Friday morning found Kurt and Blaine having coffee together before Blaine headed to work, and Kurt picked up Ms. Williams for her doctor's appointment.  

"What do we do if she gets bad news today, and we need to make a decision?  I'm more than a little nervous, Blaine." Kurt admitted.  

"I thought about that too Kurt, if she does get bad news, we may need to make a decision pretty quickly, even just to help ease her mind,"  Blaine commented thoughtfully. "We can't leave her and those kids hanging forever," he added.  

"We need to decide  by the end of the week, don't we?" Kurt sighed in realization.  

"I think so, Kurt, either way," Blaine responded.   

Kurt steeled himself as he got out of the car in front of Ms. Williams' home, pulled the handle of the door and stepped out of the car.  His thoughts raced internally as he walked up the sidewalk and knocked on the door.  

"Good morning, Susan. How are you doing?" Kurt greeted sincerely as she opened the door.  

"Not great. I'll be glad when this treatment is over," she sighed as she stepped out of the house. "Thank you so much for doing this," she said sincerely, getting into the car.  

"Listen, we're here to help, okay?" he encouraged, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I hope if I was in that situation, someone would do the same for me," Kurt responded gently.  

"Do you want to stop for something to eat or some coffee or anything?" he asked her after a few minutes of driving.  

"No, thank you. It'll just come back up later," she responded honestly.  They drove in relative silence most of the way to the hospital. The air was heavy with the weight of the situation.  They pulled into the parking structure, and Kurt got out to help her out.  She smiled a little as he offered her a hand out of the car.  

"Do you know the last time I was here was when Blaine twisted his ankle dancing at his 21st birthday party?" Kurt laughed as he courteously intertwined their arms and escorted the woman.

"That sounds like an interesting story," she smiled.  

"He has a certain predilection for dancing on furniture.  He's done it since high school," Kurt quipped.  

"How long have you been together?" she asked surprised.  

"He's my high school sweetheart!" Kurt exclaimed fondly.  Kurt recounted for her the tale of how they met, and their first kiss, and their prom experience as they walked.  

"Listen to me going on and on," Kurt said as he realized they were already in the doctor's waiting room.  

"Please, keep going, it helps keep my mind off things," she responded as they sat down in the orange chairs to wait.  

"You two are really cute together," she insisted.  "It's obvious you love each other.  That's what I want for my kids: parents who love each other."

"Hey, don't count yourself out. You never know what's going to happen," Kurt spoke, patting her back and trying to reassure her.  "You love those kids, I can tell. You're a great mom."  

"I was pretty positive at first, but, now, I'm not so sure," she sighed.  "I've been through several types of treatments, and nothing seems to have worked."

"If I may ask, what happened to your parents?" Kurt inquired gently.  

"My mother died of cancer, and my father died in a car accident. I was eighteen when my mom passed,  twenty-one when my dad passed," she told him.  

"My mom died when I was eight. She had cancer, too," Kurt hesitated.  

"I'm sorry...What about your father?" she asked after a few seconds.

"My dad is Congressman Burt Hummel of Ohio actually," he informed with a twinge of pride.

"Wow, he seems like a great guy," she answered recognizing the name.

"The best," he answered.  

The nurse came in to begin the process of treatment, hooking Susan up to an IV through the shunt in her arm.  Kurt made small talk the whole time to get her mind off of the treatment that mostly centered around the fashion magazines found in the doctor's office. At one point, she spiked a fever which the doctors told her necessitated a stay overnight.

After a couple of hours the nurse came in to get Susan ready to switch to the room she would be staying in overnight.  

"I guess this is my cue to head out?" Kurt suggested.  

"Yeah, that's a good idea. The kids will be waiting for you," she responded with heavy fatigue in her voice. Kurt gave her a gentle hug and squeezed her hand.

"We'll take good care of them, okay? I promise."  

"I know you will. Call me tomorrow and let me know how they are, okay?" she sighed.  

"I will. You rest up and concentrate on getting better," Kurt responded.  

*

As Kurt turned the handle on the door of the house, he could hear the sounds of The Lion King playing in the background.  Gabriel and Elizabeth sat on the couch engrossed in the movie.  Blaine came into the living room from the kitchen.  

"Hi, honey, glad your home," Blaine smiled, pulling Kurt into a hug and kissing him on the cheek.  

"Your dad's going to join us for dinner," Blaine informed him.  

"Oh, okay," Kurt responded. He allowed himself to revel in the comfort of Blaine's arm around his waist for a minute or two and took a long breath. It had been an emotional day.  

