41 Weeks

41 weeks.

To Kurt, that was several weeks too long. When he had gone for a scan at 32 weeks, Dr. Matt said that the chances of him making it to full term were unlikely, simply because most first-time, young moms-to-be usually delivered early. That, and the fact that his baby girl had been a pretty decent size then, and Matt wasn't sure how well Kurt's body would hold up if she got too big...which was saying something, considering he himself had already gained almost 35 pounds at that point.

Well, Kurt had surpassed expectations - again. He was a week overdue, tired, achy, and irritated. Blaine and the Warblers, as well as Finn and the rest of the New Directions, had been trying to keep his spirits up, but it was getting difficult.

He couldn't get up - from anywhere - without help. He spent half the day in the bathroom, whether it was because Baby Hummel was on his bladder or just simply to soak in the bathtub. He spent the other half of the day sleeping, or cuddling with Blaine. Finn had become a big help too; he definitely won the award for 'best brother ever', especially since without Finn's help, Kurt would have been stuck upstairs in his bedroom. Blaine was incredible, but Finn was better able to get Kurt from one floor to another.

There was one thing that annoyed and freaked out Kurt the most: contractions. He'd been having 'kind-of-constant' Braxton-Hicks contractions for the last 6 weeks. He never knew when they were coming and how long they would stick around for, and they were starting to piss him off.

Needless to say, Kurt was over being pregnant. He did get some good news a few days ago, though: his daughter had three more days before she would be born, whether she was ready to come out or not. Kurt would be lying if he said he wasn't counting down to D-Day.

And talking to Neal had been helping - until a few weeks ago. Neal had offered every suggestion he could think of that could induce labor, to no avail. The only he didn't suggest was sex, for obvious reasons. He knew that he and Blaine hadn't gotten that far yet, and though he also realized that Kurt was getting desperate, getting intimate for the first time just to start labor wasn't the way to go.

When Kurt had hit 35 weeks, Matt started to get anxious on Kurt's behalf. When he hit 38 weeks, he was apprehensive to see Kurt because he had been way off the expected date. Once week 41 hit, Matt was afraid to see or talk to Kurt. He had been threatened castration from not only Kurt but Neal. Neal didn't understand why Matt hadn't just admitted Kurt and induced him, at least to get the ball rolling. Matt was able to explain to them both that induction in males hadn't been met with good results.

Over the last few years, it was better to just wait out the pregnancy and induce as a last resort. The drugs that did the job for women didn't react well with males, and often caused complications for the babies. With the rate for a successful male induction at only 23%, it wasn't worth the risk to try. The fact that the younger the male, the worse the effects, also didn't help.

But Matt had given Baby Hummel three more days. If she wasn't out by her own accord, well, then he'd have to be a bit more persuasive.

Today was another humid summer day. It was one of those days where Kurt was infinitely grateful for air conditioning. He was also grateful for his stepbrother, his boyfriend, and their friends. Both the Warblers and the New Directions had been planning a summer party.

The party was going to be held at Wes' house - two weeks ago.

Of course, that was when everyone was hoping for Baby Girl to make her appearance in late June, as initially expected. The thing that sucked the most was that everything had been planned out. Wes had a big house and a pool. Burt and Carole would watch their new granddaughter so Kurt could go. Everyone was bringing food and supplies, and they had mutually agreed to no alcohol, but that would remain to be seen.

However, it would seem that Kurt's daughter was already training to be a diva.

Since Kurt was still pregnant, they agreed to push the party up to July - thinking they'd have a baby by then - although Kurt was reconsidering the 'no alcohol idea' at this point. Everyone was unwilling to risk being on their own if Kurt were to go into labor. Kurt had faith in Finn, Blaine, and Puck, however, as they had come to his Lamaze and baby classes with him. Blaine had already been planning on attending, so it was a shock to Kurt when Finn and Puck decided to tag along as well.

Kurt still couldn't believe what those three had done for him. Whenever he thought about it, he started tearing up. The three of them had been behind him since day one. When they said that they were taking the midwifery classes, Kurt was floored. Never in a million years would he have believed that self-proclaimed badass Noah Puckerman and quarterback Finn Hudson would ever want to run the chance of having to get that close. Blaine already had first aid and CPR training, so it wasn't as surprising.

So, everyone was waiting - quite impatiently - for Baby Girl Hummel to finally make an appearance. But of course, they should've expected what would be happening in the next couple of days.

Since they weren't able to party at Wes' house, both glee clubs decided to bring the party to Lima. It made everyone feel better to have Matt nearby, as Kurt was the most comfortable with him. While having Blaine, Finn, and Puck ready to fill in or help out, they were realistic: they were teenagers with norealexperience in regards to childbirth.

