Hey guys! This is a new story I'm working on, so leave it a review. I will try to post as often as I can :)

Just as the clock ticked to 5:30 am, Kurt Anderson-Hummel's familiar alarm sounded into his bedroom. Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he looked around for a moment. He turned his head and looked over to the empty side of the bed. It had been 250 days since Blaine's deployment to Baghdad, Iraq and it never got any easier. His side of the bed was always cold and empty. Not even when the kids joined him unexpectedly in the middle of the night did Blaine's side ever regain that same warmth.

This was never the life that Kurt expected to be living. Never in a million years did he think that his Blaine would ever become a soldier. But when he enrolled in NYU, Blaine changed. It wasn't a bad change, but it was something that Kurt never saw coming. He got a teaching degree and joined the ROTC program. To the life of him, in the beginning at least, Kurt couldn't figure out why he wanted to do this...to be a soldier in the army. Three months after Blaine graduated, he got the call that he was being shipped off to Fort Hood, Texas.

That day had been an extremely tough day. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing that he ever had to do. Kurt remembered holding onto Blaine's neck and sobbing into the collar of his shirt for what seemed like hours. And then...Blaine had to go. Kurt watched as his husband walked away from him, duffle bag draped over his shoulder and got on the plane. He knew that this placement was only for six months, but in that moment six months felt like a lifetime. Each day was a struggle, but when Blaine came back home, the happiness that Kurt felt was indescribable and it was then that he realized why Blaine wanted to be a soldier. He was so happy. He was finally helping people.

After Blaine's first deployment, they decided that starting a family was something they wanted. With a little help from Rachel, they got Stella Elizabeth, their perfect little girl. She was so Blaine in every possible way. She had his dark curly hair, golden eyes, and was sweet and caring just like her father. No amount of military training could stop Blaine's tears that day as he held his precious baby girl in his arms. Their life was pure bliss for the next few years until 2025 when Blaine was shipped off again, this time to Fort Knox, Kentucky.

This deployment was different for Kurt. This time he had Stella to think about, who was only three years old at the time. He knew that he needed to be strong for her. There were still good days and bad days, but having a toddler made time pass a lot quicker. When Blaine came home, it was like they just picked up where they left off. A few years later, with Quinn's help, Nathaniel Christopher Anderson-Hummel was born. He was perfect in everyway and Kurt's little mini-me. From that point on, they started living a normal life together. Blaine even got a teaching job at a local elementary school teaching music. Kurt started making it big on Broadway when he got the lead role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf." They felt so comfortable that they decided a third child was something that they wanted. They used Quinn's egg and then implanted it into a surrogate.

On December 31, 2034, Aria Hope Anderson-Hummel was born and they got the call that would change their lives forever.

*flashback*

"She's so beautiful," Blaine said as he held Aria in his arms. The baby slept peacefully, completely content in her Daddy's arms.

"I want to hold her!" Stella said excitedly, practically bouncing next to Blaine's lap.

"Alright baby," Blaine said, standing up. Stella sat down in a big plastic chair and held out her arms as Blaine placed Aria into them. The little girl smiled, so proudly as she held her baby sister. Kurt stood off to the side snapping a few pictures. Nate stood by his big sister and pressed a kiss to his baby sister's forehead.

Blaine couldn't have felt happier. Just seeing his family all together was more than enough to warm his heart. As he was standing in the room, Blaine felt his cell phone buzz.

"I'll be right back. It's probably my mom." Blaine said, pressing a kiss to Kurt's forehead. He went in the hallways and picked up the phone. Kurt looked out of the glass door. He always loved how excited Blaine got when talking to his mother. But, when Kurt looked out, Blaine didn't look happy and Kurt's heart dropped. No, no, not again.

When Blaine came back in, there was something different about him and Kurt knew exactly what it was. "Where is this time and for how long?" Kurt asked, trying not to cry.

"A year." Blaine replied.

"A year? You've never been shipped off for that long." Kurt said, turning away from the kids.

"I'm not being shipped off." Blaine replied. "I'm being deployed. Baghdad, Iraq."

"W-what?" Kurt said in disbelief. He took a deep breath and looked over at the kids. "We'll be right back kids." he said, before going out into the hallway. Once in the hallways, Kurt turned away from Blaine as he desperately tried to contain his tears.

