2034

"So, kids, did you go caroling this year?" Burt asked, sipping his cup of coffee.

"No," Barbra replied. "We didn't have enough singers this year, so Eli and I just went and served food at the homeless shelter instead."

"Elaine and I sang at the children's hospital a few days ago. We've been doing that every Christmas for a few years now," Ava said. "Daddy and Baba come with us every year."

Carole looked at the Hummel-Andersons. "Kurt, honey, I don't think you've ever told us why you have this tradition. It's a lovely idea though. The kids who are stuck at the hospital for Christmas do get very lonely."

2030

It's never a good sign when your child comes home from school crying.

That's what Kurt thought the minute he saw his daughter emerge from the school bus. Actually, Kurt felt his daughter's distress even before she stepped off the school bus. He immediately ran towards the crying girl.

"Ava, honey, what's wrong?" Kurt asked, trying not to show his alarm to his young daughter. He held her to his chest. "Is it the bullies?"

The girl's sobbing grew louder, and Kurt clutched her tighter. "Shh, honey, let's go inside and you tell me what's wrong." He picked her up and carried her across the snow-covered courtyard to their apartment building, not bothering to take the longer way along the cleared path.

"It's..it's E- Ela – Elaine," Ava howled. "She got sick."

Kurt set his Ava down when they reached the apartment entrance. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, darling, I'm sorry. I know you wanted to go see her new kittens tomorrow, but you know, you can always wait until after Christmas. It's just a few days away."

Ava wrapped her arms around her father. "No, Daddy, she's really sick," she said, quivering. "She fell down in our last class, and she didn't wake up."

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean, honey? What do you mean she didn't wake up?"

Ava began sobbing again. "She was lying on the floor, not moving. The nurse came and tried to wake her up, but she just didn't. And the nurse and Ms. Diggory sent us all away to Mrs. Haversham's class until the end of the day. I tried to go back to see if she was okay, but she was already gone. I'm scared, Daddy."

Kurt carried the girl to the elevator. He hugged her again. "Okay, I'm going to call Elaine's parents as soon as we get upstairs, and we'll find out what happened to her, all right?" He kissed the girl on the top of her head and brushed her chestnut colored hair back. "It'll be all right, you hear that?" Ava nodded and buried her head in Kurt's shoulders.

As soon as Ava and Kurt entered their home, Kurt helped his daughter put away her coat and school bag. Ava immediately ran into her room, and threw herself face-first on her bed, sobbing the whole time. Kurt scurried into the kitchen to grab the plate of snacks he had diligently prepared for the girl and heated up a glass of milk. Kurt and Blaine normally had a strict rule about eating in the kitchen only, but today he decided to make an exception. He carried the tray of snacks to Ava's bedroom and set it on her child sized desk.

"Ava?" Kurt said softly, "I'm going to leave your snack here; you just eat it when you're ready, but you should eat something soon, okay?" A muffled moan sounded from under a pile of pillows. Just then, a furry four-legged creature trotted timidly into the bedroom. It was Frosty, the beagle the Hummel-Andersons had adopted from the animal shelter the past Christmas. The dog whimpered and rubbed against Kurt's leg. It was as if Frosty sensed some distress in his owners and wanted to comfort them. Frosty looked up at Kurt, and then hopped up on his hind legs, his nose pointing towards Ava's bed. Kurt bent down to pet the beagle. As much as he had grown to love this dog, he still had one rule – Frosty was categorically forbidden from climbing onto the beds in the apartment. Today though, Kurt made a huge exception. He hoisted the dog onto Ava's bed.

"Ava, why don't you cuddle with Frosty for a while? Daddy's going to make some phone calls, and we'll find out about Elaine, okay?" He beckoned for the dog to hop up onto Ava's bed. The girl finally stirred. She threw her arms around the dog, who yelped affectionately. Kurt glided over to the bed and hugged both girl and puppy. "It will be okay. Promise."

Kurt exited the girl's room and went straight for his iPhone, which was sitting on the coffee table in the living room. He went through his contacts and dialed the number for Todd Rucinsky, Elaine's father. No one answered when Kurt dialed. "Shit, I hope everything's okay," he muttered under his breath.

He was about to dial number for Elaine's mom when his phone rang. The name of Ava's school flashed on his screen. He answered immediately.

"Kurt Hummel-Anderson speaking."

"Hello, this is Nurse Mary Bailey from Seven Oaks Elementary School. I am calling to inform you that a student from the school appears to have contracted bacterial meningitis. As you know, bacterial meningitis is very contagious and potentially life threatening. If your daughter starts showing any flu-like symptoms, you should bring her to a hospital right away."

Shit.

