Blaine dreamed of warm kisses long after hed fallen asleep in Elizabeths soft arms, and when he woke, his cheeks were still damp from the moist pecks. At first he was clueless if he really was awake as those warm lips dotted his forehead, his lids, his chin, but he felt more restless than hed been in the quietness of his mind, so aware of the soft breaths brushing his hot skin, the gentle hand resting on his chest. Hed never been woken by the kind kiss of a mom, so he flipped onto his stomach and mumbled into a pillow hed drooled on sometime in the middle of the night. He heard the faintest of giggles, and then felt a poke to his cheek, "Oh, I cant see my silly boy. I fear that Ill go mad if I dont see those golden eyes! My kitten, we might just have to tickle the sleepy boy!"

When Blaine didnt react but just snorted into the pillow because he still wasnt sure if he was awake or dreaming, another finger lifted and squished his cheek, "Blainey, were making homes for the gingerbread men! Theyre sad because they dont have anywhere to live." Kurt howled to him, his voice quivering because he was so upset over the lack of houses for the gingerbread men. Blaine groaned into the comfortable bubble of fluff under his cheek, not wanting their beautiful voices to vanish in case he was sleeping, but he almost jumped up to the ceiling when Kurt squealed, "Tickle him, Maman!"

His eyes flew open when a pair of hands slid to his sides, oval fingernails scratching his skin until he squirmed and writhed for freedom. "There are those gorgeous eyes I love so much!" Elizabeth shrieked with happiness, tugging him into her lap and grabbing both of his kicking feet. She tickled them until he was panting and couldnt take any more, then she pressed kisses to all of his toes. Smiling from behind his feet, she set them down and patted his bottom, "Come with us, sweetheart. We want you to bake with us! The gingerbread houses wouldnt be as good without your help."

Kurt bobbed his chin up and down, crawling over to the edge of the bed and sliding off after a moment of poking the floor to make sure his feet wouldnt be too cold, "Maman whipped up the gingerbread batter and baked it so we could shape it into walls for the houses and decorate it with pretty sprinkles and icing. Come, Blaine!" Skittering over to his moms side, he turned back to Blaine and gave him a big grin, something that Blaine raised his brows at. When it came to his morning routines, Blaine was set in his ways, simply getting up, then washing himself, then pacing his room in search of something to do. Hed sometimes throw himself down on his floor and press his ear to the cool carpet in hope of hearing his dad below him, shuffling papers and clearing his throat every now and then. He didnt know what he wanted out of listening to his dad do his constant work, maybe that he wanted him to get tired of working and come up to play with him. But his dad was like an emotionless robot when it came to work, never tiring and never worrying about anything other than the stack of papers in front of him, not even if his son wanted him to come up and hold him.

So, seeing Elizabeth waiting for him and holding her arms open, he hesitantly lifted himself from the mattress, not certain of what she wanted him to do. He decided to do what Kurt did, and he swung his legs off the edge of the bed. He landed on the floor with a thud, and Elizabeths smile widened, "Theres my precious boy." Laughing behind her fingers, she licked the tips of them and smoothed his hair back, "What a handsome sight you are." Kurt giggled with her, making him flush from his head to his toes as he reached up to the spot shed touched. He realized his curls were sticking straight up, which made him more embarrassed. He stuck his tongue out and covered his hair with his arms, and the two of them laughed harder before Elizabeth reached for him and pulled him against her leg. "You, my little one, are an absolute mess, but I wouldnt want you any other way."

Blaine pressed his face into her dress, wanting to be closer to her warmth. He wasnt sure how she always knew the perfect thing to say, but he doubted that she could ever make a mistake. She bent to kiss the top of his head and stroke his hair again, doing little to tame it, before she cooed, "Come along, little kittens. We must hurry before the gingerbread men cry because they do not have any houses!"

"Poor gingerbread men!" Kurt cried, his tiny face scrunching as he scampered after his mom, who led the two of them up the stairs. Blaine held onto Kurts hand on their trip into the kitchen, and he helped to boost him onto the chair that had been dragged in front of the counter. He boosted himself up next, with Elizabeths hands on his butt to make sure he didnt fall, and he looked down at the assortment of a pan of cooling gingerbread, and small bags of candies and sprinkles and icing off to the side, and a pile of cookie cutters, and faceless gingerbread men waiting to be given emotions.

He sniffed the hot gingerbread and his stomach rumbled at all of the spices and sugar packed into the brown square. Kurt must have noticed him smelling because he smiled at him, waving the rising steam toward them, "It smells so yummy, doesnt it? Maybe the gingerbread men wont mind if we share some of their house with them. We could have a taste after we put the sprinkles and icing on the house!"

