Kurt scooted closer to Sebastian and began to kiss the back of his neck. "Do you know what today is?"

"My lucky day because you're kissing me awake instead of having to listen to my phone alarm beep until I can't stand it anymore?"

"Mmm. That too, but I was thinking of something different."

"Hmm. Let's see. It's the next to last day of February, which means we only have three weeks until it's officially spring, but that will be two days after Rose turns one. I can't believe our Sweetie is going to be one already."

"Me either. All of those things are true as well. Still not what I was thinking about."

Sebastian reached back and ran his hand along the back of Kurt's thigh, gently caressing him. "And today marks two months that we've been married." He changed the amount of pressure he was applying, which caused Kurt to twitch just the slightest bit. "And it's one more day that I get to love you."

"You're sweet."

"Mmm. So are you. You're the one kissing me awake to save me from having to wake up to the dreaded alarm."

"There's one more thing you didn't say about today."

"It's our dance midterm?"

"It is. Do you want to do some stretches before we leave to go to class?"

"We'll have time to stretch in class," Sebastian said as he pushed back into Kurt's embrace. "I'd be more relaxed if you kiss me more."

"I see. More kisses it is then." He resumed the kisses along the base of Sebastian neck and across his shoulders.

"While I like that a lot, I was thinking more along the lines of us kissing."

"Mmm? That'a nice idea, but I can't reach your lips from here." Kurt scooted closer, even there wasn't really any space between them.

Sebastian chuckled silently. "I think I changed my mind."

"About the kisses?"

"Definitely not. I think a nice hot shower sounds like a good way to relax before we head off to show off our grace and style."

"Excellent idea." Kurt rolled back and slipped out of the bed and darted into the bathroom.

By the time, Sebastian stepped into the room, Kurt was already in the shower.

Kurt called out, "Come on, slowpoke."

Sebastian slipped in and closed the door quickly. "We did finally get around to that."

Kurt laughed and wrapped his arms around Sebastian. "We did. We could get around to it again. Maybe tomorrow night."

Sebastian kissed him. "Perfect."

"Places!" Miss Canberra called out.

Everyone got up from where they had been doing warmups and moved quickly.

"Now, we're going to run this piece twice. I'm going to record it both times. I'll watch both recordings and grade you. You'll get a copy of both recordings, along with my notes and your grade on a disk next week." She moved to the sound system and looked over at the student operating the video camera.

Once the music started, the movement all around the room began as well. Kurt and Sebastian both focused on their movements and ignored each other as they had at home when they practiced so that they would look professional in the piece.

Ten minutes later, both recordings were finished and everyone returned to their assigned places for warmups.

Once everyone was seated, Miss Canberra spoke again. "I was asked to choose two pieces from the dance classes for non-majors to perform in the Spring Showcase. Given how well this piece went both times, I'm choosing this piece to be in the show. You can pick up a slip with the details from the piano on your way out. Just to ease your minds before of the end of class, the dress code is black. Nothing really baggy or floppy."

Several sighs of relief were heard.

Miss Canberra smiled. "I've been there. I wouldn't do that to a class for non-majors. Everyone back up on your feet. We're going to work on the piece we started last week." She moved to the sound system and started the music.

Sebastian scooted closer to Kurt and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He leaned in and Kurt turned towards him in expectation of a kiss, and at the last minute Sebastian took a bite of Kurt's tuna salad sandwich instead.

Kurt laughed and kissed Sebastian on the cheek. "I would share, you know. You don't have to steal bites."

"But this way I got you to laugh and I got a bite of your sandwich, which is really good by the way. I like the addition of the red onions."

"They are good, aren't they? But I wanted that kiss."

Sebastian finished chewing and swallowed and leaned back towards Kurt, kissing him this time.

"The piece went well, and now we're in the show."

"You were already in the show."

"But you are too now. I'm glad that Amaline already agreed to watch the girls that night. That's one thing off the list of things to think about."

Sebastian offered Kurt a bite of his pastrami sandwich.

