Dec. 16, 2011, 3:07 a.m.
Would You Like to Rent My Uterus for Nine Months?: Chapter 9
T - Words: 1,755 - Last Updated: Dec 16, 2011 Story: Complete - Chapters: 9/9 - Created: Nov 14, 2011 - Updated: Dec 16, 2011 1,222 0 2 0 0
Rachel had been pumping and freezing her breast milk and sending Noah with the deliveries every few days. She had stayed away, knowing that Kurt and Blaine needed time to bond with their baby, while she needed time to distance herself and make the transition from mother to honorary aunt. Rachel had known that it wouldn't be easy to leave the hospital without the baby she had carried for nine months, but with all of her hormones going haywire and a family to take care of at home, she had been more of a mess than she expected for the first couple of weeks. Knowing that Mollie was with two men that would shower her with love made things easier, but it had still been an adjustment. It had now been long enough that she felt like she could see Mollie and stay in her new role.
The door finally opened to a rare sight; a rumpled, disheveled, very sleepy Kurt. He was wearing sweatpants and a stained t-shirt, mismatched socks, and his hair was going every which way. He looked like an overwhelmed dad. And he had his finger against his lips in the universal sign for "Shh."
"Come on in, but try to be quiet…they had a rough night," he whispered as he shut the door and took Rachel's coat and hat.
He gestured for her to follow him through the wide doorway into the living room. Rachel immediately placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the "aww" that wanted to escape; the scene in front of her made her tear up in all of her hormonal glory. Blaine was almost as disheveled as Kurt, also wearing sweats and a t-shirt, hair a mess, glasses on, and lying on the couch sound asleep. Curled up on his chest also sound asleep was Mollie, Blaine's arms caging her in and hands clasped under her bottom.
Rachel looked over at Kurt with tears in her eyes and saw him standing there looking at his husband and daughter with his heart in his eyes. Rachel reached out and took his hand, squeezing gently. He looked at her with a smile on his face as he squeezed back, then pulled her away from the sleeping pair towards the kitchen.
"Blaine was up with her at four this morning for her feeding. Usually she goes right back to sleep but this time she decided that four 'o clock in the morning would be a great time to wake up and stay up. Then she decided that it was time to go back to sleep around seven. I don't think either of us will ever recover from the sleep disturbances…it feels like we'll never be rested again," Kurt said dramatically.
Rachel chuckled. This was the part of being a parent that she was happy to allow Kurt and Blaine to deal with. She walked over to the freezer to place her delivery with the other bags. "Yes you will. Before you know it she'll be sleeping through the night…and you'll be all nostalgic for when she was tiny and cuddly and didn't make you chase her all over the house." She turned from the freezer to look at him. "Be honest: you love this, don't you?"
Kurt's answering smile was so big Rachel could actually see teeth. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. She's amazing. Every day she seems to grow and learn something new. She's beautiful and I couldn't love her more. And Blaine's amazing with her. He gets up in the middle of the night without complaint, he's changing diapers like a pro; I just fall in love with him more and more every day. I'm the luckiest man alive."
Rachel sat down next to Kurt at the kitchen table. "I know what you mean. There's nothing like watching Noah with Jon and Belle. Seeing him holding them when they were newborns, his big, strong hands able to be so gentle with them…it was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. Now that they're older, he plays with them. I've seen him play trucks with Jon and dolls with Belle. He's an amazing father, and somehow that makes him even hotter than he was before we had kids."
Kurt turned to her. "How are you doing?" he asked gently.
Rachel suppressed the urge to give the standard "fine" and thought about it for a minute. "I'm doing okay now. I know Noah talked to you about the first couple of weeks; I was weepy and fatigued and at first my heart didn't understand why I didn't have a baby in my arms. But my head has known since before I conceived her that Mollie was not my baby, and once my hormones calmed down a little bit it got better. I feel much better. I'm ready to be that little girl's Aunt Rachel."
Kurt leaned over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple. "You're going to be an amazing aunt. Mollie's so lucky to have so many people in her life who love her."
The both looked up at a loud yawn as Blaine shuffled into the kitchen. Mollie was awake, but looked drowsy and was still cuddled up against his chest. "Hey baby? Could you make a bottle for Mollie please?" he asked as he walked to the refrigerator without looking at the table.
