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Class trips were bad enough normally but add to that having wild children and it only added to the problem. Not that Erik was thinking of his children as a ‘problem’ exactly. But he was chasing them through a library as they ran about freely like there were no rules. It made him wonder if this was how they always acted at school or if they would’ve been better off if he had met up with them later.
Or maybe it was for the best that he was there. The teachers had expressed concerns about the kids and how they would act. It was the reason Erik decided to go along on the trip as a chaperone. Clearly they knew what they were talking about. So, maybe the answer was obvious, that his babies were always this way and he was there in case they got hurt or something happened.
It made sense. If the parent was there when they were hurt or in case they did something then could the teacher be considered at fault? They were his kids and he was watching them, after all, it only served to reason that if something happened he would be the one to blame. Which was fine for him he would rather it be him watching his kids than someone else
“Pietro! Stop trying to climb the bookshelves, boychik!” He called, grabbing the boy from where he was standing on the second shelf and lowering him to the ground. “We can’t do that, you’ll fall and get hurt.”
But, of course, it couldn’t be so simple because as soon as Pietro’s feet were on the floor, Erik looked over in time to see his daughter falling off the same shelf her brother was just standing on. No matter how fast Erik tried, there was no catching the little girl who hit before he managed to catch her.
Erik winced as her little back hit the floor and then he pulled her into his arms right before the first cry left her. He started rubbing her back as he took off after Pietro who was already on the go again.
“Piet, wait for me, please,” he called, trying to calm his crying daughter at the same time. “It’s okay, Wanda. You’re alright, baby. Deep breath for Papa,” he whispered to her, catching up with Pietro just in time to see him sticking his hand in a printer.
Quickly, he grabbed the boy's hand and started to lead him away, only for Pietro to fall to the ground, screaming, “No!” At the top of his lungs. The deadweight trick tended to not work on Erik but, with a crying Wanda in his other arm, there was only so much he could do. So, he let go and his boy was up seconds later, running for the computers on the opposite wall, just turning them all on. They all got a hit to the keyboard to wake them up as he passed.
“Come on, Piet, let’s go look at a book!” He suggested, trying to scoop the boy up into his arms, even if he knows he’ll get kneed in the ribs and kicked between the legs. Anything would be better than running after the wild child. Besides he was certainly not planning on having any more kids. Nothing was better birth control than the twins he already had. Another child and he wouldn’t survive.
“You love books, boychik. I can read to you both, please?” He was never one for begging but as the kid started screaming again, he decided pleading wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Anything to get his boy to slow down.
The teacher laughing as Pietro ran past caught Erik’s attention and he looked over at the man. “He’s like this all day long. Six in the morning until eight at night,” he said as he passed him.
“I know the feeling, my little boy is the same way,” Mr. Xavier informed him and Erik wished he could talk longer. Maybe later. He hoped the man would have some tips for him on dealing with the kids. He’d accept anything he could get. Being a single dad to a set of twins could be exhausting, even if Erik wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.
Even if there were times Erik swore he would trade Pietro for a sandwich.
Even at ten in the morning Erik swore it should be at least six in the evening. He was exhausted and it felt like his brain was becoming slower and turning to mush. It was a feeling he once—when he was new to this single parent of toddlers business—thought he would eventually get used to it. He was wrong. It was over a year and there were some days that he was left staring off into the distance, unable to think another thought.
There were some nights after the kids went to bed that Erik just had to lay down and cry, unable to hold back the tears. It felt like he had too much going on and was much too stressed for anything else. It wasn’t something that he would ever admit to either, that was a secret kept between himself and his bed.
After another moment of chasing Pietro and trying to get him to settle down, Erik finally gave up and just scooped the little boy into his arms. At this point, carrying Wanda and Pietro both at the same time was a well practiced action. But as they got older, it started to get harder, especially if they didn’t want to be carried.
And right now, Pietro did not want to be in his arms. “Ffff—,” Erik started, biting on his lip to keep from saying anything else. There were eighteen more kids running around and, as many times as Wanda and Pietro may have heard the word, he didn’t want to be the reason the other kids were running around saying bad words.
