Isaac was afraid.

He was afraid of telling his dads something. He believed they didnt have time for him right now. They were too busy with his one year old sister, Avery. Besides… Isaac could just get over this right? It wasnt a serious problem… he just need to practise more.

Yeah, he just needed more practise.

So he sat on his floor, Biscuit, the golden retriever hed gotten for his eighth birthday, by his side. He pulled out a box of books he had under his bed and pulled one out. He couldnt quite make out the title before he hastily opened it, not wanted to worry too much about that specifically. He wanted to focus on the words inside. He wanted to be able to read them.

He stared and stared at the first page, trying to focus. For a second he almost had it, he could see it, but then the words began to jumble or blur together and he couldnt make sense of it.

He stared harder, determined, straining his eyes until they hurt.

Biscuit looked up at him and whined softly; sensing something was wrong, but Isaac ignored him.

He rubbed at his eyes, hoping to clear them, but to no avail; the words were still incoherent.

He couldnt read.

He was stupid.

And out of anger, he threw the book across the room, barely noticing as it hit his drawers with a bang, sending it, and many things that were placed atop of the drawers, to the floor.

And he cried. He sobbed into his hands, ignoring Biscuit who was trying to lick any exposed skin to comfort him. He couldnt stop crying, because he was stupid. He couldnt read and he was ashamed that anyone might find out.

Isaac kept crying, unaware of the footsteps heading towards his bedroom. He hadnt realized that the banging his drawers had made had alerted his dads, or that his loud tears had made them more so concerned.

There was a light tapping on his door and it creaked open quietly, Isaac still oblivious as his sobbing consumed him.

"Isaac?" His dad was at the door, and the second he saw Isaac sobbing he rushed over, sitting beside him and pulling him into a hug, glancing at the small wreckage by his drawers. "Isaac honey… whats wrong?"

Isaac lent into his fathers touch, crying into him instead, but he didnt speak. He didnt say a word.

Kurt frowned and held his little boy close, taking in his room properly. The box of books that were usually under the bed was out and one of these books had clearly been thrown against the dresser. It didnt take much for Kurt to figure out that something about the book had angered and upset him.

Biscuit was still whining from where he lay, curled up around Isaac. He was looking up at Kurt with his big, chocolate brown eyes, practically pleading with him.

"Isaac? Sweetie, come on. Talk to me, please." Kurt asked him, kissing the curls on the top of his head.

It was quiet, barely a whisper. But Kurt heard the words loud and clear.

"Im stupid!"

Kurt was appalled at how much hatred a ten year old could put into two words. Kurt could tell that his son honestly believed he was stupid… but why?

"Isaac… where is this coming from? Youre not stupid." Kurt held him closer as he spoke, worried for his little boy.

"I c-cant r-read…" and he sobbed louder, crying into Kurts shirt.

"…what do you mean?" He asked softly.

Isaac sniffled and looked up. "The w-words bl-blur and mix up and even at school… theyre m-mean to me when I st-struggle reading outl-outloud. The t-teacher says I n-need to pay atten-attention but I am! She says Im n-not leaning fast enough b-but Im try-trying. They just… it doesnt m-make sense. D-daddy Im trying…"

Kurts heart broke. His son was struggling in school and he and Blaine had been too busy fussing over Avery to notice. His little boy was scared and struggling and now believed he was stupid. Kurt pulls Isaac closer, running a comforting hand through his hair and kisses him softly.

"Its okay, Isaac. Youre not stupid, I promise… Just go to sleep, sweetie… well sort it all out in the morning. I promise." Kurt kissed his hair again, and started rocking him slowly. Isaac kept crying, but not as loud, eventually falling to sleep against Kurt.

Kurt got up and put him to bed, tucking him in and letting Biscuit jump up beside him. He kissed Isaacs head softly and ruffled the fur behind Biscuits ears. He then left; tears falling from his own eyes this time, and went to find Blaine.

Blaine was in Averys room, putting the little girl to bed. Kurt watched as he tucked her in and brushed the few light brown strands of hair from her face, before stepping away and towards Kurt. Neither of them said anything as they walked to their own room. Blaine reached out and took Kurts hand, squeezing softly.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting them both down on the bed.

"Isaac… he… Hes been struggling in school… and we didnt even know… Blaine he thinks hes stupid because he cant read and weve been ignoring him and oh my god Im a horrible parent-"

"Whoa. Kurt. No. You raised Isaac on your own for eight years-"

"I had Cooper-"

"-You put aside your mourning and you raised him. You are not a horrible parent. Youre a wonderful one. And as for Isaac, he hasnt mentioned anything before now because he clearly believed we were too busy with Avery. Hes just scared."

Kurt sniffled, looking up into Blaines eyes. "But… he cant read, Blaine-"

"Well take him to the doctors, alright? Well get him checked out and he might be dyslexic or something. Hell be okay. Well be okay."

Blaine kissed him softly and holds him close.

Theyll be okay.

~X~

Blaine booked the appointment the second he woke up the next morning, setting it for around lunchtime. He wasnt going to make Isaac go into school today, and called him in sick.

