“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”

~Shel Silverstein, Where The Sidewalk Ends

Kurt took off his clothes down to just his underwear. He was wearing his robin's egg blue briefs, the ones Blaine got him for Christmas when he complained all he had were dark colors. He gave his husband a smile. Blaine was wearing the cherry red ones that Kurt liked best.

“I'm just gonna step out on the balcony for a sec...” Blaine said, opening the French doors to exit the room. He walked over to the railing, very casually, and turned his back as he held his phone up to his ear.

“You aren't calling the nurse's station at the hospital, are you?” Kurt asked in his best authoritative voice, reminiscent of Burt Hummel. He had followed his husband out on the balcony. “You know they told us she needs her sleep and we are to get some ourselves before going back?” Kurt continued before walking closer to Blaine, putting his arms around his husband's waist and finding the cell phone in his hand. Kurt gave him a scowl and turned to go back inside. He'd just realized they were standing on the balcony wearing only their briefs.

“Oh, Kurt...I was just going to check that the nurses have our cell numbers...” Blaine lied. He tried giving Kurt the sad puppy eyes, but it wasn't working.

“Blaine...come here, baby,” Kurt cooed, putting his arms around Blaine's neck when they came back inside. “I know you just want to check, so do I, but...”

“You're right. She needs sleep, we need sleep – I'll join you in bed, sweetheart,” Blaine said, his eyes brimming with tears as he handed his phone to his husband. He supposed a lot of parents would be at the hospital, no matter what the doctors said, but he and Kurt saw the logic in getting some rest before returning.

Blaine left his briefs on and got into the bed, holding back the covers for Kurt to join him.

“I am awfully tired,” Kurt said, holding a hand over his mouth as he yawned. He turned to look at Blaine when he heard a quiet chuckle. “Hey, you're pretty tired yourself, my sleepy husband. Now, cuddle up close to me and we'll sleep for a while, then go back to be with Katura when we wake up.”

“Okay, babe.” Blaine planned to wait for Kurt to fall asleep and then just slip into the other room, find where Kurt put his cell phone, and call. Kurt had other plans. He wrapped Blaine in his arms, closing his eyes. He would feel if Blaine tried to sneak away.

After about fifteen minutes of getting another drink of water, turning his pillow over to find the cool side in spite of the cool room, and just general tossing and turning, Blaine backed just a touch more toward the edge of the bed. Kurt was wide awake, too, but he thought Blaine didn't know. Was his sneaky husband trying to get away to call the hospital again?

Then Kurt heard a very quiet sob and turned his head silently to see Blaine's shoulders shaking with his silent crying. He turned and scooted the few inches forward to slip his arms around Blaine.

“Oh...babe. I didn't mean to wake you. I'm sorry,” Blaine whispered, looking contrite.

“I was awake, don't worry. Since when do you sneak away when you feel like this?” he questioned.

“I didn't want to disturb you if you had been lucky enough to find sleep, honey,” Blaine whispered, turning in Kurt's arms to complete the hug.

“I understand. We are both just raw nerves, I guess. Grandma Sophie told me before we came up that she was sure Katura will be fine. She said she had seen many babies with pneumonia and since Katura is such a fighter, she will get better,” Kurt imparted to his husband.

“I'll try to focus on that,” Blaine said, feeling a tiny spark of hope blossom in his heart.

“Okay. Can I give you a backrub to help you relax?” Kurt asked, then frowned at Blaine when he made a lustful expression with his eyes. “No shenanigans, mister. I really meant just an innocent backrub to help you go to sleep.”

Blaine tried to keep it light and just laugh, but there was no laughter in his soul today and he just laid back down. He rolled onto his stomach and allowed Kurt to gently begin rubbing along his shoulders. Kurt's hands were warm and strong and it felt good. Blaine closed his eyes and physically tried to relax his muscles to please Kurt, even if it wasn't making him sleepy.

“Tell me what's on your mind, baby. Maybe clearing your thoughts will help,” Kurt suggested.

“I never imagined being a father would be this hard,” he said, then bit his lip, sorry he'd opened his mouth. He didn't mean to complain, didn't dislike being a dad even when it came to feeding her in the middle of the night or changing the diaper after feeding her vitamin drops that sometimes caused a very messy result. No, it wasn't any of those things.

