AUGUST 17th-18th, 1994, SEATTLE, WA

       ON THE DAY before Frances Bean's second birthday, Kurt was released from rehab.

He had ended up staying for an extra two weeks, mainly for the purpose of extra precaution, but Lindy had had a feeling that this was only because Kurt was scared to rejoin the real world and disappoint everyone who he had given hope to. But even she was optimistic on the day that Kurt finally came home.

He had never looked so good in his life. He'd always been handsome of course, and devastatingly so, but his health was better than it had ever been. Not even when Lindy first met him had Kurt seemed so well and full of happiness. His desire to die, no matter how prominent it had been, had seemingly dissipated while he'd mulled over his existence in rehab.

Kim joined Lindy that day as they both went to the rehab facility to retrieve Kurt. Courtney had revamped her tour and taken Frances along with her, but Frances was due back that night with Jackie. This meant that only Kim and Lindy would be the only ones greeting Kurt's return, but Kim made for a great addition to the welcoming committee.

She was energized over the thought of seeing her newly rejuvenated brother, and even more overjoyed by Lindy's pregnancy. Lindy had entered a total pregnancy mode, with a huge round belly that stuck out far enough to make her waddle when she walked. Her knowledge of obstetrics told her that by now, the baby had reached the size of about a butternut squash, a thought that made her giggle.

Seven months of pregnancy had certainly been hard. Being alone had only made it harder. She'd dealt with nausea, swollen feet, backaches and beyond imaginable mood swings that left her feeling red-hot angry on some days and hysterically sad on others. Between Trae and Beth, and even Jack, she had had enough company to avoid complete solitude, but she'd come to the conclusion that all she really wanted was Kurt. And finally, she was about to have him again.

"I can't wait to know the gender," Kim enthused as she and Lindy pulled up to Kurt's facility. "I need to know if I'm having another niece or a nephew."

"Only two more months," Lindy smiled. Kurt's usual crowd of helpers awaited them both outside, and Lindy took the initiative to slip into a jacket that she was still capable of wrapping around her torso. She'd heard a rumor that news outlets had caught wind of Kurt's release from rehab that day, so lurking photographers were to be expected.

"Save nine months in your future schedule for me! I want you to be my surrogate if I ever meet the right woman," Kim joked as they climbed out of Lindy's car and into the circle of lingering bodyguards.

"Done," Lindy agreed, laughing as she ducked out of the car and shielded herself from her surroundings. The world would find out about Kurt Cobain's second child one day, but as Lindy had wished, that day would not come anytime soon.

Lindy and Kim entered the facility where Rosemary was, waiting for them inside.

"Oh good, you're early," Rosemary said with relief. "He's just been discharged —,"

Lindy stopped listening to Rosemary's debriefing almost immediately. She had become distracted by what was right in front of her, only a few feet down the hall and tentatively waiting to catch her eye.

When Lindy finally looked at Kurt, drinking in the sight of his health and prosperity, she felt the hardships of the last seven months melt away like snow under a beaming sun. Her face crumpled into a blinding smile and she ran, or at least she tried to run with the weight of her pregnant belly, until Kurt met her halfway in the hall and grabbed her into his arms.

He was back. Back for good, without even a hint of the notion that he'd ever leave again. She felt his hands slide down her back, one curving around her stomach as he kissed her mouth repeatedly with joy. It wasn't until she tasted the salt of her own tears that she realized she was crying — but then again, Kurt was crying too as he held Lindy against him, the only thing that put a physical barrier between them both being the rounded bump of their baby.

_________

With Kurt home so shortly before Frances's birthday, plans were hurriedly scrapped together for a celebration to be held at Lindy's apartment. Courtney, who was learning how to balance the concept of shared custody, grudgingly sent Frances to Kurt the evening of so that she could spend a portion of her big day with her father. It was going to be a special one, solely because Kurt had almost not been alive to witness it.

Better yet, Lindy and Kurt would not be the only two in attendance — Wendy, Kim and Breanne were joining them, along with Trae, Allie and Hannah, who had yet to meet Frances. Even Beth had earned an invite to the party as well as Krist and Dave.

