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Serena was wearing her excitement on her face, which was adorable. She also did a lip bite thing that made Becca remember how she got familiar with those lips in one of her first days back in New York. Now that she was three years older and more mature, it was interesting to think back to those days. She absolutely made out with Serena, and they thankfully never made things weird. Nice to have at least one of those under her belt.

It was odd catching up with Serena and realizing how much had changed in two year. Becca knew her pregnancy was big news, but she was reminded that her relationship with Mirror was its own kind of news to someone who had been missing longer than twenty-eighteen. Becca simply beamed at the congratulations and let the chirpy hemomancer continue.

She did have to chime in as well when Serena dropped her own good news. ”Ah heard abit that! Ah’m glad Ah can finally congratulate ye oan joinin’ th’ team officially.” Serena, like Rebecca before her, had an extended tenure as a trainee, but now she was a true blue X-Men member.

Like a good friend, Serena was immediately supportive and ready to cater to Becca’s every pregnant need. ”Ye’re fantastic. Please feel free tae stick aroond for the next nine months or sae. Bit for noo, please come in? Kalos an’ Maya arenae aroond sae it’s jist us fer a bit.”

Watching Agnes miserable hurt, though at least Becca was only tangentially responsible this time. It was not easy hearing about the way Agnes’s life played out, but she was going to find things out eventually. Becca ripped off the bandaid so Agnes was not stumbling through New York lost and aimless. She needed to know who she almost was if she was going to be someone now.

Slowly Becca guided herself to the roof and took a seat near Agnes, while keeping a respectful distance. This was a new Agnes and their dynamic was something new now. That dynamic called for at least two feet of space.

Becca sighed, empathizing. ”Ye coods remake a haem at th' Mansion.” Not that Becca could blame her if that option sounded less appealing now that it was a new place to her. ”If it's nae somewhaur ye can be anymair, we can at leest help ye fin' a new place. Given th' de-agin', Juliard is still an option. Ye aced it th' first time, an' ye coods ace it thes time. Yoo'll e'en avoid trooblesome redheids thes go-roond.” At least one could hope.

Not sure how to best connect with a frustrated, struggling teen, she shrugged and chose to just be honest. ”It’s nae fair. Life as a mutant rarely is, it seems. Mah freshman year, Ah was abducted an' pit intae a nightmarish isolation.” Becca did not like thinking back to The Ragman, but it was the most notable trauma of her life. She hoped she was not off base trying to empathize. ”It mentally broke me an' in sae mony ways Ah hud tae start ower. Needed time away frae school, needed tae relearn hoo tae e’en be a person. But fowk waur thaur fur me an' Ah foond a path again.”

Rebecca leaned forward against her shield, looking out at the Mansion grounds and the green beyond the walls. ”Yoo'll fin' people, Aggie. Yoo'll start again an' yoo'll dae better. Whatever better is fur ye noo, gae dae it. Ah hae faith in ye.” Just because the life Agnes lost was imperfect didn’t make it all terrible, and it did not mean she could not forge a better life now.

The Mansion had a transient energy, with people coming in and out over the years. Becca was not exempt from this; she moved out when her and Agnes were ready for their own place, then she stepped away from the X-Men for grad school. She had to return and re-adjust to the people she once knew, the people who were gone, and the new faces.

The first old face Rebecca came across was actually Serena, who pulled her own disappearing act, which was fine. Becca would not judge, because she had no grounds to stand there. All she could do was greet her friend excitedly, because it was nice to see her safe and home.

Also, the brownies were a nice touch.

”Congratulations? Whit coods a wee birdie possibly hae tauld ye tae gie ye 'at idea?” Serena was returning and greeting Becca with her own good news, so why not play dumb a bit to give her a hard time since she decided to find out somewhere else. ”Congratulations fur whit? Th' ears? Nae, it's really th' tail, reit? Ah know they ur new tae someain who hasnae bin aroond.” Rebecca smirked, and would not even comment on the apology thing, because that was just silly. Serena did not owe an apology; no, she just had to accept her teasing from Becca.

It was inevitable that this news was going to shake Agnes. Becca was a stranger, so how could she have let a stranger in so close? Agnes was guarded thanks to the experiences of her youth. She was also in a new, uncomfortable position feeling lost, so this news did not help.

Still, “Why?” Ouch. Rebecca pressed on. ”Why nae? The people you dated after eighteen were aw new tae ye at some point.” Everyone you knew was once a stranger, and Agnes knew nothing about the Scot sitting in front of her. There was nothing suggesting they would not have a history unless Agnes hid a secret disgust for redheads all these years.

”We met when Ah transferred tae America. Ye were ain ay mah first friends, and we got close. There was a crush on both sides.” Deep breath, because this was not a time to get lost in romanticizing nostalgia. ”Ye were datin’ Jasmine and Ah didnae e’en know Ah loched girls till Ah found ye. When Jasmine moved tae Japan, we started datin.”

After a bit of typing as she spoke, Becca moved the computer screen to show a photo from social media. A younger Becca and a slightly older Agnes sitting and holding hands on the edge of a fountain at Columbia. ”There was a bump in th’ road where we broke up and got back together, but otherwise, we were together throughit college. We only ended things when Ah moved tae Oxford for mah masters and ye got a job offer in th’ states.” And one of us should have said no, she thought to herself. A regret long since too late to retread.