"Mmm." He chewed and swallowed. "That's really good. The rye bread is really fresh." He picked his phone up and started looking at his lists of things to do.

"I like it too. Oh! Jeff texted me and said that they will be here the 15th through the 22nd and that he's got the dance done. He sent me an email that I didn't open yet that has a video of him, Nick, Wes, and David doing it. We're going to have to practice over our spring break."

"We can do that."

"Jeff said that Wes has the music done and is going to scan it and send it soon."

"We'll need to work on that too. Trina and Sam said they can watch them Thursday afternoon and evening and Friday afternoon for the rehearsals. Amaline is going to watch them Friday during the concert itself. I think those two events have used up our 'maybe I'll say 'yes' options for the rest of the semester." Kurt looked through his to-do list on his phone and his calendar again.

"I would assume so. But with Sam spending every other weekend here, we're getting to go out once every other week for dinner while they watch them and once every other week we go shopping together while the girls are at Grandma and Grandpa's, so I think we're doing good."

"We are. And I think the girls are ready for their first overnight at my parents without us. I talked to them and, if we're ready, they're ready to start this weekend. We can take them and eat dinner as a family. They'll bring the girls back Saturday at lunch, leave their car, and take a taxi to the airport."

"Works for me. We don't have anything scheduled Saturday morning, so if we end up having to drive up to get them early in the morning, it will be fine." He packed up his trash and put his phone back in his pocket. He leaned towards Kurt and kissed him again before he got up. "I love you. I'll see you later. Enjoy visiting the stacks for that research paper you told me about."

Kurt frowned and sighed. "I want to go do that about as much as I want to shave my head."

"Wait, what?" He sat back down next to Kurt and gently turned his face towards him. "Mon loup, dis-moi pourquoi tu ne veux pas chercher les livres dont tu as besoin."

"When I went yesterday, there was this guy shelving books there that reminded me of Mr. Ryerson. Not in the way he dressed, but the way he kept looking at me."

"Well, I have the solution for that." He pulled his phone out and texted someone. "There. Done. I'll go with you."

"I'm not a child. I don't need protected from the big bad wolf."

"I never said that you were. What would you do if I had told you the same thing?"

Kurt huffed. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Forgiven." He picked up Kurt's trash and threw it out. When he came back he held his hands out for Kurt.

Kurt smiled softly and stood up and stepped into his arms. "I love you too, you know. A whole bunch."

"Well, I should hope so since we're married." Sebastian teased. "Let's go get the books you need. I'll even be helpful and put some of them in my backpack."

"My gorgeous husband, the pack mule." He pecked Sebastian on the lips and grabbed Sebastian's coat and held it for him to slip his arms in. He picked his own coat up and put it on.

Sebastian slipped his backpack on over both shoulders and held Kurt's messenger bag out for him and slipped it on over his head and took his hand. Before they pushed the outer door to the building open, they slipped gloves on. Once they were outside, they reached out for each other and took off towards the library.

Kurt helped Carole carry the food over to the table while Sebastian and Burt got the girls fastened into their seats.

"Mimi, eat!" Rose squealed.

"Yes, Rose. We're about to eat. You sure do love food, don't you, sweetie?"

"Mmm. Food," she said in agreement.

Sebastian put green beans in their bowls first.

Rose immediately stuck her hand in the bowl and started to eat the green beans. She finished them by the time everyone else had served themselves. Kurt cut up bites of the chicken on his plate and put them in her bowl with more green beans. Carole picked up a container of butternut squash and fed it to Aliza once she finished off her green beans. Aliza smiled and cooed while Carole fed her.

Kurt watched their interactions and barely kept himself from tearing up. It was such a drastic difference from their disastrous experience in early December.

Carole noticed him staring and looked up at him. "She's beautiful and perfect. They both are."

"Moh. Eat!" Rose demanded.

"Please?" Sebastian prompted.

"Moh. Eat. Pweaf?"

"Of course. What do you want more of?" Kurt asked. He showed her the green beans.

She shook her head and pointed to his plate.

