Kurt sighed. Ah… The house was clean. Blaine had taken Joshua to the grocery store with him and the twins had gone down for a nap, so Kurt had taken the opportunity to sweep and mop as much of their home as he could. He'd also opened the windows to air the place out, done some dusting, and started the dishwasher. He couldn't be happier.
Sitting down on the couch with a tall glass of ice water, Kurt kicked his feet up on the coffee table, grabbing up the latest Parenting magazine and starting to flip through. There was an article on making Halloween costumes that he was eager to read as well as some cooking tips on mixing more veggies into his kids' diet. More veggies in their meals could never be a bad thing, right?
Kurt had barely made it through half of the Halloween costume article when he heard Blaine talking as he approached the door. They hadn't needed much from the store, but with the way his husband shopped, picking up things he thought looked good or that they might need, and his son's desire to ask for several random little things throughout the store, Kurt had the feeling that Blaine might have his hands full. So, he rose from the couch, laying the magazine down with its pages spread so he wouldn't lose his place. Then, he hurried to the door, setting his water down on the kitchen counter on his way by.
"Hi, Papa!" Josh greeted as soon as Kurt opened the door. "I loosed my shoe an' I have a dirty sock!" He kicked the offending foot out in front of him, splattering muddy water droplets all over Kurt's freshly clean floor.
"What? Where's your shoe?" Kurt asked, taking a few of the bags from Blaine. He didn't comment about the water on the floor; he'd long-since given up on the house staying clean for long. He did make a request, though. "Please take off your muddy sock before you come in. I just mopped the floor. Do you have mud on your other shoe?"
"Yeah…" Josh said slowly, toeing off his muddy shoe with his muddy sock. "I jumped in the puddle and getted all of me dirty." He did a little twirl right outside the door to show Kurt his muddy shirt and pants, too. There were also runs of muddy water down both his legs and his arms.
"It looks like you need a bath," Kurt said. "Take both of your socks off and carry them in. Please don't sit on the furniture until after you've changed and gotten clean."
Josh pouted at this. "But Papa! My legs is tired from walkin' to the store!"
"I'm terribly sorry, but I don't want mud on the furniture, sweetie," Kurt said. "Daddy and I will help you take a bath as soon as the groceries are put away."
"No baths!" Josh howled at the top of his lungs.
Kurt shot him a glare. "Shhh," he whispered harshly. "Your brother and sister are asleep!"
"Josh, I could use your help in here!" Blaine called from the kitchen. "You can show Papa the cool popsicles we bought."
"Papa, come on!" Josh yelled again, forgetting all about being mad about a bath, at least for the moment. He raced ahead of Kurt into the kitchen, taking the box from Daddy and turning to Kurt with a bright smile on his face. "Look! They has shapes in them when you lick 'em!"
"I see. Those look very exciting," Kurt remarked. "But I need you to use your inside voice, Josh. Please." Kurt shot Blaine a meaningful look, hoping he'd catch on and help him out.
"You don't want to wake your siblings up, do you?" Blaine asked. "If they see you getting a bath, then they'll want a bath; and then, Papa and I will have to spend all day giving baths, and we won't have any time to play with those new dinosaurs you got," he said, fishing the mentioned toys out of one of the grocery bags. Catching sight of Kurt's bewildered expression, Blaine blushed, adding, "Tell Papa why you got new dinos."
"I askeded for them," Josh explained. "Daddy said he wanted to play wif 'em, too, when he showeded them to me."
Blaine blushed even brighter at that.
"Did he?" Kurt asked. "Why don't you and Daddy go get you in the bath while I finish putting the groceries away. After your bath, we can all play dinos together."
"Do I gotsa take a bath?" Josh asked as Blaine stood up from where he'd been crouching by the groceries.
"You do," Blaine confirmed. "You got awfully muddy jumping into that puddle."
"Okay," Josh said sadly, taking Daddy's offered hand. "I'll take a bath, but I'm not gonna like it."
Blaine chuckled. "No one is asking you to, bud. But I'll tell you a secret." He bent down low, whispering loud enough into his ear that Kurt could hear, too. "I'll let you play in the bath for a few minutes before I soap you up."
Josh considered this. "With the bath crayons?" he asked. "So, I can draw pirates and aggigators on the wall?"
"With bath crayons," Daddy confirmed.
"Okay!" Josh yelled again, racing off toward the bathroom. "I'll beat you, Daddy!" he called back over his shoulder.
