Remy settled at the counter to watch her cook, interested to see what she would come up with.

Crystal was perhaps a little more showy than normal, though she was normally slapdash as she cooked, throwing things together and darting around the kitchen like a hummingbird on meth.

Remy watched, part amused and part impressed, as Crystal efficiently buzzed around the kitchen. He almost offered to help, but he got the feeling that she wanted to do it on her own, so he let her. It really was kind of impressive.

It took her a little while, but finally Crystal decided she was finished. She made a dish for Remy and set it front of him, grinning.

"Best to grab it before the kids descend, which I'm sure they will as soon as they realize I'm done."

"Not a problem, chere," Remy said, grinning. He reached for a plate. "Looks amazin'."

Crystal grinned and got a plate for herself, going to sit next to him as the kids came in to get their own food.

Paige drifted in with the crowd of kids, herding them all to the table.

"Looks good," she commented to Crystal as she got closer.

"Thanks." Crystal grinned and let everyone get their dinners, shifting to make room.

Remy grinned as he worked on his plate. It was definitely as good as Crystal claimed it would be. He was sufficiently impressed and maybe a little smitten as well.

Crystal was unaware of his train of thought. But Charles wasn't. He looked at Remy appraisingly for a few moments. He'd never known the other mutant to be smitten with, well, anything.

Remy noticed Charles studying him and raised an eyebrow briefly.

Out of Gambit's head, mon ami, he thought at the telepath. My thoughts are my own.

I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to listen in, Charles said sheepishly. I seem to be a little less controlled since the little one. Not for long, this happened after the twins too.

No harm done, Remy replied. He knew Charles didn't mean it, really; the telepath wasn't typically in the habit of eavesdropping, Remy knew.

Charles kept to himself then. But he did ponder to himself about Remy and Crystal. Because that was certainly going to be interesting. He knew, even without eavesdropping, that Crystal didn't think well enough of herself to accept that anyone else felt that way about her.

A few weeks afterwards, Paige stood warily at the edge of the crowd, in a dress Raven had insisted on buying for her. The wedding had been nice (even though she'd sat near the back, as far as she could from her more antagonistic family) and now it was time for the reception. Hesitantly, she made her way inside, looking for her name at one of the tables.

The table she was at had a few of her family, but they were more indifferent. They glanced at her before they went back to their own conversations. For the moment, anyway.

Paige sat down cautiously, but didn't do more than a faint 'hello' in greeting. She very carefully kept her hands to herself.

The family ignored her for most of the reception, until it was time that people could leave politely.

"Oh. It's you." A woman spoke from behind Paige, one of her aunts. She didn't sound pleased.

Paige flinched slightly, but turned around.

"Aunt Deb," she greeted carefully.

"What are you doing here?" Deb looked at her, not quite glaring, but certainly not pleasant.

"I was invited," Paige replied, still being careful of her words and tone. Deb was not someone she wanted to upset.

Deb snorted derisively. "You shouldn't have come," she said. "You're staining this party." She sneered a little at Paige.

"I'm still part of this family," Paige said defensively. "Tom's my cousin, too. I didn't want to miss his wedding."

"You are an abomination," Deb hissed, though she wasn't willing to make a scene yet. "You should never have been allowed to live."

That made Paige flinch again.

"Why do you hate me so much?" she asked. "What did I ever do to you?"