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“Room 3. It must be down this - here.” Kurt stopped beside a colorful bulletin board with the names of children listed on bright, little hot air balloons with a backdrop of paper made to look like a blue sky with a few wispy clouds. “Can you spot your name, Jules?”
Julian clasped Kurt’s hand a little tighter in his small one as he stared up at the wall. Kurt knew that he’d learned to read and write his own name in preschool, but it still took him a moment to pick it out amidst the twenty or so other names. “There! I’m on a green one!”
“Do you think she knew it was your favorite color?” Kurt asked with a grin down at his son.
“Maybe…” Julian was still pondering that as Kurt led him over through the nearby door of the classroom.
Meet the Teacher night was just starting, and Kurt could already see three or four other families milling about the room. He was glad for this early evening activity. It would be easier to leave Julian off for his first day of Kindergarten if he’d already met his teacher. Having Blaine just down the hallway wouldn’t hurt either.
“Hello! I’m Ms. Wright.” The woman who greeted them looked every bit like what Kurt would imagine for a Kindergarten teacher. She was a few years older than him with a bright smile and curly brown hair. Her long flowing skirt was even a piece he would pick if told to costume a teacher.
Kurt dropped Julian’s hand so that he could reach out to shake the teacher’s. “Kurt Hummel-Anderson. My husband Blaine was disappointed he couldn’t make this tonight, but he’s off running one of these of his own.” Kurt watched her for her reaction to that news, something that had become habit by now, watching to see how people who would be important in Julian’s life viewed his family. He could see her file that information away, but he didn’t see any judgment cloud her smile. Good.
“Blaine. He’s the new third grade teacher, right?” she asked.
Kurt nodded. They’d moved into the suburbs over the summer to give Blaine the chance to teach at a school they’d both be happy having Julian attend and to be able to afford a larger home. Kurt’s longer drive to work would be worth it, they’d decided. Kurt gave Julian’s sleeve a tug where the boy had moved to hide behind his father. “Jules. Come introduce yourself.”
Ms. Wright knelt down as Julian shook his head into the back of Kurt’s pants. “You must be Julian. Or do you like Jules better?”
Julian looked over at that, finally piping up to answer the teacher. “Only Papa calls me Jules.”
“Julian it is then. I like your clothes. You look very nice tonight.” Ms. Wright said trying to draw him out.
Kurt stepped away giving Julian an amused glance. The boy was dressed up for the occasion in a button down shirt, dress pants, and a dark green bowtie with tiny dinosaurs on it. “Julian insisted that we should all dress up.”
“It’s a big ‘casion,” Julian said, eyes fixing on something off in the distance.
The teacher followed his gaze with a smile. “That’s our hamster, Bruno. Do you want to go look at him?”
Julian nodded once before he took off for the cage to get a closer look.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Kurt said. “He’s not usually shy.”
“It’s a big night. It happens more than you’d think. If you can tear his attention away from Bruno, you can help him find his desk and cubby. Once the crowd grows a little bit more, I’ll have a short presentation.” Ms. Wright glanced at the door as another family walked in. “Now, if you’ll excuse me?”
Kurt nodded in reply, heading off to pull Julian away from the animal’s cage. “Hey, Jules, do you think you can find the table with your name on it?”
The rest of the open house had gone well. Kurt approved of Julian’s teacher, from what he knew of such things. She seemed both kind and knowledgeable. Julian had relaxed after the initial greeting, cheerfully coloring a picture at his seat while Kurt listened to the teacher talk about the Kindergarten program.
Jules was humming a song to himself as he skipped beside Kurt down the hallway. If Kurt remembered the maze correctly, the third grade rooms were just down the hallway.
“Did you see the new third grade teacher?”
“Yes. He’s got Riley this year, and I am definitely volunteering to make his copies. He was wearing a ring, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the view.”
Kurt stifled a laugh as he caught the conversation of two mothers leaning against Blaine’s bulletin board, chatting while their kids played down the hall.
They must have heard him anyway as one of the women offered a friendly smile. “Trying to find a classroom?” She gave Julian a quick look over. “This wing is third and fourth grade. Can I help you find Kinder or first?”
“I’m going to be in Kindergarten!” Julian enthused. “We’re looking for Daddy.”
“But we might not be able to go in yet, if he’s still busy.” Kurt reminded Julian before he smiled knowingly over at the two women. “My husband’s classroom is just down here. But thank you for the offer of help.”
His smile turned to a smirk as he heard the comments behind him.
“Taken and gay.”
“All the good ones are. Still doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy the view.”
He decided on the spot that he’d be telling Blaine about this later, if only to enjoy the sight of his husband blushing. He paused at the doorway of the classroom, decorated entirely in a superhero theme that he’d helped Blaine plan and execute. It had turned out really cute, if he did say so himself. “Remember, we need to give him-” Julian didn’t listen to even the first part of Kurt’s reminder. Instead, he took off running for Blaine, interrupting the conversation Blaine was having with a parent.
Julian tugged hard on Blaine’s pants, just to make sure he had his father’s attention. “Daddy! We saw my classroom! It has lots of books, and a hamster, and tables, and a rug we can sit on, and cubbies to put our backpacks in, and I got to draw a picture while Papa listened to the boring stuff.”
Blaine gave the parent he’d been chatting with an apologetic look as he scooped Julian up, settling the boy on his hip. He was so much heavier now that he’d been as a baby. Soon, he knew, this would be impossible. “Oh really? What did you draw?”
Julian held out the picture to show Blaine. “My family! That’s you and Papa.” He pointed to two larger vaguely human looking shapes with crazy hair and fingers as long as their heads. “And that’s me.” Julian pointed to a smaller version of his person shape.
“And who is this?” Blaine asked, nodding to a smaller blob. He caught Kurt’s eye, his husband already laughing quietly.
“That’s our dog.” Julian said proudly.
“Um, Julian, we don’t have a dog.” Blaine heard the mother he’d been talking to join in on the laughter at that point.
Julian just grinned proudly at him. “Well, not yet. But now that we have a bigger yard…”