Burt carried his grandson into the building and up the elevator to the penthouse. The chauffeur or whoever the guy in the uniform was offered and so did Finn, bless his heart, but Burt wasn't letting anyone touch the boy until he could hand him over to Kurt himself.

Burt was tired, but this was nothing – he would have done anything to get to Kurt today. He loved his son more than he loved his own life and to hear that he was so sick that he had to have Synthetic Dom Chem shots was devastating.

Finn had to practically carry Burt to his truck to get him home. Once Carole came out and he fell in her arms, blurting out as much as he knew about Kurt's condition as she packed his bags, he was anxious to leave. This Anderson fellow; Burt didn't know much about him. He'd gone to school with some guys with the last name of Anderson, but that was a pretty common name.

Levi was taking a nap when Burt went in to talk to him. Levi was a sweet-tempered child, hard to believe he was Santana's son, actually. Burt gently woke the small boy up.

"Levi? Grandpa's here. We need to wake up now, sport. We get to go on a nice airplane ride," he said, his voice quiet but insistent the way he's woken Kurt up for years. Big brown eyes in a face of golden skin and wide mouth opened and he focused on his grandfather.

"We can pack your overnight bag with a few things, then we have to go. Are you ready to go?" Burt asked. Levi nodded his little head.

"Can we go get Daddy and Holly?" the little boy asked, his lip trembling. He missed them so much and all of his attempts to be brave were failing. Burt pulled the boy into a soft embrace.

"Of course we will, honey, of course we will."

Burt, holding a sleeping Levi, Finn, and Puck followed the man who had introduced himself as Jeffers out of the elevator and down a very short hallway. The man unlocked a door and then swiped a card and typed in a password before the second door opened. They were met by another person, this one an older woman with a gray bun on the back of her head and a smile on her face. Jeffers introduced them.

"Hello. Welcome to the house of Blaine Anderson. I'm Mrs. Rose, the housekeeper. Mr. Hummel, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Puckerman, please step this way and I will show you to your rooms, then announce you to Mr. Anderson. They walked across the entryway and down a long corridor as she opened the doors of various rooms and told each man which room was theirs. The last one was opened by Mrs. Rose and Burt entered, setting the three year old down on the bed and making sure he was comfortable. As with Finn and Puck, Mrs. Rose showed him where everything was and poured him a fresh glass of water out of a carafe beside the bed. She smiled a warm smile at Burt and mentioned that dinner would be at four, but if he required something sooner it could be arranged.

"Look, Mrs. Rose. I appreciate all of this, I do...but I just want you to take me to my son. Where is Kurt?"

"He's asleep, but I am going directly there and as soon as he is ready I will come get you. Please don't think anyone here would keep you from your son, Mr. Hummel, he needs you. I promise, I will be right back for you." she reassured the anxious man.

#*#*#*#

Knock Knock

Blaine got up from the bed and slipped on a fluffy white robe and answered the door, having a quick few words with Mrs. Rose. He turned back to tell Kurt his family had arrived.

"Levi? Dad?" Kurt asked.

"I assume so. I spoke to Finn this morning and he reassured me they were coming. Shall I help you get dressed?"

"Please. I'm feeling better in some ways, but it's as if I'm out of focus somehow," Kurt confessed. His big eyes followed Blaine as he moved to get dressed himself. Blaine got himself some clothes, a tasteful pairing of jeans with a button-down raw silk shirt, then a vest and a tie to top it off. He slipped on a pair of magenta and pink checked socks and his saddle shoes. Kurt watched his dom get dressed, very appreciative of how gorgeous Blaine's body was. Thoughts of how much Blaine had done for him were floating through his mind, from the first moment when he'd jumped from the limo to save Holly at the risk of his own life to everything that had happened since: the hospital, the nursery he made for her...and the sacrifices he made for Kurt himself. Kurt closed his eyes against the overwhelming emotions that threatened to choke him.

"Can I help?" Blaine asked, turning around. He saw the emotion on Kurt's face and rushed to put his arms around the pale man. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling kind of lightheaded. Can you help me get dressed?" Kurt asked again and Blaine was at his side, bringing clothes for Kurt to wear. He helped his Sub get dressed, but they both knew that wasn't what caused Kurt's emotional upheaval. Blaine took Kurt's chin and tilted his head up. He didn't even have to ask before Kurt was telling him everything.

