Chapter 2: "Little Brothers"
It was only three days into the semester when the next little one made his appearance — because none of the elflings had been on time, and little Kaleb Wagner just couldn't wait any longer.
After Lorna's quick delivery with Michael, and Annie's nearly-as-quick one with Chloe, Kate had been sincerely hoping that this would go just as easily. And it seemed like the one upside of magic-induced pregnancy was that Billy's spell made things a little easier. Even Pepper's, with the highest risk out of all of them, had gone relatively smoothly.
So it was hardly any time at all before little Kaleb arrived, and to the delight of every single one of the Wagners, the little boy was almost a carbon copy of his father. Instead of the light purple color his sisters had, he was a deep, dark blue. And unlike his sisters, who all had five fingers but three toes, he had the three-fingered look down.
Kari and Krissy were allowed to join their parents after hardly any time at all, and they were both brimming with excitement to meet their baby brother, though Kari wrinkled her nose for a moment.
"No purple?" she asked, sounding almost disappointed.
"No, silly. He's a brother," Krissy said patiently, patting her sister on the shoulder.
"Oh." Kari thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "Okay."
One of the little bamfs had taken her phone to make sure to get a picture of Kurt holding the little guy — who looked, honestly, a lot like a bamf, but with less hair. The little photographer imp giggled and handed the phone over to Kate so she could send it off to her friends before she set the phone aside and grinned at her husband. "Just look at my boys," she teased.
Kurt beamed back at her for a moment as he sat down next to her, and she rested a chin on his shoulder, while Kaleb seemed content to drift off right then and there — and only just fell asleep before a bright star filled the room, and not only America but Billy and Teddy stepped through.
Billy looked downright sheepish, though it somehow wasn't as obvious as it used to be with the new look — until he started to rub his hand through his hair. "Things're going okay, then? With everybody?"
"Oh, you're fine; come over here," Kate said, waving her friends over with both hands so they could see the tiny little blue ball of fluff.
"Hey, he looks just like your tiny demon minions," America said with a little laugh.
"You're just looking at the coloring," Kurt said, shaking his head. "He has his mother's face."
"Except the eyes," Kate said with a little laugh as she kissed the top of Kaleb's head and then scooped him up so she could hand him to America. "Kaleb, meet your Aunt America. I promise she's not as ridiculous as you think she is."
"He's blue because he's a brother," Krissy explained as America looked downright surprised at being handed the little guy.
"Oh really?" Teddy asked as he crouched down by the two little girls.
Krissy nodded. "We got to be purple and pink because those are girl colors."
"I dunno," Teddy said. "Your Uncle Clint likes purple too."
Krissy scrunched up her nose. "Yeah, I guess," she had to admit.
America just laughed at both of them as she sat down in a chair with the little boy and got wrapped up in his three little fingers.
Kari tugged on the hem of Billy's cape, and he turned toward the little pink elfling with a smile and scooped her up. "Did you want a turn too?" he teased.
"Where's yours?" she asked with wide eyes.
Billy grinned at her. "They're with their Uncle Tommy. They're still kind of shy, and we didn't know how many people would be here to meet your little brother."
"I like them," Kari told him with a grin.
He leaned forward to share his secret: "Me too."
With a poof of brimstone and purple flash of light, K, Logan and Sadie were deposited a few spaces down from Kate's bed. "Okay, Kurt, darling," K said, eyes closed. "You need to tell them to stop that with the no warning nonsense."
"Believe it or not, I have," Kurt said with a small smile.
When she finally opened one eye, she took in the scene of gathered friends and one very, very happy Hawkeye and started toward them with her own little one. "Oooh, future besties. Congrats, you two."
Kurt grinned at her. "No reason to fight what works," he teased.
K slipped over between the Young Avengers and bumped Teddy's elbow. "Can I get you or your sweetheart to hold my little one for a minute? I just need to steal the littlest Elf."
"Don't have to make excuses," Teddy teased as he gently scooped up little Sadie. "I'm so here for tiny snuggles."
"It's because you're just so snuggly yourself," she agreed before she stopped just short of America and very purposefully pulled out her phone to snap a few pictures. "Now that … is a good look."
"Yeah, I rock the godmother look," America said smugly.
"Uh huh," Logan said from across the room where he and Kurt were being smug.
"Do you need Lucy's number, K?" Kate asked.
"I think I do," K said. She'd very nearly taken the little Elf, but as America started to hand him over, she diverted and brought Kate her phone. "Just in case you want to snap a few yourself first." She leaned closer to whisper. "Or if you want to hit her when she holds the other one too."
