Disclaimer: #whispers# Jenna burned down my disclaimer. As we speak, she is thinking up of different tortures to put me through. I don't even know why she's mad at me! HELP! I think it went something like this: I do not own X-Men: Evolution, Marvel, or anything related to them. I do not own Pepper who is Flamable's character. As always, I only own my characters and ideas. Thanx.

Author's Note: I've decided that this chapter, after all, is not the last. I'm going to add a bonus, but that's all I'm saying. It's a secret. :D Also, things are going pretty fast in this chapter because I have to finish some things up for the sequel, so, please, bear with me.

Chapter 22: Christmas!

A Week Later-----------------

December 24/Christmas Eve

"Who will be our Santa this year?" Jean asked, holding out an old top hat of Professor Xavier's to everyone in the living room where the Christmas tree and decorations were set up. All the adults of the Mansion had come together for the holidays, as well as the Brotherhood, Scott's little brother Alex and his fiancé—Lorna Dane—, Psylocke, and Pepper. Everyone wrote their name on a tiny slip of paper while Jean read their minds to make sure they weren't cheating. She, then, wrote her own name and dumped it in with the others. She mixed them thoroughly and delicately drew one out. "Our Santa will be none other than ... Pietro Maximoff!" she said between giggles and snorts.

Pietro exploded in anger and fury. "What?!" he demanded, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. "Do-I-look-anything-remotely-close-to-that-Claus-character-some-idiotic-retard-came-up-with?"

"Dude," Alex said. "You kind of do. I mean, the giant belly and the white hair! All you need is the beard and mustache and then, you're perfect!" Everyone chortled in the background.

"Dude, for-your-information, my-hair-is-not-white ... it's-silver! And-that's-insulting!" Pietro said, covering up his bulging stomach and snuggling into the comforting arms of his wife, Sondra. She soothed her husband while Colossus and Remy got up to search the hall closet where the Santa suit was stuffed every year. Pietro would have to wear it when all the parents took pictures of their kids with Santa Claus, an annual ritual for everyone living at the Institute.

Remy tossed the red and white dirt bag into Pietro's arms. "Maybe your wife could fix it up, homme. Oops, Remy forgot. That be your job," he said. The others laughed again, except for Rogue who was too busy chastising her husband for making fun of their guest.

Pietro got up on his feet and speedily ran into the bathroom to change. "If he's always running around, how does he stay so fat?" Evan asked Sondra curiously.

"I-heard-that, Spykeless!" Quicksilver yelled through the wooden door as he pulled the stockings on. He buttoned up the tight suit and came out to show everyone. He did look a lot like Santa. Everybody howled with laughter, but quickly hushed into a deadly silence when they heard the pitter-patter of small feet coming down the staircase. The men hid Pietro by stuffing him behind one of the leather couches that created a half-circle around the huge radio/CD player. They all wanted to surprise the kids.

Emma came into the room, holding one of her favorite stuffed animals—a hippo she had named Mrs. Poppy. "Mama!" she called to Rogue. She bounded into the room in a hysterical fit and plopped herself on the floor between her mother and father. "You wasn't in bed and Mrs. Poppy was scared 'cause she had a bad dream." Emma often used her doll to hide her own insecurities. She snuggled up to her mother with the possessed looking hippopotamus still in her arms, grinning madly. Remy practically jumped off the floor when the animal looked his way. It was creepy.

"How about Grandpa and I sing Mrs. Poppy to sleep, dear? Will that make her feel better?" Mystique asked the young girl trembling in her mother's arms. The day after all the women came back, Kurt had a long talk with his big sister about Mystique and all the stuff she had told him. Mother and daughter finally made up and Emma and Isaac were introduced to their adopted grandmother. Being younger, Emma took to the blue mutant and her husband immediately, while it took Isaac much longer to get used to the both of them.

Emma conversed with her toy for a moment before nodding her head and holding out her arms to her grandmother. Mystique picked her up and walked up the stairs with Forge right behind her. She whistled a familiar melody that Rogue recognized from when she was a little child. It always had a peaceful sensation come down upon anyone who heard it. Soon, the sound of footsteps and melodies could no longer be heard. All the adults gave a heavy sigh of relief that they had not been caught in their little masquerade.

When no one came back to pull Pietro from behind the couch, he reminded them that he was still there. "Hello? I'm down here." The men pulled him up and let him go back into the bathroom to change out of the ridiculous costume after a bit of teasing.

Ororo got up from her chair and yawned, politely covering her widening mouth. "I think we should all get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. Women, I'll need your help cooking lunch at ten o'clock in the morning. That's sharp." Logan, like a puppy, followed close behind the weather witch as they retired to their rooms. Everyone else followed the older couple's example and went to their own beds as well. The only two left in the room were Angel and Psylocke.

