Bright and early the next morning, Blaine and Kurt were on the phone to their friends to ask if they wanted to come and look at the mansion. Everyone agreed. Kurt and Blaine had gotten home from New York on Thursday, the first of January, and had Kurt's party. Today was Friday, and they had the whole weekend before they had to be back at school on Monday morning. Plenty of time to search through the mansion and decide what they wanted to do with it.

Puck had gone to pick up Santana, Lauren met them in her car, and Kurt had also asked Brittany to come along. Cooper was coming, but both Burt and Carole declined. They had a football game to watch later and didn't want to interfere. Strangely enough, Finn didn't seem interested in the game, but hung around Kurt and Blaine, asking about the house.

“Do you want to come with us, Finn?” Cooper asked, not wanting the boy to feel left out. Finn's eyes lit up. He had, of course, heard the story of how Blaine had been imprisoned in the attic room and how Kurt, Puck, and Santana had rescued him. But he had always felt a little left out of it all.

When everyone was there, they piled in two cars and left. Driving to the mansion took a while, and Blaine felt funny, a bit more apprehensive as the miles swept by. Kurt saw it in his face and sought out his hand, which he held resting on the console. Santana saw it, too, and leaned forward in her seat, putting an arm around Blaine's chest, He looked back at her and smiled. It was always a wonder to him that the girl was so free with him, so willing to offer him comfort, especially after he came to know her at McKinley where she was haughty and snippy with everyone – her sarcasm only second to Kurt's own in the hallways of the bully-infested school.

Cooper stopped at the gates of his old home, a catch in his breath as he got out to unlock the gate. They had chained the gate shut last summer when he had come to clean out the kitchen and such, ready for it to be vacant until the trial of his parents was over. It was all over now, Mr and Mrs Anderson were in prison, probably for the rest of their lives. Now Cooper and Blaine owned the mansion and all the grounds, and they needed to decide what to do with it. He got back in his car and drove to the front door.

Santana, Brittany, Blaine, and Kurt got out of the Navigator and walked over to meet Cooper, Puck, and Lauren. Cooper produced the key and they all went in the front door of the mansion.

“We can start at the top of the house and work our way down?” Kurt asked.

They trooped up, coming first to the library.

“Can I see the passage?” Finn asked and Blaine nodded, showing him how to work the sconce to open the secret panel. Santana took Britt by the hand and they walked with Finn, Puck, and Lauren down the stairs, flashlight in hand, to see the passage.

Cooper, Kurt, and Blaine walked down the hallway to the room where Blaine was imprisoned. He opened the door, no longer locked, and walked in, Kurt holding him tight when he started to shake.

“Do you want to leave?” Cooper asked, seeing his son in such distress.

“No. I want to see it. I think it won't be so scary if I see it again,” Blaine said.

They walked in, Cooper's hand on Blaine's back and Kurt holding Blaine's hand. Blaine looked at the walls, the days he had marked – over 1500 marks – showing how long he had been there. He looked at the old velvet chair, and the ancient mattress where he had slept, summer hot and winter cold. It all seemed almost like it had happened to someone else, like it had been a movie he had watched.

Cooper was looking, too, but his memories were very different. He spent many summer days in this room, running his fingers through Sasha's long red hair. He'd kissed her for the first time, sitting and looking through that very window, sitting in the blue velvet chair as they dressed up in costumes they found in the trunk.

Cooper was lost in his thoughts: that mattress. It was there that Blaine had been conceived. He hadn't even really understood what could happen in any real way. He was only twelve that summer and was so curious, and so in love with Sasha and her long red hair. He sighed, which made Blaine look at him, suddenly realizing that this must be where he met with Sasha. This must be the place he was conceived.

Wow. He didn't even know how to think about that. He turned, suddenly overwhelmed with that information, and buried his face in Kurt's neck. Kurt's arms automatically went around him, holding him with so much strength that Blaine was comforted, realizing Kurt would always be there for him.

Feeling a little better, Blaine smiled at Kurt and moved towards Cooper, Kurt nodding at him in encouragement. He then nodded towards the door, indication that he was going to leave Blaine alone with Cooper. Blaine smiled in thanks, knowing without being told that Kurt would be just down the hall, providing them with privacy, but a shout away if Blaine needed to call to him.

“It's hard, isn't it, Coop?” Blaine said, moving next to his young father.

