Disclaimer: I don't own XME's characters. I only own my ideas and characters. Thanx.

Chapter 18: News from Long-Lost Mystique!, Forgiving and Forgetting Past Wrongs

Day 11/Thursday

Everyone came together for breakfast the next morning. The adults were very groggy because kids can sleep through almost anything, but adults have very acute hearing and the tiniest sound could keep them up, including Ruth's sobbing after she had the nightmare about the "Hairy-Horseman".

The girl came downstairs, clinging to Pietro's neck who claimed no one was out to get her. Erin giggled and whispered something to Opal. Both girls laughed and Ruth turned her head around and stuck out her tongue. Erin and Opal did it back and continued until the adults caught them and told them to settle down.

A few minutes into eating their meal of eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, jellied rolls, and donuts—compliments of the Blob—the doorbell rang ... and rang ... and rang. No one got up to see who it was since they were all to busy yelling at Nightcrawler who thought it was his civic duty to hog anything that had been alive once. "I'm hungry!" he whined.

"WE KNOW! BUT WE'RE HUNGRY TOO!" the men—and Wanda—shouted as they lunged forward for the plates Kurt had balancing in his arms.

Logan got up from the table and scowled, wiping his greasy hands on his napkin. He popped his claws a few times, a habit of his when he got annoyed. "I'll get it!—since no else will!" he said huffily as he walked over to the giant oak doors and twisted their knobs to open the Mansion to the outside world. He couldn't believe his eyes for a moment, so he focused a little harder and the figures were still there. His mouth gaped open.

In front of him was and older and more happy looking version of Mystique. She held fast to Forge's hand and her belly which seemed to be swelling. Behind her was Magneto, Sabertooth—who took the liberty of closing Logan's mouth for him, since he was starting to drool—Mastermind, and two young girls who Logan assumed were Pietro and Fred's wives. "What are you doing here, Mystique?" Logan asked, his eyes glued on Sabertooth who looked as if he had shrunk in the last ten years. His teeth were more yellow than before, and he seriously needed a haircut, as his dirty-blonde locks were falling beneath his huge calve muscles.

Pushing her way past Logan, she solemnly said, "I've come to find the Brotherhood and ... explain some things." The others followed her and the two girls made flirty signs over to Logan. Logan just sighed and shut the door, keeping a close eye on those who just entered, but more on Victor Creed who he didn't trust more than he trusted Bobby alone in the same room as Jamie when they were younger.

"Where have you been?" Todd asked, making puppy-dog eyes to gain sympathy. He tossed himself onto Mystique and snuggled his boss.

Forge's cheeks burned with anger. He stomped over to Toad and threw him off of Mystique. "Hands off my wife, Frog-boy!" He gently kissed Mystique on the face and soon, ended up at her tummy.

"EEEW!" the pre-school kids yelled, as they were the only kids left in the room since the elementary children had boarded their bus. They all ran up to their room, disgusted at the sight of public affection.

Then, it was the Brotherhood's turn to yell. "YOU GUYS ARE MARRIED!? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?"

"I knew," Wanda said smartly, grinning from ear to ear as happy as could be.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Pietro asked his sister.

"1) Because I didn't want to. 2) It was a secret. 3) Because I didn't want to," she explained simply.

The Brotherhood put on knowing faces. Living with Wanda for ten years had certainly made them understand her better. Todd retreated to his wife's arms, who immediately fumed as he had just been tossing himself on top of Mystique. She accused him of cheating on her with her and Toad said it wasn't true. Finally, they came to the agreement that Toad would sleep on the couch for the rest of the week, since Wanda didn't want to have share a bed with someone she would undoubtedly kill as soon as he fell asleep.

"So," Kurt asked with a serious—part angry—look plastered on his face, "you're pregnant ... again?" He tapped his three toed blue foot impatiently on the ground and looked more interested in the pattern of the floor than of Mystique and her news about her baby. Mystique smiled sadly and reached out a hand to caress her son's cheek, but Kurt flinched and moved farther away. Her smile faded into a frown as she took a deep breath.

"Kurt, I'm sorry I was never there for you as a child. I'm sorry!" she said, her tears flooding to the surface of her face.

Kurt had never seen his mother that way before. "Can you guys give us some privacy?" he asked everyone else inside of the room.

No one moved. Everyone was too into the conversation between mother and son. Mystique noticed her son's frustrated features, and yelled, "NOW!" Everyone evacuated the room, but that didn't stop them from hiding inside of the kitchen and listening in on the two's chat.

The two blue mutants didn't look each other in the eye. Kurt broke the uncomfortable silence. "Are you going to give up this baby ... if it doesn't fit your needs?" His voice was hoarse, as he felt himself feel as he was going to give up and cry too. His throat was dry, so he reached over and grabbed his glass of water, gulping the liquid down. He looked up to his mother with curious squinted eyes.

Mystique looked horrified. "You don't understand, Kurt. I would never give you up. I ... I loved you," she said. She quickly added, "I still do." She then broke down again in tears. "I mean," she continued, "I missed watching you grow up. My own flesh and blood. Then you turned to hate me and fight against me, which I know see was the most dangerous thing I could've done. Back then, I would've killed my own son to be prosperous and to reach my goal. I'm sorry, Kurt. I know now that that was wrong to do. I just ... I want to make up to you. I want to be grandmother to your children. I'm sooo sorry. I remember ... when you and Rogue left me by Apocalypse's tomb, I wanted to die. I felt that there was no point in longer living. But then, I realized, that maybe, after all those years of hostility and hate, I could ..." She didn't finish. The salty tears stung her throat and she sobbed inaudibly, but couldn't finish one more word.

Kurt teleported over to his mother and hugged her, where they sat for about ten minutes before the tears cleared over and they started discussing baby shower plans and how Kurt and Rogue (hopefully when she came back from vacation, she would forgive her too) would be the big sister to her child.

Later that night, Kurt introduced Morgan and Caleb to Mystique. The woman was ecstatic with happiness and offered to read a story to the children, which they gladly took. Kurt could see that Mystique had changed--like an intuition or insight--and that was what made him forgive her.

Hope you liked this chapter. Please review. Thanx guys! – xmengirlzrule