In his arms, Pietro giggled and started making the same sound. At least until Erik set him back down and slowly slid down to his knees. Gently, he sat Wanda down too—the little girl sniffling but no longer crying. With no one else in his arms, he bent over, trying to get past the pain and protect himself at the same time.
Now, Erik could admit that he had been wrong. He thought he didn’t care if he was hit between the legs but clearly that wasn’t accurate. The pain was enough to bring tears to his eyes but, if anything, solidified in his mind the idea that he wasn’t going to do this again. Three kids were enough.
He was just happy that Anya was older and much more calm than her little siblings were. Erik could handle her all day long by himself with no issue. If he could have a second version of her, he would carry the baby himself, but the idea of ending up with another Wanda and/or Pietro was enough to make up his mind very quickly. That was a risk he refused to take.
Just as he managed to sit up a little straighter, he noticed the teacher moving up beside him. “Are you alright, my friend?” Mr. Xavier asked, his hand going out to rest on Erik’s shoulder.
The casual touch caught him off guard but it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, he found himself leaning into it. Other than his kids and his mother, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone had touched him at all.
“I’m alright,” Erik replied, his voice a little strained. This wasn’t the kind of impression he wanted to make on the—rather attractive—teacher, but there was no changing it now. It was much too late. “Pietro kicked me in a rather unfortunate area,” He admitted.
“I assumed,” Mr. Xavier replied, “I was wanting to talk to you about the twins, actually, Mr. Lehnsherr. I don’t mean now, of course, but later, perhaps. If we can find a time they’ve calmed down a little or found something that’ll keep their attention.”
Erik nodded but his mind was just on what his kids had done this time. It had to be something. A teacher wanting to talk to him about his babies was never a good sign. Of course, he knew there was some ‘problem behavior’ they were working on it. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to discipline his children and didn’t talk them through their emotions but they were a little more complicated than that. He thought this teacher would understand, if anyone would.
“Whenever,” He replied, “Just let me know if it’s something good or bad, I mean I assume it’s not a good report. But I assure you I do work with them when it comes to their behavior and emotions. It’s just not always easy.”
Mr. Xavier shook his head. “Nothing like that, I assure you. I just need to do a little conference with all the kids' parents. We just need to address how we’ll they’re doing and if there’s any concerns either of us have. It’s a way to have open communication and work together.”
“Oh, alright,” Erik said, a little shocked at that. It wasn’t what he was expecting but it was much better. “Well I should…” He pointed in the direction that Pietro had ran off in and then his daughter and, assumedly, followed in. “We can talk soon, Mr. Xavier.”
“Charles, please,” The man, Charles, replied, with a smile but he nodded at Erik to let him know he could go.
“Erik,” He said, pointing at himself, even as he started to walk away from the other man, turning to look at him as he took the first couple of steps. And then he backed into one of the shelves and had to turn back around to keep going. It was almost impossible not to think about how he had just made a fool of himself in front of the rather attractive teacher.
Really, he was sure he shouldn’t be thinking things like that about his baby's teacher at all. But no one had to know the thoughts that were inside his mind, right?
As Erik rounded the corner, he saw his kids playing with some of the toys they had set up in the kids section. A string of beads on metal tracks they were pushing along. For once, the two seemed rather settled. Then again, the area was much quieter than where the other kids were gathered around a table with coloring pages—something his two youngest had no interest in but Anya had always loved.
For a moment, Erik just watched them, then pulled out his phone to take a couple of pictures. Even if his babies were attached at the hip, it wasn’t too often to find them both playing together and not at each other’s throats.
Erik was so caught up watching them that he didn’t notice the kids behind him with with Mr. Xavier’s— Charles’s —TA. Not until he heard them talking.
“He just ripped my paper!’ One of the kids exclaimed, “He always does this, they’re both mean.”
“He doesn’t mean to,” The TA said, sounding to get quieter as Erik heard a small shuffling. Still, nothing caught his attention and he was only half listening. At least until he heard,
“Every morning I wake up and hope those two won’t be at school today. Pietro especially. He’s too loud and mean. I hate him.”
