Chapter 14 Anticipation
Both boys moved from Dalton into Kurt's room at the Hummel's place, since Blaine didn't have a family home any more. The arrangement suited them just fine, because all they wanted was to spend all their time together, before they had to share space with their baby. Finn knew the real reason Blaine was borrowing his t-shirts, but he still whispered when he had to talk to one of them, as if Blaine was delicately balancing on the edge, and might shatter. Part of Finn's concern was because Blaine was seeing his doctor weekly now, to enable her to keep a really close watch on him. Three weeks passed, where Blaine only left Kurt's room to eat, preferring to hide up there, rather than endure Carole and Burt's constant hovering attention. He understood that no one was willing to take any chances with his or their baby's safety at this stage of the game, but he was so ready to run away somewhere with Kurt, where no one would find them.
On Sunday, they were flown to the compound, while Blaine watched the scenery streaming by below them, quiet and contemplative. Kurt couldn't help getting excited now that the baby's arrival was getting closer, but Blaine was less enthused by the near future. They had finally narrowed their daughter's name down to two or three choices, leaving the final decision until they met her. So now there was nothing to be done but wait patiently with his partner till she was ready to make her appearance.
Blaine was trying to hide from everyone how terrified he was of their baby's delivery. Yes, he knew it was nature, he knew it wasn't that uncommon for transsexual elf males to bear children, but it was so contrary to everything he had ever expected to happen to him! He had assumed that being gay meant he would never have to deal with childbirth. Unfortunately, regardless of his reluctance, their baby had to come out somehow.
Kiala, Helena and Benito all were waiting excitedly for them to arrive, everybody cooing and petting him until Blaine was ready to scream "just leave me alone!" Maybe that was an over-reaction to their concern, but he was damn tired of feeling like a hen roosting on a golden egg. Kiala had requested an Eldari doctor be installed at the compound, to keep watch over Blaine, in case of any emergencies, so Blaine had to endure another examination, to keep them all happy. Kiala urged Blaine to consider moving to a hotel room in Chicago, to be closer to the medical facilities he would need, but he just wanted to forget about the whole thing and focus on being with his partner. Kurt was the only one he wanted around.
Kurt was shocked when Blaine excused himself early from dinner and went to bed to avoid having to be polite to them all. Everyone asked if Blaine was feeling off, worried by his unusual behavior. He went to check on him, hoping he was alright. He found Blaine curled up on the bed with his arms wrapped around his belly protectively. "Hey, honey, what's wrong? Are you really tired… or just really tired of being pregnant?" He sat on the bed and rested his hand on Blaine's hip. From this angle he looked just like the Blaine he'd met a year and a half ago, vibrant and lithe.
Blaine couldn't help his snort of amusement at his partner's accurate guess. Kurt always understood him. "Yes. That's it exactly. I feel like they're all holding their breath, waiting impatiently for me to pop her out. I don't want to have a baby! I just want you." Blaine grumped moodily.
"You know they're hovering because they love you, right? They feel helpless to do much, so they're just doing whatever they can to make sure you're comfortable and happy. I don't know why they haven't realized that if you needed anything, I would have already looked after it." Kurt grinned at Blaine, knowing he was smiling too. Blaine rolled his shoulders toward Kurt, to share his smile and took Kurt's hand.
"Honey, do you think we could go to the cabin for a few days? Maybe even a week? Anything? Dr. Whitcombe told me I'm at least a couple of weeks away from anything happening and I would really love to spend that time alone with you before I have to share you." Blaine looked so hopeful Kurt hesitated to quash Blaine's request, though he knew exactly what kind of reception it would get from all the nervous grandparents. But he believed that a week of peace would benefit Blaine far more, than any amount of fussing over him would.
"I'll go ask, but I think it might be a tough sell. We'd be an hour by helicopter from any kind of medical facility, much less one with Eldari caregivers who would know what to do for you. Why don't you read or watch a movie till I get back and I'll hold them off. I love you, hon." Kurt kissed his partner and left Blaine holed up in his sanctuary.
