The Joys of Parenthood

Disclaimer: I'm not RIB, so I don't own Glee or any of the characters. If I did, I'd be rich and probably not writing fanfiction! This chapter has nothing to do with MPREG, but it does concern Daddy!Klaine so yay! Anyway, I own nothing.

A/N: This is soooo late, but better late than never, right? It's an EASTER daddy!Klaine drabble. Enjoy!

The sound of laughter trickles through the air, fluttering around a fenced in yard as a father runs along the garden hand-in-hand with his daughter, the two of them giggling up a storm as they hunt for a couple dozen brightly colored eggs. Kurt hovers off to the side, a blinding smile on his face as he watches Blaine stumble through the backyard with their precocious almost-three-year-old daughter Ava. Camera in hand, he snaps a few photos of Ava picking up eggs, the delight of her expression priceless as she waves them in Blaine's face with a look that screams how proud she is of herself.

"She's just so cute," Carole coos for the millionth time that week, Burt nodding beside her as they watch their granddaughter drop another egg into the basket Blaine's holding. Her squealing voice floats back to them, a triumphant shout of 'Daddy look' spilling from her lips as she shoves a tiny finger out and points at a row of daffodils along the fence line - a lone lavender dyed egg nestled between their leaves.

"Daddy!"

"I see it, honey bunny! Let's go get it!" Blaine scoops her up and runs through the grass with her in his arms, the basket bouncing against his hip as he lifts Ava into the air like an airplane (silly noises included.) Kurt's quick to capture that moment on camera as well; it's Ava's first Easter where she can actually do something other than sit and look pretty in her dress and he's definitely not gonna miss a single moment. Now she can enjoy the traditions Kurt himself grew up with: Easter egg hunts, visiting the Easter bunny, getting presents. Since none of the family's very religious, they skip the church services and other instances that the holiday is centered on. Instead, they participate in the more commercialized version of Easter, a fact of which none of them mind.

This year, they're in Ohio for the holiday. The year prior was spent in New York with various family and friends. However, everyone else in their lives just so happen to be insanely busy this time around, so Kurt and Blaine decided to head home for the break, packing up just enough clothes for them and Ava to stay at the Hummel home for a week.

(Even Blaine's mom's out of town visiting Cooper, so it's just Kurt, Blaine, Ava, and Kurt's parents this time around.)

Ava giggles again, shaking Kurt from his thoughts as she hollers for her papa; meanwhile, Blaine runs over with her tucked under his arm like a football. Part of Kurt wants to admonish his husband for wrinkling Ava's dress when they still have a lot to do today, but when he takes in the jubilant look on his baby's face... well, there's nothing more he can do but smile. "What is it, baby?"

"Help! My bunny eggs! A monsta's got me!" She waves her tiny arms, pointing frantically at her basket of goodies as it bounces hard against Blaine's side. Some of the eggs are close to falling out and onto the ground and, knowing Ava, would most likely be a huge tragedy if that were to ever occur.

"I'll get them! Unhand my daughter's Easter basket, you fiend!" Kurt tosses his camera to Carole, knowing damn well that his dad will flub up any sort of picture taking, and then he's off, running after Blaine and Ava as the two of them shriek at the sight of him. It's new, this whole goofing off and being silly thing. Kurt's never one to be completely serious, but up until he became a father, he'd never been so openly goofy in front of others... at least not without a thousand worried questions and fears running through his mind. Now though, parenting a toddler and everything? Well, he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him.

Only Ava's opinions matter (and Blaine's, most of the time) and she loves him unconditionally... especially when he's saving her from strange, bouncy villains. Ones like whatever Blaine's trying to be right now.

"I'm here for Ava!" He charges, skidding to a halt in front of Blaine. They probably look completely ridiculous, the three of them in their (somewhat) dressy clothing, running through a squishy backyard in their nicest shoes and outfits. Unfortunately, mother nature didn't get the memo that Ohio's supposed to be celebrating springtime, so the air's cool and the ground's still moist from an earlier rain. No matter what though, nothing was going to stop the family from hiding Easter eggs for Ava's very first (official, that is) Easter egg hunt. "Hand over my baby and nobody gets hurt!"

