Waiting is the Hardest Part

Waiting is the Hardest Part (R for language and mild sexuality)
Disclaimers: If you recognize it, I don't own it. Not doing this for profit, just for fun. I am a poor grad student and part time teacher so if you try to sue me you'll be wasting your time...

A/N Goddess Foxfeather will kill me one day for flooding her inbox. They'll find my body with little plotbunny claw marks all over it and she'll claim innocence... The idea for this fic came from Reimars and I'm not sure where she got it from (it was another comic but my mind is blank now... :( ) Title is courtesy of Tom Petty...the sexiest Mad Hatter around...lol.

Ten Years in the Future...

In the beginning, there was ice cream, and it was good. Kitty peered sadly into her empty pint of One Sweet Whirled1 and sighed. These days, it seemed like she could never get enough ice cream. Kurt had raised an eyebrow when he caught her eating it for breakfast the previous morning, not quite believing her excuse of PMS. "You're not due for two weeks, Katzchen...PMS isn't until next week."
"Well, it can be early. I've been under stress lately...besides, now that Rogue and Jubilee have moved back, my cycle's probably syncing to theirs..." Kitty shrugged.
Kurt sighed. "Great. A houseful of women with cramps all at the same time. Maybe Scott and I should get an apartment in town for ttimetime of the month..."
"Not funny, babe. Just for that, no kissies before class."
"Aw, man. I forgot I had to take the Danger Room session today. Damn. Hope these new kids aren't as big of troublemakers as we were!" He winked broadly at her and kissed Kitty on the tip of her nose. "Don't be late for your biology class." Over the years since they had graduated high school, the original set of mutants from the Institute had drifted away and back again, each coming to what they always felt was home. Professor Xavier was more than happy to have them back, letting them teach the new crop of teenagers that seemed to grow every day, having long since turned the Institute into a full-fledged school.2 Little outbuildings dotted the grounds of the Xavier Institute, affectionately called The Compound now by the kids and teachers alike. The students still lived in the mansion, but the teachers stayed in these little bungalows, living arrangements they found more than satisfactory.
Kitty sighed as Kurt ambled off to take the Danger Room session for Logan, himself gone on another trip to find Magneto, taking Storm with him as was his usual habit. _Not that Storm minded _ , Kitty reflected. She groaned inwardly at the thought of having to teach the botany class that day as well as her usual biology class. _I must be coming down with something...I think the flu is going around. As soon as I'm done with Storm's kids, I'm going to bed. Kurt'll just have to wait on our date. He won't mind...it's not like he doesn't see me all the time. I wonder if he put the trash out this morning _ ? "Kitty, you look terrible," Jubilee said, passing her in the hall.
"Thanks, Jubes...did it just for you," Kitty sighed, pausing to talk with her friend. "What're you so happy about?"
Jubilee was fairly glowing. "Promise you won't say anything? We don't want anyone to know yet..."
"Who's we and what is it?" Kitty could tell from the size of the smile on Jubilee's face that it had something to do with Remy.
"We're engaged!"
"Fuck me, you're kidding!" Kitty made a girlish squealing noise of happiness and bounced up and down with Jubilee. "When, where, how and lemme see the ring!" Giggling, the two girls walked together down the hall, heads bent in shared secrets, looking for all the world like two teenage girls and not grown women in their twenties, veterans of many battles and saviors of the world on more than one occasion.

"Kurt, baby, I just don't feel well..." Kitty groaned when the alarm went off for the third time. "Can't I just sleep in today?"
"You're supposed to give a test to Storm's class today," he said, adjusting his uniform around his tail. Kitty's green face and expression of sheer discrt mrt made him sigh. "I'll ask Beast to take your biology class and I'll see what I can do about thtanytany one...maybe the Professor will let them have it as a free period or something."
"I love you," she sighed, curling into a ball in their shared bed, twisting the sheets around her thighs.
Kurt crossed to her and felt her forehead, frowning slightly. "You don't have a fever...do you want Beast to come by after class and give you the once over?"
Normally, Kitty would have said no, but she had been feeling bad for three days straight. "Please?" she groaned. "Oh, God. I'm gonna be sick!" She phased through Kurt in her dash to the bathroom, making him cringe slightly at the sound of her being ill.
"I'll bring back some ginger ale before classes..." he called. "I love you!"
"Mmmph!"

