"Be careful, sweet pea!"
Their little girl was seated at the kitchen table brandishing a pumpkin carving tool, anxious and eager to begin her masterpiece of a pumpkin that evening.
"Remember how we told you Daddy and I are doing the grown-up part?" Kurt came over to the table and slipped an old tshirt of Blaine's over Elizabeth's torso to protect her outfit from some the inevitable pumpkin chunks that she would come in contact with. Kurt couldn't help the laughter that came after seeing his little girl in Blaine's tshirt, fitting her like a dress and slipping off her tiny shoulders.
"Yes, Papa," she said, placing the knife down as Kurt pulled her brown hair out of her face into a pony-tail.
"But you get to draw whatever face you want!" Blaine said, hoisting her younger brother Andrew on his hip and handing her a marker.
"Punkin!" Andrew said, pointing at his big sister.
"That's right, baby!" Blaine cooed, blowing a raspberry into his cheek causing him to shriek with laughter.
"Does Drew get to do a pumpkin, too?" Elizabeth asked, as she uncapped her marker and got to work.
"Of course! But Drew is a bit young to carve a face, so we have some paint for him to play with." Blaine caught another old shirt that Kurt threw to him and he slipped it over Drew so that he was in a cocoon of fabric. If he wasn't already going to be Pascal to Elizabeth's Rapunzel, he would make a good caterpillar.
Elizabeth nodded and started working on her pumpkin once she knew that Andrew wouldn't feel left out. She loved attention like Auntie Rachel, but she also knew to include other people whenever she could. She tilted her head to the side, sticking her tongue out in a very Kurt-like manner as she drew two lopsided circles and a giant, toothy smile on her pumpkin.
"Beautiful, sweet pea." Kurt said as he took her pumpkin to cut the top off so they could gut it.
Meanwhile, Blaine was helping Andrew with the paint, sticking his fingers in the multicolored paper plates and giving him his smaller pumpkin to play with. "Cold!" Andrew said, mushing the paint between his fingers.
"Let's see, how many fingers does Drew have?" Blaine took Andrew's right hand and pressed each of his fingers on one of his hands to the pumpkin, making blue streaks down the sides. "Five!"
Kurt had just finished wedging the top of the pumpkin off, and Elizabeth peered inside. "Whoa!" She said, utterly amazed that something would have that many seeds.
"See all of that in there? You gotta get it all out before Papa can carve that for you, okay?"
She giggled as she reached inside and pulled out the seeds in little fistfuls at a time and plopping them in a pile on the newspaper covered table. "Eeeeew," she said reaching to touch Kurt's face laughing.
"Hey now, you little stinker!" Kurt said, reaching to tickle her ribs.
"That's what you get for smudging up Papa!" Blaine said, laughing as he booped her on the nose.
Drew clapped his red and blue hands together, effectively making purple as he laughed as his sister and parents giggled with each other.
"Drew, wanna put a handprint on your pumpkin?" Blaine asked, holding up his hand.
"Punkin!" Andrew shouted again pointing at the pumpkin in front of him.
"Alright mister, give me your hand." Blaine took one of his purpled hands and pressed it delicately to the side of the pumpkin, bringing it away afterwards and saying "Whooaa look, buddy!"
"Ahh!" he squeaked and smiled.
"An artist in the making," Kurt remarked, kissing the top of his wild hair and then turning back to Elizabeth. "How's it coming, sweetie?"
"There's a lot of guts," she stated matter-of-factly and nodding.
"Would you like Papa to help?" Kurt brought out his secret pumpkin carving weapon just then, a giant spatula, so he could scrape the sides of the inside. Elizabeth would be here for hours if she had to gut the entire pumpkin with her small hands.
Kurt got to work and scraped out scoop after scoop of seeds, growing the pile on the table to both of his children's amazement.
"Do you want to help me get that last handful, Lizzie? Right in the bottom there, can you get that out?" Kurt lifted Elizabeth up so she could more effectively see inside and pull out the last bit that he was referring to, still allowing her to be independent. "Excellent."
