Kurt arrived in Ohio and was met by his father, Burt. The two exchanged a tight hug before gathering Kurt's luggage and heading to the car.
"I heard your new line is moving along well," Burt said a tad awkwardly.
"It means I'm selling a lot, Dad. No special lingo needed," Kurt grinned, patting him on the shoulder.
"Oh good. See, tires, I understand. I don't know nothing about clothes and lines and whatnots," Burt said, turning onto the freeway. "So tell me how your life is going."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Burt coughed. "Other than the obvious."
"Well, other than the obvious, the clothes are selling. I was able to hire ten more employees, which is helping a lot. The paperwork is a pain in the ass, but we are getting merchandise out faster. I'm lucky that at this point in my career, I can be picky in who I hire. Remember my first employee?" Kurt grimaced.
Burt laughed. "Yeah, that daffy chick, Dotty, right?"
"Dotty. What a unique person she was. I swear she could sew like a champ but between her panic attacks about the world ending and her overabundance of energy, it was a quiet relief when I was able to pass her along to Rachel," Kurt said.
"What does she do for Rachel? She's still doing the Broadway shows, right?" Burt asked, feeling out of the loop.
"Yeah, she's on tour with Wicked right now with her husband, Jesse. I convinced her she needed someone to follow her along in case of emergency costume repairs. The two are so paranoid, they made a great match," Kurt chuckled, his blue green eyes twinkling.
"That's evil, son," Burt said with a grin.
Kurt put his hands up, an innocent smile on his face. "I'm just spreading the wealth of talent. Now, though, it's easier with thirty four employees. I am able to completely concentrate on designing and client orders. With Tina overseeing the sewing team, I don't have to worry about the Dotty's of the work force."
"Thirty four, huh. Kurt, I'm proud of you, son. Who knew you would end up with more employees than your old dad," Burt said, his chest puffing with emotion.
"Thanks, Dad. But it's not like you run the shop anymore. How is Puck handling everything? Does he still call you or Finn for help?" Kurt was grateful for the chance to catch up. It had been a while since he had seen his dad, though they talked weekly on the phone. But even his affection for his dad and his eagerness for updates from home couldn't keep away the feeling of dread. In two days, he would meet his husband, the man he would spend the rest of his life with. The man he would share every aspect of his life with, including intimacy. The thought of making love with a stranger turned his stomach.
"Kurt? You awake over there?" Burt said, patting his son's knee.
Kurt jerked his attention back to his dad. "Sorry, jet lag took over for a minute. You were saying?"
For the rest of the ride home, Kurt determinedly kept his attention on his father and their conversation. There was no sense in worrying himself to death. Well, at least not until he was alone.
. . . . . .
Kurt's whole family was there to greet him when they got home. Carole enveloped him in a warm hug and he took comfort in her soft arms and floral scent. Sam, who had remained part of the family since high school, picked him up and twirled him around until Kurt began lecturing him on caring for his clothes. Finn hugged him tightly and tousled his hair. "Hey, little brother," he said with a grin.
"Hey, Mr. Hudson," Kurt teased. "How are all of your shop students doing? Anyone missing a finger yet?"
Punching him lightly, Finn snorted. "No, we haven't had an injury in forty two days and counting." His face filled with pride. "Those kids are really something else."
Kurt, who had been ready to mock his brother further, saw the true emotion in Finn's brown eyes. "So teaching shop is better than history?"
Finn rolled his eyes. "By a long shot. It was a hard lesson to learn and I feel bad for the kids who were in my history class. But if the teacher can't find some sort of passion for what they are teaching, the kids just aren't going to enjoy or learn near as much as they could."
"I'm really proud of you, Finn," Kurt said. "Your kids are lucky to have you. As well as your Glee kids, you guys just won your Regionals, right?"
Finn nodded with a grin. "We did. On to Nationals in a couple of months! This year, it's in Seattle, so we're going to have to raise a lot of money for travel expenses. But Quinn has some great ideas, so I'm not too worried," he said. Kurt caught an odd look cross his brother's face before he suddenly jumped up and went to the kitchen.
Following him, Kurt perched on a stool and watched as his brother got out a pint of rocky road ice cream and a giant spoon. Finn may have grown into a fine man, but his appetite was still that of a growing teenager.
"What's going on, Finn? Is Quinn okay?" Kurt asked, concerned for his sister-in-law.
"Yeah, uh, she's great actually. She wanted to be here tonight, but she has court cases until late," Finn said evasively.
"Okay. Now why don't you tell me what's really going on?" Kurt said, seeing through his brother's words.
"Quinn's pregnant, dude. I'm, uh, going to be a dad," Finn said, a smile spreading wide on his face.
"Finn! That's fantastic!" Kurt shouted. He got up and grabbed his brother in a bear hug, not caring about his outfit. "I'm going to be an uncle," he cried.
Getting his own spoon, he toasted Finn with a bite of ice cream. "To a healthy, natural baby," Kurt said, putting the bite in his mouth. At the look in Finn's eyes, Kurt swallowed abruptly, almost choking on a peanut. "What is it?" he demanded.
"We, um. Well, Quinn, she wanted to, uh. The thing is, um," Finn stuttered.
Kurt's stomach sank. "No," he whispered.
"Her family was pressuring us and, well, you know Quinn, she wants things a certain way," Finn said, holding his hands up, his tan face going pale. "She gets scary, Kurt, you know that."
"You're having a Chosen?" Kurt bit out, anger boiling deep down.
"Well, yeah, I guess we are. But the baby is healthy," Finn said.
"And what kind of order did Mrs. Hudson put in?" Kurt asked, his voice like ice.