Elizabeth returned to their sides after she finished searching through the fridge, and she set two glasses of cold milk down by their work station. "You know whats so good with gingerbread? Cold milk. I think my busy boys deserve some milk for being so kind to give the gingerbread men houses." After they took a few drinks of their milk, Elizabeth picked up one of the cookie cutters and handed it to Kurt, and she gave another to Blaine. "Alright... lets see... well, well need walls and a roof, wont we? Kurt, why dont you make four squares, sweetie? And, Blaine, you can make the roof. Just two triangles. Be careful not to cut your little fingers. But Ill kiss it all better if you do." Kurt pressed down on the gingerbread and made a square, and Elizabeth cheered and picked it up, "Thats very good, Kurt. Go on, Blaine. Its okay. Im going to mix up a little icing, but Ill be right over here if you need me. Kurt, do you see that little triangle right there? Thats for the chimney."

Kurt stuck his tongue out in concentration as he made all of the walls, then he picked up the little triangle and handed it to Blaine. He busied himself with opening the bag of sprinkles and munching on them before he cried out to Elizabeth that they were done with the tasks shed given them. She came back over and smiled at Kurts blue tongue that was dyed from the sprinkles, "You crazy boy. You have a blue tongue!" Kurt poked his tongue out and tried to look at it, his eyes crossing, but he had too much trouble. "Oh, you two have done very well! We need to paste the walls together with icing. Kurt, hold that tube of white icing. Blaine, you can hold the first wall up. Squirt the icing at the edges of the wall."

Once he squeezed the icing onto the wall, Kurt swiped his finger across the gooey mess and stuck it into his mouth. Elizabeth laughed at him, but she took a taste, too, "Oh, dear, Kurt, you might eat all the sweets before we put them on the house, my love. Lets finish up gluing everything together and then we can make the house look marvelous with treats." She held up the last walls and let them splatter icing on them, then she set them up to dry.

Blaine could tell that Kurt was having fun as he tossed candies and sprinkles onto the walls, his eyes bright with happiness. He carefully drew windows and a door on the brown walls, and when he finished that, Kurt deemed it a very good house. "Maman, look! Blaine made a door for the gingerbread men to go into their home! Now we just need the gingerbread men!"

Reaching for the blank gingerbread men, she handed one to Blaine, and the other to Kurt. "I think they have a wonderful home to live in, Kurt. Im so proud of you two." She rubbed her nose against Kurts, making him laugh, then she turned and kissed Blaine between his eyes.

Kurt drew a pink smile on his gingerbread mans face, and he smiled back at him, "Hes happy because hes with his best friend. Do you think thats us, Maman? Blaine, thats me and you! We live in our little house and were happy." He put his gingerbread man next to Blaines, making their hands cross, and he squealed again, "Look, were holding hands!" Picking up the pink icing again, he squirted on a pink dress and shoes, then chose the blue for his eyes. Blaine followed what he was doing and made his gingerbread man look like him, even though his curls looked like a pile of snakes that had wrapped around his gingerbread mans head. After he finished dressing his gingerbread man in a blue sweatshirt and jeans, Kurt shrieked and clapped his hands, "Its us, Blaine! Look how happy we are! Youre smiling, too!"

Eagerly grabbing the two gingerbread men, Kurt rested them against the front of their house, their hands still holding onto each others. He bounced on his butt, then he turned to Blaine and hugged him tightly. Blaine tried to hold onto him, but when he dropped his chin to Kurts shoulder, his eyes lowered to the clock on the kitchen counter and they instantly widened. He whipped around in search of another clock to see if that much time really had passed, or if he was just fooling himself. His sudden movement seemed to surprise Kurt, who touched his shoulder. "Blaine? Whats the matter? Why do you look sad?"

Elizabeth, who had been turned away and cleaning up at the sink, quickly looked over her shoulder, "Blaine, honey... whats wrong? You look worried." She took a step back when he suddenly burst from his chair, feeling his legs move too slowly. Without another word but with a look back at Kurt, who was holding his hand to his mouth in shock, he ran past her and through the living room, moving around the couch where Laurice was passed out.

He pushed open the door and flicked his eyes down the street, feeling his stomach drop to the ground at the sight of a gray car in the driveway. Shaking his head as he wondered if his dad had noticed that he was missing yet, Blaine left Kurts house-much to his regret-and he hurried across the street without even bothering to look for cars coming at him. Maybe he even wanted a car to hit him. It might have made his dad feel sorry for him, and then he would finally hold him. Holding his breath as he closed the distance between himself and his front door, Blaine tried to peer through the thin gap he had at the edge of the door, but he couldnt see much of anything except a couch in the distance.

He reached up to the door knob and turned it, wincing at the small click that came with the door opening. Sliding through as silently as he could, he tried to get upstairs to his room without being noticed, but as he snuck by his dads office that was dimly lit, he gasped at the sound of papers rustling. "Blaine, stop." came that rough voice that he dreaded hearing, that low tone that never meant good things were to come for him. "Where have you been?"

