Mini Anderson's

Hey guys! It's been almost a year since the first part of this was originally posted and I am so sorry that it's taken so long to getting around to posting more! Anyway, I hope that you'll still enjoy these little glimpses into the Anderson boys growing up.

Twinkle Toes

"You can't catch me, you can't catch me!" Jude giggled, his little feet dancing in patterns as he twirled and bopped his way down the hallway. The seven year old laughed harder, waving Blaine's teddy bear behind him when he disappeared through a doorway.

Laughing and dragging a squealing Blaine along, Lucas picked up the speed of his feet, side eyeing his baby brother to make sure he could keep up. "Come on Blainey Boo, we need to rescue Baba!" Grinning at the enthusiastic nod he received in return for his comment, Lucas swung Blaine up under one arm and kept running, the toddler's squeals and giggles growing ever louder.

Turning through the doorway, the pair came crashing to a stop against the barrier that was Jude's back. Lucas managed to twist the duo swiftly on instinct when his socked feet slipped out from under him, Blaine landing on his stomach, winding the pre-teen momentarily.

"Twinkle toes why you stop?" Blaine whined, pouting at Jude and unmoving from where he was comfortably sat on Lucas.

Jude's wide green eyes turned to look back at him, terror flashing in them as he pointed silently to the table where a man was sat staring at the children with cold, unforgiving eyes.

Quickly, Lucas sprang to his feet, gently pushing Blaine and Jude slightly behind him. "Father," He murmured lowly, ducking his head away from the man' steely gaze.

"What did you just call him?" The man growled, advancing on his cowering sons and pulling the three year old out from behind his brother's back. Pulling him forward, the Father held the toddler's tiny upper arms in a vice like grip that had the young boy squirming and whimpering slightly. "What did you call Julian, Blaine Devon? I asked you a question and I expect a god damn answer right now!"

"Jude go get Coop," Lucas hissed, trying to push the shaking curly haired boy from the room. "Jude now." Feeling the seven year old release the back of his t-shirt, he flickered his deep brown eyes to the sound of Jude's small feet pitter pattering out of the kitchen, one of his arms still gripping Blaine's teddy bear closely.

"For the last time Blaine Devon, what did you call him?" The boys' Father barked once more, shaking the three year old slightly until he cried out.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Lucas howled, tears coursing down his rosy eleven year old cheeks as he watched their Father hold his baby brother upright once more.

"I calle' him twinkle toes," The little boy whimpered softly, his eyes trained on the floor. Lucas winced when Vincent glared at Blaine's obvious problems of saying the letter 'd', the older man snarling softly when his young son mispronounced words.

"And why would you do that?"

"Erm," Blaine raised his eyes slightly, quickly lowering them again when they met his Father's hard grey ones. Shrugging slightly in Vincent Anderson's tight hold the boy sighed, "'cause he likes to 'ance and erm…the TV says it?"

"Was that a question or are you telling me that's why?"

"That's why," Blaine whispered, still squirming slightly.

Vincent stood back to his full height, gazing in disgust at his youngest son. "The only time Julian will be dancing from now on is if a girl asks him to. No son of mine is going to be a faggot, do we understand that?" Blaine nodded in agreement, confusion crossing his tiny features as he raised a finger to his mouth, fidgeting with his feet until he was stood on the sides of his shoe. "Stand up straight and stop fidgeting when I'm talking to you boy." Blaine's eyes widened, instantly going ramrod straight as he stared up at the giant of a man with petrified eyes, Lucas following suit a moment later. "You will repeat me Blaine Devon. No Anderson boy will be a faggot."

"No Anerson boy will be a faggot," Blaine muttered still looking deeply confused, Lucas shuddering to hear the word being repeated, let alone to come out of the youngest Anderson's mouth.

"Very good, now I think you have to be punished for potentially putting those thoughts in Julian's head, don't you?" Blaine nodded once, his eyes never once leaving his Father's self-righteous face. "Good, I want you to complete six laps of the garden at full speed, any slacking off and it'll be another three for every minute you do, have you got that?"

"Yes Father."

"Good," The oldest Anderson nodded, pushing the boy out of the door and locking it behind him, motioning for him to get moving.

"Dad one lap is like two miles long, he's three." Lucas whispered, his eyes watching Blaine's little figure battle against the howling wind and rain as he did what his Father had asked of him, shivering in just a t-shirt and jeans.

Vincent Anderson rolled his eyes, sitting back at the kitchen table and unfolding his newspaper to the financial section once more. "Stay out of this Lucas this has absolutely nothing to do with you. How I punish my sons' is between your Mother and I, so I would do as a good child should and keep quiet unless you want to be punished yourself."