“It's not something I've allowed myself to remember for a long time, Blaine. It was a whole summer, just her and I. My parents were never home, they just left me with a seventeen year old girl and a pocketful of money. What did they think would happen? We had to stay here, there was nowhere to go, nothing to do. We spent a lot of time in this room, Blaine,” Cooper said in a dream-like voice.

“Did you love her, Cooper? Did you love my mother?” Blaine didn't want to ask, but he had to know.

Cooper didn't even hesitate. “Yes, I did. I loved her with all my heart, Bee.” Coop didn't even notice the tears running down his face. Blaine's arms went around his father's neck, bringing him closer to whisper in his ear, “I love you, Cooper. I'm so glad you're my father.” Cooper hugged him back, basking in the love that poured out of his son, the love that had always been there even as a baby. Blaine's eyes had always sought out Cooper's eyes, making Coop feel that even though he couldn't say it to him, Blaine knew somewhere inside that Cooper was really his father.

They left the attic room, not sure what they would do with this room, but were unwilling to change it right now. They closed the door, determined to put it behind them for now. Their friends were waiting at the head of the stairs as they went to the second floor below them. Most of the rooms here were guest rooms and the boys' bedrooms. Blaine walked into his room, still holding Kurt's hand. They looked around, Kurt imagining what it was like for Blaine as a twelve year old child to be here. He had some music posters on his walls, a bright bedspread and matching curtains and rug. There was a desk on the wall that was covered with bookcases and several instrument cases on shelves. While it was quite outdated, Kurt could imagine how much of the room reflected Blaine's personality. He held his hand and squeezed a little tighter as he walked over to the far wall, looking at the photographs pinned to a cork board.

“Oh, most of those are my friends at Dalton...Wes, David, Nick, Jeff, Trent, and Sebastian. That was a party we had at the pool for my birthday that year. Then, this is my third birthday -and there I am, sitting on Cooper's lap while he helped me open my presents. The housekeeper took that picture.” Blaine had that far-away look in his eyes, remembering better days. He showed Kurt all the pictures, naming friends and some of the staff, even a picture of a parrot. “That old bird was over 60 years old, he belonged to my grandfather. He bit everyone, but he never once bit me. I kind of miss the grumpy old thing,” Blaine said.

“Well, you have Chloe!” Kurt reminded him.

“Hey, maybe that's why I thought to make Chloe into a pet,” Blaine said, remembering how he wanted to tame the pigeon because he had read The Swiss Family Robinson and wanted to send a message for help.

Santana and Brittany walked into the bedroom, first looking at Blaine for permission. He swept his hand in a welcoming gesture and they came over, looking at the photos.

“Aww..Cooper was so cute!” Brittany cooed, pointing a the picture of Coop on his hands and knees, tiny Blaine sitting on his back, wearing a small cowboy hat and smiling. Kurt smiled, too.

“Let's catch up with Cooper...” Blaine said, pulling Kurt along by the hand as he was suddenly too overcome with memories to be in this room another minute.

They walked happy to the next room, very similar to Blaine's but even more out of date, Cooper evident in the books and pictures on the walls. It was mostly photographs of Blaine as a baby, as a toddler, as a child. Cooper was sitting on his bed, having taken a drawer out of the dresser and turned it upside down to get a large envelope taped to the underside. It was open on the bed and Cooper had a photograph in his hands, holding it to his heart, tears slipping down his cheeks unchecked.

Blaine went over to his father, taking the photo out of his hands and looking at it. There was a beautiful girl in the photo, long red hair in waves curling down her back and over her shoulders. She had dark emerald green eyes, with just a touch of reddish brown flecks in them, like sun dapples on forest moss. They were shaped exactly like Blaine's. Her plump pink lips, pursed as she tried to suppress a smile or a laugh, looked like Blaine's, too. Kurt's heart pounded as he recognized these features and if he had any doubt that Mrs Anderson was not Blaine's mother, this photograph dispelled it. Her cheeks were rosy with a summer tan, and she held her fingers up as if offering the tiny flowers she held to the camera. They were tiny violets, which were also strung through her hair. Around her neck was a gold chain with a heart-shaped locket nestled low on her chest, just above her breasts. She may or may not have been wearing a blouse, the picture showed no fabric but her hair was so thick and flowing it might be covering up any vestige of clothing. It was hard to determine a background, it was out of the camera's focus, but was probably the river, trees vaguely showing behind her.

“That's my mother, isn't it?” Blaine asked, but he already knew the answer. Cooper nodded, gathering Blaine close to him and touching his forehead to Blane's shoulder to hide his emotions.

