Chapter 10 - The Best Announcer Ever

For the first time, K had set things up ahead of time with Hank for her labor — seeing as she was not at all in the mood to wait until it was an emergency and she knew that Hank shouldn't have been getting up at all hours of the day and night if it could possibly be avoided. Not at his age. Of course, that also meant that noone knew what was going on either.

For pretty much everyone but Logan, it looked like K was having a normal morning, albeit a little later than usual, and as had been their habit, the two of them headed out together like any other day. Only, instead of going to his office and picking at each other or conspiring worse and more difficult tests and scenarios for the kids, they headed down to the lab.

And everyone was up in their classes, since it wasn't quite the end of the year yet, and there were finals to be given or studied for. So they didn't even have the option of anyone spoiling the surprise. Though … when classes were over for the day, Kurt finally realized that it had been amazingly peaceful all afternoon. Which only had him wondering where the heck his best friend was.

It didn't take too long for him to figure it out, either, and he made his way down to the lab fully expecting to see K hooked up to an IV, looking pale and drawn. He was not, however, expecting to find them half curled up with a little blue bundle between them.

"Took you long enough, Elf," Logan said, shaking his head.

Kurt threw up his hands at that. "You know quite well I was administering finals," he said, though he couldn't quite hold his severe tone when he was grinning as hard as he was.

"He's right; you did know that perfectly well," K said, smirking up at Logan while he chuckled. "That's why we picked today, right?"

"Right," Logan agreed. "Needed him out of the way to start with."

Kurt shook his head at both of them as he made his way over to peer down at the little boy. "Congratulations. He's an angel, of course."

K lifted the little one and gave him a little kiss on the head before she twisted to offer Kurt a chance to hold him. "For being the smartest out of the pack. Take a seat and get acquainted."

Kurt beamed and sat in the chair nearby, contentedly curling himself around the tiny boy, who looked to be a good mix of the two of them, with Logan's eyes and nose but K's hair. "I'm sure that you'll be flooded with visitors before long. Annie was wondering if things were alright with both of you gone," he told K, though his full attention was on the tiny little one.

"They'll figure it out as they figure it out," K replied, though she took a moment to snuggle into Logan's chest.

Kurt just smiled at that, perfectly content to curl up with the little boy — though he had only beaten Cody down by a little bit.

Cody leaned in the doorway with a grin as he took in the scene. "Did you know you can literally hear a Nightcrawler baby face?" he asked conversationally. "If every other telepath in the school wasn't taking finals, you'd be mobbed."

"Probably won't have to listen hard for your dad either," Logan said.

"I told him to come find me when he's done with the test he's running," Cody admitted. "I'm not sorry."

"That's fine," K said before she gave him a little smile and doubled down on her snuggle with Logan. "If you spoil the name, though, I'll have to remove a few of your tattoos."

Cody put a hand over his heart. "Hey, I only know because Hank was so tickled to write it on the birth certificate. You didn't spoil it for me, and I won't spoil anyone else."

"Good," she said, nodding to herself. "Little baby arrives and I'm surrounded by men. Go figure."

"I can project to Kate; she's done with her class…"

"Don't you dare," she said. "Let them figure it out on their own."

Cody held up his hands. "Okay, okay," he said. "But I'm still not sorry I told Dad."

"Technically, you didn't," Logan said. "You said to find you. That's a stretch."

Cody touched the side of his nose. "Give him a cigar."

Kurt was chuckling as he held the little boy and listened to the back and forth. "But what is his name, then?" he asked. "Surely you can tell me, since I figured it out first," he added with a winning smile.

Logan and K shared a look, and then, Logan turned to make sure Kurt was comfortably snuggled in with the baby. "Kurt Henry."

Kurt went completely still, tail and all, and didn't bother to try to stop his jaw from dropping — which had Cody snickering from the doorway.

"Doesn't make sense just to honor those that aren't around," K said. "Much better to see that look. Right there. Hank did the same thing."

Kurt blinked at her a moment longer. "I … thank you," he all but breathed out, reverently brushing the little boy's long wisps of hair out of his face for a good long time.

It wasn't long before Scott did come down as well, letting out an honestly surprised and pleased laugh when he saw the scene before him.

