Disclaimer-I do not own Glee. The end.
Dancing Through Life
by-andthenIfound5dollars
Kurt started planning their baby's nursery about the same time they walked away from their first doctor's appointment.
He started a specific pinterest board for he and Blaine to look at every day. He poured over websites that gave the most information about the safest and most visually appealing baby apparel. He and Blaine talked endlessly about what they liked, what they didn't like, what they wanted and what they didn't want...sharing websites and linking each other to different styles that looked the best.
But it wasn't the internet that spurred the design of the room.
In June, Mel passed her fourth month mark. Work had been crazy for all three of them. One Sunday afternoon while Mel was spending the weekend with her dad in Connecticut, Blaine and Kurt decided to go out for a late lunch and window shopping.
After lunch, they walked around hand in hand and looked at baby clothes, priced cribs, even bought one blanket because it was on sale.
"Hey, that place looks new," Kurt said as they walked out of a new little store called Stork Up.
Blaine looked over to where Kurt was pointing and nodded his head. It was a trendy little shop with candles and artwork in the window, but it also had a sign advertising baby decor.
"Wanna check it out?" Blaine asked.
Kurt nodded and they crossed the street. "I love these little hipster places, makes me feel like we're livin' in Bushwick again."
Blaine laughed as he held the door open. "Watch it, snob," he joked, his voice pitched low so no one would overhear them. "We may live on the Island now, but Hells Kitchen is no Upper East Side."
Kurt shrugged and threw a fond grin over his shoulder as Blaine followed him into the store and let the door close behind them. "Someday, though."
"Hey," a petite young woman called as she walked over to greet them. "How are you guys doing today?"
"Great, thank you," Blaine answered, flashing his charming smile as Kurt nodded and started perusing the homemade candles. "We saw your sign for baby decor, thought we would come check it out."
"Awesome, yeah it's back over there." The woman pointed toward the back of the store. "Are you shopping for a gift?"
Kurt looked up like he wanted to bite something back at her, but Blaine wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed gently.
"No actually, for us. Our baby is due this November."
"Awesome," the young woman said, her smile only growing bigger. "Do you know what you're having?"
Blaine shook his head as Kurt started to wander off toward where she had pointed.
"No, we won't find out for another month or so. We're just browsing for now."
"No problem, browse away. I'm Paige and I'll be up here if you need anything."
"Thank you," Blaine said, following to where Kurt was sorting through a rack of organic baby pajamas.
"Well, she seemed...pleasant," Kurt mumbled. "Are you shopping for a gift?" he mocked, rolling his eyes.
"Kurt, I don't think she meant it like that, she was just asking us a question."
Kurt looked over at his husband and sighed. "You've always had more faith in the human race than I have."
"I don't necessarily think its more faith in the human race, as much as I'm just not a cynical as you are."
Kurt scoffed as he turned to flip through some artwork that was stacked against the wall. "Fool me once, and all that."
Blaine laughed, "Cynical."
Kurt wanted to fire back an argument, but he had to nod. Blaine was right after all, and this wasn't an afternoon for bickering.
"Findin' anything good?" Blaine asked, walking up behind Kurt to look over his shoulder.
Kurt pulled out a print and studied it. It was a simple blue board with two birds on a wire, held up by a pencil border, a nest between them holding a single egg. The caption read, Then we had you3.
"Maybe," Kurt answered, showing Blaine the print. "What do you think about this? I really like this shade of blue, and birds could be a good idea for a neutral nursery."
"I like it a lot actually," Blaine agreed. He looked down and gasped. "It's a set, look."
Blaine pulled up two more prints, almost identical to the one in Kurt's hand. The first one had just the two birds with the caption First we had each other. The second, and what appeared to be the last in the set, had the two birds, plus the hatched egg bird with the caption Now we have everything. All three were also decorated with the blue pencil border on the left side.
"It's perfect." Blaine whispered. "Look, it has a pencil, and birds come on! This is perfect for us and our baby!"
Kurt smiled as he looked down. "'First we had each other," he read, the smile slipping from his face as he shook his head slightly and set the prints back down.
"Hey," Blaine insisted. "What's wrong? I thought you liked it?"
Kurt looked over at him sadly.
"It's almost perfect," he told him. He could see a whole nursery designed after those prints. Painted black furniture to match the black of the birds, robin's egg blue walls, a fun white or blue pattern for the bedding, maybe some yellow thrown in for extra color.
