Chapter 26: Unpredictable Weather

December 18

District Seven

Skye got up the morning of her birthday to find Logan looking out the window with a thoughtful expression on his face. "What?" she asked, making her way over to him. "Is something wrong?" He'd been watching the skies over the mountains for days, and he was concentrating way too hard for it to be passive observation.

He drew in a deep breath and gave her a good morning kiss before he smirked at her. "Wrong? No … but there's gonna be a good storm blowin' in. It's been buildin' for a few days now. Do with that what you will, but I was thinkin' it might be a good time to lock a couple people in a warm, cozy cabin."

She grinned crookedly at him with trouble sparkling in her eyes. "I can tell them it's a birthday dinner." Her eyes widened, and she let her mouth drop open. "Oooh, it can be candle lit."

He raised his eyebrows and nodded once. "If that's what you want, darlin'," he said.

She grinned at him and threw her arms around his neck to kiss him much more solidly. "This is going to be fun," she said with a troublemaking sparkle in her eyes before she dashed off to go find the cabin that Fitzsimmons shared — a little bigger than the other shared cabins so they could have a lab in there, with beds up in the loft area.

It wasn't the ideal setup, but then, after being chased out of so many other bases, they had to work with what they had. Still, it was clear the two of them missed their old lab.

"This is going to take twice as long," Skye heard Simmons saying as she peeked into the room to see them both frowning over some specs, though her friend straightened up when she saw Skye and waved at her merrily. "Oh! Happy birthday! What are you doing here when you should be celebrating?"

"That's actually what I was here for," Skye said with a little laugh. "I was wondering if you guys would come to this little place I know for dinner."

"A place you know from all the time you've spent in this district?" Fitz teased.

"Maybe," Skye countered, crossing her arms and tipping her nose up. "So are you coming or not?"

Fitz and Simmons glanced at each other before almost in unison turning her way and nodding together. "Yes. Please," Fitz said.

"Sounds like fun," Simmons said at the same time.

Skye beamed at both of them and tilted her head toward the door. "Come on then," she said. "Unless you've got something pressing?"

Both of the scientists shook their heads. "Oh no," Simmons said.

"We were just going over some schematics—"

"Just a theoretical exercise—"

"Not at all something we could do here—"

"Not in this weather—"

"And the electrical requirements alone…!"

"If it's just theoretical, then the answer is no," Skye said in response to their back and forth.

"Yes, right," Simmons said quickly. "Ah ... do we need to bring… oh, I doubt there's anything with a dress code here."

"Just be comfortable, if that's possible," she told her with a smirk.

"Well, aside from freezing, I think we can manage," Simmons said even as Fitz handed her the warmest coat she had as they headed out the door.

Logan had taken his sweet time before he finally agreed that it was time to go, and Skye was giving him a look, questioning what he was up to as they walked through the snow. "Just don't worry about anything, alright?" he told her. "It's fine."

"But no one's left the bunkhouses all day. It's going to be freezing," she said quietly before she smiled at Simmons over her shoulder.

"Not a chance," Logan argued quietly. "Just relax and trust me on this one."

When they got to his cabin on the far end of town, the walk up to the front door was shoveled and swept clean, and it was clear that a fire was going in the fireplace from the smoke curling up from the chimney. The doors were unlocked, and when they stepped inside, the place was toasty warm — and dinner was waiting for them on the table.

"Happy birthday," Logan told her with a kiss once they were all inside and the door closed behind them. "Hope this'll work."

Skye looked positively stunned for a moment before she broke into a laugh and threw her arms around his neck. "I should just… stop doubting you," she said, shaking her head. "It's amazing."

"Well, show 'em around, Director. It's your show today."

Fitz and Simmons were looking around the place wide-eyed as Skye draped an arm around both of their shoulders. "I don't… how did you set this up?" Simmons asked, seeming to direct the question at both Skye and Logan.

"What, did you hire those guys patrolling the forests to shovel the walkway?" Fitz said, shaking his head.

"Those guys can't shovel a straight line," Logan replied with a little chuckle. "If they don't have to wade through it, they don't worry about it." He pulled the cork from the bottle of wine chilling on the coffee table. "Why don't you do me a favor and not worry about the how?"

"Come on, guys, I'll show you around," Skye said with a grin Logan's way as she took the scientists on a quick tour of the place — so that by the time they were back to the dining room, they seemed a little less frazzled and a lot more relaxed.