The words immediately brought tears to Erik’s eyes at the idea of anyone hating his babies. They were both a little wild, sure, but mean? They could be to each other, but Erik liked to imagine they were good with other kids and knew how to get along with them.
“Wanda isn’t nice either. She runs into me all the time!” The other little kid added and Erik turned to glance at them. He wanted to say something but what was it he could do? Scream at little kids that his twins were perfect angels?
Instead, he walked away without saying anything, trying to bury anything he was feeling. There would be time to deal with his emotions later. Right now, he just wanted to be closer to his two little ones.
“What are we playing?” He asks, squatting down next to them to get closer to their level.
From the library, the class went onto the school bus and Erik had to let the twins go. He just hoped they would be okay—which seemed rather strange to think about. Of course, they would. They were going to be with the same people they’d been with for the last six months. Even if they all did hate the twins. They should be safe and have each other.
Besides, it would only be a couple of minutes before Erik saw them again. He was following behind the bus to go to a local restaurant where there would be food and games for the kids. It was the stop his two were the most excited about. Pietro loved the food and games and Wanda was mostly just excited to eat—the ice cream, specifically.
Still, Erik couldn’t help the couple of tears that slipped down his face. The idea of his babies surrounded by kids that hated them, of the two having no friends was haunting him. And they had suggested putting the twins in separate classes to start with. He was so glad he hadn’t allowed that or they’d be completely alone now.
He wiped his face and pushed those thoughts away for now. He was about to go meet his babies for lunch and he couldn’t be crying. There would be time for that later. Time for him to beg to their mama and wonder why she ever left them in his care, asking why she thought he could handle this.
Of course, he wouldn’t get any answers. She was long gone and had been for three years. But he still talked to her from time to time, the same as the kids did. It helped, in a way, be close to her and air out some of his and their thoughts. And this was definitely something he needed to air out before it consumed him alive.
As the two got off the bus, both went running straight for him. It wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing. They were supposed to be staying in line with their class and maybe wave at him, but he wasn’t going to get onto them for that. Instead, he caught them both in his arms and carried them inside, following in line behind the rest of the class.
Right now, knowing that his babies weren’t appreciated by their classmates, or even tolerated, he would allow them to do anything they wanted to do.
Though Erik still found himself standing around, listening to the little speech Charles was giving them—his babies in arms—just so they could hear it. And then he was placing both on the floor and leading them to a set.
With the twins, booths were always his go to. That way he could sit on the outside and put them both next to him. When his wife had been alive, she would take one on one side and him on the other. It had been much more even but now this was the best he could do. It served to almost trap them in and keep them in place.
Soon enough, the kids' food was brought out—pre-ordered with the rest of the class—and then Erik found Charles rolling up next to him, sitting at the end of the table. A folder was sat on it and he opened it up.
“Are you ready to do this now while they eat? Or would you rather wait?” He asked, looking at Erik.
“Now, I think would be best. Wait too long and we’ll be going to find the games,” he replied, knowing how things always went.
Charles gave a nod, “Alright, I first want to know if there’s anything you’re worried about with the kids? Any concerns you have?”
Erik glanced at them both. If Charles had asked that morning, the answer would’ve been no. But now, he realized that there were a few things worrying him.
“I overheard some of the other kids talking with your TA, the red-headed girl?” Erik stated, but he didn’t know her name.
“Miss. Jean, yes,” Charles replied with a small smile, and Erik realized that Charles didn’t know where this conversation was going and that his smile didn’t seem to fit the occasion.
Erik nodded, “Yes, her. What they said made me wonder, do the twins have any friends in the class? The kids weren’t…they didn’t seem to be the biggest fan of my kids.”
At that, Charles took a deep breath and nodded, “Yes, I see,” He said slowly, as though he was debating the best way to answer the question. “Pietro is quite partial to a little boy in the class named Alex and Wanda has a friend named Ororo,” as Charles said the names, then nodded in the direction of each of them. “But some of the other kids have been a little less understanding with them. It’s something we handle the best we can but at such a young age, they don’t always understand what’s going on.”
