"He'll be here Saturday," Kurt assured Kate as he hung up his cell phone and kissed her cheek. "He's bringing Annie with him, and they'll be staying for nearly a week."

Kate beamed at Kurt and kissed his cheek. "That's great. That's really good." She readjusted her headband for the third time. "And you really think he'll okay it? I mean — I've read the whole thing and I've had it edited and proofread, and... we just need his signature...." She ran a hand through her hair again nervously.

"I'm sure he'll be perfectly cooperative," Kurt tried to reassure her again as he pulled her a little closer and kissed her cheek. "Once he hears what you'd like to do, it will be a done deal."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him with a long sigh. "I've never run anything like this," she told him as she hugged him tighter. "I guess I'm just nervous. Before I was an archery teacher? I had, like, one real job. In my life. Prep school aside, this is... way harder than I thought it would be."

"You'll do fine," he promised. "But it would help if you relax a bit."

She stood on her toes to kiss him. "What, the bundle of nerves isn't a cute look on me?" she teased.

"As you've pointed out before — every look is cute on you," he replied with a grin. "I just prefer you relaxed and teasing, not tense and anxious."

"I'm sure I'll be back to normal come Sunday," she assured him. "If all goes well." She grinned at him sideways. "And I've even got an author coming Monday. I think..." She took a breath. "I almost don't want to say it out loud, but I think this is starting to come together. Finally."

"Of course it is," he agreed with a nod. "Now you just need to try and not give yourself a heart attack before Saturday and your self imposed torture fest."

She had to smile the slightest bit. "I'm an X-Man now. I'd come back from something as simple as a heart attack," she teased lightly.

"I'd still rather not risk it," Kurt told her as he took to kissing her neck.

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. "And I suppose you have a few ideas for preventing heart attacks," she whispered with a grin.

"Regular exercise?" he asked.

"And drinking water," she said, giggling, before she just hooked her hands around his neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss.

When Scott and Annie arrived at the mansion, Annie looked a bit wide-eyed as she simply took in the vast grounds and the large school on the outskirts of the town, seemingly unable to see it all fast enough as she just tried to soak it in by the time they arrived at the front door.

Once they arrived, the door was all but flung open by Storm and Kurt, who were waiting to greet them with wide smiles.

"It's been too long," Storm said as she took two long steps forward and simply wrapped Scott up in a long hug. "Welcome Home."

Scott was grinning as he returned the hug. "It's nice to be back," he told her before he grabbed Annie by the hand and gestured between the two women. "Ororo, I'd like you to meet my fiance, Annie. Annie — meet Storm."

"I'm very pleased to meet you," Storm said with a warm smile as she shifted her focus to Annie and giving her a similar — though not quite as familiar — hug. "Welcome."

Annie broke into a smile as she gently returned the hug, still looking a bit overwhelmed. "I guess living in a small town my whole life didn't quite prepare me for how... " She turned to Scott and lightly smacked his arm. "You didn't tell me it was this gorgeous."

Scott just grinned ruefully. "I tried to," he defended, but Annie just shook her head at him and looked back at Storm.

"Your school is lovely, Miss Storm," she said warmly.

"You can call me 'Ro'," she told her. "Nearly everyone does."

"I'm Annie to just about everybody but my students," Annie said with her usual smile. "And then I'm 'Miss Annie,'" she added, the smile widening as she looked around the halls.

Kurt shared a smile with Storm before he nodded at Annie. "Normally, this would be where one of us would show you around, but it seems you've brought your own tour guide."

Annie laughed and nodded her agreement, slipping her arm through Scott's. "Yes, it looks like I did," she said as Kurt and Storm just shared even wider smiles as the proud look on Scott's face as he watched his fiance's excitement over seeing his home.

"When the two of you have finished," Ororo said toward Scott, "I believe Kate will be waiting in Charles' old office."

Scott looked her way and tipped his head slightly before he nodded. "Yeah, Kurt told me she had some kind of project she was working on," he said. He looked thoughtful for a moment before he just looked back at Annie. "I think Annie was glad for the excuse to come visit anyway."