"Hi, Mr. Kurt!" Gabriel cried, bounding up to hug him.  

"Hi sweetie, how was school today?" he asked him pulling Gabriel up in his arms.  

"Good. I read One Fish, Two Fish all by myself today!" Gabriel announced proudly.  

"Good for you!  You'll have to read it for me sometime," Kurt suggested as he ruffled his hair.  

"Mr. Kurt?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.  

"Hi, Elizabeth," Kurt greeted putting Gabriel down and turning his attention to the little girl.  

"Where's Mommy?" she asked. Kurt took a seat next to her on the couch.  

"Honey, remember, she has to stay at the hospital tonight. You get to stay with us, and she'll see you Monday."  

"Oh", she said and became really quiet. Her attention then returned to the television screen.   Kurt's heart went out to the little girl. He remembered all too vividly having to spend the night at other people's houses when his mom got sick with cancer, and all he wanted was to curl up next to her and sleep.  It had to be even scarier for Elizabeth because she was younger than he had been.

"Do you want to call Mommy to say good night?" Kurt asked her gently.  

"Can I?" she questioned tentatively.

"Let's see if she's awake, okay? She might be sleeping so she can get better." Kurt dialed the phone number, glad when their mother answered. He explained to Susan the reason for the call, then handed the phone to Elizabeth who talked to her mom for a few minutes in soft tones. Gabriel also took a turn on the phone. The little girl seemed to relax quite a bit after phone call.  

"Do you feel a little better getting to talk to Mommy?" Kurt asked as Elizabeth settled herself back on the couch.  

"Yeah, Mommy told me that you and Mr. Blaine would take real good care of us, and to be really good for you," she fidgeted.  

"I promise we'll take good care of you and have some fun, too!  But I want to tell you, if you get sad, or want to talk, or have any questions, Blaine and I are right here, okay?  We're here to listen,"  he assured.

"Alright gang, dinner's ready!" Blaine announced walking in to the living room.  Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rang.  

"That must be dad. I'll get it," Kurt called to Blaine who was ushering the two children into the kitchen.  

"Hey, Dad," Kurt greeted opening the door and pulling his father into a hug.  

"Hey, kid. How are ya?  What's new?" Kurt chuckled to himself a little bit, as he tried to figure out how to explain the two children sitting in the kitchen.  

"Cliff notes version? The parent of one of Blaine's students has cancer, is in the hospital, and asked us to help care for the kids for the weekend," he began. "She's also asked us to consider taking legal guardianship if she is no longer able to take care of them." He finished, bracing himself for his dad's reaction.  

"Wow, that's huge! Did you give her an answer?" he asked, obviously a bit stunned by the news.  

"No, not yet. We are going to see how this weekend goes, get to know the kids a little better, and see how comfortable the kids are with us. We don't want to rush this decision," Kurt answered.  

"That's wise. Do i get to meet the rugrats?" he asked taking his hat off and hanging up his coat.  

"Yeah, come on in the kitchen. We're getting ready to eat," Kurt said, leading the way into the kitchen.  

"The kids first night here, and you let Blaine cook? Are you trying to make them leave?" Burt quipped humorously.

"Blaine can cook, Dad. He's just out of his depth with complicated cuisine. At least he can make oatmeal," Kurt smirked..  

"That was one time!" was the response.

"Hi, Burt! Glad you could join us for dinner," Blaine greeted his father-in-law as he entered the kitchen. "This is Elizabeth, and this is Gabriel."

"Hi, kiddos. I'm Mr. Burt. Nice to meet you!" he greeted.  

"He's my Dad," Kurt explained.  

"Where's your mommy?" Elizabeth asked. It was a perfectly innocent and logical question, but Kurt had no idea how to answer her. If he told her the truth, he could really scare the poor girl.  He could just say in Ohio, which isn't untrue, he could even be referring to Carole. Both his father and Blaine shot him a significant look.  

"She's at home sweetie," he answered, while silently adding, "Wherever that may be." She seemed to accept that answer. The diner was a lively affair, with little Gabriel supplying a generous amount of the conversation. He seemed to warm to Burt quite well. Elizabeth was still pretty shy but seemed a little more secure. Blaine noticed she looked to Kurt quite a bit for reassurance throughout the evening.  

Later that evening, it was time to put the children to bed in the spare room that had been set up with bunk bends purchased earlier that week. Elizabeth, however had other ideas. Blaine had read the children a story, sung them a lullaby, turned off the light, and closed the door, believing they would go to sleep.  Fifteen minutes later, as Kurt and his father were sitting in the kitchen chatting, Elizabeth wandered in.  

