"That doesn't sound ridiculous at all."

"Life's never boring, hmm?" Sympathized Kurt.

"Crap, we don't even have clean clothes for them."

"Yes we do. I started a load earlier. I had to wash the sheets on our bed. Roxanne had a little trouble during the night. I'll go switch around the washer and dryer after we eat then we can all shower and go."

So that's what they did. Roxanne, as it turned out, was deathly afraid of the subway for some reason so they ended up walking the eight blocks in the late June heat, Kurt grateful he had baby-appropriate sunscreen to slather on the two little ones and himself. Blaine called his father again, who offered no help but said he'd pay for any expenses Blaine incurred while figuring this ~situation~ out and promised to call Coopers mother. Kurt screened a call from Rachel and a text from Mercedes – he'd deal with them later.

They walked inside the police station and were told to take a number and wait by the officer sitting behind the intake table. Blaine bounced Joey on his lap while Kurt helped Roxanne create an elaborate biography for her stuffed bear – lovingly named Annie – that included Annie's schooling on the moon and her brief career as a doctor who fixed maladies with Cheetos.

"Kurt," Blaine interrupted suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Um, honey, what do you want to do if they can't find Amber right away?"Kurt opened his mouth and closed it, his eyebrows narrowing as he thought.

"I don't know," he finally answered. Blaine nodded.

"Me neither. Hell, you have rehearsal and work tomorrow and I have rehearsal too – I mean, what are we going to do with them? But…"

"But they're you're family." Finished Kurt. He took Blaine's hand. "They're my family. Why don't we just wait to see what the police say?" Blaine let out a breath.

"Yeah, okay."

"Seventeen!" An officer called.

"That's us," stated Blaine, quickly standing up. The two young men quickly followed the officer into a private room.

"How can I help you today?" The officer asked once they were seated. In a rush Blaine quickly explained everything that had happened between yesterday morning and today.

"So, we didn't know what else to do –that's why we came here. We really want to find Amber and figure out what's going on with her."

The officer opened up his laptop. "Amber Collins you said? And you have a phone number?"

"For her mother, Rosemary Collins," Kurt added. He handed the officer a piece of paper with the woman's phone number on it.

"Okay, yep, it looks like she's in our system. Minor busts over the years, mostly drug related offenses – oh alright – here we go children: there's Roxanne Ophelia Collins and Joseph Cooper Anderson. Birth dates January 5th 2013 and March 15th 2016 respectively. Roxanne's birth certificate doesn't list a father, Joseph's lists a "Cooper Anderson," the officer paused and looked at Blaine, "Your brother I take it?" Blaine nodded. "Looks like Roxanne was in foster care from March 9th 2013 to June 11th 2013 and then with her grandmother Rosemary Collins from November 8th 2014 to April 21st 2015 and back in foster care July 1st 2015 until October 10th 2015. Last known address for Amber is the one you gave me. Looks like she's on parole until next fall but missed her last check in with her P.O. We'll put an APB out on her to try to find her along with filing a missing person report."

"Why were they put in foster care?" Blaine asked. The officer skimmed the page.

"Looks like mom took went MIA like now a couple times and the home was found to be unfit." Kurt cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Any history of…abuse?"

"Looks like neglect mostly, but mom always turned up eventually. Rosemary on the other hand – looks like Amber petitioned to get the kids back from her mother after noticing some bruises on her arm and back." Kurt and Blaine sucked in their breaths. Grandma's mean. She hits. You're not supposed to hit.

"So…what happens now?" Blaine asked hesitantly.

The officer looked between them, at a content Joey in Blaine's arm and at Roxanne who'd fallen asleep in Kurt's lap.

"Well, we try to place children with family until we can locate their parents and make an assessment. You said Cooper is back in California?"

"Yes," answered Blaine, sounding thoroughly disgusted. "He texted me after we got off the phone this morning that he took the early flight back – he probably just landed."

"If we don't have some kin to place the children, we put them in for an emergency, temporary, placement before we find a more stable foster family in a couple days."

"So they'll go from their moms to Coopers to our apartment to an emergency placement to a foster family all in a couple days?" Kurt asked anxiously. Blaine looked at his boyfriend, Kurt's eyes ablaze with a determination he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Kurt? Do you…-"

"-Only if you want to. It's….it's your decision."

"It's our decision." Blaine countered. "Um, Officer Bentley – I'm Joseph and, maybe, probably, Roxanne's uncle – so I'm kin, right?" The officer looked at them appraisingly.

"Are you two thinking about applying for emergency custody? You're awfully young."

"I'm twenty-two, Blaine's twenty-one. Is that old enough?"

"Well, yes, we'd have to run a background check though, and a social worker will make a visit in twenty-four hours from the start of custody to make sure your living space meets our requirements."

"What sort of requirements?" Blaine asked.

"I'll print you out a list. Do you both have your IDs? I can run the background check. The custody would only be until we find mom and then do an assessment, then you would have to go before the court to petition for a more permanent situation or the children would go back to Amber or into foster care. Or if your brother came back, as their father – or at least Josephs, we'll need to do a DNA test on Roxanne, - he could petition for custody as well."

Blaine and Kurt fished out their wallets and handed over their IDs. The officer gave them a stern look and then excused themselves to make copies and begin the background check process.

"Are you sure about this?" Blaine asked Kurt with wide, searching eyes.

"Um…that you and I are ready to do this? No. But I am sure that I want to try and it's only temporary, right? Just till they find Amber... Wow your brother sure can pick 'em can't he?" Kurt winced. "Sorry, that was mean."

"No no I got what you meant," Blaine assured, "this whole thing is….I keep thinking I'm like…having a really crazy dream or something." Kurt nodded.

"Me too. Well…it'll be good practice for when we start our family."

After about fifteen minutes later the officer returned with a hefty stack of forms and a long list of requirements to pass the social workers inspection the next day. Blaine handed Joey off to Kurt and took to filling out the forms – as Kurt and Blaine weren't married only Blaine was being granted custody as he was their next-of-kin (that was available at least) though he filled out a form that allowed Kurt to be around the children as well. Kurt scanned the list of requirements while balancing both children in his lap. He was glad Mr. Anderson had agreed to foot the bill as they'd need to get more food, diapers and clothes, not to mention a crib and a bed for Roxanne and where were they going to put these children in their little one bedroom anyway?

"You'll be required to undergo an evaluation in a month's time if the children are still in your custody and there's biweekly parenting classes on your choice of Tuesday or Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons for six months that you will need to attend Mr. Anderson, though you may bring Mr. Hummel if you so choose."

"Okay. Okay. Okay," Blaine chanted to psych himself up as he finished filling out the stack of forms. "Let's do this." The officer fished out a lolly-pop from his desk and handed it to Roxanne when they woke her up so they could leave.

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