"Can I keep the eggs?" Blaine growls out, to which Ava responds with a shout of, "No!"

"You heard the pretty lady. The eggs are hers! She found them herself!"

Another growl. "But I helped!"

"Monsters don't get Easter eggs unless they are good monsters. You're not a good monster. You turned my husband into an egg stealing, baby swiping bad guy!" At the baby swiping quip, Blaine snorts and Kurt can't help but roll his eyes at his dork of a husband. No matter how long they've been playing these games with Ava, sometimes they can't keep straight faces because of how silly everything is now. "Unless you can promise to be nice and to release my-"

"My daddy!" Ava interrupts.

"Yes, her daddy and my husband... if not, I guess we can't give you any eggs."

"And if I comply?"

"Then we'll share... maybe."

At that, Blaine hands over the basket and carefully sets Ava down on the ground, twitching his body a bit as Ava rushes to Kurt's side and clutches his leg. "I think- I... Ava, save me! I need- I need an egg! The blue one! It's my- I mean, his favorite color."

Kurt snorts too, trying his hardest not to collapse into a fit of cackling laughter when Blaine shoots him a glare and then goes back to convulsing like he's trying to shake some sort of demon from his body. It's by far the weirdest thing Kurt's ever witnessed during an Easter celebration, but he pretty much adores it. This is the life he signed up for when he married Blaine and agreed to have children with him... and it's the best.

"Okay! Okay blue!" Digging her hand into the basket, Ava pulls out a sky colored egg and runs over to Blaine, stuffing it into his hands while she gazes up at him in wonder. Blaine continues acting out his transformation for a few seconds longer, finally twisting his body into one of his signature twirling spins, turning back around with a bright smile on his face and his arms outstretched.

"You did it, Ava! You saved me! Oh thank you, honey bun!"

"Yay! Daddy!"

Excited that her dad is back, Ava leaps into Blaine's arms and hugs him senseless, kissing his cheeks while she squeezes her small arms around his neck. As she murmurs stuff about the Easter bunny and what not into his ear, Blaine catches Kurt's gaze from behind Ava's curly hair and he smiles, the sight melting Kurt's heart all over again as it does day after day after day whenever he looks at his family and realizes that they're all his.

"Hey! There's still more eggs to be found!" Burt calls, snapping them from their moment, and then Ava's attention is on her quest to find every single hidden gem. She slides from Blaine's arms, wiggling in his grasp until he finally places her back on solid ground. Then she's off, tearing through the grass with her fathers on her tail as she points out various eggs that she wants them to grab for her. Much like her Auntie Rachel, she's somewhat demanding, but she's freaking adorable too so they do whatever she says.

(Of course, Kurt likes to throw it out there that they need to nip that issue in the bud eventually because it won't be very cute at all when Ava's a teenager throwing tantrums and they're letting her have her way like they do now.)

"Anotha bunny egg!" Ava shouts, grabbing Kurt's hand within her own, her itty bitty fingers wrapping themselves around her papa's long ones. She uses all her strength to pull him towards the storage shed where a rainbow egg is balancing carefully on the roof. Just seeing it makes Kurt wonder how in the world his father thought it'd be a good idea to hide an egg all the way up there, where a tiny statured toddler such as Ava (or his short husband, he muses) wouldn't be able to reach.

"Got it!"

"Yay papa! Daddy c'mon!" Running as fast as her short legs can take her, she's off again, Kurt walking in long strides behind her as Blaine comes over to catch up. He dumps a few eggs into the basket and grins at Kurt as he does so.

"Cheating, are we?"

"Yup. I dunno if you noticed it or not, but there's some nasty rain clouds hovering overhead so we'll want to wrap this up real quick if you still want to get a few family pictures in front of the Hyacinth plants. Otherwise we'll be out here getting drenched while we look for the rest of the eggs."

