"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Kurt," Marc said after they brought the girls inside.
"You too."
"The girls are adorable."
Marie said, "Let's take them upstairs so you can get them changed." She took Aliza from Sebastian and started up the stairs. "You can grab your luggage. Marc can get the other set."
Sebastian was surprised when she went up the second set of stairs. He was even more surprised when he saw that the third level was completely decorated.
Marc said, "We've been renovating the third floor. We've put in two rooms and another bathroom. One is a decent sized guest bedroom and the smaller space will be an office. We'll eventually redo the library downstairs as a bedroom for Florian and Denise. And we'll have the bookshelves brought up to the office space. For now, it just has the crib, playpen, and changing table in it with some of the toys we still had from when the kids were younger on it. That way there's nothing in there that they can get hurt on."
Marie added, "This way, while you're here Madeleine and Liam won't have to share a room, and the four of you won't have to sleep in the same room either."
"It's perfect," Sebastian said. "Thank you."
"I love the colors," Kurt said as he looked around the room. "The pale peach walls brighten up what could be a dreary space with this room just having the two small dormer windows. And I really like the combination of purple, aquamarine, and peach in the bed linens. It's bold, but really cheerful."
Marie smiled, "Thanks. It's different, but like you said, the angled ceiling and smaller windows make the room smaller and darker, so I wanted to brighten it up somehow. I haven't bought anything to go on the walls yet, but if you see anything when you're out and about that you think would look good, just send me a photo. I'm hoping to find something I really like when the art guild has a show in early July. There are also a couple of universities that will be hosting shows from the graduating class of art students this year that I've marked in my calendar to attend. You two are welcome to go with me. Mom's coming as well. You know that she likes to support up-and-coming artists."
Sebastian nodded.
Rose interrupted. "Papa, out!" She pulled at the straps on her carrier.
He leaned down and unfastened the straps and picked her up. Kurt did the same with Aliza.
"We'll leave you to get settled and get them changed. Just come down for dinner whenever you're ready. I know the first couple of days will be hard. You all feel like it's 5:00 in the afternoon when it's 11:00 at night. I'm sure you don't need my advice, but I'll give it anyway. I'd suggest trying to put them down in two hours and then getting them up two hours past when they would normally get up, so 9am here. We'll eat and leave for the zoo. They can nap on the way there. Put them down at 9pm tomorrow and let them sleep until they wake up, and then comfort them back to sleep. Once it's light out, let them stay up when they wake up the next time. That way by the weekend we can get them sleeping at the right times."
"That's pretty much the plan we had come up with." He swayed Rose back and forth. "I didn't know the zoo had reopened, so that will be fun. It was closed when I was here in high school. And if we went when we lived here before, I don't remember going."
"Even if you did remember, it's nothing like it was then." She turned to leave, but turned back and hugged Sebastian again. "I'm glad you're all here. We've missed you, Sebastian. But we're all so glad that you're happy now. You have a beautiful family." She wiped the tears from her eyes and followed Marc back downstairs.
Kurt moved to wrap Sebastian in his arms. "I'm here." He squeezed a bit and let go. "Let's get the girls changed and go eat."
"Eat! Eat! Eat!" Rose demanded.
Sebastian wiped his eyes. "Yes, sweetie. We'll eat. Let's get a dry diaper first."
They changed the girls and went downstairs, leaving the unpacking for later.
When they woke up the next morning and went down for breakfast Madeleine and Liam were already seated at the table.
Madeleine looked up, "Sebastian!" She jumped up from the table and wrapped her arms around Sebastian's waist.
Even in person, Kurt thought Liam looked a lot like pictures he had seen of Sebastian at the same age.
Sebastian put his hand on Madeline's shoulders.
Liam stared at all of them with a serious look of contemplation, but said nothing.
"You've grown half a meter since I was here."
Madeleine rolled her eyes. "You left when I was four. I'm almost seven now. Of course I grew a lot." Even though they'd talked over Skype, Sebastian realized that he hadn't really given any consideration to how much time had passed since he had been there in relation to how much Madeleine and Liam would have changed. Liam wasn't even quite a year old when he left. He hadn't done a good job of keeping in contact with them until after his parents had died.
"How do you remember something from when you were four?"
