John and Lydia were told they were going to be seeing each other over the winter break. They had no say in the matter. Amy had dubbed Wade's findings 'both inaccurate and incomplete' and had ordered her son to invite the girl over. In a similar manner, Sophie was rather curious about the young man taking up so much of her granddaughter's time. In turn, both men (Nicolas and Wade) were just happy to have their offspring(or in Nicolas' case, his offspring's offspring) home.

Warren on the other hand, was rather apprehension about his daughter's visit. The last one hadn't exactly gone as planned. With a sigh, he glanced around his apartment. It was small, a bachelor's apartment for sure, but he had made up the guest bedroom just in case. Just in case what exactly, he wasn't sure, but he hoped this visit would go better than the last one. He tucked his hands in the pockets of his dress pants and waited for her to call. He was supposed to pick her up at the airport…but not for another three hours.

Amy was similarly restless, pacing back and forth as she waited for Wade to return with John. Normally she would've let them have all the time in the world, but she was expecting Mystique and Leon here at any time and she didn't want to have to deflect any questions about the human Pyro was dating. The last thing she needed was for October to start asking questions about human/mutant politics. If they were lucky they could hold that off until she was at least nine. The little girl in question was sitting patiently on the stairs, watching her mother fret. An amused smile played on her features and it turned into an outright grin as she heard a car pull up.

"They're here!" She shrieked. Amy snapped out of it just in time to see her daughter disappear out the front door. With a groan, she ran after her, but of course Toby hadn't exactly strayed very far. She was jumping excitedly on the family's front lawn, waving and yelling to her brother as her father pulled the car into the driveway.

John had barely opened his door when his sister sprinted over to him, chattering loudly about school and his girlfriend and for some reason Leon. He blinked at her. Lydia had given him an out to this, he was sure of it. He stared at her, her little arms thrown tightly around his shoulders and her voice more or less a buzz in his ear as he patted her back.

"Uh, Toby?"

"And then I said that it didn't matter because it's what's on the inside that counts and then Aunt Misty said it does too matter, put your mom on the phone I'm not having this conversation with you-"

"Tobe."

"And I said, uh, yes you are and I'll put her on the phone when I'm damn well ready to -dad told me to say that- and it worked because she didn't say anything for like, three whole minutes and I said that if-"

"October."

She pulled back, a smile lighting up her delicate features. "Yeah, John?"

"I brought presents."

Toby's eyes widened and a deafening shriek escaped her lips. It sounded strangely like, "Omigahreally!"

Even stranger, Wade made the same sound roughly a minute later when Toby had rushed inside to tell him the good news. Amy snickered before moving to help her son with his bags.

He smiled gratefully at her and kicked his door shut. "Thanks."

The woman shrugged and pushed her black bangs back. "No problem. Come on," She nodded, "Let's get these inside before they blow a gasket."

"What was she saying about Mystique?" Pyro asked, arching a brow as he took his backpack from her hands. He hoisted it over his shoulder. The pair moved over to the house as Wade hurried them along in the doorway. He disappeared back in to the house a second later with his daughter.

Amy dropped her eyes and cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Oh, uh, she and Leon are going to be stopping by over the holidays."

"What?" John froze, his eyes narrow, "You said-"

"I know what I said." Amy told him, cutting him off with a frown. "But they wanted to invite Kurt over for Christmas and needed neutral ground." She winced. "You know I can't say no to Kurt, John."

He sighed. That was true. It was rather hard to say no to the German priest. He was just so damn earnest. Freakishly nice and understanding too. It made him likeable. You wanted to be around him. Plus Amy loved him like a second son. She would've loved to have him spend the holidays. This in mind, he asked, "Well, how long are they staying?"

"I don't know, I said they could stay as long as they wanted." His mother ushered him into the house. "I made them promise they'd be on their best behavior."

"It's not Kurt and Leon I'm worried about." He dropped his bag on the floor. "You know how Mystique gets about humans. Does she know?" Amy's tan skin flushed softly and he let out a groan, "You told her. Why would you tell her?"

It wasn't an angry or even annoyed accusation, just curious. The older woman shrugged meekly and followed him back out to the car. "I don't know. She knew when she showed up here- not an hour after you left, Johnnycakes. I promise. She just knew."

