Epilogue

One Year Later

St. Luke's Preschool

"Honey, you look nervous," Jean said to her husband who was fidgeting beside her.

"Why would Rachel's teacher ask to see us?" Scott asked, running his fingers through his hair as was his habit when he was a bit flustered.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's not something terribly urgent. If it was, Miss Fraser wouldn't have scheduled a time for us to meet, she'd have just called and asked us to come immediately," Jean said as casually as she could, trying to hide the nervousness she felt herself. "Besides, Rachel was fine when we picked her up earlier. She also said she was enjoying school… So really, how bad could it be?"

Scott and Jean had enrolled Rachel at St. Luke's Preschool that past fall. They would have loved for her to start her education at Xavier's, but because most mutants didn't manifest their powers until puberty, there weren't any students there near Rachel's age. And Scott and Jean wanted Rachel to have as normal an upbringing as possible.

Things had settled down a lot for them since the events from the year before. Rachel, with the constant love and support of her parents and extended family, as well as Dr. Henderson's professional help, eventually stopped having nightmares. She had also ceased asking about the "bad men" and if they were coming back for her. Also, Rachel's powers had since remained dormant and had shown no signs of returning. Jean could only hope it would stay that way at least until her daughter reached puberty.

Scott's headaches also became less and less aggressive as time went on, and eventually disappeared altogether. Although Jean had her suspicions, they never found out what had caused it. She was just relieved that her husband hadn't had a relapse in over eight months.

The neurologist Scott visited also gave him a clean bill of health. And with that, he was back to teaching full time. Jean on the other hand, only came back to the school part-time as the resident physician. Her priorities as a mother came first, although she did have plans to go back to teaching when Nathan eventually starts preschool.

Really, the only cloud hanging over their family was the fact that they had no idea what became of Mr. Sinister. Their friends insisted that Sinister could not have survived the devastating optic blast Scott fired at him. Others also pointed to the fact that his body started decaying right before their eyes.

But they couldn't be sure that he was dead. And if he wasn't, then neither Rachel nor Nathan were truly safe. But Scott and Jean agreed they couldn't keep their children in a bubble either. And so, Jean established a psychic link with her children as well. And because of her already established link with her husband, he was connected to the children at all times through her.

It wasn't a fool-proof solution, but it helped that they were always aware whether their children were safe regardless of where they were. Rachel's preschool also had top notch security. That being said, neither Scott nor Jean were naïve enough to believe that that would make a difference against mutants trying to abduct their children. All in all, Jean and Scott were very grateful for everything they had. Life would never be perfect, but it was pretty close. They understood they were blessed.

Their musings were interrupted when the classroom door opened and Rachel's teacher, Miss Fraser, a tall, attractive brunette who looked around her mid-twenties, stepped out to greet them. "Mr. and Mrs. Summers, thank-you for coming at such short notice," Miss Fraser said, shaking both Scott and Jean's hands. Jean noticed Miss Fraser linger on her husband's hand a little longer than necessary.

Wow… Little Rachel's dad is even hotter than the last time I saw him. Too bad he never takes those sunglasses off.

Jean could only smile politely at Rachel's teacher as the woman's thoughts projected loudly and clearly. Women admiring Scott was nothing new to Jean and she'd learned to take it in stride. If anything, Jean was relieved Miss Fraser's thoughts were rather on the frivolous side… It probably meant that whatever she needed to talk to them about couldn't be too serious.

"Please, have a seat," Miss Fraser said to both Scott and Jean and gestured to the two chairs in front of the teacher's desk.

"Thank you, Miss Fraser. Is everything alright with our daughter?" Scott asked, never one to beat around the bush.

"Oh, please don't be worried… It's nothing terribly serious, just a few things I wanted to bring to your attention, that's all," Miss Fraser answered.

"Oh, alright," Jean said, waiting for the teacher to elaborate.

"Well you see, Mrs. Summers, your daughter hit this boy in class named Thomas-"

"What?!" Jean and Scott exclaimed simultaneously. Of all the things Jean had anticipated, this revelation wasn't one of them.

"First of all, I just want to say, that the little boy isn't blameless in all this. He's been constantly teasing Rachel. He would call her names, pull on her pony tail... If you ask me, I actually think the lad has a bit of a crush on your daughter. But being a five-year-old, obviously, he didn't know how to express himself properly," the teacher said.