His heart stopped beating because he knew his dad couldnt find out about Kurt, but he didnt end up having to answer his question. When he reluctantly turned to his dad and looked up at his hard face, he saw him rubbing his jaw, his stubble scratching his calloused fingers and digging white lines into his brown skin. As he stared at his dad, he noticed how dark his skin was, just like Blaines. His dad had been born in the Philippines to wealthy parents who Blaine had never met, and later on hed traveled to Asia, where he had met Blaines mom, to do business with a filming company. Theyd shared a common interest in money, which had led to a quick marriage, and after theyd given birth to Cooper, theyd moved to America for more career opportunities with directing and producing movies. Years after they were settled into their good lifestyle with one child who never did anything bad, one of their condoms broke, and Blaine became the accident child, the mistake that never did anything right.

He couldnt get a single word out to his intimidating dad, even though he tried to mumble through some kind of lie to keep his friendship with Kurt safe, and his dad quickly picked up on his silence. His head raised from his paperwork, revealing a sour and weary face, dark eyes and cracked lips and bags on his cheeks. "I told you to stay here." He said lowly, his voice not getting any louder, even though, to Blaine, he seemed to be screaming. "Blaine, I dont have time for your misbehaving. You have no idea how far up to my neck I am in paperwork."

His dad didnt seem the least concerned with his disappearance, even if he was kidnapped, just that it might be an issue if he had to pay money to send a search team out for Blaine. Lowering his head as if that might help to hide him, he ducked behind the doorway and blinked at his dad. He hoped that if he didnt see him the next time he lifted his head, he would forget about him. After writing a few more things down, his dad flicked his eyes back up, and then he rolled them and shook his head, "I can still see you. What, do you think Im some kind of idiot?"

Blaine frowned at his dad, who had gotten the wrong idea from his hiding. But he didnt tell him so because he lost any chance of finding his voice when his dad slammed a book down. "Dammit, Blaine, I cant get a moment of quiet around this house. Someones always bothering me, and do you know what happens when I get distracted from my work? I dont get paid, which means you dont get fed." He jerked to his feet, which made Blaine cower down, squinting his wet eyes. "Maybe this will teach you not to bother me. Youll go to bed without dinner. I am going to teach you to behave if its the last thing I do with you, you brat."

When his dad swung his hands at him, Blaine screamed and ducked to the floor, curling up on himself. He definitely wasnt strong enough to fight back, so he just had to bite his lip and take it. He hated that he had to be weak. "I was good!" He shouted at his dad, kicking at his hands, which only made his face redder. "Ive been good! Ive been good! Stop!"

A slap across his face shut him up, and he gazed up at his dads horrid face through blurry eyes. "You dont ever kick at me again! Get over here now!" Dragging Blaine by his leg over to the couch, he threw himself down and jerked Blaine onto his lap. Blaine screeched and squirmed, but his dad was too strong and pinned him down almost easily. He spanked him across his butt, three hard slaps that would leave bruises. Jolting back up to his feet, his dad pulled him behind him, thudding up the stairs no matter how Blaine yanked against him. As he thundered up the stairs, he muttered to himself, words that he clearly wanted Blaine to hear, "I told your mom you were a bad idea. I told her we should get a fucking abortion. We had a good kid. What did we need another one for? Its just more money to waste. I might have learned to love you like I did Cooper if you were like him, but youre a quivering, sniveling mess who cant even talk. Do you think that makes me proud? Youre a fucking embarrassment, Blaine. Maybe you could try to not be the mistake you know you are, but you dont even try. You have no respect for this family."

They finally reached Blaines room, much to his relief, and Richard shoved Blaine inside. He reached for the door to close him in, but he stopped to say, "If I hear any noise from you, youre getting spanked again. You can come out in the morning, but I dont want to see you for the rest of the night." Blowing out heavily, his dad gave him a scrunched face, one of disappointment and shame, "Why dont you just do everyone a favor and stay out of the way? Itd make things easier on everyone. Ill be telling your mom about this. Shell come up with another punishment for you. Fuck, Blaine, why cant you just be like your brother? He never gave us any trouble."

The door slammed in his face, and footsteps clunked down the hallway and then faded away, letting him know that he was now alone for the rest of the night. Unsure of what to do with himself, Blaine thought about collapsing to the floor and twiddling his thumbs, but his butt still hurt and he knew he wouldnt be able to sit down. He probably had new marks, along with his old ones from when hed been hit hard enough to permanently bruise him. His dad used to hit him a lot, usually on his back, chest, or arms, taking his anger out on his mistake son instead of his wife or cherished child. Of course, Cooper had soon found out about the smacking when hed been bathing Blaine one night, and he had, for the most part, put a stop to it, but his dad still hit Blaine when Cooper wasnt around.

