The Heart of a Father

Prologue

“The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.” – Abbe Prevost

Blaine Devon Anderson was dying. There was no other explanation. The reason of his imminent death: heartbreak. Yes, he had been the one to encourage Kurt to follow his dreams and go to New York without him. But that was when he expected Kurt to call at least once a day, and Skype when they had downtime. Lately, the two went days without a word spoken between them. And now Blaine had caught a stomach bug on top of everything and surely heartbreak was to blame for his weakened immune system.

The front door opened and shut. Blaine heard his brother's voice ring out, “Blaine?”

Unable to speak, Blaine groaned. His throat was in excruciating pain from the amount of vomiting he had done in the past week. Cooper entered the room, frowning when he took in the sight of his little brother. Blaine was unnaturally pale, lying under a thick blanket with a bucket filled with vomit beside him.

“You should have called me sooner,” Cooper scolded and set to work immediately. He took the bucket into the kitchen to rinse out. He brought it back to Blaine.

“You didn't have to come,” Blaine muttered as he burrowed further under the blanket.

“Mom and Dad are in London. Of course I had to come. You're my little brother. Someone needs to take care of you. Have you been to the doctor?” Cooper asked as he puttered about the room.

“No,” Blaine groaned as another wave of nausea swept over him and he turned onto his side to vomit into the bucket.

Cooper left the room and returned several seconds later with a thermometer and a wet washcloth. He pressed the washcloth against Blaine's forehead and stuck the thermometer into his mouth. When it beeped, he looked at the screen.

“Huh, you're not running a fever,” Cooper said in puzzlement.

“I haven't been all week,” Blaine said.

“Come on, buddy. Let's get you into bed and then I'm going to the store to get you a few things,” Cooper said.

He helped Blaine off of the couch and up the stairs into his bed. Blaine had just settled back against the pillows when music began to play from inside his nightstand.

“That's Kurt,” Blaine groaned. “Can you hand me my phone? It's in the top drawer.”

Cooper slid open the drawer, pulling out Blaine's cell phone. He handed the phone to Blaine, his eyes glued to the inside of Blaine's drawer. There were an assortment of papers, mostly songs Blaine had written over the years, along with a large half-emptied bottle of lubricant. Cooper frowned when he noticed there weren't any condoms. He made a mental note to talk to his little brother about safe sex later. He didn't need to have “The Talk” while he was sick with a stomach virus.

“I'm going to run to the store,” Cooper said, pushing the drawer shut. Blaine nodded, waving him off with one hand as he listened to whatever Kurt was saying.

Cooper pushed a shopping cart down the aisles of the closest grocery store, looking at the different assortments of soup. Loaded potato soup had always been Blaine's favorite but Cooper was worried Blaine wouldn't be able to keep it down. He grabbed several cans of chicken noodle instead, figuring he couldn't go wrong with the classic. As he turned to put the cans into the buggy he collided with a heavily pregnant man.

“I'm so sorry,” Cooper apologized, reaching out to steady the man with one hand.

“It's okay,” the man said with a smile before continuing on his way.

Cooper put the cans down, frowning as he watched the man walk away. His mind flashed back to his little brother's nightstand drawer and the lack of condoms. He remembered his mother speaking of a distant cousin who had fallen pregnant from his partner years ago. Cooper ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. Their family carried the male pregnancy gene. How stupid could he be? How had he forgotten? Had anyone ever told Blaine? Surely not, if he thought he and Kurt could get by without condoms.

Resigning himself to the facts, Cooper sprinted to the aisle with the feminine products and pregnancy tests. The soup was forgotten in the shopping cart in aisle five.

K/B

“This is ridiculous, Cooper. I'm not pregnant,” Blaine protested.

Cooper ignored him, dragging him into the bathroom and shoving the pregnancy test into his hand. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter.

“Our family has the gene, Blaine. We have to be sure.”

“Fine, but you can at least leave while I pee on a stick,” Blaine said, pushing Cooper out of the room.

Cooper pulled the door shut behind him. Not long after, Blaine entered the room. For five agonizing minutes they sat staring at the pregnancy test, watching as two pink lines slowly formed.