If it were up to Em, she would have made a beeline away from the house to prevent the rather tense situation that was about to occur, but Twyla was determined and would hopefully not encounter Maya while she was in there. Emerald would have said more on the matter of Twyla perhaps meeting the pups another time, but the woman had already seen Emerald's second guest. The preceded to get nervous and then fall flat on her nervous face, making Emerald want to laugh and haul Twyla up to ask if she was OK at the same time. However, it seemed that Maya had already beaten the werewolf to the punch.

The air between the threesome of high school friends was tense and nervous, Emerald didn't need super senses to tell her that. It was understandable though, with the whole, Twyla breaking Maya's heart into a thousand tiny little pieces. The two needed to talk, whether they wanted to or not, luckily Emmy's kids gave her an easy out of this situation.

"Nah, you two stay out here and I will clean the kids up." Emerald told them, moving into her kitchen where two very guilty looking wolf pups held out their hands in defeat.

Emerald rolled her eyes, beginning to clean their hands off with the washcloth as well as the area they had made a mess of. She didn't say a word the entire time, making both of the kids very nervous. After she was done cleaning, both Lilly and Connor walked up to their mother, both looking frightened.

"Mommy, we're sorry, please no more quite Mommy!" The twins said in unison, as i reading each others thoughts.

Emerald was now trying hard to fight the grin on her face, she turned to her kids with a stoic look on her face, kneeling down to their level. "I'm not your mommy anymore I'm...THE COOKIE MONSTER WEREWOLF!" She exclaimed, pouncing on her kids who were both two stunned to move out of the way. She then began tickling them both, causing them to burst into fits of giggles. For a while Emmy had the upper hand in the little bout of playfulness, then Connor decided to slip underneath her and climb on her back. With a bark of dismay the wolf woman found her daughter and son soon both climbing on top of her, tickling her sides.

Emerald walked on all fours back to the living room where no doubt awkward conversation was occurring, with two little wolf children mercilessly tickling her, her laughing the whole time. "Oh god...Ahahaha, I'm being attacked by puppies!" She exclaimed, falling onto the floor while her children double teamed on her, rolling the wolf woman over and tickling her belly.

Damn. A million times over. Everything would have been just peachy keen (or as peachy keen as such a situation can be, given the circumstances) if Maya had just stayed looking into the kitchen, standing there with her hands on her hips. Then Twyla could have just fled the premises and called Emerald back about a better time to meet that didn’t involve first loves whose feelings she stomped all over when she ran away from growing up and all the things that come after the ‘I love you too’ moment. She could have left. They could have ignored each other and she wouldn’t have been looking up at Maya from her wonderful spot on the floor, wondering what to say and why her stomach was knotted in something more complicated than embarrassment.

Of course she could tell where she was laying--why did she think she could hide from someone who’d gotten used to sudden camouflager moments. Despite knowing this Twyla was still confused when she ended up on her feet once more. “Hey Maya.” She could keep her tone neutral and act like everything was normal if the other woman could. At least until EMMY WAS LEAVING THEM ALONE!?

Awkward. A million times over.

Small talk? Why the hell not? It’s not like she could come up with the proper things to say--not in Emerald’s living room at least, not in the time alloted. “So how’ve you been?” She shook off her powers and tried to keep her eye contact even. Her nerves were thrumming but she kept herself together by crossing her arms in front of her chest. Twyla’s thin hands were slightly dry looking--hand washing was basically half of her job--and they were much more scarred than they’d been when she was younger. Her left hand was on top of her arms and there was a pale circle around the base of her ring finger. She was still getting used to her left hand.

“I saw your last movie--it was really good, all my friends cried.” Not that she’d gone on purpose, considering she knew nothing about the movie or who was in it...it’s very rude to leave a theater when you’re with all your work friends once the movie starts...Twyla might have cried but it might have had nothing to do with the movie. None of that needed to be mentioned though, she just needed something to say.

--
Emerald crawled back out of the kitchen with both of her children in tow--they were ticking her. Eventually she fell over and the pups won out. A chuckled escaped her lips. Despite herself, Twyla felt a soft and gooey smile spread across her face. Having never met the kids before she stood back, just watching the scene with a dreamy expression on her face.

