AN: Hiya everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacations or whatever they are doing this summer. Other than trying to get a professor to register me for classes in the fall, everything's quiet by me. Well, as quiet as things get when you're trying to plan a Girl Scout Trip to an amusement park. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying my story and leaving me reviews! I greatly appreciate them and they really help to make a day just a little better. All of you rock like a box of socks!

My PenName is . . .: Updating right now! I do hope this was soon enough for you. I'm trying not to take forever and trying not to allow the muse for this story to take a walk again. That was no fun last time. I'm glad you like the story, though!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except a handful or two of made up characters. All of this wonderful stuff belongs to the geniuses at Marvel Comics. I'm just playing in their world. I'm broke and in graduate's school. All I own are my Pointe shoes.

From the Private Journal of Angelina "Bio" D'Amichi

Well the big day finally came- Actually the big day came and went a few months back but that's really beside the point, is it? - and Hope finally came home to live. There have been very few days in my life that I've truly been able to say that I was elated and I think today was one of them. It's a very powerful feeling, you know, to finally be able to bring your child home with you.

Actually, there were a lot of surprises today, other than Hope coming home to live with Matt and I. I'm nearly one hundred percent- Speaking of one hundred percents, I need to get on with grading those test papers. Those poor students of mine will have my head if I don't get them graded by the end of the week.- sure that Matthew had quite a bit to do with some of the surprises today held. Not that I didn't have a few of my own.

Me and my wandering mind! I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a wonder that they allow me to teach anything in this place. It's a wonder I can teach with all the tangents my mind goes on. Maybe that's why the classes seem to go by so quickly for me.

There I go again! I'm going on tangents. I wish I could tell you to stop me but, since you're nothing more than a blue spiral notebook with yellow duckies- Sue me, I like ducks. - on the front in shower caps, there's very little you can do.

Ok….on with the story before my mind wanders off again.

I went down to pick up Hope at the end of the workday. Instead of finding Hank, Jean, or Charles down there with her, I found two of my students sitting with her. Both were boys- Two of my personal favorites, technically. - and both were wearing the guiltiest smiles on their faces. True, they were trying not to look guilty but, I'm a teacher, so give me some credit in being able to sniff out guilt like a blasted bloodhound. It's no mutant power! It's simple skill.

Anyway, the human beanpole that was Max informed me that he and Chester- My buddy Chocolate- were my honor guard. They were going to take me and Hope up to our new quarters. If they noticed anything different about my daughter, they both had the good grace not to say anything. Maybe it was more fear since I held their science grades in my hand.

Of course, two students were not what I was expecting to go home with. I asked where Matt was to which Chocolate- Despite what everyone else says, I REFUSE to call him Chester since the boy plainly hates that name. Likewise, I refuse to call him "The Artisan" or whatever other silly codename he's using. - gingerly replied that Matt was still trying to put the crib together or something.

Another lie but I wasn't going to call the two of them on it. Up until a few days ago, I wasn't even keen on looking at the crib. In one of my better moods, I probably told poor Matt- who has been a saint through this whole messy affair but don't tell him that. - to take the thing down. It was making me sad by its mere presence.

Maybe, for once, he had done what I said. If that was the case, maybe he was putting it back up.

Either way, I went upstairs to my "new" home with Hope. Chester and Max walked before me, wingmen to my main fighter plane or something like that. I'm not the history buff, that's Matt's job. I'm the science geek but, again, that's beside the point.

Once it was found out I was pregnant, Charles- Who has to be one of the most tolerant men on the planet. I mean, he puts up with people like me all the time. - allowed Matt and I to move into one of the larger quarters on the teacher's floor. Set Matt and I up with a nice little set of rooms since neither of us wanted to leave the school. Kind of like a house within a house or something.