"It wasn't that long ago. Plus, we have pictures of us together and we talk to you every week."
He realized that she didn't remember him not keeping in touch, which made him feel a little more at ease.
"Of course. If you keep growing so fast, you'll be as tall as me in a few years."
She looked up at him and then over at her parents. "I don't want to be that tall. Maybe a little taller than mommy, but not as tall as you or daddy."
"Sounds reasonable," he said.
"All of my friends are coming over on my birthday for ice cream. But I told Mommy that I wanted Kurt to make me a American-style birthday cake, but she said I'd have to ask him myself."
"Go on then," Sebastian said.
She turned and leaned against Sebastian. She hesitated for a few seconds.
Kurt smiled and winked at her.
She smiled back. "Will you make me an American birthday cake?"
"Of course. I even packed our measuring cups and spoons because I'm not used to weighing things like you do here and I wanted to still be able to make Rose and Aliza's favorite foods."
"Really? So you can make me one?"
"I'll look online with your mom and find ones that we can get all of the ingredients for easily, and then you can pick between them, okay?"
She nodded enthusiastically and went back to her seat to finish her breakfast with a huge smile on her face.
When Kurt was talking to Madeleine, Sebastian noticed that he already had Rose in her chair and was starting to feed her. He broke out of his half-trance and put Aliza in the empty chair. "I see that you ordered the seats we showed you."
"I did. They seemed to be the most practical choice. They can be used almost everywhere and they fold up nicely."
Sebastian picked up a banana and peeled it. Aliza grabbed for it. He picked up a small spoon and offered her a bite of eggs. She didn't open her mouth at first, but she knew the drill. Eggs first, then the banana. She took the spoon and fed herself the rest of the eggs, mostly by picking up pieces of egg and putting them on the spoon before she put the spoon in her mouth. Sebastian sliced the banana into thin pieces and put half in the bowl when she finished. He put the other half in Rose's bowl.
Marc said, "Since we know you'll want the girls' strollers at the zoo, We're going to take the kids and head there on the Metro. We added Sebastian to our car insurance for the next two months, so don't be concerned about that."
"That will make things a lot easier," Sebastian said. "Thanks."
"We took today off and we called the kids out of school, but we have work and school next week still."
"I remember you saying that," Sebastian said. "We've made plans for just the four of us for next week. I didn't expect you to add me to your insurance, so none of our plans involve using your car. We had wondered if later in the summer, once the girls are used to staying here, if it would be okay if Kurt and I go stay somewhere outside the city for a few days."
"Oh, sure. I'm sure we can work that out," Marc said.
"Thanks. We thought it could be a mini honeymoon since we never went on one."
"What's a honeymoon?" Madeleine asked.
Kurt said, "Oh, it's just a vacation that two people who get married go on after the wedding."
"Why didn't you and Sebastian go on the vacation?"
"We still had school."
"Oh, and you couldn't skip like I am today?"
"It's harder to skip when you're in college."
"Oh. So, Rose and Aliza will stay here with us while you go on a short vacation?"
"Yes."
"Yay! I can help take care of them since I won't have school and Mommy will be home for vacation."
"I'm sure you'll be a big help," Kurt said.
Marie was watching Sebastian smiling as Kurt and Madeleine interacted with each other. She put her hand over his. "It's good to see you happy."
Sebastian looked back over at Kurt and smiled. "It's good to BE happy."
Marc got up and put his plate in the dishwasher. "We'll head out in a few minutes since it will take us longer. Just text us when you get there."
"Sure," Sebastian said. "We'll leave as soon as we get them both ready."
While they were waiting, Marie and Marc had gotten a stroller for Liam to ride in. Marc was putting him in it when Kurt, Sebastian, Rose, and Aliza arrived.
"Madeleine can squeeze into the stroller if she gets too tired to walk. Liam climbs out to look at the animals a lot, but he can't make it through the whole zoo walking yet."
She rolled her eyes. "I hated riding in it, but when we came here after it opened I got so tired that I got in anyway. But it's so cool here and I got new shoes that fit better, so maybe I won't need to ride in it this time." She showed her pink boots off to Kurt and Sebastian.
"I remember you showing us those when you got them about a month ago," Kurt said. He pulled his jeans up and stuck his foot out a bit.
