The next three weeks went by quickly with Sam working on his final projects and Kurt helping him with his Art History reading. He had a final paper to write for Art History rather than a final exam. He started on that as soon as he had the exact requirements for it. He worked on it during his resource periods as well.
Kurt's last few weeks at Vogue were bittersweet. He loved working for Isabelle and was really going to miss her. He knew he would not miss the backbiting and gossiping that went on in the office. Being male, he wasn't the target frequently, but it bothered him nonetheless.
Isabelle wrote him a letter of recommendation in case he had any fashion opportunities in his near future. She also gave a glowing review of Kurt's punctuality and attention to detail to the shop owner who called her asking about Kurt.
Margaret's internship had ended the week before they were moving, and Sam had only been to visit Blaze twice the last week before moving. Monday he went just for fun. He took Blaze swimming and to their favorite park one last time. He went back on Tuesday to help the two of them pack. On Tuesday, Sam took Blaze a painting of the park they visited frequently, which Blaze loved. They weren't taking their furniture cross-country, just their personal belongings. Sam offered to buy their small wood credenza they had their TV on and Margaret just gifted it to him. He had Kurt drive the car to Margaret's, brought a pizza to share as a final goodbye dinner together. They brought the small credenza back with them on Tuesday evening and painted it to match the rest of their furniture.
By the time his last day at Vogue rolled around, Kurt had secured a position at a shop not too far from their new apartment. As his going away present, Isabelle gifted him with a tuxedo. He was shocked and thrilled. She assured him that he would need one at some point in his singing career. He accepted it graciously. He hugged Isabelle and thanked her profusely.
Sam turned his final paper in and was officially done with his schoolwork that Thursday as well. He brought home boxes when he got out of school. By the time Kurt got home, Sam had taped the bottoms of several of the boxes in preparation for packing. He had finished packing their books and he had also managed to finish packing their jackets and shoes before Kurt got home.
Kurt came in and Sam met him with a big hug and a kiss.
"Wow, you've been busy. Thank you." Kurt kissed him.
"I figured we'll cook for the rest of the evening and pack up everything into ziplock bags. Then we can pack up the dishes and all of the kitchen stuff tomorrow and just eat whatever we make tonight."
"Good plan. I know we didn't go shopping Saturday so that we could eat what we have and not worry with trying to pack it. So, it will be a hodge-podge day of food. We can go shopping Sunday."
"I'm graduating. We're moving. We're going to college!" Sam spun him around in a hug.
"Yes, you are graduating! It's fantastic. You did it."
"Let's cook." He slow danced Kurt into the kitchen and spun him around and wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist.
"Mmm." Kurt reached up behind him and wrapped his hands behind Sam's neck. "I'm not sure we're going to get anything cooked like this."
Sam ran his hands down Kurt's sides. "Alright." He kissed the back of Kurt's neck.
Kurt turned back toward Sam and caught his lips and pressed up against him, pushing him slightly until he was against the kitchen wall.
"My willpower is minimal. I've been thinking about you all day." Kurt continued with the kissing, down Sam's neck, back up, and then he licked the edge of his earlobe.
"Let's go shower and we'll cook later."
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"I'm not sure I can focus with you in your boxer briefs and an apron."
"You're the one that packed our pajamas already because we never wear them to bed anyway." Kurt laughed.
"Well, that part's true. We wear them to lounge around in and watch movies, but we never sleep in them."
"Well, let's get cooking. We've already given into temptation - twice."
"Maybe the third time's the charm." Sam waggled his eyebrows.
Kurt laughed. "Well, that can be arranged AFTER we cook this food. I'm going to run out of energy if you don't feed me." Kurt blinked his eyes and made the sad puppy face.
"Now, none of that. I can't have you starve when I need you all full of energy." Sam pulled out all of the stuff that needed cooked and Kurt got out the pots and pans. An hour later, everything was bagged up, they had eaten, and they were nearly finished with the dishes.
"So, are you full of energy again?"
Kurt swished and swaggled across the room to put what he was drying in the box.
Sam laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." They finished drying everything and packed all the pots and pans in the box and sealed it.
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The next morning, they started packing everything else in the apartment. They left out a dress outfit and a moving outfit for Saturday and packed the rest of their clothes. They stacked all of the boxes near the door and moved all of their furniture near the door as well, except the bed and couch. By the end of the day they were pretty tired, but happy with themselves that they had gotten it all done by dinnertime.
They went out for a celebratory graduation dinner to a sit-down restaurant. Afterwards, they went back home and enjoyed their traditional early snuggle evening.
Saturday morning, they drove to the U-Haul location, making one stop on the way there, and Kurt drove the truck back to their place. They wrapped the bed in the plastic they had gotten while they were out. Kurt ran the sheets down to the washer and got them started while they were loading their furniture onto the truck. Santana agreed to sit on the back of the truck to keep would-be furniture snatchers away from the truck in exchange for Kurt and Sam agreeing to carry her bed down from the loft.
They loaded everything in the truck in a couple of hours and locked it. They carried Santana's bed down as agreed. Kurt moved the sheets to the dryer and he and Sam changed for the graduation ceremony. Kurt grabbed their sheets, and they did a final look around the apartment but didn't find anything. They gave Santana the keys and headed off to the school for the ceremony.
Kurt took pictures with his camera and recorded the section of the ceremony when Sam's name was called and he walked across the stage to get his diploma with Sam's phone. He took photos afterwards of Sam in his cap and gown. Sam got one of his classmates to take a few photos of the two of them together. He turned the robe back in and the two of them headed back to the apartment.
They grabbed their moving clothes and knocked on the apartment door. Santana let them in and they changed in the bathroom. They said their goodbyes and left. Kurt climbed in the truck and Sam drove his car.
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A little over two hours later, they pulled into their new apartment's parking lot. They retrieved the keys from the manager and started carrying all of their furniture up to their apartment.
"These stairs are killers," Kurt said after what seemed like the 500th trip up them.
"I know, but there were no ground floor places available. Plus, I really do like not having people walk past our bedroom window."
