Saturday, August 4

Burt's party was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  Carole had invited all of his employees and friends, as well as everyone in their large extended family.  She had been making preparations for weeks, but, as often seems to happen, there were a few last minute errands that needed to be taken care of.

“Kurt, would you and Blaine mind running to the store to pick up a couple of things for me?” she asked.

“Sure, Carole.  Just give me a list.”

The boys drove to the supermarket.  As they walked through the parking lot toward the store, Blaine reached for his boyfriend's hand.  Kurt quickly jerked away.  “This isn't camp, Blaine,” he hissed.  “Guys don't hold hands in Lima unless they want to be gay-bashed.”

Blaine looked at him sadly.  “Are you serious?”

“Serious as a heart attack.”

“I hate that you had to grow up here.”

“It wasn't all bad.  But I can't say I'm sorry to finally be able to escape.”

Blaine's eyes said that he was aching to give Kurt a hug, but he held himself back.  The exchange put the boys in a slightly somber mood, and they didn't talk much as they completed their shopping and headed back to Kurt's house.

After handing the groceries to Carole, and receiving her thanks, Blaine said, “I saw a Funtime Party truck pulling away from the curb just now.  Were they dropping something off here?”

“Why don't you head out back and see?”  

Kurt and Blaine found a two-story bounce-house set up in the back yard.  It came complete with an external slide, to which a hose was affixed at the top, sending a cascade of water down into a shallow pool at the bottom.  Blaine was delighted with it.  

“Wow!” he exclaimed.  “Your dad's having the coolest birthday party ever!”

Kurt laughed.  “This isn't really for him, you know.  I've got a lot of little cousins that need to be kept entertained.”

“C'mon,” Blaine said, grabbing his hand.  “Let's go try it out.”

“Shoes off,” Kurt reminded him, feeling like the only grown-up present.

Blaine quickly pulled his shoes off and clambered up into the bounce-house, tugging Kurt up behind him.  They stood still for a moment, clutching each other for balance as they struggled to stay upright on the shifting surface beneath them.  Then Kurt gave a tentative jump.  As the floor of the bounce-house sank down under his feet, it popped up under Blaine, causing him to topple over, laughing.

Blaine crawled to the edge so that he could claw his way back up.  As soon as he managed to stand, though, Kurt tackled him.  The two boys fell in a tangle of limbs, bouncing and rolling.  When they came to rest, Kurt was on top, pinning Blaine beneath him. 

“Oooh, you brat!” Blaine cried.  He struggled to flip Kurt over, but it was impossible to get any leverage against the springy floor of the bounce-house.  Changing tactics, he slid his fingers under the hem of his boyfriend's shirt, tickling him mercilessly.  Kurt squealed with laughter, rolling out of his grasp.

Blaine followed up on his advantage, grabbing Kurt by the ankle as he struggled to get away.  But Kurt, not to be outdone, launched himself back at his boyfriend, taking him by surprise.  This time, he seized both of Blaine's wrists to make sure there would be no more tickling.

The boys grappled, laughing, until Kurt finally managed to pin Blaine.  Straddling his boyfriend's waist, and holding his wrists down, Kurt grinned in triumph.  Feeling Blaine's body go slack beneath him, he glanced down into wide eyes, as his boyfriend's breath hitched through parted lips.  

Kurt was leaning down for a kiss when he heard Carole calling loudly from across the yard, “I'm not sure what's going on out there.  Is it safe for me to come out to set up the picnic tables?”

“Yeah,” Kurt answered, trying to keep his voice as steady as he could.  “We're just fooling around.”

As he heard the words come out of his mouth, Kurt winced at his unfortunate phrasing.  “Um, I mean, sure, come on out.  We'll help you get set up.”  He quickly rolled off of Blaine, filing his boyfriend's reaction away for later.

The party was scheduled to begin at 1:00.  Blaine was helping to fire up the grill in the back yard when a girl about 15 years old came in through the gate from the driveway, followed by a middle aged woman.  Spotting Blaine, the girl walked over, smiling.

“Hi, I'm Burt's niece, Melanie.”

“Hi, Melanie.  I'm Blaine, Kurt's boyfriend.”

The middle-aged woman, who had come over to join them, exclaimed, “I didn't know Kurt was gay.”

“Mom!  Have you been living under a rock?  How could you not know that Kurt is gay?”

The woman turned on her daughter.  “Well, excuse me.  But no one ever bothered to mention it.  And aren't you the one who's always telling me not to make assumptions about people based on stereotypes?”

Then, turning to Blaine, she added, “Nice to meet you, Blaine.  I'm Kurt's Aunt Patty.”

“Nice to meet you,” Blaine said, shaking hands.  Then he quickly excused himself, so that he could go find Kurt to see if he needed to do any damage control.

Spotting his boyfriend in the kitchen, Blaine pulled him aside.  “Baby, please don't be mad at me, but I think I just accidentally outed you to your Aunt Patty.”

Kurt laughed.  “Don't worry about it.  It's not like I've been trying to keep anything hidden.  I just never bothered to make a big announcement at a family reunion, or anything, ‘cause I figured everyone automatically assumed I was gay.  Aunt Patty's probably the only one who's been clueless enough not to realize it.”

“So you're not mad?”

“No, I'm not mad.  And I don't have any problem with introducing you to everyone as my boyfriend.  In fact, it seems like a much more natural way of coming out than dinging on a glass with my spoon and saying ‘Can I have your attention please – I've got something I need to tell you all.'  Plus, my dad's probably mentioned you to most of them by now, anyway.” 

Blaine grinned at him, relieved.  “I'm glad.  I was afraid I'd really screwed up, especially after you were so adamant about it not being safe to hold hands in public this morning.”

“Blaine, that's totally different.  These people are my family.  Even if I only see some of the ones who live out of town – like Aunt Patty – a couple of times a year, I know them well enough to be sure that they're going to stick by me, whatever happens.  So come on, let's finish getting things set up, before the whole crazy pack of them descend on us.”

Kurt was as good as his word, introducing Blaine as his boyfriend to each relative who showed up.  Most of them seemed unsurprised, although there were a few amusing exceptions.

One of Kurt's cousins, who was about their age, peered at Blaine closely before saying, “So, you're Blaine, huh?  I've been hearing about you for years, but I always thought you were Kurt's imaginary friend.”

Blaine found that one pretty funny, but his favorite moment came later, when a little girl asked, “Why does Kurt have a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend?”

With a perfectly straight face, her older brother immediately answered, “Because he's lucky!”