Gawain followed the pups as they raced down the corridor towards the front door; he didn't want to risk losing sight of them and have to spend the rest of the day tracking them down, probably in two different places. Fortunately enough, Lily followed her brother, and they all ended up in the hall. And they were not the only ones.

Gawain landed on his feet as he stepped out of the mirror.

"Hello ladies" he grinned, walking over to Twyla and Henri. The former he hadn't seen since she'd returned; he was busy, and Maya was busy too, and he wanted to give her time and space enough to get settled in. Henri, on the other hand, he met quite often, even though in the past few months they didn't really have time to meet, and there was a lot to catch up on.

"Hi Twyla. Good to see you again" he smiled "Henri, Murielle - pretty as ever" he winked at the girls, stepping aside to let them walk in "Excuse us for the mess. I'm the babysitter of the day."

In the meantime, the air being hugged by Lily started struggling, and pried the wolf girl off.

"Ew! Let me go, Lilly. I don't hug girls." it protested in a boy's voice. Gawain turned to look, and a smirk crossed his face.

"Rupert. Show yourself, please. We have guests."

There was some grumbling, and then a boy appeared out of thin air, dropping the invisibility that had cloaked him so far. He was one or maybe two years older than the twins, and looked very much like Gawain. He had the same dark hair, but light blue eyes, an oversized t-shirt that read 'I do my own stunts', and a scowl on his face.

"It's Whisper. Not Rupert."

"Not until ya're fifteen, kid." Gawain grinned, and nodded to him to come closer. He did, eyeing Connor with a glint in his eyes.

"Hi Henri" he muttered "Hi Elle." he muttered even more quietly, looking like he was having a tooth pulled. He glanced up at Twyla too. "Hi Twyla."

Gawain blinked, then sighed. "Twy, meet my son, Rupert."

The boy looked up at him.

"Can I go now?"

"Yup."

Rupert was invisible again in an instant; he yanked Connor's tail before his footsteps could be heard, as he was running away.

As Murielle and Henrietta waited at the door, it swung open. The first face she saw was Twyla, which was nice. The woman was still one of her best friends, after all. Henri's mouth transformed into a grin. “Twyla! So good to see you!” Her arms wrapped around the other woman. Twyla had bent over and smiled at the girl. Murielle smiled shyly, still kind of hiding behind her mother’s leg. She came out more when she recognized the face. “Hi, Twyla. You look pretty today. Mommy loves it when she gets to see you.” Henri laughed when her friend finally verbalized her confusion. “Yeah, I hadn’t told anyone. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

A loud noise came from down the hall. It was a running noise. Emerald’s son was now standing before the group of females. Murielle was out from behind her mother’s leg now and smiled when she saw Connor. She hadn’t seen him for quite some time, but she remembered that he was a very nice boy. There was also a girl, but she hadn’t made it out yet. After a moment, the girl materialized. Lilly hugged the air, or so it seemed. Henri grinned when she heard her mention Rupert. The boy’s mutation had already manifested. “Hello Connor, Lilly, and Rupert.” Murielle walked towards Lilly and the invisible boy. Since she knew the three, she was now comfortable with the situation.

Gawain hopped out of a nearby mirror. Henrietta smiled and Murielle turned to look at the man. The woman smiled and the little girl blushed when he told them they looked pretty. She tugged at her bow once again. Rupert materialized and Henri laughed. “Hey, Rupert. You look more and more handsome every time I see you.” Elle waved at the boy.

Henri watched nervously as Gawain introduced his old girlfriend to his son. The brunette glanced down at Murielle, glad to see that she wasn’t being very shy. Luckily, Elle had already met everyone here quite a few times.

