“You know I don’t have to be here if you want some alone time with Claire and Annabelle” Kurt shrugged as he and Blaine walked through the snow covered park with Claire resting on her father’s hip.
“No, this is our weekly tradition. Annabelle is just... observing”
“Observing?”
“I kind of told her that I’m just letting her see Claire” Blaine chuckled softly and looked up at his boyfriend “I don’t know if I can trust her with Claire just yet. Hell I don’t know if I can even trust my father anymore. I don’t know why I just kept saying thank you when he apologised. Should have I said thank you? Does he think it’s all alright now?”
“Blaine stop” Kurt stopped and stood before his boyfriend with a weak smile. Resting his hands on Blaine’s shoulders, he rubbed them gently to keep him warm “You appreciated him apologising and that he realised his mistake so saying ‘thank you’ was ok. As for your Dad thinking everything is fine between you now, I can’t say. He would have to know that the last 18 months still happened and it’s still a sore subject. Nothing can erase that sort of thing”
“I know”
“And come the end of your Senior year, you can take Claire and go wherever you want and never look back. Claire will nearly be old enough for Kindergarten by then”
“No she won’t...”
“Yes she will. She’ll be four when you graduate. Won’t she?”
“Can we talk about this later?” Blaine chuckled as he saw Annabelle on the other side of the lake waiting for them. As much as he wanted to tell Kurt the only really good news he’d had all week, he would hold off for a couple hours. Placing a soft kiss on the taller boy’s forehead, Blaine started walking toward Annabelle.
“Blaine, you brought it up” he sighed and followed the young father through the park. Catching up with him, Kurt took Blaine’s free hand in his own as they made their way over to where the girl was sitting. Adjusting Claire on his hip, Blaine stayed back a few feet so Annabelle would come to them.
“Thank you for letting me see her Blaine. I really do appreciate it” Annabelle smiled as she stood up and travelled the last few feet toward her daughter. Keeping her hands in her jacket pockets, she didn’t reach out again knowing Blaine wouldn’t let her.
“Claire, this is Annabelle” Blaine smiled and turned his daughter to see her mother “she’s...”
“An old friend of your Daddy’s” Annabelle cut in, making it easier for him. Explaining that this strange woman was your mother to an 18 month old would be an easy task so for now she’s just a friend.
“Say hi Claire bear”
The little girl buried her face into her father’s scarf as three sets of eyes watched her. Normally a shy child, this wasn’t a surprise to Blaine or Kurt but it hurt Annabelle a little. Claire wriggled in Blaine’s arms as she reached for Kurt, almost launching herself into his arms. Taking her before she fell, Kurt rested the curly haired cutie on his hip.
“Swing, swing Kurt” she giggled “Swing, swing”
“Take her” Blaine sighed wishing Claire wasn’t so insistent on their weekly play on the swings this time. He could just see the pain in Annabelle’s eyes as she hoped she could spend the time with the little girl. “She won’t settle til you do”
Kurt nodded silently and took Claire over to the swing set. Sitting down first, he pulled her onto his lap and started rocking back and forth gently. “She used to be terrified of the swing set” Blaine chuckled as he watched his boyfriend and daughter together. Leading Annabelle over to the vacant bench with a perfect view of the swings, he sat down with a soft sigh. Claire was a temperamental almost two year old that couldn’t be reasoned with on their Saturday afternoon park dates.
“I used to put her in the kiddie basket swings but she could scream until I took her out. When Kurt started joining us on our weekly park outing, he sat down on the swing with her on his lap and she was fine. I mean she was face gone pale petrified but as soon as Kurt had her on there, she was ok”
“She feels safe with him...”
“He’s been so great with her. She can be a diva when she wants to be”
“Sorry” she laughed knowing that attitude had come from her side of the family. She was the type of child to demand everyone’s attention at family BBQ’s so she could show of her clarinet playing no matter how good or bad it was. “What is Claire like otherwise? Was she a good baby?”
“Overall she was good” he shrugged “Claire had her moments when she was teething and when she got sick but all in all she was pretty good”
“Was she sick a lot?”
