GLEE FIC: Identity (4/8)
Title: Identity, part 4
Fandom: Glee
Summary: In the small sexist village, Kurt Hummel finds life difficult. He’s a man but constantly treated as a woman because of his not-straightforward gender. He wants to leave the village but Blaine Anderson wants him as a wife. Can they compromise their dreams without a lot of heartbreak?
Pairings/Characters: Kurt/Blaine, Burt/Elizabeth, Matthew/Mary Anderson, Puck/Quinn, Finn/Rachel, Brittany, Sam, OCs.
Categories: AU, drama, angst, H/C
Rating: R this part
Warnings: Non-con (sort of explicit, in first part), mpreg, intersex gender, mention of abortion
Word count: 3,904 words this part (20,000+ total so far)
Prompt: this prompt here on the glee_kink_meme, and 'Early 20th century for au-bingo.
A/N: I've written two more parts to this, and there's at least one more after that, maybe two, which is going to be pushing things to be finished by Saturday, but I'll give it my best shot!
Please comment if you enjoy this fic :)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
--------------------------------------------------
PART 4:
Both boys slept soundly during the night - and surprisingly, didn’t fall out of the small bed. Blaine woke first and found himself spooned around Kurt’s naked body. It was a nice feeling, and he noted that they fit together quite well despite Blaine being slightly shorter.
As he felt Kurt stir, Blaine lifted his head up. “Good morning,” he said softly. Oh yes, this was definitely the way to wake up every day.
“Morning,” Kurt replied before his brain caught up with his mouth. He wasn’t alone. He was in someone else’s bed. Blaine’s bed. Naked. Oh boy.
“Did you sleep well?” Blaine asked as Kurt tensed in his arms.
“I think so.” He must have; Kurt didn’t remember waking. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know. Early, I think.” Blaine couldn’t hear any indication of movement in the house.
Kurt scrambled into a sitting position, dislodging Blaine’s arm. “I have to get back. My parents will be wondering where I am.”
Blaine opened his mouth to say ‘they’ll know’ but thought the better of it. “Do you want me to walk you home?”
“What did I say about treating me--” Kurt abruptly stopped and swayed, his pale face draining of colour. “Oh, that wasn’t a good idea. Bucket!” he ordered.
Blaine quickly fetched the night bucket - which was fortunately empty - and gave it to Kurt just before the latter vomited.
Kurt only started to feel embarrassed once the nausea started to recede a few minutes later. “I’m sorry,” he said weakly. He hadn’t wanted Blaine to see him like this.
“It’s alright,” Blaine assured him. He took the bucket out of Kurt’s hands and put it in the corner of the room. Then he came back to sit on the edge of the bed and rubbed Kurt’s back. “Do you need to lie down again?”
Kurt nodded and lay down on his side, the quilt pulled high about his shoulders. “It should pass in a few more minutes,” he stated optimistically; he really didn’t want to feel sick all day, not with the council coming to the house site.
A knock on the door interrupted them. “Blaine? Are you awake?” Mary called.
“Just a minute!” Blaine shouted back as he went in search of his clothes; he wasn’t about to let his mother see him naked. When he had pulled on a shirt and trousers, he went over and opened the door. “Good morning, Mother.”
“Good morning.” Mary stepped into the room holding a tray with several items on it. “I thought Kurt might like some dry biscuits and weak tea. I always found that they made me feel better of a morning.”
Though Kurt was embarrassed at being naked in his future husband’s bed while Mary was in the room, the idea of feeling better appealed to him. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
“Blaine, empty the bucket and then go get some breakfast,” Mary ordered her son. “I’ll look after Kurt.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Blaine did as he was told. Mary took his place beside Kurt and reached out to stroke his forehead. “Your father came by last night to see where you were. When we checked, you were fast asleep so he decided to leave you here,” she stated.
Kurt felt his face redden. His father saw him in bed with Blaine? How embarrassing! “Was he angry?” he asked before taking a bite of the biscuit.
“Of course not,” Mary assured him. “He said to say not to hurry home this morning and if you sleep in, he’ll meet you at the house.”
It was a relief that Burt wasn’t mad at Kurt for spending the night with Blaine. He supposed it was what all couples who were going to be married did. Kurt ate the rest of the biscuits and drank the weak tea, which did help to settle his stomach, and it wasn’t long before he felt able to get out of bed.
When Mary saw that Kurt was going to get up, she stood and smiled at him. “I’ll let you get dressed in privacy,” she said before leaving the room.
Once she was gone, Kurt hastily got dressed. He would need to quickly go home and give himself a wash to make himself feel clean; making love was a sticky experience.
Just as he was finishing, Blaine walked back into the bedroom. “Feeling better?” he queried.
“Much,” Kurt replied and then jumped backwards when Blaine kissed him; he didn’t think his lips would taste too good. “What was that for?”