Blaine remembered the night his brother had tried to protect him, the screaming voices, the slamming doors, the shattering glass from things being thrown. Itd been a very long night, and Blaine hadnt been able to sleep with his head squished between his pillow and the mattress, trying to block out the constant, "Hes just a baby! How could you do this to him?" and "You dont understand what its like to have that brat around every day!" His dad used to drink a lot because of him, which made his punishments worse. Soon after his birth, his mom had gotten involved with a man from her work-Blaine thought he overheard Cooper mention that it was her secretary-and his dad had always blamed it on him, saying that his mom hadnt wanted another child, and that she resented the man who had gotten her pregnant again.

The arguments would get so loud that Blaine wondered if they were having a fight over who could scream the loudest. To Blaine, it felt like the world was coming down around him, and very soon after a fight started, it would turn to him, and his door would smash in, and he would be dragged out of bed and slapped. Months after his mom had been found out, his dad had come home late one night in someone elses car, smelling of a different perfume than what his mom wore and with a wrinkled tie. His mom had been furious, but her complaints were quickly hit down when his dad had threatened divorce, which would take all of her money away and leave her with nothing. Within weeks, she had given up the fight, and his parents had fallen into a rut they couldnt climb out of, a boring relationship held together only by his dads millions of dollars. Cooper wasnt even enough to keep them together, which meant that Blaine definitely wasnt. Blaine had soon realized what kind of family he was doomed to be in, and he had asked Cooper one night when the question had driven him crazy if they were in a broken family. Cooper hadnt said anything, just squeezed him tighter and kissed his forehead, and Blaine came to his own conclusion that he was supposed to know the answer to that. It was an obvious one.

Blaine had worried for a long time that he would end up in the same kind of marriage, loveless, not a happy day to live, with screaming and fighting and cheating, but then his brother had become involved with a pretty girl named Alicia who he claimed to love with all his heart, and who he wouldnt trade for all the money in the world. Alicia had been kind and humorous, not a sense of meanness in her body, which had eased Blaines fretfulness because Coop had lived under the same collapsing home that Blaine had. And then Kurt had come along for Blaine, and Blaine knew now that he would have a happy future. Somehow, he would be happy.

The thought of Kurt perked him up, and he staggered over to his window as quickly as he could. His butt still hurt, so he wasnt that quick. He stared at that peaceful house that wasnt rotting from the frames, and he realized that he wanted to be there instead. "Kurt," he whispered so quietly that even he couldnt hear himself, and he pushed up on his window with a grunt. Sliding out of his window very carefully, he grabbed onto the panels that his fingers almost slipped off of. He was terrified of falling, but he was even more terrified of getting caught by his dad, who would do things so bad to him that he didnt even want to imagine them. But worst of all was spending one more moment away from Kurt, who kept him safe from everything.

After he had scaled the side of his house, he ran as fast as he could back to Kurt, away from that broken house that was only standing by a few nails that were coming loose. He got to Kurts house in seconds, and he pushed through the front door, finding himself panting for air in the middle of the living room, where Elizabeth was standing by the window. She turned to him and held a hand up to her heart, "Blaine, I was so worried. Where did you go, my darling? Kurt, hes here, my little love!"

Kurt poked his nose out of the kitchen, and he blew out heavily, as if hed been holding his breath for that long. "My Blaine!" He squeaked, scurrying over to Blaine and snuggling into his chest. He purred and rubbed against him, only lifting his head when Elizabeth walked over to them and knelt to the ground beside of them. She started to pull Blaine into her arms, but hesitated and instead put a hand on his cheek.

"Blaine, youre bruised." She said in a weak voice, her eyes getting wider with every second she looked at his face. "Oh, dear. You went home, didnt you? And they hit you." When Blaine shifted a little, she shook her head and touched his arm, "No, its okay. Youll be fine. Im going to talk to Kurts daddy about this, but you dont need to worry. But... why dont you stay with us for a while? You need to be here, okay? Over the holidays. Well make your Christmas special, I promise. I cant imagine theyve made any other Christmases special for you if they-" She quickly cut herself off when she remembered that she was talking to a five year old, and she got to her feet. "Stay here with Kurt. Im going to get an ice pack. Ill be gentle with your cheek."

Hurrying away as if his bruise would get fatally worse in those two minutes she was away, she barely noticed that Laurice, who had startled during all the fuss, had asked her a question, "Lizzie, whats going on?"

Elizabeth whirled around, and she blinked at her sister, then at the children, "Come to the bathroom with me. Away from the children. Theres something I need to talk to you about. I warned Burt about this... I knew there was something going on in that house. This is going to stop-"

Realizing that Elizabeth was going to call his parents and reveal where he had been going for the past few months, Blaine helplessly blurted, "I tripped. I tripped on my way up the stairs. Dont call my parents." His words sounded too desperate to be believable, but he knew that Elizabeth would never cross him.

She stopped walking and turned to face him, her lips parted in words she couldnt get out. Closing her mouth then opening it again, she finally murmured, "Blaine, please dont move your mouth, darling. Let me get some ice on your cheek."