"You want more chicken?"

"Moh."

Kurt cut up more tiny pieces and put them in her bowl, which brought a round of applause for him.

"She's not really drinking much formula with her meals now," Kurt said. "We start with just a couple of ounces. Otherwise, we end up wasting a lot."

Carole asked, "She's still drinking a full bottle at bedtime though, right?"

Sebastian answered. "At the midnight feeding, yes. She's been wanting a snack before we read books and she drinks water out of a cup. But Aliza still just drinks formula then. She will take a couple of pieces of the baby dried fruit that Rose loves, but I think it's just a social thing because she sees Rose eat them."

Carole nodded. "You'll still be here for that tonight, so I'll watch what they do. I'll make them full bottles for when they get up at midnight. Eggs and fruit for breakfast still, right?"

"Yep," Kurt said. "Do not say the name of the long yellow fruit unless you want to hear it repeated until a certain person gets said item."

Carole laughed.

"She may not talk a lot yet, but she is very clear about her wishes," Sebastian said.

"That's my girl," Burt teased. "She's gotten so big since Christmas. Not just physically. She's just grown up so much since then."

"She has. They're so much fun to watch," Carole said.

Kurt was so glad that she had agreed to get help. He could see her coming back around to be able to live her life again. There was no magic solution, but she was functioning again. "A new thing this past week – Aliza has begun to find the TV entertaining for brief periods of time, mostly just for Sesame Street. She finds the puppets funny."

"I'm with you, Aliza," Carole said, looking her right in the eyes. "I think Elmo is hysterical. And Oscar always makes me laugh too. I'll pick up a DVD with a few episodes on it and we can watch it a few minutes at a time the next time they come to stay."

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Our dance class got chosen to perform in the Spring Showcase," Kurt said.

"Oh, that will be fun," Carole said. "We're definitely coming. We have to go back to DC the next day. We're planning on leaving the car at your place again. That saves quite a bit."

"Sure," Sebastian said. "This casserole is really good. Can you send me the recipe? We're expanding our bi-weekly menu to a monthly menu by adding new dinners that we can freeze to use later."

"Why don't you just take the cookbook with you? I can get it back tomorrow. You can look through it tomorrow morning and photocopy the ones you want to try."

"That's a good idea. Tomorrow is our trip to Costco. We can get what we need while we're there."

Burt said, "I really like everything we've tried from it and it keeps me from going out to eat when Carole has to come back here before I can leave DC."

When they finished eating, Kurt showed Burt how to set up the playard while Sebastian helped Carole with the kitchen clean up. As soon as the playard was set up, they moved the girls and put their favorite toys in with them, but Rose wasn't having it.

"Dada, up! Damf. Damf!" she insisted.

Burt looked at Kurt. "Translation, please?"

"Dance."

"Ah."

"We'll dance when Papa's ready."

"Papa, damf!"

"I'm hurrying, Rose." Sebastian was still making a concerted effort to call her by her given name most of the time. "Papa's almost done."

"Done!"

"Yes, almost done" Kurt repeated. He climbed in with them and distracted her with the Disney pop-up toy until they could dance.

Kurt reset the alarm and put his coat in the closet. As soon as the hanger was hooked and he smoothed the coat, Sebastian wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"So, are you ready to go to bed early and not have to get up in two hours to feed them? And we can sleep in until 10 in the morning."

"Are you telling me on our very first night of having no responsibilities that you want to sleep for 12 hours?"

"Who said anything about sleeping?" He asked as he began unbuttoning Kurt's shirt, which he promptly untucked so he could finish. He slipped his hands up under the singlet Kurt had on underneath.

Kurt turned in his arms. "So you want to spend 12 hours in bed, but sleeping is optional."

"Exactly. Well, maybe 11 hours in bed after we take a bubble bath. There was that idea from yesterday morning."

Kurt thought back and smiled. "Mmm hmm."

"I'll use the hall bathroom. You can use ours."

Kurt kissed him. "That works. I'll run the bubble bath."

