Chapter Text
Charles@9, Erik@15
Erik walked into the church, intensely uncomfortable. He felt rushed and disoriented, their rare family vacation cut short, and he didn’t know what he was expected to say or do. His suit didn’t fit quite right either, adding to his sense of unease—he’d had a growth spurt and was nearly as tall as his father now, but they hadn’t had time to get him a new suit. Funerals could be sudden like that.
He and his parents were directed by people they vaguely recognized to a back room, where the immediate family drifted in and out. “Edie, I’m so glad to see you!” exclaimed a woman in black, Charles’s Aunt Linda. “Maybe you can talk some sense into Sharon, she just won’t eat anything—“ Charles’s mother had been devoted to her husband; Erik wondered if anything would ever make sense to her again.
He was scanning the room for someone else, though, and finally thought to look down, specifically beneath the bench where Charles’s grandmother was knitting. “Erik’s here,” she said placidly, seemingly to herself. “Don’t you want to come out and see him?”
Erik knelt down, then scooted over and lay flat on the floor, to see under the bench. Charles had squished himself into a corner, which did not look at all comfortable. “Hey Schatzi,” he greeted.
“Erik!” Charles tried to crawl over to him, but found himself stuck and started to cry.
“Okay, okay,” Erik soothed, reaching out to the younger boy. “Take my hand and lean over this way.” With some maneuvering they both lay on their stomachs under the bench (Erik mostly out), Grandma Rose’s legs blocking the light. “You want to get up?”
“No,” Charles replied tearfully. He clutched at Erik’s larger hand. “I don’t want to walk in front of everyone!”
“What do you mean, Schatzi?” Erik asked. People walked by and looked down at him, but he found he really didn’t care; Charles was the most important thing here.
“Aunt Linda said I have to walk first, and I don’t want to!” Charles reiterated. It didn’t make much more sense the second time, except for the part about Aunt Linda, who tended to be bossy.
“Well, I’ll walk with you,” Erik promised, hoping this was possible. He would make it possible—he was Charles’s bonded Alpha, and should be with him whatever he had to do.
Charles looked up hopefully. “Really?” he asked.
Erik smiled a little. “Of course. Now come out of there, you probably need to be cleaned up,” he judged. “Where’s Raven?”
“I don’t know,” Charles admitted, as he crawled cautiously from under the bench. “She’s supposed to walk, too.” It had been every child for themselves at that point, apparently, to escape Aunt Linda’s plan. Raven was very resourceful, though.
“Well let’s see if we can find her,” Erik suggested. “Hold on a sec.” He took out a handkerchief to wipe Charles’s face with, before he could sully Erik’s suit.
The boy squirmed away. “Erik!” he protested with irritation.
“You are a mess,” Erik told him, trying to brush down his unruly hair. He gave up and stood, taking Charles’s hand, which he had never really let go. “Let’s see if we can find your sister.”
Erik was going to look in various places, but Charles had a more direct method. “Raven!” he hollered, and Erik pulled him close to hush him as everyone turned to stare.
This worked, however, as a tablecloth moved and the little blond Alpha peeked out cautiously from beneath it. Seeing that the authority figures were otherwise occupied, she darted out and ran to Erik, who tried to hug her while also keeping her off his suit—how did little kids get so messy?
“Hey, sweetie,” he greeted. “Come on, you both need to wash your faces. Where’s the bathroom?”
“Oh, Derek—uh, Erik!” Aunt Linda called, and Erik rolled his eyes with his back to her. Did he ever forget her name? No, he did not. “We’re going to start soon, and Charles and Raven should lead the procession—“
“I don’t want to go first!” Charles immediately howled, Raven echoing him just as loudly. Erik fought the urge to remind the woman that this was not a parade or a Broadway show, or whatever she thought she was managing.
“I’ll just get them cleaned up,” Erik replied calmly, used to the noise. “I’ll be right back.” He turned and left the room, a child in each hand, heedless of what anyone else might have in mind for him.
Fortunately they were near the restrooms, but Charles dragged back on his hand as they approached. “That’s the Alphas’ room,” he pointed out, of the door Erik was about to open.
