Blaine lets out a disappointed sigh as Oliver screams and cries and kicks his way out of wearing underwear over his diaper. At this point it is just out of control and maybe it only seemed that way because Sophie was so easy to potty train. All it took was Blaine and Kurt taking her out to pick out a pack of princess panties for her and her favorite stuff animal and she was potty trained. She was always eager to grow up and please everyone, though she did have her own problems with eating.
When they started to potty train Oliver he had been petrified by the idea. They tried everything with him. They followed all the steps, first bringing it up as much as possible, buying the books, music, and videos to introduce their boy to the potty. They tried using little incentives as motivation, cookies, stickers, hot chocolate, popsicles, and trips to the zoo, even making a chart so they could track the times he used the potty together with happy face and star stickers. They went and bought him all the latest potty training toys and seats to try. Nothing worked and nothing helped to ease that fear he had when it came to using the potty instead of a diaper. It got to the point where they had to take him to the doctor because he was holding it for so long that he started to get stomach pains.
Blaine had only one option left before throwing in the towel and accepting that Oliver would need to be home schooled because he was not potty trained, he needed to call in reinforcements. The phone rang barely three times before there was a cheery hello on the other end.
"Carole, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" He greeted politely asking for her time.
"Blaine you know you are never interrupting. I love hearing from you and Kurt and the kids." She scolded lightly.
"I'm afraid this isn't something you will necessary love hearing," he started wincing at the thought. "Oliver refuses to be potty trained and we've literally tried everything we could think of. He just has a fit and he even refuses to go at all if we force him into underwear."
"Oh Blaine, I'm so sorry. Finn was terrible at it, but it was more that he was lazy and less that he was scared. I know you've said you've tried everything but have you stopped calling him baby? I know he's your baby but maybe it's confusing to him to potty train to be a big boy and you and Kurt calling him baby." She explained cautiously, not wanting to offend Blaine.
"I hadn't even thought of that. You're right though we should definitely stop calling him and explain why we are not longer calling him that." Blaine responded with a new realization.
"The only other thing I can think of is distracting him with a story when he starts to act up" Carole offered. "The only thing I know is to not give in, but I would still keep him diapered at night for now at least until he gets more comfortable."
"I will definitely give it a try. At this point his tantrums just make me want to cry. I just don't understand why he is having difficulty growing up, first with being premature and then the colic." Blaine complained finally glad to have someone who understood the stress he was going through.
"Just stick with it Blaine. Oliver is strong like you and Kurt and soon it will be over and then you'll realize how fast he is growing up."
"Thank you Carole, and I promise as soon as Kurt gets a week off of work we will be down there to help you with any renovations you need." Blaine stated getting ready to end the conversation since he could hear he could hear Sophie squealing with joy that Papa was finally home. Blaine hung up the phone and let out a breath of relief that Kurt was home to help him with the kids. The older they got the more they realized they could gang up on Blaine when he was alone. It was exhausting.
Blaine made his way to the front door to greet Kurt, who was telling Sophie to set the table for the dinner he brought home. Blaine gave him a quick hug and kiss before taking the bag from his hand and asking how his day at work went.
"There is still no proper ending to show and Kathy just ended her affair with one of the actors so he couldn't get a scene right." Kurt let out annoyed huff of air before trying to give Blaine an encouraging smile and adding "it doesn't look like your day here was much better."
Blaine froze for a second before clearing his throat and asking "what makes you say that?"
"Well Ollie didn't come greet me at door, which usually means he's hiding from one of us or both of us and he would only be hiding for one reason these days." Kurt explained in a knowing tone.
Blaine's shoulders slumped with the reminder of the stress of trying to get their youngest potty trained. "I was trying to get him into underwear again but he fought his way out and ran and hid." Blaine explained, his voice giving away how tired he was.
"Please tell me he is hiding with a diaper on," Kurt winced thinking of the places he could be hiding and leaving a mess.
"He doesn't have accidents, we've let him walk around without a diaper or bottoms on and he just begs and cries for a diaper when he has to go." Blaine answered trying to keep an annoyed tone out of his voice, because honestly this whole thing was ridiculous and he's a little jealous of how Kurt doesn't have to deal with it as much.
"I'll go pull him out for dinner," Kurt said giving Blaine's hand a squeeze to show he was sorry that Blaine had to deal with it. Blaine smiled back before heading into the kitchen.
Blaine found that during her time spent out of sight Sophie decided to play waitress with her dolls instead of setting the table all the way.
"Alright, play time is over. Put your dolls away and wash up for dinner." Blaine commanded as he filled up their water glasses.
"Can I please play waitress tonight with you and Papa?" she begged excitedly with a huge grin.
"Dinner is not play time, darling" he gently reminded her as he took away the note pad and pen. "You and I can play tomorrow for snack or you can wait and do it with Papa Monday when he has off. Now go wash your hands."
