You Would Think Things Would Be Easier By Now

"This is so not how I want to spend a Saturday!" Kitty groaned as she rode in the Blackbird. Ororo was flying the jet. Also along for the ride in their civilian clothes were Rogue, Jean, Peter, Kurt, Scott and Kitty's new friend Danielle who had been visiting the mansion more often.

"Come on Kitty I thought you'd be happy to spend a day with your folks at home," Jean said.

"Jean," Kitty glared at her. "Helping my divorcing parents move out of my childhood home so they can run off with their…lovers…ick…is not exactly a fun time by any stretch of the imagination! And to top it off…one is a guy and the other is a guy…who's Warren's age for crying out loud! My life is so turning into a soap opera!"

"Hey at least your parents actually care about you!" Rogue told her. "Instead of using you for experiments or plots to take over the world."

"Using their selfish greed to drive a stake in your heart," Kurt grumbled.

"What are you complaining about?" Danielle asked. "At least you have parents."

"What happened to your parents?" Jean asked.

"My grandfather told me a bear ate them," Danielle sighed. "I was kind of little when it happened."

"Well at least you didn't see yours burn up in a ball of fire before your eyes," Scott told her. "My folks died in a plane crash."

"Mine were hit by a tractor," Peter sighed. "Let's just say it's a farming accident went wrong."

"Oh…" Jean looked around.

Ororo volunteered. "Killed in an earthquake. I was buried alive beside my mother for days."

"Well no wonder you have claustrophobia," Rogue shuddered.

"Ya, although I think I could stand it now seeing my mother dead," Kurt grumbled.

"Well isn't this a cheery conversation!" Kitty groaned. "Thanks a lot Jean!"

"Well excuse me for having a nice childhood!" Jean snapped. "I had problems too you know!"

"Like what?" Rogue asked. "You didn't get that pony you wanted when you were little?"

"No Rogue…" Jean snapped. "Nothing like that."

"She did get a pony," Scott told her. "When she was five! And she took horseback riding lessons for several years."

"Thanks a lot Scott," Jean folded her arms.

"Ha!" Rogue snorted.

"All right now," Ororo said. "Let's not get into an argument in front of Kitty's parents."

"Yeah odds are they'll already be arguing without our help," Rogue quipped.

"Hey it's like an amicable divorce!" Kitty told her.

"There's a contradiction in terms," Scott said. "At least according to Althea."

"Is it possible not to mention the Misfits for one day?" Peter grumbled.

"Still sore about Lance putting the moves on Kitty when they fought Magneto a few days ago?" Rogue asked.

"Shut up Rogue," Peter snapped.

"Well you're in a cheerful mood," Jean said to Rogue.

"Oh yeah," Rogue said sarcastically. "Who wouldn't be cheerful after learning that Trask got away from SHIELD and there's a possibility that someone in the government is hiding him? That people are still calling for a mutant registration bill even after all we did? Or that mutants are still outcasts? Or…"

"We get the message," Ororo sighed as she landed the jet at the local airport.

"Yeah this day is already like, stressful enough for me as it is," Kitty sighed.

"It will be all right," Ororo told her. "We'll be there to support you."

"Yeah well I need all the support I can get," Kitty groaned.

Soon they made their way to Kitty's house. "I can't believe that this isn't my home anymore," She sighed as Jean parked the van. "I mean, I've considered the Institute my home for a while now but…"

"Yeah," Scott said. "I know the feeling. Everything's changed."

"Oh goody…" Kitty muttered as she saw Jesse D and her mother out front near a large moving van. "Jesse's here…"

"Come on now give him a break," Jean said.

"Jean would you give a guy a break if he was marrying your mom and like twenty years younger?" Kitty shot her a look. "Plus he's related to Shipwreck?"

"She has a point," Ororo agreed reluctantly.

"It's good to see you Kitty!" Mrs. Pryde hugged her.

"Hi Mom," Kitty hugged her mother. "Uh…Jesse. Where's Dad?"

"He and Mr. Priss are coming later," Jesse D remarked.

"Jesse please," Mrs. Pryde sighed. "You promised not to get into a fight with him."

"Well I don't like how he treats you!" Jesse D told her. "Looking around the house for dust in the window blinds the other day! Window blinds! Anybody who's that picky when people are moving deserve what they get!"

