make the most of it. I'm feeding him dinner, also doing bath time, storytime, and bedtime." I told her assertively, she simply nodded and after that, she never said another word to me. But still, that was our longest conversation in two weeks.

Following my words, there was that brief moment of silence when she looked at me right in the eye, something she hadn't done in what seemed to be ages.

Our eyes locked for a second longer than they should have and I instantly found myself sucking in a long deep breath. My wife mirrored my reaction. I know she felt it too, that familiar longing. My heart was pounding, the blood in my veins turned to fire and I needed her like humans need oxygen to stay alive. The warmth in my heart and the desire that shot straight to my groin were overwhelming. I turned around and busied myself with dinner preparations in order to snap out of that craving for her body.

In just a few minutes the mac and cheese was ready and being served to Oli.

Completely oblivious to our yearning and desire, Oli happily cleaned his plate. Much to my disappointment, the moment was gone and she was back to avoiding looking at me as if I was Satan himself standing right in front of her. Too bad for her I'm the devil all right. I'm the devil to whom she sold her soul already. Love like ours is forever binding and it doesn't just fade away like that.

Once Oli finished eating, she told me she'd do the washing up and I could play with him a little bit before bedtime. And so we did, we played tag a bit through the halls and also our Jedi masters pretend-play until I checked my watch and announced it was bath time.

When Oli was finally all snug and comfy in bed, he asked me why he couldn't have mommy and daddy reading a story together anymore.

"Have I done something wrong, Daddy? Are you and mommy mad at me? Why can't I have the both of you?"

That was a punch in my gut. The pain of that realization threatened to knock all air out of my lungs: My poor son was hurting. He was caught in the crossfire of our love wars. I had to battle the urge to pour out my feelings in front of my boy. The poor little one was miserable enough already as it was.

Thankfully, I managed to keep a straight face, making an extra effort to maintain my usual tone of voice as I spoke.

"We're not mad at you and I'm going to prove it to you. Do you want mommy and daddy to read you a story? I'll get mommy to come over here, mon bebé."

"Hey, I'm not a baby!" He complained vehemently.

"Flash news to you, little fellow. You'll always be mon bebé." He teased the boy while firing a text in caps locks.

"GET HERE RN! OLI THINKS HE'S BEING PUNISHED!"

There was no need to get into details. Rogue understood immediately what that meant and reached her two men as fast as she possibly could.

She joined me, sitting cross-legged on the floor while Oli was snugly tucked in bed. Before, she used to sit on my lap, but of course, not today. And obviously, Oli being the smart one he is, he noticed. He watched both his parents with curiosity. We read him The Gruffalo like we used to. Hell, we don't even need to read it anymore. We knew each line by heart at that point.

Then, all of a sudden, probably having decided he had observed enough and was ready to draw his conclusions he raised the most impossible question.

"Mom, why don't you kiss Daddy anymore? You two used to kiss all the time!"

Visibly uncomfortable, Anna avoided Oli's eyes, instead, she glanced my way. Her eyes were glinting with tears, I noticed. She swallowed them silently, so Oli would never notice, but I did. All those feelings in show, raw, throbbing, it was more than I could handle. Fuck it, I was breaking the rules for his sake.

"Oh, she still kisses Daddy, mon bebé. It's just that she doesn't want you to see it." I told him and with that, I kneeled in front of her, cupped her face gently in my hands, leaned in, allowing my lips to brush hers gently. I took my chances, knowing damn well it could all backfire. She could push me away right in front of Oli, but she didn't.

Instead, to my surprise, what was supposed to be just a pretend kiss for our child's benefit, turned into something deeper and more meaningful. I'm forever under that woman's spell and I guess the opposite is also true. The moment we shared even the slightest of touches, it all unraveled. She kissed me back with unexpected passion. How badly I had missed her touch!

So many meaningless kisses I've shared with other women before, but with her, my lovely Anna, it was always charged with so much love and emotion. Perhaps, after all those torturous years we have spent longing for each other's touch, the ability to connect physically is one we never took for granted.

Curiously, she deepened the kiss despite all that hurt I could still feel emanating from her when she looked into my eyes just before I kissed her. And I, I just wanted to be able to kiss her pain away, to make her trust me. Fuck, all I wanted was for her to believe me, believe when I said I had never cheated on her. How could I? My wife and my son are my whole life. How come she doesn't know that?

Our lips parted while our son was still sitting up on his bed, cheerfully clapping his little hands, cheering on us. He wanted was for his mom and dad to go back to the way he remembered. Was that too much to ask for?

Anna instantly pulled away from me, glanced at me for a second, and frowned. I saw the disapproval in her eyes, but Oli didn't notice. Guilty as both of us were feeling, we stayed with him until he fell asleep. Anna stood up and left his room as soon as she realized Oli had finally gone down for the day.

"You! Out!" She said. "I need to have a word with you." I complied and followed her out of his room and into ours, I mean, hers. No, ours. Bon, you get the idea.

"So, chére, just moi et toi now, huh?" I tried my luck, flashing my best smile at her.

"What the fuck, Remy? You get to play with my feelings, fuck with my life, fine! But you don't get to play with my son's feelings, you hear me?"

"Our son! And I ain't never playing with you or Oli's feelings!"

"Bullshit! We don't feed him with false promises! We should have taken that opportunity to explain what is going on. But instead, you kissed me in front of him!"

"You didn't protest. In fact, you seemed to enjoy it as much as I did."

And that's when she had enough of my impertinence and decided to deliver a slap across my face. But you know, There's absolutely no way to get pregnant from kissing, no matter how much tongue is involved. So, of course, there's more to it. And for the record, it wasn't my fault.

- o - o - o -

To be continued...

Chapter Text

The First Accident

Anna has always been the stronger of us two, that's not a secret to anyone. However, we both know that I've always been faster.

This thief here has always been one step ahead, so it was no surprise when I promptly held her offending wrist when she tried to land a slap on my face.

It took her a second to register that she hadn't smacked me senseless and that I was holding her instead. That lopsided smirk of mine slid across my face before I could stop it. I know she hates it when it means I'm inwardly gloating because I have the upper hand in any given situation. That second of disbelief was gone and she immediately proceeded and tried hitting me with her free hand. Again, I held her in place.

She panted lightly while I held both her wrists into my grasp, her eyes were bewildered as she stared at me. There was no struggle, she just let me hold her wrists and watched me with one eyebrow raised. I couldn't hold it any longer and I snort laughed at her.

Obviously, she could have easily shaken me off, but instead, she was frozen in place. Her breathing was labored, the hatred storm was building up. Her vivid green eyes peered at me; brows were firmly knotted together.

My wife was visibly stunned, paralyzed. She must have been trying to make sense of her feelings. In hindsight, I should have known better than that, she was a ticking bomb about to go boom. Believe me, when I say this, I'm an expert at things that go boom. It was definitely no coincidence that I ended up marrying my southern belle with some serious temper issues. I am enthralled by things that explode. The more explosive, the better. Hell yeah, I've picked the most perfect woman in that department.

