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"There's no need to be nervous."
Charles gives a shaky laugh. "Knowing that and knowing that are two very different things, love."
Erik rolls his eyes and takes Charles' hand. "You'll be fine. They'll like you."
"What I'm more worried about is whether they'll like me with you," Charles tells him, chewing on his lower lip.
"I like you with me, so they will too," Erik says patiently, as if this isn't the third time they've had this very same conversation.
Charles doesn't reply, but Erik knows by now that there is little point in trying to calm him down; he's done everything he can already. He reassured Charles with words and let him see memories of his family, and it did help calm his boyfriend down somewhat, but not completely. The rest of it is nervousness Erik is unable to help Charles dispel, he's realized.
What he can do, though, is distract Charles, and so, when they arrive at Lorna's school a little early, Erik sets to doing just that. He positions himself in front of Charles, tilts his chin up and kisses him. A couple of kisses later, Charles starts to relax, tilting his face up to Erik like a sunflower turning towards the sun. They're chaste kisses, no tongue – they're standing in front of a middle school, after all – but Erik does his best to let his feelings for Charles shine through. He does still pay attention to his surroundings, though, and when children start to stream out of the school he stops the kissing with a regretful sigh.
Turning around to watch for his sister, he pulls Charles into his chest despite the protesting noise Charles makes. It's the right thing to do, because a moment later Charles' arms snake around Erik's waist as he squeezes tightly.
This is how Lorna sees them; she looks a bit dubious and surprised, eye-brows flying up. Charles immediately lets go as if burned, face beet red.
"He's nervous," Erik informs his sister as she comes to a halt in front of them. Lorna's expression immediately softens as she smiles at Charles.
"There's no need to be," she says. "Erik only says nice things about you. Well," she amends a moment later with a dry twist to her mouth, "Nice for him, at least. "Charles is so nice it's not even annoying how is this possible," you know?"
Charles laughs, looking relieved. "Yes, I know exactly what you mean. He isn't exactly the most patient person, is he?"
"He really, really isn't," Lorna agrees, laughing as well. Erik makes a show of rolling his eyes and being exasperated, saying "Thank you, can we leave now," but inwardly he's delighted when Charles and Lorna share a look and start to giggle. That delight doesn't dim even when all the way home, all Lorna and Charles talks about is things Erik did that were funny or "typical". If they want to bond over gossiping about Erik, that's fine with him; the important thing is that they bond. A positive side-effect is also that Charles has no time to fret about meeting Erik's mama. By the time he remembers to be worried about that Erik is unlocking their front door with a lazy wave of his hand, swinging it open just as they walk up the steps.
"Mama!" Lorna calls, first to enter the house; Charles twitches as he abruptly remembers, but Edie is already there, hugging Lorna and then moving towards Charles, whom Erik pushes forwards unceremoniously with a hand at the small of his back. The next moment Edie is hugging Charles, telling him with her accented voice how happy she is to finally meet him. There is screeching in the kitchen, the door firmly closed; Erik assumes Edie kept the twins in there so as not to overwhelm Charles immediately. He goes to let them out while his mother is still talking to Charles – asking how he is, if he's hungry – and catches them mid-run, lifting them each on one hip so they can't storm Charles. When they see the stranger in their home they both pause, but it won't last for long; they're loud, bold, and Erik figures Charles has enough on his plate already; new place, new people, all of which matters to him a lot.
Lorna, thankfully, follows this line of thinking as well and distracts the twins for a bit, taking Pietro from him so Erik can introduce them to Charles one after the other. His mother sends him an indulgent smile as she heads back into the kitchen, giving them a moment.
"Charles, this is Wanda," Erik introduces, walking up to his boyfriend and presenting his youngest sister to him. Charles briefly sends him a squinty-eyed, delighted look that Erik can't really interpret, but then concentrates on Wanda, sending her a bright smile. "Hello Wanda," he says earnestly, offering his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hi," Wanda says, staring at Charles with both curiosity and suspicion. She pats Charles hand briefly before quickly turning to hide her face in her big brother's neck. Erik is not at all used to her being this shy, but then, she doesn't really have to interact with strangers much.
"And this is Pietro." Lorna has joined them and introduces her burden. Their little brother is a little less shy, putting his hand properly in Charles'. "Eriks Freund," he says loudly, decisively, but it's a question.
"Yes," Erik confirms earnestly.
"He's nice," Lorna adds her own opinion. Pietro accepts this with a blithe "okay," and then Lorna shoos the twins into the kitchen. Closing the door after them, she leaves as well, not at all subtle about giving the two of them a moment.
As soon as they're alone Charles gives Erik a nervous smile, but there is also relief in his face. "They're nice," he offers.
Erik shrugs, not really knowing what to say to that. "Ready to go into the kitchen?" he instead asks.
