"No kidding," Paige said, grinning. "Well, I should be getting out at a reasonable hour tonight, so I should be able to help you keep an eye on them."

"Just send me a text so I'll have an idea," Crystal said with a nod. She didn't mind keeping the kids entertained for a while, honestly, it was kind of fun.

"I will," Paige promised. She paused when her phone vibrated, and she checked it briefly. She raised an eyebrow when she saw an email waiting, and she opened it. She blinked, and then wordlessly held it out to show Crystal. "Quick question, when was the last time I was invited back for anything?" she asked.

"Almost never?" Crystal guessed, looking at the email and blinking. "The hell is this, anyway?"

"It's an email from my parents," Paige replied. "Asking if I'm planning on going to the family holiday thing this year."

"That's... so bizarre," Crystal said, frowning. "They never invite you to that thing."

"I know," Paige said. "It's weird." She read the email again. "There's a date and time and everything. I just don't know if they're serious."

"I don't know," Crystal said with a shrug. "Maybe email them back and say you're thinking about it? See if they say anything in return?"

"Probably a good idea," Paige said, already typing a reply on her phone. She wrote an ambiguous reply, not really confirming or denying her attendance, and sent it off.

Crystal shook her head a bit and went back to browsing the menu, although she was very curious as to why Paige's parents suddenly decided to show interest again.

Paige also turned her attention back to the menu, although she did occasionally check her phone. She was both intrigued and a bit wary; it hadn't ended well the last time she saw her family.

Lunch was quiet, but it was comfortable, and Crystal even managed to leave more relaxed than she'd arrived. She also got back to the mansion at a reasonable hour so she could help with dinner and/or help entertain the children as needed.

Remy was doing alright entertaining the kids for the moment. He'd pulled out his poker cards and was doing some simple card tricks for them, making cards disappear and reappear and all sorts of other sleight-of-hand. He glanced over and grinned when Crystal came in.

Crystal waved at them briefly, vanishing to go put down her bag and coat and scarf before she reemerged to check in with Charles. The calm from lunch was still there, but only just. Being refused jobs on the basis of a genetic anomaly was really getting to her, especially since Paige had gotten the job at SI.

Charles was reading quietly, just resting for a little while. The little one was in a bassinet next to him, sleeping soundly. Charles looked over when Crystal checked in.

"Welcome home," he said softly. "How was your lunch meet?"

"Fine. We got Greek food." Crystal grinned briefly. "Put in a few more applications while I was out." But she doubted that would come to anything.

"I'm sure something will come along," Charles said. "Would you like to come and join me? A few moments of relaxation would do anyone good."

"Alright," Crystal agreed after a few moments. She was still kind of wound up, but she figured sitting with Charles wouldn't be bad. So she pulled over another chair and settled in there.

"I can't imagine you would be terribly interested in reading about the history of known mutations in genetics," Charles said apologetically, holding up the book he'd been working on, "but I might have something a bit more to your taste, if you'd like something to read?"

"No, that's okay," Crystal said, grinning briefly. "I'm just going to sit for a couple minutes before I go help Remy with the kids. Unless you'd prefer I work on dinner. Either one."

"Whichever you are more comfortable with," Charles replied, smiling. "I dare say Remy can look after the children well enough on his own for a little while longer if he needs to."

"True, but it's hard to do a proper light show by yourself," Crystal said with a bit of a grin. And, if she were being honest with herself, blowing something up would feel far too good tonight.

"True," Charles replied, grinning a bit. "And the children do enjoy the light shows." He knew exactly what Crystal was thinking, but left it alone. She wasn't planning any harm.

"Indeed they do, bloodthirsty little things that they are." Crystal grinned. They both knew she wasn't serious about that, so she figured it was okay. At least until she got swatted down for something.

Charles couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Indeed," he said, grinning.