Chapter 3
Time seemed to slow down. For a moment Charles could see every little similarity between Peter and Erik, that only one who knew Erik very well could pick out in his son.
"Did you know?" Peter asked softly. There was still some anger and agitation to it, but in his eyes there was only a barely concealed fear. This was not the anger of his father, a simmering rage festered of years of trauma and sought-out vengeance. No, what Charles saw in Peter was the lashing out of a scared boy whose life had drastically changed in a day and only wanted answers and perhaps some reassurance that he and his sisters would be ok.
"Please sit," Charles told him in a similar tone. Peter hesitated for a split second before coming to sit in front of Charles. "What did your mother tell you?"
"She said that they knew each other a long-time ago. They were together and something happened, and she knew she was pregnant. So she left without telling him about the pregnancy. She thought we would get hurt if we grew up with him, and he wouldn't just let her go if he knew. She changed her name and told us he'd died when Wanda and I asked about why we didn't have a dad," Peter explained, tears in his eyes threatening to fall.
"Logan is a long story, but I cannot tell you for certain if he somehow knew about this. I can say that if he did, he did not think to impart that information to us," Charles assured the boy.
"And that's not all of it," Peter said. "My little sister, Lorna-"
"You said she was adopted," Hank interjected, not liking where this was going.
"Cause she is. When Wanda and I were twelve, this lady brought Lorna to live with us, and apparently, she told mom that he - Erik - had an affair with Lorna's mother Suzanna, not knowing she was married," Peter continued on, barely noticing Hank, Charles, and Alex's gobsmacked expressions. "So then, when Suzanna and her husband died, that lady who somehow knew about us and Lorna brought her to mom."
"And was this woman named Irene, by chance?" Erik emerged from the shadows of the hall, his expression unreadable. Peter gave a slight nod, his eyes wide. "Blind? Psychic?" Peter gave another nod.
"You know her," Charles stated. "A telepath?"
"Clairvoyant and precognitive, her gift enabled her to see the past, present, and future. She was called Destiny in the Brotherhood," Erik explained.
"How much did you hear?" Peter questioned, not meeting Erik's eyes.
"Enough."
"Hank, Alex do you think you could-" Hank and Alex were out of the room before Charles could finish the sentence. He didn't follow them out, sensing Erik's unvoiced plea for him to stay. Carefully Erik sat down next to his son, pulling the boy into his arms when Peter didn't shy away from him.
He's just as scared as you are about this, Charles whispered to him in his mind. Erik closed his eyes and pulled Peter closer to him, running his fingers through the boy's silver hair.
"Please don't be mad," he heard Peter say after a few minutes.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Not at me, at my mom. For not telling you about us."
"I loved your mother. When she left I thought I would never love again." Erik met Charles' gaze over Peter's head. I was wrong, he thought, a slight dusting of pink crawling over Charles' ears and cheeks at the thought. "But I understand why she did what she did, and I cannot be mad at her for it. The important thing is that you children grew up safe."
"Did your sisters take it well?" Charles asked quietly.
"I don't think Lorna really understands it," Peter answered. "To her, Erik is her dad because he's Wanda and I's dad, and Mom is her mom now. She's too young to understand the whole biological aspect of it. Wanda was kind of upset, but more because Mom didn't tell us the truth, not because you're our dad."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Erik murmured. "Your sisters, what are they like?"
"Wanda looks like Mom but she has your temper, or so I'm told. Lorna looks a little like you, but her hair's green. Definitely also has a temper. They both have your eyes too," Peter told him. "I can go get them now." Before either Erik or Charles could reply, Peter was gone.
"I would say I can't believe you had sex with a married woman but I can," Alex commented from the doorway.
"You know you owe that woman like $250,000 in child support," Hank added from beside him. Erik glared at both of them.
"I didn't ask."
In the blink of an eye, Wanda Maximoff was standing in the kitchen, Peter nowhere in sight. "He went back for Lorna," she explained. Another blink and Peter was standing beside her, Lorna in his arms.
"You look a lot like your mother," Erik said, standing at Charles' nudging.
"I get that a lot," Wanda shrugged. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before going in to hug Erik tightly. Erik wrapped his arms around his daughter, a rare, soft smile gracing his face. After a few moments, she pulled away, smiling too. Erik stepped forward so that he has standing in front of Peter and Lorna.
"Do you know who I am?" He asked the little girl gently.
"Your Wanda and Peter's dad," Lorna answered, nodding her head. "Does that make you my dad now too?" Nothing about You're the guy who was on the news or Where have you been? Erik didn't know how he'd answer that.
"If that's alright with you." Lorna nodded again and held out her arms for him to take her. He did, glancing once at Peter to make sure it was ok.
"So this is your house?" Wanda questioned, taking in what she could see of the mansion.
"It is. "Why don't I show you around?" Charles offered, smiling warmly. The twins followed him down the hall, as Charles began to animatedly tell them the history of the house. Erik trailed behind, Lorna secure in his arms, stalling as he passed Hank.
"Do you want me to do a test? Just to be sure?" Hank whispered, glancing at the twins.
"Natalya wouldn't lie, but Irene might. Later," Erik replied. "It's good to see you again Alex."
"You too man." The answer was genuine, but Erik detected a hint of bitterness still harbored from his leaving eleven years earlier. As Erik continued along after the twins and Charles with Lorna in his arms he felt a sense of something he hadn't felt since he was last here in Westchester. He felt a surge of happiness, of contentment, of peace.
"Erik Lehnsherr, you are the father," Hank told him, handing Erik several papers. The twins had been very understanding when Hank had brought up the prospect of a DNA test to confirm Erik's paternity. As the twins were getting their blood taken, Lorna, not wanting to be left out also wanted her blood to be taken and tested. Unsurprisingly to Erik, the results confirmed that the twins and Lorna were Erik's children. Erik took the papers from Hank and examined them carefully, before handing them over to the twins. The four of them, along with Hank, Alex, and Charles were in Hank's lab in the basement.
"It's like, on the one hand, you were paternal to us-" Alex started.
"To you and Sean. Erik was paternal to you and Sean," Hank corrected as Alex went on.
"And you definitely seem like the type to have secret kids. But on the other hand, I cannot comprehend that you have three kids."
"Thank you, Alex. Do you have a lighter?" Erik asked. He took the papers from Charles as Alex held out his hand, glowing with red energy. They all watched as Erik tilted the papers into Alex's hand, igniting them into flame.
"Whatcha doing?" Peter questioned hesitantly.
"This stays between us," Erik answered calmly. "I know that you are mine and that is what's important. But I have made a lot of enemies in my life, and if they were to find out... It doesn't bear to think about. So this stays between us and your mother."
"And Logan, probably. If he remembers anything," Hank added. Erik glared at him.
"You and the children will be safe here, old friend," Charles assured them, Lorna in his lap. Erik's glare softened as he pulled the twins close to him, thankfully neither Peter (whose real name was Pietro as Erik had learned) nor Wanda pulled away from him. He felt a warm feeling unfurl in his chest, a feeling he had begun to feel eleven years earlier when he and Charles had taken in Hank and Alex and the other children. He had a family again.
But despite Charles' assurances, and the semblance of peace that settled over the house as the days wore on, Erik couldn't shake the feeling that this would be taken from him - just like every other piece of happiness he'd ever known.