Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday!

I hope you're having a wonderful week. I have been getting a lot of writing done these past few days, so I thought I'd give you a new chapter. After all, you've been amazing and supportive and patient, so you definitely deserve it!

I want to thank you all for the lovely reviews and tweets. You guys rock.

As I always say, this is unbeta'd, so I'm sorry if I missed any typos or any awful mistakes during the editing.

I own nothing. Enjoy!

Blaine was spreading some raspberry jam on a piece of toast when his phone went off. It was charging on the kitchen counter, so he pushed his chair back and stood up to grab it before the call cut off, making sure not to step on any of Max's toys currently laying all around the floor.

"Good morning, Layla!" He said when he picked up, after checking the caller ID. "Are you on your way?"

Layla had been Max's babysitter for the past month. She was a young girl in her first year of college who had seemed eager to get the job. She had absolutely no experience with kids, but Max had seemed to like her. And Blaine had been pretty desperate. So far, he hadn't come home to any boyfriends on the couch or the smell of smoke in the bathroom, so he couldn't exactly complain.

"Good morning, Mr. A!" She exclaimed in a joyful little voice. "I was actually calling to let you know I can't babysit Max today."

Blaine almost said a few words that should be nowhere near his baby nephew's ears. "What? Why?"

"I completely forgot I have study group with some people from my Econ class. I know it's last minute, but we have to work on a project that's due next week and we have absolutely nothing done yet."

Blaine closed his eyes for a moment. She was a young girl. He had to remain polite no matter how frustrated he suddenly felt. "Layla, we talked about this. You need to let me know in advance when you can't take care of Max. I have a staff meeting in an hour."

"I'm sorry, Mr. A! I truly forgot!" She said, and she sounded sincerely apologetic.

There was nothing Blaine could do. He sighed. "Okay. We're still on for Thursday, right?"

"Yes, Thursday is fine," she assured him.

After saying goodbye, Blaine put the phone down and grabbed his cup of coffee, taking a sip while he thought. He didn't have many options.

He called one of Sarah's friends. She had been really nice to him at the funeral and offered several times to babysit for him if he needed it. So far he hadn't called her once, but he hoped she could save him today.

"Oh, Blaine, I'm so sorry!" She said when he explained the situation. "One of my kids has a fever. I would tell you to bring Max here, but I don't want him to catch whatever bug Peter has."

After telling her he hoped Peter would get well soon, Blaine put the phone back down again. Just then, he heard Max's faint crying from his bedroom. He moved down the hallway towards the baby's room and peeked into the cradle, where the baby was clearly just making noise to get his attention.

"Good morning, kiddo. We have a bit of a situation here. Can you be patient with your Uncle Blaine for just a moment?" He said, as he picked him up and rocked him a little.

After going through his very short list of options, Blaine tried the only one he had left and dialed Sam's number. He knew Sam was always busy in the mornings, but he hoped he could at least watch Max for an hour while he was at the meeting.

"Hey, Blaine, what's up?" Sam said as a greeting.

"Hey, Sam. I'm really sorry to bother you, I was just wondering…"

"Hey! Do you want to run laps for the rest of the day? Focus, Larson, or you'll be in the bench for the rest of the season!" Sam's voice sounded distant, as if he had put the phone away to scream. "Sorry, man. These kids are killing me."

"It's fine," Blaine said. "Do you have training all morning?"

"Yeah, today is a hell day. Why?" Sam asked.

Blaine ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the clock. He needed to leave in five minutes or he would be late. "My babysitter cancelled at the last possible minute, and I have a staff meeting. I was hoping you could watch Max for a bit…"

"Oh man, I'm so sorry. Do you have anyone else you can call?" Sam sounded really regretful, as if it was his fault he had to work and couldn't take care of Max.

Blaine didn't want to worry him. Sam had been an outstanding friend through all of this, and the last thing Blaine wanted was to make him feel bad about anything. "I'll figure it out. Don't worry. Thanks, Sam. I'll see you later, maybe?"

"Okay, and give me a call tonight if I don't see you, okay?"

Blaine placed the phone on the baby's dresser. He stared at his nephew, who was currently watching him with huge blue eyes, as if wondering about his fate for the day.

