Chapter Twelve

Aiden rounded the corner into the kitchen, looking at his daddy curiously. He was staring out the window, looking sad. But, Aiden quickly realized, he'd seen his daddy look sad a lot. Not as much recently, of course. But since his dada died.

He tilted his head slightly for a moment, wondering what his daddy was thinking. He decided he'd better ask him.

Aiden shuffled into the kitchen, and tugged on his daddy's shirt. His father looked down at him, smiling at him, but his smile didn't look like his normal smile, and Aiden frowned. “Wha's wrong, Daddy?” he asked.

“Nothing's wrong,” he responded, but Aiden didn't really believe him. He crouched down, taking his son into his arms for a moment. “I'm just not feeling well. I was thinking I'd lay down.”

“Want me to take care of you?” Aiden asked quickly in turn. “I'm a good doctor. I played doctor in school yesterday, the teacher told me I was good.”

Kurt smiled, pressing a kiss to Aiden's forehead. “I think I'll be all right,” he told him. “Why don't you play with the trucks that Uncle Finn got you for your birthday?” he offered instead.

Tilting his head slightly, Aiden had to admit that his trucks did sound like fun right now. He nodded quickly, running back into the living room where his grandpa let him keep all of his toys in a bin. He started digging through the box, trying to find his trucks.

He quickly realized, however, that they weren't there. Frowning, he scurried around the room in an effort the find them, looking under the couch and in the couch and under grandpa's arm chair and even peeking into grandma's cabinet with all the fancy, shiny plates and cups and things. He came to the conclusion that they simply weren't there, he decided that maybe they were in his new bedroom.

Aiden climbed the stairs, but something quickly caught his attention—the lights in his daddy's room were turned off, and it looked like he wasn't even in there. He frowned and approached the bedroom, only to find that it was, in fact, empty. There was a glowing from his bedside table that Aiden noticed, and he crossed the room, picking up the object from the table and clasping it tightly in his hands. He needed to return it to his daddy. It was, after all, important.

He left the room, looking down the hallway with curiosity. First his right, but that was only his grandma and grandpa's room. He turned to his left, and noticed that the door at the end of the hallway was open slightly, and the lights were on.

Aiden knew this was strange. He'd never gone into the room, as the door was always locked. He knew it was an extra bedroom, just in case anyone ever came to visit, but nobody had visited. His aunt Rachel was always at Uncle Finn's house that wasn't really a house, but he didn't remember the word for it, and he had his Uncle's old room to stay in, so it wasn't needed. Even for that fancy party thing where Aunt Rachel became Aunt Rachel through some process he didn't understand, but he knew Ella kept saying it was a 'wedding' and it was important for princes and princesses to live happily ever after together.

Aiden wondered if his daddy was in that room. He figured he'd better check, just in case, because he should have his phone.

Aiden was careful not the push the door open any more, but to merely peek inside. The moment he did, he realized the room smelled like perfume and flowers and he saw that there was a dresser on the side of the room, and all the drawers were open. It was strange.

Then, he caught sight of his daddy. He was lying on the bed, his arm draped over his face so that his nose was visible just under the crook of his elbow.

Aiden quickly pulled back out of the room, running back down the stairs and into the kitchen. He looked down at his hands, where he was still holding his daddy's phone tightly.

He knew how to work it. Kind of, anyway. His daddy had showed him, just in case there was an emergency. He pressed on the contact button.

Listed there were lots of names, a lot of which Aiden didn't recognize. But first of those that he did know was Blaine. Blaine took care of Ella, maybe he could come take care of his daddy. He nodded, resolutely, pressing a tiny finger to the name and putting the phone to his ear.

He listened to it ring a few times before there was a tiny click and a voice came on. “Hello?” It was Blaine's voice. It sounded kind of funny, but he could still tell it was Blaine. “Kurt?”

“No, this is Aiden,” the boy responded, and there was a pause at the end of the line.

“Hey, Aiden,” the man responded. “Everything all right?”

“No,” Aiden responded in a serious tone. “My daddy's broken.”

There was a sharp intake of breath. “Is he all right? Is he hurt?”

“No he's not hurt. He looks okay, just really sad,” Aiden told him. “But I think there's something inside that's broken.”

“What makes you say that?” Blaine asked.

“He's on the bed in the other bedroom, the one that's not his or mine or grandma and grandpa's,” he reported. “He said he didn't feel good and wanted to lay down, but then when I goed up there to find my trucks, he was in the other room.” Blaine didn't say anything, so Aiden kept talking. “It smells like flowers in there,” he added. He didn't know why, but that seemed important. “I don't know if he's sick, but I hopeded that you could give him medicine or something.”

“Yeah,” Blaine responded at last. “I'll head over there now. I'll knock, so you know it's me.”

“Good,” Aiden said. “Will you knock four times? That's my favourite number. Also I'm four.”

