Chapter 3

Kurt was sitting with his head in his hands, watching Blaine move around the kitchen preparing dinner. Somehow, over the next few days they had ended up spending each evening together, just enjoying each other's company. Kurt thought it was unusual that they had gotten so close so fast; he found that he normally took more time to open up completely to people, and that was part of the reason why he only had a few very close friends. But he had stopped trying to analyze his interactions with Blaine, and was just enjoying their newfound friendship.

As Blaine paused in his preparations in order to gesture wildly along with his story, Kurt found himself smiling at the man's simple enthusiasm. His eyes raked over his body when Blaine turned to face him again, and his eyes were drawn to his belly were it was stretching his shirt.

He tried to imagine Blaine doing this same thing in several months, except with a high chair in the corner, or a baby monitor on the counter.

Blaine finished his story, and returned to stirring the pot on the stove.

“That smells really good,” Kurt said, the aroma of the sauce permeating the air, but Blaine wrinkled his nose.

“I really felt like this earlier, but you know what I want really bad now? Doritos,” he said it almost wistfully.

Kurt blanched. “Blaine, you cannot eat Doritos! Do you know how much MSG is in that stuff?”

“Do you know how good it tastes?” Blaine countered.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. “You can't have that while you're pregnant though. Do we have to go through the benefits of healthy eating to an unborn child?”  

Blaine sighed, “No. I guess my lack of Doritos will be worth it when the baby gets here.”

“Do you know what you're having?” Kurt asked. “The sex of the baby, I mean.”

“Oh, no.” Blaine said, moving a hand to touch his belly as he turned to face Kurt. “I mean, not technically. But between you and me?” Kurt smiled indulgently at him, and nodded. “I know it's a boy,” he said simply, turning back to his pot.

“How?” Kurt inquired.

“I don't know really,” Blaine replied. “I mean, it never really bothered me, you know? I didn't care about what sex the baby was, I just wanted it to be mine. But I just have this feeling, it's hard to explain.”

“So what if you're wrong?” Kurt asked.

Blaine chuckled, “Nothing, ‘I'll just have to deal with the fact that I don't actually have any great premonition abilities.”

“Do you know what you're going to call him?” Kurt asked.

“Oh yes,” Blaine said, putting a lid on one of the pots, and sitting down at the table opposite Kurt. “Oliver. It's a name I've had picked out ever since I was in high school. I always liked it.” Blaine rolled his eyes at Kurt. “Yes, I was one of those kids, imaging the names of my someday future children. I'd actually forgotten about it until I got pregnant, and then it all came back to me.”

“Oliver. I like it a lot,” Kurt said, trying it out on his tongue. “And if it's a girl?”

“Oh, I don't know exactly. I was thinking about Amy or Emma or Elizabeth, or something like that, but I hadn't really narrowed it down yet.”

“I like Elizabeth,” Kurt said, smiling at Blaine but lowering his eyes a little.

“Yeah?”

“I always thought it was beautiful, but I may be a little biased; it was my mother's name.”

Blaine's eyes tightened when he registered the past tense, but then softened at the look on Kurt's face. “It's a lovely name. Definitely high on my list.”

Kurt gave him another shy smile, and said, “But let's get to the important stuff. How are you decorating the nursery?”

Blaine's smile fell of his face almost at once, and he looked a bit overwhelmed. “Well, um, so far I have a crib.”

“The box? Is that it?”

“Well, it's still early days, I thought I'd get the crib and then, you know…”

“Forget about it?” Kurt said with a condescending eyebrow.

“Kurt, look around. Decorating and design aren't exactly my strong suits.”

Kurt couldn't help the smile that came over his face at that; it might as well be an open invitation. Blaine had no idea what he was getting himself into. “We'll think of something.”