Another Forgotten Birthday
Heidi sat at the kitchen table waiting for her husband to come home from work. After spending the day with her children Nathan's mother kindly agreed to taking the boys off her hands for the evening so that she and Nathan could celebrate her birthday in peace
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All these thoughts, and more, swirled in Nathan's head, and a feeling very close to panic set in.
Nathan had done what he'd come to do. The doctor had said Peter was stabilized and would most likely recover. He could just turn around and leave and make this easier for everyone.
Don't be a fucking idiot, Petrelli. You need him as much as he needs you. Or have you forgotten already?
No, he hadn't. It had hurt Nathan almost as badly to say the words as it did Peter to hear them, that day he'd thrown his younger brother out of his office. A run for Congress was not the reason Nathan had put a stop to it. That was just an excuse --
Nathan blinked, unaware until now that he had walked the entire corridor to Peter's room, sat down next to him, and was now holding his hand. He'd even been careful not to disturb the IV lines that protruded from Peter's arm and wrist: one for the blood transfusion and the other for fluids and morphine. His right arm was heavily bandaged. Other than that, Peter looked so peaceful he could have been just taking a nap.
"You're gonna be okay, Pete," Nathan said, relieved this time that he could finally believe it. "Happy birthday."
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Nathan went to his side immediately and started to talk to him, Peter was unconscious but Heidi could feel the way he reacted to his brother's voice, the brothers had missed each other dearly. It made Heidi wonder then what exactly it was that had sullied their relationship, naturally she had assumed it was the alcohol but was it something else? A question for another time perhaps.
"I'm sorry Nathan," Heidi said quietly. "I feel like I forced him into this situation. He was drinking because I was teasing him and then this happened." It was hard for her to see Peter like that, it reminded her too much of when her own father had gone to the hospital, that had been a terrifying time for her.
"I'm sorry, Peter." In the quiet moment after her apology, Heidi looked at Nathan. "What was that downstairs? And don't say you don't know what I'm talking about."
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He hoped Peter would wake up right then and save him from having to answer. A few seconds passed. Nothing.
He then tucked a stray bit of Peter's hair out of his face. Maybe that would wake him up.
No such luck. Peter had always been a heavy sleeper, probably even more so because of the pain medication he was getting.
Nathan's mind drifted back to the night he and Heidi had been on the highway, a car he thought he recognized chasing them at high speed and trying to run them off the road. Nathan was inside the car one moment, and a hundred feet in the air the next. Heidi screamed for him, and he just watched in horror as the unmanned car smashed into a median. He couldn't help her. couldn't stop it, couldn't even move. It was the most out-of-control he'd felt in his life. Nathan swore he'd never drive a convertible again.
Now of course, he had absolute control over the ability he'd been given. Some of the times Nathan had told Heidi he was working late were spent not with trashy women but alone, just himself and the dark night sky. He practiced, pushed himself to the limit, and the first time he broke the sound barrier brought him a feeling of accomplishment even greater than when he passed his bar exam.
He had tried to tell her once before, but Heidi had thought he was either drunk or needed counseling. Only Peter had believed him. And then Peter had done it too.
"I can fly. Apparently, you're married to Superman," Nathan said finally, hoping a little humor would diffuse the situation.
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Nathan's answer surprised her, she stared at him wide-eyed, Heidi had seen it but she was having trouble comprehending it. "Are you an alien too?" No ordinary human could do that. She sucked her lips, a painful memory resurfacing. "The night of the accident." He didn't say it but yeah, that explained a lot, nice to know she wasn't crazy. She looked at the sleeping figure. "And Peter? He's not normal either, is he?".
She absently rubbed her stomach then looked at Nathan alarmed. "What about the kids Nathan? What about future kids? Are they going to get abilities too?" It wasn't like she could simply pick up a book on the subject. This was supposed to be a happy moment but it had been replaced with outright dread.