It was a motley mix of people in Lindy's small abode on that August night, each body filling up every corner of the apartment. For the first time ever, all the people in she and Kurt's lives were together, mingling freely as if everyone had known each other for ages. Frances, Breanne and Hannah had taken to running around the house, chasing each other wildly in an apparent game of hide and seek. Dave added fuel to their rambunctious flames by hiding around corners and popping out to surprise them as they flew by.

Trae and Allie were both locked in an engaging conversation with Wendy, sitting on the couch and using their hands as they discussed Aberdeen and the thought that only then had they been properly introduced even after living in such a small town. Krist was listening to them talk, piping in when mentions were made of memorable Aberdeen landmarks.

In a curiously amusing twist of events, Beth and Kim were glued to each other's sides, sitting at Lindy's kitchen table and smiling bashfully at one another in a way that was more than just friendly, at least to Lindy. She would have never expected it out of Beth, but she said nothing, pleased to watch the two of them flirt to their heart's content.

And then of course, there was her and Kurt, haphazardly sticking the large number 'two' candle that Lindy had purchased from the grocery store into Frances's cake. It was strangely domestic to stand alongside him, laughing and pushing at his side with her elbow as they fussed over the candle's placement. Kurt was content, even in a setting that Lindy had once considered too far-fetched to picture him in. His smile had yet to fade from his face.

"Let's sing! Frances, c'mon!" Kurt called, catching Frances in his arms as she zoomed by on Breanne's tail. Everyone gathered in the kitchen, Lindy coming in last with a match lit in her hand as she cupped the flame to prevent it from going out. Frances was in Kurt's lap, looking curious as to why everyone had come to celebrate her; it wasn't the sheer fact alone that she was being celebrated that amused her. For Frances, she had to know why. Everything required an explanation.

"On three," Lindy said, holding up three fingers as she counted down. And then they were all singing 'Happy Birthday,' Frances's eyes roaming the table as she looked into the faces of each of her guests. Her smiled shined, and most defining was the sweet way she tilted her head back to stare up at Kurt, as if thanking him for being there with her.

"Blow out the candle, Frances!" Lindy encouraged, lowering herself down on to one knee and mimicking blowing out the lit number two. Frances copied her, blowing so hard that her lips spluttered. Everyone around the table laughed as the flame went out and a round of applause ensued.

"Need help cutting the cake?" Kurt asked, picking Frances up off his lap and sitting her into a seat.

"I've got it," Lindy assured him, getting to work on divvying out slices of France's cake. She had gotten her an all pink one, complete with white, fluffy trim and pretty cursive script. Lindy had bought the cake herself, a factor that may have contributed to the misty-eyed look Kurt had given her when she'd first laid it out on the table.

After the cake had been dissected and everyone was settled in with their own individual piece, Trae found a spot by his sister's side in the far corner of her living room. She looked on as everyone else interacted, watching as the three little girls before them put on a show in trying out some of Frances's new birthday toys.

"You look so happy," Trae remarked quietly, quiet enough so that no one else could hear them. He was smiling.

"I've got a lot to be happy about, don't I?" Lindy smiled back, still keeping an eye on Frances, who had unveiled a box of play-food for her toddler kitchen at Courtney's house.

"I didn't think it would be this simple," Trae confided.

"Simple how?"

"I don't know, really. I thought you'd have hell to go through before you could finally be content with your life, yet here you are. Pregnant. With a sober Kurt. Frances adores you."

"Hard to imagine coming from such a mess like me," Lindy joked. She was not ashamed anymore to allude to the rockiness of her past. It had all led to this anyways.

"No. It just always felt like the odds were against you. It made me sad. As a big brother, it's important to me that you're happy and secure and look, you're both of those things now."

Lindy set aside her plate, still covered in leftover pieces of birthday cake. Trae's observation resonated with her, mostly because she too had struggled to envision where her life now stood. Even back in March, on the day of finding Kurt in the greenhouse, she would have never guessed that within the same year, she would find happiness.

"I know what you mean," she said softly.

Nothing Lindy had ever predicted had gone exactly according to plan. She couldn't have mapped out her life perfectly even if she tried, but so far, she had learned to appreciate both the ups and downs that she'd gone through.

With one hand on her stomach, she watched Kurt sit down on the floor and tear open another gift with Frances, gasping in exaggerated surprise alongside his daughter and kissing her forehead.

After all that time, Lindy had finally found what she wanted. It was everything that was right before her in that moment.