FicWad

Daddy's Girl
Chapter 2: Becoming a Parent

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Logan didn't linger in the hospital. As soon as the little girl he now called Laura was deemed healthy, he checked her out and took her into his care. He had no idea how he was going to look after this baby. He was a drifter with no legal residence or paper trail. But if he was to protect her, he was going to have to make some changes.

He started off by getting a cab and having it take him to a local storage house. He was a bit surprised to know that months had gone by since he was abducted by Hydra, but it wasn't like time made a difference for him. Besides, he had plenty of other things to worry about now...Namely Laura.

Once he got to the storage house, he found that his old motorcycle was still there fully intact. He had to make a few adjustments, strapping a baby seat to the back so that Laura could ride with him. He also had to get her some warm clothes and baby supplies. And in order to do this, he took out money from a discrete bank accounts he had under the alias, James Howlett. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get a small apartment and some baby formula for little Laura.

He was going to have to create a paper trail for this girl at some point. That meant getting her registered with local bureaucrats with things like a birth certificate and legal guardian forms. He would have to keep it discrete because if Hydra had government connections, her sudden appearance in the local paper trail could draw unwanted attention. So he would have to proceed very carefully.

But at the moment, he was just trying to stop this little girl from crying.

"God kid...Come on!" he groaned in frustration as Laura's wails echoed throughout the thin walls of the fairly low cost apartment, "Just eat up, will ya?"

"Hey! Will you shut that kid up?" came a loud voice from the apartment next door, "Some of us are trying to get some sleep here!"

"MIND YOUR OWN GOD DAMNED BUSINESS BUB!" spat Logan, which seemed to silence his pestilent neighbor.

When things fell silent again, Logan mentally kicked himself as he looked back down at the little girl in his arms.

"Cursing...Bad habit kid. Don't pick it up," he told her as he sat down on the small, twin sized bed and continued trying to feed Laura a bottle of baby formula.

She kept on wailing and wouldn't take the bottle. Then Logan noticed something in her hands and feet. And almost immediately, he realized why she was crying so much.

"Damn...Those bastards," he cursed under his breath.

Little metal claws were protruding from the little girl's knuckles and feet. And if they were anything like his, they hurt every time they came out. She was just a little girl. She didn't have voluntary control over all her limbs yet. And her claws must have been one of them.

Not knowing what to do, Logan found himself gently rubbing the area around her wrists, trying to get the claws to retract. He knew they were drawn by muscle commands and if he could relax them, maybe he could get them to retract.

"Come on...I know it hurts, baby," he tried to coax her, "Just relax. It'll go away."

Finally, he managed to get the claws to retract, much to his relief. The ones in her feet followed suit. And when this happened, she finally calmed down and eagerly sucked on the bottle.

"There ya go," said Logan with a sigh of relief, "See, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

For a while, he watched the little girl eagerly drink her dinner. She was pretty hungry. Chances were those Hydra pricks didn't give her much to eat before and after the surgery. He fumed at the thought of somebody putting a baby through that horrific process. Hopefully the bastards he eviscerated for this were paying for their crimes in another life.

Once little Laura finished her meal, Logan set the bottle aside and burped her as one of the parenting books he bought had instructed. And once she seemed content, he sat back on the bed and cradled her in his arms. Naturally, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

And as he looked down at the sleeping infant, he actually found himself smiling. Not a lot of things could get Logan, the so called Wolverine, to smile. But holding this child in his arms and watching her sleep just gave him a feeling that he had never felt before. And as much as he hated to admit it...He liked it.

"Out like a light," he said as he gently stroked her little head, "I guess when she ain't cryin'...She's actually kind of cute."

Logan laughed at his current predicament. Here he was in the care of a little girl. He didn't know the first thing about being a father, but he didn't really have a choice now. He made her a promise. She shared his flesh and blood, therefore she was his responsibility.

He didn't know what he was going to do or how he was going to take care of her. But one thing was clear...His life would never be the same.

*One Year Later*

It was in the middle of the afternoon as Logan found himself working under the greasy interior of a car. It was the third one that had come in today with faulty breaks. And for cars that were supposed to be so high end, people sure took lousy care of them.

It was a daily ritual he had grown accustomed to. Once a lonely drifter, he was now a mechanic in a small Canadian town not far from Toronto. Not long after he found Laura, he came across an old auto garage that nobody wanted and fixed it up into his own little private enterprise. And thanks to a little elbow grease, it was quite successful. There were rarely times when he didn't have someone coming in complaining of something or another.

