Sitting back at his desk, Blaine Anderson took a deep breath as he waited for the arrival of his last scheduled appointment. His first experience of parent-teacher conference night seemed to be going pretty well, but his students were kindergartners. Kids that age were great, not yet the evil little hormone balls they became in middle school. Sure, there were the occasional behavioral issues, Sophie's habit of climbing the furniture, Jimmy's fondness for eating paste, etc., but all in all, they were good kids.

Including Lily, whose parents were 5 minutes late.

Just as he had that thought, blonde head poked in through the partially open door. "Mr. Anderson?"

"That's me," Blaine replied, rising to greet the man who stepped into the room. "Mr. Evans?"

He nodded and gave Blaine a rather heart stopping smile. Quickly, Blaine tried to rein in any inappropriate reaction, as it wouldn't be appropriate to check out the father of one of his students, but Mr. Evans was a handsome man.

"Sam," the blonde said, shaking Blaine's outstretched hand before folding himself into one of the visitor's chairs by the desk. "Sorry I was a bit late. Got caught up at work ."

Blaine nodded and settled himself in his own chair. "That's all right. I know these things can be a little hard to fit into already busy schedules."

Seemingly reassured by that statement, Mr. Evans…Sam nodded. "So how's Lily doing in class?"

"Wonderfully," Blaine replied honestly. "Both socially and academically. She gets along with the other students, doesn't have trouble sharing - which can be an issue for only children - and she participates in group activities, both as a leader or a team member depending on what the situation warrants. Her basic math skills are on track and her reading comprehension is better-than-expected."

"Oh, that's great to hear," Sam breathed, release clear in his voice. "Her mother, she was real smart. I was pretty sure Lily was gonna take after her in that way, but she's still so young, so I didn't know if it would get worse for her later or something."

"Worse in what way?" Blaine asked, honestly curious.

"Trouble learning," Sam responded, sounding suddenly more tired. "I'm dyslexic, so school wasn't very pleasant for me. I haven't noticed Lily having the troubles I did, but I still worry."

"All good parents worry." It was a true statement, but one Blaine wouldn't have said to many other parents, as they tended to look at him like he was a child. Most of them were least a few years older than he, at 23, was, but Sam looked to be about his age.

For the next 10 to 15 minutes, Blaine showed Sam around the room, pointing out several of Lily's drawings on the wall. She seemed to enjoy drawing superheroes, always aided by 2 policemen, one blonde and one brunette.

Sam's grin had widened further upon seeing the pictures. "She loves The Hulk," he said with a chuckle.

"Hmmm, who doesn't?" Blaine hummed in agreement, then asked, "You wouldn't happen to be a police officer, would you?"

"Good guess," Sam replied. "Sometimes, instead of reading at night, she makes up stories where we go out and fight super villains with the Avengers and Puck, my partner."

He pointed to the dark haired drawing and Blaine blinked. "His last name wouldn't be Puckerman, would it?"

Sam looked at him, clearly puzzled. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Rachel is in my theater group," Blaine told him him. "I know her husband is a police officer and I figured Puck had to be some kind of a nickname…Puckerman…."

Now Sam was laughing slightly. "Are you Blaine?" he asked and, when he got a nod in response, he continued, "She's told us a bit about you, says you've got a great voice."

Coming from Rachel, that was quite a compliment. "I get by," he said modestly, hoping his cheeks didn't flush at the compliment.

"You're coming to their barbeque on Saturday, right?"

"How did you…she mentioned that?" Blaine was surprised she would tell her husband's partner the guest list for a small party.

Sam nodded. "She'll be so disappointed she didn't get the chance to introduce us. I think she was hoping to play matchmaker."

At a loss for words now, Blaine simply parroted the word, "Matchmaker?"

"Usually I try to avoid her set-ups, but you seem nice. And Lily loves you, so bonus points."

This wasn't at all how Blaine pictured parent-teacher night ending, but he couldn't complain.

Comments? Should I continue?