Kurt backed out of their family room as carefully as possible as not to alert Ella of his upcoming departure. Ella, he and Blaine's two-year-old daughter, is Kurt's little shadow. She follows him around the house, talking incessantly to him all day, even though some of the time he can't understand what she is saying. He barely gets to eat without her wanting to sit on his lap, or even run to the store without her going with him. He doesn't even know the last time he was able to use the bathroom without Ella crying from the hallway.
He was almost done putting on his jacket when he heard, "Papa? Papa?"
Then the cries started, "I want Papa, I want my Papa!"
Kurt just groaned, "Oh no Ella, don't cry" he said from the hallway.
Poor Blaine was attempting his best to comfort their daughter, including trying to hug her and running his hands through her dark, curly hair, but to no avail.
"It's OK, Ella, Daddy is here. You can sit on my lap", Blaine says to Ella.
"No, Papa!!" she continued to cry and scream. Even with a pacifier in her mouth Ella could still scream very loudly, her body going all stiff in Blaine's arms and turning into full tantrum mode.
Blaine put her down so she could have her emotional fit on the floor.
"Kurt, just go" Blaine says. "Ella is just going to have to deal with it," Blaine continues. "She will get tired soon and stop or fall asleep," Blaine says tiredly.
Their daughter is still wailing in the background, "Papa, Papa, Papa".
Kurt planned to go out to dinner with Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina that night. It had been a while since he had had any "girl time" with his favorite girls, but he didn't want Ella to be so upset. Blaine was staying home with her to have a poker night with Finn, Mike, Puck, Sam, and Artie. But now it looked like Ella's tantrum was going to put a damper on their "guys night" since she was still screaming.
"I could just take her with me," Kurt says to Blaine. "The girls love her and I don't think they will mind", Kurt said looking guilty into the family room where Ella was on the floor all red faced and screaming.
"No, you need some time away, she is attached to you like glue and you need time to yourself without Ella", Blaine told him. "It's time to cut the cord, so to speak, Kurt."
"I know, I know Blaine, but she's only two-years-old". "I hate to see her so upset," Kurt mumbled.
"Kurt. Go. To. Dinner," Blaine said and he steered Kurt towards the door. "She will be fine. I mean, seriously, how long can she scream?"
At that moment Ella came tearing out the family room with Finn right behind her.
"Sorry guys. I tried to hold her but she just got out my grasp and took off" Finn apologized to the others.
"If it wasn't for her being a carbon copy of Blaine," Finn says "I would just assume she's Kurt's biological child. Wow, can she scream!" Finn said shaking his head.
"Ha Ha, Finn, very funny," Kurt said as he rolled his eyes at his step-brother. By now Ella is wrapped around Kurt's leg while Blaine is trying to uncoil her fingers from his pants.
"Well, I am sure she is part snake, because she is really wrapped around you, Kurt," Blaine said from where he is crouching on the floor trying to get his daughter off of his husband.
Finally Blaine had enough. "Ella, this stops now. Let go of your Papa and stop crying or you are going to time out."
"No, no time out!" She cried.
"Then stop this tantrum right now" Blaine told her. "I am going to count to three Ella. I am serious. You will go to time out this time. 1....2....."
Kurt just looked at Blaine because he never has put Ella in time out before when he threatens it, but that is always as far as Blaine takes it.
Ella just cried harder. "Me go with you, Papa, me go too," Ella says. She looks up at Kurt all blotchy, sweaty and snot nosed from all the crying.
Kurt looked down at the mess Ella was; his heart was breaking just looking at her. "Ella, Papa is just going to dinner," Kurt says. "Daddy is here, you can play with Uncle Finn and maybe Daddy will let you watch Finding Nemo. Before you know it, I will be back home."
Kurt knelt down in front of his daughter, pushing her sweaty curls off her forehead and giving her a kiss on her cheek.
"Ok, come on Ella, go to Daddy and he will hold you." Kurt picked her up to hand her over to Blaine when she wrapped her little legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He tried to pull her off his body but she just hung on, wrapped tightly around him.
Blaine moved to take her from Kurt, "Come on Ella sit with me, let's go watch Dory."
Blaine had his hands around Ella's body, trying to pull her from Kurt. All of Blaine's attempts made her just cling more to him.
"Kurt this is nuts. Ella has to get over her Papa-itis," Blaine complained.
Kurt peeled Ella off himself and handed her to Blaine.
Ella kept crying and was reaching out for Kurt. "Ella, I am leaving now. Give me a kiss and I will see you when I get home later tonight," he told her sternly.
The little girl, still crying, gave Kurt a kiss and put her head on Blaine's shoulder. She put her binky back in her mouth, now just slightly whimpering and she started to twirl her hair between her fingers, her telltale sign she was tired.
"Put in the movie now and I bet she will be asleep before Nemo goes to his first day of school," Kurt told Blaine. "Then you and the boys can play your poker game, Kurt says.
Giving Blaine a quick kiss he was out the door before Ella could start crying again.
"Let's hope this goes well," Blaine muttered to Finn, when the door shut behind him. Ella started to cry in Blaine arms, "or not...," he mumbled.
