“I left Blaine in his room,” she mentioned offhandedly to her husband as she hurriedly put on some make-up, sitting in front of her vanity. He let out a soft grumble as if to indicate that he heard what she said, and continued packing his documents onto his suitcase.

“And the nanny….?”

“Took the day off,” The woman answered with a shrug as she brushed her hair, as if it was no big deal.

“Who's going to look after the boy, then?”

“We're only going to be out for a short while, William. I doubt anything will happen to Blaine.” Victoria rolled her eyes, rubbing circles on her cheeks to apply some kind of foundation.

“You sure he wouldn't cause any trouble?” Wiliiam shut his brief case and walked towards her direction, nudging her to hurry up. “I have guests coming in tomorrow. I don't want him misbehaving and putting anything out of place.”

“He shouldn't. He's in his crib, anyway. He should be sleeping in a while.” She said, adding the last few touches of make up on her face.

“Hm." He gave her a once over and bought it. "So, shall we go now?” William Anderson nodded his head towards the door, clutching his suitcase with one hand, and placing a Fedora on top of his head with the other.

“We shall.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooper was outside his parents' room when he overheard them. He had to prevent his eyes from widening.

Are they really leaving him and Blaine alone for a few hours? A boy this young?

..... Well, not that there's anything wrong with that. Cooper's already a grown teenager, he can take care of himself just fine, its touching that they left his little brother under his care, (did they, really?) but-…

Cooper paused thinking for a second. He realised doesn't know anything about babies. What if Blaine ended up needing something? What if Blaine suddenly cries for some reason? What if there was an emergency?

As confident as Cooper appears to be; frankly, right now? He's nervous.

"You can do this. You can do this, its just a baby, not your English teacher," Cooper convinced himself inside his head, trying to relax himself by taking in deep breaths. When he felt that he was ready, he headed towards his brother's room and peeked inside the slightly ajar door. He saw the outline of Blaine, playing with a teddy bear while sitting quietly in his crib.

Cooper decided that if he wants to experience being a good brother, he might as well do it now. Or at least, being /just/ a brother. He has not interacted with Blaine at all ever since he was born, and the thought scares him.

Cooper carefully opened the door and entered. He headed towards the crib where his brother is at, and smiled at his little brother awkwardly.

“Hey, little guy.”

Blaine stopped what he was doing at once as his tiny head turned to face Cooper. He then slowly placed the teddy bear down and crawled his way to the handlebars to stare at the older male.

Cooper stared back, not knowing what to do.

“Um….”

Blaine slowly began to stand, but since his legs were still wobbly, he failed and fell on his ass onto the crib. Cooper panicked a little bit, but the kid seemed okay, so he was relieved. Now Blaine was sitting down with that pout on his lips.

This is adorable.

Cooper held out his hands, as if to gesture for Blaine to come nearer to him.

“Come on, you can do it, little guy!”

Blaine crawled towards Cooper again, and tried to stand again. He failed. Blaine stuck out his lower lip.

Cooper tilted his head to the side, showing an amused smile. “What's the matter?”

 The boy raised both his arms up to indicate that he wants to be lifted.

Oh.

“A-ah, uhm, I-…” Cooper looked around the room, not sure as to what he should do. Wheres the nanny when you need her?! Should he lift his baby brother up? He doesn't even know how to hold a baby, what if he drops him? Cooper gulped. He looked around the room again (as if that helps), and finally confirming that he is, in fact, alone with Blaine, Cooper hastily lifted Blaine up by the arms.

Whatever. He's gonna do this. He can do this.

He was able to lift Blaine halfway off the crib, when he found out that this is easier than he thought. He continued lifting him until he was able to cradle the boy in his arms. It wasn't more than 5 seconds when Blaine was making soft noises of discontent and was squirming. Cooper furrowed his brows in confusion. Blaine doesn't usually do this when it was their mom lifts him up.

Maybe Cooper is holding him wrong?

Of course he's holding him wrong; he doesn't even know where his hands should go.

Cooper was about to place Blaine back on the crib to avoid dropping him later on, but Blaine was a smart baby apparently, since he was the one who adjusted himself on Cooper's arms.

Now this feels more comfortable.

 Blaine's instincts told him to cling to Cooper's shirt so he wouldn't fall. Then he nuzzled his cheek onto Cooper's shoulder, sucking on his small thumb all the while.

Awww, now this is the cutest thing. Cooper bounced him once, playfully.

Blaine started to giggle softly.

“You seem amused,” Cooper whispered to his brother with a chuckle. He wants to hear Blaine laugh again, so he continued playing with him, twirling the both of them. Blaine seemed to love it. Soft giggles turned into cute, high pitched laughs and his grip on Cooper's shirt tightened.