"Almost?" Blaine asked looking down at the print in his hand. "I mean, I know it's not warblers exactly...or canaries for that matter."
Kurt sighed and nodded his head toward the birds.
"It's not that," he insisted. "They are very clearly a male and female bird. The male even has the headdress marking."
Blaine looked down, his face falling as well as he nodded.
"Just another baby item geared toward a mother and father pairing," Kurt sighed as he turned away from his husband's sad face. "It may sound silly, but I don't want to put something like that in our baby's room."
Blaine took Kurt's hand. "It's not silly, I don't want to do that either."
"Are you guys finding everything okay? Can I help at all?" Paige asked, walking over with a smile.
Kurt looked over and shook his head. He was just about to open his mouth to say they were fine when Blaine beat him to it.
"Well," Blaine started, holding up one of the three prints in his hand. "We found these, and really like them...but wish they weren't so...heteronormative."
Kurt narrowed his eyes as Paige grinned.
"Oh, well that's no problem," she assured them. "I could get you a set that had two male birds. I know the artist. I'm positive she would make you a new set."
"Really?" Kurt asked, taking a step forward. "Are you sure she would?"
"Sure," Paige answered with a chuckle. "I'd be happy to."
"You made these?" Blaine asked, grinning as he stepped forward as well to stand next to Kurt.
"Yep, this is all locally made craft. Me and my friends own this store and sell all of our own artwork as well as other local artists. I made that, I'd be happy to make you a new set any way you wanted."
"Wow," Kurt grinned. "Thank you so much, it's really beautiful."
"No problem at all, come on up to the register and I'll get an order form made out for you." She beamed as she took the three prints with her.
"See," Blaine joked, nudging Kurt's shoulder with his own. "Told ya she didn't mean it like that."
Kurt scoffed, but let Blaine lead him by the hand up to the register.
"How long have you guys been together?" Paige asked, grabbing a clipboard from behind the desk.
"Well, we've been married four years the end of this month," Kurt answered as they walked up. "But we've been together ten."
"Wow!" Paige exclaimed, looking up from where she was copying a number from the back of one of the prints. "Ten years? That's insane!"
Blaine preened and squeezed Kurt's hand. "High school sweethearts."
"Well, that is the most disgustingly cute thing I've ever heard," Paige laughed.
"Yeah, we get that a lot," Kurt nodded.
"I can imagine," Paige grinned, turning the clipboard around so they could see what she had written.
"So, other than a sex change for one of the birds," she joked. "Any other changes you wanna make, color or anything?"
Blaine shook his head, "It's actually pretty perfect the way it is," he said and Kurt nodded.
"I love the color, and the pencil border is pretty fitting...not to mention a bird is kind of why we got together in the first place."
Paige looked up and grinned.
"It's a long story," Kurt commented dryly.
"Ten years long I would imagine," Paige laughed.
"Maybe, you could add a few music notes above the birds?" Blaine suggested. "Make it look like they are singing?"
Kurt looked at him and grinned, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah, that would make it perfect actually."
"Not a problem at all," she assured them, making a few quick notes on the clipboard before looking back up at them. "I have a few other projects ahead of you...but I should have this done in a month or so, if that's okay?"
"Oh that is fine, more than fine actually," Kurt told her. "We need to really get started now though, since we found this."
"I'm glad we could help you out. If you wanna put your address down, I'll ship them to you as soon as I'm finished, that way you don't have to come back down here to pick them up," she offered, walking over to the register to add everything up and give them a total.
"That would be amazing, thank you so much for doing all this," Kurt said as Blaine pulled out his credit card and handed it over to her and Kurt filled out all their information.
"It's my pleasure," Paige insisted as she handed Blaine his card back and the receipt for him to sign. "It was nice meeting you guys, I hope this spurs a whole nursery. You'll have to send me pictures."
"For sure!" Kurt agreed. Blaine shook her hand and thanked her as well before the two of them headed out the door.
Kurt put his arm around Blaine's waist as they walked down the street, talking a mile a minute.
"I'm thinking we should get that black crib we saw online, and the matching dresser combination changing table," Kurt babbled as they looked both ways and crossed the street.
"I saw this really cool wall art thing, that was like a branch and you hung picture frames from it with ribbon? That could be really cute!" Blaine added, Kurt nodding enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I saw that on our pinterest board, I meant to tell you I liked it," Kurt agreed.
After that afternoon, everything started coming together. They ordered the crib and matching dresser. Blaine found a bookcase that matched almost perfectly. The office started to fill up with boxes of furniture, the contents from the office slowly spilling their way out into other parts of the loft.
