Work Text:
The Party
It was Saturday, and Kurt had just returned from taking the kids to Gymboree. They were both down for a nap, so Kurt was using that time to get everything ready for the get together in the kitchen. Carol and dad were at the garage, so the boys had the house to themselves.
Noah was out in the back yard setting up the grill, Finn was busy getting all the drinks into the coolers. Kurt had just finished setting up some cut veggies. He was about to grab a bag of pretzels from the pantry when the doorbell rang. He looked at the time and saw that it was only 1:30. Wondering who would be here so early, he walked through the hall and headed to the foyer to answer the door.
“Hello, Kurt.” Rachel beamed holding out a platter of cookies to him. “I made some cookies. I thought they would be good for dessert.”
“Oh,” Kurt said, taking the tray into his hands. “Thank you Rachel, these look good. Please come in.” Kurt stepped aside to let her in to the house.
“I know I’m early, but I wanted to see if there was anything that I could help with.”
“Sure,” Kurt said, leading the way towards the kitchen. “I would love the help. I was about to lay out some snacks. I have a few appetizers in the ovens already.”
Rachel looked around the kitchen. “Wow.” she said. “This is an amazing kitchen.” She was glancing around at all the appliances.
”Oh, thank you. I love to cook, so my dad had the kitchen redone a few years ago. It’s all equipped restaurant style. It definitely comes in handy for holidays and parties that’s for sure.”
Kurt pulled out more snacks and he and Rachel began to place them on trays, ready to be placed out once the guests began to arrive.
Finn came into the kitchen smiling when he saw Rachel.
“Hi.” He said giving her a kiss.
“Hey.” she said smiling up at him.
They were just finishing up the platters when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get the door.” Finn said walking out of the kitchen.
Kurt and Rachel went to place the food outside on the patio. When they came back in, they saw Mercedes, Tina and Artie along with Finn, standing in the kitchen.
“Hey guys, glad you could make it. There’s food and drinks out on the patio.” Kurt said, receiving a hug from each Mercedes and Tina. Rachel smiled and waved at them on her way outside with more trays.
“Finn.” Kurt said. “Could you carry these out for me please?” Kurt asked handing him a tray.
“So,” Mercedes said, “it smells amazing in here.”
“Oh, thanks. Actually it is just a bunch of appetizers. Noah will be barbecuing a little later. We have beef and veggie burgers, hot dogs and veggie dogs and chicken.”
“Sounds awesome!” Artie said.
Finn and Rachel came back into the kitchen.
“Hey Finn?” Artie piped up. “Can you help me outside?”
“Sure.” Finn said. Noah helped lift Artie’s chair with Finn on his way in the house.
“Hey guys”. He said to the room, lifting a hand in a slight wave. He turned towards Kurt, but before he could say anything the doorbell rang again and so he left to go answer it.
Kurt was about to say something to Mercedes when he heard a small cry coming from the baby monitor on his hip. “Oh,” he said. “Josh is up. I better go get him. I’ll be right back.” He turned and headed towards his basement.
Kurt left the girls in the kitchen and as he opened the door to his room, he heard Brit, Santana, Quinn and Mike’s voices floating down through the halls.
Kurt entered his room and found Josh looking around the room whimpering. “Hey Josh, its okay, here I am.” Kurt said reaching into the crib, grabbing the teething ring on the mattress and then picking up Josh. He stopped crying once he was in Kurt’s arms, instead babbling at him with nonsensical baby talk.
With Josh in his arms he headed back upstairs, into the kitchen to make a bottle and place the teething ring in the freezer.
As he walked in, he was surprised to find the kitchen occupied by Rachel.
“Hey.” He said turning to open the freezer. Rachel turned to face him and her smile got even wider as she saw Josh in his arms. “Oh my god, is this Josh?” She gushed.
“He is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.” She walked over to Kurt to get a better look. Josh opened his eyes and cocked his head to the side a little as he looked at Rachel.
“Oh Kurt,” she sighed. “He has your eyes and even your mannerisms! Like your inquisitive head cock.” She said beaming.
She started talking baby talk to Josh, and the baby just stared at her before turning his head and looking up at Kurt. He looked at Kurt for a few seconds before deciding to lay his head back on his shoulder. Kurt began to move toward the fridge again to grab the juice so he could make a bottle quickly, but Rachel reached out and took the juice from him.
“Here.” she said, going towards the cabinets in search of the bottles. “Let me. You go take Josh outside to the others.”
She was looking through the cabinets fervently. “Rachel…” he started, but figured it wasn’t really worth the fight. “…it‘s the second cabinet on the left.” She nodded and headed over to the correct cabinet. Kurt shook his head and carried Josh outside to the others.
~*~
As soon as Kurt walked outside, Sara, who must have woken up while he was downstairs, came running up to him, her small legs pumping hard.
