The boys' first week back at the cabin was full of doing nothing. Well, not doing nothing, but just pleasurable things like making rabbit pie once again, playing with the baby goats, going fishing, having a cribbage marathon. It was mindless and fun and they just did whatever they felt like doing whenever they felt like doing it.

“Ah, Dolce far niente,” Blaine said, sitting down to dinner one night, smiling over the table at Kurt.

“What? I don't speak...Italian?” Kurt guessed, looking at Blaine with curiosity.

“I don't, either. Just a few phrases I learned from a lumberjack that was here one season. 'Dolce far niente' means “How sweet to do nothing'. It's actually the title of a famous painting, but I always liked the sound of it,” Blaine explained.

“I like the sound of that, as long as it doesn't last for too long,” Kurt agreed, taking Blaine's hand and smiling.

They kissed and cuddled and at night they slept tangled together on the rope bed, whispering those loving things to each other that made everything blissful. It was magic.

Kurt was walking back inside from feeding the goats. They weren't milking them yet, not until the babies were weaned, but they needed to be fed. He stepped out of the shed only to be backed against the side of the cabin by a huge wolf, not exactly snarling, but definitely not friendly. The wolf came closer, sniffing and then waved its tail.

Kurt knew wolves didn't wag their tails in greeting, and this one didn't look like it was all wolf. Just the same, he was cautious and didn't look the animal in the eye, just turned a bit to the side and called out to Blaine.

“Ah, Blaine? We seem to have an unfriendly visitor?”

Blaine stepped to the door and his jaw dropped, he froze and then looked at Kurt. Did he need to get the fireplace poker to brandish at the huge canine?

Then he started to grin. He bent his legs and went down on his knees and called softly, C'mere, fella,” and held out his hand. The big wolf-dog came over to him, sniffing his hand.

“Where's Lenore, big guy?” Blaine asked in a soft voice, so as not to upset the animal. Knowledge dawned on Kurt's face. “Ah, you think this is Lenore's wolf-dog puppy? Wow, he's grown!”

Lenore rounded the corner of the cabin, looking for her pal and seeing him sniffing at Blaine, she smiled.

“Oh, so you've made friends with Balto?” she asked, smiling. She was wearing her tight blue jeans with the ever present embroidered peasant blouse and vest that showed off each and every curve of her body, her long pale blond hair done up in braids and coiled on her head. She smiled at Kurt, then her eyes went to Blaine. Her whole demeanor changed and Kurt could see the fondness she had for his boyfriend was still there. He didn't know whether to be jealous or to be sorry for her.

“Wow, he's grown!” Kurt said, trying to be pleasant. What he wanted to do was ask her to leave. First it was his boyfriend, then his brother. This girl needed to calm her hormones down. How old was she? Fifteen?

“Yes, he has. He isn't particularly friendly, so he must remember you two from when you fed him when he was a puppy,” she said, finally smiling at Kurt, too.

Blaine stood up.

“It's good to see you, Lenore, would you like to come in and have some breakfast with us?” Blaine asked. Kurt rolled his eyes where neither of them could see him, and followed them inside.

“We were just getting breakfast on the table, Lenore. I made pancakes and we have mulberry syrup or chokecherry jam?” Blaine smiled.

“Oh, that sounds great. Did you make the jam?” she asked.

“Kurt and I found a grove of chokecherries the first day and we picked so many – I was thinking of making wine, but settled for jam this time. I had a bunch of jelly jars, so we made it on Wednesday. I have a few jars to send home with you if you'd like them,” Blaine offered.

“Thank you, Blaine, Kurt, that's so nice. What are you two doing today?” she asked.

“No exact plans yet, why -what did you have in mind?” Kurt asked. He couldn't spend every day alone with Blaine. Damn it.

“I was going to walk over to the river and down to where the otters play. They are so cute, and I thought maybe we could all go? We can walk slow and it isn't much climbing at all, Kurt. Do you think your leg would be okay?” Lenore offered.

Blaine looked at Kurt and got a slight nod, Kurt would be okay with this.

