We didn't want a long engagement. After the surprise of Blaine's proposal—which everyone but me was in on apparently—I immediately went into planning mode. I'd planned my father and Carole's fabulous wedding in a week's time so I just knew that having from October to May would give me all the time I'd need to have the absolute perfect wedding.

It actually ended up making me agonize over every little detail and nuance and drive myself and my family insane.

“No! No, Kurt we are not having this discussion again!” Mercedes glared at me through the laptop screen and I was very happy to not actually be within reach of the diva. I had been about to launch into whether or not to change venues because even though I absolutely loved the botanical gardens in Toledo and had my heart set on the site, I felt guilty for having the wedding so far from home.

“I know, Cedes, I just, ugh...” I let my argument trail off because she was right, we'd had this discussion half a dozen times in as many months and it always ended the same: It was my wedding and nobody was going to mind the just over an hour long drive to see Blaine and I finally tie the knot. At least, it would be a ceremony symbolizing it.

Ohio still didn't allow same-sex marriages to be performed in the state, but thankfully, they had moved forward enough to recognize unions performed elsewhere. It wasn't the all encompassing acceptance I'd hoped for in my youth, but it was progress. After the wedding and the reception, Blaine and I would leave for our 'honeymoon' to New York where everything would be made official. We would have to go through a whole other set of paperwork when we returned to change Blaine's last name to Hummel and then we would start with the adoption papers to give Blaine parental rights over Jude, since the Ohio Same-Sex Union laws weren't as clear cut about that sort of thing with children born before the union. I wanted to make sure there was no question that Blaine was just as much Jude's parent as I was despite the lack of blood relation.

Mercedes just smirked at me fondly and huffed. “I know, baby. But you should know by now that all of us would have flown out to New York if you'd wanted us to. I still can't believe that you can't really get married here yet. It's a load of bull if you ask me.”

“Tell me about it, sweetie,” I replied. “But, I always did want to go back to New York. I loved what little I got to see of it, but it will be nice to not have to worry about a fussy toddler this time.”

“Yeah, I remember,” she chuckled. “Littlebit was just walking and I thought you were gonna flip out trying to babyproof that hotel room.”

“Oh my god, I know!” I exclaimed, laughing at the memory. “Why on earth does any hotel room need that many outlets? There were sixteen, Cedes! Sixteen!”

We both laughed for a bit, letting the memories of glee club and our highschool days wash over us. Those were some of the hardest years of my life, balancing school and friends and glee club while raising a baby, but I did miss it sometimes. I don't see my old friends as often as I'd like, but I guess that's just part of growing up.

Mercedes sighed, breaking me out of my thoughts. “I miss seeing that little guy. You send me pictures all the time, but I haven't actually held him since right after graduation. He was still so little.”

“I know, I kinda miss him being that small.” I really did miss being able to hold my son in my arms. As much as everyone always told me I'd miss the days of him being completely dependent on me, I never really believed it. I mean, who missed being covered in vomit and wrist deep in baby poop? Apparently, I did.

“So, no more wedding plan worries?” Mercedes asked me. I knew she was right, I was just letting myself get worked up and with it being only two weeks away, everything was already paid for, plane and hotel reservations had been made, and pulling the plug now would be ridiculous.

“Yes, ma'am,” I said meekly, getting a giggle out of my old friend.

We chatted for a few more minutes until she claimed exhaustion and an early studio appointment, prompting us to say our goodbyes.

I knew I should be getting to bed myself, but I couldn't resist double checking our agenda for New York. The confirmation from our travel agent had arrived the day before and everything seemed to be in order, but my paranoia was in full swing and I just kept thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong.

It was just past one in the morning when I finally slipped into bed beside my soon-to-be-husband, his quiet snores seeming less annoying and more endearing when I realized that it was a sound I would get to hear for the rest of our lives.

“Okay, so you're all packed to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house?” Jude rolled his eyes and nodded. I couldn't blame him, I'd asked him the same question twice already that morning. It was the day before the wedding and he would be staying with Dad and Carole for the next eight days.

“Alright, Blaine do you have all of our paperwork?”

I didn't get the eye-roll from him but I did get the same exasperated nod.

“Yes, babe, it's all in the front zip pocket where you put it when you packed my suitcase last week. I haven't touched it so unless we have luggage gnomes, we're good.” He smiled at me in that dopey yet patronizing way that had become habit for him whenever I was having a freakout. I glared back.

“Okay! I will double check, just to be sure,” he sighed.