"Well, buddy. It looks like you'll have to come to work with me," Blaine said, trying to sound cheerful about the prospect.

Max's response was to suddenly and thoroughly soil his diaper.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the air was still warm, and Kurt knew soon he would have to find the box of thick scarves in the back of his closet and replace the cute green jacket he was wearing today for a heavier coat that could protect him from the New York cold.

He arrived at campus too early, with a couple of hours to kill before his first class of the day. He thought about how he could have used those two hours to catch up on some sleep instead of wasting the first part of his morning at yet another failed job interview. How hard could it be to find a damn job? He wasn't applying to be a physicist; he just wanted to wait some tables or sell some clothes, maybe.

There was no reason to ruin this lovely weather with his frustration, though. As his father kept saying, things would end up working out in the end. He just needed to be patient.

Kurt found a wooden bench under one of the largest trees on campus and sat there. Since he had nothing better to do, except for texting Rachel, he could just as well get ahead on some reading for class. He took a book out of his bag, got comfortable on the bench, and opened it on his lap.

He got lost in the paragraphs for a while, until a sound made him look up from the page. There was a baby crying somewhere, an insisting little noise. He saw a man was pushing a stroller, clearly on a rush to get somewhere. Kurt had to take a second look when he realized the man was Professor Anderson.

Professor Anderson looked stressed. This was saying something, because he always looked stressed lately. Kurt could barely remember what the man looked like without that tense look on his face, which was a shame, because he was very attractive.

Professor Anderson pushed the stroller out of the sidewalk to get out of the way of students rushing from one class to the other, and into the lawn, under the tree next to Kurt's. He parked the stroller there and leaned to look inside, his eyes pleading desperately with the baby.

"Come on, kiddo. I know you're upset, but I need you to be good for me for just a few minutes, please?" He was saying.

Before he knew what he was doing, Kurt was putting his book back in the bag and walking towards them. "That's cute. My Dad still calls me kiddo, too," he said. He cringed when Professor Anderson startled and turned to look at him. "Sorry. Too much information? I never know how to make small talk with any of the teaching staff."

Professor Anderson clearly forced a small smile for him. "Hi, Kurt. It's fine. You just caught me off guard, that's all."

Kurt peeked into the stroller. The baby had his hands in fists and was shaking them all around in clear anger. "Poor cutie. What's wrong with him?"

Professor Anderson glanced at his watch. "He's hungry. My babysitter cancelled on me on the very last minute and I'm late to a staff meeting. I had to bring him, and I didn't have time to give him a bottle." With a sound that could have been half a sigh, half a grunt, Professor Anderson opened his bag and grabbed a bottle. The baby immediately made grabby hands. "I'm horrible at this."

Kurt felt bad for the guy. His break-up theory suddenly seemed so much worst than it had been at the beginning. Someone had dumped poor Professor Anderson and this cute baby? Who was the heartless asshole?

"I'm sure you're doing your best," Kurt said softly, and Professor Anderson glanced at him, his eyes almost as big and desperate as the baby's. Kurt's throat was unexpectedly dry. "What's his name?"

"Max," he replied, as he watched the baby latch onto the bottle like he hadn't had anything to drink in months.

"Look, I know this is going to sound super weird, and it's fine if you don't want to," Kurt said. What the hell was he doing? "But I have about two hours to kill before my next class, and you obviously need a hand here. I can watch the baby, if you want."

Professor Anderson looked like he didn't understand any of the words coming out of Kurt's mouth. "What?"

"I know you don't know me that well, so it's okay if you don't trust me enough for this. But it's not like I'm going to run away with the kid and sell him at the black market." Professor Anderson looked horrified even though it was obvious Kurt was kidding. "I mean, I could, because I need the money, but I need you not to fail me in class even more, because I would truly, truly like to graduate."

Professor Anderson glanced at Max, then again at his watch, and once more at Kurt, as if trying to decide if he was insane enough to do this. "I don't know… he's not very used to strangers. He's a little distrustful…"

Kurt opened his arms towards the baby. "May I?"

