The rest of the institute had left for the party already. Wanda was in the process of putting their girl down for the night, having taken off the cutesy pumpkin costume and put her in pair of pajamas with little bats and black cats over them. She'd just finished nursing her, and now laid her down. "Good night, my beautiful girl. Mommy and Daddy will be back soon."

The girl looked up at her, with a small yawn, and Wanda gave her her pacifier. Her little hand balled into a fist and came beside her cheek as she sucked on it, her eyes closing slowly.

Kurt stood at the door with Storm. Wanda looked to her. "Please please call if anything happens," she told her.

"Of course Wanda," the woman smiled. "You two go have fun."

She frowned, and took Kurt's hand as he teleported them away. They emerged just outside the school. Wanda looked up to it for the first time in months. She'd barely been toward the end of her pregnancy. He squeezed her hand, and she looked to her boyfriend. "Don't be nervous," he said to her.

"I'm not," she lied. She barely knew what to expect. She really didn't know anyone here, no one who was more than an acquaintance.

"You look beautiful," he told her, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Reaching down, he clicked on his image inducer. "Come on."

She followed him into the school, to the gymnasium where the party was underway. There were a few stares as they entered, and Wanda was sure they were directed at her. She'd done her best to keep her pregnancy secret last year, but was sure it had become the talk of the gossip ring. She heard little things as the passed groups.

"Oh my God, remember her? Wasn't she-"

"She's with that weird German kid? OMG do you think he's-"

She tried to block it out, instead focusing on how happy Kurt was for them to be out. He'd spied where the other X-Men had parked themselves, and headed over.

"Hey Kurt!" Evan called to them. "We saved you guys some seats."

Wanda smiled at everyone, but when she looked to Kitty, the girl looked away. Kurt got into a conversation with Evan, and Wanda took a seat, pulling out her phone. She stared at the screen a few moments.

"Nervous?" she looked over to see Rogue taking a seat beside her.

Wanda shrugged. "Just hoping everything is ok at home."

"It is, don't worry," Rogue smiled at her. "It's good you came out. When was the last time you were out without Talia?"

Wanda shook her head. "Not since she's been born," she told her. She glanced to her phone, her daughter's face set as her background. "Did you see her in her Halloween costume?" she smiled, opening her album. She clicked on a few photos. "Look. My little pumpkin."

Rogue smiled at them. "She's cute," she said, standing up. "Enjoy the night, Wanda."

Wanda nodded as Rogue walked off. She looked to see a few other boys had joined Evan and Kurt. She sighed, sitting back in her chair, flicking through her photos. A glance at the clock said ten minutes had passed. Ok, so only fifty more until they could go home.

"Hey Wanda," she heard her brother's voice and looked up. "I didn't know you were coming."

She smiled at him as he took a seat beside her. "Kurt talked me into it," she told him. "I didn't want to come."

"Yeah, well, these things are usually pretty lame," he conceded. "But it's not like there's anything else to do. Who's watching the rugrat?"

"Storm," Wanda told him, then held her phone up again. "Look! She was a pumpkin for Halloween."

Pietro laughed, looking at the pictures. "Wanda, you are so one of those mothers."

She elbowed him. "Oh shut up. It's not my fault that she's gorgeous," she paused. "Actually, that is my fault. But she is!"

"Yeah," Pietro agreed. "She's a cute one."

Wanda looked around. "Are the other guys here?"

"Yeah, somewhere," he told her. "Apparently Lance and Kitty are on the outs, so he's been sulking. He's over in the corner with Todd and Fred."

Wanda rolled her eyes. She looked back to her phone, the picture of her baby. Still had about 35 minutes left, but at least she was enjoying herself.

~&Q~

She chatted with her brother a bit, and then danced with Kurt for a while. She didn't realize they'd stayed longer than the hour she'd agreed to, but she didn't mind. She was having fun.

They'd been gone about two hours when Wanda started feeling nervous. She wanted to see her baby again, make sure all was ok, even though each text she'd sent had been responded to the same way by Ororo at home.

Kurt went to use the restroom before they left, and Wanda waited for him in the hall. They'd said their goodbyes, and she just wanted to get home to her girl.

"Wanda."

Her attention turned down the hall. She could see Toad standing there, watching her. She smiled at him. "Hi Todd."

"Hi," he moved closer, avoiding looking at her. "I saw you, before, sitting with Pietro. I didn't know you were coming."

"I didn't expect to. It was a last minute thing," she told him. "How are you? How have you been?"

He didn't answer, just took another few steps to him. "What's wrong with me?"

Wanda's brow furrowed. "What?"

"What's wrong with me?" he asked again. "Why did you never give me a chance? I loved you, Wanda. I would have done anything for you. Why didn't you ever give me a shot?"

