A/N: So I was having writer's block, but really wanted to compose some Kurtofsky. And so, I blogged that I wanted my fellow pirates to give me ideas, and within seconds, I had seven truly amazing ones! One being fron an Anon on here, asking for an ill!Kurt and (essentially) nursing!Dave, which I will definitely do because it's cliche yet cute, and I actually haven't tried it yet. XD
So here they are in a collection, seven stories for my OTP (because as much as I ship multiple pairings, I still love Kurtofsky best).
Prompt by imsofreakinsorry on Tumblr: "Sam is busy and can't take care of his brothers so he ask Kurt and Dave to babysitting for him." (But didn't Sam have one brother and one sister? Oh well, I get what you mean, haha. I love this idea so much~ it's like what Puck and Quinn had to do, but cuter.)
Title: Patience
Rating: K+
Genre: Humor, Friendship, Romance
Summary: Oh, the trials and tribulations of caring for two young children. Kurt and Dave find this out the hard way.
Timeline: Approximately season 3. AU after Prom Queen, though, since I don't know the future.
Additional note: Not gonna lie, I totally had to look up Sam on Wikipedia and pick up his sibling's names, because all I could remember was the 'S' sound to one or both, but not the actual names themselves. XD
"Kurt?" Sam approaches the brunet with a nibble to his rosy lips and an unsure glance downward. He feels so awkward and almost ashamed for having to ask for a favor like this, especially after all of the favors people have been doing for him lately.
Kurt cocks his head, adjusting the strap of his messenger bag. "What is it, Sam? Is something wrong?" he asks with real concern in his voice.
The blond exhales tiredly. There are sleepless bruises under his eyes, and he looks overworked. "You…" he lowers his voice, "You know how my dad finally got a job and we're at an apartment, now? Well, lately, my parents have been working too hard to keep up on it and pay off our debt, so I've been taking care of my brother and sister constantly. But I can't this Friday; I… I have a date with Mercedes, and I can't cancel again. I really like her, and want to show her that I have time for her, too. And that means not having a 'date' where she's helping me care for my siblings, you know?"
Kurt's face lights up instantly. "So you need me to babysit? I would love to! I love that you two are starting to date, and I completely respect your wishes. Count me in; and don't worry, no pay is necessary. So, when should I come over on Friday?"
Relief spreads across Sam's face. "Oh, thank you so much, Kurt. For everything. Come over at five, okay? And… I hope you don't mind, but I asked Dave, too. Trust me, you need two people when it comes to my brother and sister; I only manage by myself because I know them well and they love me. But semi-strangers… they act a little too hyper around them. And Dave has been a good friend to me with all of this lately, and my brother and sister like him, so that's why I asked hi–"
Kurt raises a hand to silence the other boy. "It's okay, Sam, you can stop explaining yourself. I don't mind. Dave's not my enemy anymore, remember? So it's fine. We'll take good care of them both." He winks, "Have fun on Friday for me, since I'll be toiling away with the kids~!"
Sam laughs. "I will. Thanks again, man. This means a lot to me."
"I know, Sam. It's no problem. I love kids, and your siblings are so adorable."
Laughing, Sam thanks Kurt again and pats him on the shoulder as he walks out of the choir room. Smiling a little, Kurt steps over to where Dave is still stuffing lyric sheets into his bookbag. He was essentially forced into Glee Club by Santana (they're still beards, even through the summer, Kurt notices), but he likes it here, everyone can tell. He's changed quite a lot since the same time last year, and it's both a comfort and a relief.
"So, David," Kurt addresses airly, watching as Dave's eyes flicker upward to meet the paler boy's. "We have a very important job to do together this weekend. I hope you'll behave yourself." And he smiles minutely.
Dave has a crooked smile of his own appearing on his lips as he stands and slings his bag over one shoulder. "Oh, I will. I'm more worried about you. Are you sure a guy like you can handle a couple snot-nosed brats?" And he's teasing (not picking on) Kurt, the soprano has to remind himself.
Kurt smirks. "Yes, I am fully capable, thank you very much. I'm just worried that I'll wind up babysitting three snot-nosed brats instead of two."
"Hey, I take offense to that. I happen to use Kleenex, because I'm a civilized brat," Dave grins, and Kurt really likes this weird relationship they have that is nearly like friendship, but not quite.
