FIC: An Earlier Heaven - Charles/Erik, XMFC - (3/??)
Title: An Earlier Heaven (3/??)
Author: Regann
Pairing: Charles/Erik (XMFC)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~5,200 for the chapter (total: 40,000+)
Warnings: mpreg
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I just play with them.
Notes: None.
Summary: In the wake of Cuba, Charles and his students are ready to pick up the pieces and work toward achieving Charles's dream of a safe haven for young mutants. Those plans, however, take a surprising turn thanks to a very unexpected complication. As he slowly builds a future for his students and for his child, Charles struggles with the loss of Erik and the secrets he's willing to keep to protect his family, but those strides are shattered when Erik makes a startling reappearance into his life. [mpreg, kidfic, ensemble]
Previous Parts available at LJ, DW and AO3.
An Earlier Heaven (Part 3)
By the time winter had finally given way to spring around the Xavier manor, the combined efforts of its four occupants had the household as prepared as it could be for the impending arrival of a newborn -- perhaps mutant -- child. Charles was both impressed and amused by his students' dedication on that point but he couldn't argue with the results. Other than worrying about the messy realities of the actual birth, there was nothing left to do but wait.
With the milder weather, Alex and Sean took to training more than they had during the winter, lured outside by the attractive promise of fresh air and warm sunshine. Even Hank pulled himself away from his projects in his lab long enough to join them, so Charles would often look out of the open windows in the study to see the three of them on lawn together, sometimes training or rough-housing, and sometimes just hanging out together. It was a welcome sight, one that filled Charles with warmth when he thought about what it meant. These three young men had spent their much of their lives feeling separated from everyone else because of their mutations, always on the outside looking in. In finding them, Charles had brought them together, helping them -- and himself -- build something that made sure they'd never feel that way again. More than a team, he reflected, they'd built a family over those months and it wasn't nearly as frightening as he'd always expected it to be.
Spring was also when Hank finally finished rebuilding Cerebro, much to both his delight and dismay. He was certainly proud to have finished it, but he also refused to let Charles actually test it, given his current state. While Charles had very particular ideas on what he thought about any of his students telling him what he could and could not do, he also trusted Hank's knowledge enough to accept his moratorium on using Cerebro, if only because the health of his unborn child was a compelling argument that invalided Charles's appeals to Hank's scientific curiosity.
Like so many other plans he'd made, Cerebro was shelved for the time being, although Charles couldn't really let himself mind too much. After his initial discomfort with his situation, followed by his cautious acceptance of it, Charles had finally found his absolute peace with the idea. With that peace had come his own special brand of curiosity, the kind that reminded him that he was experiencing something absolutely unique in the world. Just as he'd always delighted in his primary mutation, he was starting to see that maybe there was some to be found in his secondary mutation as well.
There were increasing physical discomforts to endure as they moved closer to the due date, and some moral issues with which Charles had to wrestle. The best scenario he and Hank had agreed upon for the birth grudgingly included the abduction and mind alteration of an local obstetrician, which Charles abhorred even when he accepted the necessity. Still, they were minor issues after the year he'd had and, along with the fact that the wires were free of any discussion about a mutant panic or new attacks that sounded like Erik's group, Charles was happy to enjoy the early spring months without too much complaint.
Charles lost some of that patience as the summer came on and the temperatures climbed much too high to be comfortable for anyone who'd spent the last several years in Oxford, especially coupled with his growing pregnancy. By the end of April, Hank's estimation of a mid-July due date seemed awfully far away.
Sometimes he couldn't help but think about Erik with an heaviness in his heart, that same ache that would probably never fade entirely. Sometimes he even reached out with his powers at night to see if he could catch any stray thought from either him or Raven, some indication that they ever gave any thought to the ones that they'd left behind. He never felt anything, not even when he searched the local areas for evidence of Erik's spies, but that was only a small comfort in the face of being forgotten so completely.
Evenings were the worst part of the summer heat and they slowly drifted into being the least productive time of the day. After dinner, the four of them usually ended up together in the sitting room where Alex and Hank often crowded in front of the television to fight about what they wanted to watch, while Sean liked to stretch on the floor with his comics or some other reading material. Sometimes it was the local penny saver, which he loved to pore over in search of cheap second-hand items none of them actually needed. Aside from his new obsession with General Hospital, it had become one of his favorite things to do.
"Hey, Professor, do you need a christening gown for the kid?" he asked one evening while Alex and Hank argued in the background about an episode of Perry Mason. "Because Laura one county over is offering a sweet deal on one."
"Not in the slightest, Sean," Charles answered, not bothering to look up from where he was jotting down some of his newer thoughts on his theories about mutant genetics.
"You're not going to get it baptized?" he asked.
Charles did look up at that. "Do I strike you as a religious or church-going type? At all?"
Sean thought for a moment before he shot Charles a sheepish grin. "I see what you're saying."
"I thought you might," Charles said.
"Not to mention, Erik's Jewish," Hank added. Whatever he was going to say next was cut off when Alex jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. "Ow! What?"
"We don't need to mention Erik at all," Alex told him.
"Alex, honestly," Charles said, shaking his head.
Hank gave Alex a defiant look. "It's part of the baby's heritage, an important part. Is the Professor just supposed ignore that?"
Unbidden, the memory Erik had shared with him of his mother and the candles came to Charles's mind.
"Well, it'll definitely help keep the secret from Erik," Sean said sarcastically. "Not."
Children. Charles's mind-voice was firm, earning him the attention of three sets of glaring eyes as they heard the accusation ring through their heads. Enough.
Hank and Alex went back to glaring at each other side by side on the couch, but Sean was still looking at Charles. "Yes?" he asked, sensing Sean's need to ask a question but not the actual question.
"It's too bad the kid's not going to have godparents is all," he explained. "Mine were awesome -- my uncle Mike and his wife. I liked them way better than I liked my parents sometimes."
Charles's expression softened and he knew he was probably projecting fond feelings to go with it because Alex and Hank stopped their bickering to look his way. "I don't think this child will lack for 'awesome' adult figures to turn to whenever I'm too much for him or her," he said. "Not with you three around."
They looked at each other for a moment, before tentative smiles started to form as Charles's meaning sank in.
"Uncle Banshee," Sean said aloud. "I like it."
"Yeah, and Beast can be its favorite teddy bear," Alex said, eliciting a growl from Hank that he ignored entirely.
"Or we can be the three godfathers," Sean added. "Like in the John Wayne movie we watched that time."
Hank frowned. "Didn't they all die in that?"
"Not John Wayne," Alex said. "Because he was clearly the best of them. Like me."
"Yeah, because you're such a good role model," Hank said, rolling his eyes and paying Alex back for the earlier jab.
