Burt and his wife waited anxiously the next couple of days for the information to arrive in the mail. Finally on Saturday they received an envelope from Ms. Rose that held more of Kurt's information, including his real mother's name, address, and phone number.

Karen took one look at the name and burst into tears.

"Karen, honey? What is it?" Burt asked his wife, his voice full of concern and confusion.

"I know who that is..."

*>*>*>*>

Kurt was pretty sure he was old enough he could walk up to the front door by himself. So he said farewell to Mercedes' mother, thanking her for giving him a ride home. For some reason his parents said they could not pick him up today. It had been set up for Kurt to spend the night at Mercedes' house, but since Mercedes got sick her mother decided it would be best if Kurt went home instead.

So now here he was and he was definitely capable of walking up to the front door himself. His mommy and daddy had given him a key to their house, which he wore on a long thin chain around his neck, and he had promised not to lose it. He unlocked the front door and opened it.

"Mommy! Daddy! Mercedes got sick so her mommy gave me a ride home!" He set his little backpack down on the ground and skipped into the living room. Burt was usually in there watching sports or something if he was home by this point in the day.

Kurt froze in his tracks when he saw both his parents sitting on the couch. They were not alone. He would recognize those light brown curls anywhere.

"M-mommy?"

The lady, Kurt's real mother, turned her head and her eyes widened as she stood. "Kurt!"

Kurt ran to her.

*>*>*>*>

Burt had been confused at first when his wife explained. He knew his wife had a sister. Her name was Elizabeth. Burt had only met her once before she had disappeared. It was shortly before he and Karen had married. According to Karen, Elizabeth tended to disappear a lot. She was not necessarily a super bad kid; she just never liked being around the family or the town they lived in. She had gotten involved with a drug addict and then a few weeks later had just vanished. The only reason Karen and her family had even known she was still alive was because she had sent them a postcard a month later to congratulate Karen on her marriage and let them know she was alright and was with a new guy who treated her right.

And that was it.

Now they had this piece of paper that had Kurt's real mother's name, address, and phone number on it. The last name was Karen's maiden name before marrying Burt. The address was only a short bit away from the orphanage they had adopted Kurt.

Karen wasted no time in getting on the phone and calling up Kurt's real mother. She almost cried again when a female voice answered the phone. It had been such a long time, but she still recognized the voice. "Elizabeth?" She asked tentatively. Her free hand reached for Burt's, clutching it for comfort and support.

The other end was quiet for a few seconds before the lady spoke again. "Karen? Is that..."

"Oh my god, it is you!" Karen gasped, tears flowing down her face again. "It's been so long!"

"I know, it's just..." Elizabeth seemed somewhat confused and slightly nervous. "how did you find me?"

Karen took a deep breath, trying to figure out the best way to tell her sister what was going on. In the end she just gave up and said it. "I...we have your son."

"Kurt?"

*>*>*>*>

Elizabeth was just so tired and all she wanted was to have been able to keep her son away from...well, from all of this. Of course nothing ever went the way Elizabeth wanted and here she was, sitting in the living room at the Hummels', praying to God that Kurt did not get home before she had left – she was not sure she could face him after what she had done.

She could honestly say she was happy to see her sister again. It had been years since they had last seen each other. Elizabeth may have never liked being around her family, but Karen was the only exception.

Things were so complicated right now though and it was all too much for Elizabeth to handle. Between having to make that awful decision to leave Kurt at the orphanage, dealing with her drunken husband, and suffering through her illness, Elizabeth was wearing thin. Seeing Karen open the front door had been too much. It really was her sister. She had cried then, hugging Karen tightly.

Now that the two sisters were standing next to each other it was obvious how alike they look; which definitely explained why Kurt looked so much like Karen, even though she was not his real mother.

"You never changed your last name." Karen commented after they had all sat down in the living room.

Elizabeth shrugged, looking down at the carpet uncomfortably. "I didn't want my son to have anything in his name associated with his father."

They were all quiet for a bit before Karen spoke again. "He misses you." Elizabeth looked up. "Kurt's only said nice things about you. The reason we wanted to find his real mother in the first place was because we were curious as to why she would give him up. After he finally somewhat told us about his father...we wondered if it was to keep him safe from the man."

"It was." Elizabeth replied. "Ricky is an awful man. I couldn't let Kurt grow up around him. Not only that..." her eyes were tearing up again. "I'm sick."

"Sick?" Burt asked quietly.

"Yes. And...I'm not going to make it."

That was when they had heard the front door unlock and open.

"Kurt wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow." Karen whispered.

Elizabeth looked up, fear in her eyes. She should not have come here. Kurt would be happier here with her sister and Burt. Elizabeth could not take care of him anymore, not when she had such little time left.

And then he was in the doorway to the living room, staring at her in surprise, and she stood, wishing she could just disappear.

Even more so when Kurt ran to her and hugged her tightly, crying.

*>*>*>*>

Kurt could not figure out how his real mother had come to be in his new house, but he did not care. She was there and he was hugging her. It was real.

He clung desperately to her when she tried to pull away. She was not going to leave him again, was she? "Mommy? You're not leaving are you?" He asked in a small voice.

"I...I can't stay, baby." Elizabeth was biting her lip, unable to make direct eye contact with him.

Kurt did not understand. "But why? You can't just leave me again like last time!" His eyes welled up with tears again. "Don't you love me, mommy?"

"Kurt, sweetie," Elizabeth gave out a shaky laugh, sitting back down on the second couch again, pulling Kurt onto her lap, "I love you more than anything in the world-"

"Then why did you leave me at the orphanage?" Kurt interrupted, giving her an extremely sad look. Karen was sitting on the couch across from them, holding Burt's hand tightly, tears in her own eyes.

Elizabeth gave him a sad, tired look before looking over to Karen and Burt. After a few seconds she looked back down at her son. "I wanted to protect you Kurt. I left you there because I love you so much."

Kurt gave her a puzzled look. "Protect me from what? Daddy? We've always protected each other. We were a team, remember?"

"We were the best team there was, baby." Elizabeth gave him a loving smile. "But...I can't protect you anymore, Kurt, and I knew this time was coming. I had to make sure you were somewhere safe before that happened."

"But...mommy, you're one of the best at protecting at me..." Kurt was still rather confused.

"Kurt, I..." She thought for a few seconds, "I'm very ill, sweetie. Remember when you were four and I told you Mr. Willard next door had passed away from cancer?"

"Yeah...he was really sick." Kurt nodded.

"Well, there are a lot of different types of cancer and I have one of those types."

"But you said people can survive it sometimes. That doesn't mean..." Kurt's eyes widened, "you're not going to..."

Elizabeth shook her head, tears in her eyes again. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I don't have much time left. And that's why I left you at the orphanage, because once I'm gone no one would be there to protect you from Ricky and I didn't want you to grow up with him." Kurt was crying again. "But look, sweetie, you have a wonderful loving family now and I know they're going to take really good care of you. And you want to know something else? Karen's my sister."