“For staying here last night.” It had been so wonderful to have Kurt sleep in his arms. “I’m sorry if it was a little uncomfortable though.”
“It was fine.” Kurt had slept soundly and hadn’t even noticed the size of the bed. “Um, I need to get home before we go to the house. Is that alright?”
“Certainly.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand. “I’ll come with you.”
***********
Half an hour later, Kurt had washed and dressed again, and then he and Blaine arrived at their house site. The old house was completely gone now, with only the stone floor left, and all the wall stones had been piled up ready for use again.
Before Kurt got to and helped to map out the floor plan for his house, he went over to his father. “I’m sorry,” he stated when he got close.
“For what?” Burt wanted to know.
“Not letting you know I wasn’t coming home last night.” Kurt had always been a responsible child.
Burt put a hand on his son’s shoulders. “Kurt, you don’t have to apologise for staying at Blaine’s place. It’s normal for engaged couples to do that.”
“But you came over to his house,” Kurt pointed out.
“Your mother was worried,” Burt explained, conveniently leaving out his own feelings. “I think she was concerned that Blaine had pressured you into staying.”
Kurt shook his head. “I stayed because I fell asleep.” Though he probably wouldn’t have gone back after making love anyway. “And because I wanted to,” he added.
Burt accepted that, though he didn’t like to think about what had gone on. “That’s good. We’d better get to work then,” he said.
With a sigh of relief, Kurt agreed. Now he only had the council to worry about.
**********
It wasn’t until mid-morning that the five male members of the council arrived. No women sat on the council - they weren’t deemed to be smart enough to govern a village. The fact that the whole council came to the site implied strongly that this was important.
Burt saw them first and went to intercept them. “Good morning, gentlemen. What can I do for you?”
“You can get your daughter to stop working, for a start,” the leader, Michael Green, announced. He was a very pompous man with a body to match his inflated ego.
“I have no daughters working here,” Burt replied; he didn’t like Green. “Just my son.”
One of Michael’s cronies, Daniel Williams, spoke up. “Kurt is with child - that makes him a woman.”
“No, that makes him special,” Burt countered. “And he is an adult, he’s old enough to choose for himself what he wants, and what he wants is to help build the house he’s going to live in.”
“But he’s with child,” Williams protested again. His thin angular face was set with disapproval.
“And he’s being sensible,” Burt pointed. “He knows his limits.”
That wasn’t what the council wanted to hear. “We wish to talk to Kurt and to Blaine,” Green stated.
“I’ll ask if they want to speak to you.” Burt turned and went over to where his son and future son-in-law were watching proceedings. “They want to talk to you both. I’ve tried to get it through their thick skulls that you have every right to be here but I don’t think they were listening.”
“Thank you, Father,” Kurt said with a grateful smile. “They probably won’t listen to us either but we can try.”
Blaine took Kurt’s hand and squeezed it in a gesture of support, then together they went over to where the council members were waiting. Blaine spoke first. “Good morning, sirs.”
“Mr. Anderson,” Green said politely. “Miss Hummel.”
Kurt bristled but held his tongue.
“What do you two think you’re playing at?” Green continued.
“We’re not playing at anything,” Blaine replied calmly. “We are building a home, as every couple does.”
Isaiah Bentley, a short gentleman in his mid-fifties, glared at Blaine, his daughter’s son. “No other husband has let his wife or other women do manual work.”
Blaine got in before Kurt could. “Firstly, Kurt is not a woman, so I will thank you to call him my husband. And secondly, Brittany likes working here and she is willing to help, which is more than I can say about most of the men in the village.” That speech earned him four more glares.
“I did not ask any of you to class me as a woman,” Kurt added. “That was your choice. Just as it is your choice to continue to let men take women against their will.”
“It is tradition--” Williams started to protest but was cut off by Blaine.
“And it’s one that should be stopped. Everyone should have the right to choose who they want to marry.”
The councilmen all scoffed at the idea and then changed the flow of the conversation.
“Kurt,” Green said, “You have three choices. One, you must desist in this nonsense and engage yourself in activities more befitting your status. Or two, you must dress as befits your role as a woman with child so that everyone may see that there are two women defying tradition.” They had discussed these choices at length to ensure that they would get their own way.
Kurt paled. Give up his work or give up his identity as a man - what a choice. “And if I choose neither?”
“Then we will assume that you are persisting in being known as a man, which means you cannot marry Blaine, nor can you remain carrying the child, therefore your pregnancy will be terminated.” Green’s sister-in-law was the local midwife, and she had knowledge of how to get rid of unwanted babies in the womb,
Both boys gasped at the cruelty of the punishment. Blaine turned stricken eyes upon Kurt, begging him not to choose that option and lose their baby.
Much as Kurt hadn’t wanted to be pregnant, he knew how much the baby meant to Blaine. And he couldn’t let them take the life of his unborn child, despite the fact the council would continue to treat him as a woman. Kurt put a hand over his stomach to defend the baby inside him and made a decision. “Given the choices, I’ll stop working here.” It was the most palatable option of the three.
