Chapter Nine: Courage

September 14, 2035

Dalton's Age: 9

Zavier's Age: 3

Blaine pulled into the pick-up lane at Dalton's school. He was a bit early so he decided to park and check his messages while he waited for his son to come out. He hummed to himself as he scrolled through annoying and irrelevant notes – most were from past clients who wanted to hire him for more projects even-though his status had read for months now: On Hiatus. There was no question that he was in demand. He supposed he should be grateful but sometimes it was annoying being so good at his job.

He shut down the app and read his texts instead – he found a new one from Kurt:

Have meet & greets after show tonight. I'll be home late. ILY.

Blaine sighed but he wasn't bothered really. The performance schedule really sucked sometimes but he knew Kurt was happy, especially with this production. Les Miserable had been Kurt's favourite musical since he was four years old.

The car door opened and Dalton plopped himself into the passenger seat. He slammed the door and buckled his seatbelt without a word. Blaine looked at him in wonder and spoke carefully, "Hi son. How was school?"

"Fine."

He lifted a brow. Dalton was usually a bouncy, happy, lively, and polite kid. This person sitting beside him was not his son at all. Something had happened.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Dad, can we just go?"

Blaine was beyond alarmed but he let it go for the time being. He started the engine and drove away slowly. Dalton watched out the passenger window the entire time. He didn't say a word or even move a muscle. They drove for about ten minutes before Blaine started in again, "did something happen at school?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. When you do want to talk about it will you come find me?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Promise?"

"Dad."

"Okay. But do me one favour. When we pick up Zavier don't spook him ok?"

"Okay."

Blaine picked up Zavier from pre-school. He was in a much better mood than Dalton was in. He hugged his dad and proceeded to show him all the paintings he had finished that day. "This one is of you and Daddy and Dalton," he beamed.

"It's so nice, buddy. You are a great artist. We'll have to hang that one up on the fridge. Now let's go. Dalton is waiting for us in the car."

The drive home would have been quiet if it weren't for Zavier telling Dalton all about his day. He explained how they built an entire city out of wooden blocks, and how he got to mix colours together while they were painting, and they sang the ABCs…

Blaine watched Dalton from the corner of his eye. Dalton wasn't listening to Zavier. It was clear that he was in his own little world. They finally arrived home and Blaine got the boys in the house. "Wash up boys and I'll make you a snack. Dalton, please help your brother." He watched Dalton mope up the stairs. Usually he would run after Zavier pretending to be the tickle monster. Blaine was very worried.

He got Zavier and Dalton settled doing puzzles while eating their snack then he slipped into the kitchen to start on dinner. He had just finished skewering the pork when Dalton wandered in.

"Hey Buddy."

"Dad…" he hesitated.

Blaine realized he may be ready to talk so he quickly washed his hands then turned to his son, "what has got you so down, Dalton?"

"It's this boy in my class."

Oh no, he's coming out. He's coming out and Kurt is not here to see this. Not that he thought his son was gay and not that it would matter anyway – he was just so young.

"What about this boy?"

Silence.

Blaine moved closer to his son. He could see that there were tears in his eyes. He put an arm around him and spoke softly, "it's ok. You can tell me anything. I will still love you exactly the same."

Dalton looked down, he couldn't make eye contact with his Dad but he had to let it out, "sometimes it's really hard having two Dads."

BAM. There it was. It hit Blaine like a gunshot through the heart. I don't want to have this conversation without Kurt. He inhaled sharply. "And why is that?"

Dalton started to cry. Blaine knew it had taken a lot of courage to say as much as he had; he was only nine years old. Blaine teared up too and hugged his son. "It's ok. We don't have to talk any more about this right now. I'm not mad at you and I understand. I want you to know that your Dad and I love you very much. It's impossible for you to know how much but trust us – it's a lot."

"I know that Dad. I love you too. Can I call Daddy?"

Blaine looked at the time. Kurt would be in-between shows. "Let's try. Would that make you feel better?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Will you let me talk to him first and I'll call you in?"

Dalton nodded. Blaine kissed his cheek. "Ok, please go check on your brother."

He dialed Kurt. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to tell Kurt before he had to perform but if he kept this from him and he found out that Dalton had asked to call he would have his head on a platter.

"Hi sexy," Kurt smiled into the phone.

