2034

�Oh yes, sometimes you�re really silly – remember the following year?" Kurt winked at Blaine and Ava gasped in faked horror.

Then Blaine grinned broadly at Kurt and nodded. �How could I forget? It was an exciting year!"

Finn stopped chewing and stared at Kurt and Blaine. "Huh?"

Kurt and Blaine both laughed and looked at each other, before Kurt turned to face Finn.

"Blaine was a bit silly about it to begin with, but it was so exciting because one of my dreams came true and it wouldn�t have been the same without Blaine."

"And me!" Ava stated, glaring at her fathers. Burt chuckled and gave her a thumbs-up.

"You don�t even remember it, sweetie. You were just one and a half years old and your favorite activity was making us run after you. But either way, you�re right. You being there was a huge part of the awesomeness – and the excitement. Especially at the beginning."

2023

When Kurt unlocked the door and entered their apartment, he was greeted by Ava's loud and angry screams. His happy smile turned into a worried expression as he dropped his bag and hurried into the living room, where Blaine sat on the floor in front of Ava, whose face was beet red.

"Sweetie, I have no idea what you want, can�t you tell me? Or show me? Please!" Blaine�s voice sounded desperate and he ran his hand through his slightly tousled hair. But Ava�s shrill crying just became louder at his words and Kurt wondered if it was wrong to admire their daughter�s acting talent at this moment – because there wasn�t a single tear on her face.

He bent down to kiss Blaine�s temple and turned to smile at Ava.

"Hello sweetie, that is some loud crying you�re doing here. What�s wrong?"

The moment Ava recognized her daddy�s voice, her face changed immediately. The wrathful expression disappeared and her beaming smile greeted Kurt. "Da!", she shouted and held her arms up, willing Kurt to cuddle her.

When she wrapped her arms around Kurt�s neck and nearly strangled him, Blaine got up and sighed. Kurt kissed him slowly, feeling the tension fade, and smiled at his husband tenderly. "Bad day?"

Blaine tried to smile in response. "You could say that. Ava has been crying for hours straight now and I still have no clue why. I�m really looking forward to her being able to talk."

Kurt nodded and gave Blaine a reassuring one-armed-hug. "It will pass, that�s what Rachel told me. It�s called the terrible-twos and if we�re lucky, it will be over soon. I�m sorry I wasn�t able to be here earlier though. I had this informal meeting and now I really need to tell you something. But we can talk later, when Ava�s in bed, okay?"

Blaine grinned and nudged Kurt.

"I don�t think you�ll be able to wait that long. Spill it!"

Kurt shifted Ava, who was almost asleep in his arms now and getting heavier every minute.

"Alright, but just listen first, okay? So, our director asked me to be a part of a Christmas show this year. In Vienna – the one in Europe. Can you imagine? They�re doing a Christmas gala and Gery Keszler is organizing it, the one who invented the Life Ball. The show will be on the 23rd and – oh my God, I just can�t believe I�ll finally see Vienna!" Kurt laughed happily and his eyes sparkled. Then he realized Blaine wasn�t as happy as he was – he didn�t look happy at all. In fact he looked rather disappointed and a bit angry. And very tired.

"Blaine, what�s the matter?"

Blaine sighed and avoided looking at Kurt.

"Let�s put Ava to bed and talk afterwards, I don�t want her to have to listen to us."

When Ava was lying in her cot, sleeping peacefully, they sat down at their kitchen table, both with a steaming mug of hot ginger tea.

"Blaine. Talk to me. Please." Kurt watched his husband, who gathered his courage and finally lifted his head to look at Kurt.

Kurt noticed the hint of hurt in Blaine�s eyes and was confused, but as soon as Blaine began to speak he knew why.

"How can you leave us for a Christmas show? How? I thought we wanted to celebrate Christmas together. I know it�s only for a few days, but it�s not... I�m..."

Kurt�s laughter stopped Blaine and for a moment he was really, really angry at Kurt. How could he dare to laugh? But then Kurt raised a hand and tried to stop.

