CHAPTER 26

The date had been set (early June, four years to the day since they'd first met), the preparations were slowly being made. One day in February, over dinner, Blaine decided it was time to discuss one of the more significant issues.

"I want to take your name when we're married."

Kurt smiled at him over his fettuccine.

"Before or after yours?"

"Instead." This made Kurt stop eating, his brow furrowed.

"Oh Bee, you don't have to do that. We can do double surnames, it's not a problem. It's quite normal for artists to only use part of their name for work, so you don’t have to –"

Blaine took his hand over the table and squeezed it.

"No, you don't understand. I want to change my name after the wedding. I'm going to be your husband. Yours. Forever. I want my name to reflect that. In so many ways, I've grown to be a new person because I met you, Kurt, so I'd like that new person to have a new name, too. And I'm not terribly attached to Anderson, anyway. I already feel so much closer to your family than I've ever felt to mine."

He'd been thinking about it for months now. Well, not even thinking, really. He'd known that was what he wanted all along, he'd just been waiting to see if any doubts appeared at some point. There hadn't been any.

Kurt simply looked at him for a while, his eyes full of wonder. Finally, he spoke.

"Blaine Hummel. I like the sound of it."

***

On the last day of May, a week before the wedding, they got an unexpected visitor.

It was Kurt who opened the door, since Blaine was being ridiculous and singing loudly in the kitchen while baking cookies. Even though he'd never seen the woman before, Kurt only needed about two seconds to recognize who it was.

Blaine really did take after his mom.

"Hello. You must be Kurt."

She had a soft voice and a nice smile, but before Kurt managed to gather his bearings and answer with any degree of coherency, her attention snapped away from him as she looked towards the kitchen. Blaine was still making up some silly song about cookies and love, sung to the tune of Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead. Just then, he paused and called.

"Kurt? Who is it?"

Not waiting for an answer, he stepped out of the kitchen – and froze, his mouth half-open, an oven mitt in one hand and a streak of flour running across his cheek.

"Mom?"

Kurt watched from the doorway as they both moved forward to meet in a tight embrace in the middle of the living room. He could see tears in Blaine's eyes, and his heart clenched for his fiancé. Blaine hardly ever talked about his parents, and he hadn't seen them in person since he'd moved to New York. In fact, he only spoke with his mom on the phone or Skype about once a month. They'd sent an invitation for the wedding to Westerville, of course, but had gotten a prompt, impersonal response of "We are sorry to inform you that we won't be able to attend. Please accept our best wishes." And that was that.

Cooper had started smashing things in a rage when he heard about it, and when Melissa calmly, but firmly kicked him out of the kitchen, he'd called his father instead, to yell at him and swear that this would be the one and only wedding invitation he'd ever be getting from either of his sons, because Cooper was officially done with him.

Blaine had just been quietly heartbroken for weeks.

But now Mrs. Anderson was here, smiling at both of them as they settled in the living room with coffee and fresh cookies. She couldn't take her eyes off Blaine.

"Honey, I wish I could come to your wedding, but I can't, not without crossing your father," she started, her face apologetic. "And you have no idea how sorry I am about it. But I had to at least come see you now, meet my future son-in-law and make sure you know you have my blessing, old-fashioned as it sounds."

Blaine's eyes filled with tears but his smile was huge, if slightly shaky. She took his hand and squeezed it, offering comfort, and then turned to Kurt.

"Kurt. So good to finally put a face to the name. Now tell me all about you."

The afternoon was nice and in the evening Cooper showed up with Melissa to take them all to dinner, which was filled with family anecdotes and light banter. Kurt watched it all with a smile. There were so many similarities between those three – the lilt of a voice here, eyes crinkling in laughter there, the same hand gesture. He was happy to see Blaine so radiant and relaxed.

Kurt wished he could give his fiancé the world, but there were things he had no control over. He couldn't magically fix Blaine's relationship with his parents or convince his father that he really should stop being an asshole and support his son by, oh, maybe showing up at his wedding. And while Kurt's family had treated Blaine like their own for years now, it wasn't the same, even though it did mean a lot to both of them. So this show of support from Blaine's mom was more than welcome.

It turned out she didn't do things halfway, either. As they were waiting for dessert and coffee to arrive, Mrs. Anderson (Kurt knew her name was Callie, but she never told him to call her anything other than Mrs. Anderson) reached into her handbag and took out a small, dark green velvet box. Her smile suddenly shy, she pushed it across the table towards the two of them.

"I brought you something, a little gift from me. I've debated having them made into rings maybe, since they're of no use to you like this, but I thought I'd let you decide." She laughed nervously at their confused expressions. "Oh, just open it."

