Blaine didnt really go anywhere when he left the manor house. He had no destination in mind. He simply needed to leave. He had his driver take him around the city for an hour, and brought along his servant as assurance for his husband that Blaine wouldnt do anything untoward while he was out – since Kurt apparently needed such assurance.

The manor was quiet when he returned, and he took that as an opportunity to sneak up to his room, undress completely, including removing his false leg, and hide beneath the covers, gratefully becoming comatose for several hours.

He may have slept during that time, but he didnt sleep well, and as tired as he was, he knew there would be no more rest for him again until later. He had some legal details to work out now that he had taken Beth on – re-writing his will, making provisions for her future - so he decided to get out of bed and get to work. He rang for a bath to be brought to his room, and soaked in the water until it had gone frigid. He dried off, freshened up, then dressed for the day – or what remained of it – and headed to his office to spend a quiet evening alone with a tumbler of whiskey and his ledger.

Kurt always knew hed be a father one day. It wasnt just a passing fancy, or the logical conclusion of his life. It was more of a calling. He felt it deep in his soul, down to his bones. When he pictured his life - even as a child growing up - family for him meant a husband and a child. It might have been an effect of his mother dying so early in his life. He was only eight, after all, and her death left so many holes in his young life that needed to be filled. Having a father and a sister who loved him so completely filled in some of those holes. His passion for design filled a few others. His friendship with Marley mended a few, as did, to a degree, his brief association with Adam. All the positive relationships of his life had a hand in fixing him.

Recently, he had thought that Blaine would be the one to mend the rest, but that apparently wasnt so. There was one more – one important one – waiting to be filled, and in an instant, Beth had done that.

The second he lifted her into his arms and she looked upon him with her bright green eyes, he was done for – lost to this charming little girl.

If pressed as to whether he had dreamed of having a boy or a girl, he would have answered that either would be fine. He had no preferences as long as the child was healthy and he could make it happy. That was all he wanted.

But that would have been a tiny lie.

He had always dreamed of having a girl.

A little rough-and-tumble slip of a girl, who was as strong as she was fair, whom he could teach to draw and sew, but who could also outrun anyone for miles while wearing ten pounds of cotton petticoats and muslin skirts.

His daughter would be someone he could raise to be like his mother Elizabeth was in her youth – according to the stories his father told.

And now Kurt had Beth.

He hadnt made the connection in their names right away, but when he did, it felt like providence.

Beth had fallen into his life from out of the blue, and now he meant to protect her at all costs.

To top it off, she was a part of Blaine (the best parts, his mother would have said, for thats what children are) and having any inch of Anderson blood flowing through her veins made him love her even more.

Kurt saw Blaine when the weary man returned home, and though Kurt was glad to see him back again, he had no want to speak with him. He figured he should, at some point, clear the air with his husband, but he was still nursing his aching heart at what he felt was Blaines unintentional betrayal, and decided to hold on to his anger a bit longer.

So instead, he spent the afternoon with Beth.

He bathed the girl in his own soaps and shampoos, and after consulting her ramshackle trunk full of filthy rags (which he later handed over to Marley to have burned), he dressed the girl in one of his own shirts until he could get her some new clothes. He fed her soup and bread and brushed her hair, tying her curls in pink ribbons away from her face, all under the overly critical eye of her dour nurse.

"She must nap now, milord," the woman snapped after Kurt had fed Beth her lunch.

Kurt scrunched his nose at the nurse and shook his head.

"Nonsense," he said. "Shes not tired, are you dearest?" He looked down at the girl who hid behind his legs and looked only at him - none other.

"No, milord," Beth answered politely.

"See?" Kurt said, beaming at the nurse in triumph. "Shes not tired. She will sleep when she is tired."

"You must not read to her so much, milord," the nurse scolded him after a fifth round of Marigold Garden – a book his mother had read to him as a child, and which he kept his entire life in the hopes of passing it along. "If you do, she will not learn diction properly."

"Ridiculous," Kurt said with a laugh. "My mother read to me all the time, and I daresay my diction is perfect."

"You mustnt give her too much attention, milord," the woman barked when Kurt changed the ribbons in Beths hair, trying to find the right ones to match her eyes, "or shell start to think too highly of herself."

To that, Kurt glared at the woman from behind his vanity, raised a scathing eyebrow, and said, "Honestly, woman, do you have a book full of these ludicrous rules or do you just make them up as you go along?"

The woman huffed, all sorts of vitriol caught in her throat that would surely have gone flying his way had he not been a Count. As it was, they choked her to the point of turning her beet red in the face.

"Why dont you go take a walk?" Kurt suggested as he went back to his task of laying out ribbon. "It is quite a lovely day out."

"But, milord…"

"We will be fine here, I assure you," Kurt said. "You have given me so much excellent advice, Im sure I will be expert at managing this unruly child for a few hours alone."

