Here begins the new stuff. I have to warn everyone, updates from here on will be slightly less timely, as I'm writing it as we go, rather than just reposting. So enjoy!
And thank you to those reviewers of the past chapters. Hopefully this will be just as good!
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"I want to learn," he wiped his eye and marveled as Talia's tiny tail wrapped around his offered finger. "I want to do everything for her. I-" He closed his eyes with a sigh. "I never expected this."
Wanda looked away from Kurt. She was silent for a while, before taking a deep breath. "I wish I could take it all back, Kurt. I wish I had told you when I'd found out. I am so sorry."
They sat in silence for what seemed like forever to Wanda. Talia had long since drifted back to sleep, so she stood to tuck her in. Kurt stood with her, watching the ritual. "She went to sleep so easily…"
"She does sometimes…and others, she won't sleep if her life depended on it," Wanda smirked slightly, still feeling the weight of guilt on her. They slipped into silence once again.
Moving back to the bed, Wanda sat, pulling her legs up to her chest. Kurt stood still, gazing at their daughter. "I don't know what to say Wanda. Or what to do. I-" he paused. "I still love you. And Talia…mien gott, how can you love someone so much so quickly? But this…you kept this from me. How long would you have kept it? Would I have ever known my daughter?" He felt his ire rising, but quickly tamped down. He knew Wanda, and getting angry would only escalate things, and nothing would be accomplished.
For her part, Wanda just looked away in shame. "I would have told you. I swear to God, I would have told you. I just didn't know how."
He snorted. "Didn't know how? 'Kurt, I'm pregnant', 'Kurt, I had a baby'. Wanda, how could you not know how?" Reaching up, he rubbed his eyes, the hour and stress catching up with him. "And you use the lords name…is it sincerity or because you know how seriously I take it?"
"Sincerity," Wanda stood now, looking him in the eye. "Kurt, please. I can't ask you to forgive me, or be with me, or even understand my decision. But as much as I wish I could take it back, I can't. I can't change what's happened. And…I just hope you don't use my decisions and what I've done against Talia." She took a breath. "Even if you never want to see me again. I want her to know her father."
He looked from Wanda to the crib, and back. "What I want…." He trailed off, moving to the crib and gazing at his daughter. So odd. He'd come here to reunite with Wanda, and had found a daughter. He'd known his child now less than an hour, and yet he could not fathom being parted from her. "I want you to come with me. Both of you, I want you to come to the mansion." He turned to see the hopeful look in Wanda's eyes. "This isn't about us. It's not for us. This is for her. I want us to live somewhere where we can both raise her, and both be in her life."
Wanda's heart which had lifted for a moment, dropped. She nodded. "Alright. But what about us?"
Kurt took a shuddering breath. "There is no 'us' Wanda. There is me and you and Talia. That is that." He watched Wanda as she seemed to crumble. "You've hurt me, more than I thought possible. And I cannot trust you." He stopped. "And still, I do love you. But love cannot be enough. I need to know you won't do this to me again."
She opened her mouth, a thousand counterarguments ready to leap out. Anything to fix this. But she knew any argument would only worsen the situation. She was wrong, and nothing would change that. Wanda nodded her head. "Ok."
Kurt nodded back, then turned again to Talia. "I'll have to talk to the Professor. Make arrangements for the two of you to come, find rooms for you close to mine." He paused. "Or I'll have to move. I don't know. Will you be ok for a day or so while I get it settled?"
She nodded again, silently. "Ok," he replied. He placed his hand on Talia's chest, feeling it rise and fall. "I don't have a ride home, so if it's alright for me to stay on the couch?" It was odd, he'd already spent half the night there, and yet felt the need to ask.
"Of course," she responded quietly, still avoiding his gaze.
"Danke," he leant over the crib, to brush a kiss on Talia's forehead. "I will be gone early. I'll call you later this week when I have everything ready." He gave her a small nod and headed back into the other room.
Wanda curled up into her bed, rolling on her side. This was not the reunion she'd been longing for. Her cheeks began to wet with tears as she closed her eyes.
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Her eyes slit open as she rolled over, catching the alarm clock in her view. She sat bolt upright when she realized it was near 9 am and had not yet been woken by her child. She sprang out of bed to check on Talia, finding her peacefully asleep. Wanda took a deep breath, deciding perhaps the happenings of the previous evening (or more accurately earlier this morning) had tired her out.
The evening and morning now came back to her, and she moved to the other room, finding the couch empty but for a few blankets folded on the end. She leaned against the door frame with a sigh, barely noticing as Pietro walked up next to her. "Morning. Coffee's on."
"Hey," she said, straightening herself up. "What's the deal with breakfast? You eat yet?"
"No," Pietro followed her as she rushed to the coffee pot, pouring herself a cup. "So…what's going on?"
"Hmm?" she took a sip of the brew, black, and made a face. She really needed milk and sugar, but took another sip. It was at least a distraction.