"Jesse," Mrs. Pryde sighed. "He and your Father's boyfriend don't get along."

"That's putting it mildly," Jesse D said to her. "You know he's jealous of you because you been married to Richard so long!"

"Okay way too much information here!" Kitty groaned. "Can we just like get this over with and start packing already?"

"Your friends are already helping," Mrs. Pryde told her.

"What friends?" Kitty asked, dreading the answer.

"Hey there Slowpoke!" Pietro zoomed in. "Lance! Your girlfriend's finally here!"

"Oh no…" Rogue rolled her eyes.

"I knew it was too good to be true," Peter sighed as Lance sauntered out the door.

"Hi Kitty!" Lance waved. "Everybody else…"

"Alvers…" Scott's face hardened.

"Who else is here?" Ororo asked.

CRASH

"Sorry," Fred scratched his head as he walked out the door. "I think I broke another chair. Hey you guys are here!"

"All right!" Shipwreck walked out with Wanda. "This is great!"

"Not for me," Ororo grumbled. "Are all the Misfits here?"

"Nah," Pietro said. "Toad and Al are babysitting their sisters and Xi."

"Xi?" Rogue asked.

"Got into some Mrs. Fields," Wanda told her. "Don't ask."

"I think I'm gonna go up to what's left of my old room now," Kitty went into the house.

"I'll help you!" Lance and Peter said at the same time. "What do you mean? I'm going to help her! Not you! Oh yeah…"

"Oh shut up!" Danielle groaned as she followed the two bickering boys into the house.

"I knew there was a reason Toad and Althea didn't want to come," Wanda sighed as she went in.

"So Stormy how about we go play 'Moving Man and the Lonely Housewife'?" Shipwreck grinned.

"How about you play 'Man in the Hospital Covered with Bandages?" Ororo snapped.

"Will you be my nurse?" Shipwreck asked. That was when Ororo started hitting him. "OW! SORRY! SORRY!" He ran away.

"DIE SAILOR!" Ororo shouted as she continued to try and pummel him.

"Storm no!" Jean shouted as she ran after them. "Remember what you promised the Professor? No lightning!"

"FINE THEN HAND ME A CROWBAR!" Ororo shouted back.

"Uncle Hector will you quit fooling around?" Jesse D shouted as he ran too.

"And I thought my husband ran with an interesting crowd," Mrs. Pryde blinked as she walked in the house.

"Lady you have no idea!" Pietro laughed as he went inside with Fred.

"Uh I kind of ate all the food," Fred said. "You don't mind do you? Saves you from packing it."

"Kitty was right," Rogue remarked. "This is so not going to be fun at all!"

"Do you remember the good old days when those guys were the Brotherhood and we only tangled with them like once a week or every other day?" Scott asked Kurt.

"Ya…" Kurt sighed. "Sometimes we wouldn't hear from them for weeks."

"And there was no Shipwreck," Rogue added.

"Those were the good old days," Scott sighed.

************************************************************************

"I'm amazed at all the stuff these guys have here," Lance whistled as he put down a heavy box. Both he and Peter were shirtless.

"If you can't handle it…" Peter growled.

"Oh no," Rogue muttered as she and Wanda walked in on them about to mix it up. "They're gonna destroy the house!"

"Look," Wanda glared at them. "Kitty's going through a real hard time right now. The last thing she needs is you two going at it!"

"She's right," Peter said to Lance.

"Truce?" Lance offered his hand.

"Truce, for now," Peter shook it. "But if you do one thing…"

"Oh shut the hell up and keep moving boxes out the door!" Rogue shoved a particularly heavy box into Peter's arms. She then walked to what was Kitty's room. She was finishing up with Danielle. "How's it coming?"

"Well I like got a whole bunch of stuff," Kitty sighed. "My mom wants me to take everything I own back to the mansion with me."

"Whoa," Rogue looked at the suitcases. "And I thought you had a ton of clothes at the mansion!"

"Hey I threw a lot away," She pointed to two huge trash bags. "I'm giving at least two bags full to charity!"

"And you're bringing two hundred suitcases full of clothes back home!" Rogue groaned.

