Chapter Thirty

"Kurt?" The man turned around to see the small girl peering into the kitchen sheepishly. He smiled gently at her. "Will you help me?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart," he responded, drying his hands on the dish towel and placing it back at the edge of the sink. "What do you need?"

Ella took her bottom lip between her teeth. "I need to look extra nice today," she told him.

"Oh?" he responded questioningly. "Why's that?"

"Because we're going to Mikey's!" she explained exasperatedly.

The corners of Kurt's mouth quirked up a little, as if to smile. "I see," he replied. "Well, let's see what you've got, then."

Ella smiled excitedly, taking Kurt's hand in hers as she dragged him upstairs to her bedroom. "I knew you could help me," she told him. "You're really good at clothes stuff." Kurt smiled gently at her as she opened her closet doors, though she was still frowning. "I just don't know what to wear."

Kurt chuckled slightly at her. "Well, one of your dresses is out of the question. Don't want to get those all messed up when you're playing, right?" he asked, and she nodded. "It's too cool for shorts, so how about these jeans?" He pulled a pair out that he knew were her favorites. She nodded quickly. "You have the same coloring as Blaine, so how about some green? It'll bring out your eyes."

"Green is Mikey's favorite color," she told Kurt brightly, and he grinned.

"Well, then, it's even more perfect, isn't it?" he asked, and she nodded. "What about this sweater? It'll keep you warm, too."

"And shoes?" she asked quickly. "I don't want to wear my sneakers..."

"Of course not," he responded seriously, still smiling brightly at her. He crouched down, looking at the shoes on the floor. He picked up a pair of brown boat shoes. "How about these ones?" he asked, showing them to her. She nodded.

"I like those," she told him.

"Good," he responded. He stood up again. "And I'll tell you what," he said with a grin, "I'm going to let you borrow one of my scarves for a little extra something."

Her eyes widened. "Ohh, really?" she asked excitedly. "I promise I'll take extra good care of it, Uncle Kurt!"

The man paused slightly as Ella turned to her bed and picked up the green sweater Kurt had placed there. He wondered if she had even noticed how she had addressed him. He wondered if this was close to how Carole had felt the first time he had referred to her as his mother, wondering if Ella now fully accepted him as member of her family. A strange, unconventional family, he thought, remembering the photograph and frame Aiden had given him for his birthday, now sitting on the mantel along with dozens of other family photographs—featuring Aiden, Alex, Kurt, Blaine, Ella, Cooper, Julia, Finn, Rachel, AJ, Burt, Carole, and Kurt's mother in a few different combinations, taken over the course of several years. They were now a part of one rather extended family.

He wondered if it was only a slip of the tongue, so used to calling Blaine her uncle that it merely slipped out as a title for Kurt as well. He wondered if he was over-thinking the name.

He wondered if he was just over-thinking it all together.

He settled for placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder and pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. She smiled up at him for a moment before returning to her clothing, and Kurt left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

An hour and a half later, Kurt sat at the Changs' kitchen table with Tina, a mug of hot chocolate each. The back slider door was open, letting the crisp autumn air in as they watched Mikey and Ella playing in the backyard. Burt was taking Finn and Aiden to a Browns game in Cleveland, and Blaine and Mike were helping Sam with some moving as he and Mercedes prepared for their April wedding and their new home.

"Mikey was telling me that Ella asked him to go trick-or-treating with her," Tina said with a grin, and a smile broke out across Kurt's face as well.

"Yeah," he said. "She asked me to make the costumes."

Tina chuckled softly. "I think it's terribly sweet," she said. "I'm glad that Mikey's got a crush on such a sweet girl as Blaine's niece."

"Me too," Kurt responded. "Though I'm not sure Blaine will be so thrilled when he finally picks up on the signs."

Tina shrugged half-heartedly. "I can't blame him. He's so protective of her, especially because of everything that happened." She set her mug on the table. "But he'll get over it."

"Yeah," Kurt said with a smile.

"Mikey said you're making the costumes?" she asked, and he nodded. "What were you making?"

"Ella asked for Aladdin and Jasmine," he explained, and she laughed.

"Oh god, that's precious."

Kurt nodded and grinned. "I figured it might be a bit hard for Blaine to deny Ella's little crush once he sees them," he said. "God, it was only last Halloween the two of them were Ariel and Prince Eric. Blaine's going to hate it." He sighed. "And he thought he was doing a terrible job with Ella. He can't even see how much she adores him. Now he's going to feel replaced."

