Hello and welcome back dear readers!

Before this chapter I recommend to read "Glimpses of happiness". It is part of this story, and we are finally at the point where it fits.

I have set the status of this story to finished for now. I have some further ideas, but they will probably be published as stand alone stories later.

Please check the chapter end notes for more detailed warnings.

Thank you!

I hope you enjoy. :D

A bump in the road

Azazel delivered Erik and the twins up to the corridor in front of the Master suite; then he vanished.

Erik looked down at his wayward children and shook his head lightly. He motioned them into the sitting room, and told them to have a seat of the sofa.

Erik paced in front of the French doors leading to the balcony for a minute, trying to calm down. Wanda and Pietro watched him anxiously.

They had been at a fair with uncle Azazel and papa. Daddy unfortunately had too much paperwork to do, otherwise he would of course have come with them, and this whole mess could have been much less worse.

They had had fun at the fair for quite some time. It was the first fair the twins ever went to, and they were really excited to see all the different stalls, and try the food, and ride the Ferris wheel and carousel. Papa had spoken to them seriously about not wandering off before they even left the Mansion. And the twins both had promised to stay near to him.

But, well... They had been waiting in line for a ride on the carousel... and it had been boring... and Pietro never coped well with boring things, so he had whispered to Wanda if she wanted to go for a little piggyback ride. Wanda loved riding piggyback on her brother's back, especially when he was speeding around. It sounded much more fun than waiting in line.

And, well, so they'd just taken off. Without telling papa or uncle Azazel where they were going. Which might have been not the best idea.

When they came back ten minutes later, after a run around the whole fair and the town, too, Papa had been absolutely frantic. First he grabbed them both in a crushing hug, which was kind of nice. But then he took them both by the hand, and gave them a very stern warning to stay right were they were. And then ordered uncle Azazel to take them back to the Mansion immediately. The twins exchanged uneasy glances, while they watched their papa pace in front of them.

At last, Erik ran a hand through his hair, and took a deep breath. He took a seat on the coffee table in front of the sofa and took a hand of each twin.

"What you both did today was very naughty. You could have gotten lost in that crowd, you could have gotten hurt somewhere, and neither I nor uncle Azazel would have known where you were. I was really, really scared today. I only just found you, and I'm not willing to loose you again."

"Sorry, papa," both twins mumbled guiltily.

"Thank you for the apology. Now, I've thought about what do with you, and I think it's best if you stay in your room for the rest of the day."

Pietro started shifting in place nervously, and Wanda blanched and asked, stricken: "You mean we're not allowed out?"

Erik shook his head. "Not unless you need to use the bathroom. I'll bring you supper up later."

At hearing that, Wanda burst into tears, and Pietro started vibrating in place so fast only a vaguely boy-shaped blur was left to be seen.

Erik's ears were bombarded with an increasingly frantic sounding stream of "No, papa, please don't lock us up, we'll be good, please don't, we're sorry!" from both twins, which rapidly became even more incoherent when they fell back into Polish as they became more and more distraught.

He realized with horror what at colossally bad idea it was to confine two traumatized kids to their room, when they had been kept in fucking cages for months.

He fell down on his knees in front of the sofa, gathering his children in his arms and telling them, "I'm sorry, I won't lock you up, I didn't think, you don't need to stay in your room."

He slipped into Polish as well when he showered them with kisses, and endearments, and apologies.

The twins clung to him as hard as he clung to them, and he was so unbelievably grateful that they still sought comfort from him, that they didn't shy away. Even though he just triggered them, he, who should really have known fucking better how terrifying it was to be locked up, having survived the concentration camps and all.

They were all much too preoccupied to notice the door opening, but the familiar shape of Charles' wheelchair and pocket watch registered with Erik's subconscious enough that he wasn't startled when he felt waves of calm and love wash over him.

Charles came to stop near them, and held out his arms when the twins looked up from Erik's embrace. "I think we all need some family cuddle time now, hm?" he asked softly as he hugged Wanda who had climbed into his lap.

Pietro had stayed with Erik, and the Metalbender picked up his son now when he stood up, setting him on his hip. "Absolutely. What do you think, kids?"

The twins nodded, both still hiccuping and sniffling. Erik and Charles carried them to the master bedroom, where they all settled together on the big bed.

It took a long while for them all to calm down, but no one was in any hurry to get up. Soon after they finally calmed down, the children fell into an exhausted sleep, safely cocooned between Charles and Erik.

Erik felt like the worst parent ever. First he couldn't keep track of his kids at the fair, going nearly out of his mind with worry when he realized they had taken off.

And then he had triggered one of the worst flashback episodes he could remember since the twins came to live with him. How could he have been so stupid?!

Hey, Charles chided him gently, accompanied by waves of reassurance and love. He reached out and took Erik's hand, careful not to disturb the sleeping children.

You were worried and scared. You were trying to come up with an appropriate punishment while not being too harsh. I'm guessing your own parents probably grounded you sometimes as a kid?