>>“So how’ve you been?”

Maya let go of her hand as soon as it was likely that Twyla could stand on her own. Emerald bailed out of the situation, which only made sense, since there were two little werewolves raiding the kitchen. Maya looked at Twyla and shrugged with a good-natured smile.

"You mean, in the past ten years? It's been eventful."

She walked to the living room, trusting her to follow. The awkward and hurtful she'd been prepared for was quickly fading away. During the years Twyla had transformed in Maya's mind into some sort of a fairy tale; everyone has an image like that from the first crush of their lives. She was not perfect in her memories; but she was not real either.
And the real version who'd just walked through the front door - she was practically a stranger.

>>“I saw your last movie--it was really good, all my friends cried.”

A stranger who knew her.
Maya chuckled. "Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. It was a... very interesting project. The next one will be a lot lighter though."
Hopefully a lot lighter than many real life situations...

She stole a glance or two at Twyla when they sat. She looked... grown up. Less colorful than she used to be. Minus the blush and traces of the camouflage. Whatever happened to her in the past ten years, she was not having the time of her life now.
Maya wondered if she should...

>>"Oh god...Ahahaha, I'm being attacked by puppies!"

Yup, that was what a happy family should look like. Maya laughed as they entered, and walked over to them, picking Connor up nd holding him high above her head.

"You are in trouble now, my friend." she grinned at the boy "The X-men are here to the rescue. You can't win against real superheroes. Noooo sir."

She dropped the wolf pup, but caught him again a bare moment later before he hit the ground, flung him over her shoulder, and carried him to the couch, where she held him out by the arms towards Twyla.

"Twyla, meet Connor. Guess which one of his parents he takes after."

As per usual with at least the two younger Lupin sisters, the silly antics of Emerald and the pups seemed to break the tension between the two former lovers. The family really did enjoy playing together and just being together in general so the fact that there were guests there didn't hinder the family fun that the wolves usually had. Once Connor had been pried off of his mother, Lilly relented and laid up against her mother with a content look on her face. She was content with just being with her mother and snuggling next to her like she was a big teddy bear. Emerald smiled at her daughter who was starting to look sleepy as she laid against her mother. Em knew the little one had morphed earlier, so that probably took a lot out of her.

Lilly was still getting used to the fact she would now have to eat more because of the morphing and her sped up metabolism. With a soft smile Em scooped up her daughter with the gentlest of grasp, causing the little one to yawn and then cling onto her mothers shirt. Lilly was a little nervous about the new person in the room, but Aunt Maya seemed to like her and so did her mother so she should be okay.

Connor on the other hand was more than happy to meet the lady he had dubbed, Driveway Lady before he knew her name. The little wolf boy sniffed at the new woman curiously, trying to memorize her scent so he would know who she was the next time she came around. He also could sense the slight tension that was in the room and was determined to make it go away. "Hi Twyla, "The wolf boy paused before continuing with a large grin on his face. "You have a slow car, I'm faster than your car you know!"

Emerald laughed at her son's smug and confident look, mirroring that of her own when she was confident about something. The boy had her spunk alright, she would give him that, she always found it interesting though, how he and his sister both acted like future Alpha's in their own way. She approached the group with Lilly trying to stay awake in grasp, "And this is Lilly, she's a bit tired from morphing. But she defiantly takes after me in a lot of ways." The wolf woman told Twyla, glancing down at her daughter who waved sleepily.

Even after she followed Maya to the living room and even though she sat down on the couch, Twyla didn’t relax into the situation--she couldn’t, that would be too dangerous. Her bottom was barely touching the cushions of the couch.

For a moment the woman wished that her work could be lighter or darker based on her whims. That wasn’t really possible seeing as she was a hospice nurse and all of the patients that she saw knew they were dying. She supposed she could pick a ‘lighter’ department to work for but there was peace for her in the fact that she knew that her patients were going to leave her--even picking up one shift in pediatrics had sent her into a sobbing fit once she’d gotten home. Some people thought that the fact that she liked her job was creepy but Twyla saw it as being the person who kept people comfortable in the last pieces of their lives. She wanted someone to do that for her when she got to that point in her life.