"Geez, dude, does she always get this upset when Kurt leaves her?" Finn asks Blaine.
"Yeah, she is so attached to him; she is just crazy about him. I can't blame her though, I am too, but you don't see me screaming and crying on the floor when he walks out of the room" Blaine says to Finn who just laughs and says "Well not any more, remember when he first went to NY...?" Blaine just rolled his eyes at his brother in law.
Blaine thought about it for a second, "Oh my god, that's it! You know what got me through Kurt being gone?"
"Naked Skype?" Puck asks as he, Mike, Sam and Artie entered the room.
"Ewww, gross dude, gross!" Finn mumbled.
"No, Puck," Blaine says. "I had one of his t-shirts that he spritzed his cologne on and I kept it under my pillow, it made me feel close to him when he was gone," Blaine explains. "I will get one of his scarves, spritz some cologne on it and give it to Ella. Maybe it will comfort her tonight," he continued.
"Well, do something soon, man, she is just breaking my heart," Mike says. "Look at her, that is so sad, Mike said while looking at the little girl who was now out of Blaine's arms and at the front window, softly crying "I want my Papa".
The boys all looked at the sad toddler before Puck spoke up, "Yeah Blaine do something now for her, before I go and bring Kurt back home."
Blaine headed to his and Kurt's bedroom with Ella not far behind him. Now that Kurt was out of the house Blaine was now her favorite person and she was not letting him out of her sight. He almost tripped over her when he back tracked to shut the door to his music room to keep her out of it.
"My goodness Ella, I almost knocked you over!" Blaine says. "I didn't even know you followed me, are you ok?"
She just nodded, sucking on her binky trying to grasp his pant leg. Blaine reached down to pick her up and she immediately put her head on his shoulder and her little hand on his chest near his heart, still sniffling after her melt down.
Blaine rubbed her back a little before giving her kiss on the head.
"Come on, my Elly Bean, come with Daddy," Blaine says as he set her down on their bed to look for a scarf.
Ella contently watched her Daddy rummage through the drawers. Finally he found one that Kurt doesn't wear much anymore, taking it out and going over to Kurt's vanity finding his cologne, spraying the scarf lightly. Inhaling the scent he flooded himself with memories and warm thoughts of his adorably cute husband. He thought to himself, 'No wonder she is so attached to him, I'm crazy about him too' pulling himself out of his reverie as he grabbed the scarf and headed back to the family room, Ella in tote.
When he made it back to the family room, Finn had the table set up to play cards and the pizza they ordered had arrived. Blaine sat Ella on the couch with the scarf to go get the DVD set up, when he hears her whimper, "Papa..."
Blaine turns around to see his daughter on her stomach, diapered butt in the air, binky in her mouth and rubbing Kurt's scarf under her nose. "Ready for Nemo?" he asks her, Ella just nods sucking on her binky, smelling Kurt's scarf.
Blaine looks at her and thinks to himself, 'I am a genius, why didn't I think of this before?'
Kurt was right. Before Nemo could make it to his first day of school Ella was fast asleep on the couch. Blaine moved the foot stool closer to the couch so in case she rolled over she wouldn't fall on the floor, little snores coming from the small girl.
The night was quiet with the boys playing poker until Kurt came back with the girls after their evening out.
"So, how long did she scream after I left?" Kurt asks entering the room. "Not too long really, she just whimpered and hung onto Blaine for a bit" Finn answered before Blaine could even open his mouth. "She was fine Kurt, really, I calmed her down, and she got on the couch and watched Nemo," Blaine tells him.
Kurt raises one eyebrow skeptically, "Really Blaine..."
"Yeah, Kurt, I am the baby whisperer," Blaine tells him as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
"I am going to check on her and put her to bed, be right back," Kurt says as he turns to walk to the couch.
"Umm, hey Blaine, I mean baby whisperer, want to tell me why Ella is still in her clothes and why is she clutching my Mark Jacobs scarf?"
Blaine looked at Kurt.
"Hey, having your t-shirt with me while you were away in New York gave me some comfort, so I gave her your scarf with some of your cologne on it," Blaine responds to Kurt.
"She relaxed right away and fell asleep, once she was asleep I didn't have the heart to wake her and change her out of her clothes," Blaine continues.
Kurt just looked at the sleeping girl on the couch, her curly hair just a mess on her head, her mouth slightly open, snoring lightly; she was the spitting image of Blaine. Kurt picked her up to take her to her bed when her little eyes popped open "Papa?"
"Hi baby, I'm back and time for you to go to bed now," Kurt told her.
"Come on, off to bed with you, say good night to everyone," Ella looked at everyone and gave a little wave clutching onto her Papa. "Goodnight," she whispered.
Kurt walked her over to Blaine and said "Give Daddy a kiss goodnight sweetie."
"Night my little Ella, I love you," Blaine told her as she puckered her little mouth to kiss Blaine.
"Night Daddy," she said while yawning
As Kurt left the room with Ella, Blaine turned to their friends.
"Well, all is right in the Hummel-Anderson world again! Ella has her favorite person back home," and then thinking to himself, 'and I do too'.

The End