"My unit has been called up to the battlefield." Blaine told him. "I am so sorry."

"When do you leave?" Kurt asked, tears in his eyes.

"Three days," Blaine replied. This was when Kurt broke down. He threw his head into Blaine's shoulder and just cried. Blaine held his husband in his arms, not shedding a tear. Blaine was scared, scared out of his mind. He had never been deployed out of the states. All he could think about was the possibility of never coming home, the possibility of never seeing his kids again, the possibility of never seeing Kurt again…

Blaine had left three days after that and had been gone ever since… for 250 days. They wrote letters to one another every week, since there was no good internet connection in Iraq and the opportunity to get a phone call was rare.

As Kurt lay in bed, he heard Aria's cries coming through the baby monitor. He sighed and pushed himself out of bed and walked across the hall into the nursery where Aria was standing up in her crib, red faced from crying. "Oh honey, what's the matter?" Kurt cooed as he picked the nine month old up out of her crib. Aria continued to cry as Kurt placed her gently on the changing table. He undid the snaps of her onesie and pulled it up to reveal her diaper. Almost immediately Kurt could see exactly what the problem was. "Oh, Aria, why do you always save these for me and not the nanny?" he asked.

Kurt undid the flaps of her diaper and tried desperately not gag. "God, when your daddy gets back he owes me so many diaper changes." He changed her disgusting diaper and then put her in a pair of new pajamas. "There you go. All clean and new." Kurt picked the little girl and wandered out into the kitchen. With Aria on his hip, Kurt fixed her a bottle and popped it in the little girl's mouth. He sat on the couch and turned on the tv to the news station. This was part of his daily routine, making sure that his husband wasn't blown up over night...the daily struggles of an army husband.

When Aria was finished with her bottle, Kurt stood up and took her into the bathroom with him. In the large jacuzzi tub was a mess of blankets and toys, an invention of his own creation. Virtually being a single parent, Kurt had to get creative. He placed Aria into the tub and handed her all of her toys. "Okay, Papa's going to take a shower. I'll be right back baby." Kurt quickly hopped in the shower and cleaned himself off. When he was finished, Kurt got out and was met with a smiley, toothless grin. "Hi baby!" Kurt cooed, making Aria squeal with delight. Normally, he'd try to keep her quiet, but after quickly glancing at the time, Kurt realized he was late, so he let her squeal in the hopes of waking up his children.

Kurt quickly got dressed and picked Aria up out of the tub. He set her in the playpen in the living room with a pacifier and then retreated to Stella and Nate's bedrooms. He went into Stella's room first. His daughter was sprawled out on the bed, her left foot hanging off the side of the bed out of the covers. She was always a heavy sleeper. Her went inside and sat on down on the edge of the bed and began to run his fingers through Stella's dark curly hair. He loved doing that. Her hair reminded him so much of Blaine's. "Stella, sweetie, it's time to wake up." Kurt said softly. Stella groaned in her sleep and flipped over. Kurt couldn't help but laugh. "Stella, you're going to be late. You have to wake up baby." Gradually, Stella opened her eyes and smiled at her Papa. "Morning Sleepyhead," he said with a smile.

"Morning," Stella replied.

"Alright, now, no falling back to sleep." Kurt said. "I have to go get your brother up." Stella nodded as Kurt got up from her bed and went next door. When he got there, he was surprised to see that Nate wasn't in his bed. He was always the early riser like Blaine. Kurt went back into the living room and saw Nate sitting on the couch, chewing on a poptart, Aria in his arms.

"Papa, we're watching TV together." Nate informed his father.

"I can see that, baby." Kurt said with a smile as he walked over to his son. "And, you can do more of that after school. Right now, I need you to go get changed. We're gonna be late." he told him as he picked up Aria. Nate nodded and got up from the couch, running off to his bedroom. While the kids were changing, Kurt got Aria dressed for the day, just in time for Danielle, the nanny.

"Hey Kurt," Dani said as she walked in. "Hey peanut!" she added when she saw Aria. Aria squealed and reached her arms out towards Dani. Kurt walked over and placed the little girl into her nanny's arms.