They were still giving Logan inquisitive looks, especially when the dinner ended up being the best they'd had since they left the Capitol after the revolution.

"You look like you need more wine," Logan said, though he didn't wait for an answer before he topped Simmons off.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Simmons teased.

"Nah, just tryin' to get that look off your face," Logan replied. "Like you're waitin' for somethin' to blow up."

"Well, that does seem to be the case more often than not," Simmons pointed out, though she leaned back and had some more wine all the same. "I do the patching up work when it does, remember?"

"You're off-duty," Logan told her. "And so am I, so it should be fine. No major blood loss expected."

"Just mysteriously good wine," Fitz agreed with a sideways smile.

"And all my favorite people in one place for my birthday," Skye said decisively. "That's the whole point right?" At that, the scientists seemed to straighten up a little and tried to pull back on the curious looks they were shooting Logan.

"It's alright; I know you get uptight about magic," Logan said before he tipped his glass back.

"This… is not… no," Fitz said, shaking his head at Logan and pointing an accusing finger his way.

"Why not?" Logan asked. "Every theory you've had, I've explained. So..."

"Because it's just rubbish," Fitz said, waving his hand. "There's no empirical data supporting the existence of… rubbish."

"You're soundin' a little numb, Fitz," Logan said. "You're not makin' any sense."

"Exactly!" Fitz pointed at Logan. "Magic doesn't make any sense! You've hit it on the nose!"

"He's a little passionate about science," Simmons giggled Logan's way. "Just a mite."

"Well, why don'tcha see if there's a way he can explain the dessert in the fridge? I can promise I didn't make it or put it there."

"I'll get it," Skye said with a huge grin as she got up from her seat, clearly enjoying the looks of disbelief when she came back with a chocolate cake — though she was also wearing a pretty disbelieving look herself that turned into a whole other kind of look Logan's way when she got seated.

"What do you think, guys? Tiny elves that live in his house?" she asked with trouble gleaming in her eyes.

"That have access to chocolate in the middle of a war?" Simmons asked, shaking her head.

"There's got to be a logical explanation," Fitz insisted as he refilled his glass angrily. "Not… leprechauns!"

"No," Logan agreed with a smirk. "You're the only leprechaun here." He pulled his lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Simmons. "You're in charge of candles from here on out."

"Not a leprechaun," Fitz grumbled as Simmons patted his arm consolingly and lit the candles for Skye.

"I know, Fitz," she said lightly as Skye barely controlled her laughter between glancing at Logan and at the snow falling outside with a huge grin on.

"Are you sure you're not … maybe… a quarter leprechaun?" Logan asked, knowing full well it would send him off on a tangent. "Twenty five percent magical. Grampa carried a sheleighleigh, didn't he?"

Fitz drew himself up with the most exasperated, insulted look Logan had ever seen on his face as he launched into a diatribe not only about the nonexistence of magic but also his own heritage — "Not bloody Irish, thank you" — and how very, very wrong Logan was.

Logan settled in, somehow managing not to smile as he nodded his head and listened, occasionally defending the Irish, and reveling at the expression on Fitz' face when he said that he was half Irish. The whole time, Logan was sure to keep a drink in hand for himself and for Fitz. "So what did the Scottish call 'em then?"

"Knockers," Fitz said, waving his hand. "And they don't even exist, and that's so not the point…"

The snow had gotten to the point that Logan knew there was no way to even open the door, so he finally set his glass down and started to stretch. "Well. It's gettin' late, and it looks like the deer aren't showin' up like they usually do tonight. So... Keep warm. Pick a room — any one you want upstairs and to the left. I'm on the right."

"What? You mean — aren't we going b- oh." Simmons stopped herself mid-sentence as she got a look at the snow piled up outside the door.

"I'll keep the fire goin' tonight," Logan promised. "Maybe it'll blow off by mornin'."

"That much snow?" Simmons asked weakly, which had Skye giggling.

"If the wind gets to work, sure," Logan said with a nod as Skye started pulling at his hand.

"Then… we're snowed in," Fitz said, some of the heat coming out of his tone as he seemed to realize what had happened. "This… does this happen often?"

"All the time," Logan told him. "It's winter, after all. Haven't you ever been snowed in before?"

"Ah, no," Fitz said.

"Well, maybe," Simmons said. "But we were in the labs, with backup generators… if it happened, we wouldn't have noticed."

