Who: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier and kids What: Surprise! You’re a dad When: Where: Erik’s apartment Warning: TBD Status: Gdoc/complete
Erik and Charles didn’t live together but they might as well for as many nights as they spent at each other’s apartments. It just never seemed to occur to either of them that they could just get one place so they didn’t have to keep going back and forth. Last night they’d ended up at Erik’s apartment and that was where they woke up.
Only there were a lot more people in the bed than when they went to sleep.
That was actually what had woken Erik up. There was a little girl with messy brown hair draped across his chest like a rag doll and when he twitched as he tried to look around and figure out where she came from another body between him and Charles turned over and smacked Charles across the stomach with an arm.
“Charles…”
***
Charles had been in a very comfortable sleep until he was awakened by having the wind knocked out of him by an arm. He oofed before he groaned.
“What was that for?” he grumbled before he peered his eyes open. Then they opened wide to see the small extra bodies in the bed with them.
“Um…”
***
“It wasn’t me.” Erik was trying to pry the little girl off of him but it was like moving a limp jellyfish. The children weren’t that big but somehow they took up every inch of bed that was available. “Where did they come from?” He finally got out from under the little girl and she just mumbled and curled up where he’d been laying. Now that Erik was upright he could see a little boy there also with the two little girls.
*** “Well how should I know,” Charles mused as he sat up, ruffling his hair with a puzzled frown on his face. He stared at the sleeping children as if they were something he’d never seen before, a new creature that he wasn’t certain would bite him or not.
This could be the town having a lark again. He switched to telepathy to avoid waking the children just yet.
***
I’m sure it is. I think I have heard of something like this happening before. Erik was trying very hard to keep his emotions from getting away with him. There were children here and if the event was what he’d heard about before that meant they were his children or Charles’.
Trying to keep the kids asleep wasn’t really working since the one brown haired moppet opened her eyes and yawned before holding her arms out to Erik. “Papa. I’m hungry.”
Erik felt like there was something both warm and painful in his chest but he picked the little girl up. “Well we can’t have that can we?” I don’t think I have food they’ll want to eat in the house.
***
I can’t imagine what- The thought was stilled as Charles sensed the children rowsing. The little voice calling Erik papa, and what he was picking up from his friend was enough to make his heart want to burst. In just that brief exchange everything he had told Erik he could have was realized.
I’m sure we can find something or make a quick run to the store. His mental voice was colored by the warm affection he felt seeing Erik hold his obvious daughter.
The boy woke next, sitting up as he scrubbed at his eye. “Good morning, father. Uncle Erik.”
***
The little girl had wrapped her arms around Erik’s neck and put her head on his shoulder. There was some of the tousled hair tickling his face but he didn’t care. A fast trip might be necessary. Erik really didn’t keep a lot of things for breakfast but they could probably tide them over with some fruit until they could arrange the trip to the store.
He couldn’t help the spark of amusement for the formal little voice from the boy. Obviously that one took after Charles. The other little girl instead of waking up had basically spread out to take up the whole bed and was snoring. “Good morning.”
I can tell who the boy takes after.
***
You hush about that. But Charles was highly amused and charmed. “Good morning, Erik,” he replied to the young man. The little lady you are holding is Abigail and sleeping beauty is Sharon. Of course he cheated to learn their names.
“It seems someone must wake your sister then run to the store. Someone didn’t go shopping as he should have.” Charles’ eyes sparkled as he smirked at the elder Erik.
***
“It was Papa wasn’t it?” Abigail grinned at Charles from Erik’s shoulder.
Erik was glad he cheated because it would look weird to have to ask their own children their names! You realize of course we also have no clothes or anything that we probably need for this. Erik was glad they at least had been wearing something to bed even if there were no shirts or this would have been a lot more awkward.
“Where’s Mommy?” And there was a new wrinkle from Abigail. “Is she up already?”