Finally in mid-July; they decided it was time to clean the room out. There, on the ultrasound machine-plain as day...was their baby girl.
"Geez honey...cross your legs," Kurt mumbled with a chuckle when the technician confirmed what they could all clearly see. "Be a lady."
Blaine laughed at him, but Mel reached over and pinched his arm.
"Hey! Ow!" Kurt yelped as Blaine laughed even harder. "That hurt!"
Mel gave him a look that clearly told him to watch it. "Yeah, and I'll do it again if I need to," she informed him, turning her head to look at the ultrasound screen again. "She can be anyone she want's to be...she doesn't have to be a lady."
Blaine picked up Mel's hand and wrapped his other arm around his husbands waist.
"Yeah she can," Blaine murmured dreamily, smiling at Kurt.
The weekend after the doctors appointment, Kurt moved his work table and sewing machine to a loft in Brooklyn that he was sharing with some colleagues from school, and the desk they mutually shared went into storage.
xoxo
As they moved into the Fall months, the purchase of the crib bedding caused one of the biggest, loudest, most ridiculous arguments they'd had in years.
If they were being completely honest with each other, the fight had been brewing for a few weeks. Kurt had spent most of the month of August in Milan, working and attending the Fall fashion shows, and then was home for only a few days before he flew to Paris in September. Then, Blaine spent much of October in Boston while his show was in tech and previews. They were apart, which they had never been very good at, and their communication was almost nonexistent. Little things got lost, and big things were ignored. The stress of getting everything done and ready before the baby came in November loomed over their heads like the sword of Damocles.
And that day, Blaine didn't just go off, he flew off the hinges...and it all started with the rocking chair.
From the very beginning, they had agreed not to buy, or make, anything for the baby, without the other's input and agreement. They wanted to do this together.
But one sunny morning at the end of September, Blaine decided to sleep in a little, so Kurt and Rachel drove upstate for a few hours to hit some flea markets and have lunch.
The two friends spend the morning walking the markets and stopping in little antique stores. At their last stop Kurt found a marvelously retro and absolutely perfect rocking chair that he immediately imagined painted black and sitting in their baby's nursery by the window.
"I have to get that," he cried, holding tight to Rachel's arm.
In his defense, he had tried to call Blaine. But the cell service was bad, and he didn't answer anyway. Plus, he was excited and it was such a good deal. He was sure Blaine would be just as thrilled as he was.
He happily handed over the cash, while one of the shop owners helped them load it into the back of his and Blaine's Prius.
It took a while for him and Rachel to lug the heavy chair into the building, onto the elevator, then down the hall to their loft door.
Blaine had just come from the gym, and was standing in the hallway chugging a glass of water when his husband, and his husband's best friend, came laughing through the door, pushing and lugging the huge blue chair with orange cushion.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing to the chair.
"It's a rocking chair, silly," Kurt sang as they finally got the chair in far enough that he could close the door behind them. "We found it at that little antique store in Westchester, where you and I found the mirror above the piano?"
Blaine continued to stare as Rachel flipped her hair and blew him a kiss, saying she needed to get going but would talk to both of them later in the week.
"Bye sweetie, thanks for helping me!" Kurt called as he closed the door behind her and walked up to Blaine and gave him a quick peck.
"Mmm, gamey," Kurt quipped, walking past him and into the kitchen for a drink.
"Yeah, I just got back from the gym...Kurt, where is that chair going?"
Kurt looked up at him.
"Where do you think? In the nursery," he answered. "I know its hideous now, but I'm gonna sand it down, repaint it black, and find a fun fabric to cover the cushion with."
"So," Blaine started, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You just bought it, without talking to me?"
Kurt looked up and realized what Blaine was saying.
"Well...I tried to call you, but you didn't answer. And it was such a good deal, I couldn't pass it up." Kurt insisted.
"Was someone else looking at it?" Blaine asked, his temper rising slowly. "Because if it's the same place we got the mirror, she would have held it until we could have decided together."
Kurt shook his head, dread rising in his stomach as his brain threatened to launch into attack mode.
"Well, it seemed silly to wait; Rachel and I were already there. Plus, it's exactly like every other chair we've looked at online and loved. It may be hard to see now, but I promise it's going to go really well with the rest of the room."
Blaine stood in the hallway and shook his head.
"I have to get in the shower, I'm playing tonight," he sighed, turning and walking toward their bedroom.
