May 27, 1994: Elizabeth A. Hummel gave birth to a son, Kurt Allen Hummel.

September 11, 2001: Elizabeth Hummel died in the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in New York City.

September 12, 2001: Burt Hummel had to shatter his son’s innocence with the news that his mother was never coming home from her business trip to NYC.

July 20, 2011: President Obama stated that the Armed Forces were ready to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

September 20, 2011: Men and women serving in the military would no longer have to hide who they really were in order to serve their country.

xoxoxoxoxo

“FAG!”

Kurt was viciously shoved into a locker and lost his balance and ended up on the hallway floor. He sat there stunned for a bit until he slowly got to his feet. He shrugged his shoulder knowing that he would probably have a bruise by morning.

He was just tired of the taunting and physical abuse he dealt with on a daily basis and was really looking forward to Spring Break. As usual, he would be spending the week in sunny California with his grandparents. He couldn’t wait but first he had to survive the next couple of days at McKinley.

After Glee practice he headed home to start packing. He needed to make sure he had everything ready to go so he wouldn't be panicking at the last minute.

xoxoxox

“Hey kid,” Burt looked up from the paper he was reading when he saw Kurt walk in the door.

“How was school?”

“It was okay, I’m just ready for Spring Break.”

“I spoke to your grandmother today and she is really looking forward to seeing you. She mentioned something about a surprise for you but wouldn’t say what it was.” Burt looked at how tired his son looked and once again wondered when Kurt was going to stop worrying about him so much and be a teenage boy for once.

“Well, I can’t wait to see what it is – the last time she surprised me was when she signed me up as a volunteer at the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center as a clown, which went rather well even though I did get a nasty rash from that clown make-up messing up my face. I looked like I had the chicken pox for about a week afterwards.”

Burt laughed and said, “Finn is at practice and Carole is working late tonight so it is just me and you for dinner kid. How about some pizza? We could order it with all those healthy veggies you like.”

Kurt really wanted to get started on his packing and didn’t want to have to cook tonight so he said, “Sure, just make sure there are vegetables on that pizza!”

He hurried up to his room to start putting outfits together and dragged his suitcase out of the hall closet. “Call me when the pizza gets here Dad.”

Kurt had just about finished sorting his clothes into possible outfits when he heard the doorbell ring and started walking downstairs.

Since his dad had remarried it wasn’t often that he had his dad all to himself and he was looking forward to dinner. He really liked Carole and she made his dad happy. After his mother died his father buried himself in work and taking care of Kurt and never seemed to take an interest in dating.

Of course, Kurt had reasons to introduce him to Carole, mainly her son Finn. That misguided crush had ended in a crushing blow to his ego but over time he had gotten over the disappointment and figured that he would always be alone or at least until he left for college.

“So, did you get all packed?” his dad asked.

“Not quite but I did figure out what I will be taking with me. I should call grandma to see if I can wheedle out the surprise from her so that I can make sure I have an appropriate outfit to suit the occasion.”

“Your grandmother is just like your mom – that woman could keep a secret like nobody’s business. I think it came from being around the military all her life.”

Kurt’s mother had grown up as a military brat. His grandfather had been an officer in the Air Force and the family had been stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton when she had met Burt at a local college football game. His dad had taken one look at those beautiful blue eyes and happily made the hour and a half commute a couple of times a week until she finally agreed to marry him.

They had settled down in Dayton. Elizabeth worked for the US Government as a financial analyst and had been on a temporary duty assignment to New York on that fateful day. After his mother’s death, his father had relocated to Lima with Kurt because he couldn’t deal with the memories and wanted to live somewhere that wouldn’t remind him of what he had lost on a daily basis.

“I’m still going to try to get it out of her,” insisted Kurt.

“Good luck with that, kid. Now let’s clean up so that Carole doesn’t have a fit when she comes home.” After cleaning up the kitchen, Kurt headed upstairs to call his grandmother and finish packing.