Happy Sunday! Thank you for reading! Thank you to my wonderful beta Christine for making this readable! ;)

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Kurt and Blaine were trying to quietly put all of Kadie's presents underneath the Christmas tree, and failing miserably.

"Is there anything you didn't buy her?" Blaine asked as he carried the third bag of presents into the living room where the tree—decorated with an assortment of ornaments, lights, and garland—illuminated the room with its warm glow. Kurt, and sometimes Blaine, had spent many nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas wrapping presents in the bedroom after Kadie had gone to sleep. And now, on Christmas Eve, they were placing them under the tree to be found by Kadie in the morning. It was their first Christmas together, and Blaine had been so excited when Kurt invited him to spend the night and wake up with him Christmas morning.

"I couldn't find some play set that she wanted," Kurt told him while he arranged gifts beneath the tree, "but her birthday is in a few weeks so I'll make it up to her then."

"You spoil her," Blaine stated.

"I know," Kurt said looking up at him, "But I can't help it. It's too hard to say no to her when she pouts. It's not like she's asking for drugs or weapons or something."

Blaine laughed, "I hope you're saving for her wedding now."

Blaine took a seat next to Kurt and opened up the last bag of gifts. He knew that Kurt just wanted to give Kadie everything she wanted, especially after the last couple of years. He would never fault him for that. The truth was, he may have gone a little overboard for her himself. There was another bag in the trunk of his car he had to get before it got too late.

"So, what should I expect tomorrow? Is she one of those kids who gets up before the sun and has you opening gifts while the sun rises, or will we actually get to sleep in tomorrow?"

Kurt laughed, "I got lucky. She wakes up only slightly earlier but the sun should be safely in the sky. But the moment she realizes what happened, you won't be able to move fast enough for her. She'll be pulling off wrapping paper before we can get the coffee started.

Blaine pulled another gift out of the bag and noticed that the name written in Kurt's beautiful handwriting no longer belonged to Kadie, it belonged to him.

"What is this Mr. Hummel?" Blaine asked inspecting the wrapped object.

"You'll just have to wait to find out in the morning after Santa comes," Kurt said taking the present from Blaine's hand and placing it underneath the tree, "There's a couple more in there because Kadie insisted that she get you gifts as well."

"You shouldn't have; neither of you."

"It's Christmas, Blaine! Plus, I saw something at the store and thought of you and couldn't pass it up. Plus, I know you're hiding gifts of your own."

"You're right, I should go get those."

Blaine kissed Kurt on the cheek then got up to head outside. He slipped on his shoes and coat at the door and walked out to his car. It was getting late, but the neighborhood was still glowing in red, green and white lights; plastic Santas and reindeer adorned many roofs and the snow had begun to softly fall from the sky, leaving a thin layer of white on everything. If it continued that way, it was sure to be a white Christmas. Blaine grabbed the bag filled with gifts for Kurt and Kadie, as well as Burt and Santana who would be joining them at Kurt's house tomorrow afternoon, and headed back inside. He brushed the dusting of snow off his coat and from his hair and then hurried back to Kurt.

When he returned to the living room Kurt was no longer on the floor in front of the tree. Instead, Kurt was leaning against the wall, his hands behind his back and Blaine couldn't mistake the sheepish grin on his face as he spoke, "Come here."

Blaine complied easily. Kurt could ask him to go to the moon and he would if it made him happy. Kurt brought one hand to the front of his body and reached forth to hook his finger in the belt loop of Blaine's jeans, pulling Blaine against him, and then placing his hand against Blaine's hip holding him there. In response, Blaine placed a hand on each of Kurt's hips.

"What're you hiding?"

"Nothing," Kurt said, his lie obvious with the smile that was as big and bright as the Christmas tree and the sing-song way he spoke.

"Really?"

Kurt shook his head.

"Are you going to show me?"

Kurt slowly moved his other hand from behind his back and extended it over his head. Blaine followed his hand and smiled when he saw the green leaves caught between Kurt's thumb and forefinger.

"You're sly, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt shrugged, "I like to think of it as romantic."

"It is very romantic," Blaine said moving his right hand until he was cupping Kurt's face in his hand, looking into his blue eyes and getting lost like he had that first night. Like every other night since then.

"Are you going to kiss me or not?" Kurt whispered.

"There's mistletoe," Blaine said, "I have to right?"

Kurt's eyes locked with Blaine's as he nodded slowly. Blaine kissed Kurt as the mistletoe still dangled above their heads, and he continued to kiss him even as the mistletoe fell to the floor, Kurt's hand finding more important things to do, like carding his fingers through Blaine's hair. None of the presents mattered anymore, as long as they were together, wrapped around each other, it would be a Merry Christmas indeed.

