Parenting was exhausting. Yes, being a Mansion Mom prepared Rebecca to keep up with kids, but an infant was a unique challenge. Iris, to her credit, was not a fussy child. Once she found an actual sleep schedule, the difficulty curve might flatten. Unfortunately, finding that rhythm was an elusive piece of the parenting puzzle.

Becca had to look up how much coffee she could have while breastfeeding because it was two in the afternoon and she was ready for a nap of her own. The new mother sat on the couch, gently rocking her daughter. She was careful not just to secure Iris's head, but to be conscious of the small antler nubs protruding from the baby's temples. That, of course, meant Rebecca had her own set of modest antlers her neck was still adjusting to.

Iris was so close to her nap. So close, until Becca's phone chimed with the Carly Rae song she set as a ringtone. The young mother winced as, sure enough, Iris babbled and squirmed in her arm. Sighing in defeat, Becca picked up her phone. Evidently, she had a guest at the Mansion gates, much to her surprise.

---

"Sae ye say these things will wear aff eventually, reit?"

Rebecca returned to the living room of her staff apartment with two mugs of coffee. She would allow herself one, setting the other down on the coffee table next to the middle-aged redhead holding Rebecca's daughter, sporting elegant antlers as a result. "Aye, ma. Jist be sure nae tae swivel yer heed tay fest. Ah nearly snapped mah neck afair."

Mackenzie Grey nodded slowly, clearly taking the warning seriously. Becca's mother had limited exposure to mutants and, while she was supportive, she was clueless to that world. "Weel, wee antlers ur nae, she's beautiful, Becca."

Taking a seat on the carpet with her mother, Rebecca tapped Iris's nose and was met with happy cooing. "She is. Gawain an' Ah ur blessed. 'Spikin ay, thes is a pleasant surprise!" Becca gestured at her mother's unexpected presence. "Ah thooght ye waur comin' tae toon Monanday! Is dad in toon?"

Becca was paying attention to her baby and missed Mackenzie's smile briefly faltering. "Nae, he cooldnae gie it ay workin' thes weekend, sae he's comin' oan Monanday." She hesitated, before beginning, "Plus, Ah wanted tae talk wi' ye abit--"

The door to the apartment opened and Rebecca perked up. "Honey! We hae an unexpected visitor!"

Antlers, while not Mirror's favorite, were definitely not the most annoying of Iris' endless roulette of mutations. They took some getting used to, and definitey got some strange looks, but the people of the Mansion were slowly getting used to Mirror and Becca walking around with various looks as their baby was manifesting a whole bunch of randomness into their lives. Today, it was antlers.

Gawain had a DR session to run with a student; luckily, the antlers disappeared after the usual time, which made the scenario a lot easier. The adrenaline made him more alert, which was good, because Mirror never liked coffee much, and yet he sorely needed it these days. Returning to the apartment, he was looking forward to taking a shower, drinking some coffee, and...

>>"Honey! We hae an unexpected visitor!"

"Oh" Gawain paused as he walked in, noticing their guest "Hello, Mrs. Grey!"

Becca and her mom were both sporting antlers, which was an amusing sight, something out of some children's fairy tale. Gawain grinned. "Nice antlers."

Mackenzie watched how her daughter lit up when her spouse entered the room. Becca had been timid growing up, but as much as Mackenzie missed having her daughter in the country, she had blossomed in America. She was confident, she built her own life, and clearly found someone to be head-over-heels in love with. She could suffer the distance to see her daughter so happy.

"Gawain! it's guid seein' ye again. Glad tae see yoo're takin' guid caur ay mah tois favorite lasses." Mackenzie doted on Iris, kissing the spot between her baby antlers. "Thes wee ain is growin' sae fest awreddy. Ah hae half a min' tae move tae th' States sae Ah can see 'er every day."

Rebecca scoffed, laughing at her mother in the biggest city in America. "Ma, Ah loove ye an' 'at woods be wonderful, but ye woods haaaaate it haur. Troost me." Mackenzie was still passionate and full of life, but she was a woman who loved nature and her idyllic home away from the noise and concrete.