"How could she-" Flash. He grit his teeth. Lydia had told him she'd met Flash. No doubt she passed it on to Mystique. She was dating her godfather after all. He could just imagine the little gossip session they had. Big bad Pyro dating a quaint little human. His hand sparked as he threw the car's back door open.
Amy crossed her arms and let out a sigh. A sigh that spoke volumes to the young man, but he said nothing. He knew what that sigh meant. It meant they would have to deal with it. It meant that she'd take his side but she could see Mystique's point. He really hated that fucking sigh.

"What?" He asked, pulling the duffle bag out. "Just say it."

"This isn't exactly easy for me either, John."

He hadn't thought of that.

"I don't want to be in the middle of some kind of warped race war between you and Mystique, and I don't want you to expose Toby to it." Her hands came down on his shoulders and she gave them a light squeeze. "I want to meet this girl. I want to like her. I don't want Toby to turn out like Mystique, John."

He dropped her gaze and nodded. She meant I don't want Toby to be like you, but of course she couldn't say that. Wouldn't say that. Maybe not who he was now but certainly who he had been when he was younger. He didn't want his little sister to turn out like him either. Amy gave his cheek a pat and together the two of them wandered into the house.

In California, Sophie and Nick were discussing where they were going to put the young man up. Naturally, they had invited him on a whim.

"Let's put him in the attic."

"Nick, sweetheart, we've been over this- she will be mad at you if he gets sick up there."

The elderly man pouted. "But- fine. What about the basement?"

"Nickie…"

"Don't you Nickie me, Sophia." With a sigh he leaned back, pulling at his thin grey hair. "Can't they just share a room?"

"Nicolas!"

"What? We shared a room when we were their age."

Sophie blushed. "That's different! We were-"

"Young and in love and fucking like unmarried bunnies." He offered with a fond, almost smug, smirk.

"And that's how we wound up with Callie, remember?"

Nicolas let out a grunt and leaned back in his chair. "Fine. How about Warren's? Can't he stay with Warren?"

"Lydia wouldn't like that."

"Lydia wouldn't like a lot of things! Like him getting cancer from our ancient attic or some kind of mold infection from our basement!"

A smile played on the woman's lips.

"What?" Nicolas asked, his annoyance melting a little at the sight of it.

"Why are you so upset about this?" She asked gently, trying to not let her amusement shine through. She failed slightly, but he didn't notice.

"Because Warren's picking her up from the airport!" He snapped, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He crossed his arms tightly to his chest.

Sophie quirked a brow. "So?"

"So? So? I've picked her up from the airport every Christmas since she was fifteen and at that boarding school!" Nicolas' frown deepened as his voice dropped, "It's the only time I get to see her and he's stealing it!"

"What are you talking about?" His wife asked, tilting her head curiously. "You see her all the time during the holidays."

"It's not the same." He sighed again. Tapping his foot restlessly, he admitted, "You and her- you do stuff over the holidays. You go out shopping and bake and well, it's just since Thom and Colin, I don't have anyone to do anything with."

She eyed him sympathetically. Standing, she crossed over behind him and held him tight. "It doesn't mean she loves you any less. Besides, don't you two usually watch Christmas specials together?"

"Yeah, but still. That's a silent activity. You and her talk about everything. You're on the phone all the time, Soph." He leaned into her touch. It wasn't that he was jealous necessarily, just a little frustrated. He and Lydia had been considerably closer when she was younger –he remembered watching every Christmas special from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians to Gremlins with her when she was little. Nowadays it seemed she spent most of her holidays with Sophie. He felt a bit like an after thought. "I didn't even know she had a boyfriend 'til you told me."

"That's because you put the fear of god into her last one."

"You have no idea what that boy was thinking, Sophie! No idea!" He hollered. Nicolas had a habit of yelling for no apparent reason, as well as emphasizing random words. It was a quirk that she had come to live with over their forty some odd years of marriage, and she loved it. But that didn't mean it wasn't annoying as hell when she was standing right next to him.

Sophie scoffed and gave him a light smack on the back. "Neither do you, darling. You're not psychic you know."

"I didn't need to be psychic! He was obviously a sex offender in the make!" Nicolas told her. His light grey eyes wild and wide. Much like his hair from pulling at it. "Besides, he was a seventeen year old boy, you know what he wanted."

"Still. You could've let him get through the front door before you pulled the shot gun on him."

"No," He shook his head firmly, his lips thinly pressed together, "No I could not."

She chuckled and shook her head. "Just be nicer to this one, okay? She really seems to like him."

Her husband let out a doubtful hum. He'd think about…but there was a reason he kept that gun hung over the coat rake.

A/N: I love Christmas. I wish it was Christmas. Christmas rocks but I gotta go, Face Off is on.