Cravings

by Kerri

Scott was backing out of the garage when Logan knocked at the window. He reached over and unlocked the passenger door. "Where you going tonight?"

"Tacos. She wants tacos." Logan slid into the seat next to Cyclops. "You?"

"Ice cream. I thought for sure I'd gotten enough last night."

"Jokes on you, Slim," Logan chuckled. "Hank told me she an' Charlotte finished it off for breakfast."

"Where does it all go?" Scott wondered, pulling out of the gates. "She's eating more than you do."

"So's Char."

"She's got an excuse."

Charlotte's metabolism was unable to support her pregnancy without large amounts of food. Even the supplements Beast prescribed didn't take the edge off her hunger. Delivery wasn't too many weeks off. Having a four month term meant her body underwent major changes to accommodate the twins she carried. Lots of food frequently consumed helped, Hank told Logan. Only one month to go. He could do this.

Logan's shirt pocket rang.

"What's that?" Scott shot a sideways glance at him.

"Phone." He pulled it out and extended the antenna. "Yeah, darlin'? Chocolate? And pretzels? Yogurt covered pretzels? Yer kiddin'. No, no, darlin', don' cry, I'll get 'em. An' what? Chicken wings? Okay. Anythin' else? 'Kay. See ya soon."

Scott laughed. "Towing the line, I see."

"She got a message from Jean. Jeannie wants the wings."

Scott was speechless, almost. "Ice cream AND wings?"

"Barbecue an' teriyaki."

"I feel sick. Just watching her eat makes my stomach hurt."

The all night market clerk was used to the two men coming in late at night. Over the last two months he'd watched them come in here at all times of the night, no rhyme or reason to what they bought. Like now. The tall guy had 10 pints of assorted ice cream. The short hairy guy had a couple of six packs of beer, a bag of pretzels and a dozen large chocolate bars.

"She wants yogurt covered pretzels," Scott reminded him, "and beer wasn't on her list."

"It's on mine, Cyke. I'm gonna need it."

The phone rang.

With a pained look, Logan hung up. "Milkshakes and onion rings."

"Instead of all this?" Scott asked hopefully.

"Nope. They want this too, an' the tacos and wings."

The counter girl at the local hamburger drive-thru shook her head when the familiar voice came of the speaker, with help from the other familiar voice.

"Uh, two chocolate shakes, extra large. Four large orders onion rings."

"Don' remember what flavor."

"Cancel that. Six milkshakes. Two chocolate, two vanilla, two strawberry, all extra large. And the onion rings."

The phone rang.

"And two double chili cheese burgers with everything, extra onions and jalopenos. And two large fries."

The local chicken drive-thru knew them too. They already had the order waiting. "Your wife called," the cashier told Scott as he pulled out his wallet. "Said she wanted to make sure you didn't forget the wings and to add a dozen pieces of chicken, cornbread rolls, mashed potatoes and the mini potpies to your order."

The local taco place allowed them to get through without any extras, but Logan added a few things anyway, relying on Bishop's *always prepared* philosophy. He got two of each kind of taco and burrito they had knowing it wouldn't go to waste as long as the rest of the team was willing to eat the leftovers for breakfast. If there were any leftovers. The babies had to be eating it all, Charlotte hadn't gained *that* much weight.

The phone rang.

"Make another stop at the market," Logan said. "Gummi bears, pistachio nuts and sunflower seeds, shelled an' unshelled, chocolate and butterscotch toppin' for the ice cream." And a couple more six-packs of beer, the good stuff. He decided he needed it.

Scott added a six-pack of beer to the tab for himself. Not a drinking man, but another 7 months of this could turn him into one. He was actively jealous of Logan only having another month of running around trying to satisfy cravings that changed by the second.

They got back in the car and ran over the lists and the night's purchases one more time. "I think we got everything," Scott said. "Now if we can just get home before they call again."

"We can," Logan said smugly. "I shut the phone off."

They found the wives waiting in the kitchen. Jean got up and helped them unload everything on the table, unpacking the food with an eager look on her face. "Ooh, thanks so much," she kissed Scott. "What to stay and talk with us? Hungry?"

"No!" he blurted out hastily. "I mean, I'm pretty tired and I have to be up early."

"Okay, I'll see you after we eat."

"What about you," Charlotte asked Logan. "Stay?"

"If it's all the same to ya, darlin', I'll be goin' up to bed. Give me a call if ya need help gettin' back." She had problems getting around with the extra weight, he often just carried her from place to place. He didn't mind at all, that way she always ended up where he wanted her to be.

"I'll make sure she gets there okay," Jean assured him.

They waited until the men had left, listening to the footsteps fade, the side door close behind Scott.

Jean and Charlotte looked at each other.

"Okay," Jean said. "They're gone."

Rogue, Betsy, Storm, Bobby and Remy came out of the dining room.

"Oh boy," Bobby said, reaching for the double chili cheese burgers and fries. "This'll really hit the spot."

"Did they get my Gummi bears?" Rogue asked.

"Right here. And the milkshakes. Look, they got extras."

"Hand me a strawberry one. Who wants tacos and burritos, there's plenty?"

"I do," Bishop entered the kitchen. He was lookout, his job to let them know when the men came through the gate.

"Somebody tell Hank his chicken dinner's here."

"Hand over the chocolate and pistachios."

"Remy, your onion rings look delicious. May I have a couple?"

"'Course, Stormy. Help yourself."

"Don't call me Stormy. And please pass the ice cream."

They spread out around the table, passing around the food and sharing the giggles.

"How long do you think they can keep this up?" Charlotte asked Jean.

"Logan will only do this for another month," Jean said thoughtfully. "I don't think Scott will believe I can eat all this by myself after that."

"If the fun is coming to an end soon," Bobby said, "do you think maybe you ladies might want Chinese tomorrow?"

"Maybe Thai?"

"Maybe both?"

End.

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