Chapter 4

Five weeks later a Monday morning started out bright and early in New York City, bringing with it the first brilliant sunshine of March, a long with insane chaos for one apartment. Rachel watched with large brown eyes, steadily munching on a slice of toast as Kurt juggled his phone and heating a bowl of oatmeal, Sebastian and Elliott threw a jar of nutella between them each chomping out of it with spoons and ignoring Kurt’s dirty looks and Dani tried to wrangle a shrieking Alice into her high chair.

“I love you guys, but thank God that I’m back at work as of this week, I don’t think I can take anymore of these mornings,” She laughed, grinning once more as silence flooded the kitchen, everyone watching her.

“It’s nice to see you smiling again Rach, but I thought you weren’t going back ‘til next week?” Elliott smiled as activity resumed in the kitchen, Kurt rushing out with one finger in his opposite ear to block out the screaming baby. Elliott pecked Sebastian on the lips still watching Rachel carefully as he grabbed Alice feet, helping a frustrated Dani to get the rigid girl situated in her high chair.

Rachel shook her head with a beam standing and limping slightly over to the dishwasher, ignoring Sebastian’s glance of concern and Dani trying to take the plate from her. “Nope, I’m not starting anything this week, but they’re finally letting me go back to observe and help behind the scenes.” Grabbing the coffee pot she practically danced back to the table topping everyone’s mugs up as they looked at each other in concern.

Glancing at each other, Sebastian handed Dani Alice’s forgotten bowl of oatmeal and leaned on the back of the chair. “Is that really such a good idea Rachel? I mean we know you, you’ll be straight back in there trying to do whatever you can and you still need to heal properly yet, have you told Finn?”

Rachel scowled and folded her arms across her chest, standing up abruptly, “I don’t need to tell Finn everything, unlike all of you he trusts me and my judgement! Now I am leaving in two minutes so Elliott if you want to cab share I suggest you drink up because I’m leaving!” Turning on her heel she stormed out of the kitchen, leaving three wide eyed bemused roommates behind.

“Oh,” Alice murmured, her own little mouth dropped in shock as she turned her wide eyes to her mother, the table around her instantly dissolving into laughter as Kurt came storming back in, eyes alight with anger which instantly shut the table up. Elliott chewed his lip nervously before reaching over to kiss Sebastian and bolting from the apartment after Rachel.

“She’s done it again!” He fumed eyes ablaze as he turned to Dani.

“Kara? She cancelled again?”

“Yeah, now what the hell do we do?” Kurt snapped and went to run a hand through his hair before abruptly dropping it to his side once more with a glare. “We have no day care provider we’re completely screwed.”

Dani sighed softly, Pulling the tray off of Alice’s high chair and passing her to Sebastian who promptly left to get the little girl ready for the day. “I have no idea Kurt, she’s becoming a nightmare of a woman, we can’t afford to keep paying her when she’s not actually doing her job.”

Kurt grimaced, flopping down into the chair beside Dani and rubbing his temples gingerly. “She can’t come to work with me,” He looked up at his best friend sorrowfully, “I love her with all of my heart but I’d be so scared that I’d leave a pair of scissors lying around or somebody would drop a box of pins and then she decided to crawl instead of walk or something, I just, I’d worry too much Dani, and we can’t afford that either.”

Dani smiled softly, placing her hand over Kurt’s on the table. “Well, then she comes to work with me. Me and B have got this whole thing o having the baby around down and loads of my regulars love it, so it might be just what the place needs. I mean there’s a baby gate across the kitchen door and another one to behind the counter so as long as she doesn’t get under peoples’ feet when they're carrying things we’re fine, and hey, it’s worked for the past four weeks.”

“That’s true, I have to meet this B though, he sounds like a good guy and it’s nice to know that Ally gets on with him,” Kurt smiled as a sniggering Sebastian came back into the room with Alice, the baby now clad in lilac jeans with a white with purple polka dot long sleeved t-shirt, purple Mary Janes and a purple bow completing the outfit choice for the day. “Well, if that’s sorted, I need to be of,” He moaned, pecking Dani’s cheek and kissing Alice as he exited the room.