Kurt leaned against the wall by the fridge and stared at where Blaine had been standing. He started down the hall and walked into their bedroom.
"I really did try to call you," Kurt called softly. Blaine was standing in the bathroom, poised to get in the shower.
"I know, I saw. I must have forgotten to take my phone with me after I woke up this morning," he answered. "Its fine, Kurt; I like the chair. I'm sure it's gonna be great when you finish it."
"You bet your sweet ass it will be," Kurt joked. "I'm thinking we could put it by the window, and then get a little nightstand like table and a cute lamp."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
His voice was muffled from the water spray and the doors of the shower, but Kurt was satisfied that he didn't sound upset.
"Okay, I'm gonna move it out of the middle of the hallway. Then I'll throw something together so you can eat before you have to leave, okay?"
"That sounds great. Thank you."
That night, after Blaine left, Kurt went to the hardware store and bought paint thinner, sheets and sheets of sandpaper, and black glossy furniture paint. He was so excited for how awesome the chair was going to look when he was done, he almost didn't want to wait. But it was late, and he knew Blaine wouldn't want to come home to the whole loft smelling like paint thinner.
So he decided to peruse the internet for bedding while he watched a random lifetime movie and munched on popcorn and diet coke.
xoxo
When Blaine walked in a little before 11 p.m., tired and sore, and hungry...god he was so hungry; Kurt was bouncing up and down.
"I found it!" he cried, pointing to his computer sitting on the coffee table. "I found the most adorable bedding that matches perfectly!"
"Did you already order it?" Blaine mumbled, setting his bag on the floor by his piano and toeing off his shoes.
"What?" Kurt asked, looking up and smiling.
"Nothing," Blaine sighed, willing a smile on his face. "Lemme see."
"Oh my gosh, Blaine, it is so perfect!" Kurt jabbered on as Blaine leaned down to look at the screen. "It even has a black bird on it and the little pops of yellow and everything!"
"Yeah, it's really cute," Blaine smiled, until his eyes drifted over and looked at the price.
"Holy shit Kurt!" he cried. "It's almost six hundred dollars!"
Kurt shrugged and continued bouncing on the couch. "Yeah, it's a little pricy, but it's absolutely perfect! It's everything we wanted."
"Kurt, we cannot spend six hundred dollars on her bedding! The crib itself was only five hundred. That is ridiculous!"
"I'm not wild about the sheet, but everything else is like...I don't even know, fate!" Kurt continued, basically ignoring Blaine.
This was a road the two of them had been down before. Kurt would find something ridiculous and over the top expensive, get excited and want to buy it. Blaine would convince him to wait, and eventually Kurt would come down from his shopping high, realize it was a way out of their price range, and they would move on. It was a common thread in their relationship and marriage, and it tended to work both ways as well.
But Blaine was just too tired and annoyed from earlier in the day to deal with any of that at the moment. He was angry, and upset, and still really hungry. And now, Kurt wasn't even listening to him.
What would have happened if he'd been a little later getting home, would there be six hundred dollars on one of their credit cards and he would have zero say in yet another aspect of their child's nursery? No, not this time.
"Jesus, Kurt!" he yelled, throwing his hands in the air as he stood up and started pacing. "Are you even listening to yourself? You want to spend six hundred dollars on something she is literally going to be shitting, pissing and puking on, when the most important part of it, the part she will actually use, you don't even want?"
Kurt glared at him and stood up.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked his voice eerily even and controlled.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Blaine yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you? First, you go out and buy a major part of her nursery, without even asking me what I thought, then you pick out the most ostentatious and over the top bedding for her crib, and act like I have zero say in the matter?"
"I said I was sorry about the chair, and-" Kurt shot back, but Blaine interrupted him.
"NO! No, you never said you were sorry. You just made some lame excuse about calling me, because that is supposed to make it better? News flash, Kurt. If you do something to hurt someone's feelings, you should apologize, not just go on about your day like nothing happened!"
"How the hell was I supposed to know I had hurt your feelings?" Kurt finally started to yell. "You said you were FINE, and that you liked the chair! Do you want me to take the stupid thing back?"
"No I don't want you to take the chair back!" Blaine threw up his hands again and paced back and forth. "You are completely missing the point, Kurt."
Kurt laughed sarcastically.
"Then tell me Blaine, what do I need to do? What can I do to make this better for you? What do I need to do to make you happy?" he bit out, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You can fuck off, Kurt." Blaine shot back.