“Excellent. We expect you to encourage Miss Pierce to do the same,” Green stated, pleased that the council had won. “Good day.”
As the councilmen walked away, tears sprung into Kurt’s eyes. What right did those old men have to dictate his life in such a way? Why couldn’t they just accept who he was?
Burt came rushing over when he saw the men leave. “What did they want?”
Kurt sank to the ground, unable to answer, so Blaine replied hoarsely, “For Kurt to stop working and act more like a woman or they would kill our baby.”
“What?!” Burt was dumbstruck by the cruelty of such a choice. “They said that?”
“Yes.” Blaine sat down and put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt, for his part, was doing his best not to give in to the emotions inside him. “And my own grandfather just stood there and said nothing against it.”
Burt was furious. How dare a bunch of sanctimonious old men decide what his son could or couldn’t do! Not only that, but plan the murder of an unborn child! “I’ve a good mind to go teach them a thing or two!”
“No, Father,” Kurt said, his voice so close to breaking. “That’s the last thing we need.”
“They threatened you, Kurt! They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that,” Burt pointed out.
“So we don’t let them,” Puck interrupted. He and the others had come close enough to hear what was going on.
“Exactly,” Quinn agreed. “we let all the women in town know what they said and hopefully enough of them will angry enough to make life difficult for the men.”
“That supposes that the women care enough about me to do something,” Kurt said cynically, lifting his head to stare at the others.
Quinn shook her head. “It stopped being simply about you when they threatened your baby. Who’s to say that they won’t use that threat against other women to make them toe the line?”
That was a very good point and made everyone pause. There was nothing to say that the council hadn’t tried to use that power before, and the thought of it being used on anyone in the village was terrifying.
“Alright, so we talk to the women then,” Rachel said, taking charge. Her hand was resting on her rounded stomach, horrified that someone in the village had the ability to kill her baby.
“But really, what can they do?” Blaine wanted to know. “Most of them wouldn’t even think of defying their husbands.” He knew his mother wouldn’t.
Everyone was silent for a minute. Finally, it was Quinn who spoke up. “We denounce them in church.” It was the only time a lot of the village socialised together (though those in puberty still weren’t allowed to mix).
Rachel, whose belonged to one of only two Jewish families in the village, didn’t attend church but her eyes lit up. “That’s brilliant. One of the Commandments is: thou shall not kill.”
“The church also doesn’t like two men being together,” Kurt said scathingly. “I stopped attending years ago because the preachers always told me that I was wrong. I’m not setting foot in there.” He and Blaine could have an old-fashioned country-style wedding anywhere but the church.
“You don’t have to,” Burt said. “I’ll do it.” He didn’t always attend church but Elizabeth did, and this week, he would accompany her.
“And we’ll all be witnesses,” Finn stated. “We won’t let the council get away with this.”
Blaine managed to smile at the support he and Kurt were receiving. It was good to have such friends. He only hoped their good intentions didn’t backfire on them.
**********
For the next few days, Kurt went back to his usual routines, sitting with his friends and working on a couple of pieces of clothing for Rachel’s baby. But all he could think about was the fact that had he not made this choice, he wouldn’t be able to make garments for his own child. It was hard to keep his emotions inside so he had to fight hard to clear his mind and just not think about anything. But at night, he cried silently into his pillow before eventually falling asleep from exhaustion.
Blaine did his best to be supportive because he could tell that something was bothering Kurt but he didn’t really know what to do. He had never seen his father comfort his mother, therefore he didn’t have that knowledge to call upon. So he held Kurt’s hand, or simply held him, and gave him space to work out what was wrong.
Burt wanted to take Blaine aside and give him some advice but Elizabeth stopped him, saying that the boys needed to work this out for themselves. They would learn how to support and comfort each other, and it would be easier once the council stopped pressuring them.
**********
The church was packed. Burt and Elizabeth were sitting halfway down with four of their seven children; Kurt was at home looking after the youngest two. Blaine was helping Kurt but his parents were sitting four rows ahead of the Hummels.
There was the usual sermon, which Burt didn’t really listen to, and then the preacher asked if there were any prayer requests.
“Yes.” Burt stood so everyone could see him. “I want you to pray for the souls of the councillors.”
Reverend Isaac Wright was taken aback, and so were many of the congregation who immediately started whispering to each other. “Excuse me?”
“Just three days ago, they told my son that they would have his unborn child murdered if he didn’t comply with their orders,” Burt explained, his voice carrying through the church so that everyone could hear.
Michael Green stood and stated loudly, “That’s a lie! We never said that!”
“True, your exact words were ‘your pregnancy will be terminated.” Burt wasn’t about to back down. “In my book, that equals murder.”
The whispers grew louder and more outraged.
“You can’t murder a child that hasn’t been born,” Isaiah Bentley protested.
