Chapter 16

6 months later…

"No," Alice cried out shaking her head so that her shoulder length curls went flying, a defiant look flashing through her eyes as she glared at Kurt.

"Ally, you have to get dressed," Kurt growled, trying to grab the twenty month old dancing backwards out of his grasp. Huffing, he dropped his head to his chest and tried to grasp his daughter again as she flew backwards against the wall.

"No, no, no!" She yelled, diving between his legs and making it to the door of her new room. She paused for a minute trying to get her bearings in Kurt's new apartment before taking off up the corridor heading for the living room that led to Kurt's room.

"God I miss your mother," Kurt ground out, running a ragged hand through his hair, glancing at the calendar to count the days until Dani and Sam would be back from their first vacation as a couple. Shaking his head, a small smile played on his lips as he realised his daughter was simply as stubborn as he was. "Definitely my little girl," He laughed softly. Picking up a frame placed by the door, Kurt smiled softly and ran his finger over Blaine and Alice's faces where they were sharing a cupcake at her first birthday, icing all over both of their faces. "I love you," He whispered kissing the frame gently before setting off to find his daughter.

Finding traces of his daughter in the form of her pyjama top, her soft Stitch toy and her soft duck from Quinn, Kurt rolled his eyes as he followed her line of destruction into his bedroom. Seeing a lump under his unmade blankets, he shook his head, barely concealing his laughter.

"Oh I do wonder where little Ally could be," Kurt smirked, supressing more laughter when the bump started to move and little giggles rang out through the air. "Where oh where is my baby girl?" Moving around the room, he pretended to check behind the door and the curtains, watching a pair of blue eyes identical to his own appear at the bottom of the bed, the blanket still placed firmly over Alice's head. "Hmmm, well I guess I've lost her then, oh well, I wonder if I can find another little girl to take her place?"

Alice popped up from under the blankets her eyes alight with the actions of her father. "Heor I am Daddy."

Kurt whirled around to smirk at her, a twinkle sparkling in his eyes, "Oh, there you are, well then…" Grinning, he dived onto the bed, pushing Alice back against the pillows, tickling her mercilessly as she squealed with laughter.

"Daddy, no top it!" She giggled as Kurt rolled onto his back hoisting her squirming body into the air while still tickling her sides.

"There's a price to pay Ally girl."

Grinning, Kurt tilted Alice forwards so that she could place a kiss to his lips. "Thank you little one," He beamed, placing her so that she was straddling his chest. Alice instinctively leaned forwards, nuzzling into the croak of Kurt's neck, "Love you baby."

"Love wu twoo Daddy."

Kurt nuzzled her hair gently, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent. Alice sighed in contentment as her little fingers found the chain around his neck and tugged on it, her fingers clasping gently around the gum wrapper ring resting on the end of the long chain.

"Uh-uh princess," He smiled, pulling it out of her grasp and letting the chain fall underneath his simple black Henley. "Now then, it's time to get dressed Ally, we have errands to run soon."

"No Daddy," She whined, going rigid in his arms with a shriek when he sat up with her held tightly to his chest.

"Alice Elizabeth Blaine Hummel, if you keep this up Santa won't visit!" Kurt threatened, his daughter instantly stilling in his arms and mimicking her father's raised eyebrow when she looked at him.

"Momma and Samam?" She questioned looking at him in confusion.

"Nope, Santa can see if you've been naughty anywhere baby girl, it doesn't matter where you are on Christmas Eve," Kurt smiled, thanking a god that he didn't believe in that it was only a five days from Christmas and therefore he had perfect blackmail for his young daughter. "Anyway, you, Mommy and Sam are all staying here along with Grandpa and Grandma, remember?"

Alice watched him with conflicted eyes as she contemplated what she should do, the short sleeve of her onesie obviously frustrating her as she tried to roll it down from where it scrunched up around her shoulder, the matching pants to the pyjama top that she had shed in the living room rolling up to her knees as she struggled in Kurt's hold. Slowly, she started to shake her head, a cheeky grin playing on her lips, "Noooooo."