Once they finally had everything inside the apartment, Sam followed Kurt to the U-Haul drop-off location. They stopped and got a salad at a drive through and went back to the apartment.
The apartment was basically a fat rectangle, but not quite square. The door opened from the east to the right, in the northeast corner of the room. Along the north wall was a wide, short window. Along the west wall was the kitchen, which took up the whole wall down to the bathroom. The bathroom was in the southwest corner of the room. Along the wall that separated the bathroom from the rest of the apartment, there was a closet that ran the full length of the bathroom wall. The south wall was up against the apartment next door. The east wall had two wide, short windows, one in the area they were using as their bedroom and one near the door.
"Alright. I'm getting the sewing machine out and fixing the curtains ASAP. How about you start with the bathroom stuff? We can get rid of those boxes quickly."
"Got it."
Kurt measured and carefully cut their curtains in half, allowing for the hem and seam allowances. He resewed them and put buttonholes in the top of the new sections. He finished the set for the bedroom area first.
Sam had already started on emptying out the kitchen boxes onto the countertop.
"Can you find the iron and turn it on so we can get these ironed and hung up? I'm going to work on getting the others done, but in case we give up and want to go to bed first, we can put the screen up and no one can see the bed from the other windows.
Sam found it, plugged it in, turned it on, and set up the ironing board. A few minutes later, they were working together to get them ironed and hung.
"Perfect," Sam said. "You are amazing at that. Really."
"I try. I'm going to get started on the next set, but first let's get the bed and the dressers into position. That way you can start to put our clothes in the dressers while I sew." They moved the bed so the head was against the south wall, with a small dresser on each side.
Kurt went back to resewing the living room curtains while Sam put clothes away. He moved on to the hanging clothes once he finished the clothes that went in the dressers.
Sam took a break and helped with the ironing again. They hung the second set of curtains on the window that ran along the north wall. They both returned to their tasks. Kurt finally finished the third set not too long after Sam had gotten all of their clothes hung in the closet. They hung the last set up on the window near the door.
"Perfect. Now, no one can see in." Sam walked up behind Kurt and rubbed his shoulders a little. "I know you were tired and sewing is a lot easier when you're not tired, but it means a lot to me that you did the curtains first."
"You're welcome." Kurt turned to face him. "I know people being able to see in bothers you. It bothers me too. Now, no one can see us." He kissed him.
"Let's unwrap the mattress, put it on the frame, and make the bed. Then, once we're too tired to do anything else, we can just go to sleep."
Once they finished putting the sheets on the bed, Sam said, "I vote we just shower and go to sleep and start again in the morning."
"That's fine with me."
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"It's so quiet," Sam said.
"I know. I've gotten accustomed to the noise."
"The CD player and the iPod are still packed. So, no music."
"Kiss me?"
"Of course."
"We'll kiss until we fall asleep."
"Good idea."
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Their tasks early the next morning started with a trip to Lowe's. They had measured the back of the small shelf that had sat on their countertop and the storage shelf that had sat under their bedroom window. They bought a piece of plywood and had it cut the right size for each shelving unit. They also bought a can of black textured spray paint, a concrete block, and a package of the picture hangers that the apartment complex allowed.
They took the backing pieces home and painted them. They put a second coat of paint on as soon as they could. They also took their clothing racks back outside and sat them on some cardboard boxes and spray painted them to make them look nicer and match their furniture. Fortunately it wasn't too hot or humid, so everything dried quickly.
While the items were drying, they tackled the kitchen and decided where to put everything. They were so used to having virtually no storage space that it felt weird spreading things out in the cabinets.
The pieces they had painted weren't dry enough to use, but they were dry to the touch and they carried them back upstairs to let them dry more while they went to the grocery store to stock up.
They brought everything up and put it all away.
"Wow. It's weird to have nothing sitting out in the open."
"It is, but I like it. Especially since the kitchen is open to the whole room," Sam said.
"Let's see if those boards are dry enough to attach."
"They seem fine to me."
They attached the backings to the three shelving units.
"Now comes the tricky part," Kurt said.
The couch was positioned near the middle of the room facing the east wall. They placed the small shelf that had been on top of the cabinet next to the couch on the floor, on the right side when standing behind the couch. They lined up the tall bookcase along the east wall between the windows so it matched with the small shelf.
They stood the divider up next to both of them and slowly pushed the storage shelf that had been under their bedroom window up against the divider from the other side. Kurt was standing on the bedroom side and Sam was on the living room side. They slowly straightened the divider and Kurt pushed the storage shelf until the divider was actually standing with no bends in it, like a flat mini wall.
They used screws, bolts, nickel-diameter washers, and nuts to anchor it in place to the tall bookcase, the small shelf, and the storage shelf. The small storage shelf actually faced the kitchen, so from the front of the couch, the solid back was all that could be seen.
"It shouldn't move once we get the books on the tall shelf. Let's do that next," Kurt said.
Sam moved the boxes of books in front of the shelf and loaded them on.
Kurt pulled out a black undershirt that he hardly wore anymore since they slept without pajamas and he wrapped the concrete block with it and put it on the bottom shelf of the small shelf to keep it in place until they had their schoolbooks to weigh it down once school started. He just sat on the floor for a few minutes afterwards, staring off into space.
"Done," Sam said.
"Alright," Kurt popped back up. "Let's get the stuff out of the boxes that belong on the shelf in the bedroom." Kurt put his sewing machine on the shelf along with his sewing stuff. Sam pulled his art supplies out and put them back on the shelf.
"If it's not stable enough, we can get some 2x2s and run them up from the sides of this storage shelf."
"I think it's okay. It's not like we have kids running through here or anything," Sam pointed out.
"We've just got a few boxes left. Do you want to set up the TV or empty the boxes of shoes?"
"I'll do the TV."
Kurt came back into the living room with the empty boxes from the bedroom. Sam stood up and grabbed all of the ones that had been piled in the living room.
"Let's go dump these in the recycling and come back up and take a look at our new place."
They went down and came back up. They opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind them.
"Nice. I like it."
