[Author note: fostinefoli requested more family bonding, like them going camping – I hope this is what you were looking for :) ]
Kurt jumped when a loud sound came from the dark woods behind him. They were all seated around the campfire they'd built outside their tent, and Blaine had just finished telling the kids a scary story about a werewolf who lived in the forest and hunted for campers. "What was that?" he asked. "Was that him? Is he coming for us?"
9-year-old Beth laughed. "Papa, you can't scare us like that. Dalton and I know it was just a story."
Almost-7-year-old Dalton nodded bravely in agreement, but he subtly shifted a little closer on the log toward Kurt. Kurt slid his arm around his son and drew him into his side. "Well, I'm glad you two aren't scared, but I am. Will you protect me, buddy?" he asked Dalton.
Dalton nodded enthusiastically and burrowed closer, glad for the excuse to be closer to his papa.
On the other side of the fire, Beth shrieked. "My marshmallow's on fire!"
Deftly, Blaine pulled her stick from her hand and blew it out. "I think your marshmallow's all cooked," he said, offering her the stick back.
"Ew, it's all black and burnt," she observed, holding it far from her like it was poison.
"Mm, that's the best way," Blaine replied. "Nice and crispy."
She gave her father a disgusted look. "That's gross."
Blaine held out his stick toward her. "Here, we can trade. I'll eat your marshmallow and you can finish roasting mine. Try not to burn this one. Remember what I told you? Don't put it right in the flames. Put it over the coals."
Beth eagerly accepted his stick. After Blaine demonstrated a good spot for roasting the marshmallow, he made his way over to Kurt, who was doling out the graham crackers and chocolate. "That's not going to last," Blaine observed as he sat next to Kurt, glancing over at Beth, who was already dancing impatiently and waving the stick closer and closer to the flames.
Kurt stacked a piece of chocolate onto a graham cracker and sandwiched Blaine's marshmallow, and Blaine pulled the stick out. "Yeah, I give it another 30 seconds before it lights on fire," Kurt agreed. "Better eat this one quickly, because your next marshmallow will be ready any second now."
Blaine groaned. "This is my fifth one. I don't know if I can handle another one," he said, warily eyeing Beth as she slid the marshmallow deeper into the campfire.
Sure enough, just as Blaine bit into his s'more, Beth shrieked again and pulled a flaming marshmallow out of the fire. "I've got it," Kurt murmured, "but take this for me?" He handed Blaine his stick and inclined his head toward Dalton before darting around the fire to blow out Beth's marshmallow. Blaine caught his signal and immediately slid into Kurt's vacated seat, wrapping an arm around Dalton, who was still roasting his first marshmallow, holding it about a foot away from the edge of the fire.
"Hey, buddy, why don't you try holding it a little closer to the fire?" Blaine coaxed gently.
"I don't want it to catch on fire like Beth's," Dalton replied.
"It won't as long as you keep it out of the bottom of the flames," Blaine answered. "Here, hold it right next to mine. That's a nice spot to make a perfect golden brown marshmallow."
On the other side of the fire, Kurt accepted Beth's stick. "I'll eat this one. How about you take the marshmallow Dad's roasting? I think it's probably about done."
Beth bounded around the fire and Blaine helped her build a s'more with the marshmallow Kurt had been roasting. Blaine barely had enough time to pull the stick out before she bit into it, eagerly consuming her treat. As soon as she finished, she asked for another.
Kurt shook his head. "It's getting pretty late, Beth. I don't want you to eat too many s'mores and not be able to sleep."
"But they're called s'mores, Papa!" she protested. "You're supposed to have s'more!"
Dalton giggled at her joke as he slowly rotated his marshmallow, still fairly far from the fire.
"You'll have s'more tomorrow night," Kurt said as he came around the fire and joined the rest of the family on the log. "We have to save some marshmallows for then."
Beth sighed. "Fine. But can I have two tomorrow?" she begged.
"We'll see," Kurt said, gently ruffling her hair with his fingers. "Dalton, how's that marshmallow coming?"
Dalton pulled his stick toward him and gently and methodically pressed his fingers along the sides of the marshmallow. "I think it's ready. It's nice and warm," he said.
"Can I feel?" Blaine asked. Dalton held out his stick to Blaine, who gave the marshmallow a few pats. "Still seems a little hard to me. I think you want it to be nice and gooey, right?"
Dalton nodded. "Why don't you give me the stick?" Blaine suggested. "I'll help you finish it."
"No, I can do it," Dalton insisted stubbornly, returning the marshmallow to its original position far from the fire.
Blaine looked pleadingly over at Kurt, and Kurt smiled. "Dalton, don't forget, the sooner we clean up the s'mores, the sooner Dad can take out his guitar."
Dalton quickly handed his stick over to his father, and within a minute his marshmallow was ready to eat. While Kurt put away the s'more supplies, Blaine went over to the car and pulled out his guitar. He settled back on the log, and Beth and Dalton immediately shifted to flank him. "Alright, let's see, what should we start with?" Blaine mused as he made a few tiny tweaks to the strings.
"On Top of Spaghetti!" Beth shouted, while Dalton yelled, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!"
"Hm…" Blaine replied. "We definitely have to do both of those, but how about we start with something a little slower?" He played the opening chords to "Home on the Range," and both kids enthusiastically joined in. Kurt settled in on the other side of Dalton and joined in on the chorus.
As Blaine played their requests, the kids got wilder and wilder, and Kurt was glad they'd chosen an isolated camping spot, even though it meant sacrificing a lot of the amenities. Finally, though, after an impressive selection of campfire songs, Kurt gave Blaine a look, and Blaine nodded subtly. "Alright, you two, I think we've hit our final song before bed."
Both of them started shouting out song suggestions, but Blaine shook his head. "Nope, I'm picking." He played a few quiet notes, then began, "You are my sunshine…"
Kurt immediately picked up the words and joined in, and eventually the kids joined in. Blaine played several verses, subtly slowing the tempo, until the kids were much calmer.
They all got ready for bed together, with Kurt trying to keep his complaints about missing his pre-bed skin routine to a minimum. While he loved spending time with the kids and his husband like this, he wished the three of them didn't love going out in the wilderness so much. It really was not his ideal vacation, but the kids were happy, and that was all that mattered.
The kids fell asleep almost as soon as they had crawled into their sleeping bags, before Blaine had even finished closing up the tent door. Quietly, he crept over to join Kurt on the air mattress Kurt insisted they bring. As far as Kurt was concerned, they were getting far too old to sleep on the hard ground; the first time they had gone camping, Kurt's back had hurt for a week.
Kurt was already curled up on his side in his sleeping bag when Blaine reached the mattress. "Goodnight," Blaine whispered as he tucked himself into his sleeping bag, leaning over to give Kurt a quick kiss before rolling onto his back and closing his eyes.
It was quiet for a few minutes, the only noise the sound of the crickets in the woods and the kids' heavy breathing in sleep. While Blaine was having no trouble falling asleep, Kurt couldn't seem to let one thing go. "Blaine, are you sure there's not really a werewolf in the woods?" he whispered into the darkness.
Blaine let out a soft chuckle. Wordlessly, he unzipped his sleeping bag down to his hip and lifted one arm in invitation. Kurt adjusted his sleeping bag so that his arms were free, scooted across the mattress, and tucked himself into Blaine's side. "Better?" Blaine whispered.
Kurt nodded his head against Blaine's shoulder. "Much." He tilted his head and pressed a kiss to Blaine's jaw. "Goodnight," he murmured, before quickly falling into a deep sleep, safe in his husband's arms.