Toronto pulls at his bowtie as his father tries to tie it.
“Please sweetie, you have to stay still. If you don’t then I can’t do this.”
“But it’s too tight, Papa.”
“No it’s not. Trust me, I’ve tied enough of these to be an expert. And I know that this is just fine. Maybe if you kept still I wouldn’t have to yank it so much and then it might be looser.”
“I like mine,” Alexander chimes it as he fondles the new bowtie he had on, “I like matching Daddy.”
“See Toronto, Alex likes his and he doesn’t make a fuss about it. And now that he can tie his own it’s much quicker and easier and there’s a lot less strangling!”
He thinks he heard his husband chuckle at that from the next room but he can’t be sure.
“Alex can’t tie his shoelaces though!”
The small boy sticks his tongue out in defiance and his father scolds him,
“And neither can you.”
“But he’s eight and I’m only five.”
“Really, there’s no need to argue about this. You’re both going to wear your bowties because Daddy and I think they’re very sweet.”
“Adorable!” His pint-sized husband adds from the depths of their bedroom.
Kurt rolls his eyes as he straightens his son’s bowtie. Both of his children are wearing the matching ones their Daddy had given them for Christmas from Brooks Brothers. Alex’s is green with small pink lions and Toronto’s yellow with little purple lions. It’s their first day back at school after the Christmas holidays and Kurt wants his son’s to look presentable. And, of course, it really was adorable to see all of his family in bowties. They had always been Blaine’s statement piece, rather like Kurt’s own cardigans and skinny jeans, and it gave him a strange warm feeling to see that statement being passed on. It was like a physical representation of all the thing they had and would pass on to their children.
“Come on,” he rallies the two boys into the kitchen, “time for your special back to school breakfast. Homemade waffles!”
This has the desired effect and they both scamper into their seats as Kurt serves up the treat for his three boys (because yes, Blaine was also one of his boys.) Personally he’s just having a small bowl of fruit; he finds waffles too heavy for a day of running around as a junior editor at Vogue.
Then he hears the unmistakable sound of Blaine rushing down the stairs and tripping over his own feet in the process. For someone with suck slick dance moves he really does have terrible coordination. Blaine hobbles into the kitchen clutching his stubbed toe, his own understated bowtie left loose around his neck. Today he has chosen a tartan design in shades of grey with the odd yellow highlight. It is his first day back to school too, as a music teacher, and he also wants to look as smart as possible. He grabs his coffee from the table (medium drip) and gulps the scalding liquid down as he runs a hand over his gelled hair in a final check before rushing towards the door. Kurt reaches out and grabs him by the sleeve to pull him back, rolling his eyes at the bowtie still having two halves around his neck on either side. He reaches up and ties the bow with a flourish, smoothing Blaine’s shirt and kissing him on the tip of his nose. Then, as he moves to pull away, Blaine grabs the back of his neck to pull him in for a much more searing kiss.
Behind them their sons are watching them with disgust, pulling faces and gagging because, ew, parents kissing! And then, with one final kiss, Blaine is out of the door shouting “I’ll do dinner tonight!”
As he closes the front door he lets a smile spread over his face at what is an everyday occurrence. Everyday since they both moved in together he has left his bowtie undone, on purpose. But he’s never told Kurt that.
Yet, what he doesn’t know is that Kurt knows. And it only makes him love Blaine all the more. Neither will ever admit how fuzzy their morning routine and its domestic nature makes them feel inside.

It’s the small things that make their relationship so wonderful.
Like bowties.