A/N: I know it's the very end of the weekend but, it still counts. As promised, Elle and Blaine start school and an interesting surprise awaits Blaine. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thank you soooo much for reading. As always I absolutely adore reviews as much as I adore Kurt and Blaine, and will be as excited to read them as I am for season 3 on Tuedsay!
Ch 10
"Jeggings Blaine, really? You're putting jeggings on our daughter." Kurt said, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend who was dressing his daughter.
A small smile played on Blaine's lips. Ever since he had expressed his intent to adopt Elle, Kurt had been calling Elle 'our daughter' instead of 'my daughter.'
"What? They're all the rage. Mom bought a couple of pairs for her and Bry last week." He said. "I thought they'd be really comfortable for her and easy for the ladies at the nursery to work with." He defended. "Besides. She looks adorable." He said standing her up.
Blaine saw Kurt's eyes soften when he saw how cute the little girl looked in her dark blue jeggings and pink flowered tank top that came to the top of her knees and pink sandals.
"Aww, look at you baby girl! You look so beautiful for your first day of daycare!" He walked over to the pair and kissed Blaine quickly on the lips as he lifted Elle into his arms. "Do you have everything in the bag babe?"
"Bun bun" Elle shrieked, snatching her pink bunny from one of the side pockets of the diaper bag.
"Yes Ellie," Blaine said, "we have Bun-Bun and Tub-Tub" he said, holding up the stuffed likeness of Lord Tubbington before placing it back in the bag.
Kurt laughed at the little girl. "She's a bossy little thing isn't she?"
"You don't know the half of it. You've been at work all day since she started her new words. All day it's 'Papa, up! Papa, down!' and she's too freakin' adorable to resist."
Kurt laughed again. "Do you boss your Papa around? You must take after Daddy." He said.
Blaine stuck his tongue out at him.
"Come one, we're gonna be late if we don't get moving." Blaine said, hefting the diaper bag over his shoulder.
!
As soon as Kurt set Elle down at Bella's Tiny Tots she ran over to another little girl standing up at a kitchen set.
"Well so much for being Daddy's little girl." Kurt snorted, while Blaine laughed.
"Hi, guys!" A friendly voice sounded. "It's good to see you again."
Blaine stretched his arm out to shake the woman's hand. "It's nice to see you again too, Grace."
"Elle looks like she's having fun with Amelia already." She said. "There's a cubby with Elle's name on it over there," she said pointing. "You can put her diaper bag in there and at the end of the day if there's anything that needs to be sent home it'll be in there too."
Kurt and Blaine stood nodding at Grace.
"Great," Kurt said. "Blaine will be here at 4:00 to pick her up on Monday, Wednesdays and Friday and I'll be picking her up just after 5:00 on Tuesday's and Thursdays."
"Okay" Grace said, still smiling. "Just remember if anyone is going to be picking her up we need to be notified and they need I.D. on them."
"Okay, that's no problem." Kurt said.
"Well," Grace clapped her hands together. "I think that's all I need from you guys. Blaine I'll see you at 4:00. Kurt, I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Bye bye, Elle." Kurt said sweetly, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"Have fun Ellie girl," Blaine said, dropping to his knees and kissing her cheek. "Papa, will be back this afternoon."
"Love you baby girl."
"Love you sweetheart."
Both boys backed out of the door waving to Elle, as she blew kisses at them from her spot at the kitchen set with a little brunette girl.
"What are you going to do today babe?" Kurt asked as they walked to their cars.
"I was going to go by the book store on campus and get my books for the semester. Then I'll just be at home all day reading in case something happens with Elle."
"You are such a teacher's pet." Kurt teased.
"Hey, the more I can get done now, the more time I'll have to spend with you and Elle once school starts."
"I know babe." Kurt settled. He pecked Blaine on the lips, as they reached their cars. "Have fun, I love you."
"Love you too. Have a good day at work."
Kurt snorted as he got into his car.
!
Elle's first week at the daycare center went without incident and soon all three of them were waking up early to get ready for the day when their lives as a family working a full time job, attending school full time, and having a baby in daycare would fall into place. Blaine carried Elle out to Kurt's car and buckled her into her seat.
"Have a good day, angel" he said, kissing her forehead. She blew a kiss at him as he ducked out of the back seat.