Kurt was right. They all freaked out, absolutely unwilling to let them go anywhere without medical supervision or at least their supervision. Kurt stayed calm but firmly held his ground. He told them Blaine was nervous and frayed and just wanted a bit of peace for a bit before things got complicated, and he intended to give him that...so either they got to go to the cabin alone for a week, or they would leave to go back to Ohio and find somewhere private on their own. It was kind of fun watching them all sputter and fume and list all the reasons why it was completely unreasonable to keep Blaine to himself when they wanted a part of him so badly. He won eventually, though not without a few concessions he intended to keep secret from Blaine.
He had to allow Kiala to station a medical team to stand by within ten minutes of their cabin, far enough to be invisible but close enough to be within range if he pressed the panic button. They were flown in and set up first, using the very valid excuse that the cabin needed to be prepared, and also so that Blaine wouldn't hear the helicopter, and then the boys arrived around noon the next day.
The cabin felt like absolute heaven, its peace and serenity enough to make them both relax within moments. They spent the first afternoon on a blanket near the falls just absorbing the beauty around them. Just before they went back to the cabin to get something to eat, they even watched a doe with her faun come to drink at the pool.
"Nobody rushes in a medical team for a doe when she has a faun." Blaine said resentfully when they'd picked their way into the forest again. Kurt picked up his hand and rubbed his knuckles with his thumb.
"Would you rather give birth out here in the woods all alone? Because if that's your plan, I'm bailing on you, honey. There is no way I can watch you going into this without all the help you might possibly ever need, close at hand. And that doesn't take into consideration a tiny little girl who is depending on us to make good decisions. I know you got tricked into this deal, and you never wanted it in any case, but I am so looking forward to meeting her, putting her into the arms of her ecstatic grandparents and getting you back. No doubt I will love her to pieces once I meet her, but right now I love you a lot more."
That was exactly what Blaine needed to hear. He'd felt like a brood mare for the last few months, with everyone all excited about the baby and him only as her incubator. Well, he didn't lump Kurt into that group, really. He knew his partner loved him. He had to; it was in the contract, as his bonded partner. And god, he loved Kurt beyond all reason.
Blaine took his hand and led him into the house with him, with a look in his eye Kurt understood. Food could wait. They undressed each other and lay down on the bed, holding each other close. They kissed and nuzzled each other for a long leisurely time until things got more heated. Blaine was too close to delivery to risk doing too much but Kurt gave him a slow mind-blowing blow job that made his toes curl, while he jacked Kurt in return. They curled up afterward, with Kurt spooning Blaine and watched the moon rise out the door, not saying much but just content at being together. Their daughter gave Kurt lazy nudges, reminding them that she was the star of the show but they both ignored her for now. She would get her turn for attention, but now wasn't it.
The week flew by, with Blaine's tension visibly unwinding more and more each lazy peaceful day. They wallowed in peace and love, wandering around the area hand in hand, exploring what had changed since the year before, and in the evenings listening to music while they snuggled and read a couple of books. I felt wonderful to have nothing and no one to worry about for a short while. The helicopter came to pick them up the following Monday. Blaine was overdue for his doctor's appointment, which had been rescheduled for later that day.
Kurt went with him as usual, and was there when the doctor checked him over, announcing that the baby's head had dropped into position and all systems were good to go. Blaine seemed unimpressed by the news. "Wonderful" He said dryly, realizing he couldn't avoid his fate for much longer. He'd felt the difference himself, over the last week, feeling like he was waddling, the ultimate indignity. God, he couldn't wait till this was over.
The doctor chuckled, familiar with reluctant parents. "You'll do great, Blaine. You're still in great shape and you've done all the right things. I would take a bet that I'll see you in under a week, unless your princess is going to defy the queen, so go relax until things get underway. I'll see you soon."
