“Did something happen? Is Blaine OK?” Considering how many years it had been since they’d spoken, his heart still jumped into his throat. What if he – no. Stop it. Listen. He’d ignored them long enough.

“Well, no. I mean, he’s not sick or anything, but he’s a wreck. We both are. How quickly can you get to San Francisco?”

“What? I thought you lived in New York-”

“How did you- I mean yes, we do, but there’s a situation…” Kurt realised he had no idea how to explain this in a nutshell. “You see, a friend of ours – well, she was a friend; she was supposed to be our surrogate, and she, um… She won’t give us our baby.” There was a long pause.

“Th-there’s a – you’re having a baby? When – I mean, how-”

“Oh, you know, the ol’ turkey baster trick, the height of technology!” He winced and smacked his own forehead. What was he talking about? Oh, right, sperm. God. “Listen, I think I need to explain this in person. It’s a long story.” Kurt bit his lip as there was another pause. It must have been thirty seconds. It was too much. He’d done it wrong, and he wouldn’t come, and he was back to square zero. Square minus seventy. Why did he have to talk about sperm? He’d been indirect about it, but this was his estranged father-in-law, and he actually said ‘turkey-baster’. The sperm was implied. Shit. Finally, he heard clicking and the voice returned.

“I can be there in four hours. Shall I meet you at the airport?” Kurt almost passed out with relief.

“That sounds perfect! Thank you so much, you don’t know what this means-”

“Yes I do. Do you think he’ll mind? I mean, last time we spoke, it didn’t exactly-”

“Leave it to me. We’ll both be there.”

*

Blaine woke up with a start when Kurt leapt onto the bed.

“What? What’s happening? Kurt, what are you doing?” He flopped his head back on the pillow.

“I’ve fixed it! Blaine, I called someone, and they might actually be able to help!”

“Seriously? Who? Do they know we’re broke? Do we have to pay in sexual favours?” Kurt snorted.

“God, I hope not. That could be super inappropriate.”

“Oh, ew, it’s not a woman is it? I mean, I’m all for taking one for the team, but-”

“Blaine! Please, you need to stop guessing. It’s your dad.” Blaine’s face practically turned to stone.

“No, Kurt. Not him. Anyone but him. I mean, I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

“Well, we actually have a pretty good ice-breaker. Remember how your best friend is trying to take our baby? You could start with that.” Blaine looked down for a second. It was too soon to be flippant about it. Kurt put his hand on top of Blaine’s. “What if it works? What if he can actually help? On the phone, he seemed, kind of… Different. I don’t know, when I mentioned the baby, he sounded worried-”

“He was probably about to have a heart attack over the idea of homosexuals raising children. I bet he has Rick Perry on speed dial.”

“But Blaine, the second I told him we needed help he asked after you.” Blaine raised his eyebrows for a second, then shook his head. “He thought you were sick or something. He cares, OK? I could hear it.”

“Even if he does help, do we have time? I mean, he’s not just going to drop everything-”

“He’ll be at the airport at 2:30. I said we’d pick him up.”

“What? Do I have to come?”

“I won’t recognise him; I’ve only met the guy once.” Blaine sighed and slumped against the headboard.

“I bet he’d recognise you. You kind of stand out.”

“Thank you, but it’s not going to work. You’re coming.” Kurt took both of his hands and rubbed his thumb over Blaine’s wedding ring. “We have to try.” Blaine looked from Kurt’s hands to his eyes. He was smiling, but he looked like he could shatter any second. No matter how hard he tried to stay positive and pretend they’d found the answer to everything, one look told Blaine everything he needed to know. Kurt was scared. He knew it might not be enough. He was using this moment to distract himself from the next bit, from the thought of losing, of going back to New York without him, of having to go on knowing that someone else was bringing up their child. He was feeling all of it. And he’d picked the wrong person to try and hide it from. Kurt was trying so hard to fix this; the least he could do was put his daddy issues aside.

“We will. Kurt, I swear, we’ll do whatever it takes.” He leaned forward and kissed him slowly, their noses rubbing against each other and their foreheads touching. When their lips were parted, they stayed close for a minute, letting themselves breathe. They needed to just be still for a moment and remember that when everything else was a mess, they each still had one solid thing that wasn’t going to change. They needed one thing to be sure about. They gripped each other’s hands tightly, eyes closed, until Kurt took a deep breath and sat up, running a hand through his hair.

“Right. I need a shower. I can’t believe how gross I am. I’m not meeting him like this, or he’ll think I’m some kind of heathen.” He stood up, stretching, pushing his chest up and sticking his ass out ever so slightly. Just enough for Blaine to notice. He sauntered to the bathroom door, turning back to him. “Would you care to join me? I mean, you could probably do with some stress-relief before we go.” Blaine slid off the bed and rushed up to kiss him. Kurt turned his head away dramatically. “Woah, there. Maybe you should have a minute alone in there first. You stink.” Blaine gasped, shaking his head and grabbing Kurt’s wrist, dragging him into the shower. For the first time since yesterday, maybe for the first time since they were at the hospital four months ago, they were both really laughing. They could barely breathe, but it felt like they were finally breathing properly again. It felt amazing.