Laura was also with him. He set aside a small little place in the corner of the garage where she could play with some of the wooden toys he made her and he could keep a close eye on her. At only a year old, she had grown quite a bit. She had just learned to walk and she was quite a curious child. But she never liked to get too far from her daddy.

And thanks to the wonders of bureaucracy, she had an official name, Laura Howlett. Using the aliases he had for his bank account, he got her legally registered as his daughter. Of course, he couldn't tell the whole truth. He had to make up a story about how the mother had died due to complications at birth, but the local offices seemed to buy it. And that was just fine with him because he had enough to worry about already.

"Damn...How do people let breaks get this worn?" he grunted as he attempted to clean out some of the gunk that had formed on the break lines.

Suddenly, he heard a sound from Laura's corner.

"Daa..."

"Huh? Ow!" he cursed as his head suddenly shot up and hit the hard metal of the car underbelly.

Letting out a groan, Logan rolled himself out from under the car, trying to rub away the soreness in his head. Once he was out, he grabbed a nearby rag to clean his dirty hands and turned his attention to his baby girl, who was sitting in the corner watching him with those beautiful green eyes.

"Kid?" he said as he went over to her and knelt down beside her, "You okay?"

Laura looked back and gave him a cute little smile. Logan may not have been one to get too emotional over many things, but seeing that look on her innocent little face just warmed his heart. But he also knew that whenever this little girl did something like this, there was usually a reason.

"Please don't tell me ya need another diaper," he said in an exasperated tone, "I just changed you half an hour ago."

Then, what happened next was something that he never expected.

"Daadaa..." she cooed as she reached up with her little arms to her only known caregiver.

Logan was taken aback by what he just heard. Were his ears playing tricks on him? Did she just call him...

"Dada! Dada!" she kept saying, her smiling face just craving attention.

Then it happened again...That warm feeling in the pit of his tortured soul. He smiled as he picked the little girl up and held her securely in his arms. And doing so got the little girl to squeal with more joy.

"Did you just say what I think ya said, darlin'?" he said as he looked back into that beautiful little face that so often warmed his heart.

"Dada! Dada! Dada!" she cooed wildly, excited at the reaction she got as she reached forward and played with her daddy's burly facial hair.

The little girl laughed and giggled as she smiled back at her daddy. For a moment, this froze Logan right in his place. The world could have ended right then and there and it wouldn't have caused him to flinch in the slightest.

He couldn't believe it. This little girl whom he had rescued from some of the sickest human beings on the face of the planet had just called him dada. For nearly a year now, he had been taking care of this little girl. And now it seemed as though it was really beginning to show...Not just with Laura, but with him as well.

"Dada!" she said happily as she saw her daddy smile.

"Yes Laura..." he said as he held her securely in his arms, "I'm your daddy."

*Two Years Later*

All around him, he was surrounded by liquid. Every muscle in his body was paralyzed, every tendon frozen, and every nerve set ablaze. He tried to breath, but his lungs felt utterly paralyzed and it felt as though he was going to drown on his own air.

Looking around he saw numerous men in strange uniforms operating machinery. His sight was blurred and distorted. He could barely make out his surroundings. Then he felt it...A stinging pain that consumed his entire being. It was as if somebody had pumped hot lava through his veins.

"No...NO!" he yelled into the oxygen mask that was keeping him alive.

He thrashed violently, trying to fight this agonizing pain. But there was no escape. He was completely trapped in this glass prison, powerless at the hands of these sick bastards.

As the pain continued, he noticed some of them were drinking Champaign in celebration. He was in a world of pain and they were celebrating. It hurt so much, stinging every single part of his body. His mind was shot...As if someone was digging into it with their bear hands and molding it like putty.

He couldn't remember his name. He couldn't remember his past. All he could think about was the pain...The anger...The rage.

"ERRAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Then suddenly, this whole nightmarish world was suddenly shot out of existence as a single angelic voice took Logan from his most horrific of nightmares back to the conscious world.

"Daddy..."

"Raaahhhh!" he yelled as he shot up in bed, now covered in a cold sweat.

Breathing hard to get his rage to subside, his eyes then fell upon a sight that would have stopped any nightmare cold in its tracks. It was his three year old daughter, Laura. She was clutching her favorite stuffed animal and she looked deeply troubled.