Twyla held back when Maya was teasing Connor about the X-men, but she did smile, she was still a part of the team even if she mostly did solo missions on the West coast while she was living with Kurt. “Oh, I couldn’t tell ya who he takes after.” She smirked and rolled her eyes. And then she was in ‘OMG that is adorable mode’. Cue a change in tone.

“Hi Connor, you’re so much bigger than in the Christmas cards.” A soft smile found it’s way on her face as she looked at the little boy that reminded her a lot of her friend and a little of the tension made its way out of her legs. “I know, my truck is super slow--you’ll have to forgive ol’ Darla since she was old when I bought her and she’s taken me all over the country, okay?” And she had, in the last few months, ever since she bought the truck and burned rubber on the way out of L.A.. “Aww, someone looks tired. Hi Lilly, I’m Twyla. Wow, she can morph already?” Sure, the kids had their obvious mutations but it was still something that she was morphing so young.

And then she got nervous again. And tense. And she wanted to leave--it was probably best. “Um, well, I don’t want to interrupt anything--I should probably go. I’m so sorry about just showing up like this.” Twyla stood up, preparing herself to do the thing that she did best--run away. “I’ll call you later, okay, Em? And then we can figure out a better time to catch up. It was nice to finally meet both of you guys.” A wide smile at both of the pups and then a soft, nervous one to Maya. “It was...good to see you’re doing well.” And then Twyla Ashby was making a beeline for her truck waiting for her in the drive.

>> “Um, well, I don’t want to interrupt anything--I should probably go. I’m so sorry about just showing up like this. It was...good to see you’re doing well.”

Twyla was out the door before Maya could open her mouth to answer. No wonder she was anxious to get out; even though it was the mirrorwalker who had all the reasons to be angry at her, she discovered you can't really be angry at someone ten years after the deed. Not really. But Twyla was still Twyla, shy as ever. Some things never change.

Maya set Connor down, and glanced at Emerald. She shouldn't have.

"For heaven's sake, Ems, don't give me that look. I'm not a teenager."

...

"Geez."

Twyla was already sitting in her car when Maya caught up to her, leaning against the side of the truck so she could look in through the open window.

"Twyla, wait. You don't have to go." she was not sure what she was supposed to say, so she said whatever she could think of first.

Yeah, because that always plays out so great.

"Come on, we haven't met for ten years. It's great to see you again. I'm not... I mean, this doesn't have to be awkward." she smiled a bit "Come back inside, we have cookies. Well, um. Scratch that. The pups ate the cookies. None the less, we're glad to have you back."

Please?

“Dammit.” In her rush to scurry away from the awkward and the explaining to Em (and Maya, she supposed) why she was back and everything she’d manage to drop the keys to her truck somewhere inside her truck. Now, it wasn’t like she’d locked herself out or anything but it would probably take time to find them as the cab of her truck had become like most of her private living spaces--messy. This had been a very gradual thing and it was totally justified seeing as she’d basically been living in her vehicle for around four months (since she’d left California). Not that she had to, mind you, but because she was too cheap to constantly pay for hotels and because sometimes it was so much more fun to stay in the cab or even in the back in the bed...but maybe she just liked how different the cramped quarters were compared to the spacious house she’d lived in with Kurt. It was hard to tell but in any case her swift escape plans were currently struggling not to fall to the rocks...

And then they fell and were dashed by Maya coming out, leaning on her truck (also her baaaaaaby), and telling her she didn’t have to go. Oh yes she certainly did--handling all those things at once was not in the game plan quite yet.One thing at a time. Skipping steps did not a happy Twyla camper make, no sirree.

The frantic searching stopped and the woman tried her best to think through an open mind instead of doing something instinctual and planning a better response later(something she still had trouble doing). A sigh escaped her lips and then a small chuckle before they quirked into a smirk that was a little to cold to be Typical Twyla-ish--it was something she’d learned from Kurt and hadn’t been able to unlearn yet. “I’m pretty sure that it has to be awkward--it’s in the rule book or something.” Brown eyes flicked out the window to catch hazel ones for a moment. Despite herself the smirk turned into a sheepish smile.

