Author's note: Thank you to NotMarge, NicoleR85, partygirl98, ZabuzasGirl, Jinxofthe2ndLaw, and J.T.'s A.X for the reviews! Jinx, I agree! Vegas weddings are fun- that's why I wanted them to go there instead of a trip to a courthouse. And I figured Siryn's powers would show up later, or else she would basically kill Maeve with her screams whilst still in the hospital. That would be so sad! J.T., that's an interesting idea! And a bit of a compliment if my fanfic is popping up in your dreams ;-)

Slight sexy time reference in this chapter. And speaking of babies...

Changes

Before I knew it, over four years had passed since Zoey and I got married. It seemed like the time had flown by, but I was too busy being happy to notice.

Life was better than I could have ever dreamed. Since I was a child, I'd always huddled behind science and learning, shutting myself off from people in the process. No one- not even my parents- would accept my monkey-feet. Science did not judge me, and in return I embraced it whole-heartedly, leaving me with a permanent sense of disconnect from other people. In doing so I'd grown from a shy, awkward little boy into an even more shy, more awkward young man. One who would never be comfortable in his own skin, who thought if only he could change one thing about himself, everything else in his life would fall into place.

"But even if you had changed your feet, you wouldn't be able to change who your feet made you into," Zoey told me once. "I mean, even if somehow I suddenly grew six inches, I'd still have a bit of a Napoleon complex."

"What'd you say? I can't hear you from up here," I teased, grinning down at her.

"Oh hush. Now lean down where I can reach you and give me a kiss."

Sometimes I wished for some sort of time machine in order to whisk myself back, so I could tell my seventeen year old self what was on the horizon if only I waited long enough. Maybe that way the pain and crippling self-consciousness of the intervening years after my second mutation would've been easier to bear.

For almost six years, my life had been frozen. I was paralyzed by the knowledge that no one would ever care for the real me, and a deep self-hatred. I clung to science, my life raft in a sea of loneliness and hopeless longing. I thought nothing would ever change. And nothing did, until I actually tried.

And now... I felt that everything I'd gone through- driving Raven away, my second mutation, almost losing Zoey and finally accepting my feral half- all of it was worth it to be where I was, who I was now. Because I was with my Zoey, and I was the man she loved.

Zoey literally made all the difference for me. Her love, her acceptance, gave me the confidence to finally be more comfortable with myself. Though I certainly didn't magically transform into an extrovert, I definitely felt more free to joke around and laugh without feeling self-conscious anymore.

It was Alex who pointed this out to me- in true "Alex" fashion, of course.

"Your woman has changed you, you know," he remarked one day, while we were doing maintenance on the Blackbird. "In a good way, though."

I stopped unscrewing lug-nuts and frowned. "How's that?"

"Well, you're not all broody and depressed all the time anymore," Alex replied. "Who knew getting married would fix all your issues?"

"Perhaps you have a point. Have you proposed to Gwen yet? Maybe marriage would fix all of your glaring personality problems," I retorted, grinning. "It certainly worked for Sean."

Marriage and fatherhood had had a sobering effect on Sean. He'd always been a bit of a goofball, but since he married Maeve and their baby, Theresa, arrived he had become much more mature and- while not exactly serious, at least more thoughtful than before. I felt it was good for him.

Alex laughed off the implied jibe, but when he spoke he was sincere. "See, that right there. You're not so defensive and wound up all the time."

I knew he had a point, but I didn't really have a response for that. I shrugged and went back to work.

"It's kinda nice," he mused. "I mean, now I don't have to worry about you snapping one day and ripping my head off for picking on you too much."

I rolled my eyes. "I still could, you know."

"Yeah, sure."

"Alex said something interesting to me today," I commented to Zoey that night after I'd done the dishes.

She'd made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. After four years, Zoey had finally gotten the hang of cooking- so much so that she actually wanted to do Thanksgiving at our apartment this year, instead of going to the Rivers' house. She'd joked that we should invite my parents to New York because they didn't know about her former reputation for burning water.

And then she'd given me the look when I laughed and agreed with her.

"Oh yeah? What'd he say?" she asked me now.

"That you've changed me," I replied, fighting back a smile.

"'Changed you?'" Zoey repeated. She looked puzzled.

"Yeah."

"Changed you how?" she asked, frowning.