Erik nodded mutely.

There you go then. And really, there's quite a difference between the twin's bedroom and that lab they were imprisoned in. Though I don't think we'll be grounding them anytime soon.

Erik was wholeheartedly agreeing with that. He still felt very raw, with so many of his own wounds reopened, along with the scares he got today. He turned beseeching eyes to Charles, trusting him to know how to calm his troubled mind and soul.

Charles of course knew exactly how to help his partner in need, genius that he was. Erik felt like he had been gathered up in a tight hug by Charles, with a huge, warm blanket woven of love, affection, encouragement, and comfort wrapped around them both.

The storm of feelings, and self-recrimination that was raging inside him slowly abated, until he was calm enough that the exhaustion caught up with him, and he joined his children in slumber.

Charles was very happy to watch over his sleeping family, content to have them all save and sound around him.

When Erik and the kids woke a few hours later, Charles had already arranged for tea and sandwiches. He fondly watched his family descend upon the little feast like a pack of hungry wolves. (Charles had already eaten while they were still asleep.)

Afterwards he suggested they all could need some more family cuddle time while they talked, and the twins agreed enthusiastically. Erik smiled a little shyly, but Charles clearly read his relief.

Soon they had all settled back on the bed, the parents sitting with their backs against the headboard, each with a twin on his lap.

"Wanda, Pietro, I am so sorry I upset you," Erik began. "That was never my intention."

Wanda, who was sitting in his lap, turned around and hugged him. "I know, papa."

Pietro nodded too, and leaned forward for a hug.

Then he sat back against Charles, and asked "Does that mean you won't ground us?"

Erik nodded. "Grounding is definitely off the table. Discipline is meant to teach you something, not make you afraid."

Pietro smiled. "So we're all good?"

Charles chuckled. "Not so fast, my boy. Running away from your papa and uncle Azazel at the fair still was a naughty thing to do, and we are not going to just let it slide."

Wanda asked, "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, what did your mama do when you were naughty?" Charles asked.

Pietro sat up indignantly, and put his hands on his hips. "We were never naughty!"

"Ah, ah. No fibbing, Pietro," Charles said firmly.

The little boy flopped back on the bed with a dramatic sigh, which relieved Erik rather a lot. Upsetting his kids always left him feeling hollow and terrible, and seeing them act normally afterwards went a long way to convince him they'd be all right eventually.

Of course we will be, love, Charles told him mentally with much more confidence than Erik felt, and squeezed his hand.

"She smacked us on the bum," Wanda said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, and does the thought of papa or me doing that frighten you?"

Wanda contemplated that for a moment and then shook her head decisively.

"Pietro?" Charles prompted.

Pietro sighed again, but admitted reluctantly that the thought didn't scare him either.

"But you need to hug us afterwards, and tell us everything is forgiven," Pietro insisted.

Erik and Charles both assured them that they would definitely do that.

Charles briskly clapped his hands. "All right, come here, you two."

Pietro and Wanda both shuffled forward until they were next to Charles, looking up at him a bit apprehensively.

"I think you know that running away was very dangerous?"

Both children nodded.

"Good." Charles reached around, and gave them one firm swat each. Then he pulled them into a hug.

"Let that be a warning to you. If you ever do anything that dangerous again, you'll get more than just one swat, are we clear?"

Both twins nodded, and Charles kissed their heads in turn. "Thank you. You're both forgiven. Though I think you owe uncle Azazel an apology as well."

"Yes, daddy," came the chorus from the twins.

They gave Charles one last squeeze, then sat back and turned to their papa, to offer him another apology, and get another hug from him.

Then Pietro jumped from the bed and was gone in the blink of an eye, off to find Azazel.

Wanda followed at a more leisurely pace.

Erik turned to Charles, his throat feeling tight. "Thank you. I couldn't have handled actually disciplining them today after that whole fiasco."

Charles tugged on Erik's hand until he leaned forward enough for a hug. "It's no problem, you know that."

Charles clearly sensed the gratitude and wonder Erik felt at having him in his life again, and raising the twins together. He shared all the love and gratitude he felt himself that Erik had had the courage to ask for this.

In times like this, when it was hard for either of them to even put feelings into words, it came in very handy to be a telepath.

The kids are occupied, and our schedules are free. Charles told Erik silently.

Erik chuckled. "And we're conveniently already in bed." He locked the door to the bedroom with a flick of his hand.

"I like the way you think, Charles."

Charles grinned. "Ditto, my dear."

*Detailed warnings*

- Pietro and Wanda get into trouble at the fun fair. Erik accidentally triggers the twins by trying to ground them. They are reminded of their time in captivity, and are really panicked. Erik realizes his mistake at once and comforts them.

- Charles and Erik talk through with the twins which consequences will not be scary for them, as grounding is definitely out. They settle on spanking together, and they both get one swat.

In real life I only recommend spanking between consenting adults. If parental spanking of kids disturbs you, this is not the chapter for you. Thank you!