"Yes, you are. I'm afraid I am not flawless today, but you understand a girl can't be glam with goo all over her stomach, right?" Indeed, she had gone without cosmetics, and her bright hair was piled on top of her head in their natural, riotous curls instead of being straightened. But miss plant girl could pull off the messy look and still look fabulous, and it was kind of sickening. Hell, she was scrubbing it that day, but her belly was starting to get in the way of her wearing her normal clothes already. Thanks, twins.

"You do what you gotta do, Derek. I say you go for who you t'ink will be best for you. Personally, Devon would not be my first choice if he was a choice for me. He is prettier t'an I am, and t'at just wouldn't do," she was joking, obviously, though dude was pretty effing pretty.

Derek shrugged, "All I here are excuses." He teased with a wink.

Once they were out of the car, he led them inside of the restaurant, "Of course it wouldn't." Derek rolled his eyes plafully. He then brought out his phone and showed Xavia the picture of Aleksandr, "and here's this Aleksandr. They're both hotter than me."

After Xavia got a good look, he shoved his phone back into his pocket got them a both by the window. Once they were seated, he looked over the menu. "I'll probably get a oversized burger or somethin'."

She looked at the picture and then smiled, "He is cute." She grinned at the picture and finally said, "Maybe I can get you to take a picture of me so I can send it to Artair so he has one." Hell, she had taken a selfie that morning... Something she had never wanted to even do before... Her sitting with her back to her mirror and looking over her shoulder. She chickened out on sending it to him, though, and deleted it. It didn't seem like her type of classy.

"I am not going to give you the juice, okay... But I really like him... Just... happy when I am around him. He makes me laugh and he's so good looking. I wonder what he sees in me." She was already ready to order. Kendra had gotten her wanting those damn onion rings, even though they were so fatty and they gave her bubble gut. The babies liked it when she ate them, why else would she crave them?

When the waitress came, she ordered a double order of those and some fries to go with her veggie burger, and vegan condiments to go with those things.

"D'awww!" Derek playfully bopped Xavia's nose from across the table. "I'm glad that you're happy with Merida. You both deserve each other," Derek turned his attention down at the menu and clicked his tongue. He didn't know what he wanted, but it was going to involve a cheese burger.

As the waitress came over, Derek got his order ready. He went for a water, a BLT, fries, and a side of onion rings. Damn Xavia and her corruption.

"So," Derek started after the waitress left, "what are you doin' the rest of the day? Gonna talk on the phone with Artiar?"

"I don't talk to him that much, goofy. We're... just rolling wit' t'e natural waves. I am not going to ruin t'at by calling and texting every second I can. I text him in t'e morning, we say hi, we go about our days." She shrugged. It was honest. "I told him I would let him know how today went..." But she didn't think she could do that over the phone, for one thing, and nor could she do it until after she processed the information a little. She couldn't cry in front of Derek... She wanted to be happy around him because he was happy all the time and she loved him for it. She would also have to tell Kendra about it, and Kendra would want to do something naughty and Xavia would have to stop that before it happened.

She flattened her palms on the table and sighed softly, "I do not know what we are, no labels right now. It's just... some happy... gooey... sweet sh*t. Like part of me is all like, 'awww, gossssh,' around him and t'en part of me is just like... Scared. Not of him, just of having feelings for him and t'en..." She trailed off, and hopefully Derek would understand what was not being said; how she just spent a good deal of her life being alone for valid reasons and she was just getting back into the game.

"...Huh, okay," Derek might needed to take Xavia and Artair's method and not bombard his male callers with texts, "that sounds smart. Therefore you don't seem like a crazy person," Derek sniffed and took a sip of his water when the waitress came over to give them theirs.

Derek knew exactly what Xavia was saying. Catching feelings for someone and then nothing coming of it was something that Derek had dealt with first hand. Which is also why he tried not to catch feelings for people, but alas, he did for two.

"I gotchu, girl." Derek smiled a bit and leaned back in his seat to study one of his best friends, "...how're things at the school?"