“But you’re taking away its chance at life,” Elizabeth said as she stood beside her husband. “And all because Kurt won’t stay in that box you put him in.”
This time Daniel Williams spoke up. “If Kurt carries a child, then he is not a man, it’s that simple. And two men cannot live together as a couple, isn’t that right, Reverend?”
“I… Well, it is correct that the Bible forbids such a-a union,” Wright stammered out, confused by what was unfolding in his church.
“The council agreed that Blaine could court Kurt, so you agreed to the union then, regardless of whether you think Kurt is a woman or not,” Burt argued. “And it’s not that simple, Williams. Kurt didn’t ask to be created with the ability to have children, it’s how God made him. There has to be a reason for that, and at the moment, it’s to expose the small-mindedness and cruelty of the people who are supposed to lead our village. How are we supposed to trust the council if they think that threatening to terminate a pregnancy is the moral thing to do just to stop someone from changing the way we do things around here?”
“You go, Burt!” Puck called out from the back of the church.
Ignoring the young man’s words, Burt looked around the church and tried to catch as many eyes as possible. About half the adults couldn’t look at him and most of them were the older ones. “And speaking of changing things, who thought that rape was a great way to snare a wife? I do believe the Bible is against it and yet, the council approves of this technique every time they allow a young man to ‘court’ someone.”
“It’s not rape if they’re willing--” Green started to say but Burt interrupted him.
“Or if you ignore the fact they’re saying ‘no’?” he countered. Burt glanced around again. “Tell me, how many of you wives here didn’t want to be intimate with the man who chose them? It doesn’t matter if you love them or not now, but how many of you said ‘no’ and were ignored?”
Quinn immediately put her hand up and slowly, six others did too. One of them was Green’s wife.
Burt noticed this and pointedly stared at Green for a few moments before turning his attention back to the rest of the church. “Just because something is tradition, it doesn’t make it right. I know I don’t want any of my daughters being forced to accept whichever man decides to choose them, I want them to be able to love the man they marry. And I don’t want my sons thinking they can have whoever they want just because they’re male. People should get to know each other before anything more happens.”
Silence greeted this statement. Couples talking to each other before ‘courting’ was unheard of.
Finn stood up. He didn’t normally attend church as, upon his marriage, he had agreed to Rachel’s request not to, but he had come today because of this. “I agree with Mr. Hummel about that and that we shouldn’t have people leading our village who can threaten others and not feel remorse about it. Unless they’re willing to apologise, I think the entire council should stand down and we elect new people in their place.”
The congregation erupted into chaos. For a councillor to resign… that had never happened before. And for such a young upstart to propose such a thing…
“Quiet!” Green yelled a few moments later. He was not happy. First, Hummel had dared to criticise him in front of almost the entire village, then his wife humiliates him by saying she hadn’t wanted to lie with him, and now this idiot was proposing that he apologise or resign! “You, young man, are out of order!” He pointed a finger at Hudson.
“And you,” Burt accused the councilman, “threatened two boys who are barely on the cusp of adulthood just because they were doing something you didn’t like. Or was it because you were afraid you would lose control of the people if they saw someone breaking tradition?”
That was too close to the bone for Green, and he opened his mouth to object but Burt was already continuing.
“Ever since Kurt was a child, you have been on at him to confine his identity to one you were comfortable with. Even before he knew the difference between boys and girls, you were trying to mould him into someone he’s not. Yes, he excels at sewing and cooking, which are traditionally female activities. But what you don’t realise is that he is also an excellent stonemason. Many of you have statues in your gardens or decorations above your fireplaces that Kurt has carved.”
That caused another stir. Some people were outraged that they had been lied to (mainly the men) while others were impressed by the skill of the young man (mainly the women).
“If the other young people of the village were given a chance, I’m sure we would find some that excel at something they’re not supposed to traditionally do,” Burt continued. “Young Miss Pierce, I believe, showed that girls can do manual labour such as building. Why not others?”
Brittany beamed at the attention she got from the people around her.
“That’s enough!” Williams demanded. This had got too far out of hand and Green had had no success in shutting Hummel down. “You go too far! A woman’s place is in the home, looking after her children. If Kurt can have children, then that is where he belongs.”
Elizabeth smiled smugly. “You said ‘he’.”
“What?” Williams was puzzled by the statement.
“You just said ‘where he belongs’. Not ‘she’. That implies that you know Kurt is a man,” Elizabeth pointed out. She felt Burt squeeze her waist with pride. “So just why are you so determined to prove that he’s not?”
Williams and Green looked at each other, trying to come up with an answer. They failed.
Matthew Anderson decided to enter the argument. He might not agree with anything Burt had said but he saw an opportunity. And he had never really liked his father-in-law, Isaiah Bentley, anyway.
“I second the call for the council to step down if they are unwilling to apologise to my son and his future spouse.”