“Sure, Len, I think it sounds like fun. We can make some sandwiches,” Blaine said, thinking about what else they could bring to eat for lunch.

“Oh, no. I have it all packed and ready to go. Are you guys done here?” she asked.

Kurt changed his shoes and Blaine helped him tighten the brace to make sure it was holding his knee in the proper position. In a few minutes they were all ready. Balto ran ahead, frisking through the trees and returning to Lenore's side from time to time.

The walk wasn't too strenuous and Kurt did okay because Blaine set the pace and insisted on resting several times. They finally reached their destination: a grove of trees next to a bend in the river. Blaine helped Kurt to sit down on a fallen log and get his leg so it was resting comfortably. Once they were all settled, they watched the river bank for a while, keeping still and quiet. Balto lay down and went to sleep at Lenore's feet.

“I'd think he would scare the little guys away,” Kurt observed.

“No, we come here to eat lunch a lot. I think the otters are used to him. It was hard to teach him not to chase them to begin with, but he learned.” She leaned down to pet Balto, who licked her hand and put his head back on his front paws.

A little while later, they heard a noise and saw a tiny head emerge from behind a rock near the river. It was followed by a sleek body on funny little feet, running down to the mud on the bank of the river and sliding down the slippery slope into the water.

Kurt giggled at how cute the little animal was, and another appeared. This one was followed by two tiny baby otters, jumping and running across rocks to the mud to slide into the water – leaving the people on the bank laughing at their antics. They sat and watched the otter family slide and run, catch fish and lie on their backs in the water to eat. They were an endless source of amusement and nobody noticed the hours slip by until Blaine's poor empty belly grumbled and Kurt giggled.

“I think we had best eat now, right, Blaine?” Kurt asked, trying and failing to hide the grin on his face.

“I could eat...” Blaine said, trying to ignore Kurt's ribbing. He got up to help Lenore set out the food on a stump. There were sandwiches and apples, potato salad and juice. They ate and laughed and had a great time together.

Kurt was leaning against a tree in the warm afternoon sunshine, having eaten his fill, and began to doze off after the filling meal. Blaine put his jacket around Kurt's shoulders and tucked it in to keep him warm, then he and Lenore sat and talked about how the business was going, how various people were doing, what was on the horizon for the company. Blaine didn't notice Lenore getting closer to him. He was sitting a few feet from Kurt, his back against another tree, trying not to fall asleep. Lenore was scooting closer whenever Blaine looked away, and she was finally next to him. She glanced over to make sure Kurt was asleep.

“Did you miss me when you were gone, Blaine?” Lenore asked, in a subdued voice, laying her hand on Blaine's forearm. “I missed you. I missed all the good times we had when you lived at my house, those mornings when I climbed in your bed with you,” she said, her voice soft and a few decibels deeper than normal.

“Ah...Lenore, I was with Kurt in Ohio. I did miss some things about living here, but it was fun and I learned a lot of things. I'm glad I went. Even if I never end up living in a city, it was good to live there for a while,” Blaine said, getting uncomfortable, but not knowing how to stop her.

“I missed you so much, Blaine. There isn't anyone here I know as well as I know you. I'm glad you're back. We could go for a walk while Kurt's asleep, you know. I don't think he'd mind...” she looked at Blaine with begging eyes.

“Oh, no, I don't think so, Lenore. I'm fine just staying here,” Blaine said, scooting back a little more.

Lenore was nothing if not persistent.

“You know, Blaine, after the summer, Kurt will be going to college, and you won't be living here anymore. But if you and I were to be together...the way our parents always planned it, you would never have to leave. Ever. If things went a certain way, this company might be yours someday.”

“Lenore, what are you saying? I am going to college with Kurt. We're sharing a house. I am not with you, and although we played together as children, I am unaware of any plans any of our parents had for some sort of arranged marriage!” Blaine's voice got louder the more upset he got. He had no plans to be with Lenore, and he was a little scared if she was planning something like this. He decided to get up and walk a little, get the weird thoughts out of his head. He knew she had been enamored with him for some time – she practically stalked him for a while. When he lived with the Warners after his father died, it was true she used to come in his bedroom and climb in bed with him – but he didn't want her there. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, she had just been through some terrible surgeries on her legs and back due to the fire she'd been trapped in, but he had no romantic feelings for her. As a matter of fact, he was angry with her because he still sort of blamed her for his father's death.