Chester and Max hesitated- total tip off! - before opening the door. I don't know what I was expecting- Something like people jumping from behind the furniture or something like that. Typical surprise party deal except it wasn't anyone's birthday. - but nothing happened. The rooms were obsessively neat and clean as they always were. Aside from the smell of fresh pain- Which I didn't understand because I hadn't done any painting recently- the place was just like Matt and I left it this morning before I went down to teach and he went off to his job at a local trattoria e bar.

Since Max and Chester didn't know where Hope's room was, they allowed me to take the lead. I didn't argue since this was my house- Such as it was- and I was eager to show Hope her room. Do that really typical mom thing and all that jazz.

No sooner had I opened the door, than Matt nearly tumbled out at my feet. There was his big surprise for me. Not the room full of people- Well, they were part of it, I guess- but the room itself.

Now, I had done Hope's room before she was born but I hadn't been happy with it. There was something missing about it. You know, that cute something that made all kid's rooms….well, kid's rooms. The way I had done it, the room had turned out too cold and logical. Everything in its place for its uses and no personal style but I'm a scientist and not an interior decorator.

Whatever was missing, though Matt and company had found.

I was standing in the middle of an honest to goodness fairyland. Someone- and I had a sneaking suspicion who- painted the biggest mural I had ever seen. It covered all four walls with lakes and waterfalls. Brightly colors woods and castles and unicorns. I even fancied that I could see hobbits, elves, and wizards in there too. The ceiling was blue, of course, set with stars. From my minor knowledge of astronomy, I figured they were in proper formations. The floor was carpeted in white.

All of the furniture was different too. I had wound up with cheap looking white stuff that might have been molded plastic or something for all I knew. Now it was all dark colored wood. The proper stuff, you know, right down to the rocking horse in the corner.

There were books on the bookcase- Mostly children's book but I found a copy of one of James Watson's books on discovering the DNA molecule. Three guesses who had stuck that in there. - and a handful of toys in the crib.

One of the students in the room called for me to check the drawers and, before I could do so, I was confronted by Matt. We kissed and everyone in the room either cheered or turned away blushing and I handed him his wide awake and very upset daughter.

Did I mention that William's babies are very sensitive to loud sounds?

While Matt tried to get Hope to calm down for him, I investigated everything. I must have looked like crazy kid or something as I opened drawers to find them stocked with baby clothes. There was even a small Mets uniform with the number thirteen on the back. Thanks Nick for that. We can never start that too early now can we?

There were even toys in the toy box for crying out loud.

Now I wasn't a slouch at buying baby things- Like any new mom I wanted everything but I didn't have enough money to buy it. - but I didn't have the time or the funds to buy half this stuff. Stuff just doesn't appear on its own so I turned to the gathered for an answer.

Turned out the day I got sick Rose- Who was my best friend from my days as a student and Hope's Godmother now. - was planning on throwing me one of those surprise baby showers complete with the cute little games and everything. This was despite the fact I had told everyone that I wanted no gifts before the baby was born. My Grandmother Galante had told me when I was a little girl that it was frightfully unlucky to accept gifts for the baby until after the baby was born.

Since the shower never came to pass, this was the next best thing. All of the furniture was bought by assorted members of the older staff. The teacher and Nick and Rose. Everything else- Except for the mural which was an exclusive gift from Chocolate- was from some of the students, bought with whatever money they had saved.

Ok…I admit it. Once I learned all of this, I started to cry. Overwhelmed with everything that had happened that day and all.

Once Matt and I were left alone- Everyone had a turn to hold the baby and no one said a single word about her…different….features. - I told him what I had learned about Hope. Tried to explain as best I could the genetic disorder our daughter had. Much to my surprise, Matt took it all in stride. All her cared about was her being alive and well.

I'm sure he's just covering up what he's really feeling since I found him looking very glum over Hope's crib after we put her down to sleep. Maybe I'll try to talk to him some more before I get to sleep.

Scratch that….Hope's crying again. Just like Hank predicted, she's not going to develop a sleep rhythm. Probably because I think she has colic but that's just me.

Anyway, got to cut this short.

A very Happy Mommy,

Bio