"Can you cut up the pumpkin now, Papa?"
"I sure can Lizzie." Kurt brandished the carving knife and started to follow the guidelines Elizabeth left him.
"My pumpkin is gonna be so amazin, Daddy," she said, running over to Blaine to look at Andrew's pumpkin.
"It sure is, Lizzie! We'll have to put it on the porch for everyone to see. Drew's too! He's going for a tie dye smudgy effect, I think. Aren't ya buddy?"
Andrew was currently hitting the pumpkin with his paint splattered hands, giggling at the smacking sound it made.
"Good job, Drew," Elizabeth said.
"All done, Lizzie! Anything else you want to add?" Kurt asked, wiping his hands on a nearby roll of paper towel.
She ran over to her pumpkin and gasped, bringing her hand to her heart dramatically. "Papa! I forgot to add ears! How will he hear?!"
Kurt dramatically gasped as well. "Oh dear, honey!" He ran and gave her the marker once more, smiling at Blaine over her head at how much like Auntie Rachel she was. Kurt carved out her crescent shaped ears as requested.
"Better?" Blaine asked.
"Yes! Look Daddy!" She tried to spin the pumpkin around so Blaine and Andrew could see, but it was a little too heavy for her so Kurt had to help.
"Wooowww look at that. Wonderful job Lizzie! I think this calls for kisses. Get over here, munchkin."
Blaine gave Kurt Andrew so he could get cleaned up in the sink. He knelt on the floor and Elizabeth threw her arms around his neck as he peppered her face with sloppy kisses.
"Ahh! Daddy!"
"You don't like my kisses? Guess I'll just have to keep kissing you then? MUAH MUAH MUAH!" She laughed louder and louder as Andrew pointed at her from his perch on the countertop as Kurt wiped his hands and face shouting "Lizzie!"
"What are your sister and daddy doing, huh? I'm wondering the same thing bud," Kurt said, drying his hands and face as he squirmed.
"I'm just loving my favorite daughter in the whole wide world, that's all. Now, go wash up for bed and Daddy and I will come read you a story, okay? It's past your bedtime, sweet pea."
Elizabeth nodded, knowing that arguing for more time would never work because it was already thirty minutes past her normal bedtime. She ran to her room, hiking her oversized shirt up as she ran so she wouldn't trip. It was a funny sight.
"I'll go put Drew down if you wanna go help her brush her teeth," Kurt said to Blaine.
"I first need some kisses from my husband before I can do that."
"I suppose I can oblige," Kurt said, planting a loud kiss on Blaine's mouth as he shifted Andrew to his hip.
"DADDIES! STOP MAKING OUT AND READ ME A STORY!"
Kurt and Blaine looked at each other, surprised, and trying not to laugh. "How about a 'please,' Lizzie? And we'll be there in a minute!" Kurt shouted back at her. They heard a squeak of a please from the hallway, and Kurt picked up Andrew from the countertop.
"Where on earth did she learn that phrase?" Blaine asked.
"I'll bet Sam or Uncle Cooper told her that one," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "But is it a bad thing that our kids know we love each other?"
"Nope. Definitely not. Right Drew?"
Andrew brought his little hand to his mouth and took it away as if he was blowing a kiss. "Look at how smart you are!" Blaine cooed, kissing his cheek.
After Andrew was tucked in and Elizabeth's story was read - Big Pumpkin - with Kurt and Blaine obviously doing the voices as they read through, Kurt and Blaine retired to their own bedroom, exhausted from their day of work and Halloween festivities.
"Want to watch Nightmare Before Christmas?" Kurt asked, as Blaine settled in his arms.
"Sure."
As the first song played, Blaine looked up at Kurt and said, "I love Halloween."
"Me too."
"But I love our family and our life more. And life singular. Our life. Together."
"Indeed."
They shared a smile and one final kiss before settling to watch the movie only to fall asleep halfway through. It was a good life indeed.