Kurt awakes to an extremely loud CRASH! outside his bedroom. He flings away the covers and darts out, only to find that the kitchen is in a complete mess, with Blaine standing in the middle looking rather woebegone.

Kurt narrows his eyes as he walks over to see Jamie at Blaine's feet, covered in egg yolk and shells as a metal plate rattles away in the corner. Before he can comment, Jamie starts to make strangled noises.

Blaine immediately snatches a towel from the rack and wipes Jamie's face, whispering, "It's okay, Jamie, it's okay," but her noises are getting louder. In fact, she's practically shrieking.

"Get her out of there," says Kurt, immediately. "She's going to cut herself on eggshells."

Blaine carries a kicking and screaming Jamie to the sofa in the sitting room. He nearly overbalances, but somehow both of them manage to land in the sofa.

"Need anything?" asks Kurt.

"My cards. I left it in her room," says Blaine, his voice even. Kurt knows that he has long been trained to be stable as possible in situations like this to avoid alarming the child further.

Kurt darts into the Creative Room to get Blaine's visual cards. As he searches, it suddenly registers that Blaine had said that it washerroom, but that gets shoved to the back of his mind when he finds the cards on a side table.

Blaine doesn't even look up as he takes the cards from Kurt and begins to flip through. Jamie's screaming is a little more intermittent, but she is still struggling against Blaine.

"Is she allergic to eggs?" asks Kurt, tentatively.

"No, I let her too near the eggs and she picked one of them up," says Blaine.

"Oh," says Kurt, unable to contain a slight smile. "Right."

"I think she got upset that it broke and it made her want to break the rest too."

"Wow." Kurt's smile disappears.

Blaine flashes a visual card and speaks in low tones to Jamie. Kurt forces himself to turn away to survey the mess. Then he closes his eyes.

Breathe, Kurt, breathe.

Drawing a mighty deep breath, Kurt goes about cleaning up the broken eggs while Blaine calms Jamie down by humming a little tune. He picks off the shells in her hair in time with the song and encourages her to do the same. Within five minutes, Jamie's also singing along (though with garbled lyrics) as she cleans herself up with Blaine's help. Kurt arches his eyebrows at how quick Jamie has calmed down as compared to Sugar yesterday, or Artie last year as he recalls, but he says nothing.

Blaine finally stands up and stretches. He catches sight of Kurt looking at him and immediately looks sheepish.

"Wow, my bad for that clanger of a morning call!" He scratches the back of his neck. "I'm guessing you're not up for eggs this morning?"

"Toast and jam might just do," says Kurt, with a tight smile. "Do you want to clean her up more thoroughly? Get a new dress or something?"

"Yup, I'll do just that," says Blaine, taking Jamie's hand. "Sorry, help yourself to the jam and toast! Jamie, let's go get changed!"

Blaine gets Jamie into a simple blue dress and matching blue shoes. Kurt offers to braid her hair, but Jamie doesn't seem to like the idea as she keeps twisting her head to stare impassively at Kurt. He turns away and stares at the pink luggage in the corner of the room once again.

Throughout the ride to the orphanage, Kurt can't help looking at Blaine, who is speaking to Jamie in the usual low tones through the rear mirror. Something twists within him, but he can't quite put a finger to it. He dismisses it as he pulls into the parking lot and puts on his best smile. They leave Jamie with the receptionist before making their way to the orphanage director's office.

Kurt is very surprised when they enter the director's office. Maybe he has been thinking way too much along the lines of Carol Burnett inAnnie, along with the chain-smoking bits. He definitely isn't prepared to see a young, beautiful blonde-haired woman in a pristine white dress. He is about to hold out a hand to shake hers when Blaine speaks first,

"You're looking good."

"Looking fine yourself, Anderson," says the woman, with a twinkle in her eyes.

"You know each other?" Kurt cocks his head to the side.

"I didn't know it was going to be her," says Blaine. "I always thought she was the assistant director – I mean, weren't you, Quinn?"

Quinn holds out her hand to Kurt instead. "Quinn Fabray. You must be Kurt Hummel."

"I can't tell if it's supposed to be flattering that my name precedes me," says Kurt, with a laugh.

Quinn merely smiles, then turns to Blaine. "To answer your question, Iwasthe assistant director."

"Congrats on the promotion!"

"Nothing to be that jubilant about," says Quinn, in a deadpan voice. "These kids will drive me up the wall."

Blaine shoots Kurt a significant look.

"So, how's Artie?" asks Quinn, sitting down and gesturing to them to take a seat.