Kurt laughs, and proceeds to walk out of the room with the jock by his side. Since they're alone – the New Directions met for longer than usual today because Sectionals are coming up in three weeks and they need to come up with and rehearse their setlist, so everyone is out of the building by now – Kurt even decides to crack another joke, albeit a more personal one.
"I hope you know this isn't a date," the soprano says jokingly. "It's just a mutual event that happens to fall on a Friday night. And besides, I'm still dating Blaine."
The footballer rolls his eyes. "Pfft, I know that, Kurt. And I'm still technically dating Santana. Besides, what sort of date would be looking after a couple of elementary school students?" he retorts fluidly. He loops his arm through the other strap of his backpack. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye," Kurt says, parting ways with the other boy as they go off toward their separately parked cars, on on either side of the lot. As he starts his baby, Kurt murmurs to himself, "Friday is going to be interesting." And there's an unexplainable smile on his lips.
00o00
Come Friday evening, Kurt shows up at the apartment complex and gets buzzed in. When he reaches Sam's apartment door, it's already opening up for him. Sam is there, and in the background, Kurt hears Dave's voice paired with a mingling of two younger voices.
"Kurt! Hey, thanks again for doing this, man," Sam says tiredly, but he looks more rested than before, and his clothes are nicer than his usual shirts and hoodies for school. "I'll give Mercedes your regards."
The soprano winks and pats Sam on the back as the blond boy reaches for a light jacket to wear. "Thanks. I was going to ask you to, since I didn't get a chance to coo over her excitement for this date like I wanted to."
Sam blushes a little, smiling broadly. "Yeah. And I just can't tell you how happy I am; she's so different from Quinn, but in all the good ways. She gets my jokes and references and likes my impersonations and always laughs at my jokes. Quinn never did any of that; she always acted annoyed with me. But Mercedes… she actually likes me for me, you know?"
Kurt place shis hand on Sam's shoulder, mindful of how Dave is entering the room, a hand of each of Sam's siblings in his. He continues, "I know. And let me tell you, she didn't see it coming, but she really likes you, too. So get going!"
"Going, going!" Sam chuckles, blushing minutely again as he turns and heads out the door, locking it behind him with the apartment key. And then Kurt and Dave are left with Stevie and Stacy.
"So, are you guys hungry yet?" Kurt says, leanign voer with his hands on his knees so he may look the kids in the eye.
"I am!" Stevie pipes up, raising his hand as he lets go of Dave's.
Stacy giggles and smiles. "Yeah, me too. Are you gonna make pizza, Kurt?" she wants to know. "'Cause I wanna help. Sammy taught me how to pre-heat the oven!"
Kurt nods. "Sure, you can help. Pizza is what Sam told me to make, so let's head into the kitchen and get cooking."
The personal-pan-sized crusts are frozen, but the pizza itself actually has to be assembled. There is marinara sauce in the 'fridge, as well as pepperoni, sausage, black olives, and cheese.
The four huddle in the smal kitchen, bringing ingredients on plates and in hands to the kitchen table. They spread everything out, and the two children kneel on the chairs while Dave and Kurt stand behind them, overlooking their pizza-making process. Apparently, it's cheaper to but the personal-pan crusts and incredienets separately at someplace like Cost Co than it is to buy frozen pizzas at somelace like Meijer, and the kids like making it better anyhow.
"Oops! I'm sorry, Davey; I got sauce on your arm. Here, lemme get it," Stacy says, reach over with a napkin and wiping the smudge of orangey-red from his forearm.
Dave laughs and lets her do it. "Thanks, Stace. Just try to be more careful, okay?"
"Oh, sure…" she says, and then flicks a piece of olive from his pizza onto his shirt.
"Hey!" Dave exclaims, "This means war, you know!"
On the other side of the table, Kurt occasionally glances up from helping Stevie to smile warmly at Dave. It's nice to see him acting carefree like this, being himself. He's playful and sweet if allowed to be, and he's great with kids.
But Kurt snaps out of it once shredded cheese starts being flung all over the place. "Hey, now! Knock it off!" but he's laughing. "I'm making you clean that up, David Karofsky! Stop flirting and help me get these pizzas in the oven."
