There was something to be said for your first love, Burt knew.

For Burt, that was his Elizabeth. Sure, he had dated before her and thrown around the word 'love' before her, but she was his honest-to-god first love.

He saw so much of her in Kurt. At first it was almost painful, how much Kurt reminded him of her. Kurt had her eyes, her smile, and of course he had her abilities.

Burt will never forget the day he found out – as he's sure that Blaine will never forget his day, either. He was at least fortunate to not have found out by surprise like Blaine had, which was lucky, because Burt knew he would've not handled it in stride like Blaine had.

Sometimes Burt just had to pause and thank his lucky stars that his son had found someone like Blaine. He knew Kurt was young, but it was obvious to everyone around them how in love they were. Burt wasn't about to get in the way of that. Not when he knew how precious and short life was.

Burt had known from early on – too early, their families had said—that he had wanted to marry Elizabeth. He had done the impulsive thing one night, laughing over dinner and had said, "Hell, Liz, why don't we just get married?"

That had been two months into their relationship. He distinctly remembered how her had eyes widened, how she had slowly set her drink down on the table and finally she had said she couldn't give him an answer without being completely honest with him.

He remembered being scared as hell. What had that really meant? Was that a yes or a no? What could she possibly have had to tell him that he needed to know before he got an answer?

Whatever he had been working up in his head, it definitely wasn't anywhere near what it actually was.

"Burt," Elizabeth said softly, her hands grasping his. "There's something about…me. That you need to know, before you… before you ask that again. And so you know," she laughed. "I fully expect a proper proposal with a proper ring, assuming you still want to after I tell you what I need to."

Burt squeezed her hands and laughed with her. "Lizzy, there is nothing, nothing, you could tell me that could make me change my mind. I'm buyin' a ring tomorrow—"

She shook her head, her hair falling softly over her shoulders. "Shh, silly. I want to be surprised! Okay, okay. So, I need you to have an open mind. Can you do that for me?"

Burt cocked his head and took a deep breath. "I'm telling you I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can have a wide open mind for anything you need, if that means I can grow old with you."

Elizabeth smiled, her eyes crinkling as she nodded. "I can't wait to grow old with you, Burt Hummel. Now, there are certain things I can…do. Certain things that make me special, as my parents always said."

Burt huffed. "God, Liz. You're killin' me with the suspense, here. I already know you're special—"

She lifted one hand and cupped his cheek. "Close your eyes, my love. And remember what I said, keep an open mind."

Burt did as he was told and suddenly felt his whole world shift. He gasped when he reopened his eyes and saw that the chairs that they were sitting in were now floating at least two feet off the ground. "Wha—how? What in the hell? How?"

Elizabeth sat back in her chair and spun it around slowly. "Burt, I'm…there's many things I can do, moving objects with my mind is one of them."

Burt took a shaky breath and grasped the sides of his chair. "What, like telekinesis? Like that chick in that one movie that killed everyone at that prom?"

"Sort of," Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "But I'm not crazy, and neither are the other members of my family that are like me. And this," she waved her hand at their chairs as she moved them back down to the floor. "This is not all I can do."

"How is this," Burt shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, "how is this possible, Lizzy? I feel like I'm dreamin'"

Burt hadn't been dreaming, after all. And he had been right, when he had told Elizabeth that nothing could've changed his mind. He had gone out the very next day and bought the best ring that he could afford. Nothing was going to keep him away from his Elizabeth.

Marrying Elizabeth had been the best damn decision he had ever made. He didn't care about her…abilities, or powers, or whathaveyou…he just loved her.

It was when they started to talk about having children that life got really exciting.

It wasn't guaranteed, apparently, that the child would inherit the abilities. What surprised Burt the most at the time was that there was no way of knowing until the child reached puberty age. That's when the first signs of the first ability began to show. Otherwise, there was no test, no procedure, nothing. They just had to wait and see.

For Elizabeth, it was normal. She had to go through it, had to learn her own body and explore her new abilities with the help of her parents (her abilities came down through her father's side). Burt was just happy he had a perfectly happy, healthy little boy.

They had discussed it, late at night after Kurt had finally fallen asleep. What it would be like raising a gay son. It hadn't been difficult to tell, even as a small child – when all he really wanted was heels like Mama's or tea parties or tiara's. Kurt was going to be loved, no matter what.

Elizabeth had known first, Burt remembered. Mothers always know those sorts of things, he supposed. She had asked him one night if he would be okay if Kurt was gay and Burt had just laid there and not said anything at first.

"Burt, honey?"

"I'm alright, I'm just…how can you be sure, he's not even four yet," he sighed.

Elizabeth smiled and rolled onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow. "Dearheart, he asked for a pair of sensible heels for Christmas, I know it's not something he'll think about for a long time, but as parents, I think it's something we should be aware of."

Burt nodded and ran a hand over his face roughly. "I'm…fine with it. He's my son. I guess I'll just have to get that shotgun ready for all the boys that'll be knocking down our door."

"Oh lord," Elizabeth laughed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves! He's not allowed to date for at least…ever. My baby is never allowed to date. He's going to stay small and be my baby boy forever."

"Somehow I doubt that," Burt said. He stilled when he heard a muffled cry come from the other room. "Your turn or mine?"

