Panic set in quickly. His sweat-slickened palms slipped on the steering wheel, but he refused to budge even an inch from the center of the lane; crashing was not an option after that phone call. The monotonous hum of tires on highway provided the backing harmony for the banging beat of his heart and the rushing thrum of blood in his ears. No matter how high he cranked the air conditioning, it was still way too hot in his car.

He whipped into his boyfriend's driveway, nearly slamming into the back of his car. He barely remembered to shut his own off before launching himself from the vehicle and tripping up the front steps. Not bothering to knock, he shoved his key into the lock with shaking hands and burst into the house.

The sight that greeted him was not one he anticipated. Blood spatter was not covering the walls, the lifeless body of his boyfriend was not strewn across the ground, huge, black-clad men were not holding anyone hostage.

Instead, three blonde children, all younger than ten, bounced around the living room, tossing Legos at each other and screaming shrilly. The floor was littered with toys and crayons and Cheerios. He stood in shock before he was noticed. The smallest child, a young girl of no more than four, toppled off the loveseat and landed at his feet. "Hey, who're you?"

"Uh..."

"BLAINE!"

He looked up from the child to see his extremely disheveled boyfriend barreling out of the kitchen right toward him. He caught the distressed boy and held him tight. "Are you okay?"

Kurt nodded. "Thank god you're here. I thought I'd go insane."

Blaine held the other boy at arms' length and examined him closely. "So wait. You're not hurt?"

Confused, Kurt replied, "No, why would you think that?"

"Hello?"

"Blaine?"

"Kurt? Kurt, what's wrong?"

Scuffling. A loud bang. A choked-back cry of pain.

"KURT!"

"Oh my god—help."

High pitched shriek.

"Kurt, I'm on my w—what was that?"

More scuffling. A yelp.

"Hey—no—stop!"

"Kurt? KURT!"

Dial tone.

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine asked. "After that phone call? Kurt, I thought you were being murdered."

Kurt mentally replayed the conversation, and then his eyes blew wide. "No, oh my god, you thought—" He turned back to the curious children and snapped, "I'll be back in just a minute. Do not inflict any more damage upon my house." He grabbed Blaine's hand and dragged him to the kitchen.

Before they reached the doorway, a tiny hand tugged on Blaine's cardigan. A young boy barely older than six peered up at him from beneath bangs that reminded him eerily of Jeff's. "Are you Mr. Kurt's boyfriend?"

"Yes," Kurt answered for Blaine. "Now go murder your sisters or something."

Finally alone with Blaine in the kitchen, Kurt perched himself on the island and buried his face in his hands with a dramatic sigh. Blaine placed his palms on his boyfriend's thighs and rubbed soothing circles with his thumbs. "Are you okay?"

"I hate children."

Blaine bit back a laugh. "Whose kids are they?"

"Jake's. There was a massive pile-up in West Lima, so the entire shop is working. Jake's regular babysitter is out of town, so I was called in for the emergency."

"Don't you normally babysit the Albain girl down the street?"

"That's one kid, Blaine! One! And she's normal! These demons—I don't know what Jake feeds them, but they're insane."

Blaine poked his head back into the living room. The Windham kids were wrestling behind the couch. He looked back at Kurt. "Okay, so you have crazy kids. But you're not hurt, right?"

Kurt lifted his head and smiled softly. "No, I'm good. I bumped my knee on the coffee table trying to get Ricky down from the couch, but other than that I'm good."

"Good." Blaine wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "You have no idea how scared I was after that call."

"Sorry."

Blaine leaned back and smiled. "So, is it time for them to go to bed?"

"Yeah, like half an hour ago. They're supposed to crash on Finn's bed."

"Alrighty then!" Blaine's smile brightened. He strode out of the kitchen, grabbed the smaller girl by the waist, and yanked her off her brother. He held her upside-down so they were eye-to-eye.

She giggled. "Hi! What's your name?"

"My name's Blaine. What's yours?"

"Emily."

Well, Miss Emily, do you want to play a game?"

"Yeah!"

The other two children crowded around him, grabbing up at him. "We wanna play! We wanna play, too!"

