Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or any of the characters that appear on the show. This is just me playing around with them for our mutual entertainment.
A/n: Hey guys! So I'm FINALLY home from my trip to Cali after an exhausting 5 and a half hours of flying with a two hour layover in the middle. This chapter was a little more than half written when I left, but without my laptop for eight days I wasn't able to finish or upload it. But here it is, less than 6 hours after I landed back home!
"It's creepy to watch him sleep, isn't it?" Kurt asked, wrapping his arms around his husband's waist as they stood in the doorway of Rian's room an hour or so after he'd gone to bed. The boy was passed out across the bed, wearing the same pair of sweatpants and tee shirt he had worn home from the hospital. He hadn't even turned down the covers before he'd fallen asleep.
"Maybe just a little. But… it's just so strange to have a kid in the house. To think that one day, maybe, he might be our kid. You know?" Kurt nodded, smiling.
"I know."
"I want him to stay. I want this to work out," Blaine admitted. "I know that when we talked about all of this, we planned on a younger kid… a baby or a toddler. One that was available for adoption already. But I can't help thinking that maybe what we want isn't what we need to be doing… maybe this is what we're really meant for. To take kids that are hard to place, to give them something stable."
"I think it's a little early to be thinking that far ahead… he's been here less than twelve hours, and I'm pretty sure that he's afraid that if he asks for anything we might send him away." Kurt leaned in and pressed a kiss against his husband's cheek. "But I want this to work out, too. For his sake, and because I want to have a family as much as you do."
"We should probably cover him up… it's bound to get chilly in here later, and he's so stiff and sore. I'd hate for anything to make him feel worse than he already does."
"If you lift him up, I'll pull back the covers." Kurt smiled as Blaine nodded, walking over towards the bed. Kurt followed suit, pulling back the duvet cover and sheets so that Blaine could lay the boy back down and they could cover him up. Kurt watched as the boy blinked his eyes open for a moment, looking confused.
"Shh… go back to sleep," Blaine whispered as he gently tucked the covers around the boy. "We just didn't want you to get cold." Kurt smiled at the boy as he closed his eyes, taking Blaine's hand and leading him back out of the boy's room. He closed the door as they walked out, before walking over to the couch and collapsing onto it. "You need to go get some rest… tomorrow is opening night."
"It's the first night of previews… not that groundbreaking. But you're right, I should be getting ready for bed right now. I just… I worry that he's going to need something in the night and we won't know." Kurt bit down on his bottom lip as he thought about that possibility. It was silly, really, but he couldn't help worrying about the kid.
"I will get up and check on him in a few hours. And Rian's not doing that badly… he's moving slow and he's sore, but considering everything he's doing really well."
"What if he's just trying to tough it out to impress us? What if he's really in pain?" Kurt asked.
"We just have to trust him to tell us, and to watch for any signals that he isn't doing as well as we think. We keep an eye on him, and we encourage him to tell us the truth until he actually does it. That's all we can do…" Kurt nodded, sighing.
"I'm starting to understand why everyone says that parenting is one of the scariest, most challenging things you'll ever do."
"You know, I think with all the excitement we forgot to actually call our parents and tell them about all of this… I know my mom and dad won't be all that excited, but Carole might kill us if she finds out from Finn and Rachel that we've gotten our first foster child," Blaine commented.
"Oh God, you're right… I completely forgot."
"Well, we need to make sure that we do that some time this week… Finn and Rachel are having dinner with us exactly one week from tonight, and if we haven't told Burt and Carole by then you can bet that Rachel will do it before she's even out of the building." Kurt couldn't help but laugh, knowing that Blaine was right about his step-mother and his sister-in-law.
"I know, I know. Rachel has a loud mouth. Although it could just as easily be Finn that lets it slip," Kurt replied. He let his head rest against his husband's shoulder. "I'll call Dad and Carole tomorrow while you're at work. We really should get to bed… you have an early morning tomorrow, and I'm going to have a late night."
Kurt slowly extricated himself from his husband's arms, standing up and turning around to pull Blaine off of the couch. "You're right. I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep. I'll meet you in bed." Kurt smiled Blaine pressed a quick kiss against his lips and walked past him into the bedroom. Kurt followed, hurrying into the bathroom for his evening skincare routine.
Thirty minutes later, Kurt was curled up in the bed next to his husband and drifting off to sleep. The next thing he knew, it was six AM and Blaine was getting out of bed to get ready for work. "How was he? When you checked on him?"
"He was wheezing a little, but I woke him up and he seemed okay after he coughed a few times," Blaine replied. Kurt smiled as he felt Blaine pressing a kiss against his forehead. "I'm going to go check on him again before I leave… go back to sleep while you can." Kurt nodded, closing his eyes again and rolling back over.
Kurt did not appreciate being shaken awake. "What?"
"We might have a problem…" Blaine began. Kurt shot up, hurrying towards Rian's new bedroom. "He's wheezing again, but it's gotten worse. Nothing seems to be helping…" Kurt glanced at the clock as he knelt down by the boy's bed, noting the time. Blaine was going to be late for work if he didn't leave soon, and Kurt really didn't want his husband to call out if it wasn't completely necessary. Still, hearing the way Rian struggled to breath worried Kurt.
"You should go to work… I can handle this."
"Are you sure?"
"We'll be fine, Blaine. Go to work, I'll call you if we need you," Kurt replied.
"I can get someone to come sub…"
"Hey… sick kid is a one-parent job, okay? If I can't handle it myself, I have people I can call to help me out." Kurt pulled Blaine in for a quick kiss. "Go to work, I'll text you an update later." Kurt watched as Blaine nodded and started out.
"Just make sure you keep me updated."
"Don't worry, I will." Kurt turned back to Rian, reaching up and running a hand through the boy's curls. He smiled as the boy opened his eyes, immediately starting to cough and wincing. "Hey… I know you need a pain pill. What else can I do for you?"
"Inhaler…" the boy wheezed. Kurt raised an eyebrow; that was the first he'd heard about the boy having any real health issues.
"You have asthma?" Kurt watched as the boy nodded. "Okay… it's in your backpack?" Kurt moved over towards the bag as the boy nodded, digging through the pockets until he found the small, red, plastic device. He handed it to Rian quickly, watching as the boy took two quick puffs on the device. "I'm going to go grab your pain medicine and something for you to eat for breakfast."
Kurt hurried through his tasks in the kitchen, bringing back breakfast for both of them so that he could keep an eye on Rian while they ate. It wasn't long after they started eating before Kurt realized that the boy wasn't breathing any easier. "That didn't help." He watched as Rian shook his head. "Can you try the inhaler again? Is there anything I can do that will help you?" Kurt bit his lip as Rian shook his head. "Okay. Then I think we need to take you to the doctor, see what they can do for you."
"No…" Kurt smiled, putting a hand on Rian's knee.
"This is one of those times when I'm going to have to overrule what you want in favor of what's best for you. You're wheezing too badly… you're having a really hard time breathing, and I'm not comfortable with that," Kurt replied. "Finish eating, and then we're going to go get you some help."