Another chapter! I'm feeling kind of melancholic right now, tomorrow it will be a year since Glee ended, it's unbelievable how the time flies. And guess what? I still miss Glee just as much as I missed it one day after it ended. It looks like it will always keep hold of my soul (and I'm not going to complain about that, oh no).

But hey, in two days it'll be also a year since I met Darren and THIS IS AMAZING, I'll never be over it.

Enjoy the chapter and I also apologize for any inaccuracies in the description of the zoo (I imagine there are plenty). I've never been there, I only had a map of the zoo and the descriptions from the website to work with :)

Chapter 10

The alarm was set early, since they wanted to make sure they would be up before Emily. Groaning, they got up, neither of them being a morning person, so it took a little effort, but hey, they could make the sacrifice that one time. After getting dressed, Blaine went to the kitchen to get started on a special birthday breakfast, while Kurt slowly sneaked up on Emily, opening the door to her room quietly, careful not to wake her too soon.

"Emily." He said quietly, sitting down on her bed. "Emily!" Her eyes snapped open when he raised his voice and Kurt grinned widely. He grabbed Sammy from the bed and looked at him seriously. "You know, Sammy, something in my gut is telling me that today is a very special today." Tilting bear's head, as if he wanted to ask a question, Kurt nodded. "That's right, Sammy, I think it's someone's birthday today!"

"Yes!" Emily squealed happily, not able to stay quiet any longer, jumping giddily on the bed. "It's my birthday!"

"Did someone say it's their birthday?" Blaine asked with a wide smile, appearing in the doorway out of nowhere. "Well, it's a good thing then that we are prepared!" He said, winking in Kurt's direction.

"Brush your teeth and we'll see you in the kitchen." Kurt told Emily and he had never seen her jump out of bed that quickly, she was gone from the room before he even finished talking. Smiling at each other, Kurt and Blaine headed back to the kitchen and when Emily joined them, Blaine started putting the pancakes on their plates, and damn, Kurt apparently had some catching up to do in that area because his pancakes definitely weren't that spectacular.

The special birthday breakfast consisted of pancakes made in various animal shapes, some of them supplemented with pieces of fruit, the different patterns drawn on them with chocolate sauce. Emily's eyes widened in delight when she saw them, Blaine wiggling his eyebrows when Kurt's eyes met his, making Kurt shake his head with a laugh. Before they could eat, Emily insisted on taking pictures of the animal pancakes, so Kurt obliged and snapped a few photos with his phone, making a mental note to ask Blaine how the hell he knew how to make those kind of pancakes.

"We have to eat now, Em, we're kind of on a tight schedule today." Blaine casually said and that was exactly the right thing to do, Emily's eyes flashing with excitement as she dug into the pancakes, eating so quickly that both Kurt and Blaine had to tell her to slow down a little bit, they wouldn't be going anywhere if she choked on her birthday breakfast.

They decided not to tell her where they were going, wanting it be a complete surprise. Emily had tried, of course, to get the information out of them, jumping around and begging them to tell her, from the moment they finished breakfast, while they were getting dressed, and then when they were getting into the cab. Giving up, figuring she wouldn't achieve anything, she fell silent, sitting between them in the backseat of the cab, looking around as they drove through the city, fiddling with her fingers in excitement. When they reached their destination and got out of the car after paying the driver, she looked around, not recognizing the neighborhood, but her eyes widened when they got closer to the Central Park Zoo.

"That looks like the zoo from Madagascar!" Emily gasped.

Kurt chuckled. "That's because it is the zoo from Madagascar." He said with a smile. They had chosen the north gate exactly for that reason. "Slightly different, of course, but that's the one."

After buying the tickets, they let Emily decide where they would go first. She chose the sea lion pool, so that's where they headed, taking a few steps downstairs to watch the animals swim happily below the water, spinning and doing flips, swimming close to the glass separating them from humans as if they wanted to say hi.

Next, they headed to the building with the tropic zone. There were all kinds of birds, snakes and bats in there that Emily stared at in pure fascination, but what caught her attention was the troop of black-and-white ruffed lemurs. They were adorable, running around and chasing each other, there were a couple of young ones, that even Kurt couldn't help but coo at them, even though he wasn't much of an animal person. They spent a lot time there, watching the lemurs playing and jumping around, it took a while before Emily, though reluctantly, decided to move forward.

