Chapter 5

January 2022

“And you know what's ironic? We've fought so long for our right to get married and here I am, getting a divorce.”

“But, Kurt, without the right to get married you wouldn't be able to join fifty percent of all New Yorkers and get a divorce either. So don't feel bad about ending your marriage just because getting married isn't possible in all fifty states yet. Your relationship isn't and shouldn't be a political statement,” Blaine assures him when Kurt brings up that a co-star told him that his divorce is a setback for the gay community.

“I guess you're right. Tim just has this way of getting under my skin. And there I thought working with Jesse would be the problem.”

Blaine laughs before taking a sip from his Manhattan. They're at their usual post rehearsal hang out with a group of dancers from the show and the aforementioned Tim, who has his tongue down his boyfriend's throat in a nearby corner.

“You know you won't get me to say anything bad about Jesse. The critics loved him when we were previewing ‘Butterfly Factory' and who knows if it had ever gone to Broadway if it hadn't been for him.”

“I know, I know,” Kurt concedes. “And he's a so much better boyfriend to Rachel this time around. Who knew that success would actually mellow him.”

They both share a laugh because Jesse St. James on stage is just as intense as he'd ever been. He's the perfect scene partner for Kurt, always driving him to give more of himself, to push himself even harder. That they are enemies in the show doesn't hurt either, though surprisingly, they've become somewhat friends since they'd both been cast in Blaine's newest musical ‘Ace of Spades'. After all, Kurt wouldn't even be in the musical if it hadn't been for Jesse in the first place.

“Unfortunately, I owe him for getting me my first audition so until we're even I'm contractually forbidden to say anything negative either,” Kurt jokes and bumps their shoulders together.

His skin tingles where it touched Blaine's and Kurt busies himself with his drink so he won't give himself away. He and James have their first meeting with a divorce lawyer Saturday morning, so until the end of his marriage is settled, he shouldn't even think about starting something with Blaine. He needs a clean break first, disentangle his life from James' and start fresh. And maybe then, he can begin to think about how he'll deal with his feelings for Blaine.

“Well, I for one am eternally grateful for that as well. It's as if I had written Nate with you in mind and the moment you walked through the door, I knew you were it. Even though you though I was just a lowly piano player when we met.”

Kurt's cheeks turn a nasty shade of red and he thanks the dim lighting in the bar for hiding his embarrassment from Blaine.

“Will you ever stop teasing me about this?”

“Not a chance,” Blaine winks and turns Kurt's stomach into his very own butterfly factory.

April 2021

“Hummel?”

“Yes, who is this?” Kurt holds Lexy's right hand as his daughter takes another wobbly step.

“It's Jesse. Rachel gave me your number.”

Surprised, Kurt lets go of Lexy's hand, causing her to stumble and land on her butt. He quickly scoops her up before she can start crying and pins his cell phone between his head and shoulder.

“Jesse. Why are you calling?”

“Well, I just wanted to let you know that I got you an audition for ‘Ace of Spades'. I already got a part, but they are still looking for someone to play my younger brother and the way the role is described I thought you'd be perfect for it.”

Kurt's flattered, he really is, but then he looks at the little girl in his arms and he doesn't know how he'd do it. James is more involved in her life now, making a real effort after their fight, but Kurt is still the one taking care of her every day but Thursdays when she is with Santana and Brittany.

“That's nice that you thought of me, Jesse, but I don't intend to go back to work before Lexy isn't at least a year old,” he settles on with a heavy heart.

“You're going to regret not auditioning, Kurt. This show could do for you what ‘Butterfly Factory' did for me. So listen, your audition is next Wednesday at eleven. I'll email you the address and the requirements and in the mean time you talk to whoever you have to talk to to make this happen.”

Jesse hangs up the phone before Kurt can argue with him. Lexy starts to squirm in his arms and Kurt puts her down and lends her his hand as she takes another few wobbly steps while he starts a list of pros and cons about Jesse's news.

Later that night, when Lexy is asleep, he tells James about the audition as they are sitting down in front of the TV, James with a glass of red wine and Kurt with a light beer.

“That's amazing news, love. I always knew you'd make it big one day,” James enthuses when Kurt's done and Kurt kisses him with the enthusiasm that had marked their early kisses.

“When would you start rehearsing?”

