Time for the epilogue. Please, make sure to read the author's note at the end.

I own nothing.


FIVE YEARS LATER.

There were a lot of scary things: the monster under his bed, the EpiPen, spiders, the crazy man from the subway who was always screaming about Jesus, the look on Uncle Blaine's face when he decided to explore the supermarket on his own and then couldn't find his way back to him, that cartoon about the skeleton who loved Christmas, and the old lady who lived in the apartment across the hall, who always smelled like cabbage and liked to tickle him whenever she saw him.

But the scariest thing of all, Max thought, was this.

He stood in front of the building and looked at all the children rushing inside, backpacks swinging behind them, yelling for their friends, waving back at the parents who wished them a good start. It was crowded, and usually Max didn't like crowded places. He wished he could have stayed home. He had had a lot of fun during summer break, visiting Carole and going to the park. Uncle Blaine had taught him to ride a bike, and Uncle Kurt had taken him to the movies, and everything had been so nice. Why did school have to ruin everything?

A hand settled on his shoulder, and he turned to find Uncle Kurt kneeling in front of him. He looked concerned, and he must have truly been, because he was risking staining his pants. Uncle Kurt's clothes were always spotless and so fancy.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" He asked.

Max looked into his blue eyes. For a while, he had thought his own eyes were blue because of Uncle Kurt's, they just looked so similar. But then Uncle Blaine had said he had gotten them from his Daddy instead, and now Max really liked staring at his Daddy's eyes in every picture he could find.

"Can we go home? I don't like it here," he replied, shyly.

"But if you go home, you'll leave Lola all alone on her first day, too," Uncle Kurt said with a little smile. "You don't want her to be sad, do you?"

"No," Max admitted. He liked Lola. She was fun to play with and knew all the words to his favorite Disney songs.

"I know it looks scary," Uncle Kurt said, putting his hand against Max's soft cheek. "But I promise it won't be so bad. You'll learn a lot of cool stuff here, and you can make new friends, too, if you want to."

Uncle Blaine leaned down next to Uncle Kurt, his hand on the small of his husband's back for support, and smiled at Max encouragingly. "You liked kindergarten and preschool, right?" He said. "This will be like that, but for big kids. You're a big boy now, Max, so you need to start school."

Max looked over his shoulder, apprehensively, to where all the kids were being annoyingly loud and running up the steps towards the entrance. "What if someone's mean to me?"

Uncle Blaine's eyebrows got all frowny. "Then you immediately tell your teacher, and then you tell us when you get home. But I'm sure everything will be fine, Max. And if it isn't, we'll deal with it when we have to. But don't let this ruin your first day. Don't worry about things that you don't even know will happen."

"I'm going to tell you something my Dad told me once," Uncle Kurt said, looking right into his eyes. "You're a great kid, and whoever doesn't think so isn't worth your time."

Uncle Blaine smiled at him, and Max watched them. They got like that sometimes, looking at each other like they didn't remember there were other people in the world. "Exactly."

Max nodded very slowly. Uncle Kurt was always right. He would probably be right this time, too. "And you'll pick me up right after?"

"Yes," Uncle Blaine said, not doubting for a second. "Uncle Kurt will be at work, but I'll be here. We can go for an ice cream and celebrate your first day. How does that sound?"

"Okay," he agreed. Uncle Kurt gave him his Batman backpack. They had let him choose it, and he loved it. He slipped it on.

"We're proud of you," Uncle Blaine said, and that made Max feel all tingly and warm.

"And we love you," Uncle Kurt added, pulling him in for a quick hug and a kiss. "I'll see you tonight. You can tell me all about your first day during dinner. I can make your favorite, mac and cheese."

"Yay!" Max said excitedly, and Uncle Kurt laughed as he stood up.

Uncle Blaine pulled him in for a hug. "I can't believe how big you are. You'll do great, kiddo. Good luck."

Uncle Blaine was hugging him super tight. He did that sometimes, when he seemed upset or he had a bad day, or when they talked about his Daddy. Max hugged him back, because that usually made him smile again.

"Max!" A little voice said, not far from them. He turned and saw Lola, waving at him from the steps. "Let's go!"

"I'm coming!" He said. He smiled at them, and then ran after his best friend.

He turned back and looked at them one last time when he got to the entrance. They were still there, holding hands and watching him, smiling, even though it looked like Uncle Blaine was crying too. Max waved at them, and then followed Lola into the school.

Underneath all the fear he felt, he realized he was also excited. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad.


Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and turned to him once Max had gone inside the building. There were a few tears in his husband's eyes, and he reached up to dry them carefully.

"He'll be fine. He's the toughest kid I know," Kurt said.