They had placed one of their clothing racks next to where the door opened back onto the north wall. They would use it to hang coats, both their own and visitors'. The rack fit without blocking the window.
They had set the TV credenza under the window next to the door. The tall bookcase was next to it, against the east wall. The divider was fastened to it.
On the other side of the divider was Kurt's standing mirror, then his desk, and last was their other clothing rack that Kurt had decided to use a place to hang their clothes to dry rather than always having to move them off the shower rod to shower.
Along the south wall were their dressers and their bed. The storage boxes were under the bed on the side where Kurt's desk was. The shoe cubbies faced the closet doors.
Against the divider sat their other storage shelf. The last two sections of the divider were still bendable and when opened back created a doorway of sorts. When folded out, it completely blocked the view into the bedroom from the living room and kitchen area.
Their kitchen table was directly behind the sofa in the space between the sofa and the kitchen counters. The floor lamp was on the end of the couch near the divider, in front of the small shelf. They pointed the shades up and it illuminated both sides of the room.
They looked all around and Kurt leaned into Sam. "We did it. It looks great. All we need now is to hang up your paintings and it will feel like home."
"Alright then. You pick where to put them. I'll get those hanger things and a tape measure."
An hour later, the paintings had been hung and they were done.
"Photos?"
"We told our parents we'd send them, so let's take them and send them."
They took photos from several locations and one final selfie of the two of them sitting on the couch.
Kurt emailed them to both set of parents. "Done and done."
"I'm done. Way, way done. How about we splurge and order a pizza? We'll watch a movie and relax instead of cook."
"Sound like a fabulous idea. You order. We'll shower, wait for it to come, and watch a movie while we eat it."
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They talked while they snuggled and waited for their pizza.
"Can you think of anything that we actually need to get?" Sam asked.
"Well, I'd like a dish drain. Since we have a double sink now, we can put the clean dishes in it and let them dry on their own sometimes. And I'd like to get couple of those drawer cutlery trays. We just kept the silverware in a glass jar before because we had no drawers, but now that we do, I'd like to stick the utensils and the silverware in the drawers."
"Good ideas. I'd like to get one of those shower sprayers with a hose. I got used to the one in the apartment and I don't care for the single showerhead in there. It makes showering together too complicated having to trade positions all the time."
"Definitely one of those."
"What about a couple of throw pillows for the couch, so we don't have to drag our bedroom pillows out here?"
"Also a good idea."
"So, tomorrow we'll go over to the university and check the jobs bulletin board and see if anyone posted wanting a summer nanny. If there are no ads, I'll ask about summer camps. Then we'll get those things, come home and relax all the rest of the day because you start work on Tuesday."
The pizza delivery person knocked on the door. Sam got up to answer it.
"Pizza for Evans?"
"That's me." Sam handed him cash. "Keep the change. Thanks!" He shut the door.
Kurt moved to the table and turned the TV on and started the next episode of Stargate. When they finished the pizza, they moved to the couch and watched to the end of the episode.
"One more or go to bed?"
"I thought of something else."
"What?"
"Some kind of clock to sit up on top of the bookcase so we can see it from both sides of the divider."
"Dish drain, cutlery trays, detachable showerhead, and a clock. Got it."
"And let's get in bed. I'm tired, even though I'm not actually sleepy. I just want to snuggle."
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They got up early again Monday and headed out to buy the few things they had decided on the night before. Then they headed over to the university to check the bulletin board for jobs.
"Two professors seeking energetic person to provide full-time summer care for rambunctious twin boys. Must have experience. Preference given to anyone who can give art or music lessons. Must be willing to transport twins to soccer camp and/or practice," Kurt read out loud.
"Rambunctious, huh? Is that a code word for wild and crazy?"
"Probably, but it couldn't hurt to call. The pay might be good since the ad is still up and school gets out the end of this week."
"There are a couple of others that are part-time hours." Sam took a photo of those just in case. "Maybe I could work two of them, depending on the hours."
"Do you want to call the first one and find out more? Or do rambunctious twin boys sound like more than your willing to tackle this summer?"
"Can't hurt to call." He dialed the number. "Hello, my name is Sam Evans and I'm calling about the job posted about summer child care."
"Um. Yeah. Sure. Can you repeat the address?" He put his phone on speaker so Kurt could hear it and write it down.
"I'll be there. Thank you, sir."
"So, I can go meet the twins this evening. You'll come, right?"
"If you want me to."
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They headed home and put the things they had bought where they were going. Kurt fixed the cutlery drawer while Sam installed the showerhead. He came out of the bathroom carrying the original and put it in a ziplock bag without sealing it.
"Once it's dry we can put it in one of the bathroom drawers to put back on when we move out."
"So, what do you think of the pillows?"
Sam lay down and tried one out. "Seems good to me. Maybe a little stiff, but they can be washed, right?"
"Yes. I checked that before we bought them."
"Anything else on our agenda?" Sam got up and walked over to the kitchen where Kurt was still standing.
"Not until 6:00."
"We could try out the new showerhead." Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt from the back and started unbuttoning his shirt.
"Are you trying to get me wet and naked?"
"Definitely." He started kissing Kurt's neck.
"Well, we SHOULD see if it works right before we toss out the packaging." He laughed and slipped out of his shirt.
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"Your ideas of showering and a nap just lead to more showering," Kurt teased. "Oh, God, don't stop."
Sam was kissing up the side of Kurt's neck and got to his ear and whispered, "but you're so damn sexy."
"Now I know what happens when we have too much time on our hands," he said as he rolled them over.
"We act like bunnies?" Sam reached over into the drawer.
"Precisely." Kurt took what Sam handed him. "Again?"
"Definitely."
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Sam was standing in just a towel, looking in the closet. "What do I wear to a 'meet the family' interview in someone's home?"
"I think we just go casual. Not completely, though. So, like a button up short sleeve shirt with a t-shirt underneath and cargo shorts with your Vans. So, that way if they want to see you in action, you could slip off the button up and go play."
"Sounds reasonable."
They both got dressed and headed out to the address Kurt had written down earlier.