"Flirting?" Dave says with a chuckle, one brow quirking at Stacy as her lightly chubby cheeks turn pink and she looks away, hiding her face in her hands, a splitting smile on her face. Dave scoops up the pizzas and whisks them away, Stevie beginning to call out a teasing rhyme about how 'Stacy has a crush on Davey.'
"See? I knew I would have to babysit all three of you," Kurt jokes as he takes the pizzas one by one and lays them out on the middle shelf of the oven. He glances up as Dave as the taller boy leans over him to slide the last pizza in himself. Their shoulders bump, and Kurt feels a flush of something wash over him. He shakes it off, closing the oven door. Dave, one step ahead of him, is already towering over him, setting the timer on the stove.
"Aw, we're just having fun," Dave answers as he types in the digits for fifteen minutes. Turnign to Kurt, he adds lightly, "Besides, I plan on cleaning it up while the pizzas cook. You can set up a movie in the family room; something animated should do, although Stace prefers Disney and Stevie seems to lean toward Dreamworks. Like, last time I checked, Stacy's favorite is Tangled, and Stevie is going through his Sinbad phase."
Kurt nods, smiling a little. "All right. I'll have them compromise on something, I suppose. You just take care of that cheesy mess over there. And for acting immature, you can put away the food and wipe the table, too."
"Such a taskmaster!" Dave retorts, but while his tone sounds like a whine, his eyes are crinkled with a smile.
Kurt paces over to the family room and moves to separate the two siblings, who seem caught up in an argument.
"But I wanna watch Lilo and Stitch! Shrek is stupid!" Stacy is hollering as she wrestles with her brother, the Disney DVD in her hand while she tires to grab the other DVD from him.
"Nooo, Shrek is awesome! Donkey is my favorite! You just don't like that the princess in this one is an ogre," Stevie responds with a grunt as she sits on top of him.
And that's when Kurt reaches them, lifting Stacy off of her brother with ease. "Easy, easy!" he says, "Settle down, you two! Look, we can either pick a movie we all like, or we can watch one and then the other. So, which is it going to be?"
"I guess I could watch something else," Stevie pouts, "Since stacy is being a stupid-head and won't let me watch Shrek."
"No name-calling, Steve," Kurt corrects firmly. He doesn't realize how Dave is staring over his task of wiping the table, watching Kurt affectionately as the singer handles the children like a good dad-in-training. "Now then. How about…" He glances over at the shelf of movies, his eyes scanning the titles, some by logo color only, not truly reading them. "Titan A.E.?" He offers, moving over and picking up the DVD. It's Fox, not Disney or Dreamworks at all, but still animated, and still a good movie.
"I don't think I've watched that before," Stacy comments idly. "What's it about?"
"Oh! It's really cool," Stevie says. He explains for Kurt and Stacy, "Me and Sammy watch it all the time when you go shopping with Mom! It's about this guy whose dad made this big machine that can make a whole new Earth, and the boy has a map on his hand to take him to where his dad hid it from these blue aliens made of energy. It's super-cool, one of Sammy's favorites. Mine, too."
"Is there a girl in it?" Stacy wants to know. Naturally, young girls need a heroine or some romance in their movies.
"Yeah! She's really pretty. She has purple hair," Stevie says, giggling. "Can I show her, Kurt?" and he gestures to the DVD case.
"Sure. Here," Kurt says, happy that they might be able to agree on something after all. "I'm going to go check on the pizzas while you two decide, okay?"
And he walks away, back into the kitchen, to where David is just finishing dumping the dustbin scoop into the trash after sweeping up the pizza mess. He puts away the broom and leans against the counters as Kurt checks the pizzas through the window on the oven, the inside light casting a warm glow on his face. Dave blinks and looks away, trying not to think of anything in particular.
"You're great with kids. You actually act like an adult with them; I just act like such a kid along with them, and it's probably not very responsible of me," Dave remarks seemingly off-handedly, but he means every word of it.
Kurt glances up and turns to lean against the stove. It feels warm behind him, comfortable. "No, it's fine. It actually works better, because if it were only me here and I acted the way I do, they might not listen to me as much. You balance things out." He shrugs, not noticing how Dave's face softens. "Anyway, they aren't that hard to look after. A little rambunctious, but not poorly-behaved. They're a lot like how I imagine Sam must have been as a child." He smiles. Peering over at Dave, he asks, "Do you have any siblings, David? I don't think I know if you do. But you probably know that the only sibling I've ever had is Finn."
