They watched a lot of movies, and Karen introduced him to a lot of musicals. Kurt really liked the musicals. He would watch some of them over and over again on the same day, generally until he knew all the words so he could sing along – mostly with the female vocalists, which he preferred due to his higher tone of voice.

Karen even told him all about New York City and Broadway where there were tons of musicals and shows done every day. Kurt would listen, his eyes wide in wonder. It did not take him long to decide that he wanted to go to New York for their trip – Karen agreed excitedly, telling him that it would be a perfect place to go.

Burt agreed as well that the trip would be fun, even though he really was not a huge fan of musicals and such. They were going to start their planning the day after Karen got her casts off.

*.*.*.*.*

Kurt got to go to the park for the first time the day before Mrs. Hummel's casts were removed. The park was only a short walk from their house – it was only about a ten minute walk, but for Kurt it took a bit longer – and Burt went with him. It was Sunday and there were lots of other people around from the neighborhood; including lots of other little kids. The weather was still rather cold, but every one was bundled up nice and warmly. Thankfully it had not snowed yet.

Kurt was somewhat intimidated by all the other children – a lot of them all seemed to know each other, so why would they want to play with him? – so he begged Burt to come with him over to the swings. Burt held his hand as they went over and Kurt sat on one of the empty swings. As he swung his legs back and forth, Burt gave him a small push occasionally to help keep him going. Kurt hummed to himself as he swung back and forth. He also looked about the park, trying to decide where they could explore next. Oh, the castle like thing with the slides looked like fun. There was even a neat looking bridge connecting the two parts of the huge wooden play place.

"Can we go up there?" Kurt asked, pointing and slowing down his swinging so he could stop.

Burt looked over to where Kurt was pointing and nodded. "Of course. I can't really get up there though so you'll have to go by yourself and be careful, okay? I'll watch from down here."

Kurt squealed happily and hopped off the swing to run over and climb up to the one part of the wooden play place. There were other kids around but he kept to his self, feeling rather shy whenever he would make eye contact with one of them. The bridge he had seen from the swings swayed a lot as he walked across it to get to one of the slides. As he went across he sang quietly to himself, one of the songs from one of the musicals Karen had shown him before.

When he got to the slide however there was a rather big kid blocking the way. He stopped singing and tried to figure out what he should do. Kurt was not just going to shove him out of the way so he tried being polite and asking him to move. "Er...excuse me," he asked softly, "could you please move so I could go down the slide?"

The bigger kid turned and gave him a nasty look. "I don't think so, girly. I was here first."

Girly? Kurt's eyes widened. This kid reminded him of some of the boys at the orphanage who used to make fun of him for wanting to play with the girls and color in the coloring books all the time. It scared him, but he had to try and be brave. Courage...that's what Blaine would tell him, right? "I'm not a girl." He replied strongly, feeling rather hurt but trying not to let it show.

"You sure do sound like one." The big kid laughed, folding his arms across his chest making him look even more intimidating. "I bet you play with little dollies too and do dress up with pink dresses." The kid wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I do not!" Kurt placed his hands stubbornly on his waist, snapping back at the taller kid. He would never admit out loud to this bully that he actually did find playing with dolls appealing.

"Yeah, right." The kid reached out and shoved Kurt back roughly. "Go play with your dollies elsewhere, girl."

Kurt gasped in surprise as he stumbled back when the tall boy shoved him. Expecting to fall down hard onto the wooden planks of the bridge behind him, he was confused – but glad – when, instead, he fell back against something soft and did not end up on down on the bridge.

"What in the world?" A loud, young, voice shouted behind him. Hands steadied Kurt back up and he turned to see who had helped him. It was a somewhat shorter girl, dark skinned, and a bit bigger than Kurt was. She was giving the taller boy in front of Kurt a rather mean look. "Lay off, Karofsky! You can't just bully everyone here on the playground. Sheesh."

Karofsky rolled his eyes at the girl and shoved Kurt and her both out of his way as he went across the bridge. "Looks like you two can go play dollies together now. I'm outta here, ladies." And with that he was gone.

Kurt's shoulder hurt somewhat from Karofsky's shove but he was not going to cry about it...hopefully. He did not want this girl who had helped him to think he was a cry baby. "Thank you..." He turned to the girl and smiled.

"No problem. Are you alright?" The girl asked him.

"I'm fine." Kurt replied. "My name's Kurt...Kurt Hummel." It felt weird adding that last name to his name, but he also really liked it. It was the first time he had said it out loud.

"I'm Mercedes Jones." The girl replied, smiling at him. "I come here to the park a lot but I've never seen you before."

Kurt felt some what uncomfortable, unsure whether to say he was adopted or not. What if Mercedes made fun of him for it? "Er...being around lots of other people is kind of scary...so I haven't really been here a lot." It was a lie, but he was too scared that Mercedes would make fun of him for the real reason he had never been to this park before.

"Oh," Mercedes nodded, "I see. Well, do you want to go down the slide with me? I don't really have anyone to play with..."

"I'd love to!" Kurt's eyes lit up. "I don't have anyone to play with either. Is that Karofsky kid always such a meanie?" He asked his new friend curiously.

Mercedes nodded, wrinkling her nose. "Yeah. Even at school he's kind of a bully. I usually just stay away from him. Will you be going to the elementary school next fall?"

Kurt sighed; he really did not like bullies. "I'll remember to stay away from him too." He nodded to himself. "And yeah. My...parents, they told me I'd start at the school next fall." Kurt was looking forward to it actually. He liked learning.

"Good! It'll be nice to have a friend there." Mercedes grinned. She reached out and grabbed Kurt's hand, tugging him towards the slide. "Let's go down the slide together!"