“Thank you,” I drawled.

I knew I was being crazy but I just wanted everything to be perfect.

I'd taken the three of us for haircuts last week and even gotten us mani-pedis (much to Jude's horror) but Blaine had stood his ground when I'd mentioned him getting his brows waxed—“They are fine, Kurt! I'm not waxing my eyebrows!” “They are triangles, Blaine. Triangles!”—and I'd eventually conceded that yes, I'd fallen in love with him eyebrows and all, so no, he didn't have to do it. I did attack him with my tweezers later that night to get the renegade hairs in the middle, though.

A horn sounded outside and Jude raced down the hall. Blaine followed behind at a more sedate pace with Jude's suitcase in tow. Dad's old Chevy was rumbling in the parking lot and I could hear snippets of Mellancamp blasting from the speakers. He rolled the window halfway down as we neared.

“Dad, can you please lower the music level. I don't want my son to be deaf before I get back from my honeymoon.”

“If I remember correctly, you used to blast your music at top volume all the time in your room,” Dad said, turning the music off. “Matter of fact, one song sticks out for me involving you and that ditzy blonde from your glee club and some kind sparkly spandex getup and--”

“Okay!,” I interrupted. “Well, you and Jude need to be heading home, don't you think? I'm sure Carole's waiting for you.”

I grabbed the suitcase from Blaine, who was giving me a look that said we were so going into that subject later, and tossed it in the back before hugging Jude tightly and buckling him into the passenger seat.

I waved until Dad's truck was gone, turning back to Blaine. His face was fixed into a smirk and I knew he what he was thinking.

“Don't even think about asking, I will never tell,” I said as my face began to heat.

“I just have one question: Do you still have that 'sparkly spandex getup' and if so, do I get to see it?” Blaine's mouth stretched into a grin and I smacked his shoulder and headed back inside.

We took advantage of having the house to ourselves, a rare occurrence that we knew wouldn't last long.

Wes was due to arrive in less than an hour to whisk Blaine away for his bachelor party. Santana, Brittany and Mercedes would be showing up not long after to hang out with me. I knew it was tradition for the groom (or in our case grooms) to go out for one last night of crazy life as a 'single man' but I had no desire to go out to a bar and be the designated driver at my own party, so the girls and I would be spending an evening in watching rom-coms and catching up on gossip. Wes and Puck, who had struck up an odd friendship the last time Wes had flown in to visit, were taking Blaine to some bar, the location of which the two were being overly secretive about.

I figured this meant they either were taking Blaine to a strip club, which depending on the orientation of the club was bound to make at least part of the trio uncomfortable, or they had no clue and would just end up spending the night bar-hopping. I was betting on the latter because I really didn't see Puck getting anywhere near a gay bar of any sort.

Wes knocked on the door just as Blaine and I were readjusting our clothes, having mastered the art of the quickie pretty quickly after moving in together. Blaine's hair was hopeless and he grumbled that Puck would immediately know what we'd been up to. I laughed and assured him that even if we hadn't been doing that Puck would still find some way to embarrass him before the night ended.

“I know,” he whined. “I love you and I can't wait to see you tomorrow.” Blaine would be staying at Wes' parent's house for the night, and we weren't supposed to see each other until the ceremony the next day.

“I'll meet you at the alter,” I quipped, leaning in to kiss him.

I meant it to be quick, a peck of a goodbye kiss, but suddenly the thought that this would be the last time I was kissing him as my fiancé, that the next time I kissed him we would be married had me pulling him closer. He must have been having the same thoughts because he wrapped me tightly in his arms, ignoring Wes who was now pounding on the door.

I was breathless when we parted, my lips tingling. “Now they're really gonna give you hell.”

“Let 'em,” he chuckled, kissing me one more time. “I guess I should get going before Wes goes all head-warbler and breaks down the door with his gavel.”

I laughed at the mental image that brought me, releasing him reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess. Just don't do anything too crazy tonight.”

“Don't worry. You and the girls will probably get up to more shenanigans than us,” he said as he slipped out the door.

Wes waved to me once and promptly dragged Blaine to his car. I shut the door before they even pulled onto the street. The girls were due to arrive at any time and I still needed to fix my appearance. Blaine's sex hair was actually pretty hot looking, but my own had a tendency to look like I'd found a spot on the carpet and just rubbed my head on it.

I'd just finished with my preening when Santana barged into the bathroom without bothering to knock. Mercedes at least had the decency to call out from the front door.