Betsy looked down at her feet nervously. Angel took her hand and gave her a quick, gentle kiss on the cheek that made her blush from ear to ear. 'What am I so embarrassed about?' she asked herself. To her amazement, Warren knelt down on one knee. Before she knew it, he had said, "Elizabeth Braddock, will you take a bloke like me for a husband?"

Psylocke jumped high into the air and used her telekinesis to help herself do a few flips, as she was so exited. "Yes! YES! Yes! I will," she told him. The two hugged each other for a few minutes and decided that they would alert the rest of the Institute the next day. They linked arms and walked up to their rooms with smiles plastered on their faces.

Next Day------------------

December 25/Christmas!

"Daddy! Wake up! It's Christmas and Santa Claus came!" Nathan shouted into Bobby's ear as he sat on his legs. Bobby woke up with a start and banged his head on the headboard above him as his children laughed at his clumsiness. Jubilee, on the other hand, was still asleep. He saw Tara trying to do everything she could to wake up his spouse, but nothing was working. Only one thing could ever get Jubilation up in the morning. Bobby pulled the blankets off of her, slightly lifted up her t-shirt she wore to bed, and blew a raspberry on her flat stomach.

Jubilee jolted awake and banged her head on the headboard as well. "Bobby! Kids! I'm going to get you!" she growled playfully as she lunged over to their side of the bed. Bobby and Nathan quickly made an ice wall between Jubes and themselves. Bobby grabbed his kids off the bed and ran down the stairs as quickly as he could. They all laughed merrily and heartily together.

He dodged into the recreation room and accidentally tripped, resulting in them all landing in a heap. Jubilee heard the giant thud and followed them. Bobby turned on his kids and together, Jubilee and Bobby tickled their children's tummies and wrestled with them, playing and laughing together as a family.

Jamie woke up to the sound of his baby's gentle crying. He smiled as he got up from his bed and walked over to where her cradle was. Tenderly, her picked her up, making sure to hold her neck so it wouldn't fall back and break. He held the baby against his chest and rocked her back and forth, allowing her to feel the rhythmic pattern of his heart beat.

Chloe started to cry again and he sensed that she was hungry. For a week now, the baby had been waking up at the same times to feed. He looked at his alarm clock on his nightstand. It was a quarter to ten—Chloe was right on time. Jamie tapped his wife's shoulder. Groggily, she opened one eye and lazily signed with one hand, 'What's wrong?'

It took a while for Jamie to understand what she was signing. He answered, "The baby's hungry." She reached out her small arms for the infant and started to breastfeed it. Jamie laid back down on the bed and rested his head against the pillow, searching for patterns on the ceiling as he waited for his wife to be ready to go downstairs and help the others with the giant Christmas breakfast the whole Institute and their guests had been invited to. Later, he would be taking his wife and baby out of a walk around the gardens. He looked to his left and out the window. It was snowing. What a beautiful, snow white Christmas morning.

"You wanted me, Pretty Kitty?" Lance asked his wife as he walked into the kitchen. Kitty was sitting on one of the chairs next to the small coffee table Logan built with his bare hands. A nail file was in her eyes as she concentrated on her newly polished fingernails. He bent down and kissed her neck. She looked up at him and pointed to the chair next to her. He sat down, as he was directed, and waited for her to speak. When she didn't say anything for about two minutes, he finally cracked. "What's this about?"

Kitty looked at him with narrowed eyes, like a dagger plunging into his heart. Whatever part of him was hopeful, now was horrified of what she was thinking at the moment. "I've thought about your punishment long and hard," she said to him. Lance put on a questioning face. He forgot all about that issue. He also thought that she had too. "I've talked this over with the other women, and they feel that this seems like a good sentence. You are going to help us cook breakfast for the mansion this morning."

"But, sweetie! The annual Christmas parade comes on this morning. All of us men were going to watch it! You know this is important to me! Oh, please!" he begged her, getting down on his knees and wrapping his arms around her ankles. A fake tear dripped down his cheek and onto her foot.

Kitty rolled her eyes as she started walking forward. "You are not getting out of this! End of discussion! Now let go, Lance!" she yelled. The grown man held fast to her foot and kept on begging. "Lance, for the last time. No! Get off of me!" She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and phased through his arms, leaving him sprawled on the kitchen floor. "You'll need this," she said, throwing an apron on top of his head. On it were the words: "Kiss the Cook".

All the kids were awake, either listening to Logan read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (A/N: do not own), or watching the parade with their fathers.

