Days well spent

13

Charles POV
I cooked for them and they seemed to like it, a homemade meal. We sat around the table and the kids basically inhaled their food. I felt a sense of warmth within me, I had a family that loved me. A knock sounded in the door. I cursed in my head. It was probably Raven.

"I'll get it." I said, guiding my steel rims towards the door.

My heart sped as I inhaled deeply before opening the door. Raven stood on the other side, her eyes wide.

"Charles?" She squeaked.

"Yes, Raven?" I responded, pivoting a wheel to allow her in.

"What happened? Who's house is this?" She breathed.

"This is my boyfriend's house." I smiled up at her as I responded.

"Charles, what happened to you?" She said, eyeing my chair and my legs.

"I was hit by a car. It's no big deal." I quickly covered.

I wheeled back into the dining room. "Guys, my sister decided to stop by to visit."

Raven walks up behind me. "This is Raven." I introduced her.

She gaped. "Charles, can we go somewhere to catch up?" She quietly asked.

"Of course. Erik, we'll be back later. Don't worry about me, okay?" I pushed the wheels at my lover and kissed him quickly.

The kids started laughing. I turned and left the apartment with Raven. "So while I was at college, you mysteriously ended up in a wheelchair, got a boyfriend, and kids?!" She exclaimed as we went down the hallway.

"I was hit by a car and paralyzed from the waist down about six weeks ago, and I got a boyfriend that already had kids. Does that clear it up?" I said, annoyed.

"You didn't call to tell me about any of this!" She practically yelled.

"What was I supposed to say?! 'Oh hi, I was paralyzed and got a boyfriend too?'" I angrily shoved myself out of the elevator and to the steps.

I stopped and gulped. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I turned to Raven. "I'm sorry. I really should have called you." I whispered. She hugged me. I pulled her close. I had missed my adopted sister.

"How do you usually manage these?" She gestured to the stairs.

"Erik. Erik carries me." I blushed, looking at the half finished ramp.

Raven tilts back my chair and rolls me down the steps. The chair bounced on the step and I tried to catch myself, but slipped and fell onto the stairs. Raven loudly cursed, picking me up and walking down the stairs with me. My cheeks flared in embarrassment. "I'm sorry Raven." I apologize, fixing my legs on the footrest before heading down the sidewalk. Raven ran after me. She grabbed the handles of the chair. I tried to force myself forward.

"Raven stop." I released the wheels and Raven began to push me. "Raven, stop, I'm not helpless." I gritted my teeth.

Raven released my chair. I began to push myself. "So where did you want to go?" I said, an annoyed tone in my voice.

"I forgot in the heat of the moment. I wasn't expecting my brother to open the door in a freaking wheelchair with a boyfriend!" She exclaimed.

"I told you I was gay." I reminded, not addressing my handicap.

Raven sat down on a bench. I pulled up in front of her, turning to the side and struggling for a minute before transferring onto the bench. I folded the wheelchair and laid it under the bench.

"Now I'm not in the wheelchair anymore. Happy?" I joked.

Raven didn't even smile. "Is it complete, Charles?" She looked down at my feet.

"Yes." I straightened my legs up and turned back to her. "I'm sorry." I apologized for the millionth time.

"Its not your fault, I'm sorry for overreacting." She said, grabbing my hand.

She rubbed it comfortingly as she had done thousands of times before. Leaning into her, I felt like a small child.
Eventually, I pulled up the chair, unfolding it. I had a little trouble sitting back up, but eventually sat up, shifting my position. I tried to pull myself up. I tried again and again, unable to transfer back into my chair.

"Raven, this is embarrassing, but, can you help me back into my chair? I can't seem to do it." My cheeks heated up.

"Don't be embarrassed, you can't help it." Raven rose to her feet.

She picked me up and set me back down in the chair. I gripped the metal in the cool of the night. I pivoted back towards the apartments.

"Have you got a place to stay? We could spare the couch." I smiled up at her.

"I'd be delighted to stay with you."

I turned by the stairs. She picked me up this time, setting me at the top of the stairs. I clenched my abdominal muscles to stay sitting upright. She returned with the chair. I held up my hand to tell her to stop. I pulled myself up onto the footrest, and paused for a minute, panting. I then pulled myself up the rest of the way, exhausted. I began to push myself into the building, eventually arriving at the apartment. Erik was there but the kids were asleep, I assumed. Erik saw me enter and crouched down in front on me. I grabbed around his neck and once again he pulled me up and grabbed my legs, like a piggy back ride. I saw Raven's perplexed expression.

"He does this when he knows I'm tired." I clarified.

He sat me down on the couch, in the middle, sitting to the side of me. Raven sat down on the opposite side of me and I laid on Erik's lap, him playing with my hair softly. The tv was on in the background, but I wasn't paying attention. I looked over to see that Raven had moved my legs onto her lap. She had removed my shoes and just left them there. I could tell she was upset. It got to be around ten thirty at night when I spoke to Erik.

"Don't you think we should go to bed, love?" I smiled up at him as he checked the clock.

He then picked me up bridal style and carried me into the bedroom. He left to get my chair as he did every night. This time I heard talking between him and Raven.

"Don't you dare hurt him." Raven warned.

"Of course I won't!"

Erik entered the room with the wheelchair and began to cuddle me. I soon fell into a deep sleep.