Snooker'd

John Allerdyce and Kitty Pryde, the two mutants known as Pyro and Shadow Cat respectively, were cuddled up on the rather large, almost mutant itself, sofa in the main room of the X-Men mansion. John was absentmindedly playing with his lighter, making the flame dance and jump about. A stray spark leapt across to Kitty, but passed straight through her as she automatically phased out of the way.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that. I love you and all that, but I don’t want to be set on fire,” she giggled. He looked apologetic and closed the lighter, killing the flame.

“I’m sorry, please forgive me,” he smiled, “And I love you too.” Leaning forwards, he gently planted a kiss on her lips and stroked her hair.

“A hell of a lot,” he added quietly.

Ben ran in through the back door, laughing breathlessly. The sounds of someone chasing him could be heard in the main room, causing John to jump up and rush to his aid.

“Are we being attacked? Who’s chasing you?” He created a fireball between his palms, ready to throw at the next person through the door. Ben paused to look at him, and seeing the fireball, exclaimed, “John, no! It’s Piotr!” The warning came a fraction of a second too late, as the fire mutant hurled his creation at the figure that appeared in the doorway. The force of the blast knocked them off their feet, back out of the house, and into a nearby tree. Both men hurried outside to see how bad the damage was, Ben worried for his boyfriend’s health, John more worried for the tree. Piotr would be fine, but if he wrecked a tree and Ororo found out, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Shine, are you alright?” Ben giggled, kneeling down at his side, “You look funny, draped over the tree like that, all dazed and confused.” Piotr sat up carefully, brushing bits of tree from his hair and clothes. He rolled his eyes before replying, “I’m fine. I turned to metal before it hit me, so all that’s hurt is the tree. And speaking of that, let’s get out of here before Storm turns up!” He jumped up and hurried inside, the other two men following behind.

“Shine?” John raised an eyebrow at Ben, who grinned and answered, “When he turns to metal, ALL of him is metal. And metal is shiny…” He chuckled at the look on John’s face, which clearly said ‘I did not need to know that,’ and strode to catch up with his lover. John was about to rejoin Kitty in the house, when a hand rested on his shoulder.

“You hurt one of my trees,” Ororo growled menacingly.

Kitty looked up from her place on the sofa when she heard footsteps coming in from outside. She was surprised to see her boyfriend looking very disheveled and windswept.

“What happened to you? Ben and Piotr came in ages ago!” She enquired, rather confused. John scowled and muttered, “I accidently hurt one of Storm’s trees, and she got a bit too excited. You know how possessive she gets about them.” She stood up and hugged him, patting his hair down.

“She is in tune with nature, y’know, she can feel their pain. You wouldn’t like them being hurt if you were in her situation,” Kitty mumbled into his ear, “Can I talk to you, please?”

“Aren’t you now?”

“In private.” She glanced over at Ben and Piotr snuggled up in the armchair.

“Oh okay, sure.” He followed her through the nearest door, into the adjacent games room. As he shut the door, he heard Piotr whispering, “Damn! We missed our chance.” Slightly apprehensive, he frowned, but pushed the thoughts away and turned to face Kitty, who was sat on the snooker table, swinging her legs.

“What’s up, darling?” He asked, intrigued. Kitty mumbled something intelligible in response.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.” She took a deep breath and repeated, “John, I’m pregnant.” He froze; surprise and terror mixed together, washing across his face.

"Are you sure?" He asked nervously.

"Yes, I'm certain." Kitty replied, not meeting his gaze. He leant on the snooker table, shaking.

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked cautiously. There was a long silence before John's face lit up and he grinned, "I'm going to be a father!"