"Yeah, I knew that," Dave mumbles. He licks his lips before speaking again. "Uh. But I only have a sister. She's older than me by about seven years – explains why my dad looks as old as he does, huh? – so we were never on the same page, and she went off to college by the time I started middle school. So, uh, I guess you could say I don't really know what it's like, either. But it looks like it'll be about the same for Sam, too; Stacy and Stevie aren't that far apart in age, but Sam is to them. And that could mean that, like me, they might get less memories of him."
Kurt looks across the way at the two children a tad sadly. "That's a shame; siblings should be able to grow up fully together and only be a few years apart in age, in my opinion. Why to some parents wait like that?"
The jock shrugs, his eyes going around the room and trying not to look too much at Kurt, and when Kurt notices this, he frowns a little. "Who knows? I only know what I see. But hey, it happens. They seem okay with it, and I guess I'm okay with my situation, too, so what does it matter?"
"You have a point," Kurt agrees with a sigh. He jumps when the timer goes off behind him, beeping languidly. He turns around, takes out the pizzas, and puts them all on the same plates of which they were made. He carries two, David carries two, and then the four sit and eat and watch Titan A.E. together.
After the movie, the kids want to play make believe. They assign Dave and Stevie as Hook and a Lost Boy, respectively. Stacy wants to be Wendy, and Kurt gets to play Peter Pan. Dave has fun lifting Stacy off of her feet and dropping her onto the couch – "kidnapping" her – while she laughs the entire time. Stevie fights with Dave, and so does Kurt.
The game ends, however, when during a wooden-spoons-as-swords battle between Kurt and Dave lands the two fallen on top of one another, Kurt gasping for breath as he lands in Dave's lap on the couch, and Stacy bounces on the cushions, laughing, saying that Kurt's face is really red.
"I think it's time for bed," Kurt whispers, standing up and trying to shake the image of his face being that close to David's; the last time that happened was in the locker room a year ago, and… He shakes the thought away compeltely, clapping his hands together. "How about I read you guys a story before bed?"
"No, tell one! Telling stories is so much better than reading them," Stevie answers, and Stacy nods in agreement with him.
"Okay. Care to help me out, Dave?" Kurt says lowly as he picks up Stevie and places him on his hip, watching Dave do the same with Stacy. They are nearly too old to be carried, but that doesn't mean they mind it.
"Sure. What sort of story should we tell? A fairy tale?" Dave mumbles as he sets the young boy down in his bed, and Kurt does the same with Stacy in the twin bed across the room.
"Fairy tales are boring! Can we have a story about monsters instead?" Stevie contradicts as he snuggles under his covers.
"Ew, no! Monsters are scary. Let's have one with animals in it," Stacy replies.
Somehow, animals make Kurt think of sharp teeth, and teeth reminfds Kurt of… "Darn it! We forgot to have them brush their teeth!" he suddenly blurts. He turns to Stacy and Stevie. "How about you two go brush your teeth really well while David and I come up with a story you would both like?"
"Okay!" they say in unison, and burst from their beds, turning it into a race as they scamper down the short hall to the bathroom.
Kurt sighs and plops down onto Stacy's bed. Dave comes and sits beside him. "What sort of story can we make up that will please them both?"
"How about a Western? Everybody loves Westerns, even if they say they don't," Dave answers with a shrug. "We could have a cowboy in it and a cowgirl. Siblings. They can own horses and fight a bad guy, some bandit or thief or something, who comes after their horses. And we can make the two sound like them, so they feel like they're part of the story."
He states it like it's the most usual thing in the world to do, common sense. Kurt looks at Dave in amazement. "You know, I think you would make a good father, David," he says with a half-smile. "You're good with this kind of thing. The only creativity I possess is coming up with outfit combinations. But you… you're great with stuff when it comes to kids. You said you weren't, but you are. And that's surprisngly responsible of you."
"Oh, um… thanks," Dave mutters, embarrassed, and Kurt can see the boy's ears change color from lightly tan to bright red. It makes Kurt smile knowing that Dave doesn't take compliments well. It's an endearing quality.