I chuckled. "Why do you look upset about it?"

"I'm not upset, just confused. I don't see how I've done anything to change you," Zoey explained.

"It wasn't something you did on purpose, sweetheart," I told her, kissing her forehead. "Alex just pointed out how much happier I am now that I have you, compared to before. And I happen to agree with him."

Zoey cast her eyes down and blushed prettily. She still reacted that way when I complimented her, even after all this time.

"I feel- I feel like with you, I'm the man I was supposed to be, how I could have been if I grew up feeling more accepted."

Her answering laugh had a hint of disbelief behind it. "I don't see how I'm responsible for that, darling," Zoey said speculatively. "What have I done?"

"You've loved me," I told her simply.

She snorted and snuggled up on my lap. I buried my nose in her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her curls, and held her tightly.

"You act like that's difficult," she murmured, turning her head slightly. Her quiet laugh brushed against my neck seductively, making coherency flee. "It sounds like you're finally starting to acknowledge the things in yourself that I've seen all along."

"L-like what?"

"How witty and funny you are," Zoey replied. "Your strength of character. How you're someone who's worthy of admiration and respect for all the wonderful things you do."

Almost every other word was punctuated by a kiss or a nibble on my neck.

My hands tightened on her in response, my skin warming under her lips. I could already feel the sparks of electricity flitting across my nerves, every synapse lighting up like the Fourth of July from wanting her.

"I've never met anyone with more self-control," she added softly.

Now her fingers were undoing the buttons on my shirt. My own hand wandered under her dress, searching out familiar territory and caressing in the ways I knew by now would make her melt. She squirmed in my lap, eliciting a low growl deep in my chest. My eyes were probably yellow already.

Right, self-control. What's that again?

"So when you lose it-"

My free hand brought Zoey's face to mine, cutting her off mid-sentence with a feverish kiss. She moaned low in her throat and bit my lip, tugging on my hair-

We didn't even make it to our bedroom.

I never did find out what she was going to say about me losing my self-control. I was too busy losing myself in her.

A few weeks later we were watching football (meaning Zoey watched while I munched on the popcorn she hadn't thrown at the television yet- the Jets were having a bad year) when a commercial for baby food came on.

My gaze immediately swept over to Zoey's face, and sure enough, her expression was wistful.

She'd been like that for a few months now, whenever she saw something baby-related. Television commercials, TV shows- I'd even lost her in the grocery store a few times because she would get side-tracked and stop to coo over an infant in a stroller. A soft, longing look would come to her eyes whenever she held baby Theresa.

Clearly, Zoey was at least thinking about us starting a family. I'd been waiting for her to say something, but so far she hadn't brought it up. It made me wonder if she was waiting for a sign from me, or if she thought I wasn't ready to consider us having a baby yet.

My own feelings about the matter were slightly conflicted.

I liked children well enough, though babies were a bit of a mystery to me. But the images of seeing Zoey glowing and round, carrying our child and then later, holding a baby with her green eyes and my dark hair- it surprised me, how much I wanted those visions to come true. For there to be a person that was half me, and half Zoey. I wanted to believe that we would be good parents, that we would raise our child to feel loved. I wanted to be a good father in the ways mine wasn't.

What made me hesitate, what frightened me, was the possibility of passing on my mutation. Zoey's was invisible, with possibly the exception of her iridescent hair, but mine, mine was physical. My mutation had caused me to live the life of an outsider, someone who never fit in anywhere. That feeling of being a freak had driven me to try to find a cure, and in doing so I'd made my mutation so much worse. What if our child came out looking like a little blue stuffed animal? They would never be accepted in human society.

But the Institute wasn't around when I was a kid. At least our child would have somewhere to belong.

As well as two loving parents who would love and accept them no matter what. That decided me on the subject.

"Zoey?" I asked quietly.

"Hmm?" Her response was absent-minded, because the game was back on.

"What do you think about... us trying for a baby?"

Zoey's head whipped around so fast I thought for a moment that she hurt her neck. Her eyes were wide with surprise-

And hope. I could see the hope written there, as clear as a newspaper headline.

"Really? Y-you want to-?" she asked breathlessly.

I nodded. "Yes. I think we're as ready as we can be. Do you?"

"Yes," Zoey replied, with a dazzling smile that took my breath away. "Yes, I do."