Blaine peered out from underneath his warm pillow at the sound of shuffling and scraping, his wide but bleary eyes searching the room for the noises that had startled him from his sleep. "Oof!" He heard from somewhere behind him, so he peeled the pillow off his head and struggled to flip onto his other side. He stared at what little of Kurt he could see, most of his body buried in his closet as he stretched for the very top shelf, which was high above his head. Pushing his bottom lip out in a pout, Kurt put his hands on his hips as he looked around himself for something he could climb up on. Shuffling out from under the blankets that had him trapped in a cozy bundle, Blaine slid off the edge of the bed and padded over to Kurts side. He whirled around at his sudden visitor, and his blue eyes crinkled at Blaine. "Good morning!"

Tilting his chin up at the top shelf, he looked back at Kurt, silently asking him what he was trying to get. When Kurt pressed himself back into the closet and lifted onto his toes, Blaine put his hands on either of his sides and held him up a few more inches. He finally took something that Blaine couldnt see from the shelf, sighing with relief that his struggle was over. After he was back on the floor, he spun around and wrapped his arms around Blaines neck, "Thank you!" He scurried over to the bed and laid out his findings, slipping two pieces of fabric and a bunch of wires from a bag. "I was thinking all morning of the fun we could have, and then I saw how beautiful a day it was! And a nice breeze outside always calls for a bit of kite flying!"

He handed the rainbow fabric over to Blaine, who turned it this way and that as he tried to figure out how it could be a kite. He tried to follow what Kurt was doing as he unfolded every corner and twisted a few wires, but Blaine made more of a mess than it had come in. Lifting his blue eyes from his pink kite, Kurt giggled at the pile in Blaines hands, and he took it from him and straightened it out. "My maman gave me these as a present for my birthday last year. We used to go out every day and fly them. I always took the pink, and she had the rainbow."

Blaine glanced out the window at the bright sun and the green grass, after all of the snow and cold had gone away with the arrival of fresh spring. He saw the limbs of trees that were just starting to bloom waving back and forth, which gave away the strong winds. He suddenly felt something jump inside of him at his excitement of running around like a crazy man, something his straight laced parents had never allowed before. It was always chin up, shoulders back, legs stiff. He wanted to fling his head back, throw his arms around, and kick his legs back and forth. He helplessly smiled at the thought of the freedom that came with loving Kurt, and Kurt laughed at the glowing expression on his face. "What a silly boy you are! Come upstairs with me."

Both of them raced up the stairs, hurrying into the kitchen to get a quick bite before they went out. After they gnawed apart a few bananas and apples, they ran through the door and smiled at the warming air. Winter had just left them behind, so there was still a chill hanging in the air, but nothing that had them shivering. The wind almost stole the kites from their hands, and Kurt was the first to let his go to the sky. Holding onto the string, Kurt scampered away from Blaine, spinning around in a circle. His kite blew up and up until he only had the end of the string between his fingers. "Blaine!" He cried back at Blaine, and Blaine finally released his tight grip on his rainbow kite. It soon met up with Kurts, the two of them bumping into each other, and Kurt squealed as he tried to tug away. "You caught me!"

Bouncing back over to Blaine, Kurt wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him as tightly as he could, "Now I caught you!" Before he burst away again, he pressed a kiss to Blaines lips, surprising him into almost letting go of his kite. He skipped around Blaine, daring him to keep up, so Blaine chased after him. As he was hunted down, Kurt screeched and tried to speed up his hopping, but his dress got hung on the tip of his shoe and he tumbled to the ground. Blaine slowed down beside of the boy who was wriggling around on the sharp grass, and he plopped beside of him. Their kites hovered above them, tangling around each other, and Blaine let himself get just as intertwined with the boy below him. He bent down and kissed him, hearing Kurt snicker at the warmth that brushed his mouth. Blaine pulled away again and looked down at Kurts pink face, those shimmering eyes and that playful grin, and he started laughing himself as Kurt pawed at his face with those little, undecorated hands that he wanted to make sparkle and glimmer.

