It was a bit astonishing, Charles thought, to see how comparatively easy it was for a group of people who were so different from each other could coexist peacefully. It only took a couple of weeks for a relative calm to settle into the house between the students and Shaw's former henchmen and, within the span of a month, the trio of wayward mutants had seemingly been accepted as part of the team.
The only one who appeared to be met with reluctance that spanned beyond the expected suspicion was Angel, which, while unfortunate, was understandable. All of the other students were still very aware of the betrayal that Angel had chosen and that it had lead to the loss of Darwin. Still, an effort was clearly being made on both sides of the issue and that was all Charles could really ask of them.
It helped that Raven, being the only other girl in the entire house, aside from Moira, was a little more willing than the boys to rekindle a tentative friendship with Angel. But, still, having half a house of people blaming you for the death of a good friend and most of the rest not really caring too much either way, Charles could tell that it was getting hard for the girl.
Things took a turn for the better, though, when Charles felt a familiar mind searching for them a few days before thanksgiving. Immediately, he had grabbed his coat, taken a car from the many choices in the garage, and headed for the city. It didn't take terribly long to find the wandering presence and he was greeted eagerly upon his arrival.
When he pulled into the driveway back at the house, the questions as to where he had gone so suddenly, without so much as a word, that were already forming on everyones lips, particularly Raven and especially Erik, quickly died when they caught sight of the dark-skinned man in toe with him.
"Son of a bitch, he did adapt," came Erik's voice, the first to break the stunned silence.
At that, it was like a dam shattering. All of the students surged forward, pulling Darwin into quick hugs before he was pulled away by someone else. Alex was the last to make any movements.
"I'm glad you okay," he mumbled awkwardly, glancing up at Darwin to see that the man's arms were held open expectantly as he awaited the last hug. With a chuckle, Alex stepped into the embrace briefly before pulling back, trying to subtly wipe away at the tears that he would later insist were never there.
"Looks like we're in need of another tour!" Raven called out cheerfully. "Who wants to help me show Darwin around the place?" Her offer was met by an enthusiastic shout from the rest of the group and soon it was just Erik and Charles left on the rocky pathway.
"How'd he do it?" Erik asked idly.
"How do any of us do the things we do?" Charles retorted with a smile. "I'm really happy that he did, though. I think that Darwin being here will be really good for everyone, especially Alex and Angel," he added hopefully.
Things were comfortably silent for a moment and after that moment was up, Erik warped an arm around Charles waist. "Let's get back inside. It's pretty chilly out here," he said lightly, nudging Charles, who knew that Erik was right, forward.
As per usual, Charles was right on the mark. After another week, it seemed that Angel had been welcomed back into the group, much thanks to Darwin. Charles knew that she had been beyond relieved to learn that Darwin didn't hold any of what happened against her; she had made a choice and it had been his own choice to try and stop her. Now they could choose to put it behind them.
Similarly, Erik and Moira had begun attempts to put their feud with each other behind them. Not long after Cuba, everyone came to the decision that Moira would have to stay; it wasn't like they could very well send her back to the CIA. After all, they were trying to remain off the radar and the longer the government believed them all to be dead, the better it would be for everyone involved. Besides, having another woman in the house was effecting a positive response from Raven and Angel. As they had said many times in the last month and a half, while they loved the boys, sometimes they just needed a little girl time.
They only real event that shook things up in the mansion was the incident where Charles and Erik accidentally outed themselves.
Two months after everyone had settled into the mansion, just a few days before Christmas, Erik had apparently thought it funny to tie up mistletoe above his chair in the study before their game of chess before dinner. When Charles had walked over to hand him his glass of scotch, Erik had met Charles' eyes and pointed upward with a smirk. Of course, Charles had found it all in good fun at first and quickly obliged himself to tradition's standards.
It certainly started out as a innocent, seasonal kiss but, soon enough, Erik had snaked his arms around Charles' waist and Charles had straddled Erik's waist in return, his hands buried deep within Erik's auburn tresses. Feeling Erik buck up against him slightly to put some friction between both of their steadily swelling members, Charles had absolutely no intentions of stopping.
That was, until a high-pitched squeak broke through the sounds of the two men's gasps and moans.
Erik's arms quickly disappeared from their resting spot and Charles lurched backwards in surprise, catching a glimpse of Raven standing in the doorway, before losing his balance and crashing unceremoniously to the floor, hitting his head on the side of the table on the way down. Charles let out a soft cry and Erik was at his side in an instant, his hands on Charles' shoulders, helping him into a somewhat more dignified sitting position rather than the heap on the floor, while Charles' hands were busy cradling his throbbing head.
"Well, I was coming to tell you that dinner's ready but I can see that you guys are already very busy eating each other's faces," Raven mutters. "I'll see you downstairs." she adds before rushing out the door.
Charles glanced toward the door and, seeing that Raven was long gone, turned a sheepish look on Erik. "I suppose the cat's out of the bag, now," he said with a chuckle that soon morphed into an full-out laugh. He reached out to clutch Erik's shoulder for support as he fell into a fit of giggles at the whole situation and Erik, finding the sight much more amusing than he figured he really ought to have, was soon laughing along, resting his forehead against the telepath's.
Everyone accepted the news readily, though Raven, slightly bitter about her brother winning the guy she liked, wouldn't speak with either of them for the next day or two. Charles tactfully granted her the time she needed to vent and she came around soon enough; Charles was also extremely pleased when his sister even sought him out to offer him her congratulations.
As it happened, Raven seemed to move on easily from Erik and found a new interest in Azazel, which Charles was slightly less than ecstatic about but kept quiet, not wanting to ruin his sister's newfound happiness with the protective older brother act. Besides, if anyone was going to be able to understand and relate to her, Charles supposed, it would be Azazel.