Hugging. Of COURSE there would be hugging--how had she not realized it? Twyla was surprised by the hug but everything that day was tuning into a surprise apparently...like the extra twenty dollars she found in the bottom of her (worn out) purse that morning--good surprises, the kind that made your day. “It’s good to see you too!” She patted her on the back before she let go and turned attention to the young girl in front of her. “Oh, thank you, Elle. I like your bow.” A slight blush crept onto her face at the compliment. In all truth Twyla did feel rather pretty that day, at least by her standards. She’d had the day off so her hair wasn’t a (huge) mess and her make up had yet to all sweat off. The sweater covered up nicely the bare arms she would have been sporting with the strapless, pale, floral print dress that went to about knee level. Her shoes were plain yellow flats, but that was how she liked them--sensible.

Running? Yep, she’d totally called it. Connor came tearing down the hall, stopping in front of their little group with a simple and bright ‘Hi’. A moment later Lilly came into view, but she stopped mid-run to tackle the air...? What? Before the woman could process anything that was going on yet another figure appeared, this one from one of the mirrors. “Gawain...?” Was all she could stammer out, hopefully it sounded more like a greeting and less like a question than how she heard it. Surprises...today was full of them.

Twyla blinked when he knew her name. The air Lilly had a hold of turned out to be a boy. A boy named Rupert. A boy that was Gawain’s son. Gawain’s son!? “Nice to meet you!” She called before she heard him run off in his invisible form. She stared in the direction the older boy had gone for a moment and then her eyes traveled to the twins and then Murielle. She blinked again and an arm wrapped itself around her midsection. It was glaringly obvious that she’d wasted too much time in California--time she could have spent...somewhere else, doing something better...like getting herself an actual spouse or--the hand attached to the arm wrapped around her stomach clenched at the soft fabric of the huge sweater.

“I guess belated congratulations are in order.” A small chuckle and she smiled at Gawain in a way that she hoped looked like a normal smile. “I had no idea you had a son--he looks just like you.” Another smile and this one felt more natural.

Everyone had kids...it sort of blew her mind to think about but she was settled in enough that she managed to keep better together than the last time she’d seen Mirror. There was no urge to run this time. That was progress. No one knew about Kurt yet--but that was embarrassing and painful and really didn’t need to be shared. In time, maybe, but now she was healing and it felt good, awkward or no awkward, children or no children, alone or with someone else. Good.

Connor was glad his friend wasn't being too shy and waved at her eager illy. Being the trouble making little boy he was, once Rupert pulled his tail and went invisible, he preceded to growl and bolt after the older boy.

"Your'e a jerk face!" The little boy howled as he ran down the halls.

Lilly was always the more observant of the two twins and she could tell that there was a little bit of tenseness between her uncle/sometimes Aunt as well as her mommy's other friend. She wondered if this was the sad part of her adopted families life that mommy told her not to ask about. Trying her best not to think about things that made people she cared about sad, she went over to Elle and grabbed her hand. "Wanna go catch the boys?" The wolf girl asked with her head tilted to the side. Lilly gave a worried look to Twyla and gawain and then shook her head. Grownups are weird. She thought, her tail wagging a little.

>>“I guess belated congratulations are in order. I had no idea you had a son--he looks just like you.”

Gawain smirked as the boys ran off, closely followed by Elle and Lily.

"Don't think I won't ground you both if you break anything!" he called after them, then shook his head, turning back to Twyla "Yeah, thanks. I was never such a brat."

Never.

She looked more at ease now. Gawain was happy Henri showed up; she was a dear friend, and also, she was a dear friend of Twyla too, and that made the situation a lot less stressful.

"So, in the calm before the storm" he chuckled, nodding in the direction the kids had just disappeared "Would you two like to drink something? Or just raid the kitchen in general. That's where they're gonna end up anyway."

Drink. Food. Yes. He really needed some coffee right now. And some small talk. At least until the little ones broke something.

Elle ran off with the children, a big smile on her face. Her ribbon and pony tail bounced as she jogged off. Before her mother was completely out of sight, she turned and made eye contact. Her grey eyes met her mother’s blue ones. With a nod, the girl took off.