Elizabeth pushed the sheet towards the end of the bed and sat up. "How about we both go? He's going to be grown before we both know it, and we'll miss moments like this."

Looking at Kurt now, Burt was thankful that Elizabeth had pulled him out of bed that night – and many nights similar. He was thankful for nights like that. Holding him in his arms, rocking him back to sleep….he had been so small and warm – and now his boy was almost an adult. Not that he wasn't proud of what he had become, but sometimes he missed his little boy.

And boy, was he proud of what Kurt had become. At first, when they had lost Elizabeth – Burt had been a wreck. Kurt, too. Kurt was incredibly close to his mother and not only had he lost his mother, but he had lost his best friend.

Burt had lost his best friend, too.

They both went through hell that first year without her.

Slowly but surely they had started to pick up the pieces of their shattered life and started living again. They became each other's best friends and Burt started attending Kurt's tea parties. Life had almost gone back to normal.

"You have to promise me something."

"No," Burt said firmly, shaking his head. "Don't you start talkin' like that. Don't you start talkin' like you're already gone."

Elizabeth smiled, the tears already shining in her eyes. "Burt, my love. Promise me, that you'll help him. I just know he's going to be like me. He's too young to understand it all right now, and he still has years before it all starts, but he'll have you to help him."

Burt's breath caught in his throat. He swallowed roughly and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Lizzy, I don't know if I can do this without you. I…how am I supposed to teach him? I don't – I need you."

"I've been writing him letters, for certain things," she said softly, as a tear fell down her cheek. "You'll know when to give them to him. They're in our closet, for safe keeping. Don't let him read them until the time is right for each one, promise me."

Burt nodded and clutched her hand. He bowed his head until his forehead was touching their joined hands. "What do I do if I can't do this on my own?"

She reached over with her free hand, the IV stretching over with her, and brushed her hand over his head. "You know who you can call if you really need to," she said in a whisper, her voice fading.

"I'm not ready to say goodbye to you," he choked. "We aren't ready."

"So don't, my love," she said, and squeezed his hand the best she could. "I will always be here with both of you. But don't be afraid to love again, because I know you, Burt Hummel. You have a huge heart, please let someone else love you just as much as I do."

So Burt hadn't really been surprised when Kurt shattered his first object – he had flung a picture frame straight across the living room and it hit the opposite wall. They both had stared at it for a good five minutes before Burt finally came to his senses and clapped Kurt on the shoulder, and told him that he was proud of him.

No one knew this, but Burt had cried himself to sleep that night.

He mourned Elizabeth all over again. This had been something they were supposed to get through together. He had no solid advice to give his son, other than second hand knowledge and a few letters that Kurt wasn't even ready for.

That next morning, he had almost picked up the phone and dialed. But then Kurt had knocked on his door.

"Dad?"

Burt cleared his throat and set down the phone. "C'mon in Kurt."

Kurt pushed the door open and Burt could tell that he had been up all night. "Can we talk?"

"Of course, buddy."

Kurt nodded and sat down carefully on the bed. He adjusted the cotton headband on his head and sighed. "Are you okay?"

Burt cocked his head to the side. "What? Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

Kurt gave him a pointed glare. "Dad, I'm fine with this. You sorta looked like your head was going to explode last night."

"Kid, this is… this is a lot to go through, without your mother. I'm not going to lie, I don't really know what to do, without her here," Burt sighed.

Kurt smiled and reached out to pat his arm. "Well, how about we just figure it out together?"

Burt knew he wasn't perfect, far from it. But he damn near tried to be for his kid. With Kurt's stubborn streak being a mile long, they both figured out really quickly that it was just best for Kurt to work through most new things on his own, at his own pace.

Burt also had his own pace. When Elizabeth passed, he had thought that he would be single forever. He had loved her with his whole heart, and she had taken his heart with her when she died. For many years he was content raising Kurt on his own and never even considered dating.

Until his son fell in love with a straight guy, and Burt fell in love with that straight guy's mother.

Carole Hudson helped him put his heart back together. She had her own story to tell, and together they picked each other up and learned to love again. Thankfully Kurt was smart enough to realize that he wasn't in love with Finn and it was a very misguided crush. Burt wondered sometimes if Blaine knew about that. It'd make a funny story for the grand kids.

Maybe he was crazy to think about his son like that already. But he knew that what Kurt and Blaine had was special. He knew they shared something deeper than a simple high school fling – or whatever the hell Finn was doing with Rachel, or Quinn…he could never keep track with that kid.

Elizabeth once explained to him that Kurt's first love would be overwhelmingly powerful and that they should in no way interfere with it, even if Kurt was young. Burt wasn't happy that Kurt was so in love at seventeen, but he sure as hell knew what being truly, deeply in love felt like.

Other parents, including Carole, set ground rules on their kids' relationships. Burt knew this. Finn always had an open door policy when he had a girlfriend over – but Finn also was not in a (very probable) long term, committed relationship, like Kurt was. Burt had to swallow his instincts when Kurt and Blaine started sleeping over at one another's houses and remember what Elizabeth had told him – he also didn't believe for one minute when Kurt would tell him that they slept in separate beds. He wasn't a fool. He knew what being a teenager was like. But, he also trusted both boys.

There was something to be said about your first love.