She said ‘we’, not ‘Em is glad to have you back’. It was ‘we’. That was weird...but then again, so would be holding a grudge for ten years when you hadn’t had any contact at all. Sure, Maya could be angry at the stupid (and it was sooooo stupid and young and foolish) letter but the sender hadn’t even called or anything after it was read...not that she hadn’t tried to convince herself to do that once or twice or a million times. Regardless of word choice nothing was changed--she was still panicking and she definitely should have called first.

“Look, maybe we should do this,” She used a dry hand to wave in the space between them. “This catching up or whatever a different time--showing up today out of the blue was like an ambush or something and...” Twyla bit her lip, trying to find the right words. Honesty would have to work here. “I’m not ready to do this.” Another hand wave. “I’m trying to figure stuff out and get over shit and I think seeing you here is going to complicate that...You might be cool and comfortable with everything but...” That’s what it looked like, but she had no idea what was going on beneath the mirror’s surface. A sigh. “I’m far from that, okay? A different time would be better, I should go now. I’ll call Em next time and I guess if she or you need me you can reach me at the Mansion.” Rifling through the clothes in the passenger seat she’d found the keys--now all she needed was the other woman to relocate to a safe distance away from her rust and Twyla would be out of there and doing what she did best.

Maya sighed as she listened to her; Twyla was rambling, and that was never a good sign. She really did freak out when she saw her. Maybe she was not so much over the whole thing either.

"Look, Twy." she tried, still leaning against the car "I'm sorry."

Pause. Wasn't it weird? Why was she apologizing again? Ten years ago, she imagined countless situations when Twyla would be apoligizing to her... but not this. Not this far in the future.

"Anway. You can leave, if it's more... comfortable for you. It's okay." she but her lips "Just... just tell me ya're not in trouble, okay? If you need help, or something; we're both here, you know where to find us. Just promise you're fine." she looked at her, and tried not to glance towards the house in the meantime. Emerald should have been there helping her convince Twyla. Maybe.

Great, I'm saying things she used to say to me. When did this happen?...

She was sorry? What? That made no sense. In fact, it was the least sensical thing she’d heard in a long time. Maya had no reason to be apologizing to her. Twyla was the one who ran out on what they had and wherever they were going. Maya was the one that had to deal with being left in the dust. Twyla must be tired, she wasn’t processing things right or something. She needed to get back to the Mansion and take a nap or maybe have a nice cry in the bathroom by herself or something. This conversation was too strange to be really happening.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” She said softly, maybe too softly to be heard.

Whoa, talk about some serious deja vu. Since when was she the one that needed to promise she was alright and there was no trouble? Typically Twyla felt she was on the other end of that command. Despite herself some of the tension in her shoulders loosened--she was obviously overly freaking out...what a surprise. “I’m fine, okay?” A slightly brighter smile. “Really, no trouble, just life, got it? Seriously, just shit with stupid people and trying to figure myself out again.” The smile wavered a little bit, thus far it had been a daunting task. She’d get there though, that was her only option.

“I meant what I said earlier...we can do the catching up thing another time, alright? I just need some now time before I try and mess with anything from the past.” She tried to look reassuring as she shoved the key into the ignition and gave it a good yank (that was the only way it would turn over). The truck bellowed to life and so did the ancient CD player she’d been so excited to find in the truck when she bought it. Pat Benatar wailed quietly in the speakers...somet hings never changed.

“If I need help you guys’ll be the first to know, okay?” She was fitting back into an old but familiar role. “I promise.” She smirked. “And if you need me I’m home, so...” She shrugged and let a lack of proper goodbye hang in the air for a moment.

--

After she’d finally left the driveway Twyla had decided to take the scenic route home and she’d ended up on a beach that was obviously closed for the season. None the less, she’d climbed over the fencing with her shoes in hand and made her way down to the water. She needed a quiet moment to herself to think.

