Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The X-Men or Anything Related to The X-Men.

Thank you to everyone who looked at the previous chapter. I appreciate you guys and gals taking time out of your day to take a look at this chapter. Big thanks to Jehilew for being an awesome beta reader and a pretty nifty pal too. Thank you to tx peppa, Jehilew, Coco-Chic, and StreakingHerculobus for the lovely reviews!

Despite the warmth and genuine coziness of the bed, Anna suffered through a fitful night of sleep. Whenever her head flopped to the left, her eyes zeroed in on the sleepy man keeping watch. Remy's feet rested on the end of the bed and gently touched hers whenever she stretched her long legs.

A faint smile crossed over Remy's face at the soft touch as his eyelids drooped lower and he fought to keep from falling into the calling slumber. She closed her eyes and tried to relax her whirling mind by counting the seconds ticking onward. When the trick failed to ease her into a deep sleep, she popped one eye open and gazed back towards her husband.

Remy'd lost the battle and was lightly snoring in his make-shift bed. It was hard to get a good look at his face through his auburn locks and high reaching blanket, but she could hear the gentle noise of his calm breathing and found it a surprisingly pleasant sound. As drowsiness gradually overcame her, Anna allowed her eyes to linger on Remy until the heavy lids finally closed.

Around six am, which her blurry eyes barely deciphered from the bedside clock, a strange noise startled Anna into the world of the conscious. She couldn't place her finger on the sound, which merely served to further unnerve her. After giving her wild curls a puzzled scratch, two distinct thumps joined the growing list of sounds.

Instinctually, Anna sat up and stared at the multiple door options surrounding her vulnerable position tangled in a mess of blankets. Her warped sense of self-preservation fired into high gear, as she mentally tallied what objects in the spacious bedroom would work best against a variety of intruders. With muscles tightened in preparation for whatever loomed ahead, she curled her legs tightly under her lithe frame…

Just as Remy LeBeau and a foaming toothbrush casually waltzed out of the bathroom.

The sudden appearance startled Anna enough she jolted backward into the dark wooden headboard. The strength of the collision forced the structure to give a noticeable wiggle. She grumbled a few colorful phrases under her breath and gingerly rubbed a head she was quite certain would become permanently dented if the injury trend continued. The sight of Anna hurt, once again, brought Remy, already planning to keep a general watch on his oddly behaving wife, over to examine her as best he could with only his eyes.

"You're still here." She declared incredulously, her voice rough with the cover of sleep.

"Well, yeah," He mumbled through a mouth half full of toothpaste, "I live here."

"Wait," She ignored him and pinched her arm quite hard to try and wake herself from the dream. "I'm still here too…"

"Oui, Chere. You live here, too."

Anna shook her head a little too roughly and tried to pinch her arm once more. This couldn't be right! If she was still here, that meant this wasn't some eerie hallucination or one-night tragedy.

After surviving half a day in these shoes, she was more than ready to go back to her world. Maybe she wasn't at a great point in that life, but at least there was no one she could accidently destroy if they got too close. No one depended on her for a single thing back there. And absolutely nobody there questioned her sanity with a red toothbrush hanging out the side of their mouth…

"Why don't you try and rest, Chere?" He walked back to the adjoining bath and finished rinsing his mouth, before returning to her side, "Already told the kids to play quietly this mornin' and I'll handle breakfast. You just relax."

"Are you telling me other people are awake at the butt crack of dawn?"

"Dawn?" Remy chuckled and offered a grin wide enough to show off the small dimple on the left side of his face, "Nice world you live in Chere. Miss the days when six be early."

"You've got to be kidding me." She rubbed her tired eyes and noticed him do the same. Must have been a long night for everyone, she figured. At least he didn't seem too upset she'd pushed him into a chair for the night. Not to mention, she was slightly grateful he'd found both a t-shirt and pair of pajama pants to cover that muscular frame. As eye-catching as Remy was, something even the nervous Anna could admit was true, she really needed to keep every wit she still had about her.

"Non. We both know Mia the monster is getting closer to waking up at four every day."

His attention left Anna as the sound of energetic footsteps abruptly entered the bedroom. Amelia raced to her dad with record speed and, once she was within arm's reach, he swooped her up into a tight hug. After a sweet embrace, Remy suddenly dipped her towards the floor. The action brought forth a wild string of giggles from the kid.

