It was important to be cautious and Maya kept Becca in check, but it was hard not to feel optimistic about her budding relationship with her sister. Aoife was so gung-ho about bonding with Rebecca to make up for lost time, so they were texting often and occasionally wrapped up an evening with a phone call. They had a lot to catch up on, and Aoife was very interested in Becca and her family life. She seemed to be trying, which was why Becca was willing to overlook the occasional odd comment about her regretful time as an orphan.

After traveling to South Carolina for a photoshoot, Aoife was back in New York and brought coffee to the Mansion to finally take the next step and meet the last member of Becca's family. Maya was cautious, but Becca thought it was time. The two sisters sat at the table in the dining nook, sipping coffee and talking until Kalos returned from wherever she had run off to.

"Ah still cannae believe ye hae sic' a flawless tan. Ah hae tae be careful nae tae turn intae a lobster if Ah'm it in th' sin aw day."

Aoife chuckled. "Mebbe that's somethin' Ah got frae mah dad 'en. The model looked over her shoulder to the door of the apartment. "Th' skale year is ower, reit?

Rebecca nodded, glad her schedule had paired back down to private lessons. The extra time was a boon as a mother and a content creator. "Aye! Kalos is probably aff hangin' it wi' friends. She used tae be sae closed aff, sae Ah'm glad she's bin social wi' th' other kids."

"Wi' hoo life oan th' mutant islain was fur 'er, Ah'm surprised she's dain sae weel in a mutant mansion."

The topic of Atlantis came up, given Kalos's origins, but Rebecca winced at her sister's intepretation. "Mutants werenae th' problem," she corrected. "Sadly, bigotry toward kids loch 'er was th' issue. But bein' surroonded by fowk fa accept 'er has bin guid fur 'er."

"An' Ah'm sure havin' parents fa accept 'er an' want th' best fur 'er helps a lot."

Rebecca felt a small pang of guilt, knowing Aoife did not have that, but she took the compliment for what she was sure it was; genuine. "We're jist daein' whit we can. An' noo uir dochter micht be a social butterfly fa will hopefully come back haem suin," she added, checking the door herself before they returned to idle chitchat. Perhaps, in hindsight, she should have told Kalos they were having a visitor today.

"Hmmm. So. Like this?" Kalos pouted her lips and the fish boy snorted from behind the phone where he was manning the camera.

"The filter won't work if you're making too crazy of a face."

Her fingers didn't work on the screen without taking the caps off and people really didn't like to see her real fingers so to take a selfie, Kalos had to recruit a friend. Kalos frowned and the camera shutter sounded.

"See? Now it looks more normal."

He flipped the phone toward her and she frowned more. Normal was not what she was seeing. It had made her eyes huge and bulging. There should have been a rainbow pouring out of her mouth, but the filter had latched onto one of the spokes of her coral crown instead so there was a rainbow pouring from her forehead into her frown.

Beau seemed to think it was hilarious.

Stupid filter.

"What about a different one?"

They flicked through a few options and settled on the auto-make up.

Auto makeup was not built for pink-hued skin.

"You know. Forget it." She grabbed the phone and stuffed it into her hoodie pocket. Beau wasn't making fun of her, just joking around. But he didn't get it. He could pass for a normal kid, minus the sometimes slime. Things in this world were built for him and his dumb fingers and his dumb face. "I'm just- I'm gonna- I think one of my moms is calling."

She didn't leave a lot of room for argument and scampered back home, slamming the door open and then freezing when there was not one, but two Becca's inside.

Deer in headlights engaged.

The careers Becca and Aoife chose did not come with much overlap, but Rebecca had, as an "influencer" by some standards, done a few costumed photoshoots in her day. The efforts were more modest than her international model sister, but Aoife still got a kick out of the photos from those shoots. They were focused on the phone screen, so it took a few seconds for the pair of Scots to notice a very confused coral girl had entered the room.