It's so adorable how Charles takes a deep breath before nodding decisively; Erik just has to kiss him. This is why Charles is charmingly flushed when Erik leads him into the kitchen, which makes Edie send them a knowing, amused look.
"There you are," she says with a cheerful smile. The twins are already in their high chairs, each nibbling a thick slice of cucumber; she offers Charles and Erik ones too, "after you've washed your hands."
They do that, and then eat their slices while Edie asks them about their day. It's the right kind of question; Charles delights in talking about school, he loves learning things. Edie listens with a delighted smile, listening intently and asking questions about their teachers and friends.
"Erik never talks much about anything," she explains. Charles' smile falters until he catches the fond smile Edie sends towards Erik, the drily amused twist to Erik's mouth. "He can be a little taciturn at times," Charles agrees with a twinkle in his eyes. Edie laughs and Charles relaxes almost completely.
A bit later, Erik is putting the bibs on Wanda and Pietro while Charles and Lorna set the table together; Erik wonders for a bit where Charles should sit because they have set seats, but his mama takes that decision away from him by declaring that Charles shall sit between her and Erik.
In the middle of the general tumult of six people buzzing about in the kitchen – although the two youngest are thankfully stationary – Jakob comes home. Charles has another flash of nervousness, during which he fumbles and calls Jakob "Sir" which visibly confuses Jakob (and the rest of the family, though they thankfully try not to let Charles feel). But Charles doesn't have much more opportunity to be nervous because pretty quickly, organized chaos descends as they all sit down and food is piled onto plates. For the first couple of minutes afterwards everybody is busy appeasing the first hunger, but the silence doesn't last long; it never does in Erik's family.
About an hour later, after they have all eaten and then cleaned up the kitchen, Erik can finally show Charles his room. It's not much, not very exciting, but it does offer some privacy, and Erik figures Charles might need a break.
"They're nice," Charles offers, sinking down on the bed when Erik gestures towards it; this is the second time he's said it, which Erik attributes to his nervousness as well. He doesn't reply, instead sits down as well and gestures for Charles to come closer, an offer more than a demand. Immediately, Charles scoots close and leans into Erik's side, the way they sit sometimes during lunch break, made more intimidate in the cradle of Erik's home and bedroom.
"Mama likes you," Erik tells him after a moment. Immediately, he adds, "They all like you, but mama especially."
"She's very nice," Charles replies thoughtfully. "Very loving. You can tell she's truly happy."
This strikes Erik as strange, but it takes him a moment to figure out why. A mother – any person, really – should be happy with her life. If Edie weren't happy, they all would be less so as well.
It arouses a question Erik hesitates to ask. "Is your mum not?"
The pause before Charles replies is very worrying. "I don't think she's truly unhappy," she says after a moment. "Not anymore, at least." There is another pause during which Erik tries really hard not to make any judgments. "It's just… she didn't want her life to be all about family, children. She wanted to have a career, she needed her own life, of which the family was only one aspect." Charles licks his lips. "She married my father out of love, and she though it would be enough but it really wasn't, especially not when they had me and everybody expected her to be happy, but she wasn't. It's not her fault," he adds quickly, as if Erik had said anything to the contrary.
"I didn't say that," Erik murmurs, pressing his mouth into Charles' hair.
Charles is quiet for a while. "She's mostly happy now," he says eventually.
"But she wasn't always?" Erik prompts.
"No. She… she was already drinking when my father died, and it got considerably worse because suddenly she was completely responsible for me when we never really had interacted much, and then Raven too. I was traumatized, and right around that time I found Raven and practically forced mum to adopt her. Raven was terrified the way mum was acting was her fault, that mum would want to get rid of her. It wasn't a good time."
Thoughts tightly restrained, Erik keeps completely silent. He didn't know Charles and Raven weren't related, or that things with his mum had been that bad. "But it got better?" he eventually asks quietly when Charles doesn't continue.
Unfortunately, Charles snorts. It's not a happy sound. "It got worse before it got better." He shifts, curling into Erik a little, and Erik wraps his arm around his shoulders, pressing a kiss to his temple.
"She married Kurt," Charles continues quietly. "She fell in love, but more in an attempt to regain what she had lost, out of regret for not appreciating it while she had it. It didn't go well." Charles sounds bitter now, and Erik is not sure he wants him to continue, but he does nothing to stop him. Sometimes something just has to come out, even if it hurts.
"Kurt only wanted her money," Charles is saying. "I told her, but she didn’t believe me. He… he had a son, Cain, but he liked me better, because I was the representation of what he wanted Cain to be like; polite, quiet, well-educated, naturally intelligent and handsome. He… hit Cain, and me too, but not as often. Cain thought it was my fault his father hated him, and so he in turn hated and hit me. This went on for about two years, until my mother… Kurt pushed Cain down the stairs, he almost died. The doctors thought it was strange. Child service was alerted, and Cain, Raven and I were put into foster care while mum divorced Kurt and got her act together. It took her nine months before we were allowed to move back in, but they still check up on us every now and then. Kurt… he didn't leave us alone for a while, so we had to get a restraining order, that's why we had this routine when he showed up recently."