Blaine had never been happier to go back to Ohio, the place that had never really been home to him, but as he saw the front door to his other home fly open and reveal a teary Carole and a smirking Burt, he felt his own smile break out on his face. Pulling up into the driveway, Blaine jumped when Kurt scrambled from his seat and hurried over to his parents, giving both of them hugs and kisses. Keegan, who had been sitting in the back, climbed out of his seat and made a surprised noise at the sudden coldness that covered his feet. Used to the heat of California, Blaine groaned at the chill that whipped through his heavy curls. Shaking the snow off his feet, Blaine rushed around to the back and grabbed the baby that Keegan hadnt, and he quickly carried him into the warm house. Kurt and his parents had already retired there, trying to escape the freezing air, but Carole rushed back over to the door at the sight of the babies she hadnt seen for a while. "There are my favorite boys!" She kissed both of the babies after Blaine and Keegan put them down to waddle around and see all that they wanted, and she ushered them over to the kitchen, where sweet smells were wafting from. "Come get Christmas cookies, you two. Your grandma whipped up a batch this morning."

At the offer of cookies, the babies scurried after her, reaching out for her jeans so they could hold onto her. Blaine chuckled after his children, then he turned his attention to his husband, who was looking around the living room that was absolutely the same as they had left it. Wrapping his arm around him, Blaine offered his other arm to Burt, who slapped his back a few times. "You two look good." He muttered to both of them, gesturing to the couches. After Blaine helped his husband sit down and he lowered beside of him, he glanced over at the kitchen door, which opened as the babies teetered back out, both of them scrubbing crumbs off their cheeks. "There they are, the two trouble makers." Holding his arms open for the babies, Burt gave both of his grandsons hugs, "Ive missed you two. Tell your parents to bring you by more often."

"Theyre getting big, arent they?" Carole cooed over them, scrubbing their hair as she passed them and took a seat by her husband. "I think Archers turning out just like his daddy. And Hunters handsome, too." Glancing between the two babies who found interest in plopping beside of each other and playing with their toys, she turned her attention back to her stepson and her son-in-law and said, "How about helping me with dinner?"

"Okay!" Kurt squeaked, leaving Blaines tight grip and following her through the kitchen door. Blaine got up after he was sure that his babies were okay, and he started to go after his husband, who he could hear laughing with Carole about something, but he jumped when he heard the sink in the bathroom turn on. Looking over his shoulder to figure out who else was visiting for Christmas, Blaine felt his mouth fall open at the sight of Finn, whose brown eyes briefly caught his.

He whipped away so he could pretend that he hadnt noticed him, and he pushed through the door, almost falling from the long and awkward steps he took to get away from the living room. Glimpsing at his husband, Kurt gave him a smile and said, "Carole has made a yummy dinner for us. I think the babies will love it." He whirled back around to Carole and put his hands on his hips, "You wouldnt have a clue how very picky Hunter is! But I think its just that he has a laugh over spitting his food out."

"Really?" She shook her head at that, "Of all the children to be picky. He gets into more than Archer does!" Picking up a ladle and stirring a few potatoes, she abandoned her spot at the stove and said, "Blaine, would you mind taking over the vegetables? Kurt, I was hoping you could give me a good dessert to make. Ive gone through all of my recipe books, but nothings as good as those desserts you used to make."

As Kurt and Carole went over to the pantry to pick out a yummy dessert, Blaine took over the stove and poured most of the potatoes into another bowl, but left a few of them to boil so they would be softer for the babies. Salting the other bowl of potatoes, Blaine tried to concentrate on his work, but he couldnt not be distracted by the feeling of someones eyes on the back of his head. Tightening his grip on the cloves of garlic in his palm until he felt them cracking, he put them down on the counter and peeled the skin off. Cutting them with a knife until they almost turned to dust, he threw them into the bowl and watched his blurry reflection in the water be joined by another dark figure.

He spun around so suddenly that he almost cut Finn with the knife that he hadnt realized was still in his hand, and both of them gasped and backed away from each other. Slamming the knife onto the table, he got the attention of his husband and mother-in-law with the noise, and even though Carole was unaware of why he was suddenly so tense, Kurt frowned as he looked between his brother and his husband. Blaine had never seen Kurt make that expression before, somewhere between sadness and disappointment, and he hated it. He wanted to make him smile again, but with Finn hovering over him, he couldnt really manage a comforting grin. Suddenly looping his arm around Caroles, Kurt said very quietly, "Carole, I havent yet seen the tree. Im sure its very pretty."

Confused as to why Kurt abruptly wanted to see the tree, Carole shook her head at the three of them, all of them acting very unusual, but she led Kurt out of the room, anyway. "Oh, yes... its a beautiful tree. Burt took me to the lot the other day and cut down the perfect one." The two of them escaped from the fight that Blaine could tell Finn was wanting to start.

