A/N:Here's a nice, long, chapter since I didn't post over the weekend. Enjoy Thanksgiving!
We decided to have a big thanksgiving dinner for all our relatives, since this was the first one we could celebrate as a family. I cornered the boys upstairs before any company arrived. Kurt was doing a lot of the cooking, but he was finished for the moment.
"I want everyone on their best behavior today. No rude or sarcastic comments, even if someone else starts it. Especially if someone old starts it. Now, you two," and I pointed to Kurt and Blaine. Finn interrupted me before I could go on.
"I think I know where this is going and has nothing to do with me. Can I go?"
"Sure Finn, go help in the kitchen."
"Just don't touch any food!" Kurt yelled after him.
"Now, on to you two. No matter how boring today may be one of you must be in the room at all times. Absolutely no funny business while company is over. Everyone coming knows about you two and are, for the most part, accepting, but not all of them think the same we do here. So don't give them any fuel for the fire. Carol's mother is a lovely woman, but probably the most homophobic of everyone else coming. She probably won't say anything too bad as long as you two aren't too touchy-feely. I'm not saying you can't hold hands, it's your home and you should both feel comfortable here, but that doesn't mean you can both go disappearing for 40 minutes and come back with wrinkled clothes and messed up hair. We've all gotten used to trying to ignoring how often that happens, but you can't do that with company here. Got it?"
Both boys nodded their heads without looking up at me.
"Now go back to helping Carol with dinner."
They ran downstairs, glad that the lecture on their sex life was kept short and not too embarrassing. In all honesty, I knew they weren't helping Carol. Carol was helping Kurt, while Finn and Blaine watched football. They agreed to be on clean-up duty since neither of them were willing to suffer the wrath of Kurt by messing up a part of the meal.
Everyone we invited knew that we now had Blaine as part of our family, and they all (for the most part) kept the conversations from becoming too awkward. My side of the family was used to Kurt and accepted Blaine immediately when they saw how happy Kurt was. Carol's mother did have a few comments for all the boys, most of which made everyone in the room uncomfortable, especially Kurt and Blaine. Everyone else at the table realized the road her questions were going down, so whenever she started to talk someone else would interrupt her with a new topic. As we finished dinner, she finally got the opportunity to talk.
"With you two fairies in the house, I'm surprised Finn hasn't turned into one of you yet."
Carol's face turned dark red, as it does when she's really mad. I've only seen it once and it was the longest night of my life.
"Boys, I want all three of you to go to the kitchen start clean-up duty." As soon she said it, all three dashed into the kitchen, along with several other family members who offered to help, mostly just to get away from what was surely going to be an uncomfortable conversation. I stayed in my seat next to Carol, mainly because her hand was holding my knee so tightly I couldn't get up if I wanted to. By the time Carol started talking, we were the only people left at the table. My mother was the last to leave. She walked into the kitchen mumbling something about dessert. I knew she wanted to stay and defend Kurt, but I guess she finally realized this was a conversation for Carol and her mother to have. And my knee, of course, that would surely be bruised in the morning.
"Mom, I love all three of those boys and they are my sons. All of them. If you can't accept them for who they are, then you aren't going to be invited back."
The older woman started to talk again once Carol finished.
"But it's unnatural. And it isn't a safe environment for Finn. He's going to turn too. You wait and see. There's a reason that boy's family kicked him out. You should kick them both out and hopefully your son will still have a chance."
"That's it. I want you to leave my house. If you can't accept my children for who they are, I don't want you here!"
"Fine! I'll leave; I don't want to sit through dessert with those fairies anyway. But I'm taking my pie with me!"
Once they both started yelling I excused myself to go get the pie she brought. I walked into the kitchen to find my three boys, along with most of my family and Carol's, standing around trying not to make eye contact with me. My suspicions of eavesdropping were confirmed when my mother handed me the pie I was looking for, before saying it didn't look to appetizing anyway. I saw Kurt and Blaine standing in the corner with their arms around each other. I gave them a small smile when I saw their red rimmed eyes. I knew they were used to abuse at school, but they are supposed to be safe in their own home. After giving me the pie, my mother walked over and wrapped both boys up in a hug.
"I guess we won't be having pumpkin pie for dessert."
I said before hearing a muffled sound from behind my mother. Kurt wiggled his way out and said it more clearly this time.