Kate giggled delightedly, glancing over to where Billy and Teddy were both totally spoiling Sadie. "Oh, yes. Gotta happen."
"I think your accomplices will be more than happy to help," K said then turned to finally pick up the little blue Elf. She looked up at Kurt with a clear smirk and held Kaleb a hair closer. "What was it you were saying? Mine?"
"Ah, but mine looks so very much like me," he teased.
"Well mine looks like me," she pointed out. "Didn't stop the grabby hands anyhow." She stood next to Logan, and the two of them started to introduce themselves to the little guy.
"Little blue velvet," Logan chuckled.
Kurt nearly startled. "What? That is your name for him?"
"More like a descriptor," Logan said with a wicked smirk. "Unless it bothers you …"
"Whatever happened to 'elfling'?"
"Well," Logan said with a shrug before K handed him the little one. "That applies too. But he's just so fuzzy."
"He's blue because he's a brother," Krissy reported dutifully.
"Lucky thing he wasn't hot pink," Logan replied, sitting down so the girls could sit with him too.
"No, pink is my color," Kari corrected him.
"I'm not arguin' that," Logan promised before he ran his hand over the top of her head and gave her a little look. "No one looks better in pink."
She giggled delightedly. "Mmmhmm."
Billy grinned broadly at the group of them, and though he had been holding Sadie, he gently tipped the little girl into America's arms— and the flash on Kate's phone went off as he went over to go see the little blue elfling for himself.
"Stop that," America grumbled Kate's way.
"Never ever," Kate swore. "You had way too much fun at my expense. Turnabout."
"After you look at her fingers, maybe," K shot back. "I dare you."
America rolled her eyes, though that didn't do anything about the fact that, yes, once she was engrossing in playing with the tiny hands, that was the most open look Kate had seen on her friend's face in ages.
Kate was cackling as she sent off the pictures. "Lucy says it's a good look," she reported. "And Cassie says she wants four. Little Americas, that is."
America just gave her a dry, dry look, totally unable to kick her friend's butt for oh-so-many reasons.
When Kate was done razzing America, K took her phone back and made a quick phone call while America was totally tied up. "Hi Lucy," K said before she stepped out of the lab, the phone to her ear and the two of them clearly chatting. All America heard for sure was when K promised that she knew an incredible officiant that could pull it together in a heartbeat.
Kurt was just grinning as K returned. "What time should I be there? I need time to change," he teased.
K grinned back at him. "You know, I can send him over right now, and this thing can be done by midnight if you really want." She looked America square in the eyes. "But really. I know you're young, but … you're not doing yourselves any favors waiting forever."
"Oh, go bother the idiot in the mask dating your sister."
"My future brother in law? Yeah, he's busy. And you … are coated in glitter right now."
"I'm pretty invulnerable to it," America pointed out.
"Not to magic," Teddy teased.
America glared Billy's way, and he held up both hands. "No, no. I have a handle on it," he promised.
"So it would be calculated and purposeful," Logan said. "That's what he means."
"Well, I could," Billy admitted.
"It'd be a story to tell the grandkids," Kurt said with a laugh.
"Don't even joke; that's how my entire universe was created," America pointed out with a half-hearted little grumble.
"It's also how Kate turned into a Kindergartener," Logan said. "And she never really recovered."
Krissy giggled and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Chance and Charlie are in Kindergarten, and Mama is waaaaay older than them."
"Thanks, honey," Kate said, shaking her head.
"She wasn't a few years ago," Logan said.
"Well, yeah, 'cause little elfs turn into big elfs, and little Hawkeyes turn into big Hawkeyes," Kari nodded.
K leaned into Logan and muttered something that Kurt was sure amounted to 'big somethings', but it had Logan smirking, so he wasn't going to interrupt that.
"Inna go to Kindergarten next year," Krissy informed Logan. "Then I'll be as big as Mama when she was little like me!"
"And with less peanut butter on your shirt," Logan agreed.
"I don't like peanut butter. I like grilled cheese."
"You want to go grab a bite to eat and watch a movie while your Mama rests?" K offered.
Both girls shared a look and then broke into wide grins, nodding enthusiastically. "Please!" they said together.
"You can come too, America," K promised as she finally came over to retrieve Sadie and take her to Logan — since she was asleep.
"I'm fine, thanks. I have to go meet up with my girlfriend and … deal with your nonsense," America grumbled.
"Hey, this … this is just turn about," K pointed out. "You were pretty merciless with the demon morning sickness and what not."
"Yes, and so were you," America shot back.