After she vanished from the room and Laurice went after her, Blaine hung his head and shuddered with worry. He didnt know what was going to happen to him, but he thought that he rescued himself from losing Kurt... just this time. A pair of hands caressed his neck, sliding up to his jaw, and he lifted his head to gaze into a pair of blue eyes. "Our gingerbread men are still happy together." Kurt whispered to him, and that tugged the tiniest of smiles onto Blaines lips. He ducked under Kurts chin and closed his eyes, needing to be held by his warm arms... while he still had them around him.

Blaine looked out the window at the passing palm trees, the small waves rising to the trunks of the trees, then falling away again. Seagulls flew overhead of their car, reminding him of his own birds, the two of them prowling around the back seat in search of something interesting to look at and tickling the babies each time they climbed over their laps to get to the other side of the car. It was a warm day at the start of fall, while, in Ohio, temperatures were slowly dropping, as Burt had complained about over the phone. A new road drew his attention away from the beach outside, and he turned the car onto a slow highway that wasnt too busy with traffic.

The sudden change in scenery started the babies up again, and both of them spastically kicked their feet and cheered, "Were closer to Disneyland, arent we, Daddy?" Blaine wondered if they were going to do that with every new road the car turned on to. Beside of him, Kurt laughed at their excitement, and he turned around and told them for the hundredth that they would be as close as they could be to Disneyland in about two hours. The babies still kept up their hopes, though, that they would magically arrive there in about thirty seconds.

To keep them amused while they waited for those thirty seconds to be over, Blaine played almost every Disney song ever made in the CD player. So, when the babies werent distracted by the birds or the scenery, they danced and sang along to all of the lyrics they knew, but most of it came out as gibberish. When they ran out of breath for singing and turned back to the windows, relying on Keegan to point out interesting things to them, Kurt twisted around in his seat and murmured to Keegan, "Keegan, would you be so kind to get their sandwiches and juice boxes from their bag? Are your bellies rumbling, my darlings?"

Both of the babies whipped back around and eyed their bag with wide eyes and watering mouths as they wondered what other treats were hiding within. Blaine, who was so spoiling of his children, had spent nearly twenty minutes packing away their favorite snacks and juices. He soon heard both of them munching and slurping, which kept them busy for about ten road switches before they got back into their routine of asking which road was closest to Disneyland. Becoming more enthusiastic himself as the babies kept singing and dancing, Kurt snuggled deeper into his seat and gave Blaine a look of absolute happiness, "Oh, Blaine, just imagine it... in only two hours, well be in the place where all of our princess stories came true. The place of happily ever after!" Reaching for Blaines hand, he squeezed it very gently, "We had our happily ever after, my love. Well fit in very well here." He leaned over to kiss Blaines cheek, making Blaines skin turn red when Hunter stuck his tongue out and made a hacking sound like a cat.

Looking over at his dreamy eyed husband, Blaine thought about how lucky he was to be bringing him to a place where all dreams come true. For a long time, Blaine had considered Kurt just another one of his silly dreams that would never be real, but then he realized that he didnt dream-he never had, just looked at blackness every time he closed his eyes-and that Kurt was as real as he was. And he had known that, unfortunately, he was very real, which meant that Kurt wasnt just a plea from the little bit of hope left in him that he wouldnt go completely insane over his constant loneliness. He thought about the place he was taking his one love, somewhere that he couldnt look to either side without seeing a piece of his imagination, those stories he used to love, how they had all ended with a happily ever after, just like his and Kurts did.

That thought made a small grin curve his lips, and it got bigger when Archer and Hunter started screeching again because theyd pulled onto another road. He realized how much he loved his small but perfect family, and how they were all like jewels to him, things he could treasure because he never thought hed be holding something so precious. Hed always been so alone, but he wasnt anymore.

After about another hour of driving, Blaine pulled the car away from the coast, which hed been driving along, and started heading more inland. The rest of the ride was almost silent, except for the quiet tunes humming from the radio, and the murmurs and smacking lips of his babies. Both of them had long since fallen asleep, followed by Kurt, who had curled into a tiny ball and tucked his head against Blaines shoulder. Blaine held onto him with one arm, loving the feeling of his soft breaths blowing on his neck, and that silky shirt moving under his hand every time Kurt inhaled and exhaled. Kurt had dressed very simply for their first day at Disney, with a pair of pink heels with yellow flowers decorating the tops of them, and a pink miniskirt that showed off his long legs perfectly, and a yellow blouse with pink patterns weaved through the thin cloth. Blaine thought he looked gorgeous, but that was nothing different than how Blaine always felt about Kurts looks.