"I made an extra. It's in the fridge in the garage. That's Blaine's favorite, and I know Finn would have probably finished the one we had." Blaine broke free from my mother, who was still hugging him so he could walk over to Kurt and give him a bear hug. I knew they'd be ok, so I took the pie and went back into the dinning room. I probably should have been listening because now Carol and her mother were gone. I heard yelling coming from the front door. I walked over to find them yelling at each other. I opened the door and handed over the pie.
"Please leave. You are upsetting my family." I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded, because I was fuming. For once she didn't argue and stomped down the walkway as Carol slammed the door.
I wrapped my arms around Carol and let her cry. After a few minutes, I heard someone clear their throat. I turned to see Kurt and Blaine standing there. They had both been crying. I let go of Carol and the two boys walked up to her. Finally, Blaine spoke, in a voice rough from crying.
"I can't tell you how much it means to me that you defended me and called me your son. No one has ever stood up for me like that before." And before I knew it, they were hugging and both sobbing. After a minute, they opened their hug to include Kurt, who also thanked Carol for defending him as her son. I left the three of them there to cry it out while I went to see to the rest of our guests. Clearly everyone had heard the entire conversation and were trying to act as though everything was normal. At least they got something accomplished. All the leftovers were wrapped on the counter and the full dishwasher was already running.
We tried to pretend nothing happened and went on with dessert. Everyone praised Kurt's pumpkin pie, and by the end of dessert, both boys seemed to be in a better mood. A few people with longer commutes left after saying goodbye, but everyone else stayed to watch the football game.
When my mother left, she pulled both Finn and Blaine into a big hug.
"I'm so happy to have both of you as my grandsons! And I haven forgotten about you Kurt!" then she pulled him in too. Blaine looked near tears, and Finn was having trouble keeping his eyes dry too. Once she left, everyone started to get settled in the living room.
Kurt and Blaine looked at me expectantly, as though asking permission, and I immediately knew what they wanted. I had told them not to be too touchy-feely, but they always share the single chair. I guess they've put up with a lot today, and it's better than disappearing upstairs. I discreetly nod my head before sitting down on the couch to turn on the game. By the time it was over and our guests got up to leave, both boys were sound asleep cuddled together. Luckily, everyone found it cute and endearing. Once Finn went up to bed, Carol walked over to wake up the boys and send them to bed.
"Boys, why don't you go up to bed? Your backs will hurt in the morning if you sleep in this chair."
Kurt woke up first, and looked around, clearly confused as to where he was.
"What time is it?"
"11:30. Now up to bed, it's been a long day."
"Ok... Thanks again, Carol, for standing up for us like that. I didn't want to cause a fight between you and your mother."
"Don't even think about it. It's become a tradition for someone to storm out of holiday dinners. If it wasn't about this, it would have been about something else. Now go upstairs and get some sleep."
Kurt dragged a half asleep Blaine up the stairs. I saw them both go into Kurt's room, but I let them go this time. They had been through enough today.
There was an unspoken agreement between Kurt and myself. He was allowed to get up and go to the Black Friday sales, as long as I didn't have to get up. This year and last year, his duties included bringing Carol with him, since if he didn't take her, I'd have to. I love them both very much, but I'm not waking up at 4am to go shopping. Finn, Blaine and I all planned on sleeping in till 11:30, getting some sort of unhealthy breakfast, then watching the game at noon. Unfortunately for Blaine, Kurt had other plans. When I walked downstairs around 11, I saw Kurt and Carol sorting out their shopping bags on the dining room table. But Blaine wasn't with them.
"Didn't you drag Blaine with you this morning?"
"Yeah, but he's not really a morning person and was just holding us back, so he went to take a nap in the car while we finished. Once we got back to the house, he was still sound asleep and I couldn't wake him up, so I just left him in the car. He should be up soon."
"Why'd you make him go in the first place? You know he doesn't like shopping or waking up early."
"He offered to go with me."
Finally Carol spoke up.
"I think he just offered to be nice. It's getting cold out; we really shouldn't let him sleep in the car much longer."
I could tell they were both debating who had to go wake Blaine up. It's become sort of a running joke in the house, since the kid sleeps like the dead and is damn near impossible to wake up if he's tired. I once yelled fire and he didn't get up. Carol once threw water on him and he just groaned and covered his head with a blanket. But somehow he was never late for school. It was really just the weekends that caused him to turn into the sleeping dead. I sighed. I knew this was what they were waiting for.
"I'll go get him."