She perked up. "You got the black dip-dyed ones with the white soles that I liked!"
"I did. Sebastian convinced me to buy the shearling-lined ones for the winter and I liked them a lot. After you showed me yours and told me how you liked the dip-dyed ones that only came in adult sizes when we were talking, I looked them up myself and ordered a pair."
She walked around the stroller to look at Sebastian's feet. "You got the boring brown ones?"
"I happen to like brown. They go with the brown corduroy Levi's jacket I have. And I got the less boring brown ones. They're not completely plain."
"If you say so," she teased. "But Kurt's are cooler. But mine are the coolest because mine are bright pink and I only had to tie them once because they have zippers. Let's go see the rheas."
Kurt looked at Sebastian, who shrugged looked just as confused. "What's a rhea?"
"It's a big bird that doesn't fly. It has long legs and a long neck."
"An ostrich?" Sebastian asked.
"Nope. Just come look. They're right at the beginning." She skipped towards the entrance to the Patagonia section of the zoo.
Kurt pushed Aliza and followed along behind her.
When he caught up, she pointed out into the exhibit. "See. Look out there. There are three rheas."
He took his phone out and looked the word up. It was spelled the same in English. When Sebastian walked up next to him, he showed him the word. "We've never seen one or even heard of them before," Kurt said. "We have ostriches and emus in the zoo near us."
"Oh. I didn't know what they were called when we came the first time. Mommy read the sign to me. I can read them, but some of the words are ones I don't know yet."
"You'll get there," Sebastian said. "Did you know that I lived here at Mamie and Papi's house when I was your age?"
They all began walking
"Really?"
"Yep. I went back to Ohio when I was six. I lived here for two years."
"That's cool. And then you lived here with them for two years again when I was little."
"I did."
"But now you're only staying for two months Mommy said."
"That's right."
She turned to Kurt. "And this is your first time in Paris."
"It is and I'm super excited to be here." He stopped and looked to the left and found the sign and read it. "I've never heard of a mara before either." He looked it up. "It says the same word for English."
Sebastian shrugged again. "It definitely not just like going to the zoo in Dublin."
Kurt stepped closer and reached out for Sebastian's hand. "I miss the double stroller already. We can't hold hands while pushing separate strollers."
"I know." He squeezed Kurt's hand before letting go to push the stroller down the pathway to follow Marc and Marie.
Madeleine came back and walked between them. "The sea lions are just over there." She pointed to the left. "They are so cute and so much fun to watch. Liam likes them a lot too. When we came the first time, he picked out a sea lion plushie."
"What did you pick out?" Kurt asked.
"Oh, I got a pink hoodie with a sea lion on it, but I wore it the other day and spilled milk on it at lunch and Mommy didn't get it washed yet. I didn't know we were coming to the zoo today or I would have saved it to wear today."
"Well, I like the outfit you're wearing."
"Mommy said that we're going shopping for new clothes soon because the ones I have don't really fit anymore. I had to put on these leggings because Mommy said this dress is too short now."
"Maybe I can come too. I like to go shopping."
"Really?"
Sebastian nodded. "He does."
Marie and Marc turned back. When they got close enough, Marc said, "Let's go on down and look at the penguins. The sea lion show starts in 40 minutes."
After they put the girls to bed that night, Sebastian pulled out a bag from the gift shop and laid out the contents on the bed before he headed into the bathroom to join Kurt in the shower.
"I'm super excited that Aunt Marie and Uncle Marc had this attic turned into rooms. I get to shower with you." Sebastian grabbed Kurt's shampoo bottle and poured a little in his hand. He reached up and started to massage it into Kurt's scalp.
"Me too. God, that feels good. The zoo was really nice. I'm glad we went today. I bet it will be really crowded this weekend."
"I'm sure."
"We're going to have to watch ourselves or we're going to have to buy another suitcase to take everything home. All of those cute books at the zoo were too much of a temptation."
Sebastian chuckled. "I know, but we don't find cute books in French in Ohio that easily. And ten is not that many."
"Mmm hmm." He tipped his head back and rinsed the shampoo out. Afterwards, he stepped forward and kissed Sebastian. "Ten today, ten next week, ten the week after that," he teased. He picked up Sebastian's shampoo and washed his hair. "And the stuffed penguins?"
