Kurt sighed, noticing Blaine’s side of the bed was empty… again. He rubbed his face, feeling tired and lost even as the new day had just started. His husband of eleven years wasn’t the same person he once knew. He could sense something was off but he didn’t have a clue what exactly that had been bugging Blaine for the past few months. Blaine had been distant and Kurt wondered if he had done something that had hurt his husband’s feelings.

Kurt had to pretend — in front of the kids, in front everybody because he didn’t want anyone to notice the strain in his marriage. He always put on a poker face in front of them especially his kids so they wouldn’t get upset. Whatever was happening between him and Blaine was their problem, and there was no need for them to include the kids in their problems. They were far too young and innocent to be in this mess.  

Kurt glanced at the watch on the nightstand. Blaine needed to give him a straight answer. He couldn’t live life like this. Kurt missed his husband so much. He wanted to know what’s wrong. He wanted Blaine by his side; singing to him, singing to their children, singing together like they used to. And most importantly, he missed the time they spent as a family. Those days seemed like a thousand years ago.

Slowly making his way to the foyer, Kurt pondered how his life suddenly turned downhill.  What made Blaine change and why? Didn’t Blaine love him anymore? Kurt realized he wasn’t as attractive as when he was younger but nobody was perfect. Blaine himself had changed a little bit. Even if it wasn’t much, he definitely had changed. Blaine still looked like the boy Kurt met on the stairs of Dalton Academy years ago but he appeared older and more matured.

But then again, so did Kurt.

They were fathers now — to three kids. After all the years, a little difference was expected but Kurt had never imagined it would turn out to be like this. He had never pictured that one day Blaine would leave him. They were a solid couple in a solid relationship. They were supposed to be together forever, everyone said so. But what had happened? How did they become like this?

Kurt wandered off towards the kitchen, intending to prepare breakfast for him and for the family he still had left but a figure made him stop dead on his track. He blinked and his mouth suddenly went dry. He gawked at the figure that was looking outside the window staring into the nothingness of the early morning of New York for a moment before stepping out of the dark. “Where were you last night, Blaine?”

Blaine slowly turned around, didn’t even look surprised by Kurt’s presence. “I was here.”

“But you weren’t in our bed.” Kurt choked out the words.

“I fell asleep on the couch.” Blaine reached for his half-empty glass of water on the kitchen island and took a small sip.

Kurt sighed quietly. “Where exactly have you been, Blaine? You came home late. I called you and you didn’t answer your phone. The twins were asking for you.”

“I left my phone inside the car.” Blaine took another sip of his drink. “Sorry.”

“What’s going on here, Blaine? Why have you been acting like this?”

“I’ve been acting like what, Kurt?” Blaine angrily slammed down his glass on the kitchen island. He seemed furious. His eyes were wild, staring at Kurt like a predator hunting its prey. 

Kurt refrained himself from yelling at his husband out of frustration. It was too early for him to face this. The kids weren’t even awake yet. “It seems to me like you don’t care about this family anymore. You aren’t paying attention to the kids… or to me.”

“This is crazy.”

Kurt’s eyes began to tear up. “No, it isn’t. Tell me truth, please. I deserve to know the truth. What is it? What have you been doing for the past three months, huh?”

Blaine shook his head, scoffing.

“Are you having an affair? Do you have a boyfriend that I should know about?”

Blaine looked over at his husband ridiculously. “Listen to yourself! Listen carefully at what you are saying! Me having an affair? That’s bogus, Kurt!”

“You have been ignoring my calls, my text messages… We don’t even sleep on the same bed! And when I called your school you continuously weren’t there!” Kurt pointed out. “I saw you the other day—”

“So now you’ve been stalking me? Monitoring my every move?!” Blaine snapped.

“You aren’t actually here; don’t you get it? You are slipping away from me each day. How is that supposed to make me feel?” Kurt couldn’t keep his emotions at bay. The tears he had been trying to hold finally fell.

Blaine saw the tears and he felt guilty. It wasn’t his intention to hurt Kurt. The man was the love of his life but he had a lot going on at the moment and he couldn’t share it with Kurt just yet. He needed to choose the right time. He slowly made his way towards his husband. “Kurt…”

Kurt sobbed pitifully. The thought of losing Blaine to another man was too painful for him to bear. He loved Blaine too much to let someone else take his husband from him, from their children — their family. “I love you so much, Blaine.”

“I love you too, Kurt.” Blaine said soothingly, embracing his husband. “I’m sorry… for everything, Kurt. You and our kids are everything to me, I hope you know that.”

Kurt leaned into the hug. They hadn’t fought in years but when they did, it hurt… a lot. They were like other couples, they constantly argued with each other’s opinions and decisions however it was usually about small stuff, rarely about something big. This one was huge and Kurt was hurting badly.

Blaine tightened his hold on Kurt nonetheless it didn’t feel enough. His effort was worthless. He knew no matter what he did, he would never ease up Kurt’s mind because once Kurt knew the truth…

“Dad!”

Both Blaine and Kurt looked up once they heard the voice that belonged to their eldest son. Kurt quickly wiped his tears, not wanting to show his son his sorrow. He smiled at the eight-year-old as the boy made a move toward them.

Blaine cleared his throat, smiling at his son as well. “Hey, Dare!” He ruffled the boy’s curly locks and picked him up. “What are you doing up so early on a Sunday?”

Darren shrugged. “I’m not sleepy. Pa made me go to sleep early last night. I overslept already, Dad.”

Blaine chuckled slightly. He glanced at Kurt who was starting to make breakfast and it broke his heart all over again. By the stiffness of Kurt’s posture and the lack of chatter, he knew Kurt was feeling insecure.

“Dad…” Darren all of a sudden whined. Blaine raised an eyebrow at his son and he got an eye roll as a reply from the eight-year-old. “I’m not Chris or Jess, Dad. I’m not a kid anymore. Put me down, will you?”

“Right, sure.” Blaine said shortly and placed the boy on the floor. His heart suddenly ached. Darren was only eight years old and refused to call him ‘Daddy’ anymore because according to Darren August Anderson-Hummel, only babies called their dad, ‘Daddy’.  To prove that he wasn’t a baby, ‘Daddy’ was now just ‘Dad’ for him.  “Hey, where are you going?”

Darren bounced gleefully in front of Blaine. “I’m gonna watch cartoons.”

“Who says you can?” Blaine teased.

“Dad…” Darren pouted, whining again.

Blaine grinned, his hazel eyes brightened mischievously and Darren’s own mirroring his father. As Blaine continued to tease Darren, Kurt watched the pair. This was what he always wanted — a happy family of his own. This was what he shared with his father and to see Blaine was a loving father to Darren, and of course to the twins as well made Kurt’s heart ache even more. He didn’t want to lose this.

“Papa, please?” Darren turned to Kurt, his hazel eyes begging for his other father to let him watch his Sunday cartoons.

Kurt looked at Darren and made an effort to smile at the boy. “Go on then but don’t make any noise, okay? Let Jess and Chris sleep a little bit longer.”

“Okie dokie!” Darren ran past Blaine, rushing towards the family room.

Kurt took a deep breath as he watched his son leave. He glimpsed at Blaine and noticed his husband was watching Darren too but Kurt didn’t miss the sadness in Blaine’s eyes. It was unsettling and it made Kurt’s blood freeze in his veins.

Kurt took off his apron and immediately wrapped his arms around Blaine, seeking comfort from his husband again. The younger man was surprised but he slowly relaxed and returned the embrace and Kurt was instantly relieved.

Kurt’s tightened his hold on Blaine, holding on to the moment where his life was perfect.

“I’ll never say goodbye to you…”