Blaine and Wes spent the next three hours getting Ali's room set up and all of her things put away. Blaine was glad everything fit in the tiny room, he would probably have to move once she started getting bigger. All he wanted to do at this point was sit down and rest, but his mother had other plans. While Ali's room now held all her furniture and clothes, Blaine's house was still lacking essential baby items. Like, food and diapers.

Wes patted Blaine on the back and left, telling his friend to call if he needed anything. Blaine struggled again with getting Ali into her carseat, but once she was sitting in her stroller, she calmed down as long as Blaine kept moving.

Luckily, the grocery store he went to was just down the block, so they didn't have far to travel. Once in the store, they made their way to the aisle Blaine had never set foot in.

The baby aisle.

The innocent aisle looked far more intimidating than it probably should have. First up was the diapers. His mother started to explaining all the different sizes to him, and he was instantly lost. He tried following along as his mother placed a large stack of diapers in the cart, well at least that would last him a while. Right?

Then they moved down to baby foods, and that was much easier to understand. He even was able to help pick out a couple of the flavors. Okay so this wasn't too bad. But then they were standing in front of the baby formula and Blaine was confused again. There were so many brands it felt like his head was spinning. His mother took over again, placing about ten conatiners in the cart. Apparently she wanted him to be well stocked up on things until he got used to it all.

Blaine thought they were finished then, but his mother lead him to the medicine aisle, and he had no clue why. Babies couldn't take medicine! Right? His mom started putting a bunch of stuff in the cart and Blaine peeked in. There was stuff for gas, toothache, and wait what is Karo Syrup?

"Um. Mom? What is all this stuff for?"

"Hm? Oh. Just some basic stuff you may need."

"But what is this?" He held up the Karo Sryrup for his mom to see.

"Constipation."

"Consti-Mom! How am I suppose to know when to use all this stuff?"

"Don't worry darling. You'll...just know."

"I'll...just know. Thanks, that's helpful." He rolled his eyes. Ali started crying at this point, so Blaine pulled her out of the stroller and craddled her in his arms. His mother put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Trust me. You'll know what to do when the time comes. It will take some getting used to, but you'll do just fine."

"I don't want to be 'just fine' mom. I want to be everything for her."

"And you will be Blaine. You'll see. Now she's getting restless. I'll just pick up a few things for dinner tonight, why don't you take her outside for a bit. You both could use some fresh air."

Blaine nodded and kissed his mom on the cheek before walking out of the store. It was a bit awkward since he was still holding Ali and trying to push her stroller at the same time. They made it out onto the busy street, all the noise making Ali look around curiously. Blaine hoisted her onto his hip so she could get a better view.

"Welcome to New York baby girl. I'll have to take you to Central Park soon. Your first New York sunset shouldn't be seen outside a grocery store." The little girl giggled and tried to grab at Blaine's nose. He laughed back and tickled her sides when he heard a loud squeal from behind him. He instinctively hugged Ali to his chest and turned to see a girl with bright blonde hair smiling at him.

"Oh what an adorable baby! How old is she?"

Blaine was confused, but ever the gentleman he responded, "about six mon-"

He was cut off by the girl, who exclaimed, "so precious! Oh and you look like such a good daddy!"

"I'm actually not-"

"Hi there little girl. Oh look at those big baby blues! What's your name little one."

"Her name is Ali, and I'm not her-"

"Ali! What an adorable name. Say Ali, I see your daddy's not wearing a wedding ring. Put in a good word for me?"

At this point, Blaine was blushing furiously but still couldn't get in a complete sentence. "Oh. I'm not her fa-"

"Oops. I gotta run. Nice meeting you little Ali. And you too hot stuff. Here, call me sometime." With that, she slipped a business card into Blaine's back pocket and rushed away.

Blaine was very confused and looked down at Ali, who seemed to be laughing at him. "What in the world just happened?" It had been a long time since he's been hit on, especially by a woman.

He decided it would be safer to go back into the store and help his mother finish with the shopping. She was just getting through the checkout, much to Blaine's relief. He just wanted to hide in his apartment for a while after that strange encoutner.

