15. More Surprises

"Good morning everyone!" A very-smiley Daniela greeted her siblings the next morning upon entering the kitchen, Warren in tow, looking equally happy.

"Good morning," Kath answered. "You both seem in good spirits."

"We are!" The couple shared a long, loving look. "We have a full day planned," Daniela explained. "We're going baby shopping!"

"You've only been pregnant for like a day," Peter reminded her.

"We're eager to get started. I made a list and everything. We probably won't buy anything quite yet, but just look around to get an idea of what's out there, our options."

"Good to be prepared," agreed Kath.

"Thank you!"

"Where are you going shopping?" Wanda asked.

"The mall."

"Oh, can I come with you? I mean, head over with you, then go off to do my own thing?" She was certain this was one of the days during Carol's schedule where she had a longer break.

"Sure."

"Thanks."

"You can help us go over the list on the way."

They ate breakfast together before Wanda, Daniela, and Warren headed out.

"I'm glad they sorted things out," said Kath.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Peter. Looked like he wasn't going to have to deal with bird-boy after all.

Saying this reminded Kath about her own 'romantic' situation that she had yet to sort out.

When the trio arrived at the mall, Daniela and Warren headed to one end to the department store, while Wanda headed in the opposite direction to the far end, where the movie theatre was.

"Take your time, we can meet back home," Wanda told them. "No rush."

"Okay, have fun!"

"Thanks, you too. Good luck with the baby shopping."

"Thanks!"

However, when she arrived at the theatre, Wanda was greeted by a startling sight:

The doorway was blocked off, surrounded by security guards and fire fighters. From what she could see, the concession stand and lobby behind them was all burned up and destroyed.

What happened here?

Carol!

Wanda rushed forward. A crowd of equally-confused guests had assembled before the barricaded doors.

"Sorry folks, but the theatre is closed until further notice," one fireman announced. This received confused and frustrated muttering from the crowd.

"Excuse me, what happened?" Wanda asked one of the security guards.

"Strange random fire."

"Oh no! Was anyone hurt?"

"Some minor injuries. One employee was caught up in it pretty bad though, poor girl."

Wanda gulped. "Do you happen to know her name?"

"Her I.D. said Carol Danvers."

Wanda's stomach dropped. "Oh, oh no..."

"You know her?"

"Yeah, she's a, a - friend..."

"The ambulance took her to the hospital about half an hour ago. Not sure if she's allowed visitors yet, but you can try."

"Thank you."

Looked like her visit to the mall had turned into a visit to the hospital.

"Aww, this is so cute!" Meanwhile, in the nursery section of the mall's main department store, Daniela and Warren were currently looking at baby clothes. "I wonder if we'll have a boy or a girl... That would make this a little easier," Daniela admitted as she scanned through the assortment of shirts, pants, and dresses.

"Yela, come feel this blanket, it's so soft. I might have to get one of these." Warren ran his hand over and over across the surface of a blue baby blanket.

"Cozy," she agreed.

There was so much here it was almost overwhelming. They hadn't even looked at their list yet. That, and honestly, they really didn't have much idea of what they were doing, let alone where to start.

"Oh, we should definitely get these." Warren held up a pair of tiny black lace-up booties. "Then we can match." He kicked up his foot to display his own leather boots beside the baby ones.

"Aww, you can be matching! I'll add them to the list." Daniela rifled through her bag for a pen. As she was doing so, she caught sight of a familiar face over the displays. She had to do a double-take just to be sure. "Oh, God..."

"What?" asked Warren. She jerked her head in the direction of a tall, serious, dark-haired man in a trench coat and fedora making his way briskly through the aisles of the store. "Who-"

"That's my dad!" she hissed.

"Really?!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh... What's he doing here?"

"I have no idea. But my father cannot see me here with my boyfriend in the baby section of the department store!" This was not how she wanted her father and boyfriend to meet. And after the last time she saw him at the super-awkward lunch, she didn't want to see him again anytime soon, especially not just running into him randomly out and about.

She grabbed Warren's hand and dragged him through the display of prams. "What's he even doing at the mall anyways?" Ducking down, they watched as Erik cut sharply through the nursery section and out the main mall-entry doors of the department store. "Come on-"

"What, we're going to follow him?"

"Yeah, come on."

Slowly, and hopefully subtly, they followed Erik out of the store, and baby shopping quickly became Dad-stalking.

They followed him all the way to the third floor, where they lost track of him.

"Where'd he go?" Daniela scanned the crowd and shop fronts.

Warren tapped her arm. "I think that's our answer."

"What?"

"To what he's doing here." Warren nodded to Erik - and the professor.

Daniela's jaw dropped. "What the-"

But it was definitely the professor, who gave Erik a small smile as the other man joined him at a table in the inner-mall cafe.

"I thought you said they hated each other," said Warren.

"Well, they're definitely not on good terms. Or at least that's what I thought..."

They proceeded to watch Erik and Xavier chat while looking over menus.

"I feel weird," Daniela finally said. "Watching them like this."

"Good, so do I," Warren agreed.

Together they left, both utterly confused.

When Wanda arrived at the hospital - she had spent the whole bus ride over chewing her nails nervously, and the traffic hadn't helped - she practically ran up to the front desk.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see one of your new patients."

"Name of patient?" the receptionist asked.

"Carol Danvers."

"Yes. Here she is. Are you family of hers?"

"Um, no, I'm not," Wanda admitted.

"I'm sorry, the doctors aren't allowing any visitors besides family at the moment."

Wanda held back a heavy sigh. "Has anyone else visited her yet?"

"No, not yet. And you will be able to eventually. You can even have a seat here in the waiting room and we'll call you if the doctor says visitors are allowed."

Wanda felt defeated. "There's no way I could just see her to make sure she's all right?"

The lady gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, honey, but doctor's orders."

Wanda nodded. "I'll have a seat then, thank you."

"No need." Wanda turned at the familiar voice to see the professor wheeling into the lobby. "This young lady is with me, she is one of my students. We would like to see Miss Danvers now please."

The receptionist was on her feet in seconds. "Of course, right this way, Sir." She gestured through a double-doorway, waving them onward.

"Thank you, Professor," Wanda said once they were through.

"Of course, my dear."

"Did you use your powers on her?"

"Only a little." He winked.

"How did you know to come here?"

"I sensed something, something that left me curious."

"Mall security said it was a fire."

"See, that's where I'm uncertain."

"What do you think it was?"

Xavier stopped in front of a room which Wanda guessed was Carol's. "A mutation."

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)