Carole, in the driver’s seat, offered them a suggestion.

“What if you take him to the zoo?” she asked.

“Oooh! I love the zoo!” Blaine said excitedly. “Please Kurt?” he asked, turning his best puppy-dog eyes on him. Kurt sighed, trying to hide his smile.

“Okay Blaine, we’ll take him to the zoo.”

^.^

They managed to get home without further incident, Kurt carrying Toronto in his bassinet, listening as Carole reminded them that she needed to be at work by nine, so they’d better be ready to go at eight.

It didn’t take them long to get changed and crawl into the bed, tired again despite how much sleep they’d had.

^.^

They’d had a fairly good night, Toronto having changed onto a fairly regular schedule, crying every four hours or so. The only problem was that Blaine hadn’t heard him, so Kurt had gotten up both times.

Hurrying through their morning routine, they were ready and waiting at eight, Blaine having sneakily dressed Toronto in the pink overalls from the night before, hiding them under his blanket before tucking him into the bassinet.

Carole dropped them off in the already busy car park of the zoo. Blaine made a split second decision, deciding to leave the bassinet in the car. Honestly, the thing was annoyingly heavy and bulky, and just kept getting in the way.

He hurried to catch up to Kurt, who was already lining up.

Kurt was waiting impatiently, tapping his foot as he tried to see how many people were in front of him. He turned his head as Blaine caught up, freezing in shock.

“Blaine, what the hell is Tonto wearing?” he asked, glaring at Blaine as he gasped and covered Tonto’s ears.

“Kurt! Watch your mouth! And in answer to your question, they are overalls. Have you not seen a pair before?” Blaine said cheekily, trying to hide his amusement.

Kurt turned away, snapping at Blaine as he dug desperately through the nappy bag he held.

“Yes I have, Blaine, but we have a problem, boys don’t normally wear pink overalls!” Blaine just laughed at how completely contradictory he was being.

“I know I packed a change of clothes in here somewhere.” He muttered to himself.

“Kurt.” Blaine said firmly. “I took the change of clothes out. I didn’t think we’d need them.” He admitted, watching as Kurt’s face softened.

“Fine, you win.” Kurt sighed. “But the first thing we’re doing is visiting the souvenir shop.”

^.^

True to his word, Kurt had gone straight into the gift shop when they got through the gate, assuming that Blaine would follow. Instead Blaine took this as his cue to wander off with Toronto, excitedly pointing out the animals to the baby in his arms.

“Look at the monkey’s Tonto, aren’t they so playful?” Blaine pointed, holding Toronto’s head up securely.

Kurt finally located the pair, storming up in a slightly foul mood.

“They only had oversized t-shirts and no pants.” He mumbled, and Blaine just grinned, kissing his cheek.

“Forget about the overalls and enjoy the zoo babe…I think Toronto likes it.” Kurt shot him a sceptical look. “I mean, he hasn’t cried yet!”

Kurt laughed. “You’re cute.”

Blaine grinned, heading over to the next caged area, where the bears were.

“Ooh, look Toronto!” Blaine exclaimed. “The big scary bears!”

Kurt noticed an older couple smiling at them, and he laughed, shaking his head and following Blaine.

“These are Sun bears, Tonto…” Blaine said.

“Don’t overwhelm him.” Kurt said softly.

They continued throughout the zoo, pointing out animals and telling Toronto a little about each one, including the nursery rhymes and stories that they appeared in. He cried occasionally, but not for very long, and it was only rocking, feeding and burping. At lunch time, they settled at one of the cafes.

“Why is everything so expensive?” Kurt moaned.

“Captive audience.” Blaine explained. “Don’t worry, I’ll shout you.”

Kurt frowned. “You sure?”

Blaine nodded. “Of course.”

“Thanks baby.”

Blaine grinned, paying for the meals at the counter and bringing them back to where Kurt was settling Toronto in his lap.

“Good day?” Blaine asked, putting his food in front of him.

“Very good day.” Kurt grinned, stroking the top of Toronto’s head fondly as he ate. “And we still have the aquatic life to go!”

Blaine grinned. “You hear that Tonto? Seals and otters and alligators!”

Kurt chuckled. “Oh my.”

Kurt was getting sleepier as the day wore on, but Blaine’s enthusiasm just seemed to double. By the time they had walked around the aquatic centre, Blaine was practically dragging Kurt along, still pointing out animals to Toronto.

“What’s the time Blaine?” Kurt yawned sleepily.

“Two thirty, gorgeous.” Blaine said with a glance at his watch.

“Carole will be back soon.” He said, and Blaine pouted.

“Can we get ice cream? Before we have to go? Please?” Blaine begged, turning his irresistible puppy dog eyes on Kurt again.

Kurt sighed, smiling at him fondly.

“Of course we can.”