Laying his head on Kurts, Blaine kissed that dark blond hair that felt like silk on his lips. He loved his husband with all his heart, and with every day, they seemed to draw closer together. With every new thing he learned about Kurt, he had something new to adore, and he always made sure to adore Kurt to the best of his ability. Kurt seemed to like being cooed to and fussed over, anyway. Breathing in the scent of his cherry shampoo, Blaine nuzzled closer to him and turned his head back to the road. He felt his stomach jump at the sight of the Anaheim city limits sign, and he turned around as much as he could without disturbing Kurts peaceful sleeping.

Reaching for his babies, he stroked them awake and waited until theyd stretched and yawned and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes with their little fists to give them a huge smile. "Were here, sweethearts. Look out the window. You can see the signs with Mickey on them!" It didnt take two seconds for the babies to squish their noses to the window, Hunter almost falling over Archer to get a good look. They passed by another one of the signs within the next minute, and Keegan, who had been gazing out the window with distracted eyes, jerked with alarm when the babies screamed and thumped the window with their tiny hands.

Kurts blue eyes popped open as he, too, stirred with surprise, and he looked back at the babies and started laughing as they bounced and wiggled and screeched. He turned back to Blaine, who was pulling onto another road, and peeped, "Oh, Blaine, are we here? Darlings, were here! We must celebrate something so wonderful!" He clapped his hands, hardly able to keep himself calm as they drove closer and closer. Eventually, they came across a welcoming sign, and the shrieks got so loud that Blaine worried the babies would lose their voices.

He kept driving until he came across a sign for the Disneyland Hotel parking, and he pulled into the lot and found a spot near the doors. As Wes had said, the park wasnt too busy at the start of fall, but the lot was still packed with cars and buses. Opening his door, he swung his legs out and came around to Kurts side, opening his door for him. Kurt slipped his feet out and seemed relieved to wiggle his toes, glad to be out of the car after two hours. "Honey, can you get the children? Ill bring in the luggage." After Kurt nodded and turned to the back door to let the squealing babies out, Blaine went around to the back, where Keegan already was, and yanked some of the luggage out.

Once he had all of it out and locked the doors, he came back to his husband, who had gathered the babies up like little ducks. Every time he took a step, they did, too, following right on his heels, but with much more jittery legs. They squeaked with excitement every few seconds, and they held onto each other tightly. When one bounced, so did the other. Before he took his family inside, he knelt in front of his babies and said, "Daddy has to get us checked into our room, but you two can go to the gift shop and get snacks. Your p�re and uncle will take you over there." He kissed both of them, then let them go back to clinging to Kurts legs, holding onto him as if they would be separated forever if they let go. Even their birds, who had each picked one of the babies shoulders to stand on, had become interested in the excitement, twittering and wiggling as they were carried into the new place.

The hotel was beautiful with high walls and bright colors, and as they got closer, Archer happily pointed out the sorcerers hat off to the side. Blaine took his family inside the hotel, and he showed the gift shop to Keegan, who nodded and led Kurt and the babies in that direction. After they were gone from his line of sight, he turned around and walked up to a counter where a woman waited. He quickly checked them in to their room, which was on one of the upper floors. Once he got his room key, he stuck it in his wallet and turned around to find his family, the group of them waiting for him by the elevators. The babies had cookies at their lips, the crumbs speckling their cheeks and chins. Hunters was still in the shape of mouse ears, but Archers cookie just had one ear left.

Blaine walked over to his family and took Kurt into his arms, watching as Archer picked a piece off his cookie and held it up to Pavarotti, who nibbled at it. "Pavarotti, Everett, want a cookie?" He asked them, offering some of the cookie to Everett, who licked it with quick, short laps of his needle-like tongue. Blaine guided his babies onto the elevator when the doors dinged and slid open, but it was like he hadnt even moved them. They were so distracted by their cookies that nothing else came into their vision.

When they got up to one of the top floors and the doors opened again, Blaine pulled the luggage down the hallway and searched for their room. The colors were soft in that area, pale tan with specks of gold highlighting the walls. The designs were very intricate and beautiful, making it clear that they were in the area for the fairy tale suite. They finally got to their room, and Blaine stuck the card in and waited for the beep before he opened the door. The babies instantly darted by him, hopping around and pointing out all their favorite things. "Look at the pictures! Its the princesses! Daddy, look! Look!"

While he set their luggage down and glanced around at all they had in their room, he laughed at the babies enthusiasm. "I see, sweethearts. Let Daddy get unpacked, and then well go look around, okay? Keegan, can you put on a movie for them while I unpack? Archer, Hunter, pick out a movie and your Uncle Keegan will put it in for you." Archer and Hunter, who had been glued to the window and looking down at the buildings below them, hurried back over to Keegan and considered the choices they were offered. Blaine heard a lot of clashing views over what movie they should watch first, but he thought they settled on Lady and the Tramp because he heard a lot of barking.