Henrietta grinned as she watched her daughter run off. “I’m glad she’s not being shy. It’s good for her to make friends. She’s usually not too good at talking. I have no idea where she gets that from.” The brunette smiled at her friends with a hint of sarcasm on her face.

The woman watched Twyla’s face and then noticed her hand tighten on her shirt. She did a pretty good job of acting okay with what was going on. After a few seconds, she really did seem okay. Henri smiled at her friend and lightly touched her arm. It wasn’t a big gesture and it wasn’t something that would seem out of the ordinary, hopefully. She knew Twyla would find someone and have cute little kids. She seemed very family-oriented.

Gawain offered a trip to the kitchen. The woman nodded and smiled. “I could go for some ice water. All this talking makes me thirsty.” Henrietta laughed and headed toward the kitchen instinctively. Her feet knew the way without her even thinking about it.

The kids ran off and Twyla smiled as she watched them run down the hall. That smile turned into a smirk when Gawain tried to tell her he was never as big a brat as his son. An eye roll accompanied the quirk of the lips. “Oh no, never ever.” Sarcasm was dripping all over the floor--thankfully it’s fairly easy to clean up with some paper towels and some spray. She felt normal again in that moment and almost forgot everything that had happened between their little group.

The offer to relocate to the kitchen was presented and accepted by Henri. Twyla nodded and followed the other two inside the familiar room. It had changed a bit since they’d been in high school but not enough for her to call it strange--she could still find the stashes of good food and knew when the best times to eat were. Once inside she instantly bustled around the cupboards, searching out all the things that would distract the adults enough from any awkwardness that reared its ugly head (basically any random snack foods she found and the fixings for coffee). She also grabbed herself a mug for coffee and proceeded to fill it before taking her first sip--she still drank it black.

Plopping herself down she watched the other two get whatever they needed before smalltalk. “So what brought you here today?” A pause. “Either of you.” Another pause. “I’m still here, obviously, but in about a month I should be in my own apartment--I’ve even picked out the couch and the curtains.” She laughed a little bit and swirled the contents of the cup around, enjoying the warmth on her fingers and the feelings that being independent once more filled her with--her smile was dreamy as she looked at the coffee. Twyla had the sneaking suspicion that Mirror had been spending some time at the Mansion lately, but thus far she’d done a good job avoiding the gendershifter (or who she thought was the gendershifter).

Coffee. Coffee was good. Coffee also meant you were a grown-up, especially when you started to drink it in huge quantities. Gawain started doing that when work kicked in. Shooting a movie is not all fun and games, people.
He leaned against the counter as he sipped liquid energy. He'd need it, looking after the three little devils.

>>“So what brought you here today? Either of you. I’m still here, obviously, but in about a month I should be in my own apartment--I’ve even picked out the couch and the curtains.”

He smiled at Twyla. Things seemed to be working out for her after all.

"That sounds really great. Hope you'll throw a housewarming party." because he's love to be invited... "As for me... I've got a few weeks off, so I'm spending some time with the kid. And looking after the pups for Ems. She figured I'd make a good babysitter. What do you know." he chuckled "Henri, are you leaving Elle here too? One kid more or less, doesn't really matter at this point..."

Henrietta smiled as Twyla told them about her knew couch and curtains. She was moving into a New York apartment. That was great because the psychologist had missed the other woman very much. She also thought that Elle could get closer to her god-mother. Henri grinned when her friend asked what brought her there.

The brunette took a sip of coffee and then brought the cup back down. “Well, I like getting Murielle out so she can talk and open up a little more. Kindergarten is rough on her. She won’t talk to anyone, so I thought I’d set her up on a play date with those three other little trouble-makers.” Henri laughed and glanced to Gawain.

“Leave her here? You mean for a few hours?” Her right index finger came to her chin and tapped it thoughtfully. “Hmm. I’m not really sure. I guess I haven’t gotten to talk and spend time with Van for a while. That might be nice, but I don’t want to burden you with another little one to watch. I know they can be quite a handful, though Elle is pretty well behaved.” She rolled her blue eyes. “Lucky for me, her father’s bad behavior isn’t rubbing off on her.” Henrietta flashed her two friends a smile.