Kurt smiled when Beth giggled. The nurse stormed out in search of the isolation of her appointed bedchamber. Being an asset to her profession, having raised the sons and daughters of nobles for several years, she had never been treated thus, and by someone who had married into their title, no less. He would see - when his adopted daughter turned into a mannerless hooligan - that he should have paid more mind to her observations. But for now she would wait until the true lord of the manor returned, and give that more sensible gentleman a piece of her mind.

The evening came upon them quickly, as time seemed to fly for Kurt, even with all the matters troubling his head. He read to Beth more, and sang to her a lovely lullaby in French that his mother used to sing to him at bedtime. After he fed Beth her dinner and a piece of chocolate cake, he sat by her bedside until she fell asleep.

He had leaned over to snuff out the light in the lamp by her bed, but she held his hand tight and whimpered.

"No, please, milord," she begged. "Dont turn it off. I am afraid of the dark."

"Of course, ma petite fille," he consoled her, hushing her softly. "I am not all too fond of the dark myself."

He watched the girl drift to sleep, smiling in her dreams, and felt himself become whole.

This was falling in love, but a different kind of falling in love than he had with Blaine.

Kurt looked around the room that he had moved her into. It was the empty bedroom right beside his own, possibly belonging to one of the boys when they lived here. But it was undecorated for the most part – no little touches to make it homely, nothing personal or special or Beths. Beth needed so many things – clothes, shoes, books, toys – but most of all, she needed parents who loved her.

And if they could learn to love each other, that would be a blessing.

Kurt rose from the bed when he was certain the girl was asleep, though he had waited ten minutes extra to be sure. He was met at the door by Marley, who looked in on the child as if she were a sleeping angel abed in the room instead of a frightened little girl, and the nurse, whose humor had not improved after her lengthy time-out.

"I am going downstairs to speak with my husband," Kurt said, though he spoke more to Marley than to the tight-lipped woman who had the gall to glare at him. "I do not want her disturbed, and I want that lantern kept lit."

"Yes, milord," Marley said, curtseying to her master, while the nurse remained stolid and quiet.

Kurt turned cold eyes on the woman and returned her glare.

"Is that understood?" Kurt asked of the woman who continued to glare as if she wasnt standing in the presence of not only a lord, but her employer.

"Yes, milord," she said in an I know better sort of way.

Kurt knew that tone of voice well.

His sister had perfected it.

Kurt looked the woman over with a hard stare. He didnt trust her – not as far as he could pick her up and throw her, which was something he discovered he would like to do very much. But Marley was above-stairs to assist, and hopefully she would be the one to take most charge of the little girl.

Kurt had been thinking over what he would say to his husband for most of the afternoon.

Kurt had his own ledger, but the child needed more than he could afford her, and that burden should really fall to her father anyway.

Kurt sighed. He didnt like all of this division, all of this inequality. He wanted them to be on equal ground in this – one whole moving through life together, not just two parts walking side by side.

He didnt give himself the luxury of loitering in front of his husbands door to pull himself together, but knocked without hesitation, and walked in at the first sign of an invitation.

Blaines body sank into itself when he saw his husband walk in, especially considering the determined look in his unusually steely eyes. A side effect of living with him, Blaine suspected. His husbands beautifully rounded corners were turning into hard edges – razor sharp to the touch.

It would be an exciting change if Blaine wasnt sure he had pushed Kurt too far, and that his husband might actually leave him.

It could have been the whiskey whispering in his ear, but the doubts were there, and the current state of Kurts expression were making those doubts worse.

Kurt walked straight up to his husbands desk and cleared his throat, refusing to be intimidated by the man frowning down at his ledger.

"My lord?" Kurt began. "I need to have a word with you."

Blaine looked thoroughly exhausted with his husband even before he raised his head to hear him speak.

"Yes, Kurt?" Blaine said.

Kurt tilted his head, looking at Blaine with disappointment, as though he had expected a different response.

"Will you not ask how your daughter is faring this evening, my lord?" Kurt asked dryly.

Blaine sighed.

"Of course," he said, though the thought hadnt crossed his mind. "How is Beth this evening?"

"She is as well as can be expected, my lord," Kurt said. "She has been bathed, fed, and put to bed for the evening."

"Wonderful," Blaine said. "Was that all you came down here to tell me?"

"No, my lord," Kurt said, pulling himself straighter as he prepared to make his request. "We need to discuss this matter more extensively."

"Kurt," Blaine exhaled long, "I am not in the mood to hear any more from you today. I have already said..."

"I will need an allowance, my lord," Kurt interrupted.

Blaines eyes narrowed. Kurt had never asked for an allowance.

There it was. That voice echoing in Blaines tired mind.

Hes making plans. Hes going to leave you.

