Kasha didn't want to stay in the hospital. She didn't want to stay at the Thunder Palace. She wanted to go home. Burt and Bebe insisted that for her own sake she needed to take it easy, but Kasha assured them that the stasis had left her in top shape.
It was difficult to argue with that after she goaded Burt into a duel and ended up mopping the floor with him.
So a little more than ten hours after they'd left, the Hummels were back in their living room which Kasha was examining for changes since she'd been gone. "Oh, you got rid of those awful- I mean lovely- end tables your mother bought us."
"Yeah," Burt noted. "Kurt regularly redecorates every room in the house." Actually, the end tables had been victims of the home invasion but Kasha was damn well NEVER hearing about that.
"I hope you don't mind," Kurt told her. "We didn't change too much at first. But as time went on things wore out and faded."
Kasha's mouth tightened for a moment, but she shook her head. "Of course I don't mind. I- Oh! Who might this be?" Kurt hurried over to the picture his mother was holding, worried by the tone of her voice and her mouth tightening again.
Kurt's jaw dropped. When Carole found out Kasha would be coming back to Lima, she'd volunteered to hang onto the 'family' pictures while Kasha acclimatized to the present. She'd apparently forgotten one.
It was a picture from the first time the Hummels and Hudsons had gone to Breadstix together. Despite Kurt's discomfort at the time at how well Finn and his dad were getting along, when the waitress came around and offered to take their picture together they all leaned in and gave her four warm, sincere smiles.
Burt looked grimly at Kurt, then at Kasha. "Princess, I told you that Kurt and I thought you were dead," he began.
"You did," she agreed, though she clearly didn't understand where he was going with this. "I'd be really upset with my mother if she wasn't already so broken up about it."
"She is. But-" Kurt inhaled, deciding to spill everything in one go the way one would rip off a band-aid. "That guy there is Finn. For a while I had a crush on him. His father died when he was a baby, so I had this in-retrospect-insane idea that if dad was dating his mom that I could get closer to him."
Kasha winced. "That doesn't sound like it could have ended well."
Kurt stopped short, realizing that barring a few bumps things had ended up fairly well. "Well, I'm not interested in him anymore. We're… friends now. Practically… practically brothers."
Kasha turned to Burt, shocked. It was clear she understood what THAT indicated. "Oh."
Burt looked like he'd collapsed in on himself, but he met Kasha's gaze. "Once again it seems like my kid is so much braver than I am. Yeah, Carole- that's Finn's mom- and I were dating. We're not really sure where things stand now-"
"Oh my." Kasha put the picture down and went back to where she'd left her suitcase. "I should have realized- No wonder you all wanted me back at the Thunder Palace- I'll just-"
"Mom, wait!" Kurt exclaimed.
Now it was Kasha who wasn't meeting eye contact. She had her suitcase but she kept flitting towards the back door, then the stairs as if she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing. "It's fine, really."
Burt put a hand on both Kasha's shoulders, halting her sudden fidgeting. "Now look. I know things are a little messed up right now and I'm sorry. We couldn't have handled your… illness any worse. And it's going to take a little time to figure out what happens next. But in the mean time, Kurt's been up all night and you just got out of the hospital. You'll sleep in our room and I'll be down here on the couch."
"Burt-"
"No arguments," Burt countered firmly. "You may be her extreme holiness the water princess, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let you drop dead the first day we've got you back. So you're going to go upstairs and rest, and be thankful that you have people that care enough to make sure you take care of yourself."
Kasha's earlier panic had completely dissipated, replaced with a fond smile. "Very well, HUSBAND," she replied with playful obeisance. "I will rest. But ONLY because it's been a very long day for our Kurtling and I doubt he'd get any sleep if he was here fussing over me."
"You're not wrong," Kurt told her as he went to kiss her. He then opened her suitcase and pulled out a nightgown and a SINGLE outfit. "This should be safe to wear when we go shopping for new clothes tomorrow. Have a good sleep."
"You too, [pogol]."
But as soon as she was up the stairs Kurt turned to his father. Clearly uncomfortable but determined as ever. "Do you mind watching her? I have dinner plans."
