Wiping his forehead, Burt took a few steps back and surveyed the end results of a full day's work.

"Well?" Kurt grinned excitedly. "What do you think?"

"I don't know... It's awfully green." He muttered, his eyes squinted in contemplation.

"Lime, Dad!"

Burt shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. Are you sure this kid isn't going to go blind from peeping at these walls? What happened to pink for a girl and blue for a boy?"

"First of all, we don't even know if Rachel's having a boy or a girl, and second, pink or blue?" Kurt rolled his eyes. "Really, Dad? That's such a clich�…"

His father threw him an amused look. "Hey! I remember you making me paint your room pink when you were six!"

"Yes, well… back then I thought it would bring out my skin tone better. Only six, Dad!" He added hastily as Burt opened his mouth to reply.

"It's okay, kiddo, don't get all worked up. The colors are fine. Besides, you're the expert, I'm just a simple, old fashioned guy." He chuckled.

Kurt huffed in mock indignation. "You're not, Dad! Anyway, I'm glad it's finally done. Rachel's due in six weeks, so it's about time."

A loud yelp came from downstairs, followed by peals of laughter.

"Sounds like Rachel's having fun with Lily." Burt smiled, as he gathered the dirty brushes and rollers. "How's she doing these days?"

"She's… okay." Kurt nodded. "As well as can be expected, I guess. She wakes up crying sometimes, and she has these tantrums every now and then, but they never last very long. Most of the times, it's like nothing even happened."

Burt shook his head in wonder. "Amazing how tough little kids are. Reminds me of when your mom died. Sometimes I felt as if you were coping better than I was." He smiled fondly at his son. "But then again, you were always the strongest guy I knew. Still are."

"I... I'm not that strong, Dad. I'm honestly just trying to hold on." Kurt said softly. He didn't deserve all this praise, just for being himself.

His dad's response was just as quiet. "So how are you? Holding on, I mean…"

A deep frown made its way onto Kurt's features. "Barely."

"That bad, huh?"

"No… I mean… I'm just so tired…" Kurt sighed. "Blaine and I... we work all day… and when we come home at night everything revolves around Lily – which is fine, I mean I love her to bits – but then we just fall into an exhausted heap on the bed and… I just miss him, Dad. I miss Blaine."

It was true. Besides a quick cuddle every now and then and a few stolen kisses each day, they hadn't touched each other since Liz's death. But it wasn't even the physical intimacy he missed the most. He missed talking to Blaine. He missed sharing his heart and soul with him. He missed spending time with his boyfriend. And time just seemed to be the one thing they were always short on lately.

His father started chuckling again.

Raising his eyebrow, Kurt shot him an annoyed look. "I'm sorry, what's so funny about that?"

"Oh no, Kurt, it's just that it reminds me so much of when you were little. There were times when your mom and I hardly had time to share a meal back then. Hell, it's no wonder you're an only child, your mom and I didn't even have time to-"

"DAD!" Kurt yelped as he slapped his hands over his ears. "I BEG you not to finish that sentence!"

"Okay!" Burt threw up his hands in surrender, making Kurt uncover his ears again. "All I'm saying is that it's no picnic. Raising a child is hard work, it changes just about everything. At first, it seems as if your entire world has been turned upside down, but then as time goes on and you settle yourself into your new role as a parent, you find that it hasn't actually turned upside down. There's just this... new, wonderful dimension to everything. You know, most people have nine months to prepare for this, which you didn't, so I know it's daunting right now. But it'll get better as you get more organized, and from what I've been able to tell so far, you are both doing a great job. Cut yourself some slack, kiddo, and give Blaine and yourself some time to adjust. It'll be fine… You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Dad." Kurt smiled. "It's just been a lot lately, you know… Like you said, I've gone from being alone to basically having a family of my own in the space of a couple of months." He scratched his hair and scrunched his nose as he felt a lump of dried paint stuck onto one of the tresses.

"You know, Kurt, it may have come about in a weird way, but hearing you talk about your own family gives me this warm fuzzy feeling inside." Burt patted his own chest with a broad grin. "Which reminds me, Carole and I are having Finn and Rachel over for Christmas, and we were wondering if you all would like to come too. Unless Blaine has other plans, like maybe with his mom, or with Liz's family?"

"I would love to! I'll check with Blaine and I'll let you know, okay?" Kurt answered, while he finished cleaning up their painting tools.

"Great!" Burt said, as he returned his gaze to the wall. "You know what? I'm starting to really like this green…"

Kurt shook his head with a weary smirk. "It's lime, Dad…"

"Please tell me somebody made coffee?" Blaine muttered as he barged into the staff room, making a bee line for the coffee machine.