After the appointment, they checked into their hotel room, where they would stay until it was over. Blaine was sure everyone would stare at him, and his strange pregnant belly, but they were smuggled through the back way into the kitchen like they were celebrities, and there was little to see anyway, with his long jacket covering him. They had a whole penthouse suite to themselves, where he and Kurt spent the time watching movies. Blaine seldom saw the end of a movie, because he paced a lot, like he was the one anxiously hoping for news in the waiting room.
For all his vigilance, he missed the beginning anyway. They were deeply asleep, when Kurt woke at a soft noise from Blaine. He was spooned around him, feeling his belly tighten into a steel-like sphere under his arm. Blaine gave another uncomfortable grunt but subsided again when his belly relaxed. Kurt waited breathlessly, wondering if this was it. He waited nearly ten minutes before it happened again. Kurt felt all the muscles inside Blaine tighten into a hard ball, as Blaine shifted uncomfortably in reaction, still not really awake. It lasted quite long, and Blaine let out a quiet moan, finally rolling to his other side to get more comfortable. Again he subsided into sleep when the contraction eased. Kurt rested his hand on his belly to track if it happened again.
The next time it happened, eight minutes later, Blaine woke up, looking confused and grunted in reaction to the tight painful squeeze of his abdomen. Realization came into his eyes, as Kurt watched him warily. He reached for Kurt's hand, understanding this was it.
He was on his way, with no way out of it.
They lay there together in the dark, waiting to time the contractions, while Blaine hoped to hell they weren't going to get too much stronger. They had already gone from 'owie owie owie' to 'holy fuck, this really hurts' in under a half hour! Kurt encouraged him to breathe through them the way they had rehearsed. Though Blaine found it didn't help much, at least it gave him something to do.
By the time the sky started to lighten they were five minutes apart and they knew it was time to go. Kurt helped Blaine dress, and then got himself together, feeling the beginnings of hysteria not too far below the surface. He did his best to stay calm for Blaine's sake, to keep him from panicking. While they were in the taxi, Kurt texted the doctor and his father and Carole that they were on their way to Dr. Whitcombe's private clinic, to keep the risk of exposure to a minimum. He knew they would notify everyone else for him. His only job now was to be there for Blaine.
Kurt found this phase was much harder than he expected. He had to watch Blaine sweat and swear and squash his hand to mush while his body agonized its way into giving passage to their baby. Blaine snapped at Dr. Whitcombe to bloody leave him alone, every time she checked him. Kurt tried to soothe him, by reassuring him that she was only doing her job. All along he'd been secretly grateful that it wasn't him having to go through this, but now he found himself wishing it was, so Blaine wouldn't have to deal with it any more. He felt such guilt for putting him through it, though he'd had no idea when it happened, that it was even a possibility.
Blaine lasted three and a half hours before he asked for something for the pain, unable to catch his breath to breathe through the contractions anymore. Kurt was so freaking relieved when his hand released its death-grip on him, not just for his hand, but because Blaine was losing his full body flush, and was able to breathe again. It was almost alarming, watching his belly tighten into that steel sphere over and over again, with Blaine trying to breathe evenly through it. Over the next hour the shape changed, becoming less rounded and more elongated as the baby's head began to descend. The doctor scrubbed up and Blaine assumed the position for the delivery, with Kurt at his head with a damp cool cloth, to blot up the sweat rolling off his flushed face in waves.
It was seven hours after they first woke that the doctor caught their daughter in her sure hands, as she slipped into the world. She was wet and slimy, beet red with pent up anger that was just waiting for her first breath to let loose. She howled so loudly then that Kurt startled. Holy crap! It was going to be a real treat living with her! He wondered how Rachel's dad's had dealt with their little bundle of loud. As soon as the doctor cleared her airway and placed her in the waiting nurse's blanketed arms, Blaine let out a tremendous sigh of relief and wilted into a blob of exhaustion.