Charles's laughter broke in before the discussion could continue as he tucked his journal and pen beside him and swung his chair from out behind his desk. "Good night, children," he said as he left, closing the door behind him before the din of their objections reached his ears.
Hank's question wasn't one he hadn't asked himself before; in fact, the closer he came to his child being born, the more he wondered if he'd once again done wrong by Erik. Should Charles have told Erik about the child during that brief visit? His instincts at the time had said no, but instinct couldn't make an informed decision. He'd entertained thoughts that perhaps a child -- Erik's child -- would be the thing that could actually make Erik see that he was on the wrong path, one that would never give him the serenity he craved so badly. Erik who longed to rebuild his family -- was it right for Charles to keep it from him?
For all of Charles's questioning, his instinct remained strong on the point that he needed to protect the child from Erik -- although not really from him, as much as from the forces that Erik would bring with him into their lives. And Charles had to admit there was a fear in him, a deep one that he couldn't quite conquer, that Erik would somehow take the child from him if he knew. With the protection of the helmet on his side, Erik had very advantage over him and Charles couldn't make himself take that risk.
It haunted him, though, just like all the other times he'd failed Erik did. While he knew that ultimately Erik had chosen for himself, Charles couldn't help but wonder what he might've done differently to change where they'd ended up -- separated, discordant, divided. It was not what either of them had dreamed of the summer before, when they'd set off across the country to find others of their kind. It was with bitter hindsight that Charles looked back on who he'd been then: someone who had had no idea that he'd get everything he wanted only to lose it as fast as it had come. It was something he promised he'd never let happen to him again.
The first few days of July were vastly uncomfortable for Charles, and Hank began to monitor him in earnest. All of the fears he'd thought he'd soothed in his young friend came raging to the surface now that time was close at hand. Charles couldn't blame him for being worried but they'd done the best they could under the circumstances and Charles knew that on this point, he had no regrets. Their way, he knew, had been the safest for all of them.
Then one morning, edging into the third week of the month, Charles woke up as he always did and stretched his mind out over the grounds, brushing against the others' minds as they went about their morning routines around the manor. Hank was in the kitchen, longing for the coffee that wasn't yet brewed, and Alex was a mile away on his morning run, feet pounding against the gravel path. Sean was still sleeping, but only just, the light from his window coaxing him to alertness. Everything was as it always was.
Except that morning, when Charles focused his abilities on the hummingbird flutter of awareness in his abdomen, that awareness leapt out to meet him, still too unformed to convey anything coherent but still more unmistakably active than before.
A few hours after that, before the sun had even reached its pinnacle in the sky, it was Charles's mind reaching out wildly, calling Hank, Alex and Sean to his side on a dizzying wave of pain that had them all wincing from its echo thanks to the telepath's link to their minds. After that, it didn't surprise any of them when Hank confirmed that they couldn't wait any longer.
Sean went off to put in a false emergency call to the local obstetrician they'd found who still made house calls, relaying that a woman had gone into premature labor with no way to reach a hospital, while Hank went to check over the makeshift operating room one last time. That left it up to Alex to help Charles, which he did with an uncharacteristically sober expression, thoughts burdened with fear and anxiety.
"I think I'm the one who's supposed be worried," he managed to tease as Alex carefully pushed his chair down the hallway.
Alex just gave him a nervous smile. "You know how it works around here. All for one and one for all."
"You really must stop letting Sean make all the movie choices," Charles advised, voice unsteady from the pain despite his best efforts. Still, it made Alex laugh, and Charles felt better for the effort.
Of everything he'd experienced before, the thing that had prepared him most for what was to come had been the Cuban mission, having to hold desperately to his control in the face of overwhelming pain when all he wanted to do was to let it go. But this time, instead of feeling a life fade while it shared his mind, Charles felt a life being born, and it was as glorious as the other had been terrible, more so knowing that that fledging soul he touched was one that he already loved beyond reason.
By the time the stars were spilled like diamonds across the velvet-dark summer sky, the purloined doctor was on his way home with a not-entirely-false tale of how he'd saved a newborn's life to share with his wife over his late dinner, and Charles was settled back in his room, where his trio of self-appointed caregivers were gathered, looking altogether much too young and much too awkward as they stared down at the small form of a newborn asleep in its handmade cradle.
Charles knew he should probably say something meaningful or at least significant, but he'd passed the point where coherence was possible hours and hours before. Luckily, his companions didn't seem to mind, too enthralled by the novel sight of the infant, pink and plump, her tiny skull dusted with wispy red-gold hair.
"Charles?" Hank's voice was hushed despite its deep rumble.
"Hmm?"
"You never said what you were going to name her," he said.
"Jean," he replied. "I'm going to call her Jean."
**
Life after Jean's birth was a flurry of activity around the Xavier household. Not only because there was now an infant's care to work into the schedule, but many of the plans they'd postponed resumed with gusto, especially the ones relating to Charles's desire to start a school for young mutants.
Once Hank declared that Charles had recovered without any ill effects, the pair focused on finishing the final touches on the new Cerebro, which Hank had rebuilt in one of the basement rooms. He'd used what he could remember from Charles's use of the previous version to fine-tune some of its performance, particularly trying to find ways to make it less burdensome on Charles physically and mentally. Back at the CIA, Charles hadn't always finished a session with the amplifier without some troubling, though temporary, side-effects which had been one of the reasons Erik had always been so distrustful of it. Although Hank didn't admit it aloud, Charles knew Erik's belief that he'd used Charles as a lab rat still bothered him, even after everything; that, like his own experience with his untested serum, had made Hank a much more cautious scientist.
Charles, on the other hand, was less worried about the side-effects on himself as he was learning to weld Cerebro more like a precise tool and less like a sledgehammer. He'd learned from Emma Frost when they'd captured her in Russia that Shaw's attack on the CIA had been precipitated by her awareness of Charles's use of the machine for recruiting, and Charles wanted to minimize any chance that Frost would be able to keep Erik similarly briefed on their activities.
With that in mind, Hank calibrated Celebro to have smaller amplification radius for their first test with it. While it couldn't stop a telepath from noticing if she was within its reach, Emma Frost would, Hank assured him, need to be within 300 miles of Westchester to sense its use. Charles thought the chance of Erik being so close to them without firm cause was slim and considered it an acceptable risk.
"Hank, I'm not letting you stall me any longer," Charles said firmly, sliding his wheelchair into place near the Cerebro headpiece. "If we don't actually test it, we'll never know what other modifications it needs."
"I just want to make sure everything is going to go smoothly," Hank said. "And I don't want you to be distracted while you're in there. Are you sure you won't want to go check on Jean before we start?"
"Jean is fine," Charles told him, reaching out to his daughter's presence. "She's being indoctrinated into the vastly sophisticated world of General Hospital at this moment, likely making her the youngest soap watcher on the planet." Charles gently pulled away from his awareness of her, making sure to shield the connection he usually kept open between them. "Any more objections?"