The councillors remained silent; what were they to do?
Part 5...
Fandom: Glee
Summary: In the small sexist village, Kurt Hummel finds life difficult. He’s a man but constantly treated as a woman because of his not-straightforward gender. He wants to leave the village but Blaine Anderson wants him as a wife. Can they compromise their dreams without a lot of heartbreak?
Pairings/Characters: Kurt/Blaine, Burt/Elizabeth, Matthew/Mary Anderson, Puck/Quinn, Finn/Rachel, Brittany, Sam, OCs.
Categories: AU, drama, angst, H/C
Rating: R this part
Warnings: Non-con (sort of explicit, in first part), mpreg, intersex gender, mention of abortion
Word count: 3,904 words this part (20,000+ total so far)
Prompt: this prompt here on the glee_kink_meme, and 'Early 20th century for au-bingo.
A/N: I've written two more parts to this, and there's at least one more after that, maybe two, which is going to be pushing things to be finished by Saturday, but I'll give it my best shot!
Please comment if you enjoy this fic :)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
--------------------------------------------------
PART 4:
Both boys slept soundly during the night - and surprisingly, didn’t fall out of the small bed. Blaine woke first and found himself spooned around Kurt’s naked body. It was a nice feeling, and he noted that they fit together quite well despite Blaine being slightly shorter.
As he felt Kurt stir, Blaine lifted his head up. “Good morning,” he said softly. Oh yes, this was definitely the way to wake up every day.
“Morning,” Kurt replied before his brain caught up with his mouth. He wasn’t alone. He was in someone else’s bed. Blaine’s bed. Naked. Oh boy.
“Did you sleep well?” Blaine asked as Kurt tensed in his arms.
“I think so.” He must have; Kurt didn’t remember waking. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know. Early, I think.” Blaine couldn’t hear any indication of movement in the house.
Kurt scrambled into a sitting position, dislodging Blaine’s arm. “I have to get back. My parents will be wondering where I am.”
Blaine opened his mouth to say ‘they’ll know’ but thought the better of it. “Do you want me to walk you home?”
“What did I say about treating me--” Kurt abruptly stopped and swayed, his pale face draining of colour. “Oh, that wasn’t a good idea. Bucket!” he ordered.
Blaine quickly fetched the night bucket - which was fortunately empty - and gave it to Kurt just before the latter vomited.
Kurt only started to feel embarrassed once the nausea started to recede a few minutes later. “I’m sorry,” he said weakly. He hadn’t wanted Blaine to see him like this.
“It’s alright,” Blaine assured him. He took the bucket out of Kurt’s hands and put it in the corner of the room. Then he came back to sit on the edge of the bed and rubbed Kurt’s back. “Do you need to lie down again?”
Kurt nodded and lay down on his side, the quilt pulled high about his shoulders. “It should pass in a few more minutes,” he stated optimistically; he really didn’t want to feel sick all day, not with the council coming to the house site.
A knock on the door interrupted them. “Blaine? Are you awake?” Mary called.
“Just a minute!” Blaine shouted back as he went in search of his clothes; he wasn’t about to let his mother see him naked. When he had pulled on a shirt and trousers, he went over and opened the door. “Good morning, Mother.”
“Good morning.” Mary stepped into the room holding a tray with several items on it. “I thought Kurt might like some dry biscuits and weak tea. I always found that they made me feel better of a morning.”
Though Kurt was embarrassed at being naked in his future husband’s bed while Mary was in the room, the idea of feeling better appealed to him. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
“Blaine, empty the bucket and then go get some breakfast,” Mary ordered her son. “I’ll look after Kurt.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Blaine did as he was told. Mary took his place beside Kurt and reached out to stroke his forehead. “Your father came by last night to see where you were. When we checked, you were fast asleep so he decided to leave you here,” she stated.
Kurt felt his face redden. His father saw him in bed with Blaine? How embarrassing! “Was he angry?” he asked before taking a bite of the biscuit.
“Of course not,” Mary assured him. “He said to say not to hurry home this morning and if you sleep in, he’ll meet you at the house.”
It was a relief that Burt wasn’t mad at Kurt for spending the night with Blaine. He supposed it was what all couples who were going to be married did. Kurt ate the rest of the biscuits and drank the weak tea, which did help to settle his stomach, and it wasn’t long before he felt able to get out of bed.
When Mary saw that Kurt was going to get up, she stood and smiled at him. “I’ll let you get dressed in privacy,” she said before leaving the room.
Once she was gone, Kurt hastily got dressed. He would need to quickly go home and give himself a wash to make himself feel clean; making love was a sticky experience.
Just as he was finishing, Blaine walked back into the bedroom. “Feeling better?” he queried.
“Much,” Kurt replied and then jumped backwards when Blaine kissed him; he didn’t think his lips would taste too good. “What was that for?”
“For staying here last night.” It had been so wonderful to have Kurt sleep in his arms. “I’m sorry if it was a little uncomfortable though.”
