Laura. That's the first thing that comes to Blaine's mind when he sees his niece for the first time. She looks just like Laura. Emily is sitting on a mat, and playing with a big blue brick. She is surrounded by a number of other children, some of a similar age to hers, while some of them look a little older, but she doesn't seem to be playing with any of them, and seems to be in her own little world. Blaine takes a moment to really study Emily, and he notices straight away the family resemblance there is. In spite of her young age, Emily already has a mass of curly black hair which resembles his own, Blaine thinks to himself. The rest however, is all Laura. Emily has beautiful green eyes, that look so much like Laura's that they bring tears to Blaine's eyes. She also shares the same delicate traits as her mother had, with a tiny upturned nose, and pouty full lips. Now that he is looking closely, Blaine also notices a faint bruise on her cheek, and he notes that she seems to be smaller and thinner than all the kids surrounding her. He then remembers what Tina had told him about how Emily hadn't been fed regularly, and hadn't been taken proper care of, and it makes him see red. The little girl has olive skin, just like him and all the rest of her family had. Looking at her now, it would be impossible for him to miss how many features she has in common with Laura, and the rest of his family. Emily is without any doubt, an Anderson.

“I think it would be best for you to go over there and play a little with her, so that she gets used to you” Tina then says, interrupting Blaine's thoughts. “Emily doesn't really play with the other kids, and seems to keep to herself a lot, which we think is due to the fact that she's been left to occupy herself a lot since she's been born. She's a little shy, but if you go and play with her, she should warm up to you pretty quickly, so go ahead, and Isaac and I will leave you alone with her for a bit.”

Hearing that, Blaine suddenly wisps his head towards Isaac, and looks at him with pleading eyes. He's not ready to be left alone with Emily. He knows he's her uncle, and she's his responsibility now, and he knows that playing with her and getting to know her before bringing her home is a smart idea, but he doesn't know what he's doing, and he isn't confident enough yet to be alone with her, what if he messes up or something? Seeing his friend's distress, Isaac smiles kindly and says “I can stay with you for a bit if you want? We can play with her together for a while.”

Hearing that, Blaine nods quickly and relaxes “Thanks man, I'm just not ready to be alone with her yet…” he says hesitantly.

“It's completely natural Blaine” Tina rushes to reassure him. “Nobody expects you to suddenly be perfect with kids, and it's okay for you to want to be with someone at first. You guys can go ahead and play with her for a little then, and I'll be in my office. Or would you rather I stay with you?”

“No, I think we'll be okay” Blaine answered, smiling uncertainly. “We'll come and get you if we need anything.”

“Okay then” answered Tina “I'll come by in about an hour or so okay? We can talk about all the formalities, and the paperwork after you get to know Emily”.

Tina then walked away, leaving Blaine and Isaac alone in the room.

Blaine then turned again towards the little girl that was quietly playing, and he felt utterly alone. Of course, he wasn't really alone, seeing as Isaac was right next to him, they were a dozen other kids in the room, and he could see two women and a man standing a bit further away and watching the kids, but still. He couldn't help but feel as if he was alone with Emily, and he couldn't hide the fact that he was very nervous. Isaac squeezed his shoulder and said:

“Let's do this man”

So they slowly approached Emily, and when she felt a sudden presence near her, she lifted her head and looked at Blaine with curiosity. Once again, Blaine was blown away by her eyes; they really were just like Laura's. Blaine deciding that it would be better to bend down to her level to get to know her, decided to sit on the floor with his legs crossed in front of her. She followed him with her eyes, and he smiled tentatively at her. She didn't smile back, but she also didn't look uncomfortable or scared, so he counted it as a win. What was he supposed to do now? Should he speak to her? Did children her age even understand what was being said to them? Blaine felt completely lost, and again, realized he really knew nothing about kids.

“Hi Emily…” he said a bit awkwardly, figuring it couldn't hurt to talk to her, for her to get used to him. “I'm your uncle Blaine. Of course, you don't know me yet, but you will soon, and I'd love to get to know you too. So… can I play with you?”