Beast sighed and closed his bag, a ghost of a smile playing on his features. "So have you and Kurt talked any more about getting married?"
Kitty made a face and nodded. "Yeah...he really wants to do it now but I say, why mess with a good thing? I mean, we're happy now. The only thing that would change if we got married would be that we had a piece of paper signed by the county clerk."
"It's because of your parents, isn't it, that you don't want to get married?" Beast probed gently, looking over his clipboard at Kitty.
She sighed roughly. "Yeah, a little. I just don't like thinking of me and Kurt like my parents. I mean, they made marriage into a war zone and showed me that it can be used as a weapon. I know Kurt and I would never be like that, but still..."
"A Pavlovian response, eh?" Beast chuckled mirthlessly. "Well, Kitty, I think I know what your problem is but there is one more test I want you to take to be sure..."
"What is it?"
"The test or the problem?"
"Er...both."
"A simple urine test, like the one you had to take when you had the kidney infection. Just go in this cup and bring it out to me..." He handed Kitty a lidded plastic cup and motioned for her to go to her bathroom. She grumbled but complied, still slightly hunched from nausea.
"Here," she said, returning with the sample and handing it to Beast, only mildly embarrassed that he was holding her urine. "What do you think is wrong?"
"I really shouldn't say, but it seems to be contagious..." Beast smiled at her and winked. "You show every sign of being pregnant."

Scott, Jamie and Kurt drew up short at the sight before them. Seated around one of the long tables in the mansion's dining room sat Kitty, Rahne, Amara, Rogue, Jean, Jubilee, and Storm, freshly returned from her trip with Logan. A pile of snacks sat in the middlethe the table, the women each with a handful of something. "Hey, babe," Jean called, waving a pretzel at him. "Want some?"
"Uh, no...what's going on here?" Scott asked, brows creeping above his glasses.
Jubilee winked. "Girl talk..." With a flick of her wrist, she sent M&M's flying at the trio of males. "Now unless you have a vagina, scoot."
Jamie flushed. "That's it for me...later guys!"
"I'm right behind you," Scott murmured, following Jamie from the room.
Kurt lingered a moment. "Katzchen, I guess you're feeling better..." She had a handful of Saltines before her and was nibbling the edges of one, color back in her cheeks but an expression of nervousness in her eyes.
Kitty looked at the other women at the table and shrugged. "Yeah...a bit...Um, want to have our date tonight sin had had to cancel the other day?"
He narrowed his gaze at her but nodded. "Sure...see you back at the bungalow..."
Jean did a quick scan to make sure he was gone before hissing, "Are you going to tell him _tonight _ ?"
Kitty shook her head in the negative. "No! I mean, I'm still freaking out myself...I'm on the Pill and everything!"
"Me, too..." Jubilee sighed. She knew Remy would be overjoyed and overprotective, but she did not want to tell him of her pregnancy just yet, either. "We just got engaged," she murmured. "He's gonna flip."
"How do you think I feel?" Amara snapped. "Lance has already told me he doesn't want kids..." A flicker of fear danced in her eyes. "I'm not giving this up."
Storm laid a soothing hand on the Nova Roman's shoulder. "Lance loves you...he's just scared to be a father. His own father was a less than stellar example and he fears becoming that man..."
Kitty nodded. "I remember his dad...I don't blame him for being scared, really..."
Amara still scowled. "I'm not telling him until I have to..."
Rogue rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you're problem is, Amara. I'm fucking ecstatic!" She was grinning fit to burst and her eyes were sparkling. "I mean, I used to think I could never _have _ kids..." Years before, Beast had found that her mutation would allow her, for brief periods, to touch during times of optimum fertility. This led to the discovery that she would be able to carry a baby to term, her uterus a safe environment even while her extremities remained dangers to those who might touch her.
"Well, Jamie already suspects something," Rahne put in. "He caught me being sick for the fourth morning in a row and asked me if I were preggers. He was joking, but I think the idea is already in his head..."
"Haven't you two been trying?" Storm asked, still unwilling to share her joy just yet.
"Well, we haven't been not trying..." Rahne said, earning giggles from the other women. "Looks like you're the only one who escaped this pregnancy bug, Storm."
The weather witch averted hees tes to examine the wood grain on the table. Jean caught on first. "Oh, my God! You...you're...gah!"
Storm made sushing motions. "He can hear you!"
Kitty, smiling wide, said "He doesn't know yet? He can't tell?"
"It's too early...only a month. The hormones don't get going for another week or two yet..." Storm sighed.
Jean did quick mental calculations. "We're all about four weeks along...you know what that means?"
Jubilee snorted. "Yeah...we all got the same thing for Christmas."