Deciding to ignore him so he might go away, Blaine turned back to the stove and chopped broccoli apart with more force than he had to use. He hadnt realized that his hands were shaking until the knife came down the wrong way and sliced the tip of his finger, making him swear and jerk his hand away from the cutting board. "Are you okay?" He heard from behind him, seeing Finn move over to the sink from the corner of his eye. He wetted a rag down and held it out for Blaine, who tried so desperately to act like he couldnt see the offered help, but his finger was bleeding too much for him to turn it down.

Snatching the cloth from Finn, he stuck it over the blood and got back to his work by using his other hand. "Thank you." He said lowly, and planned on not opening his mouth again.

Neither of them spoke for what Blaine wished was a long time, but was really only a few seconds before Finn mumbled, "Its been a long time since weve talked. How have you and Kurt been?"

"Fine." Blaine stuck the broccoli into another pot and waited for it to start steaming. "What about you and Puck? Are you still... a couple?"

"Yeah." Finn immediately said. "Were engaged." Briefly raising his gaze from the bubbling broccoli, Blaine shot his eyes over to Finns ring finger, which was wrapped up in a golden band. "Uh... Puck proposed a couple of months ago." He closed his hand up in a tight fist, blocking Blaines view of the simple ring. "Listen... theres something I need to talk to you about."

Blaines brows furrowed, and his grip tightened on the spoon in his hand. "Blaine? I was trying to help... you know that-"

Gasping, Blaine whipped around so suddenly, but this time he made sure that he didnt have anything sharp in his hand. "You tricked me into having sex with you!" He tried to keep his voice down, but, in his own ears, he still sounded like he was yelling. "You knew that I was out of my mind! I would have done anything you told me." Turning away from him, Blaine reached up to his pounding heart, trying to keep himself under control, "I dont blame it all on you... but it is your fault."

"So, you regret it?" Finn asked, his voice slightly shaking. "Blaine, I was trying to make things easier on you. You told me that you had sex with men because it was the only thing that felt good anymore! That you were trying to... remember Kurt."

"But you werent Kurt." Blaine whispered, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline, "Dont you regret it, Finn?"

"Not really." He could almost see Finn shrug, "I mean... no, youre not the right guy for me. But I know that I was trying to help you."

Pulling away from Finn, Blaine walked over to the fridge and looked in it for a drink to quench his sudden thirst. "I didnt need your help." He muttered as he yanked a pop can out and cracked it open. Swigging the cool drink until he almost choked from taking too much in, Blaine turned his back on Finn, who he heard make a low sound.

"Are you trying to make me go away?" He accused of Blaine, a sharpness to his voice as if he was annoyed. "Blaine, Im trying to fix this. Every time you have a problem, you bury it under the rug and try to ignore the bump!"

"Im just trying to be a good dad and husband!" Blaine almost raised his voice that time, but at the last second he thought of his children and husband, who he didnt want to upset. Feeling sudden tears prick the corners of his eyes as he thought about those long months when hed ruined his relationship with the only one hed ever loved, Blaine begged, "Im tired of talking about this. I dont want-" Shaking his head when his phone started buzzing, Blaine fished it out of his pocket and held it up to his ear, "What?"

"Blaine?" A scratchy voice mumbled, and at first Blaine had no idea who was on the other end of the line, and then he made out something that sounded like Santana, "W-Where are you?"

Blaine had never had such a terrible headache. He wished that either Finn or Santana was making sense to him. "What? Santana... what are you talking about? Im in Ohio... we went to see Kurts parents for Christmas."

Her voice became a little clearer, "Is Hunter with you?"

Putting his hand on his forehead, he shook his head again, "Yes... why?" Before he could figure out why she wanted to know of his son, she hung up on him, replacing her sniffling and wheezing with beeping. Pulling his phone away from his face, Blaine stared at the blank screen, wondering why coming back to Ohio had seemingly opened old wounds with all of his friends. "What?" He asked no one in particular, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

He covered his face with both of his palms and scrubbed his aching forehead, trying to massage the headache out of himself. Rolling his eyes at all of the confusion, he turned down the heat on the vegetables and stalked out of the kitchen without another word to Finn. He kept his head down so he could avoid the expressions of his family members, who had quieted at his arrival as if they somehow knew that he had a spat with Finn. With the way his head was tilted, his eyes flicked over his babies, who were crawling around the floor and laughing with each other. Sitting down by them, he took Archer onto his lap and wrapped his other arm around Hunter.

