Chapter 4 – Part 1

January 2022

It's tech week and rehearsal is running late. Kurt curses out loud when his call to Rachel is sent straight to voice mail. Any other day it wouldn't be a problem if rehearsal didn't finish on time, but today, his sitter, Katie, has an exam and unless he can find someone to take care of his daughter for an hour or two, Katie will have to drop her off at the theater.

Unfortunately, Santana and Brittany are in L.A and Rachel, while in New York, is unreachable. Kurt takes a deep breath before he calls James' number. His soon to be ex-husband is in New York for once, but Kurt knows chances are slim, that he'll be able to leave the office to pick up their daughter.

“Kurt?” James answers the phone, sounding stressed.

“Yeah, it's me. Listen, I know you're at work and probably busy, but rehearsal is running late and Katie's got an exam in an hour. Could you pick up Lexy?”

On James' side he tells someone, probably his secretary Linda, that he'll be right in.

“I'm really sorry Kurt, but I'm meeting with a new client in a few minutes. I could get her after, though, around seven.”

Kurt supposes it's better than nothing, because they've barely started the second act and most certainly won't finish any time soon. He'll just have to find someone at the theater to watch his daughter in the meantime.

“Thanks, James, I appreciate it. I'll text you the address of the theater.”

“Great. I need to run now, but I'm going to give you a call once I get there.”

When Kurt hangs up the phone, half the cast is glaring at him and he is certain that the only reason the director hasn't yelled at him yet for constantly being on the phone during rehearsals is because Nick DuVal is a friend of Blaine's and aware of Kurt's situation.

“Sorry about that. Unfortunately my sitter can't stay any longer and my husband is at work.”

“Mr. Hummel,” the nasal voice of their producer, Dakota Stanley causes Kurt to turn his head. “Do you need to go home, because I would like to remind you of the talk we had about your commitment to the show before I hired you.”

Kurt cringes and shakes his head. “No, Mr. Stanley. My babysitter will bring my daughter here and I'm…”

“And I offered to watch her until Kurt's done rehearsing,” Blaine interrupts and saves Kurt from having to admit that he didn't know who'd watch Lexy once she got to the theater.

“Very well, carry on then,” Mr. Stanley orders. “Time is money!”

“Thanks,” Kurt whispers as Nick claps and calls the group to order. “Please, take my phone. Katie said she'll call once she gets here.”

“Kurt!” Nick calls impatiently and Kurt rushes back on stage to avoid getting murdered by his co-stars for further delaying them.

***

Twenty minutes later, Kurt nearly twists his ankle when a shout of “Daddy!” distracts him in the middle of a rather complicated dance move. Blaine is walking down the main aisle, Lexy on one arm and Kurt's diaper bag slung over the other. His daughter is waving at him enthusiastically, while Blaine seems to be trying to keep her quiet.

“Why don't we all take five,” Nick instructs and Kurt gives him a grateful smile before quickly jumping off the stage and hurrying over to Blaine and Lexy.

“Hey Sweetie,” Kurt presses a kiss against her cold cheek and smoothes her short blond hair after taking off her hat. “Did you have fun with Katie?”

Lexy squirms in Blaine's arms and reaches for him.

“Katie, doll,” she babbles excitedly as Kurt takes her from Blaine for a moment. He cuddles her for a few minutes until break is over and he has to hand his daughter back to Blaine.

“Listen Sweetheart. Daddy has to go back to work for a bit, but Blaine is going to sit with you. Promise you'll be good,” he tells Lexy and accepts a wet kiss to his cheek in return.

Back on stage, it's harder to concentrate and keep his eyes off Blaine who is bouncing Lexy on his lap and pointing out to her what's happening on stage. They look good together, but Kurt forces himself to pull it together when he messes up the same dance move for the third time.

***

It's already after seven when Nick allows them to take another break and it fortunately coincides with James arriving at the theater. Blaine follows Kurt into the lobby, carrying his diaper bag while Kurt holds an already sleepy Lexy in his arms. When she spots James, she waves shyly before burying her head into Kurt's neck.

“You still have your key right?” Kurt greets his ex before removing Lexy's hands from his shirt and handing her over to James.

James had moved out three weeks ago, after returning from his first trip to China of the year. Not that it makes much of a difference with how little James had been at home before. Kurt's just grateful that James wasn't interested in the apartment he had picked and decorated because the last thing his daughter needs in a time like this is to be uprooted from her home as well.

“Yeah, I have it,” James replies, shifting Lexy in his arms so he can put the diaper bag over his other arm.

