Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine is the plot.
A/N: This story takes place shortly after the X-Men move to San Fransisco. I noticed a lack of stories involving the Stepford Cuckoos, and decided to try my hand at writing them. I find that they are intriguing characters, and that they have a lot of potential for character growth.
* - telepathic communication.
And the Father Is…
"That will be all, Phoebe, thank you for your patience; you may join your sisters now." Beast says to the young girl sitting on the examination table.
"Okay, Doctor McCoy." She says as she stands up and walks out if the room.
Beast watches her go and catches a glimpse of her two sisters joining her before the door closes. "I swear, sometimes those girls give me a 'Children of the Corn' feeling." he says to himself; referring to the three identical sisters, the Stepford Cuckoos.
He turns back to his instruments and places the blood and tissue samples he collected from the three girls into his scanners. "I'll let this run overnight." He turns off the lights, locks the door, and heads to his room.
*****
The three sisters are sitting in bed communicating telepathically.
*I think Doctor McCoy is scared of us.* Phoebe says.
*Nonsense; he treats us nicer then anyone else.* Mindee says.
*Not nicer then Mister Summers.* Celeste says.
*True.* the other two agree.
*Not like Miss Frost.* Phoebe says.
*I think she does care for us, she just doesn't show it well.* Mindee says.
*She is our mother, after all.* Celeste says.
*Enough talk, let's get some sleep.* they all say simultaneously.
They lie down next to each other, pull up the covers, and fall asleep.
*****
Across town, in the bedroom of the co-leaders of the X-Men, Cyclops rolls over onto his back, sweating and breathing heavily. "God, Emma, that was amazing."
Emma Frost rolls over onto her side, and cuddles up against him. "It was, wasn't it?"
"That was new. Where's that come from?"
"Oh, Scott, darling; a woman needs to keep some things secret, only letting them out when she wants to leave her man wanting more."
"Emma, I don't think I could possibly want you more then I already do."
Emma looks at him and cocks an eyebrow. "Really? You ready for another go, lover?"
Cyclops smiles and says, "Do you even have to ask?"
*****
Somewhere in the Canadian Rockies, Sinister sits in his darkened lab, brooding over recent developments. He had aided John Sublime, in the guise of a human geneticist, in creating the 1000 Cuckoos. He had supplied genetic material for them in hopes of securing them for his own; but that was over now that the Phoenix had destroyed all but three of them, and they had too much free will to be of any use to him now.
He turns back to his monitor and looks at the images of the two people on it. With a sigh, he deletes all the files pertaining to the Cuckoos project. "Oh, well; that was a waste of genetic material. I'll have to be very careful with the rest of my stock, until I can get some more."
*****
Beast wakes up and heads to the kitchen for breakfast. He walks in to find Cyclops pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Good mourning, Scott." he says.
"Mourning, Hank. Coffee?" Cyclops asks.
"Yes please." Beast says, as he heads over to the fridge and takes out a grapefruit, which he then cuts in two and places on a plate. He sits down at the table and accepts the cup of coffee. "Thank you." He watches Cyclops sit down opposite him, and sees him wince. "You okay, Scott?"
"What?"
"You looked like your back was bothering you."
Cyclops laughs, and says, "Ah, yeah; I hurt it last night."
"Last night? What happened last night?" He asks, but when he sees the smile on Cyclops' face, he gets his answer. "Oh, I see." He laughs. "So, age finally catching up with you, oh fearless leader?"
"Maybe." Cyclops replies with a laugh. "Some of us don't have a mutant power that gives us supernatural agility."
"What exactly were you two doing?" He whispers; but before Cyclops can answer, the Stepford Cuckoos walk in. "Good mourning, girls." He says to them.
"Good mourning, Doctor McCoy." They say in unison, before turning to Cyclops and saying, "Good mourning, Professor Summers."
"We're no longer at the Xavier Institute girls, there's no need to call me Professor." Cyclops says.
"Sorry. Good mourning Mr. Summers."
"Ah, you can just call me Scott from now on girls; unless we're on a mission."
The three girls look at each other for a second before turning back and saying, "Good mourning, Scott."
"Good mourning, girls." He replies giving Beast a look of complete bewilderment.