Life in the mansion carried on peacefully after that. Raven and Azazel grew closer and closer, the other students were getting on almost as though nothing had ever gone wrong between them, and Charles and Erik no longer felt any pressure to hide their relationship. There were still brushes of fingers and knees hidden under the table just for their own private enjoyment and there were still late nights when they tried in vain to play quietly but there was no longer any fear of what would happen should anyone catch on to their games.
Everything had fallen into a relatively easy pattern by the time new years was rolling around. Of course, it was still nearly a daily occurrence that something caught fire or smashed or blew up or in any other way was mutilated by the never-ending mischief that the children seemed to get up to. Even with the chaos, Charles never stopped finding himself completely enamored with his current situation, so much so that he brought up to Erik the prospect of going back on the road to search for more mutants.
"The children are coming along so well. I would love to see what we could do for those even younger," Charles spoke up one night in the study. "Imagine what it would have been like to grow up in a place where you're not alone in your talents, to grow up not having to hide or be afraid or ashamed of who you are."
"Is this about that school idea of yours, again?" Erik asked with a soft smile as he gazed across the chessboard at Charles fondly.
"Of course it is," Charles laughed. They both knew that this was becoming an increasingly familiar discussion. "And don't act as though you aren't interested," he scolded playfully. He remembered very well the way Erik's eyes had lit up when Charles had first brought up the possibility.
"There would be no point trying to lie to you, now would there," Erik teased back. He was well aware that Charles would never delve into his mind without the permission to do so but he also was completely conscious of the fact that, at this point, Charles had little need to do so to know what Erik was thinking. "You know where I stand on that; I'm all for it so long as we don't squander these kids' gifts by hiding them away from the world," Erik asserted.
It was always where the real issue lied with the idea that they both loved. Erik wanted for the mutants that they took in to accept themselves. He wanted them to be proud of who they were and to not have to live in fear and isolation because the less evolved people couldn't accept that they weren't alone in the rule of the world anymore. Charles always maintained that, while he too wanted the students to accept themselves, there was a certain matter of safety that needed to be taken into account. These were children and, no matter how proud of themselves or skilled they are in their abilities, there would always be a bitter human that had the means to take them out anyways. He had learned well from the incident on the beach in Cuba that humans were not going to easily accept the presence of mutants, and this only made him all the more resolved to protect as many of them as he could manage to fit within the walls of his home.
"Perhaps you're right, love," he conceded anyways after a moment of thought. He understood that he and Erik held very different views and there would always been need for compromise. "How about this, then. The younger mutants we admit should remain at the school most of the time and learn to use and appreciate their powers properly while older students can focus on learning to integrate themselves into society," he proposed.
"Are you suggesting that we have two separate schools?" Erik questioned with a laugh. "We're already trying to get down plans for the first," he exclaimed with an amused expression. It was just like Charles to go out of his way like this.
"Within the same walls of this home, but yes. It does make sense. I mean, older and younger students will have different needs to cater to and perhaps it might be best for that to address those in completely separate manners," Charles speculated, worrying lightly on his lip and getting that expression he always gets when he's thinking hard about something that matters to him. The last time he wore that expression, it hadn't been very long before whatever conversation they had been having was long forgotten when Erik couldn't resist jumping him. "Now, if we were to have two school, we might look into have two different people in charge," he continued, looking at Erik expectantly.
It didn't take long for the metal-bender to catch on the where Charles was going with this. "You want me to run a school?" he asked skeptically.
"My friend, I daresay, you might be good at it,"Charles told him, now looking at him in the way he did when he truly believed that Erik was able to do something.
Knowing that Charles had so much faith in him already, Erik slowly found his own apprehensions wavering. The thought that they were finding a way to compromise on this issue was very appealing to him and, the more he thought about it, the more the prospect of having a chance to teach mutants that they didn't have to be the pariahs of society was quickly growing on him.
Apparently, Charles could tell that Erik was already getting hooked on the idea and that soon enough he would agree because the next thing he said was, "Just think on it for a bit. We can talk about it more later." With that, Charles made a final move on the chessboard. "Checkmate," he said contentedly.
As anyone who knew that Erik would do just about anything for Charles could have predicted, he gave in about a day later. It was more than worth it when he saw the way Charles' face lit up the entire stan of the Xavier gourds when Erik told him that he would back him up in this school endeavor.
From there, they asked Raven what she thought about the idea and she was quick to agree.
"I think it's great, Charles," she told him. "It'll be nice to see some new faces around here. I can only take so many of Sean's lame pick-up lines without wanting to follow Erik's lead and shove him off another satellite dish," she joked before adding, "Besides, I think it would be good for you to get out again. Since nothing big has really happened since we got back from Cuba, I'm starting to get worried that you're going to turn into an even bigger old-fart academic than you were at Oxford.
Charles laughed along with the well-intended joke but Erik caught the falter in his grin and made a note to sake Charles about it later.
The chance to do so didn't come around until long after dinner, once Erik had made his way back up to the room that he and Charles shared. As he opened the door, he heard sounds of movement coming from the bathroom. Crossing through the bedroom, he stopped to lean against the bathroom doorframe. From there, he had a nice angle of Charles' bum as the man stepped off of a scale. Walking in casually, he stood behind the telepath and wrapped his arms around his midsection, leaning forward to nuzzle his face into Charles' wet hair that smelled like Erik's favorite shampoo.
Charles jumped softly at the sudden contact but quickly moved his own arms backward to encircle Erik as he tilted his head to rest it against Erik's. They stayed like that for a few long, blissful moments and no words passed between them in that time. Finally, yet too soon, Charles untangled himself from Erik's grasp.
"I'll let you use the bathroom now," Charles told him with a soft smile.