"I hate you, Remy LeBeau! I fucking hate you! I hate you for getting my feelings all confused, for making me feel this way! I don't want to feel this way! You're a filthy cheater!"

You'd think she would say these words by pushing me the hell away, but nope. She was still there, as pretty as a picture, with those pretty curls untamed, bright green eyes that reminded me of delicious olives and her amazing body, all right there within my easy reach. It was the ultimate torture to see her that close and not do anything about it. I had Mc Hammer saying "Can't touch this" in my head. We should have played that song at our wedding, after all, it was pretty much the theme song of our relationship way back when.

"Chére, I've never cheated..." I tried to say, but she wouldn't let me speak. And she'd made up her mind. It was pointless, I knew it.

"I hate myself for having ever fallen for your sweet talk and that cute ass of yours. You! You! I just hate it that you still have this power over me after all you've done! You're a dirty liar and a cheater! I hate you!"

"Chére, I never meant to hurt you. And for fuck's sake, how many times do I have to say that I have never cheated on you. I... I love you, mon amour. Je t'aime!"

"Fuck you and your French, Remy! I know you're just trying to get under my skin." She hissed.

She was raging mad at me. I just knew she found my somewhat patient and collected way of speaking to her infuriating. Also, my constant denying of what she assumed were facts made her want to kick my ass all the way across the planet.

As for me, I saw her mad at me and it made my heart melt with love and desire for her. Oh, Anna! My sweet Anna! Love is a word that doesn't seem to cover all that I feel for her.

At that point, I was pretty much her Pepé Le Pew and she was my Penelope Pussycat, running to the hills, trying to get the hell away from me. Now that I think about it, both of them even have a white stripe! Now that was a funny coincidence!

I let her curse and call me names some more while I entertained those silly thoughts in my head. Then, her lips stopped moving and she gave me that intense look. Her silent stare destabilized me, emotions ran deep. I was feeling overwhelmed, my heart overflowing with love for her.

There was this uncontrollable heat rising from my stomach to my chest. And I just knew that I needed that woman of mine. There's something about the way she looks at me when she wants my head served on a plate. That has always been the case, since day one. Yeah, I know. I have a death wish. My shrink has always told me this ain't healthy behavior. Good luck telling that to my Remy Junior. I was half-mast already and was putting in an extra effort to keep my poker face in place.

Being so close to her, I could smell her, that delicious scent of hers I know so well. It was hypnotic, so goddamn inviting. All of my body reacted to her instinctively, as it always did. I leaned in for I was starving for her. My lips had a life of their own, they were attracted to hers like magnets. I was almost kissing her when I finally was able to hold back and reign it in. I took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. Her breathing had quickened; I could tell.

'I hate you! I hate you!" She went back to repeating those words as if she was trying to convince herself that's what she should feel.

"Sorry to hear that you hate me, chére. I feel quite the opposite way about you but I don't think there's any point in telling you that, is there? Because I love you and you already know it."

The tension in the air was tangible, so I released the hold. I had even forgotten I was still holding on to her all that time.

Her arms and mine fell to our sides. However, I did not attempt to widen the distance between us. She didn't seem inclined to step away from me, either.

I knew damn well what I wanted. I wanted her. But I'd never go and trespass her boundaries. Not with all that was going on between us. She thought I didn't love her enough to remain faithful to the vows we shared. Surprisingly, she was the one who threw in the towel.

On an impulse, she cupped the back of my neck with both her hands and kissed me deeply. Such passion in those kisses! Maybe passion isn't the right word. It was a need, some sort of desperation. Hunger, perhaps? No, I take it back. It was more like an act of surrender. Neither of us could breathe for a second. She got me gasping for air, my head was swimming. All I could do was kiss her back with the same intensity she was showing.

For a moment, I was in doubt if it was safe for me to respond to her sweet caresses. She was in a trance and I was afraid something I did could break the spell. When she started tugging at my shirt, I knew for sure it was okay. Her lips never left mine as she started to undo the buttons on my shirt, each one of them. Then, she slowly lowered her hand down my stomach and into the top of my shorts. My heart must have skipped a beat at that moment.

All I could hear was the sound of our breathing, our lips moving, and an occasional moan here and there. Those sounds were dominating our surroundings and they set the mood. It all seemed like a blur of colors and sounds. It felt rushed, but I didn't mind. Before I could register what was happening, she had hurriedly got me out of my shirt and shorts. I was pretty much her ragdoll at this point.

Once she got me completely naked, she pushed me hard into the bed, our bed. The look in her eyes sent me a mix of signals. Should I be excited or fearing for my life? I had barely touched her body and hadn't removed a single piece of her clothing, scared as I was that she'd say I was wearing out my welcome.

To my utter amazement, she sat on top of me. Facing me, she straddled me, then she went back to kissing me, just like that. As if nothing had happened between us, as if she hadn't just told me she hated my guts.

Saying I was overwhelmingly confused would be an understatement. She rubbed her sex against me, tantalizing me, putting my sense of self-control to the ultimate test.

Eventually, I decided to play along and join in the fun. Throwing care out of the window, I was determined to get myself some as well.

I ran my fingers up her thigh testing the uncharted waters that her angry loving was. As she didn't seem to mind it at all, on the contrary, her sweet moaning intensified, I freed her delicious body from that cute flowery dress of hers. She raised her arms above her head as my fingers traveled up her body, carrying her dress with them. She unglued her lips from mine for a split second, permitting me to undress her by doing so.

Like Madonna, I was feeling like a virgin. This was so surreal, that was my wife. The only wife I have actually shared my life with, for five years and there we were acting like strangers on a club bathroom stall. I took a deep breath before I unsnapped her bra and those glorious perky breasts of hers popped into view. They were so reachable, right there, literally under my nose. So I began working on them, the way I know she loves.

Just then, she stopped kissing me. Oops, had she finally snapped out of it? Her eyes set on mine, somehow dark, so goddamn sexy. All the while we were not saying a single word to each other, but communicating through our eyes, touches, and gestures only.

When she broke our eye contact and pursed her lips sensuously, I knew what was coming next. She took a hold of me and guided me into her.

Her walls stretching against me and the loud moan that escaped her lips was more than I could take. So I thought 'Fuck it!' Quite literally, in fact. I held onto her hips and pounded into her vigorously. Her response to that was pulling my hair so hard that she forced my head backward, it fucking hurt when she did that. She starting planting little kisses all the way up my neck and jaw, I couldn't hold it back and let out a deep groan.

After our son was born, our sex had been pretty much vanilla. Loving and tender, make no mistake, we played dirty, very dirty, but there were a million I-love-yous and hand in hand while our bodies did what they did best to one another. So I wasn't really used to her ways but was totally eating that attitude of hers. We changed positions a couple of times, but she was always the one on top. It was a way of saying 'You listen to me here, Mr. I'm the fucking boss in this little rendezvous.'

