A/N: No epigraph this chapter, sorry. Nothing seemed to work.

Do you remember back in September when I said that maybe it would be easier if everyone married their first love? Without getting ahead of myself or saying something I might regret later, I might have been on to something there.

These past 9 months have been very full. Not only in terms of our schedules, but emotionally, too. We have been through a lot of ups and downs and I feel like I've come out of it a better and happier person.

I hope to be able to talk more about my current emotional state and my cryptic first paragraph, but I need to make sure that the other parties involved are comfortable with it first. Until then, I leave you with a video of Annika's first ever competitive dance recital. Her team placed second overall and are going on to compete at nationals at the end of the month. Can you believe she'll be seven next week? Me either.

Blaine published his post and sent a text to Kurt: "Skype date after Ani goes to bed?" The whole 'distance' thing was a lot harder than Blaine had thought it would be, but it was also a blessing-he knew that Kurt needed a lot of time, and this prevented them from doing anything they might regret in the future. He worried, sometimes, that the distance would give Kurt the temptation to do what he had done in the past, but he also knew that they were older now, and that Kurt had learned from his mistakes. He couldn't explain it, but he knew somehow that it would be okay this time.

"So you've been back with Blaine for three months now," Elena said. "How is it going?"

"Distance sucks," Kurt admitted. "But it's actually been pretty good. We see each other almost every night on Skype, and it feels really comfortable, like it's where I'm-where we're-supposed to be."

Elena smiled. "Distance is hard," she agreed. "But I think that's what you need for awhile, because it sets boundaries that you can't really push, because he's so far away."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, that's what Blaine always says. It's been great, though, other than that. We talk about just about everything, and whenever we talk about the future it seems like we're on the same page. There's one thing, though." he ducked his head, a little ashamed. "His daughter."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "That's a pretty big one thing. What about his daughter?"

"I...I don't really like kids-I mean, I like them, but I've never seen myself having kids in my life."

Elena scribbled something on her pad. "Do you see having Blaine in your life?"

Kurt nodded. "Definitely."

"Then you have to somehow come to terms with the fact that his daughter is part of his life, too. You don't want to isolate her, because you'll isolate him. Have you eve talked about it?"

"With Blaine? No. I'm scared of what he'll say."

"Well, that goes both ways. If Blaine truly loves you and wants you in his life, he'll be understanding and most likely, he'll try to help you with those feelings. If you're scared to talk about them, that creates a breakdown in communication, and then your relationship is going to become unhealthy again, right?"

Kurt nodded again. "I guess so."

"So what you need to do," Elena said, "is talk to him. And if you need me, I'm always here."

Kurt stood, picking up his bag. "Thanks, Elena."

Elena smiled. "Any time."

It was late by the time he got home, after an impromptu dinner with some of his coworkers, and he called Blaine on Skype as soon as he got home, a sort of relief flooding him as Blaine's face filled his screen. "Hi baby!" he said. "How was your day?"

Kurt smiled. "Okay. Long. How was yours?"

"Long." Blaine grinned. "Anni's birthday party is this week, and I've been running around getting everything ready for that. She wants pony rides. Can you believe that? Pony rides."

Kurt laughed. "At least you have a big back yard."

"Yeah, that's what I figure. And then I had to take her to dance and drama and I feel like I've been moving pretty much nonstop all day."

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "I felt that way, too. I had a meeting with some very uptight clients, and then I saw my therapist, and then on my way home I saw Sacha and Drew from work and we went out for pizza."

"Awesome. How did your therapist go?"

"Um, okay." Kurt was toying with how to bring up Annika when he realized that Blaine was talking again.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Annika's dance team made nationals, so we'll be in New York the last weekend of this month."

Kurt made a slightly strangled noise and recovered by smiling. "Wow, good for Annika!"

Blaine nodded. "So I was hoping that we could see each other again, and maybe...maybe I could introduce you to Annika? Not as my boyfriend if you don't think that's okay, but..." he trailed off, looking expectantly at Kurt, who nodded, swallowing hard. "That sounds great!" he said. "I can't wait."

Blaine beamed. "Me either, baby. I love you." he held up his hand, just the same way he did at the end of every Skype date, and Kurt couldn't help but smile, holding up his own hand. "I love you too," he replied. "Goodnight, baby."