"Yes Sir."

"Very good, now run along."

Lucas fled the kitchen, sobs threatening to break free from his throat as he crashed into Cooper, Elijah and Noah at the bottom of the stairs, Jude clinging tightly to Elijah's side. "Cooper you have to help Blaine, you have to," He sobbed, Noah pulling him into his arms and shooting his sixteen year old brother a worried look.

Cooper crouched to his eleven year old brother's height and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, making him turn away from Noah's shoulder to look at his oldest brother. "What's he done this time Lucas?" Gently, Cooper attempted to try and wipe the tears from Lucas's face.

"He's punishing him by making him run round the garden. It's pouring down and he's tiny and…" Lucas broke off once more with hiccoughed sobs, Noah pulling him close and resting his head on top of Lucas's.

Cooper stood up with nothing but fury painted on his face. "Elijah go and run a bath for Blaine, Noah take Jude and Lucas to the older twins room. It's where the others' are as far as I know and Father should be leaving in the next half hour so we can hide out there until then." Turning on his heel, Cooper stormed towards the kitchen, Elijah scooping up Jude in his wake, ushering his three younger brothers' up the stairs and shooting worried looks at the kitchen door.

Cooper slammed through the kitchen door, a furious expression on his face, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Language Cooper Jason," The boys' Father snapped, placing his paper neatly on the table and standing in front of his livid son, "And I'm punishing Blaine, not that it is any of your business what I do or don't do."

"Father he is three years old," Cooper said angrily, eyes finally catching on Blaine's small figure rounding the bottom of the garden.

"And if he doesn't learn now he'll never learn."

Shaking his head in exasperation, the sixteen year old stared incredulously at his Father. "Stop, just stop, you're going to kill him if you keep that up. Let him go and punish me later in his place instead, okay? He's a kid. This is just pure cruelty."

"Yes he is just a child. One that you're clearly not teaching well enough."

"Yeah because that's my job," Cooper muttered under his breath, glaring at the man and pushing past him wrench open the door and run down the large garden, scooping a wheezing, trembling Blaine up into his arms.

"Coopy, no he say I have to…"

"You don't Blaine. You're okay, you're going to be okay," Cooper whispered softly, wrapping his own hoodie around the boy as he headed for the back door, trying to stop the sob bubbling in his throat when the toddler gave a violent shudder. "You're okay, you're okay."

Reaching the bottom of their staircase, Cooper raised an eyebrow at the eight brothers' waiting for them there once more. Quickly he handed Blaine over to Elijah who immediately took off up the stairs, Jude hot on his heels. Gratefully, the sixteen year old accepted the towel that Noah handed him and started towel drying his drenched hair, trying to ignore the scared hazel eyes watching him from the bottom step as Bentley stared at him.

"Coopy?" Cooper's eyes closed slightly before he turned to look at Bentley, Blaine's scared expression mirrored in his identical face. Turning to the young boy, he opened his arms, smiling slightly when Bentley barrelled straight into them. "Will Blainey be okay?"

Gently kissing the top of the boys' curls, Cooper nodded his head against the top of Bentley's. "Yeah," He croaked, "He will be Benny, I promise, I'll make sure you're both okay." Glancing to find similar expressions on each of his brothers' not currently with Blaine, Cooper smile widened slightly and he opened his spare arm, revelling in the feeling when he suddenly found himself with armfuls of his younger brothers'. "I'll make sure you all are."

Cooper jolted awake with a start, sighing in annoyance and putting down the sheet of history homework that had decided to stick itself to his cheek. Running his hands absentmindedly down his chest, the sixteen year old carefully switched off his desk lamp and attempted to shove his homework into a haphazard pile where he could forget about it until morning, he had the rest of winter break to worry about it in anyways. Squinting at the figures on his clock until he could finally work out that they read that it was past eleven pm, the teenager pushed backwards from his desk, allowing the chair to roll smoothly towards the door. Grabbing the zip up hoodie from the back of his door, the teenager slipped it on over his bare chest, pulling his sweat pants up slightly with another large yawn, frowning when they simply fell down the few inches he had managed to yank them up.

Expecting the peaceful silence that only fell in the household when his younger brothers' were finally all sleeping, he frowned at the light beaming from the kitchen doorway, a rustling sound floating up the stairs. Shaking his head gently, Cooper paused at Elijah's room, telling his fifteen year old brother to give up trying to perfect a piece of biology homework that Cooper would attempt to help him with in the morning, before setting off on his quest downstairs to find out which of the munchkins' that should have already been asleep had decided a midnight feast was in order.

