Chapter 15 Epilogue

The next few days were a blur of constant patting, changing, rocking and sleeping, and fawning over their little princess. The boys had no idea how people without an attentive team of grandparents managed to get through the first few weeks with a new baby. Of course, most babies were a little bigger than their princess was. Kylie couldn't go longer than three hours without being fed, and sometimes it was only an hour and a half. Blaine was at first secretly grateful that he was unable to feed her himself, since his nipples were too flat for her to latch on, but it didn't last long. After that, he wished he could have held her to his heart and shared that experience with her too.

He had no words to express how much he admired those elves throughout their history who had managed to raise their babies on their own. It was a testament to how badly they must have loved them to have succeeded. Although, if you were talking about love, their daughter had reams and reams of it. It was totally unfair how adorable she was, with her tiny little hands clutching your thumb and her beautiful dark blue eyes blinking at you and her …well, her extremely loud voice. This girl was going to command attention in more than one way, when she got older.

After the first week, Kurt and Blaine tugged her out of the arms of her loving family and went back to Lima with Burt and Carole, to introduce her to Uncle Finn. Bam, she made another conquest. It made Kurt go all gooey inside to see that humongous lug of a brother cradling his daughter with the most heartfelt expression of wonder on his face. Not gonna lie about it; they all cried a bit, the entire family, when he refused to give her up again…until she squawked at him in consternation, having pooped her diaper again. Then he gave her gingerly back to Blaine to handle it.

Carole showed her off to her friends, explaining she'd had to go to Chicago to have her because her birth was tricky. Kylie's extreme delicacy seemed to confirm Carole's story, and explain the reason everyone in the vicinity treated her like the most precious thing on earth. Rachel and Mercedes came over to give her the most adorable little bunny onesy, and teased Kurt and Blaine about one day having kids, because they were so good with babysitting Kurt's sister. They merely shared a smiling look of love toward each other, and assured the girls it certainly might happen one day.

In fact, it was only a week after Kylie's birth that they resumed their love life, with Kurt still assuming the bottom role, though not usually the bottom position, but never without a condom (OMG, no way!). There were so many options to try now, except they were often too tired to do more than kiss each other goodnight before the clarion call of their princess woke them again. They were trying to provide most of Kylie's care, between the two of them, and spare Carole the late night feedings as much as possible until they went back to Dalton, but it wasn't as if anyone could sleep through Kylie's summons. In the interest of survival, after the first two nights, only one of them got up at night, instead of all of them, and the others turned over went back to sleep as soon as she stopped howling.

It was the beginning of September before they knew it and they had to go back to Dalton again. God, it was heartbreaking, having to leave their daughter so far away. But the only way to maintain the ruse that they were only high school kids meant they had to go back to school.

They didn't last a week. It was too hard to leave Kylie for days at a time, and focus on school work, so less than a week later, they both transferred to McKinley, so they could come home every night to be with their daughter. As it was, one of them had to look after her while the other did their homework, and then they switched places.

Jeff wistfully asked if he could come meet her one night, and all but kneeled and pledged his heart to her, promising to protect her from whatever might threaten, like her own personal knight. He shyly gave the boys a hand stitched baby quilt, made by his mother, done in blues and greens with silver and gold stitches that no one but their families knew represented Kylie's true lineage. Kurt had a moment of inspiration and asked Jeff to hold her, wrapped in it and took a picture with his phone to send to Jeff's parents, with their thanks. Jeff melted into the couch with his precious armful, his face glowing with that expression of wonder that nearly everyone seemed to have when they looked at Kylie. She politely drifted off to sleep in his arms, and he sat there, refusing to move a muscle for forty minutes, until she woke up again. It was hard for him to leave for Dalton again in time for curfew, so soon after getting there.

