There was a butterfly exhibit at the science museum that everyone said was great for toddlers, so Kurt and Blaine brought Colin there one day. It was lovely, a huge glass dome with plants and flowers and hundreds of butterflies in all sizes and colors. They flitted from place to place, occasionally coming to rest on a visitor for a few moments, to everyone’s delight.

Kurt and Blaine led Colin through the walking path, pointing out the interesting butterflies they saw. “Look, a blue one! A yellow one! Wow, this one is so big! That is the biggest butterfly I’ve ever seen!” But Colin was having none of it. He seemed bored, looking more at the other people than the butterflies.

Until he found a gray moth sitting on a leaf. He stared at it, transfixed. For a minute, and then two minutes, and then five minutes, and Kurt began to wonder if the moth might be dead because it hadn’t moved even the tiniest bit.

“Bud-oh-fwy!” Colin said, pointing at it.

“It looks like a butterfly, but actually it’s just a moth,” Kurt said.

“Moff!”

“Mm-hmm. Look! Here’s a pretty orange one over here!”

“Moff!”

Colin watched the moth sit there for fifteen minutes, and it was nearing time for lunch and nap. They needed to get going, Blaine told him.

“Moff!”

“It’s a very nice moth, but it’s time to go home now.”

“Moff home!”

“You want to bring the moth home with us? I’m sorry, honey, the moth lives here.”

“Plus, it would destroy our clothes,” Kurt added.

“Moff home!”

“Sorry, the museum people won’t let us bring anything home.”

“MOFF HOME! MOFF HOME!!!!! MOFF HOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEE!!!!!!”

Colin threw himself to the ground, prompting the moth to prove it was actually not dead and fly away. This had the effect of making Colin even more upset. He pounded his fists against the mulch-covered floor. “MOFF HOME! MOFF HOME! MOFF HOME!”

Blaine sighed and picked Colin up, trying to avoid his flailing fists.

“We’re those parents,” Kurt said, embarrassed. “The ones who can’t control their kid in a public place.”

“Happens to everyone sometimes,” Blaine said. “Ow! Jesus! That’s going to leave a bruise.”