Here we go, chapter 7! Now, I know it's May and all but hey, it's called fiction for reason, right? :)
So happy holidays!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Disclaimer: I do now own Glee or Time Traveler's Wife
December 25th, 2025
"Wake up!"
Something quite heavy with limbs jumped into their bed, causing Kurt and Blaine to snap awake from their peaceful slumber.
"Wuzzgoinon wha- fire?"
"Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up, it's Christmas!"
Kurt slumped back against his pillows, rubbing his eyes before glancing at the clock. 6.34. Wow, a new record.
"Daddies! Wake UP!"
Rory was bouncing now, grinning so widely it was like he had been sleeping with a hanger in his mouth. Kurt moved to lean on his elbows, offering his son a small smile to say he was at least making the effort but Blaine had fallen back to sleep and was snoring lightly into his covers.
"Papaaaaaaaaaaaa! Santa's been here! Santa! I want my presents, wake up!"
"Hey, alright! Why don't you go check if Harmony is awake and I'll make sure Papa gets dressed and ready, okay?" Kurt suggested. "I promise, we'll be down in 15 minutes."
"15 minutes?"
"And I'll make you marshmellow coco, how's that sound?"
Rory squealed, accidentally (of course) kicking Blaine in the ribs as he stumbled off his Dad's old bed. Kurt shook his head, unable to be annoyed, and turned to the task at hand. He chuckled when Blaine frowned in his sleep as he started to tickle his husband from behind the ear.
"Come on now, honey. Wakey, wakey."
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo," Blaine mumbled. He didn't sound much older than Rory. "You can't make me."
"Yeah?"
Kurt leaned down to place a kiss on Blaine's jaw. Without losing the contact, he moved to the cheekbone and from there to the temple. He hummed in approval when Blaine's hand found its way under his shirt and almost giggled when Blaine's lips suddenly met his.
"We have to get up," he murmured softly. "Blaine, no. Up!" But his protests were weak as Blaine lazily rolled them around so that he's was fully on top of Kurt.
"He'll understand when he's older."
"I promised, Blaine. 15 minutes."
"So we have about 12 left, don't we?"
Blaine smirked as Kurt simply couldn't come up with an argument to that. Instead, he let his husband attach his mouth to his neck and let out the quietest of quiet moans as Blaine's tongue started to work its magic.
It would have most likely turned into a very heated and hushed and gigglish ten minutes if it hadn't been for Harmony's frantic voice suddenly calling: "Uncle Kurt! Uncle Blaine!"
The two men all but flew away from each other as the four year old girl rushed into their room in her pink satine pajamas. Her wide eyes were shining with tears and she looked as if she had seen a ghost and Kurt and Blaine could have guessed what had happened even if the girl hadn't started babbling how "Rory vanished!"
"Harmony... Ha... Darling, calm down," Kurt said gently when the poor girl's breathing started to sound more like sobs. "It's okay. Rory's fine, I swear. This just... this happens sometimes. It's like magic. He'll be back before you know it." His attempt to put on a comforting smile seemed to convince Harmony as she managed to calm herself a tiny bit.
"Go downstairs to have some breakfast," Blaine suggested. "We'll be with you in a minute."
Harmony nodded, not looking quite as enthusiastic as a four year old should on Christmas morning, and left the room to find her parents. As soon as she was gone, both Kurt and Blaine's reassuring smiles faded and the two of them just looked at each other for a long moment. They had known this was a possibility, which was why they had opted to drive instead of flying, but even if they had pretended to be realistic about it, they had both secretely hoped it wouldn't happen today. Not today, not on Christmas. It was by far Rory's favorite holiday and it had much less to do with presents as it did with the fact that they always came to Ohio to celebrate the holidays.
"He's going to be heartbroken if he doesn't come back soon," Kurt whispered.
Blaine sighed. "I know."
"We can't do anything, can we?"
"No."
Kurt bit his lip, blinking back tears. "We should go down before Harmony convinces them a witch has kidnapped Rory."
The corner of Blaine's mouth went up a notch and the two of them got out of bed to wash up and get dressed. By the time they made it to the kitchen, everyone was awake and alert and as informed of the situation as they could be after an explanation from a four year old.
"Merry Christmas," Burt greeted them with a small smile. "Coffee?"
"Yes, please!" Kurt breathed out as they sat down. As he filled the cup that had already been set for him, he noticed how the room was oddly quiet, considering how many people were in it. He looked around as he took his first sip and yes, everyone was looking at the two dads with expressions that indicated they had no idea what to say. He gulped down the black liquid and said: "Look, guys... This sucks out loud, with lack of better words, but we know that Rory will be fine. We've seen him as a 17 year old, Rory has seen himself as even older."