Kurt turned back to Sebastian and handed him the photocopies and put the book on his own desk. "Four should be good. We added a four new ones for the Instant Pot too. I think we're set." He straddled Sebastian's legs and sat down on his lap facing him and began to kiss him. "Naked snuggles."

"Are you asking me to rate them? Asking if I want to participate in them? I'm not getting a feel for what you want me to say." Sebastian teased him by kissing along his shoulder and slipping his hands up under Kurt's hoodie and running his thumbs along Kurt's hip bones.

"We've done enough work on our 14-hour vacation. Come snuggle me naked in bed, please?"

He smiled. "Of course."

Kurt stood up and swayed and swished his hips all the way to their room while he stripped and threw his hoodie back over his head, then his sleep pants, and lastly he stopped briefly and left his slippers by the love seat. Sebastian laughed and caught them. He paused long enough to drape his own sleep pants and hoodie over the arm of the love seat with Kurt's and leave his slippers behind. He slipped in the bed and turned to face Kurt who was already lying on his side facing the center.

"You're not naked. Is this a case of false advertising or a re-enactment a scene from a movie I've never seen?"

"Nope, and I think you'll find that you're mistaken."

Sebastian laughed. "I think I might have to check."

"Nope."

"No?"

"You've accused me of false advertising. While you may doubt my state, I'm certain that you're still wearing clothing."

Sebastian swiftly divested himself of his boxer briefs and dropped them on the floor next to the bed. "Who me?"

"That's better."

"I still didn't get to check."

"I offered naked snuggles, not naked groping."

"Okay." He slipped his arm under Kurt's pillow, scooted closer, and rolled back onto his back, giving Kurt room to lay his head on his chest and snuggle him.

Kurt pushed up onto his elbow instead of taking his place on Sebastian's chest. "You're not going to negotiate?"

Sebastian turned his head to look at Kurt."Negotiate for what?"

"For the groping?"

"No?"

"Oh." Kurt's voice dropped.

"You sound disappointed. I'm confused. You set the boundaries at snuggling, so I made room for you to snuggle up to me. I told you that I would never push you past any point, no matter whether we had done whatever it was before. And you said you wouldn't either."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I wanted you to negotiate to get more than snuggles. I was being silly, but failed to make it clear that my nope was a joke. I'm absolutely open to the groping." Kurt leaned forward and kissed him.

Sebastian teased. "Lip groping?"

"Something like that."

"Do I get to pick where?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Am I coosing for my lips or yours?"

"Either."

"Hmm." Sebastian lifted the covers up and looked. "So many fun choices. How will I ever choose just one?" He was intentionally stalling to exasperate Kurt just a little now that he knew this was all a game. "So beautiful." He let his eyes rove over Kurt's body. "Where should I start?"

Kurt leaned forward and captured Sebastian's lips with his own and moved quickly to pin Sebastian to the bed. "More kissing. Less talking." He kissed down Sebastian's neck almost to the point near his collarbone that he knew was slightly ticklish.

Before he could manage to get any lower, Sebastian flipped them and started to kiss down Kurt's chest. "You said it was my choice."

"I thought maybe you wanted a demonstration of one of your options."

"So, how far do my choices extend?"

"Anything that doesn't require prep of some sort."

"Got it." He went back to kissing down Kurt's chest.

Rather than move the bases to Carole's car and carry in the extra supplies they had taken with them, they had left Kurt's CRV in the garage in Huntsville and had driven Carole's car to their place the night before, When Burt and Carole pulled into the driveway, Kurt had Sebastian pinned to the laundry room wall and they were kissing heatedly.

When Burt pressed the garage door opener it made Kurt jump.

Sebastian chuckled. "I think that's our cue to get ourselves in order so we can go open the door to the garage."

Kurt nuzzled into Sebastian's neck. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sebastian held him close for just another few seconds before letting go.

They made it to the door to the garage and opened it just before Burt and Carole managed to step up on the small landing.

Aliza reached out for Sebastian. "Papapapa."

