Chapter 20
When Kurt woke up the next morning he crept quietly from the bedroom, trying not to wake Blaine, who was still sleeping peacefully.
When he crept into his own apartment, he was surprised to find Finn already awake, watching something on the television.
"Finn? You're awake already? I thought I'd have to drag you out of bed myself if we wanted to eat before noon."
Finn smiled and shrugged as he followed Kurt into the kitchen. "I dunno, I guess I'm used to the tire shop hours now."
Kurt gave Finn a fond look. "Dad's the same way."
Finn returned the look. "Yeah."
"Anyway," Kurt said, moving to open the refrigerator. "What do you want for breakfast? Oh."
Finn had moved to hover behind Kurt at the door, something Kurt would normally have found incredibly annoying, but he was too busy noticing his completely empty fridge to say anything.
"Dude," Finn said. "There's, like, nothing in there."
"That's not true," Kurt said, though compared to his normally well stocked shelves this selection was dismal. "There's milk."
"Kurt, it expired last week."
"Oh, right." Kurt shut the door firmly, and turned to Finn. "We're going out for breakfast."
Finn was trying and failing to keep a straight face at Kurt's uncharacteristic lack of preparedness. "So, why are you even keeping this apartment? It's pretty obvious you haven't even being staying here much."
They made their way out of the apartment and started heading down the stairs.
Kurt groaned. "I know. I guess I didn't realize that I hadn't been home in… Well, however long it's been."
Finn's eyebrows rose even more at this.
"Don't look at me like that, Finn! There's a big difference between spending the night at your boyfriend's and moving into his place. And our situation's kind of different."
Finn's expression turned confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Blaine's pregnant, and you might remember that generally leads to offspring."
"Dude, don't be like that. I'm genuinely curious."
Kurt sighed before he spoke. "Sorry, Finn. It's just that… When he has the baby, that's going to be his priority. I'm not going to be able to be hanging around as much, so I'll need my place."
"Wait, why?" Finn asked, as they entered the small diner Kurt had been leading them to and they picked a table. "I thought when he had the baby you guys would be, I dunno, like raising it together? Like you'd be the other dad."
"It's not that simple, Finn," Kurt said patiently. "We haven't really been together long enough for us to be like that. I mean, you've dated random girls longer than I've been dating Blaine, and you didn't settle down and start having kids with them."
"Yeah, but I never acted like you act around Blaine with random girls I dated. You and Blaine seem sort of put together, you know? Even mom said so last night."
"She did?" Kurt asked softly.
"Yeah. Speaking of the parents, are you going to hang out with them today?" Finn asked. Their conversation paused as a waiter came to take their order.
"I want to take my dad out today, Kurt said after the interruption. "And then maybe I can cook you guys dinner tonight?"
"Sounds good, man," Finn said. Then after a moment he said, "Your place or Blaine's?"
"Oh god, I need to pick up some groceries."
After Kurt had spent the day catching up with his dad, they headed to pick up something that could be used as their early Thanksgiving meal.
When they finally settled down around the table, Carole had already drawn Blaine into conversation and Burt and Finn were talking about basketball, so Kurt allowed himself to observe the easy company around the table. Their Thanksgiving meal left something to be desired due to their short notice, but with some help, they had pulled off a good imitation of their normal spread.
When they had finished eating, Kurt led the family into the living room with various after dinner refreshments and allowed the relaxed conversation to continue.
After a few minutes, Carole managed to lure Kurt into her and Blaine's conversation, and Kurt immediately realized that they made a formidable team.
"So, Kurt, tell me about your first date with Blaine," Carole said, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Um, well. We went out to eat," Kurt said, feeling slightly awkward once he realized that Finn and his dad had stopped their conversation to listen in.
Carole pretended to swoon. "Oh, Kurt, stop, this story is too romantic."
Kurt could see Blaine failing to suppress a grin and wasn't surprised when he cut in. "Clearly we're not going to be that cute couple who shares lines while telling the story of how they got together."
"Hey," Kurt interjected. "There's time. I can improve."
Blaine let out a chuckle. "This from the guy who's idea of a romantic first kiss was in a doctor's office!"
Burt groaned. "Kurt, really?"
"I had a moment, okay?" Kurt said defensively. "The heart wants what the heart wants."
"Now whenever we go in for my doctor's appointments we recreate the moment," Blaine revealed with a shy smile.
This time, Carole's awing was legitimate. "You go to the doctor's appointments, Kurt?"
Blaine gave Kurt a soft look as he answered. "He hasn't missed one since."
"I like going," Kurt said, tilting his chin up defensively, but everyone could see the shy look that had taken over his face.
Burt and Carole shared a significant look, and Blaine hid his smile in his shoulder before getting up to excuse himself to the bathroom.
The moment he was gone, all three of the guests turned to look at Kurt.
"He's really great, Kurt," Carole said, reaching over to grab Kurt's hand in her own.
His dad offered him a similar look and added, "Yeah, we all really like him, kid." His look became even more significant. "And we can see you obviously like him too."
Burt didn't drop his gaze, and before he'd made the conscious decision to say it, it had spilled out. "I'm in love with him."
Burt grinned at him. "I caught that much." He reached for Carole's free hand and held onto it tightly. "We could see it a mile away, kiddo. I've never seen you act like that around someone before. So caring; so protective. We all knew the moment we walked in he was gonna be around a while."
"I really think he is," Kurt said quietly. "That's why I really appreciate you guys not judging us and getting to know Blaine for who he is. He's really special."
"Of course, Kurt," Carole said as once. "But he is adorable. I mean, that little walk he has!" She giggled, and Kurt couldn't help a smile.
"The waddle? It's new. We haven't mentioned it yet in case he gets self-conscious about it, but I love it."
"What do you love?" Blaine asked, choosing that moment to reenter the room.
"Nothing," Kurt said quickly, but Finn raised his eyebrows in a playful way, and Kurt had to look away before he said something too embarrassing in front of his whole family.