Gesturing for Gawain to join them, Rebecca sipped her hot drink. "If ye'd loch tae join th' antler party, ye're welcome tae Iris, jist dinnae gie tay close tae me an' Ma." The power-gifting complicated life, but now that Iris was no longer in Rebecca's stomach, those gifted mutations had expiration time limits. With good time management, they could be back to default status by the time they needed to be.

Once everyone got settled back in, Rebecca recalled the conversation she was having with her mother before Gawain entered. "Oh richt, Ma, ye were sayin?"

Realizing what her daughter meant, the older woman looked to Gawain, then back to Rebecca. "Eh, mebbe it shoods bide fur later."

Rebecca dismissed the thought with the wave of her hand. "Nae, it's fine. Gawain an' Ah've got nae secrets. What's up?"

Her mother considered pushing the matter one more time, but that would send warning signs anyway. She smiled sadly. "That's guid. That's hoo yer faither an' Ah hae lasted thes lang. But... Ah'm sorry, honey. Ah've bin keepin' a secrit frae ye. An' it's time Ah come clean."

Gawain had met Becca's mother before. She was a nice lady, and clearly super happy with her new grandchild, antlers and all. Visiting was not easy, given the distance, and this was not the first time she'd joked about moving to New York to be closer to them, but Becca knew her mom, and she was adamant that she'd hate New York on the long run. Which made sense, since Mirror had been there for more than a decade and he was still not entirely sure he liked New York...

"Just give me a moment to wash up" he nodded to them, heading to the bathroom to clean up and change out of the training clothes. When he returned, Mrs. Grey handed him the bundle of Iris, and he happily sat down holding his daughter, and growing a matching pair of antlers. The baby smell was worth it every time.

Mrs. Grey had something she wanted to tell Becca. A secret. Gawain glanced at his wife, but Becca didn't want him to leave; he'd find out later what was wrong anyway. He wondered what kind of a family thing Mrs. Grey was about to reveal. Then again, it was his family now too.

Rebecca asked Gawain to stay, assuming her mother needed to talk about some family business. Gawain was family. If they needed to talk about Iris or if Mackenzie really did have intentions of moving closer, Gawian could be involved in those conversations. It was only when her mother's tone shifted and mention of a secret arose that Rebecca felt a creeping anxiousness in the back of her mind.

Her mother was an open book. That begged the question; what did a woman like Mackenzie Grey keep from her own daughter? "Is everythin' okay, Ma?"

With the baby now in Gawain's arms, Mackenzie could hold her coffee mug for warmth and comfort. "It's okay noo. So Ah was yoong when Ah mit yer faither. Ah feel in loove sae easily back then. When Ah was pregnant wi' ye, Ah was terrified Ah wisnae ready tae be a mother."

Rebecca understood that feeling. She worried constantly about failing Iris, and she was years older than her mother was when she had her. "But ye were great."

"Ah'm glad, but Ah was lucky," she admitted. "Ah hud yer faither. We figured it it together. Ah... wisnae aways 'at lucky."

There was a pregnant pause as Mackenzie gathered her words and Rebecca hung on that last ominous sentence, waiting for more. "When Ah was still yoong. Far tay yoong an' stupid. He was older an' Ah was sae smitten. Ah thooght Ah feel in loove. He made me think Ah was everythin' an' nae jist a bonnie lass tae charm. That's hoo Ah ended up pregnant at seventeen." Mackenzie was not angry, but she still remembered the hurt of what came next. "An' unlike yer faither, he didne stick aroond."

That... was not what Rebecca expected. It was more than she knew how to process, because it did not make sense. Her parents met when Mackenzie was in college, they were sweethearts, and they fell in love and had her. There was no prologue to that; there was no pregnancy at seventeen. It ran so far counter to her reality that she sat on the carpet, wide-eyed and mouth ajar, not sure what to say. She had a billion questions she needed to ask, but she could not find her voice.

At first Gawain thought Mrs. Grey wanted to talk about maybe moving to New York, but the tense atmosphere soon gave a hint that she wanted to talk about something else entirely. He glanced between her and Becca, not sure if he was still supposed to be part of the conversation; but if it was going to be bad news, he wanted to be there to support Becca.