Kurt had gotten up and sang in front of hundreds of people on Blaine's birthday, yet Kadie's sixth birthday party was infinitely more stressful. There were thirteen five and six year olds in his house, and those who weren't singing along with a CD that someone brought from a band Kadie really wanted to see in concert (was she really old enough for that already?) were forgetting that they were inside and treating his staircase like a jungle gym. He was seriously considering having Kadie's birthday in July next from now on. This way they could all be out in the yard instead of being cooped up inside the house. The only saving grace in all of it was Blaine. Everyone seemed incredibly excited that Mr. Anderson was at Kadie's birthday party.

"He's my daddy's boyfriend," Kadie had told them, and no one seemed to care.

And Blaine was doing a great job of entertaining his students while Kurt put the finishing touches on Kadie's Hello Kitty cake in the kitchen. Blaine was surrounded by five or six engrossed children as he told a story about a prince and a dragon. It wasn't anything particularly original, but the way Blaine told it—with everything he had—made it the most entertaining story the kids had ever heard. Kurt couldn't help but smile from the doorway. Blaine was going to make an excellent father.

He tried to call the attention of the room, but failed. Everyone was completely focused on Blaine. But the sound of Blaine's name on Kurt's lips immediately caught the kindergarten teacher's attention. Kurt took a moment to enjoy the warmth that Blaine's gaze washed over his entire body before he smirked at his boyfriend.

"A little help," Kurt requested, "It's time for cake."

Blaine gave a small nod and stood and called the attention of everyone like the professional kindergartener whisperer that he was, "Alright everyone, to the kitchen so we can sing to the birthday girl and get cake! Mr. Hummel happens to make divine cakes, so you're all in for a treat."

And they were. Gathered around the table, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Kadie who blew her candles out with a smile on her face.

It was a little while later, when Kadie was surrounded by unwrapped gifts that Kurt's phone vibrated in his pocket. He was standing next to Santana against the wall watching as Kadie unwrapped gifts that Blaine handed to her. He was thankful to let Blaine take the reins on this. Mindlessly, he pulled his phone from his pocket, hitting the button to light up the screen, all the air leaving his lungs as he read the message.

Daniel [4:25 PM] Tell Kadie I said Happy Birthday.

He looked up as Kadie shouted for him to look and the gift she'd unwrapped. He smiled at her, forced to not show the tension that was building inside him. This was her day and he wasn't going to let Daniel ruin it from wherever he'd disappeared off to.

"I'll be right back," Kurt whispered, "Can you get me if anyone needs anything?"

He didn't wait for Santana to respond but quickly ducked into the kitchen. He needed to be alone. He remembered the way he felt the night that Daniel had called. How his heart began beating wildly in his chest, how his lungs couldn't seem to get enough oxygen, the panic had spread through him quickly. This blow was somehow less than it had been that first night, despite the fact that Kurt had finally come to a point in his life that thoughts of Daniel didn't pass through his head on a daily basis. Kurt leaned against the refrigerator and opened his phone to stare at the text. Above anything else, he was angry. He couldn't tell Kadie that Daniel had said anything; it would break her heart that she couldn't see her dad. Because Kurt still had no idea where he was. Kurt was so wrapped up in his emotions that he hadn't heard the sound of heels against the kitchen floor until was too late.

"What the actual fuck, Hummel?"

Kurt turned to find his best friend right behind him, her eyes over his shoulder; she'd read his phone. Kurt shoved his phone in his pocket, failing to keep the look of guilt off his face.

"I repeat," Santana said, this time with her hands on her hips, "What the fuck?"

"Would you be quiet?" Kurt hissed.

"So your boyfriend doesn't know you're texting with your ex?"

"It's—it's not like that," Kurt said.

"Then what is it like, Kurt? Because you looks like I caught the cat with the canary in its mouth."

Kurt sighed, "This is the first time he's text me. But—"

"But what?"

"But he's called before."

"You've talked to him?"

"No—no he called, but I didn't answer."

"When was this? And why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

"October," Kurt told her, "Halloween."

"That's why you never came out that night," Santana determined, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I didn't want it to be a thing. He called, I didn't answer. He didn't leave a voicemail and he hasn't tried to contact me again until now."

"You should tell Blaine."

"No," Kurt shook his head vehemently.

"Yes, Kurt," Santana challenged, "You shouldn't keep this from him."

"And what if that scares him away?"

"If I haven't scared him way, nothing will," Santana said, "Wait, do you think he's coming back?"