“Yes, Blaine. That's Sasha,” Cooper said.

“She's beautiful,” Blaine whispered, afraid to say it aloud.

“Yes, Bee, she was that.”

The rest of the friends had caught up by now and everyone looked at the picture of the girl with red-gold hair, seeing the resemblance between her and Blaine.

Brittany looked at the picture and whispered to Santana, so loud the whole room heard her: “That's Blaine's mom, right?” Santana nodded. “Is she dead? Is that why nobody is saying anything?”

“No, Britt,” Cooper answered before Santana could reply, “She's still alive. She tried to contact my parents a few years ago, that was the catalyst for them locking Blaine up.”

Everyone looked at Blaine, Kurt squeezing his hand.

“Did you see her, Cooper?” Blaine asked.

“No. I haven't seen or heard from her since I was twelve and she went with my parents to have Blaine. I hardly spoke to her after I learned she was pregnant, only to tell her I loved her and I'd take care of the baby the best I could. And we decided to name him 'Blaine'. My parents named him 'Joshua', but for some reason my father listened to me and gave him Blaine as a middle name.”

“Where is she now?” Lauren asked.

“I don't know,” Cooper said.

Downstairs in the office, Cooper and Blaine sat looking through the desk. Cooper had already taken most of the paperwork to his office months ago, but the rest of the things not related to the house and the trial. Most of this would wait for another day, but they scanned through files. In a file marked 'Sasha', they found the letter. Cooper's mother told him that Sasha was trying to blackmail her, but Cooper found no evidence of that. The letter was just a plead to see Blaine. Just once, even if it was from a distance. Or even just a word of how Blaine was doing. Cooper passed the letter over to Blaine and watched him read it. He saw the raw emotion break Blaine's face, a sadness overcoming his son as he read the plea.

“Cooper, I don't want to say the wrong thing here. What are you thinking?” Blaine asked his father.

“I don't know. It's been a long time, maybe it's too late.”

“Was it too late for me to learn the truth about you? I don't think so,” Blaine told him, still a little worried. He wouldn't hurt Cooper for anything, but he just realized he wanted to meet his mother.

“Well, Blaine, I don't think it is. I'll call this number and see what I can find out,” Cooper agreed. He wanted to see Sasha by himself first, just to tell her the story before she met Blaine. The whole thing wasn't a story anyone would even believe maybe, so he wanted to tell her gently before she saw Blaine. He sighed and put the file in his case to take home. They went back to the chore of going through the files for a while longer before leaving it and going to find the rest of the group.

They found them in the music room. Blaine smiled when he walked in, this was always his favorite room in the house. His baby grand piano was there, dusty but not badly out of tune. He sat down and did a few scales, then started playing some songs they all knew. Finn started singing along with the next song “We Are Young”, which was close to everyone's heart. Finn put his arms around Santana, who was holding Britt. Kurt was holding Britt's hand and Puck was standing behind them, his arms around Lauren. Cooper walked in, a little in awe of how Blaine could bring a room full of people together like this. Kurt looked over and saw Cooper, so he let go of Britt and went over to put his arms around Cooper's shoulders, bringing him into the room and making him a part of the group. They were swaying into each other, smiling because they knew that no matter what happened to them in the future, they had all of these people that loved them.

Everyone had a great time looking through the old house, Blaine explaining about how his ancestors had lived there, how things had changed over the years. He shared the story of his three times great grandfather, Nathaniel Anderson, and how he had helped in the Underground Railroad. It was getting on towards evening and they all decided to go to a restaurant for dinner, locking up the house and going to a Chinese restaurant in Westerville. It was late when they got home and they all decided to go to bed.

An hour after Kurt and Blaine were in bed, they were still awake.

“What's wrong, Blaine?” Kurt asked, feeling his boyfriend was preoccupied the whole evening.

“Nothing. Everything. I don't know,” Blaine tried to say, but he was so confused about his feelings at that moment, he didn't even know how to answer.

Kurt pulled him close and put his arms around him, kissing his cheek.

“I understand, baby, I do. All of this is just so overwhelming, and you have had so many things thrown at you this week. Anyone would be confused. Can you say what the most confusing thing is? Or what has you so worried? You know I'm here for you and I can listen if that would help. But, if you feel you can't cope with saying it all aloud right now, I'm here just to hold you and kiss you,” Kurt told him, stroking Blaine's face, trailing his hand down Blaine's arm and then leaning in to give him a soft kiss on his lips. Blaine smiled back at Kurt, thankful that they were comfortable with just being quiet. He was trying to think of how to even name the confusion, much less organize it into a way he could talk about it.

