Kurt went up to bed early that night.

He convinced Blaine to carry Madeline upstairs for him, and Blaine tucked them in before going back downstairs to finish tidying up for the next day.

Blaine wandered around downstairs, smiling to himself at how far the baby things had managed to spread themselves in just one day. Finally done with cleaning, he went back upstairs to find Kurt fast asleep, Madeline lying contentedly on his chest, an open book dropped at his side.

"Come on princess." Blaine whispered, gently scooping Madeline up into his arms. Both Kurt and Madeline whimpered, and Blaine smiled slightly. "Time for bed." He checked her nappy before lowering her into her cot, kissing her forehead and pulling the covers up over her.

Blaine moved back over to Kurt, picking the book up and closing it before climbing into bed next to Kurt, curling himself around him and pulling the blankets up over them both.

"Blaine?" Kurt murmured.

"Shh, go back to sleep." Blaine whispered, kissing the back of his neck.

"Mm, okay." Kurt sighed, squirming further back into Blaine's arms before his eyes closed again.

Smiling to himself, Blaine's eyes closed slowly, following Kurt into sleep.

^.^

It was around eleven – only a couple of hours later - when Madeline woke up, but it wasn't her cries that woke Blaine. She was cooing and gurgling to herself, and Blaine frowned, sitting up slightly.

"That is so cute." Kurt mumbled sleepily, and Blaine smiled fondly, wrapping his arm around Kurt's waist.

"Go back to sleep." Blaine whispered. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

"Mmhm."

Blaine grinned, gently stroking his arm as he continued to listen to Madeline. Soon, her happy gurgles turned to sleepy ones, and then she dropped back into sleep. Blaine stifled a laugh.

Babies were so simple.

^.^

Two hours later, Madeline was crying. Loudly. Blaine jolted awake, already out of bed before Kurt had time to sit up. He scooped her up and cooed to her as he made his way downstairs – still half asleep. He fixed her bottle and collapsed on the couch, feeding her.

He got up three more times that night – feeding, changing and playing with her until dawn.

The next time he woke up, it was nine, and there was no warm body next to his.

He raised his head off the pillow, squinting towards Madeline's cot. She was gone as well, and he was just about to worry when Kurt's voice drifted to him from downstairs.

"See? We're fine. How about we let daddy sleep a bit longer, because I know he was up with you all night..." Kurt's voice trailed off, and Blaine smiled sleepily.

He had time for a little bit more sleep.

^.^

Blaine woke with a jump as a warm bundle was gently dropped onto his chest. He cradled Madeline carefully as Kurt bounced onto the bed next to him.

"Blaine, time to get up!" Kurt said happily.

"Mm...what's the time...?"

"Almost twelve. You told Burt and Carole and the others to come at two-thirty, didn't you?"

Blaine yawned, sitting up with Madeline. "Burt, Carole...Rachel, and Finn...they'll be here at two thirty...the others at three."

Kurt nodded, stroking Madeline's foot.

"Kiss?" Blaine requested, stretching lazily and grinning at Kurt. Kurt smiled, leaning carefully over Madeline to press their lips together.

She giggled, and they pulled apart, staring down at her in shock.

"She's... smiling."

Kurt's eyes widened, a happy grin escaping his lips. "Oh my god."

"She's beautiful." Blaine whispered, tracing her little mouth with his finger.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, and they both frowned.

"No one's supposed to be here for another couple of hours..." Blaine said hesitantly.

The doorbell rang again and Blaine handed Madeline over, scrambling to get up.

"I'm coming!" he called.

"Blaine, pyjama's!" Kurt reminded him, smirking.

"Oh, right. How about you get the door while I get dressed?"

Kurt laughed, already halfway out the door. He made his way slowly down the stairs, Madeline cradled carefully to his chest, before continuing more confidently to the door.

"Hi!" he greeted happily, pulling the door open – then he froze, his eyes widening. "Mercedes?"

She stood on the porch with a wide grin, her eyes widening at Madeline.

"You have a baby!"

Kurt laughed, a little nervous. "It's been almost three years, and all you can talk about is the baby?"

Mercedes shook her head, and Kurt laughed as they moved in for a hug – Kurt hugging her with one arm.

"I can't believe you're here!" Kurt whispered, holding her tight. "Wait, why are you here?"

"Rachel told me you were having a get-together...and I wasn't going to come, but I got time off and I really missed you."

Kurt grinned, letting her go. "Come in – come in."

He showed her into the lounge as Blaine bounced down the stairs, running a hand through his hair.

"Kurt, who was at the door?" he asked loudly. "And didn't Barbara tell you that you weren't allowed to climb the stairs with Madeline?"

"Madeline?" Mercedes mouthed at Kurt, laughing silently.

"I was careful!" Kurt called back, settling onto the end of the couch and tugging Mercedes down to sit next to him.