***
“It was indeed,” Charles told Abigail with a smile as he reached out to tickle at her neck. She is absolutely charming. Just like her father.
“Mommy?” Charles was momentarily stumped then surprised by the image he picked up from her mind. Clarke! “She ah...had to run an errand. I’ll reach out to her and ask her to pick up breakfast on the way.” Expedient.
Meanwhile, his son was pushing at the still sleeping little girl in an effort to wake her.
***
The pushing was making the other little girl screw up her face in a scowl and she woke up enough to push back. “Stop it! Daddy, Papa, make him stop. I was sleeping!”
Abigail giggled for the tickle and squirmed away from the fingers and hid her face in Erik’s shoulder. “Better make him stop or Sharon will get loud!”
Clarke is their mother? Oh...Erik had to wonder what she would think of that.
*** “No shouting, now.” Charles gave his best stern look he was capable of at the moment, which would probably frighten a piece of lint. “It’s time to wake up.”
It is her face I see in their thoughts when they think of Mother. Why don’t you get these little ones up and I’ll give her a call?
Sharon was his mother’s name so there was no doubt in Charles’ mind who her father was. He felt quite moved by that.
***
“All right if everyone gets up and gets moving it won’t be that long to be able to eat.” Erik stooped down to offer his hand to Sharon. Sharon stuck her tongue out at the younger Erik and let her Papa help her out of bed. You know the name thing will get confusing.
Once Sharon was up he put Abigail on her feet next to her sister and ruffled her hair. “See being awake isn’t so bad.”
***
Erik the younger ignored the tongue as if it were a natural occurrence and just scrambled off the bed. “I have to brush my teeth first. Is it all right if I meet you in the kitchen?”
Not a word. Charles warned Erik the elder. “That will be fine,” he said outwardly then chuckled. “I’ll go call Clarke.”
***
Clarke was still sleeping when her phone rang, but when she saw Charles’ picture flash up, she sat up quickly and answered it. “Charles, is everything okay?” she asked. It wasn’t like him to call her, especially not this early. Normally they would just text each other.
***
“Good morning, Clarke,” Charles said in a bright tone that indicated he wasn’t upset. “Everything is fine, thank you. Well...as fine as they can get when one wakes to find three extra little forms in bed with you. All three call you Mommy so Erik and I were wondering if perhaps you might join us.”
***
That was pretty much the last thing she was expecting to hear and Clarke was so shocked that she dropped her phone. “Uh, hang on,” she called, needing a moment to dig through the blankets to find it again. “I think I misheard you. What did you say is happening?” She really hoped she misheard him. Or misunderstood. Or something. It wasn’t the first time she would have unexpected children in town, but this was way weirder.
***
Charles took the time to pull a shirt over his head while Clarke recovered from the shock he’d given her, an amused smirk permanently on his face.
“Children, Clarke,” he said. “We have them. Three. Two perfectly beautiful little girls and a boy. All of them call you Mother.” He paused. “Oh! Could you buy a few groceries and childrens’ clothing on your way over? I’m afraid Erik is woefully prepared.”
***
“Um, okay, sure,” Clarke said. She had children with both of them? That was… well, she wasn’t sure what to think about that. Charles sounded rather calm about the whole thing though. “What sizes do they need?” she asked. “I can make a quick trip to WalMart.”
She hit the button to put him on speaker so she could get out of bed and get dressed while she got the information.
***
Charles went out to where Erik had taken the children and pulled back shirts to get sizes. Abigail laughed. Young Erik just held still while Sharon shrieked. Obviously they all had their own personalities.
Once he gave the information to Clarke he pushed his hand through his hair. “I appreciate this, Clarke, and I’ll pay you back.”
***
It sounded like there was a lot of chaos at Erik’s apartment and Clarke sighed. They were no doubt in for an interesting few days. “Don’t worry about the money,” she said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She hung up and quickly finished dressing so she could go to the store and join them.
