CHAPTER 3: Pre-teen Kurt

2003/2004, Lima, OH, Kurt aged 10

After Elisabeth had kicked Burt out, there was no contact between Kurt and Burt. Because she didn't want to worry her son she kept telling him occasionally that Burt had called and was sorry that he had missed him. When Kurt tried to call Burt back, Elisabeth made sure it was at a time when she was sure that Burt was out. Burt hadn't tried to contact her since after Kurt's disastrous tenth birthday and so she assumed that Burt hadn't come around yet.

During the summer she sent Kurt back to drama camp and told her son that his father understood why he couldn't come to Texas. Kurt didn't question her and was relieved he wasn't being sent to a ranch where all his clothes would get dirty.

In late August, school started again. Kurt was now one of the oldest kids, but he was still small, which resulted in kids younger than him pushing him around. When Elisabeth complained to the school again, the teachers ignored her complaints.

By mid October she was fed up with the school and when the music teacher had to go on maternity leave, Elisabeth applied for her job. Once she started she managed to keep an eye on Kurt, and after a while the kids stopped harassing him, because they were afraid of the repercussions of getting caught by a teacher who actually cared.

Elisabeth was happy for Kurt, but she also knew that this was just a temporary solution. After all, she couldn't just follow her son from school to school until he graduated. Sometimes she really wished that Burt were here with her, supporting his son instead of wanting to change him.

When Thanksgiving approached Kurt started inquiring about his dad's absence. Elisabeth decided that another lie wouldn't make things worse. After all, she was just trying to protect her son from his probably homophobic dad. She explained that they didn't want to worry him, but his dad's shop wasn't doing so well and therefore flying out would be too expensive at the moment. She did, however, promise a Christmas visit.

When Christmas came around, a letter arrived for Kurt containing $50. Burt wrote he was sorry for not being able to come up, but he had to take care of family business down south. Kurt was confused. He had thought he and his mom were family.

The next months flew by. Kurt spent a lot of time with Mercedes and they regularly put on shows for his mom. When May – and Kurt's birthday –approached, Kurt noticed the increased frequency of phone calls between his mom and dad. He'd briefly spoken to his dad as well a couple of times but he had no idea what they could be discussing.

Kurt found out on his eleventh birthday. His mom woke him up with a smile on her face. She announced that his dad was waiting upstairs and that they would drive to King's Island after breakfast. It had been nearly a year since Kurt had last seen his dad, so he was ecstatic. When he finally saw his father again, Burt awkwardly pat his shoulder while Elisabeth glared at him.

During their phone calls, they had agreed on a trip to the amusement park because they figured not much could go wrong there. It had also been about time that Kurt, who really missed his dad, got to see Burt again. They spent the day riding the few roller coasters Kurt was actually tall enough for, ate junk food and tried to focus on neutral topics in their conversations.

Instead of some toys, Burt, again, handed Kurt some money, so he could buy something he liked. Kurt was pretty sure that had been his mom's idea. Not that he was complaining. He'd been eyeing a certain sweater for some time now. When Burt left this time, no one was in tears. Elisabeth hoped that this meant Burt was finally coming around.

2004/2005, Lima, OH, Kurt aged 11

In July, like the last two summers, Kurt went to drama camp. When he came back he was ecstatic because he had made a new friend there, who would be attending the same middle school with him come fall. The girl's name was Rachel Berry and she was, according to Kurt, nearly as talented as him.

Because Mercedes was away visiting relatives, Kurt spent most of the rest of the summer with his new friend, which led to Elisabeth meeting Rachel's parents. She was surprised to find out that the loud girl with the interesting sweaters had two fathers. While their kids play together, Elisabeth started talking to the Berrys about Kurt and her ex-husband. Even though they couldn't offer much advice apart from to give it time, she was glad to have someone to talk to and that Kurt got a chance to see that she didn't have a problem with homosexuals – just in case Kurt turned out to be gay.

In August, Mercedes, Rachel and Kurt started at West Lima Middle School. For the first time, Kurt actually had friends when starting at a new school. Elisabeth was still working at Kurt's old school and therefore, she wasn't sure how Kurt was doing at his new school, but most of the time he came home with a smile on his face instead of close to tears. After Kurt's birthday, Burt and Kurt had started talking on the phone again. Elisabeth didn't know what they were talking about but Kurt never looked upset so she didn't feel the need to interfere.