Hank shook his head, then helped Charles settle the apparatus on his head, fiddling with the electrodes until he was satisfied that everything was secure. "On my count," he said, moving toward the control panel. "3, 2, 1!"
Using Celebro after so long was almost like using it for the first time. Charles felt the same exhilaration as his mind reached out beyond its usual confines, brushing against thousands of others as it unfurled across the land. The mutants he encountered were still bright points of color in contrast to the minds of humans', and he moved between them, lingering only long enough for Cerebro to convert his acknowledgement into a coordinate before he continued on toward the next bright mind calling to his.
As he reached the edge of Cerebro's radius, though, he encountered something strange, unlike anything he knew from previous experiences. It was something bright and spiraling, something that called to him, but something he was hesitant to call a mind because its presence seemed to be scattered over miles. He might've discounted it, or shied away from it, but it felt so familiar that Charles couldn't help but reach out to it.
When it reacted and reached back, Charles was unable to control his own projection of shock as he realized what he'd found. Darwin?
The bright, swirling cloud pulsed in reply. Charles!
Darwin, where are you?
I don't know. There was confusion and uncertainty. Nowhere, everywhere, somewhere. I've been trying to get back, but...
I'm going to help you, Darwin. First, I want you to focus on bringing your entire being together, into one spot. Can you do that?
There might've be humor in his answer. Easier said than done, Charles.
I know, but it's important. You have to try.
Charles waited on the edges of the energy that had once been Darwin and that still contained his consciousness. He watched in amazement as Darwin slowly began to collect the sparkling dust of his being, like a star collapsing in on itself on its way to rebirth as a black hole. Finally, after a length of time that could've been forever or an instant, Darwin was more or less a single point against Charles's mind, but he was fluid, edgeless, not quite solid, still without the grounding in time and space needed for them to find him.
Darwin, he decided, would need to come to them. Can you feel me, feel where my mind is reaching yours from?
After a moment, he heard the answer, coming from that single point. Yeah, I think so.
Can you reach me? Can you follow my mind to where I am physically?
Charles felt the answer more than heard it, as Darwin began to move, hurtling through some plane of existence less material than their own. I'm trying. I'm on my way.
Yes, you are, Charles assured him. And we'll be waiting for you.
When Charles finally cut the connection to Cerebro and removed the helmet from his head, Hank and Alex were having a heated argument to one side of the room, an argument Charles immediately realized was about him.
"Charles!" Hank's voice was barely above a growl. "What were you doing? You were in there for hours and the thing went crazy, it started to spit out nonsense and I couldn't get you to respond."
"I was busy," he told him. "And there's no time for explanations at the moment. Hank, I need you to get set up to deal with a medical emergency, we may have to deal with an injury. Alex," he said, before the boy had a chance to speak. "We need to get outside to the lawn as quickly as possible. And bring a blanket."
Both Hank and Alex knew him well enough not to argue when he gave orders with such authority and they snapped to obey. Charles spared a quick moment to communicate with Sean for an update on Jean before he headed out of the basement at a fast clip, Alex right behind him.
They grabbed a blanket from one of the guest rooms on their way out, and Charles was content to let Alex push him the rest of the way as he focused on trying to locate Darwin's mind without the help of Cerebro. For long, worrying moments, he couldn't feel anything of him but then it was there, hovering just as the far reaches of his powers.
That's it, Darwin. You're almost here, Charles sent out, trying to turn his own mind into a beacon.
"What exactly are we waiting for?" Alex wanted to know, hugging the blanket he carried to his chest.
"When it happens, you'll know," Charles told him. "Be patient."
Finally, Charles could feel Darwin's presence like he was standing with them but there was nothing to see. He was still hovering in whatever form he'd taken. You have to finish it, Darwin, Charles told him. You have to push yourself back into your corporeal form. I'm sorry I can't be more help.
He could sense Darwin's frustration but also his determination. Slowly, as he watched the empty space of the lawn in front of him and Alex, they became aware of something gathering, wispy and nebulous. When Alex reacted as if it might've been a danger, Charles stilled him with a hand on his arm. "No need for that," he told him. "Just watch."
Then the whatever-it-was coalesced into the dark form of a person, veins of light running over the black skin. Alex gasped sharply at Charles's side and he projected a memory outward, completely by accident, but one that explained his reaction to the telepath. As they watched the veins fade and the ash-dark dullness of the form become bright and shadowed with life, Charles knew that, for Alex, it was like watching Darwin be incinerated in reverse.
"Darwin?" Alex asked, leaning forward as if he wanted to move toward his friend, but he wasn't certain he could. "Is that you, man?"
Darwin opened his eyes and focused on them as a smile split his face. "Alex."
As Alex let out a startled laugh and rushed toward Darwin, Charles couldn't stop the smile that settled over his own features, watching as Alex wrapped the blanket around his friend and then offered a supportive arm around him as they slowly made their way back to where Charles waited in his wheelchair.
Even after all he'd been through, Darwin's eyes widened at its sight. "What happened?"
Charles hushed his questions with a gesture. "You've missed a few things, but they aren't important at the moment," he told him kindly. "Right now, let's focus on making sure you're well, all right? We'll have all the time in the world for questions later."
Darwin nodded, almost a little relieved. "No problem."
"Alex, Hank's waiting for the two of you in his lab," Charles told him. "I'm sure I can trust you to keep an eye on Darwin, make sure he gets settled when Hank's through with him."
Alex's smile was so wide it almost hurt to look at it. "Definitely, Professor. I'm on it."
"I thought you would be," Charles said with a smile. "Now, head off. I think there's a certain young lady I need to check on."
When Charles heard Darwin ask "Raven?" quietly to Alex as they headed in through the French doors, he couldn't help but spare a moment to think of how much Darwin had missed, wondering if those events would prove more of a shock to his system that his months spent as formless energy.
Charles did have other concerns at that moment, which was to peek in on his daughter. Jean was sleeping as Sean had said, but Charles knew from experience she'd only sleep for a few hours before she'd wake for another feeding. He brushed a finger lightly against her baby-soft cheek, then pressed a quick kiss to the downy red hair that covered her head before he went in search of some aspirin.
Hank came by a little while later with his findings on Darwin, which had found nothing out of ordinary given that the young man had been incinerated before their very eyes almost a year before.
"He freaked out when he first saw me," Hank admitted. "You or Alex could've warned him."
"I don't think it even entered Alex's mind," Charles said. "But I really hadn't wanted to open that can of worms yet, to be honest. There will be a great deal to explain to him once he's had time to rest."