“They hate my kids,” Erik stated, “That’s what they kids, don’t try to sugarcoat it.”
“We tell the kids that the twins are learning. They are on the younger side of the age range for the class. Still, they end up getting some special treatment. The other students want to know why and it’s complicated.”
“My kids don’t want special treatment. Treat them the same as you do every other child in your class,” Erik said, getting frustrated with the teacher, “Don’t let them by with things that you would punish the other children for.”
Charles raised his hands a little, “I don’t mean it that way, Erik. I’m sorry I worded it like that. Believe me, my little boy was in my class last year. He was the same way, he’s autistic and we had to find different ways to work with him—“
“What are you saying?” Erik asked, frustrated, “That there’s something wrong with my babies? That they’re not normal? They’re broken or messed up?”
“What? No! Of course not!” Charles said, sounding genuinely offended, “I’m just saying with our neurodivergent children sometimes things are different—“
“Neuro—what?” Erik asked, staring at Charles, leaning in closer, his anger rising. “There’s nothing wrong with Wanda or Pietro. They are both perfectly fine.”
“I never said anything was wrong with them,” Charles replied, “But they do both have IEPs. Surely you know that they’re neurodivergent?”
“What does that mean?” Erik asked, never looking away from Charles, “What do you keep calling them that like there’s something wrong with them?”
“My son is autistic. He’s neurodivergent. I believe the twins have something similar written on their papers. Surely someone has told you before. Pietro’s says…” Charles flipped through the pages in front of him, “Oh… and Wanda’s…undiagnosed. Have you not looked into this?”
Erik shook his head. “Neither of my kids have been diagnosed with anything. I want that taken off the paper right now,” he demanded, staring Charles down, as though that was going to make it happen faster.
Charles just nodded, “Alright, as soon as I get some whiteout, I’ll take care of it properly,” He said, crossing the words out for now. “I assure you, Mr. Lehnsherr—Erik—we’re just trying to help the twins in the best way we can. They’re both in therapies through the school and have IEPs because of it. You know that, you went to the meetings.”
This time, Erik couldn’t deny anything. He did remember those, but it never occurred to him that it would lead to something like this. If he had known then he probably wouldn’t have pushed for the extra help. But then where would he be? Where would the twins be? He did want to get them all the help they needed so they could be successful and he didn’t want them hating school, especially so soon.
With that in mind, he let out a calming breath and nodded, “Alright, sorry. I just want what’s best for them.”
“I understand that entirely,” Charles replied, “We want the same and we want to work with you to ensure they get everything that they need. Would you like to continue on with the meeting? I have some information about what they’re doing for us in class. Of course, they only do what they want most of the time. It’s on their time.”
Erik nodded, “Yes, definitely,” He said with a small smile, thinking about his stubborn babies. Wanting to work on their time sounded about right to him.
“Alright, well we’ll go over what they know and what they need to work more on and then I’ll have a couple of packets where I’ll need you to rate the kids on different skills, how well you think they are at different tasks.”
Rating his children seemed like a risky thing to be doing but he nodded. It felt like anyone would be giving their child top marks, no matter how well they’re doing. Could parents be trusted to tell how well their kids are at different things?
Charles pulled two papers out of the folder he had. “Alright, these are the letters they knew. Pietro knew them all but he would only give us answers while doing a letters puzzle and they were all uppercase. I’m sure he knows the lower but we didn’t have a puzzle for that and he wasn’t interested,” Charles began, “He could count to twenty-eight, knew nine out of ten colors but couldn’t tell us grey. I think he said dark white. And knew all his shapes except octagon, he said hexagon. He wouldn’t do any of the letter sounds for us either but he knows them at different times when he chooses to.”
His eyes were scanning the paper as Charles spoke. If he was honest, he was just wondering how they got his boy to do all of this. “I’m sure he knows the letters and sounds. We go over this stuff every day but sometimes he just isn’t interested, you’re right. And I can’t exactly force answers out of him.”