They hung up, and Kurt took a deep breath. It would be easier to talk about this in person, after all, he thought, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. And anyway, he had liked Annika when he had met her before, so he probably had nothing to worry about. He could be a kid person if he really wanted to, and right now, he really, really wanted to.

"Annika, wake up," Blaine whispered, shaking Annika's shoulder.

Annika growled at him. "No," she grumbled, pulling her blankets around her shoulders.

Blaine gave her shoulder another gentle shake. "I know, I didn't want to wake up, either, but we have to drive to your dance school and get on the bus so we can go to New York, remember?"

Annika peered at him blearily. "New York?"

Blaine nodded. "For nationals, remember?"

Annika sat up. "Oh." she nodded. "I guess I can wake up for that."

Blaine laughed, ruffling her hair. "Good girl. Your clothes are on the end of your bed, and don't forget your suitcase."

Half an hour later, they were standing in the parking lot of Annika's dance school with five other equally sleepy-looking little girls and half-awake parents clutching Starbucks cups as if their lives depended on them.

"At least they'll sleep well on the plane," one of the parents remarked.

Blaine took a mouthful of coffee. "We can hope."

However, by the time the girls had been herded through security and onto the plane, they had forgotten that they were sleepy and excitement had set in, and for the rest of the flight they were six very hyper little girls and six barely-awake parents halfheartedly trying to make them be quiet.

They did, much to everyone's surprise, manage to make it to New York in one piece, and once they were checked into the hotel, the girls were herded off to their practice space and the parents were left to their own devices. This was when Blaine usually began feeling awkward. The dance parents were overwhelmingly female, and overwhelmingly blog readers, and sometimes when he had to engage with them face to face, Blaine felt more like a shiny new toy than a human being. He was about thirty seconds from being hauled into a cab and taken to some uptown hair salon to "consult" (Blaine had had the same hairstyle since he was fifteen, they were better off getting fashion consultation from a blind man with a mullet) when Kurt, as usual, swooped in, his saving grace. "you here yet?" he texted. "what hotel are you at? is Annika there? I'll pick you up."

Smiling, Blaine caught the arm of one of the ladies. "Jess, I've actually got plans. I'll catch up with you at the program, okay?"

Jess gave him a knowing look and nodded, dashing off to catch the cab, and Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Anni's at practice. We're at the paramount in times square. I'll be in the lobby. Love you."

"I'm going to lunch," Kurt called to Mona, grabbing his keys off the desk. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

"Okay, have fun," Mona called back. "I'll have Lila forward your calls?"

"Nah, don't bother, if it's an emergency they'd have my cell anyway. Just have them leave a message." Giving himself a once over in the mirror, he headed out into the late June sun, wishing he had grabbed his sunglasses, and flagged down a cab.

Blaine was dozing in one of the plush chairs in the Paramount lobby when Kurt arrived, and he gave his shoulder a gentle shake. "Wake up, sleepy head."

Blaine blinked up at him, then shook his head, trying to shake the sleep off. "Sorry. Long flight." he got to his feet and wrapped his arms around Kurt, leaning in up to press their lips together, his hands curling into fists in his shirt, oblivious to the stares of the rest of the people milling around the lobby. "Hi," he said, grinning goofily. "You look fantastic. I missed you."

Kurt regarded Blaine for a long moment, standing there with his slightly sleep-tousled hair, and felt a surge of deep, powerful love. He had never loved anybody as much as he loved Blaine, had always loved Blaine. He knew nobody blamed him, but god, he was stupid for giving this up. Taking his hand, he gave him another quick kiss. "Cab's waiting. What are you in the mood for?"

Half an hour later, they were sitting in a booth at Kurt's most favorite Thai restaurant in the entire city and possibly the world, and Kurt decided it was time to speak up. It was a lot easier, he realized, now that he had been face to face to Blaine. He knew exactly what he wanted now. "Blaine," he said, reaching for Blaine's hand. "I need to talk to you about something."

Blaine paused over his spring roll, a concerned look crossing his face. "What's the matter?" he asked, giving Kurt's hand a squeeze.

