Howie fidgeted nervously as he waited for Clarice to open the door. He knew from Kurt and Kitty- who had insisted on staying in touch- that Tallahassee was quite an anti-mutant city and there had been multiple attempts to get Clarice to move house. All had been stopped by Xavier's political sway and a huge bribe from an anonymous source that Howie suspected was his father. However, that didn't stop his purple patterned skin and metallic limbs making him stand out like a sore thumb. Before, he wouldn't have cared but he had been harassed enough times while out to know he didn't need the trouble.

The door, Clarice's eyes widening. 'Howie? Is something wrong?'

Howie smiled, holding out the flowers and box of chocolate he had brought with him. 'Happy mother's day.'

Clarice smiled, taking them from him. 'Thank you so much. Come in, come in.'

He shuffled in after her, smiling to himself. The smile dropped slightly when he spotted the bag full of presents in the corner, some of them clearly addressed to the kids from Xavier's school.

'You have plans.' He realised, looking up sharply. 'I'll just go. I should have called first, I'm sorry, I-'

'Howie.' Clarice said, putting her hands either side of his face. 'I only have plans because of my lack of plans.'

Howie froze, firstly because his mother had never really held him before, and secondly because what she said made no sense. 'Umm...could you explain?'

Clarice smiled, kissing his forehead. Howie was still, eyes flicking back and forth. 'Who do people spend mother's day with?'

'Well, their mothers.' Howie shrugged slightly. 'Or other family.'

'And what do a lot of mutants not have?'

Howie paused for a second, slowly speaking. 'Family?'

'Well, family that loves them.' Clarice sighed, putting the flowers in a vase. 'The number is lessening but its still quite big. On every holiday where people, no matter their age, might feel alone, the Professor puts on a huge meal at the school. I would have told you but I don't normally have someone to tell.'

Howie frowned again. 'So you used to feel alone.'

Clarice moved into the kitchen, putting the chocolates in the fridge. She came back in, leaning against the back of the sofa. 'Yes, but now I have you. My son who turns up uninvited to my house to give me presents. I think I'm doing alright.'

Howie smiled, finally, and nodded, turning towards the door. 'Well, I'll be going. Don't want to keep you.'

'Howie.' Clarice smiled, shaking her head in amusement. 'Did you want to go to Xavier's with me?'

Howie spluttered a bit, shocked. Finally, he managed to calm down and look his mother in the eyes. 'Yeah, I'd like that.'

'Okay.' Clarice nodded, looking at her stuff. 'Just let me grab my coat.'

Howie nodded again, eyes wide. He was going to Xavier's. He sent a quick text to Sophie, telling her where he was going. He would have texted James and Lizzie but he felt their days would be too serious for him to interrupt. He would ring Lizzie later, make sure she was okay.

'Just so you know.' He said loudly, as Clarice shuffled around in the next room. Howie sat down, happy to wait. 'SI doesn't have the best reputation for mutant relations.'

Clarice raised an eyebrow as she walked back in. 'I thought your dad would have fixed that. Considering...'

'Considering I'm a mutant?' Howie said, nodding his head to the side. 'We don't actually discriminate. We just have a bad rep from when my grandfather was in charge that we've never recovered from. You know Tony has nothing against mutants.'

Clarice laughed slightly at that. 'No, that he does not. Come on lets go.'

Howie grinned, standing up. He stood next to Clarice, bouncing on the balls of his feet nervously. 'You sure this is okay?'

'Of course.' Clarice said, picking up the presents. 'We might have to make two trips though.'

Howie shrugged, though there was a distinctly nervous twinge to his voice. 'Fine by me.'

Clarice nodded, holding Howie's arm gently. A portal appeared in front of them and Howie smiled at the familiar feeling of warmth coming from it. He was getting better with his own abilities, could hold two fist shaped portals up for hours. He had tested them with every substance he could find and everything passed through without damage. He had even managed to scare Steve once by putting a portal in the fridge and sticking his head through the other one. Lizzie had been a bit mad at him but Sophie found it funny.

'Will anyone I know be there?' Howie said as they stepped through the second portal. They were outside Xavier's mansion. Howie supposed it was impolite to just let yourself in, even if you were invited. 'Kurt, Kitty or the others?'

Clarice frowned as they were buzzed into the grounds. 'I don't think so, sorry. Kurt, Kitty and Piotr are on good terms with their mothers and they have kids themselves to spend the day with. I'll tell them you're here though, they might pop over if they're close enough.'

