1999

"Mommy!"

Her blood spikes at the note of fear piercing through her little son's voice. The response is involuntary, because, honestly, she knows better. She knows her son. Still, she swivels her chair around to meet his pattering, panicked footsteps.

"In here, darling!"

He careens around the doorway and runs to her, eyes wide and round.

"Mommy, you have to come quick! There's a spider, and it's huge, and it's on the wall by my bed. You have to come get it!"

She tamps down her smile, because his face is so serious, and he doesn't like to feel laughed at. She runs a hand through his hair, loosening up the gel he applied so meticulously this morning, standing on his Spiderman stepstool in front of the bathroom mirror. He has such lovely hair. It's a shame he won't let her grow it out.

"Spiders won't hurt you, Blainey, you know that. Remember Charlotte?"

"I know, but – "

"Do you think you can be a brave boy and let him be?"

Blaine swallows and nods, uncertain. He bites his lips together and looks away, and she wants to gather him to her, but she doesn't. He's getting so big. He'll be ready to start kindergarten in less than a year.

"What if he gets in my sheets and bites me while I'm sleeping?"

It comes out no louder than a whisper. She can't resist. She tips up his little face with a gentle finger under his chin, meeting his eyes with a smile, warm as the tender spot in her heart with his name written all over.

"Why don't you go find your brother, darling? I'm sure he'd be thrilled to take care of it for you."

"Can't you do it? Cooper always kills them."

"I'm sure he'll let him out the window if you ask nicely."

Blaine looks at her a moment like he's going to protest once more, or maybe plead with his liquid-gold eyes, and she'll give in and lose even more time, and this is supposed to be her afternoon to work.

He doesn't, though. He smiles at her tremulously and says, "Okay, Mommy," and tears out of the room.

"Be careful on the stairs, Blainey!" she calls. She can't help it – those things have been the cause of more than one scraped knee and quite a few tears. He is bigger now, though, and more graceful than Cooper was at his age.

More sensitive, too. It worries her sometimes.

But not now. Now, he's safe, and he's got his brother to look after him, and a lifetime to harden himself against the world's cruelties. Now, he can just be her little boy.

&&&&&

He's huddled on his bed, curled up like he's trying to protect his heart from the world. Like armor. Tears sting at her eyes, sudden and terrible, and she lets herself breathe through it for a moment before coming any further into his room. She has to be a rock for him.

She knocks, gently, on the doorframe to let him know she's there, and moves to sit beside him on his little twin-sized bed. His first big kid bed, without rails or anything. He was so proud last year when he picked it out, even if she wouldn't let him get the one with the princess canopy.

She places a hand gently on his back and rubs small circles. He feels so little under her palm, delicate and fragile, even though she knows he's not.

"I'm here, sweetheart," she murmurs. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She hears a sniffle, loud and heartbreaking (if maybe a little exaggerated), and he shakes his head.

"Daddy told me that some of the kids were mean to you at school today."

He nods.

"He said he told you they're all just a bunch of mean little jerkfaces who deserve to be gobbled up by a toad."

He giggles a little, against his will, and turns his face just slightly, enough that she can see his eyes. They're red around the rim, and there are dried tear tracks on his chubby little cheeks, but he's smiling now. There he is. There's her Kurt.

"Yeah."

She smiles back at him and brushes his bangs off of his forehead. She waits.

"Jeremy stole my lunchbox, and he wouldn't give it back."

He looks so bone-deep hurt at that, she wants to gather him close in her arms and rock him until he's smiling again. She knows, though. She knows her son, and she knows she has to wait. She keeps her hand steady and strong where it rests against his back.

"That is mean."

"It was the Wizard of Oz one with Dorothy and Toto and the ruby slippers."

His favorite birthday present last year. She knows.

"Did Miss Blakely make him give it back?"

"Yes, but he ruined it, Mommy!"

"How so?"

"He took it, and he threw it to his friends, and he wouldn't let me have it, and he said only girls like Wizard of Oz, which is stupid, because I'm not a girl, and then stupid Troy McDonald let it fall on purpose, and now it's ruined!"

He's worked himself up, now, mostly mad and still a little sad, but he's sitting up and red-faced and on the verge of tears once more.

"Can I see it?"

He nods. He gets up, gingerly, and retrieves the lunchbox from where he left it on the floor. He hands it over without looking, like it hurts too much.

It mostly looks fine. Just a dent in the corner that she's sure Burt can fix in a jiffy, and a nasty scratch over Dorothy's prized slippers.

"See!" he says, almost triumphant. "Ruined."

"I don't think so. Daddy and I should be able to fix it up good as new. Maybe even better. In fact, I bet we could find some glitter and make these slippers really shine. What do you say?"

His face starts to brighten, cautiously.

"You really think we could make it better?"

She smiles and nods, and he smiles, too, and there isn't even a trace, there, of the sadness he's been carrying all afternoon.

"Can we go do it now?"

Her smile widens.

"Of course, baby."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

He grabs her hand and pulls her in the direction of the stairs. She laughs and lets herself be pulled.

This isn't the end, she knows. They'll have to have a talk with him later about teasing and bullying and set up a meeting with his teacher. She'll do everything in her power to make sure he knows what a special boy he is, and how strong. He'll know that they love him, and that they will always put him first, no matter what, and that he shouldn't have to change because other people are narrow-minded Neanderthals.

But, for now, this is enough.