“Lenore, stop. I do not want to be with you. We are friends, but that is where the line is drawn. I am gay, and I have no interest in having some kind of physical relationship with a girl. So, don't embarrass yourself, just stop before I say something I can't take back. I'm with Kurt. I love Kurt, and we want to be together for the rest of our lives. Don't you understand? Let's just be friends, okay?” Blaine asked.

Lenore pouted, getting up and walking a ways away. She was hurt, but she also knew he was right. He had never given her any indication that he was interested in anything but friendship. She sighed, but she rationalized, it was better to be friends with Blaine than to make him angry enough to cut her out of his life. She resolved to take this setback for what it was, but she remained hopeful that he would one day get tired of Kurt and see her as something more than a friend.

She walked back, a smile on her face and her hand outstretched. “Truce?” she asked.

“Truce,” Blaine said, shaking her delicate little hand.

Kurt stretched his arms up and yawned. It was just for show, he'd been listening to the conversation between Blaine and Lenore all along, but didn't want to interrupt. It made him sad that the girl would not stop pestering Blaine, but he did understand the attraction. He sighed and looked around. They had packed up the picnic things and Balto was somewhere nearby. He could hear him rustling in the brush, but couldn't see him.

He went to get up, but his knee had frozen, he tried to turn another way, but it was not moving. He sat back down, rubbing the knee. Blaine came over, getting down on his knees to help. He leaned over to kiss Kurt and whispered in his ear, “Oh, I'm glad you're awake. I have some thing to tell you later. I love you, baby.”

“Oh, Blaine, I love you, too...so much,” Kurt cooed, not looking at Lenore. He pulled Blaine close and kissed him gently at first, but then licked the split between Blaine's lips, forcefully, until Blaine's eyes opened along with his mouth and Kurt pushed his tongue in, running it along the back of his boyfriend,s teeth and then to fence with his tongue, ending in a soft, wanton whine that he used to ask for more. By the time he was done, Blaine was hard and it was difficult to hide that, especially since Kurt was rubbing against Blaine's crotch with his elbow as if by accident. He looked at Blaine's dark eyes and promised him more as soon as they got back to the cabin. Lenore was standing a few feet away, staring, and Kurt just happened to look her way.

“Oh, Lenore, I'm sorry. How rude of me. I forgot you were here, honey.” Kurt said in his sweetest voice, looking down as if he were contrite – when in actuality, he was trying to hide a smile from Blaine. Lenore stamped her foot and walked a little ways away.

Blaine helped Kurt remove the brace, straighten out his jeans and put the brace back on straighter. He lifted Kurt, gripping under his arms, and got him walking a little.

“Is that okay? You can walk alright now?” Blaine said in a worried voice. He didn't want Kurt to overtire himself, and he was a bit concerned they had done too much today.

“No, Blaine, I'm fine. Just had to get it on correctly and now it feels great. Well, everyone ready to go?” he asked, looking over at Lenore innocently.

“Yes, okay,” she said. “Balto! Let's go, boy.”

They walked back to the cabin in silence, listening to the birds singing in the trees for a while. Kurt was holding Blaine's hand and as he walked he thought of a song. He squeezed Blaine's hand, smiled into his eyes and began to sing,

Oh yeah, I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

Oh, please, say to me
You'll let me be your man
and please, say to me

You'll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you i feel happy, inside
It's such a feeling
That my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide

Yeah you, got that something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

Blaine was in dreamland, he loved to hear Kurt sing, and this was such a wonderful song. Instead of singing it like the Beatles did, he sang it like a ballad and it just melted Blaine's heart.