Finally, I managed to flip her over and get on top of her. She gripped the pillow in her fists and I breathed hard over her, hot air down her face. Her eyes were shut tight, she bit on her lower lip as if her life depended on it. But then, something very curious happened. She ran down her fingernails down my back like it was no one's fucking business. I know what she was doing, she was marking her territory.

That only came to show that she did believe in her heart that I had cheated and that I had magically moved on and was in a romantic relationship with a woman I had just met. How come? Doesn't she trust me at all? That shit hurt way more than those stinging deep scratches she was leaving on my skin.

She certainly thought she was being so clever using my back and shoulder like a blank canvas for her art, but no daring to mark me anywhere near where people who were not intimate with me could see, like my neck, for instance. Oh, chére. You don't pull stunts like that on me and get away with it. I laid down on top of her and kissed her neck up and down while she was rocking her hips against mine.

She didn't even notice when I planted two hickeys on her neck. Two can play at that game. I could already hear 'Roro saying in my head. 'That's so very mature of you!'

I don't know how long passed us by, but I came when she was on her fours. She came with me and it was awesome. She slid onto the mattress, laying on her stomach and I laid by her side. I knotted my fingers together and had my hands for pillows, I was so relaxed.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked me as soon as her breathing went back to normal.

"I'm catching a breath after making love to my wife. Is there a problem?" I replied calmly.

"Well, yes, there is. Get your stuff and go. You no longer have a wife since you up and left with some other woman."

"Last I checked your last name was still LeBeau. My ." I said and blew her a kiss, testing her patience, and got what I wanted. She was furious at me.

"Remy, please. Don't make this any harder. Just go." She spoke softly. I'd rather she would have yelled at me or tried to slap me again. But she just seemed tired, as if she didn't have the energy to fight me anymore.

"Anna, no! I refuse! I'm not going anywhere until you tell me exactly what has just happened here between us and what it means."

"Well, I guess it's pretty obvious, isn't it? You know what happened..." She flashed me a sad smile if there ever was one.

"Bon, what I know is that we made love. And for me, it was amazing to be intimate with you. I've missed you so much! So, if you made love to me, it seems that you feel the same way I do about you."

"Remy..." She tried to reason with me, but I wouldn't let her.

"Anna, please! Just let me stay and sleep here with you tonight. We can make it work, chére."

"Remy, we had sex, all right? That was all. Anger fuelled sex. You're living with that woman, for God's sake! What else can I say?"

What she doesn't know is that the apartment I'm living in right now is actually mine. I bought it for us as a safe house, and I never told her about it. Years pass by, and I'm still in the business of keeping secrets from her.

She thinks I moved in with Joelle, but it's the other way around. I let her stay because she's a grieving woman who just lost her daughter. Her house was sold to pay off medical costs, it seems Remy from the future had some business with her. She helped him out or something so I let her stay. It was clearly a poor decision on my part. But now I don't have it in me to just throw the woman out the door like some unwanted present.

"Do me a favor, Remy. For the sake of what we have ever been to each other, I need you to go, I need to be alone right now. I'm confused, I'm kind of hating myself for throwing myself at you like that. I don't know what got into me, I just couldn't help it, I don't want to have to explain myself to you, either. It's just happened."

"Chére, I just think that you did, I mean, we did what we did because we still love each other."

She shook her head and I could see the tears streaming down her face. She was still naked, sheets pooling over her lap, but she didn't care enough to cover her torso. She was a vision to behold. I decided there was no point in pressing the matter any further and I decide to comply with her wishes. I got dressed in silence, feeling now every single one of the scratches on my back stinging. Before I left her, I bent down and with one single finger, I held her chin up and kissed her gently. That kiss tasted like a sad goodbye.

If there's one thing I learned after our steamy night together is that angry sex is nothing but avoidance. It was all about Anna avoiding dealing with her feelings of anger and expressing it that way. Our loving served her well as an escape from painful feelings. And, let me tell you, my sweet Anna has always been notoriously famous for her inability to communicate her feelings and going for an easy way out instead. If I could get a dollar each time she just up and left me or literally flew away from me, I'd be a rich man by now.

That night I found an empty room for guests in the mansion and crashed for the night. The next morning, I woke up determined to show my wife how mischievous and devious I could still be. Remember what I said before? I love getting my Anna mad and also, trouble. I love myself some trouble.

Bobby and Logan had just been to the danger room were heading straight after they headed to the showers and it gave me a wonderful idea. No, it was not a wonderful idea, as you might have guessed. It was the idea of a man who was feeling used and wanted to get back at his wife slash abuser slash love of his life.

I had a shower myself and was parading in the dressing room, I wanted him to see it and so he did.

"For fuck's sake, Remy LeBeau! What animal did that to you?" The Iceman asked me with his jaw wide open, theatrically exaggerating his surprise.

My only reply to him was a smirk.

"What an asshole! You are proudly showing off what that bitch did to you! You are unbelievable! Have you no shame at all?"

"I'll let my wife know you called her a bitch."

"No fucking way! You and Anna? She was the one who did this to you? Noooooo!"

"I'm not the one to kiss and tell, but I guess the hickeys on her neck are quite a tell-tale..."

Bobby hurriedly left. He can't keep that kind of information to himself. He would certainly find Rogue, give her a piece of his mind and chaos would ensue. You see, that's what a broken-hearted man can do. And no, I'm not proud I did that. But oh, well, c'est la vie!

-o-o-o-o-

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

There are very few things in this life I love more than seeing my wife mad at me. Call it what you want, an appetite for danger, a tendency to seek self-destruction, low self-esteem, I don't care. I just fucking love it. It's such a thrill!

Maybe some sort of nostalgia plays a role in this preference. Kurt usually tells me it's a borderline fetish. Laura says I must have a death wish. They don't know what it was like to be in my shoes when it all started.

Back when Rogue and I first met, it all began with frustration on my part, anger on hers. The very first time we met, we made out and it was so hot, truly amazing! So I didn't get why she wouldn't want a replay of that fuckingtastic lip action. So, I would go chasing her, she would be hating on me, pushing me away like I was the devil himself. She would be constantly shoving me out of her way with her brows firmly knot together and her plump lips showcasing some serious pouting. I loved it!

At least it was a sign my advances had some sort of effect on her. Let's not forget my boldness! She seemed to hate that, later she told me it was just pretending. Secretly she loved the attention I gave her. She told me she was over the moon because someone as hot as me, her words, not mine, would want to be around her that bad.

How I loved the scenes she used to put on for my benefit! That beautiful pout on her delicious lips, arms crossed over her ample chest, cute green eyes giving me a mean eye roll, and those angry stomping feet... My mouth waters just thinking about it. What a vision to behold! Man, I'm a complete sucker for that attitude of hers. And that takes us back to our second 'accident' which I can openly admit, it was entirely my fault.

