Hey, guys! Thanks so much for all of the incredible reviews! I really hope this chapter is up to par. This is the longest chapter by far, and I almost considered making it two chapters. Instead, I just cut it down a bit, added some more... and then cut it down again! I had a lot of ideas of how I wanted to tackle one very important event that's coming up this month, and so as not to sacrifice any of them, the longest chapter yet was born. I promise this one has a much happier ending then the last, but, of course, it's going to take a lot of less happy things to get there!

Enjoy!


Over the next few weeks, the back room was completely transformed.

It was very Blaine. It was Kurt's Blaine, and he loved it. Kurt began spending more time in Blaine's room than his own. It was his pride and joy contribution to the house, and he loved describing all the details of the remodel to anyone who would listen.

Blaine would smile and nod along, having heard everything about his room from Kurt dozens of times already. But he loved it. He loved Kurt, he loved the green walls, and he loved having a bed in a house that just let him love it.

The two of them had a system for their time spent together. They agreed that actual dates had to take place outside of the house, and they were each entitled to as much alone time as they wanted with no hard feelings. For the most part, though, they never really wanted to be alone.

They'd spent so much time apart when Blaine was at Dalton and Kurt was at McKinley that always being together was a dream come true.

I did come up with a few more rules, though. Everyone had to be in his own room from midnight until morning unless the whole family was still up. That included Finn. Somehow, every time he stumbled down to the kitchen in the middle of the night, he'd knock something over that would inevitably wake up everyone in the house. It drove Kurt nuts.

I never really had to worry about them. They were good guys, and I knew Blaine was far too terrified to screw up a good thing that he wouldn't dare do anything in the house with Kurt that I wouldn't approve of. And for the most part, Kurt didn't seem to have a problem with that. He was a hopeless romantic. He'd rather talk or sing with Blaine than anything else.

That summer was an interesting one.

Soon after he was settled in, Blaine came to me with a proposition.

"Good morning!"

It was eight A.M., well before anyone else in the house had woken up. I was enjoying my morning coffee and sports section alone when he startled me by appearing in the kitchen's entranceway.

"Jesus, what are you doing up already?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that."

I sighed and removed my reading glasses.

"You need something?"

"Uh, yeah. I just wanted to let you know that I've been doing a lot of thinking, and you've already done so much for me. Too much, really. So, I've got a couple of job interviews today, and I plan on supporting myself entirely. Financially, I mean."

I smiled. Blaine was dropping comments like that all the time.

He took on chores that Finn had been asked to do, and if Kurt would have let Blaine do his, I know he would have. Finn bumming his work on Blaine made Carole furious, and I was never surprised to walk in on Kurt commanding Blaine to drop a sponge.

"Look, no one's expecting you to support yourself financially, Blaine."

"I know that. But I want to."

Things were tight as they were, and with Finn's junk food habits and Kurt's online shopping addiction, Blaine covering a few of his own expenses might just convince the other two to follow suit. I wasn't going to resist.

"Well, you know... I'm not going to say no here. You can pay for your own gas, all of those coffees you two love to spend all your time drinking, whatever."

He smiled. I knew a part of him could sleep better at night without feeling like some kind of mooch. Of course, he was the only one who thought of himself as one, and no matter how many times we all told him that, it never really sunk in.

So, I let him win one.

"Thanks, Burt."

"Where all are you applying?"

"Well, I already got the Six Flags gig, but that's only on the weekends. And I'm checking out the music store by your shop, and Wes's dad owns a Greek restaurant about twenty minutes away. So, I've got an advantage there."

"Wait... Wes's dad?"

"That's what I said."

We laughed.

"Well, hey, that sounds great. Best of luck to you."

"I'm just gonna go shower and get ready."

"Will you make sure Kurt's up by nine? His said something about brunch with Carole, and you know his skin thing takes forever."

"Already on it," he said as he disappeared up the stairs.

Blaine got that job at the restaurant, and Kurt hated it.

Blaine worked unreasonably long hours, and he was always exhausted when he came home. I didn't like it either, but he always insisted that he was just going through training, and his hours would get better once he was promoted.

Blaine did his best to keep Kurt happy, but there were some things he just couldn't control.

"Oh my God. You smell like lamb, feta, and sweat."

"It's a Greek restaurant, Kurt. That's just what it smells like."

"Well, it's kind of disgusting."

Blaine kissed him very softly, knowing that even though my back was turned, I was still present.

"Still disgusting?"

"Slightly less so."

