Chapter 14: "The Dread Pirate Blue Tail: Scourge of the Caribbean"
Kurt hadn't gotten a text from Kamala and Miles until mid-morning on his birthday, and as Kate was feeding Kari and Krissy was playing with the other older kids, he had a little time to pop by and get the two newlyweds home.
He had to laugh a little when he arrived and it was clear that they hadn't gone outside much at all, if the little layer of accumulated leaves and snow on the deck chairs was any indication, though he did see a little trail of footprints headed out to the lake — where he found the two of them bundled up in a blanket and sitting on the dock chatting comfortably.
"Are you sure you're ready to go back?" Kurt asked.
Both of them startled a bit and glanced up at him before Kamala nodded quickly. "Yeah, this place is really nice, but… there are wolves?"
"And they're loud," Miles supplied helpfully.
"Yes, well, at least the bears were denned up for the winter," Kurt teased.
"Bears too?" Kamala shook her head. "I'm glad we stayed in."
"Yeah, but the cabin was great," Miles said quickly, obviously not wanting to sound ungrateful. "Really. It was perfect, and the fireplace was perfect, and there was good food, and really — it was just great!"
"It is a wonderful little hideaway, isn't it?" Kurt asked with a grin.
"It's nice and quiet when there aren't wolves," Kamala agreed as she leaned her head on Miles' shoulder and grinned up at Kurt. "But we do need to get back. I only asked my professors for the two weeks off."
"Yeah. Gotta get back to work," Miles said, sounding honestly disappointed about it.
"Well if you're sure, then let's lock up and head back," Kurt said with that same smile. "You've been missed."
"Aww, hear that, Miles? They missed us," Kamala said, perking up as she jumped to her feet to offer Miles a hand up, and the young man grinned.
"Of course they did. You're a movie star, and I'm Spiderman." He took her hand as the two followed Kurt back to the cabin to gather their things and go home.
When they were all set, Kurt rested a hand on both of their shoulders before he simply teleported them straight to the tower, where they startled Nova off of the stool he was sitting on at the counter.
"We're back!" Miles announced with a grin as Nova picked himself back up.
"I see that," he said, climbing back onto the stool. "Welcome back. Your new room's upstairs. Tony got all the wedding gifts moved in so, watch your step."
Miles and Kamala glanced at each other and had to grin and head off to see just what constituted a "new" room — since they were now sharing one — in the tower, leaving Kurt behind to pop back home with a little smile at their excitement over all the new things that came with being newly married.
When he came back, Kate had just finished putting Kari down for a nap, and she grinned as he teleported into their room. "Perfect timing, birthday boy," she told him as she all but bounced over to wrap him up in a kiss. "How're the newlyweds?"
"They are perfectly contented together and unbelievably adorable," Kurt reported.
"Well that just about sums them up, doesn't it?" Kate laughed. "And us, of course," she added as she popped up on her toes to steal a little kiss.
"So, what do you have planned for the day?" Kurt asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and his tail around one leg.
"Well I've been told I have to share you for a little while this afternoon so other people can wish you a happy birthday," Kate said as if this was a horrible imposition.
"Vicious lies," he growled out.
She laughed and nodded her agreement. "But after a little cake and sharing ... I was thinking we could try to have an island getaway at that beach house we never actually used, seeing as the Caribbean is safe again," she said with a little grin. "Logan's watching the girls, so we can take as much time as we want."
"Of course he is," he said with a little laugh.
"But you know ... the people who want to say hi… they won't be here for a little while," Kate said with a little sly smile. "No reason I have to share you until, oh, about two o'clock today."
"Then what ever will do you with me?"
"It's a mystery." Kate said with an ever-widening impish grin before she pulled a familiar amulet from her jeans pocket and pulled him along by the hand into the next room.
When Kate and Kurt finally made an appearance, the rest of the X-Men were sure to make the most out of Kate's "graciously" allowing Kurt to see anyone but her, as Annie teased her. But seeing as both Annie and Kate knew what was going on, the teasing fell a bit short as they waited for Tammy and Tyler to drive back down from campus to join the celebrations.
