Author's Notes: Chapter Sixteen: Saying Hello

Wednesday September 24, 2014

One month after Blaine proposed, letters began to arrive for Kurt from colleges in New York City. Confused, Kurt walked back to his car from the mailbox, looking at the envelopes in his hands as he sat behind the wheel.

“What’s that, Daddy?” Aly asked from the backseat.

Kurt was startled out of his thoughts. He tossed the envelopes onto the passenger seat and shifting the car into drive, continued up the driveway.

“I’m not sure, Aly,” Kurt answered as he guided the Navigator into the garage. He turned the car off and stowed the envelopes in his messenger bag. He got Aly out of her car seat and fumbled with his keys as he carried her to the door. Kurt took Aly into the laundry room, took her shoes off and gave her the book bag she took to daycare.

“Take your bag to your room please, sweetheart,” Kurt instructed as he took off his own shoes. He waited until Aly had disappeared down the hall before he sat at the kitchen table with the envelopes before him.

Kurt checked to see if the mail carrier had made a mistake but each envelope was addressed to Kurt Hummel. The top envelope had a return address to Pace University. Kurt slipped his thumb under the flap and opened the letter.

Inside was an information packet on the college, including degrees offered, qualifications to be met, and admissions deadlines. The last paper gave a date for an audition that had been scheduled in his name. Frantically, Kurt opened the other envelopes to see the same information for different colleges, all with set audition dates. Kurt pulled his phone out to call Blaine but before he had unlocked the phone, the man himself was walking through the door.

“Hey, baby,” Blaine greeted as he hung his bag up in the laundry room. “How was -”

“What are these?” Kurt cut him off, waving the envelopes in the air.

“Oh, good,” Blaine said as he joined Kurt at the table. “I was hoping they would come soon.”

Blaine reached for the envelopes but Kurt snatched them away.

“You did this?” Kurt asked in disbelief, flipping through the letters.

“I know you’re angry,” Blaine began.

“Oh, I’m beyond angry,” Kurt cut in, throwing the envelopes down onto the table.

“Kurt, just give me a chance to -”

“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Aly interrupted.

Kurt collected the letters from the table and slipped them into his back pocket. He hadn’t heard Aly approaching and he wasn’t about to continue this conversation in front of her.

“I’ll start supper,” Kurt said with finality. He pushed his chair in at the table and turned his back to Blaine. “You can give Aly a bath.”

Kurt left no room for argument. Having heard her father, Aly ran down the hall to her bathroom. With a sigh, Blaine watched Kurt walk to the pantry. Knowing there was no point in trying to talk to him now, Blaine followed Aly down the hall.

After dinner was over, Blaine silently cleaned the dishes. Kurt turned the TV to Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Aly happily settled before the television. Kurt pulled his phone from his pocket and went on the back porch to call Rachel.

“Kurt!” Rachel answered. “If you’re calling to ask me to be your maid of honor you know the answer is yes.”

“I wish that was why I was calling,” Kurt said as he collapsed onto the porch swing.

“What’s going on?” Rachel asked. Kurt heard a door close on her end of the line and knew she had locked herself in her bedroom so Finn wouldn’t interrupt them.

“Blaine made appointments for me at three colleges in New York.” Kurt pushed off slightly, the chains holding the swing up creaking slightly.

“You’re coming to visit?” Rachel asked, her voice laced with excitement. Kurt could tell she was on the verge of planning an elaborate New York vacation for him and Blaine.

“Rachel, focus,” Kurt redirected unhappily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“Right, sorry. So Blaine wants you to go to college. What’s so bad about that? He isn’t giving you an ultimatum, is he?”

“Of course not,” Kurt said sharply. “Blaine wouldn’t do that. Although I don’t know why he did this either.”

“Because he knew you wouldn’t,” Rachel said simply.

“But why does my attending college matter at all?” Kurt asked.

