DeeDee slowly opens the door to her father’s room, her tiny head peeking in. Sunlight shines through the open balcony, a warm breeze wafting into the room. Her white and red hair is a tangled mess and she has to blow a few curled strands out of her face. She pushes the door quietly and runs across the room, her tiny feet going ‘pitter-patter’. She stands by his side of the bed, standing on the tips of her toes to try to see him. He sleeps on his stomach, the back of his head facing her. His loud snores echo in his large room.
Last night, her father was reading her a bedtime story in his room. She was sitting in his lap, struggling to keep her eyes open, but he spoke softly and poetically, telling the tale of the brave little butterfly going on an adventure to find her favorite cupcakes. Ultimately, sleep won. DeeDee laid her head against his chest and fell asleep. Next thing she knew, she woke up in her own room in her own bed and not in her father’s bed. To say she was mad was an understatement. She told her father that she was going to go night night with him and what did he do? Lay her down in her bed.
DeeDee takes a step backward, head swaying side to side. She’s trying to think of how she’s going to climb into bed. She left her stool in the kitchen, and she didn’t want to run back and forth from the kitchen to her father’s room. She attempted to jump onto the bed, but she bounced backwards and she stumbled on her feet, fixing herself upwards. She stomps her foot against the ground, pushing her hair back. She will lay down with her papa!
DeeDee scrunches her face into determination and grips the blanket, digging her feet into the mattress and pulling herself up.
However, as she nearly succeeded climbing into her father’s bed, the blanket gave up and she ended up falling onto the ground, the blanket piling on top of her. She ends up bumping her head against the ground, a loud smack echoing in the room. DeeDee curls into a ball on the ground, holding the back of her head. Pain radiates in the back of her head and she grits her teeth, holding her breath for a total of five seconds before she bursts into tears.
“P-Papa,” she began to cry, sitting up. She pushes the blanket off of her and cries into her little hands. “Papa!” The back of her head is pounding. She’s kicking her little legs, sobbing heavily. “Papa! Papa!”
Her father, Erik Lehnsherr, woke up instinctively to the sound of his youngest cries. He lifts his head, blinking the sleep out of his sagging eyes. He looked around before spotting DeeDee on the floor with her face buried in her hands. His body moved before his mind could access the situation.
“Sweetheart, what happened?” Erik asked, lifting her up into his arms. She buries her face into his shoulder, her tears soaking into shirt.
“I-I fell and I hurted my head,” she cries.
“Where, honey? Show papa where you got hurt.”
She points to the back of her head. “H-Here.”
Erik very gently strokes the back of her head and feels a little bump. She winces and he rubs her back soothingly. “Oh, my little love, I’m so sorry. What were you trying to do?” He’s walking her back and forth, bouncing her in his arms.
“I-I was trying to climb onto t-the bed so I can l-lay down with you,” she huffed, coughing into his shoulder. “My head weally weally hurts, papa.”
“That breaks your papa’s heart more than you can ever realize,” he said, kissing the side of her head. “Here, let’s lay down. Papa will hold you while you cry.” Erik leans down to pick up his fallen blanket and crawls back into the bed, holding his little girl against him. He covers the both of them up and DeeDee snuggles into him, sniffling.
“I wouldn’t have h-hurted my head if you let me go n-night night with you,” DeeDee said, glaring at up him. Her green eyes are wet with tears and her cheeks red, snot dribbling out of her nose. Her tiny brows furrowed, a pout to her lip. “I need to go night night with you forever now.”
Erik breathes out a soft laugh at her demand. He strokes her hair, kissing the top of her head. “My dear daughter, as much as I would love for you to go night night with me every night, you need your own space. Wouldn’t you like to have your own space?”
“No,” she said sternly without an ounce of hesitation in her shaky tone.
He shakes his head, a smile on his face. “Just for tonight, you can go night night with me, but it’s important you sleep in your own room.”
“But if I do, I’ll come back here in the morning, and I’ll bump my head again! Do you want me to get hurted again?”
“Hurt. You say hurt, not hurted, but no. I don’t want you to get hurt. Next time, how about you wake me up so I can pick you up?”