Kurt looked up at her in surprise, and then looked over to Karen. The two did look rather alike. Maybe that was why he, himself, kind of resembled Karen a bit. "Sisters?" That would make Karen his aunt. So she really was related to him.

"Yes." Elizabeth replied, smiling and brushing some of his hair away from his face. "And I can't think of anyone else I would rather you live with besides her and Burt. You be a good boy for them, okay?"

Kurt buried his face in her shoulder, nodding. "Will I get to see you again, mommy?" He asked quietly, his voice muffled.

"I don't know, baby." Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head. "If not...I love you, okay?"

"I love you too, mommy." Kurt replied, clinging to her shirt.

"Elizabeth..." Karen spoke quietly, "would you like to stay for dinner?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'd love to, but I can't. It's a bit of a drive back and I don't want to get home too late. I'm finally going to kick Ricky out tonight."

"Call us afterward, alright?" Burt told her sternly. "We'll want to know you're alright. Otherwise I won't hesitate to drive down there to make sure that man won't bother you ever again. You're family and you're Kurt's real mother; that means you're important to us."

"Thank you, Burt." Elizabeth smiled, holding Kurt tightly, kissing the top of his head.

"And Lizzy," Karen smiled at her sister, "we promise we'll take great care of Kurt for you. We love him like he was our own and, knowing that he's your son, our nephew, that means even more. You're welcome to see him whenever you'd like, okay? I'm sure he wouldn't mind. And keep in touch. Call us if you ever need anything."

"Can I call you, mommy?" Kurt asked, looking up at her with hopeful eyes.

"Of course, baby." His real mother replied, smiling lovingly at him. "And thank you, Karen. I...I'll keep in touch." She helped Kurt off her lap then stood, holding his hand. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but I have to go now. Will you walk me to the door?"

Kurt had to fight back tears as he nodded. "O-okay."

At the front door, Elizabeth let go of Kurt's hand for a few seconds to have a private word with her sister. Kurt stood off to the side, holding onto Burt's hand tightly for comfort.

"Karen..."

Karen cut in, pulling her sister close for a hug. "Lizzy, I'm so glad to have gotten to see you again, even under...the circumstances. I've missed you. Please call us tonight, okay?"

"I will." Elizabeth nodded, hugging her tightly. "There's something else...Karen, I don't want to worry you, but please, for Kurt and your husband's sake, see a doctor and get checked out. My doctor told me that from what he knew this ran in our family. Our great grandmother, our grandmother, even our aunt Lily had breast cancer. I really don't want you to go through it as well. Please promise me you'll see a doctor?"

"I promise." Karen replied, giving her sister a sad smile.

"Thank you." Elizabeth smiled. Then she turned to Kurt. "One last hug goodbye, sweetie?" Kurt ran the short distance between them and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "You're going to be a great boy, Kurt. And don't forget what I told you; don't let anyone bring you down. You are who you are, an amazing, talented person, and no one can tell you otherwise. And if anyone picks on you at school just tell them that-"

"One day they'll all work for me!" Kurt giggled. "I remembered that, mommy. It used to make me laugh all the time." He looked up and indicated she should lean down. Once she did he stretched up on his tiptoes and kissed her cheek. "I'll miss you, mommy. I love you lots."

"I love you too, sweetie." Elizabeth kissed his forehead then finally, reluctantly, pulled herself away from Kurt. "I'll wave to you as I go, Kurt."

Burt opened the front door and Elizabeth walked out of the house. As she headed to her car that was parked down the sidewalk a bit, Kurt stepped out to the front porch, waving as she went.

"Bye, mommy!" He called out as he waved, tears silently rolling down his face again.

Elizabeth turned and waved farewell, shouting 'bye' in return, before getting into her car. As she drove off she waved, honking the car horn.

*>*>*>*>

Once she was out of sight, Kurt turned to Karen and Burt and asked them if it was okay to go inside now. The three of them went inside and Karen made them a special dinner. It was quiet at the table and Kurt picked at his food for a bit before trying any of it.

After a bit he gave up and told them he was not hungry. Neither Karen nor Burt felt all too hungry themselves so they just covered up the food and placed it in the fridge.

Then Kurt asked if he could go upstairs and take a bath. A bath and some singing was just what he needed right now.

His bath lasted for quite a long time, but his parents were not all too worried because they could still hear him singing; though the sadness of his voice caused their hearts to ache. When Kurt got out of the bath he got dressed for bed. He did not plan on going to sleep just yet. Opening a drawer at his desk, he reached his little arm all the way to the back and pulled out a tiny piece of paper. His eyes brimmed with tears again as he held the paper to his heart and wished that Blaine was there to hold his hand. Knowing that was not possible anymore though, he whispered 'courage' to himself and then placed the little piece of paper back into the very back of the drawer before closing it. Then he left his room and went downstairs to the living room. Karen and Burt were sitting on the couch together, the television on to some random show that neither of them seemed to be focusing on. Kurt walked into the room and asked if he could sit down on the couch with them.

After they moved around a bit, Kurt sat down and then moved so he could curl up close to both of them. "Can I sleep with you guys tonight?" He asked quietly.

"Of course, sweetheart." Karen replied, softly, kissing the top of his head. "I think daddy and I are ready to head off to bed now even."

Burt carried Kurt upstairs with them, setting him down gently on the bed. After his parents both got ready for bed, they got under the covers with him and they all snuggled close together.

"I love you both lots." Kurt whispered in the dark.

Both of his parents leaned in to kiss him on either side of his face at the same time. "We love you lots too, Kurt." Burt told him quietly.

*>*>*>*>

Halfway through the night the phone rang. Burt got up to answer the house phone that was sitting on his nightstand. Both Karen and Kurt awoke from the ringing and listened quietly as Burt talked. By the time he hung up they both knew he had been talking to Elizabeth.

"Is mommy okay?" Kurt asked once Burt had hung up.

"Yeah, Kurt." Burt nodded. "She's going to be alright."

Karen breathed a sigh of relief. "What happened with Ricky?"

"Apparently he was actually sober when she got home. She said she told him to get out and never come back or she would call the cops. And he left."

"Didn't even put up a fight?" Karen asked, surprised.

Burt shrugged, lying back down. "I'm sure there were some words spoken between them, but from what she told me there weren't any big problems. So now he's gone."

Kurt felt a lot better now knowing his real mommy was safe from mean Ricky.

*>*>*>*>

One day when Kurt and Karen returned home from the park, Burt was waiting for them in the living room. He told Kurt there was a surprise waiting for him down in the basement. Curious, Kurt hopped on down the stairs and opened the door.

Both of his parents grinned, laughing when they heard the excited, happy squealing coming from the room below them.

For the past couple of weeks, in secret, both Burt and Karen had been working on cleaning up the basement and organizing everything. The result was that there was a huge open area in the one part of the basement that they turned into a little sort of music and entertainment area for Kurt. The old piano that had been covered up before was now uncovered and tuned up properly. There was a comfy chair as well and a television with a whole bunch of Kurt's favorite movies on a little shelf next to it.