In the meantime, Kitty had stolen Kurt entirely to wrap him in a huge hug and tell him all about their latest adventures in space. The Guardians had been having a bit more problems with the Shi'ar since their failed invasion, since they were still looking to expand their empire — just not Earth's direction for the moment. So it was a lot of stories of close shaves and bravery, and Kurt loved every minute of her storytelling.
Annie had red velvet cupcakes for everyone, and the kids had all been sure to give Kurt little hugs and kisses by the time the college-bound kids arrived, a little later than they'd meant to but still grinning wide.
"Running late, eh?" K teased as they came in. "Shocker."
"Traffic," Tammy replied without hesitating.
"Yeah, we used that one last week," Logan replied with a smirk.
Tyler gave him a look but headed over to where Kurt was to wrap him in a warm hug. "Happy birthday — sorry we're late," he said as soon as he'd released the Elf and Tammy darted in to get her hug as well.
"We really did get stuck in traffic," Tammy supplied with a little grin. "But… we were wondering if we could borrow you for a few minutes before you and Kate run off together?"
"Of course," Kurt said. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, we booked our temple sealing," Tyler said as Tammy just beamed beside him. "But we were wondering if you'd do the ring exchange afterward with everybody from the team. It'll be the last weekend of January."
"I'd be honored," Kurt said sincerely with a wide grin. "Of course."
"Great!" Tyler beamed for a second before he wrapped Kurt in another hug. "Really, thanks so much."
"And happy birthday," Tammy added helpfully as Tyler seemed to be too excited to do much else.
Kurt beamed at both of them and wrapped them in hugs before they went off to go join Daisy and Hank at the table playing with little Kari, who was in love with Hank's fur.
Kurt startled a bit when Kate came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back for a moment before she pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. "You have a good talk with Tammy and Tyler?" she asked innocently.
"You already knew what they were going to ask," he accused her as he gently turned so he was facing her.
She grinned up at him and pulled him a little closer. "Of course I did. Hasn't anyone told you I'm the resident party planner?" she asked as if this was completely obvious.
He chuckled low and kissed her gently. "You are a troublemaker," he growled low in her ear, and she let out a little breath of a laugh.
"You've known that since you met me," she pointed out. She pulled him into another, longer kiss with one hand in his hair, and when she just kept pulling him tighter, he took that as his cue to teleport them to the little beach house Kate owned and away from tiny eyes and ears — and from the adults as well.
The warm Caribbean sun made an immediate difference as the kiss broke and their clothing, it was quickly apparent, simply wasn't fit for the weather.
Kate quickly pulled the sweater over her head and stepped out of her shoes and socks as the warm sand filled the gaps between her toes, knowing just from the look on Kurt's face what he was thinking and wanting to save herself the frustration of wet socks before he could get there.
And she did, in fact, manage to get out of her socks before he teleported them about ten feet above the deep blue waves and dropped them both in, though from the little grin he had on his face before he tackled her back under the water, she had a feeling he was just doing that to be nice to avoid getting yelled at for the wet socks.
When they popped back up out of the water, Kate splashed him and shook her head at him. "You ridiculous imp!" she accused him, but it did absolutely nothing to stop the wide grin on his face.
"You say that like you're surprised," he countered, using his tail to pull her closer even as he was treading water.
"Oh, not anymore," she said with a dramatic sigh as she allowed him to pull her a bit closer before she tackled him under the waves — though with his tail still wrapped around her like it was, she was of course pulled under with him.
They continued like that for a while, both of them determined not to let the other get a leg up, though Kate was clearly losing when she was fighting a teleporter who could just drop her from high up above the waves when it looked like she might be getting the upper hand. They were both completely soaked and had long ago peeled off their sopping wet winter layers by the time they headed back to the beach, still grinning.
"One of these times we're going to start out a beach vacation in our bathing suits," Kate teased him as she pulled her shirt over her head.
"What would be the fun in that?" Kurt asked with a little teasing grin.
"You're absolutely right. How completely ridiculous of me to suggest swimming in swimsuits," Kate said, straightfaced as she shimmied out of her sopping wet jeans.
He grinned sideways at her and swept her up into a long kiss before he teleported the two of them back into the beach house to get changed — eventually.
Notes: This is the last chapter of this volume, but never fear! We're still totally truckin' along and enjoying this cooky universe. The next volume, "Legacy," will be on Canucklehead Cowgirl's profile very shortly!