"Oh God, I�m so sorry, B. Really, I know it�s not in the least bit funny, but... oh my. Sorry."

Kurt managed to calm down and took Blaine�s hand with an apologetic smile.

"Listen, I would never ever leave you or Ava alone at Christmas, not for the biggest Christmas show or the craziest amount of money or whatever. I meant that we will be in Vienna, the three of us, together. I didn�t even realize you might interpret it in the wrong way, of course we�ll go together. That is – if you want to?"

Blaine hid his face behind his free hand and groaned.

"I�m such an idiot, oh my God."

Kurt squeezed his hand and chuckled.

"Well, not an idiot, a little bit silly, maybe. But hey, as long as you�re smiling again now, it�s alright. So, what do you say? Do you want to spend Christmas in Vienna? With me?"

Blaine lowered his hand and finally smiled at Kurt again.

"Only if we stay a little longer. There are so many things you�ve been talking about and I�m sure we won�t be able to see them all in only two or three days."

Kurt knocked over his chair as he lunged at Blaine and hugged him fiercely.

"You�re the best. Husband. Ever."

Their driver was already waiting for them outside the airport and Kurt smiled at Ava, who looked around with big eyes. Snowflakes were dancing in the air and she tried to catch one with her gloved hand.

"I still can�t believe she slept through the whole flight.", Blaine stated in wonder. "I could have bet she�d keep the whole plane awake."

Kurt grinned and arranged Ava�s scarf in a small bow. "You underestimate our daughter, B. Even at her age she knows how important a good first impression is. Oh, here�s our car."

The driver greeted them with a smile and didn�t seem to be in a hurry. He loaded their suitcases into the trunk slowly. During the drive to their hotel he pointed at some buildings and told them short stories about them. Kurt looked out of the window, his eyes glued to the skyline. Well, this part of Vienna didn�t look like the Vienna he had been dreaming of, at all. It was just the usual big city. They were driving on a highway and everything was a bit blurry at the moment. But he couldn�t wait to see more of it.

They finished unpacking rather quickly and Ava was kind of bored. Kurt looked at his watch and furrowed his brow.

"So, I have rehearsals in three hours, what do you want to do until then?"

Blaine smiled at him and winked. "I guess you have some suggestions, right?"

Ava was sleeping in her hotel-lent stroller and Kurt and Blaine strolled down the street.

"Look, that�s one of these art nouveau houses I heard of"; Kurt explained.

"Where?" Blaine tried to recollect what he knew about art nouveau and looked around. With his Starbucks cup in his hand Kurt pointed at one of the buildings with some ornaments over the door and the windows, his other hand being held by Blaine�s. "This one. It�s beautiful, isn�t it? It always amazed me how many different kind of styles Vienna unites."

Blaine simply nodded, because Kurt was right – and surely better informed than him.

"Oh, here we are, the Burgtheater. We still have some time left, do you want to take a look around? I�m sure they won�t mind." Kurt waited for Blaine�s answer and drank the rest of his Gingerbread Latte. Some things were the same everywhere and Starbucks�Christmas specials were one of those things.

"Okay then, let�s do some more sight-seeing."

They were greeted by a broadly smiling woman – or man? Kurt wasn�t sure, but then again he didn�t really care. He had seen some of the Life Ball shows and knew that they celebrated diversity, something he could relate to.

"I�m Gloria Glamour, but you can call me Glam, darlings. So pleased to finally meet the famous Kurt Hummel! I love your voice – and your moves. Especially the ones you used to do for the Single Ladies dance. I�m glad the videos are still on Youtube!"

Kurt thanked Glam - he already liked her - and introduced Blaine and Ava. "Do you think there�s a chance we might have a look around? I�d love to see the frescoes painted by Klimt."

Glam just waved towards the staircase. "Go on, go on. You sure know more about it than I do. I�ll be right here when you�re finished and there are dozens of people running around if you need anything."

Blaine followed Kurt and took Ava out of the stroller to follow Kurt upstairs.