Kurt currently only had eyes for the piano. He was sitting at the bench and swinging his legs slightly as he pressed a few keys, giggling to himself.

Karen and Burt made it down the stairs and went over to join their son. Sitting down on the bench next to Kurt, Karen held out a couple of books. They were piano books for beginners. "I got these a little bit ago while we were still working on finishing this up. Do you like it?"

"Yes!" Kurt happily replied. "Thank you both! I love it!" He looked through the piano books and was excited to see some of his favorites were in some of them. His mommy had even gotten him a piano book that was just all Disney songs! "Can you play, mommy?" Kurt asked, looking up at her with big eyes.

"Oh yes!" Karen giggled. "My sister and I both had lessons when we were younger."

"It was a shame when you stopped playing so much." Burt commented. "I've always loved hearing you play."

Karen's face reddened a bit and she flapped a hand at him, giggling. "I wasn't that amazing."

"I beg to differ..."

"Play something, mommy! Pleeease?" Kurt begged, his eyes shining brightly.

"Alright, alright." Karen laughed. "Scoot over there, sweetie. I know something I can play that you'll like."

Kurt moved over a bit so his mother could sit more in the middle of the bench. As she started to play, Kurt started giggling and singing along. They had recently watched 'Peter Pan' together and for some reason he found 'Never Grow Up' to be very amusing. When the song ended Burt clapped for them and Kurt begged his mother to play a few more songs.

By five pm, Karen had taught Kurt all of the letters of the piano keys and a lot more of the basics he needed to know to start out. Kurt was a very enthusiastic learner and he was always determined to do his best, especially when it came to something he really wanted to learn.

When they finally went upstairs so they could make dinner, Kurt asked if he could call Elizabeth first. Karen nodded and handed him the phone and the number Elizabeth had written down. Kurt excitedly punched in the number and bounced lightly on his feet as he waited for his real mother to answer her phone.

It took a few rings, but finally she picked up. "Hello?"

"Mommy, mommy, it's me!"

"Well, hi, baby! You sound really happy."

"Yes! We got the piano in the basement all nice again and I got to learn some new stuff! Maybe one day I'll be as good as you." Kurt giggled.

"You'll probably be even better than me eventually." Elizabeth replied, laughing with him.

A slight coughing on the other end of the phone had Kurt's voice full of concern when he spoke next. "Are you okay, mommy?"

There was a pause before his real mother replied. "Yeah, sweetie. Just an icky cold. You know how the weather gets to me this time of year."

Kurt did know; he had just been worrying that her cough might have had to do with something else. "Aww, well, you always told me soup works the best for a cold. And lots of hugs and kisses. Can you send those over the phone, do you think? Eh, I guess you could. So I'm sending you lots of them, mommy! Cause I don't want you to have a cold!"

"Thank you, sweetie." Elizabeth giggled, coughing slightly again. "I think I'm starting to feel better already. Those are some good hugs you sent over the phone."

Quite proud of himself for being so helpful, Kurt grinned brightly. "I'm glad."

"Well, I was just about to eat dinner, so I'm going to say goodnight, okay?" Elizabeth told him. "I'm really happy you called, Kurt. It makes me feel better hearing your voice."

Kurt sniffled but managed to keep a smile on his face, even though he knew his mother could not see it over the phone. "I love hearing your voice too, mommy. Get some rest so you'll get better, okay? You promise?"

"I promise, baby." Elizabeth replied sincerely.

"Good." Kurt giggled softly. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kurt. Night!"

"Night!" Kurt sighed heavily after hanging up the phone. He smiled though then because he was happy to at least get to talk to his real mother again.

Going into the kitchen, he helped his new parents to set the table and get ready for dinner. And when they said grace before eating, Kurt added on a small silent prayer that, if there really was a god up there, that he protect his new parents and his real mommy from harm...and hopefully let him see Blaine again some day.

*>*>*>*>

Kurt liked school. A lot. Even more so because he was lucky enough to have Mercedes in his class every year so far. The two of them had become as close as friends could be and they stuck up for each other.

They had to.

Dave Karofsky just happened to be in their class as well every year. And Mercedes had been right at the park that first day she and Kurt had met – Dave was still quite the bully at school. He liked to shove Kurt quite a bit, especially on the playground, and call them names. Hiding their stuff was always a fun time for Dave as well.

And no matter how many times they told the teacher, it never helped, because by the next day Dave would be right back to his old tricks.

The shoving in the playground was a major problem for Kurt. Kurt's clothing style had changed drastically ever since coming to live with the Hummels. Even his hairstyle was different. Karen had gotten him a little bow tie one time and it had become one of his most favorite accessories. Kurt's clothing tended to consist of stuff with a lot of lace, ruffles, silk, and all sorts of interesting things. Some of his clothing was easily ruined so he was always very careful not to run around too much on the playground. He and Mercedes preferred the swingsets and hopscotch to the sandbox and sports.

The first time Dave had pushed him into the sandbox it had been after a lot of rain and the wet sand had gotten all over his special back-to-school shirt. He had cried a lot over that.

Of course he was not going to mention the bullying to his parents – someone had run into him accidentally, that was all that had happened. He did not want to worry them.

After all, his father was always really busy at the garage and lately his mother was really tired a lot. They still had plenty of time for Kurt and the three of them always did lots of fun things, but it seemed to Kurt like something was off.

*>*>*>*>

It was during the middle of second grade that Kurt got some bad news.

He was supposed to be going on a class trip to the park after school – they were going to try and look for bugs for their insect unit – when the teacher got a phone call right before they left. After hanging up the phone, the teacher told Kurt he had to go down to the office because his dad was coming to pick him up.

Kurt was confused but he picked his stuff up, said farewell to Mercedes, and went down to the office. The secretary in the office smiled at him when he walked in and had him sit in one of the chairs to wait. She even gave him a lollipop. Kurt was halfway finished with the candy when his daddy walked into the office.

"Hey, kiddo. Ready to go?"

"Why am I going?" Kurt asked, rather confused. After all, he had the trip he was supposed to be going on.

Burt looked somewhat uncomfortable as he took a moment to figure out what to say. "Maybe it's best I wait until we get into the car."

An awful feeling settled in Kurt's stomach. Something had to be wrong. "Okay..." he mumbled, standing up and grabbing his backpack. The lollipop did not seem as appealing to him anymore so he dropped it in the trash can when the secretary was not looking.

He followed his father out of the building and into the car. Once they were both seated and the doors were shut Burt sat for a while, not speaking.

Finally Kurt could not wait any longer. He had to know what was going on. "What's wrong, daddy?" He asked in a small voice.

"Kurt..." Burt sounded really sorry, like he hated being the bearer of bad news, "we got a call today from Karen's father, your grandfather. Your real mother...passed away last night."