Kurt continues to be bewildered, so Blaine gently explains that Quinn was the one who referred Artie to the LAC after several years of being in the orphanage after his family's car crash when he was eight years old.

"Why did you refer Artie to the LAC?" asks Kurt, thinking of Jamie outside.

Quinn looks at him a tad too long, then smiles thinly again. "Artie was getting far too old for our orphanage. We have limited resources here, Mr. Hummel. My staff are also not trained in handling special needs people."

"Artie is fine, by the way," says Blaine. "The last we heard, he's managing very well in college."

"That's great," says Quinn, visibly relaxing.

"Well, as I shared last night over the phone, we're really here for Jamie Chase," says Blaine. "We..." He shoots Kurt an encouraging smile. "We thought maybe you can share a bit more about her?"

"Did you receive our report?" asks Quinn, leaning back against her chair. "I thought it was quite comprehensive."

Kurt narrows his eyes at her.

"Something more from your personal observations?" Blaine asks.

"She's always been a very quiet child," Quinn replies. "It's a vicious cycle really, she keeps away from others and they keep away from her because she isolates herself from the rest."

"The staff also leaves her alone?" Kurt asks, skeptically.

"They do try," says Quinn. "But you know these kids – you push them a bit too far and it'll be a nightmare for the rest of the day."

Blaine immediately stiffens and Kurt reaches out for his hand.

"I'm sorry." Quinn looks awkwardly at Blaine. "It's – it's just that we had Artie here for so many years and it wasn't easy on anyone. The kids got moody, bitchy and we had to keep them away from Artie to minimize the negativity. It was horrible for everyone as much as it was for Artie. I know the LAC would probably provide him a more conducive environment for his learning and development. And it did. The last time I saw him, he was sodifferent. He was so much more confident and he was going places. He had grown into a fine young man who believed in himself and others."

Kurt feels Blaine relax slightly under his hand.

"It's the same for Jamie. We don't have the resources to conduct a separate early intervention plan for her."

"Actually, Miss Fabray," says Kurt. "We're here to ask if Jamie can continue staying at the orphanage –"

"That wasn't the arrangement I agreed on," says Quinn, her eyes now wary. "I thought when Blaine mentioned 'living arrangements' over the phone, you just needed my opinion on how best to take care of her."

"The LAC can't find someone to be with Jamie during after-school hours within such a short period of time," explains Blaine.

"Maybe Sue Sylvester should have thought about that before signing the papers," snaps Quinn.

"She has thought about it since," says Kurt, though he can't really believe he's sticking up for Sue Sylvester.

"You think Miss Sylvester didn't try to tell me to keep hersince?" Quinn snorts. "Besides, what the LAC decides on is their business."

"You mean, even if an orphaned kid ends up in a home not suitable for him or her and she's sent back here, you won't take him or her in?"

Quinn's jaw stiffens.

"Miss Fabray, please understand that we're not asking you to take care of herforever," says Kurt. "We're just asking that she continue staying here until the LAC can find a suitable caretaker for her to accompany her in dormitory living there."

"I just received a funding cut for the orphanage," says Quinn, sharply. "We have also recently enrolled a surprisingly large number of children here and there is no way that our staff can spare any time to take such specific care of Jamie anymore. After Artie's stay taxed us so much, the board of governors haven't been pleased. When I took over, they gave me a cut-off date to send any special needs children to the various centers and therefore, despite sounding like a broken record about it, I have to reiterate that I have no more resources to cater to them."

Blaine looks at Kurt helplessly.

"I don't get it," says Kurt. "I mean, I get the resources part but it just baffles me that you're sending Jamie away and probably every other future kid whom your orphanage think you can't handle. That completely goes against the very principle of the orphanage, doesn't it? To take in every child regardless of who they are?"

"These are children with learning disabilities, Mr. Hummel," says Quinn, coldly. "I'm not trying to discriminate against them when I'm just trying to cater to their needs."

"So every time you get a kid with learning disabilities, you're just going to offload them to the various centers?" Kurt asks. "I mean, no offense, but your center also has something that none of the rest has – the psychological therapy that the kid undergoes to cope with the absence of parental figures. Why don't you... I don't know, focus on building your resources so you can build your capacity?"

Quinn's face hardens. "Try telling that to our mayor who has no heart for the disadvantaged corners of the community. He heads the board of governors here and even though he's never stepped a foot inside here, he calls the shots."

"I mean you could alwaystry! It makes it seem so convenient that –"

"He's the one who sent me to live here when I was eight, in a frickin'orphanage," snaps Quinn, all of a sudden. "I don't expect him to be handing out any favors to a place like this, let alone one that I grew up in and is now run byme. It's like I'm throwing it in his face and I jolly well am!"

