Blaine fixed his tie. "I know I don't," he said, not looking away from himself on the mirror.

When he got the call early that morning, Blaine had blanched, but he'd known it was coming. Making even the smallest of contact with the Hummels, had always meant their expectation that he might want something to do with them. So, of course, he'd been invited over for brunch.

"You can come with me," Blaine said, "I'm sure they won't mind."

Nick shook his head. "No, Blaine. You've told me a lot about them and I don't want a part of their world in our lives."

Blaine ducked his head. "I know. It's just my dad meant a lot to them. For all that they took him away from me, it wasn't maliciously." He looked back up, meeting Nick's gaze on the mirror, before he turned.

Nick crossed the room and almost at once, Mia reached for Blaine, who took her and kissed her forehead. She giggled and reached one hand to his face. Nick pursed his lips.

"I just. I think this is a terrible idea and, I just have this feeling at the pit of my stomach that this isn't just brunch."

Blaine laughed. Of course it wasn't just brunch. He nuzzled his face against Mia's, taking in her smell. There was nothing like just breathing in his daughter. He ran a hand over her slightly curling hair.

"Well, it isn't just brunch," he said to Nick, "things are never just one thing."

"And if you know this, then, why are you going?"

Blaine shifted Mia in his arms and dropped down on their unmade bed. "Because," he said, "you don't just pass on a meeting with Burt Hummel. If I don't go see him today, he'll show up at my office, or worse, here."

He lifted Mia into the air. She let out a giggle and a cry of, "Daddy!" When he brought her back down she wrapped her small chubby arms around his neck.

Nick frowned at them. He sighed. "You can go as soon as I get dressed. I guess I'm taking Mia to the gallery today."

"I can pick her up after I'm done with the Hummels, I promise."

Nick ran an art gallery in SoHo. He was an artist himself, but was very particular about who he showed his art to. Blaine had urged him time and time again to try and put his own art in the gallery, but Nick always refused. Although his boss didn't mind when Nick brought Amelia along occasionally, Nick didn't like doing it, because as sweet as Mia could be, she was also the most mischievous child he'd ever met.

"Okay."

Nick changed quickly into black pants and a button up grey shirt. "What do you think? Tie?"

Blaine shook his head. He leaned back on the bed, bringing Mia with him. Mia sat on his chest, legs resting on the bed.

"You're going to wrinkle your clothes," Nick warned as he set about brushing his hair into something that looked like he hadn't just gotten out of bed.

Nick's hair was what Blaine like to call, Potter-esque, because it nearly always looked a mess. Blaine had made an attempt once to calm it with some of his gel, but it had only made it worse.

"It's just the Hummels, darling," Blaine said just as Mia wriggled away to lay down next to him.

"Doesn't Papa look handsome?" he asked her, not taking his eyes away from Nick.

She nodded seriously, eyes also trained on Nick.

When Nick was done, Blaine sat up again and after fixing his clothes and making sure his hair was still in its gel confine, he stood up, offering his hand to Mia, who took it and got off the bed.

"I'll walk you out," Blaine offered, after grabbing his leather messenger bag and hanging it over his right shoulder, "I think Clark should be here to pick me up, Burt said to expect him."

"Clark," Nick said. His voice was surprised and annoyed at the same time.

Blaine nodded. "Their driver," he explained, "I told Burt I'd take a taxi, but he just insisted."

Nick sighed.

They got to the elevator and Mia pressed the button with the downward arrow. Blaine held her hand, and watched Nick, waiting for him to say something, anything.

"After today, we won't hear from them again?" he asked.

"Yes," Blaine said at once.

It was what he wanted. He wanted to be as far from them as possible. He didn't belong in their world of money and privilege.

"Okay."

The elevator dinged, and the door opened. Mia rushed in and Nick grabbed her around the middle, picking her up easily and making as if to drop her. Blaine laughed as she wriggled away and waved her finger at Nick accusingly.

"Bad Papa," she said.

Blaine looked away from Mia to Nick. "We're okay, right?"

Nick nodded.

"It's just one meeting, one meal with them. Then, we won't have to deal with them ever again."

"We better not."

They got off the elevator, walked through the lobby, and out to the bustling streets of New York City. Nick left Mia with him while he hailed down a taxi. When one stopped, he turned back to Blaine who was hugging Mia.

"I'll see you later, okay, sweetheart," Blaine was saying to the two year old.

She nodded and he got up from his crouch. Nick hugged him as well, and before he could let go, Blaine cupped his face and kissed him, a chaste kiss that Mia pulled them out from, by pulling at Nick's pants.

