“Night Blaine.” He mumbled, and Blaine smiled.

He gently tucked a blanket over Kurt, smiling a little as he snuggled into it, before wandering absently around the house. He didn’t think he could sit still long enough to watch a movie without sleeping, and no one else was home yet, so it was a good chance for him to explore, without it ending up weird when someone spotted him.

He paused in the kitchen for a while, finally deciding that he wasn’t actually hungry, before moving on. He briefly visited the basement, and almost started exploring upstairs, before remembering that it was pretty much just bedrooms and bathrooms, and ended up in Kurt’s room. He stayed there for a while, feeding and burping Tonto, before his stomach started to growl.

Remembering that Kurt generally cooked dinner, he made his way to the kitchen, flipping lights on as he went. Investigating cautiously, he found chicken in the fridge, obviously aimed at becoming dinner, some rice, and a saucepan in the cupboard. Setting it all on the bench, he fetched Toronto’s bassinet from the lounge, gently settling the sleeping baby into it as he cooked dinner, glancing up at the baby with a smile every now and then.

^.^

Kurt woke as the smell of food filled the house, his stomach growling. He stumbled blearily into the kitchen, seating himself at the counter, rubbing at his eyes as a plate was set in front of him and cutlery pushed across the bench. Picking the fork up, he poked at the food, eventually lifting a bite to his mouth.

He looked up at the figure who’d just sat across from him, with his own plate of food.

“Blaine?” he mumbled. “You can cook?” Blaine laughed.

“Only a few meals. I made enough for Finn, in case he comes home tonight.” They both laughed at that.

Kurt scooped Toronto out of his bassinet and sat down again, settling him easily onto his lap and supporting him in the crook of his arm while he ate. They talked quietly, gradually becoming quieter as it got darker outside.

Finally finished, Kurt put their plates in the sink, grabbing Blaine’s hand and pulling him upstairs, leaving him to grab Toronto’s stuff with his free hand.

Kurt passed Toronto to Blaine as they entered his room, claiming the first shower. Accepting the baby back a few minutes later, he paced the room, humming absently as he rocked him.

Although he’d only gotten a few hours of sleep, he felt strangely more awake, smiling to himself as he heard Blaine run the shower.

Toronto cried again; it had been the fourth time since they’d been upstairs. Kurt swiped him and rocked him worriedly.

“Blaine…” Kurt knocked on the bathroom door.

“Uhh….yeah?” Blaine called, clearly disgruntled at being disturbed in the shower.

“Hurry up. I need you to listen to something.”

Moments later, Blaine opened the door in just his pyjama bottoms, making Kurt blush slightly as he took in his well-toned chest and his firm stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Blaine asked, seemingly oblivious to the way Kurt was staring. He was drying his hair with the towel, slightly concerned.

Kurt swallowed, shaking his head and remembering the reason he called him out of the bathroom in the first place.

“Listen to Toronto.” Kurt said softly, holding the baby up.

Blaine took him, cradling the baby against his bare chest. His small whimpers sounded different. Off.

“Is…is he okay?”

“He sounds…sick…” Kurt said softly as Blaine started rocking him.

Blaine bit his lower lip. “Is this normal?”

Kurt glanced over at his computer. “We could Google it?”

Blaine nodded as Toronto started crying louder, and he swiped him, finding the bottle and pushing it to his lips. When that didn’t work, he changed his nappy almost expertly as Kurt logged on to his computer.

“What’s his brand name?” Kurt asked, opening his web browser.

Blaine gently turned Toronto, lifting his shirt and reading out the serial number and brand to Kurt, who typed it in.

Toronto cried again, and this time responded to a bottle, so Blaine fed him while Kurt found a page dedicated to the plastic babies.

“They run through a range of emotions and needs, some days being hungrier or fussier than others…They also can catch colds, hiccup, sneeze and obtain illnesses such as colic and the flu…When this happens, the dolls’ crying and whimpering stages become hitched and irregular, but far more frequent.” Kurt skimmed through the paragraph, looking up at Blaine with concerned eyes.

“Our baby’s sick…”

“Does he have colic or the flu?” Blaine asked worriedly, rocking as he fed Toronto.

Kurt bit his lip, rereading the article carefully.

“I’d say colic… It says he’ll cry more with colic and will want to be rocked or burped almost constantly. The flu one just says he’ll eat less and sleep more.” Kurt said, turning worried eyes back on Blaine.