“It was fine.” Kurt had slept soundly and hadn’t even noticed the size of the bed. “Um, I need to get home before we go to the house. Is that alright?”
“Certainly.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand. “I’ll come with you.”
***********
Half an hour later, Kurt had washed and dressed again, and then he and Blaine arrived at their house site. The old house was completely gone now, with only the stone floor left, and all the wall stones had been piled up ready for use again.
Before Kurt got to and helped to map out the floor plan for his house, he went over to his father. “I’m sorry,” he stated when he got close.
“For what?” Burt wanted to know.
“Not letting you know I wasn’t coming home last night.” Kurt had always been a responsible child.
Burt put a hand on his son’s shoulders. “Kurt, you don’t have to apologise for staying at Blaine’s place. It’s normal for engaged couples to do that.”
“But you came over to his house,” Kurt pointed out.
“Your mother was worried,” Burt explained, conveniently leaving out his own feelings. “I think she was concerned that Blaine had pressured you into staying.”
Kurt shook his head. “I stayed because I fell asleep.” Though he probably wouldn’t have gone back after making love anyway. “And because I wanted to,” he added.
Burt accepted that, though he didn’t like to think about what had gone on. “That’s good. We’d better get to work then,” he said.
With a sigh of relief, Kurt agreed. Now he only had the council to worry about.
**********
It wasn’t until mid-morning that the five male members of the council arrived. No women sat on the council - they weren’t deemed to be smart enough to govern a village. The fact that the whole council came to the site implied strongly that this was important.
Burt saw them first and went to intercept them. “Good morning, gentlemen. What can I do for you?”
“You can get your daughter to stop working, for a start,” the leader, Michael Green, announced. He was a very pompous man with a body to match his inflated ego.
“I have no daughters working here,” Burt replied; he didn’t like Green. “Just my son.”
One of Michael’s cronies, Daniel Williams, spoke up. “Kurt is with child - that makes him a woman.”
“No, that makes him special,” Burt countered. “And he is an adult, he’s old enough to choose for himself what he wants, and what he wants is to help build the house he’s going to live in.”
“But he’s with child,” Williams protested again. His thin angular face was set with disapproval.
“And he’s being sensible,” Burt pointed. “He knows his limits.”
That wasn’t what the council wanted to hear. “We wish to talk to Kurt and to Blaine,” Green stated.
“I’ll ask if they want to speak to you.” Burt turned and went over to where his son and future son-in-law were watching proceedings. “They want to talk to you both. I’ve tried to get it through their thick skulls that you have every right to be here but I don’t think they were listening.”
“Thank you, Father,” Kurt said with a grateful smile. “They probably won’t listen to us either but we can try.”
Blaine took Kurt’s hand and squeezed it in a gesture of support, then together they went over to where the council members were waiting. Blaine spoke first. “Good morning, sirs.”
“Mr. Anderson,” Green said politely. “Miss Hummel.”
Kurt bristled but held his tongue.
“What do you two think you’re playing at?” Green continued.
“We’re not playing at anything,” Blaine replied calmly. “We are building a home, as every couple does.”
Isaiah Bentley, a short gentleman in his mid-fifties, glared at Blaine, his daughter’s son. “No other husband has let his wife or other women do manual work.”
Blaine got in before Kurt could. “Firstly, Kurt is not a woman, so I will thank you to call him my husband. And secondly, Brittany likes working here and she is willing to help, which is more than I can say about most of the men in the village.” That speech earned him four more glares.
“I did not ask any of you to class me as a woman,” Kurt added. “That was your choice. Just as it is your choice to continue to let men take women against their will.”
“It is tradition--” Williams started to protest but was cut off by Blaine.
“And it’s one that should be stopped. Everyone should have the right to choose who they want to marry.”
The councilmen all scoffed at the idea and then changed the flow of the conversation.
“Kurt,” Green said, “You have three choices. One, you must desist in this nonsense and engage yourself in activities more befitting your status. Or two, you must dress as befits your role as a woman with child so that everyone may see that there are two women defying tradition.” They had discussed these choices at length to ensure that they would get their own way.
Kurt paled. Give up his work or give up his identity as a man - what a choice. “And if I choose neither?”
“Then we will assume that you are persisting in being known as a man, which means you cannot marry Blaine, nor can you remain carrying the child, therefore your pregnancy will be terminated.” Green’s sister-in-law was the local midwife, and she had knowledge of how to get rid of unwanted babies in the womb,
Both boys gasped at the cruelty of the punishment. Blaine turned stricken eyes upon Kurt, begging him not to choose that option and lose their baby.
Much as Kurt hadn’t wanted to be pregnant, he knew how much the baby meant to Blaine. And he couldn’t let them take the life of his unborn child, despite the fact the council would continue to treat him as a woman. Kurt put a hand over his stomach to defend the baby inside him and made a decision. “Given the choices, I’ll stop working here.” It was the most palatable option of the three.