“I'm not sure, but it's an original so they'll probably workshop it for a few months before they take it out of town to preview it on the east coast.”

“That would work out well then, right? Didn't Katie say she wanted to work more hours when she starts her masters in the fall?”

Kurt nods because this is one of the items on his pro list. That he already has childcare somewhat covered.

“Yeah, but Jesse said it's the second male lead, so I would probably have to be at the theater every day. What if Lexy hates me for abandoning her.”

James just shakes his head before he gets up from the couch and puts his empty glass in the dishwasher.

“It's your decision, Kurt. Just don't resent her for it, if you miss this chance out of some misguided obligation.” After a beat. “You want another beer?”

Kurt nods and exchanges his empty for the full one James is handing him before disappearing into their bedroom. He doesn't pay any attention to what's happening on screen as his mind goes over the pros and cons over and over again.

A few minutes later, his phone rings and Kurt isn't surprised at all when his caller ID identifies his dad.

“I'm guessing James called you,” he answers the phone and his dad laughs.

“You know that I'm not his biggest fan, but I appreciate that he also wants what's best for you.”

“And what is it, that's best for me? Tell me what to do and I'll do it. I just can't make up my mind,” Kurt moans.

“You haven't even gotten the role yet. So what you'll do is go to that audition and give it your best shot. You don't get it, you add to your experience. You get it, you think about whether you really want it or not. And if you decide that you do, we'll all find a way to make it happen.”

Kurt breathes in deeply, holds it and exhales. “Okay, I'll do it. You're right, I'm going to hate myself if I don't at least give it a try and I don't want to resent Lexy for holding me back. She loves Katie, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind spending more time with her.”

“That's my boy! You go there and show them what Hummels are made of,” his dad cheers and Kurt smiles brightly himself.

“Thanks, Dad. I'll try to make you proud.”

“You always do, kiddo, you always do.

After hanging up the phone and checking on Lexy, Kurt joins James in the bedroom. His husband smiles at him and Kurt crawls over the covers and pushes James' glasses from his nose. That night, they make love, like they did when they first fell in love; before their life got complicated by marriage and a baby.

***

Kurt hands his headshot to a tall brunette introducing herself as casting assistant Jamie Brax before taking a seat outside the little studio in Chelsea Jesse had sent him to. Lexy is with his parents who have come to New York to show their support and Kurt tries to focus solely on the reason why he's here. He's nervous because it's been nearly two years since he'd last auditioned for anything, but before his nerves can get the better of him, Jamie calls him inside.

“We're ready for you Kurt.”

Inside the little studio, three people are sitting behind a long black table. Kurt recognizes director Nick DuVal from a previous audition, but is relieved when his companions introduce themselves.

“Dakota Stanley, choreographer and producer,” the short man next to the director barks, and Kurt stops himself just in time from curtseying, because Dakota Stanley is one of the best choreographers Broadway had seen in the last two decade. He just doesn't really look like Kurt had expected.

The third person in front of Kurt is Cassandra July, another producer and Mr. Stanley's assistant choreographer. Kurt knows that she taught at NYU from time to time, but after hearing the horror stories, he had refrained from signing up for one of her classes. Kurt gives them a friendly smile before he introduces himself.

“Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel. I'm twenty-seven, originally from Ohio, I'm married and I have a daughter. I got a degree in musical theater from Tisch and my last engagement before my daughter was born was with ‘The Book of Mormon'. Today I'm auditioning for the role of ‘Nate'.

“Nice to meet you Kurt, why don't you tell Blaine what you'll be singing.”

Kurt turns around to hand the piano player his sheet music and nearly drips over his feet, because the guy sitting behind a beautiful baby grand is pretty hot. His hair is dark and curly and Kurt forces himself to look away, because the guy isn't just hot, he's also obviously younger than Kurt, and most importantly, Kurt is married, and shouldn't ogle the guy accompanying him during his audition.

Blaine shakes his head when Kurt offers him the sheet music to ‘Miraculous Miracle'.

“Keep it, I got it,” he tells Kurt with a big smile on his face, but Kurt won't let some piano player potentially ruin his audition because they aren't in sync.

“I'd rather you use it,” he whispers, not wanting to give the director and producers a reason not to like him. “I made some notes where I think a different key would benefit my voice and if they like it maybe they'd advocate for the change.”

To his surprise, Blaine laughs out loud.