"I'm just saying, Scott," Annie said with a little grin as it was clear the two were picking up a conversation they'd had on the way up. "Those little houses in town are a reasonable price. I'm sure we could talk Anton into getting one too."

"Come on, honey, let me show you around before you start making plans to move the whole family," Scott laughed as he led her off down the hall.

They hadn't gotten very far before they ran into another X-Man, though — and while Annie immediately broke into a wide, friendly smile on seeing the redheaded girl, Scott stopped for a moment, suddenly unsure how he could possibly introduce Rachel Summers to his future wife. After all, how does one explain an alternate-dimension daughter to someone who isn't used to X-Men and time travel and all the nonsense that comes with that kind of thing?

For her part, Rachel had stopped in the hallway, her head tipped to one side as she looked Scott over. She didn't look all that happy to see him either, since, well, they hadn't exactly been on the best terms when Scott had seen her last. But then Scott felt the familiar prick of a telepathic sweep touch him before Rachel looked at Annie as well.

Rachel's shoulders relaxed the slightest bit before she smiled Annie's way and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Rachel," she said. "I teach telepathic self defense."

"Oh!" Annie looked a bit wide-eyed and even downright impressed. "I don't know anything about that," she admitted. "But I'm sure it's amazing."

Rachel smirked a bit, and she really did look like Scott when she did. "Maybe I'll show you some tips and tricks next time you come. You really should know that kind of thing around here." She glanced at Scott for a moment before she just shrugged up one shoulder. "Anyway, nice to meet you," she said before she headed further down the hallway in the opposite direction Scott and Annie had come.

Annie smiled after Rachel and waved, but as soon as Rachel had walked off, Scott heard her voice in his mind: She seems nice.

She is, he replied.

Good, was the simple response — that was it.

Scott let out a bit of a sigh. He'd never really been sure how to deal with Rachel, and he wasn't too proud of what he had done to lead to the split within the X-Men, but he had no idea where to even begin with her — or with the rest of it, for that matter.

So — he just turned his attention back to Annie so he could continue the rest of the tour.

Annie seemed to be enjoying herself entirely. There weren't quite as many students at home, because it was spring break, but the ones that she did see seemed to absolutely thrill her as Scott took her through the various classrooms and such.

By the time they made it to Charles' old office, Annie seemed to be a bit overwhelmed. She was still grinning ear to ear, as if this was the only thing she could think to do, and she seemed a little breathless, but whenever Scott asked her if she was alright, she would just giggle a bit and nod. "It's amazing," she said every time he asked.

Kate was waiting for them in the office with a clearly nervous smile as she smoothed down her purple pencil skirt and just... took a breath. "So — while you're here... I have a favor to ask," she said as soon as Scott closed the door behind them. "Well, it's a business proposition. Sort of. Yeah." She smoothed her skirt again. "I'm still very bad at this part."

"Relax, Kate," Scott said with a little smirk. "I won't bite you."

She smiled at that and nodded quietly before she tried to explain, "I don't know how much Kurt told you? But I'm trying to re-launch a line of books that isn't full of... you know. All the garbage my dad was running. And I want the first one to be something big. And... well..." She gestured at the desk. "I'd like to publish Professor Xavier's work, but I need your permission."

"Just give me the papers," Scott said quickly, his gaze to the floor.

Kate broke into a grin at that and nodded, quickly sweeping up a file and pressing it into his hands. "Thank you so much," she said, unable to quite contain herself and giving him a huge hug as well. "Really. This is ... thank you!"

"Don't mention it," he said roughly as he half pushed her back with one hand. "Really."

Kate looked a bit surprised at his reaction, since she was sure that he would have been happy about this, but it looked like he was just... well, she wasn't sure what that particular expression was on Scott. She hadn't spent enough time with the leader of the X-Men to identify it. "Do you — do you want to read it first?"

"The papers? No. The book — I've read it already," Scott said, still with that same expression and now, Kate noticed, with a slight tremble in his voice. "The first four revisions anyhow."

"It's beautiful stuff," Kate agreed, a bit quieter now as she realized maybe she hadn't quite prepared Scott for the emotional bombshell she didn't realize she'd been throwing his way.