"Hi, Dad," Cody said with a smirk.

Scott smirked right back at Cody before he made his way over to the group around little Kurt. "Well, that explains where you two went."

"Hi, Scott," K said, her eyes closed.

"Hi, K," he said with a smile. "He's amazing — you know, what I can see of him that Kurt isn't snuggling half to death."

"Don't expect that to change much until K gets stab-happy," Logan said, not looking disturbed by it in the least.

Scott smirked. "Well, congratulations, you two," he said, putting a hand on K's arm with a warm smile.

"Thanks," she said before she reached over with her foot to tap Kurt. "Share."

Kurt looked up for a moment before he reflexively curled around the little boy. "I'm not finished admiring him."

"You can admire him between everyone else admiring him," K teased. "Now it's Scott's turn — then you can take a turn, then whoever is next. Then you can take a turn …"

Kurt chuckled. "Well, I think that's a fair agreement," he said, finally letting Scott take a turn holding the little one.

"Just remember I got to hold him first," Hank called out.

"Well, of course," Kurt called back. "Because you came second otherwise!"

"Only because your ego couldn't withstand it otherwise," Hank laughed.

"No, no, I'm simply the best," Kurt shot back with a massive grin that had Scott shaking his head at both of them — and then laughing outright when Cody weighed in with, "Okay, ladies, you're both pretty."

"And fuzzy," K said. "And blue."

"Exactly," Cody chuckled.

"And yet not the best-looking men in the room," Scott said with a smirk, jostling the little one a bit. "He's got us all beat."

"Oh, yes," K said, nodding. "Summers for the kill."

Scott just grinned as he rearranged the little boy. "So, what's his name, anyway?" he asked — though before K could answer, Kurt started to laugh.

"Kurt Henry!" he called out, clearly over the moon.

"Oh, that explains so much," Scott said loud enough that K and Logan would catch it.

"It really does," Logan agreed.

Kurt was still preening when there were some running footsteps from down the hall — and three people made their way in. Jubilee had picked up on the Summers baby face… and then Chance had seen Jubilee running and put it together, so he and Elin were there as well, following the determined-looking Jubilee.

Jubilee very nearly tackled Logan out of his seat when she got there. "How long were you going to make me wait?" she demanded.

"Forever," he said, straight-faced.

She let out a frustrated noise and hit him in the shoulder before she all but bounced over to Scott. "Mine!" she declared, scooping up the little boy and immediately making him over with a huge grin on her face.

Chance shook his head as he came to stand on Logan's other side while Jubilee was busily kissing little Kurt's face. "Congratulations," he said with a smile.

Logan put his arm around Chance's back. "You might want to take a turn before Kurt takes over again. He's got that look."

"Yeah, well, he's my little brother, so… I'm claiming family privilege," Chance chuckled.

"Ah," Kurt said with a too-wide smile, "but if you want to hold Kurt Henry, then you're going to have to wait your turn."

"This was the best possible name we could have gone with," K said with a chuckle to Logan, who winked at her as she pulled her knees up and Elin sat down with her mother.

Kurt beamed their way. "Yes, yes, it was."

"Best announcer around," Logan agreed.

Chance smirked as he stepped around Logan to look over Jubilee's shoulder. "Come on, me and El want a turn," he said, grinning at the little boy as he did so. "Share with your sister and your brother-in-law, huh?"

Jubilee made a show out of rolling her eyes and looking entirely put out. "Fi-i-ine. But just this once!"

Chance broke into a huge, beaming smile as Jubilee handed off the little boy, and he brushed back the brunette hair with a crooked sort of smile. And Elin shook her head as she watched him and instead curled up to give her mother a hug and a kiss. "You're trying to kill Kurt with happiness."

"Think you and Chance can watch him sleep for a while next Friday?" K asked. "Since … you know. Torturous tests upcoming ... "

"Oh, yeah, for sure," Chance said, looking up from the little guy with the crooked grin even wider than before. And Elin took one look at that smile and knew how badly he wanted his own family. And that just made her more convinced that she was right to keep the light green.

Before Elin could get too lost in worrying over Chance's grin and its implications, Cody gave them the heads up that the Lee twins had figured out the story from all the projections going on, and if they didn't move soon, it was going to be hard to move in the cordoned-off area they were using in the lab.