“He’s a very smart boy. We tend to do all of this in one go with the kids but Pietro’s took about three days to get through everything. He’d do one and then run off. Sometimes he’d stop in the middle. After this he counted to forty with Jean but he wouldn’t do it for me, for example. So we know he can do better.”
Erik nodded, feeling a worry he had start to ease. He had been working so hard with his kids and worrying that they would fall behind but it seemed like they hadn’t. They were keeping up with their peers, or maybe even doing better than some.
“And Wanda was no different. Though she didn’t take quite as long to do. She knew all of her letters and we managed to get her to do the lowercase as well. As though she had to outdo her brother, she counted to twenty-nine before stopping. Knew nine of the colors but couldn’t tell us brown. She got the octagon correct but missed the hexagon, funnily enough.”
That got a small laugh from Erik, his children so close to the same but opposites at the same time. It always amused him to no end. “Sounds? Did she know any of them?”
“She did,” Charles said, moving down the paper, “She could tell us the W sound since it starts her name and the P sound since it starts her brothers. And that’s when she decided the baby dolls were much more interesting than doing this.”
That wasn’t surprising to Erik in the slightest. His daughter had always loved baby dolls. There was something about playing mama that Wanda was drawn to, even at such a young age. Much to her brother's dismay as she tried to get him to be her baby.
“Does she play with the dolls at school as much as she does at home?” He asked, wanting to know and not just make assumptions.
Charles nodded with a small smile. “Every day at playtime and center time she goes straight for them. Sometimes she even sits one at the table next to her while she does her work. We tend not to fight her on it since she is still working.”
“And what about Pietro? What does he spend most of his time doing?” He asked, thinking about the boy who typically wanted to do nothing but run. He was always playing tag at home. Or zombies. Something where he got to chase other people around. He was a very active boy.
“He likes to build with the blocks. Sometimes we look over and he’s just lining them up, stacking things on top of them. Mostly the cars. On occasion he just wants to dump them all out on the floor and sit on a pile of toys. We wouldn’t mind so much but he doesn’t want to pick them up.”
It wasn’t particularly surprising to hear that. Erik often found himself picking up his kids toys at the end of the day, sometimes with tears in his eyes. He would try to encourage them to clean up after themselves. Typically Wanda would but Pietro hardly ever did and Erik would reach a point when he decided he was easier to just put his son to bed and clean up himself.
That decision was typically made when his son started making a bigger mess than the one he was cleaning up. More toys would be added to the floor and any Erik picked up and put away Pietro would scream as he dumped them back out. Then Erik would start getting mad at his boy but he refused to do anything to make his son afraid of him. So, it was best to just put him to bed, remove him from the situation and clean up when Pietro wasn’t there to witness what he was doing.
“It’s something we definitely need to work on more, I can admit to that,” Erik replied, he wasn’t going to deny it or try to act like his babies were perfect, no matter how much he thought they were. There were things they still needed to learn and work to do.
Charles nodded, seeming to understand that. “It can be hard for some kids. We tend to suggest showing them how to clean up. Sometimes they just don’t understand the process. Something that seems simple can be difficult to wrap your head around if you’ve never done it before.”
“I can try that,” Erik said, though he had a feeling his son knew and just wanted to be difficult. The same way he was right now, his foot kicking Erik over and over. He was mostly ignoring it though, thinking the boy would eventually quit.
Knowing they didn’t have long left before the kids were up and running again, Erik looked at Charles. “You said something about rating them? I think it’s best if I start that before these two decide to take off and I have to go after them.”
“Right, of course.” Charles replied, pulling out two packets. At the top of each was one of his kids' names, the date and Erik’s name. Charles passed them to him and Erik laid them both out beside each other to tackle at the same time.
“This is fairly basic. Just how well you think she’d do at each task and what kind of tasks you think he and she can perform. They are targeted at their age group. And if there’s something they can’t do then that’s perfectly normal. Some kids excel at different things and have an area they struggle in. We have to do a similar thing with the way we see them in the classroom,” Charles explained, “Rate them with one being the lowest and seven the highest.”