"The girls loved that part of the zoo. And Rose asked for one. She's never asked for anything. How was I supposed to resist, 'Papa, manchot?' in her adorable little voice?"
Kurt reached up and wrapped his hand around the back of Sebastian's neck and pulled him closer. "If she had asked me, I would have given in too." He kissed Sebastian. "We just can't make a habit of it. We can avoid it by not taking them into gift shops of the places we go, if we have to. One stuffed penguin each is fine, but one is enough. Now, they both have a plushie to play with here and take home with us."
"The first time Aliza asks for something, we'll get it for her too. But you're right, one plushie is enough." He grabbed for one of the washcloths and soaped it up. "Tomorrow we're going to Mamie and Papi's for the day. I'm excited for you to finally get to meet them."
"It must have been hard to have people you loved and who loved you who lived so far apart."
"It was strange. Until I came back here for high school, it sort of felt like I imagined living here when I was younger. You know how memories from being young are kind of weird anyway."
"I bet."
"Plus, things like Skype video calls only started a couple of years ago, about the time I came back to Ohio. So, my only real option was voice chat or sending emails. And, as well all know, elementary and middle school age kids aren't the best at holding decent phone conversations and are generally not that great at writing letters. We did call once a week and I did talk to them." He sighed. "I'm not really in a good place to talk about this right now, though. I need to stay focused on the present for now."
Kurt nodded. "Okay." He ran his thumb along Sebastian's jaw. "Now, later, or never – I'm here."
Sebastian reached up and took Kurt's hand. "I know. I love you."
"I love you too."
They finished up and dried off. Sebastian managed to get into the bedroom first so he could see the look on Kurt's face when he saw the bed.
"You got us shirts when I wasn't looking somehow." He looked at them. "So which one of us wears which one?" He held the wolf shirt up across his chest. "Is this one mine?"
"Yep. And the meerkat one is for me."
Kurt ran his hand over the design on the shirt. "They're so adorable."
"Backhanded compliment that day?"
"What? Oh. You were just so infuriatingly cocky. But I read all of that stuff on the board at the zoo today. It said that meerkats are really friendly and family oriented. But they always look like they're one step from trouble. At the time, I just associated your smirk with always being up to something."
"I could be up for something." He stepped closer to Kurt.
Kurt pecked him on the lips. "Thank you for the shirt."
"So, is that a 'no'?"
"Why would I say 'no' to you?" He leaned over and picked up the meerkat t-shirt. He laid both of them on the dresser and turned back around and wrapped his arms around Sebastian. "I'm not sure how your aunt and uncle will feel about a second shower, though."
"I'll give them extra for their water bill." He started kissing down Kurt's neck.
The next morning, they headed out as soon as they were all dressed. Sebastian grabbed the foldable seats on their way out. Before they left Ohio, they had managed to figure out how to get the smaller crossbody bags they had bought on while wearing the fabric baby carriers that Kurt had custom-made for them in a way that allowed them to sit comfortably, so the subway ride went smoothly.
When they were back up on the sidewalk, walking towards their destination, Kurt took Sebastian's hand and interlaced their finders and said, "I like having a free hand." He looked over at Sebastian and smiled. He looked around as they walked down the street. "I love it here already." He stopped himself from saying something about how hard it would have been for Sebastian to go back to Ohio. "I love the feeling of history. Everything feels so grounded. I'm not sure that makes sense."
"It does. There are buildings here three times as old as anything in the US."
"It's so weird thinking about my mom growing up here. It's really hard sometimes wondering what her life was like and knowing that I will never hear it from her. And she didn't leave anything in the paperwork she left for me. Just that dire sounding note about whatever is in the safety deposit box, which I am still not ready to know. Do you think I'm wrong in not going to pick up whatever it is?"
"Not wrong. If you want, we could go spend the day in Cincinnati when we get back. We could pick it up and move it to a safety deposit box closer to us. Or we could buy a safe to store it in and lock it up. But really it's up to you. In your place, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to read anything negative. You're holding on to what good memories you have. I get that. I really do."
"We may find out something from M. Lavigne when we go next week."
"Potentially." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "We're almost there. It's just down this block."