They went back outside, heading to the temperate territory. The weather was indeed beautiful that they, much warmer than in the past few weeks, which made wandering around the zoo much more pleasant. They let Emily go forward, running excitedly from enclosure to enclosure, admiring the red pandas, snow leopards and other Asian animals, while they followed a little behind.

"I know I said this already, but thank you." Kurt said to Blaine, chuckling when Emily stood on her tiptoes, trying to spot the rest of a red panda in the tree when she noticed the big, fluffy tail hanging from it. "This was a perfect idea."

"You're very welcome." Blaine replied with a smile, squeezing Kurt's hand happily, his smile widening when Kurt pressed a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Kurt! Blaine!" Emily yelled, making them look up. "Come on, the grizzly bears are next!"

Laughing, they sped up and caught up with her, listening to her excited chattering about everything she had seen so far, Kurt grabbing her right hand while she stretched the left one to Blaine. They walked like that, and Kurt felt a pleasant feeling in his chest, noticing how… domestic it felt, and how nice it was, in a way he had never thought it could.

After watching the penguins and other sea birds, the only thing they had left was the Tisch Children's Zoo. It was the part of the zoo with the goats, sheep and pigs, there was even a cow, which the kids could pet through the fence. They could feed them as well which made Emily excited all over again, squealing when the goat licked her hand, demanding a snack. There were also plenty of animal statues that children could climb on, so Kurt and Blaine spent at least twenty minutes watching Emily play around, taking pictures of her and the animals, but they didn't mind. She looked like she was having the time of her life, which made Kurt sigh in relief, seeing her that happy lifted down a heavy feeling in his chest, the one that had been weighing him down ever since Finn died. As if he sensed the slight change in Kurt's mood, Blaine leaned closer, wrapping his arms around him, his presence next to Kurt making him feel like everything would be okay.

At Emily's insistence, they headed back to the lemurs and it was then that Kurt was struck with an idea. Asking Blaine if he could distract Emily for a few minutes, he went outside, walking back to where he saw a gift shop, hoping he would find what he was looking for. When he entered the shop, it didn't disappoint him – there were plenty of stuffed animals on the shelves, different sizes of every animal they had in the Central Park Zoo and it didn't take Kurt long to locate a lemur, just like the one Emily had been in love with since she saw them for the first time. After paying, he went back to Blaine and Emily, hiding the stuffed animal behind his back, so she wouldn't see it right away. Blaine's eyes widened in recognition as he caught a glimpse of the fluffy tail and, grinning widely, he gave Kurt a thumbs-up.

"So, what were your favorite animals today?" Kurt asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Lemurs!" Emily said excitedly, but looking longingly in the direction of the building where the lemurs where held. "They were so cute."

"What do you think about this one?" Kurt asked, pulling the animal from behind his back. "For me, it looks like it needs a new home."

"It's for me?!" Emily gasped.

"I don't know, do you think you can take good care of it?" Kurt asked teasingly, making Blaine chuckle lightly beside him.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Emily instantly replied, hugging the lemur tightly when Kurt handed it to her. "Thank you!" She squealed, hugging Kurt as well, throwing herself at him with such a force that he almost toppled over. Laughing loudly, he hugged her back, not noticing how Blaine was looking at them, adoringly, with a soft smile on his face. After they pulled away, they headed towards the zoo exit, hailing a cab when they got to the sidewalk and headed back home.

When they got to the apartment, it was time for the cake. After asking Emily to wait in her room and not peek outside, they pulled the cake out of the fridge, lightening nine candles on it and Kurt stated that it looked pretty spectacular, pride lacing his voice. Kurt pulled his phone out and pressed 'record' as Blaine started singing happy birthday loudly, Emily smiling widely and giggling when Blaine started spinning her around, dancing around the table.

"Remember, make a wish." Kurt reminded her when Blaine was done and Emily sat down to blow the candles. After thinking for a few seconds, she closed her eyes and blew out the candles, not missing even a single one, Kurt and Blaine cheering loudly. "Don't tell us or it won't come true." Kurt said, putting the phone back in his pocket and leaning down to hug her. "Happy birthday, Em." He whispered in her ear, squeezing her extra tight and then moved back to let Blaine hug her as well. He took the candles out of the cake and put them on the counter, grabbing a knife and a mug with hot water to cut the cake.

