By the next evening Kurts resolve to keep things simple is already crumbling. He misses Blaine, misses the way being around Blaine makes him feel -- comfortable and like himself and more than enough -- and the idea of spending the rest of his holiday sad and alone in the cottage, keeping Blaine at arms length, just feels... wrong.

He keeps making these rational decisions, trying to be practical and think things through, resisting the impulsive urges in his heart, but then he spends one day away from Blaine, and he just has to give in. Hell probably end up heartbroken when his holiday is over, but hes starting to think that maybe Blaine is worth the heartache. Or at least Kurt wants to find out if he is.

Its easy to find out where Blaine lives, so Kurt buys a bottle of wine and a bouquet of red and yellow roses from the town and makes his way to Blaines house through the slippery roads and the weird left-hand traffic. The house is an older brick house, surrounded by a garden that seems well-kept even under the thick blanket of snow, and Kurt stands outside the house for a moment, admiring the view. The house looks quite large for just one person, but the address seems to be correct and the plate on the garden gate did have the name Anderson written on it.

Maybe Blaine just likes to have more space. Or maybe he has so many books that he needs the extra space for them.

The thought makes Kurt smile to himself as he stops in front of the door and rings the old-fashioned doorbell. He straightens his coat and fingers his hair for a quick moment, making sure he looks his best, and lets himself smile a little wider when he hears footsteps from the other side of the door. He hides the wine and the flower package behind his back just as the lock turns in the door.

Blaine is smiling with the corners of his eyes crinkled when he opens the door, but his smile drops away when he sees Kurt.

"K-Kurt!" he stutters out, quickly blocking Kurts view into the house. "W-what are you... Y-youre here."

Kurts own smile threatens to falter at Blaines reaction but he pushes on. "Well, I was sitting in the cottage all by myself," he starts, rocking on his heels hopefully, "and I found myself missing you and decided that maybe I could handle something a little complicated after all, so--" He stops when he hears voices coming from the house. "Oh. Shit. Youre not alone, are you?"

Blaine swallows and then wordlessly shakes his head, looking torn.

Kurt grips the flowers more tightly behind his back. "Oh. Oh god, I didnt know. I shouldve-- Im so sorry, I should just--"

"Dad, who is it?"

Kurt stops, looking down. Wedged between the doorframe and Blaines legs is a little boy who looks to be around six years old, a mess of dark curls on top of his head. Hes staring at Kurt in curiosity, fingers clasped around the fabric of Blaines pants.

Kurt lifts his gaze back to Blaine. "Dad?" he mouths.

Blaine gives a nervous smile and bends down to lift the boy in his arms, balancing him on his hip. Kurt can now see that theres another child standing in the doorway as well, an older girl whos wearing a pretty dress and who looks so much like Blaine that they have to be related, even if the girls hair is much lighter than Blaines. The girl smiles shyly at Kurt and then tugs at the hem of Blaines shirt.

"Dad, he looks like a Disney prince," she whispers. "Introduce us."

"Right. Um." Blaine bites his lip nervously for a moment, his eyes staring at Kurt with a pleading expression. "Kids, this is my, um, friend, Kurt. Hes staying at uncle Coopers house for the holidays. Kurt, these are Devon and Sophie, my... My kids."

Kurt blinks, his eyes going from Blaine to the kids and back again. "Devon and Sophie," he repeats. The phone calls Blaine kept getting make so much more sense right now. "You have-- You have kids."

Blaine nods, still looking slightly panicked. Devon doesnt seem to have the same problem, because he extends his little hand to Kurt with a toothy smile.

"Its nice to meet you, Mr. Disney Prince," he says with a slight lisp, and Kurt can see Sophie nodding enthusiastically in agreement from the corner of his eye.

"Kurt, his name is Kurt, Devon," Blaine corrects softly, rolling his eyes.

"You should come in," Devon continues. "We have hot chocolate and dad always puts extra marshmallows in it if you ask nicely."

Kurt lets out an overwhelmed laugh and cautiously shakes Devons hand with his free one. "Oh, um, thank you. But I should probably--"

"No!" Blaine rushes to interrupt, his eyes widening. He puts Devon down and gestures for Kurt to step in, a little urgent. "Please, come on in, I just... I wasnt expecting you, thats all."

Blaine opens the door all the way and steps aside. Kurt hesitates for a moment, searching Blaines face because he has no idea whats waiting for him inside -- Blaines husband, or more kids, or god knows what. Blaines eyes do seem earnest under all the nervousness, though, so Kurt gives him a small, just as nervous smile and steps inside.

"Are those for us?" Sophie pipes up once hes inside, pointing at the bottle and package Kurt is holding.

