Chapter Twenty-Four

Everyone at the hospital was able to relax slightly when the doctor reassured them that Kurt hadn't gone into early labour, and that what he was experiencing were Braxton Hicks contractions. Kurt paled quickly when it was mentioned that the real contractions would hurt much more. If he'd been unable to deal with Braxton Hicks, then how would he manage the contractions when he went into actual labour? It wasn't something he was looking forward too, and he didn't really want to think about it.

They had all expected Kurt to be able to go home that day, but the doctor advised for Kurt to stay in overnight because of some concerns they had about an increase in Kurt's blood pressure. The doctor's had wanted to see what it did overnight before they took any measures against it.

Blaine, being the typical nervous dad, had researched what high blood pressure meant in pregnancy. Reading about the potential risk of pre-eclampsia, and all the problems that came with it, thoroughly managed to freak him out. When it came for everyone to go home and leave Kurt alone in the hospital overnight, Blaine was hesitant. What if something happened? It didn't feel right to leave him there, even though he knew that, realistically, Kurt was in the best possible position where he was.

XXXX

The hospital was even more scary at night than it was during the day, in Kurt's opinion. Unlike most other things, which quietened during the night, the hospital remained lively as nurses bustled about, checking on patients. Though Kurt was in a private room, to keep him away from any prying eyes, he could still hear voices from outside and monitors beeping continuously.

Kurt tossed and turned in the bed. The sheets were scratchy and seemed very cold. It was a huge change from the soft duvet he had at home and, of course, Blaine, who always seemed warm to the touch, and had become Kurt's personal heater. The smell was unsettling too. It wasn't necessarily bad, it was just... different.

On top of the uncomfortable nature of his surroundings, the baby had decided to begin its kicking again. Sure, Kurt was happy that he had proof now that the baby was alright, but he didn't want to spend every night, for the rest of his pregnancy, unable to sleep. It was draining.

After a couple of hours of just lying there in the bed, counting the kicks of the baby, a nurse came in to check on him.

“You're still awake?� She asked with a cheery smile, her tone seemed sympathetic.

“I can't sleep. I'm just not comfortable here.� He didn't want to moan, but he couldn't help the slight whine that came through his words.

“Why don't I see if you can have a sedative? I'll check with the doctor to see if that would be okay.�

“Thank you.� Kurt said, gratefully.

Ten minutes later, the nurse had returned with a pill. Just a few minutes after he'd taken it, his eyes drooped and he slipped into slumber.

XXXX

Dinner, that night, when they returned home from the hospital, was strange. It was quieter for some reason. No one seemed to know what to say, they were all shocked from what had happened.

The whole day had been harrowing. Blaine seeing his father again had been hard. What was worse was the look of disgust the man had shown when he had seen Blaine. He hadn't even tried to hide how he really felt about his son.

It hurt, maybe even more than the abuse that Blaine had suffered under his father's hand. There was no regret, no remorse and no love there. None at all. It made Blaine feel small and insignificant.

He hated the way that he couldn't even hate him, not really. Blaine only felt sadness, when all he wanted to feel was hate and anger, emotions that were much stronger than just sadness.

To come out of that courtroom, his father's cold eyes imprinted on his memory, to hear that Kurt was in the hospital was bone-chilling. The ride to the hospital had filled his head with a million different images, none of them very positive. It seemed to take so long, allowing Blaine's imagination to run wild and free.

He only relaxed a little when he saw Finn singing to Kurt. It was such a beautiful moment to witness that he didn't want to disturb, even though most of him wanted to take Kurt and wrap him in bubble wrap.

Now they were all home, but without Kurt, it felt weird. Kurt was like the glue that held everything together, and in his absence things just didn't feel the same; some of the warmth that the household always had seemed to be lacking.

No one spoke while they were eating dinner. Not a word. The only sound was that of cutlery and some quiet chewing. As soon as he was finished, Blaine took his plate to the kitchen, he was far to polite to just leave it on the table, and headed to his and Kurt's bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. He didn't know how long he was sat like that before Cooper came and put a hand on his shoulder. Blaine looked up at him with teary, blood-shot eyes. Cooper sat down next to him before saying anything.

“I know that this is scary Blaine, but you need to have some faith. He's being monitored and this was probably only a scare. He'll be home tomorrow, right as rain.� Cooper said, in an attempt to help Blaine feel more positive.

“This is my fault, Cooper. He's been stressed because of this trial with my fucking bastard of a father.� Blaine voice raised while talking about the man who was still affecting Blaine's life even though he was no longer around.