”Ye moved oan eventually. At first, there was a brief time spent with a girl named Winnie, or sae ye said. Then ye settled down with River, frae yer traveling company. That went well, and ye got engaged.” She switched to a new photo, of Agnes and River showing their engagement rings. It still was not easy to say that or see it, even after everything that happened.

And then, she had to touch on everything that happened. ”And it went well. Til River had struggles with work and insecurity and eventually, drugs. She pushed ye away, and Ah’m sorry… Ah was there when she pushed tay hard.”

Becca did not look at Agnes as she finished. ”Bit ye and Ah did tay much damage tae ain anaither over the years, and ye moved oan. Frae there, Ah think ye kept it casual, bit we lost touch, sae Ah dunno.” It would do her no good to rehash the Hive Queen’s revenge or her warped way of handling relationships. She let the recap of their lives hang for Agnes to process.

Pregnancy was weird. Waking up feeling nauseous was not fun. Cravings, while not new to her, were uniquely different from wanting Thai food, (though God, thinking about it, she would kill for Pad Thai.) It was still early, but she had ordered pizza the night before explicitly so she could order extra banana peppers on the side. She wanted to blame that on her pregnancy, whether or not it was the case.

Oh, and there was that other weird thing where she woke up with fox ears and a tail.

Yeah, the mystery box baby in her stomach had yet to disappoint. Whatever they had going on with their mutation, it was leaving Rebecca to switch to a new physical mutation each day. She imagined there was a cap, but had not seen duplicates yet. The changes ranged from innocuous antennae to a wicked harpy form to slightly corrosive sweat. She was glad they discovered that in the winter; when she woke up, the only major damage she had done was to the pits of her pajama sleeves.

Today, she would take fox ears as a win. It was a cute look, especially with the whiskers that kept tickling her and forcing her to scrunch up her nose. As a content creator, she was not going to miss out on this opportunity.

Pixelbecky was not a gaming ViewTuber like Vanessa and her team, but she was serviceable with a controller. After filming footage for two vlogs, one on cancel culture and one reviewing the latest Space Battles movie, she set up a livestream that was a mix of shooting the sh*t with her community, answering questions, and playing SquadBattle Strategies. It was an auto-battler, which meant it did not demand stellar gaming reflexes and she could focus on the chat. Her fans did not care if she sucked as long as she gave them more attention than the game.

Becca jumped at the knock on the door. She was getting better, but unexpected gusts still made her skittish. Of course, an attacker likely would not knock, so she calmed herself. ”Ain second, everybody! Seems ain ay th’ students micht need something.” She quickly repositioned one of the little characters on her field before jumping out of her chair and rushing to the door.

Peeking through the spyhole, Becca’s eyes widened at the realization of who was waiting. Opening the door, her toothy grin greeted Serena. ”Oy! Ah heard ye were back. Bout time ye foond me,” she teased, before pulling the blonde into a tight hug ”Guid tae see ye again, Serena. Ah…” She sniffed, twitching her nose and whiskers. ”Dae Ah smell… brownies?”

Rebecca was still wrapping her head around this change. A literal minute ago, she was ready to modify her wardrobe to accommodate for wings and tailfeathers. Now she was standing in her bedroom like a topless nightlight. This baby was becoming a bundle full of mysteries and they were not even born yet. Becca thought about Impact and her multi-powered baby. She did not want to be presumptuous, but she was betting her baby could potentially match Alex in terms of parental challenge level.

> "Did ya jus... did you just shift at midnight?"

"Ah swear, this kid better hae my freckles coz they seem tae keep haeing th' same traits as ye and they're nae e'en here yet." Mutation at (and before) birth, changing at midnight. This was definitely Gawain's kid.

> "So... is this what people mean when they talk about pregnant women glowing? How does it feel?"

Rolling her eyes, Becca took brisk steps toward Gawain and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Gawain Morris, Ah think ye jist tauld yer first official dad joke." She kissed his cheek and chuckled at the corniness of it. "Ah'm gonna need ye tae keep those comin' for nine months if thes baby is gonnae keep throwin' us surprises loch thes. Becca was certain DocProf would be fascinated by this development when she came to see him next. For now, she would just appreciate the ability to wiggle her fingers and interlock them at the small of Gawain's back. The future was weird and exciting. Holding the father of her child, she could not wait.

Knowing she had Maya's support made the future less scary. Becca was still terrified, but she loved seeing parenthood as another adventure to share with Maya. Whoever this baby was, they would have two loving parents. "This baby is worth bein' a bird for," she decided, grinning as she cuddled up to her partner.


Becca cancelled any plans she had for the day and spent the day in the apartment, watching Binge with Maya. She did not want to do anything today besides cuddle, mentally adjust to the idea of being a mom, and preening as she smoothed out her feathers constantly.

"Ye know, nae tae brag, bit mah feathers are a very pretty shade ay magenta," Becca proclaimed playfully as she navigated removing her shirt now that bedtime was approaching. It had grown late once they got way too invested in a historical drama, Sovereignty, and midnight was approaching. Becca felt bad, because she knew being awake during a shift was weird for Mirror, but she could not help but find the process fascinating.

"Hey Maya... thanks for makin' in easy tae be excited for th' future." She planted a kiss on Maya's soft, feminine lips while they were still around and eyed the clock. 11:59. When a person went through a massive physical change every midnight, you tended to make sure the clocks were set accurately. "Noo hurry up and change; Ah wanna tell Gawain he's gonna be a dad," she teased.