Chapter 17
Halloween was a rousing success by any measure. Charles picked Nina up from school the day before so they could make the treats and give them time to cool for Charles to package before trick-or-treaters came by.
Erik had installed a booster seat in his car and shown him how to buckle Nina in, though she knew how to do it herself.
"You'll be fine. Call me if you need anything," Erik had pulled his incredibly nervous boyfriend into a tight hug to soothe his nerves.
"I know. We'll be fine," he said uncertainly.
"I'll be home before you know it," he soothed the other man, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "You had a great time together the first day you met, this will be even better."
"Right, of course you're right, he leaned his head on his boyfriends broad chest and just breathed him in.
"Of course I am. I'm always right, Erik teased, giving Charles a wry grin in response to his unimpressed look. Erik loved few things more than arguing a point until it was dead and gone, he had been pleased to learn that Charles shared the same impulse. Neither ever wanted to admit he was wrong as a result, their conversations never ended they just continued at a later date.
"Let's go inside, Nina is very happy to be seeing you so much this week. She keeps asking about sleepovers, he gave the smaller man a heads up as they made their way indoors hand in hand.
"I'm glad she hasn't figured that out yet," Charles said sheepishly, referring to the fact that he stayed over or at least visited several nights a week while she was dead to the world. Erik had even tended to her a few times when she woke in the middle of the night needing comfort or a drink of water and she was none the wiser about their nocturnal guest.
"She will soon enough. I'm hoping we can bring it up with her before she does," Erik admitted quietly.
Charles' heart leapt at the implication to taking their relationship to the next level. He knew that neither of them wanted to hurt Nina in any way-especially by breaking up after she'd come to see Charles as family, though he had been wondering lately if she already did. "Sounds good to me," he said softly, giving Erik's hand a firm squeeze and receiving one in return.
~~
The following afternoon was just as hectic and nerve wracking as Charles had anticipated, though in ways he hadn't expected.
"I'm here to pick up Nina Lehnsherr?" he told the smiling young lady at the front desk who gave him a rather unsubtle once over that had him blushing to the roots of his hair.
"Yes, her father let us know this morning. She'll be right out," she grinned impishly, waving to the small seating area where he was expected to wait.
In only a few moments, a bell chimed and students left their classrooms in a more or less orderly fashion. He caught sight of a frazzled looking Mrs. Perry who was leading Nina by the hand and looking around searchingly.
"There he is!" Nina yelled, tugging at her hand a pointing to Charles.
He waved back shyly and Mrs. Perry's face flooded with relief.
She walked up to him and handed over a bouncing Nina, "We have to hand off on different pick up days just to make sure everyone ends up where they need to be," she smiled. "Nina is very excited about your afternoon. It was all she could talk about today."
Ah. No wonder she looked so weary. He couldn't imagine having her job, especially with such a fun holiday coming up.
"Thank you for seeing her to me," he said.
"No problem! Have fun Nina!" she gave her a pat on the head and shook Charles' hand briefly.
"I WILL!" she cheered.
They shared an amused look over her head and each made their escape.
~~
Charles had expected the pickup to be more intense or even making the treats to be an issue, but after cooking together so many times they made a surprisingly good team in the kitchen. And had the lollipop molds filled while the Rice Krispies set and they made peanut clusters.
Time had flown and before he knew it, Erik was knocking on the door while they had a snack of 'extras' while talking about Nina's day and Charles' trip to the store.
She was fascinated to learn that there was a specialty store that made candy making supplies. "Of course I'll take you, dear. I'm sure your Papa will love it too."
"Good," she nodded decisively and gave him a chocolate smeared grin that melted his heart.
~~
Charles was exhausted. He felt like he'd worked a double with no breaks by the time Nina was down for the night. He slumped down onto Erik's couch, while his amused boyfriend took their little acorn up to bed.
He glanced at the time- just after 7:30 on a Thursday and he was bone tired, he chuckled at the thought and leaned back for a moment to rest his eyes.
~~
"Charles. Charles?" Erik woke him gently. His eyes fluttered open to find his boyfriend leaning over him with a loving look in his eyes.
"Hmmm?" he asked sleepily, snuggling back into his seat tiredly.
Erik hesitated for just a moment to think, his thoughts from earlier in the week came back to him. Perhaps there was no better time than now to take this to the next level.
Seeing them interact this evening had shown him that Nina was already head over feet for Charles. There was no protecting either her or his heart from what would happen if this ended. So he would just have to make sure than didn't happen.
Apparently he'd hesitated a moment too long since Charles immediately fell back asleep. He bit back a grin, five year olds were far more work than most people could realize without spending one on one time with them.
"Charles?"
"mmmm," he grumbled irritated at being woken again.
"Come to bed," Erik said softly, pulling his boyfriend to his feet and guiding him up the stairs. Maybe it was too much too soon, but he was eager to have Charles in his arms overnight for the first time.
"Hmmm," Charles gave a happy hum and followed him, though he clearly wasn't fully awake.
He helped him out of his over clothes, leaving him in boxers and an undershirt and tucked him into the right side of the bed-where he always rested when they managed to steal a few hours together in the midst of their busy lives.
Charles was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Erik smiled, loving to see this wonderful man in his bed. He hurried through his nightly routine and crawling into bed and pulling Charles into his arms to rest against his chest.
"I don't know what I would do without you," he whispered into his hair, feeling his heart swell with all the love he felt for his boyfriend. He was finally ready to let him know how he'd felt for so long. It was both terrifying and liberating.
~~
"Yaaaaah!"
Charles startled awake as Nina hurtled through the door and onto the bed, tangling in their legs with a huge smile. How was she awake so early?
Erik gave him a knowing grin that caused him to blush- he must have mumbled some of that out loud.
"Good morning Papa! Good morning Charles!" she sang brightly.
"Good morning dear," Erik pulled her into his arms for her morning kiss. So far so good on her reaction to finding Charles in his bed.
"Good morning," Charles echoed sleepily, visibly startling as Nina pulled away from her father and scrambled to perch upon his chest and gaze down at him with bright eyes.
"Did you have another sleepover?" she demanded curiously.
"Yes, we did," Erik cut in softly, reaching over to twine his fingers with Charles"
"Oh. Is Charles my new papa?" she asked, nearly elbowing the man in question in the eye as she flailed about.
"No. He's just papa's boyfriend," Erik assured them both when he felt Charles' hand clench nervously around his.
"Oh," she said quietly, making Erik feel terrible for an instant before Charles broke in with.
"I was always your Charles, that hasn't changed," he soothed her gently, taking one of her tiny hands in his free one, tying them together in a circle of love.
She brightened up immediately, "Yeah!"
And just then, Erik knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with this man. When he was old and gray and visiting Nina and her family, Charles would be at his side.
He knew Magda would have approved.
"Let's get ready for the day," Erik said softly, hoping his voice didn't reveal the emotional tumult he'd just experienced.
Charles cracked his jaw yawning and missed Nina leaning in to look down his throat inquisitively. Erik rolled his eyes at her boundless curiosity and scooted her off the bed to go pick out an outfit for the day.
"Hey," Charles gave him a sleepy smile and pulled him down into a soft kiss.
"Hey."
"So that went well," he looked almost giddy.
"It went great," Erik agreed. It had gone even better than he'd hoped it would. He swallowed thickly, trying to hide his nerves, "have dinner with me?"
"Of course," Charles beamed up at him.
"Tomorrow? If I can find a sitter?"
"I'd love too," Charles whispered against his lips as he pulled him in once more before they had to leave the bed and get back to their lives. Thankfully, this was a part of it and, if all went well, it always would be.