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Now would be a great time for you to chime in, Pete. Wake up.
Nothing. He'd have to try something else. He resorted to running his thumb across the back of Peter's hand while he spoke.
"I'm not an alien, Heidi. There's no such thing. But... you're right. Peter isn't normal either." Nathan would leave that to Peter to explain; he only had a rudimentary grasp of the extent of Peter's innate ability. Peter had explained it to him once, and Nathan could just feel his eyes glassing over as if he'd been sitting in sophomore year biology class. Something about Peter's DNA accommodating any ability possessed by someone else.
Nathan was absolutely sure of one thing though; either special abilities ran in his family, or their father was responsible for it somehow. And now that the man was dead, Nathan doubted he'd ever know the truth. He decided to go with option number two.
"I don't think you have to worry about the kids. If they were going to have any special abilities we would have seen them by now, don't you think?"
Actually, Nathan hadn't really entertained the possibility that his sons could have abilities until right that second. Heidi wasn't stupid, and she was right to be worried. But what good would that do? God, he hated to lie to her, but how could he even explain something he himself didn't understand?
Especially since Peter's ability seemed to have now vanished. He was supposed to be able to regenerate as far as Nathan knew --
His thought was interrupted by the sound of Peter's voice, a little slurred from the drugs but Peter's nonetheless.
"Nathan? Heidi? What -- what happened?"
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Heidi shrugged. "I don't know, how old were you?" Would it really be so out of left field that the children develop such powers when they got older? She wanted to get them checked out but what kind of doctor would she take them to? A pediatrician or a scientist?
She still had questions but she stilled when she heard Peter's groggy voice. Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled, moving to his side. "Hey honey, how are you feeling?" Heidi asked in a sweet calming tone, absently untucking the hair from behind his ear that Nathan had tended to earlier. "I was so scared."
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“Peter, are you okay? Do you feel all right?” Nathan asked, in case Peter just hadn’t heard her. Peter gave them an exasperated look in response.
“Why do you keep asking me that? I’m fine. You two are the ones who look like someone died.” Peter paused, and his eyes went wide as saucers. In a whisper, he asked, “Did someone die? Was it me? Again?"
A memory hit Nathan hard, and he hoped Heidi hadn’t noticed him flinch. Not only were his senses stronger now that he was sober; so was his recall.
Nathan was sitting behind his desk, spinning that five-inch piece of bloodstained glass that had actually killed his brother between two fingers. At the same time, Peter was standing in front of him alive and well, excitedly talking to him and gesturing at him. He would have told Peter he was delusional if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. Peter couldn’t die.
“Nathan?” Peter interrupted, his voice quiet, almost afraid. “You would tell me if I died again, wouldn’t you?”
If Peter hadn’t been so completely high on the morphine, and so unnervingly close to the actual truth, Nathan might have laughed. There was no sense trying to talk any sense into his brother right now, so he wouldn’t even try.
“Of course I would, Pete. Nobody died. We just wanted to wish you happy birthday,” Nathan said.
“Oh, okay. Thank you.” Peter's bright smile quickly changed to a scowl.
Nathan noticed that Peter was fumbling at the control panel on the hospital bed, and his brow furrowed in frustration; with all the gauze wrapped around his hand, he couldn’t push the button he wanted.
“Hey, easy,” Nathan said, gently nudging Peter’s hand away. “Tell me what you want to do.”
“Raise it up,” Peter answered, smiling again. “You both need a hug.”
Nathan held the button down until Peter was sitting upright, and since Nathan was closer, Peter hugged him first.
Even though he’d had fair warning, Nathan still wasn’t prepared for it. Maybe Peter didn’t hate him anymore. Maybe Peter finally would forget about all of it and forgive him. Maybe --
A chill ran down his spine as Peter’s fingers rested against the back of his neck. He felt the scratch of Peter’s facial hair against his own smoothly shaven cheek… and then, the slightest press of Peter’s lips against his. Reminding him. Haunting him.