The three girls prepare identical bowls of cereal and join Beast and Cyclops at the table. Beast watches as Celeste sits to Cyclops' immediate right, while Mindee sits to his immediate left and Phoebe sits next to her; leaving his side of the table empty except for him. He also sees that Cyclops doesn't even seem to have noticed this.
He starts to think back and realizes that since their falling out with Emma, the girls have always had a close bond with Cyclops. They obey his orders without question, hang on his every word when he talks, always seem to gravitate towards wherever he is, and had even been co-leaders of his old training squad back at the school. He makes a mental note to talk to Cyclops the next time they are alone, and goes back to his breakfast.
"So, Profess...ah, Scott, what do you need us to do today?" Mindee asks.
"Nothing, you have a free day. What I want you girls to do, is to take the day to be young and have fun." He says as he pats Mindee on the shoulder. "I, however, am going to be late for my meeting with the mayor." He gets up and rushes out of the kitchen.
Beast watches the girls as they all watch Cyclops leave the room before turning back to face each other. Mindee has the first smile he has seen on any of them since they fused their hearts into diamonds; Celeste and Phoebe, however, are frowning at her. Mindee's smile disappears and they continue to eat in silence.
'Oh my stars and garters.' He thinks to himself. "If you'll excuse me girls, I forgot to tell Scott something." He says as he gets up and follows Cyclops.
He arrives outside just in time to see Cyclops take off for his meeting. "Damn it." He says, before grabbing his communicator. "Scott, come in."
"I'm here, Hank. Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing that can't wait until you get back from your meeting, but I would like to talk to you as soon as you get back though."
"Sure thing, Hank. Are you sure it can wait? Because I'll cancel this meeting if it can't."
"No, no, it can wait."
"Alright then, I should be back in about two hours, I'll meet you in your lab."
"Sounds good; Hank out." Beast clicks off his communicator and starts to head inside. He stops when he notices a body on the lawn, under a tree. He rushes over, only to find Wolverine, passed out from drinking too much the night before. He decides to leave him there, and heads in.
*****
Back in the kitchen, the Cuckoos are having a telepathic conversation while they eat.
*You are such a little suck-up.* Phoebe says to Mindee.
*Am not.* Mindee replies.
*Are too.* Celeste says.
*You two are just jealous that I'm his favorite.* Mindee says.
*What?* both Phoebe and Celeste say.
*I am, and you two are jealous.* Mindee says.
*You are soooo full of yourself.* Celeste says.
*Yeah, besides, we all know that I'm his favorite.* Phoebe says.
*Oh, puh-leeze. Why do you say that?* Mindee asks.
*Because last week, when we went on that mission, he chose me to go with him, while you two got stuck with Doctor McCoy and Mister Logan.* Phoebe says.
*Probably because he thought you would get hurt. He was only trying to protect you. He trusts me the most, I had to go with Mr. Logan; I was in the most danger of the three of us.* Mindee says.
*You guys are soooo wrong. I'm obviously his favorite.* Celeste says.
*Why is that?* Mindee and Phoebe ask.
*Ah, because the Phoenix chose me, remember; duh.* Celeste says.
*So?* Mindee and Phoebe ask.
*Think about it; he loves Professor Grey, the Phoenix chose her; he loves Miss Frost, the Phoenix chose her. So if the Phoenix chose me, then that means he loves me, which means I'm his favorite.* Celeste says.
*Wow, that was the weirdest use of logic I have ever seen.* Mindee says.
*Yeah, how long have you been thinking that one up?* Phoebe asks.
*Say whatever you want, I'm his favorite.* Celeste says.
*No, I am.* Mindee says.
*No, I am.* Phoebe says.
*****
Beast enters his lab and turns on the lights. He sets his coffee down on his desk and sits down. "Alright, so let's see what the results are for the girls." He says pulling up the appropriate files on his computer. "Hmmm, no viruses or diseases, good. Blood work looks normal. No new mutations. DNA analyzer? Why did I run this program?" He opens the report expecting to find Emma Frost as one match with a simple 'No Match Found' as the other; what he sees instead, shocks him.
"Oh my stars and garters." He says. "This can't be right." He starts looking at the file thoroughly, double checking the data himself, trying, but unable to disprove the results.
