"Good morning," he greeted, moving to allow Blaine to enter. He stepped into the kitchen and scooped up a mug of coffee off the counter as Blaine took off his coat, hanging it on one of the hooks on the wall. "Would you like a cup? I made some extra for you."

"Oh, yes, thank you," Blaine said, taking the offered mug and setting about making his cup.

"Okay, Sophie is still asleep and should remain so until about seven thirty or eight," Kurt said, sipping at his mug. "She'll want her breakfast a little bit after she wakes up, just some cereal and maybe sliced bananas, then TV time and playing. Lunch at twelve unless she gets hungry again before that; if you want to give her another banana around ten, that's fine. Nap at one, then a small snack. Angie will be here around five-ish to start dinner and I should be home by six thirty."

Blaine watched as his new employer rambled on, repeating everything he had told Blaine yesterday in-between sips of coffee. When Kurt began talking faster, Blaine reached out, laying his hand on Kurt's, ignoring the small current that occurred when their skin touched.

"Kurt, I promise, Sophie will be fine. You can call me and text me every five minutes, if it makes you feel better."

Kurt managed a small smile. "Well, every five minutes is a bit much, but I probably will keep in contact as much as possible." Blaine laughed nodding. "All right, I printed out that emergency contact list, here," Kurt pointed to the paper he had added to the fridge. "If you have ANY problems and can't get a hold of me on my cell or at the office, call Finn first, then Jen. Finn works at the school nearby, he can be here in less than twenty minutes."

"I will," Blaine promised. Kurt drained his mug, quickly fixing another one before his eyes darted towards the front door.

"I'm going to check on Sophie one last time, and then I will leave, I swear."

Kurt moved past Blaine, biting his lip as he quietly made his way to Sophie's room, peaking in and seeing Sophie under the covers, her little butt in the air as she slept.

He knew he had to leave, he needed to get to the office; he just really hated the idea of leaving Sophie alone. Well, not alone, just not with him. Slowly closing the door, he walked back to the kitchen, seeing Blaine leaning against the doorway, his own mug in one hand and Kurt's in the other. "I promise you don't have to worry. I will be at Sophie's beck and call. She won't get into the bathroom. I will make sure there is nothing small on the floor that she could swallow. If something were to happen, she is my only priority. Besides, you need this separation just as much as Sophie does. It will be good for you."

Kurt stared at Blaine. He knew what Blaine was saying was true; it was one of the reasons he had agreed to the nanny idea. His natural inclination was to not trust anyone, especially not with his daughter, but this man, who he had known for less than a week, had effectively managed to reassure him. There was something about Blaine Anderson that made you trust anything he said.

Accepting his mug, he locked eyes with Blaine. "Thank you."

Blaine smiled, "Any time."

It was then Kurt realized how close they were standing and he cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away and stepping back. Grabbing his keys from the bowl by the door, he patted his pockets, making sure he had everything before unhooking his coat from the wall. "All right, will you text me when Sophie wakes up?"

"Sure thing."

With one last glance around the flat, Kurt waved and closed the door behind him. Walking to the lift, he pressed the button for the lobby and then moved to the back, his head falling back as his eyes fell closed and letting out heavy sigh. He could do this.

888

Blaine leaned against the counter for a few minutes, enjoying the coffee. He kept trying to think of anything but how close Kurt had been standing or the feeling that had occurred when their hands had touched.

In order to get his mind off of it, Blaine took his mug and wandered into the living room and sitting in the armchair he had occupied the day before. He pulled a coaster off of the stack and set his mug down. He didn't want to turn on the telly, just in case it woke Sophie early, but he couldn't just sit here in silence.

He looked around, his eyes falling on the small table at the other end of the couch, a bunch of magazines neatly stacked on top. Curious, he moved over to find that it was a bunch of old copies of What's Next, Kurt's magazine. He grabbed the top issue, the newest one that he hadn't had a chance to look at yet.

Flipping through the pages as he returned to his seat, he noticed how very 'Kurt' it all seemed. The magazine had always been chic and modern, but now that he had met the man behind it all, he could see how much Kurt really influenced everything: the sophisticated air, classy without being overdone.

He got lost in the pages, much like he did when he bought a new book, so when Sophie started fussing, it made him jump. Chuckling at himself, he put the magazine back on the stack and went to get the little girl from her room.

"Hey, Miss Sophie," he cooed, picking her up from where she stood in the middle of the room. She immediately snuggled her head to his shoulder as he turned and walked out, rubbing her back soothingly as she yawned, a small puff of breath against his neck.

