Wednesday Afternoon

"You know, simple tissues really don't cut it in the cleaning up department," Kurt grimaced as he shifted uncomfortably. Blaine wrinkled his nose apologetically as he zipped his jeans and stooped to grab his tee from where he had tossed it on the floor.

"Sorry, baby. Don't you have spare scrubs in your locker though? Why don't you just take a quick shower in the locker room?"

"I think that taking a shower in the middle of my shift after you come to visit would be a little obvious to the rest of the staff." Kurt looked over at him with a little laugh as he uncomfortably adjusted his pants once again. Blaine burst out laughing and stepped over to kiss his husband on the cheek.

"I think that ship sailed when we ran into your office, locked the door, and screamed each other's names not ten minutes later."

"I didn't scream..." Kurt started with an indignant glare.

"Oh," Blaine said softly with an impish little smile. "You screamed, but I did too, so at least you're not alone."

"How do we retain any respect around this place?" Kurt covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. Blaine shrugged with a grin.

"We're good at our jobs. Plus, we're very likable."

Kurt snorted a laugh and was about to come up with a witty remark when there was a knock on his office door. Blaine looked over at his husband with questioning gaze.

"You good for me to see who that is?"

Kurt made a face as he wiggled a tiny bit.

"Good as I'm gonna get until I can really clean up."

Blaine smiled at how cute his husband looked, wiggling like that, and moved to answer the door. He was surprised to see his brother-in-law standing there with a huge grin on his face.

"Finn! Hey, man! What are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering the same," Finn looked at him questioningly. "I thought you were home with Tia and Liam this week."

"I, um," Blaine looked over hesitantly at Kurt, remembering that he hadn't shared his newfound plans with his husband yet. "I got a sitter for a bit. I came to surprise Kurt."

"Ah, well, cool." Finn stepped inside, giving both men a smile. It was obvious that he'd hardly heard a word that Blaine said though, and was literally bouncing up and down with excitement from an untold secret. Finn was an open book when it came to what he was thinking or feeling, and the two husbands looked at each other with a grin.

"What's up, Finn?" Kurt asked. "You're reminding me of the day that Puck dared you to eat that entire bag of sugar... right before you puked anyway."

Finn raised his eyebrows in amusement at the memory. "Easiest fifty bucks I've ever made. ANYway..." he looked at the other two men with unbridled happiness. "I have something big to talk to you guys about."

The doctor and nurse looked at each other with hearts suddenly beating just a bit faster, feeling sure that they knew which topic he was about to address. Kurt wordlessly motioned for Finn to sit down in front of his desk, before taking a seat behind it. Blaine scooted himself up on the side of the desk right next to Kurt, and reached out to squeeze his hand.

"So," Finn breathed out, "I was in court today, acting as a witness on behalf of Tia and Liam for Social Services."

At Kurt and Blaine's look of surprise, his excitement faded just a bit and he hurriedly went on.

"I know, I didn't tell you it was happening. I'm sorry if you're upset about that, but it's a really volatile situation. The mom is seriously unstable and I had no idea what kind of outcome we were going to end up with today. I know you guys, and if you had known it was happening, at least one of you would have insisted on being there. I didn't want to risk their mom knowing your faces if she was allowed to go free for some ungodly reason."

Kurt took in a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I understand, Finn. You're right," he glanced at Blaine, who nodded his agreement. "One of us would definitely have wanted to be there. You made the right choice."

"Good," Finn sighed in relief. "So, on to the good part," he smiled widely. Kurt and Blaine felt like the anticipation was going to tear them from the inside out. "The judge completely revoked her parental rights for both children. They are officially in the care of the state."

Blaine had to stop himself from jumping in the air and yelling with excitement. One glance at his husband told him that Kurt was feeling the same way. The nurse forced himself to react calmly though, knowing that the mother wasn't the only one standing in the way of Tia and Liam really becoming theirs.

"So, where do we stand?" He asked with bated breath.

"Where we stand," Finn answered with a now-serious smile, "is that the mother no longer has legal rights to her children. I've contacted all of the family members, which was a short list, and every single one said that they were not interested in taking care of the children."

"What about their father?" Kurt asked quickly.