“I like him. He's already telling me how to rewrite my music before we've even heard him sing.”

Kurt freezes on the spot because this has to be a bad dream. The young guy in front of him can't be B. D. Anderson, musical prodigy and hailed by many as the Sondheim of his generation. He looks way too young, but if he were older he probably wouldn't be called a prodigy, Kurt muses.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know you are B. D. Anderson. My friend's boyfriend Jesse worked with you before but the way he described you, I, I,” Kurt stutters. “I actually don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry. I'll sing it the way you wrote it.”

Blaine shakes his head and pulls the sheet music from Kurt's loose grip.

“No, let's give it a try. See whether you are right or not.”

Once he is done, Kurt doesn't know how he actually got through the song, because all he focused on while he was singing was the way Blaine's eyes lit up when Kurt mastered a particularly difficult part.

“I'd like you to read for us from the first scene, the first time Nate and his brother Ethan interact,” Mr. DuVal instructs and Kurt grabs a copy of the script from his bag and flips through until he finds the scene.

Next to him, Blaine pulls up another chair, holding his own script in his hand.

“I'll be reading Ethan,” Blaine explains, “who'll be played by Jesse as you already know.”

As the final part of his audition, Ms. July demonstrates some choreography they are creating for the show, which Kurt has to repeat with as few mistakes as possible. He's very, very grateful in this moment, that his dance teacher is a hard ass who would make him repeat every move until he'd perfected it.

“Well, we have your information and will be calling people back starting Friday. If you haven't heard from us by next Wednesday, then you can assume that we've decided against you,” Jaime informs him back outside in the hallway, while inside the studio another hopeful is auditioning, probably without making a fool of himself and insulting the show's creator.

Kurt doesn't really expect to get a call back even though his actual audition had been pretty good in his opinion. It hadn't been flawless, but it also hadn't been the audition of someone who hadn't been on a stage in over a year.

***

Kurt gets the call when he's on his knees, wiping up Lexy's vomit. His daughter had taken advantage of his brief absence and had stuffed her face with the cookie dough he'd put on the windowsill to cool. How she managed to get the bowl down, he has no idea, but it had ended with her vomiting all over the kitchen floor.

“What?” Kurt barks, hoping for an unsuspecting telemarketer he can use to blow off steam. Ideally, it'd be James again so Kurt can yell at the reason for his anger. After all, if his husband hadn't forgotten an important document in their bedroom, Kurt wouldn't have taken his eyes off Lexy who's going to start to walk any day now.

“Um, Kurt Hummel? This is Jamie Brax, we met at your audition on Wednesday.”

Kurt drops the sponge into the bucket and wipes his free hand on his jeans.

“Yes, I remember,” he replies after making sure that Lexy's where he's left her on the couch.

“I just wanted to let you know that the team really liked your audition and they'd like to meet with you again.”

“Really?” Kurt asks incredulously. Maybe B. D. Anderson had taken pity on him and not told his coworkers about Kurt's faux pas.

“Yes, really. Would Thursday, 9 AM work for you?”

He'll have to talk to Santana about dropping Lexy off earlier. Worst case scenario, he has to pay Katie for a few hours before Lexy is due at Brittany and Santana's.

“That's no problem. Same address?”

After Jamie confirms the date, time and address again and ends the call, Kurt allows himself to shriek in joy for a moment before checking on Lexy who still looks pale, but is already on her feet again.

“Daddy's got a call back for an amazing show,” he squeals and spins his baby girl in a circle, totally forgetting that she'd just puked. Fortunately, Lexy just claps her hands together excitedly when she's back on the floor, though Kurt doubts that she understands what's going on.

His joy lasts until he remembers the bucket and the small puddle of vomit still staining his kitchen floor. So much for the glamorous life of a Broadway star he'd dreamt about when he was younger.

***

“Kurt, could we talk to you for a moment before you head out?” Dakota Stanley stops Kurt after his second call back.

Kurt nods his head, because fortunately he isn't in a hurry. Katie won't drop Lexy off for another hour. Blaine Devon Anderson, please just call me Blaine, invites him to take the chair next to his and Kurt crosses and uncrosses his legs nervously. Though it has to be a good omen that the production wants to talk to him, right?

“You said you have a daughter. Can I ask how old she is?” Ms. July asks.

