Sean carefully inspected the food before him. The green salad was crisp, the coq au vin was cooked to perfection, and the side dishes were wonderful. The table was set, with yellow peace roses as the centerpiece. Everything was just the way Moira liked it.

And the house was quiet. Emma was staying at her place, and Penny wasn't going to leave the biosphere. Finally, they had a chance to talk uninterrupted. He lit the candles and turned on the radio as Moira entered the room.

Soft music started playing. "Somethin's come between us, it's not another lover./ Seems one night we just stopped tryin' to please each other./ If it's really over why can't I walk away? Tell me I'm making a big mistake, beg me to stay," the singer pleaded. "Change my mind, say you couldn't live without me/ Say you're crazy about me with a look, a touch."

Sean listened to the words, drinking in their truth. Somehow, he and Moira had just slipped away from each other, finding it easier to bury themselves in work, their teams, and their families than to make room for each other. What had happened to them?

Sean watched as Moira walked in the room, a pensive look on her face. "So," Sean asked her, "what did Rahne tell ye?"

Moira looked at him, lost in her thoughts. "Don't wait up. Sam and A are big kids now." Sean laughed at that. In the five years he had known his girlfriend's foster daughter, she'd never seemed the type to tell her mum 'Don't wait up.' "So of course A am."

Then Moira looked down at the table and smiled. "Ye remembered?" She pointed to the roses and then to the food. He frowned. Had it been so long that they spent time together that she'd think he'd forgotten her favorites? It wasn't so long ago he'd had flown to London to buy her some peace rose bushes. Then he noticed her smile as she added, "No one remembers how much A love roses, but ye."

Sean pulled out her chair and told her, "I always remember the important stuff."

***

Paige walked out of the kitchen to see her brother slip his arm around Rahne. Carefully, she set the drinks on the table, trying not to disturb Sam. She tiptoed back into the kitchen and stopped Bobby.

"Why can't I go out there?" he whispered as she put a finger against her lips.

"Two's company, four's too much company." She explained as she took the salad from him. "It's sweet to see the start of something big."

Bobby nodded. After the year Sam had had, he needed a good relationship. "If this is big. . ." he started and then stopped.

"What?" Paige prompted.

"Auntie Paige better do a lot of babysitting." Bobby continued, "Cause the kids would get discouraged saying 'I', 'Ah', or 'A'." Paige rolled her eyes and peeked out the door.

"Moment's gone anyways." Sam was walking toward the kitchen. "Auntie Paige babysitting?" Quickly, she handed him the salad and grabbed the vinaigrette.

***

Monet pulled into the bank parking lot and let Jono get out to get smaller bills for the evening. She turned on the radio and flipped the station to an oldies channel to annoy Jubilee. Suddenly, she heard Ev remark "Lets!" An old Temptations song came over the radio as Ev, Jubilee, and Angelo climbed out of the backseat of the car and started swaying in time to the music. Ev started to lip-sync "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day./ When it's cold outside I've got the month of May." Jubilee and Angelo backed him up on the "My girl".

As Ev grabbed Jubilee and twirled her about, Monet made mental plans to lose this group as soon as she got to the mall. So what if Jubilee was laughing like she was having the time of her life being thrown about by her teammate? She hadn't been invited to join in.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the car door and saw Angelo offering his hand to her. Brought up to be polite, she stepped out of the car and joined in the dance. What did I know? she thought as she actually laughed with them. Maybe if I let my guard down and let them know the real Monet-- and then she stopped. That wasn't a good idea.

Jono's first thought when he saw the team was that they were being mind controlled. That was the only explanation for what he saw. As the song came back to "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day./ When it's cold outside I've got the month of May," he climbed back into the car and fastened his belt.

He didn't have his Sunshine.

***

Paige took a bite of steak and smiled. "I'd forgotten what a good cook you were." Sam smiled as she continued. "My birthday's coming up, could you make my favorite meal?"

Rahne laughed at an old memory. "Venison stew?" Paige nodded, surprised. "Every year, Dani and A would make it for him." Sam smiled, remembering the noise that some of the students would make about eating deer meat. "A killed it and Dani processed it."

"Ah didn't know you killed it, Rahne." Sam was surprised to hear about the care the two took to make his birthday special. "Thanks!"

"Twas no trouble in me wolfen state," Rahne shrugged it off, smiling inside at his thanks.