Blaine sat back in the armchair, adjusting Sophie so that her head wasn't pressed against the back of the chair. They sat there for a few minutes, Blaine rubbing her back until she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey there, little missy," Blaine said, smiling at her.

"Dada?" Sophie asked, looking around.

"No, I'm sorry, Dada isn't here," Blaine told her, still rubbing circles on her lower back. Sophie frowned. "Hey, are you hungry? I make really good pancakes." Sophie shook her head. "No? All right, how about some eggs and bacon? Maybe some toast?"

Sophie's eyes lit up at the last word and she nodded. "You want some toast, sweetie?"

"Yes, peas," Sophie said, climbing down from his lap and tugging on his hand. Laughing, Blaine stood, following as she led him to the kitchen.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and wrote a quick text to Kurt, saying that Sophie was up and they were going to make eggs and toast for breakfast. Blaine was actually impressed that Kurt hadn't started texting him the moment he left, but guessed it was more that he knew nothing was really happening with Sophie being asleep.

Kurt replied as Sophie helped load the toaster, saying that the breakfast was fine and he would talk to them soon. Remembering where Kurt had shown him where the bowls and pans were, the pair set about scrambling eggs and he chuckled when Sophie hissed alongside the eggs as they were poured into the hot pan. Blaine stirred the eggs around in the pan while Sophie sat on a little stool next to the sink, drinking her milk.

Once the eggs were done and the toast had popped up, making Sophie jump at the sudden noise, Blaine settled them both at the table, cutting up her eggs and toast before handing her a small pink fork. "Here you go, Miss Sophie, time to eat up!"

Sophie looked at her eggs for a moment, then back up at Blaine. "Chee."

"What?"

She pointed to her eggs. "Chee, peas."

Blaine stared at her, his brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I don't know what you want."

Sophie glared at him for a moment before holding up her arms. Blaine picked her up and sat her on the ground. She walked back into the kitchen and stood in front of the fridge. As soon as Blaine opened it, Sophie pulled one of the drawers open and grabbed a bag of shredded cheese from its depths. "Chee, peas."

Blaine laughed, following Sophie back into the dining room and lifting her back into her booster before sprinkling some cheese on her eggs and adding a bit to his own before closing the bag and setting it on the table. Sophie began eating and the rest of the meal was spent in silence, broken only by the occasional suck from Sophie's sippy cup.

Once they were done eating and Sophie was once again firmly with two feet on the floor, Blaine gathered their plates, scraping the bits of leftovers in the trash and setting the plates on the counter.

"Okay, Miss Sophie, are you ready for some TV time?" Blaine asked, turning to look at the little girl standing in the doorway. She looked back at him, one little hand coming up to sweep her fringe off to the side. She still had her sippy curled in one arm and she carefully extracted it, holding it out.

"More, peas."

Chuckling, Blaine took the cup, refilling it and then leading Sophie into the living room. She put her cup on the coaster Blaine had used earlier and then began pulling out toys as Blaine found a History Channel special on ancient Rome.

Once he was satisfied Sophie was okay, he returned to the kitchen and began washing the dishes they had used. He was halfway through rinsing the pan off when his phone went off, letting him know he had a text. He waited until he finished and had put everything away before checking it. It was Kurt, of course, and Blaine smiled fondly at the phone.

Kurt: So how was breakfast?

Blaine: It was good, just didn't know to put cheese on the eggs. Sophie set me straight, though.

Kurt: Haha, yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you. She loves cheese.

Blaine: Yeah, she ate up everything after we fixed the problem. She's sitting in the living room now, playing.

Kurt: Good, good. All right, I'll talk to you later then.

Blaine: Okay. And try not to worry?

Kurt: Haha, I'll try.

The rest of the morning was spent in easy comfort, Blaine slowly becoming engrossed in the various History Channel specials while keeping an eye on Sophie, who spent her time alternating between playing with her toys and sitting in his lap to watch the telly with him.

Kurt continued to text every half hour or so and Blaine kept a running commentary for him, hoping to soothe the nervous fathers' fears. It wasn't until he saw Kurt's name flashing across his screen just before lunch time that he came up with an idea.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Blaine, it's Kurt. Just wanted to see how Sophie was doing."

"She's good. Currently mixing and matching different clothes on her baby dolls. Just like her daddy, I think," Blaine chuckled.