“Kurt, all you ever wanted was to move to New York and go to college. You haven’t done either of those things,” Rachel reminded him gently.

“No, but I have raised a three-year-old daughter as a single father,” Kurt countered.

“I think that’s Blaine’s point, Kurt. You’ve never done anything solely for yourself, not since Aly was born. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing,” Rachel continued before Kurt could interrupt. “You had no choice. But you’re not a single father anymore. You have Blaine to help you. Let him help you.”

The door opened and Blaine awkwardly hovered in the doorway, unsure if he was welcome.

“Thanks, Rachel,” Kurt said, turning to face his fianc�.

“You’re quite welcome. Go talk to your man. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Kurt said as he hung up. Blaine bit his lip as Kurt approached him. He took Blaine’s hands in his.

“Aly is in bed; she wants you to read her a story. I already kissed her goodnight. I’m going to shower,” Blaine said. He tugged his hands from Kurt’s grasp and disappeared back into the home. Kurt waited a half second before he followed.

The door to the master bedroom was closed when Kurt got to it. He pressed his ear against the door and could hear the shower running. Kurt pulled himself away and opened the door to Aly’s room. He read her a story and tucked her into bed when she fell asleep halfway through.

Kurt pressed a kiss to her forehead before slipping out of the room. He pulled the door shut behind him, hesitating for a moment before he moved away. Blaine was in the process of dressing when Kurt entered their bedroom.

“I know why you did it,” Kurt said, perching on the edge of the bed.

Blaine slipped a wife beater over his head before joining Kurt. Kurt grasped his hands and pulled him closer.

“But I can’t go to these auditions,” Kurt told him.

“Why not? Everything’s all planned out. All you have to do is rehearse a song.”

“And find someone to watch Aly, leaving my daughter for three days,” Kurt interrupted. The three auditions were taking place in just as many days, meaning Aly would either have to be pulled from preschool or stay behind.

“That’s taken care of,” Blaine told him. “Your dad already agreed and that weekend Brittany wants to spend time with Aly.”

“Blaine, I know you just want me to be happy, but this isn’t realistic.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t drop everything and move to New York,” Kurt said.

“You wouldn’t be,” Blaine protested.

“My family is here,” Kurt argued.

“Rachel and Finn live in New York,” Blaine countered.

“My job is here. Your restaurant is here.”

“For now.”

“What do you mean ‘for now?’ Are you thinking of selling it?” Kurt asked, sitting back a bit.

“No, I’m thinking of opening another one in the city,” Blaine announced.

“What? Why?” Kurt asked in confusion.

“Because neither of us were meant to live in this place forever,” Blaine said, jumping to his feet. “You weren’t meant to spend your life in a garage. You belong in New York. We both do.”

“It’s still not that simple,” Kurt said. “New York is expensive. And those schools are private. I can’t afford them.”

“But we can,” Blaine replied, sitting back beside Kurt. “There are scholarships, and I have my grandmother’s money.”

“That money won’t last forever,” Kurt reminded him.

“No, but the restaurant is doing well. My family can help.”

“I doubt your father would agree to that,” Kurt said skeptically.

“He already has. He wants to make amends. He wants to help us find a safe place in the city, no matter the cost.”

“None of this matters if I don’t get in.”

“You will.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You will,” Blaine repeated with unwavering confidence.

“This isn’t realistic,” Kurt said again. He shifted slightly, putting himself closer to Blaine.

Blaine smiled to himself. He almost had him convinced.

“We can do this, Kurt. Just say you’ll go to the auditions,” Blaine pleaded.

“Would you take no for an answer?” Kurt asked mischievously after a second.

“If you really meant it. Come with me to New York,” Blaine pleaded.

“Okay,” Kurt said finally.

“Okay?” Blaine needed reassurance.

