A New Life

Chapter 20

When Erik woke up it was morning again. Faint, grey light searched its way in through the blinds and curtains; revealing it was morning. Erik stretched, yawned, and leaned back against the pillows. He was at the Xavier-estate. He remembered everything clearly now. He wasn’t home any longer. He was in the United States, hundreds of miles from his cosy little log cabin.

Xavier arrived a few minutes after Erik woke up. As a telepath, he surely knew when others woke up, just by scanning the building.

“Good morning, Erik,” he greeted. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes,” Erik replied. He was feeling much better now, actually, not as weary and weak as yesterday.

“I’m happy to hear that. I brought you some real clothes,” Charles continued and placed a paper bag on the floor next to Erik’s bed. “These are mine, and they might be a bit too big for you right now, but unfortunately I don’t have anything else. I could have let you borrow some of Scott’s clothes, but I sincerely doubt you have the same size.”

“Thank you,” Erik murmured.

“I thought I might show you the rest of the house today, and introduce you to Scott and Jean. Would you like that? They have been asking all kinds of questions about you.”

Erik didn’t know if he was ready to be ogled by a couple of overenthusiastic kids, but he decided to comply. If Charles wanted him to meet his foster kids, then so be it. If he was going to stay here, he would have to see a great deal of them. If, yes. He hadn’t really decided that yet.

“Alright, but it might be good if I got dressed first?” he suggested and bent down to pick up the bag of clothes Xavier had brought.

Charles smiled quickly. “Of course. Would you prefer me to go outside while you dress?”

“No, that’s fine,” Erik replied dismissingly. He had never been modest, and thought back of the time when he – as a teenager – had shocked Logan by crawling into his arms naked at nights.

He reached inside the bag, and pulled out a brown turtleneck sweater, and a pair of ribbed velvet pants.

“These will do fine,” he said. He struggled out of his hospital shirt – usually he slept naked, but yesterday he had been too weak to bother – and noticed that Xavier looked a bit troubled, although he didn’t turn away. Is *he* shy? Erik thought amused.

Erik wore no underwear at the moment, and looked through the bag to find some. He found a pair of white cotton briefs – similar to those he used to wear – and started to pull them on.

Charles almost wished Erik had asked him to step outside, because this was getting embarrassing. He hadn’t had a lover for ages, but that didn’t mean his impulses were gone. Erik was a naked male – and beautiful, one might add – and he was there, within Charles’ reach, getting dressed as if that were the most natural thing in the world.

To him it probably is, Charles thought. I’m the one who is too uptight.

When Erik had gotten on the underwear and a sweater, Charles could relax a bit. No more distraction there, and he was happy for that.

When Erik had gotten dressed Xavier lead him outside. He asked Erik if he was hungry, and Erik had to say yes. Therefore Charles brought him to the kitchen to make him breakfast. Erik offered to help, but Xavier didn’t want to hear about that. He firmly told Erik that he was the guest here, and should only sit down and relax.

They both sat down by the kitchen table, opposite each other, and started to eat.

Erik, who hadn’t eaten a proper meal for weeks, had almost forgotten the joys of eating, and had to fight to keep himself from gobbling up his food.

Charles simply smiled at his fervour. It was only natural, after all. Erik was starved, and his body craved food.

“Are you feeling better now?” Charles asked when they were done eating, and Erik washed down the food with a huge glass of orange juice.

Erik leaned back in his chair and choked a belch. “Yes, I feel much better now, thank you,” he replied. “This house is really huge. Tell me, Charles… Don’t you have any servants? I mean, it’s kind of empty here…”

“No, none that live here,” Xavier explained. “I have a housekeeper who comes here twice a week. But since we are mutants, and due to our society’s dislike for mutants, we prefer to keep to ourselves. Scott and Jean mustn’t be hurt.”

“I know how it is…” Erik sighed. “Logan and I had to move away from our home a few years ago, because we were being harassed. It was so… awful. I wish people were more tolerant.”

“Who doesn’t?” Charles said. “I don’t like it, but we, as mutants, have to keep our powers hidden. It is our only defence against the world’s hostility. I wish it weren’t so, but it is.”

Erik didn’t answer. He wondered if Xavier thought of those mutants that simply *could not* keep their mutation hidden. Logan could be included as one of them. His lack of ageing would always make people suspicious eventually. There was no way to avoid it. But now Logan was gone, so it really didn’t matter anymore.

“Are you alright?” Charles asked when he noticed how sad Erik suddenly looked.

Erik shook the memories away and met Xavier’s concerned gaze. He even smiled.

“Yes, I am. Let us go and see Scott and Jean, shall we?”

“Yes, come.”

They rose from the table, and left the kitchen. Charles brought Erik to another floor, obviously where the children had their rooms.

“Wait here,” Charles told Erik and left him in the hallway. “I’ll bring them. They are eager to meet you, but they might be a bit shy in the beginning.”

Erik remained where Charles left him, and waited for the other man to return with his two children.

It is really kind of Charles to take care of other people’s children just because they are mutants, he thought. He is wealthy and powerful, but he has in deed a very good heart… which I didn’t think were possible.

