Chapter Summary: Blaine is not surprised when his daughter asks for the bedtime story Sebastian usually tells her. The problem is he doesn't know it.

Notes: A significant portion of this work will be told as a bedtime story (hence the title). It will be in italics.

Warning(?): This is Sebastian's story and he is not nice/down-right mean to most (but not all) of McKinley's canon characters.

There were two things in this world for which Alexandra Anderson-Smythe would not compromise …bedtime stories and the wardrobe that went with them. If it was Daddy's turn, she must wear superhero pajamas because he tells her The Adventures of Nightbird and the Blond Chameleon. If it was Papa's turn, she must wear a princess nightgown to hear The Adventures of Lord Sebbington. For everything else, she was probably the most easy-going 4 year-old you would ever meet.

Then one day Daddy and Papa sat her down and said the three of them were moving from New York to a place called Los Angeles. Papa was going to be on a tv show watching people dance to win money. Daddy was going to be on a tv show about a teacher who gets kids who people call "Losers" to sing together. For some reason Aunty Tana thought that was the funniest thing ever.

At first, everything was totally awesome. They were going to live on the beach. Daddy would be home every night, not just Mondays. Papa's knee would feel better because he'd be watching people dance and not have to really dance. Aunty Tana, Aunty Brittany and baby Josh were moving to Los Angeles too. However, her favorite part was now she would get to see Uncle Cooper and Uncle Sammy all the time. So, like she said, totally awesome.

That's when they snuck in the not totally awesome part.

Papa was leaving 2 months (100 years in 4 year-old time) before her and Daddy. He had to go to a whole lot of different cities to find the dancers to be on his tv show. Or like Uncle Cooper said, tell them how much they sucked and not let them be on his tv show.

Daddy still had to work in Oz and kiss his green girlfriend (which was still really confusing because she thought Daddy and Papa only liked to kiss boys) for 3 more weeks. Grammy Pammy was coming to New York to help Daddy until they moved, and she loved her Grammy Pammy, but…

SHE'S THE WORST STORYTELLER EVER!

So, before Papa left they came up with a plan. On Mondays, she would still wear superhero pajamas and Daddy would still tell her The Adventures of Nightbird and the Blond Chameleon. All the other nights she would wear her new just pick nightgown and Grammy Pammy read her stories from the books she brought with her from Ohio.

The plan went well…the first week.

"Uh, Sweetie? Why are you wearing your Sleeping Beauty nightgown?" Blaine asked the following Monday. To be honest, he was kind of surprised this hadn't happened sooner. "You and Papa packed it in your suitcase before he left."

"Duh" was her response, along with her signature eye roll. Alexandra may have been Blaine's biological child and inherited his puppy-dog eyes, but by the age of 3 she had mastered Sebastian's eye roll and smirk (as well as a lethal combination of the two). She didn't bring them out often but when she did there was no denying she was Sebastian's child. "But Grammy Pammy put all my other princess nighties in boxes and I want to hear Lord Sebbington."

"Then why didn't you ask Papa to tell you Lord Sebbington when we were Skyping with him before dinner?"

"Daaadddyyy, it wasn't bed time."

Blaine began to rub his temple to try and prevent the headache he felt coming on. He was too tired for this. "Of course, it wasn't. Silly me, I don't know what I was thinking. I'll tell you Lord Sebbington, but only tonight. After this you have to wait until we see Papa in 2 weeks or ask him at Skype time, no matter what time it is."

"Yay!" Alexandra cheered as she kicked off her slippers and lifted her arms to be picked up. When Sebastian hurt his knee and couldn't get down on the floor to sit next to Alexandra's toddler bed, he moved story time to his and Blaine's bed. Even though Sebastian was gone, Blaine decided it would be easier for everyone if this was something they dealt with in LA.

And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact Alexandra cried for Papa for an hour when he tried to move story time back to her bed.

Once she was tucked in, both daddy and daughter heard a fake cough coming from the doorway. Grammy Pammy walked in with a beautifully wrapped gift in her hands. "I hate to interrupt but I was asked by Lord Sebbington himself to bring this." She sat the gift down in front of Alexandra who had it open in less than a minute. Inside was a large leather-bound book with the title written in gold.

"It's just like the book on the fairy tale show" Alexandra whispered in awe as she gently slid her fingers across the leather. "It's so pretty."

Blaine took the book out of the box. When he opened it, he found a title page with an illustration of Sebastian wearing a full suit of armor. Apparently, his husband had some help in putting this together.

The Adventures of Lord Sebbington, Knight Protector of Dalton Castle…Volume I
Story by Sebastian Anderson-Smythe
Illustrations by Sam Evans

This book is dedicated to Alexandra Samantha Anderson-Smythe
Always believe in fairy tales, Princess
My life with you and Daddy proves they come true

"Sweetheart? Are you ok?" Pam asked her son since he hadn't said anything.