Rounding the corner to the kitchen, the blue eyed teenager stretched, immediately spying the little footstool by the light informing him that it was one of his youngest brothers'. Spotting Blaine hovering over a floorboard he had managed to pull free, Cooper ran a hand through his hair carefully, sliding down the island in the centre of the room and pulling his knees up to his chest. He watched Blaine closely as the young boy snuggled his teddy bear tightly, carefully placing a photograph that Cooper couldn't make out and a brochure for the ballet, that Elijah had brought home from Dalton for Blaine and Jude to look through, into the hole where the floorboard should have been.

Glancing up, the small boy started slightly when he saw Cooper watching him, staring back with curious eyes. "Coopy?" Blaine whispered, crawling into Cooper's lap when the boy automatically lowered his knees for him and playing with the drawstring of his zip up hoodie.

Cooper smiled softly at the boy, placing one hand on the small of his back to keep him steady. "Yeah B?

"What's a faggot?"

Cooper blanched, a sick feeling spreading through his stomach as he whipped his head up to look at the little boy, "Where did you hear that Blaine?" He asked sharply, pulling the little boy in closer and attempting to turn his head so he would make eye contact.

Blaine however visibly shrunk back, wriggling slightly in Cooper's hold, his eyes wide and his bottom lip trembling. "I'm sorry Coopy. He says it but I not know what it meant."

Cooper sighed running his hand through his hair and drawing his younger brother in tighter still until he was flush to his older brother's chest, his head resting against Cooper's heart as he listened closely to the heartbeat, tiny fingers still playing with the drawstring. "I'm sorry B; I didn't mean to scare you. That is a very, very nasty word that we don't ever, ever, ever say, okay?" Smiling when the boy nodded enthusiastically, Cooper placed a small kiss to his curls. "It's a nasty, mean name to call a man who loves another man."

Blaine's brow furrowed in confusion, his caramel eyes catching on Cooper's, "But why?"

Cooper sighed, messing up his hair again, "Why does a man love another man?"

"No silly," Blaine giggled, sitting back and placing his hands on Cooper's chest. "Why woul' you be mean to someone just 'cause of who they love?" Cooper smiled, marvelling at the three year old in front of him. "Love is love. It's happy. Like when the princess meets a prince but only it's two princes, right Coopy?"

"Right B," Cooper beamed, laughing softly at Blaine's simplistic yet accurate view. "It's just that some people are nasty and they don't like that."

"Well they're silly then," The curly haired boy tutted, lighting up when he saw Bentley's toy Ferrari on the floor beside them and lunging sideways to pick it up, his fingers delicately spinning the wheels.

"Yeah they are. Hey B?" Knowing he was losing the attention of the three year old to the toy car he was now holding, Cooper picked him up and placed him back in his lap, placing two fingers under Blaine's chin to guide his eyes back to his older brother's. "You can be anyone you want to be, okay? And don't you ever let anybody tell you anything different, okay?"

"Okay."

Taking the toy car from the boy, he smiled softly at the whine of protest before standing, turning Blaine upside down in his arms and laughing at the shriek of delight when he tickled the toddler before placing him back down once more. "Come on Squirt, story then bedtime."

"Okay," Blaine whispered tiredly, reaching up to his older brother and snuggling in happily when Cooper picked him back up with an eye roll. Reaching over Blaine placed a kiss on Cooper's cheek. "I love you Coopy."

"I love you too Blainers."

"Can I be Iron Man?" He piped up a moment later, Cooper's eyebrow rising in amusement as he started to ascend the stairs.

"What?" The tall older brother laughed.

"You says I can be anyone, can I be Iron Man when I'm biggerer."

"Bigger," Cooper chuckled softly, automatically correcting the toddler. "And I suppose you can but would you not want to be your own superhero?"

"Nope I wanna be Iron Man."

"Okay then, you can be Iron Man."

Blaine's eyes widened slightly, "Will you be Cappy America?"

"Yes Blaine, I'll be Captain America," Cooper said softly, pecking the top of Blaine's curls and holding the sleepy toddler close.

"Goo'."

"I love you so much Squirt, never change who you are. Although we will get you pronouncing the letter D by the end of the year so help me god." Chuckling softly at the dirty look that the small boy shot his way, Cooper gently lay him on the bed and grabbed a story book, looking quickly to a snoring Bentley before opening the page.