"Eurgh, Alice," Kurt groaned, ready to bang his head off of the wall. "Why are you so stubborn?"

A chuckle sounded from the doorway and both Hummel's eyes snapped up to look at the figure leaning on the doorframe, "I've said it before and I'll inevitably say it again Kurt. She's your daughter, through and through."

Watching Blaine retreat into their bathroom to finish brushing his teeth, Kurt shook his head. "No, I blame her spending too much time between you and Dani," He called out to his boyfriend, Blaine's laughter growing as he joined them back in his and Kurt's bedroom, diving onto the bed with the feuding husband and daughter.

Alice instantly crawled across Kurt, kicking him in the face as she did so in order to get to Blaine, cuddling on top of him when she finally got there, her hands reaching out to fiddle with the mountain of jelly and wooden bracelets as she did whenever she found her way into Blaine's arms. Kurt sighed softly, following his daughter's path and rolling into Blaine's waiting arm, resting his head on the younger man's shoulder as Blaine's arm curled tightly around him.

"Okay, I know when I've been defeated, it's your turn to try and get her ready," He sighed, kissing Blaine's neck and lightly ruffling the thin spread of dark curls that were beginning to grow, despite the weaker doses of chemo that Blaine was still undergoing.

"Why me?" Blaine whined, turning his head and shuffling down the bed until he was nose to nose with his boyfriend, Alice still resting happily on top of him, her back now flat against his chest. Slowly, he ran his fingers through Alice's hair, "Her curls are starting to drop."

Kurt simply laughed, rubbing his nose against Blaine's in an Eskimo kiss, "Yeah," Kurt sighed, "Dani's going to literally go into mourning when they eventually disappear and because my dear, somehow that child has picked up your sleeping and getting dressed habits, therefore you can deal with it."

Blaine smirked, kissing Kurt softly before pulling away to sit up, taking Alice with him. "I have no idea what you're talking about Kitkat, but I'll give it a go," He smirked, "Also, we have to be out of here in half an hour for my doctor's appointment and you've yet to start your hair, good look Sweetie. Ally Pally, go grab some clothes, we gotta go, we gotta go." He laughed, placing the toddler on the floor and tapping her back gently.

Alice instantly nodded, racing out of the room much to Blaine's entertainment and Kurt's shock.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"Because I'm freaking magic dude," Blaine smirked, instantly pulling a face.

Kurt looked at Blaine, his blue eyes wide with both amusement and irritation, "Never call me dude again or we're going to have some severe problems."

"Yeah that was weird," Blaine shuddered.

Kurt simply chuckled, winding his arms around Blaine's waist and tugging him close. Resting his forehead against Blaine's, he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, breathing in everything that was in essence Blaine, "Please don't ever, ever scare me like a few months ago ever again."

"I can promise that I'll try my damn hardest not to," Blaine whispered, moving his hands from Kurt's chest to wrap around his shoulders, gently twirling the hair at the nape of Kurt's neck around his fingers. "I love you so much."

"Daddy, Blay les go!" Alice yelled running back into the room with her dress on backwards while she tripped over the tights and coat she was carry.

Kurt laughed, pulling away from Blaine as he scooped Alice up, placing a kiss to her forehead before passing her to the other man. "You tackle Alice and I'll tackle my hair, yes?"

"Sure," Blaine laughed, drawing Kurt close once more to kiss him gently.

"Yuck," Alice muttered, pulling a face as both men laughed at her.

"Oh I'll give you yuck," Blaine grinned, kissing all over Alice's face as he carried her from the room, the little girl screeching and laughing while Kurt simply shook his head, heading back into the bathroom.

"It's been a stubborn one Blaine," Doctor Benson smiled, touching the back of Alice's head as he passed her playing with the doll's house set up in the corner of his treatment room on his way to sit in front of the two young men, "But, we're finally heading into the consolidation phase of your treatment."

