Chapter 16
In one of those strange twists of fate, Charles and Erik both got what they wanted-more time together- because of that fateful email.
Charles was immediately more involved in the day to day life of the Lehnsherr's, and so far so good.
The Monday following their eventful weekend, Charles accompanied Erik to drop Nina off at school and officially be added to her pickup list.
Nina was very excited about this development.
“Can I show Charles my classroom?!” She demanded excitedly, hopping around in the empty space next to the car as Erik collected her book bag and Charles stumbled out of the car sleepily.
“Maybe some other time, we need to go to the office,” Erik told her gently.
She frowned, “I want him to be my show and tell!”
“People can’t be ‘show and tell,’” he said absently, checking the car for anything she might have left behind.
“Joey brought his dog as show and tell,” she said defiantly.
“Dogs aren’t people,” he said, exasperated by this ridiculous conversation.
“Charles!” She turned to him with a pout.
He startled at her echoing call, still bleary eyed in the early morning, “What?”
“Do you want to be show and tell?” she asked with a frown.
He glanced at the dour faces both of them were making at him, “Maybe some other time, dear. You already have a lot to tell the class about your weekend,” he reminded her.
She gave him a suspicious look, but accepted the hand he held out to her so they could walk together. “We went to a new store,” he coached her gently. “You helped me pick out… was it potatoes?”
“Tomatoes!” she laughed at the silly face he pulled, “And Ravioli!”
He snapped the fingers of his free hand like he’d just remembered something. “That was it! We even made cheese like farmers!”
“And it was super yummy!”
“And super messy,” Erik tugged her pony tail as he stepped ahead of them to hold the door open.
“You’re silly, papa,” rolled her eyes at him and took her book bag from his outstretched hand before giving him a tight hug around his legs, almost causing him to lose his balance.
He chuckled down at her and patted her on top of the head, “have a good day, sweetheart.”
He glanced around to see Charles being greeted by Mrs. Perry who was attempting to herd her students into a line to lead to class. Nina ran into the fray and clutched at Charles’ leg like a limpet. “This is my Charles!” She announced to the group at large.
Her excitement caused the children to cluster around them like overeager puppies wanting a snack.
Charles was at a loss.
“Hi Charles!” several of them yelled at various times.
“Ah. Hello?” he said uncertainly. Nina beamed up at him proudly.
“Nina said you was a chess!!” a little girl with red pigtails grabbed his hand and poked his belly with it.
“Shelf, stupid!” a little boy blond boy cut in sharply.
“People can’t be shelfs!!” she retorted angrily.
“No name calling,” Mrs. Perry said sharply, causing the culprit to drop his gaze sullenly.
“I wants a Charles!!” screamed a little girl with short black hair who was currently kneeling and tugging at his shoe for reasons unknown.
“Okay everyone, that’s enough,” Mrs. Perry called out, ringing a small bell and ushering them back into some semblance of a line.
By the time Charles had given Nina her hug and extracted himself from the group, Erik wasn’t even trying to contain his laughter any more. But he also had no more doubts about assigning Charles as trusted childcare.
“I’m glad someone enjoyed that because I don’t know what just happened,” Charles admitted, dazed.
“You were almost show and tell,” he grinned.
“Mr. Lehnsherr?” the glanced over to see a young woman in a red checked dress giving them a warm smile, “I’m able to update your file.”
He squeezed Charles’ hand tightly for a moment and led the way, “Thank you very much.”
~~
It was difficult for Charles to concentrate in the coming days. Erik had filed a copy of the email and said he had a new plan in place to hopefully end this once and for all. The legal system was frustratingly slow in Charles’ opinion, nothing like T.V dramas.
Erik had laughed at the comparison, “No, unfortunately cases take months or even years to prepare and resolve. You learn to go with it.”
Charles didn’t think he had the fortitude for a drawn out court battle. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“Charles?” Nina was staring up at him, eyes wide with doubt. They were sitting at the kitchen table after their usual Saturday breakfast ritual.
“I’m sorry, dear, I was just woolgathering,” he gave her a small smile. “Have you decided what you’d like to make?”
He had given her a list of five options and told her to pick three that they’d make together. He silently thanked Erik for the idea, Nina had been very happy to be consulted on such an important decision.
