"Well… at least I can take comfort in the fact that you look just as crappy as I do." Kurt said.

Blaine raised his eyes and snorted as he saw Kurt, all rumpled up and his hair sticking out in a way that Blaine really shouldn't have found so sexy.

"Yeah…" Blaine said with a rough voice, as his boyfriend came up to him gave him a peck on the cheek. "I could have done with a little more sleep, to be honest."

"Same here." Kurt grunted as he poured himself some coffee and sat down opposite to Blaine.

Blaine smiled. "You don't look crappy though, baby. You're adorable."

Kurt took a sip of coffee and returned his smile. "Neither do you. You're as gorgeous as ever."

"When did she fall asleep? I stopped looking at the clock after midnight." .

"2 AM. Your daughter is a maniac." Kurt chuckled, as he scratched his hair. "That's when she finally stopped singing and I guess she passed out right after that. When I went to check on her, she had toppled over, flat on her face and fast asleep."

"Funny… Liz told me she usually sleeps steadily. She must have been overexcited about being here." Blaine shrugged. "It's all new and unfamiliar to her."

Kurt yawned and stretched his arms above his head, revealing a strip of skin as his T-shirt rode up. Again, Blaine shouldn't have found this as arousing as he did. Too bad he was too tired to do anything about it.

"But hey, at least she didn't cry." Kurt said softly, as he slumped back against his chair.

"No, and I'm glad about that. The first weeks of her life, she basically cried 24/7. It was horrible. Liz and I had to sit up with her all the time. The only time she slept was when she was too exhausted to stay awake any longer." Blaine shuddered at the memories.

"Reflux?" Kurt asked.

Blaine nodded. "Yep. We tried everything, but in the end, we had no choice but to give her medication. It did the trick."

"Must have been tough." Kurt rubbed his hand along his cheek and scrunched his nose as he felt the stubble. "Ugh… I need to get showered and shave… Any special plans for today?" He looked at Blaine questioningly.

Blaine shook his head. "I think it's best if we stay home and just try to make it through the day in one piece, what do you think?"

"Oh, I agree… Let's see if we can survive our first full day of taking care of a three-year-old toddler." Kurt smirked, as he rose from his seat. "I'm going to shower and dress for battle." He chuckled, as he left the kitchen.

An hour later, the unconventional little family was sitting around the breakfast table.

"So Lily, what would you like on your bread? Nutella or strawberry jam?" Blaine asked his daughter.

Lily looked at her dad. "Nutella of course, daddy!" She answered, as if it was the obvious choice.

"Okay sweetie." Blaine took a slice of bread and smeared some chocolate spread on it.

"So far, so good." Kurt stage whispered, as he poured some cold milk in Lily's glass. Meanwhile, Blaine placed the slice of bread on his daughter's plate.

Lily took one look at it and shook her head as she squinted her eyes. "No daddy."

"What do you mean, no?" Blaine said incredulously. "You asked for Nutella, right?"

Shaking her head again, Lily pouted. "I don't want Nutella. I want jam!"

Kurt and Blaine shared a confused look.

"You can't say you want one thing and then ask for the other, honey." Kurt wiggled his finger, then sighed as the girl turned her puppy eyes at him. "Alright… I'll make you another one, okay? With jam."

"Thank you." Lily nodded enthusiastically, as Blaine snatched the slice with Nutella from her plate and ate it himself. No point in letting it go to waste.

"There you are, Lily. Jam!" Kurt piped, as he deposited the jam sandwich in front of her.

Staring at the sandwich, Lily frowned and pushed her plate slightly away.

"Oh for crying out loud." Kurt muttered under his breath. "What's wrong now sweetie? It's jam, like you asked."

Lily shrugged and looked back at Blaine. "Can I have a waffle, Daddy? I want a waffle."

Kurt bit back a snort as Blaine went slack jawed.

"You want a wa- No you can't have a waffle Lily!" Blaine said sternly. "That's the second time you changed your mind. No waffle! You are going to eat what you asked for!"

"Okay daddy…" Lily said in a small voice, her lower lip trembling slightly. Her eyes roamed over the table. "But… daddy? Where's my Nutella bread?"

Both men facepalmed and groaned in unison.

The rest of the morning passed rather uneventful. Except for Kurt having to change clothes after a wet, lathered up Lily insisted on giving him a giant hug in the bathroom. Blaine had found it hilarious, until Lily had aimed a splash of water at his face.

