"Alright, my little fairies. Time for bed," Kurt announced, walking into their living room. It had been a long day of lessons and activities for the kids and meetings and book signings for him, and he was tired. He always looked forward to bedtime, not because it meant getting a little peace and quiet with his husband, but because he looked forward to snuggling his girls close as they listened to him read.
"Papa, don' wanna go to bed," Tori complained. "'m tryin' to fly!" She beamed up at him with her four-year-old brilliance.
"Oh, silly girl, you're far from flying," Daddy said, swooping in and grabbing her from the floor. "Plus, it's bath time, silly." He tickled her sides gently as he handed her off to Papa.
"Daddy, where you goin'?" Tori asked, grabbing a fist full of Kurt's shirt.
"I'm gonna go put baby Lark to bed," he answered and kissed her cheek.
"Baby Yark is s'eepy?" she asked. She giggled as Papa jiggled her on his hip.
"How about, instead of asking Daddy a million questions, we find Lili and get my favorite girls in the bath?" he asked.
Tori nodded, and as Papa headed down the hallway, she yelled, "Lili! Is baf time!"
Lili poked her head around her bedroom door. "Busy!" she complained.
"Too bad. It's bath time," Papa announced. "Put your toys up."
With a pout, Lili picked up one of her dolls, tossing it across the room in the direction of her toybox.
"Please don't throw your Fairy Dolls," Papa instructed. "Come on. We get to start a new book tonight, and the sooner we get done in the bath, the sooner we can read."
Lili perked up. "I can pick?" she asked as she quickly tossed her Fairy Dolls into the toybox, gently, of course.
"It is your turn to pick," Papa agreed. "As soon as we're ready."
After that, the bathroom was a flurry of activity. As Kurt prepped the bath water, his six-year-old and four-year-old dug through the cabinet under the sink, pulling out toys here and there and squealing with excitement. Then, before Kurt was even aware of what was happening, they had shed their clothes and were bouncing at the edge of the tub to get in.
"Oh my," he said, grinning. "My girls are excited."
"We want you to read, Papa," Lili insisted as she reached her hand into the tub. "We can get in?"
"Yes. But, be careful," he warned as they both scrambled to get in, splashing him and each other in the process. He sat back on his heels and watched them play for a minute, zooming their water Fairy Dolls under the surface to get their hair to change colors.
A few minutes later, Blaine poked his head around the corner, one-year-old Lark leaning against his shoulder, his little lips pooching out in sleep. "How are the mermaids?" he asked, grinning.
"Daddy, we's not mermaids! We's fairies!" Tori remarked, indignant.
"Oh, yes. I forgot. How are my little water fairies?"
"They're fine," Kurt replied. "How's Lark?"
"Asleep. I'm about to lay him down." He glanced at the angelic little face on his shoulder, smiling fondly. "Are we reading when the water fairies are done?"
"Yeah!" the girls chorused. "Read!"
"Let's wash that hair then," Papa replied, mouthing, "Thank you!" at Blaine before he turned to the girls. "First, let's get your hair wet. Eyes closed!"
The girls squealed, clamping their eyes shut and grabbing each other's hands.
Kurt grinned as he poured cups of water over their long, blonde hair. He was so glad his girls were so close. Everyone had tried to warn him that girls could be catty, and didn't he know it? He'd gone to the Academy of Magic and Spells with Rachel Berry. He knew all about catty. Still, he was happy that they could be so close as they were growing up. He and Blaine tried not to think too much about their future, content to live in the now with their kids.
When he'd finished with their hair, Kurt soaped them up, making them giggle as he tickled their sides.
"Papa, no fair ticklin'!" Tori insisted.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Bossy Pants," Kurt said, smiling at Lili.
True to their sisterly bond, Lili piped up, "Tori's not a Bossy Pants. That's you, Papa!"
Kurt couldn't hold back his grin at that. Lilian Saria, Lili to them, was certainly a little spit fire, not afraid to speak her opinion. Kurt was sure that Lilian would have no trouble at the Academy when she began in the fall.
Victoria Arryn, or Tori, was quieter than her sister, but she was quickly learning Lili's cues. She was starting to take control of situations, defending herself and making sure that everyone knew her opinion. Kurt was proud of her, but he was a little worried, too. She'd already had some run-ins with girls at Petit Spells, her daycare, that were not particularly nice. When one of the other little girls had started calling her names, instead of telling a teacher, she'd punched the girl's face, something neither Tori's teachers nor her parents had expected from her. Kurt was glad she was defending herself, but he didn't want her to turn into a bully. Thankfully, her teachers had had some great ideas for teaching her how to control and let go of her anger in other ways, and he and Blaine were working with her at home to practice those techniques whenever she was angry at one of her siblings.
