Ok, I hated this chapter the way it was before. I felt like it was rushed and it needs more backround and more characters! i mean, how many people live in the institute, and I only mention four of them? Geez. So, here's the new chapter.

Disclaimer: L

Talia Josephine Wagner was a princess. Not in the literal way, like her Aunty Amara, but still she was. As the youngest inhabitant of the institute, and the daughter of two well loved X men, she was everyone's little princess. But today, she was even more of a princess. Because today was her sixth birthday.

She watched with hardly subdued excitement as decorations went up around the mansion and the adults busied themselves in preparation. She saw a stack of gifts on the table in the far corner growing larger by the minute, and couldn't help but get curious. She wandered over to the table and tried to pick up one of the larger ones. Oof! It was heavy! But she managed to get it to the floor. She wondered what it could possibly be. Just one peek wouldn't hurt, would it? Just one peek.

"Talia! Put that down!" Her mother walked in from the kitchen. "No gifts until after cake, you know the rules."

"I know, Mommy, but it looks so cool!" she responded, hoping to get her mother's sympathy. She just wanted one peek.

"I know it looks cool sweetie, but not until tonight, ok? Now, I think that your Uncle Jamie was looking for you. Why don't you run off and find him?"

"Ok Mommy!"

Wanda watched as her little girl ran off in search of Jamie. She couldn't believe it had been six years. Six entire years had passed since she had brought that little angel into this world. And the funny thing was, it felt like it was yesterday. Wanda had never thought of herself as the type to become a mother. Hell, she'd never thought of herself as the type to even fall in love. But it all changed when she had met Kurt. There was just something about him that drew her to him. It started out as a simple friendship. They both hated their birth parents, and found a strange camaraderie in that. But he could do something that most other people could not. He could make her laugh. Years of being locked away had hardened her, and she doubted she'd ever be able to feel good again. But he could make her feel happy, and she loved him for that. She remembered when they first started dating, no one knew what to make of it. Pietro thought she was insane. But they didn't care. They truly loved each other and that was all that mattered. Most inhabitants of the institute thought it was a passing thing. They'd go out for a while and then both finally come to their senses. That is, until Wanda found out she was pregnant. Kurt proposed on the spot when he found out, but she turned him down. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but it all of this commitment scared her. They still hadn't married to this day, but they lived together as if they were. But what scared her more than marriage was the thought of becoming a mother. She didn't think she could do it. In fact, she knew she couldn't do it. And as the months passed, she grew more and more terrified. But finally the day came, and the moment she held her little T.J. in her arms, she knew that everything would be ok.

And now, here she was, preparing for her daughters sixth birthday. She walked back into the kitchen where Kitty was putting a few finishing touches on a pink cake. Kurt walked in the kitchen from the backyard then, tugging a bunch of balloons behind him.

"Where are we putting these, liebe?" He asked, trying to keep the monster balloon bouquet together. He looked completely worn out already, and his fur was all standing on end.

"Here, I'll take 'em inside Elf" Logan offered, from where he was sitting at the table.

Wanda walked over and offered a kiss to her boyfriend. But she was rewarded with a mild static shock. "Ow!"

"Ooo..sorry." Kurt backed away from her a bit.

"What happened to you? Why'd it take so long to get a few balloons?"

"It was a nightmare! They didn't have the order that Kitty called in yesterday, so they didn't have anything ready. And on the way back, I lost two of them while loading them into the car, and while driving home, they kept coming up to the front with me and rubbing up against me, so.."

"You mean, you're, like, a big furry ball of static?" Kitty said, trying to stifle her laughter.

"My poor baby," Wanda said, before she too began to giggle.

The two women then collapsed in hysterics, while Kurt looked on at them, quite obviously humiliated.

"Ok, thats it, I'm leaving! I don't have to take this!" Kurt said with a huff, and walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Kurt!!" Kitty called after him, still chuckling. "Now I feel bad."

"Please, he'll get over it." Wanda replied, her giggles settling down.

The women got back to thier work, barely noticing as Lance walked in from the backyard.

"Ok, Wanda, I figured out those damn outdoor speakers. They should be working now."

"Thanks Lance."

Kitty walked over and wrapped her arms around her fiance. "You are so hot when you're hooking up speakers."

"Jesus, Kit, you say that about everything I do." She pulled his head down into a long, passionate kiss.

"Oh, man, get a room you two." Pietro entered the kitchen, his giggling niece bouncing on his shoulders.

"Hey birthday girl!" Lance walked over and pulled Talia down into his arms. "Are you excited?"

"Is that my cake?" Excitement glazed over her yellow eyes as she wriggled free of Uncle Lance's grasp.