"Mama!" The girl cried out through big belly laughs as Remy loosened his grip to let her escape onto the bed. He made a silly face and Amelia squealed before crawling to Anna's side. "Daddy monster!"

In spite of her confusion and exhaustion, Anna felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips.

Amelia pulled her mother's arm around her shoulders and kicked her feet excitedly when Remy took an overdramatic step closer. The Cajun winked at Anna then gave a pitiful sounding roar for Mia. Disappointed with the sound, she shook her head so hard the ringlet curls slapped Anna's arm and demanded a bigger roar.

"Daddy monsters don't do big roars, petit," Remy explained with mock seriousness.

"No?" She asked, eyes full of curiosity.

"Non," He looked to Anna wondering if she'd feel up to playing along, despite the weirdness of her behavior over the past twenty-four hours. "Only mama monsters do big roars."

On cue, Amelia turned her giant green eyes up to Anna and requested with her best smile, "Mama monster?"

Anna stared at the two faces gazing at her so earnestly in turn. It was somewhat entertaining to watch Remy playfully stomp around and make faces, but she wasn't sure she wanted to join in just yet. The whole thing felt pretty silly, and she was not finding it easy to think straight as it was. Still, Amelia raised her pudgy hand and patted Anna's cheek so sweetly, she figured she could at least try the game.

"Roar?"

The pathetic sound left a very unimpressed kid, who turned her gaze right back to Remy and declared, "Daddy play! No Mama!"

How was it possible a kid she'd known half a day could kick her in the gut that easily?

Anna hated to admit it, but something about the way the girl dismissed her and scrambled back to Remy almost bothered her a tiny bit. It was utterly ridiculous, she convinced herself, utterly ridiculous in every sense of the word. Did she care what these fantasy people thought of her? Not at all. They weren't going to get under her skin if she had anything to say about it.

"Now, petit," Remy smoothed the girl's curls back as she held her arms up towards him, "You don't mean that. Mama's just a little tired this mornin'."

"Mama no play," Amelia added with a small point at the brunette woman, as if tattling on a misbehaving friend.

The words rang like a bell in Anna's head forcing memories of the crazy evening prior to race through her mind. The one thing that strange lady suggested was, try playing along. She was stuck in this world until she figured out what the heck this mysterious it thing was, and if Amelia was already calling her out for being a stick in the mud she wasn't getting any closer to an exit.

"Mama loves to play with you." Remy pulled Anna from her thoughts as he picked Amelia up from the bed, "Let her rest and she'll play with you later, Mia."

"No," Anna spoke up as the realizations became crystal clear. If she wanted out, she needed to try and follow their rules. How hard could it be to be a mom for a day anyway?

"I'll play with Amelia while you make breakfast."

The way Remy smiled at her was baffling. There was a strange warmth to the expression and a hint of something she would've almost called love. At least, it reminded her of the faraway gazes she'd seen in Kitty's sappy romcoms.

Why was he so mushy over one little agreement? It seemed silly for anyone to be that relieved she wanted to help out, especially since she was apparently the kid's parent in this world. Deep down, Anna knew labeling Remy's reaction as irrational might not have been completely mature, but it definitely helped take her mind off the way her heart gently jumped at the sight of his grin.

…

She'd assumed handling a bright-eyed two-year-old would be easy as pie, particularly in a room so over flowing with toys and games. Amelia'd destroyed such notions in a mere thirty minutes, forcing Anna to throw in the single-parent towel and suggest they rejoin Remy downstairs.

The half-awake woman clutched the stair railing to keep herself steady while the blissfully happy Amelia charged down the steps straight to the kitchen. Upon entering the space, already filled with the smells of coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice, Anna noticed the look of curiosity decorating Remy's features. She didn't blame him in the slightest for giving his daughter a double take; any sane person would've offered the kid a slack jaw and scrunched stare of confusion.

The past half hour had been filled with various levels of frustrated 'No!' to every outfit Anna offered. By the time the closet was picked halfway clean (she'd never understand why someone that young needed so many different clothes anyway), she tossed her hands in the air and exclaimed, 'Fine! Pick whatever you want!' It must have been the magic phrase, because the kid instantly jumped into the pile of clothing and grabbed more pieces then her tiny arms could carry.