Lunch went a bit better than breakfast. Lily devoured her spinach and chicken, but refused to touch her mashed potatoes, causing Kurt to wonder out loud if maybe she'd gone Atkins. Both Kurt and Blaine chuckled when Lily demanded a second helping of spinach, while she angrily pointed at her daddy with her fork, accusing him of 'stealing her spinach' from her plate.

A few hours later they were sitting on the living room floor, around the coffee table. Kurt was drawing pretty princesses in fabulous dresses, as Lily colored them. Blaine sat next to them, quietly observing them and grinning every time Kurt tried to suggest another color pencil because "You know sweetie, orange really isn't the right color for that kind of dress, now how about this nice baby blue?"

"No no no, Kurtie! Not blue! Orange!" Lily said stubbornly, as she pressed her pencil against the paper and started to turn the drawing into one big orange blob.

Blaine guffawed as he noticed the horror on Kurt's face while he watched his creation being ruined. "Oh honey, don't take it too harshly. You know, when she's twelve or fourteen she'll probably be begging you for fashion advice!" His laughter faded a bit as he realized he'd implied for them to still be together by then. The last thing he wanted was to give Kurt the impression he was being presumptuous about their relationship. No more taking for granted, that's what he'd sworn to himself, right?

But Kurt just gazed at him with a warm, knowing look in his eyes. "I hope she will. I'll gladly help her out." He winked at Blaine and mouthed 'love you'.

"Look daddy!" Lily held out her finished drawing. "It's pretty!"

"It's absolutely beautiful, sweetheart." Blaine smiled, before his eyes drifted back to Kurt's.

Blaine tiptoed out of Lily's room and closed the door softly. He entered the living room to find Kurt sprawled out on the couch, one arm thrown over his eyes.

"She's asleep." Blaine said softly.

"About time." Kurt smirked, as he removed his arm, lifting his legs so Blaine could take a seat next to him, and then quickly lowering them back into his lap. "It only took you- let's see… three stories, two songs and eight goodnight kisses?"

"Yeah. She asked for her mom. I told her Liz would call tomorrow, and that she could talk to her then." Blaine ran his hand over Kurt's jeans clad legs. "So… I think it's safe to say we survived our first day as a family?" He tilted his head and raised one eyebrow in question.

Kurt nodded slowly. "We did. Mostly because you're an amazing dad, plus you have an adorable, sweet daughter… with a little naughty streak though." He added with a giggle.

Blaine grasped Kurt's hand from where it had been resting on his stomach, and caressed it with his thumb. "You did pretty good too, baby. Lily is crazy about you already." He smiled. "You're going to make a great father someday."

Tears sprang to Kurt's eyes as he hastily averted his gaze. "I don't think so." He said, after a moment of silence.

"What? Why not?"

Kurt let out a long breath. "Sam once told me I was to self centered to have kids."

"That's a bit harsh…" Blaine offered.

"No… you don't understand." Kurt shook his head dejectedly. "He never said it to hurt me. Sam was just like that, romantic but also very realistic. Down-to-earth and in-your-face. He was right, you know. All I could think of was Sam and my career. Sam himself would have loved to have kids someday, but he knew it wasn't in the cards if he was going to be with me. And he chose me. "

"I see." Blaine was still holding Kurt's hand. "Kurt… how old were you when you had this discussion?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't remember… I think it was during my first year at the Academy. Nineteen, maybe?"

Blaine shot a glance at the picture filled dresser, before he started speaking. "Well, let me tell you, not many people are ready or even willing to have kids at that age. I know I wasn't and neither was Liz. Don't get me wrong, we really, really wanted Daisy; and we would've given and done everything for her… But in all honesty, we were too young to have kids at the time." He turned his gaze back to Kurt. " I guess what I'm trying to say is, maybe the younger Kurt wouldn't have made a good parent, but I'm positive you would. When I see how you take care of your patients, and how you get along with Lily… You're a natural."

"You really think so?" Kurt breathed, furrowing his brow.

"Yes." Blaine's voice was solemn.

Kurt nodded slowly. "Yeah, well… let's just wait till our month with Lily is over. Maybe you'll be less impressed by my parenting skills by then."

Blaine laughed. "I don't believe that for a second. But chances are Lily might put you off wanting kids of your own." He said jokingly.

Kurt smirked but didn't answer. He didn't know if he wanted children. Did it even matter what he wanted? It wasn't if Blaine was looking to start yet another family, was he? He'd already been through the entire process of marrying and having children, and everything had been ripped to shreds in the end. Sure, they could pretend to be a happy family with Lily, but Kurt was already dreading the day when Liz and Paul were going to take her away again. It even seemed a bit cruel, the way they were giving Blaine a taste of what he ultimately couldn't have.