“Hey, don’t worry.” Blaine said gently. “He’ll be okay. We’ll just have to be careful, and look after him.”

Kurt nodded, moving back over to Blaine, accepting the baby back and wrapping his arms around him, clutching him to his chest. Blaine touched his cheek gently, making Kurt raise his eyes from the baby in his arms to look at Blaine, in time to see him step closer to him, leaning over to kiss Toronto’s cheek before kissing Kurt gently, before moving closer again. He hugged Kurt, leaving Toronto sandwiched comfortably between their chests. Kurt rested his head on his shoulder, shushing Toronto gently as he whimpered. Blaine sighed contentedly, pressing his face into Kurt’s neck for a moment and kissing the skin he found there, before stepping back.

“You need sleep baby.” Blaine said softly, stroking the bags under Kurt’s tired eyes.

Kurt shook his head. “Tonto’s sick. I can’t sleep now.”

Blaine bit his lip thoughtfully. “At least come lie down with me, okay?”

Kurt was too tired to think of a reason why he couldn’t, so he just nodded and gathered Toronto’s things, putting them next to the bed. Blaine sat in the very middle, his back propped up against the headboard, his arms open wide.

Kurt gratefully crawled into them, a little awkwardly with Toronto in his arms, but settled peacefully nonetheless. And then he went rigid. Blaine’s stomach was warm. And bare.

But kind of amazing.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, careful of Toronto, and kissed the back of his neck soothingly as Toronto whimpered again. Kurt quickly settled him, resting back onto Blaine again.

“Your dad is going to kill me.” Blaine kissed Kurt’s collarbone. “If he comes in and sees me half dressed.”

“Mmhm.” Kurt mumbled, enjoying the feeling of Blaine’s lips on his neck far too much to pay attention.

Blaine shifted around a bit behind him, and eventually found a singlet that he pulled on, pushing Kurt up slightly so he could pull it down over his stomach. Kurt almost whimpered a little at the loss of heat, but stopped himself at the last minute.

His baby was sick. This was no time to be getting those feelings, he reminded himself forcibly, shaking his head and dislodging Blaine’s lips for a moment.

Toronto whimpered again, and they both froze, trying to work out whether he actually needed something, or if it was just a sick whimper. When he cried again, louder, Kurt moved quickly, swiping him as Blaine pushed the bottle into Kurt’s free hand. When that didn’t work, Kurt gently lay Toronto on his legs, changing his nappy before picking him up again. As he kept crying, Kurt tried burping him before, almost desperately, rocking him gently and shushing him quietly.

When he realised he couldn’t rock him properly where he was, he climbed off of the bed, pacing around it, already missing Blaine’s warmth. He cast Blaine longing glances as he rocked his child, trying to sooth the sick baby.

Blaine sat up, watching Kurt pace worriedly. They’d only been up there for three hours, but if felt like they’d been there half the night.

An hour and a half later, Burt returned home, finding the food that Blaine had cooked on the table. He ignored it, starting up the stairs to Kurt’s room. He knocked briefly before opening the door, finding Kurt in Blaine’s arms, his eyes filled with tears.

“Hey dad.” Kurt whispered.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Burt went into full-blown protective dad mode, immediately sussing out Blaine to see if he had a guilty face.

“Tonto’s sick.” Kurt whispered, his eyes now trained on the baby.

Burt’s expression softened. He’d have to remind himself not to jump to conclusions, especially since the way Blaine was holding his son – so closely and protectively, made Burt believe that the boy couldn’t and wouldn’t ever hurt Kurt. At least, not intentionally.

“Sick?” Burt frowned. “He’s a-” Blaine looked up, his eyes widening and shaking his head softly, and Burt understood. “How?”

“He’s colicky. He just won’t stop crying and won’t sleep, no matter what we do.” Kurt moaned, clearly over-tired as he tried to burrow into Blaine’s arm, practically sobbing as his exhausted body willed him to sleep, but his mind only wanted to concentrate on Toronto.

Burt stood awkwardly at the door as Blaine tried to comfort his boyfriend.

“Hey…baby…” Blaine whispered, almost so Burt couldn’t hear him. “I can take Tonto to the couch. You can sleep and I’ll stay up with him, okay?”

Kurt shook his head.

“I don’t want you to have to be up with him alone.” He snapped, and Burt heaved a sigh – it’s not like he could do anything.