Kurt looked up at his father in shock. "She...she what?" It took a minute for the message to sink in and then his eyes welled up with tears.

Despite the fact that there was not a lot of space in the front of the car, Burt leaned over to the passenger seat and hugged Kurt tightly. It hurt to see his son crying and the best he could do right now was offer him comfort and a shoulder to cry on.

They sat there like that until Kurt finally managed to stop crying. His eyes were all red and puffy but he did not care. He asked Burt if they could just sit there for a while and Burt replied quietly that they could. After a short while, Burt softly told him that the funeral was to be held in four days and it was up to Kurt whether he wanted to go or not. Kurt thought about it for a bit and then nodded, replying that he did want to go.

That night was spent with the three of them cuddled on the couch watching some of Kurt's favorite movies and eating what his mother called 'comfort food'. Burt had called the school and explained that Kurt would not be able to attend for the next couple of days due to a family funeral which they would be traveling for. This was by no means a lie, for they would be required to make the four hour drive to Karen's parent's house. Elizabeth was being buried in a cemetery not far from the house. They were leaving tomorrow, spending the few days before the funeral at Karen's parent's, and then would return the day after the funeral. The school said they understood and that when Kurt returned his teacher would help him get caught up on the work he missed. Kurt hated the idea of being behind in school, but there was no way he was going to miss his real mother's funeral.

*>*>*>*>

Long car rides could be quite a bit of fun, in Kurt's opinion. If the occasion was not so sad Kurt may have enjoyed it a bit more. As it was, he could hardly bring himself to look out the window to watch the scenery. He had brought a few books along and had figured losing his self in his copy of 'Alice in Wonderland' might help take his mind off of things for the drive. He had read the book many times before. It was always fun to pretend he was Alice, traveling through Wonderland and meeting all the interesting characters.

He made it entirely through Alice and was a good way into 'Through the Looking Glass' when they arrived at his mother's parent's house. Kurt was a bit nervous to meet all these people who were family, but he whispered 'courage' to himself and hopped out of the car.

Karen's father, Kurt's grandfather, an old, gray haired man, came out to greet them and give Karen a hug after she got out of the car. When Kurt finally got around to the other side of the car, his grandfather did a slight double take but then smiled at him. "Hello there, Kurt. It's nice to finally meet my only grandchild." After Kurt smiled shyly at him in reply, his grandfather turned to Karen and commented on how alike Kurt looked to both her and her sister. Then he told Kurt he could call him Eddie, and he asked if Kurt would like to go inside and meet more of his family. Kurt's parents said it was alright if he went ahead inside, so, despite being somewhat nervous and shy, Kurt took Eddie's hand and went inside.

*>*>*>*>

Everyone was quite surprised at the resemblance Kurt had to Karen. They were all smitten with Kurt though and it had not taken Kurt long to warm up to pretty much everyone. All of his relatives were being very nice to him, even when he would break into tears on occasion when someone would mention Elizabeth.

When the day of the funeral came Kurt would not leave his parents' sides. If one could not be around him for a few seconds he would move to cling to the other one. He was kind of surprised at how much crying he had been doing. He had not even known it was possible to cry that much – sure he had cried a lot before on occasion, but this was even more than that. While everyone was standing outside in the cemetery, Kurt held both of his parents' hands and was glad when they both stood really close. Their close presence was comforting for him.

At one point Kurt looked about and thought he saw a familiar face in the group of people standing around the grave site. And it was not a good familiar face. His grip on his parents' hands tightened without him realizing it and he started trembling slightly. Both Burt and Karen figured Kurt was just really upset and needed comforting so they both squeezed his hand back. After all the talking parts were done and everyone was standing about, talking quietly and waiting for turns to place flowers and such down, the familiar face appeared again as a rather tall, thin man approached Kurt.

"Kurt?"

Neither Karen nor Burt knew who this man was, but Kurt seemed to visibly tremble now at his appearance. There was slight fear in his eyes. Seeing Kurt's reaction to the man had them guessing who he was.

"D-daddy?" Kurt whispered shakily. "Wh-what are you doing here?" He shrank back against Karen, whose grip tightened on his hand.

"Well, I wasn't going to miss your mother's funeral, Kurt. And I was hoping I would see you as well." Ricky explained. "It wasn't nice of Liz to just send you away without telling me. You two were both important to me and I was worried I'd never get to see you again."

"You're lying!" Kurt burst out angrily, a few tears sliding down his face – normally he would not yell at Ricky like this, but he felt slightly braver with Karen and Burt beside him. A few of the relatives standing nearby turned in surprise to see what was going on. "You weren't worried. I bet you're glad I'm gone. You were mean to mommy and I and she sent me away to keep my safe from you!"

A look of annoyance and anger crossed Ricky's face. "Don't speak to me like that, boy." He snapped back quietly, harshly. Kurt visibly flinched, cowering slightly. "Liz only sent you away cause she was too tired to deal with your annoying whining-"

"Hey!" Burt's voice, loud and angry, interrupted Ricky's. "Don't you dare talk to him like that!" He moved in front of Kurt, who was holding rather tightly to Karen's hand and pressing up really close against her. More of the family was watching now. Not all of them knew about Ricky, but those who did were standing and looking rather worried.

"He's my son; I'll speak to him how I want." Ricky growled in reply.

"Not anymore you won't." Burt glared. "You stopped being any sort of a decent father when you started abusing him and treating him and his mother poorly. Doing stuff like that is unacceptable. Kurt is our son now, and the way I see it you have no right to see him anymore."

Ricky got up in Burt's face, still glaring back. "I'm sure Kurt is capable of making that decision for himself. So why don't you just-"

"No!" Kurt, who was still hiding behind Burt, called out. Peeking out from around his father, Kurt glared at Ricky with all the anger he could muster. "I don't want to see you anymore. Go away!" He could see that look in Ricky's eye – the look he got before he became violent – and Kurt did not want Burt to get hurt.

Ricky's gaze hardened and he backed up just a step. "Kurt-"

"Kurt's made his decision." Burt told Ricky stonily. "Now why don't you get out and stop causing trouble before I call the police." He continued to glare until Ricky finally gave in and walked away, not even bothering to say farewell to Kurt. Not that Kurt minded. He felt like such a baby for crying even more then, but Karen continued to hold his hand tightly and Burt crouched down in front of him and gave him a soft, reassuring smile. "It's alright now, Kurt. Ricky's never going to hurt you ever again. I promise. We're always going to take care of you and keep you safe, alright?" Kurt nodded and let go of Karen's hand to throw his arms around his father's neck, hugging him tightly. Everything was going to be okay now, he knew it. And his real mother would always be with him, in his heart.

*>*>*>*>

After the funeral everyone went back to Eddie's house. At one point Kurt sat his self down on the couch next to his grandfather and, before he knew it, had fallen asleep, eventually slowly sliding down a bit to curl up and rest his head against his grandfather's shoulder.

"It's been a long day. He must have been so tired." Karen commented quietly, sitting down on a chair next to the couch.