Mrs. Pryde tapped on the door. "Kitty, how's it coming?"

"You have to ask?" Rogue looked at her.

"That's nothing," Mrs. Pryde gave a wry smile. "You should see mine. Can I talk to Kitty alone for a bit?"

"Sure," The girls went downstairs leaving the Prydes alone.

"So how are you really holding up?" Mrs. Pryde asked her daughter.

"Honestly?" Kitty looked at her. "Mom I feel like screaming. I mean I haven't exactly had the easiest past few months. School was a nightmare without the shooting. There've been mobs outside the mansion wanting to kill us. Two of my best friends wouldn't talk to each other for weeks and when they did it was a screaming match. I've got two boyfriends who want to kill each other. And just last week I had to fight a maniac mutant who wanted to destroy the world! But compared to the fact that my parents are divorcing all that seems a piece of cake!"

"Well, you still are taking it pretty well considering," She brushed as stray hair out of her daughter's face.

"Taking it well?" Kitty looked at her. "I'm going out of my mind! I mean I'm not exactly sure how to handle this! I can't just beg you two to get back together! Obviously that isn't gonna happen! Mom I know deep down you both love me and this divorce has nothing to do with me but seriously your timing stinks! I mean I'm totally stressed enough as it is!"

"You're stressed?" Mrs. Pryde sighed. "Kitty every day I wake up terrified that some maniac is going to kill you because you're a mutant! I can't even live in this town anymore because I'm afraid another bomb is going to…" She stopped.

"What bomb?" Kitty asked.

"A few weeks ago, when things were really bad," Mrs. Pryde admitted. "Somehow there was a rumor that you were here and somebody threw a bomb in our mailbox. Luckily it didn't go off."

"Oh my god Mom…" Kitty gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You said it yourself you were already stressed," She pointed out. "We didn't want you to worry."

"But you shouldn't have to put up with this because of me!" Kitty wailed.

Her mother gave her a look. "Kitty, we're Jewish and your father is gay. I think it's safe to say suffering comes with the territory. What's a little more?"

"And you still are dating Jesse even though he's a mutant?" Kitty asked.

"He's kind and he's good to me," She told her. "And we love each other. That's all that matters."

"Yeah but he's twenty something and you're…" Kitty blinked.

"If you say old I am going to ground you until you are forty," Mrs. Pryde told her. "He's very good to me. And very gentle. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"SAY THAT AGAIN AND I'M GONNA SLUG YOU!" Jessie shouted.

"Oh lord Donald's here," Mrs. Pryde groaned. They went downstairs and saw Kitty's father with a man who looked like a clone of Niles Crane. "What happened this time?"

"All I said was that the dishes should be packed a certain way," Donald huffed. "Not thrown hodge-podge like they were Tupperware!"

"You were making an indirect crack about my girlfriend!" Jesse D was being held back by Lance and Peter.

"Do you have to call her that?" Kitty groaned.

"Katherine will you please tell your insane other that not every remark I make is about you!" Donald snapped. "The world does not revolve around her you know?"

"It does as far as I'm concerned!" Jesse D snapped.

"Boy Kitty and her mom do have a lot in common," Pietro commented.

"Donald dear will you please not make this situation more difficult than it already is?" Mr. Pryde asked.

"Calling him dear isn't exactly making it easier on me either!" Kitty told her father.

"I'm sorry Kitty," Donald said. "Hello how are you?"

"Well I've just fought the battle of my life and barely survived, people still hate me because I'm a mutant and I'm going through my possessions so I can say goodbye to my childhood home because my parents are divorcing," Kitty replied. "Just fine. How are you?"

"Good actually," Donald obviously missed the sarcasm. "I've just heard from Douglas by the way. He's doing very well at his new school at…"

"She was being sarcastic you drama queen!" Mr. Pryde interrupted him.

"There's no need for name calling," Donald fumed. "I know you've been testy lately but still…"

"Well this is interesting," Shipwreck shook his head. He looked at Mr. Pryde. "You dumped her for that?" He pointed to Donald.

"I ask myself the same thing," Jesse D remarked.

"Well you know the old saying," Donald said. "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

"THAT'S IT YOU ARE GOING DOWN!" Jesse D tried to tackle him again only to be held back by Lance, Peter and Scott.