Sundays were spent with their Eldari families, with Kylie usually lulled to sleep in her carrier by the drone of the rotors and arriving refreshed and content for when the Queen demanded to hold her. Kiala had no qualms about pulling rank over Kylie's other grandparents for dibs on the baby. To prevent a squabble, Blaine would eventually have to gently take her from Kiala after a bit and present her to his father or mother to hold. Blaine continued to call his father Benito, following the Eldari custom of addressing family by their given names, reserving their roles for more formal occasions.

Blaine got to meet his grandparents the day of Kylie's naming ceremony, with his grandfather turning out to be a dignified old man with a cane and his grandmother far closer to his idea of what an Elf's grandmother would look like, her eyes twinkling with pride and happiness to meet Blaine and his partner's family. They had flown in from Spain expressly for the occasion and they seemed awed by the fact that he was Kurt's royal consort and their son's name would be written in the book, with Gareth's stricken off, naming the true lineage of the royal family.

He couldn't help wondering how accepting they would have been of him, if Kurt was just a normal human and he hadn't ended up partnered to the Eldari throne's heir. They didn't speak much English and Blaine's Spanish was rudimentary but it didn't matter much. He was just happy to see how comfortable his father and mother were with them. All that mattered to him was that they treated Helena with respect, in spite of being human and the cause of their son's long years of self-exile.

The first four months passed in a blur and Kylie grew fast, as babies usually did. By Christmas she was making sounds and rolling over, and had graduated to sleeping (mostly) through the night in a crib. Carole went back to work part time, and Burt stayed home with his darling beloved princess on the days that Carole was gone and the boys were in school. They all knew it was only temporary, until the boys moved away to college and took Kylie with them. Sadly, it was only a matter of time before Kylie would be diagnosed with a fake chronic disease that required her to be admitted to a hospital in New York, to explain why she didn't live in Lima, with her supposed parents.

Both boys had gotten their college acceptance letters by January and decided on New York universities, which wasn't a surprise to anyone. Kurt would attend NYADA and Blaine was going to attend Columbia in business with a second major in the arts. Kiala insisted that she intended to buy them an apartment in the city for when they moved there. What that would cost blew their minds, but she refused to have the heirs to the Sapphire Throne living in some grubby attic walk-up. Burt had no idea how the hell he was going to survive having his heart ripped out when that happened. He and Carole discussed moving to New York too, until Kurt gently told them that it was unnecessary. They would manage without his parents uprooting their lives, just like every other family did. But Kiala approved of Burt and Carole's cooked up plan to supply Kylie's care, while the boys went to classes and supplied an apartment for them conveniently located in their building. Finn would graduate high school with his brother and Blaine, and Burt was training him to take over Hummel and Hudson, Tire and Lube, to enable them to visit New York, every other week, to help Kurt and Blaine out with child care, while they were in school. There was no way Burt could handle going months without seeing his little girl.

Helena added to Kylie's day care options when she announced that she and Benito would be conveniently living in the same building too, to enable her to watch her granddaughter while they were studying. Benito had joined the New York art scene and was currently having a show in a gallery in the village, featuring mostly portraits of his favourite subject. Each of the paintings held such an aura of devotions and love, that they moved whoever saw them and were selling quite well. The only way to keep the peace was to have the Hudmels and the newly married Cortinas alternate weeks looking after Kylie, to keep everyone happy.

The boys lives were frenetically busy, packed with friends, music and love. Kurt got a few bit parts in some plays and Blaine played some gigs in cafe's and bars. Weekends they tried to visit the compound, but sometimes the queen had to come visit them, because it was hard to travel with a baby. The following summer, Kylie was starting to totter on the furniture so they had to forgo staying at the cabin that year, and stay at the compound, to celebrate her first birthday. Just escaping the city was rejuvenating enough after the hustle and bustle of their lives. Kylie stole the hearts of the entire royal guard that summer, with big strong soldiers reduced to slaves of her every whim.

Kiala told Kurt it had been exactly the same when he had been a toddler. If she closed her eyes she could still see him, lurching from knee to knee, safe under the watch of his loving family and guards. At least, until that day, when his parents' and grandfather's lives had been prematurely ended, and he had been hunted like a rabbit by a pack of hounds baying for his blood.

