The Academy

Forty Eight

Tink:

"Rose said I was unqualified to give her the talk. If I can't give my sister the talk, how am I supposed give my kids the talk with out lying to them?" I ask as I pace Peter and I's bedroom while I wait for him to get out of the shower. "We don't have to worry about that for a long time Tinkerbell, would you please just chill?" Peter asks. "Oh my gods, you shower like a teenage girl! It's been forty five minutes when are you going to be ready?" I demand, turning on the sink and letting hot water run. "Oh my gosh, right now. I'm done in the shower right now," he exclaims as his shower goes from steaming to ice cubes.

"Hurry up," I say, throwing a towel at him and leaving. "Mommy married a teenage girl. I didn't know I wasn't straight but apparently I'm not," I babble to Samantha. "Delilah, time to get up honey," I say, opening her door. "Silly Mommy, I'm already awake. Do I look pretty enough to get in to this school?" She asks, brushing her hair. "You look gorgeous," I say, taking her hand as we leave the room. "Can I feed Nathan?" She asks after I set Sammie down in her highchair. I strap her in and snap the tray on before going back into the nursery. "Oh hi Nathan. Mommy didn't forget about you," I tell him, picking him up and changing him before going into the kitchen. "I'm sorry honey what was the question?" I ask Delilah after putting Nathan right next to his sister.

"Of course but I think I want to try something. Can you hand me the cereal box?" I ask my overall clad daughter. I pour a few on each tray but they aren't paying attention to me, they are staring at Delilah. Delilah waves and makes funny faces. They laugh and Peter runs down the hall way. "Keep doing it honey," he encourages. They laugh and laugh and laugh until they don't think Delilah is funny anymore.

"Like this guys," she says, picking up a piece of cereal and putting it in her mouth. They just wait for something to happen and then she does it again. Nathan does it first, his movements are jagged but he's infant and that's what they're supposed to be. "Yay," I say, clapping and smiling. "Now you do it Sammy," Delilah says, turning the high chairs toward each other. Nathan does it again, looking for a reaction and Peter and I cheer. Sammy does it and we all cheer, soon they are eating cereal by the hand full just so we'll clap.

"Alright, you ready to go?" I ask after Peter and I have burped the little ones. "Yeah. I'm not sure I'm good enough though," Delilah says, grabbing my hand as we walk down the stairs. "Well that's what this school is for, my dad works here and there are so many kids like you. They all have abilities but you have so many you are going to work with Grandpa X. You will get to have classes like English and Math and Science but you will spent some special time learning how to use your powers with Dr. X," I explain, trying to calm her down a little.

"Do you ever get afraid?" She asks Peter as we all pile into my car. "I was afraid when you met me. I'm always afraid," Peter says, starting up the car. "What are you afraid of?" She asks. "Well I'm afraid something bad is going to happen to you or mommy or your aunt and uncle or the twins. Being afraid just means you have something worth living for, something you need to keep safe. For me that's you guys," he says. "Well I'm also afraid of the dark and clowns," he adds, pulling into the Institute. "It looks like a castle," she says in awe.

"Hey Elsa," I greet Bobby as we get out of the car. "Hey Tink," he says, hugging me. "Funny, he doesn't look like a princess," Delilah says, getting out of the car. "Oh I am way cooler than the princess," he says, squatting down to talk to her. "Hi, my name is Bobby but you can call me what your mom does, that being Elsa, or the Iceman or just Bobby," he says, shaking her hand. "My name is Delilah Eve Pan. You can call me Delilah or just Lilah. That's what daddy calls me," she explains. "Do you want to see what I can do?" He asks. Peter and I quickly step into the grass with the kids. Delilah nods. "Do you like ice skating? Well now you can do it in your sneakers," he tells her, touching down on the cement and turning it into a glass thin sheet of ice. "This is so cool!" She giggles as she drifts away.

"This must be Delilah," Dr. X says, coming outside to see us. "Yeah. You must be Dr. X, mommy told me about you but so did you like just now. Can I go to school here please?" She asks. He laughs and so does she. "Of course, please come inside. It's frightfully chilly. I can show you around. Your Daddy can come but I think your mommy is here to see another person," Dr. X says. "No, I can come with you guys first," I say as we go inside. "Jace as an assignment that is urgent, please go now," he insists. "I'm sorry Delilah. I'll make it up later. Bye guys," I say, giving Delilah a big hug and handing Samantha to Bobby.

I sprint up to Jace's room in my heels and he looks up. "Tink, your dad isn't dead. That's what this urgent mission is," he says, looking more concerned for my sanity than his safety. "Okay. I'll just go talk to Peter and than we can be on our way," I say, running a hand through my hair. "No, they stamped it confidential. Not even Logan can know about it," Jace says, holding up the fire. Oh Lord.