With that, Erik was alone in the bathroom. It was too late to tell the other that he had only come in here to be with him. Still, he supposed he would have to take care of the nightly bathroom routine sometime and he knew that, if he went to settle himself into the bed with Charles now, there was no way he would want to leave later. As quickly as he could, Erik washed his face and brushed his teeth, skipping the shower for now; he could always take one in the morning.
Once all of his hygiene obligations were fulfilled, he pulled off his slacks and turtleneck and tossed them into the hamper next to the bathroom door on his way out, leaving himself in nothing more than his boxers.
Making his way back into the bedroom and over to the bed, he saw Charles sitting on the edge with a drawn expression, looking to be thinking carefully.
"Deep thoughts, my friend?" Erik asked as he dropped to his knees in front of Charles and put his arms back around the telepath's waist, burying his face into the cuddly stomach in front of him and placing an affectionate kiss there.
"Erik, stop that," Charles warned testily, pushing firmly at the metal-bender's shoulders to move him away from the warm belly.
Erik frowned at the reaction. It wasn't an uncommon utterance on Charles' part when they were fooling around but it had always been said more or less jokingly with embarrassed laughter when Erik was been audacious or found another sensitive spot on Charles' surprisingly ticklish body. Now, however, it sounded like Charles really meant it and was honestly bothered by Erik's ministration.
Pulling back but leaving his hands where they were rested on the small of Charles' back, Erik peered up to meet his eyes. "What's wrong, Charles? You've been a bit off today," he commented, worriedly.
"I'm sorry. It's nothing, really," Charles mumbled, shifting his gaze.
"Clearly, if it's got you this worked up, it's not nothing," Erik prodded. When Charles didn't respond, he tried again. "I want you to talk to me, love," he insisted, utilizing the pet name that often used.
Hearing the endearment, Charles made the mistake of looking back down at Erik, taking in the kind eyes that were reserved for him and the way his brow was knitted together in concern. At that, Charles lost all resolve.
Charles sighed heavily and spoke hesitantly. "You can't laugh," he told Erik sternly.
"I would never laugh at you. Not cruelly, at least," Erik said, looking incredulous. "You know that."
"I-I know. It's just…" Charles trails off for a moment. After fiddling with his hands in his lap, stalling for as long as he can, he meets Erik's eyes completely. "Am I getting fat?" he asks quietly.
Erik could only stare at him for a few seconds of stunned silence. To be honest, it does take a notable amount of effort to make good on his promise not to laugh; it is not Charles that he feels compelled to scoff at, but the notion that Charles could be anything less than perfect.
"What?" Erik breathed, trying to reagin his ability to speak. "Is this about what Raven said?" he finally manages, having regained his composure from the shock.
"Yes…no…I…well, a bit," Charles stuttered before taking a breath to steady himself and his speech. He could feel his face heating up in embarrassment as he thought about how ridiculous he sounded right now, like a silly teenage girl. "Erik, I've gained ten pounds since we got back. It's not healthy!" he exclaimed.
Erik was silent for a moment. Wordlessly, he trailed his hands up Charles back to the top of the shirt and moved to pull it from Charles' back. The smaller man briefly tried to resist but his efforts quickly died out and soon enough he was topless. Erik shifted forward again, placing another impossibly soft kiss to Charles' stomach, directly above the navel. If Erik was being truthful, he couldn't deny that there was a slightly more pronounced curve to Charles' plush abdomen than there had been when they had first made love over two months ago.
"Do you trust me, liebling?" Erik asked, not pulling back even an inch from where he had settled himself against Charles waist.
"Mm hmm," Charles noised cautiously, not sure where this was going.
"Then trust me when I say that there is absolutely nothing on this earth that you or anyone else could do that would make you anything less than perfect to me," he whispered, sending with the reassurance the feelings of adoration that he always was overcome by when he was around Charles. I love you, he sent over as well.
Charles smiled happily and pulled Erik's face up towards his own to press their lips together in a tender kiss. I love you too.
With that, Erik pulled apart and stripped Charles of his pants before standing to walk around to the other side of the bed. Charles seemed to take the hint as Erik crawled into bed and pulled back the covers for him, leaving his arms open in a waiting fashion.
Charles was quick to oblige him curling up happily into Erik's warm embrace. He was still a bit bothered by his predicament but he was willing to let it drop for now in favor of letting himself drift off to the comforting feel of Erik pressing his lips to Charles' hair and rubbing gentle circles on his back.
When Erik blinked the sleep out of his eyes the next morning, the first thing he saw was that his arms were empty. The second thing he saw was that the space of bed next to him was also empty. Groaning softly as he sat up, Erik glanced around the room, listening for any sounds of his lover.
No Charles in the bedroom. No sounds coming from the bathroom.
With a sigh, Erik swung his legs from the bed. It wasn't unusual for Charles to be an early riser but, on most days, he lazed in bed after waking and snuggled up against Erik, waiting for the metal-bender to wake up as well. If he had foregone the lure of early morning cuddling, he must have had something he wanted to do elsewhere.
After he had taken a shower and thrown on some slacks and a simple, dark-blue turtleneck, Erik wandered out of the room and stalked through the halls in search of Charles. Instead, he happened across Raven.
"Have you seen Charles?" he asked bluntly.
"Good morning to you too," Raven snarked but they both knew that the retort was just for show. Everyone knew very well how attached to and protective of Charles Erik was and no one really minded to much when he got a little short with them where Charles was concerned. "I saw him a couple minuets ago. I think he was heading for the kitchen," Raven told him without needing any further prompting.
"Thanks," Erik muttered hastily as he set off down to hall.
He had almost reached the door of the kitchen when a loud crash sounded through the air, quickly accompanied by a soft cry. Rushing to the door, Erik peered inside.
