"What is that wonderful smell?" Blaine exclaimed as he walked into their apartment, their three year old daughter, Penny on his hip.
"Eggnog!" Kurt exclaimed as his husband and daughter walked into the kitchen. "And this year, I think I've got it perfect!"
"Oh, that's great honey…" Blaine replied, trying to sound enthusiastic. He knew that one of Kurt's favorite things about Christmas was eggnog. He always worked for days trying to get it just right, so on Christmas day, it would be perfect. There was only one problem with that method. To perfect the recipe, Kurt had to try each batch. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if Kurt didn't insist on drinking multiple cups of the holiday drink, instead of just a taste.
"You have to take more than one sip Blaine!" Kurt had told him one time. "Really get the experience!" Needless to say, about three cups later, his husband was completely drunk and totally out of it. Blaine prayed that this year didn't end up the same way, but he didn't have that high of hopes.
"I want milk!" Penny shouted, pointing to the pot of eggnog.
"Honey no, you can't have that." Blaine told her as he set her down on the floor. "Daddy will get you different milk."
"I want that milk!" the three year old cried. "Wanna drink like Papa." Blaine gave Kurt a glare as if to say, "you deal with this one."
"Penny, only Daddy and Papa can drink this." Kurt told the little girl. "You can have the milk in the fridge. Penny's face contorted into a scowl and she crossed her arms over her chest. Next came the stomp of her foot and both men knew what was coming. Kurt and Blaine liked to call this the "Rachel" side in her. That however was something that they never told their friend that they did.
"I want milk! I want milk! I want milk!" She chanted over and over. Her face bright red with anger. Meanwhile, Blaine had gotten a sippy cup of actual milk ready and handed it to Kurt.
"Aspen Elizabeth, if you don't stop, Papa will take away one of your toys!" Kurt warned.
"No!"
"Then take this cup and go sit in the living room." The toddler sent her fathers' a glare and snatched the cup from Kurt's hand before heading off to the living room to play.
"What are we gonna do when she gets to be a teenager?" Kurt sighed
"God help us." Blaine agreed. "We're in for one hell of a time." With that, Kurt got back to his eggnog. He stirred the pot and then took a ladle and got himself a "sample."
"I'm missing the bourbon taste." Kurt replied. He took the bottle of bourbon and poured a good bit into the pot. Blaine watched hesitantly.
"Maybe take it easy hun." Blaine prompted.
"Oh that was nothing." Kurt replied. "This is going to be my best batch yet. I know it."
"Oh I bet." Blaine murmured before walking into the living room to find their daughter. The next morning, Kurt and Blaine were woken up by a pair of tiny legs jumping on their bed.
"Daddy! Papa! Wake up!" Penny cried. "Santa came! Santa came!"
"Pen, can you give Papa and me a second?" Blaine begged.
"No Daddy! I wanna open my presents! Please!" the little girl begged. She began pushing Blaine in the side to try and get him off the bed.
"I'm up. I'm up." Blaine murmured. "Penny, go make sure Papa is up." The little girl walked over to the other side of the bed and promptly hopped on her father's stomach.
"Uhhh!" Kurt groaned as her little knees dug into his stomach. "Okay, I'm awake." he added as he picked up the three year old and got out of bed. "Let's go see what Santa brought you." The family of three walked into the living room and began to open presents. Penny got all kinds of toys from dolls to legos, dress up clothing and a very expensive doll house. Blaine was put in charge of taking all of Penny's new toys out of their boxes. Kurt laughed as he saw his husband struggling.
"You doing okay there?" Kurt asked.
"It's like they don't want you to get these stupid things out of the packaging!" Blaine grunted as he focused on opening the zip ties, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
"Well, I believe in you." Kurt told him before going into the kitchen. He got out his eggnog that he had made the day before. It smelled wonderful and Kurt really believed that he got it right this year.
Soon enough, the doorbell rang and Penny went bounding for the front door with Blaine on her heels. He opened the door to reveal, Burt and Carole. "Grandpa! Nana!" Penny exclaimed as she ran forward to give her grandparents a hug.