“Oh, she'll be eleven months this Sunday.”

“How nice. And you haven't worked since she was born?”

Kurt bobs his head again.

“So what we are wondering is whether childcare is going to be an issue? You said you're married; will your husband stay with your daughter?”

Kurt doesn't like the direction this is heading in, because quite frankly, it's none of their business. Blaine smiles at him encouragingly, so Kurt ends up answering anyway.

“Ah, no. My husband splits his time between New York and China for work, but I have a sitter who'd watch my daughter in case you or another production will cast me.”

Dakota Stanley and Cassandra July share a look.

“To be honest, I wanted to hire you on the spot after your first audition, but we were concerned about your level of commitment. If we cast you, you'll be in rehearsal for a leading role six days a week, starting in three weeks until at least January. In February, we'll preview out of town for two to three weeks and then it's back to rehearsal to get us Broadway ready. So the question is, can you fully commit to this? Are you sure you're willing to give up time with your baby for my baby?”

The way Blaine is looking at him, all earnest wide eyes, Kurt would gladly offer him his second born. Still, he takes a moment before he answers.

“Yes.”

He sounds less certain than he wants, but he's made up his mind. This role could be his breakthrough, his chance to get his whole body through the door.

“I'm certain I can do both, nurture both our babies so to speak.”

Blaine beams at him and the rest of the team seems satisfied as well.

“Okay, thank you Kurt. We'll let you know once we've talked things over.”

“Come on, I'll walk you out. I'm in need for a coffee anyway,” Blaine offers when Kurt pulls on his jacket.

He isn't sure what to make of the way he feels whenever he's around Blaine. Not that it should matter because he is a married man with a child. And it also doesn't matter, because Blaine is kissed passionately when they step out onto the street by a gorgeous coffee carrying stranger with a dancer's body.

“Hey babe, thought you could use a break,” the man greets Blaine while Kurt studies the laces of his boots.

“Pablo, this is Kurt Hummel. He's auditioning for my show,” Blaine introduces them.

Pablo gives him a once over and Kurt feels like he's being put under a microscope. To make an awkward situation even more awkward, Katie walks up to them then, pushing the stroller with one hand while carrying Lexy with her other arm.

“Kurt! You're done already. I was just gonna wait for you out here, but that's good. I need to head to the library to study for a test in a bit.”

Kurt can feel Blaine and Pablo's stares burn a hole into the back of his head as he accepts his daughter from Katie.

Katie, unaware of the weirdness of the situation (though Kurt has no idea why it feels awkward in the first place) waves cheerfully, ruffles Lexy's hair and takes off down the street before Kurt turns to face his potential new employer.

“So, this is Lexy,” he mumbles just as the girl in question buries her head in Kurt's neck, hiding her face from Blaine and Pablo.

“Aren't you a little young for a kid? Knocked up your high school girlfriend before you came out?” Pablo, who looks barely legal himself, asks as Kurt struggles to keep his diaper bag from slipping down his shoulder.

“Pablo,” Blaine chides. “Kurt only looks young, but he's actually nearly thirty.”

He's turning twenty-eight in three weeks, but Blaine makes it sound like Kurt is ancient. Luckily, Santana choses that moment to call and gives Kurt an excuse to leave. Saved by the bell.

“Well, it was nice to meet you Pablo (not), but Lexy has a date with her favorite aunts. And Blaine, if I don't hear from you again, I think you wrote something amazing and it was an honor to meet you.”

He flees before Blaine can respond, mentally smacking himself for acting like a teenager experiencing his first crush. Not that he has a crush on Blaine. Because he has James and Lexy and Blaine has, well, Pablo.

***

“Let my agent look over the contract before you sign anything,” Santana advises when Kurt comes to pick up Lexy around six. “Cause if they expect you to rehearse six days a week, they better pay you.”

“Santana, they haven't even offered me the role yet and they may still go with someone else.”

Santana scoffs.

“You've auditioned three times, once with Jesse, and they've asked you to stay behind for a private conversation. Trust me, they're definitely interested.”

Behind her, Brittany buckles Lexy's shoes. Kurt raises his hands in surrender.

“All right. If they offer me the role I promise not to sign anything before your people have looked it over. Which they probably won't. They didn't really like it that I have a kid.”

“If that's the only reason they won't hire you screw them, or better sue them for discrimination.”

