Chapter Four

“Baine, can you tell me where birdies come from?” Julia was pointing up at the sky one early afternoon after their lunch date with Kurt. Blaine smiled and looked down at the little girl. 

“For a two year old, you’re awfully smart.” Blaine noted. The little girl grinned and her small ponytail bounced with her steps. 

“Daddy says I’m gonna be smartest of my class one day,”

“Is that right?” Blaine asked, holding the little girls hand and moving her along. He smiled and let her watch the birds for a few more minutes before answering her question. 

“Eggs,” He started, a little too random for a young brain to catch up with. 

“What about ‘em?” She asked. Blaine couldn’t help but laugh and reach down, pulling the little girl into a carrying position. She giggled and started to play with the curls on the nape of his neck. 

“That’s where birds come from,” Blaine started. “The mommy bird lays the eggs and after a few weeks, out pops a baby bird.” He watched the little girl as she nodded, still mesmerized by his curls. She was quite for a few minutes during the stroll back to Blaine’s apartment. 

“The ladies in the daycare weren’t nice to you today, Baine.” She started. Blaine twisted his neck towards her and watched her for a moment. 

“What do you mean?” He asked. 

“They said that you were being stupid for babysitting me,” The little girl paused and watched Blaine. “And Daddy says that the ‘s’ word is not nice.” She noted. 

“Because it’s not,” Blaine told her, helping her up the stairs to the door of his apartment complex. Julia nodded and seemed to drop the subject. Blaine knew why the girls at the daycare were talking about him; they didn’t understand how a gay man could have a little girl. They didn’t even care that he was just babysitting her; they were just as homophobic as their parents. Once they were inside, Julia called for Emerson while Blaine helped her onto the couch for her nap time. Emerson gladly pounced his way to her side and she pointed down beside the couch. 

“It’s nap time, puppy.” She noted, before yawing. Blaine smiled and pulled her blanket from her bag. This little girl had already stolen his heart, and he would hate to see the day when she didn’t need him anymore. 

“Here,” Blaine smiled, fluffing the pillow and laying her down, pulling the blanket over her. 

“Hey, you’re doing what Dada does,” She noted. “You sing too?” She asked, looking up at Blaine with big brownish green eyes. Blaine’s heart wrenched again and he smiled, nodding. 

“I do,” He noted, before going through a quick playlist of songs that Kurt told him Julia loves.  “Your daddy told me you really like the song ‘Good Night my Someone’ from ‘The Music Man.” Blaine noted and watched as her little head bobbed up and down.  Blaine smiled and hummed to himself for a moment, changing the key so he could reach the notes. 

“Goodnight my someone, good night my love; sleep tight my someone, sleep tight my love. The stars are shinning their brightest light, so goodnight, my angel, goodnight.” He sang gently to her, and the girl almost closed her eyes instantly. She was out before he even had a chance to finish the second verse. He smiled and looked at the clock. Kurt said to let her nap until she woke up, which is usually what he told his parents to do, and that way she would kind of stick to her normal routine. In the meantime, Blaine figured he might as well get some homework done. 

Since babysitting Julia was a full time job, he quick Starbucks, cut back on his hours at school and, even though he thought he would be making less money, Kurt was nice to him. A week after he started the job, Kurt offered to take Blaine out to dinner, just the two of them. He asked about Julia but Kurt shook his head and smiled. 

“You deserve a night off,” He told him. 

“So do you,” Blaine added and reached out to touch Kurt’s arm. Kurt had been working like a mad man recently. He had this due by that deadline and that due by this deadline; if he wasn’t keeping a careful eye on him, Blaine was sure Kurt was going to deadline himself into the nut house. So, when Kurt offered dinner, Blaine accepted. 

---

He had one hour; one hour to change out of his barista uniform, shower all of the gunk off of himself, and make himself presentable. He and Kurt had been texting all day, and while he was making drinks for hundreds of college students in the middle of midterms, Kurt was talking about their date tonight. At first, he told Blaine not to call it a date. A date is when you take someone you like out to one of the town’s fanciest places and the one offering the date pays; they strictly agreed on something simple and they would pay their own way. That completely changed when Blaine made one comment to Kurt. 

‘I don’t understand why you’re so anxious about this evening, Kurt.’ Blaine texted. ‘I mean, we’re friends and you’re my boss. It’s nothing awkward.’ 

‘It’s not awkward and I’m not anxious,’ Kurt noted.  ‘I’m excited. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been out with someone?’ 

