Sugar Baby

Twenty-Six

Blaine was slumped into the sofa, a pregnancy book balanced on his knees as he twirled a pen distractedly between his fingers, when the handle of the door was slowly lowered and it slid open just enough for Kurt to slip inside, supporting himself against the wall as he crossed the room, leaning heavily on his uninjured ankle. While he had healed enough to be able to walk short distances, he still wasn't back to normal and needed to rest after walking even only from his room to the bathroom just next door. "Kurt, what are you doing?" he asked worriedly, slipping an arm securely around Kurt's waist to help ease him down. "It's late, you're supposed to be resting."

"Blaine, the baby's kicking, you have to feel this," Kurt whispered, eyes shining as he threaded his fingers through Blaine's and guided his hand to rest over the swell of his belly. "I felt it, when I was about to go to sleep and he kicked me, just wait a minute."

Smiling sweetly up at Kurt, Blaine lowered his head close to Kurt's bump, kissing the spot where his belly button pressed against his shirt, rubbing the taut skin and starting when he felt something press against his hand from inside Kurt, gentle at first then harder, obvious kicks that made him gasp out a laugh and blink back tears. "That's amazing," he whispered. "It's like he's really a person, he can hear us talking." Gazing down at Kurt's stomach, he murmured, "Hey little boy, it's Papa. Can you hear me? You're not even here yet, but I love you so much."

"I love you too," Kurt breathed, and Blaine looked up at him, knowing that Kurt wasn't just speaking about the baby any more, and Kurt's lips curved into a sweet smile as he raised Blaine's hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to his palm. "Will you come stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone. Sometimes there are nightmares and I don't think anyone can hear me screaming and I can't keep losing sleep over it."

"On one condition," Blaine murmured, and Kurt nodded gently. "You have to let me carry you back to your room. It's painful to watch you struggling to walk even that short distance." Kurt ducked his head with a slight laugh, a blush curling high in his cheeks, and looped his arms around Blaine's neck, shifting around to get comfortable as Blaine lifted him up, laying his head into the curve of Blaine's shoulder, where it fit as if they were puzzle pieces coming together.

Kurt curled around Blaine once they were in bed, his face pressed into the crook of Blaine's neck, breathing him, and Blaine held him as close as he could, one hand pressed against his bump to feel the baby occasionally kick and the other cradling the small of his back. "I love you," he whispered against Kurt's cheek. "And I'm not talking to the baby."

"I love you," Kurt breathed sleepily, blinking blearily up at him and smiling. "And I'm not talking to the baby either. But I still need time, Blaine. This is crazy and all I know is that I want to keep the baby, and I want you to be in his life, and mine. But I don't know what capacity I want you there in yet."

"Take all the time you need," Blaine whispered as Kurt rolled onto his side, sliding a pillow beneath his hip to keep him from rolling onto his stomach and hurting the baby during the night. "I've got a surprise for you that might help you make your decision." Kurt looked over at him with a pleading look in his eyes and a slight pout on his lips, but Blaine just shook his head with a barely-contained grin and reached over to turn out the light, wrapping his arms firmly around Kurt and linking his fingers over his belly, pressing his face into Kurt's hair and letting Kurt's slow, even breaths lull him into a more peaceful sleep than he had in a long time.

Morning came, and Blaine awoke at a soft knock on the door, a grinning Sam peering inside and beckoning him. "So you're picking them up at the airport, right?" Blaine asked softly as he tied his robe neatly around his waist.

"I'm just off now, and Quinn, Puck and Santana were here late last night fixing up the room down the hall for them, so your hunch about what would cheer him up better be right," Sam murmured, and Blaine just smiled and shrugged, padding down the hallway to cook eggs, bacon and pancakes, awaiting the arrival of Kurt's surprise.

Kurt surfaced around eleven, sleepy-eyed and pink-cheeked, finding Blaine in the kitchen, flipping pancakes and fully-dressed in his jeans and checked shirt and stretching up to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "Your son will not stop kicking me," he said, picking up one of the pancakes and shaking a generous spoonful of sugar into it, folding it in half and biting into it.

"Are you going to be one of those people who calls the baby my son when he's crying at three o'clock in the morning and yours when he's all angelic?" Blaine teased, and Kurt just smirked at him, lips sticky with sugar. "And your surprise will be here any minute. Sam went to pick it up from where I had it delivered to."

The door clattered open down the hall, and Blaine smiled as Kurt's head whipped around and his entire face lit up as Mercedes and Tina crossed the threshold, with a grumbling Sam behind them hefting their suitcases along. "Oh my God!" Kurt shrieked, leaning heavily on the counter as both girls rushed across the kitchen and almost knocked him to the floor in the enthusiastic embrace of the close teenaged friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, Blaine called my mom the other night and asked her if she would let me and Tina come out to New York for a week to keep you company and because it's paid for and we're not missing any really important stuff at school she agreed so here we are to come cheer you up!" Mercedes explained, and the trio hugged each other again. "Come on, show us your room and we can talk baby plans."

Turning back as Mercedes dragged him away, her fingers tightly encircling his wrist, Kurt flashed Blaine the most dazzlingly happy smile he had ever seen, and mouthed Thank you! I love you. Blaine blew him a kiss and saw both Mercedes and Tina sigh sentimentally over his action, grinning as he turned away, amazed that his idea had managed to make Kurt so happy.