Blaine reached for the box, popped the lid open and gasped. Cooper leaned over to look and his jaw dropped, too.

"Aren't these–"

"The diamond earrings, yes." She explained, mostly for Kurt's sake now. "They've been in my family for many generations now, and the tradition is the first child to marry gets them as a family heirloom. As I said, I can have them made into rings or something – but maybe... maybe you'd prefer to leave them as they are for your daughter to have one day? Or a daughter-in-law?"

And that was it for Kurt – more than any of her words before, this was the acknowledgement that she looked at their relationship just as she would if Blaine was straight. That she accepted they were getting married, and there may be children one day, their children. Her grandchildren, and they'd be just as important as they'd have been if Blaine had married a woman. This was the moment when a lot of the reservations Kurt still had towards his future mother-in-law melted away.

He looked at Blaine's tear-streaked face, his own vision blurry. He knew what he'd prefer, but the final word was his fiancé's.

"I think I like them better the way they are. I'm sure that one day there'll be someone to actually wear them."

Blaine looked at him for confirmation, and Kurt nodded, grinning.

They saw Mrs. Anderson to the airport early the next morning and after Cooper and Blaine said their goodbyes, Kurt extended his hand with a smile. She took it and pulled him into a tight, unexpected hug, long enough to whisper in his ear.

"You've made my baby happier than I've seen him since he was a  child, Kurt. Thank you for that."

There was the tiniest hint of tears in her eyes when she pulled away, and Kurt just smiled at Blaine's questioning look, taking his hand.

He was going to spend his life making sure that his Bee was as happy as possible.

***

The ceremony was private and quiet; just Kurt's family, Cooper and Melissa, and the closest friends of the couple: Sebastian (who was Kurt's best man and came by himself), Julian with his wife, a few of Blaine's college friends and his two best friends back from Dalton. It was classy, but without the lavishness Cooper remembered Kurt planning back when he was going to marry James.

They had Kurt's favorite restaurant – the one that had seen their first date – booked just for them for the simple wedding dinner afterwards, and in the evening the newlyweds were flying out for their honeymoon, which involved travelling Italy, France and Greece, starting with Venice.

Cooper couldn't take his eyes off Blaine as he stood beside him, listening to him recite his vows. He'd never seen his little brother so happy – literally radiant, eyes shining, every word filled with such conviction and love that no one could have any doubts: there was nowhere in the world he would rather be, now and forever, than here, by Kurt's side. Kurt, who looked at him like he was the best present he'd received from life – and who, Cooper knew, considered him as such.

As the newlyweds were trading rings, Cooper stole a glance to the side. Melissa was standing there with a camera, since their mom had asked for a recording of the ceremony. Kurt had jumped  at the opportunity to have it filmed without involving hired photographers – even now that his name was increasingly well-known among fashion-conscious people and his designs were sought after, he remained a private person and the possibility of the recording or photos leaking out somewhere was out of the question. So instead, he talked to Melissa, who happened to be a photography enthusiast, and bought a camera she recommended.

She noticed Coop looking now and smiled brightly, her dimples showing. Cooper felt a surge of affection run through him. He had his own plans for that night, secret plans involving a  diamond ring, and now more than ever, he felt hopeful that maybe he wouldn't screw it up after all. Maybe despite not having a proper role model in his own father, he'd manage to become a good husband. After all, Blaine was doing a stellar job so far.

It was a funny thing, to look up to his much younger brother and his best friend – a gay couple and not a typical one in any way – to learn about love and relationships. But if they were not perfect role models, he thought, watching them kiss for the first time as husbands, he didn't know who was.

***

After they came back from their honeymoon, Kurt and Blaine learned that a photo did leak out after all. Someone must have snapped a picture when they were walking to the car right after the wedding and stopped to kiss, unable to contain their happiness.

It showed their profiles against the New York skyline at dusk. They stood chest to chest, looking into each other's eyes, Kurt's hand, with his wedding band clearly visible, cupping Blaine's cheek. Their lips were just inches apart and there was so much love and tenderness in their expressions that despite the invasion of privacy, Kurt couldn't stop a smile when he saw it. It was a beautiful photo.

The fact that it was on the cover of People magazine was less beautiful and more annoying. But the headline said The cutest couple of the fashion industry, and the cover story wasn't bad or too gossipy, so he shrugged it off. It wasn't like he could do much a month after publication. And it was an unavoidable part of making it in the business, after all.

He was still annoyed, though. At least until he found an email from a Vogue representative in his mailbox, asking if they would consider posing for a photo spread together.

Showing off his gorgeous new husband in Vogue? Now that was an offer Kurt wouldn't say no to.