"Nothing." Kurt shook his head. "It's...well, Annika. See...I...I kind of...Greg made me programmed to think that I didn't really like kids, but...after I spent time with Finn's babies I realized that's not entirely true, but I'm going to need some time and patience before I can really be a 'stepfather' to Annika, you know, if it comes to that? I really want to have a good relationship with her, because I want you in my future, but I might need some patience, and to get to know her. Okay?" his eyes searched Blaine's face for any sign of resentment or rejection, but there was only a twinkle of something Kurt couldn't quite place in his eyes.

"Oh, is that all?" Blaine laughed. "Of course you'll need time to get to know her, Kurt! I mean, I have no doubt that she'll just love you, but of course we can take our time on that front. I wouldn't expect anything else."

Kurt relaxed visibly, picking his spoon up again. "I was so worried about that," he admitted with a little laugh, and Blaine patted his hand. "You never need to be scared to tell me things like that," he assured him. "I'm not Greg. I'm not going to try to manipulate you to do what I want you to do."

Kurt nodded. "I love you, Blaine."

Blaine leaned across the table to kiss him. "I love you, too, Kurt. And all of this talking about Annika reminded me, her performance is at 7, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

Kurt didn't even have to think about it. "I'd love to, but there's somewhere we need to go first."

Although he had not been on stage in well over a decade, Blaine still felt a little thrill when the lights went up, especially when it was his baby up there, and he gave Kurt's hand a little squeeze. "There's my baby," he murmured, and Kurt smiled, kissing the side of his head.

They danced beautifully, nobody misstepped or tripped or giggled, and Blaine had never been so proud of his daughter. Although he knew it mattered to them, it didn't matter to him if they won or not-they were clearly the best.

"Daddy!" Annika came barreling out of the dressing room toward Blaine, half-dressed, her hair askew, practically scaling him. "Did we win? Did we?"

Blaine scooped her up, kissing her nose. "I don't know yet, baby. We can go find out in a minute, but first, there's someone I want you to meet." he gestured to Kurt, who was hovering awkwardly just outside of the crowd. "This is daddy's friend Kurt," he said. "He came to watch you, and, if you're okay with that, you and I are going to stay in New York for a little while after your friends go home and spend a little more time with him. What do you think?"

Annika stared dubiously. "You're the man from the magazine," she accused.

Kurt bent down to her level, smiling. "That's right, I am. Good memory."

Annika folded her arms across her chest. "I don't like you," she informed him.

Kurt gave Blaine a helpless look, and Blaine touched Annika's shoulder. "I know you think that Kurt was mean to daddy, but we're friends now, and he would like to be your friend, too. Do you think you could give him a chance?"

"I brought you a present," Kurt added, handing her the stuffed bear in dance clothes he had bought for her. "For doing such a good job dancing."

Annika accepted the bear, still wary. "You better be nice to my daddy," she said. "If you aren't, I will be mean to you."

Blaine ruffled her hair. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, sweetheart. Now let's go meet up with your team and see if you won a prize, okay?"

Annika gave Kurt one last dubious look and then took off toward her friends, Kurt and Blaine trailing behind.

It felt like an agonizingly long time for the announcer to read off the top ten teams, and by the time they read off number five, the girls were not only bored, tired, and hungry, but they had also given up any hope of getting a trophy.

Annika climbed into Blaine's lap, resting her head against his chest. "I want to leave," she said.

Blaine played with her hair. "Why? Maybe they didn't call your name because you won first place."

Annika was unconvinced. "Maybe."

Blaine kissed the top of her head. "Now listen, they're going to read the top three."

"Number three, from Newton, Massachusetts, Unimotion! Number two, from Orlando, Florida, Dancenterprise! And this year's national competitive dance squad champions are...from Westerville, Ohio...inMotion!"

There was a moment of complete silence, a little confused muttering, and then complete and utter chaos. The girls were hugging each other and screaming and jumping up and down, tripping all over themselves as they made their way back to the stage to get their trophy.

"They won!" Blaine was shouting, jumping up and down, causing almost as much calamity as the little girls, tears in his eyes. "Kurt, they won! My baby won! They won for the wholecountry!"

Kurt couldn't help feeling his own swell of pride and happiness as he watched Blaine and, especially Annika, who had worked so hard and was being rewarded for it. He could get used to this, he thought. Family life might be right for him after all.