"Daddy!" The little girl ran up and jumped into Blaine's arms, kissing his cheek."Why are you picking me up today? Where's dad?" The six year old studied his face, uncertainty in her eyes, not used to this change in routine.
Blaine kept the smile on his face, trying not to let the comment hurt him, he knew she didn't mean it rudely. "I got off work early and wanted to surprise you princess!" He explained cheerily, excited to get home and actually relax for a change. "How was school?"
On the ride home his daughter, Payton, rambled on about what happened at school that day. She certainly got that from him even though she was Kurt's biological daughter. He continued to listen intently, responding when needed. Glancing at her through his mirror, he smiled at how adorable she was, her long chestnut brown hair swinging around in its pigtails as she spoke animatedly. He really wanted to be in her life more, he felt as though he's missed so much already. Things really needed to change.
Kurt glanced up to the sound of the door, his grip around the knife tightening. "Dad!" At the sound of his daughter's voice he set it down on the counter and let out the breath he was holding, feeling more at peace. As Payton entered the kitchen he opened his arms and scooped her up, kissing her cheek. "Daddy picked me up today!" She informed with a wide smile, wrapping her arms around her dad's neck as he held her, relaxing in his hold. Kurt pressed another kiss to her cheek and set her down, fixing her hair before she could walk away. He was shocked it stayed in as good condition as it was.
"He did? That's great sweetie. Where is daddy?" His fake nice was on, but she couldn't tell the difference, at least not that he was aware of. This past year has been rough and the love just wasn't there for Kurt like it used to be. He was tired. Emotionally, mentally, and physically tired. He gave up trying a while ago, nothing was getting Blaine's attention anymore because most of it was at work, it was useless. He was too busy with the kids to worry about it though, with a daughter and a deaf son, life was pretty hectic.
Blaine looked up at hearing his second name, a small smile on his face. "Hi Kurt. How was your day?" He asked softly, his eyes shining. They barely see each other, it hurts him, but he wants to work hard to make life for his family worth while, their happiness and comfort was Blaine's top priority. "It was okay. Yours?" Kurt wondered, leaning against the counter, his arms crossed awkwardly. Having conversation with Blaine was slightly rare these days, especially in person. "It was alright. Where's Everett?"
Four year old Everett was Blaine's biological son, he was the spitting image of him. When he was three, Kurt and Blaine weren't getting many responses from their son when they called his name or asked a question, with much worry they took him to the doctors to discover that he had lost his hearing and was in fact diagnosed as deaf. Many American sign language classes later they are now able to communicate with him easily, the only hard part was to help him learn it.
"He's taking a nap, I checked on him about a half hour ago and he was out like a light." Kurt explained, suddenly finding his nails extremely interesting as the tension in the air was suffocating him. Being like this was out of their element and they both knew that, Blaine usually wasn't home until ten at night, joining Kurt in bed later around eleven when he would already be asleep. The only interaction they had was in the morning when Kurt was making coffee and over text message to check what's for dinner and to pass on any news about the kids. It was almost as if they were roommates with kids instead of husbands. It felt unnatural.
Blaine nodded, staring at the floor in a daze. He bit his lip, looking up to Kurt with his eyes glassy, as if he was about to cry. "I really miss you." He whispered, peeking up from his eyelashes to see Kurt snap his head up, eyes wide in surprise. Now that Blaine thinks about it he could barely remember the last time they said 'I love you' and that's what hurt him the most. "I miss you too." Kurt breathed out, a small smile tugging at his lips. Even though he claims not feeling much love for the man before him Kurt faltered sometimes, at moments like these when he looked into those gorgeous puppy eyes. His heart skipped a beat at the phrase, loving this change in routine for once. He noticed that it was only four, making this moment even more real. "I meant to ask.. What are you doing home so early?"
"I just um... finished up some things, decided to see my daughter, son and husband. Its been awhile since I've actually been able to spend time with you guys. I miss that." Blaine explained, rambling nervously. He didn't want to admit defeat to the fight he and Kurt had a few weeks ago, even though he knew that Kurt knew he clearly won. Blaine was completely in the wrong.
Kurt sat up as he heard the bedroom door shut quietly, watching as Blaine turned slowly. "Oh, you're awake. Hi." He mumbled softly, loosening his tie and stepping out of his shoes. After a long talk with Rachel and even his dad, Kurt was over this coming home late thing, he wanted his husband back. "Blaine. I'm tired." Kurt practically whined, biting his lip.