“Kurtie!” She yelled. “Uncle Finn said I had to ask you if I could go in the pool. Please, Please Please, can I go in? I promise to wear my floaties pleeeeeaaasssee.” She asked jumping up and down.
“Have you eaten anything?” Kurt asked , bouncing Josh in his arms.
“Noooo, I didn’t want to. I want to go in the pool with Uncle Finn. I’m not hungry. ‘Member I ate before my nap. So can I?
“I guess so. Where is Noah?” Kurt asked looking around. “I don’t know. I can put on my bathing suit all by myself, I promise, ok?
“Okay, go ahead, but don’t go into the pool until you have someone put on your floaties. Okay?” Kurt said taking a seat at the table.
“Okay” she said excitedly as she went inside to get changed.
Rachel came out with the bottle as the others were taking turns fussing over Josh. She handed the bottle to Kurt who began to feed him the juice.
“So,” Kurt was saying. “My grandmother is trying to talk me into coming up this summer with Noah and the kids, but I’m not sure because I have 4 classes this summer and they start the 2nd week after school. I could only be there for a week and I was really hoping to get some rest, and knowing her, she will have plans for every day.
“That sounds fun though.” Quinn said, taking a bite of carrot.
“Yeah, but wait, if you are taking classes this summer, does that mean we can’t hang out? Mercedes asked.
“No, of course we can. Carol will be watching the kids when we’re at school and we have a sitter who can watch them when no one else can. We can still go shopping and do the things we already do. Nothing’s going to change, except now you know why I can’t do things sometimes.” Kurt finished, propping Josh up to burp him.
“True.” ‘Cedes conceded.
Kurt was watching Sara out of the corner of his eye as she played in the pool with Finn and Mike. Finn was getting ready to throw her up in the air. “Finn please be careful, she isn’t a football, she can get hurt.” Kurt yelled out.
Finn looked up at Kurt. “Stop being such a worry wart. I am always careful. This is why we always go in the pool when you take your Saturday nap with Josh.”
“Finn, what are you even talking about?” Kurt gave Finn a confused look.
“For the past few weeks you always get tired around this time and take a nap.” To further prove Finn’s point, Kurt yawned. “See,” he said pointing at Kurt. “You’re already tired. I’m surprised you’re still awake.”
Quinn looked closely at Kurt. “He’s right Kurt, you look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?”
“Yes, I get my 8 hours.” Kurt said defensively. “I don’t know why I’ve been extra tired recently. I guess it was because of finals. Those are over now, so I should start feeling better.” Kurt handed Josh over to Rachel since she was begging to hold him. He felt strong hands settle on his shoulders. He looked up and his eyes met Noah’s. Noah leaned down to give him a kiss. “Hey babe, how you doing?”
“I’m fine.” Kurt sighed out. “I think I am going to head downstairs for a minute, I’ll be right back.” Kurt said standing. As he did, he suddenly got dizzy, swaying a little on his feet.
Noah reached around his waist to steady him. “Whoa, are you alright?” He asked worriedly.
“Yeah,” Kurt said, clutching his head. “I just got dizzy. I’ll grab a celery stick on my way in. I’m probably hungry, I didn’t eat this morning.”
“Why didn’t you eat?” Mercedes asked, concerned.
“No reason.” Kurt said not looking her in the eye.
“That’s a lie.” Noah said.
“Fine,” Kurt said in a huff. “I got sick this morning. It was nothing really. Probably just the stress of finals like I said.” He hurried to say.
“Is this the first time?” Rachel asked.
“What? Why?” Kurt asked. He had been feeling a little exhausted lately and ok, been throwing up a few times a day, but he just figured he was stretching himself a little thin with all of the things he was trying to do.
Noah was looking at him, worry clear on his face.
“No.” Kurt said finally. “Really I am fine. It might be a stomach bug.”
“Well, then.” Tina chimed in. “You should make an appointment with a doctor.”
“No, it’ll go away on its own.” Kurt said.
“Really Kurt, you should get checked out.” Rachel said. “If not for yourself, do it for Josh. You don’t want him to get sick because you’re contagious do you?”
She hit the head on the nail. Kurt would do anything for Josh, and it seemed Rachel had figured that out.
“Fine,” Kurt said, sagging in Noah’s arms a little. “But I’m telling you, it will wind up being nothing. I’ll call Dr. Johnson on Monday.”
Kurt grabbed a piece of celery, took a bite and turned to go inside. Once he had swallowed the bite, he quickly realized it was not a smart move. When he was sure no one could see him, he ran down to his room and into his bathroom where he proceeded to empty his already empty stomach.
‘Maybe,’ Kurt thought, as he was brushing his teeth to rid himself of the taste. ‘Making a trip to the doctors would be smart.’ He decided to lie down for a few minutes. The exhaustion of the day quickly over came him and he fell asleep almost immediately.
~*~