After a second's hesitation, Professor Anderson nodded. He removed the bottle from Max's mouth, who immediately started wailing again, and Kurt picked him up. He bounced him gently once or twice, smiling at him.

"Hey you. Why so grumpy, huh?" He said in a silly voice he never thought he'd use in front of one of his professors.

Miraculously, the baby stopped crying. He tilted his head like a puppy, studying Kurt with shameless curiosity, and then planted a hand on his face, as if saying "yes, okay, you're a good grown-up, we're cool."

He turned to Professor Anderson. "What does this mean?" He asked, talking around the hand covering half his mouth. "Have I been accepted?"

A little smile appeared on Professor Anderson's perpetually stressed face. "It's like you're the baby whisperer." Kurt's grin spread across his lips. Professor Anderson gave him the bottle of milk, and Kurt tried to figure out how to hold and feed a baby at the same time. "Are you sure about this? You don't have to do it."

Kurt fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to the other man. "Here. Put your number in there, and I'll call you the minute I think I can't handle it, or if it looks like he's not happy with me. I'll text you as soon as he finishes that bottle so you can have my number and call me if you want to check on him."

Professor Anderson looked at him like he had never seen something quite like Kurt. "Why are you doing this?"

Kurt shrugged. "I just felt like being a nice human being today."

Professor Anderson was frozen to the spot for a moment, watching Kurt with a look on his face that Kurt couldn't quite understand. It made Kurt fidget on the spot for a few seconds, feeling as if he was being tested, somehow.

"Okay," Professor Anderson finally said. "Thank you. You really, really saved me."

"No problem," Kurt smiled reassuringly at him.

"Here's his diaper bag," Professor Anderson hung it from the stroller. "There's more formula in the bag as well, and I…"

Kurt could tell he was becoming slightly hysteric. "Hey," he interrupted in a soft voice. "He'll be alright. I promise. Just go. We'll hang out here for a little while. I'll text you if I need anything at all, or if I have any questions."

Professor Anderson took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay. Okay. I'm going. Thank you again, Kurt!"

Kurt grabbed Max's hand to wave at him as Professor Anderson walked away, looking back at them every few steps. He looked like he didn't want to go, and Kurt couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for him to leave his son with a guy he barely knew.

Once he was out of sight, Kurt turned to the baby. He was sucking on his bottle intently, but his eyes were fixed on Kurt. "It's just you and me now, little guy. What should we do?"

Max seemed perfectly happy just with his bottle, so Kurt sat down in the shade of the tree with him and fed him until it was empty. Then he propped him up against his shoulder to pat his back, like he had seen Carole do with one of her nieces once.

"If you throw up on my beautiful jacket, your dad will have to get me a new one," he said as sternly as he could.

Kurt didn't have any experience with babies, outside from occasional encounters with distant relatives on holidays or family occasions. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, but once he was fed and satisfied, Max didn't seem interested in doing anything other than sleeping. So he rocked him gently and then put him in his stroller. He then texted Professor Anderson so he could have his number, and assured him that the baby was fine and resting. He attached a picture so he wouldn't worry.

Kurt focused back on his reading while Max slept. He got distracted every now and again glancing at the baby – he really was too cute, and he pouted adorably in his sleep. Kurt wondered what he dreamed about, and then started thinking about Professor Anderson's situation. Whatever had happened to him, it wasn't a happy story. Kurt wondered if maybe the baby's other parent had completely disappeared out of their lives. How could someone walk out on their own child? But Kurt knew the world was full of twisted people, with no warmth in their hearts.

After a while, Kurt's system began to claim for coffee. He had woken up early for his interview and he didn't think he could survive any longer without some caffeine. He packed up his books, grabbed Max's diaper bag, and started pushing the stroller towards the cafeteria. He shot a quick message to Professor Anderson to let him know where he was heading so he wouldn't freak out if he got out of his meeting and didn't find them outside.

Max woke up as Kurt scanned the cafeteria for a table. He began to look around, as if trying to figure out where the hell he was. He looked right at Kurt, and Kurt was scared for a moment that the baby would start crying when he didn't see his dad. However, Max surprised him with a lovely grin which almost melted his sarcastic heart.