"So you're not... worried?" Finn asked, peeling a banana for Harmony.
"Of course we are worried, that's not what... Blaine, help!"
"It's really hard to try and explain. We don't want him to get hurt or be cold, hungry or scared but whatever happens, we know he will come back and when you've got nothing else to help you sleep at night then you hold onto that pretty tightly," Blaine said.
Kurt was squeezing his hand under the table.
August 13th, 1999
Rory was determined not to cry. He wouldn't! He was a big boy and big boys did not cry.
But oh, he wanted to. The clothes he had managed to find were too big and smelled funny, he was hungry because he had not had breakfast yet and if he didn't go back soon, he'd miss Christmas.
Poor Rory had tried so hard no to get too excited about anything so that his body wouldn't decide to jump to another time. But when he woke up on Christmas morning, his favorite day of the entire year, he just couldn't help it. He had been so caught up in his little game of tag with his cousin that he hadn't even noticed the pull that meant he would vanish soon. Suddenly he had just found himself on an unfamiliar alley, naked and alone.
It wasn't even winter, Rory thought miserably as he watched some other kids play in the park. And this was not New York, he knew that much, so he shouldn't expect his older self to find him. Truth to be told, Rory wasn't even sure if this was past or future.
Not that it mattered, he just wanted to go back to present.
Rory was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly fell of the bench he was sitting on when he was suddenly hit square to the stomach with a ball. In slight shock but not too much in pain, he shook his head and blinked when he saw a teenager coming towards him.
"I'm sorry, little man. My brother's aim is a bit off today." A boy around Rory's age called 'well you didn't catch it!', making the teen chuckle. "Are you okay?" Rory nodded. "Are you here alone?" He nodded again. "Where are you parents?"
"At home," Rory answered truthfully.
The boy frowned. "They let you come here by yourself?"
"We don't live far," Rory lied, quite accustomed to it by now. We wondered if he should have used one of the accents he had started to learn. "They were too busy to come play with me."
"Well that's not nice..."
"They are nice! They were just... busy. They are not always busy! Just today."
The teenager held up his hands. "Hey, little man, I didn't mean to insult. I'm sure they are nice parents."
Rory pouted and looked away, hoping against hope that his tears wouldn't fall. He crossed his arms across his chest, just like Papa did when he was angry, and suddenly really wished he could be with his older self.
Scratch that. He wanted to be his older self.
"You wanna play with us?" The teen's younger brother had walked up to them and was now holding the red ball that had hit Rory. "It's more fun with more people."
"What are you playing?"
"Dodgeball," the teen smiled.
"My Daddy says it's not a nice game to play."
"Only if you wanna hurt people. We don't." The younger brother bit his lower lip. "I'm sorry I hit you. Cooper was supposed to catch it."
The boy's eyes were huge like a puppy's and Rory found his expression somehow familiar. "I have an uncle called Cooper," he said, not sure why he thought this unknown new friend should be aware of that.
"Well, your uncle has a really cool name. Come on now! Blaine's right, it's more with more people."
Blaine.
Huh. How funny. Cooper and Blaine.
He really did want to go home but it couldn't hurt to have some fun while he waited, right? So Rory stood up, trying not to trip on the jeans that were too long for him. Cooper eyed them for a few moments but Blaine didn't seem to notice at all, too happy to have a new friend to play with. He handed Rory the ball, saying that he could throw first as he had been accidentally hit.
The game was more like tag with a red ball and Rory enjoyed every second of it. Every time Cooper was given the ball, he pretended to be some new monster, making noises that made the two little boys giggle as they tried to escape from him. Sometimes Blaine would stop to wipe off some of the dirt on his shoes that, Rory noticed, were really nice for a playground. Like, Daddy would never let him wear those kind of shoes outside.
Well, if Blaine wanted to them then sure. But he shouldn't stop so often because when he did, Cooper caught them.
Rory didn't know how long they had played when Cooper suddenly checked his watch and announced that they should head home for dinner. The huge smile on Rory's face was wiped away instantly and he noticed that while they had been playing, everyone else had left as well. He still didn't feel like he was going home and the thought of being left alone when the sun was going down was really scary.
"Will you be here tomorrow?" Blaine asked him, his eyes bright.
"I... I don't know."
"Oh, please be here! Please! Pretty please! I had so much fun! Cooper! Do we have to go home yet?"
Cooper nodded. "Sorry, squirt. You know the rules."
Blaine sighed. "Yeah..." He turned back to Rory with a small smile on his face. "I'll be here tomorrow before dinner time. We can play again."