Kurt's eyes got as big as saucers. He squeezed his fists together and pushed past Blaine and down the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Blaine yelled as Kurt grabbed his keys and wallet from the table by the door.
"Anywhere that isn't here," Kurt glowered, leaving with a loud slam of the door.
Blaine wanted to put his fist through one of the walls, he was so angry. He settled for picking up one of the pillows on the couch, screaming into it, and throwing it back down as hard as he could. He stomped around the loft, mumbling to himself about how he was right and Kurt was wrong-and if Kurt couldn't see that, he should just stay gone.
He thought about leaving too, Kurt wasn't the only one who could storm off like a child. Blaine could do that just as well. But he changed his mind and decided to wait for him in the living room, poised and ready to fight some more.
When the growling from his stomach could no longer be ignored, he walked over to the fridge and yanked it open. Almost immediately, he saw a Tupperware container with a heart drawn on a post it stuck to the top.
His own heart dropped a few inches as he took the container out and opened it.
Kurt had taken the remaining grilled chicken he had cooked for dinner, and turned it into a pasta salad with veggies and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
He had obviously left it in the fridge for Blaine, knowing he would be starving when he got home.
Blaine grabbed a fork from the drawer by the stove and dug in, his anger fading with each bite.
Yeah, Kurt had been kind of a jerk, and should have apologized...but Blaine hadn't told him that he was upset either. In fact, he had lied and said he was fine. Something he knew drove Kurt crazy, and something he had promised long ago to stop doing.
"Shit," Blaine mumbled to himself, rubbing his hands down his face and taking a deep breath. He looked over at the microwave and saw it was well past 11:30 p.m..
He took another bite of pasta, and walked over to where he had set his bag down. He fished his phone out and typed out a text message.
I'm sorry, please come home so we can work this out. I love you.
He had just hit the send button when he heard something vibrate against the wood of the coffee table. He looked over, and there was Kurt's phone, blinking with the notification of Blaine's text.
Kurt forgot his phone.
He was out, on the streets of New York City, all alone, with no phone, and it was almost midnight.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Blaine cried softly, putting the now empty container on the coffee table and sitting down.
He looked down at Kurt's laptop and swiped his finger across the mouse pad to wake it back up. He took another look at the crib bedding, and had to smile.
He could see why Kurt had gotten so excited, it was kind of perfect. The blackbird on the blanket looked almost identical to the birds Paige had put on the prints that were now sitting in a box in the empty nursery.
The skirt and bumper were adorable, and the pops of yellow were exactly what they had been looking for.
Unfortunately, the price still hadn't changed. Six hundred dollars was just too much, especially since they wouldn't need the sheet, or the pillow. An idea suddenly came to him, and he opened a new tab, clicked a few buttons and scrolled through a few pages.
He grinned triumphantly and set to work on an e-mail, his fingers flying across the keyboard. Once he was finished, he set the computer back on the coffee table and stood up. It was well and truly midnight now, and Blaine was really starting to worry.
He walked the Tupperware container back to the sink, rinsed it out, and loaded it into the dishwasher. He looked at the clock again, almost 12:30 a.m..
Surely Kurt would be home soon, he would just change his clothes and Kurt would be back by then.
He walked back to their bedroom, his eyes welling up when he saw their clothes hanging next to each other in the closet, and their shoes lined up next to each other on the floor. He grabbed a pair of pajama pants and one of Kurt's hoodies. After he was dressed, he walked back to the living room where his phone's notification light was blinking.
He all but ran over to check it, hoping for a text from Kurt. Realizing all at once that, no, Kurt's phone was still in the loft with him.
It was the return email, and he only spared the answer a small smile before he started to worry again.
As the microwave clock turned over to one a.m., his pacing grew even faster. His fingers were starting to hurt from wringing and pulling on them; every single memory from that horrible night his first year in New York came flooding back to him. The terror of the phone call…the long and agonizing cab ride to the hospital. The nurses telling him he couldn't see Kurt yet, the relief mixed with horror when he finally got to see Kurt. The anger at whoever had hurt the man he loved. It all came rushing back, and fear filled every pore of his body.
He finally picked up his phone to start calling their friends. He called Rachel first. She said she hadn't seen or talked to Kurt since that afternoon, but if she heard from him, she would have him call.
Blaine thanked her and hung up.
He called Robin, Kurt's co-worker and occasional drinking friend, next. She didn't even answer her phone. He left her a vague message about calling him back if she heard from Kurt, and then hung up. Last, he called Mel. He didn't want to wake her, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made for him to go there.