Eddie nodded, smiling sadly down at his grandson. "You know, I knew Elizabeth had a son. I never met him before, or saw pictures, but Chloe did." Chloe was his wife, Karen and Elizabeth's mother, who had passed away a few years ago. "Chloe and Liz parted on bad terms, but I think they made up at one point without me knowing. And one day your mother came home and told me that Liz had had a son and that he was just perfect. You wouldn't have had to tell me Kurt was Liz's son before bringing him here. I could have figured it out just by seeing him. He really does look like her, and you. I still can't believe how it worked out, how Kurt came to live with you and Burt. God works in mysterious ways. And I guess Kurt was just meant to remain with our family."

"I think he was too." Karen replied quietly, watching her son sleep. It was weird, knowing that her own mother had known about Kurt the whole time but had never once mentioned him before she died. Maybe Liz had asked her not to. They would never know now.

The next day, before they made the drive back home, Kurt asked if they could stop by Elizabeth's grave one last time. When they arrived at the cemetery, Kurt crouched down in front of his real mother's tombstone and set a picture down on the ground in front of it. He had drawn a picture of him and Elizabeth together a while ago but had never gotten the chance to give it to her before she died. After setting a rock down on the corner of it to keep it in place, Kurt whispered a quick 'I love you' before standing and going back over to take Burt's hand. After a few more minutes the three of them went back to the car and started the long drive home.

*>*>*>*>

Life continued as normal after the funeral. Kurt spent quite a lot of time with his mother, though he did do some things with his father. He always begged his father to go with him to the park. Burt had shown him the car garage at one point but was disappointed when Kurt had not shown as much interest in it – mainly just because he did not like the thought of getting all dirty and greasy. Kurt had asked a lot of questions though just in case Burt talked about car stuff at some point. He did not want to get all confused. The same went for sports; Kurt was never interested in just sitting down and watching the games on television, but he did ask how the sports were played just so he would not get lost whenever he father started talking about them.

His parents had come up with a good idea as well. Their family did not get to eat dinner together every night because some times Burt would have to stay at the garage longer. So they decided to start their Friday night dinner tradition. Every Friday night no matter what they would all eat dinner together. Kurt loved it. Dinner always seemed better when all three of them were together.

Kurt wanted to practice piano twice as hard after the funeral. He was determined to become as great as his real mother had been. So it was not unusual for his parents to hear him spending most of each afternoon, after school and homework, down in the basement practicing.

Another thing they learned about Kurt was that he had a tendency to get rather frustrated, annoyed, and upset whenever things were not going how he wanted. At first if something was not going right he would shrug or sigh and just try again, but if, after a few more attempts, something was still going wrong he would become increasingly annoyed and frustrated. Sometimes this even led to him breaking down completely, but mainly when he was emotionally involved with things. Karen had been teaching him how to cook and Kurt did get rather frustrated when he would mess up repetitively on hard to make desserts and such, but he never cried about it. When it came to piano however that was a different story.

The worst time was once, in the beginning of third grade, when he was practicing as usual after school. There was going to be a talent show and Kurt and Mercedes had decided to do a duet together. Kurt was going to play the piano while they both sang. The only problem was that Kurt was having some slight difficulty getting the piano number down. He was determined though and kept on practicing over and over again. After all, it was the hardest piece he had ever attempted so far and he knew that if he got this down he would be one step closer to being as good as his real mother had been. There was one particular spot in the music he kept getting stuck at and messing up. As he continued trying over and over sometimes he would get it right but other times he would mess up again. It made him angrier and angrier until one point he just gave up, slammed his hands down on the keys roughly causing a loud jumble of notes, and, in a fit of frustration, threw his piano book at the nearest wall and broke down into loud sobs. He just was not good enough.

Having heard the noise from upstairs, Karen hurriedly went down to the basement to see what was wrong. When she saw Kurt sobbing at the piano bench she went over to sit down next to him and pull him into her arms. "Kurt, sweetie, what's wrong?"

As soon as Kurt felt his mother holding him he buried his face in her shoulder and clung tightly to her shirt. He was too upset to even worry about the fact that his hair was going to get messed up – it had still been perfectly styled from when his mother had done it that morning. "I-I keep messing up! I'm no good at this. I'll never be!" He was angry at himself.

Karen rubbed his back soothingly and shook her head. "Love, no one's perfect. Everyone makes mistakes." She kissed the top of his head. "You've been practicing so much lately; you're really good at this."

"But I-"

"No, sweetheart," Karen interrupted her son's protests, "you are good. You're putting too much pressure on yourself. Even I wasn't as good as you are at this age. A little mistake here or there is not the end of the world. I swear. Now how about you show me what you're having trouble with and we'll see about working it out." She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and handed it to Kurt who had managed to stop crying. He cleaned his face up and nodded, going over to pick up the piano book. Then they sat together until dinner time and played through the song until Kurt was comfortable with it and sure he was not going to make any mistakes at the talent show.

And when the day of the talent show came neither Kurt nor Mercedes made a single mistake and the crowd cheered wildly for them. That was the day Kurt decided, no matter what, he wanted to perform when he grew up.

*>*>*>*>

Unfortunately, life seemed to like kicking Kurt around, and in the middle of third grade he had to deal once more with losing another loved one.

And he should have known something was wrong. After all, he had noticed how increasingly tired his mother had become and that she had been sick more often, having to go to the doctor's a lot. Why hadn't something clicked in his head that this was not normal?

One day when he got home from school his mother was not there waiting for him like she normally was. Instead Burt was in the living room, the television on even though he was obviously not paying any attention to it.

"Hi, daddy!" Kurt dropped his little leather back pack on the floor and went over to hop up on the couch. He wrapped his arms around Burt's waist and gave him a big hug. "Aren't you supposed to be at the garage? Where's mommy?"

Burt hugged him back, though it seemed tighter than usual. And was it just Kurt or did his father look a little sad? "Hey, Kurt." He kissed the top of Kurt's head. "I closed the shop early today. Your mother wasn't feeling well and had to go to the hospital."

The hospital? He looked up at Burt in surprise. Kurt did not like the sound of that. "Will she be alright?" He asked quietly, a worried look in his eyes.

His father was quiet for a moment before replying. "The doctors aren't sure yet..."

He paused for a second and Kurt could tell there was something else going on. Kurt could see it in his father's eyes. "What's going on, daddy? You can tell me."

"Your mother..." Burt was quiet, "she has cancer, Kurt."

Kurt was sure his heart had stopped for a second. Everything must have frozen. No, no, no. She couldn't. His mommy couldn't have cancer. "But...she can't...not like..." he could feel his eyes tearing up and he was trying so hard not to cry.

"It's the same kind your real mother had." Burt replied.

"Did...did you guys know? Before today?" Kurt asked, his voice a bit shaky. If his parents had known before then why hadn't they told him?

"I'm sorry, Kurt." Burt replied sadly. "We knew, but we didn't want to tell you right away because we didn't want you to worry."