"Oh, Blaine. I just don't know an adequate way to thank you for everything you've done for me. I am so grateful, you have given my life back to me, Blaine, and I don't know how to repay that."

"Hey, Kurt. Calm down, baby. We have a lot of time to talk about that. You are not the only one who is grateful in this partnership, you are not the only one who had their life handed back after teetering on the edge for so long. It is an even exchange I think. Now, let's think about that later, I know you want to see your family and they will want to see you." Blaine said, stroking his thumb across Kurt's cheek.

"Thanks, Blaine. Yes, I'm a lot calmer and I can't wait to see them. Can we have them come in here as soon as I'm dressed?" he asked and Blaine tousled his hair. Kurt slapped his hand away playfully and got his comb back out.

"Kurt, I have to admit I'm a bit apprehensive right now," Blaine said in a small voice, sitting next to Kurt on the sofa.

"What's wrong?"

"I meet people every day, but for some reason I'm kind of scared to meet your family. I mean, it means so much, it's so important. I want them to like me." Blaine said this with so much emotion in his voice that Kurt stared at him. One look at his face and Kurt couldn't think he was anything but sincere.

"Oh, Blaine, no...they'll like you. I know they will. You have nothing to worry about," Kurt comforted him, kissing his cheek. "Really, my dad might seem like a grumpy curmudgeon on the surface, but he's a teddy bear."

"Oh, no, Kurt. I'm not so worried about your dad and brother, although of course I hope they like me. No, I'm worried about someone much more important. Do you think Levi will like me?" Blaine was the picture of worry, wringing his hands and looking nervously at the door. He'd notified Mrs. Rose that Kurt was awake and ready.

"You don't have anything to worry about, Blaine, he'll love you," Kurt said, falling into Blaine's arms as they sat on the sofa together. Just as Kurt put his face down into Blaine's neck to snuggle, the door burst open and a small boy with shiny black hair and big brown eyes came barreling onto the room and rushed up to Kurt.

"Daddy! Daddy! I'm here to rescue you! I'm Batman and I already saved Holly and I'm saving you, too." he squealed as he tried to climb into Kurt's lap. He grabbed his daddy's hip in his effort and a scream came from Kurt before he could think to squelch it.

"What? What's wrong, Daddy?" Levi asked, turning to Blaine with a huge frown on his face. "Is this the bad guy? Did he hurt you?"

"No, no...I'm okay. I have an ouchie on my hip, we need to be careful about how you climb on me, buddy," Kurt explained. Blaine had taken it upon himself to pick the small boy up and settle him on the sofa between his sub and himself. Levi scowled at Blaine once again.

"Levi. Thank Mr. Anderson for helping you up. You know your manners, young man," Kurt admonished his son.

"Thank you, Mr. Anners. I'm sorry I was rude," Levi said and Blaine smiled at him. What a good little boy he was. Blaine looked closely at the boy. At first glance, he looked a lot like his mother. He had Santana's black hair and almond eyes. But that seemed to be the extent of it, otherwise he looked so much like his father it was uncanny. Blaine smiled, wishing he had known Kurt as a little boy. He was distracted in his reverie, however, when three men walked into the room.

The first was obviously Kurt's father. Blaine had seen his picture on Kurt's phone the first day. He was a fairly tall man with eyes as blue as Kurt's, but of a different shade. He wasn't smiling until his eyes lit on his son and it was like the sun came out.

"Kurt!" he shouted and picked the man up from the sofa and twirled him around in his arms, holding him close. "Oh, Kurt...how are you, buddy?"

"Dad, I missed you. Thank you for coming, I'm so happy to see you," Kurt gushed. He was reluctant to let go until Levi pulled at his shirt and put out his tiny hands.

"Twirl me, Daddy! Like Grandpa did you!" he begged. Another very tall man stepped up, catching the small boy into his arms and twirling him around until Levi begged him to stop.

"Unca Finn! You are making my head go like the timer on the stove!" he accused, his little hand on his hip.

"Oh, made you dizzy, little man? Like buzzing? I'm sorry. Here, let me hold you while your daddy sits back down. He looks tired," Finn said, taking Kurt's hand for a moment and squeezing it before letting go. Kurt was back on the sofa, sitting and looking up at Finn.

