I blame this on truffles.
The house was quiet when Rory got home.
Too quiet.
"Get 'im, Mase!" his little sister's voice suddenly screeched from the hallway. Rory spun around frantically, but it was too late. His little brother had him wrapped in a bear hug, arms pinned to his sides uselessly.
Rory tried to struggle his way out of Mason's hold, but his baby brother was ripped from hours of swimming, and he was able to drag Rory all the way to the couch easily.
Maddy bounded over then and plopped directly on Rory's lap, pinning his wrists to the cushion and leaning in so close that they were almost nose-to-nose. "Tell us how you traveled back to visit Daddy and Papa when they were our age!"
"What? Maddy, you're crazy," Rory said, trying to fight her off. He had to be stronger than one of his little siblings, right?
Wrong. Maddy tightened her grip and pulled back a little so Rory could see her angry look. "Mase and I know that you and Sugar went back to see our dads and her moms a couple years ago. We heard you reminiscing about it last time she visited. How could you not take us along, Rory?!"
"Don't you love us?" Mason asked, a hurt expression on his face.
"Because you two were thirteen when we went!" Rory said. "That wouldn't have been suspicious at all."
"Still," Mason said. The twins began to sport identical pouts.
Rory sighed deeply. "I assume you're not gonna let me go until I tell you?"
Madison shook her head silently.
"It's the snow globe-looking thing in Aunt Brittany's garage," Rory said, already regretting this decision. "Shake it once for every year you want to go back. You'll be gone for a few hours here, but it'll feel like a few months back in the past. That's why no one missed me and Sugar when we went."
"I was wondering why we didn't notice," Maddy said, hopping off Rory's lap with a smile. "Any other advice, big brother?"
"Don't do it?" Rory said weakly. At the twins' unimpressed looks, he continued, "Do something to disguise yourselves. I pretended to be an Irish exchange student and said I was being deported when I knew my time was almost up."
Mason and Madison shared one of those looks that always scared Rory.
"Perfect," Mase said. "Let's go!"
"You'll cover for us if Dad and Papa come home, right?" Maddy said, turning a pleading look on Rory.
"I'm already in this far over my head," Rory replied, dropping his head into his hands. "Lying to our dads can't make it any worse."
"You're the best!" Madison chirped, planting a kiss to Rory's cheek. "See you later!"
Mason pulled Rory in for a hug before sprinting out the door, Madison on his heels.
"I fucked up. I fucked up so hard," Rory said quietly, shaking his head.
Maddy couldn't believe how much fun the past was. She and Mason had gotten to join the cheerleading team, meet all of their uncles and aunties, and even compete on their papa's show choir team. Minus the fact that their dads weren't actually together at this point in time, she and Mason agreed that this was the most fun they'd ever had ever.
What was gonna be the most fun, though, was the party Uncle Sam was throwing for Auntie Rachel that night. Everyone was invited, and somehow she and Mase were gonna be lucky enough to see their dads perform a duet at some point in the evening. They'd inherited their sweet dance moves from these men, so she was pretty stoked to see them in action when they were at their prime.
"Best night ever!" she squealed in Mason's ear as they listened to Uncle Artie and Aunt Kitty's rendition of Good Girls Go Bad. "Can you believe how much fun Papa and Daddy are?"
"Maddy, inside voice!" Mase said, reminding her of one of their rules - no use of people's "real" names out loud.
"No one can hear me, Mase!" she said, smacking lightly at one of his hands. "We've all had too many daiquiris anyways, they wouldn't even notice me if they did."
The song ended before Mason could scold her more, thankfully, and they watched Aunt Kitty leave the stage as Uncle Artie rolled to the center. "Just when you thought we couldn't get any more warmth and love in this basement, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to bring out your two favorite gays: Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson!"
Mason and Madison both let out a whoop of joy as their dads took the stage. The incredibly familiar song made them even more excited for what they were about to see - Daddy and Papa always talked about this song as a turning point for them.
Our dads are so cool! Mason's voice rang inside Maddy's mind.
