An Easy Friend

Chapter 42

(The beginning is quite fast-paced. Apologies. Will explain at the end of the chapter.)

Getting Courtney to agree to rehabilitation wasn't that difficult. She was too big to run, therefore her only weapon was her mouth. But after being introduced to the prospect of sedatives, that was tightly maintained shut too.

I couldn't help but remain somber throughout the whole ordeal. Watching Courtney thrash around in the arms of the police, her eyes expressing her rage but also terror, I felt sorry for her. No, none of us would forgive her for pulling such a stupid stunt. I mean I felt sorry that she did that in the first place, that she didn't have control over her mind and body, that she didn't realize the harm she was doing to her unborn child.

Speaking of, the baby is fine. That was the first order of business - to check the baby. Her heart rate was a bit rapid but other that than she was safe.

Now the question in hand was what was going to happen to her when she is born. It is clear that Courtney cannot be trusted with the responsibility of another human- but was Kurt? Was he the right person for the child?

That was all anyone could stress about. "She'll be born in a month and no one can take her." was a sentence that was frequently uttered.

One day two men showed up at Kurt's door requesting his presence in a civil court. Of course, Kurt was mortified. What would they do to him and the baby? But when the court date arrived, we found out that it wasn't to separate Kurt and his daughter, it was to unite them. The judge was granting Kurt custody of the baby.

Kurt was elated. He, Krist, Dave, Shelli, Dez, and I all stayed inside together that day. The hope in Kurt's eyes was unmistakable. Things were finally turning around for him.

--

On August 17, Shelli received a scared call from Kurt. He was at the hospital losing his mind because Courtney was going into labor and he wasn't allowed to be there upon Courtney's request. She and I rushed down to the hospital and found Kurt pacing around the waiting room with a wild look in his eyes.

"How do I know if they're alright? Why won't she let me be there? How long is the average birth? We didn't even name the girl!" Kurt leaped into a stream of questions as soon as he spotted us. We had no answers for him, only reassuring pats on the back.

Shelli left to call the rest out our group, leaving Kurt and I alone for the first time in a long time. Almost subconsciously, he put his head on my shoulder and sighed deeply. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders in response. His now shorter blond hair smelled of vanilla.

"I wish our daughter didn't have to be born under these circumstances. I wish she could be the daughter of a normal family. That's all I've ever wanted, a normal family." Kurt spoke quietly. It reminded me of the countless nights we stayed up having conversations about anything and everything. Of course, that was all in the past.

"There's no such thing as a normal family. A good family is a happy one and I think that you and the baby can be just as happy as any stereotypical American family." I offered.

Kurt lifted his head off my shoulders and brought his eyes to mine. They were dull and tired a few minutes ago. Now they were eying me curiously. "You think so?"

"Sure." I smiled at him. His expression turned warm and he smiled back.

"I love you, Ally." he said as he shifted upright in his seat. My eyes widened behind his back. Surely he can't say things like that, no matter how platonic we are now.

When I didn't respond he turned to look at me expectantly. I laughed and punched his shoulder playfully, unable to return the words that meant much more to me than they did to Kurt.

--

"Mr. Cobain? Sir? Hello?"

I heard a groan of protest to my right. My eyes slowly opened to the fluorescent lights of the now familiar waiting room. I took up the scene in front of me; Shelli laying on Krist's lap, Dez curled up in the corner, Dave sprawled out across 4 chairs, and Kurt with a flannel over his face.

A nurse stood over his flannel-covered head looking very confused. I shit her an apologetic look at tugged at Kurt's hair.

"Hey, you boggy turd." he mumbled from underneath the cloth. He then sat up and was startled to find the nurse staring annoyed at him.

"Mr. Cobain, your daughter was born a few minutes ago. She is in perfect condition. If you would like to see her you can follow me."

Kurt's eyes widened and he jumped up. "Yeah." he said calmly despite his opposing appearance. They disappeared a behind a pair of double doors.

I woke everyone else up and told them what had happened. As I did so, I noticed how the tension in the room seemed to have been released. We were all waiting to hear how the poor child would turn out and we didn't even notice how tense we were.

Kurt returned 20 minutes later with the most elated look I have ever seen on his face. His eyes were wide, as if he had seen God himself. They were also red around the brims- he had been crying. He was smiling with his teeth for once. His head was held high. His dimples carving holes into his cheeks.

"She's beautiful." he declares. We cheer loudly, earning looks from the ladies at the front desk. Kurt sunk into the nearest chair and we all gathered around him as he launched into a detailed description of everything that had happened. He described they way she looked, how it felt when he held her, the sense of fulfillment as he looked into her eyes.

Just as we though that he had finished, he hit us with another bomb. "I named her Frances Bean."

"That sounds so pretty." Shelli squealed.

"Why Frances Bean?" Dave inquired.

"Frances because it's such a nice name. It reminds me of Frances Farmer. And Bean because she looked like a kidney bean in her ultrasounds. Remember how I told you Ally?"

I nodded as I looked at him fondly. He did say that on multiple occasions.

"Frances Bean Cobain." Krist tested the name out.

"Yeah." Kurt said dreamily.

Words could not describe the happiness I felt for Kurt at that moment.

____________________
Long time no update, oops. I had zero ideas up until 1 hour ago when I read sparklyredpandas's story. I rushed the beginning because I just wanted to get to this last part, sorry if that bothered you. If you guys have any suggestions or whatever feel free to share them with me. I'm all for it.