When they pulled into a parking space, Dotty and Richard approached the CRV. Richard hugged Sebastian and Dotty hugged Kurt the instant they stepped out. They switched sides and hugged them again. They helped grab the girls stuff while Burt and Carole got the girls out of their seats.
"Mimi! Mimi! Mimi!" Rose squealed.
"Yes, sweetie. Mimi is here. So is Papaw."
She looked around. "Papaw! Papaw! Papaw!"
Burt chuckled. "You sure know how to make someone feel special don't you, sweetie?"
Dotty and Richard had put their names in for a table when they arrived, so they didn't have to wait long to be seated. They put two high chairs on the end of the table. Kurt put the seat covers on them and Burt and Carole slipped them in and fastened their seat belts and scooted them up to the table that Sebastian had just wiped down with wet wipes. He and Sebastian sat across from each other next to the girls. Dotty sat next to Kurt. Richard sat to her left. Carole sat down next to Sebastian and Burt sat to her right, across from Richard. Daniel and Lia sat at the other end.
Rose pointed. "Gammaw! Gampaw! Papaw! Mimi!" She clapped and looked around. "Eat?" she asked.
"Yes, Rose," Sebastian answered. "We're going to eat lunch here. Are you hungry."
"Eat," she answered.
"Do you want eggs?"
"Egg!"
"Nana!" Aliza demanded.
"Yes, honey. Daddy has a banana for you in the bag," Kurt said sweetly.
Burt looked at her and smiled. "She loves bananas, doesn't she."
"Every meal," Sebastian said. "She asks for one every time we sit down to eat."
Their server came by and took their orders and brought their drinks back quickly.
Kurt sat Rose's cup with a straw in it in front of her. "Remember the straw? Suck slowly."
"Swowy," she imitated, and was careful not to suck hard and choke herself.
"She's getting good at that," Carole said.
"She is," Kurt agreed. "Aliza can do it too, if you hold the cup. She's gotten the idea of the straw, but she still tips the cup up and it leaks out the straw hole and dumps on her."
"Got it," Carole said. "Could we trade places?"
"Oh, sure," Kurt said. "It's just habit to sit next to them.
The four of them got up and rearranged. Burt and Carole sat across from each other where Sebastian and Kurt had been sitting.
"So, how do you feel now," Dotty asked.
"Relieved," Sebastian said.
"Same," Kurt agreed. "It's just been looming there in the back of my mind for three months. It's going to make things go so much more smoothly for us to get everything we need to go to France."
Daniel asked, "When are you planning to go?"
Kurt pulled his phone out. "Well, we had this vague plan that we never really finalized because we've been waiting to see the outcome of the hearing today. But we had been planning to take two courses each this summer during one of the summer sessions so that we could take one less class each semester next year and have more free time to spend with the girls. We know that they'll stop napping as much. Oh, on that front, we have good news."
Sebastian piped up. "Kurt's right. The girls are officially staying asleep when we put them down at 8:00 now. They're sleeping from 8pm to 7am."
"Well, that's good news," Burt said.
Kurt agreed. "It is. It should give us the ability to feel more rested. We've been doing okay on 6-7 hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep, but being able to sleep for 8 hours should help with feeling tired every afternoon."
"We've adjusted their nap times accordingly. It's working so far," Sebastian said.
Daniel said, "Let me know how many copies of their birth certificates you want so I can get them all at the same time."
"Three I think," Kurt said. "We wanted to put a copy in their baby books, and we need one to turn into the French Consulate, and one to turn in to apply for their US Passports. in case we don't get the back from the Consulate back in time to send in for the passports."
"Sure. I'll just pay whatever the fee is and then just bill you for it."
"Thank you," Sebastian said. "We'll go down to the Social Security Administration and apply for new cards with their correct names on them Monday afternoon after we get back from class. I know it takes two weeks, at least, to get the new cards. And we need those to be able to get Ohio IDs for the girls and to apply for US Passports."
Kurt added, "Once we get the birth certificate, we can go to the French Consulate in Cleveland again and get French Passports for the girls. Sebastian and I already have our French and US Passports. We applied for those back when we registered our marriage and got our Livret de famille."
