5. New Arrangements

"It's okay, darlin'," Wolverine said. "Step away from the car and come with us. We're here to help you."
"Huh?" Stephanie goggled at these people in their strange costumes.
"I can't believe you'd stoop this low, Maximoff!" said Cyclops. "Kidnapping--"
"Who's being kidnapped?" Stephanie demanded.
Pietro stepped in front of her. "Take the car and go," he said. "I'll handle these guys."
"No! I won't leave you!" She wrapped her arms around him so tight that he couldn't breathe. "You can't take me away from him! We love each other! We're having a baby and everything!"
"A baby? Spyke said. He stared at Pietro, who was beginning to turn blue. "Uh, Stephanie, I think you'd better let him go."
"Huh?" Finally she noticed his frantic gasps for air. "Oh! Sorry, Cuddle-Lumpkin!"
"CUDDLE-LUMPKIN?"
"Can we just leave already?" Pietro muttered.
The X-Men didn't know what to do next. They couldn't force her to come with them; on the other hand, if she were being brainwashed or something . . .
Jean Grey approached the girl. "We want you to know," she said soothingly, "that if anything happens, you can come to us."
"What kind of 'anything happening' did you have in mind?" Stephanie inquired.
"If you should happen to--break up, or something--"
"We're never breaking up!" Stephanie reached for Pietro again, but he saw her coming and side-stepped. "We'll love each other forever!"
"Oh, well, if you ever change your mind . . ." Jean's voice trailed off.
"Look, we got somewhere to be," Pietro said, "and there's no reason for you guys to hang around, so bye!" He put Stephanie in the passenger seat of the car, zipped around and got in the driver's side, backed out, turned around, and drove off.

"Well, that could have gone better," Cyclops said.
"At least we tried," Jean told him. "We let her know we'd be here if she ever needed help."
"What is it with those two?" asked Wolverine. "Ya think she's got a couple of loose screws upstairs or something?"
"I don't think she has one screw fully tightened, if you ask me," Spyke said. "Cuddle-Lumpkin? She's gotta be whacked!"
They drove home, still talking about what could be done for Stephanie, short of kidnapping her and dragging her to the mansion (which Evan was still in favor of).
"We've gotta get her away from Pietro!" he insisted. "He's a total jerkwad! And he's controlling her, somehow!"
"I thought you said she was crazy to begin with," Rogue said. "Is it his fault or her fault?"
"Both! Either! I dunno!"
"We can't do anything unless we know he's hurting her," Jean pointed out. "Let's just keep an eye out for any signs of him controlling or abusing her."
"Or vice-versa," Kurt said facetiously.

Pietro and Stephanie brought the car back shortly, and apologized for all the trouble they'd caused.
Mrs. Mahoney refused to even speak to either of them, except to say, "Don't even think about coming home until that--" she pointed at Steph's stomach--"is gone."
"Oh, c'mon, Mom! You can't do this!"
"Make the appointment. Then we'll talk." She left without saying goodbye or acknowledging anyone else.
Stephanie's father said, "We'll work this out. Somehow. I'll talk to her." Then he left too.
"Hey," a voice shouted from upstairs, "in New York State, you can get married at 16 with both parents' permission."
"Thank you, Wanda," Pietro called up.
"Well, that's out," Stephanie said.
"Why?"
"Well, you don't have both parents, and as for my mom . . ."
"Don't worry," he said, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "We'll figure something out."
"In the meantime," Magneto said, "you can stay here. We'll move the extra bed into Wanda's room."
"HEY!"
"I didn't think you'd mind, since you seem to be in a helpful mood. Tell whoever else has got their ears pressed to the door to get the cot down from the attic and put clean sheets on it."
"Not my room!"
"Well, where else can we put her?"
"Why can't she sleep with Pietro? It's not as if they could do any more damage!"
"Wanda." His voice was low, but metal objects all over the house started to vibrate. "Help us out. After all, as you said, you're family."
Wanda let out one of her big dramatic sighs. "Okay."
"Oh, this'll be fun!" Stephanie exclaimed. "Just like sisters!"

Wanda wanted to kill Pietro, her father, and Stephanie as well—and whoever had built that stupid closet where Pietro and Stephanie had made out the day everything went wrong. "He's a dead man," she fumed, while she made room for Stephanie's things in her room.

Lance and Fred brought the bed in from the upstairs guest room and set it up in the empty space. Toad found some sheets in the attic and after running them through the washer, they were somewhat presentable.

"It's only temporary, anyway," Stephanie said. "Just till we get married, then I'll move in with Pietro."

Wanda just glared at her, suppressing a desire to rip her chirpy little head off and stuff it in the resulting hole. This wasn't what I had in mind! She thought. I never asked for a sister!

"Do you have any ideas for names?" Steph asked suddenly.

"Why?"

"Maybe we could name it after your mother if it's a girl? Is that okay?"

"Why are you asking me?" Wanda was looking at her funny.

"Because you'll be the baby's godmother!"

Oh, brother. "Stephanie," Wanda said, sitting down beside her. "We're Jewish."

"You-you are?" She looked disappointed.

"Maybe you ought to talk to Pietro before you go making plans like this. He may not want the baby to be raised Christian."

"He might!" Stephanie insisted. "Maybe he'll convert!"

"You really ought to talk to him about it," Wanda insisted. "Make sure it's what you both want. You know what I mean?"

Stephanie looked at her for a moment, then said, "I guess you're right. I'll talk to Pietro when he gets back from the mini-mart."

"Mini-mart? What did he go there for?"

"He said he wanted a Frappucino . . ." The implications sunk in.

"Oh, wonderful," Wanda sighed. "Pietro on caffeine."

"Maybe we can head him off—"

Even as Stephanie spoke, Pietro came rushing into the room carrying enough coffee beverages to get King Kong buzzed. "HeyStephguesswhatIgotajob!"

"What?"

"Igotajob!"

"Slow down! I can't understand you!"

"I . . . got . . . a . . . job . . ." he drawled with exaggerated slowness.

"You got a job?" Wanda said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I got a job!" Pietro said. "I gotta family now, you know. I need to make money to buy diapers and stuff . . ."

Wanda still couldn't believe what she was hearing. "When did you get a responsibility implant?"

"Well, I was thinking about it anyway, and then I saw a HELP WANTED sign in the window at the mini-mart. So I filled out the application and stuff, and the manager said I can start by the end of the week. I'm going to work afternoons and weekends so I can still go to school, and then in the summer I'll work full-time, if everything works out."

"You got," Wanda repeated, "an actual job." She shook her head. "How long do you think you'll keep it?"

"Wanda!" Stephanie said. "That's not nice! Pietro did a big important thing, and I think you should respect him for it!"

"I'll believe it when I see it," Wanda said, leaving the room before they got mushy.

Stephanie threw her arms around Pietro. "Oh, I'm so happy! You're going to be the best daddy in the world!"

Two months later, just after Stephanie's sixteenth birthday, she and Pietro stood before a justice of the peace and were formally married. Stephanie's mother couldn't make it because of a "business trip", but both fathers were in attendance, as well as the rest of the Brotherhood. Lance and Wanda (after Stephanie talked her into it) served as witnesses.

Afterwards, there was a small reception at the home of one of Stephanie's friends. It wasn't a big fancy do, but everyone had a good time.

Things couldn't have been more perfect, Pietro thought.

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

END PART I