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They pulled up to a well-maintained two-story house with a two-car garage and a fenced back yard. They got out and walked up the front sidewalk. Before they got to the door a man in his mid-thirties opened the front door and welcomed them inside.
"I'm Drake Edwards." He extended his hand to Sam since he was standing the closest.
"Sam Evans." He shook Drake's hand.
"Kurt Hummel." He also shook Drake's hand.
"Come on in and have a seat please," he said motioning toward the couch.
"Sam, you're the one who called, correct?"
"Yes, sir. Kurt's already employed."
"I see. So, do you have experience taking care of kids?"
"I have a younger brother and sister that I took care of frequently, and from December until just last week, I cared for an 8-year old boy during breaks and for 3 hours a day after school. I gave him guitar lessons and art lessons. I also took him to his swimming lessons."
"I see. Why did you quit working for his family?"
"Well, his mother was a PhD student and she finished her program and they're moving to Oregon for her new job. Also, we moved here over the weekend. We were living in Bushwick, near Brooklyn."
"Do you have a letter or reference or can I contact this boy's mother?"
"Sure. I brought a copy of the letter and her cell phone number is at the bottom, if you'd like to call her."
"I will do that later."
"You mentioned you play guitar. Any other instruments?"
"No, sir."
"Alright. We were hoping to find someone who could give Avery piano lessons."
"I could do that on Mondays over the summer," Kurt said. "Once school starts in the fall, we might have to change the day, depending on my schedule – unless you were just looking for someone for the summer. Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm a music theater major."
"Do you not work on Mondays?"
"I work four 10-hour shifts, Tuesday through Friday."
"That's a possibility then. Let me tell you a little about the twins. I mentioned Avery. Our other son is Oliver. They're 10. They're finishing the fourth grade this week."
"Avery wants to take piano lessons, but I'm honestly not sure how serious he is. We're willing to buy him a keyboard and find out."
"Oliver plays guitar, but doesn't care for the rigid instruction he's been getting in the lessons he's been taking. There's a possibility that he just lacks focus and doesn't want to put the effort in, but there's also a chance that he and the instructor are not a good match."
"Both of them enjoy art. Do you draw?"
"I'm staring school here in the fall as an art major. I can show you some of my work, if you'd like." Sam opened the photo app on his phone and clicked on the folder where he kept this artwork. He handed the phone to Drake.
"Those are very nice." Drake handed his phone back to him.
"Thank you."
"We're looking for someone for the summer, full time as the ad stated. If you're interested, the position could continue in the fall for about 3 hours each afternoon after school. The guy that's been watching them graduated and is moving out of town in a week or two."
"I will be looking to continue to work in the fall."
"I may be overstepping, but the two of you are wearing matching rings?"
"We're married."
"How long?"
"Almost 2 months."
"How long have you two known each other?"
"I was 16, he was 17 when we met. Over two and half years ago, I guess. I'm 19 now and he's 20."
Drake was obviously thinking about something, but snapped back to the present. "Alright, well, would you two be willing to drive out to the park to meet the rest of the family? They'll grab some pizzas and meet us."
"Sure. We'll need to follow you. We've only been here a couple of days."
"That's fine. It's not far." Drake stood and opened the door for everyone to leave and locked it behind them. He got in his car and pulled out and down the street a bit waiting for Kurt and Sam to follow him. It only took about 5 minutes to drive to the park.
They parked in the lot and walked over to a small shelter area with picnic tables underneath.
"Daddy!" one of the twins yelled and practically bowled Drake over with the flying hug he gave him.
Kurt and Sam walked up and were surprised to see another man seated at the table.
"Kurt, Sam, this is my husband Brett. This monkey hanging on me is Oliver."
"Avery's down there, Daddy." He pointed to a playground.
Oliver had dark wavy hair and a slightly tan complexion. From a distance, all they could tell was that Avery had much lighter hair.
"Well, Mr. Monkey, why don't you go get him and tell him we're going to eat the pizza."
Oliver took off running.
"It's nice to meet the two of you," Brett said. "Which one of you is Sam?"
"That'd be me."
"Brett, they're already married. It's just amazing to me that this is finally real. Brett and I had to wait so long to be able to get married legally. And the legal issues raising the twins without us being able to be married. It was complicated. I'm so glad things are changing."
"Drake and I have been together for well, a long time. It's complicated and involves me getting involved with a woman to please my family and her ending up pregnant with twins she didn't want. I won't get into all of the details because it's a real soap opera. But the twins are mine biologically. They don't know the story and won't for a good while. It's hard for adults to understand, much less two kids."
"We've been there, done that. Dated girls, I mean. We don't have any kids."
Brett and Drake laughed and nodded in understanding.
Oliver and Avery came bounding up to the table.
"Who are you?" Avery asked.
"Manners?" Brett prompted.
"Sorry. I'm Avery. What're your names?"
"I'm Kurt."
"I'm Sam."
Brett opened the box and let the boys grab slices of pizza. "I got a cheese pizza and one the boys like. Help yourselves."
Kurt and Sam each took a slice.
"Thanks!" they both said.
"There's several types of drinks. The boys picked a variety. Just take whatever you want."
Sam grabbed two drinks and handed one to Kurt.
"Sam's an incoming art major and Kurt is an incoming musical theater major," Drake said.
"I teach math, calculus mostly, at the university," Brett said.
"I don't think I said what I do. I teach French, mostly literature."
Brett asked, "Where are you two from?"
"Well, I'm from Ohio. I grew up in a small town. I moved to New York City last September."
"I've lived in Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, and back to Ohio. I moved to New York to be with Kurt in December."
"And you both just graduated from high school?" Brett asked.
"No, just me. Kurt graduated last year."
"I worked at Vogue as an intern this past school year."
"And are you working here?"
"I start tomorrow. At Shepherd's Garage."
"Interesting career move," Brett said.
"Well, I design clothes, but I'm a certified mechanic. And being a mechanic pays better than being an intern."
"I'm sure it does," Brett laughed. "Most places try to get away without paying interns at all."
"I've been working full time. I'll be working 10-hour shifts, four days a week for the summer. I'll cut back to about 15 hours a week once school starts."