So, that morning, the morning after the anger-fueled love we had made, I paraded my well-fucked piece of ass as much as I possibly could around the mansion. I also made a point to keep the scratches and the hickies she gave me perfectly visible. The rest of the news spreading was the work of Bobby's unstoppable taste for gossip. He was sure to circulate the story around and I knew she would be furious when she realized everyone knew. I'm not proud of it, but at that moment I wanted her to feel that way. I wanted her to hurt like I was hurting after being kicked out of my bedroom, again. This time after making sweet love to her. How cruel!

I yearned for her anger because she had broken my heart to pieces when she told me to beat it after we made love. It was so unfair, my heart was filled with expectations. For those hot passionate moments I felt hopeful, so stupidly positive that we would mend things between us, that she would forgive me and realize I may have left on an adventure without letting her know, but I would never ever have cheated on her.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: The Sweetest Moment

After that escapade in my office, Rogue and I started the weirdest affair ever. In front of everyone, she hated me and avoided me like the plague. Well, to be honest, she did detest me all of the time except for those fleeting moments when we were in each other's pants. Hidden from everyone, we had numerous quickies in the following month. While no one knew or even suspected.

The mischievousness of our forbidden love and secret-keeping cut it for me. It was a wild explosion of emotions and sensations whenever it happened. We would bump into each other in different spaces within the mansion and she'd look at me as if I were a plate of food and she was hungry and that would be it. One of us would simply nod our approval and the nearest closet, bathroom, empty office would witness our hungry, raw, almost animalistic way of loving. There was such passion in those amazing love sessions that were seasoned with a little sprinkle of hate.

The most ridiculous part is that none of us would ever mention it, not even to each other. Sometimes it felt like it was all just in my head. To the point that sometimes I would even question my sanity.

'Did that really happen? Has my estranged wife just jumped me, cornered me like I was a prey, taking all of me into her mouth, sucking me until I cum, and then just left, licking her lips, without saying a single word?'

'Have I just pounded into her, fucked her senseless for mere 15 minutes inside the supply room?'

'Did I really tear her panties to shreds and she didn't even complain?'

Our lust-filled encounters sounded like a product of my imagination, except that they did happen, repeatedly. Sometimes she would interrupt the action to slap me across my face, scratch my back, pull my hair violently or worse, and the pain she caused, the marks she left in my body, made me absolutely sure it was real.

I tried to bring our shenanigans up once when we were discussing pick-up times for my weekend day with Oli. I needed to know what we were doing. Was it just sex? Were we enemies with benefits? Or, as I fervently hoped, was that a new beginning, a promise that maybe she was warming up to forgive me? And, most importantly, I wanted to know why the hell we couldn't just be back together when we were at it like bunnies.

"What is it, chére? How come we keep coming back for more of each other, for all that sex, and we're not together?"

She stared at me incredulously for half a second, mouth open, lips curved into a beautiful O. Then she closed her eyes, rubbing her temples for two seconds, and shook her head in disapproval. Without saying a word in reply, she just resumed her conversation about Oli as if I had never asked her about any of it. Fucking unbelievable!

However, despite all those desperate quickies and avoidance to talk about it, one key thing did change, after a while, she wasn't as hostile towards me as before. We had our talks strictly about Oli, but she wouldn't throw in accusations and insinuations that I was fucking Joelle on the side. Curiously, by then, to unsuspecting eyes, it seemed like we were one of those sophisticated divorced couples. You know the type, those people who are no longer together but keep things amicable, except we weren't that. We were a mess and obviously still had strong feelings for each other.

Talking about Joelle, that one, she was driving me crazy and not in a good way. It seemed that my chére's intuition was right after all: Joelle wanted me in her team. During all that time that had elapsed, she never made any effort to get on with her life and look for a place of her own. When I offered her a place to crash, I meant temporarily. I thought I had made it clear, apparently not so much. She just wouldn't leave my apartment.

While she seemed to be in no hurry, I was growing impatient but was too embarrassed to ask her if she had found herself a job and a new place to stay. Sometimes it sucks to be the dutiful hero, you know? Why did I have to go and offer my place for her stay in the first place? Sure, it was tragic that her daughter passed and she claimed to have spent all her savings on medical bills, but my wife had just seen me with her naked! Of course, that offer, as kindhearted and innocent as it was, would be misinterpreted. Everyone thought Joelle and I were together and that didn't help me get my family back at all. Still, I just couldn't throw that woman out like an unwanted present.

At first, I thought it was all circumstantial, but then, I started noticing that Joelle was enjoying my company a little too much. If only my future self had also come to me with instructions. Why would he send this woman my way if she were trouble? Lately, I could see that she was trying to seduce me whenever she had a chance. She would cook for the two of us, lighting candles and setting up a beautiful table, trying to make it look romantic. Not to mention the fact that she was scantily dressed most of the time. She was always asking me to help zip up her dresses, to check some pimples on the back of her neck. Man, she came up with the craziest shit to get close to me and I was so not interested! Maybe another time, another era of my life, I can see that she's a beautiful woman. I would most definitely be at least sexually attracted to her. But now, I had a family to go back to, and a wife to prove wrong. A wife that I've loved and chased incessantly throughout the best part of my life.

Things had to change, or so I told myself. That Saturday morning, I finally lost my cool and the remainder of my patience when she made another clear advance. She came out of the guest room wearing a thin lacy robe only. The lack of any underwear was visible, I can assure you. I was having my breakfast when she slipped into the stool next to me. I almost choked on my food as I noticed her attire.

"Good morning, Remy," she said in a velvety voice. I took an unnecessary sip of my coffee just so I wouldn't have to say anything and reveal that her lack of clothing affected me. I am only a man, made of flesh and blood, you see. I'm not a Saint by any means, as I told you, she's a beautiful woman.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to have some fun to start the weekend on a happy note." She slid a hand over my thigh and leaned closer.

"Joelle, please, you know exactly what I'm going through and your presence here is not helping me, and now this? You can't be serious!"

"Come on, Remy. When will you wake up and open your eyes?Your wife already believes we have fucked! So, since you're taking the blame anyway, why waste this chance, huh?"

"Joelle, you are here because I thought you were a friend of my future self, and seemingly, he set me up to help you. That's what you had told me and so I went out of my way to fulfill his plans. But now, you see, you're pushing it too far, mon ami."

I was so angry that I couldn't even eat anymore, so I pushed my plate aside and got up. I needed space.

"Why are you taking the responsibility for the failure of your marriage if you did nothing wrong? I'm just saying, we should make the best out of a bad situation. She's already labeled you as a cheater, so why do you want to remain faithful to a woman who doesn't trust you? Your marriage is over anyway. I can't believe you are such a smart man, but can't see that. I'm the one who's here, I'm for real."

Her pleading eyes were fixated on me and it was unsettling. I took a few steps around the kitchen island, trying to gather all my courage to be completely honest to her and speak my mind.

"Chére, perhaps it's time for you to find another place, non? What you're offering... desolée, chére, but I'm just not interested."

"Are you kicking me out, LeBeau? When my daughter died, I thought you said you were going to help me as much as you could."

She just had to go there and play that card! I sighed in deep discontent. With narrowed eyes and my best indifferent facial expression, I delivered the final blow.