"That," Finn rolled his eyes, "was a job in and of itself. She never married again after her first husband left her. We finally tracked down the boyfriend from that time period though, and he confirmed that the kids are his. He lives out in Vegas now."

Kurt felt his stomach drop once again, and was fairly certain that he couldn't take any more emotional surprises where these kids were concerned.

"Oh my god, Finn! Please just tell us where we stand!"

Blaine turned to the doctor with wide eyes and reached out a hand to rub soothing circles on his back. Finn just grinned.

"Sorry little bro. I'll hop to it. He seemed more than relieved when I told him that the kids were in a good home. He asked right away if they could just stay where they were. I told him that I would need to talk to the foster parents and see how they felt about it being a permanent situation. I also told him that he would need to legally sign away his parental rights if he wanted someone else to take care of them permanently. He asked how soon I could fax him the papers." Finn eyed them both, completely serious now. "So, now I need to know... how do you guys feel about this?"

The two husbands sat there for a moment in silence, hardly believing what was happening. Blaine just stared at Finn with wide eyes. Kurt cleared his throat roughly and glanced at Blaine.

"Um, we need to talk about it, I guess..."

"Fuck that," Blaine blurted out, yanking his cell phone from his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked as a slow smile spread across his face.

"Calling Nick and telling him he has more adoption work in his future."

Kurt grinned widely then and grabbed Blaine from the desk, yanking the nurse down onto his lap and hugging him as tightly as he could. Blaine yelped a little laugh as he felt himself tipping backward off the desk and turned to squeeze Kurt close. He pulled back after a moment and leaned down to kiss Kurt tenderly, whispering against his lips, "Is this what you want?"

Kurt only nodded and pulled him back in for another kiss.

"Ahem," Finn let out an awkward cough, but was still smiling happily. "Dudes, could you save the making out for later?"

The husbands smiled and laughed a little against each other's lips. Blaine hopped up off of Kurt's lap and shot an apologetic look Finn's way. Kurt just grinned at his brother, not feeling apologetic at all. He had caught his brother in compromising positions way too many times while growing up to feel guilty for kissing his own husband.

"I've got some paperwork to get together, and you guys should definitely talk to Nick, but if you guys are sure..." Finn trailed off and looked at both men steadily. When they glanced at each other and nodded happily, he continued with a grin. "Okay then. We're on the same page and we know where to go from here. Now it's just a question of getting everything in line legally. I don't see any issues though, since both parents are relinquishing their legal rights... willingly or not," he added with a sigh. "I'd say if it all goes smoothly we should be able to make this legit in just a few months."

Kurt decided he didn't care then whether Finn minded or not. He stood from his seat, grabbed his husband around the waist and pulled him in for another kiss. Blaine sighed contentedly and gripped the front of Kurt's lab coat tightly as he leaned into the kiss. Finn snorted a laugh.

"Um, I'll just go and let you guys be as kissy as you want in private." He was getting ready to leave when Kurt started speaking before completely pulled away from Blaine.

"Mmmph... Wait, Finn. I actually need to talk to you about another kid we have here." The doctor leaned in to place one last kiss on the tip of Blaine's nose. "We admitted a girl this last weekend that we're pretty worried about. I was hoping that maybe you'd try and talk to her with me while you're here."

"Is she in the system?" Finn asked curiously, stepping back into the office.

"We don't know," Kurt said in frustration as he sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk. Blaine scooted in next to him.

"I'm assuming we're talking about Brandi?"

Kurt nodded and they proceeded to tell Finn the whole story, starting from Blaine finding her until when she had finally opened up to Kurt.

"She won't tell us her last name or anything about her parents or guardians," Kurt told his brother in a sad voice. "There hasn't been a report placed for a missing girl around her age at all, let alone under the name Brandi."

"You've talked with the police and Social Services already I'm assuming." Finn crossed his arms in front of himself and leaned up against a wall, closing his eyes for a moment to think.

"Yes," Kurt answered. "A social worker was here today. He didn't get anywhere. Brandi refused to talk to him, point blank. I asked him about the possibility of Brandi being in the system somewhere when he was getting ready to leave. He said he'd check it out, but that sometimes a situation like this is like searching for a needle in a haystack." Finn nodded sadly with a heavy sigh.