" 'lo?" Mel mumbled into the phone when she picked up.
"Hey, sweetie, I'm sorry to wake you." Blaine apologized.
" 'so okay, what's up? What's wrong?" she asked, her voice a little clearer as she obviously struggled to sit up.
"I'm guessing if you're asleep, that Kurt's not there?" he asked, the hope draining from his voice.
"No, no Kurt's not here, he's not there? What happened?"
Blaine sighed and pinched his nose between his eyes.
"We got into a huge fight, we were yelling and he stormed out," Blaine explained, tears welling in his eyes again. "He forgot his phone and he's been gone for a while now, I'm starting to get really worried."
"Oh honey, you know Kurt," Mel soothed. "He's probably just out, cooling off. He'll be home soon; he always comes home to you."
"I'm scared, Mel. We both said some really awful things and-" Blaine paused as he heard a key in the lock and the door open. Kurt walked through, his eyes red rimmed from crying.
"Oh thank god, he just walked in," Blaine cried, tears streaming down his face as he told Mel he had to go and they said goodbye.
Blaine hurried into Kurt's open arms and hugged him tight, saying he was sorry over and over.
"No, honey, I'm the one who's sorry. I'm so so sorry," Kurt whimpered, holding on just as tight and sniffed into Blaine's shoulder.
"I was so worried," Blaine sobbed, leaning back to look Kurt in the face, before pulling him back into a bone crushing hug. "I just kept picturing you in the hospital and..."
"Shit, I know, I'm...I'm so sorry, Blaine."
They stood in the hallway for a few minutes, just holding each other and telling each other they were sorry before Kurt finally broke the quiet.
"Um, honey? Could we maybe move this to the living room, I don't think I can stand in these shoes much longer." Kurt whimpered.
Blaine nodded as he pulled back and took Kurt's hand to walk down the hallway, but he noticed that Kurt wasn't walking right, his face screwing up in pain with every step he took.
"What happened?" He asked, concern filling his body. "What's wrong, why are you limping?"
Kurt shook his head and squeezed Blaine's hand in his.
"No, it's nothing like that." He assured him. "These aren't the best shoes for all the walking I did...my feet are just a little sore, that's all."
They made it to the couch and Kurt started to take off his boots and explain.
"When I left, I was just so angry...I didn't even know what to do. I grabbed my wallet and keys, mainly just because they were right in front of my eyes. I'm not even sure I would have put on shoes if I hadn't already been wearing them."
Blaine nodded, wiping his eyes every once in a while with a death grip on Kurt's hand.
"I just, started walking. I didn't know where I was going, I just kept walking. I don't even know how long or how far I walked. By the time I stopped and registered what I had done, I realized I didn't grab my phone before I left."
Blaine sobbed out a broken laugh. "It took me a while too, I actually texted you and that's how I knew."
"It took fucking forever to find a cab, and I don't think there is a pay phone on the entire island of Manhattan anymore. I don't even know how long it's been since I walked out the door, but I knew you would be worried, so I begged my cab driver to let me use his phone, but he flat out refused. I didn't want him to kick me out of the car, so I just willed the car to go faster so I could get home to you."
"I'm just so glad you're okay. I was so freaked out," Blaine mumbled pulling Kurt back into his arms. "I called pretty much everyone; I was actually on the phone with Mel when you walked in the door.
"I'm sorry I said those horrible things to you, I...well, I was angry and I shouldn't have gone off like that."
Kurt sighed and held Blaine a little closer before pulling back to look him in the eye,
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I bought that chair without you today; I know we had an agreement, and I went back on it, and then acted like it was no big deal. I was a jerk and I'm sorry."
Blaine nodded and wiped his hand across his face.
"Well, I shouldn't have told you I was fine when I wasn't. It's why I flew off the handle tonight. I was just so angry. But I can't blame you entirely, because I didn't tell you I was upset, and I know I promised to stop doing that."
"Can we both just admit we acted like jerks, said things we didn't mean, and that we forgive each other?" Kurt asked He set his legs across Blaine's lap and cupped his face with his hands. "We both know the fight was more about the last few months than an actual chair anyway."
"Deal," Blaine nodded. Kurt moved in to meet their lips together, kissing sweetly for a few stolen minutes before pulling back and resting his forehead against Blaine's.
"I really can take the chair back," Kurt offered softly, but Blaine shook his head.