Kurt couldn't help but preen a little when Emily declared their cake the best chocolate cake she had ever eaten and that he was the best cook ever. When Blaine cleared his throat, she immediately corrected herself with a smile, stating that they were both the best cooks in the world. Satisfied, Blaine bumped her fist, making Kurt roll his eyes fondly. She really was Finn's daughter, in every aspect. They spent the rest of the evening playing monopoly, both Kurt and Blaine doing their best not to win, wanting to assure Emily's victory since it was her birthday.

"I think it's time for bed." Kurt said with a smile when Emily started yawning and he could see her eyes closing. Reluctantly, she agreed and, after saying goodnight to Blaine, she went to her room, Kurt following to tuck her into bed. He'd already turned the lights off and was about to leave the room when Emily's voice stopped him.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning around towards her.

"Thank you. Today has been amazing."

Kurt smiled softly. "You're very welcome, sweetheart."

Closing the door to her room, he went back to the living room where Blaine had already cleaned up everything and was sitting on the couch, waiting for him. Settling in next to him, Kurt leaned back on the couch, tilting his head to look at Blaine. They sat like that for a while in a comfortable silence, Blaine's eyes shining softly in the dim light coming from the lamp in the corner, the music playing quietly in the background.

"I think our plan worked out pretty well." Blaine eventually said with a smile, grabbing Kurt's hand and playing with his fingers.

"Your plan." Kurt corrected, looking pointedly at Blaine, squeezing his hand. "I wouldn't have done it without you."

"I'm sure you would have figured something out." Blaine denied, scrunching his nose adorably, making it impossible for Kurt not to lean in and kiss his cheek sweetly.

"I don't know." He said thoughtfully. "Maybe. I just wanted to make this day incredible for her. I remember my first birthday after mom died." He smiled sadly, remembering it like it was yesterday. "I missed her even more that day, but then my dad took me out to our favorite place with ice-cream and, for a little while, everything was better. It didn't hurt that much." Kurt said quietly, looking down on the floor.

"And that's exactly what you did for Emily today, Kurt." Blaine said softly. "What about you? How are you doing?" He asked, brushing his hand gently against Kurt's cheek to make him look at him.

"I'm okay. I just... got a little melancholic, I guess." Kurt replied with a sigh, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Anything I can do to make it better?" Blaine asked, looking at Kurt in a way that made him want to melt into him and stay like that forever.

"Just be with me."

Not saying anything, Blaine scooted closer and wrapped his arms around Kurt, holding him tightly, Kurt leaning his head on his shoulder and closing his eyes. They sat like that for a while, Kurt overwhelmed, in a positive way, by how safe he felt, surrounded by Blaine's strong arms and his familiar scent. He tilted his head to capture Blaine's lips in a soft kiss, breathing through his nose as they kissed slowly, with no urgency between them. Sitting up straighter, he licked Blaine's bottom lip, sliding his tongue into Blaine's mouth when he granted him access, deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck. They kissed for a long time, Kurt wasn't even sure how much time had passed, but that was what usually happened when he was kissing Blaine, it was so easy to get lost in him. Feeling the tiredness catching up with him, he closed his eyes, not wanting to break the kiss, thinking that he would die a happy man if kissing Blaine was the only thing he was allowed to do for the rest of his life.

"Come on." Blaine whispered, pulling away, his breath hot on Kurt's lips. "You're exhausted."

Nodding, Kurt stood up, so did Blaine, and they went to his bedroom, turning all of the lights off on their way. After stripping down to his boxers, Kurt grabbed one of Blaine's t-shirts that were lying around his room and put it on, throwing another one to Blaine, and they got into bed, immediately gravitating towards each other. It took only a couple of minutes for Kurt to fall asleep, his face nestled in the crook of Blaine's neck with his arms wrapped around him. Pulling the blankets over them, Blaine kissed the top of Kurt's head and, maybe if Kurt had stayed awake for a few minutes longer, he would have heard soft words whispered into his hair, barely audible in the dark room.

"Ti amo, amore mio."

I don't think the last sentence needs translating... ;)