Disclaimer: I don't own 'em.

Author's Note: This idea came to me when I read "Dear Child" written by Tashasfic. I love that story and I recommend all of you to go read it if you haven't done so yet. So I give her the credit for this idea of mine. But their daughter is their real daughter in the comics.

This story is written in play format (my own style), although who is speaking is not specified in the beginning of the line like in a play, but it is easy and possible to know who is speaking. I just got lazy and stuck to dialogue for this story. I specify names and nicknames too. The words in italics is the setting or the description of actions and characteristic traits. This is one of many JOTT stories that I've written. Go check out my other stories and Pinkchick's stories! I need reviews, OR I'LL DIE AND THEN THE JOTT STORIES OF MINE WILL CEASE TO EXIST! A little dramatic, I know.

Blessing

To our daughter, whom we love so much.

To that beautiful angel sent to us as a blessing.

God gives infants parents for their innocent souls to be protected.

'Will we ever fail to protect her?' is a question that we never really contemplate or ever bring into our conversations.

Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.

Just hold on, everything will be alright.

Everything will be alright.

Because we will always be there for you.

……………

Darkness. Black. Plain blackness. Voices come from the depth. Happy, content voices.

"Where is she? Where is my baby? Our baby."

"She's right here, Mrs. Summers."

Darkness begins to fade. Distinct objects begin to come into view. A slight blur. A pink blanket.

"She's beautiful, full of pure radiance. Pureness."

A sigh from a well rested maternal parent.

A sound of faint cries. The cries begin to come nearer to the woman lying in the bed, and the man sitting next to her.

The hospital room is a faded blue. Faded blue walls, faded blue covers, faded blue hospital gown. The hospital's name is yet to be known. It is far from the hospital the couple are supposed to be in for Mrs. Summers to give birth.

But whatever the name of the hospital is, she contradicts it. She tells her husband that this should be called the hospital of dreams. She tells him that it is as if God has stretched out his hands and placed them there.

"Isn't she beautiful, Scott?"

"Just like her mother."

"I just realized something, Scott."

"What's that?"

"She's ours."

Bright green eyes shimmering in the light. Loving eyes of a mother.

"She's ours. She's really ours."

"Uh, yeah, your right. Heh."

The man has an echo in his voice. But he recovers quickly with a wide smile.

"Are you alright, Scott?"

"Fine, fine. So, what name do you have in mind?"

"Well, names should come from the heart. When I look at her long enough, a name will come to my head. So, that's what I'm doing at the moment."

She rocks the baby back and forth. Brown eyes stare back with innocence.

"Sorry for causing you to blink away from our baby for a second, Jean."

"She has this seriousness to her face. Well, all babies technically do. But I think this baby has it from her father."

"Hmm?"

"Her father, who has this huge smile on his face, teeth showing and everything today."

"Mmm hmm."

"Scott, you can't take your eyes away from the baby either."

"Don't beat yourself up over a pure maternal instinct, Red."

She shakes her head slightly.

"I was talking about… never mind."

"What are you giggling about."

"I'd tell you, if you were actually listening."

"Come on, Jean, we both have our eyes on the baby. Anyways, I think this is a great way for the baby to start her first conversation of life with. A humorous subject is perfect to start with. Her life should have no depression. And I'll be the most important man in her life."

"Oh, Scott. Stop getting to subjects that are way over your head at the moment."

"Katherine."

"What?"

"Katherine."

"Scott, my name is Jean."

"I meant for the child. Stop fooling around, I'm serious." Giggles from Jean. Scott tries to hold his urge to break out into fits of chuckles.

"Like that's hard to believe."

He slaps her on the arm playfully.

"It's a beautiful name, isn't it? "

"I don't know, Scott. I like Rachael."

"I like Katherine better."

"Rachael Katherine Summers. How does that sound, Mister 'I like Katherine better'?"

"Why can't it be Katherine Rachael Summers?"

"Because I'm the one who spent nine months, twenty-five hours, and seventeen minutes, thanks to your calculations, with this baby, Mr. Summers."

A smile from both parents as they quickly divert their attention fully on the baby in silence, with a smile.

"Katherine was my mother's name."

"Oh, Scott, that's absolutely beautiful. And it's the sweetest thing you've said since we got here. It's nice to here that from you, rather than, 'Jean, can't you just get this kid out already.'"

"Uh, Jean, I think now is a good time to tell you that I said that to calm myself down. I wasn't really acting like myself. I never meant anything by it."

Jean just nods. She lets out a sigh. "She loved you, you know."