Charles managed to put off most of Darwin's questions for several days, mainly because Darwin spent those days sleeping. Alex was concerned, but Hank and Charles thought it was a perfectly normal consequence of the stresses he'd been through. On the fourth day, Darwin finally stayed awake long enough to take a shower, don the sweats Alex dug up for him, and come downstairs to join them for lunch.
Darwin let out a quiet whistle as he took in the kitchen where they gathered to eat. "Even the kitchen in this place is impressive," he noted, shooting Charles a grin. "Alex said it's yours?"
"It's ours," Charles corrected. "I bet you're starving. Sean's almost finished cooking."
Charles noticed that Darwin did a double-take at the sight of Jean in her crib on the one side of Charles's wheelchair, but he didn't ask, instead heading over to the stove to greet Sean and offer his help. Charles figured, given the enormity of what Darwin had missed, Jean was a very small part of the things he was about to learn.
Alex and Hank weren't too far behind, showing up just as Sean was setting the food on the table. For a few minutes, everyone focused on eating but finally Darwin set down his fork and looked at each of them in turn. "So," he began. "Which of you cats are going to explain everything to me?"
"We'll tell you whatever you'd like to know," Charles said. "Any of us will. Where would you like us to start?"
Even though he was scared of the answer, Darwin asked, "Where's everyone else? Raven, Erik, Agent MacTaggart?"
Alex, Hank and Sean had matching pained expressions, which left Charles to answer. "They're not dead," he said to start, feeling Darwin's immediate relief. "They've just...parted ways with us."
"That's the understatement of a lifetime," Sean observed.
"I'm going to need more than that," Darwin said. "Parted ways, how?"
It was Alex who answered. "After we took care of Shaw and stopped him from starting World War III, Erik decided that Shaw's plan of killing all the humans wasn't really all that bad, so he picked up where Shaw left off and Raven went with him."
"What?" Darwin said, looking at Charles for confirmation. "Is that true?"
"While hyperbolic in places, it is essentially what happened," Hank said. "Once Shaw was dead, the government turned on us -- tried to blow us up. Erik stopped them and he wanted to blow them up instead. Charles objected." Hank sent a sidelong look in Charles's way. "Erik would've succeeded but Charles...got hurt. Erik joined up with the leftover members of the Hellfire Club, including Angel. Raven decided to go with him."
Darwin looked down at his plate as if he couldn't keep eye contact and digest what he'd heard. Finally, he looked at Charles, "And the wheelchair?"
"I took a bullet in the spine," Charles said without inflection. "It was an accident during the mission to stop Shaw."
"Erik deflected a bullet into his back," Alex said bluntly. "Right before he stabbed him in it by abandoning all of us."
"So what he's doing now? Erik, I mean," Darwin asked. "Is he trying to destroy the world or what?"
"We don't really know," Sean told him, the only one still even pretending to pick at his food. "He broke Shaw's telepath out of prison, but that's the last thing we know he's done, other than stop by to let us he was spying on us."
Confusion was rolling off Darwin, so Charles decided to it was time to take over the explanations. "Erik is convinced that when humans become aware of mutants, they'll react rashly and violently. I don't know what he's doing specifically, but he is focused on being prepared to fight back should that day come. His methods are not ones that I approve of, as you can imagine."
"Yeah, I can see that," Darwin said. "He was always a pretty intense guy." He looked around the table. "So it's been almost a year, right? What have you been doing since? What are you all doing now?"
"We've been here, mostly," Hank said. "I can't really go out in the world because of the way I look now, but I've continued my research. Charles is trying to turn this place into a school for mutant kids, so they'll have somewhere safe to go."
That earned him a genuine smile from Darwin. "That sounds like a great idea."
"You're welcome to stay and help," Charles told him. "Or just stay. Or you can go. You're free to do whatever you want to do."
He shared a look with Alex. "I think I'd like to stay. "
"All right!" Sean said. "Someone else to split chores with."
After that, they managed to work through most of Darwin's other questions, including what happened to Moira and a more detailed account of the Cuban mission. Charles could feel Darwin's sadness as the details were fleshed out, as he heard how Angel helped a madman try to destroy the world, how Erik and Raven left them on that beach with Charles bleeding and in pain. He could also tell that Darwin's sadness was for all them together, a group that should've been a team torn apart by circumstance. Charles didn't know if it was because Darwin hadn't been there for it, or if he was just an incredibly caring young man by nature that he could have sympathy for Erik, Raven and Angel where Hank and Alex struggled.
When it seemed like his curiosity had been completely satisfied, Darwin leaned back from the table and pointed at Jean. "Okay, is someone going to explain her now?"
Charles noticed that none of the boys were in rush to answer that one. He took pity on them. "This is Jean, my daughter."
"How old is she?"
"A little over two months, now," he answered.
Darwin then asked the question that Charles knew was going to be one he'd hear for the rest of his life. "And her mother?"
Alex shot Sean a dirty look when he choked back laughter. Darwin noticed it, though, and looked around. "What's so funny?"
We didn't decide what to tell people! Hank's mind projected at Charles. What should we say?
At the same time, Alex looked hard at Charles. "We can't not tell Darwin," he said. "He's one of us."
"It's supposed to be a secret," Hank said in objection. "No offense to Darwin but secrets mean you don't tell anybody."
"I'm not trying to upset anyone," Darwin said quickly. "Forget I asked."
Charles sighed and reminded himself that this was the reasons he hated secrets. Looking around at each one of the four young men in turn, he finally spoke. "As long as you're certain, Alex. I'm leaving this decision up to you."
He didn't wait to see what they decided, instead taking Jean with him as he left for his study. An hour or so later, just after Charles had fed Jean and settled her back into the crib he kept in the study, there was a knock on his door. "Come in, Darwin," he said.
Darwin did just that, staring at Jean for a moment before he spoke. "So the guys told me the truth about your daughter."
"I thought they might," Charles said.
"It doesn't change anything," he said after a moment. "I still want to stay and help. And I won't tell anyone, I swear."
"Thank you."
"I understand why you need to keep it quiet," Darwin told him. He shook his head. "I came back to a mess. I never would've expected any of it."
From his surface thoughts, Charles knew Darwin meant the splintering of the group, not Jean. "I think I should've expected it, actually," he told him. "Hindsight being what it is, I can see the signs I missed before. I've been accused of being too arrogant to see past my blindness and I think on this Erik proved his point well."
"Hindsight's not very useful, is it?" Darwin pointed out. "By the time you have it, it's too late."
"But at least we won't be doomed to repeat the same mistakes," Charles said.
"Hardly seems worth it, though, does it?" Darwin asked with uncanny wisdom.
"No," Charles said, glancing at Jean. "It doesn't."
**
End of Part 3
Author's Notes: So now that I've gotten this far I can reveal that this fic was inspired by a request from my bff pookaseraph who asked for Charles/Erik mpreg where Jean Grey was the baby. So, this is the fic she got. XD
This entry was originally posted at http://regann.dreamwidth.org/437824.html. Comment on either post.