"Thanks, Finn. Levi, stay there with Uncle Finn for a minute until I get my breath."

Blaine was still standing when Kurt realized he was being rude.

"Dad, Finn, oh...and Noah, this is my dom, Blaine Anderson," Kurt said, nodding at each man as he spoke their names. "Blaine, this is my dad, Burt Hummel, my brother, Finn Hudson, and my friend, Noah Puckerman."

The men all shook hands and sat in the chairs, Blaine settling in next to Kurt. Levi wiggled out of Finn's lap and went over to crawl into his daddy's lap, first looking imploringly at Blaine to lift him. Blaine was quick to understand and gently set the boy on the other side of his father. Then he took the quilt that was hanging over the back of the sofa and tucked it around Kurt's lap to keep him warm.

They just sat and stared at each other for a while, then the conversation started, no one asking about Kurt's health or his status in this house. Blaine sensed the reluctance for them to talk with him in the room and leaned over to murmur something in Kurt's ear.

"I'm going to go check on Holly. Then you can speak with your family, okay, baby?" Blaine told him. Kurt smiled at Blaine and kissed his cheek. He turned back around to see four sets of eyes staring at him. Kurt forgot they had probably never seen him actually kiss a man – well, other than Noah - - and he blushed. He was so tied, he wanted to get this over with.

"I'm just going to go check on Holly," Blaine said, getting to his feet.

"I'll go with you," Finn and Puck said at the same time.

"Certainly," Blaine said as Finn scooped Levi up and they all left to see if the baby was awake yet.

"Well, buddy, want to tell me anything?" Burt asked, smiling at Kurt.

"Dad, I want you to be the first to know. I'm in a Declared Vow," Kurt smiled up at his father. Burt's first reaction to finding out his son was in this level of relationship – one Kurt had not even spoken to him about – was anger and panic.

He looked at Kurt, really looked at him. His heart jumped, Kurt resembled his mother so much. His face, as Burt studied it, was so full of happiness, his eyes sparkling and his cheeks glowing. How could Burt deny his son this happiness? He was reminded of a few lines from a book he'd read as a child. It was about a man with a blind collie. The man was going to do his duty: he prepared the shotgun, taking a leash to lead the young dog into the woods to end it's misery. The man's wife looked at him and asked him, "Does the dog look miserable to you? She has no idea she's blind, she's never known anything else. Is there so much joy in the world that you have to destroy someone who's found it?" Needless to say, the collie lived a long life. Burt thought about that book and looked once again on his son and the smile spread across his lips.

"Oh, Kurt, I'm so happy for you." He brought Kurt close to his side and the boy melted into him just like he had when he was a child. His arm was around Burt as he leaned heavily on him and in just a few moments he was asleep. Burt leaned forward a little and kissed his son on the top of his head, catching a whiff of the vanilla and jasmine he missed so much since Kurt was gone. He settled back and closed his eyes, just enjoying being close to Kurt once again.

#*#*#*#*#*#

Blaine walked down the hall. Leading the way to the nursery, he wondered what these men were thinking. They had sent their brother to New York to settle his dead wife's estate and in a few days he'd been in a narrowly averted tragedy, moved in with and signed a month contract with someone they had never heard of, Holly was ill, and now Kurt was in a critical level of Sub Weakness. He tried to put himself in their shoes – what would he think?

Blaine stepped in the room, seeing right away that Holly was awake and laughing. A smile settled on his face as he saw her watching her mobile with the angels and stars. He spoke to her as he neared the crib.

"Hey, little star-sweeper! How was your nap, darlin'?" he cooed and both men looked at him. Holly kicked her legs in excitement. Puck moved closer and put out his arms to her and she grinned her little face into a drooling smile.

"Come to Uncle Puck, Holly!" Noah said, rushing to pick her up. He was very gentle, but his upper lip curled as he held her close. Levi started to laugh.

"Take her to Daddy. She has poo!!" he giggled. Puck exchanged looked at Finn and Finn looked right back, holding a little tighter to Levi in his arms.

"Hey, Hudson, you're going to be a daddy soon enough, I think you probably need the practice. You change her," Puck said, punching him softly in the shoulder.

"Nope, I'll be doing enough with my own kid, you're right. You better take this one, Dude, I bet Rachel's pregnant two weeks after the ceremony. You'll need the practice."