He sits there staring at the screen for a few minutes before doing what he knows has to be done. He picks up his communicator and calls Emma.
A minute later, he hears Emma's tired voice say, "Henry, darling, I hope you have a good reason for waking me so early."
He can't help but smile at her comment. "It's almost eleven, Emma. Maybe you need to cut down on the late night training exercises with Scott; poor guy hurt his back last night."
"I'm certain you didn't call just to talk about my sex life, Henry."
Getting back to the issue at hand, he says, "No, I actually needed to talk to you about something, and was hoping to do it in person."
"Alright, I guess I can drive up there, but the traffic is going to make it a long trip; unless you're willing to fly the helicopter here to pick me up."
Beast looks over at the clock and says, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
*****
Emma places the communicator back on her night stand and stretches out in the king sized bed, enjoying the feeling of the silk sheets.
Knowing that when Beast says fifteen minutes, he means fifteen minutes, she hurries to take a quick shower and get dressed. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, she sees the X-Men's helicopter hovering over her balcony with the ramp lowered.
Once she is aboard and strapped in, she turns to Beast and asks, "Henry, darling, what is bothering you so much that it couldn't wait until Scott picked me up after his meeting?"
"I would prefer to show you, but if you really want to know, you might as well poke around in my head while I concentrate on flying." Beast replies.
Emma looks at her friend and can sense that he in uneasy about something. "I can wait, Henry."
Beast flies on in silence. After a couple on minutes Emma says, "Oh, Henry, darling, I do hope there is at least a cup of coffee in this for me; I did just get up, after all."
*****
Cyclops flies back to the complex, happy with the way his meeting with the mayor went. He was surprised when Emma contacted him telepathically to tell him that she was already there with Beast; he could sense that something was bothering her, but she had cut the connection. He has a nagging feeling that what Beast wanted to talk to him about earlier was more important then he was letting on; so he flies a little faster then he normally would.
He lands and sees the Cuckoos standing near the door to the complex. They approach him as he disembarks. "Hello again, Scott." They all say.
"Hello, girls. What are you doing here?"
"Doctor McCoy and Miss Frost are waiting for you in the lab, and we wanted to go with you; especially seeing as they want to talk about us."
"How do you...telepaths." He says as he holds the door open for them. "I guess you can come, but if Hank or Emma say that you can't be there, you'll have to go."
They walk through the door and say, "We understand."
They make their way downstairs to Beast's lab. When Cyclops walks in followed by the Cuckoos, he sees surprise on Beast's face. "Ah, Scott; girls." Beast says.
"Hello again, Doctor McCoy."
Cyclops walks over to Emma and gives her a quick kiss. He can sense something is bothering her, and follows her gaze to the Cuckoos. "So, Hank, you wanted to talk to me?"
Beast looks from Cyclops to the Cuckoos, to Emma, and then back to Cyclops. "Ah, maybe we should talk privately, Scott." He says.
Cyclops is about to ask the Cuckoos to leave, when Emma says, "Nonsense, Henry, the girls are here now, we might as well kill two birds with one stone."
Beast looks back at the Cuckoos before returning his gaze to Cyclops. "Alright then. Well everyone here knows, I've been researching the problem we've had since M-Day, and one of the things I wanted to do was give everyone an up to date physical. Well, I had set up a program that would automatically perform all the different tests and document the results." He pauses.
"Yeah, go on." Cyclops says.
"Well last night, I gave the Cuckoos their physicals, and when I looked at the results today I discovered that I had run my DNA analyzer program. Well, we all know from the incident at The WOLRD, that John Sublime used Emma's eggs to create the Cuckoos, but none of us ever bothered to ask the question 'How did Sublime create the Cuckoos using only Emma's eggs?'; I'm especially surprised that I never bothered to ask it." Beast says.
"Hank, you're starting to lose me here." Cyclops says.
"Sorry, I'm trying to explain everything before I tell you what I discovered, when I should probably just tell you and let you ask me any questions you have."
"Okay, let's try it that way, then."
"When I looked at the results of the DNA analyzer for the Cuckoos, I found two matches; the first was Emma, of course, and the second...was you, Scott."
*****
*Told you we were right, Celeste.* Phoebe says.