“Or maybe you let me go night night with you. Forever and ever.” She shifts her upset expression to a pleading look, batting her eyes up at him. “Please, papa?” She places her tiny hand on his cheek. “We can snuggle, too!”
DeeDee knows how to play with his heart. He’s a girl-dad through and through, and it’s not exactly easy telling his youngest daughter no. She’s his little girl. DeeDee recently turned five years old and lately she’s been clingier. He’s honestly not too sure what brought this on, considering she was always free-spirited and willing to do things on her own. She didn’t really care if she slept in her room or his, but lately she’s been demanding to sleep in his room.
“DeeDee, papa has a question for you,” Erik said gently, holding her little hand and kissing it. She stares up at him curiously, blinking. “Why do you want to sleep in my room so much lately? Now, I don’t mind snuggling my baby, but you never cared before. Have you been having nightmares, honey? Is something troubling you?”
DeeDee looks down, her lips pursed. She fumbles with her fingers, unsure of how to say what's going on through her mind.
So something is going on with her.
Erik strokes her hair, careful not to accidentally touch the bump on the back of her head. “You can tell papa anything, my little love. Please tell me what’s troubling you so I can help you.”
DeeDee looks back up at her father, and this time there’s tears in her eyes. “M-Mother’s day is coming up.”
Oh.
Oh, his heart.
Erik keeps the pain out of his expression and voice as he says, “That’s right, mother’s day is coming up.” It’s important he doesn’t let his feelings get the best of him. His daughter needs him and he’ll be there for her, even if the stitches on his heart and soul are threatening to burst open.
“Y-Yeah,” she said. Her bottom lip begins to tremble and her eyes well with fat droplets of tears that begin to trickle down her cheeks. “I just…I-I just don’t remember mama’s face.” With having said that, his baby girl breaks down. She buries her face in his chest, wailing so hard her throat hurts. “I don’t remember mama!”
Five years ago, exactly one week after DeeDee was born, sentinels attacked the home he and his late wife—Anna Marie—built with their very hands. Erik came to her before, dropping down to his knee in proposal. He wanted to live the rest of his life in silence and that life wouldn’t be complete without the woman whom he fell in love with. At first, she was shocked, almost unsure of herself, but with time, she knew what she wanted.
Anna Marie accepted his proposal and they practically disappeared off the face of the earth. Erik found a secluded place he swore that not even one of the X-Men could find them. Together, he and his late wife built their home. Blood, sweat and tears were poured into the foundation. Love in the paint strokes. Care in the decoration. The very place they conceived their daughter and birthed her in. He recalls the night she told him that they were expecting.
Erik sat out on the balcony, a glass of red wine in his hand. He sips on the beverage and sets it down on the small rounded glass table next to his reclining chair. He’s enjoying basking the last remnants of sunlight before the outside lights turn on. His glasses rest on the bridge of his nose, his blue eyes reading over the pages of his thick novel. Every now and then, Erik enjoyed reading his novels in silence outside. Well, not entirely silent, considering there’s wildlife out in the surrounding forest. He enjoys hearing the chirps of the birds and the calls of the deer. Sometimes, a roaring bear. He licks his finger and flips the page, finishing off the last chapter just as his wife comes outside.
Anna Marie wore a dark green nightgown that went down to the middle of her thighs. The gown complemented her curves, the color a beautiful contrast to her gorgeous red hair. She sits on the armrest of his chair, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. She smelled of vanilla and mint, a scent he loved the first time he smelled it on her. She lays her head against his, a happy smile on her face.
“How’s yer book?” Anna Marie asked, her fingers playing with his hair.
Erik finishes off the last sentences and closes the book. “So far so good. I’m halfway through it now, so I’m confident to say by tomorrow I’ll be done with it.”
“Oh, don’ stop because Ah’m here. Ah didn’ mean to interrupt yer readin’ time.”
“You are no trouble, my dear Anna Marie. My eyes needed a break.” He sets the book down along with his glasses, a sly smirk on his face. He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her into his lap, a laugh eliciting from her. “Besides, I think I should indulge on my lovely wife.”
Anna Marie laughs as he peppers her neck in kisses, his free hand running through her soft hair. She stares up at the reddish-orange sky, watching as birds fly over them. “Erik, the years have flown by rather quickly, don’ ya think?”