Kurt let out a laugh. "I have no doubt about that. Well, all right, just wanted-"

"Actually I was thinking, would you like us to bring you some lunch? We could all eat together and I know Sophie would like to see you." And I know you want to make sure Sophie is okay was left unspoken between them.

"Oh, that sounds great! How about you two stop by the restaurant we ate at last week and pick us up some food? I'll call it in and they'll just put it on my tab."

"Oh, no, I'll pay for my own, I didn't me-"

"Blaine, this is me offering you food. Don't argue." Blaine could hear the barely concealed laugh in Kurt's voice and knew he wouldn't win this one.

"All right, that's fine."

"Do you know what you want to eat?"

"Oh, that club sandwich was good, that will be fine."

"Blaaaaine." Now there was annoyance.

"Kuuuuuurt," Blaine mimicked, grinning.

"You don't have to get something cheap, you know."

"I know, but that sandwich was really good. I've been daydreaming of another one for a week."

"All right, if you're sure."

"I am."

"Then I will see you in twenty minutes."

"See you then."

Sophie's eye's brightened as she abandoned her toys and toddled over to Blaine, her arms raised. "Dada, Dada!"

Blaine chuckled, "No, sweetie, first we need to clean up your toys. Come on, I'll help." Taking her hand, he led her back over to where her toys were scattered about. Together, the toys were quickly put away, except the yellow warbler she had shown him yesterday, which she insisted on taking with them, and Sophie was dressed in the clothes Kurt had laid out for her. Grabbing her diaper bag from under the table in the hall and both of their coats from the hooks, they left, Blaine locking the door with the spare key.

Once they were on the elevator, he helped Sophie into her coat and slipped his own on, but before they exited the lobby, Blaine turned to her. "All right, Miss Sophie, do you want to walk or do you want me to carry you?"

Sophie looked up at him for a moment, obviously contemplating her options. Finally, she held her arms up once again. Blaine adjusted the diaper bag and hoisted her onto his hip.

The walk to Kurt's office building wasn't that long, since most people weren't out for lunch yet, but once Blaine had stopped by for their lunch, he ran into a bit of a problem. Balancing Sophie was going to be impossible with the food and the drinks Kurt had ordered.

In the end, he was forced to slide the bag down his arm to the crook of his elbow and clutch the drink holder in one hand and hold onto Sophie with the other arm. Even though the rest of the walk took less than five minutes, Blaine was aching from the awkward positioning.

The moment they stepped into Kurt's office building, Blaine set Sophie down. Flexing his arm, he checked the floor number on his phone to make sure he remembered it correctly and then resituated the food bag so that it was in a slightly less painful position. "Come on, Sophie," he said, offering his hand to the little girl. She took it with a grin, clearly recognizing where they were as she led him to the elevators.

As soon as the elevator halted on the right floor, Sophie dragged Blaine out, heading past the receptionist without pausing. The woman chuckled, throwing Blaine a wink as he shuffled past, trying to keep up with Sophie without spilling anything.

"Hi Sophie!" a voice called suddenly, a young woman standing from behind her desk and blocking their path for a moment. "You'll have to wait a minute, Dada is in a meeting." She looked up at Blaine. "It won't be long, just a few problems with an event we have coming up. I'll let him know you're here." She gestured at a couple of chairs on the other side of the door and he led Sophie over there to sit. She fussed at him, clearly mad at being refused admittance to her father's office.

"Come on, Miss Sophie," Blaine said, pulling her into his lap, facing each other. He began bouncing her, sometimes using both legs and sometimes alternating them. Soon she was giggling, all thoughts of petulance gone as Blaine teased her.

888

Kurt could vaguely feel his shirt grow damp as he held Rachel close. He couldn't wrap his mind around the news, couldn't move past the shock of learning that one of her fathers had passed away. He rubbed her back as she cried and tried not to remember how he had felt when his father had a heart attack and slipped into a coma. He needed to be here for Rachel.

After several minutes of comforting her, Kurt pulled her with him as he sat in his chair and she curled up in his lap.

"I mean, I know he was sick for so long and that this is the best thing for him, but god, I miss him so much and I just want my daddy back," Rachel hiccoughed.

"Sh, sh, I know sweetie, I know. But you just have to remember that now he's not in pain. Just keep telling yourself that and- I know it doesn't help, not really, but think of Leroy, how he wouldn't want you to make yourself sick over all this."

