Blaine is standing outside of the building, and he doesn't seem to be able to take the last step to go inside. The last step that will allow him to enter the building, and alter his entire life. This last step will allow him to meet Emily, to finally see his niece, the last piece of his sister, but it will also change his life forever. Up until now, Emily has kind of been an abstract concept, an idea. If he didn't think of it, he could almost pretend that she doesn't exist, that he just doesn't see his sister anymore, and not that she is dead. It's not that he doesn't want to meet his niece, he would love to meet this little girl, and get a chance to know her, but now if he enters the building, she becomes real. The fact that he is now responsible for a tiny human being, a person of only 11 months old will suddenly become his reality, not just an idea, but the real thing. He almost wishes that Kurt had said no, that way, he would have had a few more days to get used to the idea, and how much of a coward is he to think that way uh? But now, standing in front of the tall and dark building, he doesn't have a choice. He knows he's going to have to go inside eventually, to go and meet Emily, and take her with him to the apartment, to start their new life. But he can't take the last step. He's not strong enough to do this alone. Suddenly, he feels a hand squeeze his shoulder. He looks behind him, and sees Isaac. His friend smiles, and seems to understand what Blaine is feeling when he looks into his lost and panicked eyes.

“It's going to be okay, she's going to love you. Let's enter together” He says soothingly.

Blaine only nods his head, not finding his voice right at that moment, and turns back towards the building. He suddenly feels a rush of emotion overtaking him, and can feel his throat closing. In all of his panic, he almost forgot that Isaac is here, he's been so blinded by his fears and worries that he didn't notice that he didn't have to do this alone. Since their talk with Kurt last night, he hasn't been alone. Isaac has always been there to reassure him. They had decided that they should go and pick her up the next morning, thinking that the less time she spent with Child Services, the better off she would be. And since then, Isaac has been there for Blaine. He talked to him last night, until he could fall asleep, and he woke up early this morning, and is now missing his classes to accompany Blaine, so that he doesn't have to do this alone. Even Kurt, in his own way, had been there for Blaine. When the man woke up this morning for instance, he found the coffee pot still warm and full, and seeing as Isaac had still been sleeping, he understood that Kurt had made fresh one before leaving to do whatever he needed to do. The simple act almost brought a smile to Blaine's lips, and the gesture might have been little, but considering Kurt and Blaine's relationship, it was a huge improvement. In some ways, the small gesture meant almost as much as the fact that Isaac was there with him this morning. 

Blaine takes a deep breath, steels himself, and finally takes the last step in the building. With Isaac following him, he walks towards the front desk, where a woman in her forties is sitting. When she sees them, she puts a single finger up, gesturing for them to wait a second, while she finishes something on her computer. After a few seconds, the woman clicks on something on her computer, and turns towards them.

“Hello gentlemen, how can I help you?” she asks politely.

“Hello , uh… I'm here to pick up Emily uh….. Anderson…” Blaine stutters. He only manages to get the sentence out because he can feel Isaac presence behind him, and tells himself that Isaac really is one of the best friend's anybody could ask for. The woman seems to understand how nervous Blaine, and doesn't comment on him forgetting her name, which Blaine is grateful for, considering how difficult it would be for him to explain that he forgot his own name.

“Okay, you can just go ahead and have a seat in the waiting room, one of our social workers will come and get you in just a few minutes” she says with a kind smile.

Blaine simply nods, and he and Isaac turn towards a waiting room, where an anxious couple is also waiting. Isaac sits first, and smiles at the couple, and Blaine sits next to him. They wait in silence for several minutes. Blaine can't seem to keep still, and the nerves are making him jittery. It isn't until Isaac lays a hand on his shaking knee, that Blaine realizes what he had been doing.

“Blaine, calm down. I know this is scary, but it's going to be okay. I know it's difficult to see things that way right now, but this is also a happy moment okay? You're going to meet your niece for the first time.”

At that, Blaine seems to calm down a little. He hadn't seen things from this perspective, and Isaac words put his situation in a new light. He had only been focusing on the bad part of the situation, and of course, the bad part is rather horrible, with the death of his sister and the complete one-eighty his life has taken, but there is also good. He's going to meet Emily, who is his niece, for the first time.

Some minutes later, Blaine and Isaac both turn towards the same spot where they can hear the sound of heals, and after a few seconds, an Asian looking woman with kind eyes and a bright smile advances towards them.

“Blaine Anderson?” she calls, and when hearing his name, Blaine and Isaac get up, the woman turns towards them and says “Hi guys, I'm Tina, why don't you follow me to my office so we can talk a little.” She then turns back, and starts walking in the opposite direction, with Blaine and Isaac following her. When they reach her office, she opens the door and says “After you” gesturing them inside. Blaine and Isaac walk inside, and Tina follows them, closing the door behind her. “Take a seat guys, sorry if we're a little tight, I was only expecting Blaine today”.

“This is my friend Isaac” Blaine says “He came with me to help me with everything. I'm sorry if it wasn't okay…”

“It is completely okay” she responds with a kind smile “I understand how overwhelming this must be for you, and it's great that you have someone who is helping you through all of this.” Hearing this, Blaine simply nods, reassured by her words.

“So basically, I wanted to talk to you a little before you meet Emily, to see how you were doing with this whole situation, and if you felt ready, and to tell you a little about her”.