Kurt's heart skipped a beat. All he heard was "potentially life threatening." He knew without a doubt that the said student who had contracted meningitis was Elaine.

"Um, yes, thank you for letting me know. I'll keep a close eye on Ava the next few days."

He hung up and sank down on the couch. Bacterial meningitis. Potentially life threatening. What was he going to tell Ava? He walked back to Ava's room to check on the girl. When he peeked in, the girl was fast asleep on her bed, curled up next to her beloved beagle. He retrieved a wet facecloth from the bathroom and wiped the dried-up tears off her face. He eased her sweater off, and tucked her underneath a fleece blanket.

It was never a good sign to come home and find your husband pacing frantically across the living room floor, phone tucked between ear and shoulder.

That's what Blaine thought the minute he walked into his home. Actually, he had felt his husband's distress even before he stepped into the elevator in his building. Every year since he had started teaching at Dalton School, he always went for a drink with his colleagues to celebrate the end of each semester. Today, however, something nagged at him and he decided to skip the drinks.

"Kurt? What's wrong?" Blaine asked with a worried look on his face.

Kurt held up a finger, signaling for silence.

"Yeah, of course, we'll check in with the twins right away," Blaine heard Kurt speak into the phone. "Do keep us posted. We'll be thinking of you." Kurt hung up gave Blaine a forlorn look.

"It's Elaine. She's in the hospital with bacterial meningitis. She's at the ICU Morgan Stanley Children's hospital, and it's not looking good," Kurt relayed what he had just heard from his friend to his husband.

Blaine crossed the floor and hugged his husband. "Oh gosh, that's terrible. Does Ava know? How are the Rucinskys holding up? Was that Todd on the phone? Is someone taking care of their younger girls?"

Kurt shook his head. "Elaine collapsed while they were all in school. Ava was really shaken up when she got home. She fell asleep, so she doesn't know anything. Todd said the doctors have her in isolation, they've done everything they can for her condition, but they'll have to wait and see. I don't know what to tell her."

Blaine tugged his husband towards their daughter's room. He peeked in the door and saw the girl asleep, just as Kurt had done moments ago. He tip-toed into the room and kissed her on her forehead before backing out of the room.

"Hmm…maybe we should just let her nap for a bit longer, and wake her when dinner starts? Hopefully we'll get good news from the Rucinskys by then," Blaine said contemplatively. He felt terrible for Elaine's parents. He couldn't imagine what he would do if Ava ever fell ill like that.

Kurt and Blaine prepared dinner together that night, as they had done so many times. That night, though, things were different. They were both eying Kurt's phone every few minutes, as if willing for it to ring with good news. Ava sat down with them for dinner, but she only pushed her food around on her plate without really eating much. Her worried parents had nothing to tell her other than that her friend was very ill, and that Elaine's parents would call them as soon as they had news.

It wasn't until the next morning that Elaine's dad called to let the Hummel-Andersons know that Elaine had gotten through the worst of her illness, and that her life was no longer threatened. Kurt and Blaine were relieved to hear the news, and they were happy to see Ava smile again when they told her that her friend would be all right.

"When can I see Elaine?" Ava begged, sipping her orange juice.

"Well," Kurt said, "her dad says she has to stay in the hospital for a little while longer. She's not allowed to have visitors yet other than her parents, but her dad did say that when the doctors say it's okay, we could all go visit. So you hang in there, okay?" He stroked her soft hair.

As it turned out, Elaine had to stay in the hospital for more than just a few days. Christmas Eve came, and Ava's friend was still in the hospital. Her condition was not severe, but the doctors felt that the young girl should stay in their care until she had completely recovered. Since she could not be home for Christmas, her parents brought the festivities to the hospital and invited the Hummel-Andersons to visit her at the hospital on Christmas Eve.

"Come on Daddy, Baba, we're going to be late," Ava nagged, tugging at her father's arms as the three of them walked through the hallway at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. They had just spent almost half an hour at reception, waiting for the medical staff to approve their visit. Blaine and Kurt had to fill out mounds of paperwork, and they all had to scrub their hands clean at the sanitizing station before they were finally allowed into Elaine's ward. Visiting people in the hospital was definitely different from what she saw on Grey's Anatomy re-runs with Daddy.

"All right, little missy," Blaine chuckled, widening his stride to match his daughter's trot. "Remember, no running in the hospital!" Ava slowed down her pace, but only just by a hair.

The girl squealed when she approached Elaine's room, and her shriek was met by an equally exuberant greeting.

"Oh my God! You're here!" A girl with dark blond hair clambered off the bed and skipped towards the door. "I can't believe you're here! Mom and dad Didn't tell me you'd be here for Christmas Eve!"