Thank God Heidi could not possibly have seen it from where she sat. If she did, Nathan could easily blame the medication for Peter’s strange show of affection.
A moment later, Peter hugged Heidi too, and kissed her cheek. But… he held their embrace a bit longer than Nathan thought appropriate. The morphine, right?
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She watched him hug Nathan and it was a peculiar scene, Peter seemed to be relishing in their hug, though that could have just been the drugs the doctors had given him. Nathan however while happy, seemed tense.
Peter pulled Heidi into a hug and she smiled, returning it. She was just so grateful that their last moments together hadn't been him bleeding to death in her arms. She whispered in Peter's ear. "You're a worry, Petrelli. Don't ever do that again." She stood up straight and smiled at Peter. "You should rest, honey. All major life events and holidays can be put on hold until you feel better." She squeezed his shoulder. "Happy birthday."
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"Would it be okay if I went back to sleep now? I'm really tired, Nathan," Peter said, his voice dropping off to a whisper.
"Yeah, it's okay. Hey, Pete, listen to me. I'm gonna have Ma come and sit with you so you're not alone on your birthday, all right? We have to go pick up the kids. We'll come back to see you tomorrow," Nathan told him.
Peter nodded his head slightly, and was out before Nathan even finished lowering the head of the bed.
Leave it to Peter to use all the energy he had to reassure his family that he was indeed all right. Frankly, Nathan almost couldn't believe he'd had it in him. With or without regeneration or invisibility or flight or anything else that was tucked away in his little brother's repertoire, Peter had never failed to surprise Nathan with just how resilient he was.
When Peter was five years old, he'd climbed the tall oak tree in their backyard despite all the warnings from his mother not to unless someone was there with him, and he lost his grip and fell onto the grass from a pretty decent height.
Peter had picked himself up, come inside the house, and calmly showed his older brother his dislocated shoulder. "I think it’s broken," Peter informed him.
Nathan, only seventeen himself, put Peter in the car and took him to the emergency room, all while having a severe panic attack. His heart pounded, he could barely breathe, and he sweated right through his shirt during the short drive. His mind positively raced as he considered all the consequences he might be facing. Nathan hadn't been watching him like he was supposed to, and Peter could have broken his neck! Peter might be permanently disfigured or mentally traumatized! Their mother was going to fucking kill him!
During all this, Peter just patted his brother's leg with his good hand and told him, "Don't worry, Nathan. It's gonna be okay."
Nathan allowed Heidi to exit the room, followed her, and shut the door behind them carefully.
On the drive back home, Nathan had an idea. They might have had to postpone Peter's birthday, but once he was out of the ICU there was no reason they couldn't celebrate it on Christmas.
"It's a shame Pete's got to be laid up in the hospital over Christmas, baby. It's his favorite holiday," Nathan said. "What do you think about bringing him a little Christmas cheer to make up for this awful birthday? Simon and Monty would be glad to see him; it's been months."
Yeah, and whose fault is that? his conscience added helpfully.
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She still had questions, particularly about why Peter thought he had died before. Did that really happen? Would word have ever gotten back to them? Did Angela know about this? Heidi sighed, yeah she probably knew. Angela knew everything.
Heidi smiled when Nathan addressed her. "Sounds like a great idea." She ran her hand through her hair suddenly realizing how much of a mess she must have looked, she still had Peter's dried blood on her clothing. Heidi sighed, leaning back against the headrest. "After a shower, and a much-needed hug from my boys, I'll set to work getting things ready for Peter."
Once they were home, Heidi told their sons what had happened to Peter in very vague terms, of course, she didn't want to scare them. "So we're going to have both a Christmas and birthday party at the same time but I need your help to get things done."
Simon nodded enthusiastically at her suggestion. "Good boys, go get your arts and craft kit and we'll set up in the kitchen." She looked over at Nathan. "Will you be joining us?"
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