"I'll need you to pick the kids up after school. Isabelle needs me to work late tonight." Kurt replied. "But I can take them both to school."

"No problem." Dani replied. "I've got nothing else to do but play with this little peanut."

"Have I told you how much I love you lately?" Kurt said with a laugh in a purely platonic way.

"No, but I'll let you slide." Dani replied. "Now, you're going to be late if you don't get going."

"Thank you." Kurt replied. "Kids, let's go!" A minute later, two pairs of footsteps echoed down the hallway, their backpacks in hand. "Okay, head out to the car. I'll be there in a minute." Stella and Nate listened to their father and went out to the car while Kurt grabbed his bags.

"Bye Dani, Bye baby!" Kurt said as he left. He headed down the front steps and into the car parked on the street. "Okay, buckle up." he said, before putting the car into gear and driving down the street. Luckily it was only one stop since both kids went to the same private school. When Kurt got there, he parked the car and both kids hopped out of the car. "Dani will pick you both up, okay?"

"Okay," the two children choruses. Stella walked away after that, much too cool to be seen with her father, while Nate stood and waved to Kurt as he drove away.

"Bye Papa!" He called before running into the school, his blue backpack bouncing along with him. Next, Kurt drove to Vogue and parked in his spot. Isabelle had been extremely generous with the job. He was a considered a "part time consultant" so it allowed him to work whenever he wasn't working on Broadway. Isabelle had become one of his greatest friends in the last few years since Blaine's second deployment.

Aftering parking the car, Kurt went inside and headed to his office. He set his bags down on the floor and pulled out his laptop, a picture of he and Blaine smiling sat on the desktop.

"Mr. Anderson-Hummel, Isabelle would like to see you. She wants your opinion on the cover of next month's magazine." an assistant told him.

"I'll be right there." Kurt said with a sigh, closing his laptop. For now he needed to put everything but work aside. Compartmentalizing, that was how an army spouse got through the day.

After a hard day of work, Kurt headed out of work and headed home. He parked the car on the street outside of their house when he got there and then headed inside. It was late, so he knew...or at least hoped that the kids would be in bed. He went inside quietly and the house was silent. That was a good sign.

He walked to Stella's room first and saw that she was peacefully sleeping, so he moved on to Nate's room. He cracked open the door, allowing a narrow strip of light to filter into the room. The light reveals the seven year old's open eyes.

"What are you doing up, honey?" Kurt asked as he walked into Nate's bedroom and took a seat on the edge of his bed.

"I had a bad dream." Nate whimpered.

"Oh honey, it was just a dream." Kurt told him, running his fingers through Nate's light brown hair. "What happened?"

"I dreamed that Daddy got shot." Nate said. "I-is Daddy gonna get shot?"

"No baby," Kurt told him. "Of course not. Daddy is fine. How about I lay with you until you fall back to sleep?" Nate nodded. Kurt moved to the other side of the twin bed and wrapped his arms around his son. "Just close your eyes. I'll protect you from the bad dreams." Kurt lay there in silence as he listened to Nate's breathing get more even. Eventually, Nate fell back to sleep and Kurt pried himself out of Nate's grasp. He walked out of Nate's room and found Dani waiting for him.

"Aria's asleep. I'm going to head home for the night." Dani told him.

"Thank you so much." Kurt replied. "...for everything Dani."

"No problem, Kurt." Dani replied. "I'll see you tomorrow." Kurt gave her a wave as she left. He sighed and then grabbed a fresh sheet of white lined paper from the desk. It was his turn to send a letter to Blaine. He took a seat at the kitchen table and started to write...

Dear Blaine,

I miss you...like always. The kids and I are fine. Stella got an A+ on science project. She had to make a 3D replica of a cell. She worked on it on for hours. She's got your stamina when it comes to getting things done. Nate loves his football team this season. Last weekend, he got the winning touchdown for his team. And Aria...she's growing so much. She's starting to pull herself up into standing position. She'll be walking soon.

There's only 115 days left of you deployment. We're two-thirds of the way through. Just know that we're all thinking about you and I know that you'll come home safe to me. The kids love and miss you.

And, I love you with all my heart, stay safe baby,

Your love,

Kurt