“And she just stood there? While they dragged you out?”

“Pretty much. She watched them pushing us around; I thought they were going to rip Blaine’s arm off.”

“The worst part is, we were in public. A hospital, of all places. There were old people and kids and everything in there, and they all saw me lose it. That can’t be good.”

“Well, it’s not ideal. And as she’s pregnant, people will probably be inclined to take her side.” Blaine leaned back, raking a hand through his hair. They were all exhausted and emotional, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d made everything ten times worse, and not just because of yesterday. Becca had been his friend, he’d trusted her enough not to use a donor egg, he’d insisted they do it with her and not with a stranger. If it all fell apart it would be his fault, and what would make it even worse is that Kurt would forgive him. Kurt and Alexander could both sense him giving up. “I know it’s hard, but please try not to panic. Legally, he’s yours. All the contracts were solid, and-”

“And biologically, she’s his mother. Who’s going to pick us over her? She’s a doctor-”

“-Surgeon. She cuts people up.”

“And we’re actors. Financially, we’re hardly secure, and we live in Manhattan-”

“She lives in San Francisco. That’s no better. And her job is demanding. You think it’ll be easy being a single mother and a surgeon? At least you two are in a stable relationship.” Kurt’s hand was on top of Blaine’s, and his finger traced over his knuckles a little faster. They never imagined he’d be saying that. “She’s got no support. You’ve got families, friends around you, and she seems to have screwed over the closest she had.” Kurt turned to Blaine.

“I’m guessing she still doesn’t talk to her mother?” Blaine shook his head.

“I mean, if we can patch things up,” he looked at his father, “I guess anything’s possible, but she couldn’t stand her. Although, she’d love a free babysitter. And I bet she’d be all over a grandson like a rash.” Alexander raised an eyebrow.

“Nope. Dibs. I’m going to have Kurt’s dad to compete with already.” He noticed the surprise on Kurt and Blaine’s faces. “I mean, if that’s OK. You know, I don’t want to rush anything-”

“No, no. We’d like that.” Blaine stayed quiet. He wasn’t agreeing, but he wasn’t objecting. He took a gulp of his cold coffee to keep his hands and mouth busy before almost spitting it straight back out.

“Oh, eurgh, that’s disgusting! How long have we been here? You know what? I can’t do this any more today.”

“Right, fair enough. There’s a hotel down the street, I’ll go and book myself a room-”

“Oh, I just meant no more coffee. No more legal talk. We need to eat something, and maybe you don’t drink, but tonight, we definitely do.”

It didn’t take long, and they were in a quiet, simple restaurant full of businessmen waiting for flights or killing time before they retired to their hotels. Kurt offered to pay for dinner, but Alexander refused, knowing they couldn’t afford it. He gave his card to the waiter and told them to get what they wanted. They hadn’t touched the food Kurt had bought that morning; they’d been too nervous to touch it. Plus, their shower had taken longer than expected. Alexander had Boeuf Bourguignon, Blaine a burger and Kurt a roasted vegetable tart with goats cheese. He insisted that ‘it’s more filling than it looks’ and continued to steal Blaine’s fries as they talked. Considering only two of them were drinking, the first bottle of red disappeared quickly, and as they’d started with empty stomachs… The conversation was flowing a lot more easily. Alexander kept forgetting to eat his meal, distracted by his son and his husband. They never stopped talking. They would make some inside joke, and as they tried to explain it to him, they would both collapse in hysterics. Every time they took a bite, they exclaimed how good it was and insisted the other try some. Blaine missed Kurt’s mouth on purpose, splodging gravy on his jaw. Kurt slapped him away, but put up no resistance when he reached up to wipe it off with his finger. He licked it off just a little too seductively, making Kurt snort with laughter and Alexander clear his throat. There was acceptance and there was watching your son’s mating ritual. They both snapped back into vaguely acceptable behaviour, coughing and spluttering.

“Sorry, sorry. Kurt, try not to make such a mess please.” They were almost off again.

“So, Mr Ander-”

“Alexander’s fine. I don’t think we have any boundaries now.”

“Right. Alexander. What have we been missing with you? You’ve heard all about us, and it’s all just embarrassing. Blaine, did you have any idea we were such losers?” Blaine didn’t answer. “Blaine?” Kurt looked at his tilted head and followed his gaze to Alexander’s hand. He was wearing a ring. He noticed them looking and lifted his hand for a second. He then realised it was too late to hide it, and squeezed it into a fist and left it on the table.

“You… You remarried? Oh, that’s… Oh-”

“I tried to tell you. I called Kurt’s dad to ask for your address, but he wouldn’t give it to me. I don’t blame him. I tried calling you, but I figured you’d changed your number. I’m sorry.” Blaine shrugged, but still looked sad.

“Don’t be. I mean, we got married and we didn’t even try to call you.” They both looked at each other, then down at the table. After a pause, Kurt sat up.

“Anyway, what’s she like? I know stepmothers have a bad reputation, but mine’s pretty amazing.”

“She’s great. I think you’d both like her. Her name’s Stephanie. We met through work; she was actually opposing counsel. She kicked my ass, so I bought her dinner, and… Well, now she’s my wife. And, yeah, your stepmother too, I guess.”

“Right. OK. That’s really good, Dad.”

“Can we meet her?” Kurt looped his little finger under Blaine’s hand, locking them together, and looked at him. “I mean, if you want to. Only if it’s OK with you.”

“Uh… I guess…” Alexander sat forward.

“Blaine, I wasn’t going to say anything, because I know this won’t be easy for you, but - I think she could help. Just having a woman on our side could make a huge difference. Right now it’s three men against a pregnant girl.” Blaine nodded.

“I want to meet her anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If she’s had anything to do with you becoming-” he gestured to his father, “this, she’s got to be pretty cool. Hopefully your taste got better after Mom.” Alexander smiled weakly.

“Definitely. No offence.”

“None taken.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I already called her. She doesn’t know about Rebecca, but she’s getting a plane now. She’ll be here in the morning. She’s dying to meet you both. She said she’d tread carefully, and she’ll try her best, but she’s really excited, so sorry in advance if she’s kind of… Full on.” Kurt and Blaine smiled. Kurt put an arm around Blaine, gently massaging the small of his back where he knew it would be aching by now.

“So, brunch? Then we can’t drink, and we’ll focus on fixing this. And we’ll be presentable, well, more so than now. Blaine? What do you think?” Blaine was smiling. It wasn’t reserved, or tinged with sadness. He was really happy for his dad, and happy for himself because he had him back. Not the angry, distant man he knew when he was eighteen, but the funny, loving dad he missed.

“Sounds perfect. We’ll find a nice place. Somewhere not in the airport. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Oh, Blaine, could you call me? I don’t have your number; I only have Kurt’s.”

“Oh, sure-”

“Have you got mine?”

“Yep, yeah, hold on…” He scrolled through his contacts. Alexander noticed him hiding his phone, and peered over to look at the screen.

Calling… ASSFACE

He snorted.

“Very mature.”

“Sorry-”

“Fuck it. Sounds fair. I’ll just save you as ‘Penis’. Two can play that game.”

“How childish.”

“I’m younger than I look.” Kurt cackled. He hadn’t heard banter like this since… Well, since about twenty minutes ago. But still, it was sweet. He called the waiter over.

“I think we’re going to need another bottle of wine. And I won’t have any dessert, but he would like a Chocolate Melt with two spoons, please.”