Now Kurt was angry because his parents had known this whole time but had decided not to tell him. They could have. He was allowed to worry about them, right? They were his parents and he loved them. And now he was crying again, unable to hold back the tears anymore, because he cried sometimes when he got really angry. "You could have told me!" He hopped off the couch, wiping angry tears from his face. "I'm allowed to worry about you guys too, cause you're my mommy and daddy!" And with that he turned and stormed off to his room.

Grabbing some crayons and paper Kurt started drawing lots of pictures. He needed something to do to work off his anger and drawing tended to help. Plus he could give the pictures to his mommy when they went to visit her. At one point he realized the pictures were all blurry cause his eyes had teared up again. He dropped the crayon he was holding and leaned back against the bottom of his bed, drawing his knees up to his chin and hugging his legs as he cried. It just was not fair. Why did he have to keep losing people he cared about? Blaine, then his real mom, and now possibly Karen too... When the tears finally stopped coming, Kurt wiped off his face and rubbed his eyes, going into the bathroom to clean his self up. His eyes were red and puffy from all the crying. His face was red too, though he was not surprised considering his face reddened easily with his pale complexion. All this crying all the time made him angry at himself – he was such a crybaby. And he had to start thinking more positively. His mommy would make it.

His tummy growled a tiny bit and he realized it was probably getting close to dinner time. If he wanted something healthy to eat for dinner he should probably get down there and make it before his daddy decided to order pizza or something, considering Burt could not really cook. Thinking about his daddy made Kurt feel bad; he had acted so selfishly earlier by just storming off like that. His parents had just not wanted him to worry. Now his father was probably upset over Karen being in the hospital and here Kurt had just about yelled at him. It kind of hurt admitting he was in the wrong, but maybe instead he could just make it up to him by making dinner and being really really nice. Yeah, that should work. If he helped out about the house a lot then it would make things easier for his daddy.

So Kurt went downstairs and was luckily just in time to catch his father before he got on the phone. "Daddy, don't call for pizza or anything, okay? I'll make dinner."

Burt blinked at him for a second and then smiled, chuckling lightly. "Alright, sport. I was just going to call Eddie, but thanks for letting me know. If you wait till I get off the phone I'll help you."

Kurt still did not like being called 'sport', but he had long since given up on telling Burt not to call him that. His father tended to forget so it was kind of pointless to keep reminding him. And he was a bit skeptical about Burt helping him make dinner – he had already witnessed his father burning food before and he did not want a repeat performance – but it would be nice to have someone helping him, like his mommy usually did. He went into the kitchen to get everything ready to make dinner as Burt went off into the living room to call Eddie.

It was not too long before his father returned setting the phone on the counter. "Alright...I let your grandfather know what was going on. He said he'd call tomorrow afternoon after we go visit your mother."

They started making dinner then – thankfully with no casualties – and ate quietly together. That night when Kurt went to bed he asked if he could sleep in the room with Burt. He knew he was probably getting a bit too old for this, but it made him feel better when he was upset. Plus his parents' room always smelled like his mommy's perfume and that was comforting as well. Burt told him he could so that night Kurt slept in their room.

*>*>*>*>

It was a half hour drive from their house to the hospital. Kurt found the silence in the car stifling so he asked if they could turn the radio on. Some of the songs he had heard before so he sang along – singing always made him feel better. When they got to the hospital Kurt held his father's hand tightly as they went in. The playroom he had seen before – the last time they were here when Karen was getting her casts off – was seemingly occupied by lots of children today. Kurt could not see who, but someone was playing the piano inside while the kids sang along. It looked like fun. Whoever was playing was really good. Way better than he was, that was for sure. He and his father passed the room though and continued on down the hall. It was not long before they finally made it to Karen's room on the next floor and went inside.

Karen loved the pictures Kurt had drawn for her. The doctor even helped Kurt hang them up so his mother could see them every day. Kurt had managed not to cry yet, even though he was really sad. He was allowed to get up on the bed and lay next to his mother, as long as he was careful not to mess with any of the medical equipment she was attached to.

"Mommy...do you know how long you'll have to stay here?" He asked her quietly, gently toying with the edge of her hospital gown sleeve.

"I don't know, sweetie, but hopefully soon." His mother replied sadly. "Besides, the food here is nothing compared to your cooking."

Kurt giggled a tiny bit and shook his head. "Yeah, but even mine is nothing compared to yours. Don't worry though, mommy, I'll make sure daddy eats healthy until you get home."

His father laughed a bit from the chair he was sitting on next to the hospital bed. "He'll probably force vegetables down my throat if I don't watch out." Kurt and Karen both laughed at that.

"Well, someone has to make sure you're eating properly." Karen told him.

The visit went all too quickly for Kurt's liking. He really just wished that his mother could come home with them that very day, but she could not. Before they left though, Karen made him promise her a few things.

"Kurt, sweetie, I want you to promise me you'll behave super well for your father while I'm not home."

"I promise." Kurt nodded, holding her hand tightly.

"Thank you." Karen smiled lovingly at him. "And I also want you to promise me that you'll never give up on your dreams, no matter what happens."

Well, Kurt knew he would always have his parents and friends to help give him support so there was no way he was ever going to give up. "I promise, mommy."

"Come here." She indicated he should move closer and when he did she kissed his cheek. "I love you, Kurt. You're the best son anyone could ever hope to have."

Kurt was getting a little teary eyed, but he wanted to be a brave boy so his mommy would be proud of him. "I love you too, mommy! Lots and lots."

Then she asked if he would stand outside of the room for a bit so she could talk to his father. So Kurt obediently went outside and shut the door. He leaned against the wall and hummed quietly to himself as he watched the people going by or standing about. At one point he felt slightly bored so he walked down the hall a ways. He had seen a water fountain earlier and wanted to see if he could find it again. Luckily he did and he got a quick drink before heading back, not wanting his parents to think he had gotten lost. On the way back he heard coughing coming from one of the rooms. The door was open and Kurt's head turned towards it. He saw a young girl, about his age, coughing a bit. When she stopped she looked over and spotted him. Then she just smiled and waved. Slightly embarrassed at having been caught and feeling rather shy, Kurt's face reddened a tiny bit and he waved quickly back before continuing on his way. Not before catching the name though outside the door: Abby. He wondered why she was there and hoped she was not too ill. Seeing people sick and hurting made Kurt sad. As he walked back he did not notice the girl peeking her head out from around the open door. He made it back outside his mother's room and leaned back against the wall.

A short bit later the door opened and he went on back inside. Karen told him she was feeling a bit sleepy so she wanted to say goodbye before she went to sleep. Kurt managed to give her another hug and kiss before saying goodbye. Before he and his father left the room, he turned to get one last look of his mother before they left. She had already fallen asleep, and Kurt could not help noticing that even though she was sick she still looked absolutely beautiful.