Scott frowned. "Do you have a picture of this boy?"

**Scott!** Jean admonished telepathically. **They're five!**

"Is the little boy okay? Do his parents want to speak to us?" Jean asked, not giving the teacher a chance to answer her husband's initial question.

"Oh, not at all… I met with them first and they actually put the blame squarely on their son. They said they knew how irritating he could get, and that they'd have a word with him at home," Miss Fraser answered.

"I see," Scott said.

"Anyway, Rachel and Thomas had a bit of a shouting match yesterday and after Rachel hit him, he said he was going to get his dad to teach Rachel a lesson-"

"Oh my…" Jean said.

"Then Rachel answered back and said that her dad can beat his dad up." And after meeting both dads, I'd put all my money on Mr. Summers.

For the sake of politeness, Jean refrained from rolling her eyes at the teacher's puppy-dog crush on her husband. The woman had loud thoughts.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Fraser, I have no idea why Rachel would say such a thing," Scott said, biting back a laugh at the thought of his daughter picking his fights for him. "Perhaps you could give me Thomas' father's contact number and I could try to iron things out with him."

"Oh, he's not upset. He's quite an easy-going man. There's no need to, but the reason I'm bringing all this up is because I'm concerned with some of the things Rachel said while she was arguing with Thomas," Miss Fraser said.

"What else did she say?" Jean asked, worriedly.

**She better have put him in his place.** Scott thought loudly. Jean fought not to roll her eyes.

"Well, their spat got quite heated… Well, as heated as it can get between five-year-olds anyway. Anyway, Thomas yelled at Rachel that his dad's a policeman and that he can shoot her dad. Rachel then said the strangest thing… She said her dad can shoot his dad too with his… umm… eye beams?" Miss Fraser said, a look of question in her eyes.

Scott choked on his saliva and started coughing profusely. Jean was somewhat at a loss for words herself. "That's umm… I mean…" Jean said, chuckling nervously. "It's probably all those science fiction shows she and her uncles always watch. My husband has an eye condition and so rarely takes off his glasses… It's probably just Rachel's imagination running wild."

"I see…" Miss Fraser said. "Well, there's more. Thomas then said that his mom used to be in the Marines and could beat Rachel's mom up."

**Dear God, what's with these children pitting their parents against each other?!** Scott telepathically said to his wife.

**What's frightening is I know Rachel wouldn't have let that taunt pass,** Jean answered.

The teacher continued. "And so, Rachel answered saying her mom can throw his mom across the room without even touching her!"

**See, I told you,** Jean said, sardonically.

**She gets her sassiness from you,** Scott answered.

**Does not!**

"Umm… I'm sure you must have misheard, Miss Fraser… That's just silly, no one can do that," Scott said, though his voice sounded rather tentative.

"Perhaps… but then Thomas taunted that his dad had a super fast car, but then Rachel said her Uncle… umm… Peter was it? Could run faster than the car," the teacher said.

**… Well, he could…** Scott thought aloud.

**Scott!** Jean admonished.

Miss Fraser continued. "Then Thomas said his mom was a pilot and could fly planes, and Rachel said that so could her Aunt Ororo. Did I get the name right? Oh, and that she didn't need a plane-"

"I uhh… I think we get the picture, Miss Fraser," Scott interrupted.

"Yes, thank you so much for bringing this to our attention," Jean added.

"Yes, well I wouldn't worry too much, children do have wild imaginations, but I thought you both should be kept in the loop," Miss Fraser said, smiling. "What with all the TV shows and movies out today, it's not surprising kids come up with the most far-fetched things."

"We'll be sure to sit down with Rachel tonight," Scott said.

"And I assure you, she'll never hit another of her classmates again when we're through with her," Jean added.

"Oh, don't be too hard on her. And I do want you to know that Rachel is doing really well here at school otherwise. She's my brightest student and she's such a sweetheart. I guess, Thomas just learned the hard way that little Rachel won't be pushed around," Miss Fraser said.

Scott and Jean just chuckled, albeit a little nervously. They both shook hands with the teacher, thanked her again, and took their leave. They made their way to the school parking lot and got into their car. As Scott drove out of the parking lot, Jean noticed him grinning from ear to ear.