“What no kiss for me Hummel?” Sebastian called only to be greeted with laughter from both Kurt and his daughter. Sebastian glanced to the baby quirking an eyebrow as Dani laughed, plucking her daughter from his arms as the three got ready to start their days.

Seeing the small figure hunched up on the bench outside of the shop Dani smiled sadly, dropping into the seat beside Blaine and placing a hand on his back, gently rubbing circles when he jumped in shock. “Hey, how’re you doing?” She whispered gently.

Blaine laughed darkly, “Not going to lie, I’ve been better.” Smiling weakly, he took hold of one of Alice’s hands as the baby studied him curiously from her mother’s lap. “Hey there, beautiful,” He smiled, pressing a kiss to Alice’s head.

Standing, Dani reached down and pulled him to his feet. “Thank you. Now come on, it may be March and sunny but it’s still fairly cold out and since you’ve just finished a week of treatment I don’t want you getting any more ill than you already are.” Frowning, she studied his slight frame carefully, “It’s not the same without you around here you know, I have no one to sing to me and dance to Katy Perry. Seriously though how are you, Little B?”

Chuckling lightly, Blaine took Alice and perched her on his hip pulling a face that made her giggle as Dani rooted around in her bag for the coffee shops keys. “First of all, you need to stop hanging out with Santana on a daily basis, it’s starting to scare me how alike you’re becoming. Secondly, I really am fine, a little weak and a little nauseous maybe, but that’s to be expected, you should’ve seen me last time, I practically couldn’t leave bed at this stage in the treatment I was so ill, so yeah, I feel good.”

“Hmm,” Dani appraised him softly as she unlocked the door and dragged him inside, flipping the closed sign to open. “Just take as much time as you need for anything, B, any rude ass customers send them my way.”

“Will do,” Blaine laughed, placing Alice on the floor as she instantly grabbed his leg and hauled herself up, sending him a toothy grin as she proceeded to follow him around for the rest of the morning.

“I may not want kids, but she’s damn cute all right, what’s her full name anyway? I want to know if you have a mouthful to yell when she becomes a teenager” Santana smirked, watching Blaine talk to a customer; Alice happily perched in his arms as she munched on a piece of banana. Sebastian choked from where he was eating his BLT beside Santana and both women sent him a funny look as he simply shook his head an abashed smirk covering his face as he took another bite of his sandwich.

Dani turned back to Santana pulling a face at her and laughing softly, “I think B might just about be her new favourite person.” Her beam grew as she watched Alice peck a big kiss to Blaine’s cheek mushy banana sticking to his face as he pulled a grimace of disgust, the little old lady they were talking to simply laughing before shooing them into the back. “She’s not really good with strangers usually and I suppose it makes her name a little ironic.” Sebastian gulped loudly, stifling laughter once more as the women simply glared before ignoring him.

“How so?” Santana queried, smiling as Alice re-emerged from the back room, calling out to Dani before toddling towards them.

Pulling Alice onto her lap, Dani kissed the little girls head and passed her a grape. “Because one of her middle names is Blaine,” Dani laughed, watching Santana’s eyebrow creep upwards and Sebastian’s smirk widen. “Her full name is Alice Elizabeth Blaine Hummel. Her Dad wanted to call her Amber but when I put my foot down, he asked if we could at least have Blaine for a middle name and I liked it so yeah, that’s what she’s got.”

Dani shuffled uncomfortably as Santana continued to stare at her, a slack jawed expression filling her features. “H-H-Hummel?” She stuttered softly, wide eyes watching as Dani slowly nodded, looking at Sebastian who had gone slightly rigid and was watching Santana with concerned eyes.