"It is," he agreed, turning a shade pale. "I'm — is that all you needed?"

"Well, yeah," she said, tilting her head at him. "But — I thought you'd be... more excited?"

"He is," Annie said, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder with a little smile before she turned to Kate. "When can I buy a copy?"

"Oh, I'm doing a special run for any X-Men who want one. Out of pocket. No reason for you guys not to have one — I mean, he's your professor," Kate explained, waving her hand. "I'll mail it to you."

Scott gave her a tight kind of smile and nodded his head. "You know where we are."

Kate beamed at both of them and tucked the file back under her arm before she took a breath and tried to redirect the conversation as best she could to give Scott a break. "Okay. I think Bobby's making dinner — unfortunately. But if you want? Storm, Jubes, and I are hiding from the mac n' cheese and going out for a girls night for dinner while Kurt and Logan head out to Harry's. You're totally welcome to come, Annie," she said, much less nervous now and back to her grinning self.

"I wouldn't want to impose," Annie said with a smile.

"I'm inviting you. Come on." Kate shook her head at Annie.

"And staying for Bobby's cooking is hazardous to your health," Scott agreed, regaining a bit of a smirk.

"Great!" Kate grinned and grabbed Annie by the arm. "It's my turn to pick the restaurant, so I hope you like breakfast for dinner."

Annie turned to Scott for a moment. "You'll have to find something to eat on your own, looks like," she said with a little smirk.

"I might head down to Harry's myself," Scott said with a smirk. "Been a long time since I've gotten that particular brand of heartburn."

Annie just grinned and kissed his cheek. "See you soon." With that, she took Kate's arm, and the two grinning girls headed down the hall as Scott just watched them leave, leaning on the desk and just ... trying to breathe.

"We go out all the time just us girls," Kate explained to Annie brightly as she steered the older woman long. "I got my Storm sleepover, and it just ... sort of became a thing."

"It sounds amazing," Annie said with a little grin, clearly entertained.

The two of them met up with Storm and Jubilee a short while later in the kitchen as they watched Bobby with clear amusement as he attempted to burn water.

"Hey, I picked up a stray around the mansion. Can I keep her?" Kate called out with a little grin.

"Please," Storm agreed, looking up at the two women as they came in with a definite smirk across her features. "Are you joining us for dinner, or is she keeping you on a more permanent basis?" she asked Annie with a twinkle in her eye.

Annie laughed. "As far as I know, I'm just invited for dinner," she said.

"Shows what you know," Jubilee muttered under her breath with a smirk before Storm elbowed her in the ribs with a warning look.

"I hope breakfast for dinner sounds acceptable to you," Storm said. "There's a wonderful diner just down the road, and it's one of Kate's favorites."

"It sounds lovely," Annie said warmly.

Once they got into the car and under way, Storm didn't waste much time getting down to it, though. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? The ones that have invaded your home already didn't have more to share than how good you've been for Scott and the fact that you have a charming family," she said with a kind smile.

Annie smiled wider at the question. "I'm sure they told you more than that," she teased lightly. .

"Only that you teach as well," Storm said, her expression giving nothing away.

At that, Annie brightened and sat up a bit taller. "Yes. Much younger students than you have here, though. That's what brought me to Alaska in the first place," she explained. "It was my first teaching job, and then I just... stayed. I couldn't imagine leaving those kids," she admitted with a little blushing smile.

"That's too bad," Storm said off-handedly. "We could use another general teacher here. Some of our students are a bit ... out of their league with the upper level classes, and I'm afraid asking Henry to teach beginning science seems to cause him great pain."

Annie looked honestly surprised and then thoughtful for a moment before she just smiled. "I've had a few colleagues like that myself. Good scientists, but they don't seem to realize they're talking over their students' heads."

"But you wouldn't do that," Kate supplied with a smirk Storm's way.

"It's just too bad you're not willing to leave behind your students in Alaska," Storm said with a little smile. "If you were, we'd have to sit down and negotiate your terms."

