It was Christmas, Doctor Henry McCoy was extremely nervous, and was trying hard to hide it.  Two weeks leading to this special day, Cindy almost found out his secret on numerous occasions.  He nearly gave it away himself, wanting nothing more to just get it over with, but he painstakingly planned it all out.  He diverted her attention by announcing to the group that she was pregnant, which was immediately celebrated.

The team was genuinely excited by the news.  There hasn’t been a child amongst them, so new life was welcomed, especially one that made them want to fight harder for the future of all mutants.  The only thing that they weren’t too happy about was the fact that the news had been kept from them for a few weeks.

Henry, himself, still had trouble believing that Cindy was pregnant.  She wasn’t showing, but there was a difference with in her, she seemed to glow already.  He knew she would be beautiful during her pregnancy, he could tell. 

“Okay, I’m ready,” Cindy called out from the bathroom.

He straightened his oxford shirt and pants and waited patiently for his girlfriend to appear.  The door cracked open slowly and what he saw caught his breath. 

“Wow,” he whispered as he looked at the delicious woman before him, “You are absolutely stunning, my love.”

She blushed and smiled gratefully.  He touched her shoulder and kissed her carefully, not wanting the lipstick on him, and she giggled because of it.  He pulled back to look at her carefully.

Her red velvet dress fit her like a glove, showing off her curves tastefully.  The sleeves stopped mid forearm and the skirt flared out to just above her ankles.  Her hair was up so it showed her shoulders and neck a lot, which earned her a kiss on those spots. 

She giggled at his close inspection and said, “Get a good luck, buddy, because in the coming months I won’t look like this anymore.”

“You will be beautiful, Cindy,” he said caressing her face as he started to lose himself in the depths of her ebony eyes, “You are beautiful now.”

“You look great yourself, tiger,” she replied with a wink, “I sort of wish we could just stay here and play.”

“We will after the dinner, don’t you worry,” he said with a chuckle, she had a voracious appetite for him as well as he did for her, “Now let’s go before I get tempted.”

“Oh, I think you’re already tempted, love,” she said seductively and moved away from him and towards the door, “Let’s go, lover.”

He groaned inwardly and followed her downstairs, clasping her small hand until they were in the dining room.  They were greeted with a feast on the table and the X-men all dressed up to the nines.  They ate leisurely, enjoying the great meal that a caterer prepared.

The group went to the sitting room, where a grand fireplace was actually roaring with life.  They all had their presents out under the tree, which they each got each other and were now going to exchange them.  All the while, Cindy noticed Hank’s discomfort and was slightly puzzled as to why he was so nervous.  Then she thought that maybe he was worried that she might not like his present, but she would because it was from him.

Hank walked out with a large box and placed it in front of her with a grin.  She looked at him puzzled as she began to open the box.  Inside it was filled with various animals and objects that he created through his lessons.  She spotted a string and pulled at it, realizing that he chained the purple swans together.

He took some of the handful and carefully laid them beside her.  At the end of the chain was a tiny box, suspiciously small enough to carry something.  Hank took the box, got down on his knees, and opened it.  In the velvet box stood a one carat, teardrop shaped, platinum engagement ring.

“Cindy, will you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?” he asked and everything clicked in her head as to why he was so nervous, while he slipped the ring on her finger as she stared at him.

He waited for a long ten seconds before tears of joy slipped past her cheeks and she said, “Yes!”

He grabbed her into a passionate kiss while the X-men cheered happily, recording the event.  He pulled away so he could look into her eyes and whispered, “Thank you, thank you for everything, my love.”

“Thank you,” she said before capturing his lips in another kiss, breaking away reluctantly.

The women immediately pulled her away to gawk at the beautiful ring that now settled on Cindy’s finger, while the men broke out the wine and saluted.  Cindy just wandered just when they whipped out the camera and how many people were in on this little plan.  She grinned at her friends, the women were still playing with her hand, looking at the ring this way and that.

“Wow, he picked out a beautiful one,” Jubilee replied with a grin, happy that her closest friends were getting married.

“He did,” Cindy said grinning herself.