“Excellent. We expect you to encourage Miss Pierce to do the same,” Green stated, pleased that the council had won. “Good day.”
As the councilmen walked away, tears sprung into Kurt’s eyes. What right did those old men have to dictate his life in such a way? Why couldn’t they just accept who he was?
Burt came rushing over when he saw the men leave. “What did they want?”
Kurt sank to the ground, unable to answer, so Blaine replied hoarsely, “For Kurt to stop working and act more like a woman or they would kill our baby.”
“What?!” Burt was dumbstruck by the cruelty of such a choice. “They said that?”
“Yes.” Blaine sat down and put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt, for his part, was doing his best not to give in to the emotions inside him. “And my own grandfather just stood there and said nothing against it.”
Burt was furious. How dare a bunch of sanctimonious old men decide what his son could or couldn’t do! Not only that, but plan the murder of an unborn child! “I’ve a good mind to go teach them a thing or two!”
“No, Father,” Kurt said, his voice so close to breaking. “That’s the last thing we need.”
“They threatened you, Kurt! They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that,” Burt pointed out.
“So we don’t let them,” Puck interrupted. He and the others had come close enough to hear what was going on.
“Exactly,” Quinn agreed. “we let all the women in town know what they said and hopefully enough of them will angry enough to make life difficult for the men.”
“That supposes that the women care enough about me to do something,” Kurt said cynically, lifting his head to stare at the others.
Quinn shook her head. “It stopped being simply about you when they threatened your baby. Who’s to say that they won’t use that threat against other women to make them toe the line?”
That was a very good point and made everyone pause. There was nothing to say that the council hadn’t tried to use that power before, and the thought of it being used on anyone in the village was terrifying.
“Alright, so we talk to the women then,” Rachel said, taking charge. Her hand was resting on her rounded stomach, horrified that someone in the village had the ability to kill her baby.
“But really, what can they do?” Blaine wanted to know. “Most of them wouldn’t even think of defying their husbands.” He knew his mother wouldn’t.
Everyone was silent for a minute. Finally, it was Quinn who spoke up. “We denounce them in church.” It was the only time a lot of the village socialised together (though those in puberty still weren’t allowed to mix).
Rachel, whose belonged to one of only two Jewish families in the village, didn’t attend church but her eyes lit up. “That’s brilliant. One of the Commandments is: thou shall not kill.”
“The church also doesn’t like two men being together,” Kurt said scathingly. “I stopped attending years ago because the preachers always told me that I was wrong. I’m not setting foot in there.” He and Blaine could have an old-fashioned country-style wedding anywhere but the church.
“You don’t have to,” Burt said. “I’ll do it.” He didn’t always attend church but Elizabeth did, and this week, he would accompany her.
“And we’ll all be witnesses,” Finn stated. “We won’t let the council get away with this.”
Blaine managed to smile at the support he and Kurt were receiving. It was good to have such friends. He only hoped their good intentions didn’t backfire on them.
**********
For the next few days, Kurt went back to his usual routines, sitting with his friends and working on a couple of pieces of clothing for Rachel’s baby. But all he could think about was the fact that had he not made this choice, he wouldn’t be able to make garments for his own child. It was hard to keep his emotions inside so he had to fight hard to clear his mind and just not think about anything. But at night, he cried silently into his pillow before eventually falling asleep from exhaustion.
Blaine did his best to be supportive because he could tell that something was bothering Kurt but he didn’t really know what to do. He had never seen his father comfort his mother, therefore he didn’t have that knowledge to call upon. So he held Kurt’s hand, or simply held him, and gave him space to work out what was wrong.
Burt wanted to take Blaine aside and give him some advice but Elizabeth stopped him, saying that the boys needed to work this out for themselves. They would learn how to support and comfort each other, and it would be easier once the council stopped pressuring them.
**********
The church was packed. Burt and Elizabeth were sitting halfway down with four of their seven children; Kurt was at home looking after the youngest two. Blaine was helping Kurt but his parents were sitting four rows ahead of the Hummels.
There was the usual sermon, which Burt didn’t really listen to, and then the preacher asked if there were any prayer requests.
“Yes.” Burt stood so everyone could see him. “I want you to pray for the souls of the councillors.”
Reverend Isaac Wright was taken aback, and so were many of the congregation who immediately started whispering to each other. “Excuse me?”
“Just three days ago, they told my son that they would have his unborn child murdered if he didn’t comply with their orders,” Burt explained, his voice carrying through the church so that everyone could hear.
Michael Green stood and stated loudly, “That’s a lie! We never said that!”
“True, your exact words were ‘your pregnancy will be terminated.” Burt wasn’t about to back down. “In my book, that equals murder.”
The whispers grew louder and more outraged.
“You can’t murder a child that hasn’t been born,” Isaiah Bentley protested.