They were very quiet when they shut the door and then headed on down the hall. Whoever had been playing the piano in the playroom on the floor below was finished and the only sounds inside were children playing and laughing. The sky outside was starting to look rather stormy and a few drops of rain were starting to fall so they raced to the car and got in quickly. As they started to head on home, Kurt turned his head to stare at the hospital until he could no longer see it. He sighed and settled down in his seat, closing his eyes for a while. He had no idea that visit would be the last time he saw his mother alive.

*>*>*>*>

It had been a long time since his first trip to the hospital to see Abby and play the piano for the children at the hospital. Since then Blaine had visited the hospital with Amelia several more times until it became a weekly thing. He had been learning guitar too so once he was good enough he had started bringing that along so he could play some of both instruments for the kids. The children there loved hearing him play. Even more so when he played songs they knew and could sing along to.

Today was going to be slightly different. One of the doctor's had asked if he would like to play in the cafeteria down on the first floor so not only the children but some of the adult patients as well could hear him. Blaine had thought that would be a fun idea so he had agreed.

When he got to the hospital with Amelia they had to go up and see Abby first. She had been moved to a different room on a different floor. She was always thrilled to see them. Today she was even more thrilled than usual. When they walked in she squealed and Blaine about jumped in surprise.

"Well, hey there, we're glad to see you too." He laughed, going over and holding out the latest picture he had drawn for her. Blaine's art skills were not really approving with time, but Abby still loved his drawings so he did them anyway.

Abby giggled and happily took the picture, admiring it. She just loved Blaine's artwork. All of the pictures he had drawn her were hanging up – the wall barely had anymore room for them. "Thanks! And guess what?" She sang, smiling brightly.

Blaine hopped up to sit on the bottom of her bed. Amelia was sitting on one of the chairs close by. "What?" Blaine asked.

"I get to go home soon!"

Blaine's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait...really? Ahhh! That's great!" A big smile broke out on his face and he leaned over to give Abby a big hug. It made him really happy knowing Abby was going to get to finally leave the hospital. They had become pretty good friends over time. "Wait...are we still going to get to see each other?" He looked over at Amelia in question.

"Of course! Amelia's parents know you two are good friends and they said they'd have no problem with you two continuing to see each other once she's out of the hospital." Amelia informed them both. The two kids squealed in delight.

"Soooo, have you seen anything interesting since I last saw you?" Blaine asked. Sometimes when Abby was well enough to get up, she would wander a bit and see interesting things. Then she would always tell Blaine about them when he visited.

Abby thought for a few seconds before replying. "Well, not really, but I did see a new kid the other day. I don't think he was a patient though. Just visiting. It was around lunchtime or so. My door was open and I saw him walk by. And when he came back again I was coughing so I didn't see him right away. I waved when I saw him but I think he was shy cause he just got all red and then waved and sped off. He was really pretty...is it weird calling a boy pretty?"

"Hm, I don't think so." Blaine replied. After all, hadn't he thought Kurt was pretty? Maybe it just depended on the person.

"Well, either way, he was pretty." Abby shrugged. "And I was feeling pretty good that day so I got out of bed and went over to the door to peek out and see if I could still see him. He went into a room four doors down to the left. I looked yesterday. It must be his mother or sister cause all it said was 'Karen Hummel'."

Blaine giggled. "You really went and looked?"

"I was curious!" Abby protested, giggling a bit. "Sooo, are you playing piano today?"

"Of course!" Blaine replied happily. "Though I'm going to be playing down in the cafeteria today. One of the doctors asked if I could so some of the adult patients could hear as well."

"That's awesome!" Abby grinned. "I am so not missing that."

They continued talking for a bit until Blaine said he had to use the restroom and that he would be back in a second. He told Amelia he would be fine going by himself. When he left the room he took off to the left. He could not help but be curious after what Abby had told him. Four doors down he stopped to look at the name outside the room. The tag outside the room however held no name whatsoever. Confused, he shrugged and continued on walking down the hallway. As he passed two of the nurses who were standing by the one desk, he overheard them talking and paused.

"Did you hear Mrs. Hummel passed away this morning?"

"Oh no! The poor dear!" The second nurse replied in surprise. "I just spoke to her last night too when I brought her dinner. She was the sweetest thing. Showed me some of the pictures her son drew for her. They were really good for an eight year old."

The first nurse nodded. "I saw them too. And I saw her family when they came to visit the other day. Prettiest boy I've ever seen. Poor thing's going to be heartbroken when he finds out- oh, hello, dear. Are you lost?" The nurse had spotted Blaine and was looking at him questioningly.

"Oh, no, I'm good." Blaine shook his head, slightly embarrassed at having been caught. "Just looking for the bathroom."

"It's right over there, sweetie." The nurse pointed in the right direction.

Blaine looked and spotted the right door. "Thank you." He sped off for the room and then shut the door behind him. He felt really bad for that little boy right now. It made Blaine sad to think that whoever he was he was going to have to grow up now without his mommy.

When he got back to Abby's room he was not sure whether or not he should tell her what he heard. In the end, not wanting to make her sad, Blaine decided not to tell her. He did not want to ruin her good mood.

All three of them went down to the cafeteria together that afternoon. A lot of patients were sitting about; even some of their families were with them. It was probably the biggest audience Blaine had ever played for, and while he was nervous he was also quite excited. Hopefully these people would be cheered up by his playing. As he sat down to play though for a quick second he thought of that little boy again and was sad. Well, his performance then would be dedicated to that boy today.

After his performance he got a lot of clapping. What made Blaine feel happiest though was seeing the smiles on people's faces. He stood and thanked everyone for listening and Abby even gave him a big hug. She asked if he and Amelia would walk her back to her room. So they headed on back up the stairs. Before they left Blaine gave her another big hug. He was so glad Abby had made it through her illness and got to go back home. He would have been awfully sad if she had not made it. Abby giggled and kissed his cheek, which made him blush rather brightly, and then she bade them farewell. Amelia smiled and Blaine's hand as they left the room.

"I think Abby rather likes you." Amelia laughed as they left the hospital.

Blaine wrinkled his nose. "I like her too, but eww girl kisses."

Amelia laughed more.

That night Blaine hugged Jeannette tightly before bed and told her he loved her lots. Maybe he did not get to see his mother as much as he wanted to, but he still loved her and the thought of losing her made him awfully sad. Before he fell asleep he prayed that the little boy would be okay.

*>*>*>*>

Kurt was far from okay.

They had gotten a call that morning from the hospital. Kurt had watched anxiously as his father spoke on the phone. When he saw Burt's face fall though, tears in his eyes, Kurt knew things were not good. Even more so because he had never once before saw his father cry. When he hung up he was silent for a long while – too long for Kurt.

"Daddy?" He asked quietly, tentatively. "Is mommy okay? Can they fix whatever's wrong?"

"No..." Burt replied, his voice breaking. "They can't. She's gone, Kurt."