"Barry did." Rose said, not even looking up from her file.

"Oh good, then it's going to be dynamite." Blaine sighed happily as he filled his mug. "Just what I need."

"Tired?" Rose asked, as she finally met his gaze. "Oh! Never mind, your dark circles and puffy eyes already answered my question."

Blaine put down his mug before pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes, while stifling a yawn. "It's been a busy night at the ER. We had two kids with bacterial meningitis admitted, brother and sister."

"Are they okay?"

"We got them stable." Blaine answered while dropping his hands from his face. "The parents were flipping out of course, I mean, who wouldn't be. And after that we had premature newborn twins coming in, 27 weeks, 890 and 960 grams…"

Rose gasped. "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Blaine's face contorted as he did his best to suppress yet another yawn. "God, I need some sleep…" He groaned as he sat down heavily on a chair, slumping back almost instantly.

"So why don't you head home then?" Rose said, peering at him from across the table.

Blaine gazed at his coffee, hesitating briefly. "Um… I want to see Kurt before I leave. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning."

"Oh, well there he is!" Rose smirked, as the door flew open and both Kurt and Emily came bustling in, chattering excitedly about last night's episode of Project Runway.

"No but seriously, that girl can't sew at all, did you see the way those sleeves- Oh, hey Blaine!" Kurt shouted happily, as he saw his boyfriend sitting at the table, looking at him from beneath hooded eyes with a lazy smile on his face.

Not caring who else was in the room, Kurt quickly darted towards him and leaned over to give him a firm peck on the lips. "I've missed you." He whispered as he pulled back.

"Me too…" Blaine answered quietly, his smile faltering just a little. "How was Lily this morning?"

"She's fine." Kurt nodded. "Very excited to go to school. This week's theme is music and she got to take her toy trumpet with her. She gave me a recital in the car." He giggled as Blaine winced in mock sympathy.

Taking a seat next to him, Kurt linked hands with Blaine, and scooted closer till their knees were touching. He was determined to make the most of the few minutes they had together, even if they had to keep the PDA to a minimum. In all honesty, all he really wanted to do was grab Blaine's face and ravish his mouth till he was left with swollen lips and without breath. And judging by the way Blaine was currently leering at him, the feeling was entirely mutual.

"Wow, Rose, there is so much eye sex going on in this room I might get accidentally knocked up ." Emily sniggered as Rose burst out in laughter.

"Shut up." Kurt grunted, still not taking his eyes off of his boyfriend. "I've caught you and Barry in much more compromising positions, Rose."

Rose sighed dramatically. "I already told you I was sorry about that, and I promised I'd never sneak into the men's locker room again."

"I hope not!" Kurt piped. "His pasty white ass almost blinded me!"

Blaine couldn't help but burst into laughter, as he kept looking adoringly at Kurt.

Both Kurt and Blaine – reluctantly but automatically – pulled apart as the door opened once again, and Jonathan Taylor entered, together with a doctor they didn't know.

The unknown man in green scrubs was tall and young – Kurt estimated him around 35. He had piercing green eyes and a few wisps of golden brown hair had escaped from beneath his surgical cap.

"Good morning." Dr. Taylor smiled. "I'd like to introduce you to a very good friend of mine, and as of this week also our new surgeon. He has a specialization in pediatric oncological surgery, which means we'll be working closely together. So, everybody… please meet Dr. Sebastian Smythe!"

Jonathan gestured to Emily and Rose, as Dr. Smythe walked up to them to shake hands.

They then turned back towards the table. "This is Dr. Blaine Anderson, our pediatrician, and this is nurse Kurt Hummel." Jonathan said, as they took a seat opposite to Blaine and Kurt. Sebastian reached out his hand in greeting, and both Blaine and Kurt shook it. As Kurt touched hands with Sebastian, their eyes locked, and it was enough to send a strange shiver down Kurt's spine.

"Nice to meet you." Sebastian said with a smirk, as he continued to stare at Kurt in a very odd way.

"Pleasure…" Kurt drawled. He did not like this guy. Nope. Not at all.

"Welcome to LCH." Blaine nodded with a smile. "What brings you to Lima, Ohio, of all places?"

Sebastian grinned. "Well, I'm originally from Columbus. I left Ohio after high school, I really needed to get out of small town USA so I went to study in France. These last few years, I've been working at the Necker Hospital in Paris." Sebastian raised his eyebrows triumphantly as Blaine gasped in awe.

Kurt rolled his eyes. If he'd ever doubted if it was possible to dislike someone at first sight, Kurt now had solid proof that it could be achieved. There was something about that man's body language that just ticked Kurt off. That, and the fact that his gaydar was pinging as if there was a Pride Parade passing through.

