"I've been staring at the edge of the water
'Long as I can remember, never really knowing why
I wish I could be the perfect daughter
But I come back to the water, no matter how hard I try
Every turn I take, every trail I track
Every path I make, every road leads back
To the place I know, where I can not go, where I long to be"
Kurt started singing this as he prepared to make his debut as an author. He could feel in his soul that this book would do well and that there would be requests for more to come. Kurt rubbed his soulmark. It made him feel connected to Blaine even more when he touched his mark.
"You ready to go knock 'em dead?" his husband asked him.
"I've been ready for this moment for forever," Kurt answered.
"I love you, and I am so proud of you, Kurt," Blaine said and then kissed Kurt on the lips as they announced Kurt's name to come out.
"I love you, too," Kurt whispered and then headed out into the bookstore.
Kurt's books took off like a wildfire. Kids and adults alike loved them. Educators used them for their classrooms to help convey topics that were sometimes hard for kids to understand. Kurt's dream of being a best-selling author was about to come true, many, many times over.
"See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me
And no one knows, how far it goes
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me
One day I'll know, if I go there's just no telling how far I'll go"
Blaine loved his work at the community mental health center. He loved being able to work with the most vulnerable and underserved population in Boston. Blaine also knew that he wanted more freedom in what he did with his patients and not to feel so much pressure to meet billable expectations. After he obtained his clinical license, he opened his own practice.
Santana was one of his biggest referral sources, because she also worked with the population that Blaine loved and wanted to help. Eventually, when Santana was ready, they got a building space and had both of their practices in the same place. Blaine did this work for as long as he was mentally and emotionally able to, and after he was ready to not do therapy anymore, he became a professor at his alma mater.
"I know everybody on this island, seems so happy on this island
Everything is by design
I know everybody on this island has a role on this island
So maybe I can roll with mine
I can lead with pride, I can make us strong
I'll be satisfied if I play along
But the voice inside sings a different song
What is wrong with me?"
Elizabeth Claire came into their lives unexpectedly three years after they were married. After he had opened his own practice, Blaine had been asked to consult on a case at the community mental health center, and while he was in the waiting room, he sat beside a very pregnant teenager. She couldn't have been more than 16 and was there by herself. Blaine felt some sort of connection with her and started chatting with her. He had gotten to the center early, so he had several minutes to kill.
The teen asked Blaine about himself and his spouse after noticing Blaine's wedding ring. Blaine told her that his husband was an author and that he himself worked in his own practice across town. She asked if they had any kids, and he told her that they wanted kids but hadn't been able to decide if they were going to adopt or use a surrogate. The girl, Jennifer, told Blaine that she was giving her daughter up for adoption, knowing it would be the best thing for the child, and was struggling to find the right family.
"If you knew for sure you wanted to adopt, I'd say we should talk more," Jennifer said. "I have always been good at reading people, and you're one of the purest people I've ever met. If your husband is anything like you and the two of you wanted her, I would always know that she was in good hands."
"Are you serious right now?" Blaine asked, his heart fluttering.
"I am," Jennifer replied.
"Could we… I don't even know if this is ethical," Blaine said aloud.
"You don't see me as a patient," Jennifer said. She was very, very smart and just found herself in an unfortunate situation. "It's not a dual relationship at all. For all you know, I could be sitting here waiting for the baby's father or my sibling."
Blaine took a calming breath. "Could we exchange phone numbers and maybe meet sometime? I'd like for you to meet Kurt and see our home before we go any further with this."
Jennifer gave him her number, and they met a few days later at the Anderson-Hummel home. Santana was able to draw up the adoption papers, and a very quick five weeks later, Elizabeth Claire was born. Two years after that, Santana and Brittany offered to be a surrogate for the boys. They didn't know how they were going to pick, and the girls said that they both would house a baby if they wanted more than one more child. Kurt and Blaine surprised them when they agreed, and ten months later, Carter Burt and Samantha Kelsi were born, miraculously on the same day.
The Anderson-Hummels were finally complete, and the rest of their lives were wonderful and full of love and laughter.
"See the light as it shines on the sea? It's blinding
But no one knows, how deep it goes
And it seems like it's calling out to me, so come find me
And let me know, what's beyond that line, will I cross that line?"
One night, when Kurt and Blaine were lying in bed, long after their kids had left home and now had kids of their own, Kurt told Blaine something he'd never shared with him. "When I was younger, I always felt like I was constantly reaching for something out of my grasp. Like, there was something that was supposed to be there, and if I could just reach a little further, I'd be able to grab hold of it. Even into our adulthood and up until now, I've felt that way." He took a deep breath; talking this much anymore winded him. Then, he continued. "It's nothing bad and doesn't mean that I didn't have the best life I could have imagined, because I did. Please don't think that, because I know that's where your mind is going right now, Blaine." Kurt smiled at his husband and kissed his lips gently.
"My mind was going there," he rasped. Blaine was tired a lot these days, and it was almost as if he could feel his life leaving him. "Please, continue."
"I feel like it's within our grasp now," Kurt said, hoping he would be able to convey what he wanted. "Like, we're about ready to leave this place, and something even bigger is waiting for us on the other side, wherever that might be."
"You know," Blaine said, getting sleepier by the moment, "I think I feel it, too."
"I love you so much, Blaine," Kurt whispered.
"I love you, too, Kurt," Blaine whispered back and then fell asleep for the last time.
The next morning, when Blaine wouldn't wake up, Kurt wasn't all that surprised. Somehow, he'd been sensing it for days. He knew that his own time to go wasn't that far off. He called his kids, and they all said that they would be on the next flight to Boston after he told them that he loved them and to travel safely.
"I'll see you on the other side, my love," Kurt said and then kissed Blaine softly on the forehead and drifted off.
Kurt entered a place that he had never seen before, but he knew that Blaine was waiting for him. He could hear his soulmate singing as he approached a room with two chairs and a man behind a podium.
"The line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me
And no one knows, how far it goes
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me
One day I'll know, how far I'll go"
"How far do you want to go, my love?" Blaine asked with a smile. "Apparently, we're some sort of eternal soulmates that get to go and live different lives and fall in love with each other over and over again, just like in my proposal speech."
"Really?" Kurt asked. "I wonder if this was that feeling I was talking about that was somehow always out of my grasp."
"Possibly," the man behind the podium said. "Any idea what kind of lives you'd like to live next?" It had never taken them this long to 'come back' to the memories they had of their previous lives, but he knew they would eventually.
Kurt and Blaine just looked at each other, knowing the possibilities were limitless. They knew that no matter what, no matter where, they'd go together.