Author: Regann
Pairing: Charles/Erik (XMFC)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~5,200 for the chapter (total: 40,000+)
Warnings: mpreg
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I just play with them.
Notes: None.
Summary: In the wake of Cuba, Charles and his students are ready to pick up the pieces and work toward achieving Charles's dream of a safe haven for young mutants. Those plans, however, take a surprising turn thanks to a very unexpected complication. As he slowly builds a future for his students and for his child, Charles struggles with the loss of Erik and the secrets he's willing to keep to protect his family, but those strides are shattered when Erik makes a startling reappearance into his life. [mpreg, kidfic, ensemble]
Previous Parts available at LJ, DW and AO3.
An Earlier Heaven (Part 3)
By the time winter had finally given way to spring around the Xavier manor, the combined efforts of its four occupants had the household as prepared as it could be for the impending arrival of a newborn -- perhaps mutant -- child. Charles was both impressed and amused by his students' dedication on that point but he couldn't argue with the results. Other than worrying about the messy realities of the actual birth, there was nothing left to do but wait.
With the milder weather, Alex and Sean took to training more than they had during the winter, lured outside by the attractive promise of fresh air and warm sunshine. Even Hank pulled himself away from his projects in his lab long enough to join them, so Charles would often look out of the open windows in the study to see the three of them on lawn together, sometimes training or rough-housing, and sometimes just hanging out together. It was a welcome sight, one that filled Charles with warmth when he thought about what it meant. These three young men had spent their much of their lives feeling separated from everyone else because of their mutations, always on the outside looking in. In finding them, Charles had brought them together, helping them -- and himself -- build something that made sure they'd never feel that way again. More than a team, he reflected, they'd built a family over those months and it wasn't nearly as frightening as he'd always expected it to be.
Spring was also when Hank finally finished rebuilding Cerebro, much to both his delight and dismay. He was certainly proud to have finished it, but he also refused to let Charles actually test it, given his current state. While Charles had very particular ideas on what he thought about any of his students telling him what he could and could not do, he also trusted Hank's knowledge enough to accept his moratorium on using Cerebro, if only because the health of his unborn child was a compelling argument that invalided Charles's appeals to Hank's scientific curiosity.
Like so many other plans he'd made, Cerebro was shelved for the time being, although Charles couldn't really let himself mind too much. After his initial discomfort with his situation, followed by his cautious acceptance of it, Charles had finally found his absolute peace with the idea. With that peace had come his own special brand of curiosity, the kind that reminded him that he was experiencing something absolutely unique in the world. Just as he'd always delighted in his primary mutation, he was starting to see that maybe there was some to be found in his secondary mutation as well.
There were increasing physical discomforts to endure as they moved closer to the due date, and some moral issues with which Charles had to wrestle. The best scenario he and Hank had agreed upon for the birth grudgingly included the abduction and mind alteration of an local obstetrician, which Charles abhorred even when he accepted the necessity. Still, they were minor issues after the year he'd had and, along with the fact that the wires were free of any discussion about a mutant panic or new attacks that sounded like Erik's group, Charles was happy to enjoy the early spring months without too much complaint.
Charles lost some of that patience as the summer came on and the temperatures climbed much too high to be comfortable for anyone who'd spent the last several years in Oxford, especially coupled with his growing pregnancy. By the end of April, Hank's estimation of a mid-July due date seemed awfully far away.
Sometimes he couldn't help but think about Erik with an heaviness in his heart, that same ache that would probably never fade entirely. Sometimes he even reached out with his powers at night to see if he could catch any stray thought from either him or Raven, some indication that they ever gave any thought to the ones that they'd left behind. He never felt anything, not even when he searched the local areas for evidence of Erik's spies, but that was only a small comfort in the face of being forgotten so completely.
Evenings were the worst part of the summer heat and they slowly drifted into being the least productive time of the day. After dinner, the four of them usually ended up together in the sitting room where Alex and Hank often crowded in front of the television to fight about what they wanted to watch, while Sean liked to stretch on the floor with his comics or some other reading material. Sometimes it was the local penny saver, which he loved to pore over in search of cheap second-hand items none of them actually needed. Aside from his new obsession with General Hospital, it had become one of his favorite things to do.
"Hey, Professor, do you need a christening gown for the kid?" he asked one evening while Alex and Hank argued in the background about an episode of Perry Mason. "Because Laura one county over is offering a sweet deal on one."
"Not in the slightest, Sean," Charles answered, not bothering to look up from where he was jotting down some of his newer thoughts on his theories about mutant genetics.
"You're not going to get it baptized?" he asked.
Charles did look up at that. "Do I strike you as a religious or church-going type? At all?"
Sean thought for a moment before he shot Charles a sheepish grin. "I see what you're saying."
"I thought you might," Charles said.
"Not to mention, Erik's Jewish," Hank added. Whatever he was going to say next was cut off when Alex jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. "Ow! What?"
"We don't need to mention Erik at all," Alex told him.
"Alex, honestly," Charles said, shaking his head.
Hank gave Alex a defiant look. "It's part of the baby's heritage, an important part. Is the Professor just supposed ignore that?"
Unbidden, the memory Erik had shared with him of his mother and the candles came to Charles's mind.
"Well, it'll definitely help keep the secret from Erik," Sean said sarcastically. "Not."
Children. Charles's mind-voice was firm, earning him the attention of three sets of glaring eyes as they heard the accusation ring through their heads. Enough.
Hank and Alex went back to glaring at each other side by side on the couch, but Sean was still looking at Charles. "Yes?" he asked, sensing Sean's need to ask a question but not the actual question.
"It's too bad the kid's not going to have godparents is all," he explained. "Mine were awesome -- my uncle Mike and his wife. I liked them way better than I liked my parents sometimes."
Charles's expression softened and he knew he was probably projecting fond feelings to go with it because Alex and Hank stopped their bickering to look his way. "I don't think this child will lack for 'awesome' adult figures to turn to whenever I'm too much for him or her," he said. "Not with you three around."
They looked at each other for a moment, before tentative smiles started to form as Charles's meaning sank in.
"Uncle Banshee," Sean said aloud. "I like it."
"Yeah, and Beast can be its favorite teddy bear," Alex said, eliciting a growl from Hank that he ignored entirely.
"Or we can be the three godfathers," Sean added. "Like in the John Wayne movie we watched that time."
Hank frowned. "Didn't they all die in that?"
"Not John Wayne," Alex said. "Because he was clearly the best of them. Like me."
"Yeah, because you're such a good role model," Hank said, rolling his eyes and paying Alex back for the earlier jab.