Kurt was a tiny bit startled. He thought those words would never fall out of Blaine's mouth – and he was feeling guilty that he had thought the same thing today.

“Tell me, honey. I know there is more to it than just that,” he encouraged. Kurt and his husband did so much better together when everything was laid out on the table and they could discuss it.

“I don't mean I regret adopting Katura...God, no! It is just that she got so sick so suddenly. She was fine two days ago, then just a bit fussy. When I went into her room to check on her and the monitors, I just barely touched her little cheek and she felt like she was on fire! I have never had my heart drop so low or as suddenly as it did in that moment,” Blaine told Kurt in halting phrases.

Kurt understood. He'd felt the same way on the way down the mountain. He'd even cursed himself for deciding to live so far away from civilization. He pushed his hands down into Blaine's muscles on his back, trying to get them to let go. Blaine was tight as a violin string.

The effort to massage Blaine into a relaxed and sleepy state wasn't working, so after ten minutes of rubbing and massaging he gently turned his husband over so they could talk face to face.

“I do know how you feel, I think. I know it is impossible to actually know exactly how another person feels, but...” Kurt began, but Blaine put his lips to Kurt's mouth and gave him a deep kiss. Kurt started to say something else and Blaine kissed him again, keeping it up until Kurt was silent and had a very small bit of a smile on his luscious lips.

“Okay, now what were you saying?” Blaine asked, an innocent look pasted on his face. Kurt smiled a bit more.

“I kind of think we are feeling the same thing,” he said, then stopped to try and recall his train of thought.

“Kurt, we have always been on the same wavelengths. Of anyone on Earth, you are the one most likely to know what I'm thinking. You know that is true, right?” he asked and Kurt nodded.

Blaine pulled Kurt closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then made an encouraging noise for Kurt to continue.

“Tell me how you're feeling,” Kurt asked, glad to let his husband take over.

“I was just....well, when we first got the papers from the agency about Katura...” he started a few times, then stopped to gather his thoughts.

“Kurt, I was so thrilled that we were going to be daddies. I still am – even after 3 months it is hard to believe. I thought of all the good times we were going to have. Katura walking, talking, taking her to the beach and the circus and the zoo. It was all a beautiful dream and it looked for a moment last night as if it wasn't going to come true. That we were going to lose our daughter almost before it began. That was hard.” Blaine said, whispering all the words as if they would come true if he said it too loudly.

Kurt's arms tightened around Blaine and he let the tears waiting in his eyes go to slide down his face.

“That's what I thought, too,” he whispered back.

They just lay there together, absorbing strength from each other as they had always done. It helped and they pulled back to be able to speak to each other.

“You know that this happens to a lot of parents,” Kurt said, knowing as he formed them that the words were useless and cruel. He shut his mouth to try and explain better.

“I do know that, Kurt, but it doesn't feel the same. It feels as if we were given the most beautiful present in the whole world, only to have it taken back before we could fully appreciate it,” Blaine said, then regretted saying it. It sounded too much like a prophecy.

“Hey, let's try not to borrow trouble - as my dad used to say. Dr. Wallace said she has a good chance to beat this, in spite of the pneumonia on top of RSV. Let's try to keep it positive. I know that is going to be hard, but we can do it together, right?”

“You always know what to say, babe.”

Blaine pulled Kurt close, holding his husband's head close to his chest. Kurt relaxed and nuzzled into Blaine's body, listening to his faithful heart thump steadily. It got softer as Blaine relaxed enough to doze off and finally fall asleep. Kurt fell asleep as soon as he knew his husband was resting, too.

Ring! Ring!

Blaine struggled to sit up as soon as he heard Kurt's cell phone ring. He grabbed it and slid his thumb across the screen to open it.

“Yes? Nurse Kelly?” he asked, stumbling over his words as he glanced at the clock on the wall to see it was after two in the afternoon.

“Mr. Hummel-Anderson? I wanted to make sure that you two hadn't been scared off of coming to see this little girl's face as she gives us her big smiles!” Nurse Kelly said.

“I...I...we fell asleep. It was a long night and...” Blaine started to explain. What kind of a father was he to be late to see his own sick daughter?”