Kurt shrugged and shook his head again," I don't really know, but I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because if he was coming back he'd have come back after he called. It's been months."

"What if he does?"

"He-he's not," Kurt said, "Now can we just go back to the party? I'm sure Blaine's wondering why we left him with his students on a Saturday."

"Tell him," Santana said, "He's not going to go anywhere."

"No," Kurt said, his voice stern like he was disciplining his daughter, "And you're not going to say anything to him either."

"Fine," she said after a moment, "But you're an idiot."

The first thing Blaine noticed when he pulled into Kurt's driveway was that there were two cars parked side by side. There was Kurt's black Nissan, but an unfamiliar blue Honda beside it. He parked behind Kurt's car, wondering if Santana had gotten a new car to go along with her promotion, but the car didn't look new and already had Ohio license plates. He didn't think too much more about it as he got out of the car and walked to the front door.

Blaine knocked and was greeted a moment later by Kadie who let him in without a word and went back to the kitchen table where she was coloring.

"Where's your dad?" Blaine questioned. They were supposed to go to a movie, and since they were going to be waiting on Blaine, he figured he'd be ready to leave as soon as he'd gotten there.

"They're upstairs," Kadie said coloring in Hello Kitty's bow.

"They?" Blaine questioned.

"My dads," Kadie responded without hesitation. As if she hadn't just delivered a blow to Blaine's gut.

Blaine blinked in surprise, his jaw slack. He did his best to try to keep the rush of emotions from showing on his face, but it was rather difficult given the situation he'd found himself in. Daniel was upstairs; he was upstairs with Kurt. Now that he was paying attention, Blaine could faintly hear the shouting coming from the upstairs bedroom. Daniel, the man who Blaine had only thought of as the ghost in Kurt's heart, was no longer a ghost, but a tangible person; and he was here, in Lima, in Kurt's house. Their house. The bed that he and Kurt made love in was their bed; the house he spent so much time in with their house; and the family that Blaine thought they were creating was their family. It was a startling realization that nothing that Blaine thought he had was actually his. The raised voices got louder as the bedroom door opened, he heard Kurt still yelling as he came down the hallway. He heard two pairs of feet hurrying down the stairs. And then he saw two men come into view: the man who had his heart, and the man who was the reason it was going to break.

"Blaine," Kurt called from the top of the stairs.

Blaine's focus was on Daniel. He'd never seen a picture of him, he knew that most of the memories were locked in the basement, but seeing him now, he wasn't sure what he had expected. Daniel was just a bit taller than Kurt, his hair a dirty blonde cut close to his head. His brown eyes watched Blaine curiously, doing the same thing Blaine was, sizing him up—seeing what kind of competition Blaine would be. Blaine didn't miss the tiniest of smirks that formed on Daniel's lips, or the way his eyes became more confident. Daniel didn't think Blaine could win this, and suddenly, neither did Blaine.

"So you're the Blaine I've heard so much about," Daniel said moving down the stairs until he was standing a few feet from Blaine. In his peripheral, Blaine saw Kurt come down the stairs as well, not saying a word. Daniel stuck out his hand, "Daniel Valente."

Blaine wondered if Daniel had any idea the nature of his and Kurt's relationship. If he were in Daniel's shoes would he be able to shake the hand of his ex fiancés boyfriend? Would he want to? Was Blaine even Kurt's boyfriend now that Daniel was back?

As much as Blaine wanted to be a petulant teenager, to be stubborn and not shake the hand that was extended towards him, he had to remind himself that he was a grown adult, and that Kadie was watching them and probably didn't comprehend all the tension that was thickening the air in the house. He envied her; all she knew was that her dad was home, she didn't know that one of the men in the room was about to get his heart broken.

Blaine reached out and shook Daniel's hand, feeling the extra tug at his arm—he definitely knew, "Blaine Anderson."

Blaine's eyes moved behind Daniel to Kurt and for the first time since he came down the stairs actually looked at him. He looked like he wanted to be sick, his arms wrapped around his middle. He hadn't been crying, but there was a sadness in his blue eyes that made Blaine want to take him into his arms and never let him go, the first round of unshed tears made them glossy. When Blaine finally got their attention he could see their silent apology. Only Blaine wasn't exactly sure what they were apologizing for.

"I should go," Blaine said his eyes not leaving Kurt's.

"That would be a good idea," Daniel said.

"Daniel," Kurt scolded moving to stand next to his —Blaine wasn't sure what he was anymore, "Take Kadie upstairs. I need to talk to Blaine."

Daniel eyes moved from Kurt to Blaine and back to Kurt again before he rolled his eyes, "Kadie, sweetheart, why don't you go show me what you got for your birthday?"

