Chapter Text
Events unfolded quickly after returning to the school.
Charlotte realized they had not one lost sibling, but rather two, in the mix: Alex's much younger brother Scott and—to her shock—Emma Frost's much younger sister, Cordelia, who was only fifteen.
Once Erik was in safe hands in the infirmary and any still-hurt children were there as well, the professor set to work ensuring that they settled in to their new home smoothly. Indeed, they were, to her relief. Her staff was incredibly competent and compassionate people; of course they’d readily began helping the children before she’d even had to ask.
Which left her free time to instead focus on Erik. Hank had looked him over and told her that the magnetokinetic should sleep for a few more days to heal before waking. So, Charlotte took to spending her time outside of class and meals at his bedside, reading an unread book she had found on her own shelf—The Once and Future King—while waiting for him to wake.
She spent four days waiting.
"…'You know that eye-to-eye recognition, when two people look deeply into each other's pupils, and burrow to the soul? It usually comes before love…'"
"Indeed, it sounds familiar."
She nearly dropped the book. "Erik!"
The magnetokinetic looked up at her in sleepy confusion. She gathered him into her arms once more in a gentle hug, careful of his arm and ribs.
"We got you back—you stupid, foolish man," Charlotte scolded, but her words held no true rebuke. "You should have waited. Instead, you rushed in and got yourself captured and nearly experimented on."
He paused, sleepily taking in her words. "We?" he repeated.
"Some of the Brotherhood and my team," she clarified softly. "We rescued you and the children there."
"The children?" he prompted.
The telepath laid a hand on his shoulder.
"They are here and safe, my love. Don't worry. You were the only one seriously hurt during the entire debacle. Sleep, my love. I'll be here when you wake up again. Rest. Heal. Sleep."
She grasped his hand in hers as she spoke.
His drowsy, still-aching mind asked softly, Don't leave me?
Charlotte's heart clenched. "Never."
A few days later, Hank allowed him to leave his bed and have brief walks through the school. Charlotte was usually the one to accompany him.
On their third walk about the grounds, Charlotte led him to a small, discreet garden centered around a willow tree. Without a word, she pointed to the left of the tree and Erik looked curiously where she pointed.
His knees nearly gave out on him, but he made his way slowly to the small headstone before he fell to his knees onto the grass.
Anya Edie Xavier
That was all it said.
Carefully, he traced the letters of his stillborn daughter's name.
He had never really allowed himself to mourn her before, too busy, too distanced from it all.
"How do you do it?" he asked softly. "How do you move on past this? Knowing that she died without ever getting the chance to live?"
She didn't reply at first, and Erik began to wonder if she would, before she finally let out a shaky breath. "Not easily. I didn't think I would move past it in the first few months. But then I realized…they may not be my children, but the students depend on me as children would their mother, and I owe it to them not to neglect those still with me for those who are gone. Even if they aren't mine, I'm their mother, in way. It isn’t the same, but…it’s something."
He nodded and stood.
On their way out of the garden, Erik asked gently, "Would you still want children of your own?"
"I—well, that is, I—" the telepath stumbled with her words, paused, and then slowly nodded. "Yes, I—I do. If I could, I would have my own. Even though there is the chance of losing them, I think they would be worth it."
He paused midstep. "If you could?" Erik repeated and turned to her in growing concern. "Charlotte, did something happen to… Can you not have…?"
The telepath flushed. "Oh, I—yes. I can. More difficult, obviously, because of the paraplegia, but—my fertility is untouched."
"Then why 'if you could'?"
She wetted her lips nervously. "Because there is only one man whom I would want to have children with, and I don't believe he is amenable to that."
But Erik did not need to be a telepath to understand what she was thinking.
He caught her hand in his and met her blue eyes earnestly. "Are you sure about that?"
Two weeks later, the Brotherhood had left the Xavier mansion, but not without its changes.
Emma's sister Cordelia was determined to enroll in the school, but the older telepath did not wish to leave her little sister. Reluctantly, the White Queen found herself staying there too. Charlotte even managed to convince the blond to take up teaching a couple business and English classes to the professor's delight. She doubted the two blonds would linger for too terribly long, but for now it was enough.
Destiny had likewise stayed, sensing that it was for the best for her to remain here. Erik bore her no grudge for that; she had been in the Brotherhood through a loose commitment, and he hadn't expected her to stay long anyways.
Though some had their initial misgivings about the two of the newest permanent residents of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Charlotte was delighted.
Curiously, Hank, Alex, and Sean had noticed her mood's steady improvement since the rescue, even after the metallokinetic and the rest of his group had left.
It was three, nearly four, months after they had left that the boys found her downstairs one morning for breakfast, chatting away cheerfully with nearly everyone at the table.
"Professor," Hank said, concerned. "Are you alright? You're in a strangely good mood."
The telepath visibly hesitated before clearing her throat.
It made everyone else—teachers and students alike—look to the headmistress.
"Alright," she sighed aloud. "I do have an announcement to make, though I was intending to save it until dinner."
Charlotte glanced at them all, taking in their curious eyes and expressions before smiling like she hadn’t in a very long time.
"I'm pregnant."
End of Book II