Erik inhales her scent, brushing his nose along her jawline. “With you, my darling wife, I hardly notice time passing by.” He lifts his head up, his knuckles caressing her cheek. “Unless you are bored? If that’s the case, my love, I’ll get started on building that house on the beach. The one we talk about often.”
Anna Marie shakes her head, chuckling. Her shoulders tremble as she laughs, her curly hair brushing along her skin. “Ah’m not bored. Trust me, if Ah was bored, you’ll be the first to know.” She kisses his cheek, smiling against his flesh. “No, Ah’m just sayin’ how happy these years spent with ya are. Ah never thought Ah’d achieve this life. Let alone, with the man who caught mah heart and made it his.”
“I believe you were the first one to capture my heart,” Erik said. He lays his head against her shoulder, his breath tickling her exposed skin. “This is the happiest I’ve ever been, spending the rest of my life with my breath-taking wife. Deep down, I knew I wanted to be with you. I knew I wanted to grab your hand and run away from everyone, just so we could live a long, quiet life together.”
Anna Marie nods, scratching lightly at his scalp. “Well, Ah think havin’ a quiet life would be hard once Ah have this baby.”
“I agree. Once we—wait, what?”
Erik is staring up at her with wide eyes, his mouth slightly parted in surprise. “A-Are you saying…wait, we’re going to be…?” He’s hardly able to finish his sentences. His ears burn to hear it from her.
Anna Marie nods her head enthusiastically, her smile showing the whites of her teeth. She rubs her belly lovingly. “That’s right, sugah! Ah got a little bun in the oven!”
A baby.
They’re going to have a baby.
“Oh, I can’t believe this!” Erik hops out of the chair, dragging Anna Marie along with him. He grabs her waist and picks her up, spinning her around. They’re both laughing happily, their laughter echoing out in the word. “We’re going to be parents! We’re having a baby!”
“Okay! Okay! Enuff spinnin’! You might make our baby dizzy!”
Erik sets her back down on her feet, but he doesn’t let go. He presses his forehead against hers, staring deep into her eyes. “You mean it? We’re really having a baby?”
“Mmhmm!”
“Words cannot express the joy that is brewing in my chest!” Erik attacks his lovely wife with kisses. She laughs, one arm wrapped around his neck. He kisses her all over her face and neck. “You, my love, just made me not only the happiest man in the world, but the luckiest. We’re going to be a family, you and I. We’re going to have a little one running around.”
Anna Marie cups his cheek and has him stare into her face. “Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, Ah cannot wait to be parents.” She kisses the tip of his nose. “We’re gonna be the best parents this little baby ever has.”
“You are right, my love,” Erik confirms, kissing her palm. “You and I are going to be the best parents to our baby.”
For one week exactly, they were two parents raising a baby, until two parents became one.
Erik wishes to go back to that moment and tell his wife that he’ll build their house by the beach and relocate them there. Perhaps if he was smart enough to do that, then their five year old daughter wouldn’t be in this much agony over not being able to recall what her mother looked like.
“Oh, my sweet sweet Delilah,” Erik whispered. He scooped her up and he laid on his back, cradling her against his chest. “I had no idea this was troubling you so much.”
Erik always told tales of her mother to DeeDee. He made sure that DeeDee knew her mother. He showed her many photos of her mother and told her how many times she saved the world. How strong and agile she was. Strong. Independent. A golden heart. Beneath the light of the sun, her red hair glowed. He has endless stories about Anna Marie and any questions their daughter has, he answers. Now, he can’t fully explain how her mother died. She’s too young to fully process that, but she knows her mother passed on when she was an infant.
No wonder DeeDee was much clingier lately. Mother’s Day is right around the corner and she’s missing the one person she hardly had in her life. Or rather she’s very upset because she doesn’t remember her mother.
DeeDee is very loved. By her father and her siblings. Wanda and Lorna gushed over their little sister when Erik first introduced them to her. Pietro himself is a proud father of a little girl, and he was happy to know he gained another sister. It was six months after the attack. Erik was working on a list of powerful mutants to talk to to join his side against the humans. Not only is he still hellbent on revenge for the loss of his wife, but he fights for mutantkind once more. He vows that no one shall feel the pain he felt that day ever again.
