A/N: It's heartening in this day and age how common wifi's become.
July 30, 1960
Lorna's eyes narrowed in concentration, her mouth set in a firm line. The metal crate wobbled into the air, the surface rippling under the pressure. She was sitting down, one hand extended in front of her, the other gripping the edge of the chair. The knuckles on the hand gripping the chair had begun to turn white.
Erik stood behind her, nodding from time to time. He'd tried to ensure that her lessons were instructive and practical, but it could be difficult. Erik had never had someone gently introduce him to his powers. He'd learned them through violence and terror, tactics he was loathe to approach. Lorna's powers required a gentle touch.
Her powers were just ending their period of infancy. Without any traumatic event where Lorna had been required to defend herself, Lorna had continued to learn about her powers at a snail's crawl. However, with each passing lesson she was able to move bigger opjectss and manipulate them with greater accuracy.
In the beginning they'd started with cups and metal chunks. When she gained more finesse he planned to use items with less metal in them. For the moment he was concentrating on size. The crate, made as it was for military field use, was by far the largest thing she had ever tried to manipulate.
"Now," he said, "carefully separate the metal into two equal portions. It's just like pulling play-doh apart. Understand?"
Lorna hesitated and then nodded. The crate wobbled at the gesture and her eyes went back to it. She bit her lip and the metal in the crate slowly started to separate into two parts. It was far from even though. Narrowing her eyes even further some metal moved from one group to another, the effort causing a visible strain.
Finally she sat back and the two parts of metal clattered across the table. She shook her head, looking frustrated.
"Now now Lorna," Erik said, "You can't just give up."
Lorna looked down. He sat down next to her, his hand on her shoulder.
"I know this is difficult," he said, "But everyone starts out only being able to do small things. It's only when they work at it that they get good."
Sighing Lorna looked back at the crate.
"Now," Erik said, "You were doing a great job until it fell. Do you think you can get it back into the air and put it together again?"
Lorna bit her lip and nodded, her face determined. Erik smiled.
"Alright," he said, "I want you to take your time. You've got all the time in the world to do this. No need to rush."
His daughter nodded and looked at the piles of metal. The two pieces lifted into the air. He was proud to see that they hadn't started wobbling yet. Slowly the pieces joined together into one solid mass. The crate began to wobble but it was being shaped into what it had been once. Erik noticed the attention to detail she used for the buckles.
The crate was trembling violently by the time it was done, but even from a distance he could see that it was done correctly. Lorna let it go and it fell to the floor, the lid rattling. Erik turned to Lorna, who had begun panting, her face red. She looked from the crate to him, anxiously searching for his approval.
"Excellent," he said, "You're definitely getting better."
Lorna's face lit up and she threw her arms around his neck. Erik smiled and patted her on the back, watching her beaming face as she pulled away.
"Very good," he said.
From the back of the room the door opened. Susanna walked in and Lorna turned her head. Erik looked at his wife and felt a smile on his own lips. Slowly but surely they had begun to rebuild what he had ruined. Her acceptance had made the process move fast, but there was still more to do.
He'd begun courting her, currying her favor and trying to show her her importace without the grandiose gestures that had characterized thier relationship since she had arrived on Genosha. It turned out to be something that was more difficult than he'd expected. Somehow as a teenager he'd managed to gain her love when he wasn't even trying, so it made no sense to him that a concentrated effort would be so hard.
Nonetheless, as soon as they had started rebuilding the effect on Susanna had been immediate. The dark circles under her eyes had disappeared and the sallowness had waned from her skin. She'd begun dressing with her usual care, and he was glad to see that she was wearing some of his gifts since coming to Genosha. For the first time in a long time she'd been happy.
It was a two way street though, and Erik hadn't been slow to notice the effects on himself. He was still uncertain about his feelings on the dismissal of the Restriction law. It had been better for Genosha, he did believe that, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help thinking that he had made a mistake.
It was something that he was learning to get over. Erik had sacrificed something for Genosha concerning the repeal of the Restriction law. He'd sacrificed nights spent sleeping in an office, a crumbling marriage, a daughter who was becoming a stranger, white hairs, the loss of a friend, and the division of his government. It seemed like an uneven deal with the benefits stacked high in his favor. Erik wasn't complaining.
Susanna smiled at him before looking at Lorna. Lorna hopped off the chair and clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels.
"You missed it!" she said.
Susanna smiled at Erik before directing her attention to Lorna.
"What did I miss?" she asked.
"I can lift that," Lorna said, pointing to the crate.
"You're getting strong," Susanna said.
Lorna tossed her head proudly.
"I'll be opening doors any day now," Lorna said.
"Without a doubt," Susanna said.
She looked up at Erik and met his eyes.
"You're a fast learner," she said, "Like your father."
Erik put a hand under Susanna's chin and stroked her cheek. He tilted his head and looked at Lorna.
"Don't worry," he said, glancing up at Susanna, "You're more like your mother than me. Be grateful for that."
Susanna rolled her eyes and batted away his hand.
"We can argue about this for a while," Susanna said, "But I've got better ideas, ones that involve the first batch of strawberries from the garden and pie. I think I can convince the chef to let us use the kitchen."
"I hope so," Erik said, "We do pay him."