Elaine's parents greeted Kurt and Blaine warmly. They gave Ava a hug before letting the girls return to their chatter.

"It's good to see you," Todd shook hands with Kurt and Blaine. "We thought we'd surprise Elaine a little."

"Yes, we're so glad you could make it," Elaine's mother, Elinora, said cheerfully.

Kurt stepped towards the girls and handed a shopping bag to his daughter.

"Here Ava, why don't you give this to Elaine?" Ava grabbed the bag and handed it to her friend.

"This is for you. Well, Daddy and Baba bought it but I picked it out."

Elaine took the bag and pulled out a large gift wrapped box. She began to tear the wrapping paper off. When she had succeeded in getting through the layers of paper, she opened the box and pulled out a giant plush Eeyore. The beloved donkey was dressed in a fuzzy reindeer suit, complete with antlers.

"EEYORE!" Elaine yelped, hopping on her toes. She squeezed the plush toy. "He's so soft! I love it! Thank you Ava, thank you Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine!"

'Mommy, Daddy, can Ava and I go play in the game room? I have to show Ava all these cool old games they have there, like Trouble and Connect 4 and everything. Can we?" Elaine looked up at her parents with puppy dog eyes.

Her mom smiled at her. "Sure, honey, in fact, why don't we all go to the game room? That way we can get some coffee for Ava's dads, and we can keep an eye on you two trouble makers while you play."

The group of six proceeded out of the room and down the hallway to the large common room a few doors down, which all the young patients referred to as the game room. The girls skipped over to the toys and games area, and immediately began pulling old board games off the shelves. The adults got themselves refreshments from the vending machines and sat down to chat. It didn't take long, however, before the girls noticed the piano sitting in a corner of the room.

"Wow, you have a piano here?" Ava asked, wide eyed. "That's so cool!"

Elaine looked to where the girl was pointing. "Hmmmm…that wasn't there yesterday! Maybe they just brought that in for the holidays. Hey, maybe we can all sing something? One of your dads can play, can't they?"

Ava smiled. "Yeah! That's a great idea!"

The girls scurried over to where they adults were sitting. "Baba, Baba, can you play something on the piano for us? Maybe something Christmasy?" Ava begged, tugging at Blaine's sweater.

"Hmmm, a Christmas sing-along? I know what you're thinking young lady," Blaine winked at his daughter. "What do you think, honey, should we?" Kurt looked at the two little girls smiling at him. "All right, nothing wrong with a little Christmas cheer!"

The two families crowded around the piano as Blaine played some Christmas classics, with Kurt and the two girls singing along. Elaine's parents were not musical people, but they hummed along anyway. The Hummel-Andersons and Rucinskys spent the afternoon chatting, playing games and singing at the piano. It was like any two families getting together for the holidays, except for the fact that they were in a hospital common room. They were reminded about this fact when a nurse walked in.

"Hello, Elaine," the nurse chirped. "Glad to see you here with your family today! And this must be your friend Ava!"

"Kelly-Ann!" Elaine yelped. Kelly-Ann was her favorite nurse in her ward. "Come sing with us!"

"Oh no, darling," the nurse responded, "I'm just here to check on you, and then I have to go take care of the kids upstairs. But you girls have fun here!"

"Oooh," Elaine said suddenly. "Can we invite all the kids down here for our Christmas sing along? It'd be fun."

Kelly-Ann's face fell a little. "Oh honey, I don't think there'd be many kids. Most of the kids on your floor have already gone home, and the ones from upstairs are too sick to leave their rooms."

"Too sick?" Ava said, whimpering a little. "Does this mean they're not having Christmas? But that's so sad!"

"I know darling," Kelly-Ann sighed.

"Well, what if we went upstairs to sing for them?" Ava asked. "It'll be like Christmas caroling, we can go door to door. Please, nurse? Can we? They deserve to have a proper Christmas too!"

The nurse pondered the option for a few seconds. "You know what, let me just ask my supervisor, and we'll see what we can do, okay?"

Twenty minutes later, Kelly-Ann returned with a smile on her face. Ava and Elaine looked at her hopefully.

"Okay girls, I talked to the head nurse, and she thinks it's a great idea. The only thing is, the kids upstairs are really, really sick, and she doesn't want you in their rooms. But you can sing from the hallway, and we'll open up the doors to the rooms of all the kids who want to hear you sing. I think they'll really like that."

Ava and Elaine looked at Kurt and Blaine. "Daddy? Baba? You'll sing with us, won't you?"