"Todd," she began. "I'm sorry, but I never felt for you that way. I considered you a friend. I thought we were friends."

He scowled at her. "I never wanted to be your friend. I wanted you. Everything I did, was because of how much I wanted you." He took a breath. "How do you think it feels, after all I did, all the love and energy I put in, that you go and run off with someone else?"

Wanda shook her head. "Todd, I was never yours."

"You should have been," he frowned at her. "After everything I did. You should have been." He gestured to himself. "You could have had someone even halfway normal, but you went for that thing instead."

Wanda looked to him angrily. "You have no right to talk about him like that."

"I can say whatever I want!" Todd replied. "You owe me, Wanda."

She stared at him. "I don't owe you anything, Toad."

"Don't call me that," he glared at her angrily.

"What's going on?" Kurt had emerged from behind her.

Wanda turned to him. "Nothing, let's go." She took his hand and started to turn away.

"Fucking slut," they heard Toad say under his breath.

"What did you say?" Kurt stopped in his tracks, turning back in Toad's direction.

"You heard me," Toad challenged, taking a step toward the blue boy. "She's a fucking slut. A dirty, disgusting fucking slut."

Kurt glared at him. Wanda put her hand on his chest. "Come on, love, he's not worth it."

"Yeah, I'm not, am I? Never been worth it," Toad spat. "I'm worth more than some nasty slut. So fucking stupid and slutty she ends up pregnant with a freak baby." Before Toad had a second, a fist had collided with his face. The boy took a few steps back, Kurt standing before him, ready to fight.

"Apologize to her," the blue boy glared through his hologram.

"Fuck you," Toad replied.

"Kurt, please," Wanda tried to grab his hand, but he pulled away.

"I'm giving you one more chance," Kurt told him. "Apologize."

"Fuck you," Toad replied, and spit in his direction.

Kurt pulled back his lip and lunged forward, tackling the boy. "Stop!" Wanda ran to them. Each was landing blows on the other. She saw Kurt's hologram flicker, and then disappear as the boys continued. It was only a matter of time before they attracted the attention of the dance, so Wanda summoned a hex bolt and shot it at them, causing them to hit opposite sides of the hall.

Wanda rushed to Kurt's side, the boy groaning where he sat against the wall. His lip was bloody, and his eye looked like it might start swelling. She heard a voice around the corner, and reached to his image inducer, pressing all the buttons until his hologram went back on. "Are you ok?" she asked him, her hands reaching to cup his face gently.

"Fine," he moved to stand. "He still needs to apologize."

"Drop it," Wanda warned him. "Let's just go home."

Kurt looked to the other side of the hall, where Toad was starting to get up as well. His lip curled back again, but Wanda grabbed his face to her. "Take me home."

He sighed, and wrapped an arm around her, before they teleported away. They rematerialized right outside their bedroom. "Here," she led him into the bathroom. "Sit down. Let me look at you."

He sat, and she grabbed a wet towel, wiping away some of the blood. "It's not so bad," she said. "You are so stupid sometimes, Kurt."

"Stupid? Did you hear what he said?" Kurt lifted a brow at her, then winced in pain.

"Who cares what he said? He's hurt, and he's lashing out at me," she told him.

"I don't care how he feels," Kurt replied. "No one talks to you that way."

"It's not important," she shook her head, looking to him.

"It is," he huffed at her. "You deserve better than to be treated like that. The things he said about you? Nein. He called Talia a freak baby?" Kurt's nostrils flared. "Nein. Not my family."

She paused, pursing her lips. The freak baby comment hadn't hit her. She didn't want to rile him up any further, so she stood. "I'm going to let Ms. Ororo know we're back, alright?" He nodded, looking down at his hands and she left to go down the hall to the common room. Ororo sat, reading a book, with the baby monitor beside her. She smiled as Wanda walked in.

"I just checked her about ten minutes ago. Still out like a light," Ororo closed her book and stood.

"Thanks," Wanda smiled at her. "It was nice to go out."

"I'd be delighted to help any time," Ororo headed out of the room. "Just let me know."

"We will," Wanda told her. She grabbed the baby monitor and went back to her room. Kurt had closed the bathroom door, so she went through instead to the nursery. Talia was so content, sucking gently on her pacifier as she slept. She sighed sadly. "You are a beautiful baby," she told her, laying a hand on her chest, feeling it rise and fall. "You're not a freak baby. You're a gorgeous girl."

She turned away, heading into her bedroom. A moment later, Kurt entered as well. Wanda moved to him. "Still hurts?" she put a hand gently on his cheek.

"A bit," he shrugged. "Doesn't matter though." He leaned in to kiss her.

She kissed him back, her arms encircling him. "Let's go to bed," she said to him. "Maybe Talia will sleep long enough for us to have a little fun."

He lifted a brow at her with a smirk. "She better."