"I can't believe Seb did all of this. How did you know…" Blaine gazed up from the book and saw two guilty faces staring back at him. "I've been set up, haven't I?"

"Remember when you and Alex were Skyping with Sebastian but you had to take a call? He told her to get the nightgown out of the suitcase and asked me to give you the box he had hidden in my room."

"I knew there was a box but Papa didn't tell me what it was" Alexandra added, beaming with pride over her role in Sebastian's plan…and ability to keep a secret for once.

"Why don't you scooch over so we can look at the pictures Uncle Sammy drew as I read the story?" Alexandra did just that and Blaine moved next to her with his back against the headboard. "Mom, there's room for one more."

"No, this is Daddy/Daughter time but I'd like to see the book later."

When she was gone, Blaine smiled down at the little girl snuggled into his side "I'm glad Papa had the book made because I don't know the story of Lord Sebbington."

"Yes, you do, Daddy. It's the story of how you and Papa met."

"This will be interesting" Blaine said under his breath as he turned to the first page "Once Upon A Time…"

Once upon a time the charming, smart, brave, amazingly agile and dashingly handsome Lord Sebbington of Paris was visited by Wesley the Wise, trusted advisor to King Cooper of Westerville. His brother, Prince Blaine, had been kidnapped from his castle in Dalton by Rachel, the Evil Drama Queen of Lima.

Queen Rachel had become jealous of Prince Blaine when she heard he was the best singer in all the realms. Her henchmen sent a spy, Hummel, to Dalton Castle where he tricked Prince Blaine into going back to Lima with him. Now, he was being kept at McKinley Castle where he remained under Hummel's spell and was forced to sing duets with Queen Rachel since she believed he was the only one who could keep up with her vocally.

As Blaine turned the page, he took a deep breath to prevent himself from laughing. Sebastian clearly went to Santana to help with Kurt and Rachel's characters and then he pretty blatantly plagiarized Snow White. It was going to take all of his acting abilities to read the rest of the story with a straight face and without comment.

Lord Sebbington felt badly for the prince, but royalty was often kidnapped by persons from other kingdoms. What was so special about this prince that Wesley had come all the way to Paris to recruit him? Didn't Prince Blaine already have knights of his own?

Wesley explained the Knights protecting Prince Blaine, the Warblers, didn't realize until too late Hummel had tricked them and was indeed a spy. More than that, in his true form, Hummel was a magical dragon with a secret weapon. Not only did he spit out fire like other dragons, he could make a high pitched noise so terrible anyone who came near suffered terrible ear pain. Despite what the Warblers discovered, King Cooper was angry they didn't protect his brother. He was prepared to offer Lord Sebbington the new position of Caption of the Warblers. The King had heard great tales of Lord Sebbington's abilities to devise ingenious plans as well as plow through men with his trusty sword. Some men even told stories of how they believed his sword to be enchanted.

Lord Sebbington seemed unconvinced so Wesley reached into his bag and pulled out a cloth. As he unfolded it, Lord Sebbington heard the most beautiful voice singing the most beautiful song he had ever heard.

I walked along an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

After the cloth was finally spread out, Lord Sebbington not only heard the most beautiful music he had ever heard, he saw Prince Blaine…the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He instantly fell in love and agreed to go back to Westerville. Wes pulled out a scroll proclaiming him Lord Sebbington of Paris, Captain of the Warblers…Knight Protector of King Cooper, the House of Anderson, Dalton Castle and the Kingdom of Westerville. The scroll included a list of all the riches Lord Sebbington would receive but he wanted only one thing in repayment for his services…

Prince Blaine's hand in marriage.

When Lord Sebbington arrived at Dalton Castle, he did not receive the warmest welcome. The Warblers were understandably wary of strangers, even one with a scroll from the King. They had been tricked before. After word came from Wesley that Lord Sebbington was who he claimed to be, the Warblers opened up and revealed all the information they had been able to gather.

The hold Queen Rachel and Hummel had on Prince Blaine remained strong but the New Directions, McKinley Castle's poor attempt at the Warblers, had begun to fracture. A Lady Santana and a Lady Mercedes had managed to leave the group but had been pulled back in…and neither by choice. Lady Santana's unicorn, Brittany, had had her magic stolen and was unable to leave with her. Lady Santana loved Brittany too much and went back. Lady Mercedes left to find her love, Sam. Queen Rachel had her Head Henchman, Hudson, send him away as a punishment to Lady Mercedes for saying she was as good a singer as Queen Rachel. Sam was brought back and Lady Mercedes followed. The Warblers believed the key to Prince Blaine's rescue was Sam. He was being held with Prince Blaine and was obviously not loyal to Queen Rachel.