"Kurt"

"What's wrong?"

"Do you have a couple minutes?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"We're fine. Fine. Everything is fine. Dalton wanted to call you but I need to tell you something first."

Blaine told Kurt the entire story as he knew it. "That's all he'll tell me. I don't want to push him and quite honestly I'd rather have this conversation with him when both of us are home. He wanted to talk to you so I'm going to put him on now."

"Blaine, wait. Do you want me to come home? I'll get my understudy…"

"Absolutely not. We'll handle it when you're home. I promise."

"Okay. I love you. Put him on."

Blaine called Dalton and gave him the phone. He thought that he might try to sneak away into another room to talk to Kurt but he was relieved when he didn't.

"Dad, I miss you."

"I miss you too. Are you ok? I'm here if you need to talk."

"No. I just wanted to hear your voice. When are you coming home?"

"I won't be home until late, buddy. But I will see you in the morning before school."

"Okay. I love you Dad. Break a leg."

"I adore you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, put Dad back on?"

He gave the phone to Blaine then headed upstairs to his room. Blaine heard his door shut before he placed the phone to his ear.

"Hey"

"Blaine, he sounds so sad. It didn't even sound like our son. What happened?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I know it's hard but try not to worry, ok? You have a show to do."

"Honey, I'll be home as soon as I can after."

"Okay, I love you."

"Love you too."

Blaine had just put Zavier to bed and was about to start in on the dishes when Dalton sat down on the kitchen stool. Blaine put the sponge down. "Do you want some warm milk before bed?"

Dalton ignored the question. "Dad, I know you and Dad are gay but I don't know why some people think it's bad."

Blaine's heart sank. I guess he was having this conversation now and without Kurt. He sat down across from Dalton and reached across the counter to grasp his hand. "Dalton, your dad and I have always been very open with you – we have tried to teach you everything we know that is appropriate for a nine year old boy to know. The world is a scary place sometimes, Dalton, and we have tried to give you a balance of reality but at the same time shelter you so that you can enjoy being a child."

"Kids are teasing me. There's this one boy who taunts me and tells me that I'm gay because I have two dads. And another boy, his friend, tells me that I'm weird because I don't have a mom."

Oh God, not the mom conversation too. Shit.

"Dad, isn't it impossible for me to not have a mom? Am I adopted?"

He's nine years old. It's too soon. It's too early. Kurt, help.

Blaine collected his thoughts. Inside he was screaming but outside he had to remain cool if he didn't want Dalton to completely freak out. "Let's focus on one thing at a time, okay?"

Dalton nodded.

"Okay. First off, whether you are gay or not, or even if you don't know yet, it's nobody's business but your own. Second, just because Dad and I are gay does not mean that you automatically are. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah. I think so."

It was suddenly hot in the house. Blaine was wearing too many layers for this conversation. "Third, some people think that being gay is bad because they are either ignorant or afraid – and actually most of the time, those two go hand in hand."

"So these boys are afraid?"

"I can't say what they are because I don't know them but they could be feeding off their parents, or siblings, or something they saw in a movie, or countless other things. They don't understand what gay means because if they did they wouldn't tease you about it."

Dalton was quiet. Blaine could see that he was trying to process. "Son, if these boys are teasing you we need to talk to the principal."

"No. Dad, that will just make everything worse.

"I don't want you getting hurt."

"It's not like that. They just tease me."

There was so much Blaine wanted to say. There was so much to be fearful of but he didn't want to make it worse for Dalton. He didn't want to scare him. He's only nine. He's too young. "Okay. So I just have one question for you. It's important. What does being gay mean to you? How would you explain it to someone?"

Dalton thought for a moment. "I guess I would say that being gay is when a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman."

Blaine smiled proudly. "Exactly – and do you know what the most important word in that statement is? Love. How can being gay be anything but beautiful if it involves two people loving each other?"

"Like you and Dad."

"Like me and Dad."

Dalton smiled.

"And," Blaine added, "like Auntie Brittany and Auntie Santana. And guess who else has two dads."

"Who?"

"Auntie Rachel."

"She does?"

"Yes. Maybe one day you could talk to her about it. She may be able to give you some insight on what it's like growing up with two Dads."

"Auntie Rachel is even cooler now," he said excitedly.