"Lights're still workin'," Logan pointed out. "And the fire keeps it warmer than anything else. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

"Sleep tight!" Skye called out to them as she tugged on Logan's hand again, still grinning as he finally let her lead him off — and left the two scientists with no wifi, no way out, and a very good buzz.

December 21

Logan's Cabin

Skye was smiling to herself as Logan curled up behind her in his bed. He'd just gotten up to stoke the fire — again — and every time he came back in, he was careful to tease her before he wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her in to him. "Take it easy," he rumbled low before he kissed her behind the ear. "No fight club tonight."

She had to laugh at that, but the smile fell from her face when her hand covered his, resting over the very ugly black and green wedding band he wore.

Whether the oath he took was forced or not; whether he had ever loved Viper or not — it didn't matter. Not when the fact remained that no matter how hard Skye tried to ignore it or work around it, there was no way to simply erase or forget the fact that Logan was married. And she didn't like the fact that unless they found a legitimate way to deal with it, he'd never be free of Viper.

"Sweetheart, you're doin' it again," Logan muttered into her hair before he kissed her at the nape of her neck. Skye quickly glanced down to realize that she had been very gently running her thumb over the ring.

"Just … it interrupts my frame of mind when I'm holding your hand, that's all," she admitted before she turned to face him. "You gotta get that thing off."

He nodded and pulled her a little closer. "We can ask Fitz to take a look when they come out for air."

"If we're out for air too, you mean."

"That's what I said," he replied with a little frown, but when she started to argue, he pressed in to kiss her — and again, the subject was dropped.

They didn't need to discuss the fact that something had to be done. Everyone was in agreement. But he'd made it clear — Viper had to agree to a divorce or simply die, because otherwise he couldn't acknowledge the dissolution of the honor marriage. It couldn't be as simple as erasing its existence — which Skye had offered to do, and Logan had shut her down, though he did explain that it was a matter of honor. Like it or not, Logan was, for the time being, Viper's legal husband. Which made Skye ….

"Dirty mistress," Simmons accused quietly over coffee the next morning when Skye came in the kitchen and Logan was stoking the fire. "Good morning. The electricity is back, so enjoy the coffee now before you get back to your mistressing."

"Shut up," Skye said as she poured herself a mug and then turned to look Simmons' way. "But … I do need to talk to you about that. Kind of."

"What do I have to do with that?"

"Well … not the mistress part. The ring. Gotta get that thing off of him."

"Ah." Simmons' expression fell for a moment as she looked back down at her coffee. She glanced toward Fitz, whose hair was ruffled as he leaned heavily against her, still not awake, and she let out a sigh. "We… need to look at it closer before we try anything," she said without looking up. "There's every possibility it's hollow."

"Why would it be hollow?" Skye asked with a frown. "That's just … stupid."

"It's Viper," Simmons said, tracing the edge of her mug with one finger. "And considering the devices she had inside you, Logan…" She glanced up at him as he leaned in the doorway. "Well, there's no reason to say this isn't also a possible method of poisoning you."

"Which would make sense to her for how the damn thing is stuck on," Logan agreed.

"I'm sure we could get it off," Simmons said. "But it could be a major undertaking — not simply cutting it for an extraction and skin graft. I wish it was," she said, wincing in sympathy.

"I'm sure you two'll figure somethin' out," he said, unconcerned.

"Oh of course," Fitz mumbled without even opening his eyes. "Jemma's brilliant."

"Talk shop later," Logan said as he looked past the two of them and to the window. "We're not goin' anywhere until the sounds of little elves reaches your ears as they clear out the walk. Besides, you can't test your theories right now anyhow."

"And we'd need to build some of the equipment ourselves anyway," Simmons said. "We don't quite have the same access we would in the Capitol."

"And we need to meet these elves," Fitz said sleepily. "So I can prove they're just people."

Logan was chuckling over his coffee. "I may be stretching it by callin' 'em elves. There's only one Elf." He tipped his head Skye's way. "And I'll bet he was snowed in too."

"I'm sure he loved it," Skye chuckled, tipping her head significantly at Fitz and Simmons as it was clear neither one of them had any plans to move from the cozy, half-snuggled position they were in. "Good for everyone to get snowed in every once in a while."

Fitz gave her a sideways grin for that one. Skye was sure that he had his arm around Simmons, though the way they were sitting, she couldn't quite see it.

It wasn't too long after that when the sound of scraping did in fact start up quietly and got progressively louder to the front door. "Local snow patrol," Logan said quietly. "They'll be in any time now."