Then, there was little Lark Elwin, their son. All of their children had been adopted via the Wellume Adoption Agency, but Lark had been the toughest case. They'd almost lost him a few times as family members came forward one by one, claiming that they wanted to adopt little Lark. All of them had eventually fallen through, however, and their trials left Kurt and Blaine feeling overly protective of their only son. At just one, he'd developed an amazing little personality and was the smiliest baby on the planet. Overall, Kurt and Blaine couldn't be happier with their little family.
"Papa?" Tori asked, patting at his arm. "Is time for gettin' out?"
Kurt shook his head, realizing he'd just zoned out for a minute. "Are you ready, sweetie?" he asked, brushing a loose strand of wet hair out of Tori's eyes.
"Reading!" the girls shouted, standing up.
"Woah, woah, woah," Kurt said, grabbing the girl's hands. "Let's sit back down and wait for me to get your towels. Then, we'll get out. One at a time." He smiled at his daughters, giving them each a quick peck on the cheek.
"Can I help?" Daddy asked, peeking around the corner.
"Daddy!" Tori shouted, reaching her arms out toward Blaine.
"Come here, my little water fairy," Daddy said, grabbing her towel from Kurt and lifting her out onto the bath mat. "Let's get that hair dry."
In a matter of fifteen minutes, Kurt and Blaine had both girls dried off, in jammies, and under the covers in their bed. "What are we reading?" Kurt inquired as Blaine settled on the edge of the bed.
"Papa? Can we read your book?" This came from Lili who had been over the moon when her parents had told her that Papa was an author. Lili loved to read, and she'd been begging to be allowed to read Kurt's book for months now.
Kurt glanced at Blaine. He hadn't considered reading his book to the girls. It was...personal, even though it was fiction. It held more truth in it than anyone could know, more history for their family and importance for their lives than anyone could know. Anyone besides Blaine.
Blaine shrugged. "Do you want to hear Papa's book?" he asked them. "Even though it's about me and Papa?"
Lili's eyes grew wide. "Papa's story is about you?" She glanced between her parents, unsure if what they were telling her was true.
"Yeah," Kurt whispered. "It's about me and Daddy, a story about how we met and fell in love."
"Does it has this?" Tori asked, pointing at Blaine's name scrawled in beautiful cursive across Kurt's wrist, his soulmark.
"That's in it, too."
"Please, Papa? I wanna hear about you an' Daddy," Lili begged, making puppy dog eyes at her parents. She'd learned them from Blaine, and she was too darn good at them for Kurt to resist.
"Okay," Papa agreed, walking out to the bookshelf in the living room. He returned with the title in his hand and slipped onto the bed between his two girls. "There aren't many pictures," he said, looking at Tori. "Is that okay?"
"Is about you, Papa. Is okay." Tori nestled her head against Kurt's arm, watching intently as he opened the front cover.
Lili stopped him. "Is that Daddy?" she asked, pointing at the drawing at the front of the book of a dark haired fairy, wings spread, sitting beneath a tree.
"That's Daddy," Kurt agreed, glancing at Blaine again as he settled at the foot of the girls' bed. His eyes were a little misty; this book meant a lot to him.
Blaine rubbed his foot lovingly. "It'll be okay," he mouthed. "You can do it."
Kurt nodded, smiled, and flipped to the first page. "You girls close your eyes for me, please," he told them, waiting for them to get comfy against him and their eyes to close. When he was sure they were ready, he cleared his throat and began to read. "Kurt sat at a long table in the large common room, staring off into space."
At the end of the first chapter, Kurt closed the book and glanced at his daughters who were snoring softly. "Do you think they like it?" he whispered to his husband who was leaning against the wall, eyes closed.
"They love it," Blaine agreed. "And, so do I."
Kurt grinned, carefully extracting himself from the blanket and climbing out of bed. He tugged at Blaine's arm. "Let's go to bed," he whispered. "Or, at least to the couch."
"I'm coming," Blaine sighed, getting up and giving the girls light kisses on the cheek before following Kurt out of the room and shutting off the lights. "Will you keep reading to me?" he asked when he was settled next to Kurt on the couch.
"Haven't you read it?" Kurt asked. He eyed the front cover of his book, When Worlds Collide, smiling softly at the red background and gold lettering.
"Yeah, but I like it better when you read to me," Blaine wheedled.
"Fine," Kurt sighed, though there was no irritation in it. He opened the book to chapter two, intending to start where he'd left off.
"Start over?" Blaine asked. "I want to hear that part over again."
"It's a good thing I love you," Kurt said, turning back to chapter one. He kissed Blaine chastely on the lips before he began again. "Kurt sat at a long table in the large common room, staring off into space."