She pouted as she grabbed her two dolls and dragged her feet when leaving the room.
As Blaine started putting the take out dishes on the table he heard a wail come from their son. Kurt carried a sniffling, now fully dressed, Oliver over to the table with Sophie closely trailing behind talking faster than anyone could actually understand. As he seated them at the table his phone rang, without a pause or glance at Blaine he picked it up and walked into the next room. Blaine could hear Kurt explaining they were sitting down for dinner before hanging up the phone and joining his family with a huge smile.
"Who was that?" Blaine asked carefully.
"That was work just going over some rehearsal changes." Kurt answered with a smile, not missing the suspicious look Blaine was giving him.
"You still have Monday with us right? You said we could go to the museum" Sophie asked barely able to stay in her seat.
"I'm sure Papa didn't forget about his promise to take you to the museum with just the two of you." Blaine answered as he cut Oliver's and Sophie's meat into tiny bite size portions.
"I didn't forget Sophie. The changes they called about were not needing me to come in tomorrow." Kurt said as he dished out some vegetables on Sophie's plate. He gave Blaine a warning glance before smiling at her again.
Blaine simply nodded and took a sip of water, to keep himself from mumbling something he would regret later.
After dinner Blaine did the dishes so Kurt could have his alone time with the kids. He also usually used this time to start winding them down for bed. It started with a game they would both be able to play and then he would give Oliver a bath and read him a bed time story and tuck him in for the night. Lately getting Oliver down for bed has been a little longer than normal with his refusal to use the potty. Tonight he was so stressed before dinner that Kurt would probably just skip potty training to prevent getting him reworked up before bed. While Oliver got his bedtime story Sophie would take her bath and get ready for Kurt to read her a bed time story.
Some nights Blaine would find Kurt asleep in bed with Sophie with the book he was reading to her slipping out of his hands. Those were the same nights that Blaine had to put Kurt to bed because he was too exhausted to function properly. It hurt a little that he didn't get his time with Kurt but that wasn't Kurt's fault so he would instead focus on how wonderful a father Kurt was and that despite how hard he works he still gives his two kids the energy and attention they deserve.
Blaine had just pulled out his and Kurt's secret stash of deserts to take when Kurt came gliding back into the kitchen.
"You must have worn them out today, they were both out before I could even finish the book or the chapter." Kurt stated grabbing two spoons for the drawer for them to share the tub of ice cream.
"We went to the gym today. I had a groupon for one of their mommy and me exercise classes." Blaine explained.
"They need to come up with a new title for those classes" Kurt huffed.
"Parent and me wouldn't even work and adult and child just doesn't sound appropriate. I wasn't the only dad, but I was the only parent with two kids. I'm surprised they even let me have both of them in there. It was mostly Ollie's age group." Blaine shrugged.
"Sophie has your charm that people cannot say no to." Kurt smirked.
They ate a few more bites before re-hiding the small carton of ice cream in the back of the freezer. It wasn't until they were both settled into bed that Kurt finally brought up what he really wanted to know about.
"What was that at dinner?" he finally asked.
"I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I was worried you were called in again and as much as I love being home with the kids it does wear me down a little. Oliver acted out so harshly today I broke down and called Carole for advice," Blaine answered honestly. "With both of them sometimes it's hard to give Oliver my full attention."
Kurt nodded in reply. Blaine knew Kurt was just worried about missing out on their kids growing up, especially with Oliver being potty trained. That was something else Blaine still needed to address with Kurt, but he needed to do it with caution if he didn't want this to become a fight. Kurt was very sensitive about these things.
"And I was thinking about why he may be struggling and I know he is your baby but we are asking him to be a big boy and give up diapers and bottles and pacifiers so calling him our baby may be confusing to him."
Kurt didn't say anything so Blaine just continued. "We should both explain to him that even though he is growing up and out of these things doesn't mean he won't be our baby."
Blaine looked carefully at Kurt. There were tears in his eyes. "Kurt?"
He sniffled and wiped away a stray tear. "What if it's because of me?" he whispered out in a shaky voice.
"What? No, that's not it." Blaine started to reassure but was cut off.
"I wasn't there when he gave up pacifiers and bottles. You always did it with him when Sophie was at school and I was at work. I missed those things and now he has to give up diapers without me here. I'm not around enough. I've been called in on my day off twice now," Kurt explained in a rush, sniffling a little at the end.
Blaine softly shushed him and pulled him close, gently stroking his shoulder with his thumb. He waited till Kurt settled in before even trying to speak.
"Kurt, you're stressed from working non-stop here and at the theater. I know you miss being home but this project will take your career to a whole new level. If this show is as much as a hit we both think it has potential to be that could mean awards and that means you could finally start screen writing and directing more like you thought about." He reminded and comforted. Kurt nodded thinking about what Blaine said. It was a while before Kurt spoke again. Blaine almost turned off the light thinking Kurt fell asleep.