A housewarming party? She hadn’t really thought of that but Twyla found herself saying: “Of course, of course.” And then adding: “Well, more like a loft-warming party--but at least it’ll be mine.” The brunette was intensely excited about having her own place--it would be like closure if she could survive on her own. She’d been living in places owned by others for too long and it was her turn to take control of everything. There was freedom in living alone and she was excited to take it. The ironic thing was that she’d left New York for more freedom in the first place. It was crazy what paths life could take you down.

She turned from her coffee and her thoughts and listened to Henri and Gawain explain their reasons for being back at the Mansion on that particular day. Her curiosity was screaming to find out more about Rupert’s origins but she managed to keep her mouth politely shut as babysitting was discussed and her goddaughter was mentioned. Thus far one of the best things about being home again was spending some time with Elle--not enough, obviously, but it was a good feeling when Twyla had the option of seeing the young girl without needing to get on a plane.

Twyla frowned when Henri said she hadn’t been spending much time with her husband lately. Vaguely she recalled a phone conversation about how much he was working overtime lately. “Is Van still picking up those extra hours? He’s going to work himself into a hole...” The frown was twisted into a thoughtful smirk. “I can help watch Elle.” It came out a bit quick as the woman was a bit excited at the prospect. “I don’t have to be to work for a few hours--she can help me plan the guest bedroom.” Twyla laughed, she was serious though, as her entire space was starting to look the same. “Although...now that you mention it--I think she gets more like her father when it’s just the two of us.” She didn’t elaborate, just gave Henri a smile that was half smirk.

“Either way I think I need to watch you” She turned to Gawain. “play nanny; that would make my day I think.” The smirk was an old, familiar one that her mouth had almost forgotten.

>>“Leave her here? You mean for a few hours? Hmm... That might be nice, but I don’t want to burden you with another little one to watch. I know they can be quite a handful, though Elle is pretty well behaved.”

Gawain smirked back at Henri.

"Are you kidding? I've got a kid who's invisible, and a pack of wolves. Looking after Elle is a piece of cake. She's a lady."

Well, until the other three's behavior rubbed off on her, that is, which was bound to happen sooner than later. But Gawain had tons of practice, and he was sure he could handle the kids.
Especially, because Twyla just volunteered to help.

>>“Either way I think I need to watch you play nanny; that would make my day I think.”

"Well, join the club." Gawain grinned back at her. Babysitting with Twyla? Holy hell. That he didn't expect. But he didn't mind it either. "Fair warning: you have no idea what you're getting into. But." he turned back to Henri "As you can see, you have now two babysitters who are fully capable of..."

He tilted his head, listening.

"Do you hear anything?..."

The woman smiled at the mention of a housewarming party. She liked the idea of Twyla celebrating her new home in New York; especially because it had been something she was hoping for. Not having her best friend for years was like missing a piece of her insides. She didn’t seem to function quite the same and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Twyla was the first person in New York that she really clicked with and that genuinely seemed to care about her. At the time, Henrietta had felt like no one loved her or cared what she did or what happened to her. Twyla had been good for her.

Her best friend’s expression turned into a frown when she mentioned not seeing Van often. “Yeah, he’s been picking up the hours pretty heavily. He says he’s just trying to make it safe for Elle and I to be outside, but it would be nice if we could spend time together once and a while.” The brunette sipped at her coffee. “He’s a great dad and cop, but I’d like to have my husband once and a while, if that makes any sense.” She set the cup down on the familiar counter top and raised an eyebrow at the mention of Twyla helping watch the kids.

Letting out a sigh, the woman grinned and shook her head. “If you’re sure about this, I might just have to take you both up on your offer. It may have to be another day though. I’m not sure that he’s home now.” Henrietta beamed at Gawain’s comment on Murielle. The woman had worked hard to raise her daughter into a good person and to be polite. She believed that manners and kindness could get people very far and had tried to instill those things early in life. She was very proud of her little girl and was glad that other people enjoyed her as much as she did.