Charles's laughter broke in before the discussion could continue as he tucked his journal and pen beside him and swung his chair from out behind his desk. "Good night, children," he said as he left, closing the door behind him before the din of their objections reached his ears.
Hank's question wasn't one he hadn't asked himself before; in fact, the closer he came to his child being born, the more he wondered if he'd once again done wrong by Erik. Should Charles have told Erik about the child during that brief visit? His instincts at the time had said no, but instinct couldn't make an informed decision. He'd entertained thoughts that perhaps a child -- Erik's child -- would be the thing that could actually make Erik see that he was on the wrong path, one that would never give him the serenity he craved so badly. Erik who longed to rebuild his family -- was it right for Charles to keep it from him?
For all of Charles's questioning, his instinct remained strong on the point that he needed to protect the child from Erik -- although not really from him, as much as from the forces that Erik would bring with him into their lives. And Charles had to admit there was a fear in him, a deep one that he couldn't quite conquer, that Erik would somehow take the child from him if he knew. With the protection of the helmet on his side, Erik had very advantage over him and Charles couldn't make himself take that risk.
It haunted him, though, just like all the other times he'd failed Erik did. While he knew that ultimately Erik had chosen for himself, Charles couldn't help but wonder what he might've done differently to change where they'd ended up -- separated, discordant, divided. It was not what either of them had dreamed of the summer before, when they'd set off across the country to find others of their kind. It was with bitter hindsight that Charles looked back on who he'd been then: someone who had had no idea that he'd get everything he wanted only to lose it as fast as it had come. It was something he promised he'd never let happen to him again.
The first few days of July were vastly uncomfortable for Charles, and Hank began to monitor him in earnest. All of the fears he'd thought he'd soothed in his young friend came raging to the surface now that time was close at hand. Charles couldn't blame him for being worried but they'd done the best they could under the circumstances and Charles knew that on this point, he had no regrets. Their way, he knew, had been the safest for all of them.
Then one morning, edging into the third week of the month, Charles woke up as he always did and stretched his mind out over the grounds, brushing against the others' minds as they went about their morning routines around the manor. Hank was in the kitchen, longing for the coffee that wasn't yet brewed, and Alex was a mile away on his morning run, feet pounding against the gravel path. Sean was still sleeping, but only just, the light from his window coaxing him to alertness. Everything was as it always was.
Except that morning, when Charles focused his abilities on the hummingbird flutter of awareness in his abdomen, that awareness leapt out to meet him, still too unformed to convey anything coherent but still more unmistakably active than before.
A few hours after that, before the sun had even reached its pinnacle in the sky, it was Charles's mind reaching out wildly, calling Hank, Alex and Sean to his side on a dizzying wave of pain that had them all wincing from its echo thanks to the telepath's link to their minds. After that, it didn't surprise any of them when Hank confirmed that they couldn't wait any longer.
Sean went off to put in a false emergency call to the local obstetrician they'd found who still made house calls, relaying that a woman had gone into premature labor with no way to reach a hospital, while Hank went to check over the makeshift operating room one last time. That left it up to Alex to help Charles, which he did with an uncharacteristically sober expression, thoughts burdened with fear and anxiety.
"I think I'm the one who's supposed be worried," he managed to tease as Alex carefully pushed his chair down the hallway.
Alex just gave him a nervous smile. "You know how it works around here. All for one and one for all."
"You really must stop letting Sean make all the movie choices," Charles advised, voice unsteady from the pain despite his best efforts. Still, it made Alex laugh, and Charles felt better for the effort.
Of everything he'd experienced before, the thing that had prepared him most for what was to come had been the Cuban mission, having to hold desperately to his control in the face of overwhelming pain when all he wanted to do was to let it go. But this time, instead of feeling a life fade while it shared his mind, Charles felt a life being born, and it was as glorious as the other had been terrible, more so knowing that that fledging soul he touched was one that he already loved beyond reason.
By the time the stars were spilled like diamonds across the velvet-dark summer sky, the purloined doctor was on his way home with a not-entirely-false tale of how he'd saved a newborn's life to share with his wife over his late dinner, and Charles was settled back in his room, where his trio of self-appointed caregivers were gathered, looking altogether much too young and much too awkward as they stared down at the small form of a newborn asleep in its handmade cradle.
Charles knew he should probably say something meaningful or at least significant, but he'd passed the point where coherence was possible hours and hours before. Luckily, his companions didn't seem to mind, too enthralled by the novel sight of the infant, pink and plump, her tiny skull dusted with wispy red-gold hair.
"Charles?" Hank's voice was hushed despite its deep rumble.
"Hmm?"
"You never said what you were going to name her," he said.
"Jean," he replied. "I'm going to call her Jean."
**
Life after Jean's birth was a flurry of activity around the Xavier household. Not only because there was now an infant's care to work into the schedule, but many of the plans they'd postponed resumed with gusto, especially the ones relating to Charles's desire to start a school for young mutants.
Once Hank declared that Charles had recovered without any ill effects, the pair focused on finishing the final touches on the new Cerebro, which Hank had rebuilt in one of the basement rooms. He'd used what he could remember from Charles's use of the previous version to fine-tune some of its performance, particularly trying to find ways to make it less burdensome on Charles physically and mentally. Back at the CIA, Charles hadn't always finished a session with the amplifier without some troubling, though temporary, side-effects which had been one of the reasons Erik had always been so distrustful of it. Although Hank didn't admit it aloud, Charles knew Erik's belief that he'd used Charles as a lab rat still bothered him, even after everything; that, like his own experience with his untested serum, had made Hank a much more cautious scientist.
Charles, on the other hand, was less worried about the side-effects on himself as he was learning to weld Cerebro more like a precise tool and less like a sledgehammer. He'd learned from Emma Frost when they'd captured her in Russia that Shaw's attack on the CIA had been precipitated by her awareness of Charles's use of the machine for recruiting, and Charles wanted to minimize any chance that Frost would be able to keep Erik similarly briefed on their activities.
With that in mind, Hank calibrated Celebro to have smaller amplification radius for their first test with it. While it couldn't stop a telepath from noticing if she was within its reach, Emma Frost would, Hank assured him, need to be within 300 miles of Westchester to sense its use. Charles thought the chance of Erik being so close to them without firm cause was slim and considered it an acceptable risk.
"Hank, I'm not letting you stall me any longer," Charles said firmly, sliding his wheelchair into place near the Cerebro headpiece. "If we don't actually test it, we'll never know what other modifications it needs."
"I just want to make sure everything is going to go smoothly," Hank said. "And I don't want you to be distracted while you're in there. Are you sure you won't want to go check on Jean before we start?"
"Jean is fine," Charles told him, reaching out to his daughter's presence. "She's being indoctrinated into the vastly sophisticated world of General Hospital at this moment, likely making her the youngest soap watcher on the planet." Charles gently pulled away from his awareness of her, making sure to shield the connection he usually kept open between them. "Any more objections?"
