The One with the Business Trip
"Kurt honey, I've got some bad news." Blaine informs his husband of 10 years over the phone on Christmas Eve.
"What's wrong, are you okay?" Kurt worries. He always has, and always will, worry far too much when it comes to his loving husband.
"I'm fine, but my flight just got delayed. I'm stuck in Washington for at least another day" Blaine informs grimly. The smile Kurt had been wearing when Blaine had called, was long gone of his face. He focused all of his energy on trying hard not to cry; Blaine didn't need to feel guiltier then he already did, Kurt tells himself.
"Oh, so you won't be home from Christmas?" Kurt chokes out with minimal effort. With Blaine being an incredibly successful lawyer, he's had to travel all over the country at times that weren't always convenient, so Kurt had had to learn quickly to hide his disappointment.
"Unfortunately no, I'm so sorry Kurt." Blaine emphasized.
"No, it's fine. Not like you control the airlines. We'll just celebrate when you get home, I'll be fine." Kurt lies through his teeth.
"Bullshit, we've been married for 10 years and together for 16, I know you better than that" Blaine deadpans. Okay, so Kurt had had to learn quickly to hide his disappointment. He never said he was good at it.
"I just really miss you baby. I wish you didn't have to work so far away." Kurt lets a tear fall down his cheek.
"I know...I know, I'm sorry Kurt. Look, I have to go see if there's somewhere all the passengers are being taken to sit here at the airport. I love you, Merry Christmas baby." Blaine replied.
"Okay, I love you too. Merry Christmas Blaine." Kurt replies hastily. Then the line goes dead and Kurt's all alone again. He moves around their apartment and cleans up the little bits of clutter there are. He straightens the pictures hanging on the walls and dusts the already clean bookshelf that sits by the television in their living room. He vacuums the one rug they have and washes his fork and plate from lunch. He cleans up other little things until there is positively nothing else for him to clean. He looks at the clock to see how much time has passed; only forty five minutes. He groans and grabs his phone off of the slick glass coffee table.
Hey Rach, that offer still open for dinner tonight? Blaine's not going to make it home on time – Kurt
Within minutes he gets a reply;
You are always welcome here silly! Sorry about Blaine :( Dinner's at 5 – Rachel
You know it still surprises me how quickly you text back while chasing around those 3 kids of yours! ;p – Kurt
I'm just that amazing! See you later sweetie! – Rachel
He laughs at her cockiness. Other than finally growing into her looks and becoming slightly less self-centered, Rachel hasn't really changed since high school. Rather there have been additions to her life. Since the god awful 'terminal break up', as they referred to it, between Rachel and Finn, Rachel had met Bryant. The two fell madly in love and soon after they got married, Rachel became pregnant with their first of now three children. As Bryant was , their children were half black and half white; a perfect mocha blend Kurt had once said.
Glancing at the clock again Kurt decided that he should probably start getting ready to go to Rachel's. He went into his and Blaine's bedroom and picked out a casual yet stylish outfit: gray skinny trousers, a light purple and dark blue pin striped dress shirt, and a dark gray waist coat. He jumped in the shower quickly before getting dressed and styling his hair. He sent a quick text to Blaine before grabbing his black peacoat and heading down into the freezing cold snowy weather to hail a cab.
Hi honey, I'm going to Rachel's for dinner. Text me when you know more about your flight. Love you xoxo. – Kurt
As he got in the cab and gave the driver Rachel's addressed, he felt his phone vibrate in his trouser pocket.
Sounds like fun love, wish I was there with you. I'll let you know when I get to leave here. Love you too xoxo. – Blaine
He sighed and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He wallowed in melancholy all the way to Rachel's apartment because he knew once he got there his three nieces, Cindy, Heidi and Elle, would not let him frown for a minute.
He paid the cabby and got out, making sure he grabbed his gloves off of the seat. He said 'hello and merry Christmas' to the door man, whom he'd befriended along the many times he'd been over to Rachel and Bryant's apartment, and got in the elevator pressed the button for 5th floor and waited. He walked down the long hallway covered with deep red carpets and classy gold wallpaper until he reached '517'. He knocked three short times before he heard the shuffling of tiny little feet on hardwood floor.