This seemed to encourage Cooper even more, so he twirled them around the room even more, getting carried away, and before he knew it, Cooper accidentally knocked off a vase from the table with his elbow. It fell with a loud crash.

Blaine stopped laughing immediately as his eyes widened, looking at Cooper in fear.

Cooper darted his head towards the now-broken vase, his eyes panic-stricken. “Oh, shi-…” No, wait, he can't curse in front of the baby. “...-Holy crap.”

Blaine seemed to know that both he and Cooper are in trouble now, because his lower lip started quivering and tears were beginning to well around his eyes.

Cooper noticed this, and he panicked even more. He held Blaine closer and tighter.

“Awww, no no no, don't cry,” Cooper attempted to talk to his brother in a hushed, comforting voice. “Don't cry, it's okay….”

Blaine let out a soft sound which sounded a lot like a squeak, and he started sniffling.

“Shhh, shh, Blainey, it's okay, it's okay, big brother's gonna fix it, okay?” Cooper reassured his brother with another bounce. It didn't seem to work because the boy was now basically clinging to Cooper's shirt, as if afraid. Cooper didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he was pretty sure he felt the boy start shaking.

Cooper placed his left hand behind the boy's head and gently twirled his fingers around the messy curls in another attempt of comfort. He felt Blaine's hot tears hit his clothed shoulder, crap, he screwed this up so much, he shouldn't have held his brother, God, why is this so hard…

Not sure as to what to do anymore, in a state of panic, Cooper began to sing one of his favourite songs from Tarzan softly.

“Come stop your crying, it will be alright…. Just take my hand, hold it tight. I will protect you from all around you, I will be here don't you cry...”

Cooper heard Blaine stop sniffling. He pulled back to check if his brother was still crying, and sure enough, he wasn't. The boy was looking at Cooper with wide eyes, his eyes still rimmed with tears, but his lower lip wasn't trembling anymore.

Cooper smiled at his brother. He was thankful that the song seems to work.

Cooper continued singing the second verse as he traipsed around the room with Blaine in his arms.

“For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you; keep you safe and warm… This bond between us cant be broken. I will be here, dont you cry…”

Blaine made soft sounds of contentment as he listened to his big brother sing. His smile was starting to show again.

Cooper continued singing until he finished the song. By the time he was done, he can swear that his little brother's eyes outshine the sun. His smile was so wide and optimistic, that Cooper couldn't help but kiss his baby brother on the forehead. Never in a million years would he have thought hed sing to a baby.

“Now that wasn't too bad, was it?”

Blaine just chortled out a soft laugh, looking at Cooper through his lashes.

Cooper thought there was nothing more precious than this sight in front of him right now.

Cooper smiled wider at his brother, looking him straight in the eyes. “Can you say my name- Cooper? I'm your brother, Cooper.”

“C-C….” Blaine struggled to pronounce.

“Coooo-per,” Cooper cooed, basically spelling out his name already.

“C-C….” Finding it difficult to make the ‘c' sound, Blaine finally settled for the other one. “Tooper.”

Cooper's eyes widened.

“No, it's Cooper, not Tooper, Cooper.”

Blaine placed his pudgy hands on Cooper's face and looked him in the eyes with a bright smile. He repeated what he said earlier. “Tooper.”

“Blaine, my name is Cooper. Coo-per,” Cooper repeated once again, stressing out the ‘c' sound this time.

“Too….” Blaine paused, and when he was satisfied with himself, he continued. “-per.”         

“It's c-“

“Tooper.”

Cooper let out a soft sigh, rolling his eyes fondly with a soft laugh. Fine, Tooper it is, then.

Blaine crawled upwards and wrapped his small arms around the back of Cooper's neck, and hugged him tightly, closing his eyes in contentment when he did so.

Cooper felt like his heart was about to burst. This is literally the cutest, sweetest thing anyone has ever done for him, in this family. For the first time ever, he feels like he finally belongs. Theres no pressure of being a "perfect" child here, he was just himself. Cooper hugged his baby brother back by placing his hand on the boy's small back to pull him in closer.

They stayed like that for a long time, just hugging, until Cooper finally noticed that Blaine's breathing slowed down. He scratched the baby's back gently to get his attention.

“Blaine?”

No response.

Cooper slowly scratched his baby brothers back again.

“Blainey?”

The only response he heard this time was a soft, nonsensical mumble. Cooper readjusted Blaine in his arms so that he was cradling him, and sure enough, he was asleep. Cooper smiled again, for what seems like the millionth time that day.

Blaine, missing the warmth of the hug, cuddled up to Cooper's chest and mumbled a soft “Tooper” as he continued drifting off to sleep.

......It was then, at that moment, that Cooper swore to himself that he would be the best brother ever to this ltitle boy. No matter what it takes.