Blaine and I drove to the airport together on Tuesday. I was flying back to Ohio for Thanksgiving weekend, and Blaine was visiting his parents in California with Annabel.

"Daddy? Are we going to get to watch a movie on the plane?" Anna asked from her car seat.

"I'm bringing my iPad, so you can watch whatever we have on there." Blaine said before turning to me. "I'm kind of wary of going home," He said in a low voice, "Anna hasn't been around Brooke since she got a new boyfriend. I'm nervous to see how she'll react."

Looking back in my rear view mirror, I saw that Anna had gone back to coloring and wasn't paying attention. "Does she know who Brooke is?"

"I don't think so. I just always get nervous before family things. Thanks for driving us, by the way. I really appreciate it," Blaine took my hand in his. "I know it's only four days, but I'm really going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too. It'll be weird not seeing you and Anna every day."

All too soon we were arriving at the airport. Blaine and I were taking different airlines, so we said goodbye before going through security. Saying goodbye to Anna was the hardest part. She started crying when I hugged her. I knew that this was mainly because she was sleepy so she was irritated to begin with, but seeing her cry made my heart hurt. Anna had wiggled her way into my heart, and in a way, I would probably miss her more than Blaine.

When I arrived at the Columbus airport, Dad and Carole were waiting for me.

"Hey, Kiddo!" Dad said as he hugged me, "I thought for sure that your plane would be delayed."

"I lucked out this time! Which is awesome, because I promised I'd help Carole finish making the pies." Carole and I hadn't cooked together in a while, but I always enjoyed it. She was one of those people that didn't find the need to fill every moment with words. She listened to me, and sometimes we just enjoyed each other's ' company in silence.

"Well in that case, I guess we'd better get back home!" My dad said, grinning at the thought of our home-maid pies. Carole let Dad slack on his diet during the holidays, which meant that he'd actually get to eat them.

Carole and I went to the kitchen as soon as I had dropped off my bags in my old bedroom. Finn was still at the shop closing up for the week, so it was just us and Dad. We quickly shooed him into the living room to watch TV. As we began making the crusts, Carole gave me a look. I was rather familiar with that look, as I had been on the receiving end of it almost every time I started a relationship with someone.

"It's Blaine." I blurted, not looking at her. "We're dating now."

She just hummed, mixing the dough.

"I... It's still recent. That's why I didn't say anything until now." This was true. When Blaine had first kissed me, I had wanted to wait before saying anything. It was so exciting and new, and I didn't want to have to put it into words. And now... I didn't want to have to explain myself. I knew that my parents would be okay with it, happy even. But I doubted they would understand how serious it felt, even though it had been only a few weeks. By dating Blaine, I felt like I was tying myself to his life and to Annabel. I didn't love him yet, but I knew that I would. But Annabel? Annabel I had been in love with from the moment she ran into my life. She was the sweetest child I had ever met, even on her worst days. She made me feel paternal, which wasn't something I should be feeling after only being in a relationship with her father for such a short time.

"That's nice." Carole said while she cracked an egg.

"It's just... I don't know if I'm ready for a serious relationship after Lewis."

"You and Lewis ended things amicably. I don't think that's what's really bugging you." Carole said softly. "It's Anna, isn't it?"

"Blaine's an amazing father. Anna's just perfect. I mean, I've always loved kids, but it's different with Anna. When Blaine and I went out for the first time, Anna got hurt. We had to go pick her up at a clinic because she broke her arm. I was so scared. I... I really care about her. Is that weird?"

"When I met your father, I knew that you two were a package deal." Carole said slowly, "Just like me and Finn. I thought that it would take a while for me to think of you like family, if I ever did."

"How long did it take?"

"The first time I found out about the bullying, I cried. Burt and I weren't very serious at the time, but you already had a special place in my heart." Carole blinked a little, brushing back tears. "I loved you, and I wanted to protect you from the world. It was different than the way I loved Finn, because I knew him better, but the emotion was the same."