Fortunately, Kurt gets the call the next afternoon, rendering any drastic measures Santana may have planned unnecessary. He refrains from screaming like a lunatic until Mr. Stanley hangs up the phone after promising to send Kurt's contract over with a bike messenger. Unfortunately, he wakes Lexy up from her nap in the process, but it's okay, because he's just got his first lead role and if things go well he'll originate a role on Broadway. His name will be forever associated with Original Broadway Cast of ‘Ace of Spades' and it's going to be his voice on the CD. He may even receive a Tony before he's thirty. Kurt knows that his imagination is running away from him and none of it may actually happen. They could remain OFF Broadway or run out of money before they even go into production. It's all happened before.

“Dada,” Lexy whines and Kurt picks her up and throws her into the air.

“Daddy's got the job!” More quietly. “I hope you're not going to hate me for leaving you with Katie.”

Lexy just smiles at him and no matter how often he feels overwhelmed and in over his head, it hits him in that moment how much he's going to miss her once he goes back to work and won't be able to spend the day with her anymore.

At least it's Friday already so he'll see Melissa and the group tomorrow. He'll get their advice because at the moment he's the only parent without a job. Or rather was, he reminds himself, his face breaking into a smile. It's like his damn mind can't decide what he's feeling. One moment ecstatic about the musical, the next sad about leaving his daughter behind for a job.

***

“It's perfectly normal to feel this way,” Melissa assures him the next day.

The rest of the group hasn't arrived yet, so Kurt takes advantage of having her undivided attention and spills his guts to her.

“I went back to work six months after Sarah was born and three months after Connor because I couldn't afford to get kicked off the partner track for staying home too long for my firm's taste. So I did what successful New Yorkers do, got a bigger apartment and a live in nanny my husband ended up sleeping with. The D-bag got the apartment in the divorce, so these days I work with two different baby sitters, but at least Sarah's already in kindergarten. And by all accounts, the kids are happy even though Mommy only has time for them on the weekends.”

Kurt listens with rapt attention as Melissa tells him about her life.

“And be honest, Kurt. Can you remember anything from when you were her age?”

Kurt thinks about it, tries to recall all his memories of his mother, but his earliest memory is from when he was four years old and had accidentally broken his mother's favorite perfume over her dresser. And his dad has told the story of his third birthday and the heels he wanted too many times to count, but Kurt has no recollection of it. He shakes his head.

“Just give her your full attention when you do have time for her. And get that smoking hubby of yours to chip in when he's home. After all, you're only a honorary single parent.”

Kurt had sent James an email telling him the good news, and while his husband had emailed back an enthusiastic reply, they'd both avoided raising the issue of Lexy's care for obvious reasons.

“I doubt it. He hasn't been really involved so far so why would he change now? At least he's really proud of me for getting this role.”

Melissa studies him for a second.

“Are you happy in your marriage, Kurt?” she finally asks and Kurt rears back. What kind of question is that?

“Of course I am,” he protests, but the question lingers on his mind long after he's returned home.

Is he still happy with James? Can he even argue that he is when meeting a man three times was enough to give Kurt a crush on him? And most importantly, can love really conquer all? No one's ever said love could be this hard.

***

“Sorry about the other week.”

Blaine's called and asked Kurt to coffee to talk more about Kurt's thoughts on the songs and to apologize apparently.

They're having coffee uptown on Kurt's insistence, because he wasn't going to leave Lexy with a sitter just because her existence had made Blaine uncomfortable the last time he'd been around her.

“I didn't mean for things to get weird, but it's a bit strange seeing someone who's not even ten years older married with a kid. It just sounds so grown up; I'm not sure I could do this in my twenties. I wanna have fun, date a few guys, travel, you know.”

Actually, he doesn't. He has a passport because he got married in London and he's seen a bit of the Scottish countryside because of his honeymoon, but apart from that he's never left the country. He'd applied to study abroad in France when he was in college, but didn't get the spot and going to Europe just for fun, hadn't been in his budget.

Still he nods, not wanting to let Blaine know how little he has experienced and seen of the world.

“So tell me about you. What do I need to know about B. D. Anderson?” Kurt redirects the conversation.

“Um, I don't know. I'll be twenty-three in September, I went to Julliard for a year and I half and I grew up in Ohio.”

Kurt sits up in his chair.

