Since they'd come back from their trip to New York, Kurt and Blaine had made it a habit to spend their Friday nights there, together with Finn and Rachel. In a matter of weeks, it had become a fixed tradition for the three couples. And they enjoyed it immensely.

After having fallen in love with Kurt, Blaine now found himself falling in love with his boyfriend's family as well. And the most surprising thing about it was that the feeling seemed to be mutual. They treated him as a son and as a brother. He felt loved by these people, who he had only known for a few months, more than he had ever felt by his own parents.

"Another beer, Blaine?" Burt asked, startling him out of his reverie.

"Hmmm? Oh, I shouldn't… I still have to drive home."

"That's okay, baby! Have another one, I'll drive!" Kurt exclaimed from inside the dining room, immediately followed by Rachel's shrill voice. "Finn, no more for you, got it?"

"Damn… I knew I should have married Kurt instead of Rachel…" Finn muttered.

"I heard that, Finn Hudson!" His wife called out.

"Love you, honey!" Finn replied quickly.

Burt smirked at Blaine and raised his eyebrows in question. Blaine returned the smile and nodded "Thanks Burt, I'll have one."

Burt got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, as Finn took the remote from the coffee table and started flicking through the TV-channels.

"I'm glad our guys get along so well." Rachel smiled at Kurt, as Carole put down a tray with tea and cookies on the dinner table. "And it was so nice of Blaine to invite us all to spend the holidays in New York!" She gushed, before she pouted. "Such a disappointment that I'll be too far along to fly by then."

"I know, Rach." Kurt threw her a sympathetic look and patted her hand. "But we can't risk you giving birth on a plane, now can we? Maybe we can all go next spring? Blaine has a nursery in his penthouse, you know."

Rachel sighed wistfully. "That would be nice…"

Loud laughter sounded from the living room.

"What are they even watching?" Kurt wondered.

Carole chuckled. "I heard Finn say something about 'the 100 funniest sport bloopers', it's on one of those sport channels."

"In other words, it's one hundred clips of guys being hit in the groin with a ball or some other piece of sports equipment." Kurt said dryly.

"Probably." Carole nodded.

"Alright!" Rachel said, taking a cookie and looking expectantly at Kurt. "Enough about that, let's see what you've got for our nursery! I'm so excited!"

Kurt smiled and opened the portfolio in front of him. "Well, after much consideration, I've narrowed it down to three concepts, each with their own color scheme and furniture and accessories and such… The final choice will be yours." He said, spreading out the different drawings on the table.

"So this one has a lime and yellow color scheme…" Kurt began his pitch.

"Oooh, I already like it." Rachel squealed.

Half an hour later, Burt, Finn and Blaine joined their other halves in the dining room, still cackling about the blooper show.

"Oh my God! Did you see how that dude got hit in the nuts with that hockey puck?" Finn laughed. "Oh hey! Cookies!" He reached out to grab some cookies from the plate but was stopped by Carole, who looked pointedly at Rachel, and then back at Finn.

"Rachel? Are you crying?" Blaine asked, as he sat down next to Kurt.

Rachel, who was hiding her face behind her hands, shook her head furiously. "No, I'm not." She said in a muffled voice.

"Yes, she is." Kurt stated matter-of-factly.

"Sweetheart? Precious?" Finn kneeled beside her chair and rubbed his wife's back soothingly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She squeaked, still refusing to lower her hands.

Raising his eyebrows, Finn looked helplessly at Carol, and then at Kurt. "Um… help me out, please?"

Kurt shrugged. "Hormones, Finn. Pregnancy hormones. I showed her some designs for the nursery, she couldn't pick one, and it pretty much went downhill from there. In a matter of minutes she was crying about how she couldn't make the simplest decisions and how she was going to be a lousy mom." He sighed. "And it's not true. She is going to be an excellent mom." He said sharply but not harshly, hoping Rachel would register his words.

"Hey, hey…" Finn cooed. "No need to cry, sweetie. Of course you can't decide between Kurt's designs, they're probably all amazing, right? Besides, we don't need to make up our minds right now. How about we take the drawings home, and we think about it for a little while?"