Becca looked at the wide-eyed gaze of her daughter, then shifted back to Aoife, worried. She was pleased to see her sister's face smiling politely, seemingly nonplused by Kalos's appearance. As far as her eyes could see, anyway. Returning her mismatched gaze to Kalos, Becca realized it might have been a better choice to warn her of their visitor. Historically, Kalos functioned best in a bubble of people she was familiar with, and humans were wholly unfamiliar to her.

It was best to lead the introduction in a way she could handle. "Welcome haem, Kalos. Ah hae someain important 'at Eh'd loch ye tae meit." Becca gestured to the other redhead at the table, who stood when prompted. "Kalos, meit mah sister, Aoife. Aoife, thes is mah dochter." Becca still felt a swelling of pride thinking of the special young woman as her daughter.

Aoife presented a smile and offered her hand, unsure if a girl with hands like hers shook hands. Those thoughts stayed hidden behind her mask, of course. "Kalos. Ah lovely nam. It's nice tae meit ye."

Sister. Pretty sister. Kalos prickled emotionally due to how very pretty miss Aoife was. And, of course, her accent was perfectly intelligible, being a near match to Becca's own.

"Ah didne knoo ye hud a sister."

Kalos absolutely did not have a Scottish accent. Sure, she might slip on a word here or there that she'd only heard from Becca, but typically she didn't go full Scots... until now. She tried it on, hopefully not terribly, so that maybe she could fit in with the pair. She wasn't blood-related. But she could be language related? Maybe? She desperately wanted to fit here.

"Nice tae meit ye, Miss Aoife." She curtsied with the hem of her hoodie instead of shaking hands. Was curtseying a thing? Kalos cleared her throat uncomfortably, sure that she was botching this. Royally and totally botching this. She closed the door to the hallway so that no one else would witness this blimp crash of an introduction to an important part of her mother's life.

"Ah ne'er hud a sister until recently. Uhm. H-Hae ye ever bin tae th' mansion befair?" Oh no. What if she couldn't stop using the accent now that she'd started? Aoife would think she was a total weirdo if she dropped it now.

The surprise of her daughter passed, though Becca still noticed the tells that Kalos was nervous. She was comfortable with her family, but Aoife, despite being Becca's family, was new to the Atlantean. She was just as surprised about Becca's sister as Becca herself had been when her mother gave her the news. The way she asked, however, caught Becca by surprise.

When they were first getting to know one another, Kalos struggled to understand Becca's Scottish accent. It was fair, since English as a language was still something the girl was acclimating to in a new setting. Nowadays, Kalos could understand Becca better than most, but the mother was still surprised and admittedly proud of how much of the accent her daughter apparently picked up.

Rather than shaking hands, Kalos curtsied. After a brief moment to realize what was happening, Aoife took her hand back and replied with a curtsy of her own. She knew some mutants bore physical mutations and were not as normal as her sister, but seeing the young woman with her bright pink skin and coral growths in person still fascinated her. "Th' pleasure is aw mine, lass." She passed a glance to Rebecca, asking quietly, "Any chance Atlantis is aff th' coest ay Scotland?"

Rebecca smiled, stepping away from the table to give her daughter a hug. "Nae, Ah jist hink mah dochter takes efter me," she explained, giving Kalos a kiss on the forehead between any protrusions. "Aoife an' Ah only recently foond it abit ain anither. We hae th' sam ma, but we didne gie th' chance tae graw up together, sadly."

Aoife nodded, taking her seat again now that polite curtsies had been exchanged. "Ah was given up fur adoption at an early age, sae Ah grew up withit a mom." It was not sad or angry, because that was never the tone Aoife took, but the way she spoke about being an orphan settled oddly in Becca's head. She didn't know what it was like to grow up as an orphan, so that struggle likely mattered to Aoife when talking about their diverging experiences.

Kalos tried not to cringe on getting called out. "Atlaentis isnae big oan 'spikin Aenglish."

Thankfully her mom was there to rescue her with a claim that was sealed by a kiss. Ah. That might not ever get old. Kalos might've just melted on the spot if that weren't a potentially rude interruption to their big girl conversation.

