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Charles wheeled himself over to the windows of his office, drawing all the curtains and blinds shut. He locked his door and wheeled himself behind the desk. He relaxed, leaning back in his chair. To anyone else, it would look like he was taking a peaceful doze. He could catch glimpses of the joyous cheers of playing children outside, but avoided focusing too hard on them. They had worked hard, and he had better things to do than interrupt their well-earned break. After all, he was on one of his own.
Concentrating, he managed to focus his thoughts all the way away not only from the mansion, but from the entire planet earth itself. It took a little bit of fumbling, but he was soon able to find the one he had been looking for. He was glad they had established this bond before she went back home. It would have been impossible to maintain otherwise.
“Hello, darling,” he asked. “How was your month?”
“Oh, no worse than usual,” Lilandra assured him. “My sister tried to kill me again.”
“That’s nothing,” Charles scoffed. “My brother and son tried to kill me this month.”
“David tried to kill you?!” Lilandra gasped. “I mean, I’d expect this from Cain, given who he is, but David?”
“Not David, Lucas,” Charles put up his hands to calm her down. “His split personality. The same one who took him over last time, remember?”
“Oh, yes, you mentioned that,” Lilandra sighed. “Is he still mad at you?”
“No, he’s much calmer now that David’s back in charge of the body,” Charles smiled.
“Is he staying with you?” Lilandra asked. “It wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t get to know you.”
“Yes, David is staying with me for the time being,” Charles wistfully reported. “His mother agreed I should help him work on communicating with his other personalities before any other actions are taken. And he’s adjusted to the mansion very well, I’m happy to say.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, Charles!” Lilandra declared. “Can I meet him sometime?”
“Why not now?” Charles asked. “He’s down the hall.”
“I’d love to,” she declared.
Charles quickly sent a notification to his son’s head. Within seconds, David was standing next to him in the mindscape.
“Um…hi dad,” David said. “Who is this?”
“This, David, is your future stepmother,” Charles gestured to Lilandra, who covered her mouth.
“Stepmother?” she asked, failing to hide how pleased she was. “How forward of you, Charles.”
“Well, we’ve been courting for a decade, I have to start sometime,” Charles shrugged.
“Wait, how do you know each other?” David asked.
Lilandra looked at Charles, who shrugged.
“Well, David,” she smiled, trying to make herself as approachable as possible. “Your father and I met ten years ago when I was on earth, trying to stop my siblings from destroying the galaxy. He and his friend Magnus helped me, and Charles and I started dating. But I had to go back to my homeworld, so we established this link that we could talk through and avoid drifting apart.”
David blinked.
“So you’re an alien,” he finally stated.
“David,” Charles chided.
“No, no, I am an alien to planet Earth,” Lilandra nodded. “Yes, David, I come from another planet. We are called the Shi'ar, and I am the Majestrix, or as you say on Earth, the Empress.”
“Cool,” David smiled. “Does this make my dad the emperor?”
“He will be when we actually tie the knot,” Lilandra smiled.
“And she calls me forward,” Charles joked.
“So, will the X-Men be, like, the imperial guard?” David asked.
“We already have one of those,” Lilandra shrugged. “The X-Men will certainly be welcomed, but they will still be Charles’ to command, not ours.”
“The X-Men have plenty of problems to solve here on Earth,” Charles winked. “No need to borrow some from other planets.”
“Does anyone else know about this…upcoming event?” David asked.
“Erik knows about us, but he doesn’t know about the wedding plans,” Charles explained. “Aside from that, I like to keep this one close to the chest. A ‘break glass in case of emergency’ type of secret.”
David drew his finger across his lips like a zipper.
“Thanks, David,” she smiled. “I look forward to being your stepmother.”
“You’re not the only one he might be related to in the near future,” Charles smiled.
“Dad, c’mon…” David begged.
“Was that a joke about us having kids?” Lilandra asked.
“That is a conversation for another time,” Charles coughed. “No, I was referring to his new girlfriend.”
“Oh boy,” she rubbed her hands together.
“Dad, this is how you want to tell her?” David asked.
“C’mon, she’ll like it,” he promised.
David muttered something Lilandra couldn't hear.
“Hmm?” she asked, bending down.
“Wanda,” he grumbled. “Wanda Maximoff."
Lilandra’s jaw hit the floor.
“Erik’s little girl?” She turned to Charles.
“She’s not so little anymore,” Charles smiled. “She’s almost David’s height.”
“How’s Erik taking it?” she asked.
“He’s fuming,” Charles grinned ear to ear. “He’s trying to pretend he doesn’t mind, but I can tell.”
“I thought he liked me,” David looked upset.
“He likes you, David,” Charles explained. “He just doesn’t want to be related to me.”
“I’ve seen plenty of political alliances in my time,” Lilandra muttered. “I never expected you would need to make one with your best friend.”
“Well, it’s not like I was meddling in David’s love life,” Charles snorted.
“You sound like Pietro,” David was tapping his foot impatiently. “He keeps talking about his "brotherly plans” once me and Wanda get married. We’re not even old enough to drink!”
“Pietro is just relieved that his sister found someone special,” Charles smiled. “I overheard him complaining that he’d have to build a robot because no flesh and blood human could cope with her.”
“That’s… somehow the least mean thing I’ve heard siblings say about each other this month,” Lilandra sighed.
“If this is all you guys are gonna talk about, I’m going back to my room,” David grumbled.
Lilandra and Charles waved as he made his exit.
“Okay, but seriously,” Lilandra said. “You know I would never make you choose between me and the X-Men right? I’ve seen how important they are to you.”
“And I would never make you choose between the empire and me,” Charles assured her. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too,” she smiled. “Emperor.”