“Really? I'm from Ohio too. Small town called Lima, but I don't think you've heard of it.”

To his surprise, Blaine nods though.

“Yeah, I've heard of it. I went to school in Westerville, Dalton Academy.”

“No way. We beat their glee club twice when I was in High School. 2011 and 2012.”

“That explains why you beat us. I only started at Dalton the fall of 2012,” Blaine teases and Kurt has the sudden urge to look up old show choir competitions on You Tube to check out a younger Blaine.

“So you sing too. Is there anything you can't do?”

Oh God. Is he flirting with Blaine? When his baby is right next to him and Blaine just told him that he finds him weird and pathetic. Maybe he needs to have his head examined.

“Apparently I have really bad taste in men,” Blaine replies. “But I guess it's my own fault for going out with dancers who are clearly only interested in me to get a job.”

“Oh, so you and, I'm sorry, I forgot his name...” (He didn't.)

“Pablo. Yeah, he stopped taking my calls when Dakota told him he didn't make the cut, but it's okay, I have a date on Friday with one of Nick's friends. Who's just a regular college student, so keep your fingers crossed.”

“I heard that college students are the worst,” Kurt quips, deciding to just fuck it and talk to Blaine however he wants because he's just having coffee with a potential new friend, who's very attractive, yes, but also funny and nice; exactly what he needs in a friend and ally in the show right now.

“Is there something you want to confess to your future employer about your wild college years,” Blaine replies jokingly and if Kurt didn't know better, he'd think Blaine is flirting with him as well.

“Nuh, I dated a guy for six months my freshman year until he cheated on me, and afterward it mostly never went beyond a forth date. Until I met James two years after I graduated,” Kurt confesses.

“Huh,” Blaine frowns. “With you being married and having a kid I would have thought you'd known him longer.”

“Well, I guess it was love at first sight and after, we didn't want to waste any time,” Kurt lies, because he's known Blaine all of three and a half weeks and James immigration issues back when they met is none of his business.

“That's cool. I think I'm a romantic at heart too, but until I meet the right guy, I don't mind dating the wrong guys.”

“But what if you've already met the right guy and didn't realize it or you were unavailable at the time?”

Because James could have easily asked someone else to share their table and then where would he be today? But Blaine just shrugs.

“If it's meant to be, it will happen.”

For a brief moment, actually more like a nanosecond, Kurt envisions what it would mean if Blaine was talking about him. They'd bring Lexy to the theater where Blaine would watch her while Kurt rehearsed for his latest musical and their apartment would never be quiet with him and Blaine singing duets together by the piano.

He shakes his head, because what's gotten into him lately? He loves his husband, so why does he keep fantasizing about Blaine. It's not like anything could or would ever happen between them. He'd been cheated on by his first boyfriend, and he'd never do this to someone he loves.

Kurt redirects the conversation once more.

“So how did you get from Warblers' front man to Broadway wunderkind?”

Blaine blushes and looks away shyly.

“My mother signed me up for music classes when I was still pretty young and after an incident in eight grade, the only way I knew how to express my feelings was through music. Only, there weren't any songs that fit the bill perfectly and so I wrote my own lyrics and kept tinkering at the piano until it sounded like a song. Actually, Nate's solo at the end of the first act is a very polished version of the first song I ever wrote.”

“That's amazing, Blaine,” Kurt tells him honestly. “Thank you for telling me. And also, no wonder you got into Julliard.”

“Actually, I got in for violin, because the only acceptable music career for my dad back then was orchestra. He promised to pay for my education if that was what I would focus on and so I complied because I love the violin nearly as much as I do the piano and it was a way to get out of Ohio to the musical capital of the country.”

“So how did you go from there to ‘Butterfly Factory?” Kurt asks after handing Lexy one of the stuffed toys she's just dropped. From the corner of his eye, he spies Blaine staring at him and Lexy with an unreadable expression on his face, but Kurt ignores it, because so far they've had a really nice afternoon and Kurt's learned a lot of interesting tidbits about one of his future bosses.