Since the baby was supposed to be here already, Burt and Carole had made plans to travel down to Cincinnati for a wedding. They were leaving first thing in the morning and would spend the whole day there, with the promise of getting back in late. They were hesitant on going, but knew that Matt and Neal were a phone call away and had the boys on standby in the event their granddaughter decided to make an entrance.

After making sure the boys would be able to survive until they returned, Burt and Carole made their way out of the house. They pulled out of the driveway and the house was quiet - for about a minute.

"Party time!" Finn yelled, enthusiastically.

"Seriously Finn?" Blaine asked, as he smacked Finn. "It's too early to be yelling. Besides Kurt is still sleeping, and I for one would like to keep it that way."

"Sorry Blaine...maybe he didn't hear me?"

Blaine just raised an eyebrow.

"...yeah, I'm just gonna make some tea or something..." Finn left Blaine on the stairs and quietly made his way into the kitchen.

Blaine let out a little laugh and made his way back to his and Kurt's room. He neglected to tell Finn that if Kurt had heard him, it would have proven Kurt had super-awesome hearing. Blaine had put a pair of headphones on Kurt before he went to say goodbye to Burt and Carole. He figured Finn would get a little excited at the idea of a free house, and since Kurt didn't sleep well last night, as usual, Blaine was going to do whatever he could to let him sleep.

"OW! Damnit that's hot!"

Blaine remembered, belatedly, that he'd left Finn unsupervised in the kitchen. He did have to admit Finn was improving, a little bit. Hoping that Kurt would stay knocked out for a while yet, Blaine made his way into the kitchen to check on Finn.

"Finn, you okay?"

"Ah, yeah, I'm good. Lost my grip on the teapot and spilled some water. You want a cup too? There's still some coffee left if you wanna have some. I won't tell Kurt."

"Nah, tea's fine, thanks. Kurt found out that I've been drinking coffee behind his back."

Finn laughed at him. "I told you he would eventually find out. I know I'm not as big a fan as you and Kurt are, but it sucks that he hasn't been able to drink the stuff for a while."

"Is Puck coming over soon? We'll leave the rest for him."

"Yeah, he'll appreciate that. You want breakfast? I can make some toast...oh yeah - bagels!"

Blaine left Finn to do the bagels while he grabbed some stuff from the fridge. Kurt still got a little queasy at the smell of cooking eggs, but he was okay once they were done, so he was taking advantage of a sleeping Kurt and started cooking.

Puck showed up ten minutes later and to show his gratitude for the coffee, volunteered to see if Kurt was up and in the mood for breakfast. Besides Finn, Puck was the only other person who could singlehandedly help Kurt up or down the stairs.

Puck went up to Kurt's room and knocked on the door before slowly making his way inside. He walked up to the other side of the bed and noticed the headphones on the side table. He knelt next to the bed and looked at Kurt, wondering how to best wake up sleeping beauty.

"It's not nice to stare, Puckerman."

Puck jumped and fell back in shock, while Kurt laughed at him.

"Damnit Princess! How many times have I told you not to do that?"

"And how many times have I told you not to stare?" Kurt rolled his eyes, "I suppose Blaine and Finn have breakfast ready?"

"Almost, and I am your escort for today."

"I'm honored," quipped Kurt. "Bathroom first though...help me up, please?"

"Quit it with the puppy face...you do realize that if your kid does that half as well as you, we're all screwed right? I can't take it for long from you. It's gonna be ten times worse from a little girl."

"You should tell that to Sarah. It's her fault that my 'puppy face' has improved so much."

Puck muttered to himself, "I should've known...thank you little sister." Puck made the bed and grabbed a few things from the corner of the room while waiting for Kurt to get back. Before they could eat, they had to do something first: a mini exam. Since finding out at the last appointment that Kurt was almost three centimeters dilated, they needed to check Kurt, as well as the baby's position, just to see how close they were to having her. Unfortunately, he'd been almost three centimeters for the past three days.

The only consolation any of them got from this was that it was equally embarrassing for everyone involved.

"Do you mind if I do your daily torture? I promise breakfast afterwards."

Kurt huffed, "Do we have to? I don't know which of us hates it more."

"It equally sucks. You don't like anybody looking, and I totally get that. I don't like looking either. One, the only reason I do it is because Finn is your brother and Blaine is your dapper boyfriend. And two, I don't like making you uncomfortable, and I don't know what could make you more uncomfortable than me having to do this."

"Having Finn do this is worse, believe me."

Twenty minutes later, Puck and Kurt made their way down to the kitchen. Finn and Blaine had just finished putting the dishes onto the table. Blaine looked up at Kurt with a smile, until he saw the pout on his face.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"I'm still only three."

"What?" asked Finn and Blaine.

"Three freakin' centimeters...that's it." Kurt sat at the table and put his head in his hands. "She's never coming out is she?"