When he reached him, Kurt was standing in the middle of the staircase, looking up at the old paintings. He turned to look at Blaine, his face gleaming with excitement and wonder. Blaine simply had to kiss him then, his heart filled with adoration for this man who was able to experience everything so absolutely.

"It�s been here for years, decades, you know. It�s steeped in history and now we are standing here. Can you believe that?" Kurt looked back up and sighed. "It�s too bad I have to go and sing now. At the moment I�d rather stand here and look."

Blaine chuckled. "Well, we have almost two weeks left, so I guess there�ll be enough time to stare at it. Go, sing a bit. We�ll be just across the street, I think I saw one of those famous Christmas markets. Do you have your cell? Call me when you�re finished."

They shared a quick kiss and then Kurt left for his rehearsal.

When Kurt came back to the entrance hall an hour and a half later, he was surprised to already find Blaine and Ava there. Blaine looked somewhat exhausted, but Ava was having fun with Glam, who tickled her and obviously had painted her nails. In glittery pink.

"Hey, I didn�t expect you to be back already", he said in a questioning voice. Blaine shot him a horrified look. "Kurt, it�s crazy out there. You have no idea what it�s like, I never ever want to go there again. Really."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "What? Is a Christmas market too much for you?"

Blaine shook his head desperately. "No, you really don�t understand, you haven�t seen it. It�s only 6pm and there are so many people I was afraid to lose Ava, for real. I always thought Christmas markets are supposed to be... charming."

Glam laughed hysterically. "Darling, you�ve been to the wrong Christmas market if you�ve been looking for something charming."

"There are more of them?"

Blaine looked like a deer caught in the headlights and Glam laughed even more.

"Vienna is full of them, our people love their glogg. But some of them are really nice, you should visit the one in Sch�nbrunn. It�s lovely, really traditional and much more quiet and relaxed."

"Oh, Sch�nbrunn! We really need to go there, Blaine. Thank you Glam, that�s a good idea. So, I�m finished for today, shall we go? I could do with some dinner and Ava needs to sleep. I�m surprised she�s not having any problems with the different time zones."

Glam cuddled Ava once more and waved exaggeratedly as Kurt and Blaine left.

"Finally."

Kurt pulled Ava�s blanket over her shoulders and sighed.

"I hope she�ll sleep until tomorrow morning now."

Blaine took his hand and led Kurt over to the comfortable looking couch in the other room.

"So, what does your schedule for tomorrow look like?"

"Well, I have to be there at 11am for the lightning and some interviews, and then again at 6pm for the warm-up and the show. So I guess we can have breakfast and a little walk together, and some hours to ourselves in the afternoon. It will be better after tomorrow, I promise. What do you think you�ll do during the show? Do you want to come backstage?"

Blaine thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I�d love to, you know that. But I don�t think it�s the right thing to do with Ava. There�s a museum especially for children with a fantastic playground, it�s not that far from here. So we could do that. And if we�re tired, we�ll just go back to our hotel room and watch you on TV."

Kurt hummed approvingly which turned into yawning.

"The bed looks really comfortable. I think I�ll go to sleep."

Blaine kissed Kurt softly and then smirked at him.

"You know what, hotel-sex is still something amazing. Do you think you have some time left for that? Maybe?"

Kurt shook his head and sighed dramatically.

"That one has been stricken off our bucket list some time ago, B."

Blaine poked him and laughed.

"Well, you struck it from your bucket list, but what about mine?"

Kurt just rolled his eyes and grinned at his husband fondly.

"Another of your countless reasons to go for it, aren�t you? Well then, Mr Hummel-Anderson, let�s go to bed."

Blaine turned on the TV and smiled at Ava, who lay at his side and was fast asleep. The Zoom museum had been a real adventure, for Ava as well as for Blaine. He still liked learning – well, he was a teacher after all – and was fascinated by the possibilities at the museum. Ava had played for hours and Blaine was sure she wouldn�t wake up any time soon.

He lowered the volume and smiled. Kurt had called an hour earlier and had been really excited. The stage was amazing and there were artists from all over the world, some of them who Kurt had been longing to meet in person.