He smiled and took her from Carole as she came in. He stepped back and held the door back for Burt and Rose to come in. Carole turned back and Kurt followed her to bring the girls' stuff inside. Kurt grabbed the playard first and carried it in and Carole helped him set it up.

Burt said, "That thing is a bit bulky, but it's really cool. It gives them a lot more space than a playpen."

"We like it a lot," Sebastian said. "It lets us keep them nearby all the time without them having to be contained to such a small area, like you said. And this can be put into different shapes to fit the area you put it in. We'd recommend it for sure." He put Aliza into her highchair. "Are you ready to eat, honey? We've got your lunch all ready."

Rose piped up with, "Eat! Eat!"

Burt chuckled as he fastened her into her seat. "We'll eat, Rose. Just give your daddy a minute to bring your food over."

She banged her hands on the tray in anticipation.

Carole chuckled. "You'd think I didn't feed her two eggs and a bowl of fruit four hours ago." She leaned over and kissed Rose on top of the head.

"Mimi, egg."

"I don't think you're having eggs for lunch." She looked across the room. "It looks like cream of something soup."

"Mmm. Eat." She banged the tray again.

Kurt handed Carole the bowl of creamed broccoli and a spoon. She sat down next to Rose and fed it to her while Kurt and Sebastian put everyone else's food on the table, including a bowl of the contents of the stew they had made, chopped into tiny pieces for Rose.

"They both did really well last night. I think we're good to go from here on out," Carole said. "Your method of easing them into it worked really well."

"That's great," Sebastian said.

"We can start extending the visits like we planned," Kurt said. 'It's starting to get warmer, so we'll leave their double stroller the next time. That way you'll be able to take them out if you want."

"That will be fun. Plus, I would need the double stroller to run to the store with both of them."

Sebastian nodded. "We can do that. I think it will be easier to do what we did last night – leaving Kurt's CRV there with all of their stuff in it. We do that during the week. We leave it here packed up and take my CRV to school in the mornings. If we have to drive separately, one of us takes the truck."

Burt said, "That makes more sense than loading and unloading their stuff all the time."

Carole checked the time on her phone. "We've got ten minutes before the taxi will be here. If you'll excuse me." She got up and went to the bathroom.

Burt started to get up.

"We'll bring your stuff inside. Go ahead and finish eating," Kurt said.

He and Sebastian brought the suitcase and carry-ons in and put them by the door. Carole had returned to her seat and finished eating and Burt had gone to the bathroom while they were gone.

Carole's alarm went off. "The taxi should be here any minute. It's going to be a while before we're back, but we'll be here for Rose's birthday party in three weeks."

She and Burt got their coats on and stepped out just as the taxi pulled down the driveway. They both waved to the girls.

"Mimi loves you. We'll come back as soon as we can."

Kurt prompted Aliza. "Can you wave bye-bye to Mimi and Papaw?"

Both girls waved and said, "Bye-bye."

They cleaned up from lunch quickly. Kurt put the silicone lid on the steel Instant Pot insert and the rest of the stew in the fridge. He turned the dishwasher on while Sebastian started to get Aliza and Rose ready to go. Kurt gave her Aliza her bottle and carried her out to the car. Sebastian put Rose in her carrier after she was ready to go and loaded her into the car as well. Kurt looked through their diaper bag while Sebastian was fastening Rose in. They went in grabbed their coats and Kurt grabbed his satchel. They set off for Westerville to do their shopping and visit with Dotty and Richard.

The following Thursday at lunch, Kurt and Sebastian were eating together like they did every Tuesday and Thursday when both of them got text messages simultaneously. They both pulled their phones out to look.

-The adoption hearing will be March 27th at 10am. All four of you must be present.

"Oh, my God. Three weeks," Kurt said as he turned to Sebastian who was about 15 seconds behind him on reading the text.

"Three weeks will seem like forever now that we've got a date."

"I know, but no more indefinite waiting."

"It's sooner than I thought it would be. I don't know if that's bad or good."