Gawain had been talking when he stopped to ask if they had heard anything. Henrietta narrowed her eyes, concentrating on hearing any sounds. Boom! Her blue eyes opened wide and she nodded. “I heard it. What it is, I’m not so sure about, but I did hear something loud. Hopefully it’s nothing too bad.” She sighed once more as she pictured the four children breaking something priceless and important. Quietly she whispered, “Please let them all be okay”, before walking toward the sound.

Herni would apparently need no babysitter(s) that day, but at least the idea was out there. A thud that seemed to reach Gawain’s ears at the same time as hers resounded from someplace off in the Mansion, probably upstairs. Henri heard it too headed out of the kitchen. Before she left the room Twyla managed to get a look at the other woman’s face and instantly she knew the look resting there--it was motherly concern. The brunette blinked for a moment at the retreating figure, an unreadable (to most) expression clouding her face.

She was in the kitchen alone with Gawain. No matter how much ‘better’ she’d gotten in the past few months it was still awkward. A final moment to neutralize her face and Twyla was up and following her friend down the hall and towards the source of the mysterious sound. And then another noise, this one coming from the pocket of the sweater the woman was wearing. “I kissed a girl and I...” The ‘retro’ song lyric was stifled and killed by Twyla answering her cell phone, she stopped in her tracks to speak with the woman she knew was on the other end (it was Joanna’s ringtone, after all).

“Hey chica, what do you need?” The tone she used was a friendly one and a familiar one. “Really? You’ve been accepted officially? Oh honey that’s great! I’m so excited!” A bright smile found it’s way on her face as she obviously forgot where she was and where she had been going. “I bet Erica’s ecstatic.” A pause and then laughter. “Well, I’m sure she’ll be as excited as you are when you can actually meet the baby--have you decided on a name yet? Uh-huh, that’s cute! Seriously, that’s great.” A longer pause as the woman on the other end asked an obviously long question.

Twyla’s face fell a bit and she walked to a more private area near the stairs. “Listen, Jo, I can’t come back yet to visit and I’m never moving back there. Parts of California were great, you guys and everyone from work...but I’m not ready to go back. Not with Kurt and everything...” The face fell a bit more. “Oh, he’s still with her?” A very, very short pause. “They’re getting married!?” The voice that had been steadily getting quieter with the change of subject rose sharply. “You’re telling me that he just couldn’t commit to me but some bimbo can walk into his life and--” A large, angry sigh. “I’m sorry Jo, thanks for telling me, really. Oh, you have to go? I suppose there’s a lot of people to call.” The smile came back a bit. “Well, congratulations! Give my best to Erica, and don’t worry--she’ll come around. Bye hon, take care.”

She wasn’t going to go upstairs and see what the children had gotten themselves into. She needed to compose herself first. Right.Twyla sank into the nearest chair and silently fumed.

(Hope this is okay for everyone, if the owners of the two children would like me to change things you are more than welcome to tell me. And you guys are welcome to say how the kids reacted during the game or what have you I just wanted to make bare bones in order to insert stuff in.)

When children are left all by themselves, it is unknown what countless troubles they could get themselves into and at first the children of the 3 X men were actually being quite well behaved. They were playing with each other in a fairly civilized way for about ten minutes or so until Connor suggested the group played Cops and Robbers. At first Lilly thought they were going to pick teams but as soon as Connor ran off with Rupert, the little girl realized who the teams were; it would be Boys VS Girls.