“But you’re taking away its chance at life,” Elizabeth said as she stood beside her husband. “And all because Kurt won’t stay in that box you put him in.”
This time Daniel Williams spoke up. “If Kurt carries a child, then he is not a man, it’s that simple. And two men cannot live together as a couple, isn’t that right, Reverend?”
“I… Well, it is correct that the Bible forbids such a-a union,” Wright stammered out, confused by what was unfolding in his church.
“The council agreed that Blaine could court Kurt, so you agreed to the union then, regardless of whether you think Kurt is a woman or not,” Burt argued. “And it’s not that simple, Williams. Kurt didn’t ask to be created with the ability to have children, it’s how God made him. There has to be a reason for that, and at the moment, it’s to expose the small-mindedness and cruelty of the people who are supposed to lead our village. How are we supposed to trust the council if they think that threatening to terminate a pregnancy is the moral thing to do just to stop someone from changing the way we do things around here?”
“You go, Burt!” Puck called out from the back of the church.
Ignoring the young man’s words, Burt looked around the church and tried to catch as many eyes as possible. About half the adults couldn’t look at him and most of them were the older ones. “And speaking of changing things, who thought that rape was a great way to snare a wife? I do believe the Bible is against it and yet, the council approves of this technique every time they allow a young man to ‘court’ someone.”
“It’s not rape if they’re willing--” Green started to say but Burt interrupted him.
“Or if you ignore the fact they’re saying ‘no’?” he countered. Burt glanced around again. “Tell me, how many of you wives here didn’t want to be intimate with the man who chose them? It doesn’t matter if you love them or not now, but how many of you said ‘no’ and were ignored?”
Quinn immediately put her hand up and slowly, six others did too. One of them was Green’s wife.
Burt noticed this and pointedly stared at Green for a few moments before turning his attention back to the rest of the church. “Just because something is tradition, it doesn’t make it right. I know I don’t want any of my daughters being forced to accept whichever man decides to choose them, I want them to be able to love the man they marry. And I don’t want my sons thinking they can have whoever they want just because they’re male. People should get to know each other before anything more happens.”
Silence greeted this statement. Couples talking to each other before ‘courting’ was unheard of.
Finn stood up. He didn’t normally attend church as, upon his marriage, he had agreed to Rachel’s request not to, but he had come today because of this. “I agree with Mr. Hummel about that and that we shouldn’t have people leading our village who can threaten others and not feel remorse about it. Unless they’re willing to apologise, I think the entire council should stand down and we elect new people in their place.”
The congregation erupted into chaos. For a councillor to resign… that had never happened before. And for such a young upstart to propose such a thing…
“Quiet!” Green yelled a few moments later. He was not happy. First, Hummel had dared to criticise him in front of almost the entire village, then his wife humiliates him by saying she hadn’t wanted to lie with him, and now this idiot was proposing that he apologise or resign! “You, young man, are out of order!” He pointed a finger at Hudson.
“And you,” Burt accused the councilman, “threatened two boys who are barely on the cusp of adulthood just because they were doing something you didn’t like. Or was it because you were afraid you would lose control of the people if they saw someone breaking tradition?”
That was too close to the bone for Green, and he opened his mouth to object but Burt was already continuing.
“Ever since Kurt was a child, you have been on at him to confine his identity to one you were comfortable with. Even before he knew the difference between boys and girls, you were trying to mould him into someone he’s not. Yes, he excels at sewing and cooking, which are traditionally female activities. But what you don’t realise is that he is also an excellent stonemason. Many of you have statues in your gardens or decorations above your fireplaces that Kurt has carved.”
That caused another stir. Some people were outraged that they had been lied to (mainly the men) while others were impressed by the skill of the young man (mainly the women).
“If the other young people of the village were given a chance, I’m sure we would find some that excel at something they’re not supposed to traditionally do,” Burt continued. “Young Miss Pierce, I believe, showed that girls can do manual labour such as building. Why not others?”
Brittany beamed at the attention she got from the people around her.
“That’s enough!” Williams demanded. This had got too far out of hand and Green had had no success in shutting Hummel down. “You go too far! A woman’s place is in the home, looking after her children. If Kurt can have children, then that is where he belongs.”
Elizabeth smiled smugly. “You said ‘he’.”
“What?” Williams was puzzled by the statement.
“You just said ‘where he belongs’. Not ‘she’. That implies that you know Kurt is a man,” Elizabeth pointed out. She felt Burt squeeze her waist with pride. “So just why are you so determined to prove that he’s not?”
Williams and Green looked at each other, trying to come up with an answer. They failed.
Matthew Anderson decided to enter the argument. He might not agree with anything Burt had said but he saw an opportunity. And he had never really liked his father-in-law, Isaiah Bentley, anyway.
“I second the call for the council to step down if they are unwilling to apologise to my son and his future spouse.”
The councillors remained silent; what were they to do?
Part 5...