Quickly forgetting about his own tortured state of mind, Logan looked into his little girl's pained eyes. It looked as though she had been crying and as with any concerned father, it deeply troubled him.

"Laura? Laura, darlin' what's wrong?"

The young girl let out a sob as she walked over to her daddy's bed and climbed into the safety of his warm embrace.

"I had a bad dream," she cried, "I dreamed these big, mean people came and took me away. They...They threw me into this big, scary thing full of water and stuck me with things that really hurt! I cried for them to stop, but they wouldn't and it...It really, really hurt, daddy!"

The little girl's words quickly turned into sobs as she threw her arms around her daddy and hugged him close, wanting to feel safe again. It was a sight that tore at Logan's heart. He hated seeing his little girl cry. He could take having these nightmares even if they were horrible, but he could NOT stand to see his daughter suffer the same thing.

He wasn't sure why she had these dreams. She was just an infant when she was with Hydra. Maybe it had to do with her having seen him thrash about in his sleep when he was consumed by nightmares, maybe it was because they shared almost identical genetic code, or maybe there was something routed deep in her brain that Hydra had instigated that trigged these strange mental flashes.

But whatever it was, he didn't like it. If it hurt his little girl, he was not going to let it stand. So he wrapped his arms around the brightest light in his lonely life and held her close.

"Shh...It's okay, darlin'. It's okay," he said softly, keeping her warm and secure in his strong arms.

"It was so scary," she cried as the sobs subsided, "Those big scary men...They..."

"They ain't gonna hurt you...Not now, not ever," said Logan in a strong tone as he looked back into his daughter's crying eyes, "And do you know why they'll never hurt you?"

"W-why?" asked the little girl as she looked back up into her daddy's caring eyes.

"Because they'd have to go through me. And I swear to you baby...I won't let ANYBODY hurt you, okay? You hear me? You don't have to be afraid. Not now...Not ever. I'm always gonna be here for ya, Laura. Don't ever forget that."

This seemed to calm the little girl down as she gave her daddy another hug, which helped to bring him that warm feeling once more that he had come to love so much.

"I love you, daddy," she said, now feeling safe and secure from any nightmare.

"I love you too, Laura," he said, smiling back down at his beautiful little girl, "You'll always be safe with me. I promise."

That was good enough for her as the little girl managed a smile, which seemed to set some of Logan's fears at ease. And knowing that she wasn't going to get much rest on her own, he let her sleep by his side so she could feel safe. And for the rest of the night, there were no nightmares...Only peace.

*5 Years Later*

"Come on, kid! You can do it! Show me what ya got!" said an encouraging Logan as he stood behind a heavy punching bag with a raging eight year old girl on the other side.

"Er! Rah! Errrrrrr!" growled a determined Laura Howlett as she pounded away on the heavy bag with a fury of punches and kicks.

She was already panting as she executed combo after combo, trying to mimic everything her daddy had taught her perfectly. And for the most part, she was doing just that. It was only her tender age that seemed to stand in her way.

"Ya gotta want it! Ya gotta keep pushing!" said Logan, urging his daughter onward as she kept pounding on the punching bag.

Staying behind the safety of the bag, Logan could honestly say he was quite impressed. Laura showed a lot of strength for an eight year old. He had only started teaching her the art of self defense about a year ago and she learned quite fast.

He taught her things like take down maneuvers, counter attacks, and even how to use her claws. Part of this was for her own protection since it was never certain in his mind that the pricks that used them were gone for good and if by chance they did come back, he wanted his little girl to be ready.

Another reason was that he had to find some way of channeling her emotions, for one of the many things she seemed to pick up from him was his ever volatile temper.

Over time, she had made some remarkable progress. She was already a lot stronger than any eight-year-old he knew of. And at the rate she was going, no Weapon X or Hydra soldier would dare come within a hundred feet of her.

"That's it, darlin'! Finish it off! Don't stop!"

Letting out a series of grunts, Laura hit the bag with a fury of punch combos before hitting it with one final roundhouse kick. But then, just as she finished her maneuver, she realized something had happened along the way.

"Oh crap...Not again," she groaned as she looked to see her foot embedded in the bag with her claw extended.

Logan just shook his head in amusement as he looked over to see the gaping hole she had left.

"There goes another one. By my count, that's the sixth one this year," said Logan with a grin.