Paige laughed and turned to Bobby, "That's what I mean— mutants think different." Sam started to correct her, so she added. "Where else would you hear your brother say, 'Ah hope Joseph is a clone?'"

Rahne laughed, and dished a little dirt on Sam. "Or see yuir big brother date the biggest singing sensation of his time and dress punk?" Paige started to laugh at the idea of Sam wearing leather.

"Lila was just a stage!" Sam hastened to add. "Ya never forget ya first love."

Paige sighed, relieved. "She was so eightyish! Although, she did pay for Josh to take singing lessons after he saved her life. But I've always pictured you more Clint Black, Garth Brooks."

"Secret, Paige," Sam said with a smile. "Yer seventeen once, and then ya change. Ah was a big fan of Lila and Daz, but now Ah listen to Reba and Trisha."

"Remember when Magneto taught us t'swing using some of ye country music?" Rahne and Sam laughed at the memory of watching Stevie and their headmaster dancing together.

Paige looked at her brother with a puzzled look. "He taught you to swing and you complain about Ms. Frost?" Bobby laughed at Paige's confusion. After a second, her brother joined in. Now it was Rahne's turn to look confused.

Sam explained to both of them, "One's a dance from when Magneto was young, the other is another way ta change yer partner." Both girls smiled and laughed at their foolishness.

***

Emma sat alone in her cottage, eating her microwave meal. The television was making noise in the background, the CD player beside her. She looked from the phone to the number in her hand. It might be nice to call Cordelia and wish her a happy birthday a day in advance. No one remembered the day like Emma did.

Then, she returned to her fish sticks. She had papers to grade and reports to read. If she timed it right, she wouldn't be done until after Cordelia went to bed.

She could always call tomorrow.

***

Paige laughed at Sam's stories from X-Force. It was nice to blend in with her brother's friends. Bobby got up to clear the table, and then Sam did the nicest thing he could image for his sister. He offered her an after-dinner coffee.

Coffee was a grown-up drink, one she had been allowed maybe twice a year, and then with half a cup of milk. When he offered her a cup, it was his way of saying she was growing up. She smiled as she drank the bitter drink.

Rahne sipped her cup of herbal tea, while Bobby caught her up with current X-gossip. "A know that Ric isn't gay!" she defended her friend with a grin.

"And how do you know that?" Bobby asked, sensing some good gossip. Sam leaned in, driven by a sense of almost jealousy. How well did Rahne know that Ric was straight?

"A have me ways of knowin'." Rahne smiled, remembering Ric's kisses. Sam gave her a sharp glance and she grinned.

Before Bobby could get anything else out of her, the doorman called to let them know their cab had arrived.

***

Sean and Moira had a quiet meal, talking about their mutual friends, stunts the students were pulling, and what the class should cover. Finally, Sean got the nerve to ask one of the questions that had been bothering him all night.

"How are ye doing?" He leaned forward and held her hand as Moira tried to find a way to answer that question.

"A have me good days and not so good days," she finally answered. "More not so good than good ones." Some days, the marrow in her bones ached, causing everything in her body to feel like it was on fire. Those days, it was all she could do to get out of bed and walk to the lab. Other days, she felt good enough to spend a whole day in there.

There was more to that answer. "Rahne had me talk to her preacher, t'help wi' the grief process. A'm not mad anymore, A understand A may die." It had to be hard for her, trying to face every day and reassure people that she was okay, really.

"What can A do to help?" Sean asked her. A lot depended on her answer.

"A donnae know," Moira sighed, and continued, "A donnae know where we stand anymore."

***

The group from Generation X sat in a corner booth at the food court, debating what to do with the money. "Batman Five is playing," Angelo suggested.

"But the museum has a new hands-on exhibit," Monet protested.

"And I wanta go to Q-zar!" Jubilee pouted. She loved the laser game, with its loud music and action. And with this group, the marshals were sure to lose their challenge.

"So how about this?" Ev combined the ideas. "We go to the museum and goof around for a couple of hours, then watch Batman, and then beat the marshals at the last game?" Everybody nodded, except Jono. "What do you want to do?" Ev asked him.

(Nothing.) Jono got up and walked away. Jubilee followed him.

"Excuse you!" she told him.

(Go away!) he snapped.

"Look dude, you can do what you want, but stop being a downer with us." She grabbed his arm and forced him to face her. "Paige got tired of waiting for you. Big whoop! One day before Thanksgiving, you insult her family, insult her, make her so uncomfortable she doesn't go home for Christmas, and then wonder why she's not hanging around for you?" She leaned in and whispered. "It's called brains. I don't know why she was so hung up on you in the first place. She's got a lot going for her, and you only bring her down."

