"Blaine Anderson! You're finally getting your room together? You simply must tell me about your sum-" A tall dark haired woman barreled into the classroom only to freeze when she spotted Kurt bouncing Julian in his arms. "You are not Anderson."
"Anderson?" Kurt asked with bemusement before he shook his head. "That I am not."
The woman looked him over, blinking with even more startlement at the baby in his arms. "Maybe I have the wrong classroom? Do you know if they changed Anderson's room? Fourth grade?"
Kurt shook his head giving the woman a curious look right back. "No. You're in the right place. This is definitely Blaine's classroom, but he went to the office for minute. He wanted some kind of list?"
"His class list probably. Or at least the way it stands right now. I'm sure they'll all change five more times at least before we start in a week." The woman paused a second before she offered out her hand. "I'm Amanda Gomez, one of the other fourth grade teachers."
Kurt awkwardly shifted Julian around, getting a whine of displeasure from the baby for his efforts. He managed to free his hand though, reaching out to shake hers. "Kurt Hummel. It's a pleasure to meet you. I just came in today to help Blaine out with decorating this place, and to help keep an eye on his son."
"His son?" The woman's eyes bugged out as she turned her gaze toward the baby. "Blaine has a son?"
"Son, nephew, whatever. It's a long story and one I should probably let Blaine tell." Kurt leaned down to fish a pacifier out of the car seat, using it to get Julian to settle down. "There, Jules. I promise my moving you is not a horrible thing."
The woman stepped closer to look down at the baby. "He's adorable, whoever's kid he is, but I should go get back to work. Will you let Anderson know I'm here, too?"
Kurt nodded his head. "I can certainly do that."
Blaine returned just minutes later, a piece of paper in his hands. "Thirty-three so far." He commented as he looked up and over to Kurt. "Hopefully it won't go up from there. I really don't want to start the year with thirty-five or thirty-six students. Plus, I have one girl who is new to the country. I love how they always give me any and all new students from the Philippines. As if my rudimentary knowledge of Tagalog or having a Filipina mother makes me magically a better teacher for them. They don't give Gomez all the Hispanic newcomers."
Kurt just stared at Blaine for a moment, trying to make sense of all of that. "That sounds vaguely racist." He noted before he added. "Gomez. I think that's who was here. Amanda? She stuck her head in to see you, but you weren't here. I promised her that I would let you know she's in her classroom."
"Oh! Awesome. Amanda's one of the other fourth grade teachers. She's a good work friend, but we haven't had the chance to talk pretty much all summer." Blaine moved to perch on the edge of his kidney table glancing down at the list instead. "I wonder if that's Ian's little sister." He muttered to himself.
"That would explain why she was so completely shocked to see me standing here with a baby." Kurt noted glancing down to watch Julian suck happily at his pacifier. The baby had chubbed up quite a bit in the last month and a half, gaining a baby round face
"Yes. I would imagine that was rather unexpected for her." Blaine stated dryly before he glanced toward Julian. 'Would you mind watching the little guy a bit more so that I can go check in with her? She might have just wanted to say hi, but she might have some important news or info to pass along."
"Asking for my help with decoration was really just a lure to get me here so that I could keep an eye on Julian, wasn't it?" Kurt teased. "You really didn't want my input on bulletin boards or whatever it is you teacher people put up."
"Maybe." Blaine responded in a sing song tone. "Really, it was mostly about having someone to hold the other end of bigger pieces of paper or fabric. Makes it so much easier to put them up."
"Mmhmm. I see how I'm being used." Kurt replied in a laughing tone that showed he really didn't mind. "Do all of you really refer to each other by just your last name? The lady that came in called you Anderson. You called her Gomez. Is that really a thing?"
Blaine rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah? I mean, all the teachers I know do it. When we're one on one, I do call her Amanda, but around school? We do kind of refer to each other by just our last names. It drops the formality a little bit from Ms. Gomez or Mr. Anderson, but it's still easier to talk that way in front of the students."
"I already knew you all were crazy, wanting to work with large amounts of small people and all, but this just cements it." Kurt drawled before he made a small shooing gesture. "Go, go. Talk to your Gomez friend. I'll feed Julian, but you'd better be willing to come back if I text you about a poopy diaper. The Kurt Hummel babysitting service does not extend that far."