Blaine's eyebrows pulled together as he turned to look at Kurt, confused. "So go to sleep baby, I'll be there in a few minutes." He stepped into their closet, hearing footsteps coming closer.
"No, not that tired. I'm tired of you coming home late and never seeing me and never seeing your kids. I'm tired of being alone all day with Everett, basically raising him on my own and working my ass off to help him with learning sign language." Kurt let out in one breath, frustrated, sad, and lonely all in one. It was sad that they went from blissfully married to crumpling in a matter of a year.
The look on Blaine's face was expressionless, the sole reason being that he didn't know what he was feeling right now. He wanted to be angry because he was working his ass off, sad because Kurt is alone and barely sees him, and disappointed because he felt as though he was a horrible dad. That was the last two things he ever wanted to be. A bad husband and dad. "I..." He pursed his lips, getting his thoughts together before opening his mouth again. He decided to be angry first. See where that takes him. "Listen Kurt, I totally understand where you're coming from but I am working my ass off for this family to live comfortably in this beautiful home, in this beautiful city and I'll be damned if you stand there and get pissed off at me for it."
Kurt crossed his arms defensively, raising an eyebrow. "I am completely aware that you work hard but don't punish you're kids. They ask for you everyday Blaine, wondering when you'll be home, hoping you can tuck them in! I hate seeing them upset because you aren't there! That's not fair to them!" Pulling the kids card was bound to work. He probably shouldn't be pulling them into this but he didn't really have a choice so it seemed.
"Don't put them in the middle of this! I love them, you know I do, with all my heart and I would kill to be with them every second of the day but we made our decision. You agreed and offered to be the stay at home dad while I took the job at the record company, agreeing to work and be supportive." Blaine argued, not wanting the kids to be talked about, they had no part in this whats so ever, this was between him and Kurt.
"What are you trying to say, that I'm not supportive or something?" Kurt raised his voice, feeling more hurt than angered. He wish they wouldn't fight about this but he supposed it was bound to happen. "The last time I checked I make you coffee in the morning, your lunch, the kids lunches, working with Everett on his signing, drop off and pick up Payton from school, make dinner, and help with homework. So if that's not support either than I guess I'm fucking useless around here right? Compared to you I'm just not doing anything to hold my weight am I, all because I don't pay any bills." Kurt was yelling by the end, tears streaming down his cheeks as Blaine stared at him, shocked by what was happening. This has never happened to them before. "Something has got to give here Blaine! I need to feel something again because I'm just feeling empty. The only thing holding me together are those two beautiful children. I know you love them, but my God at least work a little bit harder to be around for them. They are going to grow up before you know it and they will resent you for never being there."
Blaine stayed silent, Kurt walking away as he wiped furiously at the tears.
"Hello.. Blaine, you there?" Kurt wondered, waving a hand in front of his husbands face. His eyebrows pulled together in concentration, seeing the hurt in Blaine's eyes. In that moment Kurt knew exactly what he was thinking about, their fight from a few weeks ago. "I just... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I confronted you. That wasn't fair." He said quietly, looking at the floor shyly, feeling the need to apologize.
Blaine's head shot up, staring at the top of Kurt's head. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for... I'm sorry. I need to be home more. I need to be more of a dad. Most importantly I need to be a husband." Kurt's heart swelled. Maybe this would be easy, getting their marriage back on track and being a family again. He missed watching Disney movies with the kids, cuddled up against Blaine.
"I'm going to continue with preparing dinner." Kurt mumbled, not really knowing what to do with himself. He didn't want to fall back into Blaine's arms so quickly after a quick apology. "Why are we not going to talk about this?" Blaine asked, seeming a little annoyed which made Kurt's mood change in an instant. "What is there to talk about here Blaine? You can apologize all you want, what matters to me is that you keep your word."
That hit Blaine hard. He wasn't expecting that type of reaction from Kurt. Looking back on it now he has apologized a lot over the past year. Whenever he gets home past ten he says sorry to the kids as he kisses their foreheads and as soon as his head hits his own pillow, kissing the back of Kurt's neck. Blaine can't even remember the last time he's held his husband and it hurts.
Its been ten years since they've gotten married. They were twenty and in love and there is no regret, at least on Blaine's part, he doesn't regret marrying Kurt because he is the love of his life, he is convinced of that. When they were twenty four they mutually agreed to have their first child and that it would be Kurt's. After two years they decided to have another child that would be Blaine's and at twenty six they brought home Everett. Blaine was scared, not of having two kids because he believed that he was a great dad, but he was scared about their future, about giving them a comfortable, happy life. After finding out that Everett was deaf, Blaine, resulted in submersing himself in his work, getting a promotion, which in turn got him more money for his family, and in the midst of all of that, making cracks in his marriage that he will now do whatever it takes to fix.
