Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars.
Let me see what spring is like on jupiter and mars.
In other words, hold my hand.
In other words, baby kiss me
The sweet, strong aroma of freshly made coffee punctuated Frank Sinatra's smooth voice, and Kurt felt warm inside as he hung up his jacket, listening to the bustling of his kids as they finished their chores. He went inside his room, watching the pouring rain outside slow to a normal pace, pattering against the window and clinking on the air conditioner. The thunder sounded far away at that point, but Kurt wasn't sure, seeing as how the AC was blasting too loud for him to be certain. He tossed his bag onto the bed and kicked off his shoes, collapsing into the mattress. Kurt felt the rumbled blanket beneath him, and realized that the bed wasn't made, so he hastily got up and smoothed out the cream-colored sheets. Kurt couldn't recall when exactly he and Blaine had settled into their 'old married couple' routine. They always gave off that vibe to other people, but it took a while after their wedding to actually have fallen out of infatuation and into comfort. Kurt suspected it was when Luke was born, but even then, he and Blaine were still getting used to being parents, so as soon as they got used to each other, they had to learn how to raise a child. That raised a whole new set of problems and issues to overcome, but even then, Kurt couldn't imagine his life without his family, no matter what difficulties arose.
He made his way into the kitchen, where Luke and Liz were already occupying the small space, having to dodge each other every minute or so to avoid collisions. Their kitchen could comfortably fit two people, but three people made the room feel cramped, so Lizzie ducked underneath the freezer door that Luke had just opened, and escaped, stepping to the side to let Kurt pass. Kurt squeezed her nose, and Lizzie whined.
"No, stop!" Lizzie failed to hide a smile and wriggled away from her father while Kurt laughed. Her hair had finally started to dry, and Kurt wished he could say the same about himself. His hair was still messy and damp, but he was home and dry otherwise, so he couldn't care less. Kurt turned and saw Luke, busy with the before-dinner dishes. His son was trying and failing to scrub something off a plate that was left in the sink overnight, and he looked increasingly agitated.
Luke called out, "Liz!"
The two men heard a "Yeah?" come from the living room, and when Luke didn't answer, they heard a sigh, then the squeaking of the couch moving. A few seconds later, Lizzie came back into the kitchen, arms crossed.
"Why couldn't you tell me what you wanted without me getting up?"
"You were supposed to do dishes last night, why am I doing them?" Luke raised his eyebrows while Liz purposefully avoided his gaze, clenching her jaw.
"I kinda forgot…"
"Yeah, that's code for 'I was too lazy to do them'."
"I really did forget, though!"
Kurt chimed in. "Okay, sweetheart, you're doing the dinner dishes, then, since Luke is doing the job you said you would do yesterday."
"Coffee and dishes, that's not fair!"
"You left your shit for me to do the next day, it's totally fair!"
"Lucas."
"Sorry, dad, but she always does this! She 'forgets' to do dishes, she 'forgets' to take out the garbage, and she 'forgets' to clean her room! I'm always the one that has to do her work!"
Lizzie defended herself. "But I really do forget! I don't do it on purpose, you really think I like being a dumbass that forgets basic things every five minutes?"
Kurt, tired of all the arguing, concluded everything with, "Alright, Luke, stop yelling at your sister, you know she didn't mean any harm. Lizzie, you need to start being proactive about your chores. Put reminders in your phone, and if you need to, ask me or Papa for help." Kurt added, "And I'm helping you clean your room this weekend, it's obvious that you can't do it by yourself."
With that, Liz sucked her teeth, glaring daggers at her brother, and left, leaving Luke and Kurt alone again. Luke went back to scrubbing the plate, while Kurt said,
"You know she's telling the truth, right?"
Luke grumbled. "Of course I know, but it's really annoying when I have to pick up after her. It's always chores, too! It's always things that she doesn't want to do that she forgets about."
"She can't help it, bud, don't be so hard on her." Kurt opened the fridge to see if they had any pasta sauce, while Luke finished the dishes. "How was work?"
Kurt saw Luke hesitate as he dried his hands. Luke muttered, "Pretty boring, actually. It got quiet after the rain started." Luke then tried to escape the kitchen, but Kurt put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay? You seem kinda off…"
Luke gently shifted so that he was out of Kurt's reach, turning away from him and slinking out of the kitchen. As he was leaving, Luke said,
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Work was fine." Luke spoke so fast that Kurt almost couldn't understand him, leaving Kurt perplexed and a bit concerned. He managed to find marinara at the back of the fridge, but it was frozen solid. He sighed, opened it, and put it in the microwave, placing a paper towel on top to protect the microwave from stains. As he was doing this, he heard two pairs of feet walk into the kitchen, then he felt a pair of small arms wrap around him.
"What is it, Lizzie?"
"Hi."
"All you want is to say hi?" Kurt laughed. "Okay, then. Hello to you, too!" Kurt turned to give his daughter a proper hug, and saw Michael sneaking food from the stove.
"Hey! No food before dinner, how many times do I have to tell you?" Michael hastily threw the spoon he was using into the sink.
"Sorry… I'm really hungry, though."
Liz peeked from behind Kurt to chime in. "Didn't Dad tell you not to eat before dinner on Saturday?"
"None of your business, Walters."
"Woah, someone's snippy tonight."
Kurt was about to step in and calm things down before Michael interrupted.
"I had a shit day at school, all right? Get off my ass!"
Lizzie snickered. "What, did Hazel annoy you all day?"