“Oh okay…” says Blaine, uncertain of what exactly he is supposed to say “I'm okay I guess. I'm not going to lie, It's a little overwhelming, but I mean, I'm excited to meet her. And, I think I'm ready, well, as ready as I can be I guess….”

“It's fine Blaine, it's completely natural to be freaked out. Honestly, I would be worried if you weren't. And I know you must be feeling anxious, with the whole situation. I think the best thing for me to tell you, is that it is going to be stressful, and hard at some times, but if it helps you, I think no parent is really ready to have a child, until they are there. Whether they have been expecting one for 9 months, or become parent from one day to the next without warning. So I can honestly say, I think you'll do fine.”

Blaine can't help but doubt her words a little, but he isn't going to tell her so. He doesn't know if he'll do fine, or be a good parent, but he can say he's going to do his best to do right by this little girl, no matter how stressed and worried he is right now.

“So, before I bring you to meet her, I wanted to talk to you a little about her condition.” Hearing those words, Blaine frowns. What condition? He thinks. Nobody had told him that she had a condition. Of course, it doesn't change the way he feels about her, or the fact that he'll take her in, it's just that he's worried about her now. Seeing his confusion, Tina rushes to reassure him.

“Oh no Blaine, don't worry, it's nothing major! Sorry, that was bad wording on my part. She's not sick or anything, you don't have to worry about her health. She's simply a little wary right now, and has been through a major trauma. Even if she is young, this had still affected her, and will probably leave a mark on her, but only time will tell how she evolves.”

Blaine nods his head in understanding. The little girl is so young, and has already been through a major trauma. The loss of his sister is affecting him, but he can't even imagine how hard it must be for her, even if she is too young to understand exactly what is going on, and why she isn't with her mommy anymore.

“When the neighbor found her…” continues Tina “your sister had already been dead for several hours, and Emily had been crying next to her for a while as well. Emily is still too young to understand what happened, but kids can still feel things, and she clearly understood that something dramatic happened that night, even if she doesn't know what.”

Blaine doesn't say anything, sensing that there is more coming. He knew that Emily would probably be a little traumatized when he met her, and that she wouldn't understand why she couldn't see her mom anymore, this isn't news to him. He might not be an expert with kids, but he could still grasp the fact that even children as young as Emily was have feelings, and could be perceptive at times.

“There's something else that you need to know, and I'm sorry for having to tell you this. As you might know, your sister was found dead because she had overdosed….” Tina says uncertain, but Blaine nods his head again, already knowing the fact, since the police officer had informed him on the night he came to announce his sister's death. “Well we have reason to understand that Laura might have had a problem with drugs long before her death, and with her state, she wasn't always careful with Emily” at this, Blaine's eyes pop out of his head, and he can't quite grasp what she is saying. Sure, Laura had been in a bad place the last time he saw her, but he couldn't imagine her being abusive to a child, even when under the influence of drugs. He says so to Tina, and she tries to explain:

“I don't think it was abuse per say, she wasn't violent with Emily, we just have reasons to believe that she just wasn't always careful. Emily is awfully thin for her age, and we believe she wasn't fed regularly while living with your sister. We tried feeding her the past few days and she barely ate, and wouldn't eat anything solid, when she should be starting to eat more and more of them. We also found bruises on her body, even if they were superficial ones, and…”

Blaine doesn't understand how this could've happen. The Laura he remembers would have never done that, she would have never neglected a child, and he can't believe it came to this. He understands that his sister was still unstable since their parent's death, but he can't believe she would be so careless with her daughter. He wonders how it's possible to be so sad about the death of someone, while resenting them for their actions at the same time.

“What should I do?” asks Blaine uncertainly “How should I act? I don't want to make things worse, and I want to help her, but I don't really know what I'm doing and…”

“No hey, no worries Blaine. It's a good thing that you're asking, and wanting to be good for her. The advice I can give you is to not force her to eat. She hasn't been used to eating a whole lot, so don't force her, when she seems like she isn't hungry, or has had enough. Her appetite should become larger and larger, and she should gain weight naturally, with regular meals. The other thing you should do is start to develop her motor skills, which we discovered are behind for her age. Play with her, try to feed her solid food, and let her eat with her hands if she wants to, or try giving her a fork for her to eat with. You shouldn't worry, she's young, and she'll catch up quickly. Yes, she's a little behind on some things for her age, but as I said, you shouldn't worry. Just give her time, and everything will be fine, trust me.”

Blaine feels overwhelmed, and Isaac squeezes his shoulder again, to try and reassure him. He wasn't even sure he could be a parent, but now, it seems even more complicated. Not only is he going to have to be a parent, but he's going to have to step up, and fix his sister's mistakes.

“It really is going to be okay Blaine, and I'm sure you'll do great. I only told you the worse, but she's also a beautiful, smart, healthy little girl, and with time, I'm confident she'll adjust to this new living arrangement just fine. So now… are you ready to meet your niece?”

The three of them get up, and Tina walks them to another room, which she informs them is the play room. She turns towards them, just before she opens the door and lets Blaine and Isaac enter into the room. Tina walks them through the room to a place where a few children are playing with big colored blocks, and point towards a little girl in the middle. Blaine looks towards where Tina is pointing, and his breath catches in his throat when he sees his niece for the first time.