Like going up for adoption.

"Oh! I was adopted thes year!" In her excitement, she'd partially abandoned the accent. She didn't drop it totally, that would've been impossible while surrounded by two strong accents in the conversation, but there was proof that Scots wasn't the only English she knew. "As a baybe Ah was left under a brige. At leest that's how th' story goes. Ah was a baybe sae Ah didn' remember. Ah only jist got parents thes year. Officially." She buzzed with excitement over the unexpected similarities.

"Ah grew up withoot a mom." The "also" was hopefully implied. She'd almost said that she grew up without someone who loved her, but... in their own way all the gorgons loved one another. They hadn't wanted to get attached since every day was a risk, but there'd been love of a kind.

Rebecca grew up with love and validation from her parents. With Aoife around, she felt some guilt looking back on her reaffirming upbringing, but she would not have traded it for anything. Her upbringing taught her the importance of parents who supported their children implicitly. Aoife might have missed that, but Rebecca would be damned if Kalos and Iris did not grow up knowing their parents would always have their backs.

That encouragement turned a meek girl into a vibrant, excited young woman, and Rebecca loved her daughter for growing into her true self. Despite the struggles of her childhood, Kalos was focused on where she was in life now and how she could connect with Aoife.

The model was not expecting the Atlantean's traumatic past, but what hit her more was her positivity. How would anyone be so well-adjusted at her age? Aoife was, to be generous, less than well-adjusted and she had decades to process her childhood. "It soonds loch yoo've bin through a lot, wee ain. It was lucky Becca an' Maya foond ye."

"Ah still think Ah'm th' lucky ain," Becca admitted. "Ah've been blessed wi' amazin' new family. An' noo Ah hae a new sister an' Kalos has an auntie. Ah know thinks haen't aways been easy fer ye, bit Ah'm thankful tae finally welcome ye intae our family if ye'd hae us, Aoife." She could not change how they grew up, but Becca wanted to genuinely bridge the gap between her and her big sister. The girls could use an aunt to excitedly look up to, and Becca wanted to have a real connection with the sister she never knew. Maya was cautious, but Becca was ready to offer her love and her family to Aoife.

Becca sounded like she was on board even before Kalos asked, but it was only polite to ask first so she did.

"Kin we keep 'er?"

The most important part of Kalos healing was, in her opinion, the fact that she'd had people who wouldn't give up on her. She had been told, but more importantly she'd been shown, that no matter what baggage or nonsense she brought to the table, she was still welcome.

Kalos resolved that she would be that person for Aoife. She would never give up on her.

She offered her hand to Aoife. Crusty as it was, she hoped the woman stood take it. "We kin stick taegether if ye want. Or- or ye kin visit when ye need." Kalos retracted her hand self-consciously. No way a grown up needed a kid hanger-on. But she would be here either way.

Becca had been nervous facilitating this meeting. Aoife had been kind, if not a little awkward around her, and Kalos was more pure-hearted than a puppy, but there was so much riding on today for Becca. She wanted to show Aoife she had a place in their family, but Kalos was not always comfortable around strangers. She would never force her daughter to welcome a person into her life if she was not comfortable, even if it started a new rift between her and her sister.

Becca was prepared to be Aoife's only family, so she was hit with relief and joy when Kalos showed a sincere desire to be a part of her aunt's life. Aoife was surprised by the question, used to rejection after a life full of it. Rebecca placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. Aoife flinched, caught off guard, but she smiled appreciatively. "Ah hink 'at's yer Auntie's choice, bit Ah know Ah'd be happy haeing her as part of our family."

Aoife looked down at the hand offered, then retracted. A sincerely heart-warmed smile broke through the mask. She responded to the doubt in Kalos's voice by taking the girl's hand, with its unique texture and structure, and carefully held it between her clasped hands. "Ah'd like 'at, Kalos. Ah hink we gie each aither, sae we shoods stick taegether."