Blaine blew her a kiss back and turned to close the door, putting him face to face with Kurt. He placed a hand on Kurt's waist and kissed him gently. "Have a good day beautiful." He said.
Kurt kissed him again. "You too, I hope all you're classes go well. Unless that is you've done all of the work for the ones you had a syllabus for Prep School." Kurt said, using the nick name he had been making fun of Blaine with all week for working and reading ahead for classes in which a professor had emailed him a syllabus to print out.
"I'll only have more time to spend with you darling." Blaine mocked, as he wrapped Kurt in a hug.
"Love you" Kurt said pulling away and pecking him on the lips once more.
"Love you too." Blaine said, before turning away and walking to his car.
!
Blaine was the first person in his Advanced Algebra class and he placed himself in the first row. Not long after a small girl with short blonde hair joined him and plopped down in the seat next to him.
"Hi there." She said, much too brightly for nine in the morning.
"Hi." Blaine said cautiously.
"I'm Cassie." She said, "I always make it a point to say hi to the person I sit next to on the first day, so hi."
"Blaine" he responded extending his hand.
"Oooh, a gentlemen. I could get used to you Blaine."
Blaine chuckled. "So you're not a freshmen, I take it, if this has become a habit of yours?"
"Sophomore." She replied, removing a notebook from her bag. "You?"
"Freshmen." He responded. "First class of the semester."
"Advanced Algebra. Fun." Cassie said sarcastically.
Blaine shrugged. "I don't mind so much. It shouldn't be too hard."
"Okay new kid." She said unbelievingly.
More students began to pile in around them followed by the professor. Syllabuses were handed out and to everyone's dismay instead of just reviewing the syllabus and dismissing the class he began a lesson complete with homework, and a hinted at pop quiz for Wednesday's class.
"This sucks." Cassie moaned as she pushed through the door, dragging Blaine behind her. "It's the first day and I already don't understand what the heck is going on."
"I can help you." Blaine offered, finally looking up from trying to shove books into his messenger bag while being tugged along by the short girl.
"You get this stuff?" She asked, stopping and raising an eyebrow.
Blaine nodded.
"You don't have anything else to do?"
Blaine shook his head. "I was just going to work on this homework actually."
"Library, now, gentleman dude." Cassie said forcefully.
Blaine chuckled as he allowed himself to be dragged into the library, and sat down at a table. She pulled out her books and stared at him, as he dug through his bag.
"So how is it you know all this stuff so easily freshman?"
He paused with a granola bar halfway to his mouth and shrugged. "I took AP Calculus in my senior year of high school." He said dumbly.
"Then why aren't you in Calculus?" she countered.
Blaine shrugged. "The AP test only counts for one credit. Even with a placement test I would have to take a certain number of credits for math. So I took the credit for the lowest level and started at Advanced Algebra instead of Calculus, where I probably would have been placed."
"Smart thinking… What's your last name?"
"Anderson."
"Smart thinking, Anderson. I think I like you."
"I'm glad." Blaine replied, smiling. He dug around in his bag once again. "Would you like a cookie?" He asked, offering her a plastic bag of cookies.
"Who are you, Hermione Granger? Do you have an undetectable extension charm on that bag of yours?"
Blaine blinked his eyes in awe.
"Sorry, drop the reference and ignore me. I'm a huge HP nerd."
"No, I get it. I've just never met anyone who would actually know enough about Harry Potter to make that joke."
Cassie smiled sheepishly. "So, Potter boy, what's with all the food?"
"Oh, I'm a guy, and I commute so I don't have a meal plan, and my boyfriend packed my lunch today and he just wanted to make sure I didn't go hungry."
"Boyfriend."
Blaine nodded cautiously.
"You're a freshman, and you live off campus with your boyfriend?"
Again, Blaine nodded.
"That's so cool! I wish my parents would have let me live off campus with someone when I was a freshman."
Blaine let out a sigh, and decided to let the parents thing go for now. If his calculations were correct he had just made a friend, he wasn't going to unload all of his parental issues on her. He just nodded.