Burt again excused himself for Thanksgiving, but promised a Christmas visit. In early December Burt phoned with surprising news. His parents had requested that the family spend the holidays with them in Kentucky since they hadn't seen Kurt since his ninth birthday.

Burt's parents were very conservative and hadn't been happy when they had heard about the divorce. Once the divorce had been finalized, Elisabeth hadn't really tried to stay in contact with them, because they had never liked her very much to begin with.

When Burt's parents had learned about the pregnancy they had insisted that Burt marry her, even though neither had felt ready for marriage at the time. Nevertheless, Elisabeth agreed. Her own parents had passed away when she was still quite young and she didn't want to deprive Kurt of the grandparents he still had.

The first few days of the visit went by without any incidents. Kurt's grandma fawned over him, but Elisabeth noticed the looks Burt's father threw Kurt's way and she didn't like it one bit. She pushed it to the back of her mind and tried to enjoy the visit as much as she could.

She also didn't think anything about it when she caught the grandparents in a heated discussion on the fourth night of their stay. Burt was standing close by looking uncomfortable and avoiding eye contact with her.

The next morning it was announced that the whole family would go to church together. Although Burt had been raised by religious parents, he and Elisabeth had never really gone to church when they were still married. Even though it wasn't her cup of tea, she agreed to keep the peace in the Hummel home.

Elisabeth didn't stay calm for long. Five minutes into the sermon, the pastor announced the topic of the sermon. The dangers homosexuality poses to society and to society's children. Kurt was confused when his mother pulled him out of the church mid sermon. They packed up their things and left before anyone could stop them.

When Kurt asked his mother about their abrupt departure, she told him what parents tell their children all the time – that she would explain when he was older.

During the next few months there was, again, barely any contact between Lima and Austin. The few times Burt actually managed to get Elisabeth on the phone, he tried to convince her that he had nothing to do with what had happened over Christmas but to no avail. Elisabeth refused the let Burt talk to his son. Burt kept calling, and because she knew Kurt was miserable without his dad in his life, she agreed to another trip to King's Island for Kurt's twelfth birthday.

Like the year before, the trip was uneventful, although Kurt noticed that his parents were barely civil with each other. That night when Kurt was tucked in and asleep in his bedroom, Burt and Elisabeth retired to the living room for a cup of coffee before Burt's departure. Later on, Elisabeth blamed it on stress and lack of sleep when she confided to Burt the reason for the King's Island trip.

She had been afraid to throw a birthday party for Kurt because she knew that Rachel and Mercedes would probably be the only ones willing to come. Burt frowned and made the mistake to remind her that Kurt would have a lot more friends – male friends – if Elisabeth would just sign him up for soccer or baseball. No wonder the boy didn't have any friends if all he did was sing and dance around.

Elisabeth was more disappointed than furious that Burt was still trying to force his son into things, said son clearly was not interested in. She reminded him as politely as possible that he would have to leave now if he wanted to open the shop in Austin in the morning.

2005/2006, Lima, OH, Kurt aged 12

It was two month after Kurt's birthday, when Burt called to inform Elisabeth and Kurt that he had started dating a woman with a son Kurt's age. Kurt was quiet and withdrawn after the announcement and Elisabeth suspected that he was just not ready to see his father with a new woman.

Elisabeth found out the truth a few weeks later. As she was tiding up Kurt's room, she came across his diary. Now, she didn't mean to snoop, and it was definitely not her fault that the thing fell down onto the floor and opened to the most recent page.

Kurt apparently had no problem with his dad dating, he was however convinced that his dad didn't visit anymore because he liked his new son better. Elisabeth could understand his fear. All Burt ever talked about in their phone calls was how amazing it was to play baseball with Finn, watch a football game with Finn or to teach Finn how to work on cars.

Basically the boy liked all the things Burt did, and Kurt didn't. She wanted to help Kurt, but she didn't know how to approach the issue without admitting that she had read his diary.

Instead of talking to Kurt, she phoned Burt and asked him to tone down the Finn talk when talking to Kurt. The next time Kurt got off the phone with Burt he was smiling. Maybe there was hope after all.

Elisabeth took Kurt shopping on Black Friday. Burt had again opted out of spending Thanksgiving with them, so it was up to her to get up at the brink of dawn to take her pre-pubescent son to the mall. While Elisabeth was eyeing a dress in one of the stores she noticed Kurt eyeing another boy being reluctantly dragged around by his mother.

