Burt cradled the cup of coffee in his hands, feeling the heat seep through the ceramic and warm his hands against the cool fall morning. He watched out of the window as the leaves from the trees on their lawn scattered across the drive, painting it in a hue of oranges and browns.

‘Will you come away from the window.’ Carole called to him with a smile on her face. ‘They’ll be here soon.’

Burt drew away from the window and let the road go unwatched.

‘It hasn’t been that long since they last visited anyway. Now are you going to help me with the potatoes or not?’

‘I’ll help Mom.’ Finn bounded down the stairs; still with the youthful exuberance he had as a teenager.

‘Thank you Finn.’ Carole said handing him a potato peeler. ‘You peel, Burt can chop.’

Burt sighed as though he had been pulled away from a great importance, but if he was honest he was glad for the distraction. He knew it hadn’t been that long since Kurt and Blaine had visited but for some strange reason he was looking forward to their arrival with more anticipation than normal.

They had called from the airport a short while ago, having landed in Ohio straight from the vacation they had taken and Kurt had mentioned they had a surprise for the family.

There was something in his son’s voice that put Burt’s senses on alert. He knew his son well, he could tell from the tone of Kurt’s voice in a routine call that he was upset after having a fight with Blaine, or that he was disappointed he had missed the chance to headline the new spring range that year.

The miles between them hadn’t weakened their bond as he had once feared, if anything it had strengthened it, forcing them to pay more attention to tone and language as they couldn’t see the other’s facial expressions over the phone.

They were halfway through sorting the potatoes when they heard the car pull up outside, followed shortly by a knock at the door.

Burt, Carole and Finn swept from the kitchen and into the living room, Finn pulling open the front door to reveal Kurt standing on the front step, his nose and cheeks reddening slightly from the brisk wind outside.

‘Hi. Happy Thanksgiving!’ He said excitedly, pulling his father into a crushing hug as Finn picked up his bags from the step. ‘Oh Carole your hair looks lovely.’ He hugged his step mother and laughed as Finn enveloped the pair in his arms for a group hug. ‘Oh lets all get inside, its cold out, Blaine’s just bringing the last of the things from the cab.’

‘More bags? How long are staying buddy?’ Burt laughed glancing over the four suitcases, brown and embossed with some sort of designer logo Kurt had explained to him several times, already sitting by the door.

‘We’ve just got back from vacation remember?’ Kurt winked at him.

‘How were the Philippines?’ Carole asked, sitting down on the arm of the sofa.

‘Amazing, we went to this tiny little village and- no wait, I’ll get to all that later.’ He said as he saw Blaine walking up the path with the last items from the taxi. ‘We have a surprise for you all first. Something very special.’

Burt watched his son, the excitement in him was clear. He was bouncing up to the balls of his feet and tapping his fingers together the way he always did when he could hardly contain himself. Burt had seen his react this way every time an award show was on the TV, or a new designer was presenting a line or even when explaining a new design of his that had been picked up.

Blaine poked his head around the door, catching Kurt’s eye as if awaiting permission to come in.

‘Are they ready?’

‘Yeah.’ Kurt said breathlessly, his voice getting higher the more excited he got and Burt could feel the anticipation in him rising. What did Blaine have that had gotten them so excited?

‘Ok, I know it’s really sudden and everything, but we’d like you to meet...’ Blaine walked through the door, holding in front of him a small, pink babies car seat. ‘Our daughter.’

Carole gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth as Blaine turned the car seat and the family could see the small, pink baby sleeping inside it.

‘We’ve been going through the adoption process for a few months now, but we didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t work out.’ Kurt explained, pulling off his coat and taking the car seat from Blaine, placing it carefully on the sofa so he could start removing the tiny girls blanket and jacket now she was in from the cold.

Burt felt a strange sense of de ja vu as one of her little hands was revealed, the pudgy fingers clasped tightly in to a fist as she slept.

 He was taken back all of twenty seven years to when the nurses had first presented Kurt to him. It had been absolute profound love at first sight and Burt had honestly never thought he would ever feel that way about another baby in his life.

But this child, his granddaughter, had been in his life all of a minute and already he could feel her burying herself deep into his heart.

‘She’s beautiful.’ Burt said, his voice wavering slightly with emotion he was not ashamed to show. She was beautiful, looking so tiny swaddled in the blankets and layers of clothes. Her dark curls clung to her head as Kurt removed her hat and as she stirred Burt caught a glimpse of blue eyes staring out at the room before she settled once more.

‘Is that why you went to the Philippines?’ Carole asked, her eyes not moving from the baby, her hands clasped to her chest in an effort not to grab the girl and cuddle her.

‘Yeah, we’ve been talking to my aunt; she actually looks after an orphanage out there. She helped us out with everything.’ Blaine smiled.

Burt looked up his son and son in law for the first time since the baby had been brought in. The happiness on their faces was almost radiant. Apart from the day they had gotten married Burt wondered if he had ever seen them looking that happy. It wasn’t just happiness either, Burt wondered. They looked content, as if this little girl had brought their lives together and made them complete in a way only a child could.

‘Dude.’ Finn choked out and Burt was surprised to see tears shining in his other son’s eyes.

‘Does she have a name? How old is she?’ Carole said.

‘Amelia.’ Blaine said proudly. ‘And she’s six week old. She was abandoned at the orphanage as soon as she was born.’ It was hard to feel too sad for the infant’s tragic start in life when Burt could see the loving family she had been brought into. Kurt and Blaine would love and spoil that child as much as they were able.  

Finally Kurt had removed the blankets and layers of clothes from the tiny baby, lifting her out of her car seat and resting her on his chest, one hand supporting under her bottom and the other holding her securely to his chest.

Her legs stayed tucked up under her and she snuffled slightly, moving her head to she was resting on her cheek. Once again Burt saw the small flash of blue as her eyes opened for a second.

Burt reached out to stroke a finger over her clasped hand, the single digit looking enormous next to the tiny fist. He nudged her fingers slight, his heart swelling as she grasped it tightly in her grip.

‘Hello Amelia.’ He whispered.

‘I thought you guys were looking for a surrogate though?’ Carole said, stroking her hand over Amelia’s soft curls.

‘We were, but then we were talking to Blaine’s aunt a few months ago and we realised there are so many children already needing homes. It just felt right to us that we should adopt.’

‘And it saved on the hysterical sobbing in the delivery room moment.’ Blaine chuckled. Kurt rolled his eyes.

‘Yes, watching you sob hysterically in the nursery was much better.’

‘I wasn’t hysterical.’

‘You were sobbing though.’ Kurt laughed. ‘We have it on my camera as well; Blaine’s aunt took a video.’

Blaine shrugged, the silly smile still plastered over his face. ‘Well it was very emotional day.’ He laughed.

Burt watched his son’s face light up once more as he looked down at the baby in his arms. It hit him suddenly that he was seeing his son differently now, so much more mature and responsible. He was a father.

‘Do you want to hold her?’ Kurt said to him.

Burt grinned and held out his arms. He hadn’t held such a small child in a long while but his arms hadn’t seemed to have forgotten the delicate weight.

‘Hello Amelia.’ Burt whispered to the sleeping child. ‘I'm your granddad.’ Amelia opened her eyes slightly, as if responding to Burt’s words and waking up to meet him. ‘Welcome to the family.’

Comments are love <3 I have a few more ideas to carry this one on, let me know what you think.

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