"Inside voice!" Kurt hissed. But it was too late. A few moments later, cries could be heard coming from the nursery. "Great," he sighed to the empty kitchen. "Just great." Quickly, he finished putting away the cold items, leaving the rest for later. Then, he went back to the nursery to comfort the twins. He hoped that he could put some soothing music on and get them to go back to sleep. However, the twins had no interest in going back to sleep. They were mad, and no amount of soothing from him could get them to quiet down. Finally, he scooped them both up, balancing both of the three-year-olds on his hips.
A few moments later, Blaine came in. "Can I help?" he asked, reaching for Jasper. "Josh is in the tub, drawing and playing with his boats."
"Thanks," Kurt replied, beyond grateful that Blaine had come in to save him. "One of us should probably be in there, though. Kids can drown in bathtubs, you know."
"He's okay for a moment. I just wanted to help you," Blaine said, following Kurt back down the hall toward the kids' bathroom, bouncing Jasper a bit to help him calm down.
"I know. I just worry," Kurt admitted, pausing in front of the bathroom door to watch his son. Then, he took a step back in Blaine's direction, asking in a whisper, "So, what really happened on the way back from the store? And, where's his shoe?"
Blaine shrugged. "The giant mud puddle down the road demanded sacrifice. He was jumping in it before I could stop him, and his shoe came off. I couldn't get it out with all the groceries in my hand."
"One of us should go get it, and I can toss the shoes in the washer," Kurt said. "I hate to waste a perfectly good pair of shoes."
Nodding, Blaine was about to respond when Josh called, "Daddy! Come look at the giant aggigator I drew!"
Kurt grinned. "You'd better go and see that 'aggigator.'" Despite the fact that, at seven, Joshua's speech had regressed since his adoption and they'd begun taking their son to speech therapy appointments, Kurt loved the mispronunciations he came up with. He tried not to encourage them and correct them whenever he could at the speech therapists urging, but he couldn't help but treasure them a bit. They'd missed out on Josh's littlest years, and the mispronunciations made him feel like they were getting a glimpse into what their son had been like when he was younger.
"I'm coming to see your alligator," Blaine called back, handing Jasper off to Kurt again. "I'll get him out as quick as I can," Blaine assured his husband, pressing a quick kiss to Kurt's, Liza's and Jasper's cheeks before heading into the bathroom.
While Blaine finished Josh's bath, Kurt settled the twins in their highchairs and got them started with their snacks. They didn't require help eating so much, not when they were having grapes and fruit snacks. So, Kurt got his magazine and finished the Halloween costume article. He even had enough time to start to pursue the vegetable ideas when a set of warm, damp arms wrapped around him.
"All clean and ready for my snack!" Josh announced, smiling up at Kurt happily.
"Well, hello, clean boy," Kurt said, giving him a smooch on the cheek. "What would you like for your snack?"
"Popsicle!" Josh cheered.
"One popsicle, coming up," Kurt replied.
Later, after snacks were finished and hands were thoroughly wiped, Kurt and Blaine stood side-by-side next to the couch, watching their three kids play on the floor. All the toys from the toybox were all over the floor, and the sounds of happy giggles floated out the open windows on the gentle breeze.
Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist, leaning his head against his shoulder and sighing. "Sorry about your clean house," he said. "Josh and I messed it up as soon as we got home."
"I don't mind," Kurt admitted, giving his husband a kiss on the forehead. "I'd rather have a happy family than a clean house."
"Do you want me to go get that shoe?" Blaine asked.
"Soon," Kurt replied. "But right now, I think-"
"Daddy! Papa! Come play dinos!" Josh called loudly, interrupting him.
"Just a minute, bud," Blaine replied, flashing their son a smile. "What were you saying?" he asked, lifting his head to look at Kurt.
"I was just about to say that I thought we had some dinos to play with," Kurt answered, smiling.
"Well, after you, Papa," Blaine said, bowing low with a flourish.
"Well, what a gentleman you are, Daddy," Kurt answered, seating himself on the floor in front of his son.
"Here," Josh said, shoving a figurine at him. "You get to be T-Rex, Papa! You get to bite Daddy's head off!"
Kurt couldn't help but chuckle at that, turning to fix Blaine with an evil smile. "Look out, Daddy," he said, before tackling him and beginning to nibble at his ear.
The twins laughed, but Josh could be heard over the ruckus yelling, "No, Papa! That's not how you're 'posed to do it!"