"Unfortunately, that is the case. With no missing child report filed, no last name, no information whatsoever about her parents and family... it can be pretty tricky."

Finn looked up in confusion when Kurt just grinned at this.

"This, my dear brother, is why I love you," Kurt said affectionately. "The other social worker said that Brandi was 'a needle in a haystack', and left the hospital with a shrug. You merely said that this could be 'tricky', and I can see you formulating about ten different plans on how we could possibly help her." Finn smiled with a blush to his cheeks.

"Well, don't heap too much praise on me. As far as those plans go, nine out of ten will probably be a flop."

"As long as one of them works, the flops won't matter," Blaine piped up with a smile. "Why don't we all go see her right now. I haven't spoken to her since I found her last Friday and I'd like to see how she is. Do you think she'd feel overwhelmed with all of us there?" He turned to Kurt with his question. The doctor thought seriously for a moment.

"No, I think we'll be good. She made it clear on Saturday that she would have been willing to talk to either of us, I was just the one that came to the hospital. I've talked to her quite a bit about you and I get the feeling that she's excited to actually meet you. I also think that she'll only consider talking to Finn if I'm there. She refused to even nod or shake her head toward the other social worker until I was sitting next to her." They all looked around at each other and Finn took a deep breath.

"Well, let's go do it then. I'd love to help if I'm able."

They stood to move out the door, when Kurt stopped and shifted uncomfortably. "Um, give me like five minutes guys. I need to grab a quick shower." With that he dashed down the hall to the locker room, leaving Blaine to grin widely and Finn to stare after him in confusion.

"Why does he need to... oh dude. Tell me you weren't doing it in his office when I got here."

"We weren't doing it in his office when you got here." Blaine responded evenly.

"For real?" Finn asked in disbelief.

"Yup, we had already finished and were getting dressed by then."

Finn and Blaine were leaning up against the wall outside of Brandi's room, looking over her chart together, when Kurt came jogging down the hall. He was sweeping damp bangs back off of his forehead and pulling his scrubs top into place as he made his way toward them. Finn was absorbed in the chart still, but Blaine took a moment to appreciate the view. The doctor was unintentionally giving everybody a glimpse of lightly defined abs as he tugged at the hem of his shirt while running down the hall. Blaine watched with a smile as a couple of twenty-something girls standing in the hallway gazed after him with dreamy eyes. The nurse looked straight at the girls and winked when Kurt got to his side, linking hands with his husband and bring the pale fingers to his mouth for a kiss. Kurt just smiled in surprise and kissed him on the cheek before entering Brandi's room. Blaine thoroughly enjoyed the disappointed and envious looks that were shot his way from the two girls, and followed behind with a satisfied smirk.

"Hey, sweetie," Kurt said in a soft voice as he entered the room. Brandi looked up from the magazine she was thumbing through and started to give a little smile in response, before noticing the other men who had also entered the room. She immediately shut down and refused to meet their gaze. Kurt sighed heavily and motioned for both Blaine and Finn to follow him. They had paused, seeing the girl's hesitance at their presence. The doctor walked over and sat on the edge of Brandi's bed, taking her hand in his own. Finn sat in a chair near Kurt, while Blaine moved to stand at the other side of Brandi's bed. The nurse had to fight to keep back his tears at seeing the girl. He had been so terrified that first night that she wouldn't live to see the next day. Now, seeing her sitting up in bed, reading a magazine, with a tiny bit of color in her cheeks... it felt miraculous.

"Do you remember my husband, Blaine, who I told you about?" Kurt asked gently. She looked up in surprise then, first at Kurt and then at Blaine. The nurse moved in closer and took a seat on the edge of the other side of the bed. "I'd like to officially introduce you to him, now." She turned wide green eyes to meet Blaine's.