Levi watched his baby sister as she wrinkled up her nose and began to get ready to cry. Blaine took her from Puck, leaving the man looking at his empty arm. Blaine quickly stepped over to the changing table and had Holly in clean diaper and dress in a matter of minutes while the other two men just watched.

"There, baby, is that better? Let's go see your daddy now," Blaine said. He turned to see Levi with a look of earnest craving on his face. "Hey, Levi, would you like to hold your sister? I think she's missed you."

The smile that came across Levi's face was nothing short of heartbreaking. He looked up at Blaine with a huge smile.

"Can I Mr. Anners? I know how if Daddy helps. I can hold her bottle, too," he proclaimed proudly.

"Of course you can. Maybe your Uncle Finn will sit with you on the rocker and I can hand her to you," Blaine explained. Levi pulled at Finn's shirt and the man sat down, settling Levi in his lap as Blaine let the small boy hold his sister. Finn smiled up at Blaine, silently thanking him. He knew how much Levi had missed his sister the past week.

Blaine excused himself and walked back to the kitchen to make her a bottle. Mrs. Rose patted his hand and smiled encouragement as he went through the simple steps and returned to the nursery. Levi was still holding his sister but getting restless.

"Are you going to feed her, Mr. Anners? Daddy usually does it, or Auntie Quinnie. She's going to have a baby and needs prac – tiss," Levi grinned.

"Yes, Levi, I'd be glad to feed her. I need to give her some medicine first, though. She has an ouchie in her ear and this medicine makes her better," Blaine explained to the little boy. He measured out the dose of antibiotic and added the pain medicine and gave it to her, then looked at Finn, wondering if he should take the baby or ask Finn if he wanted to feed her.

"Let's take her to Daddy!" Levi shouted, so Blaine grinned back.

"You're right, I bet Daddy would like to see Holly."

They went back to Blaine's room. He was even more nervous this time since he was fairly sure Kurt would have told his dad about their Declared Vow. He walked in the room, his eyes seeking Kurt as soon as he crossed the threshold into the room. Kurt was asleep, curled into his father's side. He smiled at the angelic look on Kurt's face. He looked so peaceful.

Levi ran to wake his father up and his high voice filled the room. His enthusiasm at being reunited with his daddy and sister knew no bounds. Kurt blinked awake and sat up, holding his arms out for Holly.

Blaine wanted to sit next to Kurt, but didn't want to upset Burt. He closed his eyes, thinking of the dynamics he would have to navigate to keep Kurt's family happy and still be with his sub. He opened them to see Kurt looking at him. He seemed kind of weak, his eyes with deep dark circles under them. Kurt nodded at the empty place next to him on the sofa and Blaine sat down. Kurt shifted so he was leaning into Blaine while he fed Holly.

"Noah, Finn, I have something to tell you," Kurt said with a shy smile. He handed Holly to her grandfather to burp and took and took Blaine's hand. "Blaine and I......are in a Declared Vow."

It was hard to say which man was more stunned. After all the other things that happened to Kurt in the past week this was the most unrealistic. He had known this stranger for less than four days. How could he be in a Declared Vow? If looks could kill, Blaine would be laid out on the floor. He could feel the anger in the room. Even Levi looked scared, his eyes going from Finn to Puck to Kurt.

Anyone less strong would have wilted under the scrutiny, but Kurt stayed his ground.

"I am proud to be Blaine's sub, and I would be happy if you would treat him with the same respect you would afford me. Now, I think Mrs. Rose will have dinner ready, so let's go into the dining room," Kurt said with authority. Burt smiled at his son. He planed to have a word with the two men before they went to bed that night.

They all went to the dining room, Blaine sitting at the head of the table and Kurt to his right side. They held hands throughout most of the meal, stopping only to cut their meat or serve themselves something.

Mrs. Rose had come to take Holly, but the men elected to just pass her from one to another as they became reacquainted with her. Conversation was light, no one wanting to incur Kurt's wrath if they mentioned the Vow in a bad light.

"Babe, it's five thirty. I think we need to get you to the bedroom, Wes will be here soon," Blaine said to Kurt in a soft voice. Kurt looked at his dom, gripped his hand tightly for a second, and looked up at his family gathered around the table.