Blaine nodded. "I know. He's just so big… where did time go?"

They began to walk away, hand in hand, towards the avenue. Blaine had a class to get to, and Kurt was expected at the office for a meeting. He was still in Vogue, had gotten a promotion recently, and loved every second he spent working there. He had also started his own collection, which he sold online. They were unique pieces, and he never made two that were alike. That was the prerogative of KH, his little brand that was slowly getting noticed.

"I don't know," Kurt sighed wistfully. "But sometimes I really miss holding him in my arms, and watching him learn all the little things. Remember when he first started walking? And when he started talking? And now he's in first grade…"

"God, me too," Blaine said, as they stopped at the corner to wait for a red light. He leaned his head on Kurt's shoulder for a moment. "Sometimes I think I should have appreciated the little things more. I think I even miss changing his diapers."

They laughed and crossed the street, still hand in hand. They were supposed to walk in separate directions now, Blaine towards campus and Kurt to Condé Nast. Blaine gave him a quick peck on the lips goodbye and made to turn away, but Kurt pulled at his hand. There was a puzzled look on his face.

"Why don't we have one?"

Blaine blinked at him in confusion. "Have what? Coffee? I don't have time. My lecture starts in…"

"No, no," Kurt said, stepping closer to him to avoid being pushed by a hurried man in a suit. "A baby."

"A baby?" Blaine repeated, like he had never heard that word before.

"Yeah," Kurt shrugged, thoughtfully. "I've been sort of toying with the idea since Rachel got pregnant. Seeing her and Jesse go through all that excitement together… it makes me wonder if maybe we should give it a shot. I mean we are pretty amazing with kids…"

"There's no doubt of that," Blaine said, but he still looked pretty stunned. "Are you sure?"

"I am," Kurt nodded. "Unless you don't want to, or you prefer to wait. I know you're worried about getting that tenure spot at work, but… I don't know. I think we should at least talk about it."

Blaine cupped Kurt's face in his hands and kissed him a little more fiercely than they used to when they were in public. "We're so talking about it. And I wish we had time to actually talk about it now, but I am trying to look good because I want that tenure…"

Kurt laughed and kissed him back. "Go, you crazy old man."

"A crazy old man you want to have a baby with?" Blaine teased, grinning so hard his face almost split in two.

"Oh Blaine Hummel-Anderson," Kurt sighed, as he arranged Blaine's bowtie. "I would have a million babies with you."

Blaine chuckled. "Let's start with one and then we'll see how it goes, okay?"

"Deal," Kurt winked at him, and then they turned to head to work. Just before he turned the corner, Kurt looked over his shoulder, and saw Blaine was also looking back at him, before he got lost among the busy New York pedestrians, all heading in different directions.

Kurt would be eternally grateful that he and Blaine always seemed to be heading in the same one.

Smiling to himself, Kurt crossed the street and let Manhattan guide him away.


Every time I post the last chapter or epilogue of a story, it seems crazy to me. Can you believe another one comes to an end? Oh, but what a ride. I've enjoyed sharing this one with all of you since day one.

I would like to thank Ela for the amazing artwork and Christine for looking over the typos in the last few chapters, once again. They were the biggest cheerleaders when it came to this story, sending me feedback for the chapters and being all in all awesome friends. Thank you.

But most of all, I need to thank you, guys. The ones who kept coming back for one more chapter, writing reviews, being so amazing and supportive. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your words and your kindness. They have made the difference between a good day and a bad day on more than one occasion. That's the power of fandom, and the power of fanfiction.

Most of you have sent me messages and tweets, asking if there will be a new fic after this one. I don't know if I will ever step away from Kurt and Blaine definitely, but I do know I'm ready to tackle new challenges. I feel like I have dedicated many wonderful years of my life to writing fics, which have helped me grow as a writer, but now it's time for me to try and see if I can make one of my biggest dreams come true.

So I am writing a new story, it's just not fanfiction. I'm working on a novel, and I don't know if it'll get anywhere or if it'll just sit in my computer for the rest of eternity, but I need to give it a shot. So many of you have told me over the years that they would love to read an original story from me, or would buy my books if I ever got published. Well, let's hope it comes to that! And I want you to know your support has taken me all the way to this point, where I'm willing to give it one more shot.

If you'll like to know more about my adventures in writing and attempts to achieve one of my dreams, you can follow me on Twitter, where I'm TheFicWhisperer (a username I'm sure will be changing at some point, so make sure to check my FF profile for the new one!). I will love and cherish your support on this new journey.

Thank you for these past 7 years. If Kurt and Blaine come knocking on my door again, I'll make sure to share with you the story they have to tell.

With so much love and gratitude,

L.-