Hank shook his head, then helped Charles settle the apparatus on his head, fiddling with the electrodes until he was satisfied that everything was secure. "On my count," he said, moving toward the control panel. "3, 2, 1!"
Using Celebro after so long was almost like using it for the first time. Charles felt the same exhilaration as his mind reached out beyond its usual confines, brushing against thousands of others as it unfurled across the land. The mutants he encountered were still bright points of color in contrast to the minds of humans', and he moved between them, lingering only long enough for Cerebro to convert his acknowledgement into a coordinate before he continued on toward the next bright mind calling to his.
As he reached the edge of Cerebro's radius, though, he encountered something strange, unlike anything he knew from previous experiences. It was something bright and spiraling, something that called to him, but something he was hesitant to call a mind because its presence seemed to be scattered over miles. He might've discounted it, or shied away from it, but it felt so familiar that Charles couldn't help but reach out to it.
When it reacted and reached back, Charles was unable to control his own projection of shock as he realized what he'd found. Darwin?
The bright, swirling cloud pulsed in reply. Charles!
Darwin, where are you?
I don't know. There was confusion and uncertainty. Nowhere, everywhere, somewhere. I've been trying to get back, but...
I'm going to help you, Darwin. First, I want you to focus on bringing your entire being together, into one spot. Can you do that?
There might've be humor in his answer. Easier said than done, Charles.
I know, but it's important. You have to try.
Charles waited on the edges of the energy that had once been Darwin and that still contained his consciousness. He watched in amazement as Darwin slowly began to collect the sparkling dust of his being, like a star collapsing in on itself on its way to rebirth as a black hole. Finally, after a length of time that could've been forever or an instant, Darwin was more or less a single point against Charles's mind, but he was fluid, edgeless, not quite solid, still without the grounding in time and space needed for them to find him.
Darwin, he decided, would need to come to them. Can you feel me, feel where my mind is reaching yours from?
After a moment, he heard the answer, coming from that single point. Yeah, I think so.
Can you reach me? Can you follow my mind to where I am physically?
Charles felt the answer more than heard it, as Darwin began to move, hurtling through some plane of existence less material than their own. I'm trying. I'm on my way.
Yes, you are, Charles assured him. And we'll be waiting for you.
When Charles finally cut the connection to Cerebro and removed the helmet from his head, Hank and Alex were having a heated argument to one side of the room, an argument Charles immediately realized was about him.
"Charles!" Hank's voice was barely above a growl. "What were you doing? You were in there for hours and the thing went crazy, it started to spit out nonsense and I couldn't get you to respond."
"I was busy," he told him. "And there's no time for explanations at the moment. Hank, I need you to get set up to deal with a medical emergency, we may have to deal with an injury. Alex," he said, before the boy had a chance to speak. "We need to get outside to the lawn as quickly as possible. And bring a blanket."
Both Hank and Alex knew him well enough not to argue when he gave orders with such authority and they snapped to obey. Charles spared a quick moment to communicate with Sean for an update on Jean before he headed out of the basement at a fast clip, Alex right behind him.
They grabbed a blanket from one of the guest rooms on their way out, and Charles was content to let Alex push him the rest of the way as he focused on trying to locate Darwin's mind without the help of Cerebro. For long, worrying moments, he couldn't feel anything of him but then it was there, hovering just as the far reaches of his powers.
That's it, Darwin. You're almost here, Charles sent out, trying to turn his own mind into a beacon.
"What exactly are we waiting for?" Alex wanted to know, hugging the blanket he carried to his chest.
"When it happens, you'll know," Charles told him. "Be patient."
Finally, Charles could feel Darwin's presence like he was standing with them but there was nothing to see. He was still hovering in whatever form he'd taken. You have to finish it, Darwin, Charles told him. You have to push yourself back into your corporeal form. I'm sorry I can't be more help.
He could sense Darwin's frustration but also his determination. Slowly, as he watched the empty space of the lawn in front of him and Alex, they became aware of something gathering, wispy and nebulous. When Alex reacted as if it might've been a danger, Charles stilled him with a hand on his arm. "No need for that," he told him. "Just watch."
Then the whatever-it-was coalesced into the dark form of a person, veins of light running over the black skin. Alex gasped sharply at Charles's side and he projected a memory outward, completely by accident, but one that explained his reaction to the telepath. As they watched the veins fade and the ash-dark dullness of the form become bright and shadowed with life, Charles knew that, for Alex, it was like watching Darwin be incinerated in reverse.
"Darwin?" Alex asked, leaning forward as if he wanted to move toward his friend, but he wasn't certain he could. "Is that you, man?"
Darwin opened his eyes and focused on them as a smile split his face. "Alex."
As Alex let out a startled laugh and rushed toward Darwin, Charles couldn't stop the smile that settled over his own features, watching as Alex wrapped the blanket around his friend and then offered a supportive arm around him as they slowly made their way back to where Charles waited in his wheelchair.
Even after all he'd been through, Darwin's eyes widened at its sight. "What happened?"
Charles hushed his questions with a gesture. "You've missed a few things, but they aren't important at the moment," he told him kindly. "Right now, let's focus on making sure you're well, all right? We'll have all the time in the world for questions later."
Darwin nodded, almost a little relieved. "No problem."
"Alex, Hank's waiting for the two of you in his lab," Charles told him. "I'm sure I can trust you to keep an eye on Darwin, make sure he gets settled when Hank's through with him."
Alex's smile was so wide it almost hurt to look at it. "Definitely, Professor. I'm on it."
"I thought you would be," Charles said with a smile. "Now, head off. I think there's a certain young lady I need to check on."
When Charles heard Darwin ask "Raven?" quietly to Alex as they headed in through the French doors, he couldn't help but spare a moment to think of how much Darwin had missed, wondering if those events would prove more of a shock to his system that his months spent as formless energy.
Charles did have other concerns at that moment, which was to peek in on his daughter. Jean was sleeping as Sean had said, but Charles knew from experience she'd only sleep for a few hours before she'd wake for another feeding. He brushed a finger lightly against her baby-soft cheek, then pressed a quick kiss to the downy red hair that covered her head before he went in search of some aspirin.
Hank came by a little while later with his findings on Darwin, which had found nothing out of ordinary given that the young man had been incinerated before their very eyes almost a year before.
"He freaked out when he first saw me," Hank admitted. "You or Alex could've warned him."
"I don't think it even entered Alex's mind," Charles said. "But I really hadn't wanted to open that can of worms yet, to be honest. There will be a great deal to explain to him once he's had time to rest."
