Disclaimer: If you don't know them then they belong to me. If you do, then they are Marvel's. This is the chapter where I try to explain this time a little bit more. Some odd couples come about. You have been warned.


Joy to the world, the lord has come let earth receive her king!" A little voice screamed at the top of her lungs. The little voice belonged to one Remi LeBeau, the three-year-old daughter of Remy and Ororo LeBeau.

"And every heart, uh, somthin'!" Another voice joined in, this one a slightly deeper boy's voice. Its owner was one Alexander Summers, the son of Jean and Scott Summers.

"Has anybody ever told you that you guys can't sing?" An older girl, perhaps 15, asked. She was Jamie Starsmore, the youngest sister of Jonothon Starsmore.

"NO!" The duo coursed together. Jamie attempted to keep her face straight, but to no avail.

"Come on you two, you're going to wake up Isabella if you don't pipe down." Jamie pleaded, after a quick giggle. The wail of a baby was the next thing she heard.

"Oh, wonderful." Jamie groaned, going to check on the newest arrival to the X-Mansion, Isabella Guthrie-Espinosa, the daughter of Paige and Angelo Espinosa.

"Ah'll get her, Jamie." Sam Guthrie, the child's uncle, suddenly said from behind the distraught babysitter.

"Thanks, Mr. Guthrie." Jamie sighed, gratefully.

"Jamie, how many time have Ah told you not to call me that?" Sam asked, a slight grin pulling at his mouth.

The English girl blushed. She had always been a little intimidated by Sam, seeing as though he brooded more then her older brother did, which was an unparalleled feet by itself!

Not that Jonothon Starsmore was doing much brooding anymore. No, now that he had finally gotten some measure of control over his powers, and had managed to fix the hole in his face and chest, he was actually quite happy. Of course, his continuing romance with one Miss Jubilation Lee might also have a little something to do with it.

Jamie hadn't been living with the X-Men when Jono and Jubilee had fallen in love but she had heard the others talk about it. It was the most unlikely of couples, and everyone had been shocked when they had finally admitted to their love for one another. This was due largely to the fact that everyone thought they were nothing more then partners. Jamie herself had never really understood why they didn't see it before hand; she had seen it right away, the first time she had ever met Jubilee.

Jamie had never understood why Sam was so brooding, and had never been brave enough to ask. The only thing she did know was that it had something to do with some girl who had left him.

"Jamie?" Remi asked, tugging on her leather jacket sleeve.

"Yeah?" Jamie asked.

"I'm thirsty." Remi informed her.

Remi's birth had been an even bigger shook then Jubilee and Chamber. Her father, Gambit, had left the X-Men after Rouge had finally chosen Joseph over him. Ororo Munroe had not let him go though. She followed him to New Orleans where he had gone to sulk. They stayed there for nearly six mouths, and when they came back, Ororo was two mouths pregnant�and they were married.

"Well, come on then." The short girl said, reaching down to take the little girl's hand. "Come on Alex!"

"Comin'." The little boy muttered, following his babysitter.

*****

"Hey there, Isabella." Sam cooed softly at his niece. "What's the matter?"

Isabella stopped crying as soon as she saw Sam. Waving her little hands, the girl reached for Sam. Smiling softly, Sam lifted her up out of her crib. Holding her securely, he walked over to her rocking chair and sat down. Reaching for the bottle Sam grinned at the baby.

"Here ya go," Sam said softly to the infant, " milk, a la Momma."
The infant gratefully began to suck on the bottle, her little hands gripping his bigger ones. Sam hummed softly as he rocked to and fro, the old lullaby spring to his mind.

Once Isabella was done eating, Sam lifted her to his shoulder and burped her gently. Laying the child back down in her crib, Sam turned to go. To his surprise, his sister was standing the doorway and was smiling at him.

"What?" Sam asked in a hushed tone.

"Nothin'. Just thinkin' about what a good father you're gonna be." Paige whispered.

"Like Ah'll ever be a Daddy." Sam whispered back, the pain evident in his voice.

*****

"STOP!" Sami suddenly screamed from the backseat of the car. Her mother, who was driving, nearly skidded off the road.

"Sami," Tabitha practically yelled, "what is it?!"

"Mommy, what is all that stuff one the side of the road?!" Sami screamed, her eyes round as saucers.

"Honey, that's snow." Tabitha sighed a little in exasperation.

"Really?!" The child said. "Can we stop?"

"Sweetie, we're almost to the place we're going. You can play in it when we get there." Tabitha promised.

"How close are we to getting there?" Sami demanded.

"We'll be there in�ten or so minutes." Tabitha realized as she looked around at where she was. She hadn't realized that they were so close to the school. What surprised her even more was that she remembered where she was going.

"Okay." Sami said, a little sullenly. She amused herself by staring out the window at all the snow-covered trees. It was quite the novelty for a child who had been born and raised in Arizona.

Tabitha took a deep breath as she went back to concentrating on the road. (Ten minutes. Ten minutes until I have to face Sam again. Oh god! What was I thinking to come here? I should never have even considered it! He's probably married, or engaged. He probably doesn't want anything to do with me, or our daughter.)

Tabitha knew it was too late though. Largely, because she was already pulling into the driveway of the huge mansion. (Oh god, oh god, oh god.)

"Yeah!" Sami cheered from the backseat. The little girl was dressed in a new pair of jeans, and a sweater with big snowflakes on it. She also had a small ski jacket, mittens and a hat in the back of the car, all new. Tabitha had never really had a reason to buy Sami all of that before. After all, they did practically live in a dessert.

Tabitha parked the car, and turned it off. Taking a deep, calming breath, she slid out of the driver's seat, and walked around to get Sami out. Both Rictor and Demi were asleep. Tabitha unbuckled Sami from the car seat and attempted to wake up Demi and Julio.

"Wake up, we're here." Tabitha said, shaking them both.

"Are we?" Demi asked sleepily.

"Uh-huh." Tabitha answered.

While Tabitha had been waking Julio and Demi up, Sami had been investigating the snow. She had stepped wrong and fallen in it, getting herself wet.

"Momma!" The child called in almost joyful shock, "The snow is COLD!"


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