*Yeah, you never listen to us.* Mindee says.
*That's not true, I just said that maybe the machine lied to you two.* Celeste says.
*Whatever.* Phoebe says.
*Yeah, who cares; we finally have a father.* Mindee says.
*I'm still his favorite, though.* Celeste says.
*Let's not start that again.* Phoebe says.
The three girls had been gradually making their way over towards Cyclops the entire time Beast was talking. Now as he reveals that Cyclops is genetically their father, they are standing right next to him. As one, they hug him and say, "Daddy."
Cyclops looking completely shocked, opens his mouth to try to speak, but can't. "Girls, please wait outside." Emma says, glaring at them.
They all turn to glare back at her and say, "You can't tell us what to do; you're not our mother." They say before pausing, "Well, you are our mother, but we don't have to listen to you." They turn back to Cyclops and ask, "Aren't you happy, daddy?" They try to read his mind, to get some sense of his feeling, but encounter a psychic barrier. "Stop shielding our father from us, Miss Frost."
"Girls, please; can't you see that this has come as a bit of a shock to him. Give him some time to digest this news?" Emma says.
The Cuckoos look at Cyclops and can see that he does look shocked. "Please girls, listen to Emma. I'll talk to you all later; I just need some time to talk with her and Hank right now."
They release him from the hug. "Okay daddy, we'll wait outside." they say before leaving.
*****
The moment the door closes, Cyclops turns to Beast. "Are you sure about this, Hank? Maybe the program made a mistake, or there was contamination, or...I don't know, something?"
"I'm afraid it's true, Scott. I double checked the results myself, and they are 100% accurate; the Stepford Cuckoos are your daughters." Beast says. "Look, Scott, I understand this is..."
"Oh really! You understand! When's the last time someone introduced you to a kid that you didn't really have? Or you met the one son you did have, and thought you'd lost forever, only to find out he's older then you now?" Scott yells as he paces the room. "I'm sorry, Hank; I didn't mean to go off on you like that, I just get so angry at the way fate seems to like messing with my life."
"It's okay, Scott." Beast says, shocked by the sudden outburst from the normally calm and collected Cyclops.
"No it's not, Hank. You're my best friend and you've always been there for me; I shouldn't have snapped at you."
"As touching as this is, can we please get back to the subject at hand?" Emma says. "What are we going to do, Scott?"
"I don't know. I need to..."
"If you say 'go somewhere and think', I swear I'll go into your mind and reduce you to the state of a drooling inviolate. You're not the old indecisive, insecure man you were before Apocalypse, and I'm not Jean, bloody, Grey, who's going to let you go off and wait for you to come back to me. If you walk out that door, Scott Summers, don't bother ever talking to me again."
"Sorry, Emma; old habit. You're right, of course; you almost always are. I can't run away from this, I need to face it head on." He turns back to Beast. "So, there's no doubt that they're my daughters?"
"None." Beast says.
"And since he told me about it, I've noticed a similarity in thought patterns that is too much to be just a coincidence; these are our children, my love." Emma says.
'Our children.' He echoes in his head, suddenly realizing that this is even more complicated then before.
"Yes, that's right, our children." Emma says, having picked up on his thoughts. "So we're going to deal with this together. It was a shock when I learned that they were my daughters; imagine how I felt when Henry told me that they were also the daughters of the man I love."
"I'm sorry, Emma; I was so shocked by all this that I was only thinking about myself. Of course we'll deal with this together." He walks over and pulls her into a hug.
"It's okay to think about yourself, Scott, you don't need to put your feeling on hold for me; just be here for me, and let me be here for you."
"So what do we do now?"
"I guess we need to go out there and talk to them. At least they actually like you, it should make things easier." She takes his hand and leads him out of the lab.
The Cuckoos are waiting right outside the doorway, and upon seeing Cyclops, rush to hug him again; this time, though, he returns the hug. "Ah, look, girls, this whole thing has come as a bit of a shock to your mother and me; so I was thinking that maybe we should all sit down and talk, maybe over lunch. How does that sound?"
"Does she have to come?" They say looking at Emma.