“I wanna do pumpkin lollipops…peanut clutters…and…rice kiss-peas,” she said with an air of finality. He supposed it was deserved; she’d spent long enough debating the merits of each treat.
“Excellent choices! I’ll make a list of what we need and go to the store while you’re at school. Then, when you come over we’ll have plenty of time to get the candy ready for Halloween!”
“Yes!” Nina grinned, almost too excited to stand it.
They high fived to seal the deal. She was big into high fives these days.
“Now that’s settled lets go watch Charles’ video,” Erik said warmly, looking up from reading an email from their lawyer.
“I wanna start the computer!” Nina jumped up from the table and hurried to the study.
“Good news?” Charles asked, nodding to Erik’s phone. “You seem like you’re in a good mood.”
“Cautiously optimistic news,” he countered with a grin. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
Charles made a quick note of Nina’s choices and rose from the table to wrap his arms around Erik’s narrow waist and pull him down into a soft kiss. “Great, let me know what I can do to help,” he went to pull away but Erik stopped him and tilted his chin up gently. “You’re already doing it,” he said softly before leaning in for another kiss. Charles melted like sugar in the rain at his sweet words. He supposed there was no rush to watch his new video, not when there were moments like this to be had.
~~
They spent the afternoon playing in the yard. Charles hadn’t played freeze tag since he was a child and it turned out to be just as fun as he remembered.
Nina’s laugh was becoming his favorite thing in the world, well, just after her father’s real smile. He rarely lit up fully and Charles understood why. It must he so hard for him to just relax and enjoy life after all they’d been through.
Erik caught his eye and jogged up to him to plant a warm kiss full on his lips.
“EWW!” Nina giggled, covering her eyes.
Charles blushed at her reaction but Erik was relieved, they’d kept their physical affection to hand holding and brief hugs in front of her, but he wanted to test the waters to small kisses here and there without making a big deal about it.
“You’re just jealous because you want a kiss!” he dodged over to her, chasing her a bit before scooping her up in his arms and planting a dramatic kiss on her cheek.
She was laughing so hard she was breathless. He set her down to let her catch her breath and glanced up to see Charles watching them with a tender look. His heart stuttered in his chest and he felt himself returning the look, unwilling to break the perfect moment they found themselves in.
“You’re it Papa!” Nina squealed and tapped him on the shoulder before taking off to tug Charles into running with her, which he did with a shout of laughter.
Erik gave chase, knowing he’d catch them soon enough and that they were his for life.
~~
The next evening, they finally played Candyland-Nina was over the moon about it and had far more fun than even Erik had anticipated.
He’d had to help her settle down once or twice when she got too rowdy over the game play. She was absolutely incorrigible, especially once she won.
“But I won, Papa!” She protested crossly.
“That doesn’t change bedtime,” he said kindly. She was ready to drop but wouldn’t admit it.
“I wanna stay up with you and Charles!” she crossed her arms and glared at the floor with a pout. She looked adorable. It was so hard to keep a straight face when she threw these little fits. He glanced at Charles who was watching this entire interaction with soft eyes. At least her dramatic fits weren’t driving the other man away.
“We’re not staying up; I have work in the morning too. And Charles has things to do as well,” he said gently.
“You’re not going to bed now! You’re gonna kiss!” she demanded.
“We’re going to talk about boring things that would put you to sleep anyway,” Erik carefully didn’t deny her accusation. He certainly hoped there would be kissing. “Now, you know the rules. You can say goodnight to Charles and get to bed or you can kick up a fuss and have the same bedtime all week instead of staying up later on the weekends.”
She frowned up at him, blue eyes sparkling with irritation that he knew was mostly brought on by exhaustion. He waited for her to make her choice, which she did after a brief moment.
“I’ll say goodnight,” she mumbled.
He smiled and pulled her into a hug, “Okay, little one.” He let go and she shuffled over to Charles for a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Goodnight, Charles,” she said pathetically.
Blue eyes warm with affection, he pressed an extra kiss to her forehead, “Goodnight, Nina. Sleep well.”
Their eyes met over her head as Erik helped her sleep walk up the stairs and get ready for bed while Charles began clearing away what was left of their game night.
He fit into their lives like he was simply returning after a long absence, Erik thought adoringly. Never more in love than at that very moment in time.