Michael looked like he was about to explode when Kurt interjected. "Liz, living room. Now, please."
Despite her earlier taunting, Lizzie looked at Michael a bit more softly. "Hey, it was a joke. I'm sorry if I took it too far." She then left Michael and Kurt alone.
Michael looked more angry than anything, and Kurt rubbed his shoulder, asking,
"Hey, what happened at school, you okay? Do you want to talk about it, or-"
"No, it's fine, I can't change what happened, but I can forget about it, now. I'm good, Dad." Before Kurt could get another word in, Michael left the kitchen. Kurt sighed, leaning against the counter, feeling frustrated. If Luke was any indication, having teenagers would be difficult, and Kurt wasn't sure how to approach them and communicate with them. He counted himself lucky, though, seeing as how a lot of teenagers just stopped speaking with their parents altogether. Luke's issues in high school had been solved, but now he felt useless and bored. Lizzie had been going to counseling for months at that point, but she still had a long way to go. And Michael was dealing with high school applications, and the school science fair, not to mention his numerous behavioral issues. Kurt rubbed his eyes, and while in darkness, the microwave beeped. Kurt took the sauce out, and to his dismay, it was still partly frozen. Not caring anymore in the slightest, he just took out a knife and started stabbing the frozen center to break it up and thaw it out faster. As he was massacring the marinara sauce, Kurt heard the apartment door open and close behind him, followed by the clicking of the lock. No sooner had he finished breaking up the sauce when he felt another pair of arms wrap around him from behind, much larger than Lizzie's.
"Need any help?" Blaine asked, resting his chin on Kurt's shoulder. He then caught sight of the knife Kurt was holding. "Should I be worried, or…?"
"The sauce was frozen."
Blaine laughed, letting go of Kurt. "Okay, nevermind. Totally understandable."
Kurt put the knife in the sink, and in doing so, saw that the front of his shirt was covered in spaghetti sauce. "God damn it!"
"Are you okay? Did you cut yourself with the knife?"
Kurt turned to face Blaine and held his arms out. Blaine struggled not to laugh.
"You look like you just murdered someone."
"Shut up!" At that point, Kurt was struggling not to laugh himself, while Blaine was openly snickering. Kurt took the dish towel that was resting on the counter and flung it at Blaine, nailing him right in the face. Blaine stumbled backwards, giggling madly as he tossed the towel right back at Kurt. He regained his composure before he continued,
"You want me to finish up in here while you change?"
"You just got home, go and relax, I'm okay!"
Blaine shrugged, and left, and Kurt thought that was the end of it. However, Blaine returned to the kitchen, now in comfortable clothes, and once again, insisted,
"Go and change, I can do the rest."
"Honey, I'm fine."
Blaine got close to Kurt, and Kurt rolled his eyes, smiling. Blaine wouldn't back down.
"I'm not leaving."
Kurt shot back, "Good, I could use the company while I finish dinner."
"Kurt!"
"What?" Kurt laughed, facing Blaine with a cocky smirk. Blaine gave him a quick peck on the lips, and Kurt pulled away, disgusted.
"Did you eat pickles today?"
Blaine grinned stupidly. "Yeah, everyone in the ensemble went to Wendy's for lunch. Now, either you go and change, or I'm going to keep trying to kiss you!"
"Ugh, no, get away from me!" Kurt wrestled free of his husband and left the kitchen, smiling to himself. He got to his room to see that he had company. Fester was stretched out at the foot of his bed, tail flopping back and forth. Fester began to purr as Kurt rubbed behind his ears, and Kurt saw that Fester was laying on top of a clean shirt.
"Okay, you're gonna have to move, buddy, I need that shirt." Kurt tried unsuccessfully to tug the shirt out from under Fester, and when he tried to nudge the cat away, Fester wouldn't budge. Kurt sighed, biting his lip. "Fine. You win, I'll go find another shirt, you asshole."
It took a fair amount of time for Kurt to pick out something that was warm, seeing as how all the air conditioners were blasting arctic winds. When he finally managed to find something, he heard a knock on the bedroom door behind him. A voice called from outside,
"Dinner's ready, sweetie!"
"I'll be out in a minute!"
"Can I come in?"
Kurt shed the stained top he was wearing, responding, "Knock yourself out."
He heard the door open and close behind him, and as he was turning the shirt he had found right-side-out, he saw Blaine staring at him from the corner of his eye.
"See something you like?" Kurt's voice became muffled as he tugged his new shirt over his head. Blaine pouted.
"Not anymore, I don't."
Kurt pulled his shirt down and looked across the bed at Blaine, who looked like someone had cancelled Christmas. Kurt chuckled.
"My pain is not funny!"
"What pain, the pain of not seeing me shirtless?"
"Exactly."
Kurt knelt on the bed and pulled Blaine in for a hug. "You poor baby." Blaine wriggled out of the embrace, still upset. Kurt laughed, laying down on his stomach. Blaine sat cross-legged next to him, and Kurt felt a hand not so slyly slip under his shirt. He turned to look at Blaine, raising an eyebrow.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing?"
Blaine scoffed, acting offended. "Appreciating how handsome you are, duh!"
"Well, that's going to wait until after dinner, because I'm hungry."
"You're no fun."
"Whine all you want, I'm still hungry." Kurt sat up, forcing Blaine to remove his hand. They both stood to leave their room, and Blaine had to have the last word in.
"Hopefully you won't stain another shirt."
"Oh, be quiet!"