"Well, I just put grades out for last class. Ugh, t'at was brutal. T'eir final was to dissect frogs, and t'e smell... My god, t'e smell." She wrinkled her nose and then perked up when the waitress brought food and then left. Xavia grabbed for the burger first, not wanting second degree burns from grabbing hot onion rings or fries. Yum yum.

"Mmm, veggie burger. Smells so good." She took a big bite and sighed in pleasure at the flavor. So good.

Derek cringed, "ugh, I hope Kendra was there to help ya." He shook his head. Of course he wasn't pregnant (yet), but the smell got to him sometimes too. Derek picked up his own burger and took a few bites from it.

"Gods, this is good," he moaned, "I'll make sure to leave a nice, big tip for 'em too." Derek took another sip of his water.

"So," Derek swallowed, "I'm guessin' you're sensitive to extreme cold and heat."

"How can you tell?" she asked when he asked the question he did. Of course she did! How else did she get a date with a certain, red headed fellow? She felt her phone vibrate, and checked it. It was not her redheaded Scotsman but her mother. She sent a quick text and bit her lip, putting the phone down and sighing. "Mama wants to know how it went today and I don't know if I can talk about it." She said honestly, then used her fork to move an onion ring aside to cool off so she could actually pick it up.

She ate a bite of veggie burger and chewed slowly.

Derek shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "well, you're very plant-like. You're the only plant mutant that I have ran into. I'm sure you burn easily which is why you didn't drink your tea that one time right away," he answered, "being sensitive with cold, well, that was just a guess." Derek sniffed and ate a onion ring off of his plate and leaned back into his booth. He closed his eyes as the cold of the leather backing cooled his body. Ahh, that felt good.

"...You should tell her, Xavia. She's your mother and she cares deeply about you. She will also love our kids just the same no matter how the father is." 

"I will tell her. Promise. Just don't... have it in me right now. I need time. I can't even tell Artair right now. Just... give me a couple of days to decompress my brain on t'is. Just... yeah." She sighed and touched the onion ring she had pulled away from the herd, so to speak. It was warm, still, but not horribly so. She ate it, knowing she would throw up later from the grease. She didn't care.

"Yeah, t'e cold bot'ers me faster t'an heat does." she murmured... "But what is only scalding and causes red skin to someone wit' your skin, meaning, normal skin... causes second degree burns for me. So messed up."

Derek gave Xavia the OK gesture, "I got you, boo. You don't have to rush. It isn't like the babies are goin' anywhere any time soon. Just use this time to relax and depress like you said," Derek understood needing time to think and just unravel. A lot had happened to Xavia and she was more than deserving of a break. That's partially why Derek stepped up with her and Mama and Delilah.

"...But just to be clear; I am Uncle Der Der, right? I mean, I've always wanted kids...sort of. Maybe. I'm still on the fence about that bit, but y'know." Derek grinned and stole one of onion rings.

"Yes, you are Uncle Der Der. I was actually t'inking you could... maybe be t'e godfat'er when it came time for t'em to get baptized. I know you are not Cat'olic... or are you? But I have to have godparents picked out. I am going to ask Kendra too." That way she knew that legally, if the babies had Godparents, and something happened to her... Well, the babies would be okay.

Derek stopped eating all together and looked at Xavia. He stared at her for a while in both shock and pure admiration. "...You want me to be the God Father? Aw, Xavia!" Derek got up from his seat and made his way over to her side of the table. He wrapped his arms around her neck and plastered her face with kisses. After he thought that she had enough, Derek made his way back to his seat and sat down with a wide smile on his face. "I will spoil those pups until no end. I promise they'll love me so much!"

She kind of chuckled at him as he hugged her. He was so freakin happy over the thought of getting to be a part of her kiddos' lives. Her hand patted his shoulder and she said, "And I am sure you will love t'em just as much." She nodded as he sat back down. "I am glad you are happy about it, I am honored t'at you accept. If somet'ing happened to me, you would take care of t'em like t'ey were yours." That was the job description. "You still game?" After all, babies, kids, etc, were a lot of work.