With that, Erik looked down at the page spread out in front of him to start answering the questions. He couldn’t help but wonder about it though. What was the average rating for kids of the twins' age? How would he know if they were behind? Would it be bad if he rated them lower? Would it reflect on him as a parent? Or would it say something bad about his babies?
But, then again, the people who were going to be looking at the answers would know if he lied. If he gave them all high ratings and it was something they didn’t do then it would be clear what he had done.
With that in mind, Erik started to look over the paper. Participates in group and individual play. Erik considered a moment before giving them both a four. They were both great at playing with each other and playing alone but he’d hardly ever seen them play with other children. Especially since it seemed like the other children had no interest in playing with his kids.
The next question asked about understanding rules and routines. Again, Erik found himself split. They were a king and queen of routine, they knew what they were doing and how to do it but they weren’t a big fan of rules. Alas, they knew them so he went with a five for each.
Was he supposed to be giving them separate ratings? He’d worry about that later.
Could they clearly express feelings, needs and opinions? This one Erik knew the answer to immediately. They both got sevens and he moved on. Both of them had opinions and thoughts and were going to let everyone around them know about it.
From there, there was a question about showing empathy and caring for others. This time his answer did change. Pietro was given a three and Wanda a five. His little girl was always trying to take care of others and consider their feelings. His son, however, was, more often than not, the reason they were crying or upset to start with.
Taking turns they were both given fives. They could, most of the time. Just not with each other. And maybe Wanda was a little better at it than her brother but Erik had already written down a number and committed to it.
On the next page the first was initiated play with peers. Here, again, Erik gave Pietro a three—he’d never seen his boy do that unless his sister counted—and Wanda was given a five. She could do it, and had often with some of the other kids, like their little cousins. Though, based on what he had heard from the other kids earlier, he wondered about this. It felt right to him but they were apparently different when it was kids that weren’t family. Or perhaps when he wasn’t there to oversee things.
Did they show an interest in learning? Erik had to say yes, though it was less in the classroom sense. They were explorers and full of questions about how things worked and why. Erik gave them both a six. He had to knock them down since they were rather less interested in some of the things they learned in school.
As for if they could work with distractions, Erik had to go lower. Pietro was given a one, though he was typically the distraction, and Wanda got a three. She had been known to work on something through her brother’s meltdowns. Though she’d also been known to join in too.
Solving conflicts was easy too, Wanda with a five and Pietro with a two. Wanda just seemed to take the lead in situations like these, stepping up and trying to help. Pietro was typically trying to make things worse and laughing at others' reactions.
The first question on the third page asked about their ability with scissors. Erik could say he didn’t often give them the chance to use them. That sounded like asking for an accident. It was with that in mind that he gave Wanda a two and Pietro a one. Better safe than sorry.
Similarly was the question about holding a pencil. It wasn’t like his four-year-olds were doing much writing but he gave them both a three. It wasn’t entirely wrong that they were holding them but he couldn’t swear that it was right either.
Body and space awareness almost made him laugh. How often were his kids holding onto each other? Or him? Or his mama? Or their aunt? And then Pietro was constantly running so fast he was slamming into walls. Erik gave him a two and Wanda a three. Just because she didn’t run into things nearly as often. Maybe his boy needed glasses? He should look into that.
Coordination and balance they were good on. All the time, every day. It was like that was what they spent their time working on. Both got a seven and Erik moved to the next question.
Self-care skills. Wanda got a six. He could trust her to brush her teeth, wash her hands. Most of the time she could even bath by herself—with supervision, of course. Even though she had to be prompted, but Pietro would do none of that if he wasn’t hovering and watching the boy. So, he was given a two.
Could his daughter or son get dressed by themselves? They could certainly get undressed. Erik knew that from experience fighting them to keep their clothes on. He gave them both a five and moved on. Sometimes they struggled with buttons and zips or tying but otherwise they seemed to have it down. Most of the time they even got their shoes on the right feet.