"Dinner? It's two in the-" Burt broke off, belatedly remembering it wasn't two in the morning everywhere in the universe. "You're having dinner with Jute?"
"His family. Not like that," Kurt added as Burt's eyebrows went up.
"You may not mean it like that, but it's still a big deal." Burt went over to where his son was standing, and tried not to look worried. "So are you two an item now?"
"If he understands and respects that I don't want anything too serious right now, then I suppose I wouldn't be opposed to it," Kurt admitted.
"That sounds fair," Burt replied. He gave Kurt a hug. "Don't stay out too long. I know how tempting it is, but managing the two time zones can be a real bitch."
Kurt smiled softly. "Jute understands that. It's part of the reason why I've decided to go out with him in the first place."
"[Grandson, the floors here in the dining room are over a thousand years old,]" Aramid noted with a smile. "[It would be a shame if you wore them out now with your pacing.]"
Jute obediently stopped circling the table and sat down. "[My apologies, grandfather. And to you as well, Lifeblood.]"
Bebe waved off his concern. "[Completely understandable. But unnecessary.]"
"[Agreed,]" Aramid noted. "[Kurt-Hummel is quite fond of you. And this evening could not be better planned.]"
"[Father, it might be best for Jute's nerves if you didn't say that in front of Prince Kurt,]" Jute's mother suggested. "[It sounds sinister when you say it.]"
They were all laughing when Kurt's arrival was announced. He entered in a good mood, but was immediately started by, "[Grandmother! President Aramid! I wasn't expecting to see you.]"
"[I was surprised as well,]" Bebe noted, with a quirk of her eyebrow towards Aramid that indicated this was a longstanding peeve.
"[I thought it best if we used this opportunity to toast Princess Kasha's recovery,]" Aramid told them. "[It makes the meeting of our families a little less portentous.]"
"[I hadn't thought of that,]" Kurt told him. "[My thanks.]"
"[Your holiness,]" Jute called out formally, much more formally that Kurt had ever heard from him. "[I'd like you introduce you to my parents. This is my father Casaine, fire. Son of Oeko and Naraya, fire.]" Jute's father nodded with warm welcome but said nothing. "[And this is my mother Princess Blaize, fire. Daughter of Sateen president- Well, you know my grandfather,]" he joked.
Blaize laughed. "[My dear Prince, it is so good to have you here,]" she told Kurt. "[All this time hearing your grandmother talk about you, then Jute talking about you. We are all very happy to see you home again.]"
"[Thank you,]" Kurt told her. "[I'm lucky to BE home again. I suppose it worked out for the best, what happened."]
Blaize was concerned by this. "[Yes, I'd heard there were some difficulties on Earth before Bebe came for you. Of course, we wouldn't pry-]"
"[Of course not,]" Aramid confirmed. "[Besides, tonight is for celebration. We need to forget the past and concentrate on the future.]"
"[I agree completely,]" Kurt replied, with a sweet smile in Jute's direction.
Carole was a little surprised to hear her phone beep at 2:30 in the morning. Not that she'd had ANY sleep at all up to that point.. It's just that she didn't usually get calls, much less texts, that early. She'd decided that it must have been dying and was heading for the charger when she looked at the display.
One text message from: Burt Hummel.
Carole didn't even bother reading the text, she just dialed the number. "Hello, Burt."
"Carole." Burt sounded surprised, but definitely happy to hear from her. "I just left you a text letting you know we were back. I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's okay. I-" Carole tried to come up with a reason for being awake at this hour that didn't make her look pathetic. "I fell asleep during the news, and I was just now heading to bed." Okay, that made her sound pathetic AND old.
Burt didn't seem to mind, though. "Well, it's great to hear from you. I'll let you get to bed."
"Oh, there's no hurry," Carole quickly insisted. "How did everything go?"
"Good, I guess," Burt answered, sounding like he didn't know how to describe it. "Kasha's here at the house, so I'll be taking the couch from now on."
Oh. Carole wasn't expecting that. "So she knows, then?"
"Yeah. She took it about as well as you did."