A few minutes later, Sebastian's grandma, Denise, opened the door and they stepped inside.
"Oh, look at you. You've grown more since you were here. And you're even more handsome." She closed the door behind them. "How can I help?"
"We just need to slip these off. It's easy to do."
"Marie dropped off two foldable high chairs. They come up with the most useful inventions these days. You'll have to show me how they work."
Kurt and Sebastian followed her into the dining room. Sebastian's grandpa came in behind them. They each fastened one of the chairs to a chair before they actually took the girls out of their slings.
"Well, that's really convenient, isn't it?" Florian said. He extended his hand to Kurt. "It's nice to meet you, Kurt. You've made our Sebastian such a happy man." He let go of Kurt's hand and gently place a hand on each of the girls. "And look are these two beauties."
Rose pointed at him. "Papi." She turned and pointed again. "Mamie."
"That's right, Rose," Sebastian encouraged her. "We talk to them using the iPad at home."
"Eat?" She pointed to the chair.
Sebastian unfastened the fabric carrier and put her in the chair. "We're going to eat."
"I made you a crustless quiche with goat cheese, just like your Papa said you like it."
She clapped her hands. "Keef. Keef!"
"From what you said, it won't be that much longer before you can start to introduce rice and grains," Denise said as she pulled the quiches she had made out of the oven. She put them up on the stove to cut them. "I'm not sure how much they eat. If one of you will come serve them, I'd appreciate it."
Kurt took the knife he was offered and cut two pieces. He cut them into bite-sized pieces and put them in the bowls she had put on the counter. He carried them over to the table. He went back and picked up his plate and Sebastian's and put them on the table. "This looks delicious. Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome, dear." She placed her plate and Florian's down and sat down.
Everyone began to eat. Florian and Denise watched the girls feed themselves.
"They good eaters," Florian said.
"They really are," Sebastian said. "We're very fortunate. At first, there was a bit of a production involved in getting vegetables in."
Denise laughed. "There always is."
"We took Rose back for a check up not long ago and she's still allergic to cow's milk, so we just keep doing what the allergist tells us to about when to introduce new foods."
"That makes sense. Does he think she'll grow out of it?"
"There's a good chance that if we avoid it completely for the next year that she will," Sebastian said.
Kurt added, "She doesn't know any different, so she doesn't feel like she's missing out yet. Hopefully, by next summer we'll be in the clear. We're just started giving Aliza goat milk to drink too when we weaned her off of formula. It's safer since they can grab each other's stuff in the stroller. And now that they're bigger and stronger, I've caught them trading when they're at the table."
Denise laughed again. "No fear of germs, of course."
Kurt shook his head. "None whatsoever."
"We'll be careful. We can buy goat milk while you're here."
"Thanks, Mamie."
"No problem. So, after their nap, I was thinking we could walk down to the park. It's nice out today."
"That sounds good," Sebastian said.
By that afternoon, they realized that there would be no way to keep the girls out of trouble and occupied without hauling a car full of stuff to his grandparents' place for the week. So, instead of the four of them going to stay with them while Marc and Marie went back to work and the kids finished their last week of school, Denise and Florian came to stay at Marie and Marc's place during the daytime the next week.
The first week was harder than they had anticipated. They girls struggled to adjust to sleeping in a new place and not having all of their toys.
On Monday, Kurt and Sebastian and his grandparents alternated reading all of the kids' books that were available, more than once. With them still taking two naps a day, they didn't have time to get anywhere and back with the exception of a small park that didn't have any playground equipment. Denise and Florian went along with them as they took the girls on a walk to the park and back before their afternoon nap, but it was still a struggle.
Tuesday didn't go any better than Monday had.
Once they were in the shower Tuesday evening, Kurt was the first to break the silence while he was washing himself. "I love it here. I'm really looking forward to going the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Montmartre, and the other amazing places we've planned to do next week. But the girls aren't really loving it here. I feel like maybe we've overestimated their ability to cope with so many changes. If we moved here, it would be different. We'd create a place for them to play. We'd have baby gates and things like we have at home. They'd have freedom that they don't have here. I think we're either going to need to buy another crib and some baby gates or a playard or consider cutting our visit short and going back home. Neither one of the girls is enjoying sleeping in the playpen. We've tried both of them in there."