Kurt giggled and let himself be tugged along. "Okay!" They sat down on the two slides that were right next to each other and went down at the same time. It was a lot of fun and Kurt decided he wanted to go again.

They went down the slide a few more times and then Mercedes showed Kurt all around the park. It was too cold for the sand box, but that was okay because Kurt found sand to be really icky and it would ruin his clothing. Occasionally he would look around for Burt to make sure he could still see him. If he could not see him then he might start panicking so he always made sure his new dad was in sight.

After about another hour of playing, Burt appeared next to them and told Kurt it was time to head for home. Kurt was sad to be leaving his new friend. Mercedes asked him if he might want to come over to her house some time to play and Kurt's eyes widened. Of course he wanted to! He looked up at Burt and asked if it would be alright. Burt nodded and said it would be, as long as Mercedes' parents did not mind.

Mercedes ran to go find her mother to drag her over. Mrs. Jones was a very nice lady and she was quite happy to see her daughter had made a new friend. And she had no problem with Kurt coming over to play with Mercedes.

Mrs. Jones and Burt swapped telephone numbers so they could arrange a time for Kurt to come over and play. The two children were rather happy and Kurt even hugged Mercedes before he and Burt left.

His legs were somewhat tired though from all the running around so Burt picked him up and put him on his shoulders for the walk back to the house. Kurt told him all about the fun he and Mercedes had had together.

He did not mention anything about what had happened with Karofsky though.

*.*.*.*.*.*

When they finally got home Kurt ran upstairs to tell Karen all about his time at the park. She was quite pleased to hear Kurt had had fun and had even made a new friend. To Kurt's surprise Karen told him that she actually knew the Jones' from church.

She also told Kurt that once her casts were off their family could start going back to church. Kurt had never been to church before so he was kind of curious about it. The only part that really sounded appealing was the fact that there was singing during the service. And how could Kurt pass up the chance to sing?

Tired from the afternoon, Kurt barely managed to stay awake long enough to get through dinner. After dinner, Burt helped him get ready for bed and then tucked him in before turning the lights off. Burt and Karen were still keeping their bedroom door open, just in case. Kurt had finally managed to spend a few nights in his own room the entire time, but they would still wake up some mornings to find Kurt lying fast asleep between them.

Kurt fell asleep shortly after the lights were turned off, but not before wondering to his self about how Blaine was doing. The encounter with Karofsky came back to mind and Kurt felt rather sad remembering the hurtful things the bigger boy had said to him. He wished Blaine was with him at the moment to hold his hand and make him feel better.

When he fell asleep he had his left hand held in his right, clutched tightly against his chest. It was the hand Blaine usually held, and if he tried hard enough he could almost feel Blaine's hand holding his again.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Kurt swung his legs back and forth in the waiting room at the hospital. The chair he was sitting on was really uncomfortable and he really wanted to go down the hall to the play room because he saw some neat looking toys when they had passed by earlier.

He had to be quiet and patient though because Burt had to go back in with Karen. Being alone in the waiting room kind of scared him, but he had promised he would sit and not move from the chair until they came back out. And the lady at the desk had promised Burt she would keep an eye out on him. Kurt did not want to get into trouble.

At one point the door opened and Kurt looked up, hoping to see his parents come out, but it was only a little girl about his age with two nice looking gentlemen. The little girl looked worried and was babbling away quickly to her two male companions. "They'll be able to make my throat feel better...right, daddy?" She looked up at one of the men.

"Of course, sweetheart." The man replied, taking her hand as they walked towards the door to leave the main room.

"Good." The girl sighed, sounding only somewhat hopeful. "I'm going to be a big star some day and I can't lose my voice!"

The other man held open the door for them and the little girl smiled brightly. "Thanks, daddy!" They walked out together and the door swung shut behind them, leaving Kurt and the lady at the desk the only ones in the room.

Kurt was somewhat confused after having watched them leave and eavesdropped on their conversation. That little girl had called both of those men 'daddy'. How could someone have two dads? Unless she was adopted too and both her real dad and her second dad had come to take her to the hospital. That was probably it. Kurt figured he could just ask his parents about it then.

After a while Kurt was about bored to tears when finally the door opened again and his parents came out. Karen had crutches and Burt was helping her out into the main room. Kurt happily hopped off the uncomfortable chair and ran over to join them. "Yay! I bet it feels good to have those off!" He smiled happily up at Karen.

"You have no idea." Karen giggled, reaching out to brush some hair away from Kurt's eyes. "Was the wait too long, sweetie? We're sorry about that."

Kurt shook his head. "No, it was okay." He wanted to ask about the little girl having two dads, but he figured it could wait until they were in the car.

They left altogether and made their way to the car. Kurt helped Karen by opening the door for her, to which she said thank you and called him a perfect, little gentleman.

Once they were on their way, Kurt sat lost in thought for a bit before finally speaking up. "I was wondering..." he trailed off, trying to figure out how to ask his question.

"Yes, Kurt?" Karen turned in her seat, looking back at him with a smile, as Burt continued driving.

"Well, it's just..." he shrugged, "while I was in the waiting room this little girl came out with these two guys...and she called them both 'daddy'. Do you think she was adopted too and that both her dads came with her to the hospital? Or can someone really have two dads?" How would that work to have kids then? He did not know much about how babies were made, but he did know that it was the mommy that had the babies, not the daddy.

Burt looked like he had no idea how to respond at first, so Karen took over. "Well, it's possible she could have been adopted and they just both came along, but it's also possible that she just has two dads."