Howie wanted to protest, tell her not to bother them but as he opened his mouth, they rounded the corner. The whole garden, and it was a large garden, was full of people who some how all managed to look up when they were in sight. Howie stopped in his tracks, suddenly wanting to cover up the pressed trousers and dress shirt he was wearing. Some of the mutants were wearing clothes several sizes too big, clearly hand me downs or charity. Several mutants glared at him and he gulped, gripping his suitcase close to his chest. He could activate it in a second if need be.

'Clarice!'

She looked sideways, smiling and walking towards the voice. Most of the people in the garden went back to what they were doing but a couple still watched him, though it seemed they were curious more than anything else.

'Sir, is everything okay?'

He jumped about a foot in the air, getting some rather strange looks. He had forgotten he had the earpiece in and, subsequently, had both AI's in his ear. It was FRIDAY who had spoken and that only made him think of his glasses, sitting on his desk in the Tower, completely functional but being improved. He could use them right now, lesser model or not.

'I'm fine, Fri.' He muttered, sighing. 'Just a bit nervous.'

'Of course, sir. Your heart rate was elevated.' The AI's clipped voice came through. 'You have a message from Miss Barton.'

'Barton-Romanoff.' Howie noted absentmindedly. He pulled out his phone, smiling at Sophie's description of her time on the art museum. He texted back about some of the X-Men that were there. He was really excited to see them, but of course he couldn't let them know that. He asked after James but was informed that he was being unresponsive, so sent his own message to the younger boy.

'Howie, come meet Bobby.' Clarice said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the man who had called out to her.

The man was about the same age as Kitty and Kurt, only a few years younger than Clarice. Howie held his hand out to shake but Bobby pushed it out of the way, engulfing Howie in a hug. The boy yelped and Bobby laughed, holding at arm's length.

'Wow, you grew didn't you, Charlie?'

Howie glanced at his mother, who was blushing. 'My name's Howard. Or Howie.'

Bobby shook his head, still smiling. 'Sorry, forgot you're not the baby I almost gave pneumonia. Not anymore at least.'

Howie's eyes widened slightly. 'Oh, um, that's cool. I guess.'

Bobby laughed, again. He seemed a very happy person. 'Wait here. I know the Professor will want to meet you. In fact, everyone will want to meet you. I'll make sure they don't all rush over.'

With that, Bobby walked off, patting Howie on the back as he went. Howie stared at his mother, wide eyed and slightly terrified.

'What was that all about?'

Clarice smiled. 'They missed you, I guess.'

'Miss me?' Howie frowned. 'I've never met them before.'

'Actually you did.' Clarice smiled. 'When you were a baby, and I was thinking of keeping you. They were all besotted with you.'

'You were think of keeping me?' Howie said. 'I didn't know that. Why didn't you?'

Clarice's face screwed up. Before she could answer, someone said her name beside them and both mother and son looked up, Clarice smiling widely and the three people who walked up, or wheeled up, to them.

'Howie.' She smiled, gesturing to them. 'Allow me to introduce Charles Xavier, Ororo Munroe and Logan.'

'Nice to meet you.' Howie said, holding his hand out. Charles and Ororo took the metal limb happily but Logan just glared at him.

'You're the Stark boy, right?' He glared. 'The one whose company refuses to hire mutants.'

Howie's face dropped and he noticed several other people looking up interested. Bobby walked over, Kurt next to him. Howie wanted to walk over to Kurt, but he couldn't just let Logan get away with what he said.

'20 years ago, yes.' Howie admitted. 'But my dad has gone to great lengths to rid the company of discrimination.'

Logan snorted. 'That why you only hired ten mutants last year. We all saw the papers.'

Howie sighed, rolling his eyes. 'We actually hired forty one mutants last year, out of ninety seven in total. Those ten just happened to be the only ones open with their abilities. We pride ourselves on confidentiality and protecting our employees.

'Bet you memorized that.'

'Logan!'

Logan snorted, opening his mouth to say something else but Charles raised a hand, shaking his head.

'Logan, that's enough. Howard is here as our guest, and he is Clarice's son.' He paused, as if he wanted to say something else but he didn't, merely smiling at Howie. 'Now is not the time for such serious discussions.'

Logan had an eyebrow raised during this. 'Clarice's boy? Little Charlie?'