"I'm scared," I admitted, "I'm terrified that Blaine and I will break up. I don't want Anna to get close to me and then be devastated when we end things."

"Have you talked to Blaine about it?"

"I think we should preheat the oven," I changed the subject. Carole just smiled, knowing that I had said all that I was comfortable saying. We continued to bake, Carole humming along to the radio.

Our conversation had unsettled me. I wanted to talk to Blaine, and I knew that we should, but I worried. I didn't want Blaine to think that I was trying to push him into some sort of commitment. That wasn't it at all. I just needed to know that Blaine had discussed it with Annabel, that he realized how confusing our break up could be to Annabel. I wasn't even sure if Anna knew that we were dating, or if she still thought we were friends.

When Finn got home, I was easily distracted. Finn's energy was contagious, and soon we were all laughing our asses off at stories from the shop. The next few days pass in the same way, with the perfect combination of food and family.

Thursday after dinner, we were all watching the game on TV when Blaine called.

"You gonna answer that?" Dad asked.

"No, I'll just let it go to voice mail. I don't want to miss this." I said. In truth, I wasn't watching the game, but being with my family was so nice that I didn't want to miss a second of it.

"Kurt," Carole said, "Isn't there a time difference? Have you talked to him at all since you got here?"

Before I could answer, Dad jutted in. "Just answer it, Kurt. The game will still be here when you get back." I smiled, heading to my room so that I could call Blaine without disturbing anyone from the game.

"Blaine?"

"Hey, Kurt!" Blaine said, voice crackling with static. "I've missed you. How was your Thanksgiving?"

"It's gone well. We just finished eating and were watching football. How're you?" I flopped down on my bed to get more comfortable.

"Well, Brooke and my mother got into a huge argument, so thing have been tense. Brooke's new boyfriend is an asshole, so that's not fun either. Anna and I have been running errands all day just because I don't want her to be around him." Blaine sounded exhausted, and I wished that we were together so that I could hold him.

"What did he do?"

"I'm guessing Richard knows that Anna is Brooke's daughter, because he keeps saying these things. Like, that if she were his daughter, she wouldn't be running around in a pair of boy's sneakers. Or, any child of his wouldn't be allowed to sit with the adults while they're talking. He's belittling me, and I feel like shit." Blaine sniffled, obviously trying to hide the fact that he was crying. "I try so hard to be a good father, but it's like I can never be good enough. I hate it."

"Blaine, you are a good father.  You love Anna unconditionally and you try every day to do what's best for her. Just because some douchebag is trying to convince your sister that he's worth sleeping with doesn't mean that you're a bad parent." I sighed, angry that this guy was adding to Blaine's insecurities.

"I know. It's not a big deal, it was just annoying." Blaine yawned. "Sorry, it's kind of late here. I was going to call when Anna was awake so she could say hi, but I didn't want to interrupt your dinner."

"About that," I said, taking a deep breath, "When we get back, we need to talk."

"What?" Blaine snapped, shock evident in his voice, "I thought you liked Anna!"

"Whoa, Blaine, calm down! Of course I love Anna, that's not what I meant." I reassured him, "I meant that I think we need to talk about how Anna is going to fit into all of this. She's a big part of your life."

"So you're not breaking up with me?"

"No, of course not. I'm not getting rid of you after how long it took to get you." I chuckled.

As soon as my plane landed on Vermont soil, it was back to work. Now that vacation was over, rehearsals for Fiddler would start. Blaine and I stayed up late the night before to get everything ready. For our first rehearsal, we were just going to do a read through. Sebastian and I wouldn't make any corrections apart from pronunciation, and we would skip the music entirely.

We met on the stage in the Performing Arts Center after school on Monday. Sebastian and I handed out scripts, which Blaine and I had spent the night before putting into binders. The kids each got a binder and a highlighter, and after quick introductions we began our first cold read.