"Kind of." He said quietly. He pulled the lunch bag out of his book bag. "So I can offer you, this granola bar" he said holding up the granola he had unwrapped earlier, "cookies, an apple, grapes, yogurt, a sandwich, baked garlic parmesan pita chips, or a teething ring." He said, pulling everything out.
Cassie laughed at his last item.
"Oh sorry, Kurt was packing his daughters diaper bag too. I wonder if she got my spoon for the yogurt." Blaine mused.
"Daughter?"
Blaine cleared his throat so he would have time to say something. "Kurt, my boyfriend," he said slowly, "he has a fourteen month old daughter. We all live together, and I help take care of her."
Cassie was nodding slowly, obviously trying to comprehend the situation. Blaine dug into his back pocket and retrieved his wallet. He removed a picture from it and slid it across the table.
"That's her," he said, not being able to help the smile that spread across his face when he looked at the precious little girl. "Her name is Elle. And that's Kurt." It was a picture of Kurt and Elle both covered in cake from her party. "I love them both more than I can possibly imagine." There was no point in not being completely honest with this girl.
"She's really cute." Cassie said smiling slightly. "So is he" she added.
Blaine's smile got even wider. "You don't mind?"
"Good gosh no! Of course I don't mind." She said nudging his shoulder with his. "You're one interesting dude, Blaine Anderson."
!
He and Cassie ate lunch together after his 11:00 class and worked on more homework together. They made plans, or rather she told him to meet her for lunch at 11:00 the next day before Blaine headed to his last two classes of the day. His biology lab went off without a hitch and soon he found himself sitting in a literature class, begging for it to be over before it started so he could pick up Elle. He had already printed out the syllabus for this class. He had read all of the novels they would be doing during the semester and had completed the first weeks reading from the anthology. He had just opened his anthology to the next reading when a tall slender woman swept through the door.
"Okay everybody" her voice filled the room. "I know that this is a freshmen English class but you are not going to get treated any differently than my English majors. So, please put your desks in a circle." She directed.
The woman arranged a variety of folders on the desk and then proceeded to sit on the front of it, dragging a chair to put her feet on. She waited until everyone had wedged their chairs into the circle before talking again.
"I am Dr. Reed and this is American Lit. Did anyone not print out the syllabus that I sent around?"
A couple of hands rose throughout the room and she handed stacks of papers to be passed around to them.
"So," she slapped her hands on her lap. "Before we go through the syllabus I'm just want everybody to go around the circle and say their name, your year, major, and something interesting about themselves. You start to get to know each other, and I don't have to take attendance like a high school teacher."
A few people went before Blaine but soon he was up. "Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson, I'm a freshman biology major, and I guess something interesting about me would be that I used to be the lead singer of an a cappella group at my high school."
"Blaine Anderson." Dr. Reed muttered. "Why do you look familiar?"
"I don't know ma'am."
"Do you live around here?"
"I commute, yes, from about ten minutes west of here."
"Hmm, maybe I've seen you at the grocery store." She mused. "Okay, moving on. You." She said pointing her pen at the person next to Blaine.
The rest of the room went around the circle introducing themselves until it came back around to Dr. Reed. She clapped her hands together and rubbed them lightly.
"Well, I guess it's my turn. I am Dr. Melissa Reed. I graduated from OSU with a bachelors in English, got my masters in Education and then ended up at Temple in Pennsylvania to get my Doctorate in American Literature. My dissertation was on Hawthorne. It was also where I met my husband, before I moved back here to teach. I have a daughter 16 months old, so if you see me checking my phone it's because I need to end class on time to pick her up from daycare. I never know whether I'm saying too little or too much about myself so if you have any questions feel free to ask. My office hours are on the syllabus feel free to come anytime. If they don't suit you shoot me an email and we'll figure out a time to meet." She paused for a moment. "No questions? Okay, onto the syllabus."
Class went to the last possible minute talking about a short story that had been handed out. Blaine practically jumped out of his chair, before returning it to his row and bolting out the door. After being with Elle all day every day for a week he missed her like crazy.
"Look who's here Ellie!" Grace said, from her spot on the floor where she was playing blocks with Elle and the little girl she had been playing with that first morning.
"Papa!" Elle cried. She pushed herself up on her legs and ran towards him. He scooped her up when she got close enough and blew a raspberry on her cheek. She giggled loudly and put her hands on his face pushing him away. Blaine started slightly and almost tripped. He looked down to find the other little girl with her arms wrapped around his legs.