In the end, they had decided to tell their partners individually, but on the same evening. Rahne had it the easiest. "Jamie," she said as they sat curled together on the sofa in their small house, watching one of those home video shows, "remember when I was sick this morning?"
"Yeah...you still feeling bad?" he asked, shifting to look down at her where she lay with her head against his chest.
"Well, a little sick...but I know what's causing it."
"Is it going around?" he asked with some concern, not only for his new wife but for himself and the students at the Institute.
"In a way..." she murmured. _Out with it, girly _ . "Jamie, I'm pregnant."
The resulting whoop of joy could be heard all across the grounds of the Xavier Institute.

Amara stared at Lance across the table. His words of almost a year before rung in her ears. "There's no way on earth I'd ever have , Am, Amara. It's just not me..." _Could've told me that before we moved in together. _
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, noting her stare.
_I am a Nova Roman princess. I am noble and brave. Lance, though I love him unendingly, is a peasant. I can do this. _ "I'm pregnant. Pass the turnips."3

Todd rubbed Rogue's feet through her silk stockings, smiling absently as she stretched, cat-like, and made a noise of appreciation. "Long day, babe?" he asked softly.
"You don't know the half of it...Remy scared the hell out of some first years with his cards and I had to go round 'em all up...one of 'em is telekinetic and sent this file cabinet at me...I just about choked him...Oh, there is good..." she sighed as he pressed his thumbs into the arch of her foot.
He still could not believe his amazing luck with Rogue. Despite some problems early in their relationship, they had been together for almost ten years. Todd was used to dealing with her mutation now, used to feeling her only through silk or the thin fabrics she wore to bed, the once-a-month frantic seeking for touch and the mfrenfrenzied lovemaking that always came with the window in Rogue's mutation. As always when he was near her, he wanted her. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her calf and was rewarded with a sigh of pleasure. Abandoning her feet for otpurspursuits, Todd kissed his way up her left leg, pausing only when he reached the hem of her nightshirt, then moving to kiss his way down her other leg. "Rogue..."
"Yes," she sighed. _I'll tell him in a minute... _ Todd snapped his tongue out and grabbed a small box on the bedside table, not wanting to leave the warmth of Rogue's body just yet, and removed a foil-wrapped packet, shifting as Rogue did, both of them going through their long-held routine of preparation in order to protect them both. She slid her arms around his neck and pressed his face to her silk-clad collarbone. He left a trail of damp kisses, felt through her nightshirt, down to her breast, capturing a peak between his lips and suckling gently. Rogue clutched at the pillow behind her head and groaned as Todd stroked her through her nightclothes, parting her thighs with gentle pressure before entering her slowly. She fought the urge to rake her nails down his back, mindful of his shirtless state. All she knew was pure bliss in that moment, feeling union with Todd, his murmured words and soft cries as she moved against him bringing her closer to the brink. _My world is perfect. _ Todd tensed above her and she knew he was close, holding back for her. She arched her back and ground against him, breaking the last vestige of control over her body. They crashed together, shattering stars scattering across their nerve endings as their wordlesies ies rent the quiet room. As Todd panted for breath, rolling off of her to remove the condom before returning to her side, Rogue knew it was the best time. "Todd, there's something important I have to tell you."
"What?" he panted, "are you pregnant?"
"Well... Yes."
Todd stared at her a moment. "I was kidding....I was kidding but...WAHOO!!!!" he cried, grabbing her up in his arms and swinging her off the bed. He did a mad, careening leap across the room and Rogue knew she was in for one hell of a nine months.

