Fic: Higher Education, 19/?
Title: Higher Education, 19/?
Author: knittycat99
Rating: R for mild language and sexual content
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Puck/Kurt
Genre: Romance
Warning: AU, Futurefic
Spoilers: Oh, goodness no
Disclaimer: I don't own the boys or anything related to Glee
Author Notes: Thanks for waiting for this part; I had a lot of trouble deciding where to go with it, and rewrote it no less than three times. I'm still not 100% happy with it, but in it's own way it gets me to the next part. A few location notes to help you with some references.... Del's is a Rhode Island institution in the summers, slushy frozen lemonade that is perfectly sweet and tart. WaterFire is a fun summer event in the revitalized downtown area. Roger Williams Park is one of the larger parks in the state, and is home to the Roger Williams Zoo. I grew up in Rhode Island, which is almost exclusively why I decided to set these later parts of my story there.
Summary: Being parents is more challenging than Noah and Kurt realized.
Word Count: 2,785
One of the things Noah hadn’t anticipated was how much laundry a baby went through in a day. Before they switched Noelle to a soy formula, she had been incredibly fussy; she would spit up after every feeding, which resulted in many changes of clothes (for her and for whoever had been feeding and burping) every day. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the damn baby socks, in every shade and combination of pink and white that existed. Noah found them everywhere: tangled in the feet of tiny sleepers, stuck to the t-shirts and tank tops he and Kurt would toss in with the baby clothes because they could never seem to do a complete load of their own laundry, under the sofa, tucked between the mattress and the sides of the crib. Everywhere but actually on the baby’s feet. He finally just got a little basket that he set on the coffee table, and used it to collect all the stray socks that seemed to multiply like bunnies. Kurt laughed at him at first, and then turned the whole thing into a game; they kept a tally of the strangest places they found the socks, and at the end of the summer the winner would get to pick the location of their first post-baby date night.
*****
Kurt hadn’t been prepared for how fiercely he loved Noelle. Or for how hard it seemed to connect with Noah those first few weeks. They were both exhausted. Tiny humans took lots of time and attention, and Kurt was more than a little jealous that Noah had the whole summer off. Not that Kurt’s practice hadn’t been practically decimated by summer camps or vacations either woodsy or beachy, but there were still days when he had to dress professionally and leave the house and be wise and articulate while Noah got to spend every day just sort of puttering around and watching the baby sleep. There were days when he felt like a third wheel intruding on whatever dynamic had been established while he was at the office, and sometimes it just hurt. And then there were the days when he didn’t have to go to the office at all, when Noah would go out on purpose, to run errands for diapers and formula, or to the Y to play basketball, so that Kurt got his own alone time with Noelle. Those were the days he’d sit with her cradled in his arms on the porch swing and sing to her softly, or whisper stories about her crazy-amazing extended family. And when Noah got home, he would smile at Kurt’s lazy and relaxed posture, kiss him on the cheek and whisper “Baby bliss. It’s almost better than sex!” Except that they weren’t having sex.
Kurt had a kind-of colleague down the hall from his office, a woman who worked with families of atypically developing children; he’d given her a couple of referrals, and she responded in kind in the rare instance when she met a troubled child who would benefit from Kurt’s work. Reba had a daughter who was almost a year old, and they had started having lunch once a week back in the fall, right after he and Noah had first met Laura. One July Wednesday, he broached the topic with her as they tried to beat the heat with Del’s Lemonade and a shared fruit salad.
“How long after the baby did you and Gary start . . . um.”
“Doing the nasty?”
Kurt snorted, and then coughed in a decidedly undignified way as he choked on his lemonade. “Yes. I mean, I know it’s different since neither of us actually gave birth to Noelle, but . . .”
“But nothing. It doesn’t matter. A baby changes things. She’s what, six weeks old?”
“Seven.”
“Still getting up to feed her in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, there you go. You’re both exhausted, and you’re still learning how to be parents. It will all level out. I think Adele was maybe nine or ten weeks, but we had to leave her with my parents for the night.”
Kurt sighed. “There goes that idea, then.”
“Why?”
“Both our families are in Ohio. And we don’t have anyone here that we’d leave her with.”
“What about Laura?”
“A good option, but her internship ends on Friday and then she’s going home to Indiana for August.
“If you get desperate, you can always leave her with us. But Gary and I also mastered the fine art of the quickie.”
Kurt blushed, and tossed his straw wrapper at Reba. She laughed, and waited until his blush subsided before saying “Hey, it was better than nothing!”