"You can't go home with Elle, Mia." Grace chided, peeling the girl off of his leg. "They've been chasing each other around and playing all day." She explained.
"Did you have fun with Mia?" He asked sweetly, as Elle continued to laugh.
"She had a good nap this afternoon." Grace informed him, as he pulled Elle's diaper bag from her cubby. "She got a little fussy from her teeth this afternoon, but the teething ring wasn't in its usual pocket."
"Let me guess, a spoon?"
"Yeah," Grace said laughing.
"I got her teething ring in my lunch."
They laughed as Blaine maneuvered through children to find Elle's stuffed animals on the floor.
"Look who's here Mia!" Grace said, in the excited tone she had used with Elle. She set the little girl down and she went running towards the woman who had just entered the door. Blaine stood up from shoving Tub-Tub in the bag and handing Elle Bun-Bun and came face to face with Dr. Reed holding Amelia.
"Mr. Anderson, I guess I figured out where I recognized you from." She said politely.
"Hi, Dr. Reed," He said slowly. "Say bye bye to Mia sweetheart" he told Elle. She waved and blew kisses as they walked past the pair. "See you Wednesday Dr. Reed."
"See you Wednesday Mr. Anderson."
!
Blaine's phone rang as he walked through the door and set Elle's diaper bag by the stairs, and Elle ran straight to her blocks.
"Hello"
"Hey kid" the gruff voice of Burt Hummel said.
"Hi Burt!" Blaine said brightly.
"How was the first day of classes?"
"It was really good."
"That's great"
"How about Finn?"
"I don't know, he's not home yet. Football practice. Look Carole and I were thinking that the three of us could come out and have dinner Friday night. We haven't seen you guys since you moved out."
"I have to check with Kurt but it sounds good to me. Elle misses her grandma and grandpa. I'll have him call you back when he gets home from work."
"Thanks kid. You give my Ellie girl and kiss for me."
"You got it Burt."
"Bye kid."
"Bye Burt."
!
"Honey I'm home!" Kurt yelled out in a high pitched voice.
"Dada!" Came an equally high pitched squeal from the kitchen and soon his daughter was pushed against his leg arms raised to be held. "Dada up!" She demanded.
"Hi baby girl." Kurt said, lifting her up and placing a kiss on her cheek. "Did you have fun at daycare today? Did you play with Mia?"
"Hey babe." Blaine said, striding through the kitchen door. He placed a kiss on Kurt's cheek and slid his bag off of his boyfriends shoulder. "Guess who Mia's mom is?"
"Ummm, I don't know. Her aunt or someone is always picking her up when I get Elle."
"Melissa Reed."
"I'm sorry, should I know her?"
"She's my American Lit professor." Blaine explained. "She picks up Amelia at 4:00 right after the class that I have with her ends."
"Awkward" Kurt sang out.
"Definitely." Blaine agreed. "I had no idea what to say to her. Just another teenage dad, picking up his daughter from daycare." He said too casually.
Kurt laughed. "I'm sure it's fine hun. If it gets too awkward talk to her about it."
"Cause that'll make it so less awkward." Blaine countered.
"Just keep an open mind please. Elle and Amelia really seem to like playing together. It's good that she's making bonds this young."
"Okay, okay" Blaine said holding his hands up in surrender.
"Thank you baby" Kurt replied, gratefully, kissing Blaine. "Did you start the chicken and green bean casserole? Mrs. Miller mentioned that Eddy had a late afternoon doctor's appointment when we talked yesterday and I thought it would be nice if they didn't have to make dinner when they got home."
"It's got five more minutes left in the oven"
"Great. Let me just change out of this, and I'll get her changed as well." He said holding Elle up and smelling her bottom. "No stinkies," he said rubbing his nose into her belly, "but you're probably wet!"
Elle shrieked with laughter, as Kurt carted her up the stairs.
Blaine chuckled along with Elle as he went back into the kitchen to stir his hollandaise sauce for the chicken.
!
His three classes on Tuesday went without incident and soon Blaine found himself sitting uncomfortably in a circle of desks in Dr. Reed's classroom.