‘Too long?’ Blaine asked, and before he could stop himself, he went with it. ‘Ya know, why don’t I pay for dinner tonight. Burt told me that scumbag hasn’t been keeping up on child support lately and with Julia’s cough, you might have to take her to the doctor soon.’ 

‘Blaine I….no, that’s okay.’

‘Too late, the reservations are already made.’ 

‘You’ve planned this all out, haven’t you?’ That left a smirk on Blaine’s face. 

‘Maybe, maybe not. I might be a spur of the moment kind of guy.’ 

‘You mean my kinda guy?’ And before he knew it, he was flirting with his boss. Kurt didn’t even know he was gay, did he? Well, he had a tendency to be kind of obvious sometimes. Either way, it didn’t matter. He was taking Kurt out tonight; not as a boss or as a friend either, but as an actual date. And he hadn’t been out on a date since Evan back when he was getting his undergraduate degree. Blaine was pretty sure he was going to send himself into a panic attack if he wasn’t careful. Once he found an outfit that he thought was suitable for Kurt’s eyes to look at, he looked at his phone. He had twenty minutes before he was supposed to be at their meeting place. He looked at himself in the mirror. 

“You can do this,” He told himself. “He’s just another really awesome guy that you met and now you guys are going out.” He was trying to pep-talk himself. He sighed and shook his head. He was going out on a date with his boss, and it wasn’t weird. It was weird that it wasn’t weird. He let the thoughts go as he made his way out the door and headed to Central Park. 

---

The laugher that resonated through the park made Kurt’s heart skip a beat. He was making Blaine laugh, truly laugh. The kind of laugh that made his shoulders shake and his curls bounce up and down. Kurt was starting to like this guy, really like this guy. The last guy he really liked was Elijah, and that’s where his mind is currently drifting too. What if Julia becomes too much for Blaine to handle? Then what’s going to happen if this relationship actually takes off from the ground? Kurt slowed his heart beat as Blaine came to a stop at a tree. 

“Here,” Blaine nodded. “This is my favorite thinking spot,” He shared. 

“And why is that?” Kurt asked, taking a sip of his after dinner coffee. Blaine simple pointed up and Kurt’s coffee nearly scalded his throat. 

“Oh,” Kurt whispered, regaining his breath. 

“Yeah,” Blaine smiled and disappeared beside him. Confused, Kurt looked down to Blaine sprawling out on the grass. 

“What on Earth are you doing?” Kurt asked. 

“Looking at the stars,” Blaine said, moving a hand out from under his head and holding it up to Kurt. “Care to join me?” He asked. Speechless, Kurt looked up at the night sky and then back down at Blaine. He shook his head, handed Blaine his coffee and then moved to lie beside him. He adjusted himself to make sure that Blaine had enough room and then looked up. 

“Oh,” 

“Yeah,” Blaine nodded. “You wouldn’t think you’d be able to see the stars in a city like this.” Blaine sighed. “But the trees block enough light from the city so you can see just enough.” 

“But it’s nothing like Ohio,” Kurt commented. Blaine nodded. 

“It’s nothing like Ohio.” Blaine noted. They remained silent for a few minutes, watching the sky and listening to the sounds of the city. Without a care in the world, the two men gravitated towards each other. It started out as a simple touch. Blaine’s fingers grazed against Kurt’s and then their fingers just seemed to intertwine themselves. Then, Kurt’s neck started to both him and Blaine offered him his chest. Without as much as a second thought, he accepted the offer. The steady timbre of Blaine’s heartbeat lulled Kurt in and out of a peaceful sleep. Once it was past midnight, Blaine nudged Kurt. 

“We gotta get you back, sleeping beauty.” Blaine smiled. Kurt shook his head and nuzzled himself back into Blaine’s chest. “No, come on. You have two meetings tomorrow, plus a lunch date with Mr. Rosedale.” 

“How do you know my schedule?” Kurt asked. 

“I’m your nanny, remember?” He asked. Kurt laughed and rolled his eyes. 

“You’re so much more than that,” 

“Oh?” Blaine asked. “How?” Kurt smiled and raised his head. Instead of looking for the right words to answer Blaine’s question, he simply reached up and moved his body to where his lips were mere spaces away from Blaine’s. The peck was soft, almost unnoticeable, but Blaine’s heart still skipped. 

“That’s how,” Kurt breathed. 

“Oh,”