Pietro raised a brow. "Last I heard, Kurt spent the night on the couch, and he was gone when I woke up. So, what happened?"
Wanda shrugged. "We talked. He met Talia. He asked us to move to the mansion with him."
"That's good!" Pietro smiled. "That's great! You two were always good together, and it'll be so good for Talia to have both her parents." He stopped when her face pinched, realizing he'd jumped to conclusions. "You're not going? What's up?"
"No, I'm going," she said, her face crumbling as she tried to stop the flow of tears. "But we're not together. He says he can't trust me. He doesn't want to be with me, but he wants us to raise Talia together." She looked down, trying to stifle her emotions.
Pietro frowned, putting his arm around his sister. "I'm sorry, Wan." He held her for a bit, while she let herself go and sobbed into his shoulder. "This isn't all lost, though. You can be friends, which…" he paused. "I know it's no one's favorite option, but at least pixie will have both her parents, right? That's important."
Wanda nodded into him, then pulled back. "It is. As much as this hurts, I'd rather Kurt be in her life than not. And…I'll get over it."
Pietro gave her a quick squeeze. "It'll work out. For better or worse, you're doing the right thing."
She nodded again. It had to be the right thing.
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The ride home had been silent, Kurt staring solemnly out the window as Logan stared ahead at the road. Any probing was met with one word answers and more silence. Something had obviously gone down, and it was itching at Kurt something fierce. Logan couldn't let him wallow in his misery, or whatever this was.
Kurt's brow furrowed as he noticed a change in scenery. "This isn't the way to the institute."
"Just a quick detour, Elf," Logan said, pulling up to a familiar bar. "Don't know why we go all the way to New York City when there's Harry's so close to us."
Kurt sighed. "Logan, I'm really not in the mood…"
"That's ok. Cause I am," Logan shut the car door behind him, before moving to the passenger side and opening Kurt's door. "Indulge me. I just drove you to and from the city. Least you can do is have a drink with me."
Kurt sighed again, but left the car, heading to the entrance with Logan. He moved to a table in the back while Logan headed for the bar, before joining him with two beers. "They had that German crap you always rave about on tap. Can't turn that down."
He rolled his eyes as he took the drink from his friend. Kurt took a long swig, then another, and a third before putting the drink down. He lifted the glass again for a fourth long swig. Logan watched this with a somber expression. "So, you wanna tell me what happened?"
Another swig, Kurt looked to his friend. He considered for a while, before shaking his head with a small smile. "I saw Wanda. We talked. And…" he stopped, considering again. "I have a daughter, Logan. A tiny, baby girl. Wanda never told me. But…I'm a father…" He played with the rim of his glass, not meeting Logan's eye.
For his part, Logan swigged down about half his pint. He eyed Kurt for a while, before responding. "Well. That's not what I was expecting to hear."
"Neither was I," Kurt rubbed his face. He looked at his beer as he swirled his glass around.
Silence fell over them again. "Well…so…tell me about her. What's she like?"
Kurt looked up, and gave a little smile. "She's gorgeous. She takes a lot after me, poor thing," he laughed a bit. "Her name's Talia. She's lucky, though, that she inherited quite a bit of looks from her mother. If you ignore her coloring, her face is near identical to Wanda's…" he trailed off, taking another sip of beer.
Logan watched him for a moment. The way Kurt's face dropped when mentioning his past love. He decided to delve further. "So, how is Wanda?"
Dropping the glass back onto the table, Kurt shrugged. "She's fine," he stopped there, but the alcohol was getting to him a bit, making his lips looser than he'd prefer. His mouth set in a grimace, and he pushed the glass away from himself angrily, it nearly falling off the edge of the table if not for Logan's quick catch. "I don't know. I don't know who she even is. The woman I loved could never do this to me."
Another two pints came to the table after Logan gestured to the bartender. He pushed one toward Kurt, who gladly accepted and began to guzzle. He finished that as well, and put the glass down. "What if you hadn't forced me to go last night, Logan? Would I have never known my child?" He grew angrier as the words came out. "Would I have never known I had a child? She says she wanted to tell me, but why didn't she? How could she-" he cut himself off, noticing a few heads turn their way, and he lowered his voice. "I loved her, I gave her my everything. When she left, I felt like I lost a part of my soul and…" he sighed. "I just can't believe this. I can't imagine what would make someone do this to someone they once claimed they loved. I….I would have married her, Logan. I thought at one time, she was the one."
Logan let his friend vent, drinking his own beer and ordering another round for the table. He handed off the next beer to Kurt. "So what's the next step?"
"She's coming to the mansion. With Talia. I don't know what will happen, but despite how we feel, we need to do what's right for our child," he took the beer gratefully. "I've missed how many months with my daughter? I won't miss any more."
A silence enveloped the two again. Logan nodded at his friend. "You're doing the right thing. And who knows?"
Kurt lifted a brow at Logan's cryptic remark, but decided to leave it at that. He stared sadly into his drink, before downing it. He sighed. Who knows.
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