“Congratulations, Shugar,” Rogue said hugging the Japanese woman.

“Yes, congratulations, my child…well my dear,” Storm said, hugging her as well.

“Congratulations, Cindy,” Jean also hugged her, “welcome to the engaged club.”

“I can’t wait for me to not be the only pregnant one here,” Cindy muttered and noticed Jubilee with a rosy glow, which made Cindy quirk an eyebrow, “So when did you guys bust out the camera and how many knew about this?”

“Actually, we normally film our Christmas exchange,” the red head said with a smile, “Just incase there is something special happening.”

“Uh-huh, I don’t buy it,” Cindy stated, “I was here for last Christmas, remember?  We did nothing of the sort.”

“Okay, Maybe Remy knew about it and brought out the camcorder,” Jubilee shrugged but that was as far as she would go.

“I knew he had been nervous about something for the past few weeks,” Cindy said, changing the subject, “Now I know why, this was his secret all along.”

They finished with the night with eggnog, Cindy got the nonalcoholic version as well as Hank and Jubilee and the rest were fairly liquored up.  It was a grand time and Cindy was always within reach of the blue furred doctor, stealing kisses whenever she could.  Then they all went their separate ways, each making love to their significant other or dreaming about them.

 

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Epilogue

 

 

 

Cindy held the little girl in her arms and motioned for Hank to come closer with his own bundle.  She grinned at him and said, “You owe me, big guy.”

“I know, I know,” Hank said with a laugh, “I should never bet against a woman’s instincts.  She’s absolutely beautiful.”

“That she is, my love, what would you like to name her?” She asked looking at him.

“Angelina, after her mother, who’s my Angel,” he said and kissed her.

“Angelina it is,” she said with a grin, “Bryce, meet your baby sister, Angelina.”

The toddler, who was the spitting image of his father, blue fur and all, touched the little baby in his mother’s arms and grinned, “Sister.”

“That’s right, sweet heart, she’s your sister,” Cindy said caressing the two year old’s face.

“She looks just like you, love,” Hank replied as he sat on the edge of the bed looking at the blue eyed baby girl in her arms.

“But she has your lovely blue eyes,” She smiled at the baby, who looked almost like her save for the eyes, “We did great again, I wish there could be more.”

“Me too, but we’ll make them very happy,” Hank kissed her again, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ll be fine,” She stated with a pained smile, “It had to be done.  I knew it would happen this time around.”

“I still wish I could…”

“No,” she interrupted her husband, “we have two beautiful children and that is enough.  I would have died if you attempted to save my uterus, we both know it.”

“I know,” he sighed with a nod, “when did you become a doctor, love?”

“Instincts,” she grinned and traded bundles, “Bryce, are you going to help me take care of your sister?”

“Of course, mommy,” he said as if it was the obvious thing in the world, and it was to Cindy, the little boy and the baby will be doing great things long after Cindy and Hank McCoy turned into dust.

“Good boy, why don’t you go find Lissa and Aunt Jubilee, they want to play with you today,” She kissed his forehead and let Henry take him off the bed, where the little boy did as he was told.

“I always got this impression that you knew this would happen long before we even met,” Hank muttered with a slight smile.

She grinned and said, “Oh, but I did, dear husband, all the heartache and all of the love, I have seen.  Seen it all in my dreams and visions when things were at their worst.  Though I never saw your face, I did see the face of our children, I saw your arms and chest as you held me in the night.  So you see, you are my angel, Henry McCoy, you were the reason why I stuck it out so long…I had to see if it were true.  I’m so very glad that it became true.”

“Really?” he asked slightly surprised that she finally said something about it, she just pulled him into a kiss, which made him think it was all true.

“It was all destiny,” she whispered against his mouth, “all meant to be and we will no longer be blue no more.”

He kissed her once more and peered into her eyes, searchingly, catching a chill as he saw the truth and wisdom in her depths.  He had no doubt now, none whatsoever.  But he did suspect she had some latent abilities dealing with precognition though, time could only tell and he was going to be there for every step, for every word spoken, for every tear, and for every kiss.