Xavier returned a couple of minutes later together with a girl and a boy, who obviously were Scott Summers-Xavier, and Jean Grey. The girl was tall and slim with long, red hair and green eyes. She looked to be in her early or mid teens. Maybe 14 or 15, Erik believed. She met his gaze when they looked at each other, but quickly averted her eyes. Obviously she was shy.

The boy was considerably younger than the girl. He had short brown hair and Erik supposed he was about ten years old. Maybe eleven, but surely not older than twelve. Erik could not see his eyes, because he was wearing strange ruby-red sunglasses.

Charles and the children stopped about 4 feet from Erik, and he placed his hands on their shoulders. “This is Jean,” he began. “She is fifteen, and this is Scott, he is eleven,” he finished. “Scott, Jean; this is Erik Lehnsherr, a friend of mine who is going to stay here for some time.”

Jean smiled shyly, and stretched out her right hand. “Hello, I am Jean Grey. Pleased to meet you.”

Erik took her offered hand and shook it. “I am pleased to meet you as well. Charles has spoken much good of you both.”

Jean’s smile broadened. It seemed to make her proud that her foster father had spoken good things about her.

The turn came to Scott. He shook hands with Erik as well, and said in a very polite but shy voice, “It’s an honour to meet you, Mr Lehnsherr.”

“No, please don’t call me that,” Erik objected. “No one ever calls me that. Call me Erik, please. That is my name, just like Scott is yours.”

This confused Scott a lot. He was not used to calling adults by their first names, unless he knew them very well. He even called his adoptive father “professor” even though Charles had encouraged him to call him by his first name. Scott almost never did. It just seemed so…weird.

“Okay, sir… I mean Erik…” Scott stuttered.

Xavier laughed kindly. “Scott is just a little shy,” he explained. “He will get used to calling you “Erik”.”

Scott blushed. He was more than half a head shorter than Jean, and obviously felt inferior to them all. Erik knew exactly how he felt. He had been eleven years old himself when Logan saved him, and he could still remember how much he had looked up to – and even worshipped – his saviour as a child.

“If you’re wondering why Scott has to wear these glasses,” Charles explained, holding a protective arm around Scott’s thin shoulders, “it is because of his concussive eyebeams. If he doesn’t wear them, he will blast everything he looks at. His inability to control his beams is due to a brain damage he suffered in a plain crash long ago. These glasses are the only thing except his own eyelids that can hold back his beams.”

“My parents died in the crash,” Scott filled in.

“Yes, and three years ago, I took care of him,” said Charles. “Jean has been here since she was eleven.”

“What is your gift?” Erik asked Jean.

“I’m telekinetic,” Jean replied quietly. “I can…-”

“Move objects without physically touching them. I know,” Erik finished her sentence. “Intriguing gift you have. Are you able to control it?”

Jean bit down on her lower lip. “Not exactly, but the professor is teaching me to control it. I can’t really do that much… I can lift pencils and matchboxes, but that’s it.”

“Jean’s powers are still developing,” Charles explained. “She has the potential to become very powerful. But first she has to learn control.”

Control, Erik thought. That is something that I have never had. And I don’t even know what my gift is. It is not telekinesis, but maybe something related. Could I ask Charles to help me with it? No, he already has Scott and Jean, and they are enough for him.

“Now I think Erik and I had better move on,” Charles suddenly said. “You two know what to do, yes? I’ll check that you have done your homework tomorrow, as always.”

“Yes, professor,” Scott and Jean said in unison.

“You can go now. I’ll be checking on you two later this evening. Now I must show Erik the rest of the mansion.”

Jean took Scott’s hand in her own, and the younger boy started blushing immediately. Erik noticed it, and figured Scott maybe had a crush on his four years older foster sister. Jean looked lovely in deed, and he could understand the boy’s feelings, although Erik himself preferred something a bit more…male.

Scott and Jean started walking away, hand in hand. They honestly didn’t look like a romantic couple, but more like an older sister leading her little brother. It would take many years before Scott would even be Jean’s height.

“They seem to be really lovely children,” Erik said when they were alone again.

Charles smiled. “Yes, they truly are. I don’t regret for a second that I took them in. This large mansion would feel too empty and vast if only I lived here. Of course having them here affects my love life, but I’m willing to give that up for them.”

“How long has it been since…” Erik asked tentatively, not sure if the question was suitable or not.

But Charles had no trouble answering him. “Too long,” he said longingly. “I think five years. But my children are more important,” he added quickly. “It’s not that I… I just get lonely sometimes. Scott and Jean are wonderful, but sometimes I just need more, something that only a lover can give. But…” Xavier shrugged, and the smiled again. “I am sorry, Erik. I shouldn’t burden you with my personal problems.”

“I don’t mind,” Erik said. “You can talk to me.”

What Erik said warmed Charles’ sometimes lonely heart. Often he longed for another man his age, to talk with and to confide in. He often dealt with other people’s emotional problems, but had no one who dealt with his.

“Thank you, Erik,” he said smiling, and gently put his hand on Erik’s arm. “I’ll remember that.”


TBC