2034

Yeah, yeah, cute, but also a little devil. What did she do wrong the next year? Hmm, let's see…' Blaine stroked his chin, overly comically.

'Baba, please.' Ava begged, couldn't they talk about Barbra or Eli instead?

'Oh but you did! Cause we made Christmas cards together that year. Well, you tried making some, and mostly occupied me with cleaning up all the glitter.' Kurt wasn't going to let his daughter get away with that one, even if it had already been six years. 'I remember cleaning up after the New Year's Eve party that year, and still finding glitter. Everywhere.'

'But I thought you liked glitter, Kurt?' Finn smirked.

' Watch it, Hudson!' Kurt retorted, pointing across the table at his brother. Cause Kurt Hummel doesn't like glitters, in fact he thought that they are plain tacky when used outside of the holiday period. He likes sequins though, mostly due to the memories they brought to mind. But for his daughter… anything and everything.

2028

'Ugh Blaine, I really don't get why that thing wakes me up before you even move. It's right next to your head.'

Kurt sighed, just having thrown himself over Blaine to be able to push the snooze button on that damn alarm clock.

'No move.' His husband nuzzled against his pillow.

'What? Come on Blaine, get up.' Kurt started crawling back to his side of their bed.

'No, don't move.' Blaine was surprisingly quick for being half awake when he pulled Kurt closer and started nuzzling his neck instead of his pillow.

'Come on B, we haven't got time for this. You're going to be late for work.'

'But I don't want to go to schoooooooooooool.' Blaine whined, mimicking his students.

'My poor baby.' Kurt mocked, but still he started to pet Blaine's hair, pulling him even closer to his chest. Surely a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

'Baba, I can't reach the Christmas Crunch.' Ava had appeared in Kurt and Blaine's bedroom door frame. She looked positively adorable in one of her Christmas jammies, but it was way too early for her to be up. Kurt normally wouldn't allow her any of those sugary cereal, but he made an exception for the holidays.

'That's because you're not supposed to get them yourself Ava. And why are you already up?' Kurt said as Blaine groaned and let his head fall back onto his pillow. His groan earned him a hard look from his husband, so Blaine rolled over and got out of bed already, knowing very well that it was his turn for the morning shift.

'Come on lady! Let's go get you breakfast, and let Daddy sleep, he did a show last night.' Blaine nudged Ava on, and they walked into the kitchen together. Ava had already put a bowl and a spoon on the table, those being the things she could reach. Blaine grabbed another bowl and spoon, putting them next to Ava's, before he grabbed the cereal out of the cupboard and the milk out of the fridge.

Blaine studied Ava as they both munched on their cereal in silence. Sometimes Blaine had a hard time believing Ava was not their biological daughter because she had both Kurt and Blaine in her. Like Blaine, she didn't feel the need to talk too much in the morning and like Kurt she crunched her nose a bit when she smiled.

When they'd finished, Blaine told Ava to get dressed to which she simply replied. 'You too, Baba', eyeing his pajama bottoms and tank top as if it were the fashion disaster of the decade. She did take after her Daddy alright.

They both walked into their respective bedrooms, Ava to pull on the clothes her Daddy had laid out for her the previous evening and Blaine to get to their ensuite bathroom. Kurt stirred a bit when Blaine walked past the bed so he whispered 'Just going to shower' to no one in particular.

'Please make sure Ava puts on her sweater correctly.' Kurt mumbled, remembering the outfit he had chosen for her and throwing his arm over his eyes to block out the light.

'Yeah, yeah, I will.' Blaine answered, returning with some clothes from his closet Did Kurt still not trust him with their daughter's clothes? He wasn't about to put a blazer on her, not yet.

'Oh enjoy it, before she realizes you're not exactly the person to ask to grab something from a shelf.'

'Love you too honey.' Blaine closed the gap between him and the bed and kissed Kurt gently on the cheek.

'Kick butt at work today B.'

'I'm not actually allowed to do that.' They both chuckled.

'Don't touch those until I get back, I just need to get the glue and some scissors and then we can get started.' Kurt waggled his finger at Ava, placing the tube of glitters just out of her reach on the table. She was wearing her special crafts apron and eyed the glitters Kurt had just brought in, together with the rest of the supplies for the Christmas cards they were about to make. She swung her legs in excitement, her feet not yet touching the ground when she was seated. 'Remember, Daddy's got eyes on his back. I'll be right back.'

When Kurt returned with the glue, scissors and a couple more stickers and other decorations he had been able to find in his office, Ava only just jumped back onto her chair, the tube of glitter still shaking from being put down quickly.

'Ava Helena Hummel-Anderson! What did I tell you!' But Ava just gave her Dad a sugary sweet smiled, knowing that it usually solved most of their issues.