The kids come stomping back in right then, both of them leaping into the boys' laps, Stacy in Dave's and Stevie in Kurt's.
"Do you have a good story for us?" Stacy says sweetly, looking up into Dave's face, her eyes flickering to Kurt's face for a few seconds.
"A great one," Kurt answers. He looks to Dave to start it, however. "One about a cowboy and a cowgirl, Stewey and Sally."
"Yeah," Dave grins, and the two teens start to move to place the kids in their proper beds, tucking them in as they both tell their story, alternating every other sentence or so.
Before they can get to the ending where the horses are saved (they were talking horses, which is why they were so valuable) and the bad guy (jokingly named William the Cleft Chin, to poke fun at their choir instructor) defeated, the small audience is fast asleep.
Quietly, Kurt motions for Dave to stop talking. They both creep out of the room, step by step, turning off the last of the lights (aside from the night-light, of course) as they go.
Kurt shuts the door behind them, and then he and Dave walk out into the family room together.
Dave checks his watch. "We have about twenty minutes before Sam should be home. What do you want to do 'til then?"
"Talk, I suppose? But mutedly, since they're asleep," Kurt whispers in response. He seats himself on the couch, and pretends not to take note of how closely Dave chooses to sit beside him. He begins, "So, um… I had a lot of fun tonight."
"I thought this wasn't a date?" Dave jokingly says back, but his heart isn't in the comment. Part of him wishes this could have been a date, even an unofficial one, and not merely a "job." He doesn't want to be Out, he doesn't want to be in a relationship (he's nowhere near ready for one with a guy), but he does like Kurt, and he can't deny that.
Kurt laughs, but his laugh is just as hollow in heart as Dave's tone. "I meant babysitting with you, Dave. Because, yes, this isn't a date."
"I know. I was just joshin' ya." He exhales softly through his nose a she looks away. "Say, Kurt?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you… happy with Slickhead– I mean, Blaine?" Dave wants to know, his tone genuinely curiosity.
Kurt frowns a little. "Yes, of course I am. Why… Why do you ask?" he says carefully, a tad breathlessly. His eyes search Dave's profile, and he wishes the larger boy would look his way so he could see what storm is brewing behind those intense hazel eyes.
The jock doesn't say anything at first. Then, softly, he murmurs, "No reason. I just… I'm happy for you, Kurt. You've been through enough painful junk to more than earn some happiness with somebody like you." And Kurt is startled, startled enough to lean in slightly, lips parting. He's about to respond when Dave abruptly turns his head and smiles, making Kurt jerk backward with a fleeting thought of how much more attractive Dave is when he actually, truly smiles. "Hey, want to play a game to kill the time?"
"Uh… Sure. Yes. What game?" Kurt blinks, snapping back to himself and his proper line of thought as he straightens himself in his seat and folds his hands in his lap.
Dave points to himself with his thumb. "I'm going to say something stupid I've done as a kid, and then you'll tell me something silly you've done, back and forth, trying to beat the other person with whatever goofy, childish thing we've done. How 'bout it?"
"How uncommonly social of you," Kurt replies with a grin tugging at one half of his mouth, then the other. He can tell that he's probably the only person Dave ever opens up to like this. He nods. "But I'll play along. Shoot."
"Okay. So, when I was a kid, I once broke one of my mother's vases because I tried doing one of my dad's Tae Bo tapes, and I knocked the table it was on, and it fell. I never did Tae Bo again." He grunts and shakes his head at himself. "Seriously, it was so dumb. Feel free to laugh." He pauses, looks over at Kurt. "Now it's your turn."
Kurt laughs lightly, mainly for the comment about it being okay to laugh. He says after a long breath of air out his mouth to calm his giggles, "Well, when I was very young, I would always try to walk around in my mother's heels. I though they were so pretty, but of course they were both too big for me and not meant for me in general, so I fell over a lot. I never boke anything, but I was the one who definitely got bruises." He grins. "This is nice. And it's your turn again."
"I used to play in the mud. A lot. To the point where my mother told me that if I ruined one more pair of clothes, that she would force me to play in the mud naked. …So I did. I was about three and four years old, mind you, but… still. She took pictures."
