A/N: So um I keep writing Anderbros. I'm nearly done with When Everything Was Falling Apart, and this popped into my head and I wanted to share it with some people I think will understand my constant flailing.
This will be a 7 part fic, each part a vignette from Blaine and Cooper's history. This is a headcanon fic, but it will follow canon!Blaine's storyline once I reach that point.
I'm hoping to post one a day, up until we get Big Brother and all our different versions of fandom!Cooper are taken over by canon!Cooper and I become an incomprehensible flailing mess.
Lots of Anderbabies, fluff, some angst further in but nothing too tragic. I hope you enjoy!
Cooper is eight when he first meets Blaine.
Cooper is a very smart eight-year-old, thank you very much, and he excels in school, always bringing back worksheets with gold star stickers to put on the refrigerator, but he's still kind of confused as to how his little brother is going to show up. His parents have explained the logistics of it, of course, but Cooper can't get the image of a magically appearing baby out of his head. And he'd never admit this, because the kids at school would call him stupid, but Cooper thinks that might be really cool. He could put the baby in a cape and bring him to school and he would have tons of friends who would give him their snacks.
Now Cooper's actually hoping for a magic baby brother, so when his father ushers him into the dimly lit hospital room, he's a little disappointed to see that he's missed the baby's arrival. Just a little disappointed, though, because when he peers over the edge of the bed at the small bundle in his mother's arms, he's immediately distracted.
The bundle squirms and Cooper stares, gazing into the red-faced baby's eyes – the same color as his dad's, Cooper notes absently – entranced by the smallness of him. Cooper's friends with his really small boy named Jeremy – he's way shorter than Cooper and his arms are skinny like chicken legs, but the bundle of baby is even tinier than Jeremy.
Cooper reaches out a hesitant finger, poking gently at the bundle, and the baby gurgles loudly. Cooper jumps, pulling his hand to his chest, and his mother laughs, eyes tired but fond as she gazes down at her eldest son. Cooper always likes looking at her eyes – they're blue, like his, and so pretty, like the painted glass he'll sometimes get to string together at school. Cooper's proud of having those eyes.
"Cooper, this is Blaine," his mother says softly, taking Cooper's hand and urging him closer again. Cooper bites his lip and wiggles his fingers at the baby.
"Hi, Blaine." he says shyly. Blaine coos and mouths at his own first, tiny fingers curled and so, so delicate, like that same glass Cooper strings into necklaces for the little girls who try to hold his hand on the playground. Cooper is always reminded to be very careful not to drop the glass, or else it will shatter. He touches Blaine just as carefully, easing his finger into Blaine's fist, and Blaine's soft fingers grip Cooper's with surprising strength.
Cooper feels his father come up behind him and rest his firm hands on both of Cooper's shoulders, but he keeps looking at Blaine, smiling wider now as Blaine squirms, new eyes shifting everywhere.
"You did good, Char," his father says fondly, and Cooper's mother smiles, reaching out to grasp one of his father's hands.
"What do you think of your little brother, Cooper?" she asks, in a voice that sounds like Cooper's favorite smiles. Cooper contemplates, quirking his mouth to the side as he studies Blaine.
"I like his hair," he says finally, carefully pinching a tuft of Blaine's dark, downy hair between his fingers. Blaine gives a shrill wail, little mouth opening wider than Cooper thought possible, and Cooper scrunches his nose.
"Will he always be this loud?" he asks, unsure if he would be okay with that. The kids at school are loud enough – Cooper likes the quiet.
"Not always," his father reassures him, placing a hand on the top of Cooper's head and ruffling his wavy hair. "He'll have his big brother around to keep him happy."
Cooper smiles, rubbing his thumb over Blaine's crinkly forehead. Blaine's noises die down and he blinks up at Cooper, clutching Cooper's finger tightly.
Big brother Cooper. He thinks he likes the sound of that.