Charles managed to put off most of Darwin's questions for several days, mainly because Darwin spent those days sleeping. Alex was concerned, but Hank and Charles thought it was a perfectly normal consequence of the stresses he'd been through. On the fourth day, Darwin finally stayed awake long enough to take a shower, don the sweats Alex dug up for him, and come downstairs to join them for lunch.
Darwin let out a quiet whistle as he took in the kitchen where they gathered to eat. "Even the kitchen in this place is impressive," he noted, shooting Charles a grin. "Alex said it's yours?"
"It's ours," Charles corrected. "I bet you're starving. Sean's almost finished cooking."
Charles noticed that Darwin did a double-take at the sight of Jean in her crib on the one side of Charles's wheelchair, but he didn't ask, instead heading over to the stove to greet Sean and offer his help. Charles figured, given the enormity of what Darwin had missed, Jean was a very small part of the things he was about to learn.
Alex and Hank weren't too far behind, showing up just as Sean was setting the food on the table. For a few minutes, everyone focused on eating but finally Darwin set down his fork and looked at each of them in turn. "So," he began. "Which of you cats are going to explain everything to me?"
"We'll tell you whatever you'd like to know," Charles said. "Any of us will. Where would you like us to start?"
Even though he was scared of the answer, Darwin asked, "Where's everyone else? Raven, Erik, Agent MacTaggart?"
Alex, Hank and Sean had matching pained expressions, which left Charles to answer. "They're not dead," he said to start, feeling Darwin's immediate relief. "They've just...parted ways with us."
"That's the understatement of a lifetime," Sean observed.
"I'm going to need more than that," Darwin said. "Parted ways, how?"
It was Alex who answered. "After we took care of Shaw and stopped him from starting World War III, Erik decided that Shaw's plan of killing all the humans wasn't really all that bad, so he picked up where Shaw left off and Raven went with him."
"What?" Darwin said, looking at Charles for confirmation. "Is that true?"
"While hyperbolic in places, it is essentially what happened," Hank said. "Once Shaw was dead, the government turned on us -- tried to blow us up. Erik stopped them and he wanted to blow them up instead. Charles objected." Hank sent a sidelong look in Charles's way. "Erik would've succeeded but Charles...got hurt. Erik joined up with the leftover members of the Hellfire Club, including Angel. Raven decided to go with him."
Darwin looked down at his plate as if he couldn't keep eye contact and digest what he'd heard. Finally, he looked at Charles, "And the wheelchair?"
"I took a bullet in the spine," Charles said without inflection. "It was an accident during the mission to stop Shaw."
"Erik deflected a bullet into his back," Alex said bluntly. "Right before he stabbed him in it by abandoning all of us."
"So what he's doing now? Erik, I mean," Darwin asked. "Is he trying to destroy the world or what?"
"We don't really know," Sean told him, the only one still even pretending to pick at his food. "He broke Shaw's telepath out of prison, but that's the last thing we know he's done, other than stop by to let us he was spying on us."
Confusion was rolling off Darwin, so Charles decided to it was time to take over the explanations. "Erik is convinced that when humans become aware of mutants, they'll react rashly and violently. I don't know what he's doing specifically, but he is focused on being prepared to fight back should that day come. His methods are not ones that I approve of, as you can imagine."
"Yeah, I can see that," Darwin said. "He was always a pretty intense guy." He looked around the table. "So it's been almost a year, right? What have you been doing since? What are you all doing now?"
"We've been here, mostly," Hank said. "I can't really go out in the world because of the way I look now, but I've continued my research. Charles is trying to turn this place into a school for mutant kids, so they'll have somewhere safe to go."
That earned him a genuine smile from Darwin. "That sounds like a great idea."
"You're welcome to stay and help," Charles told him. "Or just stay. Or you can go. You're free to do whatever you want to do."
He shared a look with Alex. "I think I'd like to stay. "
"All right!" Sean said. "Someone else to split chores with."
After that, they managed to work through most of Darwin's other questions, including what happened to Moira and a more detailed account of the Cuban mission. Charles could feel Darwin's sadness as the details were fleshed out, as he heard how Angel helped a madman try to destroy the world, how Erik and Raven left them on that beach with Charles bleeding and in pain. He could also tell that Darwin's sadness was for all them together, a group that should've been a team torn apart by circumstance. Charles didn't know if it was because Darwin hadn't been there for it, or if he was just an incredibly caring young man by nature that he could have sympathy for Erik, Raven and Angel where Hank and Alex struggled.
When it seemed like his curiosity had been completely satisfied, Darwin leaned back from the table and pointed at Jean. "Okay, is someone going to explain her now?"
Charles noticed that none of the boys were in rush to answer that one. He took pity on them. "This is Jean, my daughter."
"How old is she?"
"A little over two months, now," he answered.
Darwin then asked the question that Charles knew was going to be one he'd hear for the rest of his life. "And her mother?"
Alex shot Sean a dirty look when he choked back laughter. Darwin noticed it, though, and looked around. "What's so funny?"
We didn't decide what to tell people! Hank's mind projected at Charles. What should we say?
At the same time, Alex looked hard at Charles. "We can't not tell Darwin," he said. "He's one of us."
"It's supposed to be a secret," Hank said in objection. "No offense to Darwin but secrets mean you don't tell anybody."
"I'm not trying to upset anyone," Darwin said quickly. "Forget I asked."
Charles sighed and reminded himself that this was the reasons he hated secrets. Looking around at each one of the four young men in turn, he finally spoke. "As long as you're certain, Alex. I'm leaving this decision up to you."
He didn't wait to see what they decided, instead taking Jean with him as he left for his study. An hour or so later, just after Charles had fed Jean and settled her back into the crib he kept in the study, there was a knock on his door. "Come in, Darwin," he said.
Darwin did just that, staring at Jean for a moment before he spoke. "So the guys told me the truth about your daughter."
"I thought they might," Charles said.
"It doesn't change anything," he said after a moment. "I still want to stay and help. And I won't tell anyone, I swear."
"Thank you."
"I understand why you need to keep it quiet," Darwin told him. He shook his head. "I came back to a mess. I never would've expected any of it."
From his surface thoughts, Charles knew Darwin meant the splintering of the group, not Jean. "I think I should've expected it, actually," he told him. "Hindsight being what it is, I can see the signs I missed before. I've been accused of being too arrogant to see past my blindness and I think on this Erik proved his point well."
"Hindsight's not very useful, is it?" Darwin pointed out. "By the time you have it, it's too late."
"But at least we won't be doomed to repeat the same mistakes," Charles said.
"Hardly seems worth it, though, does it?" Darwin asked with uncanny wisdom.
"No," Charles said, glancing at Jean. "It doesn't."
**
End of Part 3
Author's Notes: So now that I've gotten this far I can reveal that this fic was inspired by a request from my bff pookaseraph who asked for Charles/Erik mpreg where Jean Grey was the baby. So, this is the fic she got. XD
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