"Opa Kurt" -- Completed short story WARNING: SAD!

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"Opa Kurt" -- Completed short story WARNING: SAD!

Post by Dedicatedfollower467 »

WARNING: THIS IS A SAD STORY!

Well, kinda sad. There are some elements that may be seen as sad.

This was kind of inspired by the fact that tomorrow I'm heading down to California to visit relatives.

This fan fiction is set in the future about sixty or so years. It's definitely Kuroro. I don't usually write Kuroro, but it fits in this story.

This story is complete all by itself, although I know that it also has some big ideas that could be explored quite in depth. Quite frankly, I'm too busy right now to explore them. Maybe I will in the future. But you guys out there are also welcome to run with this. I don't mind.

So... here it is.

*****

“OPA*!”

Kurt flinched and braced himself as three pint-sized creatures shot out of the plane door, raced up the porch steps, and slammed into the lower part of his body. He laughed gently, caressing the cheeks of the two older girls. Then he looked down. “How’s my favorite grandson?” he asked, gently ruffling the boy’s hair with his spaded tail. The two-year-old giggled and squeezed his knees.

Kurt looked up to see his son and his wife coming down out of the plane, followed closely by his seven-months-pregnant daughter and her happy husband. “Meemaw’s making cookies inside,” he told the children, and they scampered through the door into the house.

He straightened up, and walked down the steps to greet his children and son- and daughter-in-law. “Come on in,” he said, “It’s good to see you.”

They walked in the front door and heard the giggles of delight as Ororo gave them some of her homemade chocolate-chip cookies. Then she came out of the kitchen, followed by a swarm of kids, and greeted their guests. Kurt found himself dragged down to the floor to play games with the children, while he kept an ear out for the conversation that had started up.

“Come, Tonja, sit down. Your feet must be killing you.”

Their pregnant daughter laughed. “I’ve been sitting down all day, Mom,” she said, sinking slowly into the loveseat.

Kurt missed what was said next, because he was quite preoccupied with getting his eldest granddaughter down off the wall, where she had climbed unnoticed by him.

After wrestling the little girl down to the ground and tickling her, Kurt heard his son Aaron speaking.

“Luna and I just took the kids down to visit the Maximoff side of the family,” he said, “Everybody agrees that with the white hair I fit right in.”

“How are they doing?” asked Ororo.

His furry brown tail twitched. Luna spoke up. “GeeGee Magnus was fine when the kids were there,” she said, “But the nurses say that he’s been extremely hostile lately, fighting them at every turn. They think he’s reliving his days in Auschwitz.”

There was a quiet pause. Then Luna said, “But my dad’s doing well. He’s living with Aunt Wanda now, trying to take care of her. I think somebody should be taking care of them both. Mom came down for a quick visit, too. I really hadn’t expected that of her.”

Kurt lost the conversation again as his grandchildren started pulling on his ears and tail. He had to be quite firm with them, unwrapping their hands and placing them solidly on the ground with a scolding. When they were once more playing peacefully, he listened again to the conversation.

“Mom and Dad send their love,” Tonja’s husband was saying.

“How are Kitty and Piotr doing, Mikhail?” Ororo asked.

“They’re fine,” Mikhail said, smiling, “Dad’s a little depressed because he’s getting really bad arthritis, and it’s beginning to hurt to go into his metal form. But Mom’s been trying to help him adjust.”

Kurt lost the conversation again as he stood up. “No, Opa, play with us,” his granddaughter insisted.

“I’m getting too old for this sort of thing,” he told her, “I’m going gray around the muzzle.” He pointed to the tell-tale patches of white fur around his mouth and chin.

Then he sat down and joined the adult conversation. “When are you due, Tonja?” Ororo asked.

“August twenty-ninth,” Tonja said, laying her hand gently against her swollen belly.

“Just make sure you don’t name him after his great-grandparents like your brother did, okay?” Kurt said.

Aaron glared at him. “We’ve been arguing about this for years, Papi,” he said, “What’s wrong with my kids’ names?”

Kurt laughed. “Luthien Raven, Lobelia Magda, and Thorin Magnus? You’re joking, right? You realize you’ve doomed these kids for the rest of their lives, don't you?”

Tonja laughed. “Don’t worry, Papi,” she said, “We’re naming him after his grandparents, not his great-grandparents.”

“Oh, no,” Kurt said, holding his head in his hands, “What have you decided on?”

“If it’s a boy,” Mikhail said, “His name with be Piotr Kurt Rasputin. If it’s a girl, her name is Katherine Ororo Rapsutin.”

Kurt mouthed the words ‘Katherine Ororo’ silently. Ororo looked pained. “There was a reason why we named you Tonja Jane and Aaron Matthew, kids.”