"I'm sorry, Burt. I know this isn't any easier on you than it is on any of us." Carole wished she could just go over to the Hummel residence and be with him. He'd spent all his time the last few months supporting her, supporting Kurt, even Finn when he was feeling dejected and unwanted. She didn't feel like she'd done enough supporting in return.
"I made my bed," Burt told her stoically. Then he chuckled wryly. "And now my late wife is sleeping in it."
It was probably the stress, or the lack of sleep. But Carole started laughing and couldn't stop. Burt laughed along with her after a moment and it was some time before Carole was able to comment. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed at that."
"Don't apologize," Burt insisted. "About time I gave you something worth laughing at."
"You have given me plenty of good times," Carole reminded him. The last couple of months had been full of uncertainty. But she wouldn't still be in this if being with Burt wasn't something worth holding on to.
"God, Carole I don't know how I'm supposed to make this decision," Burt admitted. "I don't want to do this to either of you."
"Don't-" Carole had to pause and take a deep breath. Because what she was about to say made her feel like she was having a panic attack. "Don't worry about what this is going to do to us. Neither one of us wants you back because you feel obligated to be here. Just- Just follow your heart."
"Yeah, well right now my heart is telling me it wants to move to Utah and marry you both," Burt sighed.
Carole chuckled a little. "I'll get back to you on that one."
They just kept talking like that, not thinking about the time until Carole realized that she could see daylight from underneath her bedroom curtains. She checked her alarm clock (thankfully she didn't work until this afternoon) and saw that it was almost 6. "Wow. I should let you go. I didn't realize how long we'd been talking."
"No problem," Burt told her. "I wasn't expecting to be back today, so I'm not going into the shop today. We- we don't get to talk that much anymore, I really liked it."
"I did too. But we both need to get some sleep. Good night, Burt."
"Good night, Carole. I- I love you."
He hung up before she had the chance to say it back to him.
Prince Caysi, fire looked up from his desk when Aramid entered. "[Hello, father. How did my nephew's big dinner party go?]"
"[It would have been better if you were there,]" Aramid chided mildly.
"[I'm sure Prince Kurt appreciated not having all allied and sundry there for his first official date,]" Caysi countered.
"[You're correct, of course,]" Aramid noted. "[Still, you might want to be extra charming the next time you talk to your sister. She's a little disappointed.]"
"[Thank you for the warning.]" Caysi paused, and when he continued it was too casual to be believed. "[So how is Kasha?]"
Aramid looked at his son with a mixture of worry and pity. "[Actually, she stayed home to rest. Which means you avoided the dinner for nothing.]"
Caysi looked down and his face reddened. "[I'm not avoiding her. Really, you all treat me like I have some schoolboy crush. Yes, I find her attractive. So do a lot of people. It isn't a big deal.]"
"[No. I suppose it isn't,]" Aramid admitted. "[It isn't as though she were the reason your marriage ended. Though I think if you hadn't been distracted by her, you might have chosen a more compatible mate.]"
Caysi sighed. "[Father, I have a lot of work today. Could we please talk about something less personal? I find it distracting.]"
"[I'm afraid I'll have to leave then,]" Aramid told him. "[My news is of a rather personal nature.]"
Caysi looked up, surprised. "[Really? What are you planning?]"
Aramid laughed. "[You and your sister make me sound like some sort of crime lord. No, I merely have news about Kasha that you will find interesting. Standard Bearer Bebe is concerned that Kasha may have been away too long to save her marriage.]"
Caysi frowned, disturbed. "[That brings me no joy. I want only the best for her.]"
"[I know. But it's no surprise that I want Jute to marry Kurt-Hummel. And as unfortunate as it would be for Kasha, I think that would be better accomplished if she remained on Sateen.]"
Caysi considered that. "[Definitely tragic, but your logic is impeccable as always. Not that it's anything we should be encouraging.]"
"[Of course not. I just thought that you might want to consider your next course of action, should Bebe's concerns be warranted.]"
Caysi stood up from his desk, all thought of work forgotten. "[Thank you father. I certainly will think on it.]"
(to be continued)