"How about I shower so it's not disgusting at all?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

But then Blaine would fall asleep on the couch within twenty minutes of smelling nice enough for Kurt to sit next to him.

It was mid-June when his time at that restaurant finally made a legitimate impact on their relationship. Really on his relationship with everyone in the Hudson-Hummel household.

Other than the occasional department store sale, there was one day that Kurt was determined to make perfect above any other. Every year, he nailed it, and I was always the happiest guy in the world to have him as my son. But that year was the first with three new additions to the house. That year was the first with two new teenagers who still hadn't completely worked out who I was to them. And that year was the first with a kid who didn't have a single blood relative in the house and who had been completely betrayed by the person he was supposed to be celebrating.

Father's Day was almost a disaster that year.

Kurt wanted more than anything for it to be perfect, even more so than the past years. He wanted Blaine to feel included and for Finn to have his first real Father's Day.

But it wasn't as easy as it might have seemed.

Kurt made plans for days, and on a few occasions, I'd hear the three boys arguing as I walked by Kurt's room.

"No, Finn, we can't do a Dashboard Confessional song. Dad loves Mellencamp. So, we're doing Mellencamp."

"But I just figured that if we-"

"No, no. There's no room for discussion here. The plans are all laid out, and we're not discussing them. We're teaching them to you."

I heard Blaine laugh, and I assumed Finn just gave up. Finn was a born leader, but when Kurt got started on something that was really important to him, there was just no stopping him.

And on another occasion, while Blaine was at work, I came home to the two boys entangled in a screaming match in the kitchen.

"God, stop being so hard on me! I've never done this before!"

"You've done Mother's Day before, Finn. This is not difficult!"

"Mother's Day is totally different!"

Kurt took a deep breath. He tried to be calm, but he had a hard time understanding why other guys weren't good at the things he was good at. Just like Finn and I had a hard time understanding why he wasn't good at the things we were good at. It just took patience.

"You have two options: be a part of this or don't. That is your decision."

There was a long pause.

"I want to be a part of this."

"Good. Now, this is the twelfth and last time I am going to show you how to crack an egg. Alright?"

Because of our major additions to the brood, Kurt extended Father's Day to the entire weekend rather than just Sunday. He wanted everyone to have a chance to enjoy... well, me, I guess.

Blaine and I spent Friday afternoon at an auto show, and I taught him everything I could think of about the mechanics of the cars while he taught me about all of the classic movies certain models had been featured in. We laughed so much, and he seemed genuinely happy, almost in a way that was bigger than how happy he was with Kurt. He was safe and accepted and smiling with a guy that if he squinted real hard might just actually be enjoying cars the way real fathers did with their sons. And that felt pretty damn good.

That night, Finn and I went to a basketball game while Kurt and Blaine went to a movie. We didn't get home until pretty late, and I was surprised to still hear voices from Kurt's room at five minutes to midnight.

As I walked to the door, I heard a bit of their exchange.

"Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad, Blaine. I'm just frustrated. Isn't there anything you can do to... I don't know, appeal this?"

"I've tried. You know I've tried. My manager won't listen to me, and apparently Father's Day is one of the busiest days of the year. If there was anything I could do, I would do it."

"You could quit."

"Kurt-"

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm going to stop telling you to do that one of these days."

Blaine sighed.

"I'm sorry. You've worked too hard on this for me to screw it up."

"I arranged Mellencamp into three part harmony, Blaine. Three parts."

"It'll still sound amazing with two."

"Only if I can convince Finn to stand still."

Blaine laughed.

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem. As long as he doesn't break your dad's nose with his dance moves this time, I call it a success."

They were silent.

"What?"

"I just remembered how lucky I am," Kurt said.

"I'll always be the lucky one."

That's when I realized I was eavesdropping. I looked down at my watch and gently knocked on the door.

"Time to break it up, guys."

From their positions, I knew I'd just interrupted what was about to be a kiss. Blaine immediately leapt from the bed and waved goodnight to Kurt from the door.

"Great timing, Dad."

"It's like I plan these things."

He sighed.

"Did you and Finn have fun?"

"We most certainly did."

"And did your team score a lot of touchdowns?"

I laughed, and I knew that the rules of basketball were just one of those things Kurt wasn't wired to care about.

"Yeah, buddy, we scored a lot of touchdowns."

"That sounds fabulous. Well, goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Kurt. See you bright and early."

"Bright and early."