"Actually it was Jonathan who convinced me to come back here. Can't say I'm disappointed so far…" Sebastian said in a suggestive tone, as he fluttered his eye lashes and continued talking to Blaine. A couple of minutes into the conversation, Jonathan had to excuse himself briefly to go see a patient, and left the room together with Rose.

Meanwhile Kurt had to bite his tongue really hard, because dozens of sarcastic comments had already formed in his mind and absolutely none of them were appropriate enough to be said out loud.

Fortunately, he was saved by Emily, who slapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, Kurt, time to get working. Let's go."

"Sure, Em." Kurt shoved his chair back noisily and stood up. "See you later, Blaine. Nice meeting you, Dr. Smythe." He said nonchalantly.

"Nice indeed…" Sebastian was almost purring right now, his grin even cockier than before.

Not able to stand it one second longer, Kurt quickly fled the room, eager to rant to Emily about that stupid, arrogant… meerkat.

Hehe. Meerkat. Good one, Hummel.

"So…" Sebastian looked at Blaine. It was just the two of them in the staff room now. "Nice hospital, nice staff." He nodded approvingly.

"Yeah, it's a pretty great place to work. And you'll find we have a good team here." Blaine smiled. "They are loyal, hardworking, competent and-"

"Hot." Sebastian said abruptly.

Blaine blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

Sebastian leaned forward. "That one nurse? Delectable..." He breathed with a conspiring wink.

A nervous chuckle escaped Blaine's mouth. Taken aback by his new coworker's brassiness, he scratched the back of his head. "Um… wow. I don't know which one you're referring to, but I have to tell you that Rose isn't single, and Emily… well let's just say I'm not sure you could handle her. She's… really fierce." Blaine startled as Sebastian barked out a laugh.

"I'm sure she is!" Sebastian's voice was laced heavily with amusement. "But I'm not talking about her. I meant that sexy little doll face who was sitting next to you. Kurt, right?" He clicked his tongue and wet his lips. "He's got like this whole innocent-yet-naughty-angel thing going on… Super hot." He groaned, as his eyes took on a faraway look.

Blaine's mouth dropped open.

Was this guy for real? They'd just met fifteen minutes ago met and already he was perving over Kurt? Over his boyfriend?

Well fuck.

"I don't think-" Blaine started.

"Do you know if he's single by any chance?" Sebastian asked, cutting off Blaine's words.

Taking a deep breath, Blaine shook his head. "No. He's not. He has a boyfriend."

There. Take that. Now fuck off, Smythe.

Sebastian shrugged. "Ah well… doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother him."

A deep scowl formed on Blaine's features. "It would bother me." He growled through clenched jaws.

"Why?" Sebastian frowned in surprise, before the penny dropped and his mouth turned into an 'O' shape. "Oooooh… I see…" He chuckled, as he fell back against his chair. "Damn, Anderson… seems we have something in common then. We both like to do nurses." He winked suggestively.

"I am NOT 'doing' him!" Blaine snapped back. "He's my boyfriend, for fuck's sake !"

"Whatever…" Sebastian stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders. "If you ever feel like sharing him , let me know, okay? I could show him a good time. Or maybe both of you?" He smirked, as he stood up. "Well, I need to get back to the OR. See you around, Anderson." Sebastian said, clapping Blaine's shoulder on his way out.

Blaine sat frozen in shock for a moment, staring at the door that had fallen shut behind Sebastian's back. Soon his astonishment began to make way for the first stirrings of anger and frustration, deep inside of him. "Oh, hell no…" He breathed, before he jumped up and stormed out off the staff room, into the corridor.

Kurt came out of room 408, shouting a cheerful 'see you later' at the boy inside, when he saw Blaine storming towards him. He was looking absolutely livid.

Much to Kurt's surprise, Blaine didn't halt his steps as he neared his boyfriend. Instead, he just rushed by while muttering "I need to see you in my office, Kurt. Now!" He added harshly, when Kurt didn't budge immediately.

"I think you'd better hurry, Kurt." Emily said, as they both looked at Blaine's rapidly retreating back. "He seems pissed off about something."

"Yeah…" Kurt frowned worriedly.

Closing the office door behind him with a soft 'click', Kurt took a few tentative steps towards his boyfriend. Blaine was leaning against his desk, with crossed arms and an unreadable expression on his face.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked with a gentle voice. "Why are you upset? I don't-" His words turned into a surprised yelp as Blaine grabbed him by the waist and spun him around, trapping him against the desk.

"What are you- hmpffff…" Kurt found himself silenced by a kiss.

