One of you guessed correctly who'd be the one to piece everything together...not saying who though!

xoxoxo

"There's hotdogs in the fridge; he'll eat one of those and a bottle of milk. Just boil the hotdog until it's cooked. If he refuses to eat the hotdog, put mustard on it. He loves mustard. Not ketchup, though. Ketchup does weird things to him…we think he might be sensitive to it. He can kind of get upstairs on his own – he'll usually get confused or bored halfway up – but he can't get back down them so keep the gate closed at the bottom of the stairs to prevent him going up to begin with. He has a basket of stuffed animals and balls in the living room, so he shouldn't need to go upstairs. You can take him outside if you want, but he has to be in his pen while he's out there. If he has to go potty, he'll just go to his puppy mat. You have my phone number, as well as Finn's. My parents' numbers are on the fridge. Call if absolutely anything goes wrong. We should be home around ten, ten thirty or so. He'll start falling asleep around nine; just put him in his crib and lay his blanket over him. His nightlight turns on automatically and goes off automatically. The baby monitor is by my bed in my room, so once he goes to sleep you can grab that to keep an ear on him. Any questions?"

David looked around the living room; he could see Alex's basket of toys, the gate was already set up at the bottom of the stairs, the pee mat was in the corner, there were a few kids' DVDs sitting on top of the DVD player, everything seemed to be in order for Alex. "Um...nope. I think we're good here."

David began escorting Kurt to the front door where Burt and Carol were already waiting. Finn was at Rachel's house and would be accompanying her to the performance. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Kurt had passed the front door and stood on the top step of the stairs. He turned around and grabbed the front door to prevent David from shutting it. "You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Kurt. Calm down." David placed his foot in the open doorway to prevent Alex from scuttling after his father. "I'm fine; Alex will be fine; your performance will be amazing. Now hurry up and get going before you're late." Kurt exchanged nervous glances between Alex and David as Carol dragged him off towards his father's SUV.

David shut the door after Kurt, careful to be mindful of Alex's head. Alex stared at the closed front door, sitting on his rump as he wiggled his tail back and forth. "All right, monkey-man." Alex turned around and followed after David, lunging at David's heels as David walked around the couch and plopped himself down. "I've never babysat, before," Alex jumped up onto the couch to sit next to David, leaning both his paws into David's thigh as leverage so he could get closer to David's face: presumably to lick him. "And I can't remember ever being babysat. I'm trusting you not to take advantage of me with your cuteness." Alex just looked up at David, his mouth open and tongue hanging out. His appearance lacked any and all hint of comprehension. "What would you like to do first? Would you like to play?"

Alex barked once before jumping off the couch and running over to his toy basket. Apparently David had said at least one word Alex recognized. Over the next five minutes, Alex took every toy out of the basket. He kept running over to David with them, David would take whatever toy Alex had at the moment and throw it for Alex. Alex would then chase after it, get distracted as soon as he got near the toy basket, grab another toy and return to David with the new toy. Very quickly, there were toys all over the living room, dining room, and even a few in the kitchen. Alex had the nerve to look mildly confused when he looked in his toy basket and discovered all of the toys "missing." David just shook his head and got up to start collecting them and returning them to the basket. He leaned over to pick up a blue penguin that seemed to be filled with uncooked rice or plastic pellets. When he straightened back out, cradling an armload of toys against his chest, he spotted a frameless picture handing behind glass on the wall. It was a picture of Wolf, his body curled up like a dog's, his head resting on Alex's sleeping form.

So that was it: the face of the enemy.

David dumped the last armload of toys back in Alex's basket before returning to the picture – fixated, fascinated. His hand hovered over the glass; the reflection of his hand on the shiny surface distracted him momentarily from the contents of the picture. But only momentarily. It was disturbing how at ease…how at home…Wolf looked cuddling with Alex. His 'son.' David snarled; it disgusted him. Wolf had no claim to Alex beyond genetic similarity. Wolf was with him, at best, three nights a month. David was with him two, three times a week. David removed the picture from the wall and retreated to the couch, staring at it as he sat. Alex jumped up next to him, a weasel-like toy in his mouth. He squeaked it once to get David's attention.

"Word-of-the-day, Alex: deadbeat. Can you say 'deadbeat'?" Of course Alex couldn't, but it made David feel better to finally be able to trash-talk Wolf to someone. He tilted the picture, trying to get rid of the light glare bouncing off the glass. Instead, the image became distorted with a reflection of David's own face, layered over the image in the picture. Wolf had no right to Alex, no right to Kurt. David was the one that was always there for them; David was the one that cared about them; David was the one that protected them; David was the one that deserved them.

David placed the picture down on the coffee table before he became overwhelmed with the urge to throw it. "You hungry, Alex?"

xoxoxo

David held the bottle out for Alex; Alex ran at it, attacking the nipple as though it were his mortal enemy. Watching the way Alex gnawed at the rubber tip, David's own nipples twinged in sympathy for the inanimate object. Alex's tail slapped back and forth like a clock pendulum on fast forward, causing him to lose his balance several times. A little stream of milk trickled out of the corner of Alex's mouth, staining his dark grey fur white before disappearing as it absorbed into the fluff.