Blaine laughed, "Yeah. She is a pretty cool lady. I love you, Dalton. I love you for who you are no matter what. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you too. But can we talk about my mom now?"

Blaine hugged him and kissed his curls. "We have had enough for tonight but if you still want to talk about it in the morning we can. I very much want your Dad to be here for that one."

"Okay. Just one more question?"

"Hmmm"

"How did you know that you're gay?"

Blaine looked at his young son. When did he become so grown up? When did he become so smart? "I knew on my sixth birthday. I don't know exactly how I discovered it or what made me even question it but I just knew. Of course when I was six I didn't know how to define it. I just knew that I was different from the other boys at school."

"When did you tell Grandma and Grandpa?"

Blaine looked down. "I was fifteen."

Silence.

"Dalton, you are too young for a relationship now but in the future it won't matter to us who or what gender you end up loving as long as that love is honest and safe."

Dalton smiled. "Thanks Dad. Can I please have that warm cup of milk now?"

"Sure thing, buddy."

Blaine was pretty wiped. He had finished getting Dalton settled and in bed, cleaned up the kitchen, took out the trash, and now he was sitting on the couch in a daze. He wanted to go to bed but he needed to wait up for Kurt. It was a sure thing that if he was sleeping when Kurt got home he would be woken up.

He turned on the T.V. and flipped through the channels. He really couldn't believe the crap they put on the screen nowadays. No wonder Kurt had stuck with Broadway – that was a true and talented community. He was stuck on watching some zombies chase werewolves when he heard the door open. "Kurt?"

"It's me," he peeked his head into the living room. "Just let me wash my hands. The subway is disgusting at this time of night."

"You're home early. Did no one want to meet or greet you?" He grinned.

"Very funny, Blaine," he plopped down onto the couch beside his husband. "I ditched it."

"Kurt…"

"No. Shush. Coming home to talk to you about what is happening with our son is far more important than meeting and greeting anyone." He kissed his cheek. "Now tell me everything. I'm really worried, Blaine."

He told him everything from the very beginning. He could see the concern grow on Kurt's face. "I wish you had been here. I handled it the best I could."

"Honey, you did a fantastic job. I mean, everything you said to him was perfect. Aww. You are such an amazing Dad." Kurt tapped his nose gently and nibbled his lips.

Blaine leaned into Kurt, hugging him and letting Kurt hold him. "Thank you. I was freaking out inside. And I wanted to tell him about our experiences, you know about how we both had to transfer schools because of bullies and how bad you had it but I think he's too young to hear that."

"I think you're right. It's important for him to hear those stories but not now… God, Blaine, when did our baby boy get to be so grown up?"

"I was thinking the same thing. I mean, he's nine and already talking to us like he's a teenager. I'm not ready for this."

Kurt laughed. "Me either."

"Do you think it will be easier the second time around with Zavier."

"No."

Now Blaine laughed. "Why did we want kids again?"

"Blaine!"

"I kid, I kid. See what I did there?" He gave Kurt his cutest expression.

Kurt rolled his eyes and tugged Blaine's curls. "You are the silliest man."

"You love me for it."

"With all my heart."

Blaine smiled and pressed his face to Kurt's neck. "I'm glad you skipped that meet and greet."

"Me too, there were crazies in the audience tonight."

Blaine took Kurt's hand in his. He played with his wedding band. "So, what do you want to do about this mom conversation?"

Kurt sighed nervously. "I think that we should tell him the truth. We should explain surrogacy to him – the PG version. If he's not satisfied with that and asks us to identify his mother, we should be honest with him."

"Oh, he will ask."

"You think so?"

"I'm pretty sure."

Kurt didn't say anything.

"I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking it too," Blaine whispered.

"We're not going to lose him, Blaine. We have loved him and done everything for him for nine years."

"So has she."

Kurt paused. She has been a major part of his life – of all their lives. And he adores her. "We need to talk to Rachel."

"Yes. We can't tell him without asking her first."

Kurt blinked back tears. "I knew this day would come. I didn't think it would come so early. And I didn't think I would react this way. I mean, he's our son but what if he doesn't see it that way?"

Blaine caressed Kurt's arm. "I know what you mean. He adores her and he now knows that she has two Dads. That may be something more to bond over."

"We can't tell him. We can't lose him."

"Kurt, it's ok. It'll be ok. We won't lose him. Let's not panic, okay? He is ours and always will be," Blaine tried to hide the tears in his eyes.