Blaine walked behind Kurt and started rubbing his shoulders. "She has to come out eventually, and she will."

Puck sat across from Kurt and grabbed a bagel, "Blaine's right, Kurt, and you're more like three and a half...that sounds better doesn't it?"

"Not really; ten would be better. No, I lied. Baby would be better."

Blaine felt bad for his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around Kurt and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "That's enough moping for now. Eat something - I made pancakes...you love my pancakes." He made to sit down next to Kurt, when he felt a death grip on his arm. He looked down at Kurt who had his other hand against his bump and his eyes closed. "Kurt?"

Kurt let out a shaky breath before answering, "Son of a bitch that hurt. I think she just did a freakin' backflip or something, and during a contraction, too."

Puck and Finn glanced at each other, before going back to their plates, knowing that Blaine could handle Kurt right now. They had learned over the last few weeks that when it came to contractions, shifts, and pains, it was best to let Blaine work his magic in regards to getting Kurt to come back to himself. Blaine became Kurt's main source of support, and was the only one who could consistently get Kurt from a state of shock to a state of calm.

Blaine waited to see if Kurt was going to have another contraction. Since Kurt had loosened his grip, he figured it was safe to finally sit down, though not letting go of his hand, and shimmied the chair closer to Kurt. He had finally opened his eyes, but was still taking deep breaths while rubbing his belly. When he let out a final sigh, Kurt turned and leaned his head onto Blaine's shoulder.

"Thanks Blaine...I wasn't expecting that one at all. She usually moves after a check-up, but not quite like that. Is that even normal?"

"I could tell. Was that your first one this morning? You didn't move much last night."

"I think I had a couple during the night, but they weren't strong enough to fully wake me up. That one was the second one since I woke up, but the strongest one so far. I think I'm good now - I want some pancakes, please."

And the puppy face was back.

Yep, if the kid can pull that face off, we're screwed,thought Puck and Finn.

I need to work on my puppy eyes,thought Blaine, as he put food on Kurt's plate.

"Did Mom and Dad leave okay this morning? How long did it take them to leave? I didn't hear them go."

By now, it had been a couple of months since Finn and Kurt had mutually decided to refer to both of their parents as Mom and Dad. Since Finn really never knew his dad, it hadn't been as hard for him. Kurt on the other hand still sometimes fought with himself when he would go to call Carole 'mom'. They could never forget Christopher and Elizabeth, but Burt and Carole were there for them now. It had taken some getting used to, but now, they really liked being able to say 'mom' and 'dad', respectively.

Finn nodded at Kurt, "Once they had everything together, it still took them an extra 15 minutes-ish or so. Dad said something about driving towards a storm or something, so we should keep an eye out. Mom said she'd call when they get there."

Puck decided to throw his two cents in as well, "Yeah, it supposed to be a nasty system coming up the coast from the storm, what's it called, Irene?"

"Yeah, last I heard, it's no longer a hurricane but there are some storm systems brewing from the edge of the main cell. It's why it's so dark and humid outside. It'll probably be one hell of a storm either way."

Finn stared at Blaine, "That doesn't sound good at all. Is it safe to be driving in that?"

"Burt and Carole will be fine; more than likely, they'll beat the storm down there. They'll be inside the whole time anyway. Carole said that the ceremony and reception were back to back in the same place, so they'll see some rain en route, but won't be in the storm. They did warn us to be careful though, since everyone is coming over here for the party, which we still need to set up, by the way."

Kurt looked at the three boys and asked, "When is everyone coming anyway? Should we have them come over earlier so they aren't driving in the storm either? Most of the Warblers live between 25-45 minutes from here."

Blaine smiled at Kurt, "Already taken care of. I called Wes; he got the guys to sleep over at his place last night, which saves him from having to drive all over to pick them up. He's bringing Nick, Jeff, Trent, David, Beatz, and Thad. They should be here in the next hour or two."

Puck looked confused, "They coming in one car? Doesn't Wes have a compact car? Is somebody riding in the trunk or on the roof?"

Blaine replied, "Where do you think the Navigator is? Wes has Kurt's car; it just made more sense for them to be able to come in one car. Otherwise the seven of them would be coming in three cars."

Kurt sighed in relief, "I get to see my car again. I've missed that monster."

Finn raised an eyebrow, "Dude - you haven't been able to drive it in months." Kurt glared at Finn.

"It's still my car, Finn. I trust Wes with it, and the Warblers learned the hard way when it comes to treating cars with the respect they deserve."

Puck saw the evil grin on his face, "Okay, there has to be a story behind that look. Did they do something to your car or was it one of theirs?"