Blaine, being a stay-at-home dad, had tried to make Kurt go into work that day, but he only did so half-heartedly, knowing deep down that they both needed to be with their son. So Kurt called into Vogue and let them know that he couldnt make it.

They let Isaac sleep in, but going downstairs themselves and cooking pancakes for breakfast, knowing the smell would waft into his room and awake him.

Kurt was feeding Avery some porridge while she sat in her high chair, but the little tyke was having none of it and kept spitting it out. Isaac came down just in time to see her squash her hands in it, giggling. He pulled a face before sitting at the table, where Blaine had just placed a stack of pancakes drenched in maple syrup.

For a while he didnt say a word and picked at his pancakes. This alone was enough to indicate something was wrong. Isaac was usually quite a hyperactive boy, even in the mornings. He would usually shove his food into his mouth and chatter away, ignoring his fathers every time they told him not to speak with his mouth full.

"…Why arent I at school?" he asked quietly, looking up at his Papa.

"Because Ive booked you a doctors appointment at lunch. Is that okay buddy? I thought that today we could all just take it easy. Have your favourite breakfast, watch some TV and just relax. Is that okay with you?"

Isaac looked a little unsure, clearly nervous, but he nodded, and went back to eating his pancakes. Blaine watched him for a minute before turning to make Kurt and himself some pancakes.

They went through the day quietly. Kurt and Blaine would occasionally whisper to each other while Isaac watched cartoons in silence. Avery was on the floor playing with her toys, babbling nonsense every so often. But it was mainly silent.

It wasnt long before Blaine asked Isaac to go get dressed and ready while he and Kurt put on their coats and got Avery ready too. Isaac came down wearing a coat and a beanie over his curly hair. He looked worried, his eyes flicking from the other people in the room and wringing his hands around nervously.

Blaine sighed and walked over to him and bending to his level. "Youre going to be okay, I promise. No matter what happens, Dad and I love you. We always will." He kissed Isaacs forehead softly, feeling the young boy relax and fall into a hug.

"Love you too." He mumbled, and then pulled away, putting on a brave face, and they left.

~X~

Isaac had been jittery the whole time they were in the doctors office; bouncing around on his feet with nerves while they waited.

They went in after a little wait, all four of them packing into the tiny room. The doctor spoke to Isaac directly, wanting to know the boys account before he asked his fathers. Once Isaac was done, answering a few more questions than what his dads had thought to ask, making it seem all the more worse. Kurt and Blaine told the doctor the little they knew themselves. And then he ran the tests.

There were only a few, and Isaac grew more nervous while taking them and ended up holding onto his Papas hand. They werent particularly hard tests, but Isaac struggled a little, especially since he was under pressure.

When they were done, Isaac curled up on his Papas lap, which was quite a feat seeing at Isaac was ten and quite tall for his age, while the doctor tapped away on his computer and wrote things down.

After a while, Blaine heard him whisper. "… Is... Is he going to say Im stupid?"

Blaine was shocked, and thinking hed heard wrong only replied with, "What?"

Isaac looks up, tears in his eyes. "Do I have a stupid-disease that makes me stupid?"

"No-" Both his dads spoke at the same time, shock and horror leaking into their protective voices. "Isaac youre not stupid."

Isaac was about to argue when the doctor spoke.

"Theyre right, Isaac. Youre not stupid. You have something called dyslexia. It basically means that sometimes you have trouble reading things the right way. Its quite common; almost one in three people have it. Now you know about it, it should help you from becoming too frustrated when reading because you can find ways around it. A lot of dyslexics use specially made tinted glasses, but some people prefer to just highlight the text theyre reading because they dont like wearing the glasses in public."

As the doctor went on, Isaac became less tense and relaxed a great deal, sitting normally in Blaines lap. He paid rapt attention and took in every little detail. Kurt and Blaine watched as hope refilled their sons eyes.

And softly, slowly, they breathed out a long sigh of relief.

~X~

Kurt and Blaine fell into bed that night almost in sync, their arms wrapping around each other with practised ease. They simply stared at each other after that, and Kurt lifted his hand, carefully tracing the deep scar that marred his husbands face. Hed done it a million times before. Hed traced every scar on Blaines body, all of them caused by … when he had been missing all those years.

Blaine put his own hand over Kurts, holding it down into place, stopping him.

"Well be okay."

"I know." Kurt responded, glancing up at Blaine. "Its not us Im worried about."

"Its Isaac." Kurt just nodded. "Hell be fine. When I take him into school tomorrow, Ill have a word with the principle about his dyslexia, and also ask his teacher why she hadnt informed me of any of Isaacs signs beforehand."

"Shes probably scared of you or something…" It was virtually a whisper, but Blaine heard.

"Because of my scars? That shouldnt stop her from telling a childs father something extremely important. Besides, even if that was the case, youve picked him plenty of times when youve gotten off work early."

Kurt just shrugged. "…What if he gets bullied? I… I dont want our son to go through that, Blaine."

Blaine sighs and pulls Kurt closer in comfort, holding him and kissing his hair softly. "If he shows any indication of being bullied, any at all, then well transfer him. Well find somewhere with zero tolerance for it. I promise you, Kurt; Isaac is going to okay. One hundred per cent."

Kurt smiles a little and snuggles into Blaine.

Theyd be okay.