"Me either." He took Sebastian's hand and interlaced their fingers. "We know that this will work out eventually. It would just be a lot easier if it works out sooner than later."

He squeezed Kurt's hand. "I know. That's what I'm hoping for." While Kurt was distracted, Sebastian reached over and took a bite of his cheesecake.

"Hey." He feigned annoyance.

Sebastian picked up his brownie and held it up to Kurt's mouth for him to take a bite.

"God, that's good."

"Thank you." He leaned in and kissed Kurt. "Brownie cheesecake."

Kurt laughed at him. "Good idea." He kissed Sebastian, letting things get a little more heated than he normally did in public, but they were outside, away from most of the buildings, and there weren't any people around. He pulled back when they had to catch their breath. "Three weeks."

"Three weeks. We have spring break next week. Wes, David, Nick, and Jeff will be in town the week after that, so we'll have some distractions to keep us from fretting too much."

"You're right. That will help. And the next week is Rose's birthday and her party. And Sam's going to help us build a swing set for the girls that weekend. We'll keep busy." He leaned back in and kissed Sebastian again.

Saturday morning, Sam got up and did the girls' morning feeding and routine and took them out for a walk afterwards to let Kurt and Sebastian sleep in on their first day of spring break.

Kurt was the first to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes and moved his head slowly to see the clock on the bookcase without disturbing Sebastian. It was already 8:00, so he scooted back into Sebastian's chest and brought his hand to his mouth and started kissing each of his knuckles softly.

"I like that."

"I know." He continued to kiss along the length of each finger. "I like making you feel good."

"I know what would make me feel amazing. And Sam's not here to hear me."

Kurt chuckled quietly. He placed a kiss on Sebastian's palm and closed his his hand. "That does sound amazing." He reached under his side of the bed and pull the wet wipe warmer and their box of supplies out and put them on his side table.

Kurt and Sebastian were freshly showered, wearing sweats, and sitting at the dining room table eating yogurt and fruit when Sam opened the garage door to push the double stroller in at 9:00. He brought Rose in first and took her bear coat off and put her in the playard. He went back out into the garage and brought Aliza in and did the same thing.

"We had a good time. Now, I'm going to go shower and get dressed for the day."

Kurt nodded. "Thank you. It was nice sleeping in."

"You're welcome." He stopped in the study and grabbed what he needed before heading into the hallway bathroom.

"Fam!" Rose called out.

"Sam went to take a bath. He'll be back."

"Baf?"

"Yes. A bath."

"Weena?"

"She'll be here in a little bit."

"Mimi?"

"Mimi went to DC. She won't be here for a while."

"Wef?"

"Wes and David will be here next week."

"Gammaw. Gampa."

Kurt finally realized what was going on. Rose was staring at the side of the refrigerator. "She can see the photos on the fridge from the playard."

Sebastian looked over and saw that Rose had pulled to standing at the end of the playard closest to the refrigerator. "You're right. She's staring straight at them and naming them one by one."

"You know I read an article the other day that says we should have taken them for an eye exam already. I'm going to see if Trina knows of a good one for babies. She hears a lot of parents talk."

"I hadn't thought about it, but I have seen babies in glasses. We should take them just in case."

Trina knocked on the side door.

Kurt got up to let her in. "Come on in. Miss Rose was just asking for you."

Rose saw her and started calling out. "Weena! Weena!"

Trina smiled at her and waved before hung her jacket in the closet and went over to the playard. "How are my favorite girls?"

"Weena, up!" Rose demanded with one arm reaching out for Trina while holding onto the side of the playard with the other.

"I'll pick you up. Let me say hi to Aliza first." She leaned over and ran her hand down Aliza back and smiled at her. "Hi, honey. Did you have a nice walk with Sam?"

Aliza didn't answer.

"Fam, baf." Rose declared.

"Sam's taking a bath?" Trina responded. She stepped to her right and leaned over to pick Rose up.

"Baf." Rose answered definitively.

"Well, then he won't be stinky will he?"

Rose laughed. "Tinky Fam." She pinched her nose.