Kurt zips Lexy's purple coat and puts on her light grey gloves. “Sweetie,” he tells her. “Daddy James will give you your bath tonight, okay. I'll try to get home in time to tuck you in. Love you.”

He gives her a kiss and pulls her dark blue hat back over her ears. It's surprisingly warm for early January, but he really can't afford having to stay home right now because his daughter caught a cold. Not when they are heading up to Boston in a week for their first out of town preview.

“You know when you're going to be home?” James asks.

“Around nine, I guess.” Kurt looks to Blaine who nods, reminding Kurt of his manners.

“Oh Blaine, you remember James.”

The man he is madly in love with shakes hands with the man he used to be in love with. There's something off about the way James looks at Blaine, but Kurt puts it down to the awkwardness of the situation, because it's obvious that Blaine knows about the state of their marriage.

“Yes, Blaine, of course. Thanks for your help, mate.”

James finally releases Blaine's hand who tries to subtly shake it out. Kurt turns to James after assuring himself the Blaine is all right.

“She's already eaten, so just give her a bath, make her a bottle and put her to bed. And don't forget about…”

“Dumbo,” James cuts him off. “Kurt, I'm her father too. You don't have to treat me like a first time babysitter. I know I haven't been around a lot, but I know how to take care of Alexandra.”

“Sorry, I know you do,” Kurt apologizes. He'd never leave her with someone he doesn't trust and even though they are getting divorced, Kurt has never doubted James' trustworthiness.

“Okay, see you later. Blaine, nice seeing you again.”

Kurt tries not to jump out of his skin when Blaine squeezes his shoulders as James walks out of the theater with their daughter.

“I don't know how you're doing this, raising her on your own.”

“Well, as you've heard, I've had plenty of experience even with James in the picture,” Kurt replies bitterly, because even though James had made his stance on children clear from the start, he'd always, secretly hoped that his husband would come around once the baby was born and would take an active interest in their child.

June 2020

It's close to midnight on Friday, June 12th, when Kurt gets a call from a frantic Santana. He and James are snuggled up on the couch watching a romantic comedy, taking advantage of the fact that James is actually in New York instead of somewhere in China helping his boss get even richer.

“Brittany's water just broke,” Santana yells into the phone, nearly rupturing his eardrum.

“Oh, okay,” Kurt answers in a daze, because they were supposed to have another two weeks. But this is better, because James will be back in China in a week and would probably have missed the birth of their daughter otherwise.

“Have you called a cab yet? Do you have your bag?” he continues more calmly.

“Of course I have,” Santana snarls. “Meet us at Mount Sinai. Dr. Sanders knows we are on our way.”

“Everything okay?” James asks when Kurt hangs up the phone and jumps up from the couch, his eyes darting to the bowl next to the door to make sure their keys are where they are supposed to be.

“Brittany went into labor. Do you think you could use a company car to get us to the hospital,” Kurt questions James, eyeing the brand new car seat next to the stroller Burt and Carole had bought for them. Even though they don't own a car, Kurt had insisted they get a car seat, because there's no way he'll try to take a stroller onto the subway unless he absolutely has to.

“Sure, I'll call the company right away,” James replies and picks up his own cell phone from the coffee table.

While James calls for a car, Kurt dashes into the bedroom and picks up his own bag filled with diapers and baby clothes. His camera sits on the nightstand and Kurt quickly throws it in as well, because the arrival of his daughter should be documented with something producing better quality pictures than a cell phone camera.

“Five minutes,” James informs him when Kurt returns from the bedroom bag in hand.

Even though it's late, it's still in the seventies outside so Kurt only grabs a light jacket before pulling on a comfortable pair of sneakers. He'd already dressed down for a night in with his husband - both he and James are in shorts and t-shirts – so at least he won't feel overdressed while waiting for the birth of their as of yet unnamed daughter. Kurt had looked through the baby books and given James veto rights, but in the end, he'd decided that he couldn't make a decision until he met the future carrier of the chosen name.

Outside, in front of their Upper West Side apartment, a black town car is waiting for them and Kurt hands his bag and the car seat to the driver who puts them into the trunk while he and James buckle their seat belts.

“I have to call my parents,” Kurt remembers once the car starts moving. “Do you want to send your parents a text message? They should be up soon.”

While James complies, Kurt pulls up his dad's contact on his phone.

“Hello?” comes the sleepy reply and Kurt feels bad for having woken his dad, but he's certain his dad would be furious if Kurt hadn't called the minute he heard the news himself.