"Yes. And I've had three and married the boy. So. Paid my dues," K pointed out.
"Mmm. Well, I'm impervious to anything but magic, and Billy knows I'll break his nose if he tries, so…"
"You're not impervious to Lucy," Logan replied before he gave Kate a little wink and the ferals started to usher the bigger Elflings upstairs. "She can talk you into all kinds of things."
"Don't want to be impervious to her," America pointed out with an easy grin before she kicked open a large star now that she was baby-less. "C'mon, boys. You two have little ones you wanna get home to, and then I wash my hands of all of you."
"Love you too," Kate called out with a crooked grin.
"You'll be back in no time," Kurt added.
America just chuckled as she stepped through, with Billy and Teddy making sure to give Kate hugs before they followed.
Charlie was still trying to decide if she liked this whole Kindergarten thing.
Her brother had totally fought the idea on the first day, since their parents wanted them to at least try going to the school in town so that they could meet more kids their age and try new things… but now that they were almost done with their first whole week of school, Chance very clearly loved it.
Charlie wasn't so sure about it. One of the little boys had already pulled on her ponytail and called her 'bossy', and she was never tired when it was naptime, and she hated being bored and lying on her red blanket pretending to be at least trying to sleep.
She did like reading time, though. Their teacher, Mrs. King, did different voices for different characters like Charlie's dad did, and she let kids bring books from home if they wanted. Charlie wanted to bring The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, because that was her favorite for her dad to read, and she wanted to see if Mrs. King could do the huffing and puffing sneezy wolf with a cold.
She was settled down in the front of the circle, wide-eyed as she listened to the stories, when that same little boy tugged on her ponytail again, and she whipped her head around to glare at him. She had just raised one finger to stick in his face when her brother beat her to the punch by grabbing a handful of the little boy — Aiden's — hair and pulling.
Aiden immediately burst into tears, and Mrs. King had to stop storytime to address the crying little boy in front of her, who was wailing and holding his head.
"Ch-Chance pulled my hair!" Aiden wailed.
Chance and Charlie shared a look, and Charlie nearly giggled at the look on her brother's face that clearly said he thought Aiden was a pain.
"Chance," Mrs. King said in a severe tone as Aiden cried and demanded hugs from the teacher. "We do not pull people's hair."
Chance started to say something, but Aiden was crying too loudly for anyone else to be heard — and the next thing either of them knew, Chance had his name on the 'red' space instead of green and had to sit in time out.
Chance wasn't exactly helping his case with the argument that "he deserved it," but once Aiden was calmed down enough that Charlie thought she could talk to the teacher, she slipped over to tug on Mrs. King's sleeve to get her attention.
"Charlotte, we're having storytime," Mrs. King said patiently.
"But Aiden pulled my hair first," Charlie said.
Mrs. King paused and looked over at Aiden, who was still rubbing his eyes from his crying fit. "Is that true, Aiden? Did you pull Charlotte's hair?"
"He did, he did," piped up one of the little girls in their class. Charlie didn't know her name yet, but she had really, really red hair and so many freckles that Charlie didn't think she could ever count all of them.
Mrs. King let out a sigh before she went back to Aiden to pull him aside — and he had another crying fit when he was informed that he, too, was in trouble and had to sit in time-out. Chance was still in trouble for hair-pulling, but he looked so very, very smug sitting in the corner and grinning Aiden's way that Charlie had to giggle behind her hand.
Storytime wrapped up after that, though Mrs. King had a hard time getting the kids' attention back, so by the time recess came around and Chance and Aiden got to play too, Charlie was just grinning and holding her brother's hand and generally encouraging him.
They were waiting for their turn on the monkey bars when the little girl from before came up to both of them with her braided pigtails bouncing. "We're all looking for four-leaf clovers," she announced with a big grin, gesturing to where a few of the kids from their class were knee-deep in the grass. "Do you wanna play?"
"After the monkey bars," Charlie said — since they had been waiting their turn and she didn't want to get back in line.
"Do you wanna wait with us?" Chance offered.
The little girl bounced in place and nodded. "Okay."
Charlie scrunched up her nose. "You can't cut," she said.
"It's not cutting if she's just waiting with us," Chance argued, mimicking his sister's scrunched up nose.
The little girl looked between the Summers siblings and then just shrugged. "I don't wanna cut," she said, then tossed her braids over her shoulder. "We're just gonna be looking for four-leaf clovers when you get done," she said, then bounced off to where her friends were.
"She wasn't gonna cut," Chance said looking at Charlie with a little frown. "She was just gonna stand there."