"I know. That's why I'm going to love Rachael back just as much. Now, stop being so serious in front of our baby."

"I was thinking more along the lines of Elaine Rachael Katherine Summers."

"Whoa. Let's not get too crazy." Giggles. "I like Rachael Katherine Summers. Yeah, that'll do."

Many whispers and screams come from the waiting room. Their visitors, who are friends along with housemates, come into the room. The X-men.

"Hey, Rachael Katherine Summers."

"Kitty, how'd you….never mind. Why bother asking. These people are impossible. They have their ears tuned up whenever someone tries to tune them down. And when something needed to be said is vital, they're suddenly hearing impaired."

Cheers and light faces streak the room with happiness, ignoring Jean's comment.

Jean and Scott both smile as the rest come to look at the baby's face.

"Perfect."

……………

The room is not a very colorful room. It is filled with metal. A metal door, metal drawers, metal cabinets. Rachael watches her mother and the rest of the X-women dressing in their X-men uniforms.

"Mommy, Mommy, can I go with you? Pretty please, pretty, pretty please!"

"Honey, you're only seven years old. I told you already that it's dangerous for children to go on such missions. These missions are not fun, alright. Now go see if Daddy has prepared everything down where they keep that big plane you love so much."

Footsteps of Rachael going out the metal door.

"It's amazing what seven years has done to you, Jean. That girl would obey anything you tell her with that tone of voice. People change so much when they have children. I swear to the goddess that if I ever mentioned children in the presence of Logan, he would run all the way to Timbuktu."

Giggles echo through the metallic room. Escaping Kitty's mouth with loudness, and Rogue's mouth through many attempts not to snort with laughter.

"Ah know, Storm…Wait, everyone knows that Logan is hopeless. Men are hopeless."

"Like, you're one to talk, Rogue. You've, like, made Gambit like a love sick puppy. Gambit, who, may I remind you, was--is like the biggest flirt I've ever seen."

"Kitty, sometahmes life is as crazy as Martee Gra!"

Hurrying footsteps interrupt the echo.

"Did you check on Daddy?"

"Yeah, Mommy. He asked if you sent me. Then he said something about you not thinking he can do anything useful. I know, men are hopeless."

Jean looks to the three girls and fights back the urge to break out into laughter. But Rachael abruptly tugs Jean's clothing to grab her attention.

"Mommy, Iforgot totell you. I was goingtotell you earlier, but you were talking and about themission andstuff. Well, my teacher…I had a bad day at school. It goes like this…WehadshowandtellyesterdayinschoolandItoldeverybody," a big breath, "everybodythat- whenthetimecame…"

"Sweetie, calm down. Speak more slowly and clearly. I can't understand a word you're saying." She gives her a kiss on the cheek and shakes her waist softly and playfully as Rachael lets out many giggles.

"Mommy, we had show and tell yesterdayinschool, and I told everybody that when the timecame," another big breath, "I would show them my powers. The teacher put me in the corner and made me write 'there is no such thing as powers'. She said that it is a sin to say something like that and if I did, she said those mutant people would come after me. And then I started laughing. But I kept our secret, don't worry."

"Uh, honey…." a short pause. An intake of breath and a stern expression. An expression Rachael knows all too well of being a warning one. "Does this call for another meeting with your teacher, Rachael?" A stern face.

"Yeah, Mommy. But I promise I won't be stupider than last time, when, when that ugly teacher insulted my family. Right, Mommy? I'll pinky swear you."

Jean puts her forehead against the tiny forehead of the little girl that was almost a spitting image of her. She hooks her pinky to the little pinky of Rachael's and finishes with her costume.

"Can I help you with your hair, Mommy? Ooo…let me do it…please, please!"

Jean allows her daughter to push her hair through the opening of her hooded uniform. Rachael's tiny hand gets caught between the hood and in the middle of her mother's hair. The red hair between her fingers are in tangles now.

"Girls, we need some help over here!"

The sound of many footsteps are heard. Rachael just smiles at them and they shake their heads with laughter. Rachael just waits for them to untangle her hands from her mother's hair. While she waits, she looks up at the ceiling with dreamy eyes and starts to speak her thoughts.

"I can't wait until I get my own powers! All the X-kids will be running from me when I get my powers. I'll be more powerful than they are now. And if they dare to say something in teasing me, I'll ask you, Mommy, if I could use my powers on them. I wonder how it feels? I mean with powers and everything. I bet it feels like the best thing in the world! I'm going to be the best X-kid ever. And then I'll grow to be six feet and be a woman like Mommy and an X-men leader like, like Daddy!"