Daniel said, "It sounds to me like you've got it all under control. When are you actually planning to go?"
"That's what I was saying," Kurt pointed out. "We had a vague notion of going this summer, but we didn't know whether we'd be able to go early in the summer or not. But now that this issue is settled, we should be able to go earlier." He pulled his phone out and scrolled ahead the end of April. "Our last day of class is April 27th. So we could go after that."
"We agreed to perform at the Bicentennial Concert. When is that?"
Rose interrupted with "Eat! Eat!" when she saw Carole opening the container of sweet potatoes to feed Aliza."
Sebastian turned to her. "Do you want some pears?"
"Pehw," she repeated.
Sebastian pulled out a fruit cup and a baby fork and handed it to Burt.
Kurt looked in back at his phone because he had gotten distracted by Rose's request. "Not until May 23rd."
"So three weeks after our classes end." He took out two more containers of baby food and gave them to Carole.
"Yeah. We might as well consider taking the classes during the first summer session. Otherwise, we'll have three weeks of nothing while we wait for the concert."
Sebastian pulled his phone to get a better grip on the timeline. "So, we could wait three more weeks and finish a 6-week term and then go to Paris for two months and come back the week before classes start to give the girls time to readjust to being here."
"We could," Kurt said. "But we did tell Sam that he could stay at our place in May."
"That's true."
Dotty chuckled. "So, basically, you don't know yet."
"Right," Sebastian said. "We're going to have to do some planning. We'll get it done by Monday so we can get things going. I bet the registration deadline for the first summer session is coming up soon too, if it hasn't already passed." He sighed.
"Were you able to get the records sealed like you had asked for?" Burt asked.
Daniel answered. "We were. No one will be able to be able to look into the file without both Kurt and Sebastian's authorization."
"Excellent," Burt said as he nodded. "With me being in Congress, I just don't want people who might be after me for something to go after Kurt and the girls as a way to hurt me. No one needs to know anything besides the fact that Kurt and Sebastian are their rightful, legal parents."
Daniel said, "I agree. And I'm sure it had some sway with the judge, who repeatedly pointed out that his decision was not to be used as a legal precedent because the details of this particular case were very unusual."
"Is Amaline going to be staying on after the end of the school year?" Dotty asked.
"Yes, thankfully. She said that she's willing to stay with us until the girls are ready for preschool after they turn four, which is when we'll graduate. She does want time off over the summers to travel with her husband. We've already planned to be home an hour before she leaves tomorrow to talk to her about everything."
"That's great news. With her boys both being in college now, I was concerned that she'd want to go back to France sooner than that."
Sebastian said, "She and her husband are planning to stay here until the twins graduate. They both still live with her and her husband."
"Oh," Dotty said. "I guess I hadn't thought about that."
"From what I've gathered, they came when the twins were in the seventh grade. Her husband was first contracted as a guest lecturer for two years. She had thought they would go back before the boys started high school, but her husband was offered a full teaching position for four years. So, I'm guessing after their sons decided to go to OSU, he signed another 4-year contract until they graduate."
"Makes sense," Carole said. "I'm pretty sure that the children of professors get half-price tuition."
Kurt said, "That would make a big difference." He thought about it for a few seconds. "That would save them about $40,000 in total."
"In France, they would have gone to college for free, but after spending middle school and high school here, they may not have felt comfortable going back to France for college," Sebastian said. "The systems are very different, so I can understand why they'd want to stay."
When their server came back with their food, she realized they had traded places and called out what she was carrying to figure out where to sit each plate down. The conversation died down as they focused on eating.
Kurt grabbed the wipes from their bag and handed them to Carole before Aliza managed to smear banana onto her seat cover.
"Thanks, honey." She pulled one out and wiped Aliza's hands off. She opened the container of vegetable stew next and began to feed it to Aliza in between eating her own food.
Burt put Rose's plate of scrambled eggs in front of her and she started picking the pieces up and feeding herself. She had long finished the green beans he had given her when they first sat down.
"She's a really good eater."
"She is. Aliza has never been as interested, but her 'monkey see, monkey do' attitude has made her a good eater too," Kurt said. "I think if she weren't around Rose, she'd still want to drink more formula and eat less food. She's pulling up to standing now since she's been seeing Rose do it. I'm pretty sure she's going to walk early, just like she crawled early."