"Brandi... Blaine," Kurt said with a smile. "Blaine... Brandi." He waited a moment before going on. "Blaine's the reason you're with us today, honey," he said in a soft voice. "He saved you." Brandi's eyes widened even further as Blaine gave her a gentle smile and took her other hand in his own. He then reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. His fatherly instincts felt like they were about to explode from within him and the need to protect her was overwhelming. He had to settle for smoothing back her hair. For him, this was an insignificant move that barely spoke of his true emotions. For her, this simple act flooded her with the sense that she was cared for, that she was loved. She had absolutely no idea how to respond, so she just stared.

"You're looking much better already," the nurse said quietly. "It's good to meet you when you're actually awake," he attempted a little joke. She cracked an itty bitty smile. Kurt's eyes widened and he shot Blaine a sideways glance, encouraging him to continue.

"So, how are you feeling?" Blaine asked cautiously. She merely shrugged in response, but kept her gaze on him.

"I hear that my husband has been taking care of you this week. Has he been a good doctor? Cuz we have comment cards here at the hospital. You can tell me if his bedside manner was just horrible and I'll fill one out for you." Brandi looked at him like he was crazy at first, but seeing the laughter in his eyes, she broke out into another faint smile.

"Seriously. He won't learn any other way. If he was a terrible doctor, you just need to let us know. I'll set him straight."

Kurt was shaking his head and shooting Blaine a little glare, but he was shaking with laughter too. Brandi looked between the two of them with wide eyes, before letting out a small giggle. They laughed too, pretending that hearing her giggle for the first time was the most natural thing in the world.

"No. He's a really good doctor," she said softly. Blaine met her gaze again and nodded.

"Yeah. I know. He's kinda the best. That's why I married him."

She blushed a little as she looked between the two once again, this time with a shy smile on her face. She had never once in her life seen a married couple act this way. She was in complete and utter awe.

Finn had initially sank back into the hospital chair at Kurt's side when they entered the room, wanting to observe quietly. He had sensed right away that Brandi was a little freaked out by the prospect of meeting new people. He decided to make himself as invisible as possible at first, letting his brothers do the actual interacting. He was smiling to himself at the automatic rapport they established with her. He couldn't help thinking that if they ever decided to change careers, they would be a hit as social workers.

His eyes widened though, the moment she spoke. He knew that voice. He would never in his life forget that voice. His stomach clenched and he had to fight everything within himself to not bolt out of his chair and pull the young girl into his arms. He was kicking himself for not remembering her name right away, but it had been five years... and he had been so sure that she was safe. He swallowed the sudden lump that had formed in his throat and rose to squeeze in next to Kurt. The doctor looked at him in surprise, but went pale when he saw the seriousness on his brother's face.

"Brandi?" Finn said quietly. She slowly lifted her head to looked up at him with shock showing visibly on her thin face. Finn took one look into the wide green eyes and knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was the same girl. She was five years older than the last time he had seen her. She looked like she had healed in some ways, yet been further injured in others. His heart was aching at the sight of her. He really had thought that she was finally safe...

"Mr. Hudson?" She gasped in a tear-filled voice. Finn nodded slowly.

"It's me, sweetie. I wasn't sure if you'd remember me."

She nodded quickly as tears streamed down her face.

"I never forgot you. I kept hoping that you'd come and rescue me again. I kept dreaming it, but you never came! You never came! I started thinking that maybe I had just imagined you..."

Kurt and Blaine watched the scene unfold with astonished expressions. Tears were pouring down Brandi's face as she spoke in the most forceful tone of voice they had yet to hear from her. She was almost sobbing by this point and Finn was shaking his head slowly, tears filling his eyes.

"You didn't imagine me, honey. I'm right here. I..."

"Then why didn't you come!"

Silence filled the room. Kurt quietly removed himself from Brandi's side, letting Finn scoot up closer to the girl. Blaine stayed on her other side, looking uncertain but continuing to hold and stroke her hand. Finn moved up a little on the bed and took the thin hand that Kurt had let go of, holding it close to his chest. He had opened his mouth, desperately trying to find something to say, when she flung herself into his arms.

"You rescued me from my mom, Mr. Hudson! Why didn't you rescue me from my dad?! Why?" She was sobbing uncontrollably by this point and her voice was so broken that they could barely understand her. Finn was visibly shaking as he held her close. "I waited and waited but you never came! I couldn't wait anymore! I had to leave! I couldn't wait anymore! I couldn't..." She trailed off then, sobbing so hard that she could no longer speak.

