“Thank you again Mr Fitzpatrick” Blaine smiled as he pulled a sour looking Hunter against his side as if to prompt a response out of him too.
“Thanks Mr F, see you tomorrow” Hunter spoke up quietly with a weak smile. Mr Fitzpatrick returned the pleasantries and shut the door behind the Anderson pair. “Tell me I don’t have to go back tomorrow”
Blaine hushed his son and quickly ushered him back into their own apartment before he said anything else “Mr Fitzpatrick is nice”
“He’s boring” the seven year old whinged as he dropped his school bag by the door and trudged to the kitchen for a glass of water “He made me play the piano all afternoon”
“You like to play the piano” Blaine pointed out with a chuckle as he followed his son into the kitchen and started pulling out what he needed to bake a batch of cupcakes. It was Georgetown Day School’s annual bake sale tomorrow and Blaine was making his famous Choc Mint Cupcakes.
“But he made me play the same song over and over again til I got it right”
“Maybe he’s trying to teach you something?”
Blaine couldn’t help but laugh at his son’s dramatic sigh as he sat up on the stool. Hunter was a bit of a drama queen and while Blaine wanted to blame Santana’s DNA for that he knew it was 100% his own fault.
It was three weeks after Blaine and Austin broke up and Hunter wasn’t taking too well to the new after school carer. The soon to be eight year old had gotten so comfortable to Austin picking him up from school and hanging out with the young doctor that it was a big change to spend a lot of his afternoons with their older and slightly grumpy neighbour. Mr Fitzpatrick adored that little boy even if he didn’t return the feeling.
“Mr Fitzpatrick loves hanging out with you especially when his own grandkids live on the other side of the country” Blaine insisted as he leant down on the kitchen counter in front of his son “But if makes you feel better Kurt will be here next week and he’s staying with his parents for a couple days...”
“Can he pick me up from school and go skating with me?”
“Only if you’re good for Mr Fitzpatrick and you eat all your vegies”
“Deal” the little boy smiled brightly even though he hoped he didn’t have to uphold the vegetables part of the promise. He still couldn’t stomach carrots.
“Why don’t you go change out of your school clothes then come help me with these cupcakes. The beaters need someone to lick them”
“That’s the best bit!” Hunter giggled as he jumped off the stool and raced for his bedroom. Stopping right before he got to his door, the little boy ran back into the kitchen “Hey Dad?”
“Yeah bud?”
“I miss Austin but I guess Mr Fitzpatrick is alright. This is the first time you’ve been normal happy since Christmas”
Blaine was speechless as his son made his way back to his bedroom. The last few weeks had been rough on both of them but Blaine had hoped he’d masked his pain in front of Hunter. The young father wasn’t surprised that his son had paid so much attention to his mood since Christmas. Hunter was a smart kid who was too observant for his own good.

XXXXX

“Hey Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Austin’s not coming back is he?”
“No, he’s not” Blaine sighed softly as he took a seat at the dining table and gestured for Hunter to join him. The seven year old climbed up beside his father with some sort of idea about what this conversation was going to be about “Sometimes when adults are a partnership like Austin and I were, they fight about different things and the partnership doesn’t work quite like it used to. Austin and I...”
“Stopped loving each other?” Hunter shrugged trying to finish his father’s sentence.
“Not exactly, we just don’t love each other in the same way we did a long time ago. I guess it’s been a long time coming and we’ve both just realised that this was the end” the elder Anderson sighed softly and took Hunter’s hands gently “That doesn’t mean either of us love you any less, you know that right?”
Hunter nodded “I know because you always fought when you thought I was asleep”
“I’m sorry you had to hear any of that”
“It’s ok” he shrugged “Austin’s really not coming back?”
“He’ll come and see you but he’s moving all his things out. Austin and I have been fighting with each other for a long time and while me made up sometimes, it wasn’t enough”
“Are you sad?”
“Yeah but I won’t always be, give it time” Blaine smiled weakly and pulled his son into his arms. Hugging him gently, he pressed a soft kiss to the boy’s temple “You can be sad about him being gone, that’s ok”
“Ok”

XXXXX

Blaine excused himself with his oh so charming smile and stepped away from the crowd of mother’s to answering his ringing cell. His smile never faltered as he saw who was calling.
“I love being the only gay parent in Hunter’s grade, the mothers think I’m adorable” Blaine laughed into the phone. He was at Georgetown Day School’s Bake Sale supporting the school and watching his cupcakes disappear. They were famous for a reason.
“And you haven’t put on your classic charm and melted those Soccer Mom hearts?” Kurt chuckled knowing it wouldn’t have been hard for those Moms to fall head over heels for Blaine. He knew how to turn on the charisma and anyone would be putty in his hands.
“No...”
“Uh-huh sure” the singer chuckled before his laughter died down. He really didn’t want to tell Blaine what he had to say especially when he was in such a good mood. “Blaine, I have some bad news” he began “I have to stay in New York next week. My director has decided to completely change an act of the show and if we’re going to have it ready for our next show, we need to rehearse all week”
“It’s ok”
“Blaine I’m so sorry, I hate that I have to do this especially after everything I said before Christmas” Kurt sighed and Blaine could almost hear the other man pacing back and forth as he rambled “I’m such a horrible person, I’m breaking all the promises I made already. I’ve let Hunter down when you told me I needed to be there for him”
“Kurt!”
“He’s going to be so angry at me for not coming to DC and I just can’t see him hate me again. I’m so incredibly sorry Blaine”
“Kurt!” Blaine called through the phone once more and finally got his attention “its ok, these things happen”
“You’re not angry?”
“I’m a little disappointed and I know Hunter will be too but it’s alright” he chuckled softly. He was annoyed that Kurt couldn’t come down for a few days but this was the first time he had ever had to cancel. Blaine honestly thought Kurt would have cancelled on dates a lot sooner and for worse reasons. Knowing how hard Kurt had been working to be in DC so much for Hunter, Blaine understood that sometimes things got in the way.
“You’re not mad I’m choosing work over Hunter?” Kurt asked softly and anxiously because that was exactly what happened 7 years ago.
Blaine took a deep breath knowing what Kurt was alluding to “7 years ago you weren’t in a successful Broadway show and doing everything in your power to make Hunter happy. 7 years ago you were distant from me and just trying to break out in the business. We’re both more mature now and I can’t see you lose your job from missing rehearsals”
“Blaine...”
“Sometimes it’s the not forgiving that holds us back, Kurt” Blaine shrugged “I’ll talk to Hunter and we’ll talk to you soon”
Not forgiving Kurt was holding them back from ever mending their relationship if it was just as friends. Kurt couldn’t be involved in Hunter’s life if Blaine was still holding so much against him. Of course Blaine couldn’t forget what his ex-fianc� did 7 years ago but he couldn’t help but think maybe it was time to move past all that if not for his own good but for Hunter.
After hanging up from Kurt, Blaine leant against the window sill away from the bake sale. While Kurt’s phone call and pure devastation in his voice still played on his mind, the young father also thought of Austin.
There was nothing to really forgive between them. Austin wasn’t really doing anything wrong; he just had his own opinion. He couldn’t maintain a relationship with Blaine if he intended on forgiving Kurt and Blaine had to somehow respect that. If the situation was reversed, Blaine may have felt the same but it wasn’t and he had to think of his own happiness and the happiness of his son.
“Blaine?” Ashley Jensen, Hunter’s best friend Cooper’s Mom called and snapped the young father back to reality “All your cupcakes are gone”
“Already?” he chuckled and made his way back to the group of mothers that were begging for the recipe “A chef never reveals his secrets”