This took so long for me to write and it's still my shortest chapter yet, ew. ANYHOW, this chapter ends on a slight cliffhanger and I'm not the least bit sorry about it, mwahahaha! (I'm slightly hyper...) I'm sorry I haven't posted in like a week or so, I've just been having a really bad few days, although I've been having panic attacks all day today and I still managed to finish this so I'm super proud of myself! Okay I'm gonna shut up now. Enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think! :)
Cleo's second birthday was rapidly approaching, and Kurt was more than stressed out trying to arrange her party and get her cake made.
"It's tomorrow, Blaine!" Kurt shouted anxiously down the phone. "I'm never going to get things done in time!"
Blaine had been woken up at six in the morning by Kurt calling him, and Blaine was barely even awake while he listened to the rambling on the other end of the phone.
"If you need to get stuff done, Ryan and I can look after Cleo for you." Blaine offered.
Blaine looked over to Ryan for confirmation, but his boyfriend had clearly fallen back to sleep, making him grin fondly.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course," Blaine assured him. "Besides, we'll probably just end up lazing around all day watching movies, so at least we'll be doing something productive with our time."
"M'not lazy," Ryan mumbled sleepily from where his face was half pressed into his pillow.
Blaine let out a silent laugh, hitting Ryan over the head with his own pillow.
"You're a life saver," Kurt said. "When should I bring her round?"
"I'm at Ryan's, but I guess you can just bring her round whenever...?" Blaine trailed off, Ryan sticking his thumb up in the air in confirmation, Blaine's pillow still on top of his head.
"Okay," Kurt replied. "I'll let you know before I leave."
"Okay," Blaine yawned.
"Thank you so much," Kurt said gratefully.
"It's fine," Blaine replied. "I guess I'll see you soon?"
"See you soon," Kurt confirmed, ending the call.
Blaine placed his phone back on the nightstand and pulled his pillow off of Ryan's head, his boyfriend finally opening his eyes to look at Blaine.
"We're babysitting?"
"Yeah," Blaine replied. "That's okay, right?"
"Of course," Ryan smiled. "As long as you come down here and kiss me."
Blaine laughed, but snuggled into the sheets anyway and complied willingly.
Kurt arrived with Cleo around an hour later, the little girl a bundle of energy from the second Blaine opened the door.
"Blaine!" She grinned excitedly.
"Hey you," Blaine replied, lifting Cleo into his arms and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Where Ryan?" Cleo asked confusedly.
"He's still sleeping," Blaine explained. "But - I think you should go and wake him up!"
Cleo giggled, allowing Blaine to place her back on the floor. Blaine laughed as she ran off excitedly in the direction of the bedroom, giggling loudly.
"Thank you again for this," Kurt said, handing Blaine Cleo's bag. "I wouldn't get anything done with that little monster running around all day."
Blaine laughed. "It's honestly fine," he said. "You know we love looking after her."
"Okay," Ryan said, his voice loud and high-pitched as he walked out of the bedroom with Cleo sitting on his shoulders. "Who set this little monkey on me?"
"It wasn't me!" Blaine exclaimed.
Cleo giggled loudly, pointing at Blaine. "It Blaine!"
Blaine gasped. "Liar!"
More laughter ensued from the almost-two year old as Ryan lifted her off his shoulders and placed her back down on the floor.
"Please give me my daughter back in one piece," Kurt laughed, lifting her up into his arms to hug her. "I'll be back later, okay baby?" He said to Cleo.
Cleo nodded affirmatively. "Love you Daddy." She said, throwing her arms around his neck in a hug.
Kurt smiled, kissing the top of her head. "I love you, too," he replied. "Be good, okay missy?"
Cleo laughed, running to hide behind Blaine once she was back on the floor.
"You be good too, mister," Kurt teased, pointing authoritatively at Blaine.
"Excuse me," Blaine replied. "I am an extremely responsible adult, thank you very much."
Kurt laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, okay," he said. "I'll call you in a few hours and we can figure out when you want me to pick her up."
"Okay," Blaine said with a smile. "We'll see you later."
"Bye Cleo," Kurt said, grinning when Cleo held onto Blaine's leg and peeped her head around to see Kurt.
"Bye bye Daddy!"
Once Kurt was gone, Blaine lifted Cleo up into the air and span her around, grinning when she laughed loudly, kicking her feet around. He stopped a moment later, cuddling her tightly.
Cleo was by far one of Blaine's favourite people in the entire world. She was possibly the sweetest little girl he'd ever met in his life, and she was so honest about everything (obviously, she wasn't even two yet.)