It was all he could dot stay standing as he doubled over laughing.
When Charles woke up in the morning, Erik's arms were still wound around him possessively, bringing a small smile to Charles' lips. He contemplated the prospect of just staying in bed like he normally did and abandoning his plans but, after a few hard moments of thought, he decided otherwise.
It was New Years Eve and he had been wanting to surprise Erik and the others with something special and he really wanted to get it done before nightfall. Though, knowing his baking skills, it would probably still be evening by the time that he was finished. That being the case, he would need all the time he could get and, unfortunately, that left little time for relaxing in bed with Erik.
Erik was a very light sleeper, as Charles had well learned, so he had to move as quietly and carefully as possible. And, if he had used his telepathy just a bit to keep Erik asleep while he snuck out of the room, no one had to be the wiser.
"Good morning, Raven," he said cheerfully as he passed the living room, one of them, where Raven was settled into one of the plush armchairs. "You're up early."
"I would say the same to you but that would be ignoring the fact that you're always up at ungodly hours of the morning," Raven responded teasingly.
Charles chuckled as he moved on, pushing past the door that led into the kitchen. Quickly, he gathered up the supplies that he had already made sure to have stocked earlier that week.
He made it halfway across the kitchen with his bowl of ingredients before a sudden wave of overwhelming dizziness washed over him. As he reached out and clutched for the counter to keep himself from collapsing less than gracefully, the bowl slipped from his grasp and clattered noisily to the ground. When it hit, the bag of flour that he had been carrying burst open and Charles was suddenly covered in a cloud of white powder.
The first thing he heard was a loud bark of laughter. Blinking through the thick coating of flour that was covering his face, Charles saw Erik, with his arms wrapped tightly around his middle and leaning heavily against the doorframe, cracking up at what Charles knew must be a very entertaining sight.
"Yes, I'm thrilled that you're amused but, as soon as you compose yourself, I would greatly appreciate a little help," Charles said, finding the means to speak again.
Erik wiped at a stray tear and stood up straight again. "I'm sorry, Schatz," he chuckled as he started to walk over to Charles' unsteady form.
Charles released his grip on the counter tentatively and nearly toppled forward as he lost his balance, still not recovered from his bout of lightheadedness. He shot his hand out to grab hold of the support once again but Erik was already at his side, gripping his shoulders firmly to steady him.
The feel of Erik ageist him always grounded Charles, at the same time that it sent him sky high, and Charles let himself lean forward to rest against the solid chest in front of him, tilting his face into the crook of Erik's neck. Erik smelled like Charles' favorite shampoo, the one that he kept stealing from Erik. He inhaled deeply…
…and instantly regretted it.
Charles moved away and sneezed loudly as a rush of flour invaded his nose. Erik chuckled again lightly but reached out to pull Charles back to him as the latter began to wobble unsteadily for another wave of dizziness from the sneeze, this one much more manageable than the first. Charles accepted the support gratefully and gripped lightly at Erik's shirt, sighing contentedly and shutting his eyes until the room stopped spinning.
When his head was marginally clearer, Charles pulled back just enough to peer up. Erik was looking down at him, his face a mixture of emotions consisting somewhere along the lines and amusement, curiosity, and concern.
"What happened in here?" Erik asked softly, his voice containing the same mixture of emotions as his face.
Charles considered lying and blowing the whole incident off but the throbbing in his temples that was making it hard to think convinced him otherwise. "I got dizzy and dropped everything," Charles mumbled, burying his face back into Erik's neck in an attempt to hid how red his face was becoming, though he was pretty sure that Erik could feel the hot blush that was pressed up to his skin. It was a less than professorly choice of words but Charles couldn't care much less.
"Dizzy?" Erik repeated and Charles nodded in response. "Are you okay?" Erik ventures on, concern lacing ever word.
"My head hurts a little bit but, really Erik, I'm alright," Charles sais, slightly pulling away again. Erik allows him that much but won't let Charles leave his grasp. "Honestly, Erik, I'm fine," he insists, wiggling his way out of Erik's hold. For all of his assurances, though, his shaky steps seem to prove him otherwise.
Erik stares at him doubtfully and moves to stand next to him, bringing an arm around Charles' shoulders. "Come on," he tells him. "At least sit down for a few minuets in the living room. Then, you can get back to whatever fiasco you were attempting to start here," Erik teases, calmly leading Charles from the kitchen.
A few minuets later, Charles is neatly settled on the couch, laying against Erik's chest again while the older man cards his fingers through Charles' still flour-coated hair.
"So, what were you up to in the kitchen, anyways. You don't normally cook," Erik asked. In fact, he had never once Charles cook anything more than a cup of tea.
"It's New Year's Eve tonight," Charles commented. When Erik doesn't say anything to imply that he understands what Charles mean he continues. "I was going to make a cake for everyone to celebrate our first New Year's together."
"Why didn't you just ask me for help?" Erik questioned. "I woke up this morning in a cold bed, all alone," Erik says, exaggerating for emphasis.
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Charles muttered, grumpy that his plan had been ruined. Now that the flour was all over the kitchen floor, there was no way he was going to be able to make the cake in time. Charles drew his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them at the same time that he felt Erik stop petting him to reach around to hold Charles by the waist, leaning his cheek against the top of Charles' spine.
What's wrong, liebling? Erik sent over to Charles quietly. It would figure that Erik would know him so well, to be able to tell by that simple shift in position that Charles was upset; the only times that Charles balled up like that were times when he was in a bad mood.
Charles held his knees closer but relaxed a bit into the intimate position that Erik had put them in. It's New Year's Eve, Charles reiterated. I just wanted to do something special. I was going to make the cake and we could all have dinner together. Then we were all going to do fireworks on the grounds, he thought back to him, starting to tremble in Erik's embrace.