"But how does that work?"Kurt asked, sounding rather confused.

"Is he too young for us to be having this conversation?" Burt asked quietly, looking somewhat flustered. Karen giggled, just shrugging and turning back to Kurt.

It did not take her long to explain the basics, and she was rather amused by the 'eww' look on Kurt's face. He was pretty sure he was never ever going to do stuff like that. Gross.

"But then...how can two daddies have a baby then? Especially since they can't...er, you know..." Kurt wrinkled his nose, not even wanting to say it.

"Well, sweetie, you know how a guy and a girl can fall in love? It can happen between two guys as well." Karen did not think there was anything wrong with that. "And if they want to raise a child together than they can always adopt, or they can have what is called a surrogate mother." And she gave Kurt the simple explanation for that as well. "It almost about the same way for if to ladies fell in love too."

Kurt was glad he understood all of this a lot better; though he still was rather grossed out by all that sex stuff. If you had to go through all that icky stuff to have a baby then he would rather just find a nice guy or girl and adopt together or have one of those surrogate mommies. He was pretty sure two guys could raise a baby just fine – like those two guys seemed to be doing from the hospital. Kurt even bet he and Blaine could have raised a nice baby together...well, when they were older of course.

*.*.*.*.*.*

It was the first Sunday after Karen's casts had come off and the Hummel family was attending church. Kurt was excited because he got to dress up in the nice new little suit and bow tie that Karen had picked out for him. She said he looked perfectly handsome in it and the compliment made Kurt feel really good.

After Karen had gotten her casts removed, she had taken Kurt clothes shopping since it was easier for her to get around, even if the crutches were a slight hindrance. Karen loved looking at clothing and Kurt was apparently not much different. He just had to go through every thing and ask her about different patterns and colors and how things matched. It was absolutely fascinating to him.

What surprised Karen a tiny bit was Kurt's fascination with female clothing as well. Even if he did not plan to wear it he still had to just look and comment.

So their clothing shopping trip took probably several hours longer than had been planned. Neither of them had minded though, and when they finally returned home Burt stated how glad he was that he had decided not to go along – because clothing shopping was not something he got excited about, and he would have died of boredom while waiting for them.

When they finally got to the church on Sunday, Kurt was somewhat intimidated by all the people and he clung to Karen's hand. Lots of the regulars there knew the Hummels and had heard about their plans on adopting a child, so of course they all wanted to meet him. At first all the attention was a bit frightening, but soon enough Kurt loved it; especially when the nice people would comment on his attire.

At one point he spotted his new friend from the playground, Mercedes, standing with her parents. Tugging on Karen's hand, Kurt asked if they could go over and say hi. So they went over and Kurt waved, glad to see his new friend again.

"Kurt!" Mercedes grinned, waving back. "Look!" She pointed to her top teeth. One of the two front ones was missing. "I lost it last night!"

Kurt giggled, because her mouth looked kind of silly with a tooth missing. "Did it hurt? How'd it fall out?"

"It hurt a little bit." Mercedes winced. "But it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I've lost a few before that hurt a lot more." She shrugged. "And this one got knocked out with the wooden spoon! We were in the kitchen making soup and my mommy accidentally turned too quickly and forgot I was behind her." She giggled. "I got soup all over my face and the spoon whacked into my tooth. Luckily it didn't fall into the soup!"

"Oh my!" Kurt giggled more. "And that's definitely good it didn't fall into the soup! I don't think that would taste very good."

Mercedes did not think so either. They did not get a chance to finish their conversation though because both their parents came over and told them it was time to go sit down for the service.

Kurt found the actual service to be rather dull and he had a hard time not fidgeting in his seat. The only part he really enjoyed was the singing.

Even more so when he saw that Mercedes was singing in the choir. She even got a solo and Kurt thought she sounded really good; maybe almost as good as his self. Well, maybe she could be as good as he was, since, after all, she was a girl and he was a guy. They could both be really really good.

Once the service was over, Kurt found Mercedes right away to tell her how awesome she was. She giggled, all embarrassed, and hugged Kurt tightly, saying thanks.

Mercedes' mother came over and asked Kurt if he would like to come over to play for a bit, so he begged his parents. They said of course and so Kurt got to go home and get changed and then head on over to play with Mercedes.

The house Mercedes lived in was really pretty, and loud. Mercedes had two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, and then there were her parents and the dog. The dog was just a little Chihuahua named Scamper. Apparently Mercedes had named him that when he was just a puppy because whenever he would hear a loud noise he would scamper away really quickly to hide under the table.

Mercedes took Kurt up to her room when he arrived. He liked all the pictures she had drawn and hung up all over the place. They were mostly stick figure drawings, but there was a lot of glitter on everything too. And Kurt loved glitter.

"What do you want to do?" Mercedes asked, sitting down at the bottom of her bed. "I've never really had any guy friends to play with and I know all the boys from the playground usually just want to play sports." She wrinkled her nose. "I just have my dolls and arts and craft stuff. But I'm sure we could play with my brother's basketball if you'd like."

Actually Kurt would rather just play with the dolls and do some crafts. He wondered if Mercedes would think him weird if he said that though. "Um, well..." his face reddened a tiny bit, "can we play with the dolls?" He asked really quietly.

Mercedes gave him a slightly surprised look but just nodded and smiled a tiny bit. "Of course! Here, look..." she went over to her little toy chest and opened it, sitting on the floor as she pulled three dolls out, "this one is Abby," she held up one with red curly hair, "this one is Jenny," a doll with dark brown hair, "and this one is Liza." She showed him the doll with long chestnut brown hair. "Which one do you want to play with?"