"Well, since she still has contact with Beth, she wanted to have a boy. And, uh, you know, since Beth had a different dad, Quinn didn't want Beth to feel like she was different. So, she went for blonde hair and green eyes like her and Beth. I, uh, was kind of hoping for darker hair like me, but Quinn was pretty set on her decision," Finn finished quietly.
"I don't understand this, Finn! We all agreed, remember? All of us old Glee kids agreed that we would have natural children if it was at all possible. That we wouldn't mess with anything and love whatever nature gave us!" Kurt shouted. "And tell me, Finn, what is your wife going to do if the baby comes out different than she ordered, huh? Are you going to throw your baby out? Throw it to the Scrap heap?" Kurt said scathingly. It was considered a slur to say things like 'Scrap heap' or 'Scrap yard'. Kurt was too furious to care.
"Of course not," Finn yelled back at him, his eyes filled with anger. Kurt saw his brothers hands form into fists, but didn't care.
"Are you sure, Finn? Because it seems as if Quinn is pretty determined to get what she wants," Kurt returned.
"Enough!" Burt shouted, walking into the room and standing between the two men. "Kurt, this is none of your business."
"Dad, how can you say that? You are in Washington fighting against this shit!" Kurt argued, shocked.
"It is still none of your concern. It isn't your child or your marriage. The decision was made by Finn and his wife and it is their concern what they do with their child," Burt said, his voice tired.
"You're just going to stand there and let them do something we all hate?" Kurt shrieked.
"No, dammit. Don't you think I tried to talk them out of it? What's done is done," Burt replied.
"Kurt?" Carole said quietly.
"What?" Kurt snapped. Realizing who had spoken to him, he put up his hands. "I'm sorry, Carole. I didn't mean to snap at you," he said pointedly, glaring at Finn.
"There is someone at the door for you. It, uh, looks official," she said, twisting her hands together.
Kurt felt the blood drain from his face. Everything drained from him except cold dread. He knew who it was.
Without another word, he turned and went to the door. Two men dressed in dark suits stood on the porch.
"Yes," Kurt managed to cough out.
"Kurt Hummel?" One of the men asked.
"Yes, sir," Kurt replied, doing his best to keep back tears of fear.
"Identification please?"
Kurt showed the man his driver's license before stuffing it back into his wallet, his hands shaking.
"We are from the United States Home and Family Division. You are expected to be at the Lima Municipal Court on the sixth at twelve o'clock. Here is your paperwork. Do you have any questions?" The man said stiffly.
"No, sir," Kurt said, taking the manila envelope, before gasping as the words sank in. "Wait! The sixth? It was supposed to be the eighth!" Kurt protested, panic breaking through. "The sixth is tomorrow!"
"The paperwork we were given states that you are to be there on the sixth. No deviation is allowed. Will there be a problem?" the man said, his eyebrow raising. He casually unbuttoned his blazer. The movement caught Kurt's eye and he could see the man was armed. The sight made all of his panic and fight die.
"No, no problem, sir," Kurt said, going even more pale.
"Sign here," the other man said, producing an electronic signature device. Kurt signed without his usual flourish and watched as the men walked back to their non-descript sedan.
Kurt turned around to see his entire family staring at him.
"I'm getting married tomorrow. I think I'll go to bed now," he said quietly.
"Kurt," his father began.
"No, please. I need to be alone," Kurt said and made his way through to the stairs.
His room looked the same, though most of his knickknacks were gone. It was a guest room when he wasn't here. But the familiarity of the surroundings brought him a measure of peace. Placing the envelope beside him on the bed, he methodically undressed, hanging up his clothes before pulling on his pajama pants and a tank top. Getting into bed, he picked up the envelope and stared at it. He knew what was inside it. His friend, Trent, had received one of these. Inside was the name and description of his future husband, what his occupation was, general health history. Everything you would need to know. Even down to the detail of who would be moving. They decided whose career was more important and the other person simply had to pack up and move, just like that. All details. Except a picture. It was like a sick joke on the government's behalf. To set up these couples and not let them even see what the other person looked like before they met on their wedding day.
Did he want to open the envelope? What the hell, Kurt thought. It couldn't get any worse at this point. By this time tomorrow, it would be a done deal, he would be a married man.
Sitting up, he opened the envelope and began reading about his husband.
His name was Blaine Devon Anderson and was two weeks older than Kurt. A flicker of interest caught him as he read about Blaine's career as a musician. He apparently had a CD out. Shit, was he going to have to relocate for this guy? Scanning quickly, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Blaine Anderson would be moving to New York. From California, apparently. Poor guy, Kurt thought. Trying to think positively, he could appreciate that they were both creative people. He didn't know if that meant that they would clash or not, but it was better than a boring accountant.
Blaine was a healthy guy, no serious health issues now or in the past. He had grown up in Westerville and had gone to Dalton Academy. Shit, that was the same school as that asshole Smythe. Kurt did the math in his head with the years he attended and apparently, Blaine had transferred out before Sebastian ever started. Kurt guessed he shouldn't be too surprised that he recognized some part of the guy's details since they'd grown up in the same area.
Kurt finished reading and put the papers back in the envelope. As much as Blaine seemed like an interesting person on paper meant nothing. It didn't mention if he was an asshole or liked to beat up on smaller people. It didn't mention if there was something wrong with him and that was why he hadn't already married. Though the same sentiment could be aimed at Kurt. Was Blaine wondering why Kurt hadn't married before now? Would they even be able to stand each other enough to kiss at the altar?
. . . . . .
The morning of Kurt Hummel's wedding day dawned with him still wide awake, clutching the manila envelope in his hands.
. . . . . . .
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