When they had had lunch after his rehearsals, he hadn�t talked about it that much, using their time together to play with Ava, trying to eat at the same time.

Blaine relaxed as he watched some artists perform Christmas songs, then there was a small break during which the moderator talked about something Blaine tried to understand, but German was a language he rarely used. But then the man mentioned Kurt and this was something Blaine would understand in every single language. He straightened his back and felt his heartbeat speed up. It was always the same, since the very first time he had watched Kurt perform.

And there he was, in his favorite vest and smiling broadly, waving shortly at the audience. Then he reached the microphone, took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

The moment the orchestra started to play, he opened his eyes again and looked directly into the camera. And then he started to sing.

Blaine realized he had been holding his breath just when he started to feel dizzy, but he couldn�t care less. Kurt�s voice was breathtaking, after all. It had gotten even better these last years and he still managed to convey all his emotions. He performed one of the slower Christmas songs and Blaine could feel every single word of it.

It was no surprise that the audience gave Kurt a standing ovation afterwards.

Blaine waited a few minutes before he called Kurt.

"Honey, it was amazing. You are amazing."

Kurt�s soft laugh made Blaine smile too.

"They asked if I would stay a bit longer and take some photos and maybe one or two interviews. Are you alright with that? Is everything okay with Ava?"

Blaine nodded before he realized Kurt couldn�t see him.

"Of course, stay there and enjoy your time. Ava�s already asleep, I don�t think she�ll wake up before tomorrow morning. I�ll just watch a movie or read something and you go change the world again."

Kurt chuckled and sighed. "I�d really prefer it if you were here too, you know. It�s just because of you that I can be myself and stand in front of so many people. All the things I�m telling them are those you made me realize and you could say it so much better, B"

Blaine swallowed, his voice suddenly throaty.

"Love you, Kurt. You�re perfectly capable of talking yourself. Go and show them the man I love."

"I�ll do that. Can�t wait to be with you again though. Bye, Blaine."

"So, what are we doing today?"

Kurt smiled at Blaine and waited for his suggestions.

Blaine cut Ava�s bread roll in smaller pieces and handed her one.

"I was thinking about going to the zoo together? It�s in Sch�nbrunn, so we could go see one of one of those castles you love afterwards. There�s also a Christmas market in front of it and this one should be a bit more traditional."

Kurt nodded and smiled at his husband.

"Sounds like a good idea. I believe they said it was going to be snow in the evening, so the weather won�t be that bad. And we could look for some souvenirs for our families and friends there."

"I liked the South American compound best, it�s huge and looked really natural", Blaine stated after thinking about it for a moment. "But I can understand that you liked the porcupines best. The baby was really cute and your nearly touched one. Must be a great day in the life of Kurt Hummel!"

Kurt nudged him and laughed.

"You can make as many jokes as you want, it was great. But I still don�t understand how Ava almost managed to hide that rabbit in her jacket. I�m just glad we noticed it before the zookeeper did. And of course she was allowed to throw one of the fishes into the seal�s compound. Guh. I wouldn�t touch one of them."

They swung Ava up between them and laughed in unison as she squealed.

"So, we�ll get our stroller and then we�ll take a look at this castle, right? Hopefully Ava will be asleep so you can stare at all the really old things in awe."

Kurt nodded smiling and sighed. "It�s so amazing to be here, really. Even better because we�re here together."

It was already getting dark when they left the castle again and walked towards the Christmas market situated right in front of it. Kurt sighed happily and Blaine grinned. "So, do you feel like a prince now? Just imagine if you had to sleep in one of those small beds, alone."

Kurt shook his head and faked annoyance.

"You�re such a philistine, B. But even you have to admit that the dressing table was amazing. Sometimes I wish we could have lived then. Well, at least when I don�t think of the dreadful hygiene and the low life span. And the fact that we wouldn�t be married and have Ava, that is."

"So not at all"; Blaine declared dryly and Kurt shrugged. "See, one more reason I prefer nowadays – I really want one of these gloggs. They smell incredible."