"Maybe," Charlie said with a shrug toward there was only one person in front of them before the ladder. "But other kids don't know that."
Chance shrugged one shoulder up. "They could ask."
Charlie broke into a little giggle as she started to climb the ladder. "You like her braids," she teased.
"Yep!" he replied with a smile.
Charlie giggled all the way through the monkey bars and then waited for her brother to get to the other side as well so she could keep teasing him. "You like her freckles. There's a gazillion of 'em!"
"There really are," he said. "I think it's cool!"
"I tried to count 'em during snacktime, but I got lost," Charlie whispered to him, giggling as they made their way over to the four-leaf clover finding expedition, and the little redhead waved at them with a wide grin.
"Did you have fun on the monkey bars?" she asked as Chance and Charlie joined in the search.
"Mmhmm," Chance said, letting go of Charlie's hand so he could look more intently — over by the little girl.
"I'm Hannah," the little girl said, and Chance grinned at that.
"I'm Chance. And that's my sister, Charlie. Nobody calls her Charlotte except Mrs. King," he whispered that last part like a secret.
"I like Charlie's name," Hannah replied at a whisper. "It sounds better on a girl."
Chance grinned. "I like your name too," he said.
Hannah giggled as the group of little kids continued their quest for four-leaf clovers until the bell rang to go back inside for recess. They hadn't found any clovers, but one of the girls in the group had found a spider, and Chance was feeling pretty heroic after rescuing the girls from the spider, even if it was just a little one and not very scary at all.
In all, it was a pretty eventful day, and Chance and Charlie were excited to tell their parents all about it when Annie came to pick them up when the day was over.
Most of the hurt feelings from the hair-pulling incident had calmed down by then anyway, so the two kids had mostly forgotten about it as they talked about their new friends — not just Hannah but her two friends Gina and Lizzie, who both liked Charlie a lot — and how Chance had caught a pretty spider and moved it away from the clovers.
In fact, it wasn't until later, after the bigger students' classes were done and the kids got to go to karate lessons with Logan that Chance even remembered that he'd gotten in trouble at school.
Logan was just getting the kids warmed up — stretches and whatnot — when Chance spoke up to tell him what had happened, totally matter-of-fact as he said, "Aiden pulled Charlie's hair at school today."
Logan frowned and tipped his head to the side. "Why'd he do that?"
"I dunno," Chance said, shrugging broadly. "But he does it a lot."
"He shouldn't be doing that," Logan said, looking a little irritated.
"Well, I pulled his hair right back," Chance said with a grin. "Cuz he shouldn't do that."
Logan nodded once. "Good. Did he stop?"
"He cried a lot," Chance admitted, looking rather sheepish. "Cause he doesn't have as much hair as Charlie, so it hurt more, I think."
"That's not how it works," Logan said.
"But Charlie didn't cry at all, and he cried a lot."
"Because Charlie's a lot tougher than he is," Logan told him. "Little girls are pretty tough."
Chance nodded. "Charlie's the best," he agreed. "She told the teacher Aiden was being mean 'cause Mrs. King thought I was being mean."
"Anyone get in trouble?" Logan asked.
Chance nodded. "Mmhmmm. Me and Aiden both got time-out 'cause hair-pulling is bad." He leaned forward and added in a whisper, "Except I'm not sorry, even if Mrs. King made us both say sorry."
Logan tried very hard to hide the smirk, but the boy's earnest look was too much to ignore. "Let me know if you have more trouble," he told him.
Chance nodded. "Okay," he said, perfectly content as he went back to the warm-up.
Karate class was shaping up well now that Krissy and Sying had learned all the rules of even being in class, and the little group was trying hard to get it right. When the kids got going good, and they were in practice mode, they were a little less focused. At least when they had the sticks out.
They were paired off — Krissy with Sying, Chance with Elin, since they were closer in training time that way anyhow. When it was clear that the kids were being careful and not showing off, Logan tossed Scott a pair of sticks too. "Loosen up and hit somethin'," he told him.
Scott smirked as he caught the sticks, though his attention was still on the kids. "Charlie didn't say anything to me or Annie about any little boy bothering her in class," he said with a small frown.
Logan kept his focus on Scott as he corrected Krissy on stepping too close to Sying, then replied to him. "Does that surprise you somehow? She likes to fix her own problems."
Scott almost smirked again. "Yeah. But when Annie finds out…" He trailed off and shook his head, the smirk turning into a grin.
"She's gonna want to go down there," Logan said with a nod. "And you've got Avengers gossip with Cap Monday."