"That poor man," Tina laughed. She took a long sip of her hot chocolate. "By the way, I'd almost forgotten—I have a bit of gossip."

"Ooh, do tell," Kurt responded with a smile.

"Mercedes was telling me that she went over to Quinn's the other day for whatever reason—to talk about something for the wedding, I think—and Puck was there. Not even just there, but like... half-dressed there."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she continued. "Quinn wouldn't talk about it, though."

"Interesting..."

"You don't think they're together again, do you?"

Kurt shrugged half-heartedly. "I don't know. She made a few references..."

Tina quirked a brow. "And you didn't tell me?" she asked him.

Kurt laughed, waving a hand dismissively. "It was back at Finn and Rachel's wedding," he explained. "She just sort of mentioned that he most successful relationship was with Puck."

"I think she has a little bit of a warped sense of things, sometimes."

"I mean, what she said makes sense," Kurt reasoned. "Apparently since she never cheated on him, she thinks he was the one she always cared most about." He sighed. "She had so many ups and downs in life, I can't blame her for wanting to go back to a time when she felt genuinely loved. However messed up it might have been."

Tina nodded slowly. "I can get that."

A lull in conversation fell between them, and Kurt found himself staring out the back door as Mikey and Ella played together, the latter being pushed on the swingset by the small boy. His mind suddenly flitted back to the morning, and the manner in which Ella had addressed Kurt. He still felt as though there were a thousand implications she had made by using that one simple word, and it made him think.

"Kurt?" Kurt looked back at Tina, suddenly certain that his face must have been reflecting his thoughts. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Just lost in thought."

"About?" she pressed on.

He sighed again. "Ella called me 'Uncle Kurt' today," he said.

Tina smiled at this. "Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," he said slowly. "And no." He frowned slightly. "I love thinking that she looks at me as a part of her family. But..."

"But?" Tina asked. "Kurt, she's not even eight. She didn't have any ulterior motives in saying it."

"No, I know," Kurt agreed. "It just made me start thinking. I don't know, I'm being stupid."

"No, what is it?" Tina inquired encouragingly. "Tell me what's on your mind, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt smiled at her. "I love that she looks at me as her uncle," he clarified. "She's easily like a niece to me as well, if not like a daughter. But... I'm not her uncle. I'm just dating her uncle."

"Ahhh," Tina said, letting out a breath. "So this isn't about you and her, it's about you and Blaine."

Kurt could feel the heat in his cheeks rise. "Blaine and I aren't having any problems," he told her quickly.

"That's good," she assured him. "But that's not what this problem with you and Blaine is."

He sighed. "I give in, then," he said. "What is this problem Blaine and I have?"

"Marriage," she told him simply. Kurt swallowed thickly, the word hanging in the air a little awkwardly. "Do you want to get married to Blaine?"

Again, Kurt swallowed, his voice feeling tight. "I..." He looked at her helplessly.

"All right," she said. "Let me amend that. Have you thought about marrying Blaine?"

"Yes," Kurt admitted. "Of course I have. That's... that's only natural, right?"

"Of course," Tina responded. "You're in a long-term, committed relationship. Thoughts of marriage always come up naturally. Especially now, when Finn and Rachel just got married, and Sam and Mercedes are engaged, and you're working on their wedding." She paused. "So what do these thoughts usually involve?"

Kurt shifted slightly. "I don't know," he told her. "There are times when I think that I'd like to marry him, but not yet. And it's so hard to explain because part of my mind is screaming at me that I've only been dating him a year and Alex has only been gone for two... and then part of me can't figure out what the problem is, because I love him and we're mature adults and we've known each other for fifteen years, and dated for a third of that time, so why not?"

"It is okay if you want to marry him," she reminded him.

"I know," he said. "But... I don't know that I do." He paused. "No, I mean... I think I do, I just... I don't know that I'm ready."

"That's completely fine, too," she said with a smile.

"But what if I'm not ever ready?" Kurt asked her, frowning. "What if that's what Blaine wants but I just... can't?"

"It's still a big step," Tina said. "And you suffered a huge loss. You don't have to ever be ready again. There is no right or wrong answer to these sort of things."

"But what if Blaine—"

"I can't promise a lot about your relationship, but I am a hundred percent certain that he would not leave you or anything of the sort if you're not ready," Tina told him. "He loves you, and you two have a great, honest relationship. You always have. You stay honest with him, and he'll understand."

Kurt sighed. "You're right," he said. "I'm just... letting myself get carried away, aren't I?"

Tina smiled. "Happens to the best of us."