The six of them ate their fill of pizza and the two boys started chattering about themselves giving far more details than anyone could remember because they were talking quite animatedly and constantly interrupted each other.
"Avery and Oliver, why don't you to take Sam down the playground while the three of us clean everything up?" Brett said.
"Yes, Papa." The boys got up and Sam followed them.
Kurt watched them walk down to the playground.
"The two of you are adorable. It's how we could have been if things had been different," Drake said
"Well, we had our own missed timing, but we're together now."
"And quite happy, as we can see," Brett teased.
"Yes. He's my best friend. He's really the only person who has ever accepted all of me."
"So, how do you think he'd do with two crazy boys?"
"Well, his brother and sister are quite the pair. Non-stop talking and moving. They're let's see… Stacie's 8 and Stevie is 10 now. He watched them most of the time after school when he was 16, turning 17. That summer, his family moved to Kentucky. He went with them for a while, then came back to Ohio and lived with my family for nearly 14 months - until December when he moved to New York to live with me. So, he hasn't lived with them in about…19 months. They talk on the phone still."
"Sounds like your story might be as complicated as ours."
"Could be. Mine involves a lying, cheating, manipulative ex-boyfriend. His involves realizing that he was gay not quite a year ago."
"After you moved away?"
"Yes."
"Definitely as complicated as ours. I won't pry anymore. Maybe we can share war stories sometime," Brett laughed.
Kurt just smiled and looked down at the playground again. He saw Sam motioning for him to come to the playground.
"Excuse me. I'm being summoned," Kurt laughed and took off running toward the playground.
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A half hour later, they were back at the house.
"So, our room and office are down here on the first floor. They are not allowed in either room when we aren't here - too much potential for mischief. The doors lock with keys."
Sam laughed.
They followed Brett and Drake upstairs. "Up here there is alcove at the top of the stairs that they share as a TV and gaming area. If they fight, the TV goes off, no negotiations. If they work out their differences peacefully, it can be turned back on 15 minutes later. No swearing. That's an automatic 15-minute shut-off as well," Drake said.
"They have separate bedrooms. When they were little they shared and we had our room up here. But they've shown that they can be trusted not to flood the bathroom or destroy anything," Brett said praising them where they could hear. "And we're really proud of the fact that they generally work out their differences without the need of yelling and we do not tolerate physical violence. They know that."
"We don't hurt each other," Oliver said.
Avery just nodded.
"That's good," Kurt said. "I grew up being physically bullied. It's a terrible thing to do to someone."
They both nodded.
"They are not required to do schoolwork when they get home. Drake and I are opposed to young children being required to do schoolwork at home. Their teachers are well aware of the fact that we will not tolerate it. If they have reading assignments, we will do those with them when we get home."
Kurt saw Sam relax. He knew that schoolwork was always a stressful topic for him.
"You two stay up here and play with Daddy. I'm going to go down and talk to Kurt and Sam some more."
The three of them went back downstairs and sat in the living room.
"I feel like I should tell you that I'm dyslexic, just so you're aware. If I ever text you and it looks like I'm impaired in some way, I'm not. I just can't spell my way out of a box."
Brett laughed. "It's fine. Being dyslexic isn't a deal killer for us. We're not looking for a tutor. We're basically looking for an adult playmate. We're firm believers in kids getting to be kids and they already spend 8 hours a day at school. They attend a private school with good teachers. For what we pay, we expect them to do their jobs, not send the work home for us to do it with them."
Kurt and Sam nodded.
"So, would you be coming with Sam on Mondays?"
"I can. Drake mentioned Avery wanting to learn to play the piano and I offered to teach him on Mondays when I'm off."
"We don't generally let them go to the pool with a sitter, but if you come on Mondays, the two of you could take them to the club to swim as well."
"That sounds fun," Kurt said.
"So, what no one has talked about is the pay. We've sent both of them to camp before and they hated it. The camps run them ragged and they want to chill out and read or draw or play in their own yard. We're willing to pay $450 a week, provided Oliver gets a 30-minute guitar lesson and you watch him practice 30 minutes a day, Avery gets a 30-minute piano lesson with Kurt and Sam watches him practice 30-minutes a day the other days. And Sam gives them daily art lessons for however long they want to do art projects each day. I'm not expecting them become the next Renoir and Picasso, but there are right ways to do things and wrong ways. Art is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, but paint can only be applied to certain surfaces and different glues and brushes are for different things. I want them to learn how to properly use the tools we get them. Oh, and they have soccer practice every Friday from 2:00-4:00. So, you'd need to take them to the soccer field and stay there while they practice."
Brett sat there thinking for a few minutes.
"Oh, and we'll get a Michael's gift card for you to buy them the art supplies they need. We don't know what to get, but we definitely don't expect you to pay for what they need. So, a weekly trip to Michael's will be on the agenda. Maybe on Mondays when the two of you come. It's easier to shop if there are two people in a store like that because they each see something amazing, and zoom - they've disappeared."
Kurt laughed. "I bet."
"I'll go up and make sure there isn't anything else Drake wanted to say and I'll let you think about it for a few minutes." He went upstairs and left Kurt and Sam alone in the living room.
"What do you think?" Kurt asked.
"Well, I didn't expect to make you have to be part of it."
"I don't mind that. I love being with you and I like kids. You know that."
"But Kurt does the braids differently, Sammy. Can't you do them like Kurt does?'" Sam imitated Stacey's voice.
"Hush, you. She did not say that."
"She most certainly did. She thinks you're the most 'awesomest' person. Her words. Of course, she's right."
"Off topic. $450 is really reasonable, actually way more than reasonable. You'd only make between $260 and $270 a week working for minimum wage."
"I just thought about something. I probably won't have any health insurance once I start working and making that much money. Ugh."
"We'll figure it out. First just figure out whether you want to watch Avery and Oliver."
"I like them. This will be a lot more fun than working fast food or retail, and for way more money."
"Alright, then when one of them comes back down, you can tell them."
A couple of minutes later, Drake came back down the stairs. "You've gotten two thumbs up from the peanut gallery. And two yeses from us."