Kurt went over and sat down on the floor next to her to look at the dolls. They were all really pretty in his opinion. Though he kind of thought their clothing should be more sparkly. "Um...how about Jenny. She's really pretty. Her hair is a pretty dark color, just like yours." He commented, holding the doll carefully as Mercedes handed her over.

"Aw thanks." Mercedes giggled. "Then I'll play with Liza because her hair is about the same pretty color yours is."

The two played with the dolls for about a good hour or so before they got bored and Mercedes decided to show Kurt her arts and craft bin. Kurt's eyes widened and he asked if they could make some glitter pictures. Mercedes nodded enthusiastically in agreement and so they made some pictures for their parents with glitter and crayons. They ended up getting more glitter on themselves than the actual pictures, but they did not mind. It was fun and they laughed a lot.

Once it started to get dark outside Burt finally arrived to pick Kurt back up. The two friends were sad to have to part but there were already plans made for them to play together the very next day so they had something to look forward to. After a quick hug, Kurt waved goodbye and skipped down the front steps, babbling nonstop about all the fun he had had with his new friend.

*.*.*.*.*.*

They had a whole bunch of more play dates after the first one. It was not until maybe after the sixth one that Kurt accidentally let slip that he was adopted.

It was a really rainy day but they still wanted to be outside. So they were sitting on the back porch, holding one huge umbrella together over their heads and sitting so close their shoulders were touching.

They were watching the rain and the leaves on the trees blowing about in the wind. Kurt was feeling somewhat nervous – he was slightly scared of thunder – but he was trying to put up a brave front so Mercedes would not think he was a chicken. Mercedes was never really scared of anything and Kurt wanted to be just like that.

But then an extremely loud thunderclap sounded and Kurt squealed loudly, clinging to Mercedes in fright. Without even thinking about it he reached for her hand and gripped it tightly – holding hands meant comfort and safety to him, so whenever he was scared he automatically searched for that form of comfort, even if he did not consciously think about it.

"Kurt? It's okay. Just some thunder." Mercedes spoke softly, trying to comfort her scared friend.

"But it's loud..." Kurt closed his eyes real tightly, gripping Mercedes' hand harder.

Mercedes winced at how hard Kurt was gripping her hand. "Kurt...come on, you're safe; I'm here. And...you're kind of hurting my hand."

Kurt let out a slight choking gasp and let go of her hand. "I'm sorry!" His face reddened and he stared at the ground, hoping the thunder would go away soon.

"It's okay..." Mercedes felt bad for making Kurt feel bad. "You can still hold my hand if it'll make you feel better."

Kurt looked up, his face still slightly red from embarrassment. "Really?"

"Really." Mercedes replied, smiling at him. "We're friends and we have to help one another when we're scared."

"Thanks." Kurt smiled, taking her hand and being more careful this time. "Ever since my friend started holding my hand to help make me feel better, back when I was at the orphanage, I just...really like holding someone's hand when I'm scared."

"The orphanage?" Mercedes tilted her head to the side a bit, giving him a rather confused look.

Kurt's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He had not even realized while speaking that he had mentioned the orphanage. He and Mercedes had been friends for quite a bit of time now and it was easy for him to just talk without thinking some times, especially because it felt like he had known Mercedes for a lot longer than he really had and he was comfortable with her. The fact that he was adopted had been something he had continued to keep a secret, however, because he was not sure whether Mercedes would treat him differently or not if she knew.

Kurt jumped up; looking rather horrified and he took a step back from the porch, getting absolutely drenched now that he was directly under the downpour. "Er...no, I meant...um, some place else..."

"Kurt," Mercedes watched him for a second, "you're adopted? Is that the real reason why I'd never seen you at the park before?"

Kurt looked down at the ground and nodded his head, feeling really embarrassed.

"Okay. Well, this doesn't change anything." Kurt's head snapped back up, his eyes filled with surprise and a whole bunch of hope, as Mercedes continued talking. "We're still going to be friends. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Kurt shook his head, his eyes filling with tears of relief. Mercedes still wanted to be his friend! "I'm sorry. I was just scared that you would...I don't know," he shrugged, "maybe think differently of me...in a not so good way."

Mercedes shook her head, standing and letting the umbrella lay on the porch as she moved closer to Kurt. "No way, Kurt!" She giggled, wiggling her finger at him. "You're my friend. There's no way anything is going to change that. I'm just glad I know now. You know...we should be best friends. Cause best friends can tell each other anything and they spend a lot of time together, like we do."

Kurt bit his lip. Sure he was having lots of fun these days, but he had not forgotten about Blaine. And Blaine was his best friend. "But I..."

Mercedes' face fell slightly. "Well, if you don't want to then that's okay too."

"No!" Kurt shook his head, reaching out and grabbing his friend's hand. "I do want to be your best friend! It's just...I had- have a best friend at the orphanage and I'm not sure if you can have more than one best friend. I mean, is that okay?" He felt kind of like a traitor to Blaine for even considering having a second best friend; but it was Mercedes and she was awesome, a wonderful friend.

"Um..." Mercedes thought about it for a few seconds, "I think so. I mean, some of the girls at school have, like, two or three best friends. So I don't see why you can't have more than one."

Kurt's face lit up and he squeezed Mercedes' hand. "Well then, Mercedes Jones, I would love to be your best friend!"

"Yay!" Mercedes squealed happily and hugged Kurt tightly. "So, best friend, I think we should get inside."

The downpour had gotten harder and they were both now standing in it. "You're right." Kurt nodded. His hair was absolutely matted down and he was pretty sure it was going to be a mess once it started to dry. Ick. Ah well.

