Six months passed in a happy blur of love and life. After they had returned from France, Blaine had made the decision to change his last name to Hummel. Now, Blaine Hummel was signed to a record label and was joyfully at work on his first professional album. Kurt had produced his fall collection to high acclaim. Both men felt they were at the height of their careers and enjoyed each day as well as each moment they had together. Theirs had become a marriage of love and devotion, one that inspired the people around them and lessened the fear of those who were to be matched to strangers.
Their social life kept them as busy as their careers, with musician parties and nights at the club with fashion designers.
One Saturday, they were going to the house of Blaine's guitar player, Jake Puckerman. Kurt had introduced Puck's younger brother to his husband. He and his wife, Marley, were expecting their first child. The baby shower was co-ed and Blaine and Kurt had excitedly over shopped for the expected little one.
Marley was largely pregnant, nearing the end of her term. She joyfully invited the men inside and made introductions to the people they didn't know. They spent the next hour playing games and watching Jake and Marley open presents. Kurt and Blaine had bought them more than anyone and were teased mercilessly about it.
"Are you guys ready to adopt or what?" Jake said, punching Blaine in the arm.
Rubbing his arm, Blaine shook his head. "Not yet. We still have a few years to enjoy with each other. But we do love babies."
"You two are going to be great parents," Marley said, folding the fifth outfit they had bought for the baby. They'd gotten a baby wrap carrier, monitors, first aid equipment, and so many outfits, Marley told Kurt they wouldn't need to buy anything more for the little one.
When someone asked about the gender of the baby, Marley and Jake seemed to glow with happiness.
"She is a little girl. We opted for her to have my features. Our next baby will look like Jake. His and hers, so to speak," Marley shared.
Kurt looked at Blaine and they shared a glance. They'd discussed the made-to-order babies that were so common. They agreed that even if they had the opportunity to have a baby of their own, they would rather the baby come out as nature intended, not as science made them.
Kurt and Blaine stayed well after the shower was over. Blaine was in the den with Jake, playing guitars and Kurt was talking maternity wear with Marley.
"I've never thought of doing a maternity line," he said, rubbing his chin. It was an interesting thought.
"You would make so much off it," Marley said, rubbing her large stomach. "Maternity wear that actually looks good is practically unheard of."
"I'm going to have to see what I can come up with. Maybe you can help me with that. I'd need someone who has been pregnant to tell me what is needed for comfort and growth," Kurt said, his mind already creating dress-forms with belly pads and flowing bolts of material.
"Really?" Marley asked, her green eyes wide with excitement. "I'd love to get into fashion design."
"Absolutely. Give me some time to think and come up with something and then I'll have you come into consult with me," Kurt said, smiling at her.
"I'm so excited!" she said. "Would you like more club soda?"
Kurt shook his head. "No thank you."
"Okay," she said. "I'll be right back."
Kurt was lost in the wonderland of fashion when he heard a sharp cry come from the kitchen. Running toward the sound, he found Marley collapsed against a counter, her hand low on her belly.
"Kurt, get Jake. The baby is coming!" she said, then gave a low moan of pain.
Kurt turned and ran, getting Jake. All three men ran back to see that Marley was hunched over, tears of pain streaking down her pale cheeks.
"Oh god, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Jake cried. "What do we do? Boil water? Call an ambulance?"
"Are you an idiot?" Marley bit out. "We're five fucking minutes from the hospital!"
"We'll drive you," Blaine said, taking Marley by the arm.
"Do you have a bag ready?" Kurt asked.
"In the closet by the front door," Marley said through gritted teeth.
Between the three of them, they got the bag and got Marley loaded in the car. They rushed to the hospital where she was admitted. The doctor said she was already eight centimeters dilated and the baby would be coming soon.
Kurt and Blaine were ushered out and the door was closed as they prepared for the birth. The men looked at each other excitedly.
"I've never seen a brand new baby before," Kurt said, clutching Blaine's hand in his.
"Me either. Do you suppose we should call Marley's parents?" Blaine asked.
"Shit! I didn't even think about that. I don't have any of that information. Do you?"
"No. I guess they will have to do it after the baby is born," Blaine mused.