Reading a script with my cast for the first time was always my favorite part of the plays I did in high school and college. It's your first impression of what the play will be, of how everyone will interpret their character. Most of the time, you don't know everyone you're working with very well, so it's always amazing to see what they plan on bringing to the table. It's the first time you really get a feel for your character and the way you interact with those around you. It's an amazing part of the process.

I was shocked to see how well the kids were working together already. They were already taking risks, trying out different things to see what worked. Sebastian and I were impressed.

Although presumably everyone had seen the cast list, I was surprised at the number of people who reacted when Valerie read his first line for Motel. While no one said anything at the time, I saw quite a number of confused faces.

"Mr. Hummel?" Olivia asked me after rehearsal. She played Bielke and was one of the few freshmen in the cast. "Why's Motel played by a girl?"

"Valerie was the best person for the part." I told her, "And the theater has a rich history of gender-neutral casting. Did you know that all of Shakespeare's plays were performed by men originally?"

That seemed to satisfy her, and I knew that Valerie would answer any questions that were presented to him politely. Hopefully that would be the extent of any issues that the cast had with Valerie.

After rehearsal, Sebastian and I went to Puck's workshop to see what his kids had made so far. We'd decided on a simple set, which Puck had helped me sketch out a week prior. There would be wheeled walls that could be shifted for each scene change, as well as the normal painted backdrops. I thought that our idea was pretty great, especially since one of the walls would have a platform for the fiddler to play on. They were all pointed, so that they could appear like either the inside or outside of a house depending on the scene.

Puck hadn't managed to get much started, but his students had begun nailing together the platforms that each piece would sit on. We stopped for a while to chat, so it was pretty late before I finally got back home.

Blaine had already put Anna to bed, and he was scribbling on sheet music on the couch when I came in. I set my coat in the closet before walking over to him, snuggling beside him.

"You're back late," He commented.

"Yeah, Sebastian and I went to look at Puck's set and we got distracted. We all ended up talking for a few hours."

"Do you still want to talk about Anna? We haven't really had time since we got back." Blaine put aside his papers and curled up against me.

I sighed, pulling apart from him. "Yeah, we should talk."

"What exactly do we need to talk about?" He asked, pulling his knees to his chest.

"Does Anna know we're dating?" I asked bluntly. "Let's start with that."

"I told her that I like you," Blaine answered, blushing slightly, "When she asked why we were going to dinner together, but I didn't tell her in specific terms. I've haven't actually dated anyone since she was born. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to go about this."

"I don't know that it's particularly important, yet." I said, speaking slowly so that I had time to think about what I was going to say, "I think it's important that she be comfortable. We've got to consider her before we continue. I'm not in any way trying to tell you how to parent. I'm just... I worry that it would be hard for her if we broke up after she and I had gotten close."

Blaine frowned, his eyebrows pinching together. "I don't want to do anything that could harm her. She's first in my life, before everything. That's why I haven't dated, because I don't want her to ever feel like she's not enough. If I didn't feel like we had a chance, I wouldn't be dating you in the first place." He looked me in the eyes, almost pleading. "But you have to tell me the truth, Kurt. If you don't think that we'd last, or if you don't want to, we should just stop now, before she has a chance to get hurt."

"I'm a cynic. I never think anything will last, but I can honestly say that I feel differently towards you than I've ever felt for another guy. That's saying something, considering the fact that we haven't even had sex yet."

Blaine's face was bright pink now, and he cautiously looked away from my eyes. "Is that something else we need to talk about? Sex?"

I wasn't sure what Blaine was getting at. "What do you mean?"

"Um. I haven't... I haven't had sex in a long time. A really long time." Blaine admitted, face aflame with mortification. "I'm kind of nervous."

"Blaine," I said, taking his hands in mine, "I'm willing to go as fast or as slow as you need. It doesn't matter to me."

"Sex doesn't matter to you?" Blaine asked, shocked. "At all?"

"I would love to have sex with you." I assured him, "But I'm certainly not going to judge if you'd rather wait. That will just make it even better when it does happen."

Blaine smiled, practically pouncing me with his hug. "You're the best boyfriend ever."

"I try."