She leaned in close, with her sparkling model smile and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "We're gonna be thick as thieves, ye an' Ah." Aoife looked back to her sister, and something about her smile felt real. Like she was holding it back until Kalos broke through her shell. Becca understood that feeling all too well.

Two months later...

After the initial period of hesitation, Aoife made an effort to be a consistent fixture in the lives of the Grey family. Mirror was still apprehensive because no one could be a bigger mother bear than the gendershifter, but even they had to acknowledge the way Aoife was becoming a part of their new normal. Becca bought into her sister's good intentions, not realizing how affirming it was to have family around from her homeland. She loved her spouse and her children to death, but Becca and Aoife could slip into talk of Scotland for hours and Becca realized how much she missed that. Maya even noted her accent deepening again, like she was renewing her connection to her lilty birthright.

Aoife held to her promise to Kalos, taking any opportunity to bond with the young woman. She regularly came to the Mansion gates to get buzzed in with a treat or a gift or a movie to watch with her new favorite niece. With the phone her parents entrusted her with, Kalos was able to text with her aunt, who always repled quickly, even with her busy work schedule. Aoife doted on Iris, as well, but Kalos was old enough to spend time getting to know her under the safety of the Mansion roof, where Mirror could okay the visits.

It was another normal day, if not busier than most. Mirror was out in the City on official X-Man business and Rebecca was bringing Praxi, one of her students, to a small dress shop as a reward for her mutation control training. One of their colleagues was watching Iris and Kalos had free reign to enjoy her summer days in the safety of the Mansion Grounds.

And like any other normal day, Kalos got a message from the front desk that her aunt was waiting for her at the gates. She waited for Kalos in a stunning sky blue dress, holding a clothing bag on a hanger in her hand. "Efternuin, sweetheart! Woods ye fancy a surprise today?"

Kalos buzzed inside her skin with excitement born from a simple phone notification.

Aoife was at the Mansion gate. But, rather than the usual buzz-in and visit routine, her aunt was counting on her to come out to the gate and meet up with the model.

And Kalos was gonna do it.

She texted to ask her auntie to wait and flew to her room to grab her shoes and her favorite umbrella, a reflective holographic bubble umbrella. It was tinted dark like sunglasses so she didn't have to look up and feel like she would start falling that way, and the walls were close enough to make it cozy. It was her agoraphobia buster, and the best thing on the surface besides her family.

Kalos took the stairs down in twos and threes, pausing only to open her umbrella before skipping outside. Summer meant sweaty hot so she'd been hanging out a rainbow striped half shirt and some short black dungarees. She'd been told they were called "coveralls" but... they didn't cover all that much, since they were shorts. The internet suggested "dungarees" as an alternative name for them. They were loose enough to accommodate her crunchy parts, AND they had pockets. She especially loved the pocket on the front that was the perfect size for her phone.

"Auntie!" She jogged a bit awkwardly with the shoes. Kalos wasn't big on wearing them, but she did understand the necessity after she'd gone out in the snow barefoot in winter. Once she was close enough, her eyes snapped to the garment bag and Kalos desperately tried not to get her hopes up even though there was precedent for presents... was that garment bag Kalos-sized, perhaps? It was hard to say since Aoife was a size negative double zero.

Aoife greeted her and mentioned her second favorite surface thing: Aoife's surprises.

"Is it chocolate?" More than a few of her surprises had been. It was a safer guess than that tempting, teasing clothing bag.

Becca was having a fun time bringing a young woman dress shopping for the first time in her life. Praxi's control of her form had improved markedly since she arrived in New York and with Rebecca warding off prying eyes, she wasn't anxious about being around humans. It was a successful adventure and she was in a good mood, which she hoped to extend to her daughter, shooting off a text.

Hey sweetie! I'll be home soon and wondered what you'd like me to bring home as a treat? I was thinking something chocolatey.

-

The young coral woman arrived to the gate with all the exuberance Aoife had grown to love over the last weeks. Becca was right about her daughter; for all her eccentricities and anxieties, Kalos brightened the world around her. If not for Kalos, Aoife knew things would have played out much differently for her sister. Thankfully for everyone, the plans had changed.