Susanna laughed, but Lorna's mind was focused solely on the mention of the word 'pie'.
"Really?" asked Lorna.
Susanna lifted up her hands. Each finger was stained with strawberry juice.
"What do you think I was doing while you were having lessons?" she asked, "We've got a whole box ready in the kitchen if you want to help."
"Of course!" Lorna said.
She looked at Erik, her eyes bright.
"Wanna come?" Lorna asked
Erik looked down at Lorna fondly. Those seemed to be the two words that defined his life over the past two months.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said.
"I need new notebooks," Rahne said.
Charles nodded and circled the notebooks on her list of school supplies. All around them were the boxes that Rahne's school things from the last year had been put into when summer arrived. Most of the things they could use from the previous year, but there were some things that needed to be bought new.
He'd been a participant in the last rush to collect school things. Charles had been trying to get more involved in Rahne's day-to-day life as her new father. However, he'd never been completely in the thick of it. Still, he knew that he needed to continue to make an effort to be involved, or there'd be no point in him being her father at all.
"And your bookbag is still in good condition?" he said.
"Yup," Rahne said.
She got up and pulled a messenger bag out of one of the boxes.
"This year's gonna be special," she said.
"Oh?" asked Charles, "Why's that?"
"Because Doug's gonna be there of course," Rahne said, "I can't wait to introduce him to Carly. He can't meet Lorna, which is sad, but still."
Charles nodded, remembering filling out the paperwork for Doug to be admitted himself.
"I think he's gonna take Dr. Hudson up on her offer," Rahne said, "He likes her."
"Perhaps," Charles said, moving down the list and making a mental note of Rahne's words, "Do you have your lunch pail?"
Rahne put the messenger bag back. Some further digging revealed a tin lunch pail.
"Can I make my own sandwiches this year?" she asked.
"Are you sure?" asked Charles, "You'd have to make it the night before, and if you forget you'd still have to get to school on time."
"I'm sure," Rahne said.
"Well, I'll talk it over with your mother," Charles said, "But you are responsible, so I don't think there should be a problem. As long as you don't start making chocolate-banana-sugar sandwiches or any such nonesense."
A brief look of embarrassment flashed across Rahne's face.
"You were thinking about doing it, weren't you?" sighed Charles.
Rahne threw her lunch pail back in the box.
"Just a little," she said.
Charles shook his head and ruffled her hair.
"You're incorrigible," he said.
"Dad!" Rahne said.
She swatted away his hand and began smoothing her down, although he knew she wasn't half as annoyed as she pretended to be.
"What am I to do with you?" he asked.
"What am I to do with you?" Rahne countered.
"And here I am, stuck with both of you."
Charles looked up and saw Moira coming down the stairs. David was in her arms, sucking on one of his hands. She gently took his hand out of his mouth, only to have him try to stick it back in almost immediately. Moira sighed before taking his hand out of his mouth again and holding it in place.
"But I'm awesome," Rahne said.
Moira smiled and sat down with them. David let out a small cooing noise upon seeing his sister. Rahne reached out and petted his head. It was touching to see the bond that the two of them were forming. When David had first been born Charles had been worried that Rahne was going to treat him like a living doll. Instead she had actually taken an active part in helping care for him. It was a good omen for the future.
"That's true," Moira said, "But I've yet to hear your father's excuse."
Charles shrugged.
"I'd like to think I'm disarmingly charming," he said.
Rahne laughed and Moira rolled her eyes. The sudden increase in noise caused David to giggle as well, flailing his hands about. Charles noticed that he also attempted to use the distraction to put his hand back inside his mouth. Unfortunately for him Moira noticed and thwarted his attempt.
Moira caught Charles' glance and sighed.
"No matter what I do he keeps doing that," she said, "I don't know what to make of it. All the books said to cover his hands in soap or something else nasty if he keeps doing it, but he's inherited our stubborness. I don't want to make him sick."
"A good choice I'm sure," Charles said.
"I know," Moira said, "It's just that every time I go to hold him he's covered in drool."
"I don't mind," Rahne said, "Can I hold him? Please? Please?"
Moira smiled and passed David over to Rahne, her movements gentle.
"Be careful with him," Moira said.
"I know," Rahne said, "He's so tiny. Look at his little fingers."
She grabbed his hand and began comparing finger sizes. David blinked at her, probably because he'd been trying to place the hand back into his mouth.
"He'll get bigger," Moira said.
Rahne nodded and cocked her head at David. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. Wolf ears sprouted from the top of her head and David shouted in surprise. She retracted them, causing another exclamation from her brother. Rahne repeated the process a few times in a familiar version of her own game of peek-a-boo.
Charles looked over at Moira and made a gesture for her to come closer. She obliged, scooching next to him before leaning against his chest. He rested his head on her shoulder and looked at the boxes scattered around them. In the background they could hear Rahne continue to coo at her brother.
"How domestic," she said.
Charles smiled.
"It's perfect," he said.
Moira smiled and squeezed his hand. The past few months had been rough for them all. However, it seemed like they had come through it. Rahne was getting ready to start school with one friend who once faced the threat of deportation because of her genes and another who had nearly died due to complications brought on by experimentation. Their son was healthy, their friends were putting their lives back together, and the future looked bright.