He excused himself, asking just his father to accompany them to the bedroom. He asked Finn and Puck to take the kids to bed and got up to leave.

"Goodnight, Holly baby," Kurt said, hugging his daughter to his chest for a moment before handing her to Puck. He turned to his son and hugged him, too. "Goodnight, Levi. But a strong boy for Daddy and I'll see you in the morning. Okay?"

"Goodnight, Daddy," Levi said, hugging his dad before taking Finn's hand.

By the time they reached the hallway outside the bedroom, Kurt was barely able to walk. He was visibly frightened, but kept his chin up and didn't complain. Blaine was practically carrying him and Burt walked slowly behind them, watching how Kurt clung to his dom.

Once inside the room, Blaine helped Kurt to the bed and began removing his shoes. Burt came to sit in the chair beside the bed.

"Are you okay, Kurt?" Burt asked. He knew Kurt was taking the Synthetic injections, but he didn't know much about them.

"Yeah, Dad. I just...I don't want you to worry. Dr. Montgomery is the best. You know all the circumstances, Dad, and this will keep me safe. I want you to know that I love Blaine and I trust him, so can you make Finn and Noah understand?" Kurt begged his father.

"Of course, Kurt. I'll fix it. Do you want me to stay here with you?" Burt asked.

"No. The injections hurt, and I don't want you to watch. Blaine will keep me safe. Just keep Levi in his room so he can't hear. Thank you, Dad. Thank you for coming all the way here to be with me through this. You mean the world to me," Kurt said, hugging his father. He turned away, lying down on the bed as Blaine walked to the door with Burt.

"Mr. Hummel..." Blaine started, but got a look that told him that was not going to be tolerated. Blaine grinned for a second. "Okay, Burt. I told you a little about this medication on the phone earlier today. It is given three times, twelve hours apart. My friend, Wes – Dr. Montgomery – will be here soon to administer the second dose. It is extremely painful because it has to be injected into the marrow of the bone, but he will give Kurt some medication to help with that. My room is soundproof, so the children won't hear. That is Kurt's biggest fear, that it will upset them. Anyway, I don't know if I told you, but a side effect is that he will be very disoriented when he wakes up. He asked me to keep him isolated until he regains his memory, than let just you in at first."

Blaine swallowed, this was hard. He didn't want to stop Burt from being with his son, but it was Kurt's wish.

"I understand, son. I will do what Kurt asks. Can you let me know when he wakes up and is ready to see me? I don't care if it's the middle on the night, come get me," Burt said.

"Of course I will. Now, I better get him ready, Wes will be here in a few minutes," Blaine said, turning to go back to Kurt.

"Blaine? Thank you. I don't understand what is between you and my son, but he has never looked happier in his life, even with this looming over his head. I don't know you well yet, but you must be something special for Kurt to have asked you to claim him." Burt told Blaine.

"Oh, I can tell you. It isn't any mystery. We love each other, what else matters?" Blaine asked, then closed the door as Burt walked down the hallway towards the guest room.

#*#*#*#*#

RING.

"Blaine, where are you?" Cooper asked. "I'm ready to go -we're meeting at the Parisian, right?"

"Oh, I forgot to call you! No, I have to stay home. Kurt is really sick and Was has been over," Blaine started to explain.

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? How sick is he?" Cooper asked.

'Oh, Cooper," Blaine took another breath. He didn't want to tell Cooper, but he knew he had to. "Kurt has a bad case of Sub Weakness...and Wes has started Synthetic Dom Chem shots."

There was silence on the line.

"Blaine, are you okay?" Cooper asked in a soft, kind voice full of concern for his brother.

"Yeah, it's bad, Cooper. Worse than you can imagine. The shots...they have to inject them directly into the bone marrow and.....Kurt was screaming....and lost his memory for a while. Oh, Cooper...." Blaine dissolved in tears. He had nobody else he could be so free with, nobody to help him be strong.

"Hey, now....I can come over now if you want," Cooper offered.

"No, I'll be fine. Kurt's family is here and the extra support is taking some pressure off of me. I am just spending time with Kurt. Can you maybe come tomorrow night? Wes is coming for the next injection, so I will be with Kurt the rest of the night."