"Nae chocolate yit, but Ah bit we can gie ye some if yoo're real guid today!" What good aunt didn't bribe their niece when necessary?

"Ah got ye a gorgeous new dress," she confessed, handing over the bag with a loose, flowy teal dress picked to go with Kalos' unique complexion, "an' Ah was hopin' yoo'd loch tae wear it... out."

This was going to be the difficult sell, and if need be, Aoife was willing to trick Kalos to come along, but she hoped their rapport was strong enough to get her to come along. "Ye said ye left th' mansion a few times noo, loch an adult an' everything." She thought it would be best if she made Kalos feel mature and responsible. "Ye know Ah model an' tak' picters fur wark, an' Ah wanted us tae hae a kind uv a special project together."

Aoife kept her tone gentle and supportive. "Thaur will be only a few people an' ye can brin' yer umbrella tae feel mair safe."

A notification caught Aoife's attention, though she did not show her noticing. It was Kalos' phone. Unseen to her niece, Aoife pricked her palm, dotting blood on her fingertip to draw characters across her wrist. The phone screen would show no new notifications; phones were weird like that and she didn't need Kalos distracted or, goddess forbid, talking to her mother.

"Ah wanted tae brin' ye sae we coods surprise yer mom when Ah ask 'er tae join us. A special family surprise fur th' Grey ladies." Aoife bent her knees to meet Kalos at eye-level and offer her hand. "Ah know it micht soond scary, but woods ye dae it fur yer mom an' Ah?"

Auntie Aoife had gotten Kalos a dress. A dress, a dress, a dress. The word bounced around her insides like a gong sonorous reverberation.

"I should very much like to wear a dress." The out was take it or leave it, but if that was the price? A dress, a dress. It wasn't as if she'd never had a dress before. But Aoife was the height of fashion. She was all the hips and so cool. If it was a dress that Aoife approved of, then Kalos wanted to be in it starting yesterday. Just as she'd wanted to be an adult since yesterday. This child thing was just so... not what Aoife was into.

"You would want to take pictures? Together? For work?" She was trying (and probably failing) not to buzz right out of her skin. FINALLY someone saw her absolute worth and beauty. FINALLY the world might see.

Kalos gripped her umbrella more firmly. Yes. This was coming, too. This was her safety net.

"Yes." She was entirely firm this time, even reaching for the gate to let herself out. "Yes. We'll have a great time." And she was so caught up that she didn't even think to send a message. This was Aoife, and she always took care of things.

"I do have one condition, though..." Kalos swallowed as she closed the Mansion gate behind her. "Will you hold my hand so we don't get separated?" If she could do that then... then they could go anywhere.

The enthusiasm from her niece was exactly what Aoife hoped for. She was prepared for more hesitation; Kalos was right to worry about the world she was poking her head out into. Life was hard for mutants, which was why she told herself she was going to make Kalos' life better. She came with more gifts than her niece could know, but she would find that out in due time.

Aoife offered her hand, ready to lead Kalos into something new. Something better. "Ah'm haur wi' ye every step ay th' way, mah favorite wee lass." Kalos was so excited, and they would have time until Becca was ready to make her appearance, so she would craft up the photoshoot of Kalos' dreams while they waited.

---

Since evolving into something of a social butterfly, it was not surprising for Kalos to not respond to a text right away. Becca picked out a gourmet chocolate cupcake and was on her way to the Mansion when her phone pinged. At a stoplight, she read the message.

Hi sis! I picked up Kalos and we have a little surprise for you. I'm forwarding you the address, so please come by soon! This'll be a big moment for our family, I promise.

Well, that was surprising. Kalos was not one to leave the Mansion without a good reason. She was learning to push her boundaries and came to the courthouse for her parents' wedding, which signified how big a deal something had to be to get her to breach her bubble. Aoife and Kalos must have come up with something special, so Becca shot back a confirmation text, dropped Praxi off at the Mansion, and set her course for the address her sister forwarded.