"Oh, um..." Kurt fiddles with the bottle. "Theyre for your dad, actually," he says, cringing at how weird the word dad sounds like when it comes out of his mouth.

"I can take them to the kitchen!" Devon volunteers excitedly and takes them from Kurts hands, wobbling under their weight immediately.

Sophie shakes his head as if this is something that happens all the time. "Ill help him," she says seriously. "You should take Kurts coat, dad," she adds as she leads her brother away -- and did she just wink at Blaine?

"Oh, right, yes!" Blaine stutters. He moves to help Kurt out of his coat. "Im so sorry," he whispers once the kids are out of earshot, "I had no idea you were--"

"Are you married?" Kurt interrupts harshly in a low voice, his heart thumping nervously against his chest. "Tell me right now."

Blaines hands clench against the fabric of Kurts coat. "Im not," he says, completely honest. "I swear."

"Oh, thank goodness," Kurt breathes out and turns around, smoothing his hands over the vest hes wearing to calm his nerves. Alright. He can deal with this. Its a big surprise, but he can deal with it.

Blaine hangs the coat, the line of his shoulders still tense. "I wouldnt string you along like that, Kurt. Its just... complicated."

Kurt tilts his head, hesitating. He can hear the kids giggling in the next room, gushing over the flowers from the sound of it. Blaine pushes his hands in his pockets and glances at Kurt with an awkward expression.

"Are you... D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D?" Kurt spells out, keeping his voice low.

Something falls over Blaines face, something sad and painful, and he looks away, swallowing roughly.

"W-I-D-O-W-E-R," he spells quietly. "Two years ago."

Kurts heart stutters inside his chest, his hand flying to cover his mouth. He remembers Blaines expression in the restaurant when Kurt told him about his mom, and suddenly everything makes sense.

"Blaine..." he starts, reaching out for Blaine. He wants to pull him close and never let go, wants to make at least some of the sadness in Blaines eyes disappear with a gentle touch. Kurt knows what losing someone feels like, knows how it leaves a hole inside you that nothing can ever quite fill, but he wouldve never guessed that Blaine knows what it feels like as well.

"Daaaaad!" Devons voice interrupts them, startling them both. "You promised hot chocolate!"

"Alright, alright!" Blaine calls back. He huffs out a laugh and rubs the back of his neck before looking up and meeting Kurts eyes. Hes smiling hesitantly, and Kurt heart skips a beat all over again. "Would you... like some hot chocolate?" Blaine asks.

Kurt takes a deep breath and nods. He can deal with this. "Id love some," he replies.

---

Kurt doesnt usually like children that much, not unless theyre family, but Blaines kids are just as charming as their dad. They think the flowers Kurt brought are the most beautiful flowers theyve ever seen -- "even prettier than the ones in the garden, oh, Kurt, you should see the garden in the summer, you have to come see it!" -- and force Blaine to do his apparently quite famous Mr. Napkinhead impersonation that makes Kurt laugh until his stomach hurts.

Blaine seems like a wonderful dad; hes so natural with the kids, making them smile and laugh and not treating them like theyre somehow less intelligent just because of their age. Their family works together so well, and Kurt cant quite understand why Blaine didnt tell him about his kids earlier.

"Do you want to see our tent, Kurt?" Sophie asks excitedly once Blaine is cleaning the hot chocolate mugs away.

"Oh no," Blaine says before Kurt gets the chance to answer, turning to look at his kids. "Kurt is not going to crawl into your blanket tent, okay?"

Devon looks at Kurt, his eyes just as brown and big as Blaines. "You dont like tents?" he says miserably.

Kurt opens his mouth and then closes it, straightening his back with a lofty expression. "You know what? Im actually a big fan of tents. Id love to see yours, if youd like to show it to me."

He glances at Blaine, perhaps a little challenging, but Blaine is staring back at him with a surprised smile, almost as if hes seeing something completely new in Kurt. Kurt looks away, his cheeks flushed, and lets Devon and Sophie pull him out of the kitchen and into their room.

The tent is definitely more impressive than anything Kurt ever managed to build when he was a kid, even if his blanket forts were quite fabulous as well. This one is made of several big blankets, all hung down from the ceiling so that they form a teepee-shaped hut big enough for at least two adults and several children. Devon and Sophie pull Kurt inside it, telling him to lie down on the mattresses that cover the tents floor. Kurt is still shuffling around, trying to find a good position, when Blaine crawls into the tent as well, smiling softly and lying down next to Kurt with the kids on either side of them.