"I know. I feel it too, but I'm torn. They both sleep fine in the playpens my grandparents have. But something is different about this one and whoever we put in there wakes up cranky. It seems crazy to spend money on things, but at the same time, if we're coming back next summer, we'll need them then too. Taking the stroller bases that hold their carseats onto the Metro is impossible, but carrying them is tiring. That will only be worse next summer because they' be even heavier and taller."
"This whole thing reminds me of Christmas when I tried to go stay with my parents. I guess I just expected this to go more smoothly because they've been doing so well staying at my parents by themselves. I think this is one of those times that I'm being too frugal to the point of messing up our time here. Let's just go shopping tomorrow morning and get another crib and buy two umbrella strollers that we can manage to carry onto the Metro. Some of the things we want to go do will not interest the girls at all and they will basically just be along for the ride, so them not being able to see won't make a difference. We need to look online and see if we can find duplicates of their favorite toys. We need to make this work or go home."
Sebastian rinsed himself off and leaned in to kiss Kurt. "I don't want to go home. I want the girls to feel home here too. But you're right. We need to improve the situation. As soon as we're in bed, we'll get online and look for stuff that we can either just go buy or we can order stuff if we have to. We'll look for some some pink, lavender, and gray sheets to go with the pale gray walls. We can put some posters up in the office with something that won't damage the walls. We can put the playpen down in the dining room to keep them corralled if need be."
Kurt nodded. "Let's finish up and go look online and see what we can do to make this work. We have seven more weeks here."
The next morning, they went shopping with Denise while Florian stayed with the girls during their morning nap. They took a taxi back. While, Denise and Florian fed the girls lunch, Kurt and Sebastian assembled a second crib and decorated the room. They put the toys out on the floor and put a walk-through baby gate across the doorway.
They went downstairs and brought everyone back upstairs.
When they opened the baby gate and sat the girls down, they took off towards the toys on the floor, looking like they had found their long-lost best friends. Smiles filled their faces. They both plopped down and began to babble and talk to each other and play with the duplicate toys as if they were the originals.
"That's much better," Kurt said.
Denise looked at them. "You did good. This will be a lot easier now."
Sebastian nodded. "Live and learn, I suppose. Hopefully, they'll both sleep better now too."
"I'm sure with the new additions that we can watch them so you can go here tomorrow."
Sebastian reached out to take what she was handing him. "What's this, Mamie?"
"Open it and see. It's just a fun gift from us."
Sebastian opened it He looked confused when he saw what was inside – two tickets to Disneyland.
"You two are young. You deserve to go be kids for the day," Florian said. "With the addition of these toys and the baby gates, we'll be fine. We can bring their portable chairs up here and feed them without either of us having to carry them down the stairs."
Denise added, "Marie will be home by the time they wake up and she can take them down for dinner."
Sebastian nodded. "Thank you."
Thursday morning, they left to go to Disneyland right after Sebastian's grandparents arrived, which put them there as the park opened. They headed directly for Space Mountain before the line could get long. No area of the park escaped their enthusiastic inspection. When they came back that evening, the girls were already asleep.
"How was your day?" Marc asked.
"It was incredible," Kurt said. "I loved every second of it. When we come back in a couple of years, we are definitely taking the girls. I think when they've turned four will be perfect. They'll be big enough to ride all of the rides and really love it."
Sebastian watched Kurt talk with such a loving look on his face. Marie looked at him and raised an eyebrow where Kurt couldn't see. Sebastian just nodded and smiled even bigger.
"It was a lot of fun. And I think Kurt is right. If we take them before they turn four, they won't enjoy it as much because there will be things they won't be able to do. Thanks for watching them all day so that we could go. Did Mamie and Papi have any problems?"
"Of course, but that's life. They're babies. They worked it all out. When I drove them home, Mamie said that they read lots and lots of books and they spent the day up in the attic, where they were happy most of the time, so it all worked out. Madeleine will be here next week and she will be a source of infinite entertainment again."
Sebastian nodded. "I think we're going to call it a night."
"We're glad you had a good time. We'll be heading up soon ourselves."