He kissed both of them, wanting to find comfort in their little faces that were innocent of all the wearies of life, but he didnt have a moment with them before the rumbling of a car nearing their home startled him from them. Wondering if Puck was coming for dinner with them, he lifted his head and looked out the window, surprised to see Santanas car pulling up. Kurt also twisted around so he could see outside, and his lips parted, "Blaine, dear? Is Santana having dinner with us?"

Putting the babies aside, Blaine got to his feet and went to the door. He watched her frown at something he couldnt see, her eyes so dark that they almost looked black. As she got closer to the door, he noticed the dried tear streaks on her face, but what startled him was the blue bruise that had swelled on her cheek, five large fingers painted on her ashen skin. And that was when he realized that snow was falling to the ground. Turning away from the door, Blaine almost yelled, "Kurt, take the babies upstairs!"

The sudden noise from his mouth made everyone jump, but Kurt quickly did as he was told and got to his feet. Gathering the children up, he nudged them up the stairs, picking one up when Keegan grabbed the other. "Blaine?" He heard someone say, "What is it?"

Blaine didnt pay attention to it, his eyes following Santanas every movement as she staggered up to the doorway. Even though he wanted to lock the door and turn his back on her, he still opened it, hoping she would tell him that Karofsky had forgotten about the son hed never really had. His lips parted, but he didnt say anything. Neither of them did. They just stared at each other. "When was he freed?" He asked her very quietly, and she blinked at him.

"Yesterday." She whispered, her brown eyes flickering around the room as if she was searching for something. "Blaine? You heard what I said when I first gave him to you. You cant fight me on this-"

"But hes my son-"

"Dont put this on me!" She demanded, her eyebrows lowering, "Youre crazy! This is part of Karofsky!" Pushing her fingers through her hair, she flung her head back and forth, "He threatened to kill Brittany if he doesnt get him back-!"

"Then both of them will be dead!" Blaine wasnt sure what he should think, if he should think anything, but all that was going through his head was the thundering of his heart. Looking up at the ceiling, Blaine imagined his son hiding away up there, something he would have to often do if Karofsky did take him. "Santana, shes dying, anyway! Dont do this!" Feeling that salty wetness sting his eyes again, Blaine took a step back when she did, blocking her pathway to the staircase. "Hes my baby. I love him!"

"You would do the same if this was Kurt!" She reminded him, looking over at Finn for only a second when he appeared from behind the kitchen door. Turning away from her just as he had Finn, rejecting the problem he had to face-just like he said he always did, Blaine finally let himself think, and he thought of Hunter, who had become his baby and had nothing to do with Karofsky anymore. Hunter was his baby!

"You couldnt take my baby from my dead arms!" Blaine tried to snarl, but he wasnt sure if he got the words out because he heard his voice start to fade away. Warmth burst into the back of his head, and he thought he reached up and felt hot wetness running down his nape, but he had no clue about that, either, because the next thing he felt was hard and cold. Maybe it was his heart.

Santana raced past the many people who had gathered around Blaines body, tears running down her face just as fast as her legs moved. Blaines blood dripped off her fingertips, a constant reminder of the terrible thing that had been demanded of her. Bursting onto the top floor, she turned in every direction until she found the only door that had been closed. She hurried over to it and jiggled the doorknob, hearing a tiny squeak from within. Smashing her foot into the wood, she was sure that she broke her toes by the time she heard the metal cracking. She crashed into the room and looked at the three on the bed, Kurt completely wrapped around the children, while Keegan stood in front of them.

Hating that it had to come to this, she pulled the knife from her back pocket and sliced Keegans shoulder, hearing the babies cry out and burrow closer to Kurt. When he grabbed his wound, she had her chance to lash out at Kurt and push him away. Even though he held onto the children as tightly as he could, she was still much stronger than him and easily knocked him away. Grabbing the baby she had only seen a few times before, she pinned him to her shoulder and darted out of the room, feeling Keegans hands come to her arms. She screamed and ripped out of his grip, going so fast that she thought her heart would stop beating before she could get the baby to Karofsky and take Brittany out of his line of fire. Charging down the stairs, she took them three at a time, narrowly avoiding the family who still didnt have a clue what was going on.

She rushed back into the snow, almost losing her shoes because the thick whiteness tried to suck her down. Throwing the baby into the car, she closed herself in and backed out of the driveway so quickly that the babe lurched forward and hit his hands on the dashboard in his attempt to catch himself. Screams suddenly burst from his lips, and he clutched his teddy bear to himself. Flinging the arm that wasnt taken up by the bear, he pawed at the window, trying to get back to his family and away from her. "Daddy!" He cried, his voice becoming so shrill that she almost clapped her hands over her ears. "Daddy!" Ignoring the baby, Santana kept driving farther and farther away, only a few blurs of people appearing in her rearview mirror as they watched her drive away but couldnt catch up if they had tried.

