The group decided to leave Quinn and Finn’s story there, already very aware that the two had not changed much; they may have grown up, but them and their relationship was still as complex as it had been when they’d all last seen each other. This left them waddling in an awkward silence, until Mercedes decided to rescue them.

‘C’mon, you two,’ she said loudly to Blaine and Kurt, just after they finished dessert. ‘You’ve been awfully shy about what you’ve been up to since McKinley.’

Kurt shrugged, sitting back. ‘Nothing much to tell, honestly.’

Blaine looked at him, before rolling his eyes and informing the group, ‘Kurt works at Vogue, now, as their fashion correspondent.’

‘Well, you’re on TV,’ he shot back.

‘How long have you been working at Vogue, Kurt?’ asked Tina.

He shrugged again. ‘A few years – it started out as an internship after college.’

Blaine shook his head, remembering, ‘That was a bad year…’

Mercedes frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Neither of us were earning much,’ Blaine told them, pulling a face, ‘so we weren’t exactly living in luxury until I got my break on Glory Days and Kurt secured a paying job at Vogue. And even then we were saving up.’

‘What for? A house?’

Blaine shook his head. ‘For a civil partnership over in England.’

‘Dude, why in England?’ asked Puck.

‘Because it’s legal over there.’

‘And then you brought a puppy,’ presumed Finn, mouth still full of cheesecake.

‘We didn’t get a puppy!’ Kurt snapped, fed-up. ‘Why do people think that?’

His step-brother shrugged. ‘Blaine was very persistent. And, earlier, you did mention a Cody or – ’

‘Colbie,’ Quinn corrected softly.

‘Oh, yeah,’ Kurt said awkwardly, shrinking beside Blaine as he remembered that they still had that subject to tell them about. ‘Colbie…’

‘Wait,’ said Rachel, frowning. ‘Who’s Colbie?’

There was a pause, in which Blaine looked over at Kurt, taking in his pale face and avoiding gaze, knowing that Kurt had tackled the parent hurdle but it was up to him to tell their friends. He reached under the table and took a hold of his partner’s hand, squeezing it gently, reassuring him that it was going to be okay.

Blaine swallowed, before declaring, ‘Colbie is our daughter.’

Everyone stared at them, wide-eyed, disbelieving, before the questions flew from all directions, in an array of voices and tones.

‘Whoa!’

 ‘Dude, what the hell? You’re my brother!’

‘You have a daughter?’

 ‘Is that even… allowed?’

‘How did that happen?’

Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath before telling them as calmly as he could, ‘We thought long and hard about it. We didn’t rush into it. But, once we became civil partners, it kind of became obvious that – as much as we loved each other, it wasn’t… enough, I guess. We got a fish, first, for a few months – ’

‘I wanted a puppy,’ Blaine stated, just so everyone knew.

Kurt opened his eyes to shoot Blaine a look. ‘We started small; a fish is easy to look after. And, when it didn’t – when we still felt that something was missing, we did consider a dog. But we both knew it wasn’t a pet, an animal, that we wanted, really. So, after a long talk, we decided to look into adoption. But, being who we are, it was complicated and took so long – after months, we hadn’t got anywhere and were about to give up when… a friend came to our rescue and proposed that we raised her unborn – and unwanted – baby when it arrived. Of course, we took the offer and ended up with Colbie.’

‘How old is she?’ asked Rachel softly, heartened by the story.

‘She’ll be three next August,’ Blaine informed, smiling.

‘So she’s at that awkward toddler stage?’

Kurt shook his head. ‘I think we got lucky, because Colbie doesn’t seem to throw tantrums. She’ll just fix you with the penetrating stare, or shot you puppy-dog eyes, and you’ll automatically let her have her way. Especially if you’re Blaine.’

‘Hey,’ he objected. ‘She hasn’t had any gummy bears this weekend.’

‘It’s only Friday night.’

‘Not the point.’

Mercedes grinned. ‘So you’re happy?’

Kurt looked at Blaine and nodded. ‘Extremely.’