Blaine perked up considerably, a grin slowly forming on his face. Kurt meanwhile scrunched his forehead in confusion glancing between Blaine and the doctor as Alice barrelled into his lap. Picking her up and turning her around so that she was seated carefully leaning back against him, he turned back to the doctor once more, the bewilderment still evident in his features.

"Want me to explain?" Doctor Benson questioned kindly.

Both Blaine and Kurt nodded, Kurt reaching out with his free hand to squeeze Blaine's hand when he noticed the tears welling up in the man's twinkling hazel eyes.

"Well," Doctor Benson smiled eyeing up his favourite patient and his family, "Essentially there are three phases to the treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, induction, consolidation and maintenance. Typically, the induction phase only lasts for around two or three rounds of chemo but with how stubborn Blaine's has been it's taken us fourteen months to get to this point."

"At last," Blaine breathed, Doctor Benson chuckling softly while Kurt squeezed his hand once more and Alice ogled him curiously.

"Effectively to go into the consolidation phase, Blaine is now leukaemia free. Congratulations Blaine, you're in remission."

"Such a beautiful word," Blaine grinned. Kurt sat beside him in shock for a matter of minutes before diving into Blaine's waiting arms to press kisses all over his face, Alice just managing to launch herself from Kurt's knee in time to avoid toppling over.

"Come here baby," Kurt smiled, leaning down to pull Alice back up onto his lap when she shot him a disgruntled look. Blaine leaned around Kurt to place a kiss on the top of her head before wrapping his arms tightly around two of the most important people in the world to him. Turning back to the grinning doctor, Kurt smiled softly, "What does this mean now then?"

"Well, now the hard work truly begins," The older doctor sighed, shuffling the papers on his desk to find the plan that would hopefully work to keep Blaine healthy. "With how aggressive everything was this time, I'd like you to consent to a stem cell transplant, as well as the high does chemo that you've already had."

Kurt and Blaine shot each other worried looks, Doctor Benson's expression softening as he watched the trauma of six months ago pass over both men's faces. "Don't worry guys, the main problem last time wasn't the strength of the chemo, it was the frequency that your body simply couldn't deal with Blaine. This time round, we will monitor you much more closely, and the chemo will only be one day every four to six weeks, meaning that we can treat you as an outpatient."

The two men nodded slowly, the worry on their faces only easing slightly. "When we're happy with that, the main chemo in the maintenance phase is a much, much lower dose only once every eight weeks. It will take longer than the two years treatment for ALL generally takes Blaine, but everything is definitely looking up from here."

Blaine grinned, "Thanks Doc, couldn't have asked for anyone better."

"Hmmm, you're just trying to butter me up for something…"

"A room with a TV when chemo's going on?" Blaine smirked cheekily, Kurt rolling his eyes and Doctor Benson laughing good-naturedly.

"I'll see what I can do, I may even be able to get you a DVD player in there," The doctor laughed, standing to shake the hands of the men as Kurt wrestled Alice into her coat. Reaching to get a tub of lollipops from under his desk, Doctor Benson offered it to Alice, the little girl's eyes lighting up as she glanced to Kurt who nodded with a small laugh before her hand dove into the tub, pulling an orange one triumphantly out from the bottom. "I don't think I've ever had a better behaved kid in this room," Laughing still, the man watched with a small smile as Kurt unwrapped the lolly for the blue eyed girl, before he caught sight of Blaine's pout. "Really Blaine, are you two or something?" He chuckled, holding the box out for Blaine to grab a lollipop too.

"Yep," He smirked instantly unwrapping the blackcurrant one he had pulled out.

Kurt rolled his eyes again, amusement and laughter dancing through them, "Really, not two and a half?"

"Two and three quarters actually."

"Kurt, come on! Let's celebrate!" Blaine grinned, his entire face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning.

Chuckling, Kurt kissed Blaine quickly, his eyes darting to Alice who sat giggling in Blaine's arm that wasn't currently wrapped around his waist. "As amazing as that sounds B, we have the slight issue in that we still have Ally for the rest of the day yet."