^.^

Kurt had left Blaine sitting on a bench, insisting on buying the ice cream. He handed Blaine his when he got back, settling onto the bench with a sigh, only half listening as Blaine chattered away excitedly to Toronto, stopping only to taste his ice cream.

“Oh my god, Kurt you have to try this!” Blaine said excitedly, spinning in his seat to face Kurt properly, arm outstretched.

Kurt watched in horror as Blaine’s ice cream cone moved closer to him, too stunned to duck as it connected with his face.

“Kurt? Babe?” Blaine asked in a tiny voice, expecting Kurt to rant at him for being clumsy. Kurt just smiled at him wryly, licking at the ice cream as it dripped down his face.

“You’re right, it does taste pretty good.” Blaine smiled, relieved, moving closer and licking a bit of the ice cream off of the tip of his nose, causing Kurt to smile and scold him happily.

“Blaine! Not in public!” he said, faking shock. “Here, just hold this for a second, I’ll be back after I wash this off.” Kurt went on, handing him his ice cream cone.

Blaine settled back onto the bench, licking hesitantly at the remains of his ice cream, stopping only to switch to Kurt’s cone when it started dripping.

When Kurt returned, he looked a little bit more awake, and took his cone from Blaine.

“Thanks.”

Blaine grinned, getting a proper hold on Toronto now that he had a free hand.

“Do you want to wait outside? We’ve got ten minutes left.”

Blaine nodded and grinned, taking Kurt’s hand as they headed for the exit. They sat together on the stone steps that led to the zoo, overlooking the parking lot.

Toronto gave a little whimper and Blaine gave him his bottle, and when it didn’t work, he stood up and rocked him gently, earning the happy noise.

There were a few people milling around outside, and one young couple kept looking at them in particular. It was freaking Kurt out a bit, but they approached with smiles.

“Hi…we were just wondering if he was yours.” The woman asked, pointing at Toronto.

Kurt gave her a raised eyebrow look. “Yeah…”

“How old are you?” the man asked.

“Seventeen.” Blaine said softly, not understanding why these people had come up.

“Seriously? Wow. Did you guys get him via surrogacy? Did you have to get parental consent or…?”

Kurt gave her a wide-eyed look. “What? Oh no, I’m sorry. Miscommunication.” Kurt chuckled.

Blaine stepped in, grinning easily and turning Toronto around so they could see his plastic face. “It’s only a doll - It’s for a school project…”

“Oh…” the couple nodded with relieved expressions.

“So…are you boys…together?” the woman asked hesitantly.

Kurt stood, looking over at Blaine before looking at the couple with a guarded look. “Yes. We are.”

The woman grinned wide. “That’s great. Society needs more…” she paused, trying to find the words. “Needs more you.”

Blaine chuckled. “Well thank you very much.”

The couple grinned, saying their goodbyes as they walked away. Blaine was grinning widely, looking over at Kurt, who was beaming.

“Random.”

“Awesome.” Kurt giggled as a much older woman came over to them.

“I couldn’t help but overhear…you boys are gay?”

Kurt gave a little sigh, prepared for severe reprimanding.

“Yes ma’am.” Blaine replied with a grin.

“My husband used to be gay.” She told them with a smile, settling down next to them.

“…Used to?” asked Kurt, a little confused.

“Yes. He died last year.” She told them gently, still smiling. “He told me he was gay sixty years after we got married, and he had been gay the entire time, too. Society wasn’t as accepting back then. You boys are very lucky to be able to grow up and be proud of who you are, and in public too.”

Kurt bit his lip with a small smile. She seemed to hover a bit, and Kurt wondered if they should say something in return.

“I’m sorry ma’am, did you want something?” asked Blaine politely.

“No no. I’m just waiting for my daughter to come and fetch me. Ah, here she is now.” She told them, accepting Kurt’s offer of help as she stood slowly, waving good bye as she climbed into the car that had just pulled up in front of them.

“Bye boys! Good luck!”

They stood in stunned silence for a little while, before bursting out laughing.

“That was a little weird.”

“No, it was alright, she’s just an old, lonely, senile old lady.” Kurt told him, picking up their bags as he recognised his car.

^.^

The ride home was fairly quiet. Carole hadn’t said much, apart from to ask how their day had been. Now, almost home, Kurt was asleep on Blaine’s shoulder as he nursed Toronto.

He managed to wake Kurt up enough to get inside, only to find him asleep on the couch as he staggered in, carrying the two bags they’d taken and Tonto in his bassinet.

Leaving the bags at the end of the couch, Blaine managed to get Kurt to wake up again, enough to climb upstairs, sending him for a shower when he got there.

The rest of their last afternoon with Tonto passed fairly quickly. They watched another movie, again forgetting to pay attention to the plot, and put themselves to bed almost as soon as dinner was over, exhausted after their long day.