A/N: This story doesn't really fit into the movie timeline, like at all. It'd probably be after First Class? I just had to write something about Erik being a father since X-Men Dark Phoenix didn't give me the Peter/Erik storyline I wanted. There won't be an "order" to the story, just snippets of Erik and his family's life.

Erik Lehnsherr knew he wasn't a good man. He killed people without a second thought and devasted communities with a simple wave of his hands. In his mind, he justified it; it was for mutantkind, he was taking a stance against the humans who would incarcerate and harm him and his fellow mutants just for being different. He'd lived through it before.

Erik also knew that the universe had a twisted sense of humor, and nothing proved that more to him than when he first laid eyes on Magda Eisenhardt; a demure Romanian woman whose beauty instantly captivated him. A human woman with the kindest eyes and brightest smile; Erik knew that men like him didn't deserve women like Magda, but he'd be damned, if he wasn't enough already, if he let Magda walk out of his life.

Magda gave him the love and compassion he'd always secretly yearned for, but it destroyed him that the man his wife loved, wasn't the real him. Magda's husband was Erik Maximoff, a factory worker who was an active member of their community, always happy to help their neighbors and regularly invited to dinner parties. Erik Maximoff was a good man, because that's what Magda deserved.

She didn't know that the man she sweetly kissed in the morning was leaving to kill a diplomat pushing a mutant registration act. She didn't know the stress he came home with was caused by someone recognizing him rather than 'just another rough work day'. Magda didn't know him.

While Erik was fully aware he was living a lie, it was a lie he was more than happy to live until his dying breath. However, when he came home from another day in the factory, laughing with people he'd kill within an instant if the need every arose, to find Magda sat at the small dinner table with a happy yet apprehensive expression, he didn't realize how much he wanted his lie to be the honest truth.

Erik had never envisioned himself as a father; his life before Magda was no place for children and while Mr. Maximoff may be a good candidate for a parent, Magneto wasn't. Magneto would only bring misery, no matter how inadvertent. Any child of Magneto would be an Achilles heel, he had enemies who wouldn't think twice about slaughtering his child in retaliation for his own actions.

That night, after Magda had announced the news, Erik didn't sleep; his mind racing a mile a minute trying to find a solution. It broke his heart knowing that the best option would be to leave, get as far away from the innocent souls he'd be putting in danger if he stayed. The hurt it would cause Magda would be far less than the suffering she'd endure when one of his adversaries finally found them.

Erik kept putting his departure off; his desire to care and provide for Magda, especially in her current state, clouded his mind. He wanted to make sure Magda had enough money for when the child arrived, but before that he needed to work to make sure his wife had all the health care she needed; the pregnancy had been taking a toll on her, of all things, an iron deficiency rendered Magda almost constantly bed bound and the doctor's house calls weren't cheap.

The news that Magda was expecting twins made Erik even more desperate to stay; he knew that Magda would struggle with the baby when he left, but he knew it would be impossible with two, especially in the first couple of months during the healing period. Erik Lehnsherr couldn't stay, but Erik Maximoff couldn't leave.

The night that Erik crushed the helmet that made him feel invincible was the night that Erik told himself he'd killed Magneto and Erik Lehnsherr. He kept the newly formed silver cube as a reminder, he knew he couldn't be allowed to just forget his past, he deserved to live with it.

The first shrill cry that signaled his son's arrival completely wiped Erik's mind; he couldn't feel the sting of his wife's grip on his hand, he didn't feel the worry that had enveloped him all those hours ago when Magda's waters broke; the only thing in his mind was the thought that he had a child, someone to love and protect, to teach and learn from.

His daughter arrived twelve minutes later, her cries not as loud as her brother's, she was smaller, too, but still healthy and really there. Erik felt like he was floating and for a split second he panicked that he truly was levitating, but he wasn't, his feet were planted firmly on the floor, he was still holding Magda's hand, but he was the one with the tightest hold. He was floored, at a complete loss because he couldn't believe that he was allowed to have this; a family.

After the doctor and his assistant had left, Erik sat beside his wife on the bed; his daughter dozing in her mother's arms while his son fidgeted in his own arms. He didn't want to blink, his eyes darting between his children and his wife as if to make sure they were really and truly there.

Magda caught his eye with her own tired but happy green ones, a soft smile appearing on her face as she spoke.

"Our little magnets."

The cold feeling that washed over Erik was instantaneous, but didn't last very long, instead it was replaced with a feeling of complete stupidity. Of course, she knew who he truly was, one of the million reasons he loved her was because she was smart.

Four years Erik had known Magda; for four years, he'd been so sure she didn't know the monster he was, but she did, she'd probably always known . . . and she was still there, she'd accepted him, she had given him love and a family.

It was the first time in so long that Erik cried, but it was the first time that it wasn't due to sadness. It was with relief, happiness and shock. The realization of where he was and what he had finally caught up with him.

Erik Lehnsherr knew he wasn't a good man, but he would give everything he was to make sure he was a good husband and father.