Blaine chuckled. “Sounds like a plan. I'm gonna hang up, but I'll be there as fast as I can, all right?”

“All right,” Aiden replied. “Bye bye.”

At first, Aiden tried counting to see how long it took Blaine to get there. But, they were still working on that in school, so after he got really high (he couldn't wait until his daddy felt better so he could tell him—he knew he'd be excited) he gave up. Instead, he waited quietly, opening one of the coloring books on the coffee table and doing his best to color scenes correctly.

At last, there were four, loud knocks on the door. Aiden scrambled to his feet and scurried to the door, standing on the tips of his toes to reach the knob. After opening the door a crack and stepping back, Blaine pushed it open the rest of the way, Ella's hand tightly in his. He released it upon entering, turning to close the door behind him.

“You said your daddy's in the spare room?” Blaine asked, and Aiden nodded. He watched as Blaine slowly ascended the stairs. After the man disappeared, Aiden turned to Ella, who quietly took his hand and tugged him in the same direction as Blaine. He opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly put a finger to her lips. He nodded, understanding.

Ella and Aiden peered into the other bedroom, quietly watching, trying to understand.

Aiden's daddy was shaking his head violently, mumbling something. He tried to push Blaine away before he was dissolving into tears, sobbing brokenly into Blaine's chest. Blaine merely pulled the other man close, holding him impossibly tight.

They heard the door downstairs open, and Ella and Aiden left the scene, rushing down the stairs to see who was intruding. Aiden cocked his head to the side, seeing his aunt and uncle entering.

In turn, Uncle Finn furrowed his brow. “Hey guys,” he said, ruffling Aiden's hair, but still looking confused. “Is Blaine here?”

Ella nodded. “He came to take care of Aiden's daddy.”

Uncle Finn and Aunt Rachel glanced at each other, sharing a worried look. “Is he all right?” Aunt Rachel asked.

“He's really sad,” Aiden informed them, and suddenly Uncle Finn's eyes widened a little, sharing a meaningful look with Rachel.

Just a moment later, Blaine came down the stairs, pausing at the end, looking at everyone with hesitance.

“I just came down to get Kurt some a drink and a cold cloth,” he said lamely. Aunt Rachel nodded quickly.

“I'll take care of it,” she said, and Finn nodded Blaine to the kitchen.

“Thanks, Rachel,” they heard Blaine say, and the woman nodded before leaving the kitchen and running up the stairs. Ella and Aiden shared a glance before peering around the doorway at Blaine and Uncle Finn, hoping they were still unnoticed.

“I completely forgot,” Uncle Finn said, running his hand over his face. “I feel like such an idiot.”

“I didn't remember until Aiden called me,” Blaine admitted. “I mean... it's understandable. It's something that will probably always stay on his mind.”

Finn nodded. “A year,” he muttered. “I can't believe it's been a year.”

“I know,” Blaine breathed out.

“What's been a year?” Aiden asked curiously, and Ella quickly shushed him.

He wasn't sure. He knew it was a long time that he moved here from his old house. Maybe that had something to do with it?

“Should I call our mom or dad?” Finn asked hesitantly. “I mean... how is he exactly?”

“I think he's all right,” Blaine reasoned. “Just... it's really hitting him. I mean, he's in the spare room, with all the drawers to his mother's dresser open—”

“Yeah,” Finn quickly cut across. “I... I remember him telling me about that in high school.”

Blaine nodded. “I can't blame him. Sometimes you just need that sort of comfort.”

Finn nodded in turn. “I know what you mean.” He sighed, leaning against the counter. “You know, I always thought I had it rough, growing up without a dad. But he died when I was so young, I don't even remember him. I never thought about how much it must have hurt Kurt to actually have those memories. It's like... it's better and worse at the same time, you know? And then to have to relive that with everything... I can't imagine it.”

“I don't think he gets enough credit for how strong he is,” Blaine responded. “I don't think he gives himself the credit.”

“I don't know what I'd do if I lost Rachel,” Finn admitted. “For him to lose Alex like that...”

And suddenly, Aiden understood. He pulled away from Ella, despite her grasping after him to remain hidden. He ran into the kitchen, looking up at the adults, who had cut off their talking.

“I didn't know,” he said quickly, and Blaine and Uncle Finn shared a concerned glance. “I don't want my daddy to be mad at me for forgetting. Can I fix that?”

Blaine leaned down, picking up Aiden in his arms. “He won't be mad,” he assured him. “But yeah, I think we can do something to make sure. What did you have in mind?”

“Can I get flowers for Dada?” he asked. “I know he's still in New York, but...”

“Yeah,” Finn said quickly, nodding. “We can do that.”

“I think that's a fantastic idea,” Blaine assured him, and Aiden beamed. “I think that your daddy would really like that.”