"I love those boys to death, but not knowing how to check your fluids or change a tire is a travesty. None of them had the faintest idea of what to do, except for Blaine. I mean, seriously, I taught all of the girls, what, a year ago? Even Brittany knows how."

"That still doesn't explain the look of evil on your face."

"Let's just say that they got real life experience on a dark night, in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone."

"That sounds like a horror story."

"Trust me - it got the point across." From the look of evil glee on his face, Puck decided to ask the warblers once they got there. He needed to hear this story.

"Ask the guys after everyone gets here...what about the rest of New Directions?"

Finn replied, "Everyone got a text to get a move on and should be showing up around the same time as the Warblers. They're all carpooling too."

"Mike is driving Artie, Tina, Brittany, and Santana in Artie's van. Sam, Mercedes, Quinn, and Rachel are coming in a car together. It works out pretty well; everyone fits in the driveway."

Once breakfast was taken care of, Kurt decided on taking a shower and getting dressed. Blaine suggested that he relax on the couch, but said he'd rather be ready for guests first; he knew he was going to fall asleep if he laid down now.

"Kurt, no one is going to care how you look. All of us are enjoying the pajama/carefree look while we can."

"Blaine, I get that, really I do. But I haven't had much of a reason lately to evenattemptto look fabulous for any reason than for a doctor's appointment, and I spend most of that time undressed anyway. So, I'm going upstairs to take a shower, whether you like it or not, before putting on something that looks awesome.

"Chances are by the time I get upstairs, I'm going to start crying at the realization that I don't have anything left to wear, but those ridiculously comfy pants I hate, and that any attempts at doing my hair will just be too tiring. We're having a Dalton/McKinley bash and I'm 41 weeks pregnant; please just let me at least try."

Blaine could see how frustrated Kurt was about the whole thing. Even just by listening, you could tell that even though he had a plan, he was already resigned to the fact that it was more than likely going to blow up in his face. Well, this Warbler was going to do whatever it took to make Kurt happy.

A quick peck on the cheek and an "of course, babe, whatever you want" was enough to keep the tears at bay, at least till they got upstairs.One step at a time, just go with it Anderson,thought Blaine.He still feels bad that the party had to be moved and relocated because of him. Let him do what he wants for a change, enough with saying no.

While Puck and Finn were left to clean up the kitchen and start getting ready for the party, Blaine and Kurt made their way upstairs. Blaine needed to shower, too; he was still in his tank top and sleep pants. Blaine made his way towards the dresser, still intent on getting Kurt to just wear what he knew fit him. There wasn't much left in his wardrobe that still fit.

"So what outfit do you have in mind, Kurt? I personally think you wear those stretchy pants well. You have to admit, they are comfy... Kurt?"

Blaine turned around when he didn't get a response, just to see Kurt staring at himself in the mirror. Blaine walked behind Kurt and wrapped his arms around his bump, gently pulling Kurt against his chest.

"Talk to me Kurt. What's going on in that head of yours? What's wrong?"

Kurt leaned back and nestled into Blaine's neck, and sighed. "I'm sorry about being so bitchy..."

"Kurt, you're not being bitchy, trust me, I know the difference between your 'bitch, please' look and your 'emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed' look. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't?"

Kurt had to admit, that was pretty funny. "You're amazing, Blaine."

"I know I am...but so are you. I can't think of anyone that would've handled everything the way you have. I know you're tired, and achy, and hell, we all want the baby to come out just as badly as you." That at least garnered a smirk. "But no matter what happens, you just have to remember that we're all here for you...that and we'll have a little girl in a few days."

Blaine smiled into Kurt's hair, as he felt him start to relax. "Feel better now?" A nod for yes. "Then how about that shower? It'll feel really good on your back. And when you get out your comfy pants will be waiting for you."

"You can say it Blaine - maternity pants. There, I finally said it."

Only took you the whole pregnancy,thought Blaine,maybe next time he'll adjust sooner. Wait...next time? Where'd that idea come from?While Blaine was in a daze, Kurt made his way into the bathroom for his shower.

I never wanna get out...this feelssooogood right now.

Kurt was thoroughly enjoying the hot water on his back. It was one of the only things that helped the back aches: hot water, heating pads, and Blaine (the boy was a furnace on his own and felt great when they cuddled). He was getting ready to get out when he felt another contraction, only this one was worse than earlier.

Kurt grabbed the towel rod in the bathroom to keep upright, kept the water pressure on his back, and just breathed through the pain. Just when he thought it was going to get worse, the pain just seemed to melt away from him. He had to admit, it hurt like hell, but it felt like the pressure on his belly was lighter somehow. He slowly let go of the shower rod and straightened himself.

That's strange. That didn't feel like the last few contractions I've had...oh well, I'm certainly not gonna complain about alackof pain.

Little did Kurt realize that the lack of pain wouldn't be lasting for long.