It was... some kinda news. Gawain listened as Mrs. Grey confessed that she'd gotten pregnant at 17, way before Becca was born. He watched his wife's face. Becca seemed very confused; if she did have an older sibling, she clearly had no idea. Mrs. Grey went on, slowly explaining how she gave a girl up for adoption.

Becca had a half-sister.

"That must have been very difficult for you" he noted. No one could judge her for what she'd done, looking for a better home for a baby. But that was not the end of the story yet. Apparently... this woman, Becca's half-sister, reached out to her mother. And wanted to meet the family. Becca, specifically.

It was strange, in a way. Gawain never knew his father, so he'd always played with the idea that he might have half-siblings in the world somewhere; it was the reason why he was always curious about other teleporters. But now, this was actually happening to Becca. She had a sibling she didn't know about. And, on a related note, Iris had an aunt. (Well, one that was blood related).

"So... she wants to come meet us?" he ventured finally, once the story was over. He looked at Becca. It would have to be her decision.

Having Gawain around was a comfort while Rebecca came to terms with the lie her mother told her for years. Well, that was unfair. It was not a lie, it was a secret, and did Rebecca not have secrets of her own when she was a teenager? Nothing that big, but she was trying—really trying to understand what happened from her mother’s perspective. Hurt and alone and out of her depth. There was no easy choice there.

Mackenzie continued, confessing the choice she eventually made. The baby, Rebecca’s half-sister, was given up for adoption with the help and guidance of Rebecca’s grandparents. The Scot sat quietly, but Gawain was the empathetic person Rebecca fell in love with. Mackenzie appreciated. “It wisnae easy an' Ah thooght a lot abit 'at lassie, hopin' she was livin' a better life than Ah coods gie 'er.”

That must have been hard. Rebecca always saw her mother as such a positive, vibrant woman. Was she carrying a burden like that alone the whole time? “Ah didne think it was mah place tae seek 'er it jist coz Ah got mah life back oan track. Ah prayed she foond a guid family ay her own. But Ah got a caw frae 'er oan New Year's Eve, sae evidently she foond me.”

This woman, Becca’s half-sister, found Mackenzie and there was evidently a long talk to give the abandoned daughter closure. Mackenzie apologized and made peace, and they learned about one another’s lives. She was apparently working as a model and was on a shoot in New York. When Mackenzie explained who Rebecca was, she jumped at the chance to meet a long lost sister.

“Aye. She wants tae knoo our family. Especially ye, Becca. She ne’er grew up with a sister.”

”Neither did Ah,” Rebecca muttered, quickly adding, ”Sorry.” She had already decided not to hold this secret against her mother, but Becca did feel like she missed out on something she was unaware of until today.

Her mother shared the details of the meeting, should Becca decide she wanted to meet her half-sister. When they finished things up, Becca walked her mother out to the gate. “Ah apologize fer droppin' a bomb loch thes oan yer happy growin' family. Ah hope ye can forgife me fer thes ain day.”

At the gate, Rebecca looked at her mother, stowing away the stew of complex emotions she was dealing with, and hugged the woman who raised her. ”Ma. Thes will tak' time, but... Ah forgife ye anyway. Ah dunnae know whit Ah woods dae in yer place. But thenk ye fur tellin' me noo. Ah loove ye.”

“Ah love ye, tay, Strawberry.”

---

Iris finally drifted to sleep in her crib. Seeing grandma was exciting, but clearly tuckered the baby out. After fussing and receiving appropriate amounts of attention, it was finally nap time.

Rebecca wanted to get Iris to bed before she took the time to talk about the day’s news with her partner. She flopped onto the couch, conscious of the protrusions on her head. She liked her couch and her spouse, so gouging either would be unfortunate. ”It's tragic 'at we're dealin' wi' serioos revelations while walkin' aroond wi' antlers. It feels tay silly tae be appropriate.”

Letting out a long breath to finally decompress, Rebecca reflected on the confession and the author on the table. ”A sister. ‘At’s jist mental. An she’s a model! Gosh, it's a guid hin' redheids arenae mah type. Coods hae hud some uncomfortable realizations otherwise.” At least when Rebecca ogled admired swimsuit models, she gravitated to brunettes and blondes. ”An’ she wants tae meet me…”

There was a long talk before Mrs. Grey finally said goodbye, leaving behind more things to talk about and process. Gawain did his best to help with the fussing baby so Becca had a moment to get her bearings. Eventually, they managed to put Iris down for a nap, and landed on the couch together.