"I think you might be the stinky one. Do you need a clean diaper?"

She pointed towards their bedroom.

"I'll go take care of this," Trina said. "We'll be back when Miss Rose isn't stinky anymore."

"Tinky," Rose repeated, laughing.

Kurt and Sebastian put their dishes in the dishwasher and headed to their rooms to finish getting dressed. Trina wouldn't tell them where she had planned on going, so they had waited to see how she came dressed.

Kurt waited until Sebastian had taken off his Dalton hoodie and ran his hands down his back. Sebastian's breath hitched, but then he relaxed back into Kurt as he slip his hands around to Sebastian's chest. Kurt kissed along his shoulders and simultaneously breathed in the scent that was uniquely Sebastian. He couldn't really put it into words, but it was calming and comforting and felt like home.

"Trina is wearing denim overalls and a magenta and cream striped henley, so we obviously aren't going anywhere fancy," Sebastian pointed out.

Over the course of the 10 months since he had left New York City, he hadn't changed his stance that every day was a chance to make a fashion statement, but he had learned the art of honing his skill at looking fabulous into less jarring, more central Ohio acceptable looks. He had learned to dress outstandingly without standing out so much. He placed one last kiss on the back of Sebastian's neck and turned to his clothes and chose the first fashion hoodies that he ever bought. He slipped the burgundy hoodie with an Italian newspaper screen-printed on the front over his head. He put on a pair of brown True Religion jeans that he had gotten in New York that hugged all the right places without being too tight. He leaned over to grab the lightweight, dark brown, shearling-lined, waterproof hiking boots that Sebastian had bought him, insisting that he would love them if he just gave them a chance. He smiled as he felt Sebastian run his hand along his butt while he was leaned over.

"I'm glad you actually like the boots."

"They're great. I still like my Docs, but these have been great all winter at keeping my feet warm, something my Docs never quite managed to achieve. And I have an inkling that whatever we're doing involves being outside. Trina wasn't wearing her fabulous fuchsia peacoat either."

Sebastian slipped his feet into his hiking boots as well. He was wearing dark wash Levi's and a medium blue Columbia University hoodie with a navy logo. He exited the closet and sat on their love seat to lace his boots up. Kurt followed him and sat down next to him.

Sebastian ran his hands down the front of the hoodie smoothing it. "This was the last thing my dad got me. He gave it to me for my birthday last year." A couple tears escaped. "Two days later, I changed into it super fast on my way to the hospital when I got the text that my mom was in labor because I didn't want to sit around the hospital in my Dalton uniform. I was wearing it the first time I got to hold Rose." He practically fell into Kurt's arms.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian and silently held him close.

"I love the three of you so much, but God, I miss them so much sometimes."

Kurt stroked Sebastian's hair and just let him draw comfort from him. He had been expecting something as Sebastian's and Rose's birthdays were just barely over a week away.

"She's happy, don't you think?"

Kurt nodded. "I know she is. They both are. And we all love you so much. You're an amazing father to both of them. And you're a fantastic husband. I never expected to feel so loved and cared for in such a respectful way. Dreamed of, yes, but I never expected it." He continued to run his fingers through Sebastian's hair and he began to hum.

"I don't recognize that song."

"It's called "Grow Old with You". It's from The Wedding Singer. I'll add it to the list of rom coms to watch together."

"M'kay."

Kurt leaned forward and kissed him on the top of the head. He could feel that Sebastian's breathing had slowed back to normal. "Are you ready to go see what Trina has planned?"

"Yeah." He sniffled a bit and sat back up. He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. He wiped his eyes on the back of his hands. He started to apologize for his breakdown, but he knew that wasn't what he meant. He was grateful that Kurt was there for him, not sorry to have needed someone. "Thank you."

"Any time." He kissed Sebastian gently. He ran his thumbs across Sebastian's cheeks wiping away the remnants of the tears. He leaned down to finish tying up his boots and stood up. He reached out for Sebastian once he had tied his and pulled him into a hug. When he stepped back, he ran his index finger across the word Columbia on Sebastian's hoodie. "You'll get there still. I believe in you."