“Blaine, sing it with me, okay?” Kurt asked, and Blaine joined him for the last two stanzas of the song, which ended in them stopping for a long, passionate kiss – the kind that made Blaine forget entirely where he was and who else was with them. Kurt might or might not have been aware of Lenore, turned around on the trail to look at the boys and seeing them in this passionate embrace, bodies dancing together and hands exploring while Blaine whined a sexy sound into Kurt's throat. He had his back to Lenore, but when Kurt opened his eyes for a second, he saw Lenore staring. He looked straight at her and smoothed his hand across the back of Blaine's jeans, cupping the perfect ass cheek in his hand. He was rewarded with a sexy moan and Blaine bucking his hips into Kurt as a result.

Lenore's eyes got huge and she just stood there watching. Kurt had once again closed his eyes and slowly broke off the kiss, massaging that magnificent ass and whispering in Blaine's ear.

“I think we have company, sorry...” although he was not sorry in the least.

Blaine swung around, having forgotten Lenore was with them.

“Oh! I'm sorry, Lenore. Here, let's get home. I'll carry that basket for you,” Blaine stammered out, taking the basket to cover certain bulges in his jeans. He looked sad and embarrassed, and Kurt was instantly ashamed for letting his jealousy get the better part of him. He hung his head and walked slower, trailing behind as the three of them reached the wider path that led to the cook house.

They walked in silence, but it wasn't the easy silence of the past few days with Kurt and Blaine strolling through the paths hand in hand. No, this was a tense silence, Kurt feeling shame for being unkind, Blaine feeling guilty for forgetting Lenore was there and flaunting his relationship in front of her, and Lenore herself, knowing that if this was what Blaine wanted and needed, she was in no way able to compete with Kurt.

Balto came to the rescue, although accidentally. He was barking at a tree and grabbed a little creature as it climbed down a branch. Lenore cringed, but didn't say anything. She had long ago accepted that Balto was following his nature and eating small forest creatures, and she couldn't blame him – after all she had rabbit pie for dinner a few nights ago, made from a rabbit caught in one of Blaine's snares.

The wolf dog snapped up the little fuzzy creature, gulping it down in one swallow, and looking for more. When he didn't find any more, he was off down the trail once again, following a scent.

“What was that?” Kurt asked, not sure of the little animal.

“Probably a flying squirrel. Unfortunately. They are on the threatened species list due to too much thinning of the trees in their habitat,” Blaine answered. He had read quite a bit about threatened species at the library in Lima when deciding on forestry as his career choice. It made him sad, but there had been nothing any of them could do about Balto. The wolf-dog didn't know any better.

Kurt was looking up in the tree, seeing the little hollow where the squirrel had come out.

“Look up there, Blaine. Is that where she came from?” Kurt asked. They all looked up, searching the tree for the place he indicated. Just then, a small animal came peeking out of the hole. It was quite a bit smaller than the one Balto ate, but Kurt could see it was a squirrel.

“Oh, no...” he said, taking in a breath and blinking his eyes.

“Oh! It had babies!” Lenore said, the sadness in her voice was evident as she struggled to keep her tears at bay. No use crying over a little creature like that, they lived and died in the forest every day.

Kurt looked at Blaine, pleading in his eyes, looking at the brace on his leg.

“Oh, no...I'm not climbing that tree just to get some baby squirrel. No way,” Blaine said, looking at two pairs of sad blue eyes. He blinked and looked away. Unfortunately for him, he looked at the baby squirrel. He was a gonner.

“Oh, all right. What is this, a Lassie movie? Next I'm going to have to save Timmy from the well,” he huffed. “Well, give me a leg up...”

Kurt and Lenore both rushed to help and they boosted Blaine into the low branches of the tree. He was able to climb up to the squirrel nest, wary of a father squirrel or other dangers. There were none, and it was just the one little guy in the hole, so he reached in with his handkerchief and caught the tiny thing, wrapping it up and placing it carefully in his breast pocket before climbing down to Kurt's strong arms. Kurt swung him down and they all gathered to see the baby.

Blaine unfolded the handkerchief and brought out the tiny squirrel to the ohhs and ahhs of all involved.