From there things got a little bit more, insane because when a game of boys vs. girls happens, both sides would try their hardest to win. At first the boys had managed to pelt the girl with water balloons before running away grinning like little boys. Of course the girls couldn’t take this lying down (Lilly especially, she did take after her mother after all), so they proceeded to rig up a bucket of water to fall on top of the boys as they ran through the door. The boys then later found old nerf guns that still worked fairly well, despite their age and proceeded to shoot at the girls with the suctioned cup bullets, knocking over various books, tearing up curtains in their pursuit for the girls. After removing the darts from their faces and clothes, the girls managed to find a large pump squirt gun called the super soaker and proceeded to drench the boys as well as a portion of the living room. This was more so under Lilly’s instigation than Elles, mainly because Lilly enjoyed getting revenge on her older brother.

More havoc ensued, things were knocked over, Cops chassed robbers in a whole epic battle to see who was truly the best boys or girls. Then, something unexpected happened, admits all the knocked over pillows and rolling tennis balls, Connor managed to trap the girls underneath a plastic laundry basket. It was fairly large for a laundry basket and had slats so the girls could see out of it fairly easily. This was when a mistake happened, Rupert collided into a small whicker bookshelf, just as Lilly was about to lift the clothes basket off of the girls. The book shelf fell over with a clatter a loud thud onto of the basket and for a brief moment, both boys were horrified that they may have just seriously hurt the girls. But when they saw that the bookshelf merely just trapped the girls further the two started to laugh, much to the girl’s dismay.

“The coppers are trapped in their own jail cell!” Connor laughed as his sister looked at him furiously.

Lilly had immediately tried to protect Elle when the bookshelf fell, thinking it would crush the basket and the two with it. Perhaps it was just strange instincts she inherited from her mother but none the less Lilly was still protective of her friend. The little wolf girl snarled at her older brothers taunting and furiously attempted to push the cheap light bookshelf off the basket in order to free her and Elle, just so she could wipe that smile off her brothers face. She did look very upset though, like she was about to cry, but the little girl was stubborn and wanted to beat her brother up first, then Rupert, then wonder if her mother was coming home soon.

Whenever the adults would walk in they would find the sight of a wet, living room with a bookshelf on the floor, pillows everywhere, a table turned over and the four children. Lilly furiously trying to get the basket off of her and her friend and the boys taunting them. The children didn’t seem to notice the adults yet for they were still carrying on

“CONNOR LET US OUT OF HERE!” The little wolf girl howled, sniffling a little. “Please?” She said quitter this time, hoping to maybe get sympathy from her block head of a brother or cousin.

“Nope! We won fair and square Lilly! That is the rules! Now you have to spend 5 minutes in jail!” Connor jeered

Gawain followed Henri after the noise; it came from the living room. There was a moment of hesitation when he was left alone with Twyla; but parental instincts took over, and awkward situations had to happen at another time. Possibly one when none of the kids were in mortal danger.

All right, so maybe not in mortal danger. That was the level of trouble Gawain himself would be into, if Rupert's mom walked in on this. Babysitter Fail. Big time.

"Rupert." he said in a menacing voice as he and Henri arrived at the scene that looked like something a natural disaster left behind. There were three kids to be seen, two of them under the bookshelf, but he had no doubt the fourth one was present too, invisible as always. Gawain cleared his throat. "Rupert."

"Let them out of there. Now." the X-man said calmly, glancing at the shelf. It was not heavy enough to crush the basket; the girls sounded fine too. "Connor. You too."

Once the girls were free, Gawain grabbed the two boys by the scruff of their necks, and glanced over at Henri. "I'll take these two outside. You can handle the girls." he said with a smirk before he walked out of the living room into the hallway.

Then there was talking. The two boys were red as tomatoes, and glared at each other stubbornly; they made a few attempts to blame it all on the girls, or at least drag them down too. Gawain knelt between the two of them, and tried his best to act like a father without cracking up.

"... and you are not coming out of there until everything's shiny as new, do I make myself clear?" he asked before he let them go. They were on their way back to the living room befor he cleared his throat again. "Boys. Apologize first."

Gawain sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. Looking around, he spotted Twyla sitting in a chair.

"Kids destroyed the living room." he reported with a smirk "Hey. Everything all right?"