Erik pulled away momentarily and adjusted Charles so that they were facing each other. He wrapped his arms back around Charles and embedding a hand back into the telepath's hair, running his fingers through and scratching softly at the base of his skull.
"Well, I don't know about a cake any more but I don't see why we can't all still have dinner and do fireworks together," he assured him gently.
Charles loved when Erik got this way, when he let himself be completely affectionate and loving and kind. This was the goodness that Charles had been able to see in Erik several months ago while it was still hidden away, buried deep under all the anger and hatred that has finally begun to fade away. Even more, Charles loved that Erik didn't feel comfortable enough around anyone else to show this side. This Erik was just for him.
"And," Erik continued. "In the morning, I'll make a big New Year's breakfast for everyone. How's that sound?" Charles looked up to see him smiling fondly.
"That sounds wonderful, love," Charles replied. "Will there be hotcakes?" he asked suddenly, eyes wide and hopeful.
Erik chuckled softly and barely resisted the urge to kiss the ridiculous man he loved senseless right then and there. "If you want me to make hotcakes, they'll be there," he promised him and was given a magnificent smile in return for the commitment.
At that, Erik threw the resistance he had been maintaining out the window. Sitting up on his knees, he pushed Charles back to where he was laying sprawled across the couch. A devilish grin breaking out onto his face, Erik folded his arms above Charles' head and crushed their lips together in a bruisingly passionate kiss. It only intensified when Charles' hands snaked up Erik's back and fisted themselves into Erik's hair, still damp from his shower, and pulled him impossibly closer.
Erik had just enough time to lick at Charles' swollen lips and briefly push his tongue past as Charles parted them with a fervent moan before they were broken apart by voices from the hallway.
"Guys, what happened in the kitchen? There…" Moira's words cut off abruptly when she finally reached the entrance of the living room, having followed the trail of flour that Charles had no doubt left behind during his track from the kitchen. "Geez, you guys! Why can't you close the door an leave a hat on the handle like normal people?" she exclaimed, turning back around. "Clean up the mess you made in the kitchen when you're done!" she called out as she walked away.
Charles gazed back at Erik, his face flushed with more than just embarrassment. He smiled sheepishly. "I'm dizzy again," he whispered giddily.
"Good," Erik retorted smugly with a smile of his own before leaning back in to place another kiss to Charles wet, red, and puffy lips. It wasn't desperate or hungry like the last but rather exceedingly tender and more loving than anything else Charles had ever felt from Erik.
Charles melted into the kiss just long enough for Erik to pull back away. He waited for the older man to say something but, when he seemed perfectly content with starring at Charles reverently, Charles spoke up for him. "We really should go clean up our mess," he said lightly.
"Our? I don't remember throwing flour all over the kitchen," he teased as he dropped his head again to rest his forehead against Charles'. "You feel a little warm. Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, going back to his serious disposition.
"Erik, you just snogged me to the point that I couldn't think straight. It's not a stretch to think that I may have warmed up a bit in the last few minuets," Charles responded. Seeing Erik's disbelieving stare he tried again. "I assure you, love, I am perfectly fine," he averred, pushing his face upward to nuzzle his nose up to where Erik's forehead hadn't moved away.
"Alright," Erik relented with a chuckle. "But promise me that you'll let me know if you do start to feel unwell. At the very least, talk to Hank, since he seems to have become the family doctor anyways," Erik insisted, clearly still not quite put at ease.
"Okay, love, I promise," Charles assured him and Erik finally seemed satisfied enough to let him up from the couch.
Through the rest of the day, Erik made good on his promises to Charles.
Once the kitchen had been cleaned of all the spilled flour, Erik and Charles went into the city to pick up fireworks. Erik cooked a large dinner, with much help from Raven and Moira, and everyone obliged Charles and settled down at the table in the nice dining room for the meal. Even Azazel and Janos seemed to be enjoying themselves in the other's company, though Charles didn't miss the glances between Azazel and Raven that were clearly meant to be secretive.
After dinner, as soon as it was dark, everyone gathered outside with the large box of fireworks that Charles and Erik had picked up.
It was good to see the kids having so much carefree fun. Things had become so easy going since the Cuba mission had been taken care of and all the more so when Darwin had suddenly showed back up in their lives.
Tearing his eyes away from where the students were drawing pictures in the air with sparklers, Charles gazed up at Erik lovingly.
"This is the start of something wonderful, my friend," Charles murmured, sitting in complete tranquility in Erik's lap with the metal-bender's arms wrapped securely around his waist. Sighing contentedly, Charles took hold of Erik's arms encircling him and held the even closer as he reclined and nestled his head under Erik's chin.
Erik made a small noise of agreement, tightening his grip as Charles seemed to want. I'm glad we did this, he sent back silently, letting his eyes slip closed as he moved to press his lips to Charles' temple.
It was already nearly midnight by the time the students had burnt out their seemingly endless supply of explosives. Moira, Azazel, and Janos had already retreated back inside the mansion in favor of breaking out New Year's drinks. Now that the appeal of the outdoors had eliminated itself, the students finally were content with being led back in side by Erik, who was also practically carrying a half-asleep Charles that had nodded off in Erik's peaceful embrace earlier that night.
Everyone gathered back into the living room for one last get-together of the night to count down to twelve. As soon as the clock struck, Charles spun around in Erik's arms to look up at him at the same time the Erik glanced down, his eyes searching Charles for permission. Charles laughed at the unasked question and wordlessly wound his arms around Erik's neck for the first kiss of the new year.
It didn't last long, though, before Raven cut in.
"Good God, you two are going to give everyone cavities!" Raven called out from across the room, intentionally ruining the mood. Charles sent her a sleepy glare that they both knew had absolutely no feeling behind it.