Blaine knocked on the door frame of Amanda's classroom, sticking his head around with a grin. "Gomez! I've missed you!"
"Anderson!" Blaine found himself pulled into a tight hug. "I think you have a lot of explaining to do, mister."
"Explaining?" Blaine asked with false innocence.
"You can start with that delicious looking man standing in your classroom." The other teacher said with a sly grin, moving to take a seat on the top of her kidney table. She kicked off her flip flops to tuck her bare feet up underneath her. "Or maybe the baby he was holding. You got a baby, and you didn't even freakin' tell me?"
"I have been rather busy from that last one." Blaine pointed out before he mimicked her position atop one of the desks. "Alright. Which do you want first?"
Amanda let out a hmmm sound. "The boytoy. What's the story on him?"
Blaine blushed a deep scarlet at that name for Kurt. "He's not so much a boytoy as an actual, legitimate boyfriend. His name is Kurt, and I'm completely falling head over heels for him. He's a friend of Mike and Tina, my old roommates, from when they went to high school back in Ohio. He moved here this summer and works for the wardrobe department at Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. He's- He's wonderful. Thoughtful but with a biting wit. Hot. Kind. We've only been dating for oh- a little less than a month. I've known him for less than two. I feel like I'm diving in too far too fast, but I can't bring myself to care."
"Sometimes you just know when things are right." Amanda replied before she just grinned over. "I'm so happy for you, Blaine. You deserve a good guy in your life."
"And I've got two of them." At the shocked look on his fellow teacher's face, Blaine backtracked. "Not like that. I'm not delving into threesomes. I meant Julian. Kurt and the baby, both."
"Ah. Well, you have to admit, it didn't exactly sound like it. But never say I stood in the way of any consenting adults." Amanda joked. "Alright, now I've got to know. How did you mysteriously end up with a kid? Summer break isn't even three months long. That boy is at least that old."
"He's four months." Blaine admitted. "And he's my nephew. You've met Cooper, right? Didn't he hit on you in front of your husband?"
"Ah yes. Your brother is a memorable man."
"That he is. Anyway, Julian is his son. His mother died, from a drug overdose, and could you see Cooper raising a kid? It'd be a disaster." Blaine shook his head. "It was crazy at first, but I can't imagine not having Julian in my life now. I love being a - well, really it's being a father. It has its challenges, but overall? It's great."
"I'm glad you're happy." The other teacher told Blaine sincerely. "And think of all the people you'll be able to shock and surprise at the first staff meeting on Wednesday. I'm helping format the PowerPoint for it. Can I stick a picture of Julian up in the 'What I did this summer' section? Maybe make people guess who he belongs to?"
Blaine laughed. "Sure. That ought to be interesting. Let's figure out why the blue eyed white child belongs to the hapa teacher."
"I'm pretty sure that at least half the staff thinks you're a pure lily white." The woman pointed out with a wrinkled nose. "Not that that makes it any better. It'll just make for one less surprise in all of this." Amanda dropped the snarky tone to stand and pull Blaine into a hug. "I'm happy for you, Blaine. Sincerely. Do what it takes to make your little family strong, alright?"
Blaine wrapped his arms around Amanda's back with a small surprised sound. "I promise. I don't want to let anything get in the way of what we're growing."
Blaine bounced a wailing Julian in his arms, blowing out a long breath of air. "Calm down. Calm down. You're alright." He tried, to no avail.
"The rocking chair?" Blaine asked the baby, even though he wasn't expecting a response. "We could try the rocking chair." The teacher tried rocking the baby for a few minutes, turning the wailing into a whimpering cry. "Please just fall asleep." He whispered.
That wish did not come true. Instead the crying picked back up when the sound of Blaine's phone ringing cut through the room. "Shit." Blaine cussed, fishing it out of his pocket. Even seeing Kurt's name on the screen didn't send the same rush through him that it normally would have. "Kurt?"
"Blaine?" Kurt's voice wavered through the phone, obviously picking up on the background noise of the screaming child. "Is everything alright?"
"No." Blaine started to rock Julian again, holding the baby close with one hand and tucking his phone up to his ear with the other. "Nothing is alright. I- School starts tomorrow. I have so freaking much to do, and I can't get Julian to stop crying for the life of me. I just - is it bad if I break down and cry right alongside him?"
