Chapter Ten:  Two Parents

Monday July 14, 2014

Kurt was quiet over dinner that evening. He told Blaine Aly said yes to meeting Brittany but had hardly said a word since. Of course, he spoke when Aly addressed him specifically but otherwise he let Blaine and Aly dominate the conversation. His mind was whirling and he couldn’t make it stop.

After dinner, Kurt cleaned up without a word. Blaine and Aly were in the living room watching cartoons when Kurt came in. He walked across the room to the couch but did not sit down.

“Can you give Aly a bath tonight? I’m going to call Brittany,” Kurt asked. Blaine looked him over carefully but Kurt had a mask put firmly in place. Blaine could only tell he was upset but not how deeply those emotions ran.

“Of course,” Blaine replied. He lifted Aly off the couch and carried her towards her bathroom. “Come on, Alygator!”

Kurt followed them down the hall but went past Aly’s bathroom and into the master bedroom. He closed the door behind him before slumping onto the queen size bed. He dug his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts list. His thumb was poised over Brittany’s name but several seconds passed before Kurt finally selected it and lifted the phone to his ear.

“Dolphin!” Brittany answered the phone on the first ring. She sat up straight on the couch in the home she shared with Santana. Santana leaned her head near the phone, trying to hear the other side of the conversation.

“Hey, Brit,” Kurt said tiredly.

“Did you talk to my baby?” Brittany asked. Santana braced herself for Kurt to snap like he had at the garage that day. She didn’t care what Kurt thought about Aly’s parentage but if he hurt Brittany, Santana would flay him alive.

Kurt closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath to keep himself from snapping. Even if Aly wanted to see Brittany, she was still Kurt’s daughter, not Brittany’s. Once he was confident he wouldn’t lash out he answered, “Yes, I talked to Aly. She wants to see you.”

“She does!” Brittany exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

“Yes, she does. Why don’t you and Santana come over for dinner on Saturday?” Kurt suggested. Aly could see her mother but there was no way she would be left alone with Brittany, not when Aly didn’t know her yet.

“Okay. Where do you live? Santana said you moved,” Brittany asked.

“I’ll text you my address,” Kurt said. He paused before continuing,” Look, Brit, I’m only doing this for Aly. As long as she wants to see you, I’m not going to stop her. But if she changes her mind, then that’s it.”

“I know. Thank you, Kurt,” Brittany said.

“Bye, Brittany,” Kurt said before he hung up with a sigh. He sat on the bed, staring at his phone. He didn’t know how much time passed and only looked up when Blaine pushed open the door.

“Hey,” Blaine said softly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Kurt replied forcefully.

It was clear Blaine didn’t believe him but he didn’t push the matter, not yet. Instead he said, “I read Aly a bedtime story. She’s waiting for a goodnight kiss.”

Kurt pushed himself off of the bed and walked past Blaine, out of the room. He turned left into Aly’s room. Aly was lying down with the covers pulled up to her chest, Crystal the cat held tightly against her side with one arm.

“Bwaine wed me a ‘towy, Daddy!” Aly said as Kurt sat on the edge of her bed.

“That’s nice, princess. It’s time for bed now. Can Daddy have a kiss?” Kurt asked.

Aly sat up and gave Kurt a hug and a kiss. He held her longer than normal but if Aly or Blaine noticed, neither said anything. Kurt pressed one last kiss to the top of Aly’s head before forcing himself to move away from his daughter when all he wanted to do was hold her close and never let go.

“I love you, Aly Cat,” Kurt said.

“I wuv you too, Daddy,” Aly replied.

Blaine knelt down and gave Aly a quick hug. He kissed her forehead before straightening up. As he moved towards the door, Aly’s voice chimed, “I wuv you, Bwaine.”

Blaine froze. His wide eyes flew to Kurt, who was smiling. At Kurt’s encouragement, Blaine turned back around.

“I love you too, Aly.”

Aly had never told Blaine she loved him before, but looking at the way her eyes smiled when Blaine gave her another hug, Kurt knew she meant it. He left the room, trying to fight back his tears. In the hallway, he was unable to move any further. Kurt heard the door click shut behind him and knew Blaine had joined him.

“Kurt, talk to me,” Blaine said softly, turning Kurt around to face him. And that was it. Kurt was gone, tears streaming down his face as he cried. Blaine gathered him in his arms; Kurt buried his face in Blaine’s shoulder, his body shaking with each sob. Somehow, Blaine managed to get Kurt into their bedroom where Aly couldn’t hear her father’s cries. He sat next to Kurt on the bed, still holding him against his chest.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Kurt gasped through his tears after a while.

“Oh, baby. You’re not going to lose her. You could never lose her. Aly loves you more than anyone else in this world and nothing is ever going to change that,” Blaine tried to console him, running his hands up and down Kurt’s back.

“But she wants to see Brittany. I don’t want her to want Brittany. I want her to want you!” Kurt immediately realized what he had said and pulled away from Blaine in horror. He brought one hand up to his mouth and when he spoke next it was muffled, “Oh god, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“It’s okay, Kurt. I want the same thing,” Blaine admitted for the first time. He had never even allowed the thought to occur to himself, though he knew in his heart it was what he wanted. He didn’t want to scare Kurt away by wanting too much too soon. But here Kurt was wanting the exact same thing as him.

“You do?” Kurt asked, shocked.

“I do,” Blaine confirmed. “I love you and I love Aly so much. Today when I went to pick her up, she came running straight into my arms. She was so happy to see me. . . . Kurt, before I met you and Aly . . . I had always felt something was missing. I just didn’t know what. And now I do. I feel like I have a family again. I haven’t had a family, a real family since I came out to my parents. Not since I was fourteen. But I can have that with you and Aly.

“You do have that with us, Blaine. We are a family. I want it all with you. I know it’s only been four months, but I want to spend forever with you. I want to marry you. I want to be your husband. I want Aly to call you Papa. I want you to be her father too,” Kurt said, crying once more.

“What about Brittany?” Blaine asked, tearing up himself.

“Screw Brittany,” Kurt said with a harsh laugh. “She may be Aly’s mother but she will never be her parent. Brittany left. She gave her rights away. And, you, Blaine, you’ve had so many chances to leave just like Brittany did. But you stayed.”

“I’m going to stay. I’m never going to leave you,” Blaine promised.

“I know you won’t,” Kurt replied before crushing their mouths together.

Kurt pushed all worries about Brittany S. Pierce and Santana Lopez from his mind. His only focus was loving Blaine and having Blaine love him in turn. Kurt had always worried about Aly being raised by a single parent, but now that no longer mattered because Aly had two parents. Aly had Kurt and Blaine.