"Let me know if I can help, Bee. I'm so sorry this happened to your sub. Maybe you shouldn't get too involved with him..." Cooper started to say and Blaine hung up his phone. He did not need any more negativity right now.

#*#*#*#*#

Wes walked into Blaine's room. He hated some parts of his job and this was one of them. He was grateful that there was such a thing as synthetics, but it did give some nasty side effects. He'd gone over that a few hundred times, but the fact was that Kurt was lucky to have been born into the generation that had it as an option.

Blaine had helped Kurt off with all of his clothes and he was wearing only a minimal pair of running shorts over his briefs. He'd read quite a bit about the Synthetics this afternoon and one thing the websites agreed upon with that the more skin-on-skin contact after the injections, the better.

Blaine had simply laid down with Kurt, their bodies touching, their legs intertwined. Blaine had spoken words of encouragement and love to his Sub, making him as ready for this as possible.

"Okay, Kurt. You are more awake for this than you were this morning. Do you recall anything from this morning?" Wes asked.

"Only a deep pain. And being scared. Oh, and Blaine being afraid, but not for himself. To tell you the truth, it was all kind of a blur," Kurt told his doctor.

Wes sympathized, then told Kurt about the cocktail of drugs he would give first, and the fact the it would probably still be painful. Blaine tried not to think about the look on Kurt's face when they did the first one, or how he felt when Kurt had passed out from the pain. He was holding Kurt close to his heart, stroking his hands down his sub's back to calm him.

He had called Wes earlier this afternoon and told him about the Declared Vow, how he had felt when Kurt Initiated it, how astonished he was at the whole idea of it. It was an amazing thing, and there were not words to describe the closeness of the private ceremony. It was nothing like the public marriage he had been forced to endure with Arthur, this felt like it would last forever. Wes had been encouraged by the turn in events. Subs in a Declared Vow had a much higher success rate, especially if the Vow was new.

"All right. First, I need to check your levels," Wes said, taking blood samples and looking them over. He walked back to the two men waiting for him. "I'm encouraged, Kurt. Your levels are much higher than I would have thought possible after only one shot. Now, let's have you roll over so I can clean the site. No, the other hip," Wes directed.

Blaine lay on the bed next to Kurt. His arms were around Kurt as Wes sterilized the new site and gave him the first shot, numbing the area and starting the sedative. Kurt tried not to shake, but it was hard. All he could remember was the severe pain from the first one. Blaine was kissing him, stroking him, whispering loving things into his ear. Kurt was getting dizzy and disoriented from the drugs and Blaine held on to him when Wes placed the needle. It was hard to push a needle through bone, no matter how sharp the instrument, and Kurt tried to be still and quiet. It was just as bad this time, but he was more aware and so it hurt even more. He was trembling and crying, Blaine's knuckles turning white as he fought to hold his Sub still.

Kurt made it through the placement of the needle, but when Wes began injecting the serum, Kurt began to scream. He dug his nails into Blaine's back, still struggling to maintain his sanity. Wes had administered just over half of the dose when Kurt passed out.

Blaine was shaking and could not let go of Kurt, even though he was unconscious. Wes spoke to him in a calming voice, but could not stop to comfort him until it was over. It lasted a lifetime.

Finally finished, Wes removed the needle. He sat with his eyes closed, not wanting to see Blaine's face. He could do this to his patients, but to have to be witness to his best friend's terror and pain – it was torture of a different kind. He rubbed his eyes, then stood up and took a warm washcloth that he'd gotten ready. He washed the sweat from Blaine's face, then his back and arms. Patting him dry, he placed a chaste kiss on Blaine's mouth.

"Blaine, I know you are not a religious man, but pray this one time that we don't have to do this again. If Kurt maintains the increase in levels he did tonight, there is a slim chance he won't have to have the third injection," Wes told his friend. Together they took another cloth and washed Kurt of the sweat coating his body. While Blaine made Kurt as comfortable as possible, tucking him into the bed and getting a pillow for his head, Wes bandaged his hip, checked his first injection site, and sat down in the chair Burt had been sitting in earlier.

Wes cleaned the instruments and placed them in the cases to be sterilized later. He opened the main part of his leather doctor's bag – the one Blaine and his other friends had given him for a graduation gift – and took out a flask of his grandfather's fifty year old Glenfiddich Scotch. He then too out two crystal glasses, each wrapped against breakage, and set them on the table. He poured three generous fingers of the amber liquid into each glass, then capped the flask and returned it to the bag.