"Good point." Stealing a quick kiss from his hubby, Kurt skips to catch up with Ava, spinning a story about the Easter bunny handing over the rest of the eggs (minus the last one in Ava's hand) so that his daughter will quit searching through the bushes for any missing ones. She stares up at him wide-eyed before looking around the yard for said bunny, but when she finds nothing, she dumps the last egg into the basket and takes Blaine's proffered hand.

"We gonna eat?"

"Soon, baby. I just wanna get some pictures of you in your Easter dress first and then we'll eat."

The scent of ham lingers outside from where Carole's left the back door open and the scent's driving everyone wild. They'd been slaving over Easter dinner all morning, only breaking to wake up Ava and watch her come downstairs to find her goodie-filled Easter basket sitting on the dining room table. Now there's a plethora of food awaiting them to come in and demolish it... and based on the hungry looks Burt and Blaine keep casting towards the kitchen, everybody's obviously very hungry.

"Let's get these pictures done!"

Burt and Carole both snap some shots while Ava stands between her dads in front of Carole's blooming garden. Though spring hasn't been very prevalent in their area yet, the flowers have bloomed somewhat, leaving a prime spot for a perfect photo opportunity. The soft lilac hue of the Hyacinths match well with the theme the Anderson-Hummels (aka Kurt mostly) decided to go with this Easter, so that's where they decided to stand for the photos.

(Kurt's a million percent sure he's going to get one of these pictures blown up and framed to put in their living room.)

"Okay! Now pics with the grandparents," Blaine announces after several dozen are taken of him and his family. He and Kurt swap places with Burt and Carole and more photos are shot until Ava finally grows fidgety and cranky from hunger. Once the photoshoot's over, Burt scoops up his grandbaby and carries her into the house, ignoring Kurt as his son snaps more pictures behind him as they walk. (Who's to blame him though? Ava's got her head tucked into Burt's neck and it's just too adorable.)

"I'm ready for some ham. What about you, Aves?" Burt grumbles, jostling Ava in his arms a bit to make sure she's awake enough to eat dinner. The tiny girl in his arms chirps out something about ham that makes her grandparents laugh, but neither one of her dads catches it as they are too far behind.

Still several steps away, Blaine stops his husband, tugging Kurt backward while Carole, Burt, and Ava head into the house for food. Once they're alone, he wraps his arms around Kurt's slender waist and kisses him fully, smiling into the kiss when Kurt makes a tiny whimper against his lips. "What kind of noise was that?"

"You surprised me. I wasn't expecting it."

"You weren't expecting a kiss from your husband? Me? Blaine Devon Anderson-Hummel? Lover of all things pertaining to Kurt Anderson-Hummel?"

"Shut up."

"I just couldn't help myself. You look delectable today... plus you were really amazing during that egg hunt. I had to physically fight off that evil monster to keep him from snatching you up and running away with you as well."

"Yeah, because we definitely wouldn't want to scar our daughter for life, that's for sure."

"Definitely."

Kurt smiles, blushing as he leans forward to press a kiss against Blaine's fluffy hair. All these years later and he still grimaces sometimes at the memory of his mouth running into what felt like a plastic helmet. Now that Blaine's practically gel-less, it's easier to leave forehead/hair kisses and Kurt just loves to do that. "Well you must know what it does to me to see you doting on Ava like you do."

"Surely." Blaine pauses, but just for a moment. "Does it make you want another one?"

That shocks Kurt a little. They haven't discussed having more children yet, though the idea's always been on the table. Blaine's always wanted several kids and he's just so good with them (especially babies) that Kurt can't help but imagine the two of them having a little boy this go around, perhaps one with jet black hair and hazel eyes that can counteract Ava's brown hair and blue eyes. "...really?"

"Only if you want to. That's why I asked."

"I- of course I want to have another baby with you! God, Blaine, you really don't even have to ask-"

"I just wanted to make sure. I can't really make this decision on my own, you know? There's just so much to discuss. We've got to find another surrogate." Which is obvious considering Rachel's super busy with a new show (winning a Tony can do that to ya.) "Plus we've got to decide who the bio father is-"

"You. It's your turn."