“Dad, we're on our way to the hospital. Brittany's in labor.”

“That's great kiddo. I'll try to get us seats on the first flight out.”

“Thanks Dad. I'll text you the address of the hospital. Just let me know when you get here.”

“Will do. Love you, Kurt. And give my regards to Brittany and Santana. And that husband of yours if he's in town.”

Kurt suppresses a sigh, because his dad dislikes James' travels about as much as Kurt does and usually doesn't hide how he feels about the traveling and as a result James.

“James is with me. I'll tell him you said hi,” he replies diplomatically even though he is sure his husband is aware of Burt's animosity toward him.

Luckily, there isn't much traffic this time of night and they arrive at the hospital quickly. Kurt takes the bag while James picks up the car seat and together they walk up the reception area on the ground floor.

“Hi, I'm looking for Brittany Pierce. She's having a baby,” he tells the nurse manning the station.

“And you are?” the bored looking woman replies.

“We're the fathers,” Kurt beams proudly. He gets a sneer in return and any other day he would have given the woman a piece of his mind, but tonight he lets it slide.

“Just tell me where we can find her.”

The nurse types Brittany's name into the computer, her long fake nails making a clacking sound on the keyboard.

“Third floor, section C, room 3245.”

“Thank you,” Kurt tells her, a friendly smile on his face because not even an ignorant homophobe will be able to ruin his night.

After getting turned around twice, Kurt and James finally arrive in front of room 3245. Inside, Dr. Sanders, Brittany's OB/GYN, who Kurt met during previous ultrasound appointments, is talking to Brittany and Santana. Brittany is sitting up on a hospital bed, an IV connected to her arm, while Santana has taken up residence on the chair next to the bed.

“And here are the fathers to be,” Dr. Sanders greets them warmly. “As I was just telling Ms. Lopez and Ms. Pierce, it's probably going to be a few more hours. Ms. Pierce's water has indeed broken, but she isn't dilated enough to go into actual labor. I have given her something for the pain and an anesthesiologist will administer Ms. Pierce's epidural anesthesia when the time comes.”

Kurt nods and plops down on the chair on Brittany's other side while James excuses himself to get coffee for him, Kurt and Santana. They had talked about Brittany's options in advance and while Brittany had decided against a C-section in the end, they had all agreed that she shouldn't have to go through the pain of childbirth for someone else's baby.

“How are you feeling?” he asks his friend once Dr. Sanders has left.

“Better now that the doctor's given me something,” Brittany admits, but there's a smile on her face. At least one of them has never regretted their decision, Kurt thinks, as he tries not to panic, because now that he's at the hospital about to become a father, it really hits him. He's about to become a father and he has no clue what he's doing. Sure he'd taken a few classes, had learned how to diaper a doll and other useful information on childcare, but he feels woefully unprepared and already in over his head. He isn't the most patient person in the world, and he's afraid how he will react if the baby never stops crying or never listens to him in general. And there's James' constant traveling, meaning that Kurt will be the only one home to get up during the night, day after day after day after day.

“Are you okay?” Santana asks, displaying once more her apparent mind reading abilities.

“Just a bit nervous.”

There's no reason to worry her after all. Because there isn't anything she or Brittany could do to change the situation. They have an iron clad contract, stripping Brittany of all legal rights to the baby, even though Kurt wants Brittany to be part of his daughter's life. Just as her fun aunt, not as her mother. Because while Kurt suddenly feels nowhere near ready for a baby, Brittany and Santana are even less equipped to care for an infant. They both value their independence too much, and Brittany already has another tour lined up in a few weeks. No, Kurt helped create this baby and now he has to go home with it.

When James returns with their coffees, Kurt swallows his down quickly, scalding his tongue, but the pain in his mouth at least gets him out of his funk. On James' iPad they watch old episodes of ‘Friends' while they wait, distracting Brittany from her own labor with on screen Rachel's misfortunes.

“At least I managed to score you a single,” Santana comments as yet another pregnant couple leaves TV Rachel's hospital room to have a baby.

Fortunately, the nurses on their floor are huge fans of ‘Temptation Mates', Santana's soap opera, and when Santana had wheeled Brittany in, had ushered the couple into a private room, to give them, well, privacy.

Three hours later, there aren't any closer to meeting the baby than they were when they arrived, but Dr. Sanders assures them that this isn't uncommon in first time mothers. At least, Brittany isn't in too much pain, and on the doctor's recommendation, they take her for a walk down the hall to hopefully speed things up.