The destination was a warehouse, which was nothing out of the norm. Aoife claimed she had tons of shoots in warehouses because they offered open spaces for backdrops, wardrobes, and flexibility.

Stepping inside, Becca saw a heartwarming scene a few dozen meters away. Aoife and Kalos were in dresses posing for a man behind a camera. The photoshoot was staged in front of a gorgeous fountain they must have brought in for the shoot. She noticed Kalos holding her aunt's hand; it was good to see Aoife knew how important her role was in making Kalos feel safe here.

"Weel, if it isnae th' tois most bonnie models in th' world!" Becca waved to get her sister and daughter's attention. "Yoo're reit, thes is excitin'! Are ye enjoyin' yer debut, sweetheart?" Becca still had to find out what Aoife's intentions were for today's photos; Maya would flip if they were going to be public. She would figure out the best way to explain the day's excursion, but for now, she wanted to make sure Kalos was comfortable here.

It wasn't that bad traveling with Aoife. Or maybe it was that Kalos blocked the how of the travel out and easily left that anxiety behind once they were inside and absolutely fabulous.

There were the clothes: coordinated but not matchy-matchy, the hair: related by curls, but not the same, and the makeup... ahhh the makeup. It hadn't taken as long as Kalos had hoped. She wanted to be pampered forever, to get massaged and painted into the best version of herself. She'd had to remind the artist that she blushed blue, but even though it was over in a flash, the result was a magical sense of flawless innocence.

Kalos stepped onto the set dressed in an opalescent white like a queenly soap bubble or a blushing and freckled princess. Like the kinds of girls she saw on Speedigram. But pinker.

And the set. It was heaven, Kalos was pretty sure. There was a gilded marble fountain and fluffy... fluff. It looked like clouds. Whatever the fluff was, it stuck to her crusty hands and crown so she tried not to play with it too much. There were bubbles that didn't pop and golden props like a gilded tea set they'd pretended to sip at together.

Aoife was not only a professional, she was engaging. She helped Kalos laugh at the right moments and taught her to find her light and pop her hip just so that way her body wasn't so flat.

> "Weel, if it isnae th' tois most bonnie models in th' world!"

Kalos looked quickly away from Aoife and squeaked Becca's name. Her hand squeezed around Aoife's.

She wasn't afraid like a kid caught with their hand in a cookie jar or anything. Nor was she squeaking like a kid who'd maybe for a half of a moment, been wishing that her mom had been Aoife instead of Becca.

Nope. Neither of those.

That was the squeak of all that AND the panic of I totally forgot to tell my adult where I was.

"Becca!"

She could not answer how much she liked the experience fast enough. "The makeup artist had so many colors and she kept having to mix them! There's a photoman and he's like totally in love with us. Oh! And look! Up there at the light? There's one they shine off a thing and then there's— there's—" Kalos made an explosion motion with her one free hand because words were not enough "—so many sparkles. It's the most magical thing."

Becca laughed, thrilled to see the sense of wonder in her daughter's eyes. Aoife brought out new confidence in the young woman and was not above spoiling her niece. The way Kalos explained things, it sounded like Becca's sister really went above and beyond. A magical moment, as Kalos kept putting it.

"Truly a scene befittin' mah princess. Ye look beautiful as ever, Kalos." Becca's approach was intercepted by a hug from her sister. "Ye werenae kiddin' abit a surprise, sis. Ah hope ye're nae plannin' tae audition mah daughter fer America's Top Teen Model or somethin'," she whispered, knowing the life of a model would be throwing her daughter into the deep end of anxiety.

Aoife shook her head. "Nae, though Ah say we leave th' discussion open. Thes was mostly tae bond wi' Kalos til ye got here fer th' real surprise."

The cameraman smirked, taking out a cane from his case. Aoife walked back to Kalos, but an Aoife Becca didn't see. Instead, Becca appeared to be watching from a distance expectantly.

The Aoife standing with Becca, unseen by Kalos, and the one walking toward her spoke in unison, "Are ye ready for your real surprise?