"Okay. You're right. But I want to say one more thing. I think we should find out who these bullies are and speak to the parents."

"Dalton practically begged me not to get involved. I think he would be really upset if we butted in."

"But Blaine, you and I know very well that this could escalate."

"Yes, but it could also go the other way and fizzle out. The best thing to do is to keep an eye on the situation. If it even remotely escalates we'll go talk to the principal, okay?"

Kurt sighed.

"We have both been through this. I think we know the signs. If we see something alarming we pull the plug and get involved but until then let's trust that Dalton has the smarts to deal with it himself or at least pull us in if he needs us."

Kurt hugged him tightly. "I don't know what I would have ever done with you. And I'm talking about when we first met. You were my sanctuary. Have I ever thanked you for that?"

"Kuuurt…"

"No, really. I'm alive because of the friendship you showed me from the first second we met on that staircase."

Blaine gushed. "I love you so much."

"I love you more," he kissed his curls. "Now let's go to bed."

They turned out the lights, crept upstairs and prepared themselves for bed. Teeth were brushed, faces were moisturized, and bodies were tucked in tightly beneath the duvet. Blaine snuggled into his usual position against Kurt and pecked gentle kisses to his chest. "Good night sweetheart."

Kurt massaged Blaine's scalp lazily, "Good night babe."

They both lay that way for a long time as sleep eluded them.

"Rachel, are you sure about this?" Kurt was pacing the bedroom while Blaine sat on the edge of the bed still in his pyjamas. "Okay, I think we need to talk about this face to face." He looked at Blaine and gave him a she's-completely-lost-it look. "What? Right now? Yeah, we're home. See you soon." He hung up.

Blaine stood up. "What the hell?"

"She is very against telling Dalton."

"I don't' understand."

"Me either. She's coming over to talk."

Blaine ran his hand through his hair. "So what are we going to tell him?"

"I don't know. I don't want to lie to our son."

"No. Not an option."

"But we can't go against Rachel's wishes."

"No. Not an option."

Kurt sighed and put his arms on Blaine's shoulders. "Ok, let's not panic. I'm going to take the kids to school. You get your cute ass into the shower and when I get back we'll talk to Rachel. I'm sure she'll come around."

"Okay." He breathed. "I really hope you're right, Kurt"

"Aren't I always?"

Blaine smiled, "Right. Whaaat was I thinking?"

Kurt pecked a kiss. "Go shower, Mister."

Blaine held his hand out. "Will you accompany me, Mr. Anderson-Hummel?"

Kurt shook his head and grinned. "So, so dirty." He tapped Blaine's lips with a fingertip. "I need to take our children to school now."

Blaine laughed. So sassy.

Blaine slid a glass of iced tea toward Rachel then sat at the table. He clasped Kurt's hand and spoke carefully. "Rach, Dalton is being teased at school. One boy called him weird because he doesn't have a mom. So, naturally he asked about it. We would like to tell him the truth."

Kurt added, "not because we care about what this boy thinks but because Dalton needs to know for his own peace of mind."

Rachel sighed softly. "You guys, he's nine years old. He's so young."

"I don't think one can ever be too young to know who their mother is," Blaine said.

Rachel looked down, "but I'm not his mother. I'm his auntie."

Kurt stood from the table abruptly. He moved to the sliding patio door and looked into their back yard. He spoke without turning around. "Rachel, this could make our break our son. We need to tell him."

"We don't want your relationship to change. We want you to continue to be his amazing and supportive auntie," Blaine added.

"Well, you guys know that and I know that but Dalton might not see it that way. He may get attached and want me to be that mom figure. Guys, this is really touchy. When I agreed to be your surrogate I did it because I love you guys and knew that you would be exceptional dads. I do not want to be Dalton's mother, you don't want me to be Dalton's mother, and he is much too young for me to say no to. I mean, it would break his heart."

"I just… really don't want to lie to him," Blaine sighed.

"You don't have to lie. Just explain as much as you can to him and tell him that when he's old enough you can explain more."

Kurt moved back to the table. "She's right. We can't tell him. He's too young and as much as I want him to be armed with as much information as possible I don't want to lose our son."

"We won't lose him, Kurt."

"We can't chance it, Blaine."

