The cheerful smile slid off Tim's face as he stared at Darren and listened to the sound of a crying baby issuing from his son's apartment.

'Is there something you want to tell us?' he asked as Missy continued to wail from within the apartment.

'What? No' Darren said absently as he turned to face the sounds of the screaming baby and Chris rushing over to her.

'Then can you please explain why there's a baby crying in your apartment' Karyn asked from behind her husband, she had her hand resting on her chest and was staring into the sliver of apartment that she could see with anxious eyes.

'What? Oh, we're babysitting for my brother and sister-in-law, they're on their honeymoon' Darren ran his hands through his hair and turned back to the Colfers and hitched his smile back on.

'So how are you all?' he asked as he pulled Karyn into a tight hug.

'We're fine' Karyn clumsily patted Darren on the cheek as she pulled away from his embrace 'we decided to come here to surprise you and Chris, we were planning on doing it around Christmas but with you and Chris engaged, we thought we should come earlier.'

Hannah smiled up at Darren and when he caught her eye, she winked at him.

He chuckled a little but said 'Well it's fantastic to see you all, why don't you come inside?'

The Colfers all bent down to pick up their luggage but Darren stopped them with wild motions of his hands.

'No, no, please, let me get these, go and see Chris, he will be so pleased to see you all again.'

'Are you sure, honey?' Karyn asked anxiously, she started to twist her fingers together and gazed at the small pile of bags at her feet.

Yeah I really don't-'

'Mum he said we could go in, I wanna see Chris' Hannah said impatiently.

'It's Fine, you two go in and I'll help Darren with the bags' Tim said.

'See dad will help, now come on' Hannah seized her mother's hand and dragged her to the doorway.

'Honey, are you sure?' Karyn asked again, making Hannah pause in the doorway.

'It's fine, I'll stay here with Darren, go and see Chris, and I'll be there in a moment' Tim smiled at his wife lovingly.

'Really it's no big-'Darren began but was cut off by Tim who said:

'I want to talk with you as well' Tim glared down at Darren.

Darren gulped and slowly nodded his head.

Karyn narrowed her eyes suspiciously but pushed Hannah gently in front of her and followed her into the apartment.

There came a faint yelp of surprise from Chris as he saw his mum and sister before Tim closed the door of the apartment, blocking out the happy shouts from inside the apartment to be replaced by a cool silence.

'Well err it's nice you could get some time off work' Darren said, desperately trying to break the icy silence that had emitted between them.

'Darren I want to talk to you…about Chris' Tim was clearly uncomfortable with the subject but he powered on and gazed intensely at Darren.

'What about him?' Darren squeaked shrilly, he was vaguely aware that his voice had raised an octave higher than it was normally and he flushed a little.

'I want to know if you will hurt him again' Tim did not take his eyes off of Darren, making sure that he would not freak out, or leave.

Darren gaped at Tim, it had never even crossed his mind what Tim and Karyn though about them getting back together, he knew Hannah was all for it but truthfully, he hadn't spared a thought for Tim and Karyn, neither had Chris.

Darren felt a pang of guilt shoot through his body, he had been very selfish, and he hadn't even asked the Colfers if it was alright if he could marry Chris.

'Sir, I can promise you that I won't break up with Chris again, truly' he added, seeing the doubtful look on Tim's face.

'Son, why did you break up with him in the first place?' he asked in a stern voice.

'Didn't Chris tell you why?' Darren asked, he was very surprised, Chris usually told his family everything that happened in his life.

'No, all he said was that you wanted different things…and now you're engaged, I can't quite wrap my head around all of this.' Tim had his arms folded across his chest and was glaring menacingly down at Darren.

'Well we broke up because I wasn't ready to get married' Darren said, feeling the heat raise to his cheeks as he said it.

'Well then why are you engaged?'

'Because I love your son with all my heart…and I'm ready to get married to him' Darren looked up into Tim's blue eyes, so much like his son's, and felt his heart break 'truly' he whispered in a cracked voice that he didn't even recognise as his own.