"I better go," he said.

Blaine nodded and watched him get into the taxi. As soon as the taxi pulled away from the curb, another car stopped in its place. It was a black Rolls Royce, and the driver's door opened to reveal Clark.

Blaine had met Clark a few times when he was still in college and still talking to his father. Clark was a tall man with dark, graying hair and an aura of warmth. He'd worked for the Hummels for close to ten years.

"Hello, Mr. Anderson," he said, and opened the door for Blaine.

"Good to see you again, Clark," Blaine said and got into the car, "but I do have to say, this is not necessary in the least."

"Nonsense."

- - -

Kurt paced the living room. Finn sprawled out on the couch, rolled his eyes at him. "What's your problem?"

"It's Blaine, obviously," Rachel said.

She was perched on an arm chair, legs crossed. For once she was wearing an outfit that Kurt approved of. It had taken years, but Rachel was slowly getting some fashion sense; that, and Kurt had told Maria to get rid of anything that Rachel bought that wasn't designer.

Finn frowned, seeming to be concentrating hard at figuring out the issue. "What about Blaine?"

Rachel sighed and shook her head. "Nothing, Finn, go back to whatever it was you were doing."

Nodding, Finn picked his phone back up from where he'd dropped it on his chest and became immersed in his latest game.

"He has a daughter," Kurt said, "and a fianc�. He has absolutely everything he wanted and I can't…I can't be upset that he does, because it's wonderful that he's happy, I just…"

Rachel got up and crossed the room, "you want him to be happy with you," she said softly. She stared at him sadly and added, "After all this time, Kurt?"

Kurt huffed and mumbled, "I'll never stop loving him." Before Rachel could ask him to repeat himself, he spoke a little clearer, "I can't believe dad's doing this. I just don't get it. Blaine isn't the best lawyer out there, for one, and for another I don't think he's interested in the job."

Once, Kurt would have been happy to have Blaine near him in any capacity. Now, it was too painful. And it was his own fault, he knew. He'd ruined them without even meaning to.

Rachel came to stand in front of him, stopping him from pacing. She grabbed his hands.

"You'll get through it, Kurt, and maybe he really won't take the job and then there's nothing for you to worry about."

Kurt snorted. "What my dad wants he gets. And even Blaine must want for something."

He dropped Rachel's hands and walked in the direction of the dining where Carole was overlooking Maria setting up the table. Carole and his father had been married nearly ten years, but to Kurt it felt like she had always been a fixation of his daily life. She didn't come from money like Kurt's mother had, but she'd gotten used to their lifestyle quickly while retaining her caring, maternal personality that Kurt had come to appreciate having around.

"Are you okay, honey?" She asked.

Kurt shrugged. "Does it matter? I've managed to somehow avoid him this long, we were bound to be brought together sometime."

He sat down in his usual chair and crossed his left leg over the right. "I just…I still care so much about him, you know."

Carole nodded. "We all do. You wouldn't be the way…well, your actions, they do speak for you."

Kurt buried his head in his hands. "What must he think of me? If he's ever read any of those magazines…heard about my reputation…"

Carole rubbed at his shoulder gently. "He would not judge you. Once, he was the person that knew you best."

Kurt nodded slowly, but without really believing it. He knew he'd changed from the person Blaine had known. Back when they were together he would never have contemplated going out just for a night of drinking for the promise of finding someone to warm his bed. He'd been so scared of even admitting that he had any sexual urges, once, and Blaine had been there for all of it.

They heard the elevator down the hall open and Kurt straightened up in his chair, for a moment wishing desperately that he had found somewhere else to be that morning, despite Sunday brunches being what Burt called 'family time' and not to be missed. Which is why Kurt had been surprised in the first place that Blaine had been invited, the brunches were for family and not for business to be conducted.

He got up when Carole placed a hand on his shoulder as she walked by him to the living room. He followed after her and came to a stop when he saw Blaine.

It had been two days since the funeral, and though Kurt had seen him so recently, he couldn't keep his eyes off of him. Blaine was just as he remembered him, just a few inches shorter than Kurt with curls he kept tamed under too much gel, and warm hazel eyes that had always been a weakness for Kurt. More laugh lines had appeared on his face, lines that Kurt wished he could claim responsibility for, and he seemed perhaps looser, calmer, more confident.

"Hello," Blaine said awkwardly and followed it by a cough.

