To a certain extent, he did wish he was a mutant. It had been a bitter disappointment when all the genetic tests had come through negative. It hadn't been too long ago, either, so the disappointment was still somewhat fresh.
But he had meant it the way she had taken it, too. He knew that being a mutant wouldn't make him able to do everything he felt he ought to be doing. It would just make his abilities more expansive.
"It must be hard for you," he noted after a moment. "I've really only got you, Esme, and Sophie to worry about, beside myself. But you've got your whole school." Nate could take care of himself, and probably a small country in addition, and Lorna and Alex were more equipped to defend themselves than he would likely ever be. Everyone else was secondary, after family.
The thought of Sinister infiltrating Taunton was not a nice one.