Erik found his older children, who at first were against at seeing him again, but once they saw their baby sister, their hearts softened. They’re allowed to be mad at their father all they want, but DeeDee didn’t do anything wrong. Erik asked his children to join his side once more, but they all refused. Wanda has two twin sons, Pietro a daughter, and Lorna is off doing her own thing with the X-Men. As much as he’d like to argue with them, he can’t do anything. So for that night, he set aside his plans to spend time with his children and grandchildren, who at the time were smaller and were excited to meet their baby aunt.
Sometimes Wanda will come to visit, just to keep in contact with DeeDee. She’ll bring gifts for her or take her out for a sister's day—there were some days that Lorna joined, too.
Though at the moment, Erik and his children fight on opposite sides, they put aside their differences for the little girl who doesn’t know the true ugliness of the world.
Erik rubs soothing circles into his daughter’s back, pressing his cheek against the top of her head. Oh, he’ll do anything to take away her pain. Hell, he feels horrible for not knowing this was causing her any pain. He should’ve known.
“You know, little one, I can’t remember my parent’s faces either,” Erik said softly, a far away look in his eyes.
DeeDee coughs, rubbing her snotty nose on his shirt. She sits up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “W-Weally?”
Erik nods, brushing her tears away. “I lost my parents when I was a young boy. For a long time, I wondered why I couldn’t see their faces. It troubled me as it troubles you not being able to see your mother’s face in your memories.”
Tears still fall, but she’s quieter. “I-I didn’t know that.”
“And that’s okay,” Erik said, now sitting up. DeeDee lays against him and he hugs her once more. “That’s okay that you didn’t know. I’m telling you this because I understand your pain, my little one.”
She’s hugging herself, once again rubbing her snot on his shirt. “I-I just started thinking about mama, because I see s-so many photos, but I-I can’t remember her face.” She’s trembling. “W-Why can’t I see mama’s face, papa?”
“Because, my sweet baby, your mama passed away when you were only an infant. But I promise you that your mama loved you so, so much. She used to sing you songs and read you stories. She hardly wanted to put you down, but you know that I love my snuggles.” DeeDee giggled lightly at that, and hearing her little laugh warms his heart. “You were your mama’s entire world. In fact, you look a lot like her.”
DeeDee gasps. “I do?”
“Yes, you do.” Erik plucks a picture frame off his nightstand and shows it to DeeDee. It's a photo of him and Anna Marie in front of the house they had just built. “See? You have her eyes. The red hair. Her smile. And her stubbornness.” He laughed at that, because Anna Marie was a stubborn woman, which is why he always admitted she was right—even when she was wrong. “You look so much like your mama, DeeDee. I’m sure if she was here now, she would be calling you her little twin.”
DeeDee looks up at him with a beaming smile. “I do look like her twin!”
“That’s right, you do.” He kisses her forehead. “I know that Mother’s Day is going to be hard, but is there anything you would like to do?”
DeeDee looks down at her hands. She mumbles something.
“I’m sorry, little one, can you please speak up? Papa can’t hear you.”
“I-I wanna visit mama’s grave.”
Erik sighs. The last time he visited her grave was when he buried her. He knows if he goes back, all the feelings of pain and regret will bubble up to the surface and he’ll break down.
But his daughter is asking, and he can’t say no to her request.
“Then we shall go visit her grave on mother’s day. We will bring flowers and clean up her grave. Okay?”
DeeDee smiles. “Okay.” She snuggles against his chest, her eyes fluttering shut. “I’m sleepy.”
He laughs softly, slowly rocking her side to side. “Sleep well, my little one.” He hums a tune that Anna Marie always sung to her and in a matter of minutes, DeeDee is asleep. Very gently, he lays her down and climbs out of bed. He covers her up with the blanket and kisses the top of her head. He walks outside to the balcony, looks over the horizon, and sobs into his hands.
Erik lands a few feet away from where Anna Marie is buried, DeeDee in his arms. She’s holding a big bouquet of flowers and freshly baked cookies. Why cookies? Simple. Because DeeDee wanted to make her mama cookies for Mother’s Day. He sets DeeDee down on her feet and holds her hand, walking over to the grave. Around the grave were long weeds and grass, and he got down on his knees to pluck them. DeeDee sets the items down and helps him, grabbing small handfuls and throwing them aside.