Blaine's eyebrows rose in confusion, a slow lazy smirk taking over his face as he finally caught on to what Kurt meant Reaching out a gloved hand, he grabbed Kurt's and dragged him to the bench nearest the doctor's office, pulling Kurt down onto it and Alice onto his knee. "Oh Kurt. I didn't mean like that, that's for later when we're alone," He whispered in the blue eyed man's ear, delighting at the shudder he received in response. "I was thinking we could head over to Bryant park actually," Blaine blushed, reaching into the sports bag that he had brought out with them, "I was getting my blades sharpened the other day and I kind of, well I couldn't help myself." Blushing fiercer, he pulled out a pair of tiny white ice skates. Shrugging, he turned back to Kurt, "Cooper started teaching me when I was eighteen months, think I could have a go at teaching Ally?"

Kurt's eyes widened, flickering between Blaine, Alice and the ice skates before he tackled the pair in a hug. "Yes, yes and yes." Blaine laughed, placing a kiss to the tip of Kurt's nose. "But these boots are Louboutin's so the two of you are on your own on that ice."

"Fair enough," Blaine chuckled, hugging Kurt once more before turning to Alice. "Hey Ally Pally, want to see what I've got for you?"

The little girl nodded, reaching out to the skates, "Mine?"

"Yeah, they're yours," Blaine grinned, gripping her fingers before she touched the blades, "But you've got to be really, really careful because they're very sharp, okay?"

"Shap," She nodded, entranced as she reached out to play with the laces on the front of them, "Mine."

Kurt leaned on the barrier, grinning and sipping his coffee as he watched Blaine grab Alice just before she crashed onto the ice, swinging her round in circles while she giggled madly. Laughing, the dark haired man placed her between his legs and instructed her to hold on to his knees, moving them slowly around the ice, the excitement getting too much for Alice as she let go and tried to go on her own again, almost falling once more.

Shaking his head at the pair, Kurt stretched slightly, his gaze automatically tuning back into the two of them, the breath leaving his body with a whoosh. It was nothing he hadn't seen before, just simply Blaine interacting with Alice, but like lightning, it hit him all at once. This is what he wanted. Forever. The two people on the ice were his entire world and he never ever wanted to lose that. Sure he had already known that, but watching Blaine crouch in front of Alice and take her hands, guiding her gently around the ice, Kurt knew there was no way he would trade them for anything ever. Tilting his head, Kurt smiled as Blaine eventually gave up, situating Alice securely on his shoulders before whizzing around the ice much to the infants delight.

Spotting Kurt, Blaine glided gracefully over to the section of the barrier he was standing at, before crashing into it full force. Kurt snorted with laughter, as Blaine managed to grab Alice just before she toppled from his shoulders. Acquiring his balance once more, he held the infant on one hip, rolling his eyes with a smirk while Kurt finished laughing. Kurt leaned over the barrier dividing them and grabbed Blaine's face in his mittened hands, kissing him slowly and softly before pulling back to simply gaze at the two on the ice.

"Go again, go again Papa!" Alice yelled, both men's jaws dropping in shock while she stared intently at Blaine, not understanding why he wasn't complying with her wishes.

Watching Blaine grin goofily at his daughter while his face held almost childlike wonder and amazement, Kurt suddenly knew exactly what he had to do and took a deep breath to gather his courage as Blaine turned back to him, the awe never once leaving his face.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Blaine grinned cheekily.

"Blaaaaiiiiiiine," Kurt whined, gripping the lapels of the man's coat.

"Kuuuuuuuurt," Blaine mimicked straight back, Alice snickering at the sound of his voice.

Kurt laughed softly letting his hands glide up Blaine's face once more, smirking when Blaine shuddered slightly. Leaning forwards, he pressed another warm, gentle kiss to his lips before pulling back to stare into the depths of the deep amber pools in front of him, Alice still giggling and clapping in Blaine's arms.

"Will you marry me?"