“Yes, because I’m an Alpha,” Erik reminded him impatiently.
“I can’t go in there!” Charles insisted.
“Well, I’m not going in the Omegas’ room,” Erik countered. “So come on.” Charles allowed himself to be pulled through the door; thankfully the room was empty.
“What’s that?” Charles wanted to know, pointing at a urinal with fascination. “Is it a water fountain?”
Raven giggled. “You pee in it!” she informed him gleefully.
“Stop looking around,” Erik ordered. He wet some paper towels at the sink and tried to wipe off the children’s faces, which were blotchy from crying and sticky with various substances. Neither one appreciated his efforts. Then he pulled a comb from his pocket and tried to detangle their hair; he feared the flimsy instrument was not up to the task.
“Why do you have a comb in your pocket?” Charles asked, as Erik dampened his hair a little to tame it.
“Because I actually care how my hair looks, unlike some people,” Erik replied. “Don’t even,” he added sharply, when this provoked Charles to try and muss Erik’s hair. “You want to sit with me? Then behave yourself.”
“Erik is going to walk with us,” Charles told his sister, as Erik tried to tidy up her ponytail.
“Why do we have to walk first?” Raven worried. “I don’t want to walk first! Where do we go?”
“Erik will figure it out,” Charles assured her, with great faith. “Erik, I have to go to the bathroom!”
“Go in one of the stalls,” Erik allowed. “It’s the same as you’re used to.” He assumed, he didn’t hang out in the Omegas’ restroom. After some additional encouragement Charles finally went.
“Turn around,” Erik told Raven. Her white dress—who thought that was a good idea?—had a sash that had come undone, and he began retying a bow in back.
“What will happen next?” Raven asked him.
Erik wasn’t entirely certain, but hoped he could gloss over the details. “First is the funeral,” he listed. “We’ll sit in the church and be quiet, and people will talk about your dad, and sing. Then, we’ll get in the car and go out to the cemetery, for more talking and singing.”
“I want to ride with you, Erik!” Charles called from inside his stall.
“That’s fine, we’ll all ride together,” Erik promised. “Then, we’ll have lunch somewhere.”
“Then what happens?” Raven prompted.
Erik was not sure what she was getting at. “Then you’ll probably go back home with your mom,” he replied. This did not seem to satisfy her. “Uh, probably other people will stay there for a while, like your aunt or grandma.” He didn’t want to offer to take the two of them home with him without talking to his mother first, since she would have to look after them while he was in school.
“Will they send me back?” Raven asked quietly, her blue eyes solemn as she faced Erik.
“Back where?” Erik questioned in confusion.
“Back where I was before,” Raven clarified. “To the Porters’, or somewhere else.”
She meant foster care, Erik realized with horror. “No, sweetie,” he assured her, holding her arms and making eye contact firmly. “No one’s going to send you back. Don’t you remember how the judge said you were a family now?” Raven had only been adopted a few months ago. “You, and Charles, and your parents.”
“But my daddy’s gone now,” Raven pointed out. She had barely gotten to know him.
“That doesn’t change anything,” Erik promised, pulling her into a hug. Raven had been found on the streets, and had no memory of her biological parents; her life had always been impermanent and uncertain. “You’re part of my family now, too,” he reminded her. “We wouldn’t let you be sent away.”
A toilet flushed, and Charles came running from the stall to hug Raven, too. “I won’t let anyone take you away, Raven!” he vowed. “You’re my sister! And I love you, even when you break my toys.”
Erik let the sweet moment go on for as long as he could stand it, which wasn’t very long. “Wash your hands,” he finally reminded Charles. “Do you have to go to the bathroom?” he checked with Raven. She claimed not. “Alright, come on, they might be waiting for us.”
“Do I have to walk first, Erik?” Charles asked in a whine as they left the bathroom.
Erik did not know if it was Charles or Linda who was obsessed with this ‘first’ business. Charles was not the royal heir. “We’ll walk wherever we’re told to,” he shrugged, trying to prepare himself to be ordered around. Try to be helpful, his mother had suggested. Do what needs to be done. “But I’ll walk with you, wherever you go,” he promised.
“Okay, Erik,” Charles agreed with relief.