Kurt stares at her. "Your father is...was, I mean,..."

"He changed his name after he divorced my mother and before he joined politics, that coward," seethes Quinn. "And in case, you're wondering, she ran off with another man."

Kurt falls silent. Mayor Russell Farland was a notorious hard-handed conservative and it was intriguing that he had sent his daughter away when he had campaigned hard against issues like abortion.

"Now, we all want what's best for Jamie," says Quinn, her voice quivering. "She needs to be in an environment that caters to her needs and her learning pace. I don't think that's very hard to understand, Mr. Hummel. As much as you have spent time arguing for the orphanage to be magnanimous in keeping her, it seems to me that you're eager to offload her yourself."

"You –" Kurt hates that everybody's rubbing him up the wrong way of late.

"I think we've had enough of this conversation," says Blaine, suddenly getting up. "Jamie's not a piece of good to beoffloadedanywhere. I'm quite disappointed, Quinn, I expected so much more since you grew up with Artie in this place and would have understood more about who he is."

Quinn smirks bitterly. "Do you know when Artie was first sent to the LAC by our director, I argued so much against his transfer? I thought they were making him out to be a weirdo, that he had to be sent there to betreatedfor what he was. I understood that he wasn't different; he was just an angry and broken boy. But we couldn't heal himhere. Not when nobody else wanted to."

"Youcould have," says Kurt, then stops short. He knows it doesn't make any sense to argue any further.

He knows that Quinn is right about how hypocritical he is for having come here.

With that, he turns and leaves without saying another word.

Kurt walks outside to the garden where there are a bunch of kids playing. A lady is yelling at them to stop climbing the tree and a few of them make funny faces at her. The rest are running around playing catch or sitting by the sandpit making little sandcastles. They're looking at each other, talking, grinning, laughing.

Blaine comes out to the stairway. "Hey."

"Where's Jamie?" asks Kurt.

"They'll take care of her for the day," says Blaine, smiling weakly. "That's their best offer."

"Great compromise," mutters Kurt.

He turns back to look at the kids. Blaine makes his way over and looks on as well.

"They look happy," says Kurt. "It feels a little weird listening to Miss Fabray talk about the place like it's all uncaring and gloomy and wretched."

Blaine laughs mirthlessly. "She grew up here. I'd like to think she wanted to change the environment but found that it wasn't as simple."

Immediately, a song comes to Kurt's mind as he stares at the children running around –

It's the hard-knock life for us
It's the hard-knock life for us
No one cares for you a smidge
When you're in an orphanage
It's the hard-knock life
It's the hard-knock life
It's the hard-knock life!

"How about you and I take a little stroll?" asks Blaine, linking his arm through Kurt's. "Perfect weather for that."

They head to a nearby park, but not before Blaine stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets and Kurt folds his arms. Kurt looks around tentatively, then sighs. "You know I didn't mean to be difficult. But she just –"

"No," agrees Blaine. "Tina told me when Artie first came to the LAC, Quinn visited him and was a pretty tough nut to crack in general. She's just full of bitterness I think. Her idea of care seems to be rather warped. So maybe it's actually for Jamie's good that she's not staying at the orphanage anymore."

"It's not just about Quinn Fabray," says Kurt. "Blaine, it's one thing to teach those kids and another to care for one in your own household. We can't possibly take care of hernow... I'm not even trained in handling these kids and you're already having to deal with so much at work and –"

"I know. I know it's a daunting prospect."

"–so much going on in our lives, let alone a kid whom you have to literally grab her attention and –"

"It's manageable, I promise, Kurt," says Blaine, looking all-too sincere. "She'll be spending most of the day at the LAC and all you have to do is come home and enjoy your dinner and maybe spend a bit of time with her, that's all. I'll handle any difficult moments."

"I just don't like the idea of it," mutters Kurt. "I'm all for us trying out to be parents, but I wasn't expecting this kind of an assignment, to be very honest."

"Neither was I," says Blaine. "And I'm scared too."

Kurt stops walking.

Blaine turns to face him. "It's not like there's a shining example of a father in my life. Sometimes, I get really scared that I won't know how to love my kids – I feel like I want to give themeverythingthat I didn't feel like I had and make them feel like nothing can get them down, but I don't want to spoil them."

He rubs his nose. "You know when Sue asked if anyone wanted to care for Jamie in the meantime, I was – I was actually the first to say I couldn't possibly. Everybody thought I was nuts because I work with the kids."

Kurt feels a slight pang of guilt, but he patiently waits for Blaine to continue.