"Hey sleepyhead," Rachel said fondly as Blaine reached into the fridge for something to drink. She giggled as Blaine looked over in surprise.
"Rachel!" he exclaimed happily. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?" Blaine was suddenly alert as he walked towards the table, stopping to give Kurt a quick peck on the lips as he went to get the bottle ready.
Rachel decided Kurt could fill Blaine in on the details later if he wanted. "I'm great. You two looked precious on the couch earlier. It looks like you've all settled into your new life." Rachel smiled softly. "And this one is just the most beautiful girl. How is she?"
Blaine gently kissed the top of Mollie's head and rested his cheek against her curls as he looked at Rachel. "She's perfect. We couldn't be happier. Well, I would be happier if she had gone back to sleep after I fed her at four this morning, but I wouldn't feel like a real dad if I wasn't sleep deprived," he smiled his goofy grin. "You want to hold her?"
"Of course I do," Rachel said, scooting her chair back from the table and reaching over for the baby. There was a bit of awkwardness as they passed the baby and got her situated in Rachel's arms, but eventually she was able to sit back and simply snuggle the precious bundle. Mollie was still drowsy with sleep, but her eyes were open and she had an intent look on her face as she studied Rachel. "Hi Mollie. I'm your Aunt Rachel," she murmured softly to the little girl. She ran her hand gently over dark curls on her head and looked up at Blaine. "She's just beautiful, Blaine. She looks just like you."
Blaine chuckled. "I think she looks quite a bit like you. But yes, she's gorgeous."
"Alright you two," Kurt complained as he walked to the table. "You've now both commented on how gorgeous Mollie is and confirmed for each other how much she looks like both of you. Humble, aren't we?" He sat down next to Rachel and offered her the bottle.
Rachel took the bottle and offered it to Mollie, who latched right on. Rachel giggled and stage whispered to the baby "Don't pay any attention to him, Mollie. You are gorgeous."
The three adults continued talking while Mollie had her bottle, jumping from topic to topic and catching up on each other's lives. Their conversations had centered around the pregnancy for so long that Rachel didn't know about Kurt's most recent clothing line or Blaine's big case, and neither of the men knew about the musical that had been decided on at the community theater. Rachel had just gotten a large burp out of Mollie when she looked at the clock and realized she needed to get home to her own family.
"I guess I better go guys. I'm sure the kids are running Noah ragged, and if left to his own devices he'll take the kids for Happy Meals for lunch." Rachel snuggled Mollie and kissed her chubby cheek one more time before handing her over to Kurt. She watched him gather Mollie close and kiss her cheek before standing up and gathering her things.
Kurt carried Mollie into the living room, while Blaine walked Rachel to the door, stopping her before she could reach for the doorknob. "You've changed our lives Rachel. Kurt and I could have been happy with just each other, but you've given us an amazing gift and we can't possibly thank you enough."
Rachel wrapped her arms around Blaine's neck and he hugged her back. "I'm just so glad I could be a part of bringing that precious little girl into the world. And you don't need to thank me…watching the two of you raise her and be amazing parents to her will be the only thing I would ever want in return."
Blaine smiled at her as he opened the door, telling her to drive careful and come back to visit soon. Rachel waited until the door closed to walk back to the window that looked into the living room. She peeked in, knowing that she probably shouldn't be doing what she was doing, but she couldn't resist. Kurt was sitting on the couch, Mollie cradled in his arms. He was talking to her, and she was watching his face intently, as she had been doing with Rachel in the kitchen. Blaine came into view from the foyer, walking over to the couch as Kurt looked up at him with love in his eyes. Blaine sat down next to his husband, putting his arm around Kurt and reaching over with his free hand to stroke down Mollie's cheek with one finger. Blaine kissed Kurt on the cheek and then rested his head on Kurt's shoulder, content to snuggle with his family.
Rachel sniffled as she turned and walked to her car. They would all be just fine.
Comments
I *really* loved this. Selfless Rachel was a beautiful thing to behold, and Kurt and Blaine couldn't have been more awesome. Thanks for sharing :)
This is wonderful and just so adorable! I needed this :)And Puckelberry has alwas been a favourite of mine, but Klaine is my altime favourite. Thank you for writing this :)