“Just for the auditions.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Blaine tightened his grip on Kurt’s hands before pulling him the remaining distance between them. He fell back on the bed, smiling when Kurt automatically moved to straddle his thighs. Blaine propped himself up on his elbows and captured Kurt’s lips in a kiss. Kurt kissed him back while slowly lowering him back to the bed. He broke the kiss long enough to pull his shirt over his head, quickly falling back into Blaine.

He rolled them over so Kurt was underneath him. Kurt’s hands drifted over his torso before reaching the hem of his tank top and pulling upward. Blaine threw the clean shirt on the floor, ignoring Kurt’s sputters of protest. He captured his mouth in a searing kiss and Kurt quickly forgot about the shirt. The rest of their clothes quickly followed, raining onto the floor.

They broke apart long enough to settle onto the bed properly so they could stretch out. Blaine prepared Kurt thoroughly, having to remind him several times to quiet down as Aly was asleep in the next room. Then he was slipping into his lover’s pliant body. Blaine wanted to take his time and make love to Kurt slowly but Kurt had other ideas. He lifted his hips until Blaine began to thrust into him faster. They came together with Blaine muffling the sounds of Kurt’s moans with his mouth. Afterward, Blaine lay with his head on Kurt’s chest. Kurt was just drifting off to sleep when Blaine spoke.

“Do you want another baby?”

Kurt turned his head so quickly he felt the vertebrae in his neck crack. Blaine rolled over onto his back, keeping his eyes trained on Kurt. After a few moments of silence, Kurt finally gathered his thoughts.

“I never really thought I would have the opportunity to have another child.”

“But what about now?”

“Before Aly was born, I never thought I would have the chance to have a child of my own. When Brittany got pregnant, I knew I couldn’t let someone else raise my daughter. And while I would never regret choosing to parent over adoption, I sometimes wonder how I did it. I was so young and still in school. It was hard, Blaine, unbelievably hard.”

“But you’re not alone now,” Blaine reminded him. “You have me and the rest of our families. I promise you I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to be married, Kurt. That’s not a promise I take lightly.”

“I know,” Kurt answered. “But we’re still young.”

“If you were able to raise Aly on your own as an eighteen-year-old kid, you will be more than able to raise a baby with me as a twenty-one-year-old.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Kurt said slowly.

“Then what is it?” Suddenly a horrible realization came over Blaine and his eyes widened. “You don’t want to have a baby with me.”

“No, Blaine, it’s not that. It’s definitely not that,” Kurt said quickly. He pulled Blaine close so they were laying nose to nose and pressed kisses over his cheekbones. “I have always worried about Aly having a gay father. Life isn’t easy for any kid who is different and I always knew that raising Aly would mean exposing her to some degree of bigotry. And before I met you it was easy enough to pretend that I wasn’t anything more than a single father raising a daughter. But now I’m a gay father raising a daughter with his soon-to-be husband. It won’t be so easy for Aly to blend in anymore.”

“Were you planning on staying single forever before we met?” Blaine asked.

“I didn’t think I would ever find someone who would love me for me,” Kurt said simply.

“Oh, Kurt,” Blaine said unhappily. He pulled Kurt closer still and breathed in the comforting scent of his skin. “I am so thankful every day that you are in my life. And I’m so thankful that you didn’t find someone else because then I wouldn’t be lying here with you. I wouldn’t have this amazing little girl to call my daughter. And anyone who thinks you are anything less than amazing is blind.”

Kurt’s face softened.

“I love you so much,” he whispered against Blaine’s lips. “And when the time is right, I would love to have a child with you.”

“Really?” Blaine asked, his face brightening. “You’re not just saying that?”

“I really mean it,” Kurt promised. “I know it won’t be easy for any child we bring into this world but I know I can handle it with you by my side.”

“That’s where you’ll always find me,” Blaine vowed. “I’m never saying goodbye to you.”

“What about hello?” Kurt asked, brushing his lips against Blaine’s.

“I’ll be saying that every day for the rest of my life,” Blaine said before rolling Kurt onto his back and blanketing his body with his own.