When the two best friends parted that evening, Kurt going home to wash his hair and sing happily to his self and Mercedes going upstairs to paint a new picture of her and Kurt to hang up on her wall, they knew that their friendship had just gotten stronger than before and that they were going to be good friends for a long time.

They also were both sick by the next day, from being outside in the chilly air and heavy rain, and therefore could not see each other again for a few days. So instead they talked on the phone for several hours until they both almost lost their voices too.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Two weeks later, the Hummels were leaving for their trip to New York City. Kurt had talked to his parents before hand, and before they left he promised Mercedes that he would bring her back a souvenir. She was rather jealous, because she had always wanted to see the big city after having seen lots of pictures of it in a book once.

The day before they left, Mercedes shoved Jenny into Kurt's hands and told him to take lots of pictures with her in them so it would be like Mercedes herself was there too.

Kurt looked down at the doll in his hands and then back up at his best friend and nodded. "Of course! I'll take really good care of her too." He set Jenny down carefully and then hugged Mercedes goodbye. "I'll miss you!"

The next day they were on a plane and off to New York City. Kurt had never been on an airplane before and was kind of scared when it first took off, his hand gripping tightly to Burt's, but after a short bit into the trip he finally managed to let go. Jenny was sitting in his lap and Kurt was glad neither of his parents had ever said it was weird for their son to be playing with dolls.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The city was huge and busy and bright and...well, Kurt absolutely loved it. He always held on to either Karen or Burt's hand, because he did not want to get lost, but his eyes were never focused on where they were headed. He had to take in everything; all the sights, the sounds, the smells. Everything was fascinating to him. He even had his parents stop at one point so they could listen to a street musician. The guy could not sing very well, but his guitar playing was brilliant.

Kurt loved looking up at the tall buildings and wondering what it would feel like to go to the very top of one of those buildings and just look down at all the little ant people below.

Their first full day there they spent sight seeing. They went to museums and shops and just all over the place. Lunch was eaten outside, because Kurt wanted to watch all the people going by. He loved watching the people.

The second day they went to a huge theater and saw a beautiful performance of Phantom of the Opera. Burt agreed after the performance that it had indeed been a stunning show, but he had most definitely not been moved to tears unlike Kurt and Karen. Together they almost went through three whole pocket packets of tissues.

And on the third day...

Kurt got lost.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Jerry Anderson had been in meetings all morning and his wife, Jeannette Anderson, was just getting out of one herself.

Jeannette raced down the marble steps that lead from the entrance of the business building she had just had her meeting in. Her next meeting was with a very important business man and they were supposed to be meeting outside of a museum just a little ways down the block. If she walked fast she would make it. Thank god she had decided not to wear heels that day.

As she neared the museum her phone rang. It was a call from the man she was supposed to be meeting. Apparently the meeting had to be rescheduled because of some random conflict or other. After making rearrangements for a different time to meet, Jeannette hung up and sat down on a bench outside the museum, sighing as she stretched her aching legs.

Suddenly she heard a slight sniffling off to her right and she turned to see what had made the sound.

A small boy, no older than 6 or 7 by the looks of it, was standing nearby outside the museum. He was looking about, seemingly rather lost and scared, and his eyes were slightly red as if he had been crying. Despite the slight redness of his eyes, Jeannette could not help thinking that the boy was rather...pretty looking.

Knowing she could not just let a young boy like him wander around the busy sidewalks alone, Jeannette stood and went over to see if she could help him find his parents or whoever he was supposed to be with. Before she could reach him though the boy went over to a bench slightly down the sidewalk from the museum and sat, clutching the metal armrest of the bench tightly.

And then he started singing.

It was soft at first, barely a whisper over the crowded sounds and noises of the city surrounding him, but as he seemed to gain confidence, and as Jeannette grew closer, his singing grew louder. Jeannette was entranced. The boy's voice was rather high compared to a lot of kids his age, and it was clear and delicate; absolutely beautiful.

A lot of other people walking along the sidewalk were starting to pause slightly as they went along, stopping to watch the singing boy for a few seconds or so before continuing on their way.

Jeannette sat down on the bench beside the small boy and waited for him to finish his song before speaking. "That was lovely. You're really talented."

When she first started speaking, the boy jumped in surprise and clutched to the metal armrest of the bench even tighter than before. He gave Jeannette a rather scared look, but managed to squeak out a quiet 'thank you'.

Jeanette smiled. Seeing the small boy made her think of Blaine. She wondered how her son was doing at home. It made her feel terrible having to have left him home without them already, when he had only been there for such a short while. "Are you lost, sweetie?"

The boy nodded, giving her a sad look. "I thought...if I sang loud enough my parents might hear me and find me again."

Biting her lip, Jeannette thought about it for a few seconds. Sure the boy had a smart idea, but it might not work too well if his parents just weren't in the area. "You didn't wander too far off from where you got separated, right?"

"No!" The boy shook his head. "I was always told that when you're lost you should stay where you are...that way you can easily be found again."

"That's very good advice to follow." Jeannette smiled. "Do you know if your parents had a cell phone on them I could call, just in case they're too far away to hear your lovely voice?"

The boy looked rather frightened at that thought and his eyes welled up with tears again. "Um...I don't know the number. Does that mean they'll never find me?"

Jeannette felt terrible; she seemed to have upset him more. "Oh! No, sweetie, they'll find you. I just know it. How about you try singing again? That might help." She smiled at him.

Seemingly encouraged by her smile, the boy nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes. Then he started singing again. It was a different song from before, but still just as beautiful.

Thankfully, it was not long before they heard a shout close by. A really pretty woman, with hair slightly lighter than the little boy's, was running over to them. "Kurt!"