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other, trying to have a silent conversation with each other through their glances. Blaine had volunteered at a children's hospital when he was in college, and knew that the "sick kids" the nurse referred to were from the oncology ward. He knew that most of these kids were terminally ill, and remembered all the heartache he witnessed in that ward. He also remembered that Kurt was about Ava's age when he lost his mother. Hospitals always made Kurt a little sad, and Blaine knew that Kurt wanted to keep Ava from experiencing that sadness at a young age.

Kurt looked at Blaine and nodded, as if to give his consent.

"Ava," Kurt said gently, "That's very nice of you. Of course Baba and I will come with you. I think the kids upstairs will appreciate it."

The group followed the nurse upstairs to the oncology ward, where they stood in choir formation in the middle of the empty hallway. It was eerily quiet, and Ava felt the melancholy. She squeezed Kurt's hand. Kurt squeezed back.

"You sure you want to do this?" he bent down and whispered to his daughter.

The little girl nodded and whispered back. "These kids need us, don't they, Daddy?"

"Well, here we go, do you girls want to start us off with a song, and then we'll join in?" Blaine asked gently.

Ava and Elaine whispered at each other and agreed on a song.

Said the night wind to the little lamb

Do you see what I see

Way up in the sky little lamb

Do you see what I see

A star, a star

Dancing in the night

With a tail as big as a kite

With a tail as big as a kite

The girls' voices echoed clearly down the hallway. You could still tell they were children's voices but they were strong and warm, with just a hint of a vibrato. Kurt and Blaine squeezed each other's hands in affirmation of the serenity of this moment. Then they joined in with their harmonies.

Said the little lamb to the shepard boy

Do you hear what I hear

Ringing through the sky shepard boy

Do you hear what I hear

A song, a song

High above the tree

With a voice as big as the sea

With a voice as big as the sea

The chorus grew stronger and louder as some of the nurses who were making their rounds on the floor stopped to join them in song.

Said the shepard boy to the mighty king

Do you know what I know

In your palace wall mighty king

Do you know what I know

A child, a child

Shivers in the cold

Let us bring him silver and gold

Let us bring him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere

Listen to what I say

Pray for peace people everywhere

Listen to what I say

The child, the child

Sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light

He will bring us goodness and light

When the last note faded, a bald little boy poked his head out from behind a door a few steps down the hallway. He looked weak, and it was clear that he struggled to move, but smiled shyly and gave the group a wave. Ava and Elaine waved back. A man and a woman, who the girls assumed to be the boys' parents, approached the group. They spoke to Kurt and Blaine.

"I just wanted to tell you that was beautiful. It's Dominic's favorite Christmas carol," the woman said as tears welled up in her eyes.

Kurt tapped the woman gently on the arm. "You're welcome. But really, it's Ava and Elaine you should thank. They really wanted to do something for everyone up here."

The woman knelt down in front of the girls. "Well, thank you, girls. Dominic wanted me to tell you that you sing beautifully."

Ava reached out for the woman's hand. "Tell him we said hello too. We hope he'll get well soon."

The woman smiled. "We hope so too. But one thing for sure, you've definitely lifted his spirits."

Elaine whispered something to Ava, and Ava nodded. "Misses?" Elaine said to the woman. "We want to give this to Dominic." The girl held up the plush Eeyore that Ava had given her earlier.

"Ava gave this to me for Christmas, but we both decided we want Dominic to have it."

The woman wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged the girls. "Thank you, Ava and Elaine. Thank you. Dominic will love this."

2034

Kurt smiled at Ava. "And how's Dominic doing now? Didn't you get a Christmas card from him a few days ago?"

The dark haired girl smiled and nodded. "Yeah, his family is on vacation in Florida. They're having a great time."

"We exchanged contact information with Dominic's parents," Blaine looked around the dinner table to explain Dominic's story. "He got a bone marrow transplant a few days after Elaine got out of the hospital. His leukemia seems to be gone."

Kurt and Blaine exchanged warm glances. They remembered the day Ava got that package from Dominic. It was the Eeyore the girls had given him at the hospital a few years ago. He had attached a note addressed to Ava and Elaine: "Thank you for lending me Eeyore. I promised that if I got better, I'd give him back to you, so here he is! Merry Christmas, from Dominic." Instead of keeping Eeyore, the girls had decided to give it to another kid from the hospital, and so Eeyore was now snuggling with a little Russian girl named Nastya

Carole smiled at her youngest granddaughter. "Ava, Grandpa and I are very proud of you for thinking about other kids, and not just yourselves. In fact we're proud of all you kids." She looked at all the children sitting at the table. "Christmas caroling at the children's hospital, serving soup at the homeless shelter, you kids are really growing up."

It was Rachel's turn to speak. "Kurt, Blaine, the four of us sure learned a lot from singing at the homeless shelter in our senior year, didn't we? I'm glad our kids are learning that at a young age."