"That's the thing, chére. I don't think I can do this anymore. Everyone thinks we are together and I can't have this right now. Sorry, this is non-negotiable."

I wanted to have added that she could take her time but it needed to be done, but she left the room, stomping her feet angrily as she did so. When she came back, she spat out all the truth. She explained that her future self sent her a letter which my future self delivered to her. Confusing? Yes, I know! Future Joelle sent a letter with instructions for her to follow, her sole purpose was getting together with me. I was supposed to replace the empty hole her daughter left when she passed away.

Later, she informed me that we were in fact a couple in the, now, alternative future timeline, until I met Rogue and found out about her miscarriage and it all went to hell for Future Remy and Future Joelle.

"Sorry, chére. But your future self laid out a stupid plan for you. Didn't she get a front-row seat to witness how fierce my love for Rogue is?"

"I guess she forgot to mention that part." She replied, her voice carrying a hint of sadness. "But you see, I know the exact date when you're supposed to come from the future to this timeline. I'll be here when it happens, and I'll tell you that we are together and you'll believe me. The same way your future self believed the message you were carrying to me was an innocent one."

I was speechless. So she had it all figured out. My fall from grace was her sole intention all along. My jaw dropped as I digested the information. I was fuming at those words, hating her for her threats but before I could protest or say anything, she was headed to the door to leave.

"Goodbye, for now, LeBeau. I can't wait to be Oli's stepmom."

"Not if I can help it," I muttered under my breath while my hands balled into fists. I thought of setting to work and leaving myself reminders all over the place so that Future Remy knew about Joelle's plan. But then I checked the time and decided that would have to wait. I was late to pick Oli up for our Saturday together.

When I got to the mansion, 'Ro was outside with Oli. Rogue was nowhere to be seen, as usual. I suspect that more than not wanting to see me, she didn't want to have to say goodbye to our son. Not even for a day. Ororo seemed untroubled by my tardiness, even so, I offered her my excuse for being late.

"The later you are, the better for me as I get to spend more time with our prince here." She replied honestly. My son is the luckiest boy in the world because he's got so many people who love him fiercely. Auntie Storm is one of those people.

"That's very generous of you, Stormy." She rolled her eyes at me, she hates it when I call her that. "Do you have any message from my missus? Any instructions?"

"She told me she'd pick him up herself. She had to go and buy some stuff in town."

"Wow, she's gonna pay me a visit? C'est incroyable!"

"Don't flatter yourself! She said she needed to run some errands and would pick him up on the way home, claiming that way you boys get to spend more time together."

"That can only mean one thing: ma femme still loves me." Ororo laughed out loud at my hopeful conclusion.

"Well, I'm pretty sure she does, even though she thinks she doesn't. One thing is for sure, you guys have been acting more grown-up and that is a blessing. No one could take all that bickering anymore."

I nodded in agreement and started chewing the inside of my cheek as I thought about my wife and our current status of separation.

"Daddy, where are we going today?"

"I thought about going to the park, playing ball, we could also take your bike. What do you say?"

"That's awesome, daddy!" My boy replied with enthusiasm.

And so, we did that and many other activities. Oli is a very active child, with the parents he has, it couldn't be any different. No sitting around watching Youtube videos for that one. He loves being outdoors, playing, running or even building something. We spent the whole day in the park, only managing to have little breaks for snacks.

When he started rubbing his face too much and getting easily irritable as he lost any game, I realized it was time to go home. That is something Rogue can usually do better than me. She can predict when his batteries are about to run low before it's evident. So I carried him on my back as if he was my little monkey. I held his cute little behind while he held onto me, his arms firmly around my neck, head rolling from side to side over my shoulder.

"Daddy, I want to have a sleepover at your new house! I want to stay with you, can I? Can I? Can I?" He pleaded with that adorable little feet jumping up and down. His mop of chocolate hair splashed all around with the movement. How can I ever say no to him? He was not even asking for much, he has the right to choose. He wanted to be with me a little longer.

"I promised your mom she could have you back to her by dinner time." I said, trying to deter him. He knows his mother's ways and, clever as he is, he's probably figured out that I'm afraid to disobey her.

"But daddy, mommy can not resist me for a second. That's what auntie Ororo said. She said that when mommy let me have more dessert. What is 'resist', daddy?"

"Auntie means that your mommy just can't say 'no' to you."

"So, call mommy and I can ask for you. She will say yes." The little rascal offered, sounding very confident. "I know you're afraid of mommy. Sometimes she's not that nice to you but she's always nice to me. Or maybe not so much when I don't want to brush my teeth..."

As my son anticipated, his mother did not oppose him staying for dinner at my place but no sleepovers were allowed. It was agreed she would come to pick him up at around eight. By the time she rang the door, Oli had been bathed after dinner and was, predictably, fast asleep in my bed. We were watching The Incredibles for the hundredth time when his eyelids became too heavy and he slipped away to the land of dreaming.

As soon as I heard the bell I was out of bed with one fluid motion. I hurried to get the door. As I swung the door open, I got one good look at her and was unable to hide my surprise.

"Chére! You look... tired?" Her eyes were droopy, she had dark circles under her pretty eyes, not the way I'm used to seeing her. She looked like she hadn't slept in a week.

"Good evening to you too, Remy." She replied. Her tone of voice was non-confrontational, though. Her eyes scanned what she could see of my flat, probably looking for Oli, or perhaps checking that Joelle wasn't around.

"Sorry, mon amour. It's just that, never mind, I can assure you that you still look as pretty as ever. Please, come in." I unnecessarily opened the door even wider. She still wouldn't make a move. Her feet remained planted where they were, her eyes still searching around. I've recently told her the apartment is mine and why I let Joelle stay. She didn't believe that Joelle is my charity work project, but I showed her the documents. She knows the place is mine and I haven't moved in with anyone as she had imagined at first.

"Where's Oli?"

"He fell asleep in my bed. We were watching a movie."

"Has he brushed his teeth after dinner? Did you put him in the shower after you came home from the park?" She shot the questions right after my previous reply.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Sorry, I... I know you are more than capable of taking good care of him."

"So, come in? Please." Her eyes met mine for the first time since she arrived and they pleaded for an answer to the unspoken question in the air. So, I obliged. "She's not here. I told her she needs to find another accommodation solution. She didn't take it too well."

She didn't comment one way or another, only scoffed and finally made her way inside.

"Do you want to stay for a while and wait for him to wake up? It must be just a little nap." Both of us always avoided waking him up as much as we possibly could. I knew she wouldn't want to wake him up to bring him home with her.

"Do you mind if stay with him and wait there?"

A gentle smile spread on my face. I couldn't help it. She was asking if she could go to my bedroom, and lie down in my bed. The thought of having both people I love the most in the world safe and sound under my roof, all cozy and snug in my bed gave me warm fuzzy feelings.

"This place is yours as much as it's mine, chére." I told her and then pointed to my door. She gave me a curt nod and went inside my room.