"Knockers?" Fitz teased.

"Tiny army," Logan corrected. "They'll be expectin' food, so just sit back and let 'em clean the place out."

Fitz looked confused for a moment, though that quickly turned to absolute surprise when half a dozen girls — all under the age of ten — came bursting into the house, all giggles and excitement and a mad rush to tackle Logan for a quick 'hello' before they picked the kitchen clean.

"We'll come back if there's smoke!" one of them called out before they all rushed from the kitchen again, giggling madly with whatever they'd snatched up for breakfast.

Logan set his mug down and looked up at Fitz and Simmons a few moments after the door slammed shut. "Path is open."

Fitz picked his head up off of Simmons' shoulder at last and frowned at the door. "Ah. So it is."

"Not in a rush to leave?" Logan asked him, leaning back in his chair.

"It's still early," Fitz said, and this time when he readjusted the way he was sitting, Skye could see his hand at Simmon's waist.

Logan smirked and leaned into Skye to whisper very quietly with his nose in her hair. "I just won't tell him it's noon then."

"Don't ruin it — it's perfect," Skye said, giggling quietly, though it turned into an outright cackle when Simmons caught her gaze, smiled, and relaxed back into Fitz.

By the time they did get back to the bunkhouses, it was dark outside, and May met them with a crooked smirk when she saw that not only was Skye in an excellent mood but Fitzsimmons were actually holding hands.

"You can borrow it any time,too," Logan muttered to her as he passed her.

"I don't need it," May said with a little chuckle.

"I think you do," he argued.

"Maybe when the war's over," May allowed, though he didn't miss that she handed Skye a ten dollar bill.

"Can't believe you took that bet," Logan said to Skye. "Not fair takin' advantage when you know what the weather's bringin'."

"It was my birthday," Skye defended. "Free birthday money."

"Get what you wanted?"

"Sure did," she said with a little smile, taking him by the arm. "And next year, we'll have the ring off too."

"I'd rather it was quicker than that," he admitted.

"Well I figured I'd give us a wide margin to work with so you can't accuse me of catching Kurt's wild optimism," she teased.

"Fatal optimism," he corrected.

"That." She tapped him in the center of the chest. "All I'm saying is my next year's birthday wish is to get Simmons to stop calling me a dirty mistress."

"All we gotta do for that is deal with Ophelia."

"See? Fatal optimism," she teased.

"She's gonna be a pain."

Skye waved her hand. "She's always been a pain," she pointed out as the door nearest them burst open and Kate all but tackled them both into a hug.

"Oh look — you're not dead!" Kate laughed.

"Of course not," Logan replied with a frown.

"Didn't freeze to death in the blizzard… got back without finding any trouble…" she teased.

"It was just snow, not a blizzard, and we probably stayed warmer and ate better than you guys did," Logan laughed.

"Oh, lies. I had my beautiful Elf, and Cassie's been hanging out with Ororo making some amazing apple desserts that you missed out on."

"Sounds almost as good as chocolate cake," Skye said with a grin.

Kate spun to face Skye with an open look of surprise. "No."

"Oh yeah. It was delicious," Skye said, clearly laughing as Kate looked more and more surprised and betrayed.

"Is that … somethin' you'd want?" Logan asked, his head tipped to the side.

"Um, have you met me?" Kate asked, spinning to face Logan. "Coffee and chocolate are basically the staples of my life."

"There was coffee in the cake, yeah," he said with a nod.

"Now you're just being mean."

"Just full disclosure."

Kate shook her head at Logan and gently hit him in the arm. "You are just being mean that's what you are," she accused him.

"You want one for your birthday too?"

"Can you even get a second one?" Kate asked, a little wide-eyed.

"Sure," he said with a nod. "Don't see why not."

"Ummm, because there's a war on?" Kate shook her head at him. "Not that I'm saying no, I'm just — yes. Please!"

"Any other requests?" he teased.

"Yeah, you don't think you could just obliterate Hydra so I could get married in peace, do you?" she teased right back.

"It's on my to-do list," he replied. "Right after 'cake and cabin for the syrupy sweet couple'"

"We already have our own cabin," Kate pointed out.

"Fine," he said with a shrug. "Just the cake then, princess. Your loss."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Come on. Kurt was hoping you two could get some swordwork in. Before Christmas and New Years."