Sam laughed. "So, I'm moving on to the live shows? Oh, no. That's only if I get the golden buzzer."
"Actually, we'd like the two of you to come back Saturday and spend the afternoon here before you start next Monday. We'd like to be here the first time you stay and play with them to help ease the transition of how we do things around here and where everything is. Would 12-4 work on Saturday? We'll pay you for your time."
Sam looked at Kurt, who nodded. "Sure. We can come on Saturday."
"I should have asked first. You did decide you'd like to watch them, right?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. We'll see you Saturday then. Thanks so much for being willing to hang out so long this evening. It's hard to leave your kids with someone new."
"I can imagine. I wouldn't let just anyone watch my little brother and sister."
Kurt and Sam stood up and walked to the door. Drake walked them out to the sidewalk.
Sam turned, "See you Saturday."
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Tuesday morning came too early for Kurt's liking, but they got up and got dressed. Sam dropped him off at work. He spent the first hour filling out paperwork and online forms. He opted for the health insurance for both of them, even though it would take a chunk out of his check. He knew that they couldn't go uninsured and since Sam had graduated, he'd aged out of the state program he had been in.
He spent the rest of the day learning the layout of the garage and getting a feel for how the shop worked. He got his coveralls and was glad to find out that they would sent out to be laundered and he just had a pin-on nametag, which would save him from having to spend money to wash them every evening.
Sam spent the day working on a new painting and looking at maps of the area, trying to learn his way around. He mapped out the best ways to get to the places they'd go to most often and took screenshots to study.
He cooked in between painting. He had dinner in the oven on warm when he went to pick Kurt up at the end of the day.
Kurt got in the car and sighed.
"That bad?"
"Nope, not bad at all. Just tired. It's been quite a while since I did any of that stuff and walking may be good exercise, it doesn't improve my ability to lift tires or push tool cabinets around."
Kurt closed his eyes and rested on the drive home.
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"Smells great. Do I have time for a shower?"
"Hmm. I will feel left out if you shower without me."
Kurt laughed.
"It's true. I've decided that showering alone is very boring."
"Alright then. I'll just wash my hands a few more times and we can eat first."
They ate and cleaned up afterwards and headed to the shower. They put pajama pants on and Kurt sat down at his desk with all of the papers he had brought home and did a bunch of calculations.
He brought his notes to the kitchen table. Sam came over and sat with him.
"So, I've done all the math. We talked about opening a joint account and depositing an agreed upon amount into the joint account."
Sam nodded.
"We were going to keep our personal accounts and deposit an equal amount of discretionary funds into them each month."
"Yeah."
"And then we were talking about a savings account to put the remainder of our paychecks into."
"Right."
"I already have one savings account that I've been using as an emergency fund. The money I made selling my Navigator. I'd like to add your name to that account and go ahead and open a second savings account."
"Why?"
"I'd like to keep adding to the emergency fund, but I also want us to save for things that we want to do like take a vacation now and then. Like this summer, Brett and Drake will have two weeks off between the end of the summer term and the beginning of the fall term. They won't need you to watch the boys then. We could take a vacation during that time. It would have to be something small this year because we won't have time to save up that much. But next year we could go someplace either at the break between summer and fall or over winter break."
"I think I'd like to split the check I got for my paintings between the emergency fund and the new savings account. I want to be responsible, but I'd also like to do something fun with you with part of it."
"We could do the same thing with the check the Warblers gave us. We actually need to cash that soon. Checks aren't good forever. We could deposit part of it into the emergency fund and part into the savings account."
"I like that idea."
"So, I've calculated and you'll need to deposit $600 into the joint account, $50 into your personal account and the other $70 however we decide between the savings and the emergency fund. I'll deposit $850 into the joint account, $50 in to my own personal account and the other $100 between our other two accounts."
"Okay."
"I thought I'd be able to contribute more, but signing up for health insurance took a chunk out that I hadn't factored in. But it's fine. We'll still be able to pay everything easily."
"We're working a lot this summer. What are we doing with that extra money?"
"I figured the emergency fund. If the shop burns down or Brett and Drake suddenly move out of town, we'd need a way to cover our rent for the time it takes to find a new job."
"That sounds reasonable." Sam pulled out his phone. "So, I'll be depositing a little over $2800 into the emergency fund."
"Sounds about right. So we're agreed?"
"Sure. I knew that it would be this way. I'm not upset. We'll be fine like you said and it's not like I'm putting in $100 and you're putting in $1000. It's not that far apart. I don't feel like a mooch or anything."
"Good. Because we're a team. I know money issues is one of the top causes for people's marriages disintegrating."
Sam took his hand. "I'm in this for keeps. Money has been a struggle for a long time for me, but it's not now. We'll be fine." He pulled Kurt's hand up and kissed his knuckles.
"We are employed. Both of us. We'll be tired, but we'll pay our own way." He turned and put his hands on each side of Sam's face and ran his thumbs down his cheeks and kissed him. He got out of his chair and moved into Sam's lap and wrapped his arms around Sam's neck. He laid his head down and sat there. Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist.
"Let's move to the couch. Twisting your back like that can't be comfortable."
Kurt stood up and they moved to the couch.
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They enjoyed Saturday at Drake and Brett's with the boys. The next week Sam started watching them every day and they adjusted their lives into a new rhythm.
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The week after Sam's first full week on the job, Carole and Burt flew into NYC and rented a car and drove to see them. They planned to arrive at the apartment not long after Kurt and Sam got home from work. They had showered quickly and redressed before Burt and Carole arrived.
They heard a knock on the door at 7:00 and Kurt answered and let them in.
"Come on inside," Kurt said.
"Oh, honey it's lovely. The pictures were great, but seeing it in person is much better. You guys have done a great job with the place."
She hugged each of them first, and then Burt followed with a bear hug for each of them.
"Thanks."
"So, where do you two want to go to dinner?"
"Actually we don't know. We've not been out anywhere. We got fast food salads once the day we moved in and ordered a pizza in the next evening, but other than that, we've just cooked here at home."