“You just said it, Blaine. This wasn't your fault. If our dad wasn't such a dick, then Kurt might be fine. Either way, you know what Kurt's like. He's always willing to help people, taking on their stresses as well as his own. There was nothing you could have done to prevent this. Maybe after this warning sign, Kurt will realise that he's not invincible and that he has to start taking better care of himself.�

“He does have a bit of a super-hero complex, doesn't he?� Blaine chuckled for the first time in a while.

“That's the Kurt that we know and love.� Cooper chuckled along with him.

“We've got to keep him away from this, Cooper.� Blaine turned serious again. “I can't risk their health and I don't know how long this whole trial is going to take. I can't have him anywhere near this.�

“We can deal with that. We'll tell Kurt and if that doesn't work then we can always scare him into it. If he isn't scared enough as it is. We'll all do our best to minimise any stress that could potentially enter his life.�

“Thanks Coop.� Blaine gave his big brother a weak smile.

“What are you going to do about school? That's going to become a problem soon. I'm honestly surprised that no one has noticed anything different about Kurt already, but he certainly won't be able to keep it up for much longer. Do you know what you're going to do? Have you and he discussed it?�

They had discussed it of course. Neither of them were stupid enough to think that people wouldn't notice. Kurt was a very slim guy and there was no way he'd suddenly gain so much weight. Sure, people wouldn't automatically think of pregnancy straight away, but all it took was for someone to get curious and everything could spill out. If they didn't control the situation then things could get very out of hand, very quickly.

Kurt had been adamant that he wasn't going to drop out of high school. He wanted to get his qualifications one way or another. It was the one thing that Burt had been worried about with the pregnancy, that Kurt would give up on his schooling. But the pregnant boy knew the importance of education and he wanted to go on to college. Sure he wouldn't be able to physically attend college, not with a baby and Blaine still in high school, which was why he had planned to do online courses.

So this was how Blaine knew that they'd have to try to make sure that school was a safe as possible environment for Kurt to be in to finish and get his qualifications. After that, Kurt knew that he would be staying home to take care of the baby whilst Blaine got his qualifications. He wanted the best for both of them, well, all three of them really. Their dreams and ambitions hadn't changed. Though, before, Blaine hadn't really had any dreams at all. Life seemed like it would be lacking. Sort of a “you're born and then you die� situation. Now, he had a yearning to be the very best version of himself possible. Not just for Kurt and the baby, but for himself as well. He was finally beginning to see that he was worth something.

XXXX

Coming home was the best feeling in Kurt's opinion. He'd been given the all clear from the doctors. Sure, he'd been given several warnings, the main one being to stay away from stress, which he fully intended to do. The doctor did want him to come in more regularly for check-ups, just to make sure that everything was running smoothly and Kurt had no problem being complacent.

Kurt hated that no one would talk about the trial when he was around. He wanted to know how things were going, and if he could help in any way. Everyone reassured him that there was nothing for him to do and that all he needed to do was be there if/when Blaine needed a shoulder. It hadn't gone over very well when Blaine surprised him with the hyper nature of Nick and Jeff to provide a distraction for the pregnant boy.

They were pretty perfect for the role, though. They took him out to lunches and out to see movies that apparently no one else in their family wanted to see (though Kurt doubted that very much). On the days when Kurt wasn't feeling up to go out, they barricaded themselves in Kurt and Blaine's bedroom and sat watching TV shows and eating their weight in popcorn. Nick, Jeff and Kurt were quickly becoming the best of friends, and it warmed Blaine to see them together.

One night after Nick and Jeff had left and Kurt had settled into bed with Blaine, the subject of godparents was brought up. Honestly, Blaine hadn't even thought about godparents. Neither he nor Kurt were at all religious. Blaine knew that his family had some religion, but he personally had none, just like Kurt. So for Kurt to bring it up threw Blaine for a moment.

“I want Nick and Jeff to be godfathers to our baby. What do you think?� Kurt asked as he snuggled into Blaine chest, tracing the writing that was on Blaine's sleep-shirt.

“I didn't think we'd be having godparents.� Blaine told Kurt honestly.

“I know that we're not religious but it can't hurt. It's not like they have to take our little one to church, it'll be more like a guardianship if anything happens to us.�

“Nothing's going to happen to us.� Blaine said instantly, not even wanting to think like that.

“It's just in case. I'm sure nothing will happen but we need to be prepared for everything. I think that Nick and Jeff would be perfect guardians to our baby.�

“What if they break up?�

“I doubt that would happen. They're just like us, meant for each other. But even if that did happen, it wouldn't matter, only one of them would become the guardian.�

Blaine thought it over for a second. It didn't sound like a bad idea and he knew that his friends would be over the moon about it. They were already honorary uncles, might as well give them an actual role and title.

“What about godmothers?� Blaine asked.

“I was thinking about that too. I think Brittany would be the obvious choice. She loves the baby already and while she's not the sharpest tool in the box she'd always make sure our little miracle was happy.�

“Alright, Nick, Jeff and Brittany for godparents! And we really need a nickname for the baby. It isn't right that we don't have one yet.� He chuckled.

“I've already thought of that too.� Kurt bit his lip nervously and then grinned up at Blaine.

“Of course you did.� Blaine said an easy smile slipping onto his face. “Care to share with the class, babe.�

“Kicker. Because whether this baby is a boy or a girl they certainly have no problem kicking me constantly.�

“Kicker, huh? I could live with that.�

XXXX

The thing that Blaine had been dreading happened when Kurt was six months pregnant. Everything to do with him and Kicker was healthy, the doctors were really pleased with how Kurt had bounced back from the incident and didn't have anymore concerns about him.

The trial was nearing an end and it looked like things were going to go in Blaine's favour, and his dad would be jailed. They weren't celebrating yet, no one had said that he was guilty, but the way the evidence looked there was a pretty good case against him and he'd probably be going away for quite some time.

It's always when things are going well that something terrible seems to happen. It's like it's the universe's way of keeping someone from rising above their place. Though why it never seemed to happen to the assholes of the world, Blaine would never understand. Sometimes the world sucked.

XXXX

Kurt sat in his History class, uncomfortably. He had heartburn and Kicker was, as the name suggested, kicking him in his bladder, which meant he'd have to go to the toilet soon and his teacher was horrible about not letting students go. Kicker had seemed to start to sleep at night and had decided that they'd start kicking during the day. It meant that Kurt got a good night's sleep, for which he was thankful, but he could hardly concentrate at school anymore.

On top of all that, Kurt could feel the other students in the class staring at him. At first he thought he was paranoid, as most people are when they can feel eyes on them, but, glancing around he could see that people actually were staring at him. Some of the stares were curious and others looked angry or disgusted. Even though he was at twenty-five weeks and he had expanded rapidly, he had thought that he was managing to keep the bump hidden at school. At least that was what he had thought.

The teacher slipped out of the classroom for some reason or another, Kurt hadn't really been paying attention, and the fears that Kurt held proved themselves to be legitimate.

“So I guess it's true. The school's number one fag is preggers. If you really look at him, you can see the bump.� One of the jocks announced loudly to the class.

All eyes in the room landed on Kurt and he shuffled in his seat uncomfortably. He felt like he was going to be sick. He had no idea what they were going to do and he only hoped that nothing would turn violent.

“Couldn't be fucking normal, could you, fag?� Another jock said, viciously.

Tears burned at Kurt's eyes and he tried desperately to hold them back. If he showed them how weak he was then they would never let it go. He felt Tina lay a hand on his arm and he tried to gain some strength from her reassuring gesture. It didn't help.

“It's not right. Something that abnormal shouldn't be born! It's disgusting!� One of the cheerleaders called out.

Before he could stop them, Kurt's tears began to fall and his hands instinctively went to his distended abdomen, trying to protect his little Kicker any way that he could. He felt Tina's hand leave his arm and she ran out of the room.

XXXX

Blaine was sat in the library with Finn and Sam, trying to work on a group project for Geography. It was times like this that Blaine could see how much he had changed since meeting Kurt. He was actually doing school work and not because Kurt had told him to.

“God, this is so boring!� Sam said in exasperation, throwing down his pen on the table and leaning back in the chair.

Before anyone could make a reply, Tina came running up to the table.

“Blaine, it's Kurt! Everyone in class seems to know and they're saying horrible things!� Tina said, hurriedly.

Blaine was up and out of his seat immediately, running to Kurt's classroom. He had no idea if anyone would try and hurt him but he wasn't going to put it past them. He could hear the others running behind him, but he was focused on only one thing.

He burst into the classroom and saw that some of the jocks had gotten up out of their seats, and were standing near Kurt. He saw that Kurt was crying, and the way that he was hunched over, protecting their baby.

Blaine pushed through to get to Kurt and he pulled his boyfriend out of his seat. Tucking him close into his side, he led him out of the room and away from the stares of the people in the room.

“Blaine.� Kurt whimpered. “I need to be sick.�

He took Kurt to the bathroom and watched as his boyfriend emptied his stomach, tears still running down his face. When he was finished, he sat back on the bathroom floor.

“How are you doing?� Blaine asked shakily, torn between being angry and concerned.

“They said horrible things, Blaine. They said our baby was disgusting... I was so scared.� Kurt sobbed.

Fear became the most prominent emotion in his eclecticism. He wrapped Kurt in his arms, rocking him gently. He placed his hands on the bump, needing to feel the baby kicking; needing to feel connected to their growing life.

“I won't let anyone hurt either of you. I love you both so much. You're so perfect to me.