“No, you're fine. I hope you got some sleep. She is doing well. Her Uncle Noah is here holding her now,” Kelly said with her usual cheerfulness. Blaine gasped.

“Noah is there? May I speak to him?”

“Of course,” the nurse said and then Blaine heard a whispered conversation before he heard a cleared throat and a soft voice.

“Kurt?”

“No, it's Blaine. Why are you there and Kurt and I are here? – having no one to wake us up to go see our daughter?!!” Blaine thundered. Kurt jumped, not awake enough to realize what was going on.

“You needed your rest. Grandma Sophie said so. She tried to wake you at noon, but neither one of you so much as turned over. Even I could see how tired you were. So she told me to leave you be and insisted I take her to see Katura,” Puck blurted out.

Blaine sighed. That was probably true, he really was tired beyond words this morning.

“Listen, Noah. Has the doctor been in?”

“Yeah.”

“What did she say?” Blaine demanded.

“Katura has pneumonia, but her earache is better. It will take a few days for it to be gone, but she is on antibiotics until then. She is getting respiratory treatments every four hours. Oh, and I think she wants her daddies. She keeps looking at me with this sad face, as if she was somehow disappointed that it's me instead of the two of you here,” Puck related. He picked Katura up and resettled her in his arms so she was sitting up straighter. Her breath sounded better immediately, then she began to cough.

“Is that my baby?” Blaine asked with a cry in his voice.

“Yeah. She coughs a lot, but the doc said it was good for her to bring up that gunk. I think you better come, that stuff is gross,” Puck complained, but Blaine could tell he didn't mean it.

“We're on our way, buddy. Thank you for looking out after us, too.”

Noah chuckled and hung up his cell.

~~

Kurt and Blaine arrived at the hospital in record time. Even Puck could tell they hadn't gotten washed up or put on clean clothes before coming to see their daughter.

“Katura!” Kurt shouted as he entered the room to find his daughter tucked in the bed, her back propped up on a wedge-shaped pillow and the curtains closed. She appeared to be waking up.

“Hey, Grandma is waiting for me in the car. I'm going to take her home so she can rest. I'll see you two for supper, right?” Puck asked as he got up from the side of the crib. He leaned over and gave the baby a kiss on her forehead and she giggled and waved her hand in the air. “Look, she's waving goodbye!” Puck crowed.

“Ah...whatever you say. Babies just wave their arms a lot, don't they?” Kurt asked and Noah huffed.

“She was waving goodbye. I'll see you later. I'm happy she is doing a little bit better,” the large man said and took his leave. Kurt and Blaine walked quietly to the crib with big iron rails that looked like a hold-over from the attic in Little Orphan Annie.

“Come to Tatay, baby,” Blaine said as he picked her up and held her close to his chest. He nodded at Kurt to sit on the sofa the hospital provided in all the children's rooms. Kurt sat and Blaine sat next to him, very close so they could both cuddle their daughter. Katura smiled a bit, cooing at these men she knew loved her. She relaxed right away, her eyes closing slowly before she tried to keep them open.

“Go to sleep, sweetheart,” Kurt said in a soft voice, touching the fingers Katura had curled around his thumb.

Blaine shifted her so she was lying down and began to rock her gently. It was only two minutes before the baby began to cough uncontrollably and she got a startled look in her eyes as the alarms went off. It was a matter of seconds when several nurses came into the room at a fast pace, one going to look at the numbers on the monitor while Nurse Kelly came to the daddies and took the baby into her own arms.

She looked at Katura, assessing each symptom and jotting the numbers down on a chart.

“Kurt, Blaine, please hold her and try gently to calm her down. She is scared because when she coughs, her oxygen is depleted. We try to let the parents calm them down, it works better for the baby.” Kelly smiled at the daddies and tried to give them a trusting smile.

Blaine put the baby into Kurt's arms and nodded at him. Kurt began to rock her just as Kelly held the tube from the nebulizer close so Katura could breathe in the healing mist. She got a look of relief on her face and everyone gave a sigh of relief.

“Is that because of the pneumonia?” Blaine asked, still watching his daughter's every breath.

“Yes. This breathing treatment helps to open the airways that are squeezed shut in her lungs,” the nurse explained.

“Like asthma?” Kurt asked, now worried that their daughter would be doing this the rest of her life.