"You're right, Kurt. I know if she was taken out of the school context, I would lose my heart easily to her. I would want to love this girl the way she deserves because nobody else will."

"It's not wrong to think that way," says Kurt softly, as he takes Blaine's hands. "I just – it's just this new addition to our – our household just feels so weird. You may see this on a regular basis, but – but I don't. I'm not used to it. I may not see what you guys do in the classrooms every day, but I've seen you handle some of the kids at the car porch of the LAC when their parents come to pick them up. You're good with them." He thinks back to Sugar Motta and sighs inwardly. The sense of triumph has long disappeared. "I'm not."

"How about this?" asks Blaine, after a moment's silence. "Let's give it two weeks, we will try our very very best, but if either of us can't take it anymore, then I'm throwing the ball back in Sue's court."

"Is that even an option?" Kurt asks, skeptically.

"I don't know," admits Blaine. "But we're going to do our best for two weeks and see how it goes. Can we?"

Kurt meets Blaine's gaze and lets out another dramatic sigh. "You know I can't refuse you when you have those puppy eyes on."

"What do you mean, puppy eyes on? Thesearemy eyes."

When all Kurt does is to bite his bottom lip, Blaine takes Kurt's hands. "Is there something else you want to tell me?"

Kurt cocks his head to the side. Part of him really wants to relate what happened at the office yesterday with Sugar. Yet part of him just wants to let it go and move on with the day.

He decides to go in another direction. "How did you calm Jamie down this morning? What did you tell her?"

Blaine smiles. "A stable, calm voice reciting breathing techniques helps a lot in distracting. That's the first step – to distract from the actual problem. That way, she will be a little more detached from the situation and you're better able to catch her attention. Then focus on something that she likes. Did you hear me humming?"

"Yeah," says Kurt. "But I don't recognize the song."

"No song in particular," says Blaine. "She just likes the humming sound. Then along the way here, I proceeded to rationalize the situation for her. It's important so that the person is a little more prepared and knows not to be so sensitive the next time round."

"She's what – five? Six?"

Blaine laughs. "Six. Trust me, it can be done. I told her it's okay to break an egg. That you have to break an egg to make scrambled eggs or omelets, which she likes. But it has to be broken into a bowl, not on the floor. That kind of thing. I just walked – no, talked her through the steps of making an omelet. The next step would be to walk her through it then, but there was no chance. So I probably will let her do it tonight and..."

He trails off, looking awkward. "I mean... supposing she does stay. I'm not trying to... maybe we could... no, I'm sorry, you should let me know what you –"

"Hey." Kurt catches his gaze. "Look at me."

Blaine scrunches up his nose.

"I can't believe we're doing this," says Kurt, quietly. "But – but as long as she lives inourhouse, I have some responsibility too."

Now Blaine looks at him thoughtfully.

Kurt fists Blaine's jacket and pulls him closer, then bumps his nose onto Blaine's.

"Is that a yes?" whispers Blaine.

"You're an ass," is all Kurt says, before he presses his lips against Blaine's softly. Blaine's laughing; soft puffs of air vibrating against his lips that never fail to send tingles through him. When they break away, Kurt can see a few people staring at them disdainfully out of the corner of his eye, but he finds that he doesn't really care, not when Blaine is brushing leaf bits out of his hair tenderly.

"I love you," says Blaine, bringing his hand down to Kurt's cool cheek. "So very,verymuch."

"Come on," says Kurt, linking his arm with Blaine's once again. "Let's go get ourselves some dinner before we get Jamie."

Blaine breaks into a brilliant smile, the kind Kurt loves because it crinkles up his eyes and radiates warmth and love. If keeping Jamie meant making Blaine smile like that every day, Kurt wouldn't hesitate at all.

The thing is, he knows it wouldn't be like that every day.

-.-.-.-.-.-

On the drive back, Kurt takes a peek at the rear mirror again where Blaine has Jamie tucked up by his side. Blaine is smoothening out Jamie's blond curls while the girl makes little gurgling snores. Kurt has never heard a sound more adorable than that.

He looks back on the road and begins to sing softly,

Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love you, tomorrow

Then Blaine's warm voice chimes in lightly with a harmony,

You're always a day away

-.-.-.-.-.-

Kurt Hummel
Hey dear, you there?

Mercedes Jones
what up!! what are you doing on FB at this hour? I thought you said it was a travesty for your complexion if you sleep past midnight

Or sth

Kurt Hummel
Yea, but I only sleep really well when Blaine's with me.

Mercedes Jones
no

Kurt Hummel
No what?