"Can I have some water?" she asked.  

"Of course, sweetie. Come sit down and drink it so you don't spill.  Are you having trouble sleeping?" he asked.   

"I miss Mommy and my night light," she responded.  

"Well," Kurt answered, "you know what I used to do when I missed my mommy?  I used pretend that she was right there with me, stroking my hair and singing me to sleep."  

"Did it work?" she asked hopefully.

"Sometimes. Do you wanna try it?  You can lie on the couch with me, and I'll sing you a song, okay?" Kurt suggested.  

"Okay," she answered.  

"And I'll tell you what, tomorrow, you and I will go get a night light," Kurt offered.   

"Deal," she answered.  

Kurt and Elizabeth went over to the couch, and the little girl lay her head down in Kurt's lap as he sang and stroked her hair.

Come with me,and you'll be

In a world of Pure imagination

Take a look And you'll see

Into your imagination

We'll begin With a spin

Traveling in

The world of my creation

What we'll see Will defy Explanation

If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it

Anything you want to, do it

Wanna change the world?

There's nothing To it

There is no Life I know

To compare with Pure imagination

Living there You'll be free

If you truly wish to be

If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it

Anything you want to, do it

Wanna change the world?

There's nothing To it

There is no Life I know

To compare with

Pure imagination

Living there You'll be free

If you truly Wish to be

By the end of the song, Elizabeth was fast asleep.  Blaine, who had come in when he heard singing, scooped her up and carried her off to bed, leaving Kurt and his father behind.  

"What?" he asked when he caught his dad's stare.

"Nothing. You're just really good at this," Burt answered with a significant note of pride in his voice.   

"I just sang her a song, Dad," Kurt responded blushing a bit at the praise.

"No. You didn't just sing her a song. You acknowledged her feelings and gave her a way to cope with them.  You didn't tell her not to be sad or try to rush her back to bed. You helped her deal with her sadness in an age appropriate way,"  Burt pointed out.  

"He's right you know," Blaine said as he walked into the room and kissed his husband on the cheek and sat next to him.  

"Thanks babe, you know your pretty good at it yourself," Kurt smiled appreciative of the affirmations.   

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of activity.  Kurt and Blaine took the children shopping for a night light and a few other item for the bedroom.  While having the kids at the house was definitely tiring,  Kurt found their youthful enthusiasm infectious.  

Kurt and Blaine sat down Monday evening drinking their evening cups of coffee.  Blaine already knew what he wanted their decision to be, but didn't want Kurt to feel like he was pushing him.  

"Okay," Blaine began, "I need to know, what are you thinking."  

"That this coffee is really good, much better than the dark roast," Kurt answered.  

"Kurt," Blaine admonished.  

"Okay, yes, I think we can do this, if something happened, I mean,"  Kurt responded.  

"I think so, too. The question is, do we want to?" Blaine asked.

"They really need us, don't they?" Kurt sighed.

"Yeah, they do," Blaine affirmed as he got up from his seat and put his arms around Kurt from behind.  

"They seemed to get on just fine here, right?  It was only one weekend, I know, but... I really want to help them. What if didn't have my dad? I would have ended up in foster care or something," Kurt pondered

"They did great. They are amazing kids," Blaine responded thoughtfully.

"They really are, and you are amazing with them. You light up when they are around," Kurt said as he turned to kiss his husband.  

"I know you, Kurt. You'll be able to help them through losing their mom if it came to it.  You'd understand in a way I never would," Blaine said, pulling Kurt tighter.  

"So, we're doing this?"

"Yes?" Blaine stated questioningly.

"Yes," Kurt affirmed.

Over the next few weeks, meetings were held with social workers and a lawyer to draw up the paperwork to give the Hummel-Andersons  guardianship of the children in the event of Susan's death.  The children continued to spend a couple days a week at the house in order to help Susan recuperate.

The news from Susan's doctors was not good.  The MRI revealed that the chemo had not been effective.  It had also weakened her immune system, so she had a very difficult time fighting off colds and such.  After one bad bout of what was thought to be bronchitis that she could not shake, the news that they all had been dreading came.  The cancer had spread. The doctors suggested that, in her condition, it might be wise to look into hospice care.
 
This news was shared with Kurt and Blaine the next day when they came to drop off Gabriel and Elizabeth after a weekend visit.  Blaine could tell something was wrong when he walked into the living room.  Kurt took the opportunity to send the kids upstairs to unpack; he could tell this would be a heavy conversation.  

