Chapter Three

“Are we there now, Daddy?” Aiden asked from the back seat, and Kurt glanced in the rear view mirror. “Is it this house?”

“I think so,” Kurt said with only an ounce of hesitance. He picked up the paper from his cup-holder, smoothing it out against the center part of the steering wheel. Then, he looked out the driver’s side window at the line of townhouses he was parked outside of, double-checking the number of the address. “Ready?” he asked, turning to the back seat, and Aiden nodded at him excitedly.

Kurt took a deep breath, unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out of the car. He quickly moved to the door behind his, taking his son out of the safety seat and holding him in his arm, resting him on his hip. He closed the door behind him, moving back to the front to take his bag and pull it over his other shoulder. Shutting the door, Kurt turned to the row of townhouses and took a deep breath.

“What kind of a’venture is this?” Aiden asked, twisting in Kurt’s arms as the man pressed the button to ring the doorbell.

There was a pause as Kurt waited for the door to be answered. He turned to his son with an optimistic smile. “Hopefully a good one,” he said.

“Good,” Aiden responded, wrapping his arms more tightly around his father’s neck. Kurt heard the footsteps coming down the hall, and suddenly his heart seemed to stop completely.

This is it, he told himself, repeating the words over and over in his mind. This is it, this is it, this is it.

He heard a pause, and he could imagine Blaine pressing his eye to the peephole, to catch a glimpse of the visitor.

He wondered if he looked different from the last time Blaine had seen him. He wondered if Blaine would even recognize him.

There was a sudden movement on the other side of the door and he heard the locks being slid open with a slightly frenzied speed. He squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment as though he was suddenly unable to face this, to face him. Maybe he was doing the wrong thing.

“Kurt.”

Kurt allowed himself to open his eyes, a half-smile appearing on his lips. “Hi,” he managed to respond, awkwardly.

“God, I’m so glad you stopped by—here.” Blaine stepped back, ushering the taller man inside. “Come in, come in.” Kurt did so, stepping into the hallway, noticing the washer and dryer on his left, and the closet on his right, a door at the end that led to what appeared to be a small study. “And who’s this little guy?” Blaine asked, trying to get Aiden’s attention, but the small boy only hid by nuzzling into Kurt’s neck.

“This is Aiden,” Kurt said. “Come on, A, say hi.” The little boy peeked at Blaine shyly, curling his fingers and extending them in a sort of wave before hiding his face in Kurt’s shoulder once more. Kurt sighed amusedly. “He’s a little shy sometimes.”

“It’s all right,” Blaine said with a grin. “Here, why don’t you two come upstairs? I was just making lunch.”

“Oh I—I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Kurt stammered. “I just... I can always come back later and—”

“No,” Blaine quickly cut across him. “I want you here,” he assured him. “I told Finn to tell you to stop by at any time and I meant that. I’m just so glad you actually did.”

Kurt didn’t say anything else, simply nodding at Blaine’s words and allowing him to lead him through his study and up the stairs to the second level. Again Kurt allowed himself to glance around, from the neatly laid out dining room table, to the kitchen, where Blaine disappeared to, to finish making lunch, complete with a breakfast nook. He then turned his attention to the other side of the house, which he vaguely registered was the living room. He did a double-take, quickly realizing that there was another person in the house. There was a small girl.

Tilting his head, Kurt slowly entered the living room. The girl didn’t look up at him, even as he sat beside her on the couch, looking at the drawing she had made with crayons on a fold-up TV table that had been pulled right up in front of her.

“Who are you?”

Kurt jumped slightly when she addressed him, though she was still focused on her coloring, dropping the yellow crayon and picking up a pink one instead.

“Don’t be rude, Ella,” Blaine told her, and she looked up at him, pouting as he placed a plate with a sandwich and apple slices in front of her.

“I’m not!” she said quickly and defensively. “You didn’t introduce him to me!”

“She’s right,” Kurt pointed out with a crooked smile. “I think that was very rude of you, Blaine.”

Blaine rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, though he was grinning.

“Uh-uh! No faces, Uncle Blaine!” she said, attempting anger though she was giggling.

Kurt took this time to take in the girl’s appearance, noticing just how much the tiny girl looked like Blaine. She had dark, curly hair and the same shiny, hazel eyes, though hers weren’t currently hidden behind wire frames.

“I’m Kurt,” he told her at last. She turned to him, grasping half of her sandwich and sighing heavily, which, admittedly, made him smile a little.