"Do you miss preforming?" Kurt asked softly.
"Sometimes." Blaine answered honestly thinking about what it was he really missed about working. "I think maybe when the kids are older and out of the house more I want to try teaching music or composing."
Kurt smiled and hummed. "We always talked about becoming a writing and composing team for musicals."
"We also both know we don't work well together." Blaine reminded with a chuckle. "Remember when we were asked to help with Sophie's school play?"
"And now she won't go anywhere near a stage or try to sing."
"Who would have thought someone with your genes would stay away from the lime light?" Kurt laughed softly. "She's lucky she's extremely smart or she could be wasting a lot of talent."
"She's reading on a fourth grade level and she is doing a lot better in math." Blaine supplied not remembering if he told Kurt or not.
Kurt hummed in acknowledgement.
Blaine smiled and let Kurt fall asleep even though he still wanted to catch Kurt up on how well Sophie was doing with reading and that even though Oliver refuses to be potty trained he is showing a lot of progress in his gross motor skills that they were first concerned about.
The next morning Blaine started to stir when he felt a little hand tapping his face impatiently. He was just about to force himself awake when he heard Kurt whisper "Ollie, we're going to let Daddy sleep in today."
"I'm awake" Blaine mumbled into the pillow still not really awake.
"Go back to sleep, we'll go make breakfast." Kurt shushed softly.
The next time Blaine awoke it was around nine in morning rather than his usual six A.M. wake up call from Oliver, Sophie at least usually slept until seven thirty. Honestly he was surprised to see Kurt up before him. He liked to give Kurt his days off to sleep in since he was usually up helping Blaine with the two kids before he left for rehearsal. As he went into the kitchen he was greeted with coffee and a kiss from Kurt.
"Thank goodness you're up. I didn't know how much longer I could keep them from waking you up."
"You should have been the one to sleep in, Kurt" Blaine said softly feeling slightly spoiled.
"You always let me sleep in and take care of me on my days off. With this extra unexpected Sunday I have off I thought I could at least give you a day off." Kurt explained waving his hand as if it wasn't that big a deal. "Now I texted Sam but I don't think he's actually awake yet. I told him to pick you up around lunch and do something fun and relaxing."
"You're sending me out on a play date?" Blaine laughed.
"A playdate without the kids" Kurt hummed in response. "It's mostly for selfish reasons. I miss being here for these special little moments like Sophie getting another A and Oliver learning a new word."
"Kurt-," Blaine started wanted to comfort him but stopped when Kurt shook his head.
"They are really used to you doing everything and it's not even eleven and I've already messed up Sophie's braid and Oliver's breakfast. How am I supposed to know that the green sippy cup is for snack and not breakfast?" He rambled.
"Okay, today you get to stay home with them and I'll go out with Sam." Blaine reassured softly as he pulled Kurt in for a hug.
Blaine backed off as much as he could this morning with the kids. It wasn't easy, especially when he overheard them crying about that "it's not how Daddy does it." He felt a little bad for Kurt having to hear that, but he stayed strong and just let Kurt handle it.
As he finished with bow tie he heard Oliver shriek. He let out huff, Kurt was attempting to potty train Oliver and it certainly wasn't an easy task. He just hoped that Oliver didn't actually start biting Kurt like he had Blaine the other day. It wasn't long before the screams had settled and Blaine wondered if Oliver escaped from Kurt or if Kurt just gave in. As he made his way to the bathroom he heard his soft sniffles and Kurt's calm words.
"Once upon a time there were two kings and a princess. They were very happy in their kingdom, but something was missing-" Kurt began in a calming gentle voice.
"A prince?" Oliver sniffled out still not fully calmed down from his tantrum.
"A prince," Kurt confirmed. "The kings knew it wouldn't be easy to find a prince because they couldn't have any prince. They knew they needed to find their prince that belonged to them. So they searched far and long. It seemed liked they would never find their prince. But then a young enchantress came to visit their kingdom and after she spoke to the two kings she granted them their wish of finding their prince. The task was not easy and when they finally found their prince he was sick, but with the love from the kings and the princess he was soon better…"
Blaine was almost teary eyed over the story but he still couldn't get over the fact that Kurt didn't even need to hold Oliver down to get him onto the toilet. It was much longer until he heard the toilet flush and Oliver teaching Kurt the song Blaine came up with to wash his hands.
Blaine snuck away from the bathroom and headed towards living room where he left his phone to charge. Not long after he heard Oliver yelling for him and sprinting towards him. Blaine scooped him up and shushed he excited yelling, reminding him to use his indoor voice and to slow down so he could understand him. Oliver took a quick breath before exclaiming that he "did it!". Blaine smiled widely giving him a tight hug not short on words of praise for their young prince.
It took another two weeks and plenty more stories but Oliver was over his fear of the potty and no longer needed diapers.