"Well, then, let's just get in the car and drive to wherever there's a shopping area and pick someplace. There's gotta be some places like Applebee's or a steak place or a Mexican place."
The four of them headed back out the door and down to the parking lot.
"There are. We've just not paid attention. We're working to build up our savings, and not spend too much. We've found some nice parks. We pack picnics and eat them when we go out."
They all got in the rental car and Kurt directed his dad which way to go. They found a nice Mexican restaurant and had dinner there. Burt talked about what he had been doing in Washington, DC. Carole talked about some things she had been doing and a little about Finn. Sam and Kurt talked about their jobs and the upcoming school year. Kurt excitedly told them about Sam's successful art show.
After they finished eating, Burt had Kurt and Sam pick a movie from a Redbox and they headed back to the apartment to watch it together.
"Well, that was an interesting take on the Oz story," Carole said.
"It was," Sam agreed.
"So, what are you two doing tomorrow? I'm sorry we don't have the ability to take days off from work. With what Sam does, taking personal days off really doesn't work and I haven't worked at the shop long enough to have earned any personal days since this is the end of my second week working there."
"It's fine. We understand," Carole said. "Don't worry about us. We'll find something to do to entertain ourselves or we'll just lounge around all day, which is something neither of us gets to do very often."
Burt stood up and Carole followed him. They walked over to the door.
"We'll leave you two to get packed. I'm looking forward to the trip to the mountains tomorrow evening. We'll meet you at the lodge at 7:30. Just give us a call if you're running late. We may just head out that way tomorrow afternoon and stop and look at stuff along the way."
Kurt got up and let them out, giving each of them another hug. "Thanks for coming. We'll see you tomorrow evening." Kurt closed the door, but had stepped outside first. Neither of them noticed. He heard them talking as they headed down the stairs.
"Burt, they are perfect together. I'm so glad for Kurt. He is absolutely himself with Sam. I didn't know what to expect, but that wasn't it I guess. Sam is so secure in himself. I guess I expected him to be hesitant about being with Kurt romantically. But he was just the same as he was the whole time he lived with us. They are so good together."
"I know. I told you that from what I saw back in December. Even back then, I knew it was going to be okay. I never liked you-know-who. I tried. I really tried for Kurt's sake. I didn't want to be THAT parent and lose him. But Kurt was always trying too hard with him, like Kurt had to somehow be better than the amazing kid he already was. But him with Sam is a million times better. Sam loves Kurt, all of Kurt." Both car doors shut and
Kurt didn't hear anything else, but it was enough. His dad was right. This was a million times better.
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He opened the door and went back inside to be greeted by a smiling Sam who pushed the door shut, pinning Kurt between the door and himself. He reached down and locked the door and slid his arm back up by Kurt's shoulders.
"I missed you."
"I was gone not even 5 minutes." Kurt laughed.
"Meh. Time is irrelevant. I was alone and I missed you."
Kurt kissed him and wrapped his arms around him. He nuzzled his nose into Sam's neck and hugged him.
Sam slipped his phone out of his pocket and connected to the Bluetooth speaker and music started to play. He wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him away from the door gently and started slow dancing around the living room. He eventually meandered their steps in the direction of the bathroom and began to unbutton Kurt's shirt.
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Kurt lay on his side facing the center of the bed. Sam had turned off the lights and got into bed and started to scoot back against Kurt to be the little spoon.
"Turn this way for a bit, okay?"
Sam turned over and faced him. Kurt scooted closer and kissed him, gently, not with the intent of starting anything. He ran his hands through Sam's hair and kissed him again. He ran his thumb along Sam's cheek gently touching his face. He had known what he heard his parents say, but hearing them say it really brought it all to the forefront of his mind.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For taking such a huge risk and loving me. You left everything behind and took a chance. You came to me when I had been barely functioning. You brought me back to life. When you came – just the energy you brought with you through the door as you walked in. You hugged me. A genuine hug – it started filling the cracks immediately. I had missed you, but I had been so drained by that point that I was just getting by day to day. I had loved you as a friend for ages. And now, this, between us, it's… It's just everything. Every good word I can think of. Tomorrow we will have been together for six months. The best six months of my life." Kurt scooted and pressed in closer.
"Mine too." Sam rolled onto his back, pulling Kurt with him to sleep on him. Sam smiled and ran his hand through Kurt's hair. He smiled and kissed Kurt on the top of his head. "I love you."
Kurt realized that he had everything he had ever wanted. "I love you too."
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"Down, Charlie. Down!" Burt said.
Kurt walked over and picked Charlie up. "If you'd come more often, he wouldn't go out of his mind crazy every time he sees you. Indianapolis isn't that far from Lima."
"I know, I know. Put him back down. You're going to pull something in your back. He weighs like 50 pounds now and he's still squirming."
Kurt put him back down on the ground and chastised him gently. "Charlie, sit. Can't you behave yourself? Look at Stanley. He's minding."
Burt laughed at him. He sat on the couch next to Carole and Charlie was in his lap almost instantly. "Fine, fine. You win." Burt scratched him behind the ears and rubbed him.
"So, 10 years."
"Yep – 10 fabulous years."
"It's hard to believe that you've been married almost as long as we have," Carole said.
"Where's Sam?" Burt asked.
"He's out back finishing up the burgers."
"Oh, well let's go out back with him," Carole said as she got up.
They all went out back. Charlie started jumping up on Sam.
"Now, you see why Charlie was inside. He has no manners at all and he was making it hard for Sam to do the grilling."
"They're done. Let's put the two of them in the pen while we eat. There's just no chance he's going to calm down enough not to be a pest," Sam said.
Kurt grabbed Charlie's collar and led him inside the pen and called for Stanley. He shut the gate after they were both inside. He whispered. "Don't worry. I'll save you a burger." He went back up and sat at the table with the other three.
"You promised him a burger, didn't you?" Sam's eyes sparkled as he laughed.
"Hush, you."
"Don't worry. We already know you spoil him," Carole said.
"So, how are things at the clinic going?"