Blaine deftly flipped Emily onto his back. "Emily's going to go first, and then—"

"Me!" the older girl yipped.

Blaine knelt down before the girl. "And what's your name?"

"Anna," the girl replied shyly.

"Well, okay, then Anna will go, and then Ricky."

"Hey, you know my name!" the boy exclaimed, astonished.

"I'm magical. So here's how you play: I'm going to give Emmy a piggyback ride upstairs to Mr. Finn's room. I'm gonna tell her a secret, and then I'll do the same for you two. Okay?" All three children nodded. "Good!" With a wink at Kurt, who leaned against the doorjamb leading to the kitchen, jaw dropped in amazement, Blaine bounded up the stairs, a giggling four-year-old bouncing on his back. He turned into Finn's bedroom, and in one fluid motion tossed Emily gently onto the bed.

Laughing brightly, the girl asked, "What's the secret, Mr. Blaine?"

Sighing, Blaine sat on the edge of the unmade bed, the child immediately crawling into his lap. "Okay, you wanna know the secret?" Eyes wide and face serious, Emmy nodded frantically. "Okay. The secret is...Mr. Kurt is afraid of you."

"What?" the little girl squeaked. "That's crazy! Mr. Kurt can't be a-scared of kids, he's old!"

Blaine nodded solemnly. "You, your brother, and your sister. You guys are so wild, he doesn't know what to do with you."

"Oh." Emily hung her head. "What do we do to make Mr. Kurt feel better?"

"Well, let's get your siblings up here and see what they decide, huh?" Emily agreed, and within a few minutes, all three Windham children were cuddled on Finn's bed in deep discussion concerning how to make amends with their babysitter. When they made a decision, Blaine called Kurt upstairs. The man trekked upward slowly, unsure of what was awaiting him.

When he reached Finn's room, he was attacked by three small bodies. They clung to his legs and babbled, "We're sorry Mr. Kurt! We love you! You're a great babysitter! We didn't mean to be obshinks!"

"Obnoxious," Blaine corrected quietly from the bed. He smiled kindly at his surprised boyfriend, who grinned back appreciatively. "Alright, munchkins, it's bedtime."

"Mr. Kurt, will you sing to us?" Ricky begged as he crawled under Finn's sheets.

"Yeah, Mr. Kurt, please?" the girls echoed, snuggling together.

"Please Mr. Kurt," Blaine murmured. With a tiny tear in his eyes, Kurt perched on the edge of the bed and began to sing.

"Goodnight, my angel, time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day.
I think I know what you've been asking me.
I think you know what I've been trying to say.

I promise I would never leave you,
And you should always know
Wherever you may go,
No matter where you are,
I never will be far away."

By the time Kurt reached the bridge, all three kids' eyes were closed, though none were quite asleep. Blaine's own were misty as he watched his beautiful boyfriend serenade the children. Visions of the future, of an older but equally beautiful Kurt, of a less teenage-boy-themed and more princess-themed bedroom, of a headful of chestnut curls, of sleepy glasz eyes, swirled around his mind.

"Someday we'll all be gone,
But lullabies go on and on.
They never die.
That's how you and I
Will be."

As the last note warbled to a close, the two teenagers tiptoed out of Finn's room and into Kurt's. Blaine immediately pulled Kurt in for a kiss.

"What was that for?" Kurt laughed breathlessly.

"You're going to make a great father."

Kurt collapsed on the bed with a groan. "No I'm not. I couldn't handle three kids for two hours. How am I going to survive having kids twenty-four-seven?"

Crawling beside Kurt and tugging him close, Blaine whispered in his ear, "We'll do it together. You'll never be alone."

Kurt tossed his head to the side. "You really wanna have kids with me?"

"Well, let's start with one kid. Not sure if I can handle a crying husband and multiple crying babies." Kurt slapped his shoulder. "Spousal abuse!"

"I want a divorce."

"Nope, you're stuck with me forever!"

"Mm, I'll take that punishment."

"Ugh, don't tease me, there are children in the house!"

"I hate you."

"Love you too, babe. Love you too."