Days well spent

22

It has been two weeks since I contacted my brother, and it was the day of the flight. Peter tried to zip more toys than he could fit in his suitcase, eventually taking some out. Charles came into the room, a backpack on the back of his chair. "Are we ready?" He asked. Wanda nodded, grabbing a juice box from the refrigerator. We headed out the door, Peter the last one out. I lugged the giant suitcase through the halls. Once in the car, we set off. Charles lightly tapped his fingers on his unfeeling thighs to the classical music playing. We soon pulled in to the airport, exiting the car in a sort of swift fashion. We went straight to airport security, waiting in the line. I put the luggage on the conveyor belt and the kids stepped through the detector. Charles went through and it of course went off, but they looked at the computers for a minute and let him go. I walked through and then we got our bags, the children and I putting on our shoes again. Once we were through, we had half an hour till our flight. "Can we get lunch?" Wanda asked, looking at the stores and fast food places. "I guess." I said, and they went to a Burger King. I wasn't aware that those were in airports, but it had been awhile since I'd flown. I paid for once, and we sat around a table and ate. That killed twenty minutes, so we went to sit at the gate. Charles pulled out a book by Stephen King. I smirked, knowing his books. "Young children and anyone that may need more time to board the plane may now line up." A female voice said over the intercom. I lined up with Charles and my two young children. We were allowed to board after checking our tickets. We then entered the plane, there were four seats in a row luckily. I helped Charles into the seat, Peter taking a seat by the window, Wanda sitting next to him and I sat next to Charles after loading everything into the overhead storage bin. Then the rest of the passengers began to trickle into the plane. Finally, the pilot came into the overhead and did his introduction and safety talk. The plane began to move. Peter was glued to the window. Suddenly, the plane began to lift off the ground. I just remembered the last time we flew. All the turbulence and my severe air sickness. I felt a wave of nausea come over me as the plane went almost vertical. Charles rubbed my hand. I smiled over at him, squeezing his hand. We continued to ascend, though not as drastically. Then the children's ears started hurting. I gave them gum to chew. They popped their ears and then were quiet, watching a movie on a tablet. "Only two hours, love. Two hours." He whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes, Charles rubbing my hand. Inhale, exhale. I opened my eyes and saw Charles rubbing his back. "Are you okay, darling?" I asked. He nodded, grimacing a little. "I think it's just the air pressure changing." I rubbed his back, massaging it lightly. He relaxed. I then put my arm around his shoulders, and he fell asleep. I pulled out my phone and quietly played a game.
•
About an hour later, the plane began to shake. Charles woke up. "What?" He looked confused, took in his surroundings, and was okay with it after that. I gripped his hand. "Are you okay, love? You look a bit green." Charles asked. I pressed the bridge of my nose with my free hand. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I said as convincingly as I could. The plane jostled again. The kids looked up at me. I shrugged. "Turbulence." I told them. A baby near the back of the plane began to cry. The fasten seat belts icon lit up. I tightened mine. "You're not good with planes, are you?" My boyfriend asked me. "Not in particular, no." I answered. He discreetly rubbed my knee. "Relax, it's alright. Only about half an hour more." He said. Leaning up against his shoulder, I sighed. About ten minutes later, the pilot began to speak. "We will begin our decent shortly, please turn off all electronic devices, and welcome to North Dakota." He said over the intercom. The plane tilted from side to side as we slowly glided towards the ground. The kids shut off their tablet. The airport came into few and I braced myself for the impact. The plane touched down and we slowed down till we got to the gate, coming to a stop. We sat until most of the crowd died down and then I got out of the seat and unfolded Charles' chair, helping him over the armrest. We then exited the plane, and went through the terminal, my eye instantly catching Andrew. "Erik!" He said, waving his hand. I waved back to let him know I saw him. I embraced him. "I've missed you, little brother." I said. "I've missed you too Erik." He said. He then walked over to Charles and the kids, who had timidly stayed back. Charles extended his hand. Andrew shook it. "Charles Xavier." My boyfriend said. "Andrew Lehnsherr." My little brother spoke. He was only a year younger than me but he was immature. "Hey Wanda, hey Petrio." Andrew spoke to the kids, crouching down. I walked towards them. They loosed a little when they recognized him. I walked beside Charles as we exited the airport. It was midday. We pulled up in front of a pale yellow house with faded white paint on the trim. I could tell without seeing him that my lover felt awkward. We left the car, approaching the house. Three kids, ranging from eleven to four ran out of the house to greet us. Well, Jason timidly walked. "Hey Uncle Erik!" The eldest, Tiffany, exclaimed. I hugged her. Her sister, Adeline, who was eight, came out too. And finally, their little brother, Jason, walked out. I hugged them all accept Jason, as he wouldn't like it, and introduced them. The kids ran off to play and Jason stood on the porch oddly staring at us. Andrew's wife came out. She was thin, with long blonde hair and brown eyes. She hugged me quickly. "It's so nice to see you again!" She exclaimed. "I missed you too." I said, calmer. "You must be Erik's boyfriend." She addressed Charles. He again shook hands with her. "Charles Xavier." He introduced himself. "Allison Lehnsherr." She smiled politely. Charles grimaced as he struggled with the lip of the porch for a second before getting up it. We entered the house, hearing the kids all play. They ran past, laughing. I noticed Charles' silence. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Nothing." He replied quickly. Andrew led us into the kitchen, where there was a small table. "Coffee?" Andrew asked. Charles and I both agreed. We sat around the table. "So, how did you guys meet?" Andrew asked innocently. "That's a-um, complicated story." Erik sputtered. I nodded. "Well, we have all day." Andrew prodded. "Well, uh," I stuttered. "Well, we met about eight weeks ago..." Erik said. I looked at him, unsure. "Well, I was driving home." I started, looking to him for help. "And I crossed the street at the wrong time." Charles stated. Andrew flinched. "You mean you hit-" I nodded, my face flushing. "It was an accident though, and accidents do happen." Charles said, rubbing my knee. I nodded. "So he invited me to stay with him until I got used to my new, ehm, lifestyle." Charles concluded. Andrew's face was filled with realization. "You mean he-" Charles nodded. "He didn't do it on purpose though, and I forgive him completely." Charles stated, sipping his coffee. "Wow. That's just-wow." My little brother looked at me, flabbergasted. The British man held my hand under the table. "So what do you do for a living?" My brother questioned him. "I co-own a genetics research company." He looked blown away. "What?! You help run a company?!Dude." Andrew gave up his fake maturity. "Indeed I do." Charles said, smiling excitedly. His British accent poured over his words with his excitement. "So, what do you have in mind for while you're here?" He asked. "Oh, I don't know, we've done almost everything we have locally back home, so it doesn't matter." I spoke. "How about a waterpark?" Charles asked.