Rachel nodded, holding him tighter as sobs wracked her small body. Kurt did his best to keep her from hysteria while trying to hold back his tears as much as possible. He could mourn for Leroy later.

"I'm sorry," Rachel whispered, once she was calm enough. "I know this event was really impor-"

"No, Rachel, your da-family is more important; you're more important. Just, let's get you cleaned up."

Kurt leaned forward, pulling a small back of baby wipes from his desk and one handedly pulling out a wipe. His computer beeped, signifying an IM but he ignored it, carefully running the wipe under each of Rachel's eyes, cleaning her cheeks, and then offering it to her to blow her nose.

"I'm-"

"Rachel, if you apologize one more time, I swear," Kurt threatened, holding her tighter. "Do you want me to go with you for- for the funeral?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, Jack is going with me. Daddy didn't want a big thing when he passed, so it's just going to be close family."

Kurt nodded; he knew Leroy just wanted everyone to move on with their lives after he passed, but it would not be a short or easy process. His computer beeped again in reminder and he scooted his chair closer to look at the screen. "Oh, Sophie's here, do you want to see her before you and Jack leave?"

Rachel nodded, finally standing and throwing the wipe in the trash. Kurt allowed her a few minutes to compose herself, typing out a reply to Leigh and waiting. Finally, Rachel nodded and he led her to the door, his arm around her waist as she leaned against him.

Opening the door, he gave Leigh a brief shake of his head before he noticed Blaine sitting on one of the chairs across the hall. Sophie was sitting in his lap and he was doing something that had her giggling, her little hands clutching Blaine's sleeves as she laughed. His heart skipped a beat at the sight and he fought down a blush at his reaction.

Stop it, he mentally scolded himself. Clearing his throat, he caught Blaine's attention.

"Oh, Miss Sophie, look who it is," Blaine said excitedly, extracting himself from Sophie's grip and turning her. Her eyes grew round and she scrambled from his lap, running to her father.

"I want choo," she said, pawing at his pant legs.

"Now, now, Sophie, you know you're not supposed to pull on peoples clothes," Kurt scolded lightly as he picked her up. They hugged tightly, all thoughts of Rachel and her family temporarily set aside as Kurt was reunited with his daughter. Finally, they pulled back to find both Rachel and Blaine grinning at them, though Rachel's was more watery than anything.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry. Rach, this is Sophie's nanny, Blaine Anderson. Blaine, this is my best friend Rachel Berry." He gestured to each one in turn and grinned when Blaine's face lit in recognition.

"The Rachel Berry? Broadway star Rachel Berry?"

Rachel laughed. "The one and only." She held out her hand, which Blaine took, bowing over it to gently kiss her knuckles.

"I saw you in The Beauty and the Beast. You were amazing."

Rachel tittered and Kurt was surprised to see her blushing. "Oh, well thank you."

Biting down a laugh, Kurt leaned in close. "Rach, tone it down, he's gay."

The glare she managed to level at him was somewhat diminished by the fact that her eyes were still red. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she said haughtily before leaning in and giving Sophie several kisses. "I'm sorry, I've got to go," she finally sighed. "I'll call you when we land." They hugged quickly and kissed each other's cheek. One last kiss for Sophie and Rachel turned, giving Blaine a small wave as she began walking to the front. "It was lovely meeting you, Blaine, I'm sure we'll see more of each other."

Blaine returned her wave and picked up the bag of food and the drinks. "Are you ready for lunch?"

Kurt nodded, nuzzling Sophie's cheek. "Leigh, hold my calls," he said as they entered his office.

He closed the door behind Blaine and nodded to the coffee table set up in his office. "We can just eat there."

Blaine nodded, taking the food out of the bag and setting it up on the table. Kurt grabbed Sophie's plate from where he kept it on his desk and put her grilled cheese sandwich and a few sweet potato fries on it while Blaine set her in a small table and chair that Kurt indicated were hers. Once she was set with her food and a sippy cup of juice, the men sat and began eating.

They were quiet for a few minutes, each content to just fill their bellies. "So, Rachel Berry?" Blaine asked, breaking the silence.

Kurt chuckled. "Yeah, we've been friends since high school. We actually planned to come out here together to go on Broadway."

"Oh, you were going to be on Broadway too?"

"Mmhmm, but I had an accident my senior year and couldn't dance anymore."