The next section had two questions. Make observations and predictions. Here Pietro was given a seven and Wanda a six. That was just the sort of thing his son would ramble about and Wanda would offer up when prompted. The next question asked about cause and effect relationships. Pietro was given a two since he seemed unable to realize the effect any of his actions would have and Wanda got another six. More often than not, she could understand. Didn’t stop her from following her brother and making questionable decisions though.
From there, the questions kept coming. Following directions that had multiple steps, fours. They could sometimes, depending on how complicated the steps were. Waits and takes turns during conversations they were given threes. They both wanted to be talking over each other all the time. They were too excited to get their thoughts and opinions out. Communicating clearly, Pietro was given a four and Wanda a six. His son could be difficult for others to understand from time to time, though Erik could understand every word. Wanda only had a couple of times he and others couldn’t tell what she was saying.
The literacy section started off well. Could they write their own name? Pietro was given a two. He could spell it and write some of the letters. Again, Wanda was given a six. Her d’s were sometimes b’s or her W would be an M but mostly she was good. Identifying letter sounds, he gave them both fives, mostly yes, when they wanted to. Identifying letters in their own name got them both sevens, but again, it was only when they wanted to. Were they able to sit and listen to a story? Once again, Erik gave them both sevens. They both loved story time before bedtime at night.
The second to last section was labeled as math. Identifying numbers one to ten. Again, they both got top marks. Erik knew that both of his kids could count to forty at least. Verbally counts to ten, yes. Can name eight common shapes Erik gave them both a six, they had done well enough on Charles’s little test for them, after all. Name ten basic colors both were given another six. The final section was sorting and there Erik had to give Pietro a seven and Wanda a five. His son always wanted to do nothing but sort thing and Wanda was mostly good at it. With occasional issues.
The final section was creativity. Did they engage in dramatic play? Erik wasn’t entirely sure what dramatic play was but he did know that both of his kids could be dramatic. Seven for Wanda and five for Pietro. Participating in art projects Pietro was given a solid three while Wanda got a five. He could convince her to try on occasion. The final question was about using tools to express ideas. Both got a two on that but it could’ve been because Erik wasn’t sure he understood the question.
With that done, he folded the packets back around right and looked for Charles. It only took a moment to locate where the man was. Thankfully, he saw Erik too and gave him a smile before rolling over to him.
“Did you get finished, my friend?” He asked, taking the papers from Erik with a smile, flipping through them. “I’ll need you to sign your name here.” He said, pointing to a spot and Erik scribbled something resembling his name on the bottom of both pages.
“Thank you,” Charles said, putting them back in the folder. “Now if you’d like, you can sign them both out and let them go play. Or we can let you have enough time to eat too and Jean can take them?”
Erik looked at his children, already bouncing around and climbing over top of each other. He was surprised at how good they had been the last few minutes, if he was honest.
The chance to eat would be amazing, especially uninterrupted but he wasn’t sure either. Did he trust someone else to take the two of them and go into the room where anything could happen?
He was being a little too protective again, he knew that and it was something he was called out for too often. His sister and mama both tell him over and over. Yet the idea of something like this worried him. He lost the twins mama, he couldn’t lose them too.
“If you want, I can go with them?” Charles asked, “You look like you could use a minute anyway. I know that stare and I think a minute to yourself could do you some good. Eat and when you’re finished, come and find us.
“Wanda, Pietro, come with me, darlings. We’re going to go play some games while your Dad eats.”
It should’ve made Erik mad that Charles didn’t let him answer, that he took over and decided for Erik. But, at the same time, he was rather glad that the choice was taken out of his hands.
Besides, the teacher was someone he trusted his kids with day after day at school. This was a good thing, a step in the right direction. Or so he tried to tell himself.
Instead of sitting there and continuing to worry, Erik simply stood and started deciding what he wanted to eat as he made his way to the buffet. It had been a long time since he had the chance to do something like this and now he wasn’t even sure he was going to be able to enjoy it.