“Whatever happens, make sure you boys get enough sleep for classes tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Kurt waved him off and Blaine called out a goodnight to him as he shut the door.

Kurt sighed, starting to rock the baby in his arms again as the whimpers started afresh. Blaine sighed, sitting on the end of the bed and running a hand through his messed up hair.

“Kurt, come here.” he said quietly, holding his arms open.

Kurt glanced at him, completing another couple of laps before giving in, curling up on Blaine’s lap, still rocking Toronto. Blaine’s arms closed around him and he rocked them both, slowly calming Kurt down as he absently played with his hair.

“Shhh.” he murmured. With a final sniff, Kurt went limp against him, finally giving into his exhaustion despite himself.

Blaine smiled gently, manoeuvring him gently until he was lying down on the bed. Kurt’s grip on Toronto hadn’t lessened, so Blaine was able to move him easily without worrying about the baby - at least until he had to work out how to take the baby out of his arms.

He worried for nothing though. Kurt was so deeply asleep that Blaine doubted he would have noticed if Tonto had started screaming. Standing up slowly, Blaine started pacing, bouncing the whimpering baby as he did so, knowing that if he sat down he’d probably go to sleep.

By the next time Toronto cried, Blaine had managed to almost completely tune out, so much so that Kurt woke up before he could calm the baby down. Kurt sat up quickly, sending blankets and pillows flying as he blinked rapidly, trying to get his head to stop spinning after moving too fast. Before he was certain he was stable, he was off the bed, at Blaine’s side, Blaine catching him easily and helping him to stay upright with an empty arm.

“Tonty?” Kurt asked him, eyes fixed on the infant.

“He’s fine Kurt.” Blaine said tiredly, annoyed at himself for waking him up. Kurt’s hopeful expression made him correct himself. “He’s still sick, but not any sicker.”

Kurt sighed, dropping his eyes back to the ground as the baby whimpered again, leaning heavily against Blaine.

“Blaine?” he asked after a little while.

“Mmm?”

“Can I just try something?” he asked, accepting the baby Blaine offered him, cooing to Toronto gently.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt cleared his throat, and started singing quietly to the baby in his arms.

“The power lines went out, and I am all alone
But I don’t really care at all, not answering my phone” Blaine recognized the song immediately, jumping in on his line.

“All the games you played, the promises you made
couldn’t finish what you started only darkness still remains” he sang, matching Kurt’s voice.

Together they sang the rest of the song quietly, the whole time watching Toronto carefully, for some sign that it was helping, even though they knew that Toronto couldn’t hear them.

Not long after the song finished, Blaine having moved to put his arms around Kurt’s waist, Toronto sighed, and finally went to sleep. Smiling tiredly at each other, Kurt and Blaine quickly turned the lights off, curling up together in the bed with Toronto still resting on Kurt’s chest. Blaine pulled the blanket up over them, nuzzling his face into Kurt’s neck, already half asleep.

“Night Kurt.” he whispered, his breath warm on Kurt’s neck as he snuggled even closer, tangling their legs together.

“Night.” he whispered back, moving his head just enough to kiss Blaine’s cheek before settling back where he was before, feeling safe and comfortable, sleeping easily.

Toronto, finally settled, slept the rest of the night, crying for the first time just as the first light of the morning started sneaking into the room.

Kurt woke first, feeling as though he hadn’t slept a wink. Blaine was no better, mumbling something incoherent beside him.

“Blaine!” Kurt scolded him sleepily as he swiped Toronto’s chest.

Blaine looked up, confused. “What?”

“Watch your mouth in front of Tonto…” he tried the bottle, but Toronto didn’t stop crying.

“I didn’t say anything like that…” he mumbled, rolling over and pressing his face into the pillow.

Kurt shrugged, yawning as he changed the nappy. “I assumed.”

Toronto gurgled happily and Kurt smiled fondly. “Good boy.”

Blaine smirked into his pillow before sitting up and stretching. “What’s the time?”

Kurt glanced over at the clock on the side table. “Quarter to first period.”

Blaine chuckled a little. “And when is Early Childhood?”

“Second.” Kurt answered half-heartedly. “We have like, half an hour to sleep more before we have to get ready.”

Blaine looked down at himself, then to the clock, then at his pillow. “I like the way you think.”

Kurt smiled as Blaine snuggled back into his side. He knew if he went back to sleep he’d never get up in time. Besides, he reasoned to himself, they only had to be awake for about two hours.