"Yes it is, sweetie," Wanda chimed. She turned to see her daughter pulling a gob of pink icing onto her finger. "Talia Josephine!"

She looked up at her mother with her well practiced puppy dog face. It always worked on Daddy, but, Mommy was a bit wiser to her schemes.

Wanda pulled the cake out of her reach. "You can have some later. But for now, keep those fingers away!"

"Come on, T.J., lets go play outside and let Mommy finish up in here," Pietro said has he picked her back up onto his shoulders.

"Giddy up!" she giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We're going to go and, check something out upstairs," Kitty said as she led Lance out of the kitchen.

Wanda sighed and looked around. There was still quite a bit to do, but nothing she couldn't handle. Talia's birthday parties seemed to get more extravagant every year. Wanda loved planning them though. Sometimes she felt like she was subconsciously planning them so big to make up for the fact that her daughter couldnt grow up as a normal child. It killed Wanda that she couldn't send Talia to normal school, or allow her to play with normal children. With the attitude towards mutants lately, she barely lets Talia off the institutes grounds. Last year for her birthday, Xavier had given Talia an image inducer, which calmed Wanda's nerves a bit. But she hated the idea of the inducer. She didnt want her daughter to become dependent on it. Talia was a beautiful child, blue skin and all, and Wanda would not tolerate those who could not see that.

At that moment, a very weary and slightly pregnant Jean Grey Summers made her way into the kitchen. "I swear, Wanda, Talia is the luckiest kid alive! I have never seen so many gifts!"

Wanda chuckled. "Well, you just wait. Your little one will be getting the same attention. This is how children's birthdays are celebrated here at the institute."

"Yeah, well, I tell you, I am looking foward to this kids birthday. This pregnancy is wearing me out!"

Wanda sat down at the table beside her. "Have you found out the sex yet?"

"No, we decided to wait. But we have names picked out for either way. Nathan if its a boy, and Rachel if its a girl."

Kurt walked in and sat down putting his arm around Wanda. "Hey, Jean, how're you feeling?"

"Same way I always feel, slightly nauseous, excuse me." She got up from the table and made her way to the bathroom.

"I see you have de-electrified yourself." Wanda ran her fingers through the fur on his arm. She pulled him close to her and they kissed. Only to be interupted by the phone. Kurt ran over and picked it up.

"Evan! How are you! Ja? Oh that is excellent! Talia will be so happy! Ja, see you soon then." He hung up the phone. "Guess what, liebe?" Kurt sat back down next to Wanda. "That was Evan on the phone. He, Laura and Jake will be coming to the party later on."

"Excellent! I was hoping they'd be able to make it, Talia's missed Jake." Evan was no longer living in the mansion. He had left years ago and found minor success filming such events as the X games and other biking/boarding games. During all this he had met Laura. She was very accepting to his mutant abilities and they were married only a year after meeting. Jake was thier five year old son, and the only friend Talia had her age.

"Can you believe it Kurt? Six years? Jeez, she's growing up so fast!"

"I know. But we still have many more years to watch her grow. Our wenig engel."





It was a wonderful party. A party every six year old could dream of, complete with pony rides. Talia was a good girl, and waited until after the cake to open her presents. And she whipped through them like a tornado. She ran around thanking all of her aunts and uncles, then made haste in ripping toys open and playing with Jake. The party had winded down now, many adults retiring to thier rooms for the night. After all, most of them had classes to teach in the morning. Wanda was fast asleep on the couch and Talia lay asleep in the mountains of leftover wrapping paper.

"I guess its someone's bedtime, ja?" Kurt said, as he picked his daughter up into his arms. She stirred a little and fell back asleep quickly. He brought her up to her room and tucked her into bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight, mien schatz." he said as he turned to leave. But something in the window caught his eye. He walked over to peer outside and watched as an golden-eyed raven flew away.



Ok, chapter two done! I think I like this more than the other one. Ok, at this point, I have no clue where to go from here. So it may be quite a while before I post again. Also, as I mentioned in the reviews, I'm going to Germany in a few weeks, (YAY!!) and its doubtful I'll post anything new before I leave. Anywho, hope you enjoyed, and please review!!

PS: To tie up any loose ends for anyone unfamiliar with TJ: I didnt want to go too into her appearance here, I just couldn't make it sound right anywhere that I tried to write it in. So I'll explain her here, for anyone who doesn't already know her. She is blue, but (to my understanding) does not have fur. She has the same feet, hands, and ears as her father, but no tail. (she's been drawn both ways, but I prefer her without the tail.). Oh, and about the institute, it is now a school for mutants. Classes are held there for younger mutants and they are taught by the elders (Kitty, Lance, Kurt, Scott, etc.). Hope this clears up any questions!