“Prettying yourself up on my account?” Santana's knowing smirk greeted me in the mirror. I narrowed my eyes at her reflection.

“Why, hello Satan. Please, come in. Make yourself at home.”

She raised one perfectly sculpted brow at me. “Will do, Ladylips. Now quit powdering yo nose and come have some fun with the rest of the girls.”

“Just let me grab my manicure kit and my styling products and we will start this night off with makeovers,” I replied with one last spritz of hairspray.

Santana's smirked widened into a full on sneer. “Nope, not tonight Mrs. Hummel. You didn't want a traditional bachelor party so we decided to go another route.”

I followed her out to the living room and my jaw dropped in shock. Mercedes and Brittany were seated on the couch but they weren't alone. Quinn and Tina and were squeezed in between them and Lauren had claimed the armchair.

But that wasn't the shocking part. I'd never been a big fan of sex-shops, but I had been a time or two when Blaine and I were feeling adventurous, so I'd seen some of the novelty items that were marketed for bachelorette parties, but never in my life had I ever seen so much penis paraphernalia in one room.

“As a gay man, you'd think this wouldn't be awkward, but somehow it is,” I said when I'd finally regained the power of speech.

Lauren was wearing a candy-penis necklace and thoroughly enjoying a phallic shaped lollipop. Mercedes and Tina were holding a cake between them with a screen print of what looked like a Playgirl centerfold on the icing while Quinn sipped from a cooler cup with a Chippendale's dancer on it. Apparently, when the glass tilted the speedo disappeared. Lovely.

“Hummel, you're about to spend the rest of you're life with the same dick. Enjoy the novelty,” Lauren said in her patented monotone.

I couldn't' help but laugh then at the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing. I'd always considered myself an honorary girl in high school and I couldn't have been happier about that fact than I was right then.

“Alright then, ladies. What else have we got?”

A few hours later the cake was gone and the girls and I were almost done watching the second Nicholas Sparks movie of the night.

I was just about to beg off a third movie in favor of sleep when my phone rang. The name Wes popped up on my screen and I felt my stomach lurch.

“Hello?” I said cautiously. The only reason I could think of for him calling was that something was wrong.

“Kurt, we have an issue and I think you need to come down here,” Wes sighed wearily.

I didn't even bother to give the girls any details, I just told them all to load up in the car and we headed out. It only took us thirty minutes to get to the bar where Blaine was.

I still didn't know the full story of what was going on, only that no Blaine wasn't physically hurt but that he was extremely upset and the only thing Wes could think of to calm him down was me. I had to admit to feeling some satisfaction about that even though I hated for Blaine to be upset on what was supposed to have been a fun guys night out.

Stepping into the bar was like almost like going back in time to my college days. The smell of smoke and alcohol was strong and while I knew the roaring sound was a combination of music and voices I couldn't make out a single word. I glimpsed Puck through the throngs of people standing next to the restroom door. This couldn't be good.

“What happened?” I asked flatly, my arms crossed over my chest.

Puck looked like he was trying to hold back a grin which did nothing to alleviate my worry. “Just go on in, Hummel,” he said with a smirk. “You'll see.”

I walked into the bathroom prepared to see the love of my life disheveled, perhaps hugging a toilet or sobbing in the corner of a stall. I was not prepared to see said man seated in a small white sink, his legs dangling over the edge like a child's.

“Hey sweetie,” I greeted him, trying to mask my confusion as to why his butt is in a dirty bar sink.

“Kurt,” he gushed and I could tell that he was only slightly drunk.

“Thank god!” Wes huffs from where he'd been standing against the tiled wall. “Maybe you can get him out of there.”

I walked over to my fiancé, still confused about the situation but willing to do whatever it took to keep him from crying anymore.

“Blaine, honey, why are you sitting in a public sink?”

He sniffed, his eyes filling with tears.“Kurt, I'm so sorry.”

“I'm not mad that you're in a sink, sweetie,” I tell him with as straight a face as I can manage. “I'm more confused than anything.”

He laughed once, a wet snuffling sound and dropped his eyes to his lap and mumbled something I couldn't quite hear.

“What was that?” I asked.

He raised his head to look me in the eyes and repeated himself. “I dropped my ring down the sink.”

“What?”