Kurt's life had been irrevocably altered because of the fear and resentment of the Southern Eldari, fearful of being taken over by the Northern Eldari, and subjected to the rule of a monarch again. Blaine researched the differences between their governments and learned they had overthrown their monarchy four centuries ago, with their leaders now chosen by a complicated system of votes. Those eligible for votes were still from the leading lineages, so there was still some element of privilege, but at least they got some choice about who was in charge.

In their third year of University. Blaine took some political course electives, to help his partner find solutions. He and Kurt discussed options between themselves and designed a system of leader ship for the Northern Eldari that incorporated more input from the people than a strict monarchy did. It wasn't easy for Kiala to give up the independence she enjoyed currently, but she admitted that the days of her complete and utter power should probably come to an end.

About the time they graduated, they had drafted a constitution based partly on the British Commonwealth model giving the ruler the opportunity to endorse and accept decisions made by representatives of the people, or send them back for further revision. It meant that for the first time, Kiala's subjects could be responsible for their future, instead of entrusting it to the royal family. Blaine and Kurt presented the political reform amendments in an online Eldari presentation, with Kiala's support. It made him very proud to be more than just a figurehead in the royal family, and the bearer of the heir.

It took seven and a half years of discussion and voting on the changes, with the Southern Eldari participating in the negotiations. It took another five before the American Eldari amalgamated back into one united people, stronger and more diverse than they were separately. The new United American Eldari nation meant the royal family's position was mostly symbolic, and the actual government was elected by a system of votes that represented the centers of population, with each person able to choose their original lineage's location or their current residence as their point of representation.

It took a few more years of ironing out the wrinkles, after Kiala retired and Kurt and Blaine took over as joint rulers, when the boys were thirty and Kylie was eleven. By then she was a big sister, when Kurt had borne their son Ben, three years previously. He'd given up performing when he was pregnant, and was now a full time parent and ruler. Kylie was a handful by then, having been spoiled by her extended family for far too long, ordering her brother around like a servant. Kurt was loud when he needed to be and quiet and firm the rest of the time, as she grew into a young lady, a complicated modern amalgam of Eldari and human. That portrayed who their people were now too, thriving while still maintaining their culture and independence amongst human culture. Kylie led a new trend among young elves when she insisted on being addressed only in Eldari for a whole year until she (and therefore her Elvian family) became completely fluent. Burt, Carole and Uncle Finn were magnanimously spared her edict, since Burt never could get the hang of Elvian.

Kylie had always been surrounded by love and seldom suffered any serious heartbreak, which is why it completely crushed her when Burt went to sleep one night and didn't wake in the morning. Boppa was her absolute favourite of her grandparents, always ready to stop whatever he was doing to give her all the time and attention she ever needed, and it broke her heart to lose him. His health had been precarious for years and they were all so grateful for the time with him they had been granted.

Kurt was quiet…very, very quiet while he packed for them all to go back to Lima for Burt's funeral. Blaine knew how much he loved his adoptive father, finding a haven of safety and love in Burt when everything in his life was terrifying. Blaine thought about finding his father and what an impact he'd had on his life too.

It was a measure of how much love Burt had to share when his funeral was attended by hundreds of people from Lima, and quite a few from out of town. His Eldari family were just as heartbroken as his human one was, having come to love him to pieces too. Finn and his wife Kathy and their two kids, and Kurt and Blaine with Kylie and Ben sat in the front row with Carole who was thankfully still numb with pain, between them.

It was at home during his wake, a few hours later, that Kurt stood to offer a toast to a man who had forged a family out of nothing but a loving heart, with not a single one of the throng there that day genetically related to him.

"Being family doesn't have much of anything to do with genetics", Kurt said with a warm smile at his own non-traditional family of loved ones. "It has everything to do with love, respect and devotion. Thank you, Dad, for giving me a family again when I'd lost mine and teaching me how to love, with all my heart. Your family will always love you."

The End