Thomas is missing Kurt terribly while Kurt's away on his first business trip since Thomas joined their family. When Thomas confesses to Sebastian that he misses the way Kurt smells, Sebastian finds a way to help Thomas miss his Papa just a little bit less.
"B-but … I w-want you to come h-home, Papa!" Thomas weeps, arms wrapped around his puppy's neck, hugging the service animal a little too tight. But Hepburn doesn't seem to mind. Sebastian has never met such a patient creature in his life. Still, he gives Thomas's left arm a tug as a signal to ease up.
"I know, Tom-Tom, I know. I want to come home, too. I have to wrap up a few things here, but I'll be home to tuck you in tomorrow night." Sebastian can hear Kurt's voice tremble as much as their son's. He looks at his phone, smiling sympathetically at his husband on the opposite end of the line, his heart breaking with every one of Thomas's sniffles. Kurt's a strong man. He can get emotional from time to time, but it takes a lot to make him teary-eyed.
A sad Thomas is at the top of that list.
The sounds of talking and traffic become louder on Kurt's end of the call as he leaves his hotel to reach his destination – the Vogue office in Manhattan.
"Alright, guys. I've gotta go."
"Bye, Kurt. We love you. We'll see you tomorrow." Sebastian leans toward the phone as if he's leaning in to his husband's ear, about to give him a kiss. This is the first business trip that Kurt's been on since they added Thomas to their family. The second Isabelle invited him to come down to Vogue to help consult over the spread for Fashion Week, Sebastian encouraged Kurt to go. Kurt needed this. He needed to feel like part of the New York fashion scene again, and not just via Skype.
But in all of the excitement of getting Kurt ready to go – along with the three nights of epic goodbye sex that preceded his trip - Sebastian underestimated how much he'd miss him.
Luckily, Thomas is doing a stellar job of projecting his misery for both of them.
"B-b-bye, P-papa! I love you!"
"I love you, too, Thomas. I love you, Sebastian. I miss you both so much! Taxi!"
The call cuts off, and Thomas bursts into tears.
"Come on, buddy," Sebastian says, watching with an aching heart as Thomas buries his head into his Labradoodle's neck. Sebastian could watch Thomas do that a hundred times – and he thinks he has in the past few days – and it would hurt just as badly as the first. "It's only one more day. It won't be that bad."
"I-I know." Thomas sniffs. "B-but I miss P-papa so much!"
"What do you miss most about him?" Sebastian asks, rescuing poor Hepburn from being strangled by pulling his son into his lap.
"I m-miss his h-hugs … and his k-kissies."
"But Tom-Tom! I'm hugging and kissying you right now!" Sebastian exclaims, snuggling Thomas tight. It earns him a giggle, but not a smile that lasts.
"It's not the same! I miss the way Papa smells. And how soft his skin is. You don't smell like Papa. And your skin isn't as soft. You have all that …" Thomas pauses, makes vague hand motions around his face "… stubbly stuff on your cheeks"
"True, true," Sebastian agrees, making a remorseful face.
Then he gets an idea.
And he grins.
"But … I think I can do something about that."
"Okay, guys! I'm home early!" Kurt calls, throwing open the front door and kicking his luggage over the threshold. "Guys?" He scans the empty living room, confused as to where they could be seeing as Sebastian's SUV is still parked outside. Any place Sebastian would have taken Thomas to cheer him us is a car ride away. Plus, Hepburn's vest and harness are by the front door. They would never leave Hepburn behind, and wherever Hepburn goes, his vest and harness go, too. "I said screw it!" Kurt continues, bringing in the rest of his bags and shutting the door behind him before going on the search for his husband and son. "Isabelle said she could help with the wrapping up, and I got on the first plane I could catch. So here I … am?"
Kurt turns the corner from the living room into the master bedroom and finds his husband, his son, and his son's dog, all lying on his bed - Sebastian and Thomas holding Wii controllers, heavy in the throes of Mario Kart, with Hepburn on Thomas's left side.
And they're wearing face masks.
Specifically, Kurt's face masks.
Expensive face masks.
"Uh, what's going on here?" Kurt asks, bending to kiss Thomas on the top of his head.
"Mario Kart," Sebastian and Thomas answer in unison.
"I can see that," Kurt says.
"I'm winning," Thomas announces.
"Good for you. I think the question I'd like an answer to is … what's going on with your faces?"
"We're masking," Sebastian says, biting his lower lip and veering to the left to avoid the green turtle shell Thomas's Waluigi just launched. "I'm wearing blue agave, and Thomas here is wearing chocolate and strawberry."
"It smells yum, but it doesn't taste very good," Thomas says, nearly climbing out from underneath the covers as his car speeds towards the finish line.
"No it doesn't," Sebastian agrees, his tone and grimace leading Kurt to believe that the two of them gave the concoction a pretty substantial lick before coming to that conclusion.
"No, well, I didn't spend $50 on it because I thought it would taste good. But why, may I ask, did you guys decide to slather $150 worth of my best face masks on just to play video games?"
"The masks weren't a pre-requisite for the video games," Sebastian explains. "We're just playing to occupy the thirty minutes we need to wait for these things to dry."
"Wonderful." Kurt shakes his head. "But could you please answer the question." He's not really concerned about the wasted masks or the money. He's been trying to instill the concept of boundaries in Thomas, who has recently taken to rummaging through their things and other kids' cubbies at school without permission. If Sebastian uses Kurt's things without asking, it may give Thomas the impression that he can do the same.
"Well, after you got off the phone with Tom-Tom here, he couldn't stop crying. I asked him what he missed most about you, and he said the way you smell. So I tried to remember the last smelly thing you wore before you left, but you took your cologne and your products with you. So we settled on this."
"Ah." Kurt sighs. He completely gets it. Whenever his mom went away for longer than a day, he would spray her perfume on his pillowcases and sheets so he could pretend she was tucking him in at night. After she passed, he doused his room in the stuff. The day his father finally got around to changing Kurt's sheets and doing his laundry wiped the scent almost clean away, and Kurt cried himself hoarse.
He didn't talk to his dad for a month after.
"Okay, okay, well, you guys I understand …" Kurt sits on the edge of the bed beside Hepburn, head on his paws, watching Thomas play "… but why is Hepburn wearing a mask?"
The dog looks up at the sound of his name, eyes droopy and wide, face covered in a thick, green goop. It's fairly intact, so at least he's been good enough not to lick it, but Kurt can't decide if the expression on his face is one of contentment or resignation.
Sebastian side-eyes his husband, sending him a wink. "He missed you, too."