Erik is silent for a while, trying to process. "So… you're alright now," he eventually asks, voice hoarse because his throat is full of things he doesn't know how to let out. Thoughts and emotions clamor for his attention, but he pushes them aside resolutely.
"For the most part." Charles shifts and kisses Erik's chest. "Sorry for unloading all that on you now all of a sudden."
Seriously. "Don't apologize for something like that. You can tell me anything whenever you are ready, no matter the situation."
Charles shifts again and pushes himself up a little, so they're face to face. His eyes are red but dry. "My family is happy," he says seriously. "But it's different to the way your family is happy."
Erik licks his lips, vaguely uncomfortable. There's an assumption buried somewhere in there, that they've never not been a happy family maybe though he can't quite identify it, and this is simply not true. He has no idea how to explain this to Charles, though. "I think all families who can be happy are so in different ways," he says instead; this is something he has thought about before, especially once faced with Charles' family, which was very different from his. "Because every family is different. Different characters in it, different history, different dynamics. No two families are the same, and so no two families can be happy the same way. Some have more difficulties getting there while others just seem to naturally be so, but that doesn't mean one family's happiness is better or worth more than another's."
Charles looks at him for a moment before he starts to smile, slowly but genuinely. "You are very wise, Erik," he comments, sounding proud.
Erik shrugs, vaguely uncomfortable; he doesn't much like being complimented, he never quite knows how to react. Charles, knowing that, pats him on the chest, leans in to steal a kiss and then pushes away from his boyfriend.
"I would like to talk to your family more," he decides resolutely.
Erik is pleased, but tries not to show it too much; he would have understood if Charles would have preferred to stay away for a bit longer. "My parents are in the living room, Lorna is in the twin's room with them. Metal," he adds as explanation when Charles looks surprised.
"Do you always keep track of people around you?" Charles asks curiously, trying to tame his hair somewhat so he looks less like they've just rolled around in bed, even if said rolling was largely innocent.
"I always notice large amounts of metal, or specially treated and formed kinds. Weapons," Erik clarifies when Charles looks confused.
"But they're surely not carrying any," Charles doesn't ask.
"I also keep track of the people I love," Erik explains with some difficulty. "It's largely subconscious." He licks his lips, doesn't meet Charles' eyes as he admits, "I keep track of you."
Charles takes a sharp breath. "Erik," he says, voice low. Two warm hands on his cheeks turn Erik's face towards Charles. "Thank you." His voice is painfully heartfelt, making something tighten in Erik's gut. Like Charles doesn't get told this sort of thing often, when he should, when he deserves it.
"I do," Erik reinforces almost roughly, this time not avoiding Charles' gaze.
"Me too." Charles' voice is choked, his eyes brimming with tears. Erik leans their foreheads together, and all they do is breathe for a while.
When they have recovered themselves, they shuffle awkwardly for a moment. Charles checks his hair in the mirror once again – it's no use, he always looks rumpled – and then they leave Erik's room. Despite the short, longing glance Charles throws at the closed door behind which Lorna and the twins are playing, he decisively heads downstairs, where Edie and Jakob are residing.
They're sitting in the living room, drinking espresso and discussing their days, but they look happy when Erik and Charles join them.
"We thought it's time for the inevitable awkward conversation," Erik says loudly, making Edie huff and share an exasperated look with Charles.
"Tea or espresso or something?" Jakob offers.
"Tea, thank you," Charles naturally picks while Erik chooses juice; he isn't much of a fan of warm drinks.
Jakob leaves to get their choices, leaving Charles and Erik alone with Edie. Erik knows it was done on purpose, to set Charles at ease somewhat; one does not have to know him to notice his nervousness.
"So, Charles." Edie smiles at him in an effort to set him at ease; it's not difficult for her, she's just naturally the sort of person people trust. "Do you have any plans yet on what you want to do later?"
"Not really, no." Charles pulls up his shoulders, face taking on the conflicted expression he always wears when this topic comes up. "There is so much I like, I just can't choose."
"So the exact opposite of Erik, then?" Edie teases gently. "Erik doesn't like anything and you like everything."
"Yes, basically." The corners of Charles' lips lift in amusement. "I was meant to follow in my father's footsteps and study physics, but I'm not sure that's what I really want."
"Do you have to study anything?" Edie asks, sipping her espresso.
Charles blinks. "No, not really. People just keep urging me to finish high school and go to university." He frowns thoughtfully. "I never thought about doing something else, to be honest."
