They’d only been back once.

But that was nine years ago, when Finn and Quinn had got married. And, this time, it wasn’t just him and Blaine coming back; it was him, Blaine and Colbie. His parents hadn’t met her – in fact, Kurt hadn’t even told them that they had been looking to adopt. So arriving with a two year that looked nothing alike either of them was going to be a bit hard to explain.

‘They have to find out some time,’ Blaine pointed out.

‘They’re going to be pissed,’ Kurt muttered.

‘Oh, shush. They’re going to be overjoyed.’

Kurt wasn’t sure that was completely true but he had little less than a month to dwell on it before they flew over. Most of this time Kurt spent organising time off of work and finding someone to take care of the fish (Kurt’s final compromise for Blaine’s puppy request). Then, before Kurt could quite believe it, they had landed in Lima on a cold December day and were stood on the Hummel-Hudson doorstep, waiting to be let in.

‘They’re going to be pi-angry,’ Blaine decided, stopping himself before he swore in front of Colbie, who seemed to pick up on things far too quickly.

‘Thanks for the reassurance,’ muttered Kurt as the door in front of them opened.

‘Kurt, Blaine,’ gushed Carole, beaming when she saw them. ‘It’s so great to see the two of you!’

‘You too, Carole,’ Blaine replied, being the ever charming man he was.

She was about to gesture them inside when a flash of blonde hair caught her eye from behind Kurt’s legs and she frowned, confused. Seeing what she’d spotted, Blaine caught his partner’s eye and, with mutual agreement, Kurt stood aside to reveal their daughter, who was fascinated by the falling snowflakes.

‘Oh, my…’ she cooed, a soft smile spreading across her face as she leant down to be at eye-level with the toddler. ‘Who’s this gorgeous little girl?’

Kurt, after a supportive nod from Blaine, swallowed his fears and forced himself to introduce, ‘Carole, this is our daughter, Colbie.’

His stepmother’s face looked close to bursting with joy as she stood. ‘Is she now?’ she murmured, before holding out a hand for Colbie, who’d quickly become interested in her Grandmother. ‘C’mon. I’ve got a fresh batch of cookies inside.’

‘Yum!’ Blaine exclaimed excitedly, being elbowed in the ribs by Kurt. ‘What?’

His partner just rolled his eyes and followed his stepmother into the hall.

‘Kurt and Blaine are here, Burt!’ Carole called to her husband, helping Colbie out of her coat, already fond of the young girl. ‘They’ve got a surprise for you!’

‘Shoes, Bee,’ Kurt reminded his daughter, bending down to help take them off.

‘I’m coming, I’m coming,’ Burt’s gruff voice echoed to them, before Kurt’s father appeared in the lounge doorway to survey the scene in front of them. ‘Hello.’

‘Hi, Burt,’ greeted Blaine cheerfully as, beside him, Kurt stood.

‘Hey, Dad,’ he said nervously, knowing what Burt’s wide eyes were watching and adding, ‘This is Colbie, our daughter.’

The blonde toddler smiled as Burt echoed, ‘Your – ’

‘Not biologically,’ added Blaine, already knowing what he was thinking.

Burt went to open his mouth again, but Carole jumped in, ‘Why don’t we talking about this in the kitchen?’

Blaine nodded and Kurt slipped Colbie’s rucksack, full of colouring books and toys for her, off of his partner’s shoulder and gave to the little girl, whose eager little hands were already grabbing for it.

‘Go and play in the lounge,’ Kurt told her quietly. ‘Dada will bring you in some cookies and milk in a bit, okay?’

‘Can I have some gummybears too?’

Blaine chuckled and pressed a kiss to the child’s head. ‘That depends if you’re good or not,’ he promised, before pressing his hand to the small of her back and gently pushing her forwards, urging, ‘Go on. I’ll be in in a bit.’

Colbie nodded her head, her blonde curls bouncing, before she toddled past Burt and into the lounge, singing incoherently as she went along. That was Blaine’s influence; when she was younger, nothing would get her to sleep – until Blaine, one sleepless night, began humming Disney songs and sang her to sleep. So every night since, Colbie had been sung to sleep.

But it didn’t stop there; sometimes Kurt would enter the room and find his partner humming a song while he helped their daughter with something – two days later, he’d find Colbie humming the same song. Kurt just hoped it would turn into something more later in life, such as a talent and love for performing.

‘Come on,’ Carole said gently, pulling him out of his thoughts. ‘Let’s go into the kitchen and you guys can explain.’

Kurt knew that when Carole said explain, she meant they had to tell them the truth – to tell them exactly how the couple had ended up with such a beautiful two year old. Instead, they told the public version of how they’d gotten Colbie – the only version they’d promised to ever tell. There was no reason for Kurt’s parents not to buy it, because it was believable.

But, even so…