"Really well. We're pretty much full on the number of clients we can take. Kurt's still doing the music classes at the retirement community and I still do classes with the preschoolers there. It's an interesting idea having the preschool at the retirement home. The elderly people love the energy of the kids and the kids love all of the attention that gets paid to them. Sometimes parents get so busy they forget to listen and what the elderly residents have is plenty of time to listen."
"It's a good match," Kurt said. "We've seen really withdrawn kids come out of their shells after a few weeks. Elderly people that hadn't spoken to anyone in ages are reading books to kids. It's really cool."
"We have our regular therapy clients at the office too still. So, we're busy, but we really like it."
"Well, I can't say that I had ever even heard of art therapy or music therapy before the two of you started talking about it before you went to graduate school. But it seems like a really good fit for the two of you and makes a difference for people," Burt said.
"It really can," Kurt said.
"Have your parents been to see your new place yet?"
"Yeah, they came last weekend actually. It was a surprise. It was the first weekend of spring break for Stacey and they picked Stevie up from college and stayed for the weekend. It was a quick visit, but it was nice. Stacey's graduating this year. We'll be heading down to Clarksville for that the first weekend in June. She's wanted to go to that fancy aquarium in Newport for ages, so we're taking here there for the day on Sunday."
"That sounds like fun," Carole said. "It's hard to believe she's graduating. The last time I saw her she was about, what, 7?"
"That's about right. We left Lima when I was 17, so she would have been 7." Sam pulled his phone out and showed her pictures from the previous weekend.
"You all look so good. She and Stevie are all grown up." She held the phone were Burt could see.
"Any other plans? You know the distance isn't any different to come to Ohio," Burt said.
"Yeah, but no one wants me there. And we can't be ourselves there."
"I get it, but will you at least be coming to Finn's wedding? He said he hadn't gotten a response from you two when I asked him."
"I don't know what to do, Dad. It's not that I don't want to attend Finn's wedding. It's just that I don't really care to see a lot of the other people that Finn has invited. I know it's been over 10 years since I've seen most of them, but I have no interest in seeing most of them."
"I get that, but Finn is family," Burt said.
"What about this?" Kurt offered, "We'll come. We'll slip in the back right before the processional music. And we'll leave before the recessional music."
"I guess if that's they best you can offer," Burt said.
"Burt, honey. Let me talk to Finn about this too. I'm pretty sure he invited everyone from the old Glee group. He's kept in contact with most of them over the years. And I love Finn, I do. But you know as well as I do that he and Kurt have never been close. He's never really gotten over all of their high school stuff. It's not Kurt's doing. It's Finn's. Driving five hours in one day to spend 30 minutes in a pew is asking a lot of them."
Burt nodded. "Any other news?"
"Well, Stacey accepted her admission to Purdue. Stevie loves it at IU, but Stacey wants to study engineering, so she's going to be in West Lafayette in the fall. The 21st Century Scholars program is really cool."
"Well, good for her," Carole said.
"I knew that Stevie was studying somewhere here in Indiana, but I didn't know they had gotten scholarships. That's really great," Burt said.
"Sebastian and Marcos are performing here in a couple of weeks and then they're coming to stay with us for a week this summer before the European tour starts in July."
"I'm sure you're looking forward to that," Carole said.
"We are. It won't be as much fun as him living next door all summer every year like when we were in college and graduate school. We miss having him around. But I'm glad he's getting to do what he loves."
They ate and talked and eventually Kurt let the dogs back out of the pen and they had their treats. They sat outside and talked for a while. Burt played ball with the two dogs for a while.
"So, are you ready for the tour. We kind of bypassed it to eat since the food was done when you got here."
"Sure. Lead the way," Carole said.
They went back in the way they had come out.
"So, this is obviously the dining room and the kitchen. We still need to pick up a couple of more chairs or give up and buy four that go together," Kurt laughed. "We've looked for ages and we've never found any that match these two."
"So, back through here into the living room – as you can see we've added a couple of end tables."
"We picked those up at a yard sale and fixed them up," Sam added.
"And we got a loveseat so more people could sit down without having to resort to sitting on the floor. We're getting old." Kurt feigned lean on a cane. "It's also a sofa bed."
"I like it," Carole said. "It looks good with the couch."
"Down the hall we have the two bedrooms." Kurt pointed to the room on the right. "This is our room." He turned and pointed to the left, "And this is our creative room."
Burt and Carole stepped inside. "This is nice," she said. "You can keep all of your stuff out and ready to use. The piano is a nice addition. I know you had been looking forward to the day when you could get a real piano instead of a keyboard."
"I love it. There's just this difference in playing a real piano. That table is actually a Murphy bed. The table part folds up, then the whole thing folds down from the wall and turns into a queen sized bed for guests. Our room has it's own bathroom and there's the bathroom in the hall, but other than the garage with our car in it, that's it. That's the end of the tour. Oh, well there's a laundry room off the kitchen, which I actually love more than is probably reasonable, but doing the laundry without having to go outside to a laundromat or to the laundry area in another building is really nice."
"Well, I think you did great," Burt said. "It's everything the two of you need and you saved up and bought it. I'm proud of the two of you."
They went back into the living room and talked for a while. By early evening, Burt and Carole had to head back to Ohio.
"We're glad you came," Kurt said.
"We are too, honey. I'm so glad that the two of you have each other." She hugged each of them.
"Happy 10th anniversary," Burt said and he pulled each of them into a bear hug on his way to the door.
Kurt and Sam stood on their front porch and waved as they drove off.
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Kurt shut and locked the door behind him as he came back inside. Sam sat on the sofa.
"C'mere."
Kurt walked over to him.
"Sit on my lap."
Kurt put a knee on each side and sat down on Sam's lap. Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt and gently pulled Kurt toward him. Kurt wrapped his arms around Sam's neck, nuzzled in, and relaxed.
"Thank you," Sam said.
"For what?"
"For marrying me 10 years ago. I love you."
"Mmm. I love you too." Kurt hummed happily. "Best decision ever."
"I feel the same way. We did it. We have jobs we love. We got the two dogs and the house. No debt, like we had decided on. I know we've only been here in the house two months, but I already love it here. It's perfect."
"It is."