Kurt laughs fully this time, falling back onto the couch. When he returns to himself, able to speak again, he says with a grin, "I would always try to catch the fish that my dad brought home in buckets after fishing. One of them bit me once, so… I punched it in the face. Naturally, my tender little hand got hurt more than the fish."
It's Dave's turn to chuckle. He searches his brain for a good one. "Oh! I totally ran into the mailbox on my bike once. I saw it coming, but I was still new to a bike without training wheels, so I couldn't figure out how to dodge it properly, and I momentarily forgot to pedal backwards to brake, so… I collided in a T with the mailbox since I tried to turn sideways to evade it. I broke a rib. But the stupid part? I was ten. I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was ten, because I was too afraid of getting hurt. And look where that got me."
"Aw, poor Davey," Kurt teases, but he means it just a little bit. Sighing, he raises a hand. "I can top that, though. Once, when I was eleven, I kissed a frog to see if I could make it turn into a prince. What eleven-year-old is that foolish or fantasical? Me. And you know what? I didn't get a prince out of the deal, just slimy lips."
Dave chuckles again, leaning forward, head bent. When his head tosses back again, he looks at Kurt with sincere fondness, like Kurt himself makes Dave happier than the humor of Kurt's story itself. Agaian, Kurt finds himself with a whorling head over being at the receiving end of that gaze. Dave utters gently, "You were jipped. You shouldda gotten a prince, Kurt. But hey, you have one now, right? Blaine the Pretty Boy. You two are great together."
"Jealous, Karofsky?" Kurt says, but he's only teasing again. He seems to do that a lot with Dave, and vice-versa.
"Nah. I said I was happy for you, and I am. I'm only jealous in the sense that I want to be Out like you guys, but I can't be."
Kurt leans in again, his face showing real concern. "…Why not?"
Dave simply smiles, but it isn't his normal smile; this is a cover-up smile for something that aches him inside. Kurt knows that smile well; he uses it himself from time to time. "That's not part of the game, Fancy."
And before Kurt can say anything more, there's the sound of keys in the lock, and Sam's suddenly there, a few yards away from them. "Hey, guys!" he says at a minimum volume. "Are the animals at rest?"
"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lions sleep tonight…" Kurt half-sings, standing up and gathering up his jacket and keys. "But yes, they are. And actually, they're cowfolk. They'll tell you about it in the morning. In the meantime, goodnight, Sam. We'll see you at school."
"Thanks again for doing this, guys," Sam says, giving Dave a bro-hug before giving one to Kurt as well. "And you kept everything clean, too. You're the best."
"'S nothin', Sam. Anything to help out a pal in need, right?" Dave says warmly. He smiles briefly, slides into his coat, and gets on his shoes. "See you on Monday, man. Hope your date was good." And with a nod, he starts to leave.
"I hope it was, too," Kurt says, lingering, but not before his eyes follow David out of sight. When the refocus on Sam, Sam is dreamy-eyed himself.
"It was amazing. Mercedes is amazing. She kept making jokes about the other people in the theatre before the movie began, and one of her jokes ended up being true! We laughed about it all the way home, haha. And at dinner – um. You know what? I'll let her fill you in on the details, since you two are inseparable. But right now, I really need to go to bed. I'm wiped. Thanks again."
"Sure, anytime. You have a good night, Sam." Kurt responds, smiling gently, before taking his leave as well.
Outside of the apartment complex, Dave is fumbling with his keys outside of his car, as if stalling. Kurt grins a little to himself before stepping over to where Dave stands, since his own car is parked one spot away.
"Want to do this again? I'm sure Sam will need us to, and we make a good team," Kurt remarks casually.
Dave seems to jump in his skin before looking over at Kurt, a slow smile making its way onto his lips. "Yeah, of course. And we can finish our game. I want to beat you with my stupidity."
Kurt laughs a bit. "Totally possible. Let's do it." He pauses, an awkward silence befalling them before Kurt chooses to break it. His voice is soft as he says, "Goodnight, David."
"Oh, uh… g'night, Kurt. S-see you… later," he mumbles, and then slips into his car.
Kurt nods, waves a little, and then goes to his own vehicle, the stars above oddly clear, the wind a little warmer than it was, and the moon shining brightly. Utter peace, he realizes idly as he starts his car. There is… peace, somehow.