Kurt had planned to spend every waking moment of that Saturday with me. For some reason that I will never be able to explain, Kurt actually wanted to go fishing. He came downstairs at seven that morning dressed in what he called "fisherman's chic." There was no way I was telling him to dress otherwise, mainly because the fact that he had even put together an outfit with the word fisherman in it was one of the craziest things he'd ever done. And that was really saying something.

We spent all day by the water, talking, eating the sandwiches he'd made ("They're heart healthy, Dad. You have to at least try one!"), and just relaxing.

It's not like I wanted Kurt to change. I want Kurt to be Kurt, all day and night, but for him to sacrifice his Saturday doing something that he hated but knew would make me happy was just a testament to how self-sacrificing that kid could be. I made a note to figure out something even more perfect for his birthday.

That night, I was so exhausted that I slept well into Sunday afternoon. I only woke up due to the sound of crashing pots in the kitchen followed by an exasperated, "Finn!"

The fact that Kurt had even let Finn take more than three steps into the kitchen that day was a miracle in itself.

I sat up and saw a perfectly laid out plate full of all of my favorite foods. It was a combination of breakfast and lunch, and I only imagined the lunch had been added because I wouldn't stir for a reasonable breakfast hour.

The note on the tray read, "And today is for good food and your beautiful wife. Happy Father's Day, Dad/Burt. - Kurt, Finn, and Blaine."

I smiled at Kurt's handwriting and his addition to the usual just "Dad." We were a family. We were weird, but we were a family.

I spent the entire afternoon in bed with Carole, both of us eating from Kurt's perfectly prepared meal. It was amazing. The two of us had barely had a moment alone since she'd been home from New York, and I was reminded all over again of how much I love her.

Eventually, we were called down to dinner and were greeted by Kurt and Finn in perfectly tailored tuxedos. Kurt had completely transformed the kitchen to look like my favorite steakhouse, one I hadn't been to in ages. I was amazed he had even remembered what it looked like.

"Now, tonight we are serving all of your favorites."

"We've got steak. We've got potatoes. We've got corn. Uh... we've got a lot of things!"

"Yes, like Finn said, we've got a lot of things. So, sit down, and enjoy."

That food was beyond incredible. I knew there was no way Finn had touched any part of it. It was completely Finn-proof.

Although everything was perfect, I could tell Kurt was still upset about Blaine not being there. I was upset too. I knew how much it meant to Blaine to be a part of it, but I figured we'd have other dinners, and it was just too hard to be upset when I was surrounded by some of the best things in the world.

But that was when it all started to crumble.

We all jumped at the sound of the front door slamming shut. Blaine came into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets, his white uniform soaked in some kind of green liquid.

Kurt stood.

"What's going on? What are you doing home so early?"

"I... uh... well-"

"You...?"

"I got fired."

Kurt was ecstatic. It was exactly what he wanted. But Blaine didn't quite see it that way.

When Kurt gave Blaine a huge hug, Blaine only wrapped his right arm around him. That was when I noticed a much darker liquid slowly staining his left pocket.

"Blaine," I said, "something wrong with your hand?"

He didn't want anyone to notice. He didn't want anyone to have to do anything for him, not ever. He didn't want to ruin Father's Day.

"It's nothing."

I walked over to him and gently pushed Kurt out of the way.

"Let's see it."

He reluctantly removed his hand from his pocket. It was more of a sticky red mess than a hand at that point. A huge gash on his palm was covered by a few paper towels.

"Jesus Christ," Finn said.

"It's fine, really. I just need to clean it off."

"What happened?" I asked, staring straight into his eyes.

I liked to believe he couldn't lie to me.

"One of the cooks bumped into me while I was holding a jar of olives. It shattered up against a wall while it was still in my hands, and I guess the glass just really got me the wrong way. And, before you ask, yes, that's why I got fired."

We washed his hand off under the sink only to discover that the gash was significantly deeper than he had described it.

"You need stitches, for sure."

"No, no, it's fine. Let's just sit down."

"Blaine-"

"Burt, I'm not going to the ER on Father's Day over a piece of glass."

But that's exactly what we did.

Kurt recounted the time he was struck in the back of the head with a tire swing when he was two. It wasn't something he actually remembered but rather a story he'd been told so many times it was like it happened yesterday.

"I wouldn't sit still for the doctor, and they just figured my hair would cover up the scar, so they gave up on the stitches. But now I think about it all the time. Like, what if someday I lose all of my hair? Besides that being a tragedy that I have nightmares about frequently, I can't help thinking about that scar. Think about the scar, Blaine. Don't do this to yourself!"