Sucking in her breath, she forced herself to think of her Brittany and not of the family she just devastated. But she had warned Blaine of this. It was his fault for becoming attached to the bastard. As she pulled onto Karofskys road, she started to relax, realizing that this was what was best for all of them. At least, for her and Karofsky. Stopping the car in Karofskys driveway, which looked absolutely the same as it did when she had dropped him off yesterday-no weeds had been pulled, and the sign hadnt been taken down, she grabbed Hunters arm and jerked him out of the car. Pulling him along behind her, she heard him whimper and try to yank away, but to no feat.

As if hed been expecting her-or if hed just been staring out the window, waiting for his son, he opened the front door and stepped onto the porch, a wide smile tugging at the corners of his mouth at the sight of his son. Even though she couldnt hear him from the distance she wanted to remain, she saw him mouth, "Beautiful."

Stepping onto the porch, she looked down at the baby who was unsurely shuffling his feet, scared to cling to her for protection because shed taken him away from what he loved, and terrified to go to the man who smelled like shit, beer, and cigarettes. She passed him over to Karofsky, trying to keep her emotions out of the sacrifice she was making, and he grabbed him into his powerful arms. She saw something flash in his eyes, something she didnt want to be around anymore, so she turned away again and went back to her car. Hunter was just a part of Karofsky, she reminded herself, something that would become just like Karofsky one day. He was in his heart.

Turning up the volume on her radio just to drown out the thoughts that tortured her mind, making her go back and forth on what shed just done-was Blaine right that Hunter was just a baby that needed loved just as much as the next, or was he a part of the psychotic man that didnt need loved at all, she drove back to her own house, pleased to be back to normal. Karofsky was no longer a part of her life. It was just her and Brittany. Walking up the stairs to the bedroom she kept Brittany in, she inhaled sharply at the sight of her girlfriend, whose chest was no longer lifting and dropping. She wasnt writhing around like she always did, Santanas way of knowing that she was still there. Padding over to Brittany and laying her hand on her chest, she stared at Brittanys bruised face, then down to her black chest, where a heartbeat wasnt. Just wasnt.

Blaine opened his blurred eyes, seeing the foggy images of faces above him, and he gasped and threw his fists up. "Santana, no!"

Someone touched his head, pressing it back down to the pillow, "Blaine, darling, hush. You took a hard blow to the head-"

He sat up, anyway, desperately checking the number of faces in the room and finding only four. "Where are they?" He begged, his voice so raspy that he didnt recognize it as his own. He wondered if someone else was speaking. Bubbles of wetness squirted from the corners of his eyes, "Where are they?"

A blond head appeared above him, "Kurt and Archer are upstairs." Keegan mumbled to him, and as Blaine focused on that pale face to figure out what emotion he should be feeling-fear and sadness that something awful had happened, or happiness that Santana was gone and hadnt done what he was so scared she had done, he saw something unreadable. He wished that he was like Kurt, that he could read minds.

"Hunter?" Blaine mumbled, turning this way and that, and he pushed those bodies away from him. He needed space. He needed to look through them so he could see his precious baby. He needed to be able to hold his arms open so he could wrap his baby up and squeeze him to his chest, never let him go again. "Hunter. Wheres Hunter?" He didnt get a response from anyone, and when he saw Caroles eyes fog over, he shouted, "Wheres my baby?"

No one said anything to him, so he pushed himself off the couch and walked as quickly as he could over to the stairs. His head throbbed at the sudden movements, but he had no mind for himself. Running up each stair and feeling a prick every time he did, he stumbled over to the slightly cracked door, and he looked through it at the two people, not three, within. Kurt and Archer were completely wrapped around each other, both of them weeping and mewling. Blaine felt a jolt of shock turn his warm blood that still dripped over his skin into ice, something that he hated. He hated the cold. A sob broke out of him, so noisy that it alarmed Kurt. He lifted his blue gaze, and the tears rolled much faster down his cheeks. Even though both of their hearts thundered, the world around them slowed down. Going over to the people-beauties-he had left to love, he collapsed to the bed with them and took them against his chest. As if saying it would somehow bring him back to his arms, so the four of them-their little, but perfect-family could all be together again, he pleaded, "Hunter. Hunter... my beauty."