“I’m Ella and I’m five,” she told him dutifully. “And I’m drawing Princess Aurora because Uncle Blaine and I watched Sleeping Beauty for our Disney princess movie this week.”

Kurt licked his lips, unable to hold back a smile. “You watch a different Disney princess each week?” he asked, trying not to laugh. He glanced up at Blaine, who ducked his head.

“Oh yes,” Ella told him. “It was Uncle Blaine’s idea.” She leaned in a little closer to Kurt. “I think he likes them more than I do, sometimes.”

“I think you’re probably right,” Kurt responded, grinning. “Which one’s your favorite, if I can ask?”

Ella shifted thoughtfully, swinging her legs and screwing her face up in a slightly strained expression. “I like them all,” she sighed. “I really like Ariel, though. She’s next on our list. She sings really pretty, and Uncle Blaine looks just like Prince Eric. And he promised me that next year I could be Ariel, and he’d be my prince for Halloween.” She paused, tilting her head to the side. “What’s his name?” she asked, suddenly noticing Aiden’s presence. “Does he wanna draw with me?”

“This is Aiden,” Kurt told her, and he turned somewhat awkwardly to the little boy in his arms.

Ella crawled forward slightly. “Hi Aiden!” she said excitedly. “Do you wanna draw with me?”

Aiden turned his head, still leaning into Kurt’s neck and clutching him tightly. He glanced at Ella with one eye before nodding against Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt gently pulled Aiden away from him, setting him on the couch between him and Ella, the latter holding out a crayon in her hand.

“Here,” she said, pushing the crayon towards him. “It’s blue like your daddy’s eyes. And here’s a paper. Do you know about all the Disney Princes and Princesses? I can tell you about them.”

Kurt smiled warmly at the two children before glancing up at Blaine, who quietly nodded his head back toward the kitchen. Gently patting Aiden’s hair as the boy listened eagerly to Ella, Kurt pulled himself off the sofa and followed Blaine into the other room.

“She’s precious,” Kurt commented as Blaine pulled two mugs out of a cabinet and poured them each a cup of coffee from a pitcher. Kurt took a seat at the breakfast nook, and Blaine sighed, setting the coffee between them and taking a seat across from Kurt.

“She’s a little fireball,” he muttered.

“How long are you watching her for?” Kurt asked, the sweetness of the coffee taking him by surprise, having grown so used to drinking it without cream or sugar.

“Indefinitely.”

Kurt’s heart stopped, his mug of coffee still poised somewhere between the table and his lips. He licked his lips, setting his cup back down and tilting his head. “But, your brother—”

“Passed away,” Blaine said solemnly.

Kurt swallowed hard. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry, I—”

Blaine sighed, waving his hand dismissively. “It’s fine.” He paused. “I mean, it isn’t but...”

“I know,” Kurt responded. “I’m sorry, I just... I didn’t know.” He looked down at his coffee for a moment. “Why didn’t I know?”

Blaine sighed again, leaning back in his chair and running a hand through his hair. “Can I get you something to eat?” he asked, at which Kurt raised an eyebrow. “I’m not trying to change the subject,” he assured him, leaning forward in his chair again. “I just... I guess it all takes a bit of explanation, and you can’t pretend that you’ve been eating well over the last six weeks.”

Kurt grimaced. “I’ve been eating,” he mumbled.

“Mmhmm,” Blaine responded, giving him a knowing look. “And yesterday, what did you have, other than coffee?” Kurt grumbled something incoherent, and Blaine placed his hands on the table, pushing himself up. “Just what I thought. I’ll make a salad. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just something so you’re not running on coffee alone.”

Kurt nodded absently as Blaine went to the refrigerator and took out lettuce and other fresh vegetables, chopping them slowly and placing them into a bowl.

“So... Ella?” he made himself ask at last, his voice soft and gentle, and Blaine nodded.

“Well, we started with the ‘unofficial princesses’,” he said, then gave a small chuckle and tilted his head to the side. “Well, we skipped Esmerelda because she’s definitely too young for that. But after the five we did see, we started going in order of the real ones, so that’s Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora.” He sighed. “I guess she came to live with me eight week ago? Almost nine.”

“Right after your wedding,” Kurt commented slowly, and Blaine gave him a crooked smile.

“Would-be wedding,” he corrected.

“I should have been there,” Kurt sighed, but Blaine shook his head.

“You were on business in L.A.,” he said dismissively. “You had perfectly good reason not to come.”

“I still should have,” Kurt repeated, more insistently.

Blaine shook his head again. “It was a waste of time and money,” he informed him, but Kurt gave him a wry smile.

