Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters associated with the show.
Blaine settled into the wood of the bench, reaching down to check that Sebastian's leash was secured to the leg. Not that the dog was going to move anytime soon. Poor Sebastian was so tired from the very enthusiastic fetch session that he was just laying very happily in the fresh June air. Blaine chuckled as his canine companion made a sound that was reminiscent of a contented sigh.
Blaine smiled as he adjusted his glasses, scanning the playground for the amber poof of hair that he called his own. She was fairly easy to spot with her hair splayed about her head like a large frizzy halo and mocha skin glowing in the warm sun.
Currently, Joanna was standing at the top of one of the many slides, letting other children know when it was safe to slide down as to not cause a jam. Blaine grinned as Jo gave a thumbs up a small boy of about 4 and watched him gleefully whirl down the spiral slide.
"That's just like her", Blaine said to no one in particular, thinking of how his daughter was constantly making sure everyone was safe. Recently, she had come into the habit of politely reminding strangers to look both ways before crossing the street. Not that Joanna didn't know about "Stranger Danger" because Blaine frequently explained the danger of getting too close to strangers but her innocent prodding was just too cute. The father chuckled as he remembered just two weeks ago as his daughter politely tapped the 20-something women covered in tattoos & piercings with hair spiked in order to tell her to be careful and check both ways before crossing the street. The young woman smiled warmly and gave Jo an enthusiastic thumbs up before dramatically checking for cars.
It really did make Blaine proud that his little girl wasn't intimidated by the woman's appearance. Realistically, she just wanted to make sure everyone was safe in this crazy, crazy world. Blaine could picture his child as a doctor or a nurse, but seeing as how barely two months ago she wanted to be a pirate, who knew what the future held. Most of all, Blaine was just happy that his baby girl was happy. He watched her laugh at something beyond his ears, her head thrown back, mouth wide, a musical laugh reaching his ears over the cacophony of the play ground.
"She deserves to be happy," again, muttering to no one, his mind thinking back to just a few years ago. Joanna was pressed into his chest, sobbing loudly as Blaine just hugged her closer, smoothing her mass of curls to plant kisses to her head in an attempt to calm her.
Blaine sighed deeply as the clock quietly struck 8:30, marking an answer wrong on the music theory quiz in front of him. It was still pretty early, Joanna having just gone to bed, but Blaine was just tired. Joanna had been acting out in preschool lately and Blaine had to meet with her teacher with a later talk with Jo about not hitting people if they said something mean. He moved to grade the next quiz when he heard a soft "Daddy" from the living room. Blaine pushed his chair back, looking to see his daughter in the hall, clutching her stuffed giraffe, her face stained with tears. Blaine quickly moved to her, kneeling to her level, stroking her hair back.
"What's wrong, Q?" he whispered.
Joanna lurched into his arms, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck wailing, "Why doesn't Mama love me anymore?"
Blaine's heart dropped as he scooped up his daughter, holding her close. "Aww sweetheart, don't say that. Why do you think that?"
Joanna hiccuped and slowly sputtered, "Sh-sh-she doesn't wa-wa-wanna b-b-be my mommy anymore. Sh-she left me."
Blaine swallowed hard, picking up her small form, cradling her close as he walked to the big arm chair in the living room, settling comfortably with Joanna in his lap. He hugged her close as she sobbed, placing kisses to her head.
"That's not true, babygirl. Your mommy loves you very much. She just can't be your mama right now but she wants to be very much. So she is trying to get better so she can be the best mama to you."
Joanna's cries subsided as she held tighter to her father. Blaine closed his eyes, burying his head into her soft golden curls knowing that out of utter desperation, he just lied to his daughter.
Her "mother" didn't love her and she was never coming back.
Blaine was pulled out of his reverie by a deep bark from Sebastian. The dog was standing now and pointed towards Blaine's left. Blaine followed his dog's gaze, waving as he spotted his niece and nephew skipping his way, their father not far behind.
"Sebastian!", the children called out as they reached the dog who welcomed their scratches and strokes.
"And hello to you, too!" Blaine said jokingly as he stuck out his tongue at the kids.
"Hi, Uncle Blaine!" The young girl exclaimed, reaching her arms up waiting for the dark haired man to pick her up. Blaine lifted her over his head blowing a raspberry on the giggling girl's stomach.
"Hello, Miss Abigail. Joanna is at the top of the slide if you want to find her. Just look for the cape.", he said, setting his niece on her feet.
"Joanna has a cape?" the young boy exclaimed, almost incredulously.
Blaine smiled and nodded as Abigail began to tug her brother towards the playground.
"Well now Nick is going to be begging for a cape so thanks for that, dear brother." The tall man mused as he sank into the bench next to his younger brother, absently petting Sebastian.
"No problem, Coop." Blaine laughed, looking at his brother. "What's new?"
"Nothing really. Abigail hasn't had any accidents lately so that's the biggest news in our Anderson household. How about yours?" Cooper asked.
"Happy for the summer. Spending time with Joanna and you guys is basically the only thing on my agenda for the next few weeks. What's Melissa up to?" The short of the two asked.
Cooper just shrugged. "Something about some finance something yadda yadda. She is making money."
Blaine chuckled. "That she is. Will she be over for dinner? Joanna picked spaghetti."
Cooper nodded and adjusted his sunglasses. "Of course. Tradition is more important than money."
Blaine grinned. "Or so you like to think," jabbing his brother's arm lightly.
Cooper grinned and turned to Blaine. "Sooooooooooo...?" drawing out the sound, eliciting a groan from Blaine. "Oh, that bad?"
Blaine shrugged, glancing towards the children. "No. The date was nice. But he was just too much for me. And he expected me to pay. As in he didn't even try or act like he would. Just motioned for our server to hand me the check and gave me a look. That put me off a bit so I politely declined after dinner 'drinks'" Blaine air quoted for emphasis, "and I went home."
Cooper sighed. "Oh, little brother, when will we find some guy who 'tickles'", Cooper paused to use some overly enthusiastic air quotes, openly mocking his brother, "your fancy?"
Blaine groaned again and gave his brother a shove. "No thanks, Mister Matchmaker. Besides, it is summer. Officially family time. No need for a guy."
Cooper just shrugged, turning his attention to his niece and daughter cheering his son across the monkey bars. "So why does Joanna have a cape?" Cooper quipped.