Preface:

So – this story is based off of something an acquaintance of mine and his boyfriend went through, mixed with too much law and order watching, and my own experiences as a babysitter of foster care kids. I'm trying to keep it as close to canon as possible and also fairly realistic – but I have limited knowledge of children or family court or police-related-situations and things of that nature so some artistic license has been taken.

Also this story probably isn't for Cooper-stans, but it was necessary to make the story happen. Not as angsty as it might seem I think.

June 2016

A month after graduating from NYADA Kurt had managed to score a role as the understudy to the role of Cornelius Hackl in a Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! It didn't pay much, but it was a job that took him one step closer to being on Broadway and there was always hope the other actor playing Cornelius would come down with laryngitis in time for opening night, right? (Not that Kurt secretly, guilty, thought about that, not at all.) To help balance the bills Kurt had taken a part-time job as a barista at the coffee shop by their apartment in Chelsea but miracle of all miracles he didn't have to go into work today once he finished with Saturday morning rehearsal for the show and could go straight home for a late lunch with Blaine.

He climbed the stairs to their tiny third floor walk up thinking about the latest choreography he'd been charged with learning when he heard loud child-like crying coming from his and Blaine's apartment. What the? It wasn't like Blaine to keep the TV up so loud. Kurt took his keys out of his bag and wriggled the tricky front door open.

His eyes widened when he got the door fully opened and was greeted to a slightly hysterical looking Blaine trying, unsuccessfully, to soothe a small screaming infant while a little girl no older than three sat cross legged on the floor next to their couch using Kurt's good drawing pencils to scribble contentedly on some computer paper.

"Shh, shh…it's okay…" Blaine chanted, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as much as the child.

Kurt cleared his throat loudly, "um…?"

Blaine looked up sharply and relief washed over his face briefly before his anxious visage was renewed. He opened his mouth but Kurt couldn't really understand him over the screeching baby. Bracing himself, Kurt crossed the room and motioned for Blaine to hand him the baby. Blaine placed the child in Kurt's arms. Kurt cradled the little….boy? Girl? He couldn't really tell. The child clung to him and quickly began to relax as Kurt gently rocked back and forth. After a minute or two the baby stopped crying completely.

Blaine looked dumbfounded, and a little jealous.

"How did you do that?" Kurt shrugged.

"Beats me. Now, would you like to share where on Earth these children came from and why they are in our house?"

"I'm Roxanne!" Squealed the little girl, looking up from her drawing and standing up to get a better look at Kurt before Blaine could answer. Kurt held out his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Roxanne."

"Who're you?" She asked.

"My name is Kurt."

"Do you live here?"

"Yes. Blaine is my boyfriend." The little girl giggled at the word boyfriend and patted Kurt's proffered hand before going back to her drawing. With the baby in his arms Kurt gingerly sat on the couch, Blaine taking the seat next to him. Blaine was still trying to school his face into something approaching calm.

"Cooper showed up here this morning just after you left," Blaine began.

"Cooper? Cooper was here from California?"

"Yeah I guess he was in town for a few days to film a commercial. Not that he bothered to call or anything to let me know he'd be in town. He just showed up with these two kids and begged me to babysit for an hour."

"Cooper doesn't have kids, does he?" Kurt interrupted, looking down at the baby in his arms with renewed interest.

"Not that I knew of! But he told me that his ex girlfriend showed up at his apartment yesterday and they've been broken up for like months he hadn't even seen her since last fall when he was here for that guest spot on Law and Order but she said that – that, baby, Joey, is his and she couldn't take care of it and it's Coopers responsibility and she had Roxanne with her too but I don't think she could be Coopers but I don't really know. After I said I'd watch them he kinda took off in a hurry"

"So…she just dumped them with him?"

"I don't know," Blaine said honestly, "That's what it sounded like but you know how –er, dramatic, Coop is sometimes."

Kurt stared down at the little boy in his arms who looked back at him with big honey brown eyes and then glanced over at the little girl who'd managed to go through at least 8 sheets of paper in the last couple of minutes they'd been talking. Blaine fidgeted with the cuffs of his long sleeved shirt anxiously. The clock ticked loudly in their kitchen as it announced the next hour.

"Blaine….," began Kurt slowly, his eyes widening in trepidation as his face began to reflect the anxiety that had been building in him since the moment he opened the front door. "Cooper asked you to watch these two for an hour? I've been gone almost four hours…where is he?" Blaine nervously wiped his hands down the front of his thighs.

"That's the thing….he's not answering his phone. I don't know."