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him close. When he released him, he rumpled Kurt's hair. "I'm pretty sure you gave up the floppy bangs look when you were 17 or so."

Kurt rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through it to smooth it out. "I did. It's time to go make myself fabulous. I'll be out in just a sec." He pecked Sebastian on the lips and headed into their bathroom.

The sun was out and it was in the mid 50's, which made it a beautiful not-quite-spring day. They pulled into the parking lot behind Trina and Sam and parked next to them.

"The Botanical Garden is a nice idea," Kurt said as he opened the back to get the girls' stroller out. Sam and Trina moved to get the girls out of their seats. They held them until Kurt got the stroller latched into position.

"There's family story time at noon. I know they'll fall asleep if we recline their seats while we push them around. There's not a lot to see outside yet, but there are a few beds with early bloomers in them. We can wander around inside while they sleep."

Sebastian said, "I didn't think about the Botanical Gardens having story time."

"When we come back from France, we'll have to look online and do a search for story times."

"I have a list. It's on a flyer at the studio. I'll show you where it is this week."

"Thanks," Kurt said. "I haven't really looked at anything since they're still just not quite old enough to be interested in much yet. But this summer will be different. We can already see the big changes in Rose. In the next few months, Aliza's interest will make a leap too."

While they were in line to get tickets, he asked her about an optometrist and she gave him the name of the most recommended one.

Sam pulled his wallet out, but Trina shook her head. "I have a membership for two. Jane and I come here a lot after school to do our homework during the winter. It's always so warm and cheerful that it chases our central Ohio mid-winter blues away for a few hours."

After he slipped his wallet back into his pocket, she reached for his hand, which made him smile.

After they had their tickets, they went inside. With their seats reclined, the warm temperature inside, and the rhythmic motion of the stroller, it didn't take long for the girls to fall asleep.

About 11:20, they decided to eat before they went to story time. They looked through the menu at the Garden Café and Trina recommended everything, so they decided to order four different sandwiches, along with chips and four different kinds of cookies to share. Kurt got out of line and took the girls to find a table. He got out containers of baby food and soup that they kept packed for spontaneous trips or demands for food. He had everything ready when the other three came back with their trays.

"The Chihuly pieces are just fantastic," Sam said. "I definitely want to come back in April with the Hot Shop is open and watch the artists blowing glass. I've thought about it before and I really would like to learn to do it."

"We can come back," Trina said. "I love it here. It's never quite the same because different flower bloom at different times and they also change up the plantings in different areas sometimes."

"I saw a sign that said we could put today's admission towards a membership," Sebastian said. "I'm going to do that before we leave. This would be a great place to come to just walk off some stress in a place that's not affected by weather. And the girls wouldn't have to stay bundled up or get too hot."

"I saw a sign for a butterfly release," Kurt said. "Have done that before, Trina?"

"I did when I was younger. It was really cool. I think when they're three or four and understand how delicate butterflies are that they would love it."

"I came to do it several times when I was younger, after we came back from Paris." His voice sounded like his mind was distant.

Kurt slipped his hand onto Sebastian's thigh.

"I hadn't been here in a couple of years. I came a couple of times my junior year in the spring, but last spring–" He caught himself. "I was caught up in a lot of stuff and never made it here. It's really beautiful." He looked at Trina. "I'm glad you chose to come here."

They focused in on eating and feeding the girls so they wouldn't be late to story time.

Afterwards, they spent some time outside before they split up for the rest of the day.

Kurt noticed that Sebastian was still a bit preocupied when they were packing the girls' stuff back up, so he climbed into the driver's seat and gave Sebastian some time to process whatever was running through his mind.

Sebastian stared out the window remembering all the times he had visited the Gardens with his mom. He thought about how much she had loved flowers and landscaping. He closed his eyes as they pulled out of the parking lot, but he reached over and put his hand on Kurt's leg to keep their connection and not close himself off from the person who had become his life partner – and let himself feel.