"What do you wanna do today little one?" Blaine asked as Ryan made his way into the kitchen to make some breakfast.
Cleo tilted her head to the side a little, clearing thinking hard about Blaine's question.
"Fun!" She exclaimed proudly after a moment, giggling when Blaine laughed at her.
"You're ridiculous," Blaine laughed, shaking his head at the one year old.
In the end, they decided to go to the beach. Kurt was quick to protest when he claimed that Cleo couldn't possibly go to the beach without a swimsuit or sun lotion. Blaine easily persuaded him, however, arguing that it really wouldn't be that expensive to buy a swimsuit for a one year old, and he had plenty of child-friendly sun lotion.
"You spoil her," Kurt concluded finally, clearly caving in.
"That's my job," Blaine said, his grin evident in his voice. "And I swear if you even attempt to pay me back for a single thing I buy today, I will slap you."
"But -"
"Nope," Blaine said. "Consider it an early birthday present."
"But you already got her so much!" Kurt whined. "I've seen the stack of princess-wrapped presents in your apartment!"
"Shh," Blaine said. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed, but it was obvious that he wasn't really angry. Sighing, he continued, "Fine. Just please, don't go overboard."
"I won't," Blaine replied. "I promise. Now go back to making fairy cakes or whatever it was that you were doing." He teased.
To say Cleo was excited to go to the beach would be an understatement. She was excitedly bouncing in her seat the entire car journey there, and she happily picked out the pinkest swimsuit she could find at the stall they visited.
"She's the cutest little thing ever," Ryan commented as he and Blaine watched her attempt to build a sandcastle, sticking shells in random places when she finally had a lump of sand that she was satisfied with in front of her.
Blaine let out a little hum of agreement, leaning his head on Ryan's shoulder and cuddling up to him.
"You guys just make the cutest family!" A passer-by exclaimed suddenly, causing Ryan to bite his lip in order to stop him from laughing and Blaine to sit up a little straighter.
"Um, she's not actually ours," Blaine said awkwardly. "We're just looking after her for a friend."
"Oh," the woman said. "Well, I still think you'd make an adorable family."
"Thank you," Ryan said politely, still trying to contain his laughter. "Well, we are pretty cute." He said to Blaine once she was gone.
"Hm, I think that's all down to Cleo," Blaine pointed out, nodding to the little girl who was covered in sand.
"Blaine!" She exclaimed, reaching her hands out for him and grinning madly.
Blaine laughed, crawling over to her and helping her build her sandcastle.
They went in the water a little while later, and Cleo had the time of her life as Blaine lifted her a little into the air and ran through the water with her, letting her kick her legs around playfully. Every time he set her down where the water was shallow to try and catch his breath, he heard impatient little calls of "again, again!" until he finally caved in and repeated his actions again.
Needless to say, Cleo slept the entire way back to Ryan's apartment, curled up peacefully in her car seat as Blaine and Ryan talked to each other in hushed tones. She finally awoke again at dinner time, happily watching cartoons while she sat on Blaine's lap and ate.
"Sleepy," Cleo yawned, a piece of cucumber slipping out of her hand and back onto her plate.
Blaine grinned. "I'm not surprised, little miss," he said, putting the plate on the coffee table and reaching for a baby wipe to clean Cleo's hands and mouth. "You used up all of your energy today!"
Cleo giggled, leaning against Blaine tiredly and turned her attention back to the TV until she eventually fell asleep.
"Hey," Ryan whispered, kissing Blaine's cheek as he sat down next to him on the sofa.
"Hi," Blaine smiled. "What was that about?"
Ryan had been on the phone for almost an hour with a patient, and Blaine could hear him repeating the same things over and over from the living room.
Ryan sighed tiredly, leaning his head against Blaine's shoulder. "Just a parent concerned that her child's medicine isn't working even though she's only been taking it for half a day," he said. "Just be thankful she finally got the picture that medicine doesn't cure you that quickly, otherwise I probably would've punched a hole through the wall."
Blaine chuckled, kissing the top of Ryan's head.
"Why does everyone seem to view me as a bed?" Blaine questioned teasingly. "This little one's asleep on me, you're seconds away from falling asleep on me, Amy sleeps on me all the time..."
"Mm, you're just really comfy," Ryan replied in a teasing tone before sitting up and kissing Blaine softly on the lips. "Blaine?"
"Yeah?" Blaine asked, his golden eyes shimmering questioningly.
Ryan brought a hand up to Blaine's cheek, softly brushing his thumb back and forth as he leaned his forehead against Blaine's.
"I love you."