***
Erik had winced slightly at the shriek that Sharon had let out but then he’d started herding them into the kitchen to see what he could get them to eat. Young Erik...and what had any version of himself been thinking to allow that?...was self sufficient and got into his own chair to wait while getting the two girls to where they needed to be involved pulling the chairs out with his powers, lifting them onto their seats with smile then pushing the chairs back in.
“There is fruit.” He looked into various cupboards and the fridge but they hadn’t miraculously made things appear while they slept. “And fruit. And other food will be here soon.” He heard Charles get off the phone so he shot him a look. “How did it go?”
***
“Clarke is on her way,” Charles said as he joined them. “She’ll be bringing food and clothing with her.”
He moved to make a pot of coffee as he switched to mental communication. They are a charming lot, aren’t they. So accepting of what must be a strange awakening for them.
***
“Oh good. Because pajamas just won’t work if we have to leave the house.” Erik could just imagine trying to herd them through a store or the park in the pajamas with cartoon characters on them. Charles would probably rather be strung up by his heels than have that even if he could make it look like they were normal.
They are adaptable. It’s a good thing.
***
It took a little longer than Clarke expected to get through the store and over to Erik’s apartment. Standing at the door, arms laden with bags, she paused before knocking. She hadn’t let herself stop to think about what any of this meant. Was there some world where she and Erik were actually together? And if so, why was Charles so calm about the idea? None of it made any sense and she realized she was anxious to face both her friends and the children.
Steeling herself, she knocked and waited for someone to let her in.
***
There was just a lot more to trying to get three children fed than Erik expected even if it was just something to tide them over. One didn’t like one kind of fruit, the other wanted theirs peeled and the third couldn’t make up their mind. But there was at least something being eaten for each of them so he could go answer the door.
“Please, come in.” Erik hadn’t managed to do more than put a shirt on so far and he was looking both amused and a little harried without his hair combed. “Thank you for shopping.”
***
Charles was busy telling the children outlandish stories about himself and Erik that had, of course, never happened. He had an excellent imagination, however, so was able to make things up on the fly and had all three giggling by the time Erik and Clarke joined them.
Then he was interrupted by a chorus of MOMMY! and all three scrambled from the table to go mob Clarke. Charles stood looking almost as rumpled as Erik. “Ah. Welcome, Clarke, and thank you.”
***
Clarke’s eyes went wide when all three children latched on to her legs. “Um, hi,” she said, handing the bags over to Erik so she could properly greet the kids. She patted each of them on the head, shooting helpless looks in Charles’ direction. Help? she thought at him. The telepathy thing was weird and she almost never used it deliberately, but this seemed like a perfect opportunity.
“I brought food and clothes,” she added. “If you all sit down, I can heat up some eggs and bacon.” She totally cheated and bought one of those frozen skillet meal things that only took a few minutes.
***
“Sitting seems to be a challenge.” Erik was amused at how they all latched onto Clarke and hoped that Charles would fill her in on things as they went since he couldn’t speak to her telepathically like he could.
“Abigail, Sharon, we can go make sure you get dressed. You too...Erik.” There was just a slight pause when he said the name. Only you would name a child after me. This is going to be confusing.
Abigail immediately put her arms up to be carried but thankfully the other two ran ahead since Erik was out of arms between the little girl and the bags.
***
And only you would indulge me in doing so. Was the response to Erik as he took the children to get dressed.
Once it was just he and Clarke, Charles offered her a smile and a cup of coffee. “Terribly sorry, but you can imagine how we felt waking up to this. From what I discovered in their thoughts all of them are yours. Young Erik calls Erik and I both father. Sharon calls me father, and Abigail calls Erik father. I can only fill in the blanks as they are too young to understand much more than that.”
***
“Abigail is named after my mother,” Clarke said. That was a bittersweet realization. She missed her mom, even though they’d had their differences.
She gratefully accepted the cup of coffee. With the sheer amount of energy these kids possessed, she had a feeling she was going to need a lot of it for the next few days. “I’m surprised Erik let you get away with naming a child after him,” she said with a slight smirk.