I grabbed Kurt's keys and walked out to the Navigator in the driveway. I opened the door, but the backseat was empty. Then I heard a slight snore and walked around to open the trunk. Sure enough Blaine was sprawled out across the trunk of the car. Luckily it was connected to the rest of the car, open over the back row of seats, or else I'd worry about Kurt and Carol not thinking it was strange to make the kid sleep in the trunk.
"Blaine, wake up."
I tried saying softly. I should have known this was just a waste of time.
"Blaine! Get out of the trunk!" I tried yelling while kicking the bumper of the car, making it shake a little. But still nothing. Then I tried yelling his name. We learned not to shake him awake or grab him while he was sleeping, because he'd have a flashback of all the times his father (and bullies) beat the shit out of him. Finally I grabbed the keys out of my pocket and hit the alarm button. It was loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood, and luckily, it woke the boy sleeping in the trunk.
"Wudda do tha' for?" He asked as he sat up slowly, realizing for the first time he was in the trunk of Kurt's car. "Did Kurt try to kill me and stuff my body in the trunk? He was really mad I couldn't keep up shopping. But I didn't think he'd try to kill me over it..."
"Um... Blaine, I think you just fell asleep. Didn't you come out here to go to sleep?"
He thought about it for a minute and scratched his head of unruly curls.
"I did... But I definitely remember getting to the back seat, not the trunk."
"Come on, let's go inside and get you warmed up."
We walked inside and Blaine made a beeline for the love seat, wrapped a blanket around himself and collapsed. He was sound asleep within a minute.
"Care to explain why Blaine was sleeping in the trunk, when he thought he got into the backseat?"
Both Kurt and Carol giggled before Kurt fessed up.
"We needed space to put our bags, and didn't want to keep opening the trunk, so I moved Blaine to the trunk. He was sound asleep and didn't even notice the move. Lucky thing he's small. I never would have been able to move Finn."
I just rolled my eyes and walked into the kitchen for some coffee. Once Finn came downstairs for breakfast and we started the game, Blaine woke up and joined us. Kurt and Carol were both upstairs wrapping Christmas presents, since they both like to finish their shopping early.
Later on that night, I heard a lot of noise coming from Blaine's room. Suspicious noise. Noise that included bed springs, grunting and the occasional squeal. They knew everyone was home and awake, so I didn't feel guilty about interrupting. I knocked loudly on the 'closed' door and shouted loud enough for them to hear inside.
"Knock it off in there! You know the rules!"
"There's no funny business going on in here!" I heard in what sounded like Kurt's voice, but the next voice surprised me.
"Oh, it's pretty funny alright."
That was definitely Finn, an out of breath Finn. I decided to just open the door and see once and for all what the hell was going on. I walked in to see feathers floating through the air, Kurt and Finn armed with pillows and Blaine curled up on the bed with his arms over his head.
"Blaine started it." Kurt and Finn said in unison.
"No I didn't... And even if I did, you were supposed to take my side Kurt!"
"Not when you mess up my hair!"
I just sighed and walked out of the room, headed to the closet, took out the vacuum and placed it right inside the door. I then reminded them they were responsible for the clean up and went to bed. Carol wouldn't believe me even if I showed her.
The next day all the boys were up early. Somehow, Kurt was able to wake Blaine up when no one else could. Everyone was given a cup of coffee as we sat down to discuss the game plan. Every year, the weekend after thanksgiving has been devoted to putting up the Christmas decorations. Kurt and Carol were responsible for the inside of the house. I wasn't going to make Carol climb up a ladder and hang Christmas lights in the freezing cold, and Kurt just had an eye for decorating. Whatever he decorates ends up looking like a scene from a movie or catalog. Besides, he helped me put up the lights for the last 10 years, he deserved a break. So Finn, Blaine and I went out to the garage to get out the lights, ladder and giant light up Santa and reindeer. Once we all had on hats, gloves and scarves, we got to work. Finn was up on the ladder, while I held it, to string lights around the house. Blaine had to put lights on the trees and hook up any other lawn decorations. Finally it was time for Santa. "Ok. So who's going up on the roof?" They both said 'Not it' and the same time, so I decided for them.
"Blaine! Up you go!"
"Why me? Finn's so tall he hardly needs the ladder."
"Exactly the reason I'm sending you up! You won't hit your head on those power lines. And you're smaller so you're less likely to fall through the roof."
"I'm going to fall through the roof?" He half shouted.