“Okay, now who's going to feed this guy? I don't want to be the one to get up at all hours of the night to feed it,” Blaine tried to look grumpy, but he was very ineffectual and Kurt and Lenore looked at each other, grinning because they knew him better than that. Blaine, for all of his play acting was the one with a heart of gold and everyone knew he would take his turn to keep this little one healthy and happy.

“I have a big birdcage in the storage shed, Blaine. I'll get one of the men to bring it to you so the little guy can have a safe home,” Lenore offered. Blaine knew he was stuck. He rolled his eyes, but looking over at the expression of kind and sweet longing on Kurt's face was enough for him to make up his mind immediately.

“I'll ask Shannon what the best thing might be to feed the little guy. And we need to think of a name,” Lenore said.

Kurt and Blaine needed only one glance at each other to know what the other was going to say. They were both smiling when they said in unison: “Rocket J. Squirrel, of course!”

They dissolved in giggles, then Blaine turned to Kurt. “This is fine, but I am not adopting a moose to call Bullwinkle, and that's final.”

The giggling started up again. The rest of the way back to camp was filled with good natured kidding and plans for Rocket. Kurt steadfastly refused to call him “Rocky”.

~*~*~*~*~*

It was after dinner and Lenore's second visit that evening, in which she brought numerous pages of information she printed off her computer – having found several articles on how to take care of baby flying squirrels – and the boys felt some relief about how they were going to feed the squirrel: flowers, mushrooms, insects, seeds, spiders (Kurt shuddered at that one), nuts, fruits, and for now goat milk mixed with egg through an eye dropper, thoughtfully provided by Lenore. It was like having a newborn baby.

They thanked her and after she had fed Rocket for the first time, her face a study in caring and love, they had walked her to the cook house where her daddy was going to pick her up later.

Walking back to the cabin, Blaine took Kurt's hand. Kurt was limping more than usual, his leg very sore after all the exercise today. Blaine adjusted his step to accommodate Kurt as they strolled along. He offered his arm, helping to steady his boyfriend the last hundred yards to the porch of the cabin. They stopped right outside the cabin, looking up at the stars as had become their habit over the last nine months, to see where the constellations were. The moon was just a thin sliver tonight and so the stars shone very brightly. Blaine took Kurt's face in his hands and kissed him.

“This is heaven, Kurt. Truly heaven,” he cooed, giving him another kiss. Kurt agreed wholeheartedly.

Inside the cabin, Kurt set the bar across the door, pulled the curtains shut across the windows, and got out their pajamas. Blaine readied the basin and poured the hot water into the pitcher so they could bathe.

“What do you miss the most about living in Lima?” Blaine asked, thinking it must be plumbing. It had become too easy to just jump in the shower and turn a knob for hot water. Of course, they could do that at the bunkhouse, it had showers, but the boys much preferred the privacy of the cabin.

“What do I miss? My dad. I miss him fussing over me, although when I'm there and he's doing it, I get irritated – but I guess that would be it,” Kurt said, not looking at Blaine for a moment as he pulled the straps of his brace out through the buckles. He looked up to see such a look of sadness on Blaine's face, he instantly jumped up to pull the boy close to him and wrap his arms around him.

“Blaine? What is it? I am happy here, and even if I miss my dad, I can always call him from Lenore's satellite phone. I do miss him, but that happens to every person that goes away to college, and I'll see him again soon...” Kurt stopped talking. He just realized what he was saying and felt like a fool. Blaine wasn't upset because Kurt was missing Burt...Blaine missed his own father and he would never see him again.

“Oh, baby, I'm sorry. I have no right to be feeling sorry for myself when you are missing your own dad. Come here, my love..” Kurt said, drawing Blaine close to him and gathering his trembling boyfriend as close as he could get. He kissed his temple and then his cheek.

“Here, let's get washed up and get into bed. Okay?” Kurt asked and proceeded to wash Blaine as he had done a few times before. He took great care, being gentle and leaving little kisses as he went. They were finally ready and before they got into their pajamas, Kurt coaxed Blaine into the bed, tucking the blankets around them in a little nest.