"Okay, we're going to keep playing the interesting game until I learn all of your names. So, name and something interesting you did this summer."
Blaine wracked his brain. Everything he had done that summer had had to do with Kurt and Elle. Now he understood how Kurt had felt at Dalton. He wasn't ashamed of his boyfriend and daughter but it didn't feel like something that everyone in this class had to know.
"Blaine?" He heard Dr. Reed question. "At least I've got your name down. I guess it pays to be the first on the attendance list."
"Umm, hi again. I'm Blaine and something interesting I did this summer was going to the zoo with my sister and my niece." He wasn't lying, he just hadn't mentioned that Kurt and Elle had been along too. It just felt weird telling a half truth. He took a deep breath. Kurt was right, he was just going to have to talk to her.
After class Blaine took his time packing up his things until he was the only one left in the classroom. He approached the desk slowly.
"I know we both have somewhere to be, but I was wondering if I could come see you at your office hours tomorrow? At 11:00?"
"Sure, Mr. Anderson. I think that's a good idea."
!
Blaine steeled himself before entering Dr. Reed's office, two cups of coffee clutched in his hands.
"Hi," he said nervously. "I brought you coffee." He said, offering it to her.
She took it with a smile. "You can close the door if you like." She suggested.
"Yeah, that may be a good idea." Blaine said. He set his coffee on the desk and wiped his palms on his pants before closing the door. He sat down slowly on the chair opposite the desk, and took a long sip of his coffee.
"So, Blaine, what was it you wanted to talk about."
"Okay" Blaine blew out a breath. Maybe Kurt was right and it was better to just blurt it all out. "Elle and Amelia seem to have this friendship, and your Mia's mother and my professor so I thought that maybe we should talk so this whole thing is less awkward, for me at least. I don't know if it's weird for you at all."
"A little weird, yes." She confirmed.
"Okay, good. I mean not good that it's weird, but good that I'm not alone in this. So I guess the first thing you should know is that Elle is not my daughter. She's my boyfriend's daughter. I'm gay." He rubbed his hands on his jeans once again. "We live together, just outside the city. I guess I wanted to come and talk today because the 'get to know you' questions that you open class with make me uncomfortable. All my answers have to do with Kurt and Elle, Kurt's Elle's dad, and it's not exactly something that I want the entire class to know about. Not that I'm ashamed, I just, it's just, Kurt and I, we haven't had the easiest time of it. I just don't want people judging me, or Kurt, or Elle, or the way I live my life." Blaine looked down at his hands in his lap.
Dr. Reed was nodding. "I understand."
His head snapped up.
"You seem like you're not in the easiest of situations, Mr. Anderson. You're a freshman right?"
Blaine nodded.
"So you're going to school full time and helping your boyfriend raise his daughter?"
He nodded again.
"Well Elle seems like a lovely little girl and she and Amelia get along so well for children their age so you must be doing something right."
Blaine's face burst into a smile. "She's something alright." He said, already he was digging in his wallet for a picture. "That's Kurt, he said that Mia's aunt is usually picking her up when he gets Elle at 5:00 on Tuesday's and Thursday's."
"My sister yeah, I'm here until 6:00, oh gosh they're so adorable."
"Aren't they? If something ever comes up and you ever need someone to get her she's always welcome at our house until you can pick her up."
"Thanks Mr. Anderson, I'll keep that in mind."
"I think you can still call me Blaine when we're talking about our daughters. You call me Blaine in class."
"Okay Blaine, and maybe you should call me Melissa when we're talking about the girls. I'm not really Dr. Reed to any of my friends."
"Okay, Melissa" Blaine said cautiously, the name sounding foreign and wrong on his tongue.
"You'll get used to it." She said, laughing slightly. "How about we set up a play date this weekend?"
"Sure!" Blaine said enthusiastically. "There's a great playground about block from our house."
"Sounds good."
"Yeah" Blaine nodded. He looked at his watch. "I have to get to class but I'll come in Thursday at 11:00 to figure out the details?"
"That sounds good. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Blaine smiled on his way out of the door. He had just made his first parental friend, and had scheduled a play date for Elle. She would be so excited to spend the day with Amelia. He pulled out his phone to leave Kurt a voicemail.
"Baby, you'll never guess what happened…"