Comfy-vember Day 4: "Bed Rest"
Lil Laura AU info here <-
Laura didn’t like that Vati was sick. It started when Kurt hadn’t been able to take her to the Planetarium for their field trip. She’d gotten up and ready at 5:30 AM as usual, and had even tied her own shoes before coming down to help set the table for breakfast. Instead of seeing Vati at the stove making pancakes, it was Papa making eggs!
Laura knew that wasn’t right… usually Vati made pancakes, and they did spelling before going out to say goodbye to Papa and Dad for the day. Victor smiles and rumbles happily as Laura hugs him around the middle, but frowns as he sees her look of confusion.
“What is it, Cub? Is something wrong?”
Laura nods slowly, looking around the kitchen, “...where’s Vati?”
Victor goes quiet for a moment, reaching down to smooth Laura’s crazy hair as he scrambles the eggs with his other hand, “He’s not feeling well today, Cub. Dad is in the bedroom making sure he’s ok.”
Laura frowns, leaning into Victor’s touch, “He’ll feel better soon though, right? His healing factor will make him feel good before going to the Planetarium.”
“No, Cub. He’s going to be in bed for a couple of days; Vati doesn’t heal like we do, and Dad and I are pretty sure he has the flu. You’ll have to go to the Planetarium another day.”
Laura nods as Victor pulls his hand away to take the eggs off the stove. Looking towards her parents’ bedroom door, she looks up at Victor again as he plates the eggs with a couple slices of toast.
“Can I help you carry those to Vati?”
Victor smiles, offering her a plate, “Both hands.”
As he grabs the other three plates and a cup of tea, Victor watches as Laura pushes the door open quietly, the darkened room lit by only one bedside lamp. They’re met by the smell of vapor rub and the sound of Kurt’s coughing, Logan at his side, doing his best to keep the man comfortable. Laura comes around to Kurt’s side of the bed, looking up to see Nightcrawler blowing his nose into a hanky. The Elf smiles weakly as he sees Laura, flopping back into the pillows propped up behind him.
“Guten morgen, Liebchen… es tut meir lied, I don’t think ve’ll be able to go to zhe museum today.”
Laura nods, holding the breakfast offerings out to him, “That’s ok, Vati… I just want you to feel better. Papa and I brought you breakfast.”
Logan reaches across, taking the plate carefully from Laura in Kurt’s stead. Setting it in his lap, Kurt smiles a bit as Laura climbs up to be beside him.
“I am not so veak zhat I cannot lift my own plate, but danke, you three.” Kurt chuckles, but devolves into a coughing fit. Covering his mouth with his elbow, it takes him a moment to be able to breathe clearly again.
Logan and Victor seem worried, Laura looking at her parents’ faces in order to gauge her response. She’d never really been sick, or around a sick person before; all she knew is that she wanted Vati better.
“Sounds like you’ll be on bed rest for the remainder of the week, Elf.” Logan takes his and Laura’s plates, sitting in the bed beside Kurt.
Victor sits on the floor on Kurt’s other side, leaning against the nightstand, “...wouldn’t doubt it if you still need rest getting into the weekend, too.”
As Laura is handed her plate of eggs and toast, she points to the mug of tea by Victor’s side, “Don’t forget Vati’s tea!”
Victor smiles, nodding, “Good remembering, Cub.”
Nightcrawler accepts the tea gratefully, sipping it carefully as he elects to favor the fluids over the food. Sighing, the man looks to Laura with a half smile, “Haschen, you look worried.”
Laura nods, half-heartedly picking at her eggs. Logan gently pats her on the shoulder, squeezing gently, “Vati will be fine, Kiddo. He just has to rest.”
“Maybe you can help nurse me back to health, ja?” Kurt chuckles, but coughs again, “I’d love it if you’d read me a story, Haschen.”
With a determined look in her eyes, Laura quickly scarfs her toast, setting the plate aside as she scrambles off of the bed. They watch as she runs towards her room, pulling the door open. It isn’t long before Laura returns with a stack of children’s books, biting her lip in concentration as she attempts to balance them. Sitting on the end of the bed, she pulls a book off of the top of the pile and crawls up next to Kurt.
Snuggling next to the man, she opens the book and looks up at him, “Can you still help me with the big words?”
Kurt smiles, nodding. Settling back, he wraps an arm around Laura’s waist and sips his tea with his free hand.
Laura sleeps beside Kurt, book propped against her chest. Kurt snores as well, arm still draped loosely around his daughter’s waist. Logan and Victor look at each other from the doorway, impressed both of them had made it that far through the pile of books. It’d been several hours since they’d started reading at breakfast, a gentle stream of sunlight falling across the bed.
“He’s finally asleep,” Victor whispers, smiling, “...Cub did it.”
Logan nods, crossing the room silently to pull a blanket up over both of them.