"Go for it if you think it'd help." Kurt replied dryly before he asked more sympathetically. "I was calling to see if you wanted me to come over with takeout or to make us dinner, but is there anything you need more? Earplugs?"
"Hah." Blaine paused a moment before he sighed. "Maybe. But really, some baby Tylenol or something? Ask at Walgreens or somewhere what kind of things work for teething babies? I think that's the problem. I hope so at least. He doesn't seem to be sick."
"I can do that. Or at least maybe let him cry into my shoulder long enough for you to go outside and scream into the night yourself." Kurt offered. "Baby painkiller. Check. I'll see you in a few minutes?"
"Thank you. Thank you so much. He hasn't cried this much since before the doctor started him on the reflux medicine. I feel like he's been sobbing for hours now." Blaine shifted to stand, truly not sure how long it had been since a slightly fussy Julian had turned into a bawling baby. "I'll unlock the door for you, so you can just let yourself in."
Blaine was convinced that Baby Tylenol might be the greatest invention since pacifiers. Kurt had shown up with a plastic bag full of freezable toys for the baby to chew on along with the liquid Baby Tylenol. After getting a dose into Julian with skills honed on giving daily reflux medicine, Blaine had finally managed to settle the baby. Blaine might have to call Miriam for advice on other solutions later but for now? He was in full support of painkillers.
He'd settled back down in the rocking chair with the boy, hoping Julian was worn out enough from all the tears to fall asleep. He sang softly as the chair moved, moving from one song to a second before he saw that baby's eyes start to droop.
Your baby blues, so full of wonder
Your curly q's, your contagious smile
And as I watch, you start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight
Knowing clouds will rage
And storms will race in, but you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms
Blaine stood carefully at the end of the song, not wanting to wake Julian back up now that he was finally asleep. His attention was so fully on putting the baby into his crib that he didn't even notice that Kurt had come back into the room until he felt the other man's arms wrap around his waist from behind, Kurt resting his chin on Blaine's shoulder as he spoke up. "Can you sing that to me when I'm having a bad day? I think would make it all better."
"I could. I could rock you in the chair as well." Blaine replied, joking softly before he turned in Kurt's arms, pressing a quick kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "Thank you for coming to save me today. I think I was about ready to fall apart."
"You can always count on me to put you back together again." Kurt stroked his hand along Blaine's back, soothingly. "You are tense tonight, huh?"
"Oh God. So tense. It's not just everything with Julian, though. I'm so nervous about the first day of school tomorrow. What if I horrible class of students? What if they mutiny? I have 35 on my list now. They could easily over power me and pull off a coup." Blaine worried.
Kurt shook his head with an amused smile. "If you have a tough class, you'll work with it, but they are not going to mutiny." He tugged at Blaine's hand, pulling him out of the nursery and toward his bedroom. "I could help you relieve some of that tension."
Blaine raised his eyebrows as he let Kurt lead him along. "Relieving tension? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"
"I would assume you'd have a better answer to that one than I would." Kurt teased. "But I meant a backrub." He paused, looking Blaine over with a flirty smile. "Although I can't say that I would be adverse to other ways to 'relieve tension', if you're ready for them."
Blaine hesitated for a moment before he leaned in to pull Kurt into another kiss, pulling his hand free so he could tangle both of them in Kurt's hair. He pulled back, sucking on Kurt's lower lip for a moment before he shook his head with a sigh. "At this point? It's not that I'm not ready. It's just that I don't want our first time together to be when one of us is distracted and upset. I want to be in the moment, not fighting to be in the moment."
Kurt nodded, giving Blaine a sweeter kiss in return. "I understand. We'll just have to engineer ourselves a better time." Catching the look on Blaine's face, Kurt leaned down to rest his forehead on the other man's. "Really. It's fine. Now, do you want that backrub, or do you want help with your to do list?"
"Can we do the to do list and then the backrub? Or is that overly greedy?" Blaine asked softly.
"Not at all. You'll probably enjoy the backrub more that way, right? And getting my hands all over your bare skin? Not exactly a sacrifice." Kurt teased before he pulled away. "I already ordered Chinese from your favorite place. Let's go get started while we wait for the food."