“Well, yeah, Kurt Hummel is the name of her father, he’s my best friend. She was an accident sure, but nothing that I have ever or will ever regret.”

Santana gulped slightly, glancing over to the back room where Blaine was emerging, taking another customers order as they wandered over to the cake cabinet. “Dani, I have to go, but please do me a favour and don’t tell Blaine either her full name or the name of her father.”

Confusion flooding through her system, Dani watched as Santana stood and gathered her things, casting a worried glance between Blaine and Alice, “Please Dani, promise me.”

“I promise,” She whispered softly, watching Santana almost collapse in relief.

“Thank you,” She breathed softly, kissing the top of both Dani and Alice’s heads, “I swear I’ll explain at another time but right now I have to run.” Slapping Sebastian around the back of the head, the man whined as she glared at him, marching over to Blaine to say her goodbyes and practically sprinting from the coffee shop.

“What was all that about?” Blaine queried, “She looked like she’d seen a ghost.”

“No idea,” Dani whispered watching Santana’s retreating figure down the street, Sebastian simply shaking his head, refusing to look either of them in the eyes as he sported a half guilty, half bemused expression. “B take your lunch break already, I’d better get back.” Dani smiled, lifting Alice to the floor and vacating her seat for Blaine who was studying Sebastian carefully.

“Ok, Seb, spill I know that you know something,” Sebastian shook his head at Blaine, busying himself by pulling Alice onto his lap and feeding her some bacon from his sandwich.

“Her father will kill you,” Dani sighed, depositing a chicken sandwich in front of Blaine with a smile before retreating behind the counter once more.

“I honestly don’t know B, I really don’t,” He muttered, glancing up and catching Blaine’s eye, “But I can go talk to her if you want after you're done.”

Blaine nodded slowly, “Alright, fine.”

“How was treatment?”

“Gross and long,” Blaine groaned earning a small smile from Sebastian, “I just want it over with now to be honest.”

Sebastian smiled wryly, “And how far are you through treatment?”

“Only six months,” Blaine moaned.

“That’s good though right?” I mean something has to be happening if you're six months in?”

“You’d think, right?” Blaine laughed dryly, “Last time treatment was three years, and the average treatment is a minimum of two years and that’s if all goes smoothly.”

“Ouch,” Sebastian hissed, shaking his head softly. “Hang tough B, you’re a tougher cookie than I ever gave you credit for in high school, I’ll have to give you that one. Now, some of us have an urgent meeting this afternoon, so I’m going to love you and leave you.” Unceremoniously, Sebastian dumped Alice into Blaine’s lap and gathered his things, pausing at the door to send a last wave to both Dani and Blaine.

Once the door had closed behind him, Sebastian sighed, taking a deep breath as he leaned against the wall between ‘The Coffee Script’ and the little pet store next door, closing his eyes slightly. Building up his nerve, he pulled out the phone that had been constantly buzzing and gulped nervously.

Santana – We need to talk Smythe.

Lifting his bag further up his shoulder, Sebastian set his jaw and started the ten minute walk to Santana’s work building, unluckily the one three doors down from his own.

“Hey, Blaine, what are you-” Dani cut off abruptly with a soft laugh as she watched Blaine try to sponge the cream out of his jumper, Alice looking suitably guilty from where she was stood staring up at Blaine, a bowl of cream sat on the bench with the whisk still sat in it. “What happened?” She laughed, digging around in one of the cupboards at the back of the kitchen.

“Little Ally here decided that it was a great idea to grab hold of the whisk and start flinging it everywhere while I was trying to ship the cream,” Blaine chuckled, glancing to Alice with a raised eyebrow, the baby simply raising her two hands in a half shrug with a cheeky grin as the pair continued to laugh at her.