By this time, Blaine had recovered enough to speak, and he was immediately contrite over his behavior. “I'm sorry, Kurt. There was no call for all that drama. I am just tired and it hit me funny, thinking about how much my dad would love you. I know he would have approved of our relationship, he would have been thrilled that I have someone so kind and smart and caring in my life,” Blaine explained.

“Really, I'm fine. Now, I think we should look at your leg. It was a long day and you were on it more than usual. I saw you limping the latter part of the day, so I'm thinking we should stick around the cabin tomorrow, give it a rest. Okay?” Blaine smoothly changed the subject. Kurt was very aware of this, but let him do it. He could see that talking about his dad right now was painful for Blaine.

“You're right, my leg is sore. I was thinking about talking you into massaging it a little? Please? And I'll return the favor...massage something, you know,” Kurt grinned.

“Deal,” Blaine said, grinning back.

Blaine got up and busied himself near the stove, then brought some of the lanolin cream out and rubbed a big dollop between his palms before touching Kurt's knee very gently. He could see the waves of pain cross Kurt's face, but Kurt didn't let out so much as a whimper as Blaine smoothed it around the swollen knee. Starting at his upper thigh, Blaine began stroking down the leg, pressure gentle but firm, until he was near the knee, then he very lightly stroked until he reached the calf. Rubbing the skin lightly, then increasing the pressure to massage the muscles, tendons, and ligaments underneath, Kurt laid in the bed, cringing whenever Blaine's hands got near his poor, sore knee.

Kurt had been doing physical therapy since he was in the hospital, then continued in Lima. A few days ago Blaine's boxing trainer, Pete, came to pay a visit and looked at the knee.

“Hey, young man, they did a good job of sewing you back together, eh?” he asked, running his fingers up and down the leg to determine where the sore places were.

“I think so, it was a bad break, but I've been working hard to make it right again,” Kurt answered. He really liked Pete and Blaine had been especially happy that Pete was coming to work on Kurt's leg.

“You know, with a weakness like this, it will never heal the same. You knew that, right?” Pete said.

“Ah...no, they never told me that,” Kurt had said, a little frightened. He trusted Pete a lot more than he trusted the doctors.

“Nope. The bones will scar over, sometimes making the scarred part stronger than the regular bone itself, so you have to be more careful because it might make the bone easier to break. I don't want to scare you, kid, but you deserve to hear the truth. These doctors...they know this stuff, but they won't tell you because they are sure you're gonna sue their asses off. Well, I don't blame them, it happens. But I've been dealing with injuries all my life, and I'll always tell you the truth,” Pete winked at Kurt, putting him a little more at ease.

“Now, let me tell you how it is. You can't work too much on making this knee heal. You'll make it hurt and it will irritate it to the point you're damaging it. What you need to do is build up the less-used muscles around your knee so they can take over and the impact on your knee will be less. Understand?” Pete asked, massaging the sore knee for a few minutes with his warm hands. Kurt was surprised that Pete had such gentle hands – he had seen him being firm if not aggressive in the boxing ring. No, Pete was as gentle as a lamb and his touch felt so tender and warm. Kurt smiled, enjoying the massage.

Blaine began to look at Pete a little harder – what was this old man doing, flirting with Kurt? He had to be eighty! Blaine had a sour look on his face, but tried to hide it. He was the one that had asked Pete to come, after all.

“All right, young man, your muscles are a bit looser now, here is what I want you to do: we need to strengthen the quad muscle that runs up the center of the front of your thigh, and the muscle that goes down the inner thigh. That is one of the weakest muscles in the human body, because people don't use it as much, so we're going to build that up to protect the injuries around the knee,” Pete said in his voice that he usually reserved for his trainee boxers.

He had Kurt sit in a straight-backed chair and curl his ankle around the leg, showing him how to put pressure on the muscle to strengthen it. It hurt. A lot. But Kurt was determined to get his leg in shape quickly and was eager to keep working on it. Pete showed him exercises for his quad muscle and other muscles to make his leg as strong as it once was. By the time he was done, Kurt was sweating and shaky.