"There's my peanut!" Burt exclaimed as he threw his granddaughter up in the air. From her grandfather's arms, she reached over and gave Carole a kiss. Hearing the commotion, Kurt came in from the kitchen and walked over to give his parents a hug.
"Hey son!" Burt replied, pulling Kurt into a hug.
"Merry Christmas Dad." Kurt replied. "Can I take your coats?" he asked both of his parents.
"Nana, Grandpa, come see my presents!" Penny called as she took Burt and Carole by the hands and pulled them into the living room. For such a little girl, she sure knew how to pull focus. According to Blaine, that was a trait that she got from Kurt. While Penny was monopolizing all of her grandparents time, Pam showed up which was enough to distract Penny. She instantly ran over and gave her Grammy a hug.
Kurt took this as a good opportunity to see that everyone got a chance to try his eggnog. "Anyone want some eggnog?" he asked as he carried a big bowl from the counter to the table.
"Oh sure, I'll take some!" Pam replied instantly. She hustled into the kitchen, Penny on her hip. While they were walking, Kurt and Pam bumped into one another and the eggnog promptly crashed to the floor.
There was a loud crash and a gasp. Both adults stood in the kitchen stunned. "Kurt, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you."
"It's ruined…" Kurt gasped out. "I worked so hard and it's all ruined!" he added angrily.
"Kurt, it's okay." Blaine tried as he came to the kitchen with towels.
"No Blaine! It is not okay! I worked so hard on this eggnog and it was a complete waste of time!" Kurt's eyes were filled with tears. He pushed past Blaine and disappeared down the hallway and shut the bedroom door.
"Blaine, honey… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bump into him." Pam began, clutching Penny. The little girl was clearly upset by her father's outburst.
"It's okay Mom. It was an accident." Blaine replied. "I just don't know why he's so upset."
"I think I know what's going on." Burt said, cutting in. "I'll go an talk to him." He walked down the hallway and knocked on Kurt and Blaine's bedroom door.
"Kurt, buddy, can I come in?" he asked. There wasn't a reply, but Burt decided to go in anyway. Kurt was sitting on the bed with a wooden box on his lap. There were tear tracks on his cheeks.
"You wanna tell me what that outburst was all about?" Burt prompted. "Pam's pretty upset out there."
"I didn't mean to make her upset." Kurt replied. "I-I just worked so hard on that eggnog. I had finally got it perfect this year."
"I'm gonna take a guess and say this is really about your mother." Burt said.
"I just remember how much you loved it. She loved making it and would even make a batch without alcohol for me to drink." Kurt said, tears in his eyes. "It was a tradition. I've tried to make it like she did, but the recipe is so old that the words are smudged and I can't see what they all are. I've been trying to perfect the recipe for years and I thought I finally got it right. Then, I had to go and spill it on the floor."
"I understand how disappointed you must be." Burt replied. "I loved drinking your mom's eggnog too. But accidents happen and that's all that was."
"I know." Kurt amended. "I just miss her so much around this time."
"Me too." Burt replied. "I like to think that she's watching us now. If she was here, none of us would get a second with that little girl. She'd be glued to your mother's hip."
"I wish she could have met her." Kurt told his father. "She's so much like her, which is funny because she's not even biologically Hummel."
"Blood doesn't make character kid. You're raising that little girl right and you've got your mom inside of you." Burt told Kurt. "There's no chance that she'd end up not unlike your mother."
"Well there is 50% of Rachel in there." Kurt laughed.
"So maybe she'll be a little more dramatic." Burt agreed. "But, she'll still be a wonderful sweet person."
"Thanks Dad. That means a lot." Kurt replied before pulling his Dad into a tight hug.
"Alright, no more crying. We better get out there." Burt told him. "I think that Pam might try drinking that Bourbon out there and if you don't grab it you'll never be able to make a new batch." Kurt laughed. His dad was definitely right about that. Kurt Hummel wasn't a quitter. He had made a perfect batch of eggnog before and he was determined to do it again.