"It's the weekend. Maybe she'll cool off before then," Scott said, unable to stop the crooked smile at the idea.
Logan chuckled at that. "Right. Let me know how that works out for ya. I'd ask K to teach her to rein in her temper, but … come on. Blind leadin' the blind."
Scott shook his head with a little laugh as he turned his attention back to working the sticks with Logan for the moment. He'd deal with Annie when it came up.
So, once karate was over and the kids were ready for dinner and then bed, Scott had his argument worked out — that they couldn't step in every time something happened — after he got Cody to sleep and Annie had fed Chloe and put her down as well. The older kids were allowed to stay up later to read books a little longer, and Scott carefully led out with, "How was your first week of Kindergarten?"
Chance's response was a beaming smile. "Great!" he said, as Charlie shrugged and nodded next to him.
"We're making new friends," she said, then giggled. "Chance plays with all the girls with me!"
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Annie said with a smile as she sat down by Charlie.
"Mmhmm," Charlie agreed.
"We looked for four-leaf clovers today," Chance explained.
"Oh, is that why your knees were so muddy?" Annie teased.
"Yep!" He grinned up at her. "I helped Hannah look really hard, but we didn't find any. We're gonna try again, though."
"Chance has a girlfriend," Charlie giggled delightedly.
"Nu-uh," Chance said, shaking his head.
"Uh huh, you do," Charlie shot right back. "Her name is Hannah, and she's almost as tall as me, and she has about a bajillion freckles and the brightest red hair!"
Chance grinned. "Her freckles are really cool," he told his parents, who were just shaking their heads at each other. "And she is really nice! She helped Charlie talk to Mrs. King when I gotted in trouble."
Annie's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at Scott over the twin's heads. "What did you get in trouble for, sweetie?"
"Pulling hair," Chance said easily and unconcernedly.
"Why would you — Chance, honey, you can't pull people's hair," Annie said, looking flabbergasted.
"He was pulling Aiden's hair because Aiden pulled on my ponytail," Charlie explained patiently. "Come on, Mom." She wrinkled her nose. "Chance isn't a bully."
Annie looked between the two little kids and then to Scott, who just tipped his head their way to tell her to listen to the rest of the story; she was clearly starting to get worked up. "And you got in trouble?"
"For pulling hair," Chance nodded. "Charlie told Mrs. King Aiden started it, and Hannah agreed, and Aiden had to sit in time-out too." He made a face. "He was crying and he got boogers on his sleeve. It was gross."
"He's gross," Charlie agreed with a little nod. "And mean."
"He's not as tough as Charlie," Chance said proudly. "He cried a lot when I pulled his hair, and Charlie never ever cried, even though Aiden pulled her hair lots of times."
Scott caught the expression on Annie's face at that and gently shook his head, but he only got a withering look in return.
But by then, the twins had moved on to talking about how they were both tough, because Chance had chased off the spider and he was learning karate, while Charlie had asked Daisy to teach her how to play piano. Which prompted an energetic discussion of how their respective lessons were going — Charlie could play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" now — until it was clear both of them were wearing down and ready to go to sleep, rubbing their eyes all the way through the Magic School Bus book that Scott read them.
Once the kids were all asleep, Scott wasn't surprised to find Annie sitting under the covers with a look of near murder and her phone in one hand looking up the school's phone number on their website so she could write it down for later.
He let out a breath. "Our kids know how to handle themselves, Annie," he said gently. "We did a good job; you should be proud."
She let out a huff through her nose. "They're five. They shouldn't have to."
"We can't go to the school every single time—"
"Oh yes we can." Annie glared at him over her phone. "We absolutely can." When he started to argue, she set down the phone and cut him off with a finger in his face. "I'm going down there to drop them off Monday morning and have a chat with this teacher."
"You just had a baby," he pointed out.
"I feel just fine. I'll have someone else drive," she said, waving him off.
"Are you sure—"
"If it was me teaching in that classroom, I'd want to know my parents were involved," Annie explained, with a bit of heat. "And assuming this woman isn't an idiot, which I'm not sure about yet, let's say she just didn't see this little boy picking on people. I'd want to know if there was a problem. There are a lot of kids, sometimes it happens — but I'd want to know."
Scott leaned back, shaking his head at her. "And if she's an idiot?" he almost couldn't help but ask, knowing there was no way to reason with Annie like this — not until after she'd cooled off.
"Then I'll fix that too," Annie said with a huff.
He smiled at her, still shaking his head. "I'll bet you can."
"And don't you forget it, Mr. Summers," she said, crossing her arms over her chest with a decisive little glare.