"I want to take some photos of us with them again before we leave. They keep growing so fast," Carole said.
"How did you two manage to be here on a weekday, anyway?" Kurt asked.
"Burt just told them he had family issues to tend to."
"My aid is taking notes. There are no votes schedule for today or tomorrow."
"We were actually going to see if we could take the girls with us and keep them overnight."
Sebastian said, "I don't see why not. We can just call Amaline and tell her she can have tomorrow morning off. We can just talk to her on the phone about this summer."
Carole said, "You won't need to bring the seat section of their high chairs when you come to visit anymore because I bought these folding seats that remind me of camping chairs, but they strap to our wood chairs at home and they have trays. They can sit on the floor too – for them to watch TV when they get older."
Kurt said, "I saw those on Amazon. They're nice. We've considered getting some for when we go on picnics."
"I liked that the tray could go in the dishwasher and the fabric is removable and can be machine washed. I bought the aqua ones because I loved the color."
"That was the color I liked too," Kurt said.
Their server came around asking if they wanted dessert or coffee. They turned down her offer since the girls were starting to get restless. Burt paid the bill. Sebastian put $25 down for their tip.
Daniel drove Burt and Carole to Kurt and Sebastian's place and dropped them off. They went inside and repacked the girls' bag, replacing what had been used while they were out.
"We have food for them," Carole said when she came back in from changing Aliza.
"Oh, I know," Kurt said. "We just always repack their bag as we walk in. That way we don't risk leaving without what we need in case we're running late some day."
Burt came in not far behind carrying Rose. "That makes sense," Burt said. "So, do we have everything?"
"Just let me put the double stroller in your trunk," Sebastian said. He went out through the garage and loaded it in. He came back in a few minutes later. "That's it." He leaned in and kissed both girls. "Papa loves you. Have fun at Mimi and Papaw's."
Kurt was next and kissed them both as well. "Daddy loves you. We'll see you tomorrow. Have fun!"
They walked them out and watched Carole get them fastened into their carriers. They waved as they drove off.
"This is so weird," Kurt said, as he turned to Sebastian after he reset the alarm. "We've never been here on a weekday afternoon without the girls here."
"It is weird, but I have quite a bit of schoolwork to do. I got the class notes from today. I need to read through those and to my other reading and I need to get started on that drawing I need to do."
"How about we give ourselves 30 minutes of relaxing first? It's been a long week of anticipation and dread." He backed Sebastian into the wall and kissed him.
"Sounds good. Sofa or bed snuggle?"
"Sofa. I'm too tired to lie down in bed. I'll fall asleep for sure. I think I'll brew a pot of half decaf coffee. I didn't sleep much at all last night."
"It's just two. We could actually take a nap. We can sleep in until 8:00 in the morning."
"Actually, let's do that. It's better than trying to work through the exhaustion." He unbuttoned Sebastian suit coat and untucked his shirt. "Let's get these suits off."
X-X-X-X-X
Kurt and Sebastian came home early from their classes the following Tuesday. They made the trip to the French Consulate in Cleveland in a little over two hours. Kurt rode in the backseat between the girls to keep them entertained since it was nowhere near nap time. He read books, sang to them, and read the books again before they finally fell asleep about ten minutes before they arrived. They carefully moved the girls to their double stroller and pushed them inside the building. Fortunately, they were able to keep them both asleep.
They didn't wait long to be seen, but the process that they thought would take 30 minutes ended three hours later. The person that was working with them spent a lot of time on the phone speaking to someone in Washington, DC and in Paris. The girls slept for the first two hours, but they had to take turns walking them up and down the hall outside the office during the last hour.
Once they were finished, they went out to dinner before they started the 2-hour drive back.
X-X-X-X-X
That Friday evening, Sam came back to stay for the weekend. On Sunday, they put a blanket out in the yard and moved the playard outside. Trina kept an eye on the girls while the three guys worked to put the swing set that had been delivered on Friday together. She took them inside for their afternoon nap and went back outside to help with the assembly. By the time the girls were about to wake up, they had finished.