Kurt was standing off to the side, a trembling hand held over his mouth, ghostly white in his shock. Blaine was still sitting on the edge of the bed, silent tears streaming down his face. He raised a shaking hand to gently rub her back as Finn held and rocked her. The social worker was fighting desperately to not break down and sob along with the young girl in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Brandi. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't know! I didn't know..."

They stayed that way for a long while. The broken sobs of a young girl filled with room, alongside of the deafening silence of absolute heartbreak.

Kurt walked into the break room half an hour later, feeling heavy and sad. After Brandi's breakdown they had decided to give the girl and the social worker some time to talk, and had quietly slipped from the room. Kurt felt sick to his stomach from her words. Part of him desperately wanted to know what was being said between the two of them. Part of him wanted to remain ignorant. He had tried to distract himself with taking care of a couple of patients. Thank God today was a slow day, as he had been incredibly distracted for the last couple of hours.

Blaine had slipped into the break room before him a couple of minutes ago to make some phones calls, which Kurt assumed were about the kids. The nurse glanced up with a small smile at his husband, holding his phone to his ear.

"Are you sure you're okay? I feel absolutely terrible for leaving you like this. I only meant for it to be an hour or two... Okay," he smiled. "If you're sure. We've got a pretty big crisis happening at the hospital so I... fine, fine. I'll stop trying to explain and just be grateful, which I am. My dad is going to pick up Addy and Elly from school in a just a bit and bring them home. He's agreed to stay with all of the kids until we can get there."

Kurt smiled to himself at Blaine's words. About a year ago, Blaine had started referring to Paul as dad. It was obvious from the start that Paul had been a welcome addition to their family. The kids called him 'Grandpa Paul' happily and he was definitely a father figure to both men, but mostly to Blaine. Kurt had his own loving father, whom he was incredibly close to. Blaine had no father that he could claim in that way, and Paul's son had died tragically. It was natural and what both men needed. Blaine got a dad. Paul got a son. The kids got a second grandpa... it was perfect.

"Oh no, you don't need to stay that whole time. Why don't you go home when he gets there and you can come back tonight... No! Of course we want you to! I just didn't want you to feel obligated. I mean, Kurt and I won't even be there for a bit yet and the whole point was to spend time with us... Well, yeah. We'd love for you to just spend time with the rest of the family too... Thanks, sweetie... You're pretty amazing... Ha! Well, I hope so. Kurt seems to think so." He turned to wink at his husband then, but Kurt just smiled a little, still watching him curiously. "Okay. We'll be home as soon as we can." He burst out laughing and shook his head. "Bye, squishy." Blaine hung up his phone to find Kurt staring at him oddly.

"Um, should I be concerned that you were just talking very affectionately on the phone with someone and ended with calling them 'squishy'?"

"Not in the slightest," Blaine said with a tired sigh. He plopped himself down in a chair and held his arms out for his husband. Kurt came over, still looking a little hesitant, but let the nurse pull him down onto his lap.

"I'm gonna fill you in on what's going on now, finally, while we wait for Finn." Kurt looked at his husband expectantly, running his fingers lightly through the dark curls. Blaine nuzzled into his hand with a little content little hum.

"Alright, my little puppy," Kurt laughed. "I'll pet you more when you've spilled."

"Well, I've come up with some great solutions to our current concerns."

"And those are?"

"Well, the concerns are... A. We want to spend as much time with Cara as possible, which will be hard once we're both working full-time again... B. We need help, both with the kids and around the house... and C., a concern that you aren't as aware of yet, Cara is going to be spending a lot of time alone because of her father's work."

Kurt nodded in agreement, still trying to figure out exactly what Blaine had planned.

"So, one our solutions is this. Cara comes to stay at our house every time her dad has to travel. That way she doesn't have to be alone, we get to spend a lot more time with her, and we get some help with the kids. That's who I was talking to, if you haven't already figured it out. She offered to stay with them for a bit today so I could come surprise you at work."

"I don't know if we should be asking the sixteen-year-old pregnant mother of our soon-to-be adopted baby to be our regular babysitter, Blaine. It just feels like an awful lot to ask of her." Kurt looked at him warily. Blaine nodded quickly.

