Polaroids
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Polaroids: Being Prepared


T - Words: 714 - Last Updated: Jun 03, 2013
Story: Closed - Chapters: 9/? - Created: Apr 26, 2012 - Updated: Jun 03, 2013
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Author's Notes: Saturday 5 May, 2040

“Daddy?”

At the sound of Audrey’s voice, tentative and with the slightest tremor, Blaine stilled his hand against the strings of his guitar and looked up expectantly.

“You okay, baby girl?” he asked, rolling his neck from side to side to try to work out some of the knots and kinks left over from the previous night.

Audrey nodded, tucking an immaculately curled lock of brown hair behind her ear, and took a step inside the studio. She was dressed no differently than normal—her favorite pair of dark wash jeans that Kurt had spent an evening tailoring for her teamed with a gauzy cream shirt over a dusky pink tank—but her face was drawn, paler even than she was naturally. The freckles scattered across her nose and the apples of her cheeks appeared more prominent than ever before, even when she had come down with a particularly bad strain of the flu that it was a miracle none of the rest of the family caught.

“You sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Blaine prompted gently.

Audrey took a breath as if to speak, before her entire face crumpled and she rushed forward, dropping the book she had been clutching to her chest in favor of stretching out her arms. Blaine caught her in a tight, one-armed hug, wrapping the other around her after setting down his guitar.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked, standing up and loosening his hold to place his hands on her shoulders. It didn’t escape his notice that he barely had to stoop to meet her at eye-level anymore, and Kurt had been calling her a weed since her last growth spurt.

Audrey let out a few hiccupping sobs, swiping at her eyes and blinking up at a point somewhere over Blaine’s head, so much like Kurt that it made Blaine swallow thickly. Kurt only ever cried like that when something had hit him where it hurt the most, and Blaine had seen that far too often in the months following Burt’s memorial. That night, Kurt had sobbed on and off until dawn, in and out of bouts of restless sleep, and Blaine had finally let out his own grief, pouring it into trying to hold his husband together as he fell apart before Blaine’s eyes, just as Audrey was doing.

“I g-got my period,” she choked out, and Blaine immediately straightened. He’d known it was coming—of course he had, what with Audrey having turned fourteen in March—yet he couldn’t help but blanch at how unprepared he was to receive such news. Wasn’t it only the day before that she’d been walking on his feet as he danced around the living room to old Elvis songs?

“I tried c-calling Bianca but she’s n-not home, and Aunt Kristy’s visiting Grandma with U-Uncle Coop—“

“Hep, it’s okay. I promise. I’m not gonna freak out,” Blaine assured her, squeezing her shoulders and taking her by the hand. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Audrey asked, sniffling as he led her from the studio.

“I’ve got something for you.”

“Ew, Dad, did you get me a present for when I got my period? Who does that?”

“Hep, just trust me,” Blaine said wearily, pushing open the door to his and Kurt’s bedroom and quickly making his way into the bathroom to root through the cabinet beneath the sink. When he stepped back into the bedroom and Audrey took in the vast and somewhat exhaustive array of packs and boxes in his arms, her face flushed a deep red.

“Okay,” he said, dumping everything onto the bed. “I—Um. I got one of everything because I didn’t know what you’d… need. So, you should just pick out whichever one you want, and then we can go to the store and… stock up.”

An awkward silence descended, with Audrey looking as mortified as Blaine felt, even more so than when he and Kurt had had to take her bra shopping for the first time.

Taking a deep breath, Audrey half-turned towards the bed, before glancing at him pointedly.

“There’s instructions,” he blurted out.

“I know, we—health class.”

“Right. Okay, so I’ll—I’ll be down by the car, just… Take your time, there’s no rush, and then we can go.”

“Daddy?” Audrey called when he was halfway out of the door. “Um… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Blaine replied, and pulled the door closed behind him.

- fin
Saturday 5 May, 2040

“Daddy?”

At the sound of Audrey’s voice, tentative and with the slightest tremor, Blaine stilled his hand against the strings of his guitar and looked up expectantly.

“You okay, baby girl?” he asked, rolling his neck from side to side to try to work out some of the knots and kinks left over from the previous night.

Audrey nodded, tucking an immaculately curled lock of brown hair behind her ear, and took a step inside the studio. She was dressed no differently than normal—her favorite pair of dark wash jeans that Kurt had spent an evening tailoring for her teamed with a gauzy cream shirt over a dusky pink tank—but her face was drawn, paler even than she was naturally. The freckles scattered across her nose and the apples of her cheeks appeared more prominent than ever before, even when she had come down with a particularly bad strain of the flu that it was a miracle none of the rest of the family caught.

“You sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Blaine prompted gently.

Audrey took a breath as if to speak, before her entire face crumpled and she rushed forward, dropping the book she had been clutching to her chest in favor of stretching out her arms. Blaine caught her in a tight, one-armed hug, wrapping the other around her after setting down his guitar.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked, standing up and loosening his hold to place his hands on her shoulders. It didn’t escape his notice that he barely had to stoop to meet her at eye-level anymore, and Kurt had been calling her a weed since her last growth spurt.

Audrey let out a few hiccupping sobs, swiping at her eyes and blinking up at a point somewhere over Blaine’s head, so much like Kurt that it made Blaine swallow thickly. Kurt only ever cried like that when something had hit him where it hurt the most, and Blaine had seen that far too often in the months following Burt’s memorial. That night, Kurt had sobbed on and off until dawn, in and out of bouts of restless sleep, and Blaine had finally let out his own grief, pouring it into trying to hold his husband together as he fell apart before Blaine’s eyes, just as Audrey was doing.

“I g-got my period,” she choked out, and Blaine immediately straightened. He’d known it was coming—of course he had, what with Audrey having turned fourteen in March—yet he couldn’t help but blanch at how unprepared he was to receive such news. Wasn’t it only the day before that she’d been walking on his feet as he danced around the living room to old Elvis songs?

“I tried c-calling Bianca but she’s n-not home, and Aunt Kristy’s visiting Grandma with U-Uncle Coop—“

“Hep, it’s okay. I promise. I’m not gonna freak out,” Blaine assured her, squeezing her shoulders and taking her by the hand. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Audrey asked, sniffling as he led her from the studio.

“I’ve got something for you.”

“Ew, Dad, did you get me a present for when I got my period? Who does that?”

“Hep, just trust me,” Blaine said wearily, pushing open the door to his and Kurt’s bedroom and quickly making his way into the bathroom to root through the cabinet beneath the sink. When he stepped back into the bedroom and Audrey took in the vast and somewhat exhaustive array of packs and boxes in his arms, her face flushed a deep red.

“Okay,” he said, dumping everything onto the bed. “I—Um. I got one of everything because I didn’t know what you’d… need. So, you should just pick out whichever one you want, and then we can go to the store and… stock up.”

An awkward silence descended, with Audrey looking as mortified as Blaine felt, even more so than when he and Kurt had had to take her bra shopping for the first time.

Taking a deep breath, Audrey half-turned towards the bed, before glancing at him pointedly.

“There’s instructions,” he blurted out.

“I know, we—health class.”

“Right. Okay, so I’ll—I’ll be down by the car, just… Take your time, there’s no rush, and then we can go.”

“Daddy?” Audrey called when he was halfway out of the door. “Um… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Blaine replied, and pulled the door closed behind him.

- fin

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