But since K was already long ago healed up and more or less back to herself, she took the little one from Chance — and gave him a kiss on the temple in exchange — before they headed up, with Chance's arm around Elin, clearly floating on a cloud all the way up.

James's timing couldn't have been better, either, since he'd just come in from the tower when the group spilled out of the elevator and Logan told him to head for the couch to meet his brother.

James didn't argue it in the least, dropping the duffel bag he had near the door before he made his way over to kiss his mother, but Logan redirected him, and then, Chance directed John over to climb up by James right as K was handing him Kurt. "Gotta get all three of you in one spot," she said.

James smirked as he looked at the little guy and shook his head. "Another one with the nose. Sorry, little guy."

Sadie was close on James' heels, looking almost irritated that he'd cut their conversation short in favor of going inside and leaving her alone with Howard, who was becoming more and more of a fixture even at the mansion. "What is even going … Oh," she said before she followed suit and dropped her bag near James's and rushed over to perch on the armrest and steal a peek of the little one.

"You're up next," James said, scooting over to make room for Sadie and then gently hand him off. He picked up John and tossed him in the air while their other little brother excitedly told James about the baby.

"I can't babysit," Sadie said, peeking up at her parents, though she kept most of her focus on Kurt. "I have a lot of practices coming up for the next month." She shifted how she was holding the newborn, switching to one arm so she could push the blanket away from his face and then pull one of his hands out to look at his little fingers.

Howard had arrived not far behind Sadie and slid over to her, looking perfectly surprised and tickled to have stumbled into this particular turn of events. He looked over her shoulder and grinned outright. "That's too bad. He's really sweet."

"They're always sweet when they're this little," Sadie replied, shaking her head. Most of the adults had already fallen into conversation around them, so she took the time to show Howard her brother up close. "He could be a piano player with these hands."

"There will be plenty of chances to babysit," Elin told her as she took the seat next to her. "Did you end up with the role you wanted?"

Sadie was gently rocking Kurt as she turned to look at her sister. "I actually didn't sign up for anything specific when I tried out, and I got the lead, so I must be doing something right."

"Of course you are," Howard said, smiling her way and even kissing her cheek, though he had his focus on Kurt. "He's so tiny. Is that normal?"

"For us it is," Elin said with a laugh. "I mean … our parents aren't giants."

"Okay, fair," Howard said, nodding along.

"And if we go by weight, James was this small too," Elin pointed out.

"So he'll be tall later on," Chance said with an easy smile.

"No telling," Sadie laughed.

"No, no, I'm willing it to be so. All of my brothers need to be tall or it's just not fair."

"You still don't know if John will be tall," Elin said. "And all of us girls are pretty small."

"You'll be a basketball player, won't you, John?" Chance said, grinning over at John.

John shook his head slowly and gave him a long, drawn-out 'no-o-o-o.'

Chance laughed at that and shrugged. "Just as well. Can't keep up with my family on that part of things," he teased.

"Say what you want," James said. "But I've seen the old photos. Dad cheats enough to make up for the height."

"Yeah, but I have a superpowered brother who could probably play the game on his own."

"Ask Remy about Dad using him as a stepstool to dunk," Elin laughed. "He's still not over it."

Howard couldn't help but laugh as well. "I'd pay to see that."

"I doubt Remy would risk it at his age," James pointed out — and it was with such an easy tone that Howard realized none of them were razzing him, just a little too wrapped up in meeting the new little boy to even bother with the status quo.

He leaned over Sadie's shoulder with a smile. "I think I like your new brother. I've never seen them all like this," he said.

She looked up at him with a crooked smile. "What were you expecting?"

"Definitely that I'd like the little guy," he said with a nod.

"They do this every time a new little one shows up, however they get here. Adopted little ones get the same treatment."

Howard nodded. "We just haven't had teeny tiny ones over at the tower in a while. Not since Steve's, anyway."

"Right," she said. "Your dad always came here — usually alone. I don't think he planned it that way; it was always just a happy coincidence." She leaned a little closer to him. "His baby face is almost as pronounced as the Summers boys."

Howard looked over at Chance, who was still looking like he was made of marshmallow. "I… doubt that."