>>“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

Maya returned the soft smile; Twyla was probably right, they shouldn't go into that conversation, not out on Ems' driveway with the truck's engines already started. Twyla assured her that she wasn't in trouble; that there would be another time to catch up, and that she was home. Home, meaning the Mansion.

"See you around then" she nodded, and stepped back so she could leave. Dealing with stuff, figuring herself out again. Maya really wished she could help. Twyla had broken her heart once ten years ago, but she was still a friend. Kinda. Sorta.

The lady knight walked back to the house and smiled at Emerald.

"Well, she's gone. She said she needs some time to figure things out." she shrugged "At least she didn't go far..."

At least, she was back home.

A few months later

It had been a realitively quite past couple of months for Emerald's job, nothing really going on to investigate any mutant based crimes nor was there any crimes against mutants to deal with. This gave Emerald a few days off a week and plenty of time to spend with the pups. However, like most good things, it had to come to end and Emerald would have to go back to work investigating a recent string of murders done against mutants. Her husband was with her investigating as well and with none of her usual babysitters in town, she would have to leave the pups at the mansion for a few days being watched over by the people that were there and luckily her adopted sibling had agreed to watch over the little ones while they stayed at the Mansion.

After briefing the mirror mancer in her normal overprotective wolf mama sort of way, giving every tiny detail of the childrens eating habits, bedtime stories amoung other things, Emerald had to leave the young ones behind with her dear friend. The good thing about the children staying there was that it was a good chance for them to learn about other mutants and possibly make some new friends.

Young Connor was Estatic about being able to stay at the mansion for a few days. He had always wanted to stay here and even if he was under multiple adults and teenagers watchful eye, he was determined to show them how strong and awesome he was. He wanted to be just like his mother and become one of the greatest X man of all time, (or at least thats how he viewed her judging from all the stories she would tell his daddy. As soon as his mother had left he and his sister under watch of his surrogate parent, he immediatly decided to bolt.

"Can't catch me!" he exclaimed, looking back at his aunt and sister and running down the hallway of mansion rooms.

Lilly on the other hand was a little bit less than enthusastic at the fact she was going to be at the mansion for the next few days. No matter how great of an adventure this would be she still would miss her mother terribly, though she did have her mothers spunk and had the ability to be just as much of a troublemaker as her brother could be. She didn't like being away from her parents too long, she wasn't used to it and with them both being gone, the little pup was quite nervous and when her mother had started to say goodbye, the little girl, unlike her brother had clung onto her mother , trying to memorize her scent before she left. Simarlily to Emerald, Lilly was calmed down by the smell of people she loved and if she could just smell her mothers scent of her clothes, maybe just maybe she would be okay.

Once Lilly's brother ran off, she cautiously looked up at her surrogate family member, little green eyes asking if it was okay for her to chase after her brother, who began running down the hallway. This was when the little girl realized that her brother could get hurt if he ran to fast and like a worried sister, she followed after him. Not just because she was worried about him but also because she would prefer to be with her twin at a time like this.

>>"Can't catch me!"

Gawain looked down at Lilly, and winked at her, giving her permission to bolt after her brother. They were in the Mansion, after all, the safest place ever for mutant pups to run around (as long as they didn't run into people head first). And he was the babysitter of the day. And the following days, apparently.

Gawain didn't mind at all. He had a few weeks off between jobs (between movies, rather), and he spent that time in the Mansion, as a member of the staff. He usually worked as some sort of a school counselor, with supervising DR sessions on the side. This gave him opportunity to work with his team, relax a bit, feel at home, be among friends, and spend some quality time with his kid. Said kid, as usual, was nowhere to be found since he arrived a few hours earlier. He would show up, sooner or later. He liked the pups.

"He doesn't stand a chance." he grinned at Lilly, before he merged into the nearest mirror. This way, he could keep up with the pups better than he could running. Going from one mirror to the other, he followed the racing kids, letting them have their fun, bt making sure he could always see them. Emerald would tear him to shreds if thy got into trouble. Which they would, sooner or later. By definition. They were half Lupins, after all.