"-and then we've gotta think about our house. It might get too small with the three of us and another baby. Especially if we have a boy. Ava's not gonna want to share a room with her brother. Heck, I don't think she'll want to share a room with a sister either."

"Yeah, we should probably make sure she masters that sharing thing before kindergarten."

"Yeah. Definitely."

"But I... I don't care what we have to do. I just- I look at Ava and I see you with her and Blaine, you're such a wonderful father. I would love to have more kids with you."

At that, Blaine smiles again, his grin growing wider as he moves in closer to his husband and gently kisses him, warm and slow thanks to the many years they've been doing this very act. Kurt pulls him closer, ignoring the soft plip-plop of cold raindrops starting to fall from the sky and gather on his clothes. Behind him, he can hear Ava talking up a storm in the kitchen, questioning her grandparents about potatoes and gravy and why do they need green beans on Easta?

"So we're doing this?" Blaine finally asks after they break apart, still standing there in the slight drizzle. They're staring into each others' eyes, focus only on one another as they have a silent conversation with their gazes. It's just by looking directly at Kurt and studying his expression that Blaine knows it's going to happen... soon, if he knows any better. By this time next year, if they're lucky, they'll have another baby to dress up and take to see the Easter bunny. They'll have another child to teach how to Easter egg hunt in the future. They'll have another baby to order a specialized basket for, a basket that they can hide chocolate bunnies and cute outfits and other little trinkets inside.

Another child that they can carry on this tradition with.

"Maybe we can name this one after Finn?" Kurt questions and Blaine nods into another kiss, agreeing instantly. They've talked about that too. Always. Because it's never been a question. Well, until now.

"It'd be an honor." Before Blaine can even reflect, a shout of his name as well as Kurt's (Daddy! Papa!) comes from the back porch and there stands Ava, face smudged with what looks like chocolate. In one hand, she holds a miniature chocolate rabbit with its head bitten off, some of the cocoa melting in her warm palm as she stands in the doorway to the kitchen and glares at her daddies with an intensity that both men are sure was taught to her by Rachel herself. "What, honey?"

"Gramma said food now!"

"Right now?"

"Yeah!"

"So then why are you eating chocolate if the food's done? Did grandpa give that to you?" Kurt questions, raising a curious eyebrow at his father as Burt tries to scoot his granddaughter back inside. He looks guilty as hell, but all Kurt can do is roll his eyes at the sight. Just like a grandfather to spoil the hell out of his grandchild... and boy, will he be happy to know he'll be getting another one sooner or later. "You ready to eat?"

Blaine nods, linking his hands with Kurt before they start to make their way to the house. His stomach growls in lieu of a response, which makes Kurt laugh.

"So hungry. My poor Blaine."

"What can I say? Carole makes the best ham and I'm excited for it."

"You are preaching to the choir, sir." Kissing Blaine's knuckles, he walks ahead, somewhat pulling Blaine along with him in a walk that they've mastered over the years. Somewhere a few yards over, laughter bursts through the air and fills their ears, just the sounds of a few children playing several feet away. The squeals and shouts of excitement whipping around the young fathers are like a promise in the wind. Soon that'll be them and their children, Ava and her sibling (or siblings) running through the backyard, giggling and yelling as they enjoy themselves under the watchful eye of their parents and grandparents.

As one of the little neighbor boys yells for his dad, Kurt grins and squeezes his husband's hand a little tighter.

That may just be them soon and he really can't wait.

A/N: Like I said at the beginning of this story in the first author's note, I posted this before Easter and I forgot to post it on here. I've been slacking with updating my page so if you're ever looking for an mpreg or daddy!Klaine fix and you notice I haven't updated on here in a while, hit up my tumblr (warblerslushie) because most likely, I've been posting on there and haven't bothered to upload any updates here. I just keep forgetting! Anyway, I hope you liked this. If there's something you'd like to see written, just send me a prompt and I'll save it with some of the others I'm planning on writing soon! Thanks!