Tim glared down at Darren and took a step forward.

Darren closed his eyes and flinched, waiting for the blow that he knew was coming.

He felt a rough hand grasp firmly his shoulder.

He opened his eyes and gazed at Tim who was smiling warmly at him.

'If I didn't believe you before, I do now' he squeezed Darren's shoulder a little before he turned back to the luggage.

Darren stared at his soon-to-be father-in-law and shook his head lightly, he was rather intimidating, more so than he had ever thought before.

Just then the door opened at Chris poked his face out.

'What's taking you guys so long? He dad, mum said you were her as well, they're both with Missy' Chris explained, he had a huge smiled plastered on his face as he watched the two most important men in his life looking at him blankly.

'Nothing, just chatting' Tim said happily 'who's Missy?' he asked.

'She's my niece, the baby you heard crying' Darren explained.

'Hmm' Tim said, he reached down and picked up his and Karyn's luggage and walked over to Chris and looked down at him. Suddenly, without warning, he swooped down and embraced his son in a tight hug.

'It's good to see you Chris' he whispered into his son's neck.

'It's good to see you as well, dad' Chris patted his father awkwardly on the back and stared at Darren with wide eyes over his father's shoulder, asking, silently, what was going on?

Darren chuckled lightly as Tim broke the hug walked inside the apartment.

'What the hell did you two talk about?' Chris asked rather breathlessly as he gazed at the empty space where his father had stood.

'Oh you know this and that' Darren shrugged and picked up Hannah's bag.

'Oh you're not getting off on that Darren Criss' Chris walked over to block the door and crossed his arms over his chest. He glared firmly at Darren, reminding Darren irresistibly of his father.

'We talked about us, and you, more specifically you' Darren smiled at Chris warmly.

'What about me?' Chris asked, he sounded a little shocked that his father would signal out his boyfriend.

Darren just smiled and gently pushed Chris into the apartment and closed the door behind them gently.

'You are going to tell me though?' Chris asked as they hurried into the living room where Hannah and Karyn were cooing over Missy on the floor, and Tim was sitting on the couch, watching his two little ladies with a small smile on his face.

'Yeah, maybe later' Darren winked at Chris and strode over to Tim.

He deposited the bag on the floor and sunk into the cushions next to Tim.

Just then the phone started to ring; Darren looked over his shoulder and saw that Chris was hurrying away to answer it.

Darren turned back to face Tim and asked 'So where are you guys staying?'

'Here, well if that's alright' Tim said and turned his head to look at Darren.

'That's fine…it might be a bit cramped here with you, Chris, Karyn, Hannah, Missy and I here…with only one bedroom.'

Tim chuckled a little.

'What's up?' Darren asked.

'Well Karyn and I are sort of used to cramped houses' Tim chuckled.

'What do you mean?'

'Well when we first moved in together, we lived in this tiny shoe-box place, barely enough room for a bed, but we managed, it's no big deal' Tim explained.

Darren smiled a little and looked over at Missy and the Colfer women. Missy was having the time of her life, she had clearly warmed up to them very quickly, and they were now playing a round of peek-a-boo.

There came a shrill shriek of happiness from the kitchen.

Darren whipped his head around and saw Chris come hurtling into the room, an enormous smiled plastered onto his face, the phone held limply in his fist.

'What? What is it?' Darren asked anxiously, standing up instantly.

Chris reached Darren and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him violently, not caring that his whole family were watching with interest.

'Babe, what is it?' Darren asked again after they broke apart.

'T-That was my agent' Chris said happily.

Darren saw tears were leaking out of his eyes and knew before Chris even said it.

'I'm getting published!'

Darren pulled Chris into a tight hug while the Colfers cheered.

'Congrats babe' Darren whispered.

'I love you so much' Chris whispered back.

Darren pulled back slightly to see happy tears falling from Chris's amazing blue eyes.

Darren chuckled slightly and pulled Chris into a kiss.