"I know. I would have thought the same thing, but you should have seen her with the kids this morning. She's a natural. They love her and she told me that she used to babysit all the time and misses it. When I suggested that she possibly stay over with us while her dad is traveling she was so excited. Not just because she wouldn't have to spend the time alone, but because she would be able to help out with the kids. She's so lonely right now, Kurt. She's homeschooling until after she has the baby and I think she's alone almost all of the time. She's so much like me, baby. It's almost uncanny. Just try to imagine me, stuck at home, feeling ostracized and lonely."

"Oh honey," Kurt gave a sad little laugh. "You'd curl up into a little ball and die."

"Precisely," Blaine replied, rubbing a hand on his husband's thigh. "See. This works for everyone." Kurt sighed as he thought for a moment.

"Well, I'm all for it. I'd love to spend more time with her and she seems like a great girl. What about her dad, though? He's gonna come home and think we've tried to abduct his daughter."

"I talked to him on the phone this morning," Blaine reassured quickly. "He actually seemed pretty relieved. I think he feels that he can trust us because he knows how thoroughly we were screened through the adoption agency. I also think he was feeling a little freaked out by the thought of her being alone. This is a win-win." Kurt nodded again, but bit his lip hesitantly.

"We were talking about getting an adult to help out though, honey. We are going to need some serious help including driving the older kids places, picking Tia and Liam up from daycare, helping around the house. What we're talking about with Cara is more like some light babysitting."

"I know," Blaine answered with a bright smile. "That brings me to my second solution. Let me introduce you to our newly hired Alice, babe." He grabbed his phone from his pocket and pulled up a picture to show Kurt. The doctor grinned when he was presented with a picture of Paul, holding Addy and Elly both on his lap with a wide smile.

"I think that we'd be safe calling him Maria if we wanted. There is absolutely no danger of either of us falling in romantic love with him."

Blaine snorted a laugh and put his phone away.

"I thought of him today and I couldn't believe that it hadn't come to me sooner. The kids love him to death. He knows everything about them and how we like to do things around the house. He's so lonely and bored since he retired. We don't need to go through the process of interviewing and hiring a stranger. He's perfect."

"You're right," Kurt smiled softly. "He really is. You're sure he doesn't mind though? I hate to think of taking all of his free time, and lord knows he wouldn't let us pay him." Blaine laughed.

"You should have heard the excitement in his voice when I brought up the idea. I think he was actually disappointed that I didn't need him right in that moment. Plus, when I mentioned that he might end up spending some time with Cara he practically went through the roof. He said he couldn't wait to spend time with his grandkid that is 'still being baked'." Blaine did finger quotes then to show that he was repeating Paul exactly, and Kurt shook his head in amusement.

"Well," the doctor reached up a hand to push his glasses onto his forehead, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I am happy with every solution, as long as everyone else that matters is on board." He settled his glasses back into place before leaning down to kiss Blaine softy on the lips. "You did good, baby."

The nurse smiled happily and leaned onto Kurt's chest as the doctor wrapped his arms around the nurse's neck and started threading his fingers through the curls once again. They sat that way in silence for a few moments.

"Soooo, do you want to explain 'squishy'?"

"It's a 'Finding Nemo' reference that Cara and I bonded over." Blaine sighed contentedly. "Now just let me enjoy snuggling with you and not getting stung."

Kurt cocked an eyebrow, but kept running his fingers through his husband's hair.

"You are so weird."

"But you still love me, right?"

"Even more for your weirdness, I think."

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"You're my favorite squishy."

It was about fifteen minutes later when Finn walked out of Brandi's room, almost mechanically. Kurt and Blaine had left the break room by then and had taken to restlessly pacing outside the door. It had been almost forty-five minutes since they first left, and they were more than a little anxious. They jumped to attention the moment Finn showed his face. The taller man simply said that she was asleep before wordlessly nodding his head toward Kurt's office and heading down the hall.

They entered the room quickly and all found seats around Kurt's desk. Finn lowered himself into a chair, but stayed there for only a few seconds before shaking his head in agitation and walking to Kurt's window. He crossed his arms over his chest and breathed out heavily before speaking.