'Howie.' He insisted. 'Sorry but I don't remember being called Charlie. I don't remember you people.'

The whispering started up again and Kurt took it as his cue to walk forwards. He handed little Talia over instantly and she clung to Howie's chest as he smiled down at her. Kurt had brought Talia, and her little brother to the Tower several times and Howie was quite close to the little blue girl.

'I don't think people realised who you are, Howie.' Kurt said with a smile as Howie started pulling faces at Talia. She laughed and he stopped briefly to shrug at Kurt

'I didn't know who I was, apparently.' Howie sighed. The looks people were giving him had changed from apprehension to curiosity. He expected he'd have to go through a lot of introductions before he left and everyone would likely get his name wrong at least once. He looked up at Kurt, barely flinching as Talia started pulling on his hair. 'I thought you were visiting family.'

Kurt shrugged. 'We were at Amanda's parent's. When Bobby told me baby Charlie was back, I figured you'd need help.'

Howie ground his teeth together slightly, trying to stop Talia from pulling out his earpiece. Ororo, seeing his discomfort, smiled slightly.

'Give her to me.' She said, lifting Talia easily from his arms. Logan looked at them fondly, an expression that didn't really suit his face. 'Now, Clarice, why don't you show Howie around, show him the footage.'

'Are you sure?' Clarice said, looking around.

'We can wait.'

Howie, meanwhile, was checking his phone, frowning when he realised James still hadn't replied. He let it go, knowing James could forget things easily. Clarice put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her.

'Lets go inside.' She smiled. He nodded, allowing her to gently push him into the mansion. He glanced back at the others, who were shuffling together. Xavier glanced over his shoulder, smiling at Howie. The boy waved his hand slightly, keeping it by his side. Smiling again at Xavier, Howie followed his mother inside.

Clarice lead him through the mansion, down several flights of stairs and into a surveillance room. Howie looked around as Clarice looked through the footage from years ago.

'So.' Howie smiled. 'Charlie?'

'Charles.' Clarice clarified. 'After your primary godfather. Charles Scott Ferguson.'

'Why didn't you keep me?' Howie said, the words coming out far more casual than they had any right to be. Clarice sighed, even as she found the right video. She paused, staring at the screen.

'It's complicated.' She said finally. She sat down, not looking up. 'I was going to. I had you with me for a month, showing you off to everyone in the mansion. I don't think you were ever put down, not once in a whole month. Everyone loved you. You were the first baby born in the mansion, at least the first one that stayed there. The idea of a child, raised by the X-Men, so safe and loved, I think it angered someone.'

'What do you mean?' Howie said, sitting down on the chair next to her. He stared at her, even as she continued watching the screen. The video hadn't started to play yet.

'A few days before I left you at Tony's, the mansion was attacked. The people attacking, anti-mutant terrorist groups, seemed to be aiming at you, and this guest we had. She tried to take the blame, but I knew you would be in danger. So I gave you to Tony, despite the protests from, well, everyone.'

'Who was she? The guest?'

Clarice shook her head. 'I don't remember. She disappeared a few days later and Charles refused to tell us who she was.'

She looked up, finally, looking him straight in the eye. 'Don't ever think I didn't want you. I loved you more than anything in the whole world, still do. I just wanted you to be safe.'

Howie nodded, moving forward to hug his mum. They both had tears in their eyes, and Howie buried his face in her shoulder. 'It's alright, mum, I understand. I love you too.'

Clarice smiled, kissing his hair and then pulling back. 'Thank you.'

He smiled, sadly, looking up at the screen. On it, he saw a younger Clarice holding a tiny bundle. 'Is that me?'

Clarice smiled. Without saying a word, she started the video and Howie watched as she walked out of the room and into the dining room. The room perked up as she walked in, everyone smiling at her and the baby.

'This was the first time I'd taken you out of the med bay.' Clarice muttered.

Howie just stared as he was passed from person to person while Clarice went to get her breakfast. Each person seemed eager to hold him and reluctant to pass him on. The little baby him seemed happy, content, and didn't stir once.

Clarice smiled as the video came to an end. 'We have a couple more if you want to watch them.'

Howie shook his head, standing up. 'Actually, could you introduce me to your family?'

Clarice smiled, nodding once. 'Of course. They're your family as well.'

They stood, walking back outside with huge smiles on their faces.