Emily didn't answer, and was still looking at him curiously. Isaac, who was standing a little further away told Blaine that he didn't think she understood complete sentences yet, but should understand simple words. Blaine then turned to him and looked at him with wonder.

“How do you know so much about kids?” he asked curiously

“There used to be lots of kids where I lived” replied Isaac, with a defensive tone.

Blaine wondered where Isaac had lived and grew up as a kid, and why he seemed to be defensive of the question. His friend never talked about his past, and seemed uncomfortable when Blaine would bring it up or ask him questions, so despite his curiosity, Blaine decided to drop the subject as to not make Isaac uncomfortable, and focus on Emily instead. He took a big blue block of color, and put it on top of the ones Emily already had piled up, and smiled at her. She still didn't smile back, but she resumed playing, and didn't protest when he played with her. After a while, she would even give blocks to Blaine for him to pile up, and she would then knock them down. Though she never smiled, or laughed, her eyes would light up when Blaine would pretend to be grumpy and annoyed at her knocking his pile. They played together for several hours. When Emily got tired of the blocks, they moved to the miniature kitchen where Blaine pretended to eat plastic bread, and though Emily still didn't smile, she seemed to enjoy it and proceeded to give to him every plastic food she could reach. Blaine who was so focused on Emily and playing with her, didn't notice the time flying by, and when Tina came back to the room to announce that it was time for lunch, Blaine was surprised that more than 2 hours had gone by with him not noticing. From the corner of his eyes, Blaine saw Isaac high-fiving a little boy with whom he had been playing, and he smiled. While all the elder kids stood up and seemed to know where they were going, the man and two women that had been watching the kids came and picked up or held by the hand all the younger kids, and left to go towards where Blaine assumed they would all have lunch, until it was just Blaine, Isaac, Tina and Emily in the room.

Tina then approached them and smiled towards Blaine and Emily.

“Hey Emily, are you having fun?” she said with a light voice and kind smile. Emily didn't smile to Tina either, but she did seem to recognize her and let her pick her up without protesting. Tina then turned to Blaine, who had stood up, and Isaac.

“All the kids are going to have lunch, and then most of them are going to go and have their naps. How about the three of us eat with Emily and then we can put her to bed for her nap, and we can talk?”

Blaine quickly nodded, happy to be able to spend more time with his niece. He might have been terrified this morning, but now that he had had a chance to play with her, he didn't want his time with her to end yet, and wanted to keep getting to know her.

****

About an hour later, after they had lunch and had put Emily in her crib for her nap, the three of them were sitting in Tina's office once again.

“So Blaine” she said with a kind smile “It seems like you and Emily got on well didn't you? She looked really comfortable with you when I came back, which is really great!”

“Yeah…” answered Blaine, who couldn't help but smile thinking of the little girl. “She's really great, and so full of life! And I'm really glad she seemed to like me it's just… she never smiled or laughed, or even talk for that matter. Do you think it's because she doesn't know me yet, or…?”

Hearing that, Tina nodded knowingly, and seemed to understand instantly what Blaine was trying to say.

“You remember how I told you that Emily was a little wary, and how the trauma left a mark on her? Well, this is one of the things we think is due to her situation when we found her, or to how she was cared for before the death of your sister. Emily is a little late compared to other kids her age. It's nothing to worry about, and she's a very bright kid and full of life, as you said so yourself. But… She doesn't really smile, or laugh, and she doesn't talk yet.”

“Is that something we should be worried about?” asked Blaine with concern “Is there something I should do when she comes home with me, someone we should see?”

“It's nothing worrying no, each child develops in his own way and his own time. Children her age usually already know a few vocabulary words, such as “mom”, “dad”, “ball”, “block”, etc… they also tend to be very vocal when they play, and they'll even try talking to you, even if they don't use comprehensible words yet. However, Emily doesn't seem to know words yet, and she doesn't really make any sounds when she plays, or tries to talk to people. You shouldn't be worried, however. Growing up, we think nobody really talked to Emily, and that that's the reason she doesn't know any words yet, or try to have conversation, even unintelligible ones. She should pick all of that up rather quickly though. Just talk to her when you play with her, when you feed her, all the time basically. Talk to her about what you're doing, what she's doing, and she'll start picking up words in no time. As for the smiling or laughing, you have to remember that in about a week, Emily went from her mother's house where she was left alone for several hours until the police found your sister, to here, where she's surrounded by other kids, which she obviously isn't used to, to meeting you. I think she just hasn't had time to adapt yet. But when you take her home, and she gets used to you and to her new living arrangement, she should become more comfortable and a lot less wary! She just needs some time”.