"Rachael, slow down, honey. All your talking is causing even more tangles in my hair."

A giggle escaped Rachael's mouth. Her hand is untangled. She puts her tiny arms around her mother's neck and smiles.

"I'll be the best X-daughter in the world. You'll see, Mommy. You'll be lucky to have such a great warrior like me. You'll see, when the time comes. You'll see…"

……………

A light squeaking of bed springs. Bouncing red hair. Radiant brown eyes. Visible toes moving left and right. The whole view of the room comes into place. It is unlike that of the lower levels of the Xavier Mansion. It speaks of soft colors; honey brown, dark red walls, warming bed comforters. Pictures of many family members, including the X-men no doubt, hang from all four walls. Scott is sleeping on his stomach with his pillow over his head.

A murmur comes from beneath the pillow. "No sleep, none whatsoever."

"Today is my eighth birthday, Daddy! What have you got for me? Huh? Please tell me. Mommy is in the kitchen downstairs. Come on! You can tell me. Just between me and you!"

Scott brings himself from beneath his pillow stealthily and grabs Rachael by the back of her knees. He drags her stomach down onto his feet and lifts her in the air as he holds onto her wrists for support.

"Daddy, your breath smells like morning stuff."

"Well, in that case I won't speak." A smile tries to be hidden and a straight face kept.

"No, I'm sorry. Your breath smells like roses. So what is it? What? What is it?"

Scott begins to speak in a Dracula's voice. "If I told you, then I'd have to kill you. Muhaha."

"You know, Daddy, I wouldn't recognize you with this kind of speaking if you were discussing a strategy with the X-men."

"Only you and your mother have the privilege of seeing me like this. Off duty, I'm just Scott, rather than Cyclops. But only with my two favorite women, of course."

A smile creeps upon Rachael's face. "But, Daddy, Uncle Logan once told me, he told me…" her speaking is cut off as Scott sits up and Rachael grabs onto his neck. Scott lifts her onto his back and starts to hop through the mansion's hallways, saying good morning to everyone on the way. Everyone looks at them with disgust in their morning voices and attitudes, with the exception of Kitty. "He told me that being a mutant is part of who we are. He said we."

"Did he now?"

"Well, Daddy, explain what Uncle Logan meant when he said this."

"Do I hint a tone of mischief in that tiny voice of yours, little lady?"

"Well, he was talking to me, and he said we. So my present must be my powers!"

From an intercom installed in the mansion, "All X-men must report to the meeting room at once. All X-men."

"It's Granddad X. The Prof. sounds desperate. He probably wants to see you a.s.a.p."

"Now, Rachael, what have I taught you?"

"The prof. is never desperate."

"Right. You going to be alright, little squirt?"

"I'll be fine, Daddy. It's probably just the Brotherhood. I know you can take 'em. As long as you're back in time for cake and presents." Scott shakes her full head of hair. "And if it's of any 'consolation' as the Prof. says -- I still haven't figured out exactly what that means, but it sounds right -- I'm totally ready to get my powers. I'm a responsible eight year-old now."

……………

"It's just a book. A stupid book. I've read it like a billion times."

A handsome face with piercing blue eyes are seen. A shadow draws over brown eyebrows and a fiery sun through the large arch's of white wings. Storm's garden reveals itself, and beams with radiance in the presence of two fourteen year-olds.

"Harry Potter? Why is it stupid? I love the whole series of books. They're page turners."

"On my eighth birthday, I fell in love with this book. My parents have been buying me every single one before it even comes out. But that's not the point, Warren."

"So what's the point, Rachael? What's bothering you so much?"

"This book, it presents a form of reality. Every student in that school is a witch or a wizard."

"Well, that's because the humans, or muggles, don't accept the witches and wizards."

"Yeah, Warren."

A questioning look on Warren's face. Rachael's frown appears, inevitably.

"Everyone loves you here."

"And I'm the most uninteresting person here, too."

"What are you talking about? Humans have a lot of interesting hobbies."

"Why are you referring to me as a human?"

"Uh…because you are."

"Both my parents are mutants, which makes me a mutant. Maybe I'm just a late bloomer. The stupid thing scientists call genes can't just skip generations."