There was certainly one thing nice about the stroller, it made carrying groceries back to his apartment much easier. Most of their bags were stuffed in the basket and hung on various parts of the stroller while Blaine carried the few large boxes of diapers.

Once they were back in Blaine's apartment, Blaine set to work clearing out cupboard space for Ali's food, while his mother put away all the diapers and wipes. They had also bought a bunch of plugs for the outlets, so Ali didn't try playing with those. Currently, the little girl was crawling around the living room, trying to get underneath the coffee table and getting frustrated when she couldn't make it. On one try, she lost her balance and fell forward, hitting her head on one of the legs.

The cry she let out made Blaine's blood turn cold. He tore from the kitchen with lightning speed and scooped up the screaming girl, seeing the red bump already formning on her forehead. That little bump proved to Blaine he was a failure. He couldn't even protect her in his own home.

His mother came out too and saw Blaine had tears in his eyes as he looked worriedly at his neice. She put her hand on her heart, guessing what her son was thinking and moved over to rub his back. "Blaine. I know what you're thinking, but she's going to get bumps and bruises now that she knows how to move around. She's okay, probably just more scared than anything. This isn't your fault."

Blaine nodded and took a lot of comfort in his mothers words. He gently kissed the bump on Ali's head and started humming a lullaby he once heard Amelia singing to her daughter. Ali quieted immediately and placed her hand on Blaine's mouth. He smiled and kissed her little palm. Once she was calmed down, Blaine carried her with back to the kitchen to finished putting everything away. He noticed by this time, it was getting pretty late. As if on cue, Ali let out a huge yawn and Blaine couldn't help but smile. "You tired baby girl? How about we get some pajamas on and start getting ready for bed."

He took her to her room and got her all changed, already feeling more confident in his diaper changing skills. Once he was back out in his tiny excuse for a dinning room, he set Ali in her highchair and went to fetch her some food. His mother was currently making dinner for the two of them. They both sat at the table and Blaine carefully fed Ali some sweet potatoes.

Halfway through eating, Ali was starting to get restless and Blaine guessed she was ready for bed. He got her bottle all made without the help of his mom, then sat down in the rocking chair in her room while she drank. Her eyes were already starting to droop, so Blaine started humming the lullaby again. Everything was calm right now. In this moment, he really felt like he could do this. He had this weird feeling in his heart. It was warm and content, like something was there that hadn't been before.

He realized it was Ali. He needed her just as much as she needed him. He never realized just how lonely he had been before all of this happened. Before, he had kept himself as busy as he could. Whether it be working on new songs, studying for classes, or playing random open mic nights, he never let himself think of how alone he was. Sure, he had Wes, but Wes was always busy between work and law school.

Blaine had dated a few guys since coming to New York, but none of them lasted because he just didn't feel any connection. He had high expectations after seeing Cooper and Amelia. He wanted what they had. The all consuming love, not just some relationship that was just out of conveinience.

He shook his head to get rid of the depressing thoughts. Ali was sound asleep now, so Blaine carefully stood and gently placed her in her crib. Once she was settled, he bent down and stroked her hair through the bars and whispered to her, "Goodnight my beautiful angel. May your dreams take you to wonderful places where nothing hurts. Always remember, your mom and dad loved you very much and so do I."

He stood again and smiled down at the sleeping girl before quietly slipping out of the room. He was exhausted and wanted to go to bed, but there were still things he needed to do. His mother was thankfully cleaning up everything from dinner. Blaine went over to his desk in the corner and started up his computer. He wanted to get fliers made up for a nanny, plus putting a couple ads online as well.

He knew it would be rough once his mother left, so he wanted to find someone as soon as possible. Plus, he wanted to spend time with any nanny prospects while he was still home for the summer. He wasn't just going to leave Ali alone with some stranger once he went back to school. He spent the next hour making fliers to hang around town, and making posts online giving the specifics of what he was looking for.

His mother announced she was going to bed, she would be sleeping in Blaine's room while she stayed, leaving Blaine to sleep on the pullout couch. Once he had everything printed off, he went and sat on the couch, wanting to relax for just a few moments before he went and got ready for bed. As soon as his head hit the back of the couch though, he passed out with thoughts of diapers and baby foods swirling in his mind.