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>>“Hearty, har, har. Alright, hun, I tried to give you a way out. Well, alright, let’s see what mommy packed up for you, shall we, Miss Lane?”

"You are stuck with me" she chuckled, watching jorge unpack the bag. Lane expressed her satisfaction with the new toys. At least the mom who dropped her off was smart enough to know one favorite toy is not enough for a full day of fun.

>>“Does this, you know, feel weird? Helping take care of a child, again?”

"Not weird at all" she smiled, settling down to watch Lane "I really loved it when my kids were this age. They were all mine" she chuckles "I miss having them around once they move out. I mean, I have all the kids in the Mansion to look after... but I wouldn't mind having to do this all over again."

She meant it, too.

>>“Is it that obvious? My sister doesn’t have kids. And my job pretty much kept any neighbors from asking. Me having a gun around the house and all. Honestly, I’ve watched a couple of my younger cousins before, but they were 7 and 9 years-old at the time. Mainly I just fed them, took them to a bookstore or two, once an amusement park, but…that is a far cry from this.”

"It is" she chuckles "All age groups have their own challenges. This one right here" she pointed at Lane "Is balance, food, and entertainment. With the occasional diaper change." she chuckled "I remember my kids being this age... makes you feel like they are never ever going to grow up. And then they do."

They did. Gemma loved her kids, grown up or not.

>>“I’m sorry, Gemma, I did not mean for your day-off to turn into babysitting. I mean, if you want, you can still run off and enjoy your day. I might be able to take it from h—“

She winced, seeing Jorge get bonked on the forehead with an octopus. She couldn't stiffle a laugh.

"Nah, I really don't mind staying." she shook her head "I wanted to spend the day with you, a baby will not stop me from doing that. Besides, this is getting quite amusing...."

>>"Is it just a big kids' school? What about... say, an eight-year-old? What if an eight-year-old wanted to go to school here?"

He was eight years old. And already alone. In Gemma's opinion, that was something that should never happen. Ever.

"He certainly could" she smiled at him "The school is open to anyone, we just usually get older kids because most mutations don't manifest so early. But yes, if an eight-year-old wanted to go to school here, we could arrange that."

She did not mention background check. That tended to make eight-year-olds run away. She'll deal with that later.

>>"What kind of sandwich will you have?"

"Hmmm" Gemma hummed, not sure about the answer, as she reached over and opened the jars for him. Looking at all the things on the table, she was just starting to realize that she overdid the whole thing again. Oh well. most of it will get eaten. One could always count on kids who lived in dorms.

"I think I'll stick to the classics" she chuckled finally, and started assembling a turkey-and-ham sandwich. She glanced at Chase as he worked on his own. He suddenly looked very young, even with the visible mutation. She wanted to ask so many questions... but she didn't. Not yet.

"So, this is it" she said finally, meaning the Mansion "Oh, we also have a library with a lot of books. And classrooms. And an infirmary with a very nice doctor who is also a mutant."

He did not mention the Danger Room. Not yet.

>>“I-I don’t know. I haven’t fed her yet and her mother didn’t say if she ate before she dropped her off.”

"All right" Gemma smiled, accepting the octopus and wiggling it around in a most amusing fashion (judged by Lane's giggling) before she handed it back "We'll need to feed her at some point, but I think we are okay for now. If she's hungry, trust me, we're going to know it."

Kids were nice that way. Thed let you know when they wanted something. Loud and clear.

Gemma settled down next to the two of them on the carpet and smiled.

"So, is this your first time babysitting?..."

This was just too much fun to not talk about.

She watched Jorge play with the baby. She seemed to be cheerful as a properly entertained baby can be. Hands on her hips, the watched the two of them, the big bad cop and the tiny little girl, and smiled.

>> "What?"

Jorge was good with kids, even if he did not think so. He would deserve to have one of his own...
Gemma stopped that trail of thoughts. It was a discussion for another time...
She shook her head, still smiling "Nothing. I can see you liek each other." she chuckled. The octopus got offered and returned once again. Gemma sat down and took a look at the duffle bags.

"Has she eaten something yet?..."

The kid was silent and she did not blame him. She did not want the driver to hear the rest of the conversation either. Even kids are entitled to their privacy.

Once the taxi drove off, she walked across the mansion grounds to the building, Chase in tow.

"Welcome to Xavier's" she said with a warm smile "Quite a safe place, you can't see it now but it's protected by all kinds of security. Including dogs and random mutants." she chuckled as they walked in through the front door. "Hall, living room, dining room, kitchen. Let me just drop these off and I'll show you around."

Dropping the shopping bags off in the kitchen, she turned to look at Chase.

"Everything in here is free, as long as it doesn't have someone's name on it. You can come down whenever you are hungry and find something to eat. I usually cook too, for the main meals."

Moving on, she lead him to the offices.

"This is my office, you'll usually find me here, if I am not in my room. Everyone has a room, although you might have a roommate if we run out of space, or if you want one."

She turned to look at Chase again.

"I am not going to pry into anything you don't want to tell me, but if you would like to stay, I do need to ask a few questions to check you in. Mostly, about your mutation. What is it exactly that you can do?..."

Asked in a nicest way possible.