Carole stepped forward first and opened her arms, giving him warning enough before she was hugging him. He hugged her back.

"No need for any awkwardness," she said as she pulled back. She left her arm around his shoulders, "let's just go into the dining room, shall we. Burt should be down in just a bit. Business call."

Kurt made to walk after them but paused. "I'll get Shelby and Mike," he offered, when he saw Rachel already headed to find her children.

"Are you sure?"

Kurt nodded. He needed a few minutes, some more time to get a hold of himself and really prepare himself for what that brunch would turn out to be.

Shelby and Mike, aptly named after Rachel's mother and Finn's father, were in the playroom that had once been his. His mother had decorated it months before he was born, and the swirling colors and cute drawings still remained on the blue walls of the room. New toys had been added into the room ever since Finn and Rachel brought Shelby home, but there were still some that he could remember playing with, toys he remembered sharing with Blaine when he'd gotten stuck tagging along with his dad.

Kurt shook the memories aside. He couldn't keep thinking of Blaine, not in any capacity.

Shelby was sitting at the painted wooden table that Kurt had once used to have tea parties. She was busy coloring, tongue sticking out of her mouth. Kurt grinned to himself as he watched her.

Despite what everyone thought, Kurt loved kids. He didn't think he would, but then Finn and Rachel had brought Shelby home and he'd been in love. Shelby was a replica of Rachel, except she had Finn's dopey smile and his body type, she was going to be tall, Kurt could just tell. Mike also took after Rachel, except that he had his father's nose and light, almost blond hair.

It was Mike that noticed Kurt first, and rushed from where he'd been playing with colorful blocks, to wrap his arms around Kurt's legs.

"Kurtie!" he cried, lifting his arms.

Kurt indulged him, by grabbing his under the armpits and hoisting him up to rest against his hip.

"You're getting big, aren't you, Mikey?" he asked the boy, lifting his eyebrows as if to show his surprise.

"I'm a big boy," Mike said proudly.

By then, Shelby had noticed he was there, and abandoned her crayons to show him what she'd been coloring, a line drawing of their family. Kurt had no idea where she'd gotten it, or why it would even exist in the first place – remembering how he had drawn his parents himself when he was a child – but expressed his appreciation nevertheless.

"Anyway, I'm here to call you for brunch. Our special guest is here."

Mike clapped his hands clumsily. "Who is it?" He asked.

"An old friend, Mikey," Kurt answered.

"Will he play with me uncle Kurt?"

Kurt shrugged. "You'll have to ask him, now won't you?"

Shelby walked ahead of them, excited to be meeting someone new. This they got from Rachel, their excitement over just about everything.

When they got to the dining room, it was to find everyone including his father already seated. Blaine looked up as they entered, and Kurt couldn't help but notice his shock as he saw him with his niece and nephew, as if he couldn't believe that Kurt might like children.

It wasn't until Kurt had sat down and said a polite hello that he realized why Blaine had been so shocked. They'd fought over this, once. Kids.

"So," he said, "what have I missed?"

"Not much," Rachel said as she put a cloth napkin over Shelby's lap in the empty chair between her and Carole.

Kurt sat Mike down in the chair next to Finn. It was slightly higher than the others so he could sit on his own and reach the table. He ruffled the boy's hair and took the chair next to him, right across from Blaine. At least, he decided, he wasn't sitting next to him.

"So," Blaine said, "these are your kids then?"

Finn nodded proudly. "Shelby and Mike. I'd forgotten you hadn't met them."

Rachel nudged Shelby.

"Hello," she said politely.

Blaine grinned at her. "Hello, Miss Shelby, I'm Blaine. You have a very pretty name."

Shelby blushed and ducked her head a little. "Thank you," she muttered.

Blaine had always been good with kids.

Mike who despite having asked earlier if he could get Blaine to play with him had turned shy and bit down on his lip.

"So, you must be Mike," Blaine said, "is that a Mickey Mouse watch?"

It was. Mike was obsessed with Disney. Rachel blamed Kurt for it, because Kurt had taken to watching old Disney classics with the young boy. He'd even bought him the watch for his last birthday.

Mike nodded.

"Well, I can appreciate a fellow Disney lover. Is Mickey your favorite?"

Mike nodded eagerly again, but said nothing.

"My daughter's obsessed with Minie," he told them and Mike, "much to the chagrin of my…Nick, he absolutely detests anything Disney."

"Oh, you have a daughter," Finn said, frowning as if trying to figure out how that was possible, "but you're like…you're gay."