"That's not the point!" Blaine called back playfully, freezing in the doorway of the room. "Mercedes?"

"Hi Blaine." She laughed. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Thanks... I think."

"So, this is Madeline?" Mercedes asked, turning back to Kurt.

"Yeah." He grinned, settling her more comfortably in his arms. "Madeline Rose Hummel-Anderson."

"He wanted to call her Hepsibah." Blaine stage-whispered, grinning as Kurt glared at him and heading for the door. "Does anyone want anything to eat or drink?"

"Just some water." Mercedes grinned at him.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked, nodding at Mercedes.

"I'm good. But she'll want a bottle soon, so you may as well warm that up." Kurt told him, nodding down at where Madeline was cooing at Mercedes.

"So, where did you get her from?" Mercedes asked as Blaine left the room. "And can I hold her? Please?"

"Okay, but be careful." Kurt told her, passing Madeline over gingerly. "Make sure you watch her head." He said worriedly.

"Kurt, I've held babies before." She teased.

"Yeah, but none of them were my baby." He retorted playfully.

"Alright. Story time Kurt. Where'd she come from?"

"Um..." Kurt glanced over at Blaine, who had gotten the water and Madeline's bottle.

Blaine nodded slightly, taking Kurt's hand and sitting down with him after passing Mercedes her glass. They settled Madeline with her bottle, and Kurt closed his eyes.

"'Cedes..." Kurt whispered. "You're not going to believe me, so just...shut up until I'm done, okay?"

Mercedes raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Alright, so...I was getting really sick. Throwing up...nausea..." Kurt shook his head. "It lasted a couple of weeks, so I went to the doctor." Kurt took a deep breath. "Turns out I was pregnant."

Mercedes' jaw dropped. "Wha-"

"Shh." Blaine ordered.

"It turns out that about half the population of men are fertile – they have uterus', but it's not as well known because you have to factor in the amount of fertile men that are homosexuals, then the ones that...uhm...bottom." Kurt summarised. "And then the ones that actually get pregnant. So...yeah."

Mercedes was wide-eyed.

"So... She's actually... yours?" she stammered, looking at where Blaine was feeding Madeline. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself as she studied the baby's features. "She does look a lot like you two..."

Kurt smiled slightly.

"Yes, she's actually ours. Can you see why we didn't tell anyone?"

Mercedes nodded, still a little wide eyed.

"Wow...So, is that why the party? To tell everyone about her?"

Kurt winced slightly.

"Yes but... I'm not sure how much I want to actually tell them."

Blaine smirked at him.

"Are we just telling them she's adopted, or are we going to let them assume?"

Kurt matched his grin, an evil look in his eyes.

"I just…I want to try something."

^.^

Kurt and Mercedes didn't move very far for the next couple of hours – too intent on catching up on everything they'd missed.

Blaine had just taken Madeline upstairs for a sleep when the doorbell rang again.

Kurt groaned, pulling himself up to answer it.

"Hi!" Rachel called excitedly, wrapping him in a hug. "Where's Blaine and Maddy? I haven't seen my niece in a couple of days!"

"Blaine just took her upstairs for a sleep."

"Oh." Rachel pouted. "Are you ready for all the people?"

"All the people? Exactly who did you invite Rachel?"

"Not that many people..." Rachel hedged, edging past him into the house and spotting Mercedes. "Mercedes! You came!" she laughed, claiming her in a hug.

Finn followed her, rolling his eyes at her excited squeals and exchanging a smile at Kurt.

"How's it going bro?"

Kurt laughed. "Hurts to walk. Hurts to do anything other than sit. Otherwise it's good. You?"

"Spent most of the week talking Rachel out of coming to see you guys. I'm fairly certain the only thing she's concentrating on is Madeline."

Kurt laughed again. "Thanks for that." He told Finn, sinking back into a chair as Blaine came back down the stairs, baby monitor held in his hand.

"If any of you wake her up, I'm going to have to hurt you." He told them seriously.

Rachel laughed.

"Don't be silly Blaine, we won't wake her." She promised.

"You say that now." Blaine said darkly, collapsing on the couch next to Kurt, dropping his head onto his shoulder. "Mm tired."

Kurt laughed, elbowing him in the side.

"No sleeping."

The doorbell rung, and Kurt eased himself off the couch, opening the door to Burt and Carole.

"Hey!" he greeted, hugging them both in turn.

"Hi Kurt! How have you been? Have you been behaving yourself?"

Kurt smiled.

"Of course I have, I'm not silly." He laughed, ushering them through to the lounge room. They seated themselves, and Kurt collapsed back next to Blaine.

"You sure? You both look exhausted." Carole fussed.

Blaine yawned.

"It's a lot harder to get up in the middle of the night when your bed is comfortable and you both actually fit."

Kurt nodded in agreement, eyes widening as he remembered he was supposed to be hosting.