The information Lord Sebbington found the most useful was McKinley Castle was holding a festival that evening. Prince Blaine and Queen Rachel were leads so they would be easy to find and because of the crowds, Hummel would be unable to change into his dragon form. The Warblers would have to disguise themselves as common villagers from Lima but it would be their best chance to rescue Prince Blaine. Lord Sebbington was still worried about Hummel, so he assigned Warbler Nick and Warbler Jeff to find some sort of undetectable ear protection which would render Hummel's high-pitched screeches useless.

Just in case they couldn't find anything, Lord Sebbington told everyone he would make a potion he knew could temporally turn dragons to stone. It only lasted for a few minutes but that should be enough. The biggest problem was someone would have to get close enough to Hummel to throw the potion on his clothes. It was the only way the potion worked.

Getting into McKinley Castle had been easier than they thought. Once the ear protection had been passed out, the Warblers separated to find the best way to get Prince Blaine out of there. They would meet in the auditorium 10 minutes before the festival's main performance began and devise a plan. Lord Sebbington and Warbler Thad snuck around to the back of the performance stage where they saw Prince Blaine warming up.

There's a place for us
Somewhere a place for us
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere

"You shouldn't be back here." Both Lord Sebbington and Warbler Thad had been so mesmerized by Prince Blaine's voice that they had failed to see the tall blond man, dressed as a court jester, come up from behind.

"Sorry" Warbler Thad said quickly but before the two of them could leave, the jester stopped them.

"No, you shouldn't be…" he stopped to point around "here. You're Warblers aren't you? Friends of Blaine? Someone could see you."

"Sam?"

Sam nodded and then motioned for them to follow him. They wound up behind the bleachers used to watch jousting. "We should be safe here. Now, answer my question. Why are you here?"

Lord Sebbington didn't know why but he felt he could trust Sam. "Yes, we are Warblers but Prince Blaine doesn't know me. King Cooper brought me to Westerville to help rescue his brother and bring him back to Dalton Castle."

"So, the King really does still love Blaine?"

"Of course, he does" Warbler Thad snapped. "And his name is Prince Blaine."

"Not here, it's not. He's just Blaine…shhhh." Sam had quieted them as he heard Head Henchman Hudson and his top lieutenant Puckerman walk by. Once they were gone "And Hummel has Bl…Prince Blaine convinced his brother no longer cares for him and sent him away. I think his plan is to one day help them to reconcile, be seen as the hero and gain favor with the King."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Lord Sebbington turned to see who assumed was Hummel, backed up by Hudson and Puckerman. They must have heard them talking with Sam. He gave a quick glance to Warbler Thad who seemed to understand what Lord Sebbington planned to do.

They had to protect Sam. Prince Blaine's rescue would have to wait.

"I am Lord Sebbington of Paris. I have come on behalf of King Cooper of Westerville to give a message to his brother Prince Blaine. I found this good fellow, Sam, and he was having me wait here until after Prince Blaine's performance as to not interrupt the festival."

"There is no Prince Blaine here. We do have a Blaine but I know for a fact he wants nothing to do with his egomaniac brother. So, tell me what you're really doing here and I would word my answer carefully considering there is a Warbler next to you. Hi, Thad."

"Now!" Lord Sebbington yelled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the potion. He never saw Prince Blaine jump in front of Hummel. He did see him fall to the ground…screaming in pain. Thad yelled at him to run away but he grabbed Sam first "This wasn't supposed to happen. It was meant for Hummel. You have to believe me. Come with me to Dalton Castle and let me explain."

"I can't but I will send someone. I promise."

Blaine stopped reading and questioned what his husband had been thinking. This was awfully intense for a 4 year-old, but when he looked down Alexandra was sleeping peacefully. He had forgotten she had heard the story before. Yeah, he and Sebastian needed to talk.

He closed the book and stretched before getting up to check on his mother. She had gone to her room and it looked like she had shut down the rest of the apartment before turning in. He checked the time but it was only 8PM...5PM in Portland, Oregon, where Sebastian was. It was too early to call him.

Blaine had to admit he was at a loss for what to do next. He moved Alexandra to her bed, texted Sam about his illustrations, texted Sebastian about calling him when he got the chance and texted Santana that they would discuss her contributions tomorrow. Also, to give Britt and baby Josh a kiss for him.

8:45PM

He went back to his room after deciding to take a shower and saw the book on his night table. It started calling out to him…Read me. You know you want to. I won't tell Alexandra you read ahead. She already knows my story anyway. Come on. You know you want to.

"Oh, what the hell. Maybe there's more about Lord Sebbington's enchanted sword in the next part."

TBC

Notes:

The fairy tale tv show Alexandra mentions is Once Upon A Time.

Somewhere (West Side Story): Bernstein, Leonard; Sondheim, Stephen 1957

As always, thank you for reading.