Jubilee started to walk away, but then added. "Meet us at the movies if you want to come. If not, get yourself to the car by one." She left a dumbstruck Jono standing in the middle of the mall.

***

Sam watched Rahne's face light up as they left the theater. She has a beautiful smile, he thought. "A loved it!" Rahne gushed. "A thought the movie was great, but tis was better!"

Bobby and Paige were walking a few steps behind Sam and Rahne, trying to get the words from "Be Our Guest" down right. Paige laughed as she said, "Now why is it that I see Lumiere played by Gambit and Cogsworth by Scott?"

"Don't know," Bobby said with a grin. "Type casting?"

"Ah guess," Sam added. "Now that he, Rogue and Joseph have that triangle going, he's free ta chase any woman he likes." He put a possessive arm around Rahne as he continued, "But Ah don't see that happening."

Paige nodded. "Rogue's got troubles to work though anyways."

Bobby agreed, and Sam changed the subject. "There's a MacDonald's, Rahne. Wanta order us some Happy Meals?" He couldn't hold a straight face at that, which meant that this was a happy memory. Rahne remembered what he was talking about and started laughing.

Finally, she stopped and explained, "A used tae collect Disney toys from MacDonald's when A was wi' the New Mutants. Every time we went tae the mall, the team ken that they would get Happy Meals just tae make me happy. One day, Sam, Wolverine and A went tae the mall and Wolverine asked me tae order him something. A did- two Happy Meals!" Bobby and Paige laughed at the situation. "He just sat there and ate them, and then ordered two more!"

"That reminds me, Rahney." Sam started. When he was in town and had a chance, he'd order two Happy Meals and save the toys for Rahne's Christmas gift. "Nothing in my hands." He made a show of empty hands, "And voila!'" He produced a figurine of Belle and the Beast dancing together.

"Oh, Sam!" Rahne smiled. "A love them!" She hugged Sam, and impetuously kissed him on the cheek. Sam smiled back at his friend, and held her for a second longer.

Bobby pulled Paige aside and whispered a line from the song from the show, "Perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before."

Seeing at goofy grin on her brother's face she continued the song, "There's something there that wasn't there before."

Rahne looked up, not catching the words. "What?"

Bobby and Paige giggled. "You'll find out when you're older," Bobby said in a lousy British accent. Sam and Rahne exchanged a puzzled look as he helped her into the cab.

***

Rahne didn't know what to make of her feelings for Sam. She had had a crush on him for such a long time, but he never showed any signs of returning it. Her little crush was no more than a fleeting fantasy, really. Sam had always had someone else that he was interested in and she was shy enough not to try to get his attention. Now, it seemed like he actually might have feelings for her. More than friendship, even.

Whatever happened, she was happy for one night when it seemed something special could occur between her and Sam.

***

Sam looked at his friend with a smile. She had kissed him! Okay, it was on the cheek, and she hadn't thought about it. But she kissed him. He touched the spot where her lips had touched.

He had known that Rahne had a little crush on him when they were teammates, although he didn't expect it to be as big as Gossamyr had revealed it to be. But she was four years younger than him, and he didn't feel right about taking advantage of her crush. A little voice in the back of his mind told him to take his time, if it was meant to be, it would be. But that was years ago. Rahne was a girl then.

She wasn't the same person she had been. Sure, she was shy and soft spoken, but she was so much more now. Strong, and beautiful, and stubborn. A wonderful woman.

***

"What do ye mean?" Sean asked, surprised. He called, wrote, and even visited Moira whenever he could get a chance.

"A donnae know where we stand. A'm so used tae being alone, even when ye are there. We donna talk, much. A donnae tell ye aboot me sickness. Ye donnae tell me aboot ye day." Moira started to tell him.

"Ye donna let me in!" Sean exclaimed. "Ye lock yuirself in yuir lab and don't want me help."

"Ye wouldn't understand!" Moira raised her voice.

"Ye won't let me understand." Sean gripped the sides of his chair, trying not to get up or move fast. The last thing Moira needed to see was him get physically upset.

"Ye never ask." Moira rubbed her temples and continued in a softer tone, "And A never tell ye what A'm feeling."

"Moira--" Sean started, but she stopped him.

"A've got a migraine." Quickly, she ran from the room.