Excited, Kadie jumped from her seat, grabbed on to her dad's hand and led him up the stairs to her room, talking a mile a minute about the doll Santana had bought her.

With Kadie and Daniel both gone from the room, Kurt looked like he was having a hard time holding in the tears that were constantly threatening to fall. Blaine almost wished Kurt would let them.

"Blaine," Kurt said his voice barely above a whisper, thick with emotion, "I'm sorry."

There it was again, an apology—but this time in words, but Blaine still wasn't sure exactly what Kurt was apologizing for.

"Can we sit?" Kurt gestured to the kitchen table.

Blaine nodded and followed Kurt to sit down at the table he'd celebrated his birthday at, Thanksgiving and Christmas. So many wonderful memories, all about to be tarnished by what was about to happen.

"When did he get here?" Blaine asked trying not to be accusatory, trying to keep his voice from displaying all the jumbled up emotions that were eating away at him.

"He was waiting on the porch when I got back after dropping Kadie off at school."

"He's handsome," Blaine said quietly, afraid that Daniel was listening at the top of the stairs, that he was watching everything unfold. When Kurt didn't respond he added, "What does he want?"

"Me," Kurt said, "Kadie. Our family."

Our family. Kurt had spoken the words softly but they were screaming at Blaine. He took a deep breath before he asked his next question, "And what did you tell him?"

"He knows about us," Kurt told him, "I guess Claudia has been keeping him up to date on all the happenings here in Lima. I told him that I don't know if I can give him what he wants."

It wasn't exactly what he had been expecting; he had anticipated that Kurt would out right tell him that he was going back to Daniel, that he was getting his family back. That his fiancé was home and Blaine was no longer needed. But there was still a wound in Kurt's uncertainty.

"Kurt—" Blaine started.

"No," Kurt interrupted, "Just—I just need a few days to think."

Blaine felt the crack begin to form in his heart. Because deep inside he knew that no matter how many days Kurt took, that his heart was about to break. That soon all that would be left was a million tiny pieces. And he wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to put them back together this time.

"Did you know he was coming back?"

"No," Kurt said, shaking his head for emphasis, "He-he called a while ago—but I didn't talk to him and he text me on Kadie's birthday. But I swear Blaine; I had no idea he was going to come back. In fact, I was sure he wasn't going to."

Blaine felt like he'd been slapped, Kurt had kept things from him, "Why didn't you tell me about any of that?"

"I didn't think. I'm sorry. I know I should have told you, I just didn't want to bring him up."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Blaine asked, of all the emotions that were floating around inside him: hurt, betrayal, sadness, fear, the anger seemed to be most dominant.

"No," Kurt said embarrassed, "I just—I'm sorry."

"Me too," Blaine said shortly.

"Blaine, can you please give me a few days? If it were just me, it would be different, but I have to think about Kadie."

"That's bullshit," Blaine hissed standing from his chair, "And you know it. He left you."

"You sound like Santana."

"She'd say the same thing to you."

"He was my family once," Kurt told him like it was supposed to explain something, "For a long time. He's Kadie's dad."

"And what was I—what am I, Kurt? Just the guy that took his place while he was gone? I told you did I didn't want that, Kurt. You told me that wasn't what this was."

"It's not," Kurt said, the desperation to make Blaine believe his words dripping off his tongue, "You have to believe me."

"It doesn't matter, Kurt. Let's face it, I can't compete with that. It's your family, Kadie and both of her dads. And as much as I've grown to love her—to love you—over the last few months, I can't take that away from either of you. I know how much that means to you."

"You mean something to me too," Kurt said.

"But it's not enough, is it?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I can't live my life waiting for maybe to become a yes," Blaine said, "I've done that before and it never works out for me."

"I'm so sorry, Blaine."

"I know," Blaine said shooting him a watery smile as the tears pooled then fell from his eyes as the last of the anger slipped away, "I should go. Tell Kadie I'll see her on Monday."

Kurt nodded and Blaine tossed him one last half smile before he turned toward the front door. Each step slow, a silent plea for Kurt to come after him, to tell him that he knew that he wanted Blaine, only Blaine. But each footstep led to another and then Blaine was outside, the front door shut behind him, the cold January wind stinging the tears that were now freely falling and rolling down his cheeks. They carried him to his car and still without protest from anyone other than his heart, hit the gas pedal that took him away from Kurt and his family.

*goes to hide* Please don't throw anything sharp at me!

I hope you still enjoyed the update! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought—or yell at me—and I will get Chapter 12 to you as soon as I can!