Elisabeth sighed. She definitely needed another talk with the Berrys soon. For now she decided to just ignore the issue and left Kurt to ogling the other boy.

They celebrated another Christmas without Burt, but Kurt was happy about the check he got from his dad. It seemed that when it came to Kurt's newfound obsession with clothes, money could by love. The two Hummels attended a New Years Party hosted by the Berrys. While Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes jumped and danced around like crazy, Elisabeth talked to Rachel's fathers about the new development.

The Berrys didn't act very surprised, but urged her not to force the issue and let Kurt come to her when he was ready. Because they were well aware of the situation with Kurt's father, they also advised her not to mention it to Burt. If Burt were truly homophobic, this would only lead to Kurt losing his father rather sooner than the inevitable later.

It was March when Elisabeth overheard Mercedes, Rachel and Kurt at their newly instated monthly sleepover. They were talking about fathers and the relationships they had with them. Kurt was clearly asking Mercedes, who's parents were divorced as well, for advice. When she listened to them talk, she realized that Kurt had really grown up over the past couple of month. He didn't sound like a little boy with no care in the world anymore.

When she listened to Mercedes explain her relationship with her dad, she could clearly see Kurt's heart break. While Mercedes explained how her father showered her with affection and tried to spend as much time with her as possible even though he lived in another state, Kurt's frown deepened more and more. By the time Rachel butted in and told them how wonderful her two fathers were, Elisabeth quickly walked into the room and distracted them by asking if they wanted to make their own pizzas for their sleep over.

Kurt's thirteenth birthday was the first Burt didn't attend since Kurt was nine. Kurt put on a brave face and told his mom what he intended to buy with the money his father had sent for his birthday. Later that night she heard him crying in his bedroom. Her heart broke a little bit more as she listened to his sobs. She just wished there was something she could do.

2006/2007, Lima, OH, Kurt aged 13

At the start of seventh grade, Kurt's outfits became more daring, setting him more and more apart from the other students. Kurt didn't say anything, but Elisabeth could see it in his eyes that the other kids didn't take it too well. She also didn't have the heart to tell him to tone it down – she wanted Kurt to be able to express himself, but she was still afraid of the possible repercussions.

Two weeks into the new school year, Elisabeth found Kurt crying in his room. Someone had spray painted the word fag across his locker. Under tears he asked her if his dad didn't visit anymore because he also thought that his son was a fag. Elisabeth denied it and tried to assure him that his dad loved him very much and was just busy in Austin, but she could see it that he didn't believe her.

She got proof, when he started refusing to talk to his dad with the excuse that now he was too busy. Elisabeth didn't want to upset the fragile father-son relationship even more and kept Kurt's reasons to herself.

In October the school got a new principle and for a while it seemed like things were looking up for Kurt. He was smiling more and didn't lock himself in his room for hours on end, with musical soundtracks blasting from the speakers.

Instead of a Christmas visit from his dad, Kurt got an invitation for Burt and Carole's wedding in spring. Elisabeth told Kurt that he didn't have to attend, but to sleep on it before making a decision. In the end, the decision was taken out of Kurt's hand. Elisabeth got a frantic phone call from the school nurse, who told her that her son was on the way to the ER with a suspected broken leg.

Kurt initially insisted he was clumsy and fell down the stairs, but after an intense staring match between the two Hummels, Kurt admitted that two older students had pushed him. When Elisabeth marched into the school the next day to yell at the principle, the principle was sympathetic and concerned about Kurt's wellbeing, but told Elisabeth her hands were tied unless witnesses came forward.

That night Elisabeth phoned Burt to tell him that Kurt couldn't make it to the wedding because of a broken leg. Burt, at first, accused her of lying and said that if Kurt didn't want to come, he should have just said so. Kurt, in return, emailed his dad a picture of him with the cast, and told him he broke his leg trying to skateboard to impress some friends.

The incident at school had scared Kurt and even though he was slowly coming to terms with his sexuality, he decided that it was safer to stay in the closet. To avoid conflict with his – as he realized – very possibly homophobic father, he also told him that he was going away with friends for his birthday and that, therefore, was no need for Burt to come up for it. Elisabeth could only stand by and watch as the father-son relationship crumbled further.