Burt calls shortly after four to let Kurt know that he and Carole will arrive in New York around eight and when Kurt informs him about the non-development his dad just laughs.

“So she's just like you, keeping everyone waiting before she makes her grand entrance. You were early too, you know, and your mother and I were afraid we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. But once we got there, it took you another ten hours to decide to meet us.”

“Great,” Kurt moans, because he's already tired as hell and having to stay up for another ten hours sounds like a special kind of hell. Especially, if the baby will be released to them quickly after the birth.

Back in Brittany's room another nurse is taking her vitals while a man Kurt assumes is the anesthesiologist puts a scary looking needle into Brittany's lower back.

He wakes up slumped into the chair around seven when Santana shakes him roughly. James is nowhere in sight, but Dr. Sanders has rejoined them and is coaching Brittany through a contraction.

“The baby's coming,” Santana informs him and Kurt jumps out of his chair.

Santana returns to her place on the other side of Brittany's bed and takes her hand. There's no way Kurt is going anywhere near to where he could see what's happening, so he takes Britt's other hand and gives it an encouraging squeeze.

Fifteen minutes later, he's holding a squishy looking baby with blond hair and bright blue eyes wrapped in a blanket in his arms. His daughter is demonstrating her lungs' capacity, her head red from all the screaming she'd be doing since the moment she was born. But all he can do is stare at her in wonder and gently rock her in his arms in an attempt to calm her down. Santana has her fingers in her ears, as she watches over Brittany who'd fallen asleep quickly thanks to the meds administered through her IV, but Kurt doesn't mind the loud screaming as much as he would were it anyone else's child.

“Do you have a name for the birth certificate yet?” a nurse interrupts him and Kurt gives his daughter another once over.

“I think so, but I have to talk to my husband first. Do you know where he went?”

“He's sleeping in the waiting room. Why don't you talk to him, while I take this little cutie to the nursery to give your friends some peace and quiet.”

Kurt reluctantly hands the baby over to the nurse before he leaves the room in search of James. Now that she's actually here, he still feels nervous as hell and unprepared for what's ahead, but there's no question that he already loves her very much.

He finds James asleep over a row of chairs in the waiting room and shakes him gently.

“Did she have it?” his husband mumbles sleepily and Kurt nods, a huge smile on his face.

“She's gorgeous. Blond hair and blue eyes like Brittany, but I think she has my nose.”

James presses an off center kiss against Kurt's lips before he rubs his eyes.

“Did you name her?”

“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first and take you to see her.”

He leads his husband down the hallway to the nursery, where he presses his nose against the window, his eyes flying over the cribs until he spots the right one.

“There she is,” he points their daughter out to James who follows his finger until he spots her as well.

“She looks squishy,” James remarks, his brows furrowed, and Kurt holds back a cutting remark, because he'd thought the exact same thing when he'd first seen her.

“She's only twenty minutes old,” he settles on instead of telling James what he really thinks about his comment.

“I suppose so. So what do you have in mind for a name, love?”

Kurt thinks it over one last time, but it's the best fit of all the names he had considered.

“Meet Alexandra Sophia Hummel-Patterson – if it's okay with you,” he announces.”

Sadly, James frowns.

“What's wrong? I thought you liked Alexandra and Sophia for a girl. And Alexandra was my mothers' middle name.”

“The names are fine, Kurt. But a hyphenated name for a child sounds pretentious. And wouldn't it confuse people because we didn't hyphenate our last names.”

Kurt's not getting into a fight with his husband over their last name in front of their daughter's nursery. He's absolutely not. And it wouldn't change anything. They'd had that fight before. James had been strictly against it because his goal had always been to find a firm who dealt with China after studying International Business and Chinese in college and he was afraid he would get into trouble if business partners found out about his homosexuality. And a hyphenated last name was a sure fire way for them to find out, according to James. Kurt had argued that even straight couples sometimes hyphenated their last names these days, but James hadn't budged and only told him that Kurt could go ahead and change his name if he wanted, but he wouldn't. In the end, Kurt had also decided against it, because he didn't want to be the only Hummel-Patterson in the Hummel-Patterson household.

“Fine,” he mumbles through clenched teeth before he flags down a passing nurse.

“Excuse me. Could you let nurse McKaine know that I have a name for my daughter's birth certificate?”

A few minutes later, baby girl Hummel-Patterson is replaced with Alexandra Sophia Hummel and Kurt gets to feed his baby for the first time, while James is getting coffee for them from the cafeteria.

“Hi Lexy,” he whispers as blue eyes meet his. “I'm your daddy. And I'm going to love you very much.”