And we all piled into the van and spent the next four hours in the hospital waiting room. Kurt and Finn were asleep in the plastic chairs, still in their tuxedos, when Blaine's name was finally called, so I went back into the exam room with him.

"What are the odds of this happening twice in one month?" I laughed.

He smiled.

"I'm really sorry, you know. I guess I'm just clumsier than I thought."

And that was when I realized that maybe he hadn't told me the whole truth.

Blaine wasn't clumsy. He didn't drop things or stumble like Finn. He was very put together, very careful.

"Clumsy, huh?" I paused. "You don't have to tell me what really happened if you don't want to."

He sighed.

"What tipped you off?"

"You'll understand when you're a dad."

He smiled at the thought but was then very serious again.

"There was an... altercation."

He waited for my reaction. I nodded for him to continue.

"One of the guys at work, he called me a... he called me a fag and pushed me into the wall. It wasn't an accident."

He took a deep breath and furrowed his brow.

"I was just so angry. I freaked out. It was so stupid. I was so stupid. I knocked him to the ground, and my manager came in and, well, he fired us both."

He paused.

"Could you just not tell Kurt, please?"

I don't know how those kids took it. Getting shoved around, called terrible names, made to think they aren't good enough for the rest of the world. I don't blame him. I'd have knocked the guy down too.

"I won't."

He looked stunned at the answer. Of course I wouldn't tell Kurt. I never told Kurt about Finn's personal stuff, and I'd never tell him about Blaine's. Those boys had to be able to trust me, or it just wasn't going to work.

"Thanks."

The doctor came in, inspected the hand, cleaned it, and sewed it up.

Eighteen stitches. And he took it like a champ. I knew Kurt would have buried his face in my chest before the doctor even started, but Blaine just gritted his teeth and powered through it.

"How does it feel?"

"Pretty weird. Kind of like the entire top of my hand would just fall off if I ripped them out right now."

"That's pretty normal, actually. Just come back in about two weeks, and we'll take those out for you."

We woke up Kurt and Finn and headed back to the house. Simple as that, for spending almost five hours in a hospital.

I knew that Blaine felt absolutely terrible. He felt like he'd ruined everything again. As if not being there for the dinner wasn't bad enough, he'd forced the entire family to sit with him in the ER all night.

Kurt held his injured hand in the car but knew better than to say anything to him. They understood each other so well.

When we got home, Kurt wanted to pretend like nothing had happened. Like Blaine had been with us for dinner all night, and it was just time for desert.

"Red velvet cupcakes à la Finn, anyone?"

"You decided to let Finn do the cupcakes?" Blaine asked.

"Hey, I got pretty good at cracking those eggs, don't you think?"

"Yes, Finn, you cracked those eggs like a professional. I must say, I am very proud of your progress."

We sat down at the table again, and Blaine was more than happy to go along with Kurt's charade. The less anyone talked about him, the better.

But Kurt took one bite of the cupcake and immediately spit it out.

"Oh my God."

"What? What's wrong with it?"

"Finn, you did put sugar in these, right?"

"Yeah, the white stuff in the bag."

A moment of terror. I could almost feel the rage building up in my son's chest.

"Which white stuff in which bag?"

"Uh... the one with the brown label."

And Kurt's eyes were ablaze.

"Salt. I just ate a salt cupcake. Finn Hudson, I am going to-"

"Wait-" Blaine interrupted. "Don't do anything to him yet. Give me ten seconds."

Blaine ran upstairs, and as we waited for him to return, Finn mumbled an apology that Kurt immediately silenced.

"Don't even try it."

Blaine ran back down the stairs and appeared in the entranceway, clutching a red box in his uninjured hand.

"I know it's not the same as your recipe, but I picked it up a few days ago, just in case something like this were to happen."

He put the box in front of Kurt, who I'm pretty sure had never been happier to see a Betty Crocker label in his entire life. Kurt immediately jumped up and wrapped his arms around Blaine.

"Blaine Warbler, you are a-"

"Just call me Cindy Lou Who."

I didn't care that Finn had confused salt and sugar. I didn't care that I'd spent most of the night in the ER. I didn't care that Blaine was unemployed.

I cared about the three boys who put together an amazing weekend and who topped it off by eating cupcake frosting out of a bowl and singing my favorite song in three part harmony.

Because when you've got something good, you don't let the bad things cloud it up. You eat, and you love, and you take the kid to the hospital to get his stitches removed after two weeks.

And after awhile, you almost forget anything bad happened at all.


Thanks for reading, and please shoot me a review if you get the chance!