'Come on, let's get started before you decide to not do as I say even more.' Kurt said, sitting down in the chair next to Ava. He handed her a stack of rather thick paper, in red, green and gold. 'Can you fold these in half for me, honey? So that we get a card? Do you know how to do it or should I show you?'

'Daaaaad, we've done this at school, I can do this.' Ava answered her Dad's many questions, rolling her eyes. She started folding the papers, her tongue sticking out between her teeth a bit as she put the corners over each other to get it just right.

'You are good at this.' Kurt said in surprise

'Yes, yes.' She said, convinced like most almost seven-year-olds, that she knew pretty much everything. 'How many are we doing?'

Kurt looked up from the sheet with addresses he had printed out. '31, sweetie.' Kurt and Blaine sent out far more Christmas cards each year, but Kurt still had a design up his sleeve for the photo card. They both had jobs were you still had to give people holiday cards out of courtesy. These handmade ones were for the special people, friends and family.

'Wow you're getting along fast!' Kurt said, looking at the cards Ava had shoved in front of him. He started counting them. She had already folded 13 cards. 'I'd better start helping you soon, before there's no more work for me. Or do you want me to put on some music and let you do this, all by yourself?' He asked, stressing his last words, knowing how much his daughter liked to be independent. If she was already like that now, he feared for puberty.

'Music maestro!' She smiled up at him, folding the cards in her hands slightly off center because she wasn't paying attention to it.

'As you please, miss!' Kurt jumped up from his chair and walked up to the vintage looking stereo Blaine had bought them last year. He switched it on and watched it connect to their home network. He really liked the idea of music just floating through the air at their place. He selected the Christmas playlist and pressed shuffle.

'Et voila, the mood is set.' He opened his arms wide in one fluent move, as if he had just performed some kind of magic trick. Ava giggled, her Daddies were so silly.

'Almost done.' She said as her Dad sat back down next to her. Kurt counted the cards in front of her again. 'Yes, 29.' Ava put another one on top. 'That makes 30.'

'Which one should I take for the last card Dad? Red or gold?' There were no green ones left to fold. She held both of the sheets of paper up for him to see, as if he did not know that red and gold were two colors.

'Hmmmmm, let me see.' Kurt said, pretending this was one of the hardest decision he had ever had to make in his life. 'Red is obviously the Christmas color. You think of Christmas and red just pops to mind, doesn't it? So that would be a very good choice.' He pointed towards the red sheet in Ava's right hand. Ava then started putting the gold one back down. 'No, no, no, wait! Gold is glam, it's chic, it's more Hummel-Anderson, don't you think? Well, Ava. I just don't know.' He dramatically brought his hand to his chest. 'You pick!' He winked at her.

'Gold is also the color of crowns, and princesses wear those, so I'll think I'll go with that.'

'Excellent, my little Christmas princess. Whoops, who might that be?' Their intercom had started buzzing and Kurt quickly got up to see who might be in desperate need of their attention.

'Silly, you don't need to ask if you can come up, I've already unlocked the lobby door, see you in a minute or so!'

'Dad! Is Baba home?' Ava called from the table she was still sitting at.

'No, no sweetie, Baba's still in school. Besides he has a key-'

'But he loses it sometimes. And then we have to open the door for him.' Ava interjected.

'That's true. No, but it's Tina. You remember Tina, right? Dato's mom?' Mike and Tina had brought over their son the last time they visited Kurt and Blaine, and Ava would sooner remember that than the fact that Tina used to be in Glee club with her parents.

'Hey!' Kurt kissed both Tina's cheeks after opening the door for her. 'Come in! How's Mike? And Dato? Let me take your jacket, do you want something to drink?'

'Hey Kurt! Hi girl.' Tina waved at Ava. 'We're all good, busy getting ready for the holidays, you too?' She asked, pointing at the table as Kurt returned from hanging up her coat.

'Yeah sorry, I'd kinda forgotten you were going to drop by. Ava and I are making Christmas cards.'

'Mostly me.' Ava added proudly.

'Yes, she folded all the cards herself.' Kurt said, possibly even prouder. 'So, how about that drink?'

'Uhm, tea? But only if you're having some too Kurt, you don't have to put on water just for me.'

'Don't be silly, our espresso maker heats water by the cup.'

Tina started laughing. 'Yeah, you and Blaine, you'd have that kind of fancy equipment.'

'We do.' Kurt nodded before turning to his daughter. 'You want something too sweetie?' When she shook her head, Kurt walked into the kitchen.

'That's so cool.' Tina walked over to Ava, looking at the cards she had folded, Ava even offering to show her how it was done. 'Dato would never do that with me.' She pulled a chair closer and sat down next to Ava who whispered: 'That's because he's a boy.'

'Is that so? You're Daddy's a boy.'