"Well, you still have time, there is no need to rush," Edie tells him just as Jakob comes back, tea for Charles and juice for Erik on a tray together with sugar and milk.
"No rush for what?" he inquires.
"To go to university," Edie explains, "or make a choice whether or not to begin with."
"Ah. No, not really. I didn't know what I wanted to do – well, I actually never knew, I just found myself doing it all of a sudden. I'm a bank manager," Jakob adds. "I enjoy it, and it allows me to support my family. That's all I can ask of a job."
"I would say you're very lucky to have both, actually," Edie states. "Just as I am very lucky that we can afford to have me stay at home and be a housewife and mother. It's always been my dream," she tells Charles conspiratorially. "I always wanted many children. And also many grandchildren. Do you want children?"
Obviously Erik severely underestimated just how mortifying this conversation would go. Charles turns deep red at record speed while Erik groans and covers his face with his hands.
"Mama, we're guys!" Erik protests loudly.
"Ach, papperlapapp," Edie waves him off. "This only means that there'll likely not be any accidental pregnancies. There can still be planned ones, or you could adopt."
"Uhm," Charles stammers. "I would like to have children one day?"
Edie looks happy. "That's good," she says. "Of course it's a little early still, but maybe in five years-"
"Or ten," Erik interrupts firmly. Or even more; they'll be in their mid-twenties, and depending on what they'll do after school they'll be just at the beginnings of their careers. Erik really doesn't want to think about having children now or any time soon.
"Of course, darling, I'm sorry for embarrassing you." Edie reaches out to pat Erik's arm. "Let's talk about-" Before she can suggest anything, there is a loud bang upstairs, followed by a scream. They all share alarmed looks and Jakob quickly goes upstairs to check. He comes back a little later with a red-faced, clearly upset Pietro on his hip, followed by a chagrined Lorna and a confused, angry Wanda.
"We need to buy a new lamp," Jakob informs them dryly. "Also, ice cream."
Edie's brows furrow. "We still have ice cream."
"It'll be gone in half an hour."
Edie shakes her head indulgently while Jakob and Pietro continue into the kitchen; Wanda climbs into her mother's lap and Lorna squeezes herself in next to Erik, pushing him and Charles closer together. A couple of minutes later, all seven of them have bowls of ice cream and Lorna and Charles are discussing a TV show they apparently both like – it turns out Charles watches it with Raven. They had joked a couple of times about bringing their younger sisters together so they'd become friends – mostly it had been jokes about how terrifying that'd be – but the prospect seems more and more likely.
Edie apparently thinks the same; after all the ice cream is gone she sends Erik and Lorna to take the dirty bowls into the kitchen. While they're gone, Erik hears her tell Charles to extent her invitation to come visit to his family; she'd like to get to know them. Charles replies something charming and polite, the way he sometimes gets when he's happy and embarrassed. Erik hopes his mama won't misunderstand it for distance, the way Erik had at the beginning.
She probably doesn't, because she's teasing Charles when Erik gets back into the living room, saying, "I will release you from this conversation now. Go forth, be free!"
Charles flushes red and looks mortified, clearly worried he somehow gave the impression of wanting to leave. Before he can do anything but make embarrassed noises and say "Oh no, it's lovely meeting you-" Erik quickly intervenes and drags him away back into his room.
"She likes you," he reassures Charles, because it's clear Charles isn't sure. "She thinks you're cute."
Charles looks doubtful. Erik thinks it's not because he has low self-esteem – because he does at times, but it's hidden even from Charles himself – but because he's not used to the way Erik's family interacts. Erik hasn't seen much of Charles' mum, but he can already tell that the atmosphere in Charles' family is different. Not worse, but less openly affectionate, at least with Sharon. With his siblings it's the other way around; they touch a lot more than Erik and Lorna do. Erik finds it fascinating, how different things are in different families. It's all built on past and personalities, and unfortunately little on personal preference, though the Lehnsherrs and the Xavier-Darkholme-Markos are doing well enough, in his opinion.
"She meant it when she invited you and your family over, by the way," he adds. He keeps getting confused because people seem to often say things just to be polite, and so he seeks to clarify whenever possible.
"I know," Charles replies, smiling indulgently. He's seated on the bed and now slides back further towards the head, a clear invitation for Erik to join him – an invitation that Erik follows, crawling after him and pressing his mouth to Charles'.
"I like your family," Charles tells him a little later.
Erik hums. "I suspect that life as we know it will come to an end when we bring our sisters together."
Charles groans and buries his face in Erik's chest. "They'll be terrors."
They good-naturedly whine to each other a bit about how terrible it will be; Raven is loud and passionate and infinitely curious, and Lorna has the potential to be the same once she finally gets over her shyness with other people. Even now, she's sarcastic and dry-witted when she's comfortable, which is mostly just with Erik, but still.
The whole day is among Erik's favorite memories.