Erik just laughed quietly before speaking. "You ready to head upstairs?" he asked and Charles gave him a drowsy sound of affirmation in response. "Alright, good night you all. Happy new year," he called out to the others before leading Charles from the room with an arm around his shoulder. As the telepath's eyes started to droop halfway down the hallway, Erik silently weighed the pros and cons of just scooping the man up and simply carrying him the rest of the way. He decided against it, not wanting to risk dropping Charles' dead weight as he scaled the stairs.
Still, Charles made it to their room in one piece and somewhat conscious, though it was all he could do to shuffle out of his clothes and collapse onto the bed, where Erik shortly joined him. Soon enough, Charles was settled back into Erik's arms, as he had spent a good portion of the day, not that he could complain. Charles could honestly say that it had been one of the happiest days he could remember.
"Happy new year, Erik," he mumbled into Erik's chest, quickly losing the tenuous grip on consciousness that he had maintained. I love you.
"I love you too, Schatz," Erik replied softly, carding a soothing hand through Charles hair, coaxing them both into a relaxed sleep.
At the first feel of light trickling in from the window, Charles blinked lazily against the sun and settled down farther down into the sheets. He reached out to pull Erik closer to him and was immediately more alert when his searching hands came in contact with nothing more than air. It was a rare feat when Erik got out of bed earlier than Charles and there was always a reason.
Dragging himself from the warm blankets, Charles searched the room for any sign of Erik. Finding none, he remembered the last promise Erik had made the day before. Breakfast.
Charles grinned at the thought that Erik had remembered and at the idea that hotcakes were being made for him.
Throwing on a quick pair of sweatpants, Charles walked merrily from the bedroom and made his way down to the kitchen. Peering inside once he reached his destination, Charles confirmed his deduction. There was Erik, standing in front of the stove with a pan. Erik glanced over his shoulder and gave Charles a quick smile before turning back to whatever he was cooking. On the counter, there was already a couple large plates of eggs, toast, and other assorted breakfast foods.
Charles sundered over and snaked his arms around Erik's abdomen, careful as to not disturb the cooking process.
"Morning, love. I…" Whatever Charles had been about to say was cut off when he breathed in deeply, catching the strong smell of the bacon Erik was apparently frying. Charles was suddenly overcome in a fit of nausea and dropped is arms from where they were resting on Erik's waist. With a pitiful whimper, he darted from the room and for the restroom.
"Charles?" Erik called out fearfully as the telepath sprinted from the room. Concern for his lover blinding him from everything else, Erik abandoned the half-cooked breakfast and took off after Charles.
He found him in the nearby restroom, hunched over the toilet, his knuckles nearly white as they clutched achingly tight at the bowl. Erik winced as a shudder tore through Charles and the man retched violently.
"Charles," Erik breathed worriedly as he dropped to his knees next to Charles, using one hand to hold back the man's overgrown hair and the other to rub sooting circles on his back. He whispered comforting words as Charles gaged again, this time accompanied by a pained moan.
After a few long moments, Charles' vomiting had been reduced to dry heaves. He finally toppled over into Erik's waiting arms, exhausted and panting, his bangs sweat-slicked.
"You done for now?" Erik asked softly and Charles nodded weakly against Erik's shoulder. "Let's get you back upstairs," Erik said, his heart wrenching slightly at the miserable noise of consent Charles gave him.
Erik moved his hands to cradle Charles' knees and lifted him bridal style as gently as he could manage. Charles had a hand lightly fisted into Erik's shirt and Erik was careful not to jolt him to much. Eventually, Erik got them both back to their room and made his way over to Charles' side of the bed. He cautiously deposited Charles' shaky form and pulled up the covers to his chin. Reaching out to brush the still damp bangs from the pale face, he felt Charles lean heavily into the touch.
Placing a quick kiss to Charles' forehead, Erik stood up straight and turned to leave but was stopped when a clammy hand grabbed feebly at Erik's sleeve.
"Where are you going?" Charles asked from the bed, his voice a bit raspy but still surprisingly strong for someone who was so obviously sick, Erik noted.
"I'm just going to go finish up breakfast for the others and then I'll come back up here," he replied softly. Seeing Charles' doubtful look, he continued. "Get some rest while I'm downstairs. I'll be back in just a few minuets," he assured dulcetly.
Either content with the answer or just too tired to press any farther, Charles released his flimsy grip and let Erik go on his way.
While Erik was out of the room, Charles did indeed do what had been asked of him and let his eyes slip closed, dozing lightly. He stayed that way, curled up on his side under the warm blankets that Erik had set on top of him, until he heard the door open.
Pulling himself out from his nest of covers, he saw Erik circling around to the other side of the bed, carrying a tray with a plate and a glass of juice.
"Feeling any better?" Erik asked, sitting down and placing the tray of food between the two of them.
"Loads, actually," Charles answered as he shifted himself into a sitting position. He looked over the contents of the tray and saw a little bit of everything that Erik had cooked up. "Is any of this for me?" he asked hopefully, eying the stack of hotcakes.
"I brought enough for both of us, if you're feeling well enough to keep anything down," Erik responded, watching Charles carefully.
Truthfully, though Charles was quite hungry and really wanted to eat some of the hotcakes that Erik had made especially for him, the smell of the freshly cooked bacon on the tray was starting to make him feel a bit queasy again.
Charles' stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, drawing the attention of both men. Erik laughed and said, "I suppose that answers that."
Charles laughed along and blushed as he looked up sheepishly at Erik. "Yes, I would like some food but, um," he hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed with his weakness. "If you could do something with the bacon, I would appreciate it," he finished. At Erik's curious stare, he explained. "The smell is really bothering me," he said, not quite meeting Erik's eyes anymore.