The boy abruptly stopped singing and burst into tears, jumping up as the lady finally reached them and hugged him tightly. "Mommy!"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Kurt was angry at himself for getting lost. He and his parents had had lunch at this really pretty caf� and afterward had decided to check out one last museum. The next day they would be heading home.

At the museum Kurt had wanted to look at all the paintings; every single one. There was one painting in particular he liked that he wanted to go back to and look at over and over again. At one point he figured his parents were close enough they could still see him if he went over and looked at it again. So off he went, making sure to keep an eye out for Karen and Burt.

The painting was probably not the most gorgeous in the entire museum, but for some reason Kurt just loved it. It was a painting of a mother and a little girl. They were holding hands and sitting together on a bench swing hanging from a huge tree limb. Maybe he liked it so much because they were holding hands. Who knew?

Turning around to make his way back to his parents, Kurt's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened in fright when he realized he could no longer see them. A huge group of tourists were now standing in the area between where his parents had been and where Kurt currently stood. Making his way around the large group, Kurt still could not see either of his parents. Starting to get really upset, Kurt took off through the floor of the museum they were on. He looked all over and after five minutes of just walking, he went and hid in the bathroom, shutting himself up in one of the stalls. That was when he finally started crying.

After he managed to calm himself down, Kurt blew his nose and wiped the tears off his face. His eyes were rather red but he did not care as he took off from the bathroom. Maybe he should just wait down at the entrance to the museum. His parents would find him then, right?

Once outside, Kurt stood off to the side, out of the way, and looked all about, hoping to catch sight of his parents. They seemed to be no where in sight and that made him even more scared and upset. After standing there for what seemed like forever, Kurt got an idea. He moved a ways down the sidewalk and sat down on a bench, gripping tightly to the metal armrest. Hopefully if he held on tight enough no strangers could come along and take him away. And then he started singing. It did not matter that there were people stopping to stare and listen. All he knew was that his parents liked hearing him sing, and if they heard him then they would be able to find him again.

It was not until he finished singing his song that he realized a lady was sitting on the bench next to him. She spoke and it startled him. Thankfully though she seemed nice enough, but he was not going to take any chances so he clung tighter to the armrest.

Seeing her made him think of his mother. Well, his real mother and his new mother. Kurt had gotten lost once before; when he was four. His biological mother had found him and had held him tightly as he cried. She told him she would protect him and never let anything bad happen to him ever again. Except, two years later then she had left him at the orphanage with no explanation as to why. And now Kurt was scared and upset and all he wanted was his real mother to just find him again and hold him tight as he cried, but she could not and what if she would not have come to find him even if she could? That thought made Kurt even more upset. Karen would come find him, right? She was his mommy now and she said she loved him and would take care of him. Mommies were supposed to tell their kids that. They were.

The lady sitting next to him suggested he sing again so maybe his parents would hear. Kurt thought that was a great idea so he started singing once more. It was not long before he heard a familiar voice shouting his name. For an odd second though he thought it was his real mother's voice and even when he looked up it almost looked like his real mother was running towards him, but as she grew closer Kurt knew it was Karen. Without even thinking about it he had shouted 'mommy!' And she looked super relieved to see him as he stood and burst into tears as she threw her arms around him tightly.

His mother had found him. He was safe now.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Jeannette was greatly relieved when the boy's mother appeared. She was a bit startled at first though when she heard the lady shout his name. Kurt? Was it too much of a coincidence that she would see a boy – around her own son's age, no less – named Kurt, only a short while after her new son had told her about his best friend, Kurt, from the orphanage?

She would have asked, but her husband had said to let the issue alone. And Jeannette could not help but agree that it would probably be for the best.

"I'm sorry, mommy!" The little boy wailed, clinging to his mother tightly.

"Ssh, ssh Kurt, it's okay." His mother kissed his forehead. "I'm here now. You're safe."

"I'll never walk off again! I promise!" Kurt was finally managing to calm down, but he was still clinging to his mother tightly.

"We all have to learn from our mistakes, sweetheart. I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you." Kurt's mother looked over to Jeannette. "Were you sitting with him?"

Jeannette stood, smiling warmly at the boy's mother. "Yes. I saw him outside and didn't think it'd be a great idea for him to be alone for too long. You have a talented son, by the way. His singing is remarkable. I'm Jeannette Anderson."

"Thank you so much, Jeannette. I really appreciate it." Kurt's mother smiled sincerely. "And thanks, Kurt is really talented, isn't he? I'm still rather stunned every time I hear him sing." Kurt was standing next to her; his face slightly red from the compliments. He was rubbing his eyes as his mother spoke. "I'm Karen Hummel."

Jeannette's cell phone started going off again and she checked it. Her husband was calling. Well, he could wait a few minutes.

"I'm sorry; we've probably taken up quite a bit of your time." Karen smiled sadly.

"Oh, no, it's alright." Jeanette waved a hand dismissively. "Just my husband calling. And it was no problem sitting with Kurt. If my son was lost I would love knowing that someone was watching out for him until I found him. As it is, I do have a meeting I have to get to in an hour and it'll be a bit of a walk. So I should probably be heading off."

"Thank you again, so much. I mean it." Karen smiled, reaching out to shake Jeannette's hand.

"Th-thank you." Kurt spoke up, his voice somewhat shaky from all the crying he had just done.

"You're both welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you both." Jeannette smiled. "Keep up the singing, Kurt. I bet you could go big some day with a voice like that."

Kurt blushed, nodding, a small smile on his face.