“First term of sophomore year, I took a class in composing, because song writing had remained a passion of mine ever since I'd written that first song. The overture of ‘Butterfly Factory' was the result of that semester and at my presentation I added that if people wanted to hear more they'd have to visit me at this piano bar I worked. Dakota Stanley taught dance at Julliard that semester and he and a friend had been looking for something to invest in for some time. After one of my sets at the bar, during Christmas break, they came up to me and asked if I thought I could turn what I had into a full musical. And the stupid, a little bit arrogant nineteen year old that I was, I told them, I'd nearly finished it. They gave me three months to show them something they could work with and if it was as good as the bits they'd already heard, they'd help me get it produced.”

“So how much did you have?” Kurt asked, his chin propped up by his hand as he listens with rapt attention.

He's read up on Blaine after the first audition, but this story he doesn't know yet.

“The overture, a duet and a solo I ended up using right before the finale. So, I had to drop out of Julliard so I'd be able to show them a completed musical in three months. I didn't tell anyone, not my parents, not my older brother and not my friends from high school. Only once I had secured financing, five months later, did I give my parents the tuition check back and told them I wouldn't need one for the fall either. My dad was furious, which is funny, because nowadays he's one of my biggest fans,” Blaine laughs.

“Wow,” Kurt gushes. “I'm not sure I would have had the courage to do what you did. Especially if I had managed to get into Julliard.”

“Did you apply?”

Kurt shakes his head. “Once I found out I couldn't study musical theater at Julliard I applied to NYU and AMDA instead. I got waitlisted at AMDA, so NYU it was. And I don't regret it one bit. I had an amazing time there and I learned so much.”

At that moment, his bladder unfortunately reminds him that his coffee isn't the first of the day and he eyes Blaine contemplatively.

“Would you mind watching Lexy for a second? I really need to pee.”

Blaine's eyes widen and he eyes Kurt's daughter warily.

“What if she starts crying or I don't know, climbs out of the stroller?”

He sounds absolutely panicky and Kurt barely suppresses a laugh.

“Relax,” he tells Blaine. “If she starts crying, play peak-a-boo with her or just hand her a new toy. And she can't climb out, she's buckled in. So, you'll be fine and I'll be back before you know it.”

Kurt doesn't give Blaine a chance to protest and makes his way over to the restrooms. When he returns, Blaine is still staring at Lexy like she's a dangerous wild animal, but Lexy doesn't even pay him any attention.

Maybe he's read the situation wrong the first time Blaine met Lexy, Kurt muses as he walks over to their table. Because Blaine doesn't look disgusted or weirded out, he just seems to have no idea what to do with a baby. Actually, Blaine seriously appears to be afraid of her, which is just ridiculous because his daughter is elven months old and since she's learned how to sleep through the night, is a really easy to handle baby.

“She doesn't bite,” Kurt teases as he plops down onto his chair. “I've fed her recently.”

Blaine blushes and stops staring. “Sorry. I've just never really been around kids before. My older brother Cooper is thirty-two but I don't think he's ready to settle down anytime soon.”

It's Kurt's turn to turn a dark shade of read.

“Your brother's so handsome. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but he's on my husband's list.” He thinks for a moment. “So I better not tell him that I know Cooper Anderson's brother, lest he leaves me for him.”

Blaine shifts in his chair and Kurt can tell that he's uncomfortable.

“But if it's any consolation,” Kurt adds to cheer Blaine up. “I think you are much more talented than your brother. I mean, what's with all the pointing?”

Blaine barks out a laugh, his eyes twinkling. “I know right. He even came to Dalton once and taught a quote ‘master class' and my friends nearly lost it when he explained why it was so important. And then he wonders why he's been on the same soap opera for the last two years. Not that there's anything wrong with soap opera,” he adds hastily. “Jesse told me that you're best friends with Santana Lopez.”

“Actually,” Kurt smiles. “Her long term girlfriend is Lexy's biological mother. So the favorite aunts I was talking about are Santana and her girlfriend.”

“Brittany Pierce, right? She's an amazing dancer. Too bad she's in ‘Chicago' right now. I would have liked her in the show.”

He looks Lexy over once more. “At least that explains the blond hair.” After a beat. “She's going to be a beauty one day, with your genes mixed with Brittany's.”

Kurt's heart skips a beat and his mouth suddenly feels dry. It's been a while since he's felt this way and it scares him how fast this crush is accelerating. He vows to skype his husband later tonight, because apparently he needs a reminder of what he already has to squash this inconvenient crush.

Because having a crush on your boss doesn't bode well, especially if you were certain you'd found your soulmate three years ago.