“Okay, Blaine, now come here and I'll show you how to take care of his leg after the exercises. Kurt, drop your pants and we can get started,” Pete directed. Kurt was taken aback with the order, but did as he was told and was soon sitting in just his boxer briefs. He saw Pete smirk and he grinned. Back to being serious, Pete had him lying face down on the bed, showing Blaine how to massage the leg to take some of the pain and stiffness away. They had been doing the exercises and massage twice a day since and Kurt thought he could feel a little difference already.

“How is it feeling?” Blaine asked, continuing to massage the leg after turning Kurt over and straddling him. Kurt moved his fingers over and began tickling Blaine's inner thigh, strolling his fingers up his leg as Blaine massaged the knee. He tried to ignore Kurt, but it was getting hard to do, so he shifted and got out of reach, massaging the calf of Kurt's leg. Kurt moved, too, and reached forward to try to tickle Blaine again, bored with the exercises.

“Kurt, you're not taking this seriously. We need to do this right. Now, pay attention and stop messing around,” Blaine admonished him.

“Yes, mommy,” Kurt snarked. He was tired and grumpy. Instead of settling back to the knee massage, he trailed his fingers up Blaine's thigh again, this time getting closer to his crotch. Blaine gave him a thunderous look, but Kurt kept at it.

“Kurt. KURT. Let's get this done, then we can mess around, okay?” Blaine asked, a bit irritated.

“Sorry.”

Blaine got up, walking back over to the stove and got something. He walked back to the bed and asked Kurt to lie on his back. Kurt did, placing the sore leg on a pillow to keep it level. Blaine tested the heat from the blanket he was holding, judging it to be quite warm but not too hot, and placing it around Kurt's leg, from mid-thigh to mid-calf. The look of bliss on Kurt's face was reward enough for all the hard work he'd put in massaging the muscles.

“That was a good idea?” Blaine asked, getting into bed beside Kurt.

“Oh, baby, this is heaven. It feels wonderful, thank you so much. It's as if the heat is seeping into my bones, it feels so good. Really, if I could move at this minute, I'd be in your lap wagging my tail...” Kurt said and Blaine laughed.

They lay in bed, just talking for a while when Blaine remembered they needed to feed the little squirrel. He got the goat milk and egg mixture and the eyedropper and took the little guy out of his nest they had made him at the bottom of the cage. It was nightfall and the flying squirrel was beginning to stir anyway, they were nocturnal creatures and so he was waking up according to his internal clock.

Blaine tested the temperature of the milk and then wrapped the baby in the piece of flannel he was holding and held the dropper for it to eat. The tiny thing reached up its paws to hold on and opened it's mouth, its tongue working hard to get every drop. Kurt was not looking at the squirrel, he was observing his boyfriend's face. He had never seen him with a more tender look, as if this little morsel of life was his own baby and it meant the world that he could get it to eat. The gentle smile on his face, a look of absolute contentment, just did something to Kurt. He found himself wanting to cry, but wasn't sure why. It made him feel a little dizzy, lightheaded and woozy for a moment, then a warmth filled him like nothing he had ever felt. What was this, he wondered, was he sick? It didn't feel like sickness...then he knew.

Kurt took another look at Blaine, who was concentrating on the tiny scrap of fur and eyes he held, talking to it as if it were a baby. A baby. Oh...that was it. Kurt blinked, resolving not to let a single tear out as his mind told him that this is how Blaine might look if they had their own baby. The funny feeling in Kurt's belly was like going down in a swing...inevitable and a tiny bit scary, but you loved the feeling anyway.

Kurt just sat still, afraid to move, afraid to break the spell of seeing into the future at a day when they would have a new baby placed in their arms. Kurt shook his head, this was ridiculous. They had never said anything like this to each other. They hadn't said much more than that they wanted to be together for always, but hadn't really made more plans than that. It was all vague and dreamlike, nothing defined or planned. Kurt felt something very unsettling about that.

“Do you want to hold him?” Blaine asked, holding the tiny squirrel out to him. Kurt took a minute to return to reality and nodded his head, not yet trusting his voice not to give him away by revealing his emotions.