Blaine nodded. It was a lot of information to process, but it also made sense. It seemed like Emily never had a stable living environment until now, and it made sense that she felt wary and uncomfortable. He just promised himself that he would do his best to provide this for her, even if he currently lived with two other college students, and didn't have a whole lot of money, he would do his best to provide a stable place where Emily could feel comfortable, a home.

“So what happens now? “ Blaine asked. “Should I get to know her more before I take her or…?”

“Well, are you free until the end of the week? Because what I figured is, you could come back here every day for this week, and continue to spend time with Emily, so that you can both be more at ease with each other, and then, by this weekend, you could take her in? I know it's really fast, but legally, she does fall under your custody, so there are not a lot of legal procedures, and we're pretty packed here so…”

“No, no, it's no problem. I understand that you have enough kids her with the ones that don't have family, it's no use to keep the ones that do have a family for too long as well.”

Isaac tensed a little hearing that, but neither Blaine nor Tina noticed.

“Ok great Blaine, then I guess I'll see you tomorrow, thank you for coming” Tina said, and she stood up to walk them back towards the entry way of the building.

After saying their goodbyes, Isaac and Blaine exited the building, and started walking towards the subway they had to take to get back to their apartment. Blaine could feel himself relax as they got further and further away from the building, and he felt lighter than he had in days.

“That went well didn't it?” he asked Isaac “Emily is really cute, and I wasn't too bad with her, and we have a few more days to get used to the idea before she moves in and…”

“You did great Blaine” Isaac cut him off “She already likes you, and you were really good with her. I told you you didn't have to worry, and I was right”.

“Thank you Isaac” Blaine said softly “And I don't mean just for this. I mean, thank you for coming with me today, and reassuring me, and for letting her stay with us without a question. You really are a great friend.”

“Well thank you Blaine Anderson, you're not such a bad friend yourself” Isaac said with a proud smile. Still, Blaine could see that the compliment had touched him, and he was really glad he had a friend like Isaac, so he let the smug tone pass without teasing his friend for this time.

****

A few days later find Blaine with Emily in his arms standing in front of his apartment. As planned, Blaine had gone to see Emily for the rest of the week, one more time with Isaac, and then the two last times alone. Emily seemed to be a little more comfortable with him now, and while she still didn't smile, she now crawled straight towards Blaine when she saw him enter the room, and seemed to enjoy spending time with him, as much as he enjoyed spending some with her. Today was Friday, and when Blaine left the orphanage earlier, he had taken Emily with him after signing some papers, instead of leaving alone like he had done for the past few days. Isaac had come with him to get Emily, and take the subway with him so he wasn't alone with her, be he now had had to go to work, and Blaine was alone with her. He found his keys, and entered his apartment, while still carrying Emily with one arm, and a bag with her stuff on his other shoulder. He didn't know if Kurt would be there, so he looked tentatively around the apartment to check. He had told the man today would be the day he would bring Emily home, but he didn't know how the man would react, of if he would show himself today. Once inside the apartment, Blaine put Emily on the floor, and gave her a few of her toys to play with. Looking around the apartment, Blaine realized that he would soon have to go and buy some stuff for her. Him and Isaac had childproofed the apartment yesterday, but he hadn't had any time to go shopping, and he'll need some things for her, like a high chair, or a crib, etc… While Emily played quietly (she still didn't talk or use words at all now, though she did use a little more noises when she played), Blaine walked towards the table in the living room to put Emily's bag down, and was surprised to find some baby food and a pack of diapers that hadn't been there this morning when he and Isaac had left the apartment. Seeing them, Blaine realized that Kurt must have bought them while he and Isaac were away, and the thought touched him a lot. The fact that Kurt had gone out of his way to buy these, and had remembered that Emily would be coming today really impressed and pleased Blaine. Suddenly, Blaine heard a noise behind him, and he turned around, hearing a door opening.