***
Erik had managed to find something for each of them to wear and sent them off to brush teeth and put on the clothes. Luckily they seemed to be clothes that would be easy to put on but he was sure something would go wrong somewhere as he went out to join Charles and Clarke.
“Erik is still planning to argue that name. Is there more coffee? The adrenaline from waking up surrounded by extra people has worn off.” It was going to be a long day.
***
“Sharon was my mother’s name so apparently that’s a trend.” Charles automatically had gone to pour coffee for Erik upon the request. “And I can’t think of a better person to name a son of mine after. Besides. What’s done is done. Can’t change it now.”
He smirked as he handed the coffee over. It was truly amusing to be arguing over the name of a child that was, despite physical evidence to the contrary, hypothetical.
***
The sounds of the children squabbling in the other room as they got ready was amusing, though Clarke moved to start unpacking the groceries so she could make more food. “This is going to be a little awkward,” she said, figuring there was no reason not to mention the elephant in the room. “Do you think that all three of us are together in their world?”
***
Erik hoped the squabbling didn’t turn into a brawl. He took the coffee which luckily was cool enough to take a long drink from and was glad he was done drinking before Clarke asked the question or he might have worn it.
“I don’t know…” He looked over at Charles. “...did you find that out from them with their names and who their mother was?”
***
There was a momentary silence to the squabbling before Sharon shouted out. “No fair, daddy!” That was followed by muted grumbling as her siblings argued about attracting physical parental interference. Charles just sipped his coffee looking as innocent as he could manage.
He nodded to answer Erik. “Erik’s.” The one that called them both father. “We are all in his thoughts and heart.”
***
“And what about the girls?” Clarke asked. The whole thing was so bizarre and it was strange to think that there were multiple versions of the future where she was with one or the other man.
***
Little feet could be heard pounding from the bathroom so Charles answered quickly. “Sharon is ours,” he said quietly. “Abigail is yours and Erik’s.”
Then the children came rushing back in. Sharon had a damp front of her shirt. Erik was immaculate while Abigail’s hair was pretty much everywhere but down. Charles found it all charming.
***
“I’m fairly sure someone doesn’t know what a brush is.” Erik amused by the wild thing that was Abigail’s hair. He’d thought it had just looked like it did because of her sleeping on it but apparently not. It was just as odd for him to think about all these other futures where things were different but the children kept him from thinking about it too hard just yet.
“We will have to figure out...arrangements.” He didn’t want to speak too openly about it but it was his one room apartment and Charles’ one room apartment along with Clarke living with her friends so all of them were in different places.
***
“Yeah, um… there isn’t really enough space at any of our places,” Clarke said, wrinkling her nose. And who knew how many more kids they might end up with before the day was out. She remembered how many children were running through the town last time this happened.
The kids were clamoring for attention and Clarke felt a headache starting. “Okay, okay, everyone to the table. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Maybe if you ask very nicely, your fathers will get you some juice.”
***
The childrens’ definition of very nicely went something like this.
“Father, may I please have some juice?” That was Erik.
“Papa, juice please!” from Abigail.
“I want some juice! Please.” from Sharon.
Charles restrained a chuckle as he looked at Erik. “At least she said please.” He put his hand on Erik the elder’s shoulder as he wormed past. “Sit. Have some coffee. I’ll get the juice.”
***
“Space is definitely an issue.” Erik had pushed his coffee away to try to get up until Charles and put his hand on his shoulder to keep him in his seat. And as much as he was enchanted by all of these children...although no one had better point that out to him...they were going to be hard to deal with cooped up without enough space.
“Maybe after they eat we can take them outside so they can run and we can make plans.”
***
That sounded like a good place to start and Clarke nodded. “I’ll have to check in at the house and see if anyone else had kids show up too.”
Poor girl had no idea that she was about to be getting a few more calls about children of her own.