John woke up and groggily mumbled something to himself as he sat up. He reached across the bed and patted the space where his wife would normally be. No Amara. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at his watch. Eleven o'clock in the morning. 'Everyone's downstairs, probably. Wonder why 'Mara didn't wake me up?' he thought to himself as he got up and walked downstairs and into the kitchen.

All the women were bustling around the kitchen, complaining of the lack of help or how some food was going bad and how they would have to rush out to the store to grab some real quick before some other madwoman got there first.

In the midst of all the madness, Pyro spotted Lance trying to stuff a turkey. The Australian walked over to the rock tumbler and looked down at his apron. With a smile on his face, Pyro tapped Lance's shoulder. "What?" Lance asked, clearly agitated. He wiped his hands on a dish towel and faced John. John popped a kiss on Lance's lips and laughed maniacally.

"What are you doing, you freak?!" Lance asked, wiping his lips off and spitting into a sink. "That's disgusting!"

"Your apron said to kiss you," St. John said, trying to explain his logic.

Amara, who had been watching the whole act, slapped John. "YOU'RE GAY! YOU'RE LEAVING ME FOR LANCE! I CAN'T BELIEVE ME! WHAT ABOUT JENNA AND THE ... UH, NEVERMIND?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Amara ran away bawling. She flew (an expression) up the stairs and locked herself in her room.

Behind her, John yelled, "'Mara, Sheila, I didn't mean it that way! It was just a little humor!"

Everyone in the kitchen just shook their heads. Lance was now using soap to clean off his mouth while Kitty laughed at him. 'What revenge! Mwahahahaha!' she thought. Her thoughts were so loud, they caught Jean's attention. "Stop yelling Kitty. Sheesh." Kitty blushed a bit and then went back to cooking.

"Everyone, we have an announcement to make," Warren said, standing up from his seat. Betsy looked over at him with adoring eyes and held his hand, gently stroking it to let him now that she was with him. Warren gulped and closed his eyes before finishing what he had to say. "Last night, I proposed to Elizabeth." He looked down at her and smiled. "And, to my amazement," he said jokingly, "she accepted."

All the people at the table clapped. The men patted Warren's back while the women hugged Betsy and gushed about the plans. Finally, the excitement was finally over, or so, everyone thought.

"Mommy, can I have some turkey?" Jenna asked her mother. Amara nodded her head and gestured for her daughter's plate. She dumped some turkey onto it and a bit of dressing, then cut it in small pieces. Being only four, her daughter could still choke on big pieces of food. "Thank you."

Amara turned back to her conversation with Tabitha. "Sam wants another one. He just loves big families. I tell him all the time, 'Sam, we have three beautiful children. And you know how hard it is to pay and feed them all.' Then he tells me he knows. Then I ask him if he still wants another one and he says yes. I don't know what to do. I feel like waiting for awhile. I just want Mia to be the baby for a bit, and I want a rest. Raising a baby is hard work," she said.

"Can I tell you something? You have to promise to keep it a secret," Amara told her friend. She looked around the table to make sure no one was listening on their conversation.

Tabitha widened her eyes. "Oooh. This sounds juicy. Spill."

"I'm pregnant. John and I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and that's when they told me I couldn't have a baby again. But then, I started feeling sick, so I took a test, and it responded positive. Tabby, I'm having another baby," she told her friend.

"OH, MY GOSH! YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Tabby gushed out, covering her mouth as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Amara stepped on her foot, but it was already too late. Everyone had heard.

Jean stopped eating for a moment and asked, "What did you say, Tabitha?" Boom Boom just shrugged her shoulders. Jean used her telepathy to go into the blonde's mind and gasped. "No! Amara, you should've told us you were pregnant!" she screamed happily, running over to the Nova Roma princess and congratulating her. The confusion started up again once more and Jenna celebrated, yelling, "I'm going to have a baby brother or sister!"

After all the presents were opened, the adults made their children sit down on the floor. They stood in front of them, hiding something or someone behind their backs. "Kids," Professor Xavier said, "We have a surprise for you. Santa Claus has come to see you and let your parents take pictures of the occasion!"

All the kids clapped and cheered as the adults parted and let Santa Claus show. None of the kids actually knew it was Pietro in a suit. They all ran up to the big man and gave him lots of affection. Kids. Jean and Tabitha tried to get the babies to go up to Claus, but they were scared and would let go of their mother's shirts to get at least one picture.

It was a very good Christmas.

2nd Author's Notes: Well, one more chapter. Hope you guys liked this one. This is the longest chapter I've ever written. Sorry for being so slow. I write the chapter partway, then start over. I'm the kind of person who has to have everything near perfect, so I write everything over and over again. Also, I keep getting writer's block. Sorry. See you next time and thanks for all your guidance and support.