While Anna poured herself a cup of coffee, she tried to swallow back an honest laugh as both Remy and Oliver stared unblinkingly at the proud little girl. Amelia'd taken great care during her fashion whirlwind to ensure her pink unicorn rain boots, white bunny beanie hat, and one-piece tiger suit from Halloween made it into the final ensemble. On top of her striped costume, she'd also decided it was absolutely necessary to put a pair of her brother's hand-me-down khaki shorts that were covered in tiny alligators.

"Is that a cape?" Remy whispered to Anna, never pulling his eyes from Amelia as she twirled around the floor to make the cape wave in the wind.

"She wanted to pick her own clothes. It's good for creativity and all that." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders and a long sip of coffee.

Yes, that was it. Creativity sounded far better than admitting she'd given in to a two-year-old's bizarre, and quite loud, demands.

"Well, petit." Remy placed the bowl of ingredients he'd been mixing down and kneeled to look Amelia in the eyes, "You certainly are un gros fille now, hm?"

"I did it!" She chirped while Anna let out a small chuckle into her coffee cup when the child took a heroic stance.

Remy softly laughed at the girl's antics, not wanting to distract from her moment of joy, before standing back up and returning to his pancake batter. He whipped the ingredients skillfully and seemed far more relaxed then Anna had ever seen him in this world or the other. As if his mind was slowly starting to ease and he didn't feel the need to hide his emotions from anyone in the room. She could almost describe his appearance as peaceful, a far cry from the shifty and self-centered behaviors she'd always associated with the name Remy LeBeau.

The moment was short-lived, as all serene times in Anna's life were, and soon the quiet kitchen was interrupted by a rather aggressive beeping noise. She assumed it was an overly energized kitchen timer before Oliver groaned and Remy pulled a small x-shaped communicator from his pocket.

During the wild events of the previous day, Anna'd gathered some significant beliefs about this strange world. She knew she was somehow on talking terms with the X-Men, she knew everyone were a lot older, and she even knew the X-Men apparently had no problem letting Remy into their home… but despite the glaring list of facts, she hadn't made the final connection that Remy was an X-Man himself. It seemed far too structured and confining for a man as energetic and elusive as the Cajun. Why would he sign up for a job that kept him a team player and not a solo star?

"Looks like they need a few of Remy's skills." He sighed and shoved the communicator back into his pocket. "Stormy's got quite a rescue mission in the works."

"Working with the X-Men…" She mumbled almost to herself, but Remy caught the statement.

"I know Chere, for someone supposed to be reserved for special missions, they sure got no problems calling Remy in." He walked over and snaked his arms around her middle so smoothly, she had no time to protest, "I'll just tell them no this time. You need a break today so I'll stay home."

"Didn't you say it was a rescue mission?" Her fears of being so close to Remy and the years of X-Men training drilled into her head collided into an internal storm of anxieties, "There might be someone out there who needs your help."

"And what if a certain stubborn femme needs Remy's help too?" He questioned her softly and offered a sweet kiss between her eyebrows.

"I just… uh," Anna stumbled for words as the warm hug and delicate kisses began to slowly melt away the iron-clad argument of being left alone by everyone in this strange place.

"Aunt Kitty's coming." Oliver suddenly piped up from the kitchen island. He placed his crayon down and looked to his dad, "She's gonna take us to the museum."

"Anna?" Remy looked back at her, still slightly worried about leaving the woman alone after yesterday.

"Yeah…" She mumbled out, feeling her face flush and heart race, as they remained stuck in the warm embrace, "I'll have Kitty if I feel weird or tired."

"Alright," Remy relented rather slowly and freed one of his hands to lift up her chin so she had to stare into his eyes, "Call me if you need anything." Without a pause, his head leaned forward and captured her lips in a loving kiss, "Je t'aime, Anna."

As Remy reluctantly let go of his wife and walked up the stairs to get his bike keys, Anna remained frozen. Below her feet, Amelia started noisily dragging things out of the cabinets and Oliver yelled at her to be quiet, but Anna heard none of it. Instead of speaking to anyone, she once again raised a hand and gently touched her warm lips.

She could say one thing for certain about her fake husband; he sure knew how to kiss a woman.