They all showered quickly and redressed. Trina went first and tended to the girls when they woke up. She changed them and played with them in the playroom. Once the other three were redressed, they took the girls outside. Kurt and Sebastian put them in the elephant seats that Burt had gotten for them. They fastened the seat belts that Kurt had designed for them and pushed them gently. Sam had Sebastian's camera and took photos and video recorded them for a little bit.
"Moh! Again!" Rose demanded with a huge smile on her face.
"Moh!" Aliza joined in.
They gradually increased how much the girls were swinging and they loved it. After a bit, they got them out and helped them slide down the slide while holding onto them the whole time.
They heard "moh" and "again" over and over.
Trina and Sam sat down in the regular swings when Kurt and Sebastian put the girls back into the toddler swings.
"Weena. Fam. Wheeee!" Rose practically shrieked in excitement.
They both imitated her and said "whee" every time they pushed themselves.
Kurt reached out for Sebastian's hand and interlaced their fingers. He quickly wiped the tears he hadn't managed to hold back. He looked over at Sebastian and caught him doing the same thing. They squeezed each other's hands and watched the girls smiling faces.
"Papa, Daddy, muah!" she insisted.
They turned to each other and kissed quickly, not wanting to take their eyes off the swings.
Rose clapped for them.
Sam clapped for them, imitating Rose.
Kurt rolled his eyes at Sam.
"You love me and you know it," Sam smarted back.
"You're right. I do. Who's hungry? I worked up a serious appetite putting this monstrosity together."
"Indian, Thai, or Chinese?" Sebastian asked.
"Thai," Trina said.
"Thai it is," Sebastian said. "Your regulars?"
"Yeah," Sam said. "Saves me the time of looking at the menu again."
"Yep," Trina said. "Same reasoning."
Sebastian called and placed their order.
They got the girls out of the swings. Trina picked Aliza up and spun in circles, which made Aliza laugh.
"Down!" Rose insisted. She held onto Kurt's fingers as she walked from the swing set towards the house.
Sebastian moved in front and got down on his knees about five feet in front of them and held his arms out. Kurt slipped her fingers loose and she balanced herself. She started to take a step and she sat down instead. Kurt stood her back up again. Sam and Trina moved to Sebastian's sides. She balanced herself again. This time she managed to take a step before she sat down. Everyone cheered for her. She clapped for herself.
"I know she can do it," Sebastian said. "She walks around pushing that grocery cart like a boss. She just touches the edges of the playard, not even really holding on." He moved just a bit closer and spoke to her. "Rose, sweetie, Papa knows you can do it. Try again."
Kurt let her steady herself and let go again. She just stood there for a minute. She looked at Sam, then Sebastian, then Trina and Aliza, who began to clap for her. She took a step, steadied herself, and took another. She slowly covered the few feet between Kurt and Sebastian. She grabbed Sebastian's hands as soon as she was close enough.
"You did it, Rose."
"Weedee!" she insisted.
"You did it, sweetie," Kurt repeated.
Aliza clapped for her again.
"Can you do it again?"
Kurt picked her up and moved her back a few feet and let her get her balance. It took her less time to cover the distance the second time. Everyone cheered for her again. She clapped for herself when Sebastian picked her up and kissed her.
"Again!" she declared.
Kurt picked her up and moved her back again. She clapped for herself when she let go of his hands and she walked directly into Sebastian's arms. This time he turned her around and encouraged her to walk back to Kurt, which she did. He picked her up and spun in a circle.
"You did it. You can walk all by yourself."
"Did it!" she repeated. She clapped for herself again. "Down!"
He put her back down. Sebastian stepped closer and they each held one hand as she walked all the way back to the door.
X-X-X-X-X
Kurt and Sebastian sent the photos of Rose walking to their families after they fed the girls. They fastened toys to their high chair to entertain them while everyone else ate. They were all really tired from building the swing set and sat around the table sort of zoned out while they ate.
Sam scrolled through his phone, checking his email. "Guess what!"
"What?" The other three replied in unison.
"What?" Rose repeated after them.
"I got that morning art camp counselor position! It starts the day after Memorial Day. I have to go to training the weekend before it starts."