"What's so amusing?" Jean asked her husband.

"Rachel thinks I can beat up Thomas' dad," Scott said, chuckling.

"Really, Scott? You find that funny?" Jean said, raising her eyebrow at her husband.

Scott nodded, his lopsided grin still plastered to his face. "You know what's even funnier? Rachel said you could telekinetically throw that poor kid's mom across the room!" Scott said laughing.

Jean sighed. "Sometimes… I don't understand your sense of humor, sweetheart."

"Aww, c'mon, honey… Aren't you relieved it wasn't something worse?" Scott asked.

"Well…" Jean started.

"I mean, going in there I was worried that Rachel had been manifesting her powers or something," Scott said.

Jean had to admit, her thoughts had run along the same lines as her husband prior to their talk with Rachel's teacher. "I am relieved, I'll admit. But we have to have a very stern talk with Rachel-"

"Absolutely! I'm going to have a very stern talk with her about boys and how-"

"No, Scott! That's not what I was going to say," Jean said, exasperation creeping into her voice. "I was going to say we have to have a talk with Rachel about the things she can say to people. And more importantly, we have to give her some sort of punishment for hitting that boy," Jean said.

"We do?" Scott received one of his wife's patented glares that never failed to make him nervous. "I mean, we do! Yeah, I agree with you. We can't let her grow up thinking that violence solves anything…" Scott paused. "Anyway, let me know how that talk with her goes."

"Scott! We're sitting her down together!" Jean said. "I don't get you, you have no qualms about disciplining any of your students, or X-Men for that matter, but you start sweating bullets whenever it comes time to discipline Rachel."

"I do not! Fine, maybe a little. I just… You know… I figured that's what you're there for," Scott mumbled.

Jean gave her husband the biggest WTF look. "You're not getting out of this one, honey."

Scott sighed in resignation. "Yeah, yeah… No television for the weekend."

"For the week," Jean countered. "I want to make sure the lesson sticks and that she'll never hit another of her classmates again. God, can you imagine if she had access to her powers? We need to make sure she understands the seriousness of what happened before her powers manifest."

"You're right, honey. We'll have a long talk with her and make sure that not only does she understand what she did was wrong, but that she'll also understand the potential consequences of her actions. We have a bright little girl, Jean. She'll get it," Scott said, confidently.

"I know… You're right, Scott," Jean said, smiling and leaning over to kiss her husband on the cheek.

"Anyway, I was thinking…" Scott started.

"Oh no…" Jean said, jokingly.

"Ha, ha… very funny," Scott mumbled. "As I was saying, I was thinking since it's Friday, why don't we rent a movie before picking the kids up at your parents' place… I mean, really, how long will our little talk with Rachel last anyway? Besides, her punishment would be even more impactful when she can't watch with us later."

"Oooh, that is mean! I like it," Jean said, giggling. "What do you want to rent?"

"Umm… How about Fight Club?" Scott suggested.

"I don't want to spend tonight watching men beat each other up… I veto that one. How about Notting Hill?" Jean said.

"Pfff… You just have a thing for Hugh Grant. I veto that one. Umm, how about Star Wars: The Phantom Menace?" Scott asked.

"No! I don't want my memories of the original Star Wars trilogy tarnished by that movie. I refuse to watch it," Jean said, adamantly.

"Fine. How about Double Jeopardy?" Scott suggested.

Jean scoffed. "You just have a crush on Ashely Judd."

"No, I don't!" Scott said, a little too quickly, Jean noticed. "Fine, how about we rent The Mummy?"

"Hmm… I wouldn't mind spending the night watching Brendan Fraser… Alright, The Mummy it is!" Jean said, enthusiastically.

"Hey now… Wait a second… You can ogle Brendan Fraser all night, but I'm not allowed to watch Ashley Judd?" Scott asked, incredulously.

"I thought you said you didn't have a crush on her," Jean said.

"Well I… Uhh… That is… Umm-" Scott started.

"My point exactly," Jean said, crossing her arms and smiling smugly at her husband.

"You're ruthless," Scott said, dryly.

"Yet, you love me anyway," Jean said, leaning over and lovingly resting her head on her husband's shoulder.

"That, I do…" Scott said, smiling down at his wife. "That, I do."

To be continued in my next story, Hearts See Through Lies.