"Sorry dad," said Laura as she withdrew the metal claw back into her foot, "I know I wasn't supposed to do that, but I just...It's hard to control yourself when you get so focused."

"Yeah, I know. Boy do I know," said Logan with a look of sympathy as he tossed his daughter a towel, "But that doesn't mean ya shouldn't keep workin' at it. You're makin' progress. Don't think for a second that ya aren't. Ya just have to smooth out a few rough edges and you'll be a master."

Wiping the sweat off her brow, Laura couldn't help but smile back at her father. For even when she messed up, he was still there to support her. She knew he wanted her to be safe. She knew he wanted her to be able to defend herself. And he was the kind of father who would see to it that his child was never a victim.

Knowing she had a lot of her father's traits, Laura understood how important this was. She needed to control herself around others whether it was at school or in public. And while she may not have had many friends, that wouldn't mean she wasn't going to be safe.

And besides, her dad was the best friend anybody could have asked for. And in her mind, he was all she needed.

"Come on, darlin'...Let's wash up and get a little ice cream. You've earned it."

"Yay!" cheered Laura as she excitedly followed her dad from the garage back into their small, one level house, "Can I get a hot fudge sundae?"

Logan simply found himself laughing as he gave his daughter a fatherly hug of affection.

"For you, kid...Anything."

*7 Years Later*

"Dad! I'm heading out!" said 15-year-old Laura from the kitchen as she prepared to leave for her first day of high school.

"Hold up, kid!" said Logan from his bedroom, "Don't leave yet! I've got something I wanna give ya!"

"Well can it wait?" she asked, checking her watch for what felt like the tenth time, "I don't want to be late on my first day!"

"No, it can't," answered Logan, "Just sit tight, Laura. I'll be right there!"

Pacing restlessly around the kitchen, Laura Howlett let out a deep sigh as she prepared to embark on her first day of high school. It was a stressful time as it was, but her dad had been making a big deal about it all week.

She didn't see what the big fuss was. School had always been a mixed ride for her. She always got good grades. In fact, there weren't many times when she didn't have straight A's. She even took a few gifted classes. But she had never been a very social person to say the least. She never made many friends and had a tendency to be really reserved.

And Logan knew this all too well. He had met with her teachers constantly because of it. But he understood that it was just part of her sharing some of his loner traits that she probably picked up from him over the years. Nevertheless, that didn't make him worry any less. After all, he didn't want his daughter to live through the same painful isolation that he had endured all his life.

"Dad!" she called again.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" said Logan as he finally made his way out of his bedroom and met his teenaged daughter in the kitchen.

Once he was there, Laura noticed he had a little box in his hand. Still worried about being late, she didn't take much notice, but Logan was quick to hold her attention.

"I don't want ya to be late, so I'll make this quick," he said as he handed her the box, "The first day of high school is big day for a girl. But it's also a big day for a father. I've watched you grow so much over the years that I don't think I'll ever be able to tell ya how proud I am. And since I'm not good with words, I decided to get you a little somethin' that would show ya just how much ya mean to this old man."

Taking the small box in her hand, Laura carefully opened it. And when she saw what was in side her eyes widened like a child on Christmas morning.

"Oh daddy..." she gasped as she took out the small relic.

"It's like that promise I made ya on the day I first held ya...I'll always be there."

It was a beautiful silver necklace with a locket...One that looked way more pricy than some thrift store junk. It seemed to fit around Laura's neck perfectly, matching the tone of her skin and her dark hair. And as she opened the locket, she couldn't help but smile, for on the inside was a small picture of her and her dad.

"I...I don't know what to say," said Laura as she smiled back at the man who had given her so much.

"Ya don't have to say anythin' kid," said Logan as he looked proudly upon his little girl who was now so grown up, "Just don't ever forget how much ya mean to me. You may be growing into a beautiful young woman...But you'll still always be my baby."

With a slight tear in her eye, the young woman threw her arms around her daddy's neck and pulled him into a tight embrace. It came as a bit of a shock for Logan, but he was quick to return the gesture, holding his little girl tightly in a warm embrace that only a father could give a child.

"I love you, Daddy...Thank you!" she said in an emotional tone.

"I love you too, darlin'," said Logan in a soft tone, "Daddy loves ya. Don't ever doubt it. Don't ever forget it. And I know I say this a lot, but I'll always be there for ya."

"I know. And don't worry...I promise you I won't forget."

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