They sat there quietly, holding hands, each filled with their own thoughts about their future baby. Their adopted child would be a Scrap. An ugly word for a child born wrong from the interference of science. Parents made their choices before pregnancy on how the child would look. Hair and eye color, skin tone, freckles, dimples, height, weight, everything could be decided before the fertilized egg was implanted in the mother. But science wasn't perfect and neither were some of the babies born of it. They were called Scraps because it sounded like the Swedish word for garbage. Both were thrown out.
Marley and Jake were expecting a Chosen, a child with the perfect chosen features and physical characteristics. Blaine and Kurt might not agree, but they were supportive of their friends.
Their heads flung up when they heard the wail of a newborn baby. They looked at each other and grinned. Listening for several seconds, their eyes met, filled with love. Their grins disappeared when shouts were heard. They recognized the voice of the infuriated mother.
"What the fuck is that?!" Marley screamed. "That is not my child! What the hell is wrong with it? Get it away from me! Now!"
Looking at each other in shock, Blaine and Kurt ran for the room, opening the door without knocking. A nurse was taking the small bundle from a red faced Marley who was still ranting.
"Dr. Chang, I demand to know the meaning of this!" Marley screeched. "I did not order a freaking Scrap!"
"Mrs. Puckerman, you were told at the beginning that science isn't perfect. You signed the paperwork, stating that you understood the risks involved with choosing traits," the female doctor told her. She looked haggard and at the end of her rope with Marley.
Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and nodded his head to the other side of the room where the nurse was weighing the newborn. They slowly moved closer and Kurt gasped in wonder as they got their first look.
The wiggling infant was beautiful. She had hair that reflected both of her parents. One side of her head was covered in downy blonde hair and the other half was covered in black. It was a striking look. The baby began to fuss and before he knew it, Blaine found himself singing softly to the baby. The nurse looked up at them and smiled gratefully.
As Blaine sung the quiet lullaby, the babe quieted and Kurt noticed another unique detail. She was missing four digits. Both of her thumbs and papa toes were missing. It would make things difficult, Kurt thought, but he smiled as the baby flung her hand toward her mouth and captured a finger.
The nurse wrapped the baby tightly and offered her to Kurt. He looked at her in shock and she nodded encouragingly, helping him take the baby, holding her close to his body. The sound of Marley's outraged screams faded into the background. All Kurt could hear was Blaine's warm voice at his shoulder, his husband's arm around him and his other hand lightly stroking the soft skin of the baby's cheek. She blinked her eyelids and then seemed to look straight into Kurt's eyes. Blaine paused in his singing and gave a soft sigh before continuing the song. Her eyes were hauntingly beautiful. One perfect green eye that matched Marley's and one equally perfect deep brown eye that echoed her father's. Her eyes stood out against her dual toned hair. The light green eye with the black hair, the brown eye with the blonde.
"She's perfect," Kurt said quietly.
"She is," Blaine agreed.
"Well, if you two like her so damn much, you can keep her," Marley said.
The men turned, startled and realized the doctor and nurse had left. Jake and Marley were watching them. Jake looked devastated and Marley was still furious.
"Are you kidding?" Kurt asked, his mouth hanging open.
"Do I sound like I'm kidding?"
"But she's so beautiful," Blaine said. "She's your daughter."
Marley gazed at them scornfully. "She is not beautiful. And even if she shares some of my DNA, it doesn't make her my daughter. I did not order this," she said, flinging her hand at the baby.
"This is a human being, not a product you can just return if it isn't to your liking," Kurt argued, feeling sick to his stomach at her words.
"Have you never heard of a Scrap?" Marley said sarcastically.
Blaine turned to Jake. "Surely you disagree, don't you Jake?"
Jake kept his eyes on the ground as Marley turned her head to glare at him in warning. "I, uh, agree with Marley."
The door opened and the doctor and nurse were back, followed by a stern looking blonde woman in a business suit.
"Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman, this is Sue Sylvester, the social worker for the hospital. I thought you might want to talk to her," Dr. Chang said.
"Hello," Sue said to them, looking questioningly at Kurt and Blaine. "I understand you may be interested in foster care for the child."
Marley looked relieved and nodded. "Absolutely. Unless these two want to take her."
"You were serious?" Kurt asked, shock on his face.
"Of course I am. You two have to adopt a Scrap anyway. Why not now?" she replied. "Can you please decide so this thing can be removed from my room?"