Kurt bought a mug for both of them and they slowly walked the round, stopping every now and then to take a closer look at the exposed items. Glam had been right, it was really lovely here. There were traditional handicrafts and modern ones as well, all of them really tasteful and beautiful. They soon decided what to buy for their families and carefully tucked the presents away.

Then Ava woke up and demanded something to drink and eat, so they looked for children�s glogg and decided to try the baked potatoes.

Soon Ava started to explore everything around them and was captivated by a boy who seemed to be a bit older than her. The boy was playing with some stones on the ground.

Ava joined him and Blaine and Kurt watched her approaching the boy. A small group of people stood by, smiling at the playing children. Suddenly, one of the women said something to the boy, before leaving the group, together with a man and another woman.

Blaine pointed at the small stage in the middle of the Christmas market.

"Kurt, look – I think they�re going to sing something."

Kurt cocked his head as they started to sing and nodded approvingly. "I know this song, it�s a traditional Christmas song. I once heard a choir perform it. They have nice voices."

Ava was still playing with the boy, so they just stood there and listened to the songs they were performing until something hit Kurt�s nose. He touched his nose in surprise and looked up.

"Oh, look, it�s snowing!"

Blaine stuck out his tongue and tried to catch one of the snowflakes. Kurt laughed, but then turned his attention back to the song, while humming along.

Blaine listened closely and nodded.

"I know it, yes. I think I even know some of the words."Instead of trying to sing along, he decide to just listen.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,

Alles schl�ft, einsam wacht

Nur das traute, hochheilige Paar,

holder Knabe im lockigen Haar.

Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!

When the song was finished, the two women and the men came back to join the group again. The little boy looked up and ran towards them.

"Mama! Papa!"

His father caught and hoisted him up. The boy pointed at Ava and talked rather fast, until his mother took him and carried him towards Ava, Kurt and Blaine.

"Excuse me, Jonah just told me he was playing with your daughter the whole time. He asked me if you are her fathers. I hope you don�t mind me asking."

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other and smiled. Things like this didn�t happen too often, most people were far too cautious to ask them.

So Kurt held out his hand towards Jonah who took and shook it. "Hello Jonah, I�m Kurt and this is Blaine and Ava�s our daughter. It�s nice to meet you."

Jonah stared at him with big eyes and giggled then. His mother held her hand out as well and laughed a bit.

"Sorry, I don�t think he understood you. I�m Elisabeth by the way and this is my husband and my sister. Would you like to join us? Our children get along pretty well and it�s always fun to meet new people."

So Blaine and Kurt joined the small group and were soon involved in their conversations.

"I think I�ve seen you on TV yesterday – I know you. You�re an American singer, aren�t you?"; someone asked Kurt and so he told them about the Christmas show and confirmed that yes, he was indeed a singer.

"And we really enjoyed your performance earlier", Blaine added. "You�ve done a great job."

He got some happy smiles for that.

"So, what are your plans for your vacation? Are you going to do some more sight-seeing or will you use the occasion to ski?"

Kurt looked at Blaine and they both burst out in laughter.

"Well, Blaine would surely like to, but I�ll decline. Maybe we�ll go to Salzburg for one or two days, we�ll see."

Elisabeth and her friends exchanged a short look.

"If you really have no other plans, would you like us to join you for a few days and show you around a bit? We�d love to!"

2034

"Oh, now I know why we still get a Christmas card from Austria each year! And Jonah added me on Facebook, I think. I�m just glad Daddy didn�t try to ski again." Ava smirked at Blaine, who shrugged.

"Oh, I did. We went skiing together with Elisabeth and her family, but your Daddy spent the day in the nearby spa. And you rolled down the hill until you were covered in snow."

Ava furrowed her brow. "I really can�t remember that. It�s a good thing that there aren�t any pictures of it."

Her fathers didn�t say a word and Ava looked at them and saw them grinning at her.

"There are photos. We just thought we�d wait to show them to you. But since Jonah is on Facebook, we should upload them there. I�m sure he remembers all of it!"