"Does anyone want anything?" he asked, checking around the room as everyone –except Finn, but he didn't really count – shook their heads.

"The food's on the bench." Blaine told Finn, and he hurried out of the room to fetch it, much to their amusement.

"I don't think he'll ever change." Carole said softly, shaking her head. "Hey, Kurt, where's Madeline? I bought her something."

"You didn't have to." He protested softly, glancing upwards. "And she's sleeping."

Carole smiled. "It's never too early to start spoiling my granddaughter ." she grinned, reaching into her purse. She pulled out a CD.

"It's got all the nursery rhymes on it…it'll lull her to sleep when you need a break."

Kurt grinned and leaned over to hug her. "Thank you so much."

"The others should be here soon." Finn said through a mouth full of food.

"You ready?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah." Kurt said softly.

"Are you going to tell everyone?"

"No." Kurt said with a grin, glancing around at them all. "I want to do something – we need to wait until everyone has gotten here. Blaine is going to keep the baby monitor in his pocket, but otherwise there will be no mention that Madeline exists. When everyone is here…we'll bring her out."

"What are you going to tell them though?" Carole laughed as the doorbell rang again.

Blaine hopped up.

"I'll get it." he announced, hurrying out of the room.

They heard him greet the first person – Trent – and then laugh as he left the door open.

"Rachel!" he scolded, coming back into the room. "How many people did you invite?"

Rachel laughed.

"Everyone? Except no one could come except Mike and Tina... Why?"

Trent followed Blaine into the room, followed by Jeff, Nick, Wes and David.

Kurt stood up, trying his hardest not to wince. "Hey guys!"

Behind them, Santana, Brittany, Mike and Tina walked in, beaming.

"It's been a while." Blaine laughed, and they all nodded.

The first few minutes were spent catching up – Kurt relaxed and glanced at Blaine occasionally, sharing a grin with him. They talked about everything and nothing – futures and how they had been, until an ear-splitting scream made everyone freeze.

It echoed from the baby monitor, but they didn't need it – it stabbed into the lounge room from the stairs, and Blaine was immediately gone – taking the stairs two at a time as he shut off the monitor.

The others stood in a dumb silence.

"Was that a baby?" Brittany asked, eyes wide.

"It sounded like a baby." Jeff muttered, turning to Kurt. "Why is there a baby upstairs?"

Kurt was far more concerned about Madeline, but her screams died to barely audible sobs, before Blaine brought her down.

Everyone let out gasps of delight, and Blaine grinned at them.

"She must've had a nightmare." Blaine said softly, before addressing the small crowd. "Guys…this is Madeline. Madeline Rose Hummel-Anderson."

It took a moment.

"Hummel-Anderson? She's yours?" Tina exclaimed, and Blaine nodded happily.

Santana raised an eyebrow. "Didn't take you boys long to adopt."

Blaine and Kurt looked at each other with mild panic, before shrugging. It was just an offhand comment – she hadn't actually asked them.

"Can we hold her?" they got several requests, and Blaine and Kurt agreed – as long as they sat down while they held her.

The afternoon wore on – they had to feed her halfway through – but everyone was happy for them. Nobody asked about where she came from, and for that they were glad – but Santana still looked suspicious.

Finally, Blaine started to notice Kurt's enthusiasm waning. His eyes drooped, his smile far less happy and far more tired. He took Madeline when she started crying, shushing her and sorting her with a bottle. Blaine joined him in the kitchen.

"You okay?"

"Tired. Sore. Can you make them go home?"

Blaine grinned, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist. "Of course."

He re-entered the lounge room, grinning at them all. "I hate to say this, but I'm kicking you all out. Baby's sleeping and her daddy isn't doing much better, so I'd like to let them both get a good night's sleep. I promise you can come back another day! It was great seeing you all."

Ignoring their grumbles, he ushered them out, and before too long, only Carole and Burt, Rachel, Finn and Mercedes were left.

"Thanks for having us." Carole said, leaning down to hug Kurt – where he was now sitting on the couch with Madeline - and kissing his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Kurt nodded to her, smiling at Burt as he followed her out the door.

"Mercedes, where are you staying?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, I haven't worked that out yet. I figured I'd check into a motel or something, I have a flight back tomorrow afternoon." She told them, smiling.

"Don't." Kurt said. "We have a spare room, stay with us? Well, as long as you don't mind Madeline waking you up."

Mercedes smiled at them both.

"I'd love to."

Kurt grinned, glancing at Rachel.

"In fact, girls night?" he asked, and Rachel's face lit up.

"Yes! Finn, you don't mind coming back to pick me up later do you?" she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

He grinned bemusedly, standing up and stretching.

"I'll see you later then?"

"Bye Finn!" A couple of different voices called as he let himself out.