I tried to busy myself in the kitchen, putting pans and dishes in the dishwasher, then I cleaned the cooktop, swept the floor... I was just itching to follow her and lay by her side. I was about to start scrubbing the tiles clean when I finally thought 'Fuck it!'

As in a thieving job for the Guild, I allowed not even the slightest of noises. Stealthily, I entered the room, and the vision that I saw as soon as I was there made my heart melt. My wife, the woman that owns this vagabond heart of mine, was fast asleep. Her body was curled into our son's. She looked so angelic, so far gone in her sleep. And my boy, the handsome little one the two of us made, looked so content next to his mama. And I, I just wanted to join them. Without thinking twice, I pulled the t-shirt I'd been wearing over my head and pulled up the blanket.

Once I'm next to my dearly beloved, I nuzzled in at her neck kissing her ever so softly just below her ear, she barely moved, but her breathing pattern gave away that my kiss had her awakened.

"Can I, chére? Can I sleep avec toi?" I asked in a barely-there voice, trying my best not to wake Oli up.

"I'm already in your bed, aren't I?" She whispered back. I tried to explain why I was asking that, but she shut me down.

"Sshh! You're gonna wake Oli up. He's down for the night."

And with that, she took my hand in hers, throwing my arm over her waist, making me hug her. Just like she had done a million times over before our marriage became this mess. After that, her breathing evened out again. In seconds, she was back to sleep.

The three of us slept that night close to one another in the safe harbor that my bed is. The very same bed from which my soul plays with the heavens, communicating in the language of the stars and feeling the sweetness of the soul-ether. And, mon Dieu, I couldn't remember a night as sweet as that one was. I would have happily traded all the sex we had that month for that night alone, when I felt like my Anna and Oli were home. I was their home.

Sadly, that sweetness wouldn't last. Remember how Joelle was mad at me for asking her to move out? Yeah, count on her to make my life a living hell. Clearly she wanted to make sure my conciliation with my wife wouldn't see another day. I'll tell you all about it some other time. Right now, I'm so broken, so furious, I'm gonna go drown myself in a bottle of bourbon.

Chapter Text

Homecoming

After that magnificent night, peacefully spent in the company of my beloved little family, a sweet precious morning followed. It was like everything miraculously went back to the way it was before. Like the first sunrays were out after a long turbulent storm.

Our little sunshine was the first of us to wake up, as expected. First, he unsuccessfully tried waking up his mom who was unusually sleeping like a rock and then managed to rouse me from sleep. I told him we should let his mama have her rest, so we tiptoed our way out of the bedroom and went to the open plan kitchen. Before I shut the bedroom door behind me, I stole another glance at her, she looked so serene, so beautifully peaceful in her sleep. It made my heart squeeze a little tighter, beat a little faster. Man, I love her so much!

While my son fiddled with his beyblades, I cooked us breakfast, made his favorite pancakes which we later ate sitting side by side. He was exploding with joy, there was a spring to his steps, a sort of twinkle in his eyes, his laughs came so easy, his smile was so bright. I could tell he was feeling that cheerful because his mommy and daddy both had slept with him the way it was when we were one happy family. Sadly, it is not a secret to anyone that our separation was having an impact on him. And it made things extra hard for all the three of us.

It was well past ten when Rogue found us playing video games in the living room, she was still rubbing her eyes, seemingly still heavy with sleep. When she saw the two of us sitting cross-legged next to each other she couldn't hold back a beaming smile.

"Aren't you two the spitting image of the other?" She commented lightly and only then Oli noticed her presence, as hypnotized by the game as he was.

"Good morning, mommy! You slept like a tree, huh?" Oli greeted her cheerfully. However, his eyes still glued to the screen, little fingers quickly firing at the controller.

"I think you meant like a log, Oli." I corrected him gently.

"Mmm... yeah, guess so, sugar. I was exhausted." His beautiful mama replied. "Remy! GTA? Again? I told you I don't want him playing that. By no means is this age-appropriate!" She scolded me as soon as she was alert enough to realize what we had been up to.

"Come on, chére! It's just harmless fun."

"Hardly!" She complained, glaring at me.

"So, Oli... Why don't we play another game?" I offered, trying to keep the missus happy.

"Come on, Daddy! You know this is my favorite. Do you want me to ask mommy if she'll let us play? She can't resist me for a second."

"Is that so, little man?" She asked him with one raised eyebrow, a little smile stubbornly forming in the corner of her mouth.

"Ororo was the one who told him that," I explained.

"It's okay. It's most definitely true." She finally conceded, her hands were thrown in the air in dismissal. Only then, her eyes sought mine. For a moment, she looked into my eyes, and time stood still as an honest smile spread on her lips. We stayed like that, eyes locked for a few seconds, smiling at each other like two fools in love. My wife looked as if she was hypnotized. She just couldn't look away and her train of thought was suddenly lost. Oli started dancing as he celebrated the fact that he had won a car race at the game he was playing and the diversion broke the spell we were under. Anna cleared her throat and walked to our son. She bent down and kissed him on the top of his head.

"In any case, we gotta go, Oli. Today is our day, sweetie. Aren't you excited for us to spend our mommy and Oli's special day together?" She asked him tentatively.

"I know but... I wish daddy could come too." He stated simply. Both their eyes shot right at me expectantly. His were pleading, hers were hoping I'd do what she thought was the right thing, say I couldn't join them.

"Well... er... Daddy has some work to do for your grandpa. Maybe next time, okay?" I lied to my son convincingly, my heart was breaking in the process, though. I just wished none of that was necessary. When they were about to leave, Oli said goodbye with a tight hug while Anna kissed me tenderly on my cheek. That was unexpected, and it was the kindest she had been to me up until that point. Of course, I'm not taking into account any of our 'accidents'. That was a separate element, a private show and not gentle or tender in any way.

I remember feeling so happy that day, even after they were gone. I felt like pinching myself, not quite able to believe she was that friendly to me. It seemed we were finally headed in the right direction, so much so that it took me by complete surprise what happened on the following days.

Monday morning, I arrived at the mansion half an hour before my first class, hoping I could catch her in the kitchen having breakfast. Perhaps, I could use my recent good fortune to chat her up, invite her out later, for a coffee or even dinner, if I was lucky enough. That would have been incredible, but it wasn't meant to be for she was nowhere to be seen. Later in the day, I was still casually looking for her, trying hard to "accidentally" bump into her. But that never happened either.

At lunchtime, Oli told me his mommy was going to see a doctor because she was sleeping too much. That was it, I decided right there and then that I was going to cross the line. She was still my wife, I had the right to worry about her. I picked my phone and called her but it went straight to voicemail.

Just then, I got a text message from Joelle. It contained an address. She was asking me to be her guarantor for a place she was hoping to rent. I wanted her to be out of my place so bad that I decided to meet her at the address she indicated. I was fervently hoping that would be the last thing I did for her and my hands would be washed clean of all that concerned her. I got there in time but she didn't show up. Still, I waited for a long while, I was so eager to get Joelle ready to move. But no one showed up, feeling upset that nothing worked as I'd planned that day, I decided to take a walk through the park to clear my head before I headed home.