Kurt felt numb. This could not be happening again. "Gone..." He felt like crying...or screaming...or something. He was not sure at the moment. There were a lot of emotions and thoughts running through his eight year old mind and he was having trouble processing it all. Hearing his father sounding so sad though stood out the most and Kurt knew they needed each other right now. So he moved forward and hugged his father tightly. That was when Burt finally started sobbing, hugging him back just as tightly.

They had to go to the hospital to pick up some of Karen's things they had brought there before. Well, Kurt did not have to go, but he insisted upon coming along. He did not want to be left home alone. When they got there Burt wanted to talk to the doctor for a bit but Kurt did not want to hear. So he asked if he could get a drink from the cafeteria. One of the nurses asked him kindly if he would like help finding it, but Kurt replied that he would be perfectly fine. At eight he was capable of finding a cafeteria for himself. Plus he did not like the pitying stares he was getting from some of the nurses. It angered him a bit, so he did not want to be around them. He did not want their pity.

When he was close to the cafeteria, he heard music coming from inside. It sounded like the same piano player he had heard the other day was back again. Kurt sighed and leaned against the wall outside the cafeteria. He did not feel like singing or listening to music today, but the music was so pretty he did not want to move. Silent tears ran down his face as he just stayed there and listened. It felt like ages but then he heard his name being called silently. Opening his eyes he looked up and saw his father standing there, holding some of Karen's things.

"Ready to go, Kurt?"

Kurt nodded and reached out to take his father's hand. They walked away from the cafeteria and left the hospital to head on home.

*>*>*>*>

The next day Burt, while Burt was downstairs on the phone with Eddie to talk about funeral arrangements, Kurt snuck into his parents' bedroom. He went over and kneeled down by his mother's side of the bed. Her pillow still smelled like her shampoo, which Kurt loved. He had been using the minty stuff since he came to live there, but now he was going to switch to using the pretty jasmine smelling stuff that his mother used. He stood up then and went over to his parents' dresser. The picture of his parents from their wedding was still on top of it. Next to that picture now stood a picture of Kurt as well plus one of all three of them. The little pretty box that had always been there had been moved to the side to make room for the two added pictures. Curious, Kurt opened it and looked inside. The box started playing music and Kurt, afraid of being caught, shut it quickly. He had had just enough time to notice what was inside though and was wondering if getting caught was worth it. There had been a tiny picture inside and Kurt could tell just from the little glimpse that it was of Karen and Elizabeth. Something else had been in the box, but it had been underneath the picture so he had not seen it. Leaving the box where it was at, Kurt opened the top drawer on his mother's side of the dresser. Everything still smelled of his mother's perfume. He dug through to the bottom and found a shirt that he liked, but one that she had hardly ever worn so his father probably would not miss it, and then pulled it out before shutting the drawer. Then he slipped back out of the room and went to his own room. Once there he went over to his desk and pulled open the top drawer. At the back was the little piece of paper from Blaine. Kurt added the shirt to the back now as well before closing it. Now whenever he was sad he could just pull the shirt out and the smell would comfort him.

*>*>*>*>

The day of the funeral was sunny and bright – hardly conveying the moods of those gathered in the cemetery. Kurt refused to leave his father's side even for a minute. He just stayed next to him, quiet and sad. A few of the family had made remarks concerning how sorry they were for Kurt to have lost two mothers now. Kurt had just hid his face in Burt's side and refused to respond. Inside he was angry because they were giving him pitying looks, just like those nurses had, and Kurt did not want their pity. He did not cry. It surprised him, but he had been crying so much the past few days that the tears seemed to not want to come anymore. Kurt was sick of crying anyway.

At the end of the funeral, while everyone was standing about, Kurt looked up at his father and just held out his hand. Burt took it and then they walked back to the car together to go home. Neither one of them felt like being around others anymore that day.

*>*>*>*>

It was weird waking up the next day and having it really sink in that Karen was no longer going to be around anymore. Kurt felt so tiny and lost in his room. He just wanted his mother to be there to hug him and tell him everything was going to be alright.

He got out of bed and made his way to his parents' – father's – room. He knocked quietly on the door until he finally heard a hoarse voice answer.

"Come in, Kurt..."

Kurt went slowly into the room and stood in the doorway, nervously fiddling with his hands. "Can I..."

Burt smiled softly at him and scooted over; pulling the covers aside so Kurt could join him. Kurt ran over and pulled the covers up, snuggling close to his father. "Did you sleep?"

"Not very well." Kurt replied quietly. "Did you?"

"Not very well either." His father replied. "I guess this is just...going to take some getting used to, huh?"

Kurt nodded. He wondered if they would ever get used to it. Right now it did not feel like it though. At least they still had each other, right? Right.

"I know...things are going to be a bit different now, Kurt," Burt told him, "but I'm still going to do my best to take care of you and give you a great life. I love you and we're going to make it through this together."

"I love you too, daddy." Kurt replied. "And I promised mommy I'd take care of you too. We will make it through this."

And they would. The next couple of months were hard for them, but eventually they got life back on track and were able to get back to a sense of normalcy. They even continued their Friday night dinner tradition. They stopped going to church though because one, Burt had never had much interest, and two, they had both grown tired of everyone at the church asking them if they needed anything. It was nice at first but after a while it grew to be too much. Kurt's secret reason he was glad to not go anymore was because he had always found it boring, except for the singing part, and he was not entirely sure he even believed there was a God up there. If there was then why would he have let all these bad things happen to them?

One day Kurt surprised his father by asking him to show him how to do stuff at the garage. Burt thought he was a bit young still so he showed Kurt how to do all the paperwork first. He figured Kurt could help with that until he felt comfortable with Kurt working around all the power tools and such. Kurt did not totally mind, considering that meant he did not have to get terribly dirty just yet.

School went on as well and Mercedes was a great comfort for him. Karofsky kept bullying them, but Kurt never told his father, not wanting to give him cause to worry. The less that troubled their home life the better.

Going into middle school, Kurt almost thought things would get better. He barely saw Karofsky at all and half the kids did not know him so he thought he would make more friends. And he did, somewhat, but it was mainly just acquaintances. Mercedes still remained his only real good friend. His voice had only seemed to get higher through puberty, whereas most of the boys' voices had dropped. Kurt remained unashamed because he loved his voice and he loved all the songs he could sing with his vocal range. He continued to dress nicely and do his hair, even adopting a new facial care routine that annoyed his father because it took him about 20 minutes to a half hour to finish it. Doing things properly, Kurt told him, was important. Burt just threw up his hands in defeat and stopped bothering him about it.

Sure there were things Kurt and his father disagreed upon, but they always worked things out in the end – or one of them got their way and that was that. Every year, on the anniversary of Karen's death, Kurt would skip school, Burt would close the garage, and they would just spend the day together. Then at night before going to sleep, Kurt would pull out the shirt he kept in the back of his desk drawer and hold it for a while, sometimes crying sometimes not. Even as the years went by it still smelled like her.

The next day they would go back to school and work, but it was a great comfort knowing they still would come home and have each other. And Karen would always be with them, in their hearts.