The next week was Marie and Marc's first week of summer vacation. With Liam and Madeleine not going to school, they were eager to entertain the girls. The weekend went smoothly, which made Kurt and Sebastian confident that their sightseeing plans of leaving as soon as the girls went down for their morning naps and leaving Marie to watch over Madeleine playing wiht them between lunch and their second nap were going to work.
Monday morning, Kurt and Sebastian headed to the Eiffel Tower once the girls were down for their morning nap.
Kurt stood at the bottom and looked up. "It's amazing. I've read all about the construction and it's just amazing. Let's go up. I know you've probably been to the top a bunch of times already."
"Actually, I haven't."
"What?"
"Did you go to the Top of the Rock?"
"I didn't. I wanted to go with someone and Rachel wasn't interested. If I hadn't already agreed to take Aliza, I probably would have eventually found someone to go with me, but I just quit spending money on unnecessary things. Looking back now, I wish I had gone."
"Same thing. I've never been to the top. I didn't really have anyone to go with. I went to school with people who had lived here their whole lives and had been to the top when they were younger. When we go to New York, we'll go to the Top of the Rock too." He stepped in front of Kurt and took both of his hands. He pulled him closer and kissed him. "Let's go to the top and kiss up there too."
Kurt smiled. "Lead the way."
They looked around the second level until their ticket time. Kurt leaned into Sebastian, who wrapped his arms around Kurt as they watched out the glass walls as they rode to the top. When they got out, they walked to the edge. Sebastian stood behind Kurt, with his arms wrapped around him and his chin propped on Kurt's shoulder.
He nuzzled into Kurt's neck and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kissed him on the neck. "I love you. I'm really glad we ran into each other again. My life is immeasurably better with you and Aliza in it."
Kurt leaned back into Sebastian and wrapped his arms over the top of Sebastian's. "I feel the same way. The view is spectacular. I can see so many of the places that I hope we get to visit, if not this year, then next." He pointed out Montmartre, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and several other places they could see from their vantage point up so high.
"I think next year will be the hardest. I've been reading ahead about what to expect. The girls will be fully mobile, but they won't be used to going up and down stairs. They will only be taking one nap, which will give us a lot more hours to keep them busy with them still having attention spans of puppies. They'll need constant supervision and a lot of things to keep their attention."
"But if Marie moves Liam's toddler toys up to the nursery as he grows out of them, which he pretty much has already, but still holds on to them because their comforting – then the girls will have some new things to play with. But you're right. We already realized that we had to do something to alleviate their boredom. Madeleine will be turning eight next summer. Maybe she'll be willing to let Marie move her play kitchen up to the nursery for the girls to play with."
"Maybe," He pointed out towards the library. "I can see why people threw a fit about the construction, but, at the same time, it's amazing to think something that big is filled with books."
"It is. Let's go look off the other three sides." He loosened his hold on Kurt and they walked around the rest of the top and took in the whole panoramic view from all sides.
When they got back to where they had started, Kurt turned in Sebastian's arms and wrapped his arms around him. He leaned in and kissed Sebastian. "I'm so in love with you. Let's go walk to the Arc de Triomphe."
"Sure. Since we're already in the area, I thought we might take a stroll down the Champs Elysées and visit some stores that I know you'd love to see too."
"That sounds fun. We can find a place to eat lunch somewhere after we look around for a while."
"Sure."
"I want to get someone to take our picture before we go back down," Kurt said.
"I was just going to say the same thing."
Sebastian looked around and found a woman in her 30s with an expensive camera. He approached her and asked her if she would take a few photos of them, which she agreed to do. She took several shots with Sebastian's camera. He thanked her when she handed his camera back. He showed Kurt the photos, which were all really good. She asked him if she could take a few photos of the two of them for her portfolio, and they agreed. She took down their contact information on the chance that she might want to publish or show the photos at some point.
Once they were back down, Kurt said, "Well, that was interesting. I didn't expect to be models for a photographer."
"Me neither, but you're beautiful, so it's not really that surprising."
Kurt refrained from rolling his eyes. "Well, you're gorgeous." He pecked him on the lips. "Let's walk that way far enough that way to take a selfie or get someone else to take a photo of us with the Eiffel Tower in the background." He kissed Sebastian again. "It's very touristy of me, but I want one."
"Then you shall have one." Sebastian kissed him and grabbed his hand and took off in the direction Kurt had pointed.