“The general baby things like a fever or two and a stomach bug. She’s underweight for her age because she wasn’t breastfed after the first week but the doctor isn’t too worried. She’s got me for a father; she’s going to be naturally short anyway”
“Sorry...” Annabelle sighed once again. Claire being underweight was all her fault and she couldn’t help but blame herself for everything else. If she hadn’t left and Claire had been breastfed then her immune system would be better and she’d be right size.
“She giggles a lot” Blaine laughed softly quickly brightening the mood. He couldn’t say everything was ok because it wasn’t but he couldn’t dwell on it either. “It’s usually when she’s got me wrapped around her little finger. God help me when she gets older”
“She’s got an intoxicating smile that’s for sure...”
“Don’t I know it” he smiled “Whenever I had a bad day at work or I fought with my Dad again, she would always cuddle up on my chest and just stare up at me with the cutest little smile on her face. Now she’ll still cuddle up to me but she will put her hand on my face, feel my stubble and just giggle”
“I’m glad she’s a happy kid”
“She’s young, she doesn’t understand more than Elmo and her Tinkerbell teddy bear Emily bought for her in Disneyland”
“She likes Tinkerbell? I used to love Peter Pan when I was a kid”
“I read Peter Pan to her most nights. She’ll be able to recite it back to me before long. It’s her favourite”
Annabelle smiled brightly at Blaine’s comment. It made her so happy that her daughter loved the book she’d adored since she herself was a child. Blaine never knew about Peter Pan so Annabelle liked to think it was a positive genetic trait she’d managed to pass onto her daughter.
“When Kurt puts her to bed it has to be the Little Mermaid, nothing else”
“He puts her to bed often?”
“If he stays for dinner he usually puts her down so I can get some more homework done. I wouldn’t have caught up on so much school work if it wasn’t for Kurt” he answered even though he didn’t feel the explanation was necessary. Was it really her business how often Kurt put Claire to bed? He was Blaine’s boyfriend; of course he was going to be a prominent figure in that little girl’s life.
“So he’s around a lot...”
“Yes”
“It won’t be long before she’s calling him Daddy too”
“And that won’t be a bad thing in any way” Blaine smirked knowing that annoyed Annabelle. She was just like his Dad and wasn’t a big fan of Blaine being gay. She had that look on her face that said ‘I’m tolerating this but I sure as hell don’t like it’. She was just as ignorant as everyone else in this stupid town in Blaine’s opinion but he was staying quiet. He was being the bigger man and letting Annabelle see her daughter even after what she did to them. “Claire loves Kurt. I can’t argue with that” he chuckled and stood up as he noticed his boyfriend bringing Claire back toward them. “Got sick of the swings?”
“It’s getting a bit cold, maybe we should head to The Lima Bean and warm up. None of us need to be getting sick with Christmas coming up”
“I think I might head back to the hotel actually” Annabelle sighed as she stood up from the bench. Blaine held up his end of the deal and let her see Claire but she couldn’t stay any longer. Seeing Claire so happy with Blaine and Kurt tore at her heart strings and made her realise that her daughter had a loving family already. The seventeen year old didn’t have the means to raise Claire even now or the heart to break up such a beautiful young family. She would always love Claire and hope she could see her as she grew up but that little girl’s life was with her father.
“Here” Blaine smiled weakly as he pulled an envelope out of his coat pocket and handed it to Annabelle “It’s just some photos of Claire over the last 18 months. I’ll email you more as she grows up”
“I’d like that very much, thank you” she smiled “It was nice to meet you Kurt and to see you beautiful girl” Taking the 18 month olds tiny hand gently; she kissed it softly before stepping away. With one last look at her daughter, Annabelle stuffed the envelope into her pocket and walked away.
“She didn’t stay long...”
“How about that Cocoa at The Lima Bean?” Blaine smiled as he turned to Kurt who still held Claire close. How comfortable his little girl was in the arms of the man he loved was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen and hopefully just an insight into their bright future “I’ve got some news...”