“I took it off to wash my hands because I didn't want the soap to leave a film on it and then some guy started talking to me which was really weird, I mean, who just strikes up a conversation in the men's room? And then he said something about buying me a drink later and I just couldn't believe he was hitting on me in a bathroom of all places and I went to grab my ring so I could get the hell out of here but my hands were still wet and it slipped and then it went down the drain and I knew if anybody ran water it might wash away so I'm guarding it.”

He was out of breath by the time he finished his rant and I was trying desperately not to laugh. He was genuinely upset about this and I could understand why, but at the same time the absurdity of the whole thing couldn't be ignored.

“So rather than just standing in front of the sink, you decided to sit in it?” I said as neutrally as possible. He nodded enthusiastically and I felt myself grin.

“Have I told you today how much I love you, you crazy, wonderful man?” I said, my voice filled with wonder.

“Yes,” he replied huskily. “But I'm not opposed to hearing it again.”

“Ahem,” an unfamiliar voice sounded behind me.I turned to see a rather sleepy looking man with a toolbox standing there. “You the guy that called about the pipe emergency?”

Blaine nodded again and tried to get up, but he couldn't. The bewildered expression on his face was priceless and I just couldn't take it any longer. I laughed until tears streamed down my face as he grumbled and tried to free himself.

“You guys realize that I'm charging $90 and hour, right? And I'm just here to get a ring out of a pipe, not a hobbit out of a sink,” the plumber deadpanned.

I got myself under control and after a minute of tugging got Blaine out of the sink. He rubbed his backside where the edge had dug in and it was only the presence of the plumber mumbling about crazy kids and their weird sex habits that kept me from kissing him like mad.

It took just over an hour to retrieve the ring and after Blaine thanked him numerous times and paid him double what was owed, the man left.

“Well, I'd have to say that tonight has been eventful at least,” I chided. Blaine just looked at me adoringly and I knew that if I didn't leave then we wouldn't make it back to our respective groups. As much as I loved him, skeezy bathroom sex was not on my bucket list.

“I'm sorry for ruining your night,” he said softly.

“You didn't ruin it,” I told him. “If anything you just made it more memorable.” I kissed him hard then, because yeah, we were in a dirty bar bathroom that reeked of Lysol and urine, but he was willing to sit in a disgusting public sink just to make sure he didn't lose his wedding ring and if that didn't deserve a kiss then I didn't know what did.

We broke apart just as Puck poked his head back in the door. “C'mon, Blainey-boy we're not done partying yet!”

Blaine laughed then, all his previous tension gone. “I guess that's my cue.”

“Yep,” I replied. “See you tomorrow Mr. Hummel.”

“Hmm. I really like the sound of that.”

It felt like I'd just fallen asleep when my alarm clock blared and Mercedes was grumbling for me to get my 'skinny white ass outta bed'. I flashed back to junior high for a second, the standard reply of “five more minutes” slipping past my lips before I remembered what day it was. Holy crap, I was getting married in less than twelve hours.

Breakfast was a blur of half-asleep girls bickering about the lack of junky breakfast foods and whose turn it was to have the shower. We were doing most of our prep at the apartment before making the drive to the gardens, but we wouldn't change into our wedding attire until we arrived.

I was almost hyperventilating when we pulled into the lot, but Santana was there to snap me out of it with a light slap to my left cheek.

“Wow,” I said, dazed. “I can honestly say I never thought I would be thanking you for physically abusing me but here we are.”

She smiled at me warmly, then slapped my other cheek. “Hey! What the hell?” I screeched.

“Just making sure your color matches, princess,” she cackled.

I rolled my eyes and followed her into the dressing area to do a last minute inspection of my lovely groomsmaids.

When the music started I felt my heartbeat quicken again. Then I saw him. Blaine looked no less nervous than I was, but underneath that he was glowing. When his eyes met mine I swore that the rest of the world had fallen into darkness. I could see him and only him.

I felt Dad take my arm and walk me to where Blaine stood, embracing us both before taking his seat. The officiant stepped up and suddenly it was time.

Finally, I was standing in front of all the people I loved, showing them how much I loved this man next to me.When the officiant guided us through our vows and had us exchange rings I'd never felt more excited. Blaine's soft words ending with his declaration of 'I do' went straight through my heart and I hoped that the swelling in my chest was a normal feeling. If not, I could very well be having some sort of cardiac distress. I couldn't bring myself to worry too much, though, because now it was my turn.

I recited my vows, promising to love and cherish this man before me. I stared straight into his eyes as I told him and the world 'I do'. His smile in that moment was the most beautiful thing to me, I couldn't help but elaborate.

“And I always will.”