"Don't do that, I don't want you to do that," he told him. "I want to work on it together."
"Okay," Kurt nodded. "But the bedding; Blaine, I know its way too expensive. We still have time, we can find something else."
Blaine sat back and smiled. "I may have figured that out, actually," he started, reaching over for the laptop that was still sitting on the coffee table in front of them.
"After I had calmed down a little and before I started to worry...I got a good look at what you had found, and you're right. It's next to perfect," Blaine told him.
Kurt shook his head and moved to argue, but Blaine cut him off.
"Yes, it's way too expensive, but I checked around a little bit...and found a boutique owner on eBay who is going out of business and is willing to sell us just the skirt, bumpers and blanket, for three hundred, shipping included. Which is still a little pricy, but much closer to the prices we were looking at for other sets."
Kurt's eyes grew and his smile widened as he looked at the seller's return email, and the pictures she had posted of the merchandise.
"The set isn't used, she just opened it to use the pillows and blanket in a display, and we can wash the blanket, no problem."
Kurt looked over at him and nodded his head. "Of course we can. I would have washed it all again, anyway."
Blaine nodded as he alt-tabbed to another window.
"Then, we can buy this sheet set," he explained. "It has a blue, yellow, and a white sheet in the package...all of which would match, and is much cheaper and practical."
"I love it," Kurt exclaimed. "I love it so much, thank you," he finished, pushing the computer away and pulling Blaine back into his arms.
"I'm glad," Blaine whispered into Kurt's neck. "I love it, too."
xoxo
The shower was held the last Saturday in October, which was cutting it close to Mel's November 22nd due date, but was the only Saturday all three of them were completely free. Rachel and Carole had spent two months organizing every single detail to make sure it met with Anderson-Hummel standards, because as much as he wanted to pretend Kurt cared more about details and party planning, Blaine was just as particular.
The party was held on the rooftop common room of their building. The room was decorated with twinkle lights and white linens, with blue fabric streamers across every window. The food was catered by one of Kurt and Rachel's favorite restaurants; everything was simple, but sophisticated.
Mel tried to hang back, make sure the guys got all the attention, but they wouldn't have any of it. They pulled her forward, included her on all their conversations. Introduced her to friends and colleagues she hadn't met, made sure she always had something to drink and that food was never far.
Their friends had gone all out. Santana and Brittany had shown up, Artie was there; Mercedes and Tina had flown to New York for the occasion. Colleagues of Kurt's from Ralph Lauren were there, friends from the shows Blaine had been attended, and even a few mutual couple friends the two had made appearances. There were gifts piled on a table, cupcakes from one of the best bakeries in town, and so much catching up and laughter, it was hard for anyone to hear what Kurt and Blaine were saying as they opened each gift.
The guys got dozens of gifts. Clothes and toys, diapers and blankets. Their parents, Tina, and Mercedes seemed to be the only people to give them anything practical. Burt and Carole bought them the swing they had asked for, and Lena gave them the most precious Moses style basket bassinet with a rocking base for it to sit in. Mercedes bought the whole baby line of one of Kurt's favorite products. Everything from shampoo and body wash, to diaper cream and talcum powder. She put all the goodies in a bathtub, and threw in an organic bathrobe and towel to boot.
Tina was the only one of their friends to already have a baby, so her gift was born out of experience. The outfit she splurged on was adorable, but she also gave them the same video baby monitor she owned (and loved).
Everything else seemed to be over the top outfits that were too adorable not to love, toys that she would be too young to play with for a while, and books that held a special place in the giver's heart.
Rachel sat across from them, recording every gift in a sequenced notebook to make it easier for Kurt and Blaine to make out the thank you cards later, and Mel sat at a table right next to her with Carole. She kept her hand on the top of her belly, laughing and smiling when she saw the joy on her friends' faces.
After one of the last gifts had been opened (a batman sleeper, complete with removable cape, from Sam), Kurt picked up the final gift on the table: a small square box wrapped in robin's egg blue paper with simple sheer white ribbon.
"And the last one," Kurt started, as Blaine handed the gift bag with a batman sleeper over to Carole, then turned back to his husband, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and looking down at the simple box.
"Is from…Melissa," Kurt finished. He and Blaine both looked to where she is sitting.
Blaine was the first to speak up.
"Mel, we told you not to buy us anything," he said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, you are already giving us so much," Kurt insisted.
Mel just smiled and shrugged. "I know, but I wanted to do something," she said. "Besides, I didn't really buy it."