"Don't doubt me, Stark," she said, frowning at him. "Kate has documentation." She tipped her head toward the bookshelf where most of the photo albums were. "Find a baby book. Just about any one. Doesn't matter whose."

Howard chuckled. "No, no, I'm sure there are baby faces everywhere. I just don't think anyone has the Summerses beat."

"You need to see your father's expression, then," she said, laughing. "It's a thing. I swear."

"Alright then," he said, pulling out the album of Ariel's pictures, since they were newest and he knew for a fact his dad had stopped by for the first of the next generation's kids. He flipped through several pictures of Kate and Kurt in full grandparent mode before he finally found one of his dad and had to laugh. "Oh yeah. That's Dad," he said, putting that one aside to pull out a random one and flip through that one… only then realizing it was Sadie's when he saw Peter's godfather face and burst out laughing.

"I don't know what you're looking at, but it can't be funny if it's in one of those," Sadie said before she turned to hand the little one to her sister.

"I found the moment Peter found out he was your godfather," Howard said. "I have never seen that expression before, and it's amazing." He was grinning as he looked through the pictures. "Lots of preemies in here. You're so cute, Sadie."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I was a little bit early."

"Well, you've got my dad wrapped around your finger," Howard said, showing her the picture of Tony holding a tiny Sadie — who was a few weeks old by then, since she'd been at the hospital to start.

"Right! I'm the only one that was born in Canada," she said with a little giggle.

"Oooh, a foreign romance," Howard laughed. "Knew there was something exotic and intriguing about you."

She started to laugh at that. "Oh, yah, so foreign, eh?"

"I didn't understand that. Can you teach me?" Howard said, grinning even wider as he set the book aside.

"If I teach you, it'll have to be in Canadian English and French. National laws and all that."

"My mom taught me French, but not the Canadian version," Howard said. "I'd be interested to compare." He leaned forward and stole a kiss. "C'mon. Everyone's wrapped up in Kurt anyway."

"They are. Whatever shall we do with ourselves?"

Howard grinned and stole another kiss. "No idea," he said.

"Then … maybe it's time I showed you the grounds. Sort of."

He grinned even wider and nodded. "Lead the way, eh?" he teased. "I need a tour guide."

"Ooh, you are a quick study," she said with a laugh as the two of them slipped away from the crowd.

"I can take anything you throw at me," he said with a wide smile, his hand in hers as they ran off, obviously looking for trouble.

"That sounds like you want me to try and throw you for a loop," she said, smiling over her shoulder at him.

He grinned still wider. "Could be fun."

"Oh, it definitely will be," she said, nodding along. "It's just a matter of what kind of fun you're up for."

"Hey, this is a rare opportunity to play while your parents and your big brother are distracted," Howard said. "We'd be blind not to take advantage…"

"So … what do you want to do, then?" she asked. "I'm curious."

Howard stopped and pulled on Sadie's hand to turn her into him so that he could wrap her up in a long, long kiss. "We can see the grounds," he said. "You know. Eventually."

She bit her lip and started to smile. "That's usually the date ending kiss," she pointed out.

"I'm upping my game," he said with a smirk. "I'm in a good mood, and you just got a new brother. Time to celebrate, right?"

She draped her arms over his shoulders. "And what kind of celebrations, Howard? I know you probably won't get a giant kick out of the woods, after all."

"I'd like it if you're there," he said.

She arched an eyebrow. "Commendable thought. But …" She gestured past the house. "The stables are there. With the woods beyond them. Archery range. Pool. More woods. The lake. Boathouse. More woods. Voila. Tour over."

"Very informative," he laughed. "And if I asked where a person might go with his girlfriend to find a little privacy?"

"Honestly … probably the boat house. No one really uses it this time of year."

"Great. It's almost like outdoors," he said, pulling her into another long kiss. "Lead the way, princess."

She shook her head at him but dragged him along with her until they were standing outside the boathouse and stealing kisses almost continually. "Okay. mostly private, solid view of the lake. Shocking, I know."

"And we've got it all to ourselves while everyone is with the new baby," he said. "Great view…" He finally stopped and turned her way before he pulled her until he had both arms around her so he could get wrapped up with her in privacy.