Rory tried to smile back but wasn't sure if he succeeded. He felt a lump in his throat when Cooper took Blaine's hand and started to lead him away from the park. Blaine looked over his shoulder several times to wave and Rory waved, too, wondering if his own family had already eaten dinner.
The possibility of it brought a fresh pool of tears to Rory's eyes and this time he did nothing to stop them from falling. The playground was not nearly as nice a place when there was no one to play with and a sudden chill went through the young boy when Cooper and Blaine disappeared around the corner.
"Daddy... Papa, I wanna come home...!"
At the moment his breathed hitched into a sob, he felt a tug in the bottom of his belly. Eager to go back to the warm house of his grandparents, Rory closed his eyes and relaxed, just like his older self had told him to do. Hoping there would still be some pudding left, Rory let his body be taken back to where he had come from.
Blaine stopped walking. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly open.
"What is it? Did you forget something?" Cooper asked.
"I... I forgot to ask his name!" Blaine answered. "Cooper, we have to go back!"
Cooper sighed. "Blaine, we are already late. He's probably gone home, too, he won't want to stay there alone. You'll see him again some time, you can ask then, okay?"
"But what if I don't? What if this is the last time I'll ever see him? Cooper, I have to know!"
"I'm sure you two will share wonderful moments together. He said he lives close by, you're bound to run into him. Come on now, it's pasta night."
Blaine frowned but followed his brother anyway. He really hoped he would see his new friend again. He really, really did.
Finn, Rachel and Harmony had gone to pick up Rachel's dads for lunch that Carole and Burt were busy preparing. Like every year, Kurt and Blaine had offered their help and, also like every year, their offer had been turned down.
"Let us spoil you now that you're here, darling. You can do the dishes."
This year though, Kurt and Blaine would have welcomed some distraction. Now they were stuck in the living room, trying to come up with something to pass the time that wasn't a holiday movie they had seen gazillion times. Yes, Jude Law had been attractive (still was, in a very kind of an old man kind of way) but being able to repeat all his lines hardly took their thoughts away from their son. Kurt had his head on Blaine's thighs and his husband was making quite a mess of his hair. Kurt couldn't honestly say he minded.
Sighing, the counter-tenor reached for the remote, not sure if he wanted to change the channel or turn the damn thing off. Blaine didn't say anything to protest and Kurt wasn't even sure if he was actually watching the movie at all. Just as he was about to ask for his opinion, a giggling voice from behind them said:
"Mistletoe!"
Both of the dads' heads shot up to see Rory hanging from the back of the couch, holding the holiday plant above their heads with a smirk on his face. He was once again wearing the pajamas he had had on when he disappeared and looked unharmed and happy.
"Mistletoe, huh?"
Rory laughed as his dads pulled him to their laps and started to kiss him all over, emphasizing each one with a little 'mhaw!' sound.
"Stop it!" he squealed. "Eww, Daddies, stop! Not me!"
With one last major kisses on both of Rory's cheek, Kurt and Blaine ended their attack. Rory, who had closed his eyes as if that would protect him, opened them and stood up. With his free hand on his waist, he held up the plant again and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "You know what to do," he said.
Smiling, Kurt turned to look at Blaine who chuckled and they both leaned in for a short, soft kiss. "Okay?" Kurt asked when he pulled away from Blaine and Rory nodded. "We missed you."
"I missed you, too," Rory said as he sat back down between his parents. "Did I miss dinner?"
"No. You were only gone for a few hours. You didn't even miss lunch."
"Yey!"
"Harmony, however, was too impatient to wait for you so you could open your presents together. You wanna open them now?" Blaine asked.
Stupid question, really, the boy was five. His eyes lit up and he stumbled to the pile under the tree, clapping his hands when he saw a couple of huge boxes.
"Someone's been a good boy this year, hasn't he?" Kurt said, his heart fluttering out of his chest when he saw the delight on his son's face. Of course, the first gift Rory wanted to open was the biggest one, nicely wrapped up in snowman paper.
"And apparently, something fell from Santa's sleigh."
Rory stopped ripping the paper and just stared at Blaine. "W... what? But that's not possible!"
"Don't worry, kiddo, your uncle Cooper found it. He's bringing it to you tomorrow."
Rory blinked and tilted his head, looking as if he was deep in thought. Kurt opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but then the boy just shrugged and ripped the rest of the paper off the present.
His scream was loud enough to make Burt rush into the room with a huge ladle in his hand when a Lego Hogwarts was revealed.
My scream was loud enough to alert the neighbors when I got, after waiting for 11 years, a Lego Hogwarts this year :) I'm 21 and damn proud of my castle.
Hope you liked it, see you soon! :)
Love you all!
