Chapter 7

Kitty was mostly taking online courses this semester so that she could remain at the Institute and continue with her duties as a member of the X-Men. With the fresh batch of X-Trainees and everything else going on, she figured they needed her…

Quite frankly, she also needed them.

She wasn't ready to leave yet.

It's not like she was completely missing out on the bustling college experience though. She'd worked it out with the Professor so that two days out of the week — Mondays and Thursdays — she could take an hour-long bus ride to campus in Saratoga Springs. She had two lectures that she was required to attend in person, and the rest of the time she spent hanging out at the library doing some proper research for her assignments.

Those days she usually got back home pretty late, but not as late as this.

She was quiet as she walked inside and locked the door behind her. The lights were off and she couldn't hear anyone in the rec room — weird, usually there were people in there well after midnight. She went and looked anyway but apparently everyone decided to head to bed a little early.

The main level of the mansion was completely deserted.

It would've been the perfect time to nestle in the rec room with a cup of tea, a cozy blanket and her laptop. She could've gotten a ton of work done.

She didn't really feel like working on her next assignment though, so instead she made her way into the kitchen to heat up some leftovers. She hadn't eaten anything besides a chocolate donut almost 10 hours earlier and she was absolutely famished!

Once again she was greeted by pitch darkness and an eerie quietness.

"Guten Abend."

Kitty let out a very embarrassing shriek when she heard what seemed to be a disembodied voice. Of course it only took a split second for her to spot her best friend's glowing yellow eyes in the dark.

"Kurt!" Kitty shouted at him. With the flip of a switch the room was flooded with light. Kurt blinked a few times. "Don't do that! You scared the shit out of me!" the young woman added and, for good measure, went over to the chair that he was perched on and smacked him on the shoulder.

"Oww! I didn't do anything!" he protested dramatically. "You're the one that barged in on me!" he added, rubbing the spot where her fist had struck.

"Why were you sitting alone in the dark like a total creep?" she wondered, still a little on edge. At least her heart rate was finally beginning to settle.

"I was hungry," Kurt replied obviously.

"Well, turn on the lights next time, weirdo," Kitty rolled her eyes and made her way to the fridge. "Oh, good there's still some pizza left!" she added excitedly, grabbing two slices from the box that was sitting on top of a few tupperware containers.

"Where were you? You should've been back home two hours ago," Kurt said.

"Jeez, you're already sounding like a dad," Kitty joked with him. "If you must know, a couple girls from class invited me for drinks. I took the later bus."

After heating up her dinner in the microwave, Kitty joined Kurt at the table. He was drinking hot cocoa and eating a piece of cake.

Wait, was there cake too?! Did she miss a party?! Why didn't anybody mention there'd be something going on?!

"Did I forget somebody's birthday?" she asked.

"No," Kurt replied and casually gestured behind him at three heaping platters. "Noriko and Pixie were in a baking mood earlier. There are cookies and muffins too. They said we could help ourselves."

"I might have to take them up on that," Kitty grinned and dug into her first slice of pepperoni and cheese pizza. "So," she added after a moment. "What else happened today while I was gone?"

"Nothing too exciting, I'm afraid," Kurt answered.

"Have you gone down to talk to Joel?" Kitty wondered.

Kurt's expression hardened and Kitty sighed. She really wished she could help make things easier for him, but it was difficult when she couldn't understand why he was being so… standoffish.

"No, I did not," he said.

"Why not?" she asked, staring right at him.

"It's complicated," he shrugged. "It makes me feel like—I don't know. It's complicated."

He stared so intently at his hands that Kitty was almost afraid he'd burn a hole right through them.

She watched him silently for a few moments. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, mostly because this was completely uncharted territory for both of them. They'd dealt with a lot during the course of their friendship, good and bad, but Kurt's time-traveling offspring from an apocalyptic future?

Yeah… no wonder he was having a hard time…

Kurt finally shook the fog away and looked toward Kitty, meeting her gaze and allowing her to finally see the torment in his. "He's covered in scars."

Kitty didn't know how to respond to that.

"Yeah… I guess he's been through a lot," she mumbled. Was he really blaming himself? "But I'm sure none of that is your fault… and honestly, all things considered, he seems pretty well-rounded. He's a jokester just like you are."

Kurt was silent all over again.

"What else are you worried about?" Kitty pried.

"I didn't think I'd ever have—" he trailed off awkwardly.

"Kids?" Kitty breathed out.

"Well, any of it, really," Kurt admitted.

"I mean, you're a 21 year-old member of the X-Men, you're not really supposed to be thinking about that sort of thing right now," Kitty told him.

"That's the thing," Kurt grimaced. "I'm a member of the X-Men. This life… it's not very child-friendly, is it? How selfish am I for allowing…"

"Don't say that," There was a firmness to Kitty's voice. "Despite what some politicians might be saying right now, we are deserving of a family, no matter who we are or what we do. You deserve happiness, and if it's something you want down the line, you deserve to have a family."

"You make really great speeches when you're tipsy," Kurt pointed out.

"I'm being serious," Kitty groaned.

Kurt suddenly burst out laughing and Kitty had half a mind to slap him again. She didn't though, because quite frankly she thought it was wonderful to hear the sound again. It'd been a little while and she'd missed it a lot.

"I'm going to have a baby," he choked out.

"Yeah," Kitty giggled. "I mean, it's still four years from now, so don't go buying diapers just yet."

"I still think this is… completely crazy… but thank you… Kitty… for talking this through with me. It helped a lot."

"No problem," Kitty smiled and bumped his shoulder.

There was something else on her mind though.

"Have you given any thought at all about who his mother might be?" she asked, a mixture of curiosity and mischief in her brown eyes.

"No," he lied, a little too quickly to be convincing.

"Oh! I know!" Kitty nudged his leg with her foot. "It might be that girl from the mutant bar in Brooklyn. Do you remember? She was flirting with you so hard. I mean, if you'd bought her a drink, I really think she—"

Kurt gave her a very sharp look.

"Oh come on, I'm just messing with you," Kitty grinned.

"I'm glad my discomfort is amusing to you," Kurt grumbled, got up from his chair and opened the dishwasher to place his fork and plate. He turned back to face Kitty and wrapped his arms around his lanky torso. "She wasn't interested in me, Kätzchen. I was only a weird fetish to her."

"Oh," Kitty said in surprise, suddenly feeling awkward and a little guilty. She really went too far, didn't she? "I'm sorry. I didn't think—"

"I'm going to bed, it's late," Kurt sighed.

"Okay," Kitty looked down at what remained of her second slice of pizza, suddenly not feeling very hungry. "Hey Kurt?" she added as he was on his way out the door.

"What?" he asked without looking back.

"You are a little weird," she began, because she was still his best friend and talking about this sort of thing with him was a little… for lack of a better word… weird. "But not because you're blue and fuzzy. One day you're gonna find somebody that sees you and loves you, I'm sure of it… and everything else won't even be an issue."

Kurt didn't say anything before teleporting away, leaving Kitty behind in a puff of purple smoke.

"Ah shit," she whispered.