The following day was when I realized how all of Joelle's web of lies and deceit managed to destroy the little bit of hope I still had. The moment I stepped into the mansion grounds I am met by looks of disgust and hatred. My 'good mornings' didn't get one single reply, something was up and I was still completely oblivious to the reason why I was getting so much animosity. Every step I took I felt like all eyes were on me and they were all very hostile. Even Jubilee passed me by and gave me an evil eye. The girl loves me! Or did love me, I'm unsure now. Such a shame, we have always been good friends. Finally, I crossed paths with Bobby Drake, my wife's best friend, who made it all abundantly clear.

"Le Beau, you got some nerve, showing your cheating ass here after what you did," he glared at me and pointed a finger to my face. Whenever Rogue needed him, his loyalty was fierce. To defend her, he had the most bitchy attitude. It was usually very noble but at the time it was so damn irritating!

"What is it that I did this time that everyone is hating on me? Everybody seems to know but it seems I didn't get the memo."

His response was a slow eye roll, followed by a deep sigh. I could tell he was completely annoyed.

"I don't care if you believe me or not. But I really don't understand what I did to offend everyone so badly. Care to elaborate, mon ami?" I insisted.

"Fuck that, LeBeau. Fuck you and your lies. No one is buying your stories. Ask your lover about how she answered the door to Anna yesterday, in nothing but your shirt, after having sex with you. You didn't even bother to show yourself and sent that slut to get the door. The poor girl went there to see you, to talk to you about something truly life-changing, only to witness, again, that you had just fucked that other woman."

"Anna went to my place yesterday? To see me? To talk? But I wasn't even there!"

"Don't act surprised, you asshole! Just stop it, this act of yours is utterly ridiculous. Enough already. You're a cheater and Anna has finally seen the light and understood that you're beyond repair. Expect divorce papers at your door very soon. Game over, handsome."

For some good few seconds, I just stood there, motionless and speechless while my brain clogs slowly tried to process the most horrible news.

"I haven't... That ain't true, homme! I wasn't even home! This is some terrible misunderstanding..."

"Yeah, right! And before I forget, I guess congratulations are in order. Well done, LeBeau. You did it again."

"What!?" I asked him, feeling confused. He didn't wait for me to get the message and just walked away. But after the shock of the news, I knew perfectly well what it could only mean. Rogue's constant state of exhaustion, feeling like she could sleep the whole day...

It was the same when she was pregnant with Oli. She didn't get the famous nausea and vomiting most women get, she got sleepy, just plain tired, that was all. And that must be why she didn't realize she was pregnant in Future Remy's timeline. It gives me the chills whenever I think about how she had a miscarriage and a version of me time-traveled to fix that. The thought of not having Oli in our lives is a tormenting one. I shook that thought off my mind and concentrated on the present moment. I headed upstairs, to look for her in our bedroom. She had to tell me the words herself, I hated it that I ended up learning about it through someone else.

Taking two steps of stairs at a time, I reached her door in a few seconds. Loudly knocking on the door in desperation, I called out her name repeatedly.

"Go away! I don't ever want to see you again!" She replied from inside without opening the door.

"Anna, please! Mon amour, please! We need to talk!"

Then I heard her sobbing on her side of the door. From mine, just silence. I got this horrible feeling, deep in my gut. Feeling somewhat queasy, there was this horrible dread that consumed my whole self, all because she was hurting. Hurting because of me. Minutes passed us by, I managed to control the panic attack that was threatening to engulf me, and went back to calling out for her but she just wouldn't say a word in reply.

"My feet will be planted here until you open the door for me and we get to talk," I threatened childishly.

After a few heartbeats, the door slowly opened and I saw my Anna, my queen, my queen of all things holy and meaningful to me. Her beautiful face was tear-stained, the exhaustion still clearly visible. I was pretty sure it was more than pure physical exhaustion, it was also emotional. That realization hit me hard, I knew she had finally had enough. I didn't see love shining in her eyes any longer. Even when she called me a cheater, claimed to hate me, I could still sense the love underneath the mask, the attraction. Not now, now she was completely blank.

"What are you doing here?" She asked confrontationally.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to know why everyone is hating on me, why... why you look at me as if you didn't love me anymore?"

"Why are you bothering me? Just leave me alone, Remy. For once and for all... please! I beg you."

"What happened, chére? Why such a change of heart? I need to know. On Saturday, it was so great having you guys over. We connected as a family that day, you can't deny it. I felt like we were headed back together."

"Yeah, right. Until you went back to fucking your girlfriend..."

"She's not my..."

"Please, Remy. For the sake of the love we once had for each other, just spare me from your lies," she interrupted me. Everything in her demeanor screamed that she was done with it all, her flat tone of voice, her eyes void of their usual brightness.

"Won't you tell me why you came over?" I asked.

"Oh, is that it? You want to hear it from me? I'm sure someone must have told you by now. But, fine, here it goes. I am pregnant, Remy. You knocked me up one of those occasions, on one of those accidents. I thought you should be the first one to know. That's why I went there," she said unenthusiastically.

"That's wonderful news, chére. We wanted it so much," I said, referring to the fact we had been trying for another baby before this mess started.

I smiled at her tentatively and tried to reach for her hand, but she pulled away from me.

"Well, you'll have full access to our child. I won't try to deny your rights. But I need to keep my distance from you. It is still too raw, it hurts too much, and dealing with this heartbreak the way we were doing before won't cut it anymore."

"Chére, I don't know what you think you saw..."

"It is over, Remy. I finally got it in this thick head of mine, we are hopeless and we are done."

"Non, chére. Don't you say that. We are still..."

Hearing my supplicant words, she gave me a saddened look that made my stomach churn. An awful sensation, she had enough. She gave up on us, she was letting me go for good, I could tell. If that hadn't been enough, she closed her eyes and shook her head as she delivered the final blow.

"Please, just go. I know you probably wanted to hear the news from me, so there, now that you have it, give me space. Let me breathe, let me live my life away from you. I need to let you go. This, us, it ain't healthy."

With those words, she shut the door using unnecessary force and it slammed loudly, dramatically. Needless to say, from that moment on she shut me out of her life too. And right now, I'm all alone here. My heart is shattered. It's just me and these crinkled pages. I am feeling as if the world has shrunken away to leave a cold void around my skin, as if I have become detached from reality itself.
I'm here without her, broken, shaking with rage, tears rolling down my face as I write this account of what happened. We were torn apart and I know this time around I did absolutely nothing wrong, yet here we are. It hurts me so much that her pregnancy started showing and I've never touched her expectant body. Sure I've been to scans, I've heard the heartbeats of the new life we have created, but it's all very distant. She won't even look me in the eye when we go out together for those medical appointments. She barely tolerates my presence, I am dead to her. I never thought I'd see that day in my life. I know for a fact that I was once everything for ma belle. I was the one that she could always lean on, the one she trusted. Trust... her trust in me is long lost.