Jeannette's cell phone was going off again. "Ack, have to take this one." She laughed. "Farewell!" She waved farewell to Kurt and Mrs. Hummel and turned to head off in the direction towards her next meeting.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

After Mrs. Anderson was gone, Karen pulled her own cell phone out and called up Burt. She told him that Kurt was safe and sound with her and that they should meet up back at the hotel. It was getting late and they still had to get dinner and finish packing up before their flight home the next day.

Kurt managed to get a few more pictures of him and Mercedes' doll, Jenny, around the hotel before they went to bed that night.

The next day, Kurt was rather sad to leave the big city. "Do you think we'll ever get to come back?"

"I'm sure we'll come back some day, sweetie." Karen smiled brightly. "Did you like our trip?"

"I loved it!" Kurt replied, holding her hand as they walked through the airport. "This city is huge, but it was so exciting at the same time!" Definitely a place he wanted to come back to.

And he would.

*.*.*.*.*

Two days after returning home from his trip, Kurt finally made it over to Mercedes' house with Jenny. Mercedes squealed happily when she saw the two of them and she hugged Kurt tightly. "Did Jenny behave herself?" Mercedes asked, giggling as she hugged the doll.

"Oh yes. She was very well mannered." Kurt giggled, setting a huge photo album down on Mercedes' bed. "The lady who cleaned our hotel room made a little hair bow for her!" He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over to his best friend. Mercedes 'aww'd' over it and clipped it to Jenny's hair. "And now you have to look at all the pictures!"

So they spent the rest of the afternoon looking through the photo album. Kurt told her tons of stories and he even told her about how he had gotten lost. "This nice lady stayed with me though so I wouldn't get kidnapped."

Then Kurt asked Mercedes a question he had been keeping to himself for a while since that day he had gotten lost. "Hey, Mer?" Usually he only used his little nickname for her when he wanted something or was really upset and just wanted some comfort.

"Yeah, Kurt?" Mercedes looked up from some of the pictures to stare at him.

"It's just," he shrugged, not knowing how to voice his question all of a sudden, "you know how...how I'm adopted and all?" Mercedes nodded. "Well, is it alright for me to call Karen 'mommy' when my real mommy is still alive and all? I mean...it's just cause I don't really know why my mommy left me at the orphanage. What if she still really loves me and was going to come back for me or something like that? Would it hurt her if she knew I was calling Karen 'mommy' too?"

Mercedes thought about it then shook her head. "I don't think that's a bad thing at all. See, even though Karen isn't really your real mom, she's still taking care of you and protecting you and showing you all the love any mom should. I'm sure your real mom wouldn't mind if you called Karen 'mom' cause she'd know that Karen is, well, just being your mom. I don't think it's anything you have to feel guilty about."

Kurt thought that all made sense. Well, he was not going to feel guilty about it anymore, because Karen was his mommy now and she made him feel safe.

When he got home that night, Kurt hugged Karen tight before she tucked him into bed and told her he loved her. And he knew he meant it too.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Kurt had never told his parents much about his biological parents. And as there was not much information on his real parents in the folder the orphanage had given Mr. and Mrs. Hummel, which held all the information they could get on Kurt, Burt and Karen still did not know much about them even from that.

So maybe that was why they were still slightly confused whenever Kurt seemed to make himself less noticeable whenever Burt decided to have a beer or two. And on game nights, when Burt would be in the living room watching the game on television and drinking a few more than usual, Kurt would disappear altogether. Not to appear again from his room until bed time.

One particular night, Karen was out running to the grocery store for a few things – the next day was Sunday and she had promised Kurt she would teach him how to cook a few things, since he kept showing such a great interest in cooking – and Burt was in the living room watching some big game. Kurt was in the next room in the kitchen, sitting and doodling with crayon. He had a glass of yummy fruit juice sitting on the table within reach.

Something crazy must have been going on in the game because all of a sudden Burt practically exploded with shouts in the next room. Kurt squeaked loudly and, without even a second to waste, dove under the table. His forehead and nose both managed to knock into the table's edge and his glass of juice fell over, the juice drenching his pictures before the glass rolled off the table and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

"Kurt?" Burt called from the living room.

By habit, Kurt kept quiet as a mouse, his heart pounding and his head throbbing, something warm flowing past his upper lip. No no no. His father was going to come in; just like he used to. And then he was going to get punished for breaking that glass, because his daddy did not like it when he broke things, even by accident.

Burt's face appeared suddenly as he crouched down to see why Kurt was under the table. "Kurt?"

Kurt visibly flinched from the sudden appearance and the smell of alcohol. Seeing Burt's face though broke through his fear and brought him a bit back to his senses. This was not his biological father. And Burt clearly had not been drinking as much as his real father normally did. Kurt was not in danger. Burt had just gotten loud over sports and he never drank enough to get super drunk.

It was just by habit though that Kurt had reacted so badly. Who could blame him? He was used to bad things happening when his real father had gotten drunk.

"Kurt, your nose is bleeding." Burt looked rather concerned. "What happened? Do you want to come out so we can get that bleeding stopped?"

Why couldn't he just move and get out from under the table? Kurt could barely get his legs to work and his head hurt so badly. His eyes welled up with tears as he shook his head at Burt and hugged his legs to his chest.

Now not only did Burt look concerned he looked confused as well. Luckily Karen walked in from the garage just then and set her stuff down as she noticed Burt sitting on the floor. The broken glass was off to the side, shattered in pieces. "Burt? What's going on?" She asked, concerned.

Burt looked up and waved her over. "I'm not sure. I heard Kurt in here and then there were a few bumps and a glass shattering. Now he won't come out from under the table and his nose is bleeding."