*****
Family Week snuck up on them. They’d made reservations over the winter, so on the first Sunday of August they packed up the Subaru and drove down to Provincetown. Noah knew that Kurt had been feeling off for lots of the summer. He wanted desperately to make it up to him. He had planned lots of beach time, and lots of naps, and lots of time for Kurt to be with Noelle, just with her. And he also had a secret plan, a scheduled date night and Noelle’s first time with a babysitter for their last night in P-town. He hoped it would help get them back to normal as a couple, as themselves. Because he missed Kurt something awful.
They had a great week, relaxing and meeting other families. On Saturday night, Noah sent Kurt back to the B&B after the beach, saying that he’d follow behind with Noelle. “Take a nice long shower, don’t wait on me. I’ll walk her to sleep.” Kurt’s face lit up, which made Noah smile.
“Thanks.”
“No prob.” But instead of following behind, Noah dropped the baby at the babysitting co-op that had been set up for the week at the community center. Some of the other parents they’d met had used the service, and had nothing but good things to say about it. Noah knew Noelle would be fine. After all, they’d only be out for a couple of hours.
When he returned to the room, he could smell the citrus of Kurt’s shampoo. The bathroom was steamy and the shower was still going, so Noah stripped out of his t-shirt and swim trunks and joined his husband. Kurt startled with surprise before asking “is the baby asleep?”
“Better.”
“What can be better than asleep?”
“I have a surprise for you.” At Kurt’s inquisitive look, Noah went on. “You and I have a date. And Noelle is at the co-op.” Noah could see mild concern creep into Kurt’s face, so he headed full blown panic off before it could start. “It’s okay. It came highly recommended. They have both of our cell numbers. And it’s not like we’re an hour away. If anything goes wrong, we can walk there in five minutes. And we need this.” He leaned into Kurt then, resting his chin on Kurt’s shoulder and breathing in their nearness. It had been too long.
After a minute, he felt Kurt’s sigh before he heard it. “You’re right. We do need it.” Kurt’s arms tightened around him, and he shivered at the contact. Kurt’s voice was heavy. “God, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too. C’mon. Let’s get this show on. We have a reservation!”
*****
Kurt was still slightly boneless from the hot shower and Noah’s wandering hands and demanding mouth when they settled in at the restaurant. He was also ravenous. In some ways, it felt strange to be out without the baby. But it was also nice to just see each other, to talk and laugh without the added pressure of bottles and burping and diapers and bedtime. The food was good, fresh seafood and homemade bread. A glass of wine each, and decadent chocolate cake for dessert. They were lingering after the bill was paid and the last plates were cleared away, fingers touching across the table, when Kurt caught sight of a familiar dark head across the room.
“Well. Crap.” He didn’t even realize he’d spoken when Noah looked at him.
“What?”
“I think. Hm. I think Blaine is here.”
“No fucking way.”
“Yes.” Kurt grinned conspiratorially at Noah. “Should we make a fast getaway?”
“If we leave now, we can miss him and still have an hour before we have to pick up the baby.”
“We can do a lot in an hour.”
But they weren’t quick enough. Noah had taken Kurt’s hand and was leading him out of the restaurant when Kurt heard the voice.
“Kurt? Noah?”
Kurt turned, and could feel Noah’s arms wrapping around him. Not out of possession, Kurt knew that, but out of protectiveness. Noah knew how hard it had been for Kurt to let Blaine go, to let him drift out of his life. It had been a loss, and it had hurt. But for Kurt, it was all in the past. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d even wondered about Blaine. Even so, he plastered a smile across his face and let go of his plans for having Noah naked in bed before he spoke.
“Blaine. Hi.” Kurt had to admit, he looked good. “Are you here for Family Week?”
“What?” Blaine looked puzzled, and then shook his head. “No. Just down for the day. We took the ferry out from Boston.” He gestured with his head to a tall brown haired man behind him. “Thomas is up from D.C. for the weekend, and he’s never been down here. How about you?”
Kurt leaned back into the warmth of Noah’s arms, the firmness of his body. “We’re back to Providence tomorrow, but we’ve been here for the week. We actually can’t stay; we really have to pick the baby up at the sitter.”
Kurt watched as Blaine choked on his words. “Baby. Really. Wow.” Clearly he hadn’t been in touch with any of their old friends. But that wasn’t Kurt’s problem.
Noah’s voice vibrated against his ear. “Yeah. A little girl, Noelle. After Kurt’s mom. She’s nine weeks old.”
“Congratulations.” Blaine cleared his throat, and turned to the man. Thomas. “Tom, come here for a second. I want you to meet some friends. This is Kurt.” Thomas’ handshake was exactly the kind Kurt hated, moist and limp, so he overcompensated by squeezing a little too firmly. “And Noah.” Noah reached out with his right hand, but left his other arm around Kurt’s waist. “Kurt and I went to school together back in Ohio. And Noah is his husband. They’ve been together for ages.”
“Thirteen years,” Kurt finally blurted out. “But we really do . . .”