There was no doubt in Kurt's mind that his boyfriend was going to be devastated afterwards. But there was no doubt either that Kurt would be there to take care of him, and to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart.

Wednesday, 8.35 PM

"Good morning." Blaine said as he entered the staff room, hurrying towards his usual seat. "I'm terribly sorry I'm late. I had a little kid stuck to my leg at home."

"Oh we understand, Dr. Anderson." Emily said. "We know how clingy Kurt gets." Everybody roared in laughter, even Jenny couldn't help herself.

"I mean my daughter of course." Blaine grinned.

"So I assume Kurt's babysitting right now?" Barry asked with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

Blaine nodded. "Yes, he is. He also asked me to pass you all the message that he found the hidden camera in that teddy bear you gave him; and that you can all expect payback very soon." Emily and Barry groaned in disappointment. "And a specific memo to Barry: you'd better watch that ponytail of yours."

"Well shit." Barry muttered.

"Okay! Now that's out of the way, let's get to work, shall we?" Blaine piped, as he took the first file from the stack and opened it.

Walking from behind his desk to his office door, Blaine was about to call in his next patient, as he felt his cell phone vibrate in his breast pocket. He took out the phone and peered at the screen.

One new message. From Kurt.

Please call me asap. Urgent. Crisis. – K

Blaine frowned as he pressed the dial button.

"Oh thank God!" Kurt answered the call in panicked voice.

"What's wrong, honey?" Blaine said in a steady voice, his doctor's instincts immediately kicking in.

"Blaine! You've got to help me! What the hell are tumbleboos?" Kurt cried out.

"Tumbleboos?" Blaine raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, tumbleboos! Lily has been going on about wanting to see tumbleboos in the garden and she won't quit and now she's started crying and I don't know what to do! And we don't even have a garden!" Kurt rattled.

"Well… did you try to google it?" Blaine offered.

Kurt huffed. "How can I google it if I don't even know how to write it? It's not like she spelled it out to me."

"Calm down baby… why don't you let me speak to Lily for a minute?" Blaine sat down in his chair and leaned back as Kurt brought the phone over to his daughter. "Here sweetie, your daddy wants to talk to you." He heard his boyfriend say.

"Daddy?" A tearful little voice said, making Blaine smile.

"Hey Lily, what's going on?"

"I wanna watch the Tombliboos and Kurtie says he doesn't know and now I can't watch." Lily's pout was almost audible.

"You want to watch the Tombliboos?" Blaine repeated.

"Yes! And Makka Pakka and the Pontipines and IgglePiggle!"

"Ah." Now Blaine understood what his daughter wanted. "I see, sweetie, I'll ask Kurt to put it on, okay? Can you give the phone back to him? See you tonight, precious."

"Yes daddy. Bye daddy!" Lily giggled.

"Blaine, what is she talking about?" Kurt whispered nervously.

"It's that British children's program she loves, it's called 'In The Night Garden' and if I'm not mistaken Liz packed some DVD's in her suitcase. Just go check, will you?" Blaine smiled as he could hear Kurt jogging to the bedroom and zipping open the suitcase.

"Wait… I think … "In The Night Garden"… YES! Found it! Oh my God thank you, baby, you're a life saver!" Kurt squealed. "I had NO idea what she was talking about…"

Blaine chuckled. "I've watched it a few times with her last time I was in London. Are you two going to be alright now? Because I have patients waiting…"

"Yes, yes, we're going to be fine, I'm going to jam this DVD into the player and enjoy the peace and quiet of no crying little girls…" Kurt answered happily. "Love you, honey!"

"Love you too, baby." Blaine ended the call and threw open his office door with a broad smile on his face. "Mrs. Jenson and Robby? Come in, please."

There were no more panicked phone calls from Kurt for the rest of the day, so Blaine assumed that everything had gone well after the Tombliboos-incident.

As he entered his apartment, he put his coat on the rack and walked into the living room, eager to see his two sweethearts.

The sight that met Blaine took his breath away.

Kurt was slumped on the couch, his head leaning against the backrest and his eyes firmly closed. Lily was lying against him, curled up under Kurt's arm and cheek resting on his stomach. Her mouth had fallen open and she was snoring lightly.