My last hope is that future Remy will find this, and not believe Joelle when she says we have been an item all this time and that I chose to leave my wife. I would never choose this situation, I hope he knows that. She's just playing all of us. She broke my Anna's heart time and again. That woman is clever, she managed to con me. A con artist myself! But I can't let her win! I will make copies and hide these papers everywhere in this place, hoping that my future self finds this when our timeline crosses and future Remy is here without memories of all that's been during these five years.

I can't save myself, it's too late for that. But perhaps, I'll return the favor to my future self and help him out by leaving something that can help guide him on the way to reclaim the family I lost.

The living room was adorned with plants, with flowers in bloom, with calm pastels and soulful browns. Everything had changed, everything had her feminine touch. The apartment had been refurbished and redecorated to her taste and it now looked more like a cozy apartment for a family to spend quality time in than a bachelor hideout. The new decor touched his heart and soul. It erased the memories of those sad and lonely days when he came back from his time-traveling experience only to find the life he tried to fix turned upside down. The recent transformation was impressive. Anna turned his apartment into a place that invited the most serene of his daydreaming moments.

The handsome man was sitting primly in an armchair, legs crossed and fingers intertwined over one knee. The pages he had just finished reading lay scattered on the floor while his vacant eyes wandered. A few more moments passed by and his eyes fixated on the wall while his mind was racing, thinking about everything he had just learned. What is worse, he was feeling everything, feeling the heartbreak, the betrayal, the abandonment, a combination of those gut-wrenching emotions all at once.

Just then, he heard the door key turning in the lock, in came Oli skipping his way inside and Anna Marie with little baby Becca cozily nestled against the baby carrier her mother was wearing.

"Oli, go wash your hands." The boy's mother asked him. Then, she went into the apartment looking for her husband.

"Remy? Remy? Oh, there you are, sugar. Did you find your father's files? Are we leaving now or do I have time to breastfeed Becca before we go?" Only then did she realize he was too silent, his eyes strangely vacant.

Noticing the papers scattered on the floor she concluded that whatever was troubling him could only be linked to whatever information was in them. His wife proceeded to open the baby carrier and handed him their little one. Remy LeBeau held his delicate daughter in his arms and stared down at her in silence. Anna Marie crouched down and collected the papers and started to skim-read the writings in them for a couple of minutes while he concentrated his full attention on their baby. She was a most welcome distraction.

When she had read enough to understand why he was acting differently, she sat on the sofa opposite the armchair where he had been sitting and placed the pages neatly organized on her lap. She watched him cautiously, waiting for him to say something but he wouldn't say a word. When she finally had enough of the waiting game and opened her mouth to speak, he directed his eyes at her, as if he had just broken free from some hypnotic spell. His gaze was now focused, and it seemed to be piercing her soul.

"Why, chére? Why?" He asked, his voice carrying some sadness.

"Why? What do you mean? I mean, what part of it are you talking about?" Her heart was suddenly racing, hands grew cold. She wasn't expecting him to confront her about it.

"Why call it accidents? Why did they happen in the first place? Why would you treat him, me, that way?" She tried to speak, but he went on."You know, I may not have experienced these events described first hand, but it's still me, the same essence. Reading that, I could feel everything, I could feel it deep in my bones."

Anna put the papers away, stood up, and walked to the hallway to check on Oli's whereabouts. He was playing on his iPad. Satisfied her words would be out of his earshot, she walked back into the living room.

"Don't you think we're way past this? Why drag the past into the light?"

"I have the right to know. I told you about everything that went down in my timeline."

"Will it change anything? We're doing so great now..." She asked, throwing her hands in the air. Just then, he noticed her hands were slightly trembling.

"Is that what you're afraid of, ma colombe? Don't you know by now that nothing comes in between us? We've been through thick and thin and yet, here we are, still going strong. I only want to understand why."

Rogue released the breath she didn't even know she was holding. With the sigh her shoulders relaxed and her face lit up into the person her husband knew and loved.

"Okay," She started hesitantly, "I was embarrassed that I still seemed to need you after everything. I was so sure you had cheated on me, I saw it for crying out loud. But a part of me didn't want to believe it, a part of me believed you when you told me you didn't, and I still wanted you anyway. But I could never admit it to the others. Hell, not even to myself! So I lied to myself and everyone. I wanted you but I felt like I had to hate you. Because that's what I thought people expected of me... You are probably thinking I was a bitch for doing all that..."

"Non, chére. I know you, and I know your modus operandi. It actually makes sense that you would feel this way. It doesn't change the fact that it was quite mean. You could have told me, you could've just come clean about how you felt."

"Everyone would think I was an idiot. It took you coming back for me to realize all the truth, that I had been a fool and let myself get carried away. Most importantly, our love, our family comes first."

"And I, or past Remy, should have told you about Joelle and how she came with a letter that was delivered by me, asking for his help. If I hadn't been in the business of hiding things, it would have helped too."

"A-ha! Even you agree about that one!" She said, pointing her index finger at him in a jokingly way.

"A little trust on your part wouldn't have hurt either."

"I know," she said simply. "Listen, sugar, I know you've got the short end of the stick on this one. I never had to go through the pain of a miscarriage, I didn't have to see you moving on with another woman, while you, being the agent of change with your time-traveling, don't have the luxury of having all the sweet memories of our transformation from two young fools in love living a summer of love in Vale Soleada into the solid power couple we became. And for that, I thank you. And I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry for having been so easily manipulated and so quick to judge you."

She took a step closer to him, swept a lock of his hair that was falling over his face, and tucked in gently behind his ear. He rearranged Becca in his arms, bringing her little body across his chest to be able to bend down slightly so he could kiss his wife. His lips found the curve of her jaw, pressing a kiss to the hollow of her throat. She smiled at the sensation the sweet touch of his lips caused. Liquid heat nearly melted her heart, pooling low in her belly. Their shaky breaths mingled and her nose brushed his cheek, feeling the two-day stubble, she giggled.

"I love you, Remy."

"Love you too, chére." He replied before claiming her mouth. His lips covered hers and they moved passionately against one another. Her body longed for his, she wanted to do all the things he loved, but it wasn't the time for that. Baby Becca made sure they knew for certain it was not mommy and daddy playtime as she started fussing in her father's arms.

"Perhaps it's time for that feed." He told her as soon as their lips parted ways. She giggled and gently took their baby from his arms.

"It sure is," she replied. "But don't you even dream this over," she teased him.

From then on, nothing was a secret between them anymore. Later on, she read the pages his past self had written in full and the two of them talked about those happenings on other occasions but it was never an issue anymore. They came to the conclusion that they didn't need some bad memory card that they accessed over and over, reminding them of past errors repeatedly. Their good times outnumbered the bad ones by multitudes, and that's all that mattered at the end of the day.

The bond between those two souls had a palpable reality only the two of them could feel. They might have fiddled dangerously with the threads and webs of time, but the truth of their love remained untouched, unchanged and would remain that way for years and years to come.

The End *