Rachel nodded and dropped her hands, only to throw herself into Finn's arms. "Thanks,Finn." She hiccupped. "I love you so much, and you are going to be such a good dad and… I really want a cookie right now." She let go of Finn and reached for the plate.

"Thank God I'll never have to live through one of these…" Kurt muttered, as Blaine, Burt and Finn shared mutual looks of understanding.

Carole cleared her throat. "So Blaine, tomorrow's the big day then? Lily's coming to stay with you?"

Blaine nodded. "Yes, I can't wait. I'm looking forward to spending a month with my little girl." He smiled fondly and turned his gaze towards his boyfriend. "And with Kurt…"

Kurt returned the smile and gave him a little peck on the lips.

"So you're moving in with him?" Burt spoke up.

"For a month, yes." Kurt answered.

"But who's going to take care of Lily while you're working?" Carole asked.

"I've arranged it so that I only have to work a couple of days a week for the next month, and Kurt is going to work the night shifts mostly. And if we need to, Santana and Brit have offered to take care of her at their daycare center." Blaine said.

Carole nodded. "Well, if you want, I'd be happy to babysit her, if necessary. I'm dying to meet that little girl."

Kurt grinned. "We'll come over and visit with Lily if you like."

"Blaine, another beer?" Burt asked.

Blaine shook his head. "No, but I'll have a coke, if you have one."

Kurt entered the kitchen, where his dad was rummaging inside the fridge.

"Dad?"

Burt straightened up and turned around. "Hey kiddo, what's up?"

"Nothing… what's up with you?" Kurt moved towards the kitchen table and sat down on a chair. "Are you… are you opposed to me staying with Blaine?" He asked with a small voice. Even at the age of 26, his dad's approval still meant so much to him. Too much, probably.

Burt raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What? No… no I'm not. I think it's great!"

"Great?" Kurt frowned. "Dad… only a few weeks ago you were worried about me and Blaine… and now you think it's great?"

"Well… yeah." Burt walked away from the fridge and took a seat on the other side of the table. "Look, son, I know I was a bit… wary at first, but Blaine is a decent man. You were right, he does take care of you. He loves you. I see how things are… he looks at you the same way Sam used to. And you look at him like you used to look at Sam. And you know what? I couldn't be happier. Because you are happy, Kurt. You are happy. Do you know how long I've been wishing and praying for that? I'm not gonna lie, kiddo, there were moments when I thought it was never going to happen again; and it broke my heart. But then, there he was, right? Blaine… he's your Carole , isn't he?"

Kurt gulped heavily, trying not to cry. "He is." He whispered. "I love him, dad."

Burt smiled.

"It's not fair…" Kurt shook his head. "He's such an incredible man, and his own parents treat him like shit…"

"Yeah." Burt muttered. "I can't believe that story. People like that don't deserve to have children. But Blaine will always be welcome in our family, you know that, right?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Thanks dad."

"Thanks… Burt." Both Burt and Kurt looked in surprise at Blaine, who was standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean to intrude." He stammered shyly.

Burt gestured towards the chair next to Kurt, urging Blaine to take a seat. "You're not intruding, Blaine. I meant what I said, you know? As far as I'm concerned, you are part of this family." He said, as Blaine sat down, immediately linking hands with Kurt.

"You don't know what that means to me." He whispered softly, looking at Burt as his boyfriend squeezed his hand softly.

"You mean a lot to us as well, kid. And not just because you're Kurt's boyfriend, mind you. You're kind, you're caring, you're a good man… You are one of us. You belong here. I don't care what anybody else has to say about that. And neither should you." Burt pointed at Blaine, to emphasize his words.

Blaine nodded with tears in his eyes. "I know… thanks." He was such a lucky bastard. Not only did he have Kurt, but he had Kurt's family and friends as well. And they all accepted him and loved him for who he was.

They proved his parents wrong. He wasn't a freak or a failure at all.

His heart fluttered as Kurt pressed a tender kiss against his cheek. Meeting his eyes, Blaine broke out in a wide grin as he felt himself falling in love all over again.

