Chapter Text
Kurt and David traded off on the egg every few days. Sometimes Kurt would watch it while David hunted or did demonstrations, sometimes David watched it while Kurt swam, stretched, and kept their nest perfectly upkept. Now that their nest had an actual purpose Kurt had to make certain that it was the best nest anyone had ever seen. Weeks went by and they took turns feeding each other and keeping their egg warm, completely unaware that nothing was growing in it.
When the other eggs around the penguin enclosure started hatching, Kurt got nervous. Where was their baby? When was their baby coming? But David just reminded Kurt that they had laid their egg well after all the other penguins.
The humans continued to swarm around the penguin enclosure snapping photographs of the male penguins taking care of an egg together. It was the human-interest story of the year. Kurt didn’t know or care about this. All he cared about was the little egg sitting on his feet. He delicately turned the egg every so often, making sure that their growing baby wouldn’t get too hot on one side and too cold on the other. The longer he had the egg, the more nervous he got about it.
And the longer Kurt and David cared for the egg, the more guilty the zoo staff felt. What would happen when the two penguins realized that their egg was a fake? Would they ever realize it, or would they continue to take care of it until their breeding years had ended?
As intent as Kurt was on taking care of that egg, he was starting to get disheartened. David took his turn for a few days and couldn’t help noticing that, every time Kurt came back to the nest and saw the egg still un-hatched, his shoulders slumped a little bit more. David nuzzled at the egg. He had had a gut feeling the first time he saw the egg that something was wrong with it, but it made his mate happy, and that’s all he cared about. He just wanted Kurt happy.
They switched again and it was Kurt’s turn to watch the egg while David hunted. He waddled home one day from the far side of the enclosure, a fish in his beak, when he saw a human scoop up Kurt and walk away with him.
Kurt struggled and thrashed, but there wasn’t a whole lot a penguin could do against a human. David chased after the human with his mate squawking angrily. Neither of them saw the other human sneaking over to their nest to take the egg away.
xoxoxo
Several weeks ago, at a zoo several hours away from Kurt and David’s zoo, a penguin lost all interest in its egg after only a month of watching it. The egg was just abandoned. It had been taken to the zoo infirmary where diligent veterinarians and technicians made sure it was incubated properly. All of the zoos, of course, knew about the two male penguins caring for a fake egg, and the zoo had made the decision to donate the newborn chick to the zoo where David and Kurt lived, curious to see if the two males would care for a real baby.
xoxoxo
The vet check-up had been a nightmare. Kurt worried constantly about his egg. And his mate. He’d seen his mate being taken away; David had been biting and thrashing like his life depended on it. David had been checked out by the vet, as well, and then put aside until he could calm down. Meanwhile, Kurt had been returned to the enclosure. He waddled back to his and David’s nest feeling defeated, positive that their egg had gotten too cold without their protection. But there, in the center of their nest, looking around dazed and confused and frightened was a tiny greyish chick. It caught sight of Kurt and chirruped inquisitively at him.
Kurt slowly approached the little baby, almost afraid that if he got too close it would turn out to be a hallucination. As Kurt got closer the little chick puffed up and let out another chirrup. Kurt felt his heart getting heavy; the chick was so precious it almost hurt. He had never thought love at first sight was possible, but seeing this chick, his chick, he knew it was real.
xoxoxo
David thudded back to the nest grumbling under his breath. It was difficult to “walk angrily” when your main method of walking was waddling; waddling made it hard to properly display aggression or discontent. When he rounded the rock formation he quickly spotted his mate’s back and made his grumblings audible. “I’m gonna bite every single one of them. From now on, every human that comes near me is getting bit: fingers, noses, eyes. They better watch out.”
“Now, now David.” How could his mate always be so calm about everything? “You’re setting a bad example for her.”
“Her? Her who?” Kurt shuffled around so that he was facing David. A small ball of soft grey feathers sat on Kurt’s feet and stared up lovingly at David. “I…who’s this?”
“She’s ours. She’s our egg.”
David stepped over the side of the nest and bent over to see her more closely, more clearly. “Ours? Our egg?” Kurt nodded while the little chick looked up at David with comically large and beautiful eyes. “What’s her name?”
“I haven’t named her, yet. I wanted us to name her together.”
They talked about it for a few minutes and quickly reached a consensus. That night, David, Kurt and their daughter fell asleep together, Kurt sleeping between David’s feet, the chick sleeping on Kurt’s feet, and for the first time in his life, Kurt could rest easy, because he had found the first, and only, truly perfect Pebble.