Little Luthien—called Lu for short—was suddenly tugging on Kurt’s fingers. “Take us for a spin, please Opa.” She brushed a strand of blue hair out of her face.

“Please?” Libby asked, twitching her tail slightly. Thor’s big yellow eyes glowed up at him in silent plea.

Kurt looked up at the ceiling. “I’m much too old for this sort of thing,” he said, gathering the children into his arms.

BAMF!

Kurt took them in a whirlwind of teleports, ending right where he’d started out, panting with the effort. His grandchildren were giggling and dizzy in his arms.

“Again, Opa!” cried Libby.

“No,” said Kurt, setting them down on the floor, still panting, “That’s quite enough.” The children went off to play again.

Aaron laughed. “I remember you doing that with me and Tonja, Papi,” he said, a grin on his face, “You used to be able to do it a hundred times in a row.”

“I’m getting old now,” Kurt said, “I’m slowing down. It’s getting harder to teleport.”

“You’re not getting arthritis, too?” Tonja asked, looking worried.

Kurt smiled. “Not yet,” he said, “I’m still just as flexible as ever. I just don’t have the stamina I used to.” He fingered his hair, which was quite gray by now.

Ororo leaned forward. “I’m the one getting arthritis,” she said, “But I’ve been taking medication for it, and I don’t feel it as much.”

She looked at Kurt, and he looked at her. Something passed between them, and Kurt knew it was time to talk about it. “Actually, we’ve been less worried about arthritis than we have been about Alzheimer’s.”

Aaron sat up very straight, and Tonja suddenly looked upset. “You can’t have Alzheimer’s,” Tonja said.

Kurt sighed. “We’ve been noticing some early signs. It may mean nothing.”

“You or mom?” Aaron asked.

“Me,” Kurt admitted.

Aaron and Tonja stared. Luna sighed, but Mikhail looked uncomfortable.

“I thought mutants didn’t get diseases like that. I thought we were immune to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and things,” Tonja said.

“Tell that to the nurses who are taking care of Magnus,” Luna said.

“What kinds of signs?” Aaron asked.

Ororo glanced at Kurt. He nodded. “Lately, your father has been forgetting things.”

“That could be just normal age-related changes,” Tonja said, panicked.

“Like what?” Aaron said.

Kurt looked down at his hands as Ororo explained. “He’s been misplacing things lately, setting things down and forgetting where he put them. And he’s forgotten things like appointments with the doctor, or when he’s supposed to go meet Logan.”

Ororo paused, and then described the latest, most frightening instance. “Today, he forgot that you were coming. When I reminded him…” She trailed off, and then continued very quietly, “He couldn’t remember who you were.”

Tonja looked horrified. Aaron became stoic and stony. Kurt reached over and held Ororo’s hand, gently rubbing it.

“I'm all right now,” he said quietly, “It comes and goes. The other day, I was supposed to meet Logan, and I couldn’t remember who he was. I didn’t recognize him.” Ororo squeezed his hand gently. Kurt continued. “I didn’t want to admit it, at first. I got angry. But we’ve talked it over, and we think I may have Alzheimer’s.”

Tonja burst into tears and rushed up, hugging him. Kurt put his arms around her and patted her back, whispering, “It’s all right, liebling, it’s all right.”

Aaron stood up. “Have you seen a doctor?” he asked, “Have you been properly diagnosed?”

“Not yet,” Ororo said, “There’s an appointment tomorrow.”

Luna looked at her watch. “We have to go soon. Sorry it was such a short visit, but we have to be back at base in a little while.”

Mikhail stood up and took Tonja’s hand, gently leading her away. “Come on, kids,” Luna called out, herding her children out the door, “Say goodbye to Opa.”

Kurt knelt down on the ground, enveloping each of his grandchildren in a great big hug.

Aaron looked back at him. “Papi,” he said, “If you do have Alzheimer’s, I want you and Mom to move back to the base. I want you to be close to the family.”

“We’ll see, son,” he said, standing up and giving Aaron a farewell hug, “We’ll see.”

*****

*Thanks to Angelique for the German words for Grandpa and Daddy!
~Def.
"A dedicated follower of nothing." -- graffitit artist in Brick Lane, London, England.
Right across the lane from the demon and just down the wall from Wolverine.
RIP Kurt Wagner. You were the character who brought in me into comics, who introduced me and inspired me. Now your death has sent me away again. Wherever you are in the Marvel Universe, I hope its someplace pleasant.
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"Opa Kurt" -- Completed short story WARNING: SAD!

Post by Phoenixincarnate »

Sniff...
...PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I apolgize for any spelling mistakes, Its kinda hard to type in a straitjacket...
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