“I better let the doctor explain, but yes, the medication in the nebulizer is similar to what we give asthma patients when they have trouble breathing.”

Blaine and Kurt looked at each other, but neither had an answer. They turned back to Katura and watched as her breaths got deeper and stronger. They could tell the two of them had the same question: would living in the back woods, away from technology and medical help, endanger their daughter?

It was a long afternoon. Blaine and Kurt took turns holding Katura or singing to her when she got sleepy. She finally quit rubbing at her ear and seemed to sleep deeper.

Blaine gathered his courage and decided it was time to broach the subject of living in the wilderness.

“Kurt?”

Kurt, holding Katura in his arms, turned to Blaine with a smile.

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking. What do you think about living so far from a hospital while Katura is still this young and sick? Are we doing the right thing?” he asked, his eyes troubled. They had lived in both Lima and Philomath since meeting and Blaine had done well. All he really needed was Kurt, but he missed the mountains and the forest when he was away from them.

When he stayed with Kurt's parents in Lima, he had gotten so depressed that Kurt had to arrange a trip to the lake to get him away and heal.

“Oh, Blaine...we'd be so far from your work. I don't like the idea of you driving all the way up there every single day. I need you close and so does Katura,” Kurt said, wondering if he were just being selfish.

“What happens if she gets sick like this – and we can't get her down the mountain in time?” Blaine asked. Kurt's face fell. That was a hard thing to think about, but as a father he knew he did have to consider it.

“You ask Daddy and he will get the helicopter to fly her down here,” a voice was heard from the doorway.

“Lenore!” both men said, turning to see the small blonde girl entering the room. Kurt gave her a deeper look. She really wasn't a girl any more, she was looking more like a woman now, a lot like her mother.

“Hey, you two should know Daddy would never let Katura go without something so important. Blaine, you were raised on that mountain and so was I and we ended up just fine,” Lenore said, giving the two a stern glare. Her hands balled into fists on her hips sent the message home.

“You are right, Len. I should have thought of that,” Blaine had the presence of mind to blush.

“Besides, I need to have her up there so when I have my baby he will have a playmate – like you and I used to be, Blainers,” she smiled. Blaine felt a shiver go over his skin but tried to brush it off. It was true that he had grown up with Lenore on the mountain, but his father died saving Lenore from a burning building on that mountain. He closed his eyes for a moment and Kurt felt his body tremble.

“Here, Babe, hold Katura? My arms are so tired,” he whined. Blaine took the baby and held her close, careful to keep her from lying flat and irritating her lungs. He was grateful when Kurt put his arms around his husband and held on tightly to give him support. He gave a brief sigh of relief to let Kurt know how much it was appreciated.

“I think we'll be back at home by next week. Thank you, Lenore, for reminding us we do have the support of your family,” Kurt forced himself to smile. He was beginning to like Lenore a bit more, but still held feelings of jealousy from before their wedding when the girl seemed hell-bent on having Blaine for her own.

“How is my little niece doing?” Lenore cooed, coming close to hold out a finger for Katura to hold.

“She's better,” Blaine told her, “The earache is improved and her chest is a little less congested.

“Good for her,” Lenore said in a baby-voice as she knelt down in front of the two daddies and leaned on Blaine's knee to get closer to the baby.

It was all Kurt could do not to push her away, but he bit his lip and kept it inside. There was no use in alienating her.

“Can I hold her?”

Blaine and Kurt exchanged looks but both silently agreed it would cause no harm. Lenore sat down on the sofa and held out her arms. Blaine set his daughter into his friend's embrace and felt a tiny twinge at letting her go.

“Oh, sweet baby, how are you? Auntie Lenore loves you,” she cooed.

Kurt felt guilty that he had such jealous thoughts concerning Lenore, and he tried to find it in himself to forgive her. It just made sense that she would have fallen for Blaine – who wouldn't? They had only each other to play with as children, both being raised in the lumber camp. As he watched her eyes light up when Katura gurgled out a noise, Kurt began to feel better about having Lenore as their friend. After all, Puck was in love with her and it looked as if they would be near Lenore for the rest of their lives. He turned and smiled at the girl holding his daughter and Blaine took his hand and squeezed it.