“Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!” she cried while Blaine dressed her after breakfast.

He laughed and pulled out two pairs of shoes to ask for her opinion. She pointed at the blue converse and ran off to put the other pair away.

Then, the phone rang.

Blaine knew that things were going to go horribly the moment it did.

“Hello,” he said.

“Blaine, the picture leaked.”

It was enough for Blaine to know that there would be no going to the zoo. Rachel sounded frantic and he could tell over the phone that she was probably crying too.

“But the money. I thought Rebecca had dealt with it.”

Rebecca Colfax was the family publicist. She was supposed to deal with these things, not Blaine, but something must have happened and now it was something he had to deal with.

“You have to tell Burt,” Rachel said, “I can’t even face him. I don’t think he’s seen, but…god…”

Blaine glanced towards Mia and sighed. “Okay. I’ll need an hour, but we can figure something out.” And then he remembered the trial. It had been all but won, and now there was this.

Blaine knew it was Rachel’s fault, but he couldn’t help but feel sympathetic because no one deserved to have any personal picture given to the press for the world to see.

“Hurry, please. And the trial, Blaine, I don’t know what…”

“I’ll see you later, Rachel,” Blaine said cutting her off. He needed to find a babysitter and quick, he could worry about Rachel’s issues later.

A few of their neighbors had babysat Mia before, but Blaine already knew that none of them were available. He’d asked just in case the night before. So, he phoned a few of their other babysitters, but found no one that could take her in with so short notice and he didn’t really want to bother any friends. Not to mention that they would tell Nick he’d called on them to babysit and that wouldn’t go over well. He knew no one would care if he brought her along, but Blaine didn’t want to. Mia didn’t need to be exposed to that. He didn’t want to be his father, dragging along a child to court or to his office just to have her sit in the corner bored out of her mind for hours. He’d hated it as a child and his daughter wouldn’t be subject to that.

So, after going through his phone contacts twice, he stopped at the very first name. Amie Hummel. He’d told her a few days before that she could meet Mia while Nick was away. Blaine had originally planned for it to be different, but he had no other alternative. He pressed the call button.

The phone was answered by a groggy Amie.

“Hello?” She asked and yawned.

“Amie, I need you to wake up and do me a favor.”

“Oh. Blaine. Hi. Sure. What do you need me to do exactly?” She sounded a bit like she wasn’t listening and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.

Blaine sighed. “Do you have anything going on today?”

“I don’t think so. Sleep, I hoped.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Other than that…”

“Nope.”

“Okay, good. So, how would you like to meet Mia?”

Suddenly she was awake. “Really?” Amie asked. Her voice was high and excited.

“Yeah, really. Nick’s gone so he won’t ask questions, and actually you’d get to spend a few hours alone with her.” He stopped and hoped that she’d be okay with it.

“Blaine Anderson,” Amie said without pause, “are you asking me to babysit?”

“Yes. Please. There’s no one else and I do want you to meet her and I couldn’t think of anyone else and you were with Shelby and Mike the other day so you must know something about kids. Please, Amie. Say yes. I have to go help Rachel, but I’ll try to get out as quickly as possible and we can all do something together.”

Amie laughed on the line, “I like you ranty,” she said, “but yeah, sure. Do you want me to come over there or…”

Blaine looked around the apartment. It was a bit messy, but he didn’t think Amie would mind and even if he did clean it, it was probably going to be in a worst state later. Mia never seemed to behave for most of her babysitters. He hoped she’d be good for Amie at least.

“Here’s fine, unless you want me to bring her over there.”

As soon as he said it, he wanted to take the option back. It wasn’t an option. It couldn’t be. He didn’t want Mia around any of the Hummels, specially Kurt.

“I’ll be over in forty minutes. Just need a shower and breakfast.”

“That would be perfect. See you then.”

Mia appeared then, shoes untied but on her feet and Blaine felt terrible about having to break the news to her.

“Sweetheart, we’re going to have to postpone the zoo, okay? We’ll go tomorrow. Instead one of daddy’s friends is going to come over to hang out with you while I go to the office.”

“But, daddy,” Mia began.

“I’m really sorry, but we’ll definitely go tomorrow. Or maybe Amie’ll take you if you’re good. How does that sound?”

Mia didn’t seem to like the idea, she frowned and stomped her foot down. “No,” she said and turned on her heel and walked out of her room, shoes still untied.