“Here, honey, you hold him like this I think...” Blaine directed as he moved Kurt's hands to support the squirrel and make it comfortable, then showed him how to feed it. Kurt got a thrill when the baby began to eat, licking at the eyedropper, then sucking it to quickly drain it of its contents and look for more. Kurt quickly got engrossed in feeding it, cooing at the scrap of fluff.

Blaine sat back, sure now that Kurt could do it on his own. He just watched the happiness in Kurt's eyes as he was successful in getting the little guy to eat. Kurt was a bit more reserved than Blaine, so this was a notable exception. Blaine grinned, thinking of how cute Kurt looked, holding the squirrel.

“Hey, Blaine. I don't think I want to call him Rocky..or Rocket J. I bet everyone who has ever adopted a flying squirrel has named it that. How about we just call him Jay?” Kurt said, his eyes still on the squirrel.

“I like it. Alright, JJ, let's get you back in your little nest, okay?” Blaine said in baby talk.

“Blaine, please...if you don't speak proper English to the baby, how will he ever learn to talk properly?” Kurt waggled his eyebrows at Blaine – which wasn't quite as effective as when Blaine did it.

Blaine giggled just the same.

“Hey, Papa Bear, you looked kind of cute feeding our new baby. Should I pass out cigars?” Blaine laughed again, but something suddenly struck him and he closed his eyes. He opened them a moment later, pretending nothing happened, but Kurt had seen it. Blaine was thinking the same thing he had been.

Blaine came back to the bed, this time ready for sleep. He put out the lamp, slid in next to Kurt and helped to arrange the blankets and pillows to make Kurt comfortable with his leg. He took the heated blanket that had now gone cold and moved it off the bed before tucking Kurt in.

For once, neither of the boys said anything as they cuddled together, and they held each other tight.

“Want to talk about it?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah, I do,” Blaine answered. They both knew what it was, and Blaine started. “You thought the same thing I did, didn't you?”

“Probably. You were so cute, feeding Jay and cooing at him. It didn't take much imagination to think that one day...” his voice caught, and he found himself so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn't form another word.

“Oh, Kurt, I thought the same thing. I know we haven't talked about....babies,” Blaine whispered, gently kissing Kurt's neck, licking the salty skin and smiling as he heard Kurt hum in delight.

“Do you want to talk about babies?” Kurt asked, barely able to get the words past his choked -up throat.

“We can. I know we have talked about spending our lives together, so I guess talking about babies would fall into that category. Unless it makes you uncomfortable, my love. We have a long time to decide if we want a family,” Blaine said softly, caressing Kurt's jaw down to his collarbone.

“I'm okay with talking about it. I think. It's just...” and his voice once more caught in his throat. He started to say something, but nothing would come out of his mouth.

“Kurt, are you okay?” Blaine asked, a note of worry in his voice. “What's wrong? We don't need to talk about this if it upsets you, I'm so sorry. Just pretend I never brought it up.”

Kurt turned over and Blaine took him in his arms, rocking him like a baby and kissing his temple. Kurt burst into tears and held close to Blaine's chest until he could get himself under control.

“Now, feel better?” Blaine asked and Kurt nodded his head. “What's this all about?”

“I just never thought I'd ever have a family. I have always wanted to have a baby of my own, a real family to love. Like my father loved me. It has been my dream, even more than a big wedding, more than dancing and singing on a Broadway stage, more than anything. I have dreamed of having someone to spend the rest of my life with, someone I love and loves me back, and a baby with him,” Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes and saw the love shining back at him.

“Kurt, I know we have talked about spending the rest of our lives together. I have wanted the same things you do, my love, and a baby is one of those things. I don't know why we haven't talked about this before, but I do want a family, too. With you,” Blaine said, going back to caressing Kurt's back.

“I want it with you, too, Blaine. I love you,” Kurt said, nuzzling his nose into Blaine's neck and kissing him there. “Blaine?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Make love to me,” Kurt whispered, his eyes big and dark.

“Okay,” Blaine answered.