>>”It's tragic 'at we're dealin' wi' serioos revelations while walkin' aroond wi' antlers. It feels tay silly tae be appropriate.”

"What's tragic is that i gotta wait for these to go away before I can take my shirt off" Gawain pointed out with a smirk. There was a serious conversation to be had, sure, but that did not make the shirt issue any less amusing.

>>”A sister. ‘At’s jist mental. An she’s a model! Gosh, it's a guid hin' redheids arenae mah type. Coods hae hud some uncomfortable realizations otherwise. An’ she wants tae meet me…”

"That's what you have been thinking about?" Gawain blinked, trying his best not to snicker at the idea of Becca accidentally hitting on her half-sister. God, he's never even thought about that. "Honestly, I always thought I'd be the one with the surprise half sibling... How do you feel?"

Gawain knew how to keep things light when Rebecca needed levity. God, she loved him for that. ”Note for th’ next antler day: button-doon shirts.” Gawain and Maya both looked great in button-downs, so if anything, that was an absolute win.

Rebecca unloaded some of her initial concerns about her sister, which admittedly started at the surface level. She blushed when Gawain replied incredulously. ”Aye, it crossed my damn mind! Ah’m an appreciator ay th’ female form! Hoo awkward a start woods ‘at hae bin?” Hi, I’m your half-sister, also, I ogled your photoshoot once! Let alone of she had kissed her at a bar at Oxford!

It was not the polite thing to say, but Rebecca also assumed Gawain would be the one dealing with this, if it were to ever come up. ”Ance Ah heard travellin' assassin mom, naethin' woods surprise me abit yer family,” she admitted. ”Wi' thes, Ah guess thaur is some shell-shock. Ah didne expect anythin' loch thes frae mah ma. Ah guess, thocht, when Ah gie pest 'at... weel, mebbe it's a wee bit excitin'?”

It was hard to see that with the weight of her mother’s confession on her shoulders, but in her safe space on the couch in her husband’s comforting arms, she could reflect on the news itself. Getting past the surprise that she could have a secret sister, Rebecca thought about the world of possibilities that opened up. She could not go back and change her experiences of growing up an only child, but she could get to know someone she had a unique, familial bond with. Her sister sounded like she was doing well for herself, and Becca had a stable life with a loving spouse and two amazing daughters.

The news was unexpected, but unexpected things could be good! ”Ah hope she’s guid. Ma said she disnae think Aoife is a mutant. Ah hope me bein’ a mutant willnae be a problem. If sae, she disnae gie tae meet Kalos an’ Iris. If she’s guid thocht, our girls may hae an honest tae God auntie tae meet.”

>>”Aye, it crossed my damn mind! Ah’m an appreciator ay th’ female form! Hoo awkward a start woods ‘at hae bin?”

"Good point. With your luck, your half-sister is probably super hot too." Gawain grinned. This was a serious and emotional situation, but they also both have antlers, and he was trying to lighten the mood a bit.

>>”Ance Ah heard travellin' assassin mom, naethin' woods surprise me abit yer family. Wi' thes, Ah guess thaur is some shell-shock. Ah didne expect anythin' loch thes frae mah ma. Ah guess, thocht, when Ah gie pest 'at... weel, mebbe it's a wee bit excitin'?”

Mirror had daydreamed about lost siblings many times, especially as a teenager. Not knowing their father was a sure fire way to leave that option open. Gawain could understand Becca's conflicting emotions, and he had to admit that it was more than a bit exciting, once they got over the shock.

>>”Ah hope she’s guid. Ma said she disnae think Aoife is a mutant. Ah hope me bein’ a mutant willnae be a problem. If sae, she disnae gie tae meet Kalos an’ Iris. If she’s guid thocht, our girls may hae an honest tae God auntie tae meet.”

"That's a lot of ifs" Gawain pointed out. She was right on all counts, of course. "There are never any guarantees about family... "But what makes her thing she's not a mutant?... Also, Aoife." he smirked a little "Sorry. Mythology dork thoughts."