Jubilee had no idea how to tell Remy. His proposal had been romantic and everything she could ever had imagined-flowers, moonlight, poetry and a ring the size of Denver. But that was Remy, not her. She could not "do" romance. She could do seductive and she could do straightforward. _I feel too icky for seductive...Blunt it is then... _ "Hey, Gumbo, ever think of what you want to name our kids?"
He looked up sharfromfrom his game of solitaire to where Jubilee was watching Cartoon Network. "No..."
"Oh. Well, you got about nine months to figure it out."

Jean had it easy. "Scott, I'm pregnant."
"What?" he squeaked, dropping his glass of tea.
Jean looked up from grading papers. "I'm pregnant."
"Oh. Okay..." he swallowed convulsively, pinned by her steady gaze. A slow grin spread across his face and he cocked his head to one side. "How about Scott Junior for a boy?"
"Over my dead body, Scooter..." she growled, rising to kiss him on the nose.

Storm did not have to say a word. Logan passed her in the hall, sparing a squeeze for her hand. He froze as they passed, though, and turned on one heel. "How long?"
"What?"
"How far along are you?" He looked as scared as she had ever seen him but not ready to run.
Straightening, she said calmly, "About a month."
Logan blinked several times and said, "I'll be damned..." before smiling crookedly. "That's it...you're moving into my room tonight. If you're having my kid, none of this separate rooms shit."
Storm only smiled. "If you say..."

Kitty chewed her lip nervously. She wanted to tell Kurt. She knew he would be overjoyed and probably insanely affectionate until the baby was born, then he would be a fierce protector on top of it all, willing to kill or be killed to protect not only her but their child. _I just don't want him to propose again! _ Kitty _wanted _ to marry him-she had an entire binder full of wedding plans, things she had been collecting since their first anniversary back in high school, when they first started talking seriously of marriage. Kurt understood her reluctance but she knew it hurt him deeply that she did not want to get married as soon as they could get a license. She watched him as flew on the trapeze overhead, the old set the Professor had put in years ago for him creaking and popping as Kurt worked rigorously on his catch and release moves. He saw her as he executed a backflip mid-air, but still did not slow down, only coming down to kiss her when he finished his routine. "Mein Schatz," he murmured, making a conscious effort not to let his sweaty body touch hers.
Kitty surprised him, pulling him to her and kissing him deeply, despite his disheveled state. "I love you," she said earnestly.
"Me, too...is something wrong?"
"Does there have to be something wrong for a woman to tell the man she loves just that?" Kitty asked nervously. "Just...I love you."
"Katzchen, I've known you too long to think that you're not hiding something...what is it? Did you burn down the house or something?"
"No, no...nothing like that!" She pulled away and paced, hands twisting into knots. "Kurt, you ever think about having kids?"
"Of course! After we've been married a while, it's bound to happen....I think six is a good number, don't you?" he grinned.
"How about we start with one and see how that goes?"
Kurt chuckled. "Sounds like a plan...why bring this up anyway, Liebes?"
"Well, it's like this...I'm pregnant. A month pregnant." Kitty watched as Kurt's face first went blank, then looked ecstatic, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he sank to the floor. _Hmmm...next time, I had better come up with a better plan for telling him... _

TBC

1 I so love Ben and Jerry's.
2 Movieverse/comicverse moment. Deal with it... ;)
3 It's from a Molly Ringwald movie...I forget what it's called but she's a pregnant teenager and that's how she breaks the news to her family over dinner.