Before long, Kurt's expression sobered as he cleared his throat. "Dad? There's something I haven't told you yet. Something you should know."

"Oh? What's that?" Burt shifted in his seat, visibly apprehensive.

Kurt swallowed as he glanced at Blaine for support, and then back at his father. "It's about Dave Karofsky."

Burt's expression immediately hardened at the mention of the only person he truly hated. The man who had hurt his child. "What about him?" He near growled.

"He's… he's back in Lima. And I've met him." Kurt added under his breath.

"WHAT? Karofsky? You ran into Karofsky? I am going to KILL that bastard!" Finn shouted from where he was standing in the doorway.

"Honey, what's wrong? Why are you shouting?" Rachel's head poked around the doorframe, Carole following in her footsteps.

Kurt groaned.

Seriously. What was it with everyone barging in on the heart-to-heart he and his dad were trying to have?

Seeing as everybody had invaded the kitchen anyway, Kurt asked them all to join him around the table, before he started to explain everything that had happened since the day Jeremy Karofsky had been admitted at the hospital.

After he finished talking, Rachel was the first to speak up. "It's terrible what happened to his son…" She frowned at Kurt. "But do you really think he's sincere?"

"I do. Otherwise I wouldn't have forgiven him." Kurt said. "And honestly, I'm glad I did. It's a huge weight that has been lifted from my heart."

Burt was leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed. His eyes flitted to Blaine. "Blaine, what do you think of all of this?"

Blaine raised his eyebrows, surprised that Burt wanted to know his opinion on the matter. He shook his head. "I trust Kurt's judgment. It's completely up to him to decide whether or not he believes Karofsky and whether or not he forgives him. But for what it's worth… Yes, I believe him to be sorry. You can't fake something like that, in my opinion, especially not while your son is fighting for his life. If anything, Karofsky has been an open book through all of this. He has been brutally honest."

"Okay, I get that." Burt nodded, looking back at his son. "I understand that you forgave him. However, that doesn't mean I forgive him. He hurt you, kiddo. He hurt my child, and I can't forgive him for doing that. But I will back off if I ever see him around, because I accept that's what you'd want."

"Thank you, dad." Kurt smiled meekly.

"Well I'm still going to punch him first chance I get." Finn huffed. "Nobody touches my brother! Nobody! Except for you of course, Blaine." He waved his hand dismissively, causing Blaine to smirk.

"NO Finn! You won't!" Kurt snapped. "You see, that's exactly why I needed to tell you guys. He's a cop here, so you're bound to run into him at one point or another – and I mean that in the nicest possible way. But the thing is, I don't want you to have a go at him, or cause him any trouble whatsoever. We talked a lot, we have come to terms with what happened, and I forgave him. End of story."

"Fine." Finn grumbled, after a moment of silence.

"And I need you to tell everybody else to back off as well, Finn. I don't want Puck or Mike to pick a fight with him. Or Santana!"

"Yeah… fine." Finn repeated, as he and Blaine both winced at the thought of the extensive damage Santana could inflict without even messing up her hair or makeup.

"I'll never get over how amazing your family is." Blaine whispered against Kurt's shoulder, as they were lying in bed that night.

Kurt smiled. "Yeah. Sometimes they can act a bit weird, but all in all they are just a bunch of good hearts together." He turned his head to look at Blaine. "That's why you fit right in…" Blaine returned his smile, as Kurt continued. "I hope you'll meet the rest of my family soon. I have a whacky aunt who lives in Michigan. My mom's younger sister… she's really cool."

"Sounds great. I wish I could say the same about my family…" Blaine said wistfully.

"Hey…" Kurt brushed his hand along Blaine's face. "The most precious part of your family is coming over tomorrow. That little girl is your family. And she's pretty awesome, isn't she?"

Blaine nodded slowly. "She is… God, I've missed her so bad."

"I know baby… I know." Kurt cooed, as he enveloped Blaine into his arms. "We'll just make this month count, okay?" He pressed a kiss against Blaine's temple and reached over to the nightstand to turn off the light.