”Ma says she’s a model, sae Ah’m gonna guess super hot is right,” she pointed out, kissing her fingertips and pressing them on Gawain’s nose. Easier than kissing with antlers and getting tangled. ” Thocht ye still gie points fur implyin' aam super hot.” Though Rebecca was not, in her opinion, model hot. She was confident, but she had seen some models in her day and they set a high bar.

As parents, Rebecca and Gawain were on the same page. They were careful when it came to their girls. Rebecca tried not to be overbearing, but she was not going to introduce a stranger into Kalos and Iris’s lives without meeting and vetting them first. ”Dae ye hae other thoughts?” she teased at the last nerdy comment.

”Ma micht be makin’ assumptions, tae be fair, bit she says Aoife has ne'er come it as a mutant, an' nae rumors ay it hae come up. She coods be in th' closet,” Rebecca admitted. ”It's hard tae hide when yoo're in th' limelecht loch 'at, but it's possible. We'll see.”

Rebecca slinked into the comfort of the couch and her partner, chuckling. ”Sae Aoife is a myth name then? Share. Ah’ve decided Ah’ll gie her a call, but Ah shoods know if mah surprise sister is secretly some fae trickster?”

>>"Ma says she’s a model, sae Ah’m gonna guess super hot is right. Thocht ye still gie points fur implyin' aam super hot.”

"I'll do a lot more than imply it" Gawain grinned, accepting the substitute kiss. Antlers tangled was not a pleasant experience. Hopefully they would go away soon.

>>”Ma micht be makin’ assumptions, tae be fair, bit she says Aoife has ne'er come it as a mutant, an' nae rumors ay it hae come up. She coods be in th' closet. It's hard tae hide when yoo're in th' limelecht loch 'at, but it's possible. We'll see.”

It was definitely an exciting mystery. Was the sister a mutant? Was she hiding it, and if yes, why? And if not, what did she think about mutants in general, and her sister being one in particular? So many questions waiting to be answered...

>>”Sae Aoife is a myth name then? Share. Ah’ve decided Ah’ll gie her a call, but Ah shoods know if mah surprise sister is secretly some fae trickster?”

"Warrior woman, actually." Gawain chuckled, running his hand through her hair as he answered the question. "In Irish and Scottish legends, Aoife was the sister of Scathach, a warrior woman who had a school of heroes on the Isle of Skye. She trained Cú Chulainn, who is a very famous Irish hero. But she was... not on the best terms with her sister Aoife, they kept fighting." Gawain paused, making a face "Not that any of this is a prophecy or anything..."

Becca was lucky to have a spouse like Gawain. He handled everything, from surprise family to baby mutations with ease, all while reassuring Becca and reminding her, on occasion, that she was sexy. He really was the whole package, whether or not he could swap into Maya every off day.

Things were relaxing back to normal, and normal meant Gawain being a huge lore dork, which Becca loved. She relaxed into the couch, listening to the tale of Aoife. ”Warriur woman? Sae we clearly awready hae somethin’ in common,” she joked.

Her mother had on deep lore background, so Becca doubted she read up on the tale of Aoife and Scathach, and even if she did, Aoife had no sister when she was born. Still, it was an odd coincidence that the folktale her sister’s namesake came from centered around a myth of two sisters. More troubling was the adversarial relationship the sisters had in lore.

Gawain clearly caught the issue with his own story, but Becca rubbed his arm reassuringly from her cozy spot on the couch. ”Relax. Ah know enaw nae tae gie wrapped up in mythological coincidences. Mah sister's a model, nae a warriur,” she reminded her husband. ”We'll meit, an' Ah’m guessin' th' warst case scenario is it ends up bein' super awkard.” Awkward would be understandable after living whole lives apart. Becca lived through plenty of awkward, and she could do it again if it meant connecting with her long-lost sister.

”Ah feel better,” Becca admitted, glad for the anecdote and its ability to take her mind off of the possible stress and remind her that it could be worse; her sister could be some bloodsworn enemy. ”Ah’ll meit her, an’ if aw is weel, sae will ye an’ th’ girls. Ah’m excited tae hae new family, bit nae matter hoo thes gaes, Ah have my family wi’ ye, and that’s aways gonna be enough.”