Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 56th cycle. Now cycle 57!

"Step Fifty-Seven, Carry On Trying"
(Kurt &) Brittany, Harry (OC), Will
Paper Heart series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Kurt would be getting back late, from what he'd told her when he'd called, something about having to go check out another school, but as for Brittany, there was still plenty to be done that day. She was waiting on Mr. Schuester to arrive, and she was anxious. It would be their first lessons back since Harry was born. She didn't want to wait, knowing what she was doing it for, none more than now that she could look upon her son's face. She had told Mr. Schuester time and time again about how she wanted to do well in school and make her son proud, and she had made progress already in the time since they had started their lessons. She didn't want to take steps backward when she'd only just gone forward.

She had put Harry in his crib before, breathing with relief to find him napping, only to have needed to run and get the phone when it had rung. After she and Kurt had hung up though, she had returned to look in on the napping infant. She still couldn't believe that something so precious could be hers. For as hard as it had been so far, she did it all gladly because it was for him.

At the sound of the bell, she had made her way down the stairs, not wanting it to ring again and end up waking Harry, same as the phone. She opened the door to find Mr. Schuester, and she smiled. "Hi."

"Hey," he smiled back, coming in. "How are y…" he started, and she drew a finger to her lips. "Oh, he's sleeping?" Will obliged, whispering, and she nodded. "Well we'll be quiet," he promised.

"Is it okay if I keep him in there with us though? I don't want to leave him up there," she explained.

"Sure," Will smiled. "I'll get set up, you go get him."

Brittany returned up to the nursery, finding Harry still sound asleep. "Hey, got you, little pea..." she hushed as she picked him up, resting him against herself so she felt safe to take him down the stairs. She still had the reflex of hesitating as she went, since her fall over the summer. But she made it down, and once she'd reached the floor, she headed toward the dining room. When Will looked up and saw them coming, he couldn't keep from smiling. He came over, looking at the little boy in his student's arms.

"How's it going, you and Kurt and him?" he asked.

"We're going to Kurt's at the end of the week," she revealed. "I think he can't wait, misses his father. But we said we'd do one week here, one week there from now on, that way we're not switching all the time. Other than that, we're all tired, but it's okay," she looked down to Harry, and that was all he needed to know.

"Ready to get started?" Will asked her, and she nodded.

"My first day with the princes," she told him, and he blinked.

"Sorry?" he smirked.

"William," she pointed to him, then to the baby, "and Harry." He laughed, turning it down when he remembered they had to be quiet. "Kurt was the one who thought of it," she explained.

They took a seat, starting their lessons for the day. Brittany kept Harry just as she'd had him, working along and checking on him from time to time. The day's work was mostly in catching up on where they'd been the last time they had lessons, and seeing where they would go next. Brittany told Will about the book she had started to read, and she asked if she could use it for the next paper she would write, the way she had with her previous book, and he had agreed.

They had been made to pause when Harry woke up and Brittany had to go and change him. When she returned, before continuing, Will had looked to her with a smile. "I have to say, helping you like this, it's kind of helped me, too," he revealed.

"It did?" she asked, and he nodded.

"I mean back at McKinley, I have Spanish class of course, but… then I come here and it really feels like doing something right," he explained, and she smiled. "So this has been beneficial for both of us."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I still can't wait to go back to school though," she had to say. "I miss my friends, and I miss Glee Club."

"Glee Club misses you, too, believe me," he spoke, almost more to himself.

"Really?" Brittany asked and he looked back to her, remembering they had all agreed not to give her any reasons to try and return earlier than planned.

"I… Of course we do. You're one of us," he covered. "And we can't wait to have you back, but we will."

"Until January," she nodded with a sigh.

"Exactly," he told her. "Ready to continue?" he asked her, and she had a thought.

"Okay, but this time, you want to hold him?" she looked down to Harry in her arms, awake and blinking.

"You sure?" he asked, and in response she stood and came over to hand the boy over. "Well, hey," he laughed, settling with the new load.

"He's going to fuss a bit at first, but he'll love you," she promised. "Wait…" she thought, taking hold of her phone and going to the camera. "Smile," she told her teacher, and he did, allowing her to snap a shot. "First day with princes," she nodded. "But, okay, back to work," she sat down, and the lesson continued.

By the end of it, Harry had fallen asleep again, and Brittