Chapter Twenty-Six

Blaine had been working at Hummel Tires and Lube for a month now and he had to admit that he loved it. He felt so responsible, like an adult. The first week he had mainly trailed Burt around, watching him as he worked. He dealt with the customer's, pumping their gas and being on the till. He'd been surprised that Burt had let him get so close to the customers. He didn't have the best track record with people, if they annoyed him he didn't exactly deal with that in the best way. Burt trusting him with that job made him try his hardest not to screw it up. He was learning the art of patience, something he had seriously lacked in the past. Burt had commented that it was a good thing that he was learning it here and now because babies took a lot of patience.

At the shop Blaine and Finn spent a lot of time together because Finn was trying to get as much money together as he could for his move to LA with Puck. Blaine had never imagined that he would ever be friends with Finn Hudson. Never in a million years. He was a football player and most of them were obnoxious assholes in Blaine's opinion. But they had gained a new respect for each other. Being protective over Kurt had really brought them together, almost like they were brothers themselves. Sure Finn could be stupid sometimes but there were also times when he could be so smart. It also helped that he was as funny as hell, even when he wasn't trying to be.

After two weeks of working in the garage Burt had started letting him do work on cars. It was kinda cool observing Burt in his natural habitat, if you would. Burt seemed so at home among cars. There was no doubt that Burt was good at his job and that quality, as well as the good prices was why Burt's place was doing so well. It wasn't a gold mine but they were making a comfortable amount of money.

Kurt occasionally came into the garage but he holed himself up in the office doing the books for his father because that wasn't one of Burt's strong points. Kurt had been doing the books for that place for as long as either of them could remember. It was nice on the days when Kurt came in because they got to have lunch together and they would mull over ideas about what to get for the baby, baby names and just how close the due date was now. There was only ten weeks to go. They were both excited and terrified. Honestly, they weren't quite ready for the baby to come yet and they both hoped that by the time the baby actually arrived they would be a bit more prepared.

XXXX

Blaine was helping Finn to change a tire on a jeep that had just come in when Burt came up to him with an envelope.

"Have you got this one Finn? I gotta talk to Blaine."

Finn just gave a nod and Blaine followed Burt back into the office, his curosity peaked. They sat down and Blaine began to wonder what this was about.

"So Blaine, how are you finding working here?"

"It's great. I love it." Blaine answered nervously.

Burt chuckled. "You don't have to nervous. I'm proud of the work that you've been doing here. I hope you can keep it up."

Blaine relaxed and smiled at the older man. "I promise."

"Good, good. Well I guess it's time that you got your first pay check. You earned this kid. Don't spend it all at once; remember you have a baby on the way."

Blaine took the envelope and opened it to see his pay check. His eyes widen at the amount he was being paid. He'd never been given that much money. He felt a sense of pride while looking at it too. He had earned this. He had worked hard for this. He wasn't going to be stupid about spending it either. Blaine and Kurt had planned what he was going to do with his pay checks. Some money would go into a savings account so that he had something for when he went off to college. Then some would be left for Blaine to spend however he saw fit. Most of the money in the pay checks, Blaine had decided would be going on the baby. He knew that their parents wanted him to save as much as possible so that he could support his family when they went off to college and didn't have the safety net of their parents to help them but he wanted to start that now. He didn't want to have to be relying on them; he wanted to be a proper father right from the start. If he or Kurt needed their help then they knew they could go them but he wanted them to try for themselves first.

XXXX

Burt let Blaine leave early after their talk and when Blaine got home, he immediately sought out Kurt to show him. He'd noticed that Kurt was beginning to get stressed that they'd yet to get anything ready for the baby and he was wondering if it was to do with nesting that pregnant people went through just before they had the baby, he had read about it on a pregnancy website. He didn't know if it was too early for Kurt to be feeling like that but it seemed very similar.

"Hey B. Did you have a good day?" Kurt asked, looking up from the book that he had in his lap.

Blaine grinned at Kurt and went to sit next to him, placing a kiss on his cheek. "I got my first pay check today."

"Oh, honey! I'm so proud of you!"

"This means we can start getting stuff ready for the baby. I was thinking maybe today we could go to the mall and browse for some stuff. What do you think?" It was clear that Blaine was giddy with excitement.

"I love the mall." Kurt giggled in reply.

Blaine leaned towards Kurt and kissed him eagerly. He was so happy right now and he couldn't seem to contain it. He wanted the world to know. He wanted to celebrate with his perfect boyfriend, and if he played his cards right, that could take place later.

Kurt gave Blaine a small smack on his shoulder. "I know that look."

"I was just thinking that maybe you'd like to celebrate tonight, if you know what I mean." Sex was what meant Blaine meant.

"Only if you play your cards right." Kurt teased.

Blaine kissed Kurt again. He couldn't help himself. Kurt had very kissable lips and Blaine was feeling so good right now.

"You up for some baby talk?" Kurt said, turning serious.

Blaine settled himself down, ready to talk about anything to do with the baby. He loved talking about the baby. "Of course."

Kurt loved that Blaine was so willing to sit down and talk about things with him. It made life so much easier for Kurt and it made sure that neither of them did something that the other wasn't too sure of. Kurt hoped that they could always be like that.

"Carole helped me to make a list of things that we'll definitely need for when the baby comes and then the optional things. We've got a lot to buy. We have to furnish the nursery room here, which was the old study. I talked to dad about it today and he agreed that we could use it. We'll also need some stuff for when we stay the odd weekend with your mum. We'll need a crib or at least a travel cot for our room there and a highchair for when our little Kicker gets a bit older. We can do the diaper changing on a mat on the floor so we don't need to worry about a changing table though we should get one for here. I was thinking about getting clothes and bibs, that kind of thing, to stay at your mother's but I figured to make it cheaper we could just pack a bag like we would for ourselves. Are you with me so far?" Kurt asked, turning to Blaine who looked a little lost.

Most of what Kurt had said had left Blaine a bit stunned as he realised all the things they were going to need. He looked over the lists that Kurt had given him and there was so much stuff on them, some of the things, Blaine didn't even know what they were. He'd definitely be following Kurt's initiative when it came to these things.
"So we just buy the things on the lists and we'll be prepared?"

"And we have to decorate the nursery here. I'm not quite sure how I want it yet though. We'll have to go gender neutral because we don't know if this Kicker is a boy or a girl but I want the room to be perfect." Kurt had a thing for interior designing and he didn't want just any old thing for his baby.

"You won't be doing any of the decorating." Blaine reminded him.

Kurt rubbed his bump absentmindedly as he nodded in understanding. "Honestly, I don't think I'd have the energy to even attempt it, though Carole and I started getting the stuff out of the study. We've left the furniture for you, dad or Finn to move though. That furniture needs to go before we get any for the baby otherwise we'll have nowhere to put it."

Blaine would have liked to have said that he was keeping up with everything that Kurt was saying but it would have been a lie. Kurt constantly amazed him like that. He always seemed to have a plan of action that Blaine could rely on.

"Well I guess we could start moving the furniture out of there tomorrow. Me and Finn can get to it, maybe I'll even convince my brother to help." Blaine knew that was the right thing to say because Kurt grinned.

"Excellent. After the weekend I'll probably have decided what I want to for the nursery design and then we can go to the hardware store and pick up what we'll need. I'll ask dad to do most of the DIY. I do not trust you with a hammer or a paint brush for that matter. I want this nursery to be perfect!"

Blaine pretended to be put out. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Kurt."

"I didn't mean-"

"I know baby." Blaine chuckled. "I was just messing with you."

Kurt jabbed him in the ribs and gave him a glare. Blaine just continued to laugh, Kurt had hardly hurt him.

"So, baby shopping?" He asked, getting up and offering Kurt a hand.

"Baby shopping." Kurt agreed, taking Blaine's hand and using it to pull himself up. He wasn't ready to admit that he needed the help up just yet.

XXXX

Baby stores, Blaine decided, were terrifying. There was so much stuff, half of it Blaine didn't even know what they were. Looking around at all the products and the prices of those products scared Blaine silly. Babies were so tiny, how could it be that they needed so much stuff and were so expensive. A further scary thing about the baby store was the amount of screaming kids there were around. Parents, mostly mothers, Blaine observed, seemed so tired. There was one mother that was trying to keep four children under control, all of them under the age of five, two of them being twins sat bawling their eyes out in a double pram. Blaine couldn't understand how someone could want so many kids at once, though if that mother could handle it, kudos to her. He was only having one and he was scared and worried that he wouldn't be able to cope and he doubted that he and kurt would be having another any time soon. That was something for way, way into the future.

"You're thinking too hard over there Mister." Kurt said, tugging on his arm a little.

"You okay?"

Blaine knew that question actually meant 'Are you freaking out?'. Sure he was scared but he loved Kurt and this baby and he knew that together they would be able to handle this baby, just as long as it was the one.

"We're not having twins are we?" Blaine blurted out like an idiot.

Kurt looked at him weirdly. "What are you on about?" Then he looked upset. "Wait, do you think I look so big that it'd be twins?"

"No, no, no! Of course not. You look perfect. I was just making sure. C'mon, let's go look at stuff."

They ended up spending three hours looking around at all the stuff and they did manage to buy some stuff for the baby. They got the basic things like onesies, bibs, little hats, mittens and socks, all of them being gender neutral. There was a bit of confusion when Kurt asked Blaine to find the muslins because Blaine had never heard of them and had no idea what they were. Blaine had asked one of the customer assistants, a girl at around the same age as him who was shamelessly flirting, which Blaine thought was stupid because he was a teenage guy in a baby store. If they didn't think 'gay' straight away surely they would think he was with some girl that he'd got pregnant. It was safe to say that Blaine got away from her as quickly as possible.

They bought the things that they would need like bottles, sterilising equipment and even some nappies. Then they brought some things that they wouldn't need yet like toys and teddies. That was all Blaine, he couldn't resist even though Kurt had told him the baby wouldn't really be interested in any toys at first. Kurt had also found a bassinet travel cot that would be perfect for when they stayed the odd weekend with Cooper and Melissa. Kurt got really emotional imagining their baby sleeping peacefully in it so Blaine had to buy it there and then.

True to their word they only browsed at the furniture they'd need for the nursery. There was no point buying yet when they had nowhere to put it. It had been difficult to drag Kurt away but he gave him the promise that they would come back soon.

XXXX

That evening Blaine spent his time with Burt, Cooper and Finn watching a football match on the television, discussing the game plan for tomorrow. Everyone was willing to help Blaine shove around furniture so that they could start getting ready for the arrival. Melissa, Carole and Kurt were cooing over the things that Kurt and Blaine had brought earlier in the day.

"Not long left now." Melissa said excitedly. "I can't wait to meet the little one."
"Ten weeks to go." Kurt said, his voice held excitement and a little worry.

"Wait, dude, isn't that in September?" Finn asked.

"Yep. Kicker is due mid-September."

Finn had a genuine look of upset on his face. "But, I won't be here."

The room went quiet. Everyone knew that Finn was looking forward to the baby's arrival and he had wanted to be one of the first people that Kicker would know, it was his right as an uncle, he'd said. But there was little they could do about it. Finn had to go to school and it wasn't like they could change the due date of the baby and none of them wanted to hurry the baby along even if they could.

"Well Kurt's going to have surgery to deliver the baby and those things can be planned. Kurt can talk to his doctor about a date near his due date that the baby can be delivered on and you can come back for a couple of days around that time." Carole said.

"But what if the baby comes earlier than that and I miss it anyway. It's not fair."
Kurt beckoned Finn over to him, he was way too comfy where he was sat and he wasn't very good at getting up from the position he was in anyway. Finn sat down next to him looking disappointed.

"I promise I will hold on to this baby for as long as I can so that you can be here for it. I can't promise that Kicker won't come early but I will make sure I avoid anything stressful, or anything that can bring on labour." Kurt vowed to Finn because, honestly, he wanted his brother to be there.

"Sucks for you Blaine! Sex can bring on labour!" Cooper roared with laughter.

"Cooper!" Blaine turned to hit his brother.

Everyone watched as Cooper started running away from Blaine's fists and Blaine following him closely.

"Thanks, dude." Finn said quietly.

Kurt gave Finn a smile. "No problem. Just stop calling me dude."