Blaine ducked down to be face to face with Elizabeth as he fixed her collar. She wiggled about in her dress, not very happy that the collar had to be fixed in the first place. She had dressed herself today and her daddy didn't need to fix it. It had been fine until he fiddled with it, after all. Blaine kissed her on the cheek and said, "Lizzie, there really isn't anything to worry about. We're only going to leave you at Madison's for a few hours. If anything goes wrong her mommy will call us and we'll come and pick you up, okay?" Lizzie didn't really want to go to Madison's house. Maddie might have been her best friend, but she still would've preferred to spend the day with her dads. She was four and half, wasn't she? Shouldn't she be allowed to stay at home with them? Not according to her dads. She had to go to Maddie's house so that her dads could do whatever they were going to do with Luke. He was too little to have friends like Lizzie did. He was only a baby, after all. Babies were so silly. You couldn't play with them and Luke never seemed to show any interest in watching My Little Pony with her. She'd like to see him try and climb a tree like she could.

Blaine walked round to the kitchen while Lizzie ran back up stairs to find her shoes. Kurt was sitting at the table with Luke in his arms, trying to get him to calm down. "Oh, Blaine, could you maybe pass me Luke's bottle?" Blaine handed him the bottle from the counter and smiled down at the two of them. Kurt wasn't even dressed yet, Luke had been so unsettled this morning. He was feverish and that was why Kurt had to take him to the doctor.

Blaine of course, was going to drop Lizzie off on his way to work. It was a good thing he wasn't teaching a class first thing this morning, because Kurt certainly needed the extra pair of hands with the kids that morning. Lizzie and Luke were usually pretty easy to keep control of, but with one sick it throws the whole family off slightly.

He walked Lizzie to Madison's door, which was opened by her mom. Maddie bounded out as soon as she heard Lizzie politely greeting her mom, and grabbed her hand. "Do you want to come in for a coffee or something?" Rachel asked.

"Thanks, but I've got to get going. Kids who need to be taught."

"Right, well, I suppose Kurt will be collecting Lizzie then?"

"Yeah, he'll come right after he's been to the doctor with Luke."

"Cool, well, I'd better let you go, then."

"I guess so. Bye!"

Kurt stumbled out of the doctor's office with Luke in his arms. He had barely slept, Luke being so restless with his temperature, and he hadn't even showered that morning. He was really starting to feel the impact as well. To add to all the drama he was off to pick up Lizzie now, who could be a bit of a handful at times. Hopefully Madison had tired her out enough that she might even consider having a nap.

Lizzie was bouncy. Kurt wished she wasn't, but she was. "Lizzie, why don't we watch a Barbie movie?" He urged, steering her towards the couch.

"I don't want to watch a Barbie movie!" She squealed, "I want to play outside!"

Kurt put Luke down, hoping that he wouldn't start crying in the few moments that he was dealing with Lizzie. "Come on, sweetie. We can eat the cupcakes you decorated the other day. I'll even let you pick which one we watch."

Lizzie sighed. "Daddy, you know that means we'll watch Swan Lake, don't you?" She climbed up on the couch, "I suppose that we can watch it."

Kurt was delightfully relieved, and took down the box of cupcakes from their safe keeping spot in the cupboard. "I'll sort it all out in a minute, Liz. Just let me get this sorted..." He put three cupcakes on a plate and took them out to the living room, where he set the DVD up for Lizzie. She was settled in right away, completely taken by the movie. No matter how many times she watched it, it never failed to settle her down.

With Lizzie totally oblivious to the world outside her DVD, Kurt slipped out to check on the kitchen. There were dishes that needed doing and they needed to pick up some more groceries. The fridge needed scrubbing and all the counters could do with being wiped down. He acknowledged that, although the kitchen was a nightmare, he couldn't clean it now. Luke surely needed to be fed soon.

Eventually Kurt ended up curled on the couch, Lizzie fast asleep and sprawled on top of him. Luke was asleep in the other room, and Kurt was finally thinking that it might be the perfect opportunity for him to have a nap himself. He closed his eyes for just a few seconds when...

"Good morning sunshine." Blaine said, his arms curled around Kurt.

"Where did Lizzie go?" Kurt asked, startled that he had fallen asleep.

"Upstairs. I carried her up when I came in. As far as I know, she's still asleep. I think she'll stay that way for a while, too. She didn't even budge when I lifted her."

"And Luke?"

"Well, he did wake up, but he wasn't screaming. He's fine, and a lot more relaxed then this morning."

"Oh, and uh..."

"Shh, stop worrying, Kurt. Everything's fine. I'm just pleased you managed to get sleep."

"Yeah, I guess I did... wait, what time is it?"

"Uh," Blaine checked his watch, "ten past four."

Kurt bolted up. "What? It was only two a few minutes ago!"

Blaine chuckled. Kurt never slept during the day, because there was always something else that needed to be done. Another thing that needed cleaning, another child that need tending to, another meal that needed cooking. Kurt was always on his feet, it seemed. "Hate to break it to you, but you seem to have missed the end of Barbie of Swan Lake."

Kurt couldn't help but giggle. "I guess so. What do you feel like for dinner?" He asked, making his way over to the kitchen, now with clear countertops and an empty sink. "Seeing as the cleaning fairies visited while I was sleeping, I might be able to cook something."

"What would we do without the cleaning fairies?" Blaine teased, having only spent a half hour tidying up the kitchen. It wasn't his greatest effort, but it seemed to please Kurt. That was plenty for him. "Maybe we should order in. Have a quiet night."

"Sounds good to me." Kurt said, with a bit of sigh as he slumped back on the couch, leaning his head on Blaine's shoulder. A small elephant seemed to bump down the stairs, and when Lizzie emerged into the lounge she climbed up onto Blaine's lap.

"How was your day today, dad?" She enquired politely, whilst impolitely forcing herself into a space she was creating between Kurt and Blaine on the couch.

"It was very good, thank you Lizzie," Blaine replied, "How was your morning playing at Maddie's?"

"Amazing! We played in her sandbox and then we were all mucky so we had a bubble bath and then we played dress up!"

"And how's Aunt Rachel?"

"Good, I think. She seemed good but I forgot to ask. She let us perform a dance to her, while we were all dressed up!"

"That sounds like fun," Blaine could just imagine how that would've gone. He should really ask Rachel, knowing her she may well have recorded their whole performance. Rachel was a stage parent to the extent only she could manage. Maddie's whole life was documented as much as possible and she was already taking hundreds of dance classes and drama workshops. She clearly enjoyed performing and she wasn't bad at it. One day maybe Maddie will feel like she's been pushed just that little bit too hard, but for now as a bubbly four year old Maddie is a mirror image of how Rachel was when she was that age.

"It was! What's for dinner?" Lizzie said, bouncing to the next topic, clearly bored of chatting about her day.

"I'm not sure... what do you want for dinner, Liz?" She pondered it deeply for a few moments, it clear on her face that she was thinking hard.

"Hmmm... I think I want ice cream." She finally settled.

Blaine and Kurt exchanged a look, and where they might have otherwise laughed and gently explained that she couldn't just eat ice cream for dinner, Kurt seemed to be seriously considering the same thing.

Before long, the three of them were on the couch watching Hairspray, bowls piled high with ice cream and chocolate syrup. Luke seemed to be sleeping steadily for a few hours, much needed after his sleepless night.

In those few magical moments before Kurt and Blaine fell asleep Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear, "Today... those were the moments parenthood's all about."

"I wouldn't trade any of this for the world."

"This... this is our world."