Trina's eyes lit her whole face up. "That's amazing, Sam."
"Oh, I forgot. I also got approved to transfer to the Lowe's near here. The one between 161 and 279. I was waiting to hear about the camp to decide what to do."
"That's perfect," Kurt said. "When can you start?"
"The store here says that I can start any time. I need to give my 2-week's notice though so that they can hire in or let someone transfer to take my place. When I found out about being able to transfer, I called that place where you lived last summer. I can get a place there the last weekend in April."
"Which is in three weeks," Sebastian added. He got up and started clearing the table. He put the leftovers away and loaded the plates into the dishwasher.
"Yes. So, I was thinking I could rent a studio here for two months, then move in here while you're gone to France and save up for two months. And then I can move to a regular 1-bedroom place and furnish it myself."
"That's a good plan," Kurt said. "So, three weeks. That's exciting."
"I am excited. I'll stay living in the studio if I have to."
"I'm sure you can find something decent. My problem wasn't finding a decent 1-bedroom. It was that a lot of people didn't want to rent to a gay man with a daughter."
Trina interrupted. "My grandma will let you stay at her place. She's moving in with my parents. She doesn't like living alone. My dad won't move there since my grandpa never approved of him. David's going to be staying there when he comes back for the summer to visit. Cecily and James will be moving in as soon as my grandma moves out. I know it sounds weird, but the place is big, Sam. It's two stories. The four of us can easily live there without bothering each other. There's a library, a den, a formal living room, and formal dining room, plus four large bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms. There's two half baths downstairs. We can work out a schedule for the kitchen. And it's free. Well, whoever lives there has to pay the utilities. But Cecily and James are going to pay them. They don't want me to work during the school year. We can take the room farthest from theirs." She pulled her phone out and looked at her emails. "I got a position too. Working in the drama and music part of the camp."
"I didn't know you had applied."
"I didn't think I'd get picked. I applied after you told me about it. I was going to just be lazy all summer, maybe do some babysitting, but I looked into it and it sounded like so much fun. Say yes to moving into my grandma's?"
Sam laughed. "Why don't you show me? Then I can make an informed decision before I leave."
"Done." She popped up. "I'll see the four of you in class this week."
Kurt smiled at her enthusiasm. "See you."
Sebastian moved from the kitchen over to the door to lock up behind them. He turned around. "That was fast."
"It was. It would make things a lot easier on him if he didn't have to pay rent. It's a budget killer. You saved my budget."
He stepped closer to Kurt and kissed him. "You saved my heart."
Kurt kissed his palm and placed it over Sebastian's heart. He stepped closer, trapping his hand between them, and wrapped his other arm around Sebastian. "I love you." He kissed him ever so softly.
"I love you too."
"Are you ready to dance?"
"With you and our beautiful daughters, always. I'll go put in that CD Trina gave Rose. They both love that one."
X-X-X-X-X
Slightly over a week later, Kurt brought the mail in when they got back from class and sat down at his desk with it. "Hey, Bas!" He turned in his chair and looked across the study towards Sebastian. "The girls' new Social Security cards came. That was fast. It's been exactly two weeks since we applied for them."
"Excellent." He got up and opened the safe they kept in the closet and pulled out the envelope with the documents that they needed to take with them to the DMV and larger envelopes with their documents for US Passports. "As soon as they wake up, we'll take them to get their IDs. We can stop by the post office and get these envelopes mailed in afterwards. Then, we can go to the library, and drop off the books we have and pick out some new ones."
"Sounds like a plan. I think the bagel shop is calling my name. We're having soup for dinner. Bagels go with soup, right?"
"Works for me." He put the envelopes down on Kurt's desk. He ran his hands along Kurt's shoulders and leaned over and kissed him on the side of the neck."We're getting closer."
"Yep." He rotated his chair, pushed it back from his desk a bit, and patted his lap.
Sebastian sat down and wrapped his arms around Kurt and held on to the back of his chair. Kurt picked the cards up and showed them to Sebastian and laid them back down. He ran his hands along Sebastian's thighs, lightly tracing patterns.
"Every new thing that arrives with their names on it makes it feel that much more real," Sebastian said.
"It really does."