Blaine sat back, his eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, no, that's terrible. What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was on the cheerleading team," (Blaine raised an eyebrow at that, his thoughts running a little wild at the idea, and he flushed slightly) "the Cheerio's, and about a month after we took Nationals, we were working on a new routine." At Blaine's questioning look, he elaborated, "Coach Sylvester never let us rest. To be the best, we worked constantly all year round with a month off for the summer. And we were the best, nine consecutive National wins, though I think she's still winning them. I haven't heard differently, at least. Anyway, we were practicing and something happened, no one is really sure what, but I ended up falling from the top of the pyramid. Injured my knee and cracked a couple of ribs."

"Oh, wow. So your knee made it where you couldn't dance anymore? But you could still perform, right?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know, I can't really move like you need to be able to and most shows are musicals that require dancing. Not to mention it still gets a bit difficult to breathe if I do something to strenuous. So unless I wanted to spend all of my time in the background, I saw no reason to continue my perusal of a Broadway career." He smiled fondly. "But Rachel decided that I was coming to New York either way, so I enrolled at NYU and took some classes until I decided what I wanted to do with my life."

He cleared his throat. "So, tell me more about you, Mr. Anderson. Where did you grow up?"

"Born and raised in upstate New York. Went to Julliard with the thought to pursue music for a year before I decided I wanted to be a teacher, and then transferred to NYU. My parents still live in the house I grew up and my brother Cooper lives in Texas with his wife and son."

"What about you, though?" Kurt asked. "What are your interests?"

Blaine looked thoughtful for a moment. "I really like music. I can play the piano and the violin. I actually got accepted into Julliard because of my piano playing, but I realized that, while I love playing the piano, I wasn't as passionate about it as I could have been. I was more interested helping the other students become better than I was at perfecting my own art, so teaching seemed to be the next step. So I went for a teaching degree, thinking maybe being a music teacher or something. And then when I babysat Ethan, I knew that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing," Kurt said, staring at the other man before he caught himself. He looked back down at his food. "Do you sing, too?"

Blaine hummed in confirmation, swallowing his drink before he answered. "Yes, I was actually the lead soloist of my show choir for two years. I love to sing."

Kurt chewed his food thoughtfully. "Would you be willing to do a performance?"

Blaine's head shot up. "What?"

"I need entertainment for an event the magazine is hosting for our advertisers the week after we go to print, which is actually next week, damn, but anyway, Rachel was going to do me a favour and sing, but her fa-" He coughed lightly, looking away and blinking rapidly. Try as he might, the words came out half choked. "Something happened in her personal life and she'll be back in Ohio for a few weeks to handle everything."

"Oh no, is everything okay?" Blaine asked, noting Kurt's distress.

Kurt bit his lip, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. Should he tell this stranger, this man he had known for barely a week? It wasn't his story to tell but he really could use the comfort right now.

Apparently he took too long coming up with a decision because Blaine sat back. "I'm sorry, that was rude, I had no right to ask, it's not my business."

"No, it's not that, it's just that Rachel really likes her privacy. But it affects me too." Kurt sighed heavily. "I don't know how much you know about Rachel, but she was raised by two gay fathers. Growing up in Homophobia, Ohio, it was hard for me, being the only out gay kid and they, they basically were my mentors throughout high school. One of them grew sick a while back. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. He- he passed away last night." The tears were falling freely now, unleashed as he opened himself up to Blaine.

Suddenly there was an arm around his shoulder, a broad hand rubbing his arm comfortingly as his head dropped to Blaine's shoulder. "Please don't tell anyone, I know she wouldn't want them to know just yet," he whispered.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Blaine told him, resting his cheek on Kurt's head for a moment. Sophie noticed them and stood up, toddling over and hugging her father's knees.

Kurt smiled and sat up, sniffing slightly as he kissed Sophie's head before accepting the tissue Blaine held out for him. "I'm sorry, I normally don't break down like that but I had to be strong for Rachel and the news is still fresh." He ran his hand over Sophie's head for a moment. "I'm okay, sweetie, you can go finish eating."

Sophie nodded and went to sit down as Blaine waved off his concerns. "It's okay; sometimes a good cry can do wonders for your outlook."

"You're right," Kurt said, letting out a watery chuckle, wiping his nose and throwing the tissue away. "Anyway, would you be willing to give a performance if we can't find anyone else? Just as a backup plan."

Blaine considered it for a moment. "Sure, if you can't find anyone else, I'd be happy to."

Kurt grinned and they continued eating their lunch, their speech not at all awkward in the wake of Kurt's crying.