I know, I can't believe we get to see this! she thought back, before bouncing onto the dance floor in glee. She began to cabbage patch frantically as Mase bounded out to join her, dropping to the ground to do the worm after a few seconds.
The rest of the New Directions came out to join them soon enough, and before Maddy knew it, Jane and Spencer had found a couple boxes of Auntie Rachel's old costumes and everyone was digging in.
Nothing great was on top of the first box, but Maddy tossed a blue boa and an astronaut hat up to her papa, since he always told her to shoot for the stars. She saw Mase throwing a yellow boa up to Dad from the other box, and smiled at the color scheme - they'd seen plenty of photos of Dad's proposal.
Oh my God! Maddy squealed internally when she peered into the box again.
What? Mase asked.
I found Papa's unicorn horn from that poster he has in the attic! she thought, grabbing it and putting it on. She found a matching tutu as well, much to her delight. This is amazing!
She stopped using her inside voice in order to dance more, happily posing for a picture when Aunt Kitty swooped by with her phone.
"Send that to me!" Maddy yelled, needing to keep evidence of this night for herself. Ten year old her had been devastated when Papa and Dad's old costume trunk hadn't held this particular piece - how was she supposed to make the best unicorn costume for Halloween if Papa's horn wasn't there? Finding the long-desired costume piece made this night even better than before.
Maddy lost track of time after that, dancing around wildly as her dads finally let loose onstage. She and Papa had always been the bouncier dancers - Mase and Dad preferred spins - and it was amazing to realize just how little her dads' signature styles had changed over the years.
(Some kids would probably think that was dorky, Maddy knew, but she also knew her own dancing wasn't much cooler. Plus, her dads were the greatest - why wouldn't she want to party with them?)
The song had to end eventually, though, and Maddy let out a sad sigh as Auntie Rachel and Uncle Sam took the stage. Aunt Rachel had always been one for ballads, and those weren't nearly as fun to dance to.
She took Mason by the arm and headed for the nearby couch, smiling when their dads passed them.
"You guys were great!" she said, unable to stop herself.
"That was so much fun," Mason agreed. She knew they had matching enthusiastic smiles on.
"Well, thanks, you two," Dad said, smiling kindly at them.
"You looked like you were enjoying yourselves," Papa said, nodding along. "Oh, and you found my old unicorn horn! Remember that, Blaine?"
"Of course I do," Dad said, and Maddy had to press her lips together to keep from squealing.
"Would you like to wear it?" she asked, reaching up to pull it off.
"No, no, that's fine," Papa said, smiling in amusement. "It suits you."
Papa and Dad walked off at that, leaving Maddy stunned in their wake. It took Mason hissing her name in her ear a few times to snap her out of it.
"Papa said it suits me!" she said happily.
Mason pulled off his jester hat. "You're such a papa's girl," he teased.
"I thought you were gonna fall over when Dad danced next to you when Auntie Mercedes and Roderick sang," Maddy shot back, taking off the horn anyways - it looked kind of ridiculous since everyone else had de-costumed already. "Daddy's boy."
"Fine, we both love our parents to death," Mase said, huffing slightly. "You know this makes us the biggest dorks, right?"
"I think it's genetic," Madison responded, thinking about all the stunts their dads had pulled in the past - or, well, the future. Both? She discarded that line of thinking before her head could explode.
"You've got a point there," Mason said.
Before Maddy could say anything else, Jane came over to them and pulled Mase off the couch. "C'mon, it's our turn!" she said brightly, dragging him toward the stage.
"Break a leg!" Maddy called, relaxing back into the couch for a moment.
Yeah, the past was pretty cool. But she also couldn't wait to get home so she could hug her dads without it being weird. She was hoping they'd at least get to stay until their dads were back together, though. They kind of acted like they were dating regardless of their relationship status, but she still wanted to see them actually together like they were in her time.
"Well, it's gotta happen eventually," she muttered to herself. "At least Mase and I will get to see Aunt Britt and Aunt Tana get married!"