Erik obliged immediately, snatching up the plate and taking it into the bathroom to throw it out. Charles felt a little bad about the request, knowing that Erik happened to love bacon, or any meat products for that matter. Still, he was exceptionally grateful that Erik ha been willing to give it up for Charles.
"Is that better?" Erik asked, setting the empty plate down on the bedside table and settling himself back under the sheets. He scooted in close so that they were and Charles rested is head against Erik's shoulder.
"Very much so. Thank you, love," Charles responded as he grabbed a fork and started picking happily at the stack of hotcakes.
They sat comfortably quiet for a few minuets, both eating contentedly, before Erik decided to speak again. "So, I take it you're feeling better," he began. When Charles only made a noise of agreement around the food he had in his mouth, Erik continued. "Charles, you said you would have Hank look things over if you started feeling sick," he told him.
"I did say that but I'm feeling fine now. There's no need to trouble Hank," Charles meeting Erik's gaze squarely.
"Charles," Erik breathed, exasperated. "You didn't get sick for no reason. At least go talk to him like you told me you would," he implored.
There was a brief moment were Charles considered continuing the argument and insisting that he would be fine without needing to pull Hank away from his experiments to play doctor but, in the end, he gave in with a sigh. Honestly, it wouldn't do any really harm to steal Hank away from his work for a few minuets for a quick check up. At least, it was the better option when compared to fighting with Erik over such a silly matter.
"Fine," Charles relented. "I'll pay him a visit this afternoon."
With that assurance, Erik visibly relaxed and they both finished their breakfast in an easy silence.
Charles gave three light knocks to the door of the room that had been long designated as Hank's permanent lab. When there was no immediate response, he considered just walking away and letting the situation be. After all, it was probably no more than a little bug that had already passed. Soon enough, though, the door opened to reveal a surprised Hank
"Um…Professor? What brings you here?" Hank asked, his blue face quizzical. It wasn't very common that Charles felt any need to disturb Hank while he was working on a project, as he usually was.
Good afternoon, Hank," Charles greeted with false cheer. He really didn't like having to be here. This was his home, his future school; he shouldn't need to go to his students for help with something so mundane as an upset stomach. It didn't really matter anymore, though, because he had told Erik he would and he was already here with Hank staring at him expectantly. "I know this isn't really your responsibility but I was hoping you could give me a little exam," he said. "I'd imagine that you know more about medicine than the rest of us," he added as an attempt as humor to lighten the tension.
"Eh, sure, I guess," Hank agreed, opening the door wider and stepping aside for Charles to follow him inside, which Charles did. The lab was packed with test tubes and beakers and a thousand other pieces of experiment equipment. It seemed that the wreckage that had been in the lab before everyone left for Cuba had long since been picked up and fixed back up.
Charles trailed after Hank until they reached the back, where he took a seat in the chair that was offered to him.
"So, what's going on, Professor?" Hank asked hesitantly. At least it didn't appear that Charles wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable with this situation, not that it was much of a consolation that he was making his student as uneasy as he was.
"Well, I was just feeling a bit ill before breakfast this morning," he told him. Suddenly remembering the previous day he added, "I also was having a dizzy spell yesterday."
Hank looked at him with a very neutral expression. "Are you sure this isn't just a normal strain of the flu or something like that?" he asked.
Charles laughed, realizing all over again how ridiculous all this fuss was. "No, Hank, I'm not sure at all," he admitted.
"I see," Hank said simply, now looking only just slightly irked that he was being bothered with something possibly as common as the flu. "Has there been anything else unusual that you've noticed lately," he asked, getting formalities out of the way.
"Well, ah," Charles began, all the more embarrassed at the thought of mentioning his insecurity to his student. "I have gained a little bit of weight recently, if that might have anything to do with it," he just barely more than mumbled out, blushing bright red at the confession.
"Weight gain?" Hank repeated, confused. "Well, that's not a symptom of the flu. It might just be coincidental but, if you wouldn't object, I would like to run a couple quick tests," Hank told him, to which Charles quick consented, just wanting to get this over with so that he could go back to Erik and tell him that he had been overreacting after all.
From there, Hank took a couple blood and saliva samples, which he immediately began running tests on while Charles snacked on a piece of bread that Hank gave him so that he wouldn't get dizzy from having his blood drawn.
A while later, Charles didn't know how long having lost track after the first hour, Hank walked back over with an baffled look on his face.
"I take it you found something," Charles prompted when Hank didn't instantly start talking like he normally did.
"It's certainly something," Hank scoffed then looked like he regretted saying it entirely. With Charles' pressing gaze, though, he carried on. "I did a few tests on the samples you gave me, a couple of which I was using to check hormone levels in case an imbalance could be causing this," he said, pausing for a moment to see if Charles was following. The professor was just watching him patiently, waiting for him to reach his point. "Um, the thing is, I checked several times and your hormones, um, they are consistent with those of a… well, those of a pregnant woman," hue finally got out, not looking Charles in the eye.
"I'm sorry?" Charles asked, waiting for a punchline or for Hank to exclaim something along he lines of 'just kidding!'
When Hank didn't say anything else, he took a quick peek inside his mind. It was swimming with a mixture of shock, awe, curiosity and a dozen other things that told Charles that the boy wasn't lying.
"I…I'm p-pregnant?" Charles stuttered, suddenly very glad that he was already sitting down in a chair, lest his legs give out. So much for this being as common as the flu.
"Well, I'm not positive on that. If you can come back tomorrow, I'll put together some more efficient equipment tonight so that we can know for sure," he tried to tell Charles but the telepath was already long gone, the shock blocking out everything else. Besides, Charles had already seen the near certainty in his mind.