"Of course not. Now take this rope and climb up there. Finn's going to pass Santa up to you, and you can tie him in place. Got it?"
"If I get electrocuted or fall to my death, I hope you realize that you are going to have to deal with Kurt."
He grabbed the rope and started climbing the ladder, grumbling under his breath. Finn then climbed halfway up the ladder so I could pass him the pieces to send up to Blaine. While Blaine was securing each piece down and Finn climbed down to the bottom of the ladder, where he would stay to hold it, I went inside to check on how that was going. It looked great, especially now that the tree was up. By some happy coincidence, we were able to agree on an artificial tree seeing how Carol, Kurt and Blaine were all allergic to real ones. There was a pine tree air freshener hanging as an ornament for Finn and myself, who both complained about the lack of smell.
When I walked back outside, I could hear Finn and Blaine arguing. Blaine sounded very upset.
"Just put the ladder back and we can talk when I'm on the ground."
I looked around the corner to see Finn standing holding the ladder leaning away from the house, effectively stranding Blaine on the roof. I stayed hidden where I was to see what Finn was so desperate to talk about. I knew I'd intervene to get Blaine down, but eavesdropping was quickly becoming my favorite hobby.
"No. I want to talk now. Because you have to listen. And I might not let you down if you don't agree to it."
After a minute of silence, Blaine finally relented.
"Fine. What do you want?"
"As you know, my room happens to be between your's and Kurt's. I want you two to stop making so much noise when you know I'm in my room. It just makes the fact that Rachel's not putting out so much worse. My little brothers are getting significantly more action than me."
"We aren't your little brothers! We're both older than you, making you the little brother!"
"I meant size wise. I'm taller. That makes me the big brother. Besides. Kurt's only 4 months older than me... And you're only five months older than him... Stop trying to change the subject. Do you agree to my terms? Stop rubbing it in my face, and I let you off the roof."
"We aren't trying to rub anything in your face. I just really love Kurt. And he loves me. We want to spend as much time together as we can at home because we can't act like other couples outside of the house. At least when you go out with Rachel you can hold her hand or kiss her without random strangers calling you really foul names or being harassed. I'd be happy just getting to hold Kurt's hand and kiss him in the hallway at school. But we can't do that without getting shoved into a locker or slushied. That's why we act the way we do at home."
Near the end of Blaine's little speech, I could tell from his voice he was near tears, and quite frankly I was getting close. I was about to step in and make Finn put the ladder back, but he did so on his own, holding the bottom so Blaine could get down safely. Once Blaine's feet hit the ground, Finn pulled him into a hug. I went back into the house to give them a minute to compose themselves. I took the opportunity to call to Carol and Kurt.
"Come outside for a minute to see the lights!"
The three of us went outside to see Finn and Blaine were back to work, putting away the ladder and the spare lights.
Kurt immediately sensed something wrong with Blaine, as he always can, and pulled him into a hug. I could hear them whispering to each other.
"What's wrong babe? Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine now that I'm with you. I love you."
"I love you too." Then Kurt pulled away slightly so just one arm was wrapped around Blaine and he could turn and talk to all of us. "It looks good so far, but does it actually light up? Judging by the fact that none of you have been electrocuted, I can assume you didn't bother checking to see if the lights worked before hanging them up."
Oh crap.
Four hours and a lot of inappropriate language later, we found the one light that was out. We all went back outside to see the grand unveiling. After a drum roll, the house was lit, and I must say, we did a great job. After standing in the glow for a few minutes, Carol spoke.
"You boys did an excellent job. But whose job was it to tie Santa down?"
Finn quickly told her it was Blaine.
"I hate to say this Blaine, but it looks like you're going to have to go back up on the roof. You can't tie Santa to the roof by wrapping the rope around his neck. It looks like we have a depressed Santa with a noose."
Blaine just groaned and put his head on Kurt's shoulder.
"Fine... But Carol has to hold the ladder. She's the only one I trust to make sure it's still there when I get down. The rest of you would just try to blackmail me."
Fifteen minutes later, we had the perfect Christmas light display.
A/N: Since I'm the smallest person in my house, it's always been my job too climb up on the roof to put up santa and the lights. Even when I was much younger, my dad would send my up to the roof. Up next, Christmas!
And excuse me, but new glee tomorrow! Based off the commercial/preview, I have already told my boyfriend he needs to find out where he can arrange for a gorilla gram! For moi!