Blaine laughed and Kurt couldn't help but join him when he saw Rachel's widened eyes and offended expression. If there was one reason to keep Finn around, it was for those moments. Even his father let out a few chuckles and Carole just shook her head.

"We used a surrogate," Blaine explained when he'd calmed down, "a nice girl who needed the money to pay her student loans."

"Do you know who the father is?" Rachel asked, "Biologically, I mean, because I still don't know with my dads and sometimes I think that not knowing for sure hurt me growing up."

Blaine nodded. "She's mine. It wasn't as important to Nick, to have that connection, but I always wanted kids and to have that chance…" he trailed off.

"Well," Carole said, "she'd probably a beauty, I hope you've brought pictures Blaine."

"Oh my phone, yes."

Brunch was not as awkward as Kurt had expected it to be, there was even a sort of familiarity to it. It was almost like having Drew Anderson there with them again on the occasions when he'd joined them for brunch, or even so familiar because once, Blaine had been present during certain meals.

He'd been one of them, even though he had never seen himself that way. Kurt knew his father had always considered Blaine a part of the family, before and after Kurt and he dated.

When it was over, Burt excused himself and Blaine and Kurt looked after them. He didn't know anymore, how he wanted things to end up.

"He's still as charming as ever," Rachel said.

Kurt nodded. "I know."

- - -

Blaine thought that the brunch had gone over well, too well if he was being really truthful. He didn't remember fitting in with them so much, or how they all seemed to just welcome him into their family as if he were just coming home from a long trip. They had changed though, he could tell, and maybe that was the reason.

Burt and Carole looked older, though still there was no doubt that Burt still held all authority over his family. Finn and Rachel looked finally stable in their relationship though still true to their natures. He'd heard they had kids, but hadn't thought about them in relation to Kurt. Seeing Kurt had been a shock, especially when he walked in with Mike in his arms, looking so natural.

The house was mostly the same. New paintings had been added and some removed, but the walls were still the same cream, warm colors, and everything was clean.

He walked with Burt down a familiar corridor to the office that he'd been in many times. It was more spacious than his own office, with a comfortable couch and arm chairs surrounding a desk that had been pushed against a wall.

Burt took the seat behind the desk.

"You must be wondering why I asked you here, Blaine."

Blaine shrugged as he dropped into one of the armchairs in front of the desk, "I don't know, Mr. Hummel, I think I might have some idea."

"Burt," he said, "call me Burt, after all this time you must remember I asked you to call me that."

Blaine nodded. "Sure."

"I want you to come work for the family," Burt said.

Blaine began to shake his head. "No. I can't. I have a job and people who rely on me to…"

"Nothing would change," Burt said at once, "you could keep your old office, and everyone on their payroll. We'd be just another client for you."

It sounded all well and simple when put like that, Blaine thought, but he knew it wouldn't be in the least.

"I'm not exactly the best person for the job," he said, "I could have a list of names for you to choose from. Better lawyers."

Burt shook his head. "No. I wouldn't need you to do that, Blaine. You, Blaine, you are the one that can do this job and do it well."

"No. I'm sorry Burt, but I can't take a job that will conflict with everything in my life."

"Not even," Burt said, "when it means finally having what you need to help others?"

Blaine stared at him incredulously, "you mean money."

"Seven million," Burt said, "for you to do with whatever you like. Charity."

Blaine knew that the Hummels already gave a lot of money to charities and other foundations. Kurt and Carole, Blaine knew, spent a lot of their free time doing that. But to just shell out seven million dollars to give to their lawyer to do whatever he wanted with it, it was unbelievable. Still, Blaine couldn't accept.

"That on top of your salary of course," Burt continued, "unless, do you want more? How about ten. Yes, ten will do."

Blaine didn't know how to respond. How did one just get up and say no to that. Just last week he'd had to tell a couple that the park they were fighting to keep open would remain open if only they had the money to pay for it. He would be able to help them, now, give them money.

There were so many things he'd be able to do.

"Think about it," Burt said, "if you decide to take on the job, I expect you here Monday morning."

Blaine wanted to immediately say something to retaliate to that, hadn't Burt just told him nothing would change if he took the job?

"I'm leaning heavily towards no, Burt," Blaine told him, "you know what my father working for you all those years did to my family. My mother had to leave the country to get away from all this madness. Money. I couldn't do that to Mia, or to Nick."

"Money is not the source of all evil," Burt said simply, "I'll see you on Monday."

Blaine stood up and walked to the door, "I haven't given you my answer yet."