"To the Union of Kurt and Blaine, may they forever be together in their Declared Vow!!" Wes said and Blaine smiled from ear to ear, clinking his glass with his friend's. "Hear Hear!"

#*#*#*#*#*#

Almost midnight and Blaine was restless in his bed. He turned a bit and felt the warmth of his Sub against his back. He tried not to move too much, not wanting to disturb him, but then felt him stiffen.

"Kurt? Kurt, baby, are you okay?" he asked in a soft voice, but was met with more sobbing. He turned around to see Kurt's face and was met with a face so dejected and sad he could hardly place it as Kurt's. Wes had warned him about this. With each injection the disorientation would get worse and the recovery period longer.

"Hey, hey...you're all right. Just come into my arms, baby. I'll protect you," Blaine cooed to his confused Sub.

"Where is Mommy?" Kurt asked. Blaine stopped. He hadn't been expecting this. Kurt had woken up looking for his children last time.

"You're okay, Kurt. Do you remember me?" Blaine asked and was surprised when Kurt pulled away and looked like a frightened child. Blaine had an idea then. "Kurt? Do you want Daddy?"

"Yes, please get Daddy. Please, I'm scared."

Blaine got up, pulling on pajama pants and a sleeveless T-shirt. He thought about putting some clothes on Kurt, but decided against taking so much time. Burt wouldn't care.

Blaine walked down the hallway, flashlight in hand. He didn't know which room Mrs. Rose had put their guests. He opened the first door: Finn. The second was Puck, and so he went to the third room and saw Burt asleep in the bed.

"Burt, wake up. It's Blaine," he said and Burt sat bolt upright in bed, scaring the both of them.

"Huh? What? Carole?" he asked, obviously not coherent yet. Blaine waited a minute and tried again.

"Burt, can you wake up? Kurt needs you, now. Please wake up." Burt opened his eyes and sat up.

"He's awake?" Burt asked, searching Blaine's face for clues about how his son was faring.

"Yes, he's very disoriented and doesn't seem to know who he is – but that happened last time. I'm so sorry, Burt....but Kurt is asking for his mommy and I don't know what to tell him. I was hoping you might be able to help," Blaine said. "Please hurry...I need to get back to him, I left him alone to come get you."

Burt was up and half dressed by the time Blaine had explained the situation.

Back in the bedroom, Kurt was sitting in the middle of the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms folded on top of them, his head down. They could hear him sobbing.

"Kurt, baby, I brought your daddy," Blaine whispered and Kurt stopped and turned to Burt, beckoning him closer.

Kurt took one look at his father and became a little less frightened.

"Dad!" he sobbed and was in his arms in just a second.

"Kurt, are you okay, son? I'm here for you," Burt assured him.

"Daddy.." Kurt mumbled and closed his eyes. He was back asleep in seconds. Blaine and Burt managed to get a pair of pajama pants on him over the bandages on his hips and then up onto the sofa where he snuggled into his father's lap. They stayed with him until he woke up again hours later.

"Dad?" Kurt asked, smiling at the man with the cozy flannel shirt he was leaning against. Then he turned his head and looked towards the other man in the room.

"Blaine?" he asked, then burst into tears.

"Hey, Kurt...you're okay. I'm here," Blaine assured him. Blaine got up from the chair he was sitting in and came to sit on the other side of Kurt.

"We're here for you, buddy," Burt reassured him. Kurt tried to smile a little, but it wasn't working. He hugged his dad.

"I'm glad you're here, Dad" Kurt said in a low voice, still clinging to Burt. "I was dreaming about Mom. In the dream she came to get me, but I told her I had a job to do. I needed to take care of you and my children. But most of all, I have to be here for my Blaine," Kurt said, then laid his head on Burt's shoulder, reaching across the sofa to hold Blaine's hand tightly.

"I love you, Blaine."

Blaine looked over to see Burt grin at him and nod his head.

"I love you, too, Kurt."

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

A/N: The book Burt was thinking about, the one with the blind collie, is a short story by Albert Payson Terhune entitled "Fair Ellen: Sightless --and Happy" and can be found in the book: The Way of a Dog. Yes, that was a direct quote from the book.