"Five years ago, Rachel and I moved back here from New York. Hailey was three by then and we knew we wanted more kids. We decided that we wanted to raise them near family. By my mom and Burt... and by Rachel's dads."

Kurt knew this already, and although Blaine had never heard it from Finn's mouth, he knew the gist of the story. They just listened without responding, knowing he was working himself toward something big.

"I had only ever worked on the adoption side of social work in New York. I had never been a case worker in this type of agency before. I didn't realize how lucky I was. I rarely saw heart-breaking cases. I had no idea how much it could kill you inside to see children hurting like this, every single day."

There was silence for a moment. Finn stared out the window and the two husbands watched him with compassion.

"I started my job here, and the first day... my very first day..." He took a ragged breath. "We got a call about an abuse suspicion, so I was sent out. I went to the house, and at first I didn't find anything. The home seemed nice and well-kept. The mother seemed pleasant enough and told me that her daughter was out playing at a friend's. It was all so... seemingly normal. I had looked through all of the rooms in the house and was just getting ready to leave. I figured I'd come back later to try and catch the girl at home. The mom was so cooperative that it didn't raise any flags." His voice was filled with self-loathing as he recounted the memory. "I was just getting ready to go, when I heard a whimpering from the closet. I moved to check on it, and the mother flew into this horrible rage. She started screaming and clawing at me, telling me that I had no right to tell her how to raise her children. I knew, right then what I was going to find..."

Kurt and Blaine were so emotionally worn by this point that neither could stop the tears from flowing, knowing, to some extent, what he was about to tell them.

"I held the woman back while she was hitting, biting, clawing... whatever she could do to get me to stop. I opened the closet door and found Brandi. She was only eight. She was beaten to a fucking pulp. There wasn't a spot on her that wasn't covered in cuts and bruises."

Finn's voice had broken by this point and he was fighting to continue speaking.

"I snatched her up in my arms and ran out as fast I could before the mother could do any more damage. I held her in my lap in the front seat while I was driving. I knew it probably wasn't the smartest thing," he gave a humorless laugh, "but I couldn't bear the thought of not keeping her close and protecting her."

He turned then and faced the other men.

"I stayed with her at the hospital, practically night and day until she started to heal. We got a judge who revoked her mother's legal rights... and then I was lucky enough to find her father... I thought."

Finn looked straight into his brother's eyes. Kurt could see the heartbreak there and wanted nothing more than to jump up and pull his brother into his arms. All he could do though was sit and stare. It was like a train wreck was happening right in front of his face and he couldn't look away, no matter how desperately he wanted to.

"I got her settled with her dad, and she seemed to be doing so fine. I went over there at regular intervals. She was healing, she seemed happy," Finn was shaking his head forlornly. "She was transferred over to another case worker after a few months, but the last time I saw her she was doing so well." He stood motionless for a few moments.

Suddenly, he turned quickly to the wall behind him.

"Fuck!" He yelled as he threw a punch at the wall, cracking it and leaving a gaping hole. He turned back slowly, holding a shaking, bleeding fist in front of himself.

"Shit," Blaine muttered under his breath. He dashed over to Kurt's desk, grabbing out some first aid supplies. Finn shrugged him off though when he tried to examine the bleeding hand.

"I thought she was safe! How was I supposed to know? How could I have known?" Finns looked at the other two men desperately, pleadingly. "How could I possibly have known?" He broke then, sinking down to the floor in broken sobs, holding his bleeding hand up to his face. Kurt finally broke from his frozen trance and dove to his knees in front of his brother. He wrapped his arms around the taller man and held him close. Blaine just gaped for a moment, hardly able to withstand the intense pain emanating from his brother-in-law. He slowly sank down and wrapped loose arms around both men, resting his head on top of Kurt's.

"You couldn't have, Finn," Kurt finally said in a low voice. "You couldn't possibly have known. No one would expect you to. You took her from a dangerous situation and did your absolute best to make sure that she was in a safe environment. She was safe the last time you saw her. It's not your fault if another social worker failed at their job. You can't possibly feel responsible for every child."