Mercedes Jones
You two dint have a fight did you

Kurt Hummel
Nooooo! Nononono, that's not what I meant. We are sleeping in different rooms, but it's not because we're mad at each other.

Mercedes Jones
I aint Sherlock Kurt please be more specific

Kurt Hummel
And please put your fullstops and question marks and all, it's rather grating when you don't.

Mercedes Jones
Yes? Kurt? Now. Spill.

Kurt Hummel
...we've got a kid in the house and Blaine's taking care of her.

Mercedes Jones
WHAT WHATWHATWHAT

When did this happen?????

Kurt Hummel
Huh? Yesterday

Oh. Oh wait.

Mercedes Jones
OMG SUCH A MOMENTOUS MOMENT AND YOU DINT SAY A WORD YOU BASTARD

Kurt Hummel
HOLD IT BEFORE YOU CALL ME BAST

Okay I was too late. NO WAIT

Mercedes Jones
A FAMILY KURT YOU HAVE A FAMILY OMG

waiting... with zero patience

.

Kurt Hummel
-___- kid's from the LAC. She's just homing with us FOR A WHILE. Kid's just transferred from the orphanage who doesn't want her and nobody else at the LAC really wants to take care of her.

Mercedes Jones
Damn. you made me all happy for nuthin

that man of yours needs to shrink his heart a couple of sizes down.

Kurt Hummel
Thank you, Mercedes. You know exactly what to say.

Mercedes Jones
Which is what you said but dint work right

?

Damn Kurt I hate punctuation?!#%@#

Kurt Hummel
The English punctuation has just been desecrated.

Mercedes Jones
why do I get the feeling youre not happy about it?

Kurt Hummel
Did you get the part about the kid being from the LAC?

Mercedes Jones
...I just got it

ooh dang. kids name is?

Kurt Hummel
Jamie Chase. She's actually really pretty and cute... until she stabs you with a color pencil because you tried to expand her color palette.

Mercedes Jones
wow thats rough. are kids harder to handle than the grownup ones like Artie?

Kurt Hummel
I dunno. I hope they're easier to handle because they're still pretty much at the beginning of their learning journey.

Mercedes Jones
so Blaine has abandoned you for her?? Imma gonna go all R-E-S-P-E-C-T on him

Kurt Hummel
Let's not put it that way!

He's just taking care of her. He knows how to handle her better anyway.

Mercedes Jones
how long is this arrangement gonna be

pls tell me its for days because you my friend aint staying in your room alone for more than three days

Kurt Hummel
Ha. It was supposed to be a month, but Blaine and I agreed to give it our best for two weeks and work it out from there.

Mercedes Jones
you poor child :)

I mean :(

anw

I really shouldnt be saying that since our best friend is in love with an autistic man and your man is in love with an autistic child but I seriously think theyre a bit much to handle

Kurt Hummel
Well... in a way, I get them, you know? We all look the same as any normal person but we're not regarded as normal because there's something inside that's different. It's the way we act that's different, so people judge us based on that.

Jamie could be a really sweet little girl at heart but she doesn't know how to tell people she hates pink color so the only way she knows to get attention is to, well, stab people with a color pencil.

Mercedes Jones
that makes sense, but its still rough

.

Kurt Hummel
Well Blaine and I have talked about starting a family

Mercedes Jones
WHAT WHATWHAT

ok Im kidding I knew this one

Kurt Hummel
and we talked about kids and all and he's saying maybe this is good practice

Mercedes, I'm no religious person but I'm praying really really hard that this practice bears absolutely NO resemblance to what is to come in reality

It feels horrible of me, but I can't stand the thought of my child just

Jesus I AM horrible

Mercedes Jones
it makes perfect sense darling

Kurt Hummel
I will love him or her all the same

I really will

It's just that it's not the same

Crap I don't know what I'm talking about

Mercedes Jones
ha, you do. I know youre not drunk cos your swearing is so mild

Kurt stop burying your head in your hands

Kurt Hummel
Ah well

Mercedes Jones
aw kiddo Im here for you anytime you need me. if any of those two in the house push your buttons, you are free to come over for a night or so. just dont forget the B&Js

Kurt Hummel
Thanks hun. You always make me feel better. We should have dinner next week.

Mercedes Jones
yup I like the sound of that :) k my eyes are closing, I better go to bed

sleep soon and sleep tight baby

Kurt Hummel
Love you, sleep tight too!

-.-.-.-.-.-

Kurt shuts his computer and looks back at his empty bed.

Tomorrow, he thinks.Just a few hours away.

I will love tomorrow – and beyond.