Annie looked between the girls for a moment before she broke into a smile. "I wouldn't want to leave them before they finish the school year and move on to a new teacher anyway," she clarified. "So I couldn't start until the fall," she added, her smile growing wider with every word. "It's so close to the end of the school year in Alaska as it is."

"That might be a sticking point," Storm said seriously. "We hold all of our pre-term meetings poolside starting in July, and they are mandatory."

"I see," Annie said, smiling wider. "Well, I could be persuaded to come down for some actual summer weather if I can find the time...." She broke into a little laugh and just started to shake her head. "Oh, I'd love to move. It's way too cold up there for human beings."

"There seem to be only a handful that want to spend any real time up there," Storm agreed.

"There's a few that can take it, but I grew up in Memphis," Annie explained with a smile. "I admit — I miss the heat. It's still cold up this way, but it's not... a tundra," she teased. She leaned back and looked thoughtful. "I appreciate the offer, I really do... and... I hesitate to ask... But my sister and I have been together forever. I don't want to move if I can't bring her with me. I don't suppose you know if there's space for a state trooper and his family down this way?"

"I'm sure that you should be able to find a reasonable opening in law enforcement," Storm said. "Have your sister send his resume and we'll ... start looking for him."

"That would be lovely!" Annie beamed at all of the women in the car. "I've been tryin' to convince Scott to move back down here. I know he misses it, but he — well, with my job, and Anton's work — he doesn't want to pull us from it."

"If he knew how much you missed the warmer weather, he might reconsider his stance," Storm reasoned, obviously pleased at how well her plan was working.

"And you really wouldn't mind? I mean, I'm not an X-Man," Annie said quickly. "I'd hate to think I was imposing, even if it helps get Scott back to his family."

"I wasn't an X-Man when I started teaching archery," Kate said helpfully, and Annie looked like she might break her face smiling that wide. "It's not a requirement."

"In that case," Annie said, turning to Storm. "I'll have my credentials on your desk before we go back to Anchorage."

"I mean, it's up to you. I like living here, but Kurt was already set up ,and I just sort of moved in with him," Kate said. The girls were all back in the mansion again, lounging on couches by the fireplace as they chatted easily, telling Annie about the best places to stay. "But if you want to be closer to the stores and things, you really want to be in town."

"There were a few adorable homes that we saw driving in," Annie said with a nod. "If we didn't live here, we'd want someplace with extra bedrooms for guests. My nieces stay with us often enough that our place in Anchorage has a room just for the girls when they stay the night."

"And it might be nice to have your own space, once you get married," Kate mused. "It can be kind of crowded and loud around here sometimes, and I'm sure you want him all to yourself," she teased.

"When you put it like that, maybe we should start shopping for you too, Kate," Jubilee teased.

"Hey, shopping, I can do," Kate countered with a smirk. "I could always use a new tee or twelve."

"A nice three bedroom house in reasonable distance of the mansion," Jubilee said as she shot Kate a look. "You know. For the kids."

"The girls haven't stopped asking about you, you know," Annie said with a warm smile at Kate as she picked up on the teasing. "They said to tell you they'll never have non-Hawkeye s'mores again."

Jubilee just beamed at that as she turned to her friend. "You're a natural, Kate."

Annie laughed at the look on Kate's face and then tipped her head at Jubilee. "Oh, and the Peeps were a rousing success. They've dubbed you the sugar queen," she said, pointing at Jubilee with a little smirk. "Please — when Scott and I get around to it, don't sugar our children up that badly. It was a madhouse."

"I am afraid I can't promise that," Jubilee admitted with an easy shrug. "As it turns out, the sugar helps me amp up by abilites. So I need it. And I like to share."

"I can't argue with that," Annie agreed, laughing. "I was always taught to share when I had anything fun. And s'mores are definitely that." She smiled kindly over at Kate. "How long have you and Nightcrawler been together, then? If you're thinking ahead—"

"Woah, don't listen to Jubes," Kate said quickly and with a very obvious blush, holding up both hands. "It's been several months, okay - it's not... Jubes is just being a pain."

But Jubilee drew herself up a little taller and gave Kate a look. "I can see the future when it comes to you two. Just by the way you are always locked away .... alone."