"Donald did you really have to be so tactless?" Mr. Pryde asked.

"You know maybe Jesse has a point," Shipwreck said. "Maybe you are jealous of her!" He pointed at Mrs. Pryde.

"So what if I am?" Donald snapped.

"What?" Richard yelled.

"Oh this is good," Pietro snickered.

"Every time I turn around you're always talking about her," Donald snapped. "Katherine and Kitty this! Katherine would do that! Kitty I can understand, she's your daughter! You're supposed to dote on her! But not your soon to be ex-wife! Could it really kill you to be a little bitter?"

"I don't believe this…" Kitty groaned.

"Neither did I," Kurt whispered to Rogue. "And I though our parents are messed up!"

"Sometimes I think you're not really gay!" Donald snapped. "Maybe you're just bi!"

"I can't take this anymore!" Kitty ran out the door.

"Kitty!" Mrs. Pryde called out.

"I'll go after her," Danielle followed Kitty.

"Way to go everyone!" Ororo snapped. "Look what your fighting has done!"

"I'd like to point out that Avalanche and I were not fighting and on our best behavior," Peter grinned.

"What do you want? A gold star?" Rogue snapped.

"Kitty!" Danielle ran after her. "Wait up!"

"This day is like totally a disaster!" Kitty groaned as they walked down the street.

"Those two years I was in a coma are seeming pretty peaceful about now," Danielle shook her head.

"Sorry to drag you into this," Kitty sighed.

"Hey anything to get me out of the house," Danielle said. "Seriously Kitty, I know things are really bad right now but…"

"But?"

"But nothing. I have no idea what to say about stuff like this."

"Neither do I," Kitty sighed. "God talk about uncharted territory! Who the heck does know what you are supposed to do in situations like this? I mean, what is the exact etiquette for a mutant who's dad is gay, dating an old friend's uncle and who's mom is dating a younger man who is also a mutant?"

"Whoever it is has got to be either very smart or very screwed up," Danielle told her.

"Extremely screwed up," Kitty sighed. "Thanks for being here anyway."

"Hey you were there for me," Danielle said. "This is the least I could do."

"Well what have we here?" Two athletic type girls walked up to them. "Look Amy it's the Kitty cat creep!"

"Oh well this is just perfect!" Kitty snapped. "Just what I needed today! A visit from Rah Rah Riley and Awful Amy, the two biggest bitches in the whole town! What? Your lives are even more pathetic now that you don't tease me or shove me into lockers?"

"Since when did you talk like that Pryde?" Riley gasped.

"Since this Kitty-Cat grew claws," Kitty snapped at her. "And it seems like the two of you grew a couple of inches wider!"

"Watch what you say freak!" Amy growled. "We know what you are!"

"We saw you and the rest of your freak friends on TV," Riley sneered.

"Well then you'd know then after facing giant robots, angry mobs and a maniac trying to rule the planet you two are a real threat aren't you?" Kitty replied sarcastically. "You think you're such hot shot athletes? Try dodging lasers every day! I can make you two look like the pathetic losers you are!"

"Why you little…" Riley attacked her. Kitty merely phased and she flew through her body landing face down in the dirt.

"Oh I am like so scared," Kitty was clearly enjoying this. "What are you gonna do? Tease me some more or sit there in the dirt and have a good cry?"

"You mutie freak!" Amy tried to tackle her but Kitty phased through her as well. "You can't do this to us!"

"Funny it looks like she already did," Danielle grinned.

"You a freak too?" Amy snarled as she got up.

"Yes," Danielle grinned. "Wanna see my power?"

Suddenly both girls screamed. "I AM SO FAT!" Riley shouted.

"SOMEBODY CALL WEIGHT WATCHERS!" Amy shouted. Both girls ran for their lives.

Both Kitty and Danielle started laughing. "I know I shouldn't have done that but boy did that feel good!" Kitty laughed. "Well at least one good thing came out of all this."

"And to think you will never have to see those two ever again," Danielle reminded her.

"Hmmm," Kitty snickered. "Maybe moving isn't so bad after all."

Next: The story takes a serious twist as someone close to the X-Men is kidnapped! Stay tuned for more madness!