“Oh, Hi.” Said Kurt quietly when he entered the apartment “I wasn't sure you guys would be back already.”

“Hi” answered Blaine, with an awkward nod towards Kurt “Thanks for these.” He said pointing to the food and diapers. Kurt only nodded in response, and after hanging his coat near the entry door, he slowly approached Emily, and crouched down in front of her.

“And you must be Emily; it's nice to meet you princess.” Kurt said with a soft tone Blaine had never heard him use before. The words and the tone surprised Blaine to no end, but then he reminded himself that he didn't really know Kurt all that way. Maybe the man was horrendous with adults, but an actual decent human being with children. Blaine then felt guilty when he reminded himself of the way Kurt had been since he learned the news about the death of his sister. They might still not get along great, but the small quiet gestures really did mean a lot to Blaine, and he felt grateful towards the man, even if it was an unusual feeling for him to have towards Kurt. Blaine's thought were cut off when Kurt got back up.

“You should put her to bed soon, her eyes are drooping closed as we speak” he said as he walked towards his bedroom, and closed the door behind him.

Yes, I should, thought Blaine. It really had been a long day for both of them, and Blaine could imagine how tired the little girl was. He proceeded to quickly heat up some food that Kurt had bought, and fed Emily while the little girl was sitting on his knees. After he fed her, he laid down a blanket on the table, and proceeded to change Emily's diaper, which he managed to do after only three tries at it, which he was kind of proud of. Once the little girl was changed, and in a pair of pajamas that he had brought with her stuff, he brought her to his bedroom, and laid her down on his bed, while she would be sleeping until he brought a crib for her. He surrounded her with cushions to be sure that she wouldn't fall off the bed, and quietly left the bedroom.

Once outside the bedroom, he stood here for a while. What should he do now? He hadn't had a moment to himself for a week, had always had something to occupy his thoughts. He had to think of Emily, and what he should do, and how her first day alone with him would go. But now that it was done, he found himself at a loss as to what to do. He suddenly felt really tired physically and emotionally. It had been an exhausting week, and he could feel the weight of it of his shoulders right now. Suddenly, thoughts of Laura came crashing down to him, and he felt overwhelmed with feelings. Since learning the news about his sister's death, Blaine hadn't had a moment to himself, and he hadn't allowed himself to think about her, unless it was related to Emily. He hadn't allowed himself to grieve for his sister, and now all the feelings he had repressed were suddenly all surfacing. As he started crying softly, Blaine wondered how it was possible to love and hate someone at the same time. He hated his sister for the way she had treated Emily, but he couldn't help but miss her and he loved her so much. The realization that he was now really a parent to Emily because his sister was dead hit him, and he stood there crying in the middle of his living room.

A few seconds later, the door to Kurt's room opened and the man found his roommate crying without a sound, with his head hung low, and he looked so sad and defeated.

“Blaine…” Kurt said tentatively, and hearing the voice of his roommate, Blaine lifted his head towards Kurt, but couldn't stop the tears flowing down his face, and he felt his face crumple. Kurt felt at a loss as to what he should do, but he slowly approached Blaine. The man was still crying, and even if Kurt didn't always like him, he couldn't stand to see someone in pain that way. Understanding that the weight of everything was now falling onto Blaine, Kurt tentatively hugged the man to try and comfort him. Blaine was surprised when he felt arms surrounding him at first, but his pain, his loss, was too great for him to try and process that for now. Everything that had happened in the last week came back to Blaine, and he started clinging to Kurt, and crying in earnest. Suddenly, Blaine's legs gave up, and him and Kurt found themselves sitting on the floor with Blaine still clinging to Kurt and sobbing, while Kurt tried to reassure and comfort him. It didn't matter that they didn't like each other, or didn't particularly know each other, Blaine was allowing himself to cry for the first time this week, was allowing himself to finally grieve his sister, and Kurt sat there holding him and would stay there for as long as it took.