"She's here! You did it, honey! I love you, have I mentioned that ? I love you so much." Kurt excitedly kissed Blaine's sweaty face and saw him smile back at him tiredly.
"Is she okay?" It had gone strangely quiet, Kurt realized, as he looked over to where his tiny daughter was lying on a warming bed, wrapped securely in a blanket, while the nurse tucked a stethoscope down into it to listen to her heart and lungs. She seemed content with whatever she heard because she suddenly picked her up and plonked her down into Kurt's arms without warning. "Here is your little girl. She weighs four pounds and six ounces, and she's doing just fine."
Kurt looked into the alert dark blue eyes of his daughter, who surveyed him in return, blinking wisely, feeling far less pissed off at the world now that she was dry and warm and not being squeezed. Kurt had the fleeting thought that she would probably fit right into one of Finn's enormous runners, which probably weighed more than she did. How could such a tiny being be so perfect?
Oh man! She was so beautiful! It was hard to see who she favoured most, though her eye brows arched high on her brows, unlike her father's, that tended to look like inching caterpillars. She had dark curls (no doubt where they came from, Helena) and a dimple on her chin that might be from either of them. She yawned, tired from the day's hard work and closed her eyes sleepily, her long lashes lying against her pink skin. Blaine touched Kurt's side, leaning up to see into his arms inquisitively.
Kurt set her into Blaine's waiting arms with a delighted smile, and watched him unwrap her blanket carefully, to check her over in fascination, letting out strange gasping sob when he saw that her diaper was no bigger than the palm of his hand! He traced her eyebrows with a smile and looked at Kurt, attributing those and her pert little nose to him. He smiled in dismay at her curls, hearing her cursing him when she was a teenager. She had ten tiny toes, oval shaped like Kurt's and ten tiny fingers, just like his too, on a tiny delicate hand that was little more than an inch long.
Kurt leaned over to hold them both, with tears in his eyes. No one had told him how much he would feel when it was all over. No one had told him it was just like bonding with his partner, except now he was permanently bonded to a tiny little creature, that came from both of them. He leaned his forehead against Blaine's and his tears dripped onto him, as he whispered "She is so beautiful, and we did this! I love you both so much." Blaine wrapped his free arm around Kurt and huddled their new family together.
Doctor Whitcombe sat back and watched it happen again. It was the reason she had put her own life on an indefinite hold, to see a new life coming into the world and bond with her parents into a family. This baby was more welcome than most, and her destiny was more important than most, but it was the same with nearly every child. She let her parents gaze in wonder for a little longer before she finished with her patient and let the new royal family rest.
Blaine and his baby, named Princess Kylie Belinda Hummel would be discharged in a few hours, while Dr. Whitcombe flew back to her hospital in the helicopter, where her other patients were waiting for her to return from her 'family emergency'. There was no Anderson anywhere in the new Princess' name because Blaine refused to give his daughter the name of the man who had resentfully raised him.
Blaine felt like his whole insides had been stretched open, so he gladly accepted a wheelchair ride to the car waiting for them while Kurt carried Kylie's baby carrier. By the time they returned to their hotel suite everyone was there, waiting for them in the living room. Blaine just wanted to lie down and rest, but Kurt asked him to stay while they introduced their daughter to her extended family, all four eager grandparents and her great grandmother, the queen. Kurt put her in Kiala's arms first, as he understood how important she was to her, both as their heir to the throne and as a new member of her family, when she had lost nearly all of them. The softness of her face, looking nearer to tears than he'd ever seen her, was enough to nearly make him cry again.
Burt edged closer, leaning over Kurt's shoulder eagerly, smiling at the baby, making him chuckle. "All right dad. You'll get your turn next." Kiala laughed and handed Kylie over into Burt's delighted arms, with Carole tearing up at the sight. He'd never really held a newborn before, and it felt incredible, because he already knew this little lady owned his heart. He intended to spoil her to the best of his ability. Carole touched her soft tufts of curls gently, her heart overflowing with affection. My god, those were Kurt's beautiful blue eyes looking back at them. Helena was the next to edge closer, hoping for a chance to check out her granddaughter too.