Finn sniffed and nodded as he pulled back. Kurt sat back on his heels and gently took Finn's hand in his own. Blaine quickly grabbed the first aid supplies and cleaned the wounds in silence while Kurt checked to make sure that nothing was broken. Finn looked across the room in a lost daze.

"What if... what if you guys had a patient, a child, who came to you in desperate need of help? You rescued them, you healed them and then sent them on their way. How would you feel if you found out years later that they got sick again, right after they left your care? You fixed them up, and then the moment they left your sight they were in need of help again, only you weren't there to fix it that time. How would you feel if you finally happened upon them, but they were completely broken again? Only, it's worse this time, because they were expecting you to be there. They were expecting you to be there and heal them like before, only you never came to fix it. You never came for them... How would you feel when they looked in your eyes and asked why? Why you weren't there when they needed you?"

Blaine just looked on in silence, knowing deep down that he'd be in the same dark place as Finn if it were him. He looked down and started bandaging Finn's hand without a word. Kurt swallowed hard, then took both his husband's and his brother's hands in his own, knowing that Blaine needed to hear what he had to say just as much as Finn.

"I would hate the world for it's cruelty. I would be livid toward any other doctors that let the care of my patient slip through their fingers. I would be devastated... but I would also know that I did my best when that patient was in my care, and that's all anyone could expect of me... including myself."

When Finn opened his mouth to argue, Kurt shook his head roughly and kept going.

"No, you need to hear this. We live in a world where terrible things happen, Finn. We have jobs that give us the opportunity to help those in need... but while these jobs can bring satisfaction in knowing that we've made a difference, they can also completely break us when we feel like we've failed someone. We can't let the terrible things that happen in this world break us. If we did that, then we would be denying ourselves the opportunity to keep on helping, to keep on making a difference."

Both Finn and Blaine were looking at the doctor with wide, admiration filled eyes.

"If it were me, I would be thankful for the opportunity to help the child again. I would be grateful for a second chance at making a difference."

Finn nodded roughly, wiping his tears away with his uninjured hand.

"Thanks, Kurt," he said in a quiet voice before standing to his feet and pulling his brother into a tight hug. "I just needed a little perspective I guess." Kurt nodded and hugged him back as tightly as he could.

"Anytime. Just say you'll do the same for me when I need it."

Finn smiled genuinely then, before glancing down to his hand that Blaine had just finished bandaging.

"Thanks, man." He pulled Blaine into a hug then too, which the shorter man returned.

"No problem." Blaine smiled sadly at Finn before turning to his husband and placing a loving kiss on his cheek.

All thee men moped up their drying tears and settled themselves back into their seats with heavy sighs.

"What did she tell you?" Blaine finally asked. Finn shook his head dejectedly.

"Nothing really. After you left she just cried herself out, asking over and over why I didn't come for her. I tried to ask her want happened, but she didn't answer. I don't know if it was because she was so distraught she didn't hear me, or because she just didn't want to answer."

He looked up again, with palpable pain in his eyes.

"I need to know though. You guys checked her over when she first got here, right? You examined her to make sure she was okay?"

Blaine nodded quickly, knowing exactly where Finn was headed.

"There were absolutely no physical signs of sexual abuse, Finn. None at all."

The social worker sagged a little with relief, but all three men were still stoic. Something horrible had still happened, and they had no idea what.

"What's next?" Blaine asked softly.

"What's next is that I'm right by her side when she wakes up again and I don't leave unless someone I trust is with her. Then, I track down her father and find out what the hell happened."

Finn glanced up then, suddenly looking wary.

"There's something else that you guys need to know. Something unexpected, and pretty huge. Something that affects you."

The husbands just glanced at each other and then looked to Finn curiously.

"Brandi's mother, the one I took her away from... is also Liam and Tia's mother. She's their older sister. Well, their half-sister."

Blaine felt Kurt's hand go limp in his own. He turned to see his husband staring with his jaw hanging open, and knew that nothing coherent would be coming out of the doctor's mouth any time soon. He tried desperately to come up with something coherent himself, but his mind was spinning out of control. He said the only thing that he could make sense of.

"Yeah, I'd say that's pretty huge."