Once they plucked everything, Erik sits down, the smell of saltwater in the air.
“Okay DeeDee, you can give your mama her gifts, and you can say whatever you want to her,” he said gently, gesuturing to her grave. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
DeeDee gulps, picking the gifts back up. She takes a few small steps towards the grave, her stance frigid. “H-Hi mama,” she whispered. She peers over her shoulder back at Erik, who nods his head in approval. She looks at the grave again, gulping. “I, um, brought you presents.” She lays the flowers down and the small container of cookies, opening them up. “I made the cookies. All on my own. But papa used the oven, because he said I’m too small to use it.”
She clasps her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her feet. “Um, I know I don’t remember you, but I feel like I know you. Papa tells me a lot about you, mama. He shows me all your pictures.” She then touches her hair. “My hair is kinda like yours, but I have more white than red. And I’m like your twin, too.” She then sits down, playing with her shoe laces. “I wish I remembered you, mama. Papa said you used to sing to me, but I don’t know your songs.”
“Um, I wanna say I love you, mama, and I wish you were here with me and papa. I don’t know why you’re gone, or how, but I love you.”
“Papa doesn’t like it when I bring worms into the house, but they’re my friends! I like having tea parties with them.”
“I don’t like tomatoes. They’re yucky. And I hate vegetables, too. I don’t like it when I have to eat my vegetables. I don’t care if they’re healthy. They’re yucky!”
“Mama, I wish you didn’t die,” DeeDee whispered quietly, tucking her chin between her knees. She’s hugging her legs, sighing. She doesn’t feel the need to cry, and she doesn’t know why. Just the other day she cried because she doesn’t remember her mother’s face, but she can’t cry now. “I wish I could snuggle you. I wish you were holding me now.” She brushes her hair back. “Papa said you loved me a lot. Do you still love me? Even if you’re dead?”
Erik opens his mouth to answer, but closes his mouth. He’s not going to interrupt this private moment betwee his daughter and his late wife.
“I love you, mama. I love you even if I don’t remember you.” She grabs a cookie and sets it in the grass. “Here, to help you eat it. It’s super yummy.” She grabs a cookie and takes a bite. “Mm, yummy! Let’s eat cookies together, mama.” DeeDee doesn’t say anything after that. She’s slowly eating her cookie, staring down at the one she placed on the ground for her mother.
Erik decides to stand up and walk closer near the beach. Hands in his pockets, he stares out into the ocean. He recalls the many times he and his late wife ran across its sandy surface, their toes covered in sand. They’ll run right across the shore, their laughter filling the air. Sometimes they’ll fall into the water in a tangle of limbs. One time, in the middle of the water, he was holding her against him. She was laying her head against his chest, arms wrapped around his neck. His hands held her waist and they were slowly dancing to the music of the waves.
That was a long time ago, sadly.
He looks over his shoulder and sees DeeDee staring at the grave, her expression sad and confused. She shouldn’t look like that. DeeDee should be smiling and laughing while her mother tosses her up into the air. Anna Marie should’ve been by his side while they raised their daughter. Together.
And the humans took her away from them.
Because the humans hated them so much, they took away a mother and wife.
Anna Marie was a mother for only one week before she lost her life. She was so excited to be a mom, too. She wanted to see her daughter grow up.
Erik returns his gaze towards the sea, brows furrowed. He promised that humanity will pay for what they’ve done to his family. They will know her name.
They will feel the pain they brought upon his family tenfold.
He feels a tiny hand tug at his sleeve and he looks down. DeeDee is leaning against him, holding her arms up. “I wanna go back home.”
Erik lifts her up, kissing the side of her head. “How are you feeling?” He brushes her hair back to see whether or not there’s tears in her eyes. There’s none.
DeeDee thinks about it. “Fine. I think…better.”
He smiles, floating up in the air. “I am glad. Come, let’s go back home.”
Erik looks down at Anna Marie’s grave, his heart going out to his late wife. He promises silently to visit once a week with their daughter and bring new flowers every time.
He promises that their daughter will grow up in a world where mutants can live in peace.