There are multicolored paper stars hanging from the tents ceiling for decoration, swaying gently above the four of them. Kurt feels weirdly comfortable lying there, more comfortable than he has probably felt in years, his shoulder bumping against Blaines every time either one of them moves, and he tries to stop his heart from fluttering too much from the force of his feelings. Devon starts asking him about Disney princes and if he happens to know any of them, and from the corner of his eye Kurt can see Sophie nudging Blaines shoulder continuously with a small grin.

"Ive never met an actual Disney prince before," Devon grumbles suddenly, flopping over to stare at the stars, his curly head practically resting on Kurts shoulder. "We never have any grown-ups here." Sophie stops nudging Blaine and looks at the stars as well.

"I know," she sighs, sounding older than she is.

"But I really like this," Devon adds.

"Me too," Sophie says quietly.

Kurt can see Blaine kiss the top of Sophies head from the corner of his eye. After a moment he hesitantly fumbles Kurts hand between their bodies and laces their fingers together, squeezing gently. Their hands slot together perfectly, and Kurt closes his eyes, breathing in and out as slowly as he can even if his heart is racing.

This is definitely something more.

---

"Ive never seen anyone be a bigger hit with my children," Blaine says as he steps into the living room after putting the kids to bed. "Seriously, that was just... Thank you, Kurt."

Kurt looks up from the bookshelf hes been taking in ever since he said goodnight to Devon and Sophie (he was right, Blaine does have a lot of books). "For what?" he asks.

"For... not running away screaming, I suppose?" Blaine offers, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Theyre great kids," Kurt says, smiling, and crosses his arms over his chest. "Really."

Blaine gives a laugh and sits down on the sofas arm rest. "They are. Sophie seems to think she has to take care of me somehow -- its sweet, but I wish she wouldnt worry so much. And Devon..." He laughs again. "Well, lets just say that he was unusually calm tonight. Hes quite the firecracker, really."

Kurt forces another smile, scuffing his shoe against the floor. "I guess Im just wondering why you didnt tell me about them sooner."

The easy smile falls away from Blaines face, and he sighs, dragging his hand down his cheek. "Its... complicated, Kurt, like I said."

"Well explain it to me anyway," Kurt says, a little more biting than he intended.

Blaine keeps his eyes on the floor. "Look, it just... I know youre probably judging me right now, but it just gets rough sometimes, you know, explaining my situation to new people. The kids were staying at my parents this weekend, and for a few days I could pretend that Im young and single and that my life isnt such a complicated mess." He gives a hollow laugh. "And then I met you, and you seemed to like the pretend-me and it was easier to keep the act going, so I just... didnt tell you."

His voice sounds so sad that Kurt can feel his posture softening automatically. "Blaine..."

"Dont get me wrong," Blaine rushes to continue, "I love my kids more than anything. Theyre the light of my life and I would never trade them for anything or anyone, but... I mean, Im a full-time dad." He shrugs tiredly, glancing up at Kurt. "Im a working parent. Im a guy who reads parenting books and cookbooks before I go to sleep instead of all the manuscripts I should be reading for work. I spend my weekends buying tutus and dresses for Sophie and making sure that Devon doesnt fall from the table when hes playing Superman. Im learning to sew and I make up silly impressions to get my kids to laugh." Blaine shakes his head with another laugh and looks away. "I dont really know how to combine all that with regular dating. Not without pretending to be someone Im not."

Kurt swallows roughly, something lodged in his throat. He knows that Blaine is listing all those things as an example of how complicated his life is, but Kurt cant help feeling that it all sounds pretty amazing as well. Complicated, yes, but also... Comfortable. Something Kurt himself would like to be a part of one day.

He offers a small smile, averting his eyes and wringing his hands. "I guess all that is rather hard to relate to."

"You have no idea," Blaine sighs, running his hand through his hair and messing up the gel. "It took me a long while to get things working at least this well after--"

He pauses, swallowing and blinking his eyes. Kurt instinctively takes a step closer to him, remembering how long he and his dad were completely lost after his mom died, and his heart is starting to ache both with old memories and new feelings.

Blaine looks up when he senses Kurts movement. "And I... I guess theres also always that fear of what someone new could do to the three of us," he says quietly, staring into Kurts eyes, as if hes hoping he understands. "We manage to get through every day just fine now, but if someone were to come along and the kids got attached to him and then..." He trails off.

"Oh." Kurt stops in his tracks, his mind finally connecting the last dots. "And with me leaving in a few days..."

Blaine nods sadly. "Exactly."

Kurt can feel his shoulders slumping as he sighs. "God, I think we just went way past complicated," he mutters in a low voice.

"But its been worth it so far," Blaine says, his voice quiet, "hasnt it?"

Kurt reaches out again, taking Blaines hand and squeezing it. "It has, trust me. But I have no idea how were going deal with this from now on."