Karen's expression grew even more concerned and she moved over to crouch down next to her husband. "Kurt, sweetie, what's wrong?" She bit her lip as she saw the blood on her son's face.

Kurt burst into tears and finally managed to get himself to move. He dove out from under the table and hid in Karen's shoulder, sobbing.

"Ssh, it's okay, sweetie." Karen rubbed his back softly, trying to get him to calm down. She was not really worried about whether or not Kurt got blood on her jacket. She just wanted to make sure he was alright, and try to figure out why he had freaked out and ended up under the table.

After a while Kurt seemed to have calmed down a bit. Burt had stood and went to get a damp cloth so they could clean the blood off of Kurt's face. Both adults were slightly confused when Kurt visibly flinched away from Burt's hand when he held out the damp cloth.

"Kurt..." Burt sounded almost rather hurt. He could not understand why his son was acting like this.

Karen took the damp cloth from him and gently dabbed at Kurt's face, making soft soothing noises to him to try and calm him down more. "Kurt, is there something wrong?"

Kurt did not know what to say. How could he just tell his parents what his biological father used to do to him all the time? Back then, all he had had to protect himself was his mother. And even then she could not always protect him when she was too weak to even protect herself.

Something seemed to click in Burt's head and he looked down at Kurt. "It's the alcohol isn't? You always seem to disappear whenever I drink even a little."

Kurt was glad he did not have to say it himself. He nodded weakly, his forehead still hurting a lot.

"Was it your real parents?" Karen asked quietly. That was all she could think of, since Kurt had been in the orphanage before coming to them and there was no alcohol allowed there. So if alcohol bothered him it had to have something to do with his real parents.

Kurt was really glad he had not had to say that himself either. He nodded yet again, his eyes tearing up again.

"Did they hurt you?" She asked him lightly. The thought of someone hurting her little boy made her very angry. Sure Kurt was not her biological son, but by this point she thought of him as her own and no one would ever be allowed to hurt her son.

The tears running down Kurt's face again was pretty much confirmation for them. "Not mommy though..." Kurt managed to choke out, "never mommy. We protected each other."

Karen could feel her own eyes tearing up. She could only imagine what Kurt had had to endure while still living with his real parents.

Beside her, Burt bit his lip, tentatively reaching out to place a hand on Kurt's small shoulder. Things made a lot more sense to him now and he understood why Kurt reacted the way he did, but he was not Kurt's biological father and never ever planned on hurting Kurt. "Kurt," he spoke softly, "I know...things like that can take a long time to get over, and I will do everything I can to help you. You know that. I'm not your real father and I swear to you that I will never ever hurt you." Heck he would even stop drinking if he had to if it made Kurt feel safer. "I love you, Kurt. And your mother does too. We'll protect you and keep you safe. I'm sorry for scaring you."

Kurt looked up at him and could tell Burt was telling the truth. And he knew Burt was not his real father. Burt would never hurt him; he was safe with both Karen and Burt. Thankfully his nose had stopped bleeding; he did not feel bad for burying his face in Burt's shoulder as he hugged him too. "I love you too, daddy!" He cried again. It sucked, crying so much, but he knew he was not going to get in trouble for crying here so for now he was going to just let it all go. No one was going to yell at him to shut up or throw something heavy at him for being a little kid who just happens to cry a lot.

Burt missed the rest of his game, but he did not care. They cleaned up the broken glass and wiped up all the spilled juice. Kurt's pictures had to be thrown out, but he did not mind too much cause he thought they had sucked anyway.

And then the three Hummels sat down and had ice cream before going to bed. Luckily the bruise on Kurt's forehead was not too big and his bangs covered it up pretty well. When it was time to go to sleep, both Karen and Burt helped tuck Kurt into bed. They both said 'I love you' as they stood at the doorway to Kurt's room, and Kurt said the same in return. And Kurt felt perfectly safe and loved as he fell asleep.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Over in Karen and Burt's room, the two adults were having a rather quiet conversation.

"You know what I've been thinking?" Karen asked her husband.

"What?" Burt asked, turning the lights off. They settled down, getting comfortable and holding each other close.

Karen sighed, resting her head against Burt's shoulder. "I think, especially after tonight, we should find out more about Kurt's real parents."

Burt was silent for a bit before replying. "You're right. We probably should. Just, after finding all that out about his real father, I don't want him anywhere near Kurt at all. Nor do I want him to even know where he could possibly find Kurt. Just in case."

"Same." Karen agreed softly. "I'm more interested in contacting his mother, anyway. Kurt seems to have been really close to her and her to him. I'm rather curious as to why she gave him up. Unless...you don't think it was to protect him from her husband?"

"Could be." Burt wondered. "So, shall we tell him about this?"

Karen bit her lip, giving it some thought. "Well, we probably should, but maybe not right away? Maybe we should meet with her first, because what if she doesn't even want to see him? It would break his heart to know that." How could anyone not want to see their own child? Especially one as brilliant and wonderful as Kurt?

"That's a good idea." Burt yawned. "Can we contact the orphanage for his mother's information or is this going to be a lot harder than we thought?"

"Hm, I suppose if they can't give us the information then we could always ask Kurt what his last name was before he was adopted and go off of that." Karen shrugged. It was a pretty good idea anyway.

Burt thought so as well. So they agreed to start with this the next day. Hopefully it would not be too difficult to find Kurt's real mother. Karen really hoped that his mother had not had any trouble with Kurt's real father since Kurt was left at the orphanage. He seemed like he could be a really dangerous man.

What the Hummels did not know was what surprise really awaited them when they finally found Kurt's real mother.