"Yeah, yeah, got it. Go beat up my buddy. On it." He gave Skye a quick kiss and tossed a snowball Kate's way before he slipped into the building a few paces ahead of her.

Kurt was grinning as he heard the thunk of Kate's snowball against the closed door. "Starting snowball fights with a Hawkeye. Really," he teased.

"She needs to keep on her toes," Logan defended.

"She'll just pull in the other one, and I won't help you," Kurt promised, still laughing.

"That's fine," he replied. "I'll just whitewash her before coffee."

Kurt chuckled and shook his head at that. "You're going to get yourself in trouble," he warned, with a spark of trouble in his own gaze.

"You love it. She loves it. Why mess with somethin' like that?"

"True enough," Kurt said with a shrug before he tossed a sword to Logan. "So ... shall we?" he asked, taking up a fencing position.

Logan turned the sword over in his hand for a moment, looking it over before he simply walked over to the weapons rack and put the foil back. "Yeah, but not with that." He picked up a katana instead and took his own position. "This is why he didn't like playing with me."

"The vastly different styles?" Kurt asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, yes and no," Logan replied. "The blocks that you use with a katana — if you're being more traditional and not acting like Wilson — you can't really break them."

"That would be good; I think Kate would prefer I keep from getting stabbed again," Kurt said with a smirk.

"Well, come at me with that; then I'll show you how to change the grip and we can switch to wood," Logan said. "Less bloodshed that way."

"Which I'm sure both of our ladies will appreciate," Kurt said with a grin before he did just that, twirling his swords with a little flourish before he made his attack.

Logan deflected him quickly, though Kurt had an advantage with two blades. The two of them went back and forth for a few minutes before Logan finally had an opening to strike back — and when he did, he knocked one of Kurt's blades loose.

From there it was a pure clash of technique — the quick moves of fencing against the sheer power that Logan was driving through his strikes, redirecting rather than outright blocking most of the time as Kurt quickly started to see how Strucker had managed to land some of the hits that he did.

Finally, when Kurt called it, he took a moment to get his breath before he grinned at his best friend. "I'm definitely glad I asked you for help," he said. "This… is going to help tremendously."

"There are two things I can see holdin' you back," Logan said. "One, he's a swordmaster. Not just one style. And two — we gotta build you up, bud."

"Yes, well, let's start with those wooden swords," Kurt suggested. "I could see you redirecting — we'll start there."

Logan took Kurt's sword and switched both of them out for a wooden katana each — and the two of them started very quietly as Logan showed him how to hold it properly. Within a few minutes, they were going through several exercises to master the motions with the very different blade. And after a while, they were again sparring — more or less.

"The whole point to this style is to use every bit of energy and not waste a single movement. Do it with as little effort and as much force as you can. Cut 'em quick; kill 'em fast."

"Oh look, Skye," said Kate's voice from the doorway as the cold wind came in temporarily behind the two girls. "A show."

Kurt grinned her way for a moment, pausing what he was doing to sweep one arm out and bow. "And do you like what you see, frauline?" he teased.

"Oh so very much," she laughed, finding a seat near the weapons rack as she waved them on. "Don't mind us."

"Don't worry, we won't," Logan replied easily as they continued on, keeping the same pace as they'd used before the girls showed up with Logan coaching Kurt through the fight — always to hit harder, to drive through not just the redirect of the sword, but his opponent too.

December 25

District Seven

Since winter had well and truly descended on District Seven, those that were staying in the bunkhouses really didn't have anywhere else to go for the holidays. Of course, the kids and victors had all chipped in to decorate a big tree the lumberjacks had brought in with paper decorations and an angel that Scott had carved in his down time. Kurt had brought out the Bible he'd gotten a couple Christmases ago to read the Nativity story on Christmas Eve, and there were plenty of warm wishes by the fire — but when they went to sleep, not a one of them was expecting anything in the morning.

So it was all the more curious when the youngest in the group — the Hudson clan — woke up anyone within earshot with delighted squeals and giggles when they discovered the candy laid out for them.

Even Scott had a candy cane when he came down to find the other kids delightedly celebrating Christmas morning, and he had to laugh when Josh was clearly giving out the best hugs that morning.

"Where'd you get this stuff?" he asked Mac in an undertone after he'd been properly hugged by the youngest Hudson.

"What are you looking at me for?" Mac asked with a little frown before he wished him a Merry Christmas. "Just relax and enjoy it."

Scott paused, looking like he might argue it, before he shook his head and ended up, somehow, getting pulled onto a couch with every single one of the kids piled up together, giggling and delighted over their candy.