They reluctantly allowed themselves to be separated from each other by the heavy curtain of sleep.

"They're here!" Blaine exclaimed, as the doorbell rang. He hurried towards the door and threw it open.

Like a lightning bolt, Lily ran into the apartment with a tiny suitcase in her hand, climbing the couch in the living room and sitting down, still clutching her suitcase tightly. "I'm here daddy! I'm staying with you now daddy!" She beamed to no one in particular.

Kurt laughed heartily, as Blaine, Liz and Paul entered the living room with a smile on their faces.

Liz kneeled in front of her daughter. "How about we first take your coat and hat off, honey?"

"Okay, mommy." Lily said, as she stretched out her arms.

"She's so excited about staying here." Paul said to Blaine, as he put down another, much larger suitcase. "I'm glad about that, I wouldn't want her to be homesick the whole time we're gone."

"Yeah, but you'll be back in a couple of weeks. We'll try to keep her mind off of it." Blaine smiled. "Can I get you both some coffee?"

Paul shook his head. "No, thank you. We can't stay too long, we need to get to the airport as soon as possible. Liz is already stressing out." He threw Blaine a look of understanding.

"I am not!" Liz called in mock indignation.

"Sure, dearest!" Paul replied.

Lily jumped off the couch and ran towards Kurt, throwing her arms around his legs. "Kurtie! Are you staying with daddy too? Can we eat apple pie?"

Kurt chuckled as he crouched down. "Yes, Lily, I am staying with your daddy, and maybe we can make some apple cake together?" He said, ruffling her blonde curls.

"Yaaaaaaay!" Lily clapped her hands.

"I don't know how you do it, Blaine…" Liz said quietly, as she went to stand next to her ex-husband. "I only have to leave her behind for a month and it's the hardest thing I've ever done. I can't imagine how it must be for you." She looked up at him.

Blaine returned her gaze and shrugged. "I don't really have a choice, now have I? It's killing me, if you really want to know."

"I'm so sorry, Blaine…" Liz sighed, guilt evident in her voice. "Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't have moved to London… She needs you as much as she needs me."

And I need her.

Blaine smiled bitterly. "Yeah well… you did move. And unless you have plans on coming back to the US, nothing's going to change, and we'll just have to manage." His expression became warmer as he saw the gloom on Liz' face. "Hey now, stop pouting. Now is not the time for discussions like these. How about you just go to South Africa and have a wonderful time, and I'll have a great time with my daughter. Deal?"

Liz broke out in a grin. "Deal."

Pulling her into a hug, Blaine whispered. "Have a nice trip, Lizzy. Promise me you'll be careful."

Liz nodded before she let go of him and turned towards her daughter. "Lily? Come and give a big hug to mommy and Paul, before we leave." She said, holding her arms out.

The little girl bounced to her mother and fell into her arms. Liz hugged her daughter tightly and scrunched her eyes shut, trying to hold back her tears. "Now listen to me, sweetie, you know mommy and Paul are going away for a while, right?" Lilly nodded against her mother's shoulder. "But we'll be back before you know it. And you get to stay with your daddy and Kurt. It'll be so much fun, and they'll take good care of you, okay?" She said, her voice breaking a bit. "I love you, my sweet Lily-pie… I'm going to miss you so much…" She sniffed.

"Love you too mommy." Lily answered, her tiny fingers digging into her mom's shoulders.

Liz pulled back and gave her a teary smile. "Are you going to say goodbye to Paul too?"

"Yes!" Lily turned around and ran to Paul, who picked her up and twirled her around, ending with a giant hug and a loud kiss on her cheek. "Love you, my little flower. Now behave while you're with your daddy and Kurt, okay?"

"Okay, Paul." Lily nodded again. "Ooooh, can I play?" She pointed at a dollhouse in the corner of the living room, one of the many toys Blaine had borrowed from Puck and Quinn. Paul grinned and lowered her to the floor. "Sure you can, sweetheart."

Lily bounced towards the corner, but halted before she reached the dollhouse. Twirling around, she gave her mom a radiant smile and waved. "Bye mommy."

"Bye Lily." Liz whispered.