Burt grudgingly gave her up to Helena, and watched as Benito touched her tiny fingers in awe, as he smiled at Helena. She murmured to him, "she looks just like Blaine, when he was born. The shape of her face and her mouth is his."
"But those curls are yours, Helena" He whispered softly, pulling one tiny lock straight and watching it recoil just the way hers did. "And Blaine's" she murmured back lovingly. Benito agreed with a happy smile. He had a granddaughter! His lineage was assured, after he'd thought that it would end with him for too many years. He kissed Kylie's forehead and watched her screw up her face in discomfort with dismay. She squawked and squirmed and there was a loud noise that surely couldn't have come from such a tiny little girl. Burt hooted in laughter, and apologized for possibly passing that on to his granddaughter. Everybody laughed, after they remembered he was the only one not in any way genetically related to the little one.
They were all limo'd to the airport and flew to the compound later that day. Blaine was still really sore and tired, and basically wanted to sleep all day. His daughter was still being passed around from squabbling grandparent to grandparent, hardly allowed to sleep on her own, until Carole stepped in and took over her care, as her legal mother, and an experienced nurse. She had always wanted more children, but grandchildren were even better.
Kylie downed her bottle of donated breast milk efficiently, though getting up gas was a bit of an issue. My god, that little girl was not shy about letting you know she had a problem! The whole place knew when she was tired, wet or hungry or had some air to get rid of. Luckily, there were no shortages of people willing to hold her or pat her back for her. Kurt heard her wailing late that night and stumbled blinking sleepily into her room to find Carole, Burt and Helena there already, with Benito and Kiala hovering in the doorway. He wove through the throng and took his daughter gingerly from his father's arms and gently put her on his shoulder, patting her gently until she calmed down and quieted. It felt sort of like holding a kitten, though she was stronger than she looked. She was his daughter, he didn't have to remind them, so he trumped them all.
Carole gave him his first diaper lesson, once Kylie had filled it, which was much harder than it sounded, when her crevices were so delicate and tiny. He did up all her closures and wrapped her again fairly well. Babies were never his forte, but understanding fabric helped a lot. He laid her in her bassinet again and tucked her in, turning to herd her family out the door again. It would probably only be another hour before it was feeding time again, but until then, she needed to rest, and so did the others.
He slipped back into bed behind a warm sleepy Blaine, who softly asked how she was doing. Kurt proudly told him he'd changed his first pooper. Blaine chuckled and drily said "Yay, daddy. You can have the rest of them too." Then he sighed tiredly and was back to sleep two minutes later. Kurt drifted to sleep a few minutes later, right through the chirp from his daughter forty five minutes later. Carole waited outside her door for her to wake, and had her in her arms before the second squawk, pleased that she had gotten to her before she'd woken anyone else. They shared another quiet bottle with Carole telling her what a good girl she was while Kylie listened carefully.
Kurt woke up six hours later, at eight o'clock, to find his step mother asleep in the rocker with Kylie squirming in her bassinet, working up to another howl. He picked her up, to find her soaked through, and called for some backup. This time Helena was there in a flash and she and Kurt got her dry and clean again, while Carole went back to bed gratefully. Blaine shuffled in a few minutes later with her bottle, still looking rather sore, but he sat gingerly in the rocker and fed Kylie, looking so freaking beautiful holding his daughter that Kurt felt his eyes tearing up. Helena passed him a tissue, dabbing at her own eyes too. Kurt put his arm around his mother-in-law, and leaned his head against hers, so grateful she'd given into the impulse to fall in love with Benito, or he'd never have met Blaine and there would probably be no heirs to the Sapphire Throne.
God, his whole life sounded like a freaking fairy tale.