Blaine tiptoed towards them and kneeled in front of Kurt. He reached out and gently ran his hand along Kurt's thigh.

Kurt's breath hitched as his eyes fluttered open. Turning his head towards Blaine, he smiled. "You're home." He said, stifling a yawn.

"I am." Blaine's eyes twinkled as they flitted back and forth between Lily and Kurt. "And let me tell you, there's nothing better to come home to than this… two of the most beautiful creatures in the world."

A small blush crept onto Kurt's cheeks as he lowered his gaze to the little girl. "She's still asleep… we've had a busy afternoon. I took her to visit my Dad and Carole; it was love at first sight! The only awkward part was when she kept mispronouncing my Dad's name. You know how she can't really pronounce the 'r', right?" Kurt chuckled at the memory, as Blaine rose to his feet and settled himself next to them on the couch.

"So she called him Butt, huh?"

"Yep! It was hilarious!" Kurt snorted , then shifted his attention to Blaine. "She's an adorable kid… I liked spending time with her today."

"I'm glad about that." Blaine leaned in and caught Kurt's lips in a soft, chaste kiss.

They pulled away as Lily started to squirm in between them. The movement had woken her up and she was now blinking up at them with a sleepy grin on her face. "Hi daddy…"

"Hey sweetie." Blaine pressed a kiss on top of her curly head. "It's time to go to sleep, isn't it? I'll put you in bed and read a story, and then maybe I'll sing you a song. Is that okay?"

Lily nodded as she yawned loudly. "Okay daddy. Can you carry me?"

Blaine smirked as he got to his feet and lifted his daughter from her place on Kurt's lap. "Say goodnight to Kurt, Lily."

"Night Kurtie…" She waved at Kurt, then held her arms out. "Wait! Can I kiss Kurtie goodnight?"

"Sure." Blaine lowered Lily back to Kurt, who gave her a brief hug and a loud kiss on her cheek, before wishing her goodnight.

"I'll be right back, baby, why don't you lie down and rest a little while longer…" Blaine whispered.

Kurt shook his head. "I'm fine, don't worry. I'll go and prepare your dinner." He said, as he stood up and headed for the kitchen.

"Wha-"

"Rice, chicken and roasted vegetables." Kurt smiled.

The doorbell rang just as Kurt was pouring the cooked rice into a colander. Knowing Blaine was still with Lily, he quickly placed the pot onto the kitchen sink and hurried out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on the kitchen towel he was still holding.

He opened the door to reveal a man and a woman, both obviously in their late fifties. Kurt didn't know them, although the woman looked a little familiar. She had dark, curly hair and…

Shit.

Kurt stiffened, already having a sneaky suspicion as to who these people were. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. "Yes? Can I help you?" He said in a steady, but slightly high-pitched voice.

The man glared at him in silence, but the woman stepped forward, smiling stiffly. "You must be Kurt. I'm Rebecca and this is Bruce." She pointed at her husband. "We're Blaine's parents. We came to see our granddaughter, Liz's mother mentioned to us that she was here…"

"I… I don't know…" Kurt stammered, glancing behind him nervously and silently urging Blaine to come out of Lily's room.

Rebecca Anderson took another step forward. "We're sorry for barging in just like that, but-"

"The hell we are…" Bruce hissed. "Don't you dare apologize to him, Rebecca. He's the one who should apologize for being here, not us!" And with that, he stalked past Kurt, almost knocking him over. Rebecca gasped in shock, but quickly followed her husband into the apartment, throwing Kurt a rueful look in passing.

"Hey!" Kurt shrieked, twirling around and hurrying after them. "You can't do this!"

Bruce's scowl deepened as he advanced upon Kurt in a threatening manner. "You really need to shut up now, you little tramp… We are here to see our grandchild, and you-" he poked his finger harshly into Kurt's chest "have NO business interfering. Got it?" He snarled.

Kurt gulped heavily as he tried to control his breathing. He hadn't felt this much hatred and aggression pointed at him since that day in the locker room with Dave. But he wasn't scared. He was sick of being intimidated and terrorized by jackasses like this.

No more.

No one messes with the Hummels, kiddo.

Giving Bruce the most vicious, cold look he could muster up, Kurt took a step closer, almost touching noses with the other man. "Mr. Anderson. I'm going to say this one last time-"

"What the HELL is going on here?" Three pairs of eyes snapped towards the living room door, where Blaine stood with clenched fists and a furious expression on his face.

Kurt had a fleeting thought that if looks could kill, Blaine would have become an orphan this very minute.