Henrietta had been planning to stop by the Mansion for some time. It seemed right to go pay a visit to her old school and home. She loved stopping in and seeing the adults who used to go there as kids, who were now teaching young mutants. The brunette’s home was only a few miles away, at most, but she had a life now and didn’t always have time to stop by.

She lived with her husband Van Sanders-Adamson and no longer had the last name Braun. The two had gotten a nice-ish apartment and he was working as a police officer. Henri’s job was to be a psychologist for children at a local hospital. The two had been married for quite a while now and they had a daughter 5 years ago, Murielle. Murielle looked like a perfect blend of both her mother and father. Her long, brown hair and gray eyes were an instant give away to the children’s parents. She was tall for her age and had many freckles scattered randomly around her small face. The girl had a tendency to hide behind her mother’s leg until she became accustomed to people and blushes easily crept across her face when she was spoken to.

The small girl was now with Henrietta, clutching her hand as they walked to the Mansion door. The brunette wasn’t sure if she should knock or not. The woman stared at the door for a moment before Murielle gazed up. The child wasn’t sure why her mama just wouldn’t ring a doorbell or something, so she tugged on her mother’s hand. Henri smiled down at her daughter. “You’re waiting for me to knock, aren’t you?” The girl nodded and then pointed to the door. A chuckle left the woman’s lips as she lightly pounded her fist on the door.

As they waited, Murielle fussed with a red bow that was tied around her pony tail. Her mother bent over carefully, seeing as she was in a skirt and high heels, and took her daughter’s hands in her own. “Elle, you look adorable. Besides, people here like you for the inside. Good people always like others because of their heart, right?” The small girl nodded and tugged at the bow one last time. It was her version of having the final say in an argument, which made her mother chuckle once more before standing back up. “Just like your father…”

It was good to be back in New York and that was all there was to it. Something about being home and in a familiar place after so long was just such a nice feeling. Twyla had settled into the feeling and in doing so she’d gotten a new job and started saving for an apartment--she almost had enough and then she’d really be home and not just free loading off of the kindness of others. It was a good feeling--a lonely one at times, but still good. She was starting over. Turning into someone better than she was. Things were looking up. Twyla was actually looking up as she walked almost silently through the halls of the Mansion, a book tucked under her arm. She’d gotten really good at being quiet and really good at not paying attention to her surroundings.

A knock?

Twyla jumped and then spun to face the front door, her over-sized gray sweater twirling out behind her slightly. In another swift motion she flung open the wood door without thinking--it creaked in protest. “Henri!” She half screamed, just like when they were younger. Yes, they’d met up a few times since she was back, but she had no idea that she would be at their old school that day. “Hi!” And then she looked at the tiny figured hiding behind her leg. “I see you brought Elle with you, hi sweetie.” The woman bent a bit to look the young child in the face and give her a genuine smile.

“I had no idea you were going to be here today.” She said, allowing her thoughts to verbalize. From somewhere either above or behind her, Twyla heard the distinct sound of running footsteps.

Connor outran his sister easily, being having a head start and being the faster of the two pups. The little boy was eager to explore the mansion, he was planning on doing it even if his sister couldn't keep up. Amidst his running he heard talking at the front door and the little wolf boy made a beeline towards it, recognizing the voices.

Once he reached the front door the little boys eyes lit up when he saw the lady he had met just a few weeks ago, as well As Henri and her daughter. The twins had played with Murielle before though not that much. Connor was happy about this because now he could catch up with his old playmate, who he remembered vaguely and now that he was close he recognized her by scent.

"Hi!" The little wolf boy said, a impish grin on that little face of his. His tail wagged back and forth as he greeted the group but made a point to look at Murielle. He was trying to look as friendly as possible, in order to maybe lure the girl out from her moms leg.

Lilly in the meantime had nearly caught up with her brother but had stopped along the way, catching a familiar scent. The little girls tail began to wag quickly, recognizing it immediately. Her sense of smell was stronger than her brothers so she was able to smell her prey from a long distance away. Following her nose, Lilly found what she was looking for and stopped, instinctively reaching out hugging at the air..or at least what would look like the air to other people.

"Rupert! Stop Hidding already!" The wolf girl barked, tail wagging happily,