Standing unsteadily, Charles started for the door, needing desperately some time to himself to think this over.
"Th-thank you, Hank, for all your trouble," he mumbled, taking his leave of the room and making his way back to his room as quickly as he can without collapsing in the stairs or in a hallway with his shaky steps.
He opened the door and was relieved to see that Erik wasn't inside waiting for him right now. It was probably for the best. Charles needed a little bit of time to himself to come to terms with this before he could tell Erik.
Oh, god. He needed to tell Erik. He needed to tell Erik that he was pregnant. He was pregnant. Erik had gotten him pregnant. He was pregnant with Erik's child.
He let himself collapse onto the bed, knowing his legs wouldn't be able to support him for much longer. His trembling arms moved to curl tightly around his swollen stomach as he started to hyperventilate. He didn't know how this was possible but something inside him knew that Hank was right. He was pregnant.
That was how Erik found him twenty minuets later, balled up with his arms holding his midsection protectively. Charles shifted his eyes up to see Erik walking toward the bed.
"How'd it go with Hank?" Erik asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Charles and placing a warm hand on Charles' shoulder. "You're shaking," he commented.
"I'm just a little cold," Charles lied weakly. "Hank has a theory but he'd like me to come back down tomorrow for a couple more tests to be sure," he told him.
"That's all he said? What kinds of tests does he still want to do that he couldn't get done today,"
"He didn't say and I didn't ask. He just said that he needed to build some new equipment before he could know for sure what was going on," Charles said. He felt a little guilty for leaving out the crucial bits of information that Erik deserved but he just wasn't ready to tell him yet, not when there was a chance they were wrong. "If you're not doing anything, I'd like for you to go with me," he told Erik before he could stop himself.
"For the tests? Of course I'll go if you want me there," Erik promised with a fond smile that was reserved for Charles and Charles alone.
"Thank you," Charles said quietly as he moved to rest his head on Erik's hip. He let out a relaxed sigh as some of the tension left him when he felt Erik's hand stroking through his hair.
"You look exhausted. Do you want any dinner?" Erik asked.
"No, I'm not hungry right now," Charles mumbled. He knew he should probably eat something but, with his nerved as they were at that point, he doubted he would be able to even get anything down.
Charles wasn't sure if Erik would let it go at that but, in the end, he just pushed himself the rest of the way onto the bed and sat back next to Charles. He probably just figured that Charles was feeling sick again, a misunderstanding that Charles was happy to let slid if it kept Erik from asking any more questions.
The next morning came far too quickly for Charles' liking. To make matters worse, it seemed that Erik's internal alarm clock had decided to chose that morning to wake him up only minuets after Charles had awoke. To top it off, once Erik had finally managed to convince Charles into leaving the bed no the promise that they could get back to it as soon as they were done in the lab, Charles felt the instant need to make a beeline for the bathroom.
Erik followed after him and caught the repeat performance of Charles emptying any contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl that he was hunched over. Walking over solemnly, Erik knelt next to Charles, holding back his hair and rubbing his back as he had done the day before.
Erik was kind enough not to say anything. He merely settled on pushing feelings of affection and comfort toward Charles' mind. Charles gave him a fatigued smile in return once he felt confident enough to sit up properly without puking all over himself, or Erik, like a drunk freshmen at their first university party.
Thank you, my friend, Charles pushed toward him, still not quite trusting himself to speak just yet.
"Can you stand?" Erik asked, looking ready to help Charles up if needed.
Nodding, Charles hesitantly pulls himself to his feet, begging his legs not to give way; he's been humiliated enough for one week.
Back on his feet, Charles walked back into the bedroom and quickly put on some suitable clothes. He was just beginning to realize that he would have to get some new outfits if Hank was right. God, he was pregnant. He needed maternity wear.
He settled on sweats again and, when he was dressed, he turned around to see Erik, unsurprisingly, wearing his slacks and a turtleneck. Charles briefly thought about the option of getting Erik a new wardrobe too. Not that Charles thought that the shirts didn't flatter him; the man would just do well with some diversity.
"You ready?"
Charles gave a quick nod, knowing the he really wouldn't have any luck in stalling this so he might as was just face it.
When they reached the lab and knocked on the door, Hank was there in an instant, ushering them inside quickly. No doubt, he was desperate to know the answer as well. Hank was always eager to do experiments and this must be a gold mine for him, or at least silver.
Hank went to the other side of the room to grab some machine on a cart and instructed Charles to sit on the table and take his shirt off. Erik looked a little irriated at the idea that Charles would need to be shirtless for this but said nothing. He even relaxed a bit when Charles sent him a thought of reassurance, though Charles was pretty sure that he was going to be the one needing reassuring fairly soon.
Charles took a hold of Erik's hand, which immediately gave him a encouraging squeeze, and shivered a little as Hank put gel on his abdomen.
"What is this thing, Hank?" Erik asked, still completely out of the loop.
"It's an ultrasound machine that I built last night. It'll tell us what we need to know."
"You built it?" Erik repeated, obviously impressed. "Of course you did."
As Hank moved the machine's wand around, a picture suddenly came into focus, drawing a shocked gasp from Charles.
"What is that?" Erik inquired, glaring skeptically at the thing that was apparently growing in Charles stomach.
"It's…" Hank started to answer but was quickly cut off but Charles' voice in his head.
Can you tell the gender yet? Charles asked.
Shifting the wand slightly for a different angle, Hank looked back at Charles. It looks like a girl.
Charles laid back on the table, clutching Erik's hand tightly, needing something to ground him right then.
"What is it, Charles?" Erik asked, gripping back supportively. Charles could tell without looking into his mind that he was starting to get annoyed at not knowing what was going on so Charles figured he may as well out with it.
"That's your daughter, Erik.