By the time Erik finished eating, he stood up from the table and followed in the direction of the game room. He almost felt bad, watching Charles trying to keep an eye on both Pietro and Wanda.
Erik didn’t want to admit how much this always worried him. His twins were running off in different directions and he could only follow one of them. It seemed he wasn’t the only one with that fear which settled him a little.
Thankfully, the school had the whole place rented so there was no one else there but the twin’s class, running around and playing. It was at least a little safer than it could’ve been and Erik had metal on the kids that he could track to make sure he could keep up with them.
It only took a moment for Erik to make eye contact with Charles and then made his way over to the other man. “I’ve made it. Thank you so much for this. I think I can get them from here.”
Charles nodded, seeming to relax a little in his chair. “Pietro has been playing the same game the entire time. Wanda keeps running around and has been at every game in here at least once.”
“That sounds about right,” Erik said with a nod and a chuckle. “Pietro knows what he likes. Wanda likes the…” He waves his hand around, “Looks of this place, the feeling of it. But she doesn’t care much about the games.”
“The vibes, as the kids say these days?” Charles asked with a laugh, “It is nice. I can see why she’d like it so much. I’m partial to it myself.”
The other made Erik laugh softly, “Yes, the vibes. We only come here on special occasions. Birthdays, a special treat. To them it’s a happy place and they always get excited for it.”
Charles nodded, “It’s always a good thing to have a place like that. My little boy much prefers McDonalds. Though he says this place is too loud for him.”
“The twins feed off the chaos, if you haven’t noticed,” Erik replied, looking over at where Wanda was running to yet another game. He had almost forgotten he was supposed to be tracking them while he was talking to Charles. With that in mind, he looked over to see where his boy was. Unsurprisingly, he was still at the same game he always spent all his time at.
“Oh, I very much have noticed,” Charles said with a smile and nodded sagely. “They’re wild and in class one kid gets wild and they’re suddenly all bouncing off the walls and trying to climb them. Quite literally. The other day when I said Pietro hit his head but he was alright? He had been trying to climb the wall.”
Nothing about that surprised Erik. It sounded very much like something his little one done. He had his moments of decision making and Erik never once said they’re good decisions. But boy did Pietro make them.
“Of course he did,” Erik said with a sigh and a fond shake of his head, “There’s nothing you could tell me either of them have done that would surprise me at this point. I’ve seen it all, I fear.”
“Just when you feel that way they always find a way to prove you wrong,” Charles stated and Erik had to nod. He had a feeling that Charles was probably right about that.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” He admitted, before deciding to be honest for a moment, “I’m worried about them, you know? I think there’s something going on. I know you were mentioning it earlier and that terrifies me. My oldest was always such a social butterfly, just an ideal, easy going child. The exact opposite of these two. I love them but I have to be honest.
But with the other kids… I’m afraid they don’t have friends and they’re not going to. Just based on what I’ve heard today.”
Charles looked at Erik for a moment and he could almost see the gears turning behind the man’s eyes. It only took a moment before he voiced those thoughts, thankfully, so Erik wasn’t left in suspense for too long.
“If you’d be interested, I have a son and my sister has a son and daughter. Both of our boys are neurodivergent and we’re always trying to find more friends for them. Kurt—my nephew—and my son—David—they’re both autistic. I’m not trying to diagnose either of your children right now, I cannot be clear enough about that, but it could be beneficial for them to meet and have a playdate. Perhaps the five of them could get along well.”
For a moment, Erik considered what Charles was offering. It sounded very casual of a situation, to let his children have a playdate with their teacher's son and family. But at the same time, it wouldn’t be the worst idea, would it? Perhaps seeing them could help Erik come to terms with things as well, and his babies could make some friends. It was sort of what he had been wanting for a long time now.
With that in mind, he found himself nodding in agreement. “Yeah, alright. You have my number, probably on speed-dial at this point. Just let me know the time and place. We’ll work something out.”
A bright smile took over Charles’s face and it was a look that Erik found his heart clenching at—a feeling he hadn’t felt in all too long. That could never be a good sign.