"Why are you always trying to make yourself believe that you're a mutant. You're not, deal with it." A look of frustration on Rachael's face. Warren sits next to her and buries his face in his arms, a look with just as much frustration as Rachael's appears. "You don't get it, do you? You're blessed to be normal. To not be a mutant. Try walking around the mall with large wings attached to your back, why don't you. People see Kurt, who is ten times nicer than I am, as a devil, and they see me as an angel sent from God. But the looks on their faces defeats their whole faith. A powerful belief in God is acceptance. Cruelty and a prejudice attitude are not part of the many traits of the powerful guy up there, the last time I heard."

"Warren, try walking through your own home with this heavy weight on your chest when they all start talking about missions and their problems. Try talking to your parents to help you with your lame adolescent issues, while they're battling the Apocalypse. Being normal to me is being a mutant!"

A dark cloud covers a partial light of the glowing sun.

"Warren?"

"Yeah, Red?"

"You know what you said about muggles not accepting witches and wizards."

"Yeah."

"There is a great possibility that it could be vice versa in my world."

"Our world is fire, theirs is ice."

Rain begins to pour with a light breeze of soft air.

"Fire and ice. Is there really anything in between? Because I don't know where my world is."

……………

The large brown doors of the main entrance of the mansion are closed. Rain beats upon the glass windows throughout the mansion and thunder rumbles from under the mansion. Silence bounces off the walls. All of the X-men scurry in silent whispers to their rooms. Rachael is left standing like a statue, Cyclops's arms are folded across his chest, his sunglasses gleaming from the light, and Phoenix is sitting in one of the red chairs against the wall in silence.

The silence is finally broken. "I was just trying to help, Dad."

"Well your help wasn't much of you wanted it to be, now was it?"

"That was a very childish thing to do, Rachael. You could have gotten yourself killed, along with Warren!"

"Mom, I know self defense and all the techniques to combat, I don't see why I can't help!"

"Rachael, that is not an excuse for a battle between mutants! They have powers! While you're trying to jump at them, they would have hit you fifteen feet away. Don't you understand?"

"Understand what, Cyclops? I live in a house full of mutants. I have friends who are blue and orange. Friends who can walk through walls and be in two places at the equivalent of two seconds. My mom is the all powerful Phoenix who is telepathic and telekinetic. My dad is Cyclops, where red beams shoot out of his eyes and is the leader of the X-men. I can never see his eyes which sometimes make me wonder if I am really yours. I wanted to see myself through the eyes of my family, but I'm obviously unlike them!"

Expressions grow lighter, but still stern and steady. "Now, young lady, you know that we love you. We don't want to see you hurt. We can't protect you and fight for the battle of our lives at the same time."

"When you say 'our', who do you mean exactly, Cyclops? It's as if I'm locked away in a tower like Quisimodo where no one can see me. I'm like Filch from Harry Potter who's a squib. He seems out of place in a school full of witches and wizards. No one really likes him, either."

"Rachael, you are stretching the truth."

"It's still the truth, Phoenix, whether you like it or not! Maybe you were wrong to keep me here and raise me yourself."

"You have parents who love you, Rachael. What more do you want? You're a normal human being, you can live life normally. Is that not enough for you? You can be whatever you want!"

"I want a code name! I want you to give me the gift of having powers! I wanted to play with the little kids who had great powers when I was younger. I want to feel what you feel and be able to talk about it and relate to it!" Sounds of choked sobbing, wet brown eyes. She begins to walk towards the door as tears stream down her face. "I'm proud of my family. What I want most is to talk about how great everyone here is. That's all I want."

She leans her forehead against the hard wooden door and begins to shake with tears. She turns her back to the door and covers her face with her hands. Jean and Scott begin to walk near her with streaked red eyes.

"Rachael, you know that we love you. Unfortunately, there isn't a book written in a step by step style of writing telling us parents how to raise a child. What you don't know is how proud we are of your bravery today. How scared we were when you could have gotten killed. Parents don't usually write out a plan for their children or the exact dialogue needed to be said at the right time. Your one of the few humans who's tolerant of everybody, and that's a real gift."

Rachael buries her face in her father's shoulder now. Jean kisses her daughter's red hair.

"Rachael, as Rogue once said, 'life can be as crazy as Martee Gra!'"

With such a short phrase, Rachael's shoulders become less tense as her sobs begin to ease down.

……………

To our daughter, whom we love so much.

To that beautiful angel sent to us as a blessing.

God gives infants parents for their innocent souls to be protected.

'Will we ever fail to protect her?' is a question that we never really contemplate or ever bring into our conversations.

Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.

Just hold on, everything will be alright.

Everything will be alright.

Because we will always be there for you.

……………

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