Sebastian leaned down and kissed Kurt. He let go of the back of the chair and reached across his lap to run his left thumb over Kurt's wedding ring. "We're married."
Kurt winked at Sebastian. "We have been for three and a half months."
"It feels longer – in a good way."
"I agree." He looked down at Sebastian's hand covering his. "I really like our rings."
"Me too."
Sebastian leaned down and kissed Kurt. He moved the kisses to his jaw, up to his ear. "I really want you."
"Let's go to our room."
X-X-X-X-X
In the late afternoon the following Sunday, Kurt and Sebastian were ready to leave when Amaline arrived to watch the girls. They had to be on campus for Spring Showcase an hour and a half early to rehearse. They met with their class one of the dance rooms in the building to stretch and do some warm ups. Kurt had to leave to rehearse the songs he was performing. While he was gone, Sebastian stayed behind and worked on a reading assignment. When he came back, Kurt had a program with him. They both looked through it so that Sebastian could sneak into the wings to watch Kurt sing.
Trina picked Dotty and Richard up and drove them to the Spring Showcase. Sam waited for Burt and Carole at Kurt and Sebastian's so they could leave their car again while they were in DC. The six of them met up outside and went in together. While they waited for the show to start, they looked through the program. Sebastian texted Sam and told him which pieces he and Kurt were in a few minutes before it started. Sam showed the text to everyone else. A couple of minutes later, the lights in the audience went down and the show started.
Kurt performed in three classical pieces. The first one, he was featured in a quartet. The second, he sang a distinctive descant part. And in the third, he was a featured soloist. The dance pieces were in the second half of the show. Kurt and Sebastian's class performed alongside the classes that were comprised of dance majors, no one the wiser that they weren't dance majors as well.
When Kurt and Sebastian met up with everyone afterwards, Burt pulled him into a bear hug. "You were great, kid– Kurt. Really amazing. I didn't know you could sing that kind of music. It's not really my thing, but you sounded great."
"Thanks."
Sam said, "I'm with Burt. I had no idea that you could sing like that. Super cool, dude."
Kurt suppressed his urge to roll his eyes and just smiled at Sam.
"And those dance pieces were something," Burt added. "I guess I've never seen most of those styles of dance, but they sure were energetic and fun to watch."
"I'm glad you had enjoyed it."
Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and gave him an I-told-you-so look followed by a genuine smile.
"Trina has picked out where we're eating dinner," Kurt said.
Burt perked up. "Now, we're talking. That means we're not going to some health food place." He winked at Trina.
She flashed her best smile at him, but said nothing. She texted Kurt the address and they headed off to find out where she was taking them.
When they pulled up, it looked every bit as underwhelming as Kurt had expected it to.
Burt asked, "Are we going to eat or get mugged?"
"Come on, Dad. I bet the food is amazing. Trina has never steered us wrong."
Carole laughed. "If you say so."
They got out and went inside the Vietnamese restaurant. Nothing inside was in English.
"How do we know what we're ordering?" Burt asked.
Trina said, "You don't. That's the charm of the place. Kurt told me that you were adventurous. Or maybe that was Carole," she turned and winked at Carole.
Carole stifled a laugh.
When they got to the counter, the woman at the register pulled out a laminated picture menu and handed it to Burt.
Trina couldn't contain her laughter completely.
Burt thanked her and they started to look through their choices.
Once they had all placed their orders, they filled their glasses at the drink station and sat down at a table.
"The picture menu was my idea," Trina said. "I wrote out a simple explanation and offered to edit the descriptions in exchange for a free dinner. using an online translator. Not that I can't afford to pay for my dinner, but I didn't want it to seem like I didn't benefit somehow as well."
"Makes sense."
"After it was done, I started telling my friends about this place and their business picked up a lot. Now, they have a tiny website, which my friend Roderick made for them, with the photo menu and descriptions with numbers. The older woman who answers the phone learned the names of the dishes and to count in English. She's actually the owner."
Burt said, "And now they hand the picture menu with the English descriptions to all of the locals."
"Exactly."
Their food was served quickly.
Burt took a bite. "Ooh, this is spicy, but I like it. A lot."
Trina smiled and winked at him. "Told you."