Blaine walked after her and grabbed her around the middle. “You’re going to get hurt with your shoes untied, missy,” he said and kissed her cheek, “you don’t want a booboo now, do you?”

He made work of the laces and made a note to himself to begin teaching her how to tie her shoes and then deposited her on the couch as he rushed back to his room to change from his casual jeans to his usual suit. Afterwards he gathered anything that he’d need and by the time he was done, he only had about half an hour until he needed to be on his way, so he sat down next to Mia and tried to figure out what she watching on tv, but cartoons just weren’t what they used to be.

Amie texted him when she was outside the building and Blaine told her what floor and apartment number to look for.

“Okay, kiddo, my friend will be up in a few minutes and I want you to be good for her, okay? I’ll try to get home as soon as possible.”

Mia nodded and lifted her arms towards him. Blaine picked her up and made a show of grunting about how heavy she was. Mia giggled and hid her face on his shoulder.

“I love you, Sweetheart. Please be good.”

He opened the door when Amie knocked still holding Mia and let her inside.

“It’s a bit of a mess,” Blaine said, “but with Nick at his parent’s and Mia running around cleaning hasn’t been a priority.”

But Amie wasn’t paying attention to anything he was saying. Her eyes were glued on Mia, wide and surprised. Knowing that Mia existed was one thing, but it was entirely different to actually have her there right in front of her. Mia peered at her curiously.

“Hi,” Amie said, “Hi, Mia, aren’t you a pretty girl? I’m Amie. I guess we’re going to hang out today, huh. We’ll have fun, don’t worry.”

Blaine watched them. It was surreal to finally have Amie meet her daughter. He walked back towards the living room and set Mia down. Amie followed still staring at Mia as if she were going to disappear at any moment.

“Well, I should get going. If anything happens just call me. There’s food in the fridge. Mia has toys in her room and she likes watching tv. If you want you can take her to the park, she’ll like that. I’ll try to be back as soon as possible.”

As he gathered his things, Blaine began to rethink things. Amie looked like she was still in shock, and Mia already looked bored and as if she were planning something for the moment he left.

“Will you be alright? Because I could try and get someone else or…” he began.

“I’ll be fine,” Amie said, “I just. She’s you and she’s me…I can’t believe she’s real.”

Blaine gave her shoulder a squeeze, “I know,” he said, “it’s weird for me seeing the two of you together.”

- - -

Kurt stopped singing when he heard a crash from the hallway. He dropped his pencil next, when he heard crying. For a moment he was confused. Shelby and Mike were out with their grandfathers for the day and he’d thought he had the house to himself. Even Amie had rushed out earlier and said not to expect her back until later. He walked out to the hall and spotted her at once.

She was tiny, about three or four years old and holding onto her right knee and crying. There was glass on the floor around her and the flowers scattered around the floor. Kurt rushed her way. And knelt where there wasn’t any water or a lot of glass. He got a better look at her. She was the most precious child that he had ever met and he knew as soon as he saw her face who she was.

“Hi, Honey, are you okay?”

She looked up startled and shook her head. Tears still streamed down her face, but she wasn’t wailing anymore though she did sob from time to time.

“Well, how about we get a look at that knee.”

For a moment she looked unsure.

“My name’s Kurt,” he offered, “I’m a friend of your daddy’s. We’ll get you all sorted out and then we can go look for him, how does that sound?”

Again, she hesitated, but then she nodded.

Kurt helped her stand and then, thinking better of it, lifted her into his arms. She didn’t weigh much and she immediately dropped her head to his shoulder and clutched at his shirt. Kurt felt a pang in his heart. If things had been different she could have been his daughter, his and Blaine’s. Instead she belonged to Nick.

Kurt took her to his bathroom and set her down on his counter.

“What hurts?”

She pointed to her knee.

He rolled up her pants and found just a small scrape, but he cleaned it with a moist towel and then placed a band-aid over it.

“Better?” he asked.

“Kiss it,” she said, “daddy always kisses my booboos.”

“Oh, how could I have forgotten that, eh?” He kissed her knee and then pulled her pant leg back down, “any other booboos?”

She shook her head and her brown locks flew back and forth behind her. Kurt smiled at her and grabbed a tissue to wipe her face of her dried tears.