“Have to go,” Noah finished as he turned Kurt away.
“It was nice to see you, Blaine.” Kurt tried not to shout as Noah led him out the door. The last look he got before Blaine and Thomas were lost in the crowd was a shadow of sadness crossing Blaine’s face. Kurt tried to feel bad, but he couldn’t. His life really had no place for Blaine anymore. And besides, he still had plans for Noah to be naked and in bed.
*****
After the baby was picked up, fed, diapered, and put to bed in the bassinette, and after Kurt had left Noah (quietly) satisfied, they lay wrapped together.
“I’ve missed you,” Kurt whispered against his chest.
“Me, too. I hate feeling like we need to schedule us time, but maybe we should start.”
“Maybe” Kurt sighed, a kind of melancholy sigh. “Things will get better. It’s a big adjustment.”
“It is. We’ll get used to it. It’ll be easier when she starts sleeping through the night. We’re going to be fine.” Noah said it as much to convince himself as to convince Kurt. He wrapped his arm a little tighter around Kurt and nudged him up for a kiss. It was the little things they had been missing in the haze of baby, the small ways they had always been together that had taken a backseat. He thought about their Boston days, back when Kurt was first in grad school, about how hard it had been to come back to each other after Noah had just closed himself off. He thought about the couple’s therapy, and his own sessions (the ones Kurt didn’t know about, and the ones Kurt thought Noah didn’t know about). It had helped. They had worked hard, and they had the tools to make things work. He gathered his voice and told Kurt as much.
“We know how to do this. It’s not going to be as easy as it was before Noelle. We’re going to have to work for it.”
Kurt relaxed under Noah’s arms, and whispered “I want to. I want to work for it.”
“Good. Me, too.” Noah pressed a kiss to Kurt’s head. “When we get back to town, we’ll work out a schedule for regular date nights. I have a few students I can call to sit for a few hours once a week.”
“I’d like that.”
*****
Life picked up after P-Town; most of Kurt’s clients were back from vacation, and Noah was starting to get ready for the new school year. They secured a spot for Noelle in the childcare at Noah’s school, a small center for the faculty and staff with an infant room capped at four children. Every Friday night they left Noelle with Macy, one of Noah’s Advanced Biology students who was off to the University of Chicago in the fall, and they went on little dates. WaterFire, a free play in Roger Williams Park, dinner and a movie. Kurt remarked one night that it felt like they were rediscovering each other all over again, and in some ways it was.
The week before school started, Noelle slept through the night for the first time.
The next morning, Kurt called Reba and asked if she and her husband would be willing to take Noelle for the day. Reba laughed heartily into the phone. “I guess she finally slept through the night!”
“Yes,” Kurt replied. “And Daddy and Papa are celebrating! I’ll drop her off in an hour.”
*****
It was the kind of day they had loved back in Boston, back before they fully understood adult life and responsibilities, the kind of day that would find them hazy with lovemaking and sleep before stumbling out for dinner, still drunk on each other. Fall hadn’t really set in yet; the sun was high in the sky, the leaves still green, the air on the edge of cool as it played with the curtains in the bedroom. Noah breathed in Kurt’s scent, the citrus of his shampoo mingling with the spice of his aftershave, and all of it overlaid with what Noah was coming to know as Noelle’s scent, baby shampoo and the lavender lotion Kurt liked to rub into her skin at bedtime. It was a new world, but it was their world.
Noah pressed a line of kisses down Kurt’s spine, and watched him squirm even in sleep; he’d always been sensitive there. He smiled as Kurt rolled over, opened sleep-heavy eyes, and tugged Noah down for a proper kiss. When Kurt broke away, his voice was full with what Noah knew was love.
“All these years, and you still amaze me.”
Noah stretched out next to Kurt. He had always been happy, but now he was experiencing something else: contentment. He lets a little puff of air out through his lips, thinks about how they’ve grown into their relationship, marvels at all the tiny decisions that have brought them here. But it all came down to one thing, to both of them taking a chance back when they were still boys.
“You’re still all there’s ever been for me.” He runs his finger over Kurt’s wedding band, which is slightly cool against both of their warm hands. “When is Reba expecting us?”
“I told her we’d be there by 5:00. Why?”
“Damn. I thought maybe we’d have time for another round.”
“Nope.” Kurt sounds disappointed, but then his voice creeps up with a partially unfinished thought. “Race you to the shower?”
The sweet air followed Noah up the hall, and he wondered if was possible to be more in love with Kurt than he was at 18. The whole day felt like magic, like love and heartbreak and hope, like a new beginning.
Half an hour later, renewed from the gift of a day together and in lazy day jeans and t-shirts, they went off to pick up their daughter. It felt like the first day of the rest of their lives.