Kurt set his takeout box back down next to the stack of orange folders he was sticking labels on. "You supply all of this to your students? Don't they bring their own stuff tomorrow?" He finally asked the question he'd been holding back for the last half hour of counting and labeling notebooks and folders.
"Occasionally. In the neighborhood I teach in? About half of them will bring some part of the list. One or two might actually have everything they need. If I want them to have supplies, it's up to me to make sure they do." Blaine finished writing a name in cursive on a name tag with a flourish. "We're lucky this year actually. We got Target to donate a ton of spiral notebooks that didn't sell in their clearance after the back to school season last year, so I only had to buy the folders and composition notebooks out of my own funds. If you shop the sales right, that's not so bad."
Kurt shook his head. "I can't imagine starting school at the beginning of the year without that shiny new pencil box full of crayons and brand new markers."
"We're not in Ohio anymore, Toto." Blaine quipped. "I could choose to teach in the kind of suburb where the parents will send anything you ask or in a private school. I went to both types myself, there's nothing wrong with either. Hell, by the time Julian's school age, I may have strong incentive in bringing him along with me to teach in one of the two, but for now? I like working in a place where I can know that I'm helping the kids get a leg up in life."
"Because you're crazy." Kurt teased over, recounting the pile of folders. "These are done."
"Because I'm crazy." Blaine echoed with just as joking a tone. "The upside? I don't have as many overbearing parents to deal with. The kind of who think their child is perfect and that they know my job better than I do. Most of my parents are as supportive as they can be. They know that getting a good education is their kid's way to a better life in this country."
"I don't mean to sound like I think it's bad." Kurt clarified. "Being such a goodie two shoes? That's one of the reasons I lo- like you so much."
Blaine lay limp and sprawled out in just a pair of boxer briefs on top of the covers of his bed. "God Kurt, I think your hands are magic." He moaned as Kurt straddled over him, working out a knot in Blaine's upper back.
"Just wait until you feel them other places." Kurt teased, letting the tips of his fingers ghost down Blaine's spine.
"Mmm. Trying to entice me into more? Is that what this backrub is really about?" Blaine teased right back with a shiver.
"Absolutely." Kurt gave Blaine's shoulders one more squeeze then rolled off to lay alongside the other man. "Although I think the more might be falling asleep at some point before Julian wakes up for a middle of the night bottle."
"As long as it's not to scream for hours again. That would ruin all the bliss that backrub just brought on." Blaine let out another happy sigh. "Can I just never move again?"
"Stroke my ego, why don't you?" Kurt said with a grin over. "Setting it up for the same in the future?"
Blaine nodded. "Of course." He paused for a moment before he offered, "How do you feel about staying over tonight? I've heard that I'm a good cuddle."
Kurt pretended to consider that for a moment. "I believe that could be arranged. It might require you to climb beneath the covers, though."
Blaine grinned back. "I think I can manage that much. You're welcome to whatever products in my bathroom you want."
Kurt returned ten minutes later, stripped down to the tanktop he'd been wearing as an undershirt and his own pair of boxer briefs. A soft smile spread over his face as he saw that Blaine was already doing under the covers of the queen sized bed.
Kurt climbed in carefully trying to snuggle into Blaine's side without waking the other man, but Blaine still cracked his eyes halfway open as he draped an arm over his boyfriend. "This may be the first year I ever sleep on the night before the first day of school."
"Ever?" Kurt questioned the sleepy man softly as he rolled over, letting himself take the role of the little spoon.
"I'm usually too nervous." Blaine admitted.
"That's sweet." Kurt stroked his fingers over Blaine's hand. "Does this make it my turn for a lullaby?"
Blaine smiled into the hair at the back of Kurt's head, pausing to yawn before he started back into the same song he'd been singing to Julian earlier that evening.
Castles they might crumble,
Dreams might not come true
But you are never all alone,
Because I will always, always love you
When the clouds will rage
And storms will race in but you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms, in my arms
A/N: The song used in this chapter is In My Arms by Plumb.
As a disclaimer: All of Blaine's experiences as a teacher are based off my years of being a teacher in a large, urban district. They may not be the exact struggles/triumphs of LA Unified (I'm not familiar enough with it to know), but they are based on reality in one of the other biggest districts in the United States.