As he started to pull their luggage apart and sort it out, he noticed a nearby figure, standing so still he looked like one of the pictures of the beautiful princesses hanging on the walls. Lifting his head and staring at his husbands small form, Blaine smiled at the way he had one of his hands up, reaching out to Aurora, who he was looking at with wide eyes. Blaine knew what he wanted, to be just like them, so he muttered lowly, "Youre my princess." Kurts blue eyes flicked over to him, and the biggest smile curved his pink lips.

He skipped over to Blaine on light toes, and Blaine scooped him up into his strong arms and whirled him around, making him squeal with delight. The two of them kissed, a quick peck that thrilled Blaine to his toes. "And youre my prince!" Kurt chirped at him, giggling with happiness. "Oh, Blaine, Im so happy! This is so beautiful... butterflies are fluttering in my belly." Blaine wondered what beautiful thing Kurt was referring to, the room or their relationship, then he decided that it could be both. He laughed with Kurt, and they hugged much tighter. Once he set his husband on his toes, which took much more effort than he first thought, they both busied themselves with emptying their suitcases and finding places to put everything.

They finished packing their things away by the time ten minutes had passed, and Blaine decided that after a long day of packing and driving and unpacking, he was more than ready to relax, so he kept their swimsuits with him. He walked down the steps and over to the bed, where the babies were curled around each other with their eyes fixed on the TV. Archer squeezed his eyes shut when an alligator tried to bite Lady, but, luckily, the Tramp pulled her back just in time. Both of them glanced over at Blaine when they heard his arrival, and they gave him big grins. "My sweethearts, do you want to go swimming for a while? Then well get dinner at the Tangaroa Terrace. What do you two think?"

"Yeah!" Archer squeaked, boosting himself to his feet and scrambling across the fluffy bed that made him sink with every step. When he got over to Blaine, he started to tumble over, so he grabbed onto his chest. "I like swimming, Daddy. I like playing with the bubbles." Blaine smiled at his son, lifting him up and pinning him to his chest. He took Hunter against his chest, bouncing him up and down, then turned to his husband.

"Im going to get them changed. Ill be back in a minute." They shared a kiss for the time they would spend apart, then Blaine carried the babies back up the stairs and into the bathroom. He closed them inside the roomy space and set them down on the counter, undoing Hunter from his shirt and pants first. After he got his underwear off, he replaced them with his swimming trunks that were about an inch too short for him. Hunter was very tall for only being one, with a very skinny waist, so it was difficult to find him clothes that would fit. He worked on getting Archer dressed next, which was much easier because he preferred to just wear his underwear and a shirt when he swam. Archer, as opposed to Hunter, was very small for a one year old, just barely bigger than when he was a few months old. But he had gained several pounds, so he was a little chubby for his age.

After they were dressed and ready to go, he scooped them up and opened the bathroom door, setting them down on their feet. He nudged them away with a few pats to their bottoms, then returned to the privacy of the bathroom to change into his swimming trunks. They were loose and baggy, hiding all shape to his legs, which he was relieved about. He was about to pull off his shirt when the door pushed open again, revealing a pair of blue eyes. Kurt slipped into the room with his bikini in his hands, and he wiggled out of his miniskirt. "Blaine?" He said softly, turning around and showing the back of his unbuttoned blouse. "Would you please help me dress?"

"Sure, honey." Blaine took a step toward Kurt, who bent down to tug off his panties and step into the bikini bottoms. Sliding the blouse off Kurts pale chest and arms, he ran his hands over the soft skin, down to his hands, then dropped the blouse to the counter. He had never seen anything quite so pale as Kurts chest, all smooth skin and softness. He covered his chest with a pink bikini that hung down to hide his stomach, and he put it in the right place and tied it in the back, a simple bow that held it up. "There you go, baby."

"Thank you!" Kurt turned to the mirror to check that everything was in place, and Blaine followed his gaze to their reflections, side by side, Blaines hand at Kurts waist. Looking down at Kurts hair, Blaine heard him laugh very softly, "Look at us, Blaine. Weve been together for two years, but seeing you there beside of me... its still so surprising to me that Ive fallen in love... Ive had my happily ever after. I have a prince in my arms! Oh, I must sound so silly... but Im just so happy that you do surprise me each and every day!"

Blaine blinked at Kurt, his eyes dark and hazy, and Kurt must have seen his mirrored image do the same because he turned away from the beautiful couple staring back at him. He kissed Kurt very lazily, his mouth moving slowly across his parted lips, drifting back and forth. Lifting his drooping eyes from his Kurt, he glanced back at the couple in the mirror, the two of them kissing just as softly. Their eyes shined with affection, and as Blaine stared at that other couple, he couldnt believe that one of them was him, and the other was the love of his life.

The other couple pulled away and flushed with shyness at each other when they heard pawing at the door, unknowing of how they had gotten so involved with each other that everything else had gone away. "Daddy! Im ready to go swimming!" The man at the mirror heard a shrill whine, and he turned away from Blaine to open the door and let in two scampering boys who yanked at his hands as if that would hurry him along. The gorgeous boy in the mirror laughed at the little boys as their chuckling dad picked them up and held them to his chest. As Blaine stared at the doting dad in the mirror who listened to his babies go on and on about how they were so excited to go swimming and held onto the lovely boy, who was clinging to his arm, he thought him a very lucky man.

