Chapter Nineteen

When Kurt returned to his home after a morning coffee run, Blaine was still asleep, as were Ella and Aiden. He quietly returned to his bedroom, two cups of coffee in his hands, and settled himself on the mattress beside Blaine.

The other man stirred slightly, glancing up at Kurt through heavily-lidded eyes. He smiled up at him, pushing himself up the bed a few inches, forcing himself up on one elbow.

"Good morning," Kurt said softly, offering the coffee.

"Morning," Blaine murmured in response, taking the extra cup from Kurt. He murmured a quick 'thanks' before taking a long sip. "Mm, you're the best," he said and he turned slightly, resting the cup down on the bedside table.

"So I've been told," Kurt responded teasingly. He paused for a moment, twisting his cup in his hands. "What are you doing for Christmas?" he asked.

Blaine hummed, closing his eyes. "Probably watching 'The Enchanted Christmas' with Ella, like we did last year, and Cornish hens for dinner. She loves the idea of having her own little bird to eat." He opened his eyes, tilting his head and glancing up at Kurt. "Why do you ask?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Well, my dad and Carole are on some holiday cruise this week to relive the honeymoon they never really had, or something of the sort," he said carefully. "And Finn and Rachel are leaving for San Francisco tomorrow to celebrate a late Hannukah with her dads, since she and Finn celebrated Christmas last year."

Blaine nodded before suddenly catching on. "Did you... did you want to...?"

Kurt licked his lips hesitantly. "If you didn't want to—"

Blaine pulled the coffee from Kurt's hands, placing it on the bedside table beside his. He shifted closer to Kurt, smiling at him and placing a hand on one of his rosy cheeks. "Of course I want to spend Christmas with you," he said simply, smiling up at him. He pulled Kurt toward him, and the brunette smiled in return, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to Blaine's lips. "Did you have anything special in mind?"

"Not really," Kurt conceded. "Something traditional. I still think I've had my share of Jewish Christmases of Chinese food and movie marathons when Rachel and I lived together. And I know that Aiden's getting old enough where he's going to actually remember the holidays, not just from photographs and videos. I'd like to think that maybe he'll have better memories than me." He sighed. "My first holiday memory is being too sick to walk down the stairs, and throwing up on about six pairs of pajamas..." He shut his eyes tight. "And I remember so clearly the first few Christmases after my mom died. I don't want Aiden to look back at these times and his first thought to be about losing his dad."

"It won't be," Blaine assured him quickly. "We'll make sure of that. I promise."

Kurt stared at him for a moment before closing his eyes tightly once again. "Sometimes I don't understand why you're so good to me."

"Because I love you," Blaine said simply and Kurt laughed a little dryly, leaning down to kiss him again. Blaine quickly grasped onto Kurt's forearm, yanking him down so that he fell on top of him. He smiled at the laughter under Kurt's breathing, his hand trailing down the brunette's back as he kissed him forcefully. His hand quickly made it to the back of Kurt's neck again before moving around to the front, fingers quickly finding the buttons on his shirt.

The floor creaked down the hall and both men froze. At last Kurt sighed, pulling Blaine's hand away, but keeping their lips close. "Do you think we can just pretend to be asleep?" Blaine murmured hopefully, and Kurt chuckled.

"I doubt it," Kurt responded, and he pulled away, Blaine groaning childishly as he did so. "Besides, we have important things to do today." He stood up, plucking his coffee from the table and making his way to the doorway. "We'll need a Christmas tree, and I still have to finish wrapping gifts. And now I have to shop for Christmas dinner. Not to mention, I'm sure your niece would like to hear that I finally made a certain admission to you..."

"Wait," Blaine started, forcing himself up into a sitting position once more. "What was that last part?" Kurt merely raised his eyebrows and the other man narrowed his eyes. "Did you tell Ella you loved me before telling me?" he asked in mock offense.

"Please," Kurt responded indignantly. "You know her. She's eerily brilliant. I'm fairly certain that she knew it long before I ever did."

As the evening on Christmas drew to a close, Kurt definitely felt as though Blaine had kept his promise, helping him create the perfect Christmas for Aiden, and of course Ella as well. And after the presents and dinner and cleaning, Kurt and Blaine were finally settled on the sofa while Ella watched Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, sitting on the floor in a princess dress and holding a new doll, Aiden fast asleep on the floor beside her with a new firetruck in his arms like a teddy bear.

Blaine turned to Kurt with a smile, the man's pale skin illuminated only by the glow of the television. Kurt turned to him to offer a grin before looking back to the television.

"Can I give you your gift now?" Blaine whispered into Kurt's ear, and the brunette turned to him again, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"You already did," he responded. "An Alexander McQueen scarf? You act like I don't know how expensive that is..."

Blaine smiled at him, and tugged on his hand, pulling him away from the living room and up the stairs and into the man's bedroom.

Kurt raised his eyebrows slightly. "If you're about to make a reference to an old Saturday Night Live skit featuring Justin Timberlake, I'd like to remind you that there are two children downstairs," he said in a low voice.

Blaine laughed. "Nothing like that," he assured him as they sat beside each other on the bed. He carefully pulled out a tiny box from his pocket, holding it between him and Kurt.

Kurt licked his lips, glancing between Blaine and the box. "Blaine..." he murmured slowly, taking the box in his hands. "This is too much," he breathed out. "The McQueen was too much, already. I—"

"It isn't too much. I've been holding on to this for quite a while, now," Blaine told him quickly, staring at the box. "I've been waiting for the right Christmas to give it to you." He paused slightly, looking up at Kurt again. "It's something I wanted to give to you thirteen years ago." Kurt froze, staring at the box with uncertainty. "Open it," Blaine quickly urged him.

Kurt slowly opened the box with a small pop, staring at the item within silently. Sitting on the small cushion was a beautiful golden hummingbird, with wings of pearl and a sapphire eye. "From the Elizabeth Taylor collection," Kurt murmured.

"I know it wasn't the emerald pendant you used to mention," Blaine said quickly. "But—well—if you don't like it—"

"I love it," Kurt told him breathlessly, looking up at him wondrously. "How on earth did you—?"

"The original buyer had passed away, and her son was selling off her massive jewelry collection," he said. "I recognized it immediately. I couldn't believe nobody else had."

"How could you possibly afford it?" Kurt asked.

"It was a few years back," Blaine said simply. "All the money I'd saved for Europe was sitting my account because my dad got sick so I never went, and then I saw that brooch—"

"We weren't even dating then," Kurt reminded him in a low voice, and Blaine merely shrugged.

"It didn't matter," he said. "I just... I knew that I had to get it for you."

"It's too much," Kurt repeated.

Blaine shook his head. "He practically gave it to me," he assured Kurt. "I didn't even spend remotely close to the original amount."

Kurt lurched forward, roughly grabbing Blaine's face and kissing him hard on the mouth. "You're too good for me," Kurt muttered against his lips.

"You've said that before,' Blaine breathed. "And I still don't believe you."

"Maybe if I'm lucky, you never will," Kurt whispered, closing the tiny gap between them once again.

Blaine pulled away slightly. "I love you," Blaine told him simply, brushing some of Kurt's hair out of his face. "Merry Christmas."

Kurt smiled softly at him. "Merry Christmas, Blaine."