“Sorry about that B, Ally’s usually really good about not touching things she shouldn’t these days,” Dani quirked her own eyebrow at her daughter, pulling out a plain black t-shirt from the cupboard, “Alice’s dad is taller than you so it might be a bit long, but it’s all I’ve got I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry about it honestly, I really shouldn’t have had her sat up on the bench anyway,” Blaine chuckled, shrugging his jumper off and accepting the t-shirt as Dani’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Besides, most kids tend to ruin at least one of my outfits,” He teased still laughing as Dani’s stunned expression went unnoticed.

Tearing her eyes away from his pecs, Dani found them instead lingering on Blaine’s forearm. “Does it hurt?” She whispered softly, nodding towards the white gauze on his arm, the bump of the tube visible beneath.

Following her gaze, Blaine sighed slightly shaking his head. “No, it itches when it’s first put in but after that you kind of get used to it, you know?”

Nodding, Dani bit her lip, desperate to take the conversation anywhere but the direction in which they were heading. “I didn’t know that you had a tattoo though?” She questioned an eyebrow raised as she studied the puzzle piece and the word courage inscribed onto Blaine’s left pec, right over his heart. Her breath catching, Dani’s eyes widened as she traced every line of the tattoo suddenly hyper aware as to why it was so familiar.

“Oh, yeah, just a stupid mistake that I made in high school,” Blaine shrugged pulling the t-shirt over his head. “The boy that I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with and I got them the day that he left to start his new life basically. I was so thankful at the time that I had a good fake ID, I was still months away from my eighteenth at the time. Sadly, things didn’t really work out quite right with, erm uh well, you now.” Blaine blushed softly, indicating towards his arm.

“Wait, and you never told him?”

“Nope, I thought it would be better to set him free and let him live his life without having to worry about me,” Blaine’s face filled with regret as he dropped into one of the bar stools they kept in the kitchen, lifting Alice back up onto the bench once more as he played with her hands. “So, I erm, I told him the one thing that I thought would make him hate me. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I didn’t want him to give up his dreams and come rushing back to try and help me when all he deserved was to be out of the God damn town and living the life he dreamed of.”

“Blaine, what high school in Ohio did you graduate from?” Dani squeaked out quietly, one hand clamped around her throat as Blaine’s amber eyes turned to her in confusion.

“McKinley in Lima, why?”

“Can you watch Alice and the shop for a minute please? I need to go and make a phone call.” Dani choked out, trying to ignore Blaine’s look of shock and confusion.

“Yeah sure, is something wrong?” Blaine pulled Alice into his lap and watched Dani with careful eyes.

“No, not at all, I just really need to make a phone call,” She watched Blaine nod slowly and press a kiss to Alice’s forehead as he turned her around in his arms, making Alice laugh before Dani bolted out of the back door, yanking out her phone as she ran.

“Come on, pick up pick up pick up,” She muttered, feeling the tears sting her eyes as she paced the back alleyway.

“Dani, sweetheart, how’s everything? How’s my granddaughter?”

Dani almost screamed in relief at the cheerful voice on the end of the phone and forced her own joy into her voice. “Everything’s fine Carol, and Alice is getting really big now, she’s literally walking everywhere. It’s quite daunting really.”

“Oh that’s wonderful, I remember when Finn started walking, he crashed into just about everything.” Dani laughed softly, as ever amazed by this family’s affect on her mood. “Can I do something for you? Just I know you're normally busy at work right now, right?”

“Oh, I have a new guy working for me now, I was going to leave him to manage the store and hire a couple more to work under him, but I prefer it this way and Dora’s more than happy to take control of the second shop as long as no major problems arise. Umm could I speak to Burt please? It’s quite important.”

“Of course sweetheart, just give me a moment to try and find him.”

Any composure that Dani had gained during her conversation with Carol evaporated the minute the man she considered her father answered the phone with his usual gruff hello. “Who the hell is Blaine Anderson to Kurt? And why do they have matching tattoos? And just how? What the hell is going on?”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end before a silence that stretched on for eternity.

“I told Blaine that not telling him the truth would come back to bite him in the ass one day.”