Blaine walked across the hot concrete that was soaked with cool water, his feet splashing through the tiny puddles. He held onto Archers hands as he teetered across the slick ground, keeping him up so he didnt slip and get hurt. Hunter was in Kurts arms, his brown eyes constantly flashing from water slide to water slide, never staying in one place for too long. Blaine had noticed when Hunter was only an infant how observant he was, how knowing he always seemed to look. He wondered if he was trying to collect as many memories as he could so he could draw them later to keep with him forever. They passed by the much bigger pool that wasnt too full of people, and they stopped at the edge of the tiny wave pool for children. There were no other children in the pool, which relieved Blaine because hed been concerned about crowds.

He knelt by the edge and plopped Archer into the water that didnt come up to his ankles, and, a moment later, he was joined by Hunter. The two of them toddled a few inches away to get to slightly deeper water, and they happily splashed each other. Keegan went around to the other side of the pool to be closer to them and sat down on the edge, putting his feet into the water. He kept his eye on the playing babies, not looking away for a second. Blaine reached out for Hunter and touched his shoulder, "Daddy will be nearby, honey. Ill watch you." He put his hand on his husbands bare shoulder, but Kurt bent down and kissed Archer, telling him how he wanted him to have such a good time, before he went with Blaine.

The two of them padded over to the hot tub, which was also empty, and Blaine climbed in first and sat down so he faced his children. He helped Kurt in next, lifting him off his toes and setting him down by his hip. Wrapping his arm around Kurt, he relaxed into the warm water and tilted his head back, exposing his throat to the warm sun. Kurt reached up to the hand that was hanging over his shoulder, and he grabbed Blaines fingers and squeezed them in his. When he heard Kurt giggle at something, he brought his head back up and gazed at their babies as they chased each other around the tiny pool. Little waves were stirred up around them with their sudden movements, and one of them almost knocked Archer over, but Keegan quickly caught him and balanced him on his knee.

Cuddling into Blaines side, Kurt tucked his head under his chin, "You know, my mom used to make such a fuss over me. She thought I was wonderful. Sometimes Id fall asleep in her arms, and she thought that was the most amazing thing. Now that I have children of my own, I finally understand why everything I did was so special to her. Blaine, we have the most precious of children, dont you think? Ive always wanted children to love, but I never thought I would have them..." He got teary eyed as he thought of the bad future he might have had, but then he looked at Archer and Hunter again, and a weepy smile tugged at his lips, "Oh, Blaine, how lucky am I to have such beautiful children, and a handsome husband to hold me in his strong arms, and the best friend I could have ever asked for. I feel so spoiled."

Blaine hadnt realized that Kurt had been thinking the same things about their perfect family that Blaine had, and it made him smile from ear to ear. He squeezed his husband tighter, not wanting to ever let him go again. All bad things went away at that moment, and Blaine felt a happiness in his heart that he hadnt felt for so long. That abrupt giddiness must have been noticed by Kurt because he laid his hand on Blaines chest, feeling the warmth that spread under his fingertips. "Your heart is pounding, my Blaine."

Blaines head snapped up at the sound of slapping feet and shrieking, and he met the huge eyes of Archer, who was skittering toward him. When he stopped by his side, he shivered and wrapped himself in his arms, "Daddy!" His teeth chattered until Keegan got over to him and covered him in a towel. Hunter was already wrapped up tightly, his spiky hair a mess from being scrubbed.

Reaching out and patting his son dry, Blaine muttered, "Daddys here, my love. Whats the matter?"

Kurt grinned at their son when he put a small hand on his belly and rubbed, "Are you too hungry to swim? Me, too! Lets go get something in your belly before it starts growling at you!" Slipping out of the water after Blaine put a hand on his bottom and lifted him up, Kurt scrambled over to Archer and picked him up.

The group of them walked over to the restaurant on the side of the hotel, and they ordered simple meals that would last until they could eat them after their baths and showers. Once they got up to their hotel room and had changed into their nightclothes, Blaine was glad to fall over on his bed while Keegan started up a new movie for the babies, what Blaine thought was Peter Pan from the mentions of Neverland and pixie dust. He was so tired that he could hardly keep his head up long enough to eat a few bites of the fruit that Kurt offered him.

The last thing he remembered was the lamp flicking off, followed by the feeling of his husband curling up next to him. Between them was Archer, whose damp curls tickled his neck and chest, but Hunter had obviously gone off to sleep with Keegan, who had a separate room that was connected to theirs by a door. He faded away after he tangled his hand in his sons curls, stroking him into peacefulness, and for the first time in a long time, he dreamed of that lucky family hed seen in the mirror.