David pulled the bottle away from a reluctant Alex, who clamped his teeth down trying to keep his grip on the bottle. David won out and Alex was forced to calm down and breath. Alex tried to make another grab for the bottle but lurched to a stop. He momentarily went cross-eyed and his mouth opened slowly. Next thing David knew, Alex was rapid-fire sneezing, forcing little milk bubbles to balloon out of his nose and then pop, leaving snotty, milky snort dribbling from his muzzle. "You are just a disgusting little wreck, aren't you?"

Alex sneezed once more for good measure.

"God bless you. Now would you like some hotdog to go with your boogers?" Alex wiped his tongue over his nose and muzzle in response. "That is friggin' disgusting. Although, I suppose it could be rather useful to be able to pick your own nose with your tongue. I'm not sure how…but I suppose it could be useful."

Alex wolfed his hotdog down (no pun intended). Kurt had told David that Alex only needed one hotdog, but Alex still looked hopefully at his plate. It looked like he was trying to will the miraculous appearance of another hotdog. "You're a growing werewolf. A hotdog and bottle of milk is not enough for a little runt like you." David scrounged around through the cupboards, trying to locate an acceptable treat for Alex. There were cookies and chips in the cabinet, but David didn't think they would live up to Kurt's standards of what made acceptable snacks for a baby who was still only a few months old. There were some wheat thins in the cabinet, as well, but David wouldn't force those upon his worst enemy. Nothing in the refrigerator was of any interest, but the freezer proved a treasure trove of frozen treats: king cones, choco-tacos, ice cream bars, a pint of Haagen-Daz vanilla ice cream. David decided that last choice was probably the least likely to get him in trouble; vanilla was probably the healthiest ice cream option.

David collected a bowl and spoon while Alex tried sucking the last few drops of milk out of his bottle. When David took the bowl of ice cream out to the living room, he didn't even have to call for Alex. Alex took one look at David's retreating form and chased after him, trotting like a miniature pony. Before David could even sit down, Alex was already on the couch trying to figure out how to climb into David's lap, either to get closer to David, or to get closer to the interesting new food David was holding. "Hold up…one minute. Lemme get settled." David scooped up a tiny spoonful of the ice cream and held it out for Alex. Alex didn't even bother sniffing at the spoon; instead, he just licked at the white glob, pushing it off the spoon and into David's lap. David hadn't so much as gotten the chance to chastise Alex for being such a messy eater before Alex was licking up the mess from David's knee. David took a bite of ice cream for himself, not caring that the spoon already had puppy drool on it. He gave Alex another spoonful of ice cream and they continued sharing back and forth, with Alex trying to climb over to the bowl every time it was David's turn for a bite. When the bowl was empty, David decided to let Alex have his way and handed it over for the pup to lick clean.

The photo of Wolf with Alex caught his eye, again. Wolf's head rested on top of Alex, who had his little body stretched out on what appeared to be Kurt's bed. It was amazing to see the size difference between 'father' (David didn't think Wolf worthy of the title) and son. Alex's entire body was more or less the same size as Wolf's head. Alex had an incredible amount of growing to do if he ever hoped to match his sire.

When Alex had finished up the last drops of vanilla, contrary to David's expectations, he settled down and curled up in David's lap. "All right little buddy. You want to relax for a bit?" David toed his sneakers off before reclining on the couch, his head supported by the arm, his feet elevated by the other arm of the couch. Alex moved up farther on David so his body was on David's chest and his head was nestled under David's chin.

xoxoxo

As sleep slowly left him, he got that strange sensation when your body is still asleep but your mind wakes up, so noises intrude on your dreams. "Aww…they're so cute together."

"Real cute. He's got his feet on up on my side of the couch."

"Oh, hush Burt. Kurt's right; they're adorable together."

"They're both so cute sleeping like that."

"Don't let him hear you calling him cute. Just 'cause he's ok with you being gay, now, doesn't mean he'll be ok with you crushing on him. That might send him back over the edge."

"I am not crushing on him. I have Wolf."

"Oh well. Wake him up so you can put Alex to bed and then he can go."

Kurt lightly shaking his shoulder forced David to completely wake up, though the sudden jerking motion caused much of what he'd just heard to tumble lose from his memory. "Hey, you're back."

"Yep. And I think it's time for you to go to bed in your own house, mister." Kurt smiled fondly at his friend and son. Kurt was still wearing his outfit from the performance, David noticed.

"Yep. Um…want me to put him to bed?" David stroked absentmindedly at Alex's fur; the werewolf was still asleep, though his limbs twitched.

"You don't have to."

"Can I? I'd like to."

Kurt's smile broadened. "Yeah, sure. I have to go get changed though. You can put him to bed on your own?"

David wrapped his arms around Alex, holding him steady as he stood up from the couch. "I think I can manage tucking him in."

"Great." Kurt walked with David as far as his own room.

David continued on towards the nursery and shut the door after himself. Alex's crib was placed against the right wall, equidistant between the door and the back wall. There was a scraggly tree outside Alex's window that David knew would have given him nightmares when he was little. After placing Alex down in the crib, he drew the curtains over the window. He returned to Alex and pulled a downy, blue blanket over him. Alex harrumphed in contentment and wiggled a little under the blanket, still asleep, but not all the way. David gently ran his knuckles over Alex's head – the soft spot between his ears.

Before he could help himself, David opened his mouth and, in a delicate whisper, began to sing:

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

xoxoxo

Kurt had stopped buttoning up his shirt and stood frozen, watching the baby monitor like it was some extraterrestrial.

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors.
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

He smiled a private smile and decided to keep the knowledge of David's ability to sing (very well, he might add) to himself.