Blaine and Kurt looked at each other. They saw the answer in each other's eyes.
"We would be happy to adopt her," Blaine said.
"We would love to," Kurt said at the same time.
"Excellent. Nurse, please take her until the adoption is complete," Marley said and leaned back in relief.
The nurse walked up and took the baby without a word. When the door closed, the social worker took a packet of papers out of her briefcase.
"I brought all the necessary paperwork. I am also a notary, so once you all have finished filling everything out, I'll be able to finalize it." She turned to Kurt and Blaine. "You will be able to take your daughter home in about an hour."
Kurt swallowed hard. "Oh, okay."
Thoughts churned in his head. His daughter. His and Blaine's daughter. They were parents.
Their part of the paperwork was easy and when they finished, they made to leave the room.
"I'll have all of her stuff delivered to your condo within the next couple hours," Marley told them.
"You don't want to keep it?" Blaine asked.
"I want nothing to remind me of this experience," Marley said.
Jake stood next to her, still silent, though it looked to Kurt like he was in pain.
"Oh, okay," Blaine said.
The two walked from the room, hand in hand. When they reached the waiting room, they collapsed on a couch.
"What the hell just happened?" Blaine asked.
"We became parents," Kurt said, equally in shock.
"Holy shit," Blaine mumbled.
"No kidding," Kurt whispered.
"What are we going to do?"
"Become parents," Kurt repeated. He thought for a moment. "Ah, let's start with a name. What are we going to name her?"
Blaine smiled so sweetly, Kurt had to lean over and kiss him. "A name is very important," Blaine said when they parted.
"It is. It needs to reflect her, how perfect she is," Kurt agreed.
"And how beautiful we think she is," Blaine said. "Break out the smart phones and start searching, I guess."
They were silent for a moment. Kurt dug a pen and tablet from his jacket. He always kept it with him so he could jot down design ideas. He went to offer Blaine a piece of paper, but he was already jotting down notes. Kurt grinned at how similar they were as artists and bent back to his phone.
Five minutes later, they each had a small list of ideas. They discussed each one, what the name meant and how it might sound mixed with a choice for a middle name.
"Mr. Hummel?" the social worker asked, suddenly standing in front of them.
"Yes," they answered in unison.
Sue smiled. "Um, I know this is all sudden for you, but do you have a name that we can put on the birth certificate? Or would you rather us put 'Baby Hummel' and you can decide at a later time?"
"Actually, we just decided," Kurt announced. "Her name is Acelynn Bliss Hummel."
"That is pretty," Sue said, writing it down as Kurt spelled it for her. "Does it mean anything special? I obviously know what Bliss means, but Acelynn?"
"Acelynn is an American born name meaning 'beautiful one'," Kurt said.
"Bliss is an English name meaning 'perfect joy'," Blaine said after him.
"That really is beautiful. You two are going to be perfect as parents," she told them.
"I hope so," Kurt said, suddenly nervous.
"You'll be fine. Trust me, I work with a lot of parents, adoptive and birth. You two have what it takes," she assured him.
"Thank you," Blaine said. "I think we needed to hear that."
"We really did," Kurt agreed.
"Okay, well, let me go get this paperwork filed and the birth certificate filled out. While I'm doing that, I suggest going to the nursery and talking with them about the immediate needs of the baby. We can have a nurse visit you a couple of times per week to make sure everything is going well. Acelynn will be ready to go by the time you are done talking with the nurse," Sue said. "I will see you in the nursery."
"Okay," Blaine said faintly.
When Sue had walked away, the couple turned to each other.
"Well, should we go learn how to be parents?" Kurt asked.
"I think that would be wise," Blaine said.
They stood and began walking to the nursery.
"By the way, I'm Daddy," Kurt said.
"No way, I'm Daddy, you're Papa," Blaine argued.
"Not even close, Hummel. You are Papa. I'm definitely more suited to the Daddy title," Kurt insisted, grinning.
"Keep dreaming," Blaine said, returning his grin.
. . . . . . .
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It was super fun to write. There will probably only be another chapter or two. Everyone excited for the new season of Glee? It's coming soon! **Thanks to Gambinogrl16 for pointing out my huge mistake! I fixed it and am re-submitting the chapter.**