Dotty said, "I've never had Vietnamese food, but this is really good. Mine's not spicy. Maybe we can come back here again some time – with the girls."
Carole said, "I miss having them here with us for dinner, but I know we didn't have time to go get them and make it to catch our flight."
"That's why I picked this place. They're nearly as fast as McDonald's and the food is soooo good."
They talked about their summer plans while they ate quickly.
"So you two are taking classes the first six weeks of summer break?" Richard asked.
Sebastian nodded. He swallowed before answering. "Yes. We looked through everything after we talked about everything. We enrolled in two classes each, in the mornings. Amaline will still come and stay until 2:00. We should be able to get all of our coursework done before then, so we'll still feel like we're having a break for the summer since we won't have schoolwork or projects to work on in the evenings."
"That's good," Dotty said. "You two are always so busy. I was hoping that you'd get some time to relax at home. I know you're going to visit your family in Paris, but staying with someone is never quite as relaxing as staying home."
Kurt nodded. "That's true. We're hoping that the girls adjust to it easily, but we won't know until we get there. Their sleeping schedules will be really thrown off kilter by the time difference."
Carole pulled her phone out to look at her calendar. "So, you're leaving when?"
Sebastian answered. "The 19th. We're going to have Aliza's party the weekend before. She won't know the difference. We had Rose's the weekend after. You're welcome to come over on her actual birthday too. It's just hard to throw a party mid-week. We're coming back on August 19th, to give ourselves a week to adjust back to living here before school starts again."
Carole asked, "And what about you two?"
Trina and Sam told them about the summer camp.
When they finished, Sam left to drive back to his parents, Trina drove Dotty and Richard home, and Kurt and Sebastian took Burt and Carole to the airport.
Kurt got out and helped with their luggage. He hugged Burt. "Thanks for coming. I'm sorry I didn't invite you last semester. I didn't think you'd enjoy it."
"I enjoy watching you do what you love. No matter what it is, bud, you invite me, got it? I'll do my best to make it here."
"I will."
He hugged Carole after she let go of Sebastian. "Thanks for sticking around late enough to come watch."
"Of course, honey. We love you. We'll see you in a couple of weeks."
They scurried off to get checked in on time. Kurt and Sebastian waived from the sidewalk when they looked back.
X-X-X-X-X
They spent the next week studying for finals. They were pleasantly surprised to receive the girls' French Passports mid-week.
X-X-X-X-X
After they finished studying on Sunday, they used what free time they had left to start packing while they girls were napping.
Kurt slipped behind Sebastian in the closet, dragging his hand along Sebastian's rear for the third time.
"I'm beginning to think you are intentionally groping me," Sebastian said with mock disbelief.
"That's exactly what I'm doing. You in shorts and no shirt is getting to me. I keep losing track of what I'm looking for." He wrapped his arms around Sebastian from behind and slid his fingers down his chest.
"Well, I am certainly not doing a good job of staying focused with you putting your hands all over me."
Kurt laughed. "We're going to get there and have to go shopping for clothes if we can't get our act together."
"I think we need to get something else together first." He turned in Kurt's arms and kissed him. "We've been doing nothing besides caring for the girls, studying, and sleeping for a week."
Kurt turned him and pushed him back into the wall of the closet and began to unfasten Sebastian's shorts while they kissed slowly and sensually. "Yes?"
"Please."
X-X-X-X-X
They finished up their last two days of finals on Monday and Tuesday. When they came home, they packed Sebastian's CRV and went to take a nap while they girls were sleeping. They went to sleep as soon as the girls did that evening. They got up 4:30, dressed quickly, and grabbed the food they had ready for the trip. Sebastian pulled his CRV out of the garage. Trina drove down the driveway right on time and pulled into the garage.
They left for Tennessee at 5:00. Trina rode in the backseat between the girls for the first leg of the trip while Kurt drove. When they pulled up to Sam's parent's place at 8:30, they changed the girls' diapers and Sebastian climbed into the middle in the back so he could feed and entertain the girls while Kurt drove the next three hours to the cabin they had rented in the Smoky Mountains, where Sam and Trina would be joining them late that night after they spent the afternoon and evening with his family.