"Uncle Kurtie!" Elle shouted happily as she jumped into his open arms. He giggled and pressed a quick kiss to her shiny black hair. As he set her down, he was attacked again by Cindy and Heidi who had evidently been standing right behind Elle when the former had attacked him.
"Hi girls!" he laughs. "Didn't your Mommy ever tell you not to open the door for strangers?" Kurt reprimands happily.
"We knew it was you silly!" says Heidi; she's the eldest and 9 years old. Kurt had always been fascinated at how much she was like Rachel.
"Oh I see, well then…" Kurt begins but he's cut off by Rachel's delighted squeal.
"Kurt!" she squeals.
"Rachel!" Kurt announced.
"I'm so happy you came! We've missed you around here!" Rachel scolds her best friend.
"Sorry Rachel, just been really busy with work and Blaine lately." he informs her.
"How is Blaine anyway?" Rachel asks. They've moved to the kitchen now, Kurt is sitting at the tiny breakfast table while Rachel is stirring something in a pot on the stove.
"He's good, but he's been out of town for business a lot lately. People trying to get their claims in before the end of the year and all that jazz." Kurt says sadly.
"Hopefully he'll be less busy once the New Year is over, which we're having a party which you are both invited too of course. Bryant's parents are going to watch the girls so it will just be us adults, a few bottles of champagne and-" she's cut off by her husband.
"Kurt! 3 little birdies told me you were here! How've you been man?" Bryant babbles coming up to shake Kurt's hand and pull him into a half hug.
"I wonder who those three littles birdies could have been?" Kurt giggles. "And I'm good, keeping busy. How about you?" Kurt asks in return.
"I'm fantastic." Bryant says with a peck on Rachel's lips for emphasis. The rest of the night is spent catching up and playing silly Christmas games as a family. It's nice and quiet and just the distraction Kurt needs. Around 10 o'clock though, he starts to get tired, so he heads home.
When he gets home, he's shocked to see that the door is unlocked, he's sure he locked it before he left. He opens it slowly, and grabs an umbrella from the bin next to the door. Holding it like a baseball bat, he slowly creeps into the apartment, he's preparing himself for anything and his free hand is clutching at his cell phone, the iPhone 72, so he can call 9-1-1 at any moment if need be.
He turns the corner that leads into their open living/dining room area. He's surprised when he doesn't see a creepy thief stealing all of their things. Instead, he see's the living room set up beautifully. The Christmas tree is lit up in all it's glory, there are candles on every open surface and the fireplace is burning. There are blankets and cushions on the floor in front of fire place, a bottle of wine on the coffee table as well as a bouquet of a dozen roses.
"What the-" before he can finish his sentence a strong, familiar pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind. He immediately recognizes the person as Blaine, but that doesn't stop the surprised squeak from escaping his lips.
"Merry Christmas baby." Blaine whispers in his ear. Kurt whips around and crashes their lips together. He cups Blaine's face in both of his hands and kisses him like he hasn't seen him in years instead of only 5 days.
"Blaine! You're here!" Kurt squeals happily once he's finished kissing his husband. He pulls Blaine in for bone-crushing hug.
"I am" Blaine giggles. He plants a kiss to Kurt's hair and runs his hands over Kurt's back, re-familiarizing himself with the skin.
"But how?" Kurt wonders.
"My plane didn't actually get delayed. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to surprise you, so I've been at Rachel's house all day. If you didn't text her telling her you were going over, she was going to come here and demand you went over so that I would have time to set this up." Blaine explained.
"But how'd you get Rachel to agree on that? Was there something in it for her?" Kurt asked puzzled. Rachel hardly ever did things that didn't benefit her in some way, shape or form.
"I took the kids to the park this afternoon so she and Bryant could have some…alone time" Blaine clarifies, he shudders at the mental image.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so happy. I love you so much, you crazy old fool." Kurt giggles with a wet kiss to Blaine's cheek.
"Hey, be careful who you're calling 'old' there sweetheart you are a year, two months and 4 days older than me." Blaine teases back.
"That's fine, cause I know you'll still love me when I'm old and grey, and that's all I need to know to be happy." Kurt tells him lovingly.
"Indeed I will, darling. Forever and always."
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