Blaine left the kitchen without another word and went straight to his son's room, smiling at his sleeping form. He gently lifted his small body from the bed and took a seat, holding Everett against his chest, kissing the top of his head. "Hi daddy." He mumbled tiredly, his arms tightening around Blaine's torso. Blaine chuckled and rubbed his son's back soothingly, hoping he goes back to sleep. It hurts that if Blaine said anything Everett wouldn't hear him, that was the worst part about it, their son not being able to hear their voices. Blaine leaned his head back on the headboard and closed his eyes, his mind reeling with a million different thoughts, thinking of how his life needs to change, how his family's life needs to change.
Kurt called for Blaine but received no answer making him roll his eyes, he was obviously taking a nap. He knew that he was was finishing dinner. Kurt peeked into their bedroom with a glare just to see it empty, making is eyebrows pull together in confusion. Suddenly he remembered that Everett had been napping and quickly walked to his bedroom. The sight before literally made his heart skip a beat. This was the man he fell in love with. Blaine was sitting up in the bed his head tilted to the side, mouth open, as he held his son on his chest, arms wrapped around him as he was sleeping, snores coming from both of them. Biting his lip Kurt was about to go against waking them up, but decided against it. "Blaine, wake up." He said softly, almost letting babe, or baby escape his lips. They haven't said that to one another since God knows when. "Five more minutes baby." Blaine obviously didn't have a problem with it since he said it. "No Blaine. Now. It's dinner time." His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the darkness. Kurt smirked at how much his husband looked like a puppy, he loved that about him. He loved a lot of things about him.
Dinner was quiet. The kids picked at their food while Kurt and Blaine just stared at their plates, there was really nothing that needed to be said. "Daddy. Why are you home?" Payton was a very straight forward little girl. Blaine was convinced that she knew more than she let on. Kurt looked between his daughter and husband, wondering if someone was going to say something. "Pay, daddy's home because I miss you guys. I'm going to be home a lot more than before." Blaine explained with a soft smile, signing 'I love you' to Everett who signed it back with a huge smile on his face. "That's good. I heard dad talking to grandpa and he said that he missed you a lot. Right dad?" Kurt stared at his daughter and then looked to Blaine, who at the moment had a cocky smile on his face. Children have no filter. "Miss me, huh?" Blaine joked, his eyebrows raised playfully as he looked at his husband. Kurt nodded and giggled like a shy teenager. "Yeah.. I did."
After Kurt's last comment Blaine was quiet the rest of the dinner which was weird, they were just joking around like they used to, what could have gone wrong in a matter of ten seconds. The couple entered the room together so they could change for TV time before the kids had to go to bed. "So past tense. You did miss me." Blaine muttered the second the door closed. So that's what was bothering him. Kurt felt like a complete idiot. "No... No honey I didn't mean it like that I swear. I do miss you... Blaine. I always miss you." Kurt rambled, not wanting to lose the decent streak of happiness they were having today. Blaine studied Kurt's face for a second, seeing the panic and hurt in his eyes, noticing that he wasn't lying. "I'm.. Wow. I'm sorry. I'm overreacting. That was very assholish of me." Kurt shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "I probably would have had the same reaction if you said something like that. I didn't even catch that I had said it. Just know that I didn't mean it that way." Blaine nodded and smiled softly to his husband.
"Can I ask you an odd question?" Blaine stepped out of the closet in sweatpants and a v-neck, leaning against the doorway. Kurt looked up with a smile wearing a pair of sweats as well and an old Dalton sweatshirt of Blaine's. "Yeah, sure." Biting his lip Blaine stepped closer to wear Kurt was, his eyes scanning his face slowly with a goofy smirk. "Can I.. kiss you?" Their eyes met, an obvious spark there. Even though there were problems that spark was always there. "Yeah.. of course you can." Blaine stepped forward and took Kurt's face in his hands gently, pressing their lips together gently. Kurt's arms wrapped around his husband's neck, never wanting to let go. "I won't give up on us. I promise. I'll show you." Blaine whispered against Kurt's lips, kissing him once more before parting.
The song I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz inspired me to write this story. I've been toggling the idea for a few weeks now and finally got around to writing it! Please let me know what you think of this so far, I hope you like it! Thank you for reading! :)