Carole's jaw dropped open. She could see both Kurt and Blaine opening their mouths to speak, but she held up a hand, motioning them to be quiet.

"That…is an incredibly offensive statement. You cannot make someone gay anymore than you can change the color of their eyes!"

"Mrs. Hummel," Blaine's father said patiently, as though speaking to a child. "Before my son met yours, he was…normal. I've been willing to overlook his bizarre obsession with show choir because universities appreciate an individual who participates in extracurricular activities. But after Blaine met your son, he started to…change." Mr. Anderson paused for a moment before continuing, fixing Kurt with a harsh glare. Kurt tilted his chin up, meeting the man's gaze defiantly. "Instead of focusing on the group as a whole when he spoke, Blaine would almost always focus on what that boy had been doing. He started leaving the school grounds on weeknights…to spend time with that boy." The way Mr. Anderson referred to Kurt-avoiding the use of his name, emphasizing the phrase "that boy," and practically spitting the words out-was making Carole furious.

"His name is Kurt," she interrupted. "That boy's-my son's-name is Kurt. And he is sitting right here, listening to you. The least you can do is refer to him by his proper name."

"One day," Blaine's father continued, as if Carole hadn't spoken. "I overheard Blaine speaking with his mother. He sounded tremendously excited, and I thought, perhaps, he'd been given a prestigious award by the school. I'm sure you can imagine my horror as he told her he had a boyfriend-a boyfriend."

"Actually," Carole said, her voice calm. "I can't possibly picture such a thing because there is nothing horrific about it. There is nothing wrong with these boys being in love with one another. It's part of who they are, and neither you nor I has any business being horrified by it."

"But Kurt isn't even your son," Victoria Anderson burst out, unable to merely watch the conversation anymore. "How can you be so willing to defend a boy who isn't even yours?"

Carole felt Kurt withdrawing, curling in on himself slightly. On her left, Blaine's head snapped to the right, his concerned gaze focused on his boyfriend. Carole wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulders, pulling him close and resting her head on his for a moment.

"Kurt is the reason his father and I got married," Carole began quietly. "He introduced the two of us at parent/teacher conferences last spring. Kurt and I got along fine, but my son, Finn, was rather upset initially. He felt that Burt was trying to take his father's place. Once Burt had convinced Finn this was absolutely not the case, the two of them became much closer. We had our rough patches, with Kurt feeling like his father was replacing him with Finn because they had more in common, and a few other minor disagreements, but, overall, everything seemed to be going fine." Carole paused for a moment before continuing. "About a month after Burt and I started dating, Finn and I moved into the Hummels'. Finn was…uncomfortable about sharing a room with Kurt, but he was willing to give it a try. I didn't understand why he would be uncomfortable; he'd never said anything negative about Kurt being gay, so the only conclusion I could draw was that he didn't want to share his space with someone else after having his own room for so long."

Carole took a shuddery breath, reaching up to dash the moisture from her eyes. "A few days later, I checked my voicemail as I left work. The only message I had was from Finn. Burt had come home to the boys arguing, to hearing Finn calling Kurt something awful and had demanded Finn leave immediately. Finn didn't tell me everything in the message, but when I got home he told me the whole story. And he apologized tome, for potentially ruining my shot at happiness, and he promised he would do whatever he could to make things right."

Carole was crying openly now, and Blaine's parents were shifting uncomfortably next to one another, averting their gazes briefly before looking at Carole once more. Blaine placed a hand on her knee, and Carole covered it with one of her own.

"I went over to the Hummels that evening, leaving Finn at home to think about what he'd done and how he could make amends. Burt was sitting in the recliner, his head in his hands, and I didn't see Kurt anywhere on the first floor. Burt looked up when I sat on the couch next to him, and the first thing he said was, 'Go talk to Kurt, please? He's been destroying his room ever since Finn left, and I can't get him to listen to me.' I'd never seen that look in his eyes before-a desperate helplessness that I couldn't even imagine feeling for myself."

Carole squeezed Kurt's shoulders before continuing, and he responded by wrapping his arms around her. Tears had begun to fall from his eyes, as well, as he relived the scenes she was narrating.

"What I saw in Kurt's room broke my heart. He'd rearranged and redecorated for the second time since Finn and I had moved in, and the room had surely looked beautiful. But when I saw it…the only comparison I can make is what you would see in the aftermath of a violent earthquake. Anything that could be broken, was. The lamps were shattered, the chair cushions destroyed, and Kurt was curled up on his bed sobbing harder than I'd seen anyone cry in a long time. I sat on the bed next to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He jerked away from my touch and then opened his eyes, slowly sitting up and moving further away."

Carole hugged Kurt closer to her once more. "We sat there for a few moments, with the silence only broken by Kurt's gradually slowing sobs. When he'd calmed some, I reached out to him again and said, 'I still love you, sweetheart. And even if this is the end for your father and, I will be here for you if you ever need me.'"

Carole swiped at her eyes once more, staring hard at Blaine's parents. "Kurt told me his side of the story then, and once he'd finished, the two of us went upstairs to talk to his father. And during that conversation, I realized that I'd begun seeing Kurt as my own son, and I wanted nothing more than to see him happy."

Blaine's mother's eyes were bright with unshed tears, and his father looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"While it's true that Kurt isn't my son by blood, the fact of the matter is, this boy sitting next to me is my son, and nothing is going to change that. And despite all the trials life has thrown at him already, and all the hardship he has gone through, Kurt still has a tremendous capacity for love. He is kind, and gentle, and one of the sweetest boys I've ever met. He is fiercely loyal to those he cares about, and those are the traits about him that matter. The fact that he's gay is no more defining than the color of his hair."

Blaine's father cleared his throat and opened his mouth as if to speak.

"I'm not quite finished, yet," Carole said.

"I can defend Kurt because I accept him exactly as he is. He is unique, and he has chosen to embrace every part of himself in order to be the person he is today. He has refused to conform, to change who he is in order to gain the acceptance of his peers. And I will defend him, and his right to love whomever he chooses, until I take my last breath." Carole paused, shifting her gaze from Blaine's parents to the boy next to her. "Right now, that person is Blaine. There is not a doubt in my mind that these boys love each other, and that love is making both of them better people." Her gaze returned to Blaine's parents. Carole rose from the couch, walking over to stand above Blaine's father. "And I will not sit here and listen to you insult your child and my own with your unfounded assumptions. Unless you have a reason other than your own bigotry and unwillingness to accept what is real, you have absolutely no right to treat these boys as you have." Carole returned to her place between Kurt and Blaine, sighing as she sat down.

No one spoke for several moments. Mrs. Anderson was obviously fighting off tears, and Mr. Anderson was gazing at Carole with less contempt in his expression than he'd had earlier.

"I…suppose I may have been a bit…hasty in drawing my conclusions," Mr. Anderson allowed. "Kurt, may I…speak with you? In private, if you would."

Kurt jerked upright, completely surprised by the question. Blaine's jaw dropped open, and he hastily smacked it closed. All eyes turned to Kurt, who was chewing on his lip furiously.

Then, as Kurt made his decision, he raised his eyes to meet Mr. Anderson's. The cold fury Blaine saw there was something he'd only seen on rare occasion-and good things never resulted from that look.

"Of course," Kurt replied, his voice frighteningly calm. He rose from the couch. "Lead the way, sir."