Rachel and Mercedes moved to either end of the couch, patting the cushion in between them until Kurt came and sat down, burping Madeline against his shoulder.

"So, what are we going to watch?" Mercedes asked, curling her legs comfortably underneath her.

"Tangled?" Blaine asked excitedly, eyes wide.

Rachel laughed.

"Haven't you seen that yet?" she teased.

"Nope!" Blaine laughed. "We bought it just before Kurt...Kurt went into hospital-" he stuttered, "But I haven't seen it yet!"

"Is Tangled okay with everyone?" Kurt asked.

At their nods, he grinned at Blaine, and he slipped the movie into the DVD player.

"Okay, drinks and snackage." Blaine laughed.

"Whatever you can find." Kurt requested, and Blaine grinned, wandering into the kitchen.

He placed two bowls on the coffee table when he came back, pouring everyone cups of soft drink, before pressing play.

Kurt sighed, letting himself lean against Rachel as the movie started, tangling the fingers of one hand in Blaine's hair when he sat on the floor in front of him, leaning against his leg. Mercedes stretched her legs out, grinning as Kurt rested his legs on top of hers.

Madeline fell asleep a few minutes into the movie, resting contentedly on Kurt's legs, her hand grasping at the material of Blaine's shirt as she slept.

^.^

The movie finished close to ten pm - Mercedes was sleeping against Kurt's shoulder - exhausted from the jet-lag. Kurt was dozing - half listening to Blaine and Rachel squeal quietly about the movie as the credits rolled.

"I still think the frying pan was the best bit." Blaine argued, stretching lazily.

"No, the lanterns!" Rachel disagreed, trying to get up off the couch without disturbing Kurt.

She glanced at the clock, sighing.

"I'd better call Finn and get him to come get me."

"Use the home phone." Blaine told her, gathering the dishes on the coffee table and carrying them through to the kitchen, dumping them in the sink.

He heard Madeline whimper, and hurried back into the lounge, scooping her up off Kurt's lap.

"Hungry sweetheart?" he whispered, taking her through to the kitchen and putting a bottle on to warm up.

"Finn will be here in half an hour or so." Rachel yawned, hanging up the phone as he pulled Madeline's bottle out of the microwave. "Oh! Are you feeding her? Can I do it? Please?"

Blaine laughed.

"Sure, I guess. Go make yourself comfortable and I'll bring her through." He instructed, gesturing to the lounge room.

Rachel grinned at him, settling herself into an armchair and accepting Madeline into her arms.

"Just make sure that there isn't any air bubbles in the teat." Blaine told her, checking the temperature of the bottle before handing it over. "All you need now is a cushion to rest your arm on – it tends to get tiring, holding her head still."

Rachel stared down at Madeline as she drank greedily.

"She's adorable." She sighed, stroking Madeline's cheek with a finger. Blaine grinned at her, turning to wake Kurt and Mercedes enough to get them into bed.

"I want a baby." Rachel announced, and Kurt shot her a confused look over Blaine's shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure you should talk to Finn about that." He mumbled, and Blaine choked back his laugh.

"Go back to sleep." Rachel told him, rolling her eyes.

"I have to go to bed first. Blaine said." Kurt told her sleepily as Blaine led him out of the room, an arm around his waist for support.

Mercedes followed them up the stairs and Rachel turned her attention back to Madeline. She looked up at Rachel with curious eyes, and Rachel smiled.

"You do look a lot like them. With daddy Blaine's curls, and daddy Kurt's hair colour..."

^.^

Blaine crept back into the room as Madeline finished her bottle – Rachel looking around in confusion as Madeline squirmed happily – not entirely sure what to do next.

"I'll take her." Blaine said, flicking a tea-towel over his shoulder before resting Madeline against it, patting her back firmly.

"Thanks." Rachel smiled, wandering into the kitchen to get rid of the bottle she still held. "Finn should be here soon." She added, glancing out the window as she sat back down.

Blaine smiled at her absently, nuzzling his head against Madeline.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked curiously, watching as Blaine continued patting Madeline's back.

"Burping her." Blaine grinned tiredly, yawning. "It helps get rid of all the extra wind in her belly after she's had a bottle, so she feels better." He explained, and Rachel's eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh, right." She sighed, settling further into her chair.

They sat in a comfortable silence for another minute or two, then Madeline burped, and they had to laugh at how cute she sounded.

Blaine went to say something else, but headlights flicking over the window stopped him.

"Finn's here." Rachel sighed, shielding her mouth as she yawned. "Thanks for having me." She told Blaine with a slight smile, turning to gather her things.

"No problem." Blaine grinned, following her to the door.

"Stay safe!" she called over her shoulder as she hurried toward the car, Blaine waved before shutting the front door, turning to flick off the lights and head upstairs.

"Come on princess." He yawned, rocking Madeline slightly. "How does a nappy change, pyjama's, and bed sound to you?"