As he sipped his coffee, he looked in the bag for a toy to keep Max entertained. He sat the baby on his lap, once again reminding him that he was not to have any accidents on his fabulous clothing, and put a few cars on the table in front of him. Max played with them, mostly by trying to stick them into his mouth, for a little while, before he seemed to think throwing them around would be a lot more fun.

"Oh, Max, no, don't do that," Kurt said, leaning carefully to pick up the toys that had rolled under the table. "Like this, see? Just like this. No throwing," he explained, as he moved the cars over the table top.

Max threw another car.

"You're incredibly stubborn for your size, did you know that?" Kurt muttered, stretching to grab the little red car.

"You're going to regret giving him those in about a minute," a voice said behind him, and Kurt turned to find Professor Anderson standing there. "All he does is throw them around. You should see my kitchen. Toys everywhere."

"I guess it's more fun his way," Kurt said with a shrug. "How was the meeting?"

"Long and boring, pretty much as every staff meeting in history," Professor Anderson said, as he took the seat in front of Kurt's. The baby made grabby hands for him, so Kurt passed him over. "Did he give you any trouble?"

"Not at all. He's quite disciplined for a six month old baby. He didn't threw up on my jacket, didn't make me change his diaper… he's an exemplary kid, if you ask me," Kurt said, grinning.

Professor Anderson held the baby to his chest and dropped a kiss on the top of his head, his eyes on Kurt. "Like I said, baby whisperer." This only made Kurt grin harder. "Thank you so much. I can't even tell you how much you've helped me."

"My pleasure. It made an otherwise boring and disappointing morning a lot more interesting," Kurt replied.

Professor Anderson fished for his wallet. "I should pay you for this…"

"No way," Kurt shook his head. "I offered."

"Still, let me pay you. You've been so kind…" He insisted.

Kurt reached out and put his hand on his, stopping him from grabbing money. He retreated when he realized it was probably not very appropriate to touch his professor in any way. "It's fine, really. He was an angel. I can't take your money."

"Kurt…"

"Our interactions really need to stop being about you trying to give me money and me rejecting it. Just accept the fact that this was a favor, and you don't need to pay it back."

Professor Anderson bit his lip. "You're the most stubborn, kindest person I've ever met."

Kurt could feel his cheeks heating up at the compliment. "Thanks." He cleared his throat, not sure what else to say. "You should be proud. He's a great little guy, so you're clearly a great Dad."

He hoped the words would make Professor Anderson smile, that his stressed features would relax a little bit. He didn't expect to see his expression grow a little darker.

"I'm not his dad. He's my nephew." His voice was brusque, like he didn't want to talk about it. Kurt was confused, and it must have shown on his face even though he didn't want to ask any questions when they clearly weren't welcomed. "I… I'm his guardian. My brother and his wife passed away a couple of months ago."

"Oh," Kurt said breathlessly. This was even worse than what he had originally imagined. "I'm so sorry. That's terrible."

"Yeah, I…" Professor Anderson cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I should probably get him home…"

"You're doing a great job, you know?" Kurt said impulsively, stopping him in his tracks. Professor Anderson's hazel eyes were suddenly fixed on his. "He's a happy little boy. He's healthy. He clearly loves you. So… don't worry that much. You're doing great."

As soon as he stopped talking, Kurt began feeling terribly awkward. He was completely out of place saying those things, even if he wanted to cheer the other man up. After all, he was his professor. They weren't friends. He had no right to assume things about him, or to talk about his personal life.

He gathered his stuff quickly and stood up, making a horrible noise with the chair as it scraped against the floor. He cringed, but didn't stop. "I'm going to be late for class. See you, Mr. Anderson."

He ran away before Professor Anderson could even try to reply.

One of those days, that big mouth of his was going to get him in a lot of trouble.

There's going to be a lot more Kurt/Blaine interactions from now on. And lots of Max, too. Because he's super cute.

I can't wait to know what you thought of this!

Have a lovely week and I'll be seeing you again very soon!

Love,

L.-

(I assume everyone's watching ACS. HOW AMAZING IS DARREN?! Feel free to comment on it in my reviews, but don't spoil me for new episodes, since I watch on a different day down here in Argentina, where the summer is killing me very slowly).