"What for, husband?" Blaine gripped the end of his desk to stand. He couldnt let Kurt leave. He would take Kurts hands, hold him in his arms, beg him not to go, but before he had even raised himself off his seat, Kurt moved forward and covered Blaines hands quickly to stop him.

"Please, my lord," Kurt begged flatly. "You are tired. Do not trouble yourself with standing."

Blaines body froze.

"What do you need an allowance for, my lord?" Blaine asked, sitting back down in his chair, ignoring the stutter that his heart had taken on.

"For the child, my lord," Kurt said. "For Beth."

Blaine looked up suddenly, stunned by his husbands unexpected request.

Kurt didnt appreciate Blaines silence. In his fathers house, silence usually meant no, and Kurt would not have his request denied.

"She has no clothes, my lord," Kurt continued.

"She had a bag with her when I brought her home," Blaine argued.

"Full of rags, my lord. Suited only for work as a chimney sweep, or less." Kurt rounded Blaines desk and stood before him. Blaine felt uncomfortable with people looking down at him, and even though Kurt wasnt expressly told this, he felt it in the way Blaine refused to look up at him. Kurt took a knee respectfully, but he did not shy away from his husbands heated gaze. "And she will need primers."

"Primers?" Blaines expression changed from suspicious to bemused. He did not see his husband employing such a lie to procure money if he intended to leave. For the moment, Blaine was safe.

"Yes, my lord. For reading, writing, and learning French."

"She must learn French?" Blaine would have laughed if not for the serious look on Kurts face. Blaine had never seen Kurt behave this way. He was no longer the blushing boy asking for permission. He was telling Blaine what he wanted to do...and Blaine quite enjoyed it.

"Yes," Kurt replied simply. "And I will require the piano tuner to come in immediately."

Blaines eyes became dangerous. This he was definitely going to object, but Kurt, cool and calm in the face of Blaines impending wrath, raised a hand to silence him. Blaine was floored by his husbands nerve.

"I know that you and the piano have...a past, shall we say. But you havent gotten rid of it yet, so I am certain it is something you can learn to overcome...for Beths sake."

Blaine blinked, not believing what he was hearing…or feeling. He knew he adored Kurt. He was infatuated with him. But here, being ordered around by this handsome, compassionate, confident young man, Blaine realized, he was falling in love.

"And," Kurt continued, "I have had Beth moved into the room adjoining mine."

Blaines eyes were about as wide as saucers and ready to fall from out his skull.

"You are asking me..." Blaine stood this time, pulling Kurt up with him, "to put this child...in the room next to yours?"

Kurt did not flinch.

"I hope it pleases you, my lord, but it is not a request," he said. "I will keep her in the room beside mine, regardless of any objection you may have."

Kurts perfect pink lips were set in a thin, determined line, a challenging eyebrow raised.

"And if it displeases me?" Blaine asked. "And I choose to spank you for it?"

"I think that we both know I will enjoy it, my lord," Kurt countered with a wicked grin, "but she will still be in the room beside mine."

Blaine blinked, wordless, but bent to his desk, unlocked his top desk drawer, and pulled out his bill fold. Kurt stood, giddy with this triumph though humble enough not to show it. He walked to the office door and summoned the below-stairs maid, not wishing to pull Marley down from her duties upstairs.

"Please fetch Sam," Kurt said to the young maid. "I would like to go out."

"No need," Blaine intervened. He took up his cane and hobbled over to the peg on the wall that held his coat and his hat. "I think I would like to accompany my husband tonight."

Kurts eyes widened, and his lips formed that little o that Blaine found so endearing.

"Well, then we will order the carriage," Kurt offered.

Blaine waved his hand again.

"No need, husband," he said. "We will walk."

Both Kurt and the maid looked on in stunned silence as the man put on his coat and hat. Kurt grabbed a scarf from the same peg by the door and wrapped it securely around his husbands neck. Blaine watched with an amused smile as Kurt tied the scarf into a knot at his neck and tucked the ends into his coat front.

Dressed to go out, Blaine escorted Kurt to the front door, where the maid helped him shrug into his coat and hat. Blaine took Kurts scarf from the maids hands and mirrored Kurts action, wrapping it around Kurts neck and tying it into a knot at the front. Kurt had to bend a bit for his husband to reach comfortably, but he stooped patiently, holding his breath as he waited for Blaine to finish. Then Blaine offered Kurt his arm.

"We shant be too long," Kurt informed the maid. "Please insure that my maid Marley stays her post upstairs with the young mistress. I gave her strict orders about her care."

"Yes, milord," the maid replied obediently.

Kurt glanced at Blaine, who looked at him with a reverent expression - one of awe and appreciation, and maybe a touch of bittersweetness that Kurt wanted so much to protect.

"Shall we be off then, my lord?" Kurt asked, motioning toward the door.

"Yes, husband," Blaine said, lifting Kurts hand to his mouth for a kiss. "Lets."