"It's spread...to my lungs," she said quietly, voice heavy with emotion. Her eyes glistened with tears threatening to fall. "There aren't any treatment options that I'm strong enough for," she finished. Blaine walked closer to her and took her hand.  

"I think it's time. Would you be willing to care for them full-time?" she asked as Kurt came to her other side and took her other hand.  

"They're absolutely sure there's no other options?" Blaine asked, hoping for her sake something might work.   

"I've got to be realistic. I'm not going to get better," she cried softly, finally releasing a few tears of pain, both physical and emotional.   "I know the two of you will take great care of my babies, that they will be okay."

Kurt put his arms around Susan, holding her while she cried.  Blaine stroked her hair and held her hand.  Kurt couldn't help but recall a similar scenario when his mother was dying and got the news that her cancer had spread.  

"I promise, we will take such good care of them.  I swear," Blaine said with tears in his eyes.  

"Just give me two more weeks with them. I just need two more weeks, before they come to live with you" she said calming her crying.  

"Then you know what?" Kurt said.  "We are going to make them the two best weeks you all ever had. We're going to take you to Disney World, Universal Studios, the works.  

"What?" she began to protest.  

"No arguments," Blaine interrupted, "it's done. We were already talking about doing something like this. You all deserve some time to make memories, and where better than the happiest place on earth?"

"I don't even know what to say... that would be amazing," she responded through her renewed tears.  

Kurt and Blaine were as good as their word.  They arranged for airfare, park tickets, and hotel accommodations for all five of them.  They also arranged for Kurt's stepmother, Carole, who was a nurse, to come along to attend to any medical needs that Susan might have.  The trip seemed to reinvigorate her. Kurt and Blaine tried to give her as much time alone with the kids as possible.  Susan threw herself into the trip with abandon, taking the kids on all the rides and to all the shows that she could physically handle.  They took hundreds of pictures.  

"I can't remember when I've had so much fun!" Susan exclaimed one evening at Disney when Carole was checking her vital signs.  "Elizabeth's expression when we had breakfast with the princesses was priceless.," she gushed.  Gabriel came into the room and noticed Carole checking Susan over.  

"Ms. Carole, is Mommy getting better?" he asked.  Carole looked at Susan sympathetically.  

"Gabriel, come here, baby," Susan beckoned, pulling him on to her lap as Carole finished checking her lungs.  She realized it was time to have the conversation with her son that she had been putting off.  "Honey, I'm not going to get any better.  I'm too sick for the doctors to fix," she continued softly.  Gabriel got really quiet, turning his mother's words over in his mind.  

"Does that mean that you're gonna..." The little boy could hardly finish the words.  

"Yes, honey," she said, nuzzling her face into her child's body.  

"I don't want you to!" he cried.

"Me neither, sweetheart, but you know what?  I'll always be right here," she said, pointing to his heart.  He became quiet and thoughtful again.  

"Who's going to take care of me and Lizzie?" he asked.  

"After this trip, you and Lizzie are going to live with Mr. Kurt and Mr. Blaine. They love you both and will take good care of you.  You'll come to see me as often as possible though until..." she sighed.

"Until, you're right here?" Gabriel pointed to his heart.

"Until I'm right here," she repeated.

"Mommy? Does that mean that Mr. Kurt and Mr. Blaine are going to be our daddies?" he asked, hugging his mother.  

"Yeah it does," she answered.

"Good, ‘cause that way I'll never hafta have another mommy," he reasoned and kissed his mother on the cheek.  

"That means that you'll be my grandma, Carole," Gabriel turned to Carole.  

"I guess it does!" Carole said smiling.  

"I never had a grandma before," he said going over to hug her.

"You'll be my first grandson," she said fondly.

Susan watch the scene grateful that her children were going to be cared for by an incredible family.  She hated leaving her family, hated it.  She hated that she couldn't play with them like she used to, she hated that she would miss them growing up, graduating high school, college, getting married.  But if she had too, she was so glad that Kurt and Blaine were going to be the ones caring for them.  She was also grateful for the extended family they would have in Burt, Carole, Finn and Rachel.   She had seen how much they had grown to love and care for her children, and how much her children had grown to care for them.  

Susan needed to rest a little so about an hour later Kurt and Blaine took Gabriel and Elizabeth to get a picture with Goofy.  As he was getting ready to snap the picture, the photographer asked Gabriel,"So who are these two guys with you?"

"My two dads,"  Gabriel answered looking at Kurt and Blaine.