"You guys, I promise that when he's older I will help you tell him if you want me to."

Kurt leaned over and hugged Rachel. "Thank you. You are our best friend. And you've always got Dalton's best interests in mind. See, you kinda are his mom."

She laughed, "I love you guys."

Blaine stood up. "I don't want to miss out on this love," he hugged them both.

Kurt had just finished singing Zavier to sleep. He was a big boy but also a sucker for his Daddy's voice. He crept out of the room and joined Blaine in the kitchen. "You ready?"

"No."

"Me either."

Blaine picked up the bowl of popcorn and Kurt took the hot chocolate. They found Dalton in the den reading his comic book. "Hey buddy," Blaine sat beside him. Kurt sat on his other side.

"Ooo, popcorn. Thanks Dads," Dalton took a fist-full and shoved it in its entirety into his mouth.

"Dalton Noah…" Kurt shoved a napkin at his son. "Where on earth did you leave your manners?"

Muffled, "sorry Dad," he wiped his mouth and hand sheepishly.

"Here's your hot chocolate. Please drink it like a human being and not a Tazmanian devil," Blaine said. "We wouldn't want Dad to ship you off to an etiquette school."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine. Blaine just smiled at him.

"Ok, buddy. We are here because you asked Dad about your mom. We want to talk to you about it. You up for it?" Kurt peered at his expression.

"I guess so."

"Dad and I discussed it," Blaine added, "and we decided that there are some things we can tell you now and some things that will have to wait until you're a bit older."

"Why?"

"Well, sometimes adult things – and even kid things – are complicated. We just want you to be at the right age so that you can fully understand what we tell you."

"What age is that?"

"We don't know but when the time is right we'll know and we will tell you. We promise," Kurt took his hand. "Buddy we love you and it's our job to protect you."

"Okay."

Blaine took his other hand. "As you know, men can't have babies. So, when Dad and I decided that we wanted to start a family we had to…find a woman who would have the baby for us."

"So I'm not adopted?"

"With those curls and those eyes, there is no way you are adopted," Kurt smiled at him and rustled his hair. "You are one half your Dad and one half…your birth mother."

Dalton was silent. Blaine squeezed his hand, "what that means is that I gave sperm to the doctor and the doctor put it inside your mother and you were conceived." He glanced up at Kurt with a little bit of panic in his eyes. "Does that make sense to you? Do you understand it?"

Dalton was silent for a moment then said, "it's Auntie Rachel, isn't it?"

Now Kurt had panic in his eyes when he looked at Blaine. "Why do you think that, bud?"

"Because I feel so happy when I'm with her."

Blaine pulled his son close and hugged him tightly. He eyed Kurt and mouthed, truth time. Kurt sighed and looked at his son. He was so young but so incredibly smart. I just can't lie to him. He opened his mouth to speak then closed it. He looked into Blaine's eyes. Blaine regarded him in such a way that gave him courage. Kurt took a deep breath, "okay. Dalton…"

Dalton looked at him.

"Auntie Rachel is your mother." Kurt squeezed his shoulder, "but we want to be clear, Dalton. Dad and I are your parents and we will always be your parents. Auntie Rachel will only ever be your Auntie and your relationship with her won't change. We all love you, buddy."

"We do love you very much," Blaine confirmed. "You are too young to have to deal with all this but Dad and I don't want to keep things from you and I think knowing all of this will help you with the teasing at school."

Dalton nodded.

"Are you ok with all this?" Kurt leaned into him.

"Yeah, I think so." Dalton looked up at Blaine then over at Kurt. "I love you guys."

"We love you too," Blaine kissed his curls. "And anytime you need to talk about this or anything you can come to us, okay?"

"Well, I do have one more question…"

Kurt and Blaine waited.

"Why didn't you give Auntie Rachel sperm the normal way?"

Blaine wanted to die. Kurt also wanted to die. "W-what is the normal way?" Kurt of course knew but asked anyway. Blaine gave him a look. His eyes were as large as saucers.

"Sex," Dalton said nonchalantly.

Blaine wanted to die again. Kurt also wanted to die again. "That is a conversation for another day. Your Dad and I can only take so much," Blaine laughed nervously.

"Okay," he shrugged. "Can I have more popcorn now?"

Kurt passed the bowl to him, flopped back onto the couch and closed his eyes.