“When have you known me to turn down a chance to dress fabulously?” he asked teasingly, and Blaine chuckled.

“Fair enough,” he conceded. “It’s probably better you weren’t there, though. When he left, I felt like an idiot and I...” he trailed off slightly, pressing his hands to the counter and closing his eyes tightly. “I was a wreck.”

“All the more reason I should have been there,” Kurt argued.

Blaine merely shook his head. “It was just about two weeks after that I got the call about my brother,” he continued somberly, not looking at Kurt as he chopped vegetables on the cutting board. “He and his wife were in a car wreck. They died instantly. That was when I found out I had been named Ella’s legal guardian.” He tossed everything into a bowl, sighing and wiping his hands clean. “I came here from Westerville so she wouldn’t have to change schools. This house was up for rent, so I got it and got all of my things moved down.” He grabbed two plates from a cabinet in one hand, the bowl of salad in the other and moved back to where he and Kurt had been sitting before. “I’m lucky to have her,” he said softly. “Between my romantic failure and my big brother’s sudden death...” He stopped abruptly. “Ella?”

The tiny girl had appeared at the table beside them, looking at Kurt curiously. “I have a question for Kurt,” she said. The two adults shared a quick look before turning their attention back to Ella. “Aiden said that he won’t ever get to see his other daddy again. Is he the same place as my mommy and daddy?”

“Ella—”

“Yeah,” Kurt said, his words cutting Blaine’s off. “Yeah, he is.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, tilting her head slightly. “I hope it doesn’t make you too sad all the time. I know sometimes I get really sad, and Uncle Blaine does too.”

Kurt nodded, blinking rapidly and pressing his knuckles to his lips. He could hear Blaine suck in a breath from the other side of the table. Blaine leaned forward and put a hand on the five-year-old’s back and she turned her attention to him.

“Sweetheart, will you take Aiden upstairs and show him your bedroom?” Blaine asked her softly.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked quickly. “I didn’t mean to make Kurt cry!”

“I know,” Blaine told her.

“Are you going to take care of him and make him feel better?” she inquired.

There was a moment of quiet as Kurt squeezed his eyes shut tightly. “Yeah,” he heard Blaine’s voice. “I am.”

Kurt felt the tiny girl hug around his knees before running off, hearing her distant words as she addressed Aiden and took him up the stairs.

“I’m so sorry,” Kurt breathed out after a moment. “I should have been there all of those times. I ignored everything that happened to you and everyone else over the past few years, and now I’m a shattered mess but everyone still wants to sweep me up and put me back together. I just...”

“Everyone cares about you, Kurt,” Blaine told him, taking his other hand in his. “It doesn’t matter what’s happened, we still care and we want to help you because right now, you need it.”

Kurt let out a sad, terrible laugh. “I’m such a mess,” he said.

“You have every right to be, right now,” Blaine responded, giving Kurt’s hand another gentle squeeze.

Kurt awoke, his legs and neck stiff, his cheek sticking slightly to the faux leather couch. His mind was sluggish, and he slowly came to the realization that he had just awoken from one of the best periods of sleep he’d had in almost two months.

His eyes fluttered open slightly, and he didn’t immediately recognize his surroundings. His breath caught, and he fumbled to sit up.

“Aiden?” he called out, his voice cracking slightly.

Almost immediately there was a figure before him, taking his hands in one of his own, brushing his bangs out of his face with his other. “Hey, it’s all right,” Blaine told him quickly. “Aiden’s taking a nap. He’s upstairs in the guest-room. Do you want to see him?”

Kurt swallowed, slowly taking in Blaine’s words, letting things slowly come back to him. He shook his head. “No, it’s all right,” he said at last. “Thank you.” He looked down to where Blaine was stroking the back of his hands with his thumbs. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you or... or cause any worry.” He smiled wanly at the man. “And I’m sorry I fell asleep. You could have woken me up.”

“I didn’t want to. I know you haven’t been sleeping,” Blaine sighed. “I couldn’t sleep for weeks after...” He licked his lips and he trailed off.

“Thank you,” Kurt responded, nodding vaguely.

“Can you get back to sleep?” Blaine asked him, and Kurt shrugged. “Why don’t you try? I can text Finn, tell him where you are...”

Kurt nodded. “That would be great,” he said, smiling warily. “Thank you.”

Blaine grinned, patting Kurt’s knee and standing up. “Any time,” he said. “Really.”

Kurt nodded again, leaning back against the arm of the sofa, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, realizing that he actually believed him.