And that's how Clara found him too when she came to wish him a Merry Christmas — with half a candy cane in his mouth and listening very intently to the twins as they retold him the story Kurt had told the night before ... or their version of it, anyway.

She had to chuckle at him before she sat on the arm of the couch and raised an eyebrow as the story continued. He grinned at her for an answer, letting the girls finish their tale before they got distracted toward the end by Ella and rushed off to pet her instead.

"They like that wolf more than me," he teased Clara.

"She's usually more relaxed," she teased right back.

He shook his head at her before he reached over to pull her the rest of the way onto the couch to join him. "Yeah, well, what's she got to worry about? Kids to spoil her while she's back home? Pretty nice life if you ask me."

"You need someone to rub your belly? Scratch behind your ears?"

"Not the kind of spoiling I was thinking," he chuckled before he pulled her into a kiss that still tasted like candy cane. "Merry Christmas, by the way."

"Same to you, handsome."

"You get anything from 'Santa'?" he teased as he popped the candy cane back in his mouth.

"Mostly the same as everyone else," she said with a shrug. "That and a new knife. I lost mine while I was travelling. In some creep's hand."

"Sounds more like you used it well and used it up," he said with one eyebrow raised.

"Well I wasn't complaining," she pointed out.

He nodded at that and then broke into a grin as he dug into his pocket to pull out a carved wooden pendant — an intricate wolf's head that looked a lot like Ella. "Merry Christmas," he told her, the grin only getting wider still as she looked from the carving to him.

"I didn't get you anything," she said quietly, eyes a little wider than he was used to seeing on her — but it only lasted about half a second before she nearly tackled him on the spot and kissed the sense out of him.

December 31

District Seven

Seeing as it was Kate's birthday, she and Kurt had decided to sleep in and stay in. They had the cabin to themselves and plenty of blankets — though Kate did ask Kurt to go to the mess hall and get some coffee.

Still, even trekking out in the cold, Kurt was in an excellent mood, a little pellet in his hand that he tossed up and caught several times over before he spotted Kitty and, grinning, quickly sidestepped out of her view, threw the smoke pellet, and appeared in front of her.

She gasped and jumped back before she shook her head and smacked Kurt in the shoulder. "Stop doing that. It's not funny," she told him sternly.

"It is," he insisted, still grinning as he rubbed some of the smoke from his face and then did the same for her. "I haven't timed it right yet to put my face through before it clears, but I will," he added.

"You just like scaring the daylights out of people," she accused him.

"Yes I do," he said with a shameless grin before he wrapped her up in a hug and spun her toward Peter Quill's cabin — since he was sure that was where she was headed anyway.

He filled up a couple thermoses of coffee, sure that would be enough for the day they were planning to spend inside, and he was on his way back to the cabin when he spotted Logan and broke into a huge grin, digging in his pocket for another of the little pellets to throw at his feet as he jumped out in front of Logan.

"Guten morgen!"

It happened so quickly that Kurt wasn't sure what had happened as he picked himself out of the snowdrift and shook off the snow. From where he was sitting — several feet off the trail — it almost looked like Logan hadn't broken stride.

Kurt picked himself up out of the snow, dusted himself off, and caught up to his friend, still wiping smudges of blue smoke off his face. "Did I catch you off-guard?" he teased.

"Go play somewhere else," Logan grumbled.

"I was actually headed back to Kate — just wanted to say good morning," Kurt said, still with a smile.

But Logan grumbled lower and kept on his path, hands in his pockets and shoulders almost up to his ears.

Kurt frowned after his friend for a long moment before he let out a sigh and shook his head, turning back toward the cabin he shared with Kate, though he had to grin when he saw that someone — he had a feeling who it was — had left a coffee maker on the doorstep as well as a white box.

He grinned wider as he stepped through the door with the coffee and gifts in hand, and Kate beamed as she plucked one of the thermoses away and took a long drink. "Oh, you love me, don't you?" she said as she let out a little sigh.

"Obviously," he teased as he set the coffee maker down and had to laugh when he opened the box to find that it was a chocolate cake. There was no note, but it was easy enough to know who it was from.

Kate leaned over his shoulder and let out a sigh that was pure happiness on seeing the cake. "Oh, he loves me too," she said, and he laughed and leaned over to kiss her.

"Well, it is your birthday," he pointed out. "And you deserve a little spoiling."