Kurt pulled the ribbon off and opened the box. Inside were loose papers covered in sketches and beautiful calligraphy. As they flipped through the pages, it became clear. Mel had done sketch after sketch telling the story about their baby girl.
Blaine looked at his husband, back at Mel, then down to the papers in Kurt's hands.
"It's just a mockup for now." Mel started. "Once she is born, I'll do another sketch and the last page. Then I have a friend who can bind and cover it like a real book. That way, she will have the story of how she was born, and you guys can read it to her whenever you want"
Kurt covered his mouth with his hand as two tears slipped down his face.
"Mel, I…" he started, attempted to clear his throat, tried again...but his voice failed him.
"This is incredible, Mel," Blaine said, rubbing his hand on Kurt's back. "Incredible."
Kurt still couldn't say anything, his tears choking him. So he stood up, walked over to his friend and wrapped his arms around her.
"Thank you," he whispered brokenly into her hair. "Thank you so much."
"You are very welcome," she said quietly, as Blaine walked up beside her and wrapped his arms around her and his husband as well.
Rachel held one hand over her heart as she reached back to grab Carole's hand as well, the two sniffling quietly as they watched.
"Ooop," Mel laughed, she pulled out of the hug a little and rubbed her hand down her belly. "Someone else seems to want to join in on this group hug."
Kurt laughed as he wiped his eyes and laid his hand on Mel's stomach where their daughter seemed to be performing some Olympic style tumbling.
"Hey sweetie," he cooed.
"You got lots of great stuff today, baby girl...but your Aunt Mel may have just topped everyone else," Blaine sang quietly, setting his hand next to Kurt's on Mel's stomach.
xoxo
That night, after their parents left for their respective hotels, Kurt and Blaine sat in the middle of their living room, surrounded by baby gifts they needed to catalog and organize, determining what they should return as well as what still needed to be purchased.
"This is…a lot of stuff," Blaine observed. He was sifting through a bag of just socks. Someone had given them just a gift bag full of tiny little socks in all different colors. "I don't think we got this much stuff when we got married."
Kurt nodded.
"That's cause most people just gave us cash when we got married," Kurt reminded him. He was searching the bags for the baby book his friend Libby had given them. "And as much as this is, we still need a ton more. We didn't get a boppy, or a breast pump for Mel, or any wipes. Who gives a big box of diapers, but doesn't get any wipes?"
Blaine laughed and shrugged. "Speaking of cash, my dad's check came today; I was thinking we could use it for her car seat stroller combo?"
Kurt heard the tiniest note of hostility in his husband's voice, but decided to let it go for now and just nodded his agreement.
They both heard their door open and looked over to see Mel poke her head in.
"Hey," she called with a smile.
Kurt hopped up, "Hey sweetie, come on in."
"I was hoping you weren't in bed yet. I was gonna call, but my pregnancy brain left my phone downstairs."
Kurt just laughed as he kissed her cheek and helped her over the mess that had become their living room and into the chair next to where they were sitting.
"What's up?" Blaine asked as he shoved the big bag of baby socks over for Mel to look at.
"Rachel told me she sent the extra cupcakes here, and your baby wants cupcakes."
Kurt grinned and nodded his head. "Rachel would be right. And the baby, and you, can have as many cupcakes as she would like. Do you want anything to drink?" he asked, standing up to walk into the kitchen.
"Mmm, milk would be great actually."
"Sure. Blaine, you want a cupcake?" Kurt asked, grabbing the bakery box and a plate.
"Yes, please," he called, lifting a box that held a leopard print onesie and pink tutu. He held it up to Mel and they both cracked up.
By the time Kurt made it back to the living room, he was carrying two cans of diet coke, Mel's glass of milk, and a plate piled with at least seven cupcakes. He set the platter of food on the coffee table and sat back down on the floor.
"So, can I ask you to do something completely ridiculous and obnoxious?" Kurt asked Mel, pulling over the notebook Rachel had recorded all the gifts in.
Mel nodded as she licked frosting off a cupcake. "Shoot."
"Can Blaine and I hold up everything to your belly, then oo and ah so we can decide what gets to stay and what needs to go?"
Mel shrugged. "Feed me baked goods, and I'll oo and ah with you. Just be prepared for some judging of the more out there things as well."
Blaine laughed as he nodded in Kurt's direction. "You have met my husband, right?"
Kurt stuck out his tongue and threw the fluffy pink tutu at him.
"Very funny, meanie."