“Alright, now we have to go find your daddy, sweets, where did you leave him?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

Kurt reached into his pocket, glad that he hadn’t left his phone back on his drafting table and he scrolled through his contacts until he had Blaine’s name and he pressed call. The phone rang a few times and then Blaine answered.

“Kurt I don’t have time right now. Whatever it is, can it wait?”

“I don’t think it can,” Kurt said, “but I found your daughter crying just outside my room and I thought you might want to know where she was.”

“What?” Blaine asked, his voice was panicked “Is she okay? Why was she crying?”

Kurt interrupted before he could be asked more questions, “she’s fine, Blaine, don’t worry.”

“Okay. Okay. Good. Give me a minute.”

Kurt heard him excusing him, but was distracted by the little girl raising her arms up and pointing towards the floor. Kurt picked her up easily and set her down. She walked to his full length mirror at once and Kurt watched her as she fixed her clothes before she began to explore the room.

“Come on, we can go to my room,” he said, keeping the phone against his chest. “What’s your name anyway?”

“Amelia,” she said proudly.

“I only have a few minutes. What happened exactly?”

“Well, I heard a crash and then crying so I went to check it out and she was there crying, but I got her cleaned up and she’d okay. I thought you were here and brought her along or something.”

“Where’s Amie? She’s supposed to be looking after her. I left them at my apartment an hour ago.”

That’s where Amie had been rushing off to, he realized. “She should be here somewhere,” Kurt said, “But really, Blaine, Amelia’s okay. I’ll find Amie and maybe I’ll stick around to make sure things are okay, only if you don’t mind.”

Blaine didn’t respond at once and Kurt held his breath wondering what he would say.

“Yeah, I, I should get back. See you later, I guess. Thanks, Kurt.”

“It’s nothing. Bye.”

Mia had been looking through the latest issue of Vogue Kurt had left on his bedside table as he talked on the phone, and when he was done, she closed it.

“Your daddy’s still at work, but he said he’ll be here as soon as he can, alright. Now let’s go find that babysitter of yours.”

They found Amie fast asleep in the sitting room.

- - -

Blaine didn’t know how to prepare himself for seeing Mia with Kurt. He had never thought that it would ever happen, but apparently it was. He didn’t get out of the mess at court until late that afternoon and after that Rachel had tried to get him to go with her to talk to the producers of the play she’d wanted the role for so badly. He’d managed to get her to go with Finn only after explaining he had to go pick up his daughter from a babysitter and even then she’d been hard to shake.

“You already called me to work on my day off, Rachel, I don’t have the time for this. Please,” he’d said.

“Your father would have been there for me.”

Blaine knew his father would have. That was the problem. His father had always been there for the Hummels for any possible thing they might need and Blaine had suffered because of it. He wasn’t going to do that to Mia.

He got onto the elevator in Hummel Plaza and rode up nervously to their floor. When the doors opened at their foyer he stepped out and took a deep breath. He heard giggling and then laughter that he hadn’t heard in years. Blaine paused and just listened as they laughed and spoke too low for him to make out what they were saying.

Blaine leaned against the wall in the hall and let himself for a moment consider how much he’d wanted this to be his future once. He’d wanted to come home to Kurt and their daughter after a long day of work. It hurt to even have this small glimpse of what could have been. He shook himself and pushed away from the wall, opening his eyes.

Amie stood at the end of the hall watching him.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, “and I can’t tell you what to do, Blaine, but it isn’t too late.”

It was. Kurt hadn’t wanted this life, he still probably didn’t and there was the fact that Nick and not Kurt was Mia’s dad. It was too late because Blaine was getting married in six months and as much as he still sometimes thought he still loved Kurt, Nick was his fianc� and he was Mia’s father and he was the person he was with now.

“It is,” he said to Amie.

“It’s never too late for love,” Amie said, walking towards him, “and you’ll regret it if you walk away now.”

Blaine shook his head. “Kurt walked away first. He made his choice and now we can’t go back to that.”

He walked past her into the sitting room. It was a bit messy with cushions and toys all over the floor, but what really drew Blaine’s eyes was Kurt on the floor with Mia trying to tickle him as he play fought her, until he gently rolled her onto the ground and tickled her instead. She squealed and tried to get away.

“No, Kurtie!”

