Chapter Fourteen
"What are you doing here?"
Panic spreads through Miranda as she finds Kenny's father standing at the door. She's counted with hearing from Kurt ever since Tanya admitted what she'd done, but she thought he would have at least called before he shows up there.
"I know I should have called first, but I wasn't sure you'd even answer."
"Come in," she sighs and steps aside, knowing they have a lot to talk about.
She got off easy the last time and she wishes he would have just accepted her lie and walk away. It would have made things easier for both of them, but there was one person she was too selfish to think of, her son. Tanya is right, no matter how much she wishes to keep Kenny all to herself, he deserves to know his father.
"I need to talk to you."
Miranda sees how Kurt isn't sure how to start, so she interferes to move the conversation forward.
"I know about the test, Tanya told me everything."
She wasn't this calm about it when Tanya told her she had gone behind her back to help Kurt. She was furious, she wanted to just pack up and leave town with Kenny right away, but after her anger settled and she thought about it she managed to accept that it was actually inevitable.
"Why did you lie?"
She was prepared for this question, so it doesn't take her long to give the answer.
"Because you don't have to be here, we have been fine without you."
Of course they haven't always been fine. There were times when she hated herself for doing it all on her own and wished she would have actually told Kurt. She knows he wouldn't have hidden from the responsibility, but she also knows he never really loved her.
The night she met Diane she saw the difference right away, Kurt looked at Diane differently. And even though the lawyer had broken his heart two times Miranda wasn't surprised when she heard about the engagement.
"You didn't even give me a chance."
"Are you here to throw accusations at me?"
She doesn't feel like explaining herself. She did what she thought was the right thing back then. Maybe if she had told Kurt he wouldn't have married Diane, but she wouldn't have wanted him to be with her out of responsibility.
"No, I'm here because I'd like to get to know my son."
He switches to a pleading tone and she knows she cannot deny his wish anymore, unless she wants to be sued by him, which given who his wife is, would likely to happen. She doesn't want a stranger to decide on her son's future, she wants to be in charge of everything that happens to him.
"He is upstairs with Tanya, I'll go and get him."
"Thank you," Kurt seems to be relieved and he even lets out a small smile, "I wasn't sure what to expect when I came here today, but I bought him a present on my way. It's a plush toolbox," he fiddles with the shopping bag nervously.
"I'm sure he'll love it," she smiles at him, "I'll be right back."
She walks up the stairs to get Kenny and bring him down to meet his father. She would lie if she said she didn't think about this scene countless times and when Kurt showed up out of nowhere the other day she thought of it as karma, that this needed to happen, because Kenny has a right to know his father. No matter how hard she tried to deny it and pretend it never happened, deep in her heart she knows she is doing the right thing at the moment.
She carries Kenny down the stairs in her lap, then she puts him down and holds his hand while they walk into the room, where Kurt is waiting for them.
"Hello," Kurt hunkers to the boy and Miranda does the same next to Kenny.
"Kenny, this is your daddy," she tells him, even though she knows the boy won't understand what that means yet, "He only says a few words, most of them are mysteries to us. Except when he says 'no', that's always crystal clear," she chuckles.
"Hey little man, look what I've brought you," he takes the colorful box out of the bag and it catches Kenny's attention right away.
"Want to play with your daddy?" she asks, but Kenny's already reaching for the box, making the answer rather obvious.
"I'll help you open it," Kurt says as he sits down on the rug and Kenny does the same.
Miranda also sits down behind Kenny and silently watches as Kurt takes the colorful plush tools out of the box one by one and Kenny reaches for each of them. The different toys rattle, jingle, squeak, and crinkle in his little hands and he lets out happy giggles.
"Now let's put them in the box," Kurt grabs the plush hammer and puts it inside the red toolbox with the yellow plush handle and a few seconds later Kenny does the same with the drill.
Miranda knows that it's only the first baby step and they need to discuss and figure how this will work, but for now she just enjoys the smile on Kurt's face and her son's happiness as he's getting to know his father.