Cyclops steps back from them and says, "Okay, that's enough; this stops here and now. Emma used to be your mentor, and is your mother. While I was just your teacher, I never felt like it was my place to say anything; but now I'm your father, and you will listen to me." Whatever smiles they have disappear. "You think that she's done you wrong, and that she never cared about you, but that is so far from the truth. Everything she ever did was meant to help you girls, and she always wanted the best for you because she cares for you; no, she loves you. When Sophie and Esme died, it crushed her; I know I was there for her. When the Phoenix killed your sisters in The WORLD, she was devastated. She still loves you after how badly you girls keep treating her, and it hurts her every time she reaches out to you and you turn her away; well that stops today. You girls need to realize that she is your mother and that she loves you, and show her some God damned respect. I'm not telling you to love her right here and now; I'm asking you to give her a chance."
The Cuckoos look at each other for a minute before looking at Emma. As one they step up to her and hug her. "We're sorry, mother."
Emma looks shocked, and it takes her a minute to recover enough to hug them back. Cyclops can even see a tear make its way down her cheek. "It's alright, my girls. Today we can make a fresh new start." When they break the hug, she says, "Why don't you girls go upstairs and get changed. We'll meet you out front in about thirty minutes."
"Yes, mother." They say as they walk away.
"Emma, it's not going to take thir..." He says before Emma wraps him up in a passionate kiss.
"Shut-up and take me right now, lover." She says.
"Emma?"
"Oh, Scott, you know how hot I get when you get all assertive; plus all those things you said about me...Either you take me right now, or I'll use my powers to incapacitate you and have my way with you." She leans in and bites his earlobe. "But I would much rather have you be in charge right now."
Without further hesitation, Cyclops grabs her hand and leads her into the closest room; locking the door behind them.
*****
The Cuckoos are making their way to their room when Phoebe says, *They're doing it again.*
*I know.* Mindee says, *I could sense mothers arousal as dad was speaking.*
*If they keep going at it like this, we'll have a baby sister or brother soon.* Celeste says.
*Wouldn't that be nice? It would make us like a real family.* Phoebe says.
They walk on in silence for a while. *Do you think mother really loves us?* Mindee asks.
*Yes, in the only way she knows how.* Celeste says.
*I agree.* Phoebe says.
*How about dad; do you think he loves us?* Mindee asks.
The other two think for a minute before Celeste says, *I think he already loved us before, but more like a teacher loves his students.*
*Yeah, he just needs some time to digest this, and then he'll love us like a father loves his daughters.* Phoebe says.
*I guess; I mean look how much he loves Mister Cable and Miss Rachel.* Mindee says.
The three girls stop dead in their tracks, and look at each other. *We have a half-sister and half-brother.* they say. *Too bad Mister Cable is in the future and Miss Rachel is in space.*
The girls enter their room and get changed into identical outfits, before heading to the front of the complex to wait for their parents.
*****
Cyclops and Emma leave the room, flustered and breathing heavily. "Well that was fun, darling." Emma says.
"Sure was." Scott says. "I hope the girls haven't had to wait too long."
"They're telepaths, dear, then knew what we were doing, and when we were done. They won't have waited long."
"Wow, after everything I've been through in my life, I didn't think anything could creep me out; but we have a winner."
"Oh relax, darling, it's not like they can see what we're doing." She says as they make their way to the front to meet the Cuckoos. "They only sense it; get feeling and emotions, no actual imagery."
"Yeah; still creepy."
They get to the front and find the Cuckoos standing outside. "Alright, I hope everyone is hungry." Cyclops says. "Because, I know this great seafood place not far from here."
"That sounds nice." The Cuckoos say.
"Okay; Emma where did you park?"
"I didn't bring my car today, darling; Henry picked me up in the helicopter." Emma replies.
"Oh; well I used the hover-jet." He says. "I don't really want to use that to travel into town. I guess we could walk. It's about a half-hour walk; is that okay with everyone?"
"I think that would be lovely, dear; it'll give us some time to talk." Emma says.
"Yes, that would be nice." The Cuckoos say as they approach Cyclops and Emma. Phoebe reaches out and takes Cyclops' left hand, while Mindee takes Emma's right; Celeste places herself between them and holds their other hands.
Cyclops looks over at Emma, and sees her eyes are a little watery. Standing side by side, hand on hand, the new family start walking down the road.
THE END