Blaine watched them, not alerting them to his presence as he took in just how much like a father and daughter they looked. Sometimes when he took Mia out to the park or just shopping other parents would tell him that Mia looked just like him and there were similarities, but Kurt and Mia looked much closer and Kurt was only her second cousin.

“Daddy!”

He was startled by the cry and then Mia was hugging his legs. Kurt got up from the floor and Blaine tried not to notice that his shirt had ridden up displaying Kurt’s toned abdomen.

“I had fun today, Daddy, I love Kurtie!”

Blaine was surprised Kurt had let even Mia try to call him something other than Kurt, but he knew there was no way of stopping Mia sometimes when she got an idea into her head.

“Do you now? And what did you do that was so fun?”

She began to explain, quickly rattling off everything she’d done and her observations of the day. Blaine picked her up halfway through her rant and took her to the couch.

“...and he sings really pretty, Daddy.”

Blaine nodded. “He does. And I guess you must be exhausted.”

Mia shook her head.

“She was very good,” Kurt said, rubbing at his elbow, “we did have a lot of fun. She’s amazing, Blaine, you must be proud.”

“I am,” Blaine said. “Oh, and thanks, by the way, I don’t know what kind of trouble she could have gotten into if you weren’t there to find her.”

Kurt shook his head, “I think you have to know better than to expect Amie to babysit when she’s only had four hours of sleep. A four year old is energetic, you know, could have worn anyone out.”

Blaine ran a hand through Mia’s hair. She was leaning against him tiredly. “Zoo?” she asked.

“Tomorrow, Sweetheart.”

Mia didn’t even protest, instead she dropped her head again. Blaine looked up to find Kurt watching them with an expression he couldn’t make out on his face. It looked almost like longing, but Blaine didn’t think it could be that.

“Can Kurtie come?” Mia asked, “please, Daddy? I really like him.”

“She’s really taken to you,” Blaine said to Kurt and tried to make a decision.

He knew it was going to bite him in the ass later because seeing Kurt like this made Blaine forget that he and Kurt couldn’t be together, it made him forget how much Kurt had hurt him. And seeing him with Mia looking as much Mia’s father as he’d ever come close to looking it brought all those hopes and dreams he’d pushed away back.

“You should come,” he said.

“I,” Kurt began and paused, staring wide eyed at Kurt and only breaking his gaze when Mia grabbed his hand and tugged at him.

“Please say you’ll come. I can show you my favorite animals.”

Kurt smiled at her and nodded. “Alright, then,” he said and looked back up at Blaine, smile still in place, “I guess I’ll come along.”

“Yay!!” She jumped up on the couch and before Blaine could react, Kurt had grabbed her, making her squeal as he threw her gently and carefully only the couch on her back.

“I said no jumping on the couch, Mia.”

She nodded solemnly, “Sorry.” She worried her lip, looking up at him, “you’ll still come though.”

“Of course,” Kurt said and he leaned down to place a kiss on her nose, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Blaine gasped in a breath. Regret poured into him.

Mia was giggling again and had wrapped her arms around Kurt’s neck. He sat down on the couch a few feet away from him and Mia settled herself on his lap, head tucked into Kurt’s neck. Blaine couldn’t understand how Kurt had managed to get Mia to take to him so quickly. She had never been this friendly with anyone. Kurt even seemed to have managed to get some control over her unlike all of her other babysitters. Blaine had always thought Kurt would make a good father.

“Did she interrupt anything you were busy with today?” he thought to ask.

Kurt shrugged. “Not really. I really enjoyed my time with her. I said it before, Blaine, she’s the sweetest child I’ve ever met. She was wonderful to have here. If you ever need anyone to look after her I’ll take her any time you want.”

“She’s usually a little nightmare,” Blaine admitted.

“She was,” Amie said entering the room.

Kurt laughed. “No, Miss Amelia was an angel. Neither of you ever sat for Shelby when she was younger, now that girl was a nightmare.”

“Like mother like daughter?” Blaine asked and added.

Kurt snorted. “Probably where she gets it from.”

Mia shifted against Kurt and let out a soft snore.

“I guess she was tired,” Kurt said and reached up to smooth her hair down.

Blaine watched. “I should get her home,” he said, standing.

“I’ll call Clark,” Amie offered and walked out of the room.

Blaine nodded and decided there was no point in protesting. Instead he watched Kurt and Mia and he almost didn’t have the heart to ask for his daughter back.