Breakfast was...breakfast. The first days of school always meant more hustle and bustle early in the morning for the X-Mansion.

Year-round students ate with the teachers and staff. I saw a number of them running around, trying to get all their last minute details squared away before the first bell. Those on cooking duty were frazzled and stressed, sometimes downright annoyed by the chaos. Mutant powers were on display in just about every form imaginable.

Yup, this was my home. Not that I didn't like living at the mansion. It was great, really. Sometimes it was just hard for me, because I never inherited any mutant powers. As far as anyone could tell, I was 100 percent grade-A, normal human.

"Heads up, Sadi!" Jean called out, and I ducked while walking across the kitchen, as plates of food floated over to the table and came to rest on placemats.

"Yer up mighty early, Sug. Good for you!" Marie teased, giving me a good natured pat on the back as she passed me. Pop was right behind me, so she took up a short conversation with him. "So how'd ya do it, Swamp Rat? You have to pour cold water over her?"

I stopped to listen to this, crossing my arms over my chest and giving dad one of those, 'don't you dare embarrass me while everyone's listening' looks.

Remy just laughed, his eyes sparkling, mostly in my direction. "Na, chere. Didn't have t' drag Sadi outta bed this mornin'. She's the perfect daughter, and was already awake and ready for school. You know how these kids get so excited t' see old friends, and make new ones. They hardly sleep."

Rogue was almost smirking by then, but tried to cover it up with her hand. "Well, that's great. I'm glad you're excited about school, Sadi. You should be--you don't have to take my class," she joked, and all three of us laughed.

I looked around, wondering how many of the half-dozen or so mutants in the room were listening in on this little exchange, while pretending to not pay attention. Probably all but one, I guessed. I had the feeling Beast was honestly reading his Science Exploration magazine. The rest were all female, and probably all ears while pretending to be busy. Ever since Rogue rejoined the X-Men just over two years ago, lots of people said eventually she and my pop might have a few sparks fly.

"Don't know what the Professor was thinkin', havin' me teach Biology. He says I have to make the students do dissections an' everythin'. I gotta say though, watching a bunch of mutants dissect frogs and giant insects could be interesting."

We chuckled with her before a short silence drifted over us.

"Join us for breakfast, chere?" Pop politely suggested.

Marie gave him, and then me, a pleasant but nervous smile. "Na, I jus' got done eatin'. Besides, I'd better go finish gettin' ready for today's lesson. Don't wanna screw up my first day of teaching too bad. I'll take a rain check for tomorrow. Good luck with yo' classes, Sadi, Cajun," she said, nodding to each of us as she turned to slip past dad. She paused as she did so, briefly squeezing my father's shoulder.

I noticed that. I always noticed things like that. I had super-radar for women who hit on Pop, and rarely did anyone manage to slip past it, even if they were mutants.

Remy merely smiled in response, although I could see him itching to do more. He was a flirt by nature, but I think he purposely toned it down to spare me the embarrassment--and because he knew I could be one jealous girl. Truth be told, he was all I had, and if I did have to share him with another woman someday, it damn well better be the right one! None of the women he'd ever dated stood the test of time. Most of them were young, and selfish themselves. They didn't like playing ball with a daughter who always wanted to come first in her father's life. Fortunately, so far Pop always agreed I should come first, because I stole his heart fair and square, and according the thieves' code that made it my property.

"You eatin' in here today, chere?" Pop asked me, interrupting my thoughts.

Almost as if they'd been cued to enter, the kitchen suddenly flooded with students and teachers alike. Even though the morning dining area was rather large, it felt more than a little stuffy with all those people around.

I gave Pop a sad look, but he simply nodded, seeming to understand. "Go ahead, chere. Gambit'll catch up with you sometime this afternoon. Just don' forget about gettin' your license. Study up durin' lunch, in case they want ya t' take the driving test."

I nodded, still sad, even though he was smiling at me. I don't think he blamed me for not liking the larger groups of people so often encountered in the mansion. I think he understood I was more of a solitary individual. I enjoyed having my space--but I still felt bad, like I was abandoning him. I would've hugged him before slipping out of the kitchen, but I hadn't done that in front of so many people in years.

I slipped away as Pop sat down between Beast and Storm. I pushed opened the swinging door, and escaped to the quiet of the hallway, heading for the game room. I figured no one else would be there so early in the morning.

I cursed myself a bit for forgetting to snatch myself something to eat. That meant I'd be starving eventually. "Damn it, Sadi. Ya just had t' get outta there as fast as ya possibly could. Didn' think, jes ran out," I growled under my breath, falling into Pop's accent. I did that sometimes when chewing myself out.

I was going to be hungry, but did I really want to go back in the kitchen to find something to eat? No, not really, I decided, sauntering down to the game room, pushing the swinging door open as I entered.

I expected to find a place to be alone, but apparently I wasn't the only one. Logan was sprawled out on the couch, flipping through TV channels a mile a minute, before finally settling on an old Bugs Bunny cartoon.

I made to leave before he noticed me, but I was too slow. I decided to blame my sluggishness on being awake four hours too early.

"Might as well sit down, Squirt. You ain't gonna find a better place to get away from it all than in here. Trust me, I looked," he stated gruffly, never looking over at me.

I smiled a little. Sometimes I wondered why I was more like Wolverine than my dad in some ways. When I was little, only three or four years old, I used to follow Logan around like a lost pup--and instead of getting mad like everyone was afraid he would, he'd adopted me to an extent. Ever since Jubilee had left to join Generation X at Massachusetts Academy, he'd been especially mentor-like to me, in a very Wolverine-ish sort of way.

I crossed the room as Wolverine moved over to make room for me, taking one end of the couch so I could have the other end.

He nodded toward his breakfast--packages of jerky and beef sticks. "You'd better eat, or you'll be starving by the time you get to my class. I ain't goin' easy on ya just because it's the first day, and you haven't worked out all summer."

I shrugged. "I'll snatch something from the kitchen if I get hungry."

He picked up one of the packages and tossed it onto my lap. "It ain't negotiable. Eat, watch cartoons, then go to class."

I picked up the package, taking out one of the long reddish sticks. "Where's my vote in all this?"

Logan chuckled, popping his claws on one hand as he sliced up a large piece of jerky into manageable portions. "This ain't a democracy, Squirt. It's 'do what Wolverine tells you, or else.'"

I nodded, rolling my eyes as I took a bite, chewing on the spiced meat for a long moment, my gaze becoming just as glued to the TV screen as Logan's, until a commercial came on.

"So, Logan, about this 'do what Wolverine tells you, or else' bit..."

"Yeah?"

"That a Canadian socialist thing?" I got a half-dirty look for that one, and I smirked. "Just checking," I said, taking another bite of jerky.