'But Daddy and Baba, they're special. Most boys in my class only like baseball and video games and they say pink is for girls. But I don't like pink, and Sam, he does like pink. So those boys're stupid, boys are stupid.' Ava put her hand over Tina's on the table. 'Honestly, I don't get why my dads like boys. I'd rather marry a girl. We would like the same movies and we could share dresses and shoes. You have to marry a girl with the same shoe size and then you could have a room in your house just for shoes and dresses. And she would know how to braid our kid's hair. Cause this one time, Emma's dad did her hair and the braid just loosened and then Miss Johnson had to do it again. And then Emma was supper jealous that my dads do know how to put a braid, but a good braid, in my hair.'

'Maybe you should just marry the person you fall in love with?' Tina suggested.

'My dads say that too. They say that it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, that boys can do anything they want and that girls can do anything they want. That everybody can do everything! But that's not true, because not everybody can sing like Daddy. And you have to listen to your parents. You can't do everything. Baba says I can't have a baby elephant as a pet. But I really want one! I can keep it in my room.'

'Am I interrupting a lady chat here?' Kurt said as he walked in, a cup of coffee in his one hand and a cup of tea in the other. He put the tea in front of Tina, but far enough away from Ava. 'Sorry we have to sit at the table, but that way I can keep an eye on the little one.' He nodded his head towards his daughter.

'Oh, that's no problem Kurt.' And it really wasn't. Even if it was, Tina was the kind of person who would never say something, knowing how important Ava was to Kurt, as Dato was to her.

'Maybe she can help, Dad?' Ava asked, she liked this lady.

'Do you want to?' Kurt looked at Tina.

'Yeah, sure.' She shuffled her chair a bit closer to the table. 'My boys never do this with me.' She winked at Ava. 'Mike's kinda bummed he couldn't go to Blaine's glee club sectionals performance, by the way.'

'Oh, but Blaine really doesn't mind. He hadn't even expected Mike to come, he was already super happy he came by in school for an hour. We all know how busy he is. You don't choreograph an entire musical in a day, do you? You should tell him that all of Blaine's students were really impressed by him though. A professional choreographer, making them a routine for sectionals. They were all so stoked. And they won their sectionals, as we all expected, so all is good.'

'Yeah, Blaine texted him when they won. Mike just really likes working with kids. He wants to show them there is a future in dance, in art, in show business. He wanted to be there, to support them. He's kinda big on that.'

Kurt gave Tina an understanding nod. Mike could not have ended up with a better person, certainly not during his senior year. Had Tina not sent in those applications, who knows what he might be doing now?

'When does the musical premiere? Blaine and I really want to be there.'

'Kurt, don't be silly. You're on Broadway now too, you'll get invited to the avant-premiere, for sure. And if not, Mike certainly has a pair of tickets for opening night with your name on it.'

'Isn't it weird? How four kids, four friends from Ohio all end up here? In New York, with careers, and kids.' He smirked as he handed Ava a card he had just put a Christmas tree shape on with glue, for her to put glitters on it. 'Careful' he mouthed at his daughter, before turning back to Tina.

'To imagine that they all said we were never going to make it. Not everybody in glee ended up in showbiz, but we all made something of our lives, didn't we?' She said, remembering all they had been through in high school.

'We showed them good!' Kurt laughed, lightening the mood again.

Haul out the holly

Put up the tree before my spirit falls again

Fill up the stocking I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now

The playlist had just reached We Need A Little Christmas, a song Tina and Kurt had sung together in their high school glee club, together with their old friend, Mercedes. They both looked up at each other at the same time. 'Remember?' Kurt asked.

'Sure do! Come on, sing with me!' Tina laughed.

They both got up out of their chairs and started swirling around the table, singing together. Ava was not surprised by this impromptu performance, her parents sang to each other all the time but she was a bit confused. She didn't have an auntie Mame. Daddy was being silly again, but the song was pretty, so Ava liked it. When they had finished, she started clapping so enthusiastically that she sent the tube of glitter flying, all over the other end of the table and onto the floor. When it hit the floor, a cloud of glitter flew up in the air. One would be surprised a magical genie didn't appear.

'Uh oh.'

2034

'Uh oh.'

'That's exactly what you said back then too.' Kurt told his daughter. 'But that wasn't the worst part. Tina helped me clean it up. She's so nice, really. You wanted to help too, but instead of getting the glitter in the tin, you thought it would be fun to put glitters in our hair.'

'I came home and Kurt hugged me, and I still plucked glitters off my scarf at school the next day' Blaine said, adding: 'And Mike sent me a text that he'd swipe up after his wife, and send us back all the glitter she'd shed off. And two days later, a plastic bag with glitters in it was in our mailbox, no kidding.'