“It's just...seeing the mansion today was hard. Seeing the room. I wanted to burn down the whole house. But, telling all of our friends about Nathaniel and all the good he did in the house, how can I burn it? It's so full of history, it would be wrong to destroy that part of it.”

“I'll be right back, okay, baby?” Kurt asked, getting up to find his robe and throwing it on over his silk pajamas. Blaine nodded and Kurt left the room.

In a few minutes he was back, Cooper behind him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sat down on the bed next to Blaine. He didn't say anything, just held out his arms for Blaine, who leaned into Cooper and dissolved in tears. Kurt quietly started to walk out, but Blaine saw him and called him back.

“Don't go, Kurt. Please, I need you, too.” So Kurt sat down on the other side of Blaine.

“I know you're having issues about the mansion, aren't you, Bee?” Cooper asked. “I am, too.”

“I wanted to burn it, get rid of all the memories, but I know that wouldn't erase what happened there. And so much good happened there, too. What do you want to do with it?” Blaine asked.

“I don't think I want to live there right now. It's out of the way and as soon as you graduate, I'm moving back to New York. I have my law practice and I need to pay attention to that. Aren't both you and Kurt applying to colleges in New York?” Coop said.

“Yes, NYU, Tisch, Julliard, NYADA, Manhattan School of Music. It's everything we both want,” Blaine told his father.

Well, then we agree it would not be in our best interest to move to the old place. As long as Burt is okay with you staying here until you graduate, I think it's the best thing, don't you?” Coop asked.

“Yes,” Kurt and Blaine said together.

“Then we have some options with the mansion. I don't want to sell it, do you?” Coop asked Blaine.

“No.”

“Then how about a charity? It has a lot of ground and it's big enough for offices or something if we can find the right one. Or we could make it into a museum? Like the one we visited in New York dedicated to the Holocaust?”

“I like that idea, but I don't think it would work. This is just too small of a community to support that kind of thing. The charity is better. Let's look into that, okay?” Blaine was actually looking excited – which was a good thing after the melancholy of the week.

“Agreed. So, what else is bothering you?” Cooper wanted to know.

“I'm just trying to get used to you being my father. It was a shock, and I never told you this, but when I was little, I used to pretend you were my father.” Blaine sighed out, then laid his head on Cooper's chest. Cooper wiped a tear from his eye and hugged the son that had been stolen from him.

“I'm glad, Bee. I loved you so much. I wish I'd have been able to tell you sooner. Now, let's get some sleep, we have a big day ahead of us, researching charities.” They all hugged and agreed to meet up in the morning to discuss which charities they wanted to investigate.

“Good night, Kurt. Thanks for coming to get me,” Cooper whispered in Kurt's ear as he gave him one more hug before going back upstairs to his bed in the guest room.

“Feel any better?” Kurt asked, Blaine nodded.

“I want to meet with my mother,” Blaine said to Kurt, then looked away, overcome with emotion.

“Oh, baby, I don't think that's a good idea. She is in prison where she belongs and it was so hard on you at her trial. I will support you if you want to go, but I really advise you no to,” Kurt said in a very worried voice.

“No, not her. I want to meet my real mother, I want to meet Sasha. I don't want to stir up old feelings for Cooper, but I do want to meet her, even if it's only once,” Blaine said, nuzzling into Kurt's neck for comfort. Kurt was more than willing to provide any comfort Blane needed and began to stroke his back, rubbing little circles as he thought about this new problem. Would it be good for Blaine or cause more heartache?

“Kurt, if you could see your mom one more time, just for a day, wouldn't you move heaven and earth to do so?” Blaine asked, trying to keep the desperation from his voice but failing.

Kurt thought about it, and yes, he would. It might be painful, for Blaine and Cooper both, but Kurt believed Blaine had the right to meet her.

“Okay. I can ask Lauren to find her for you. Is that what you want?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah. If I can do it without telling Cooper the first time I meet her, that would be better. I don't want to hurt him,” Blaine confessed.

“Okay, we'll call her in the morning. Now, let's get some sleep.”

Of course they didn't go right to sleep. Comforting strokes on Blaine's back became strokes in other places, the boys kissing and touching as they lay down together under the covers, warm in their blanket nest as they explored and moaned their pleasure into the night.