But not just any kiss… A hot, wet, deep, hungry, possessive kiss. Blaine was plundering his mouth and sucking the breath out of him, while running his hands roughly over Kurt's body, almost as if he was searching for something.

Soon enough, Kurt began to feel lightheaded and weak-kneed. With a breathless chuckle, he placed his hands against Blaine's shoulders and calmly pushed him away, while breaking the kiss with a swift turn of his head. "Honey, it's not that I don't appreciate this… but would you mind telling me why you called me in here? Or was it only so you could ravish me?" Kurt added with a playful smile.

Blaine, who had been steadily staring at Kurt's lips the entire time, quickly met Kurt's eyes before averting his gaze again. He swallowed audibly. "Um… actually... it was?" He said, while his cheeks flushed red. "Ouch!" He whined, as Kurt lightly slapped his upper arm . "Abuse!"

"You can't just do things like this, Blaine!" Kurt complained. "I'm supposed to be working right now!"

"But we're always working!" Blaine threw his hands in the air. "It's driving me insane! I just… I want to spend some time with you." He whispered urgently, as he lifted his hand to fondle the collar of Kurt's tunic. He tried to lean in for another kiss but Kurt would have none of it.

"Yes, me too, but now, Blaine? Of all the times and places, why here, and now, this very minute?"

Kurt frowned. "Talk to me, Blaine Anderson." He said sharply when Blaine didn't respond immediately.

"It's that… stupid Smythe." Blaine muttered reluctantly.

"I thought his first name was Sebastian?" Kurt smirked. "You guys seemed to get along when I left the room, what went wrong?"

Crossing his arms again, Blaine huffed out an angry breath. "Well, let's see… how about the fact that, as soon as you left, he couldn't stop telling me how hot he thinks you are, and how much he would love to get into your pants!"

Kurt had to blink several times, while his mouth opened and closed in shock.

"He… my pants?" Kurt's face crumpled as he let out a bark of laughter. "MY pants? Oh my God that's so hilarious!" He wheezed, gripping the desk to keep his balance.

"Hilarious?" Blaine hissed. "Please explain to me what part of 'he's gay and wants to fuck you' could possibly be funny?"

Kurt shook his head as tears rolled down his cheek. "It's just… I figured he was gay, okay, but I thought he was coming on to you! So yeah, I'm a bit relieved." Kurt grinned comically. "Phew!"

Blaine pursed his lips in mock offense. "Well, I wouldn't be too relieved… he told me he was willing to show us both a good time." He shot back with raised eyebrows, but it only managed to send Kurt into another fit of hysterical laughter.

Rolling his eyes, Blaine couldn't help it anymore. Infected by Kurt's mirth, he snorted loudly and kept grinning widely as Kurt slowly regained his composure.

"Wow…" Kurt pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I haven't laughed this hard in ages."

Blaine shook his head with a tiny smile. "I still don't understand why you find this so amusing."

"Because it's silly, that's why! You can't expect me to take any of this seriously? The guy doesn't stand a chance with either of us, and from what you've just told me he managed to make an ass of himself within the first half hour of meeting us!" Kurt rattled in a high-pitched voice, gesturing wildly with his arms. Noticing the worry still lingering in Blaine's eyes, Kurt sighed. "Is this why you practically dragged me in here? Are you afraid of Smythe coming between us? Is that it, Blaine?"

Staring at the floor, Blaine nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Oh, Blaine, please…" Kurt whined.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time, Kurt!" Blaine snapped, before covering his face with his hands. "I'm sorry…" He muttered, shaking his head.

Kurt stepped forward, grasping Blaine's wrists and pulling his hands down, so he could lock eyes with him. "Let's get one thing straight… I'm not her, Blaine." He whispered heatedly.

"I know." Blaine breathed.

"And this is NOT going to happen to us, you hear me?"

"I know." Blaine repeated with a slight nod.

"Good." Kurt's mouth quirked into a smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Well, that's settled then." Kurt said cheerfully. "Then I can get back to work!" He smirked when Blaine pouted, and reached out to cup Blaine's face with both hands. "Honey, not that I'm not flattered by your jealousy, and I'm certainly turned on by your possessive caveman approach, but I haven't got time for this now, okay?"

Blaine sighed. "I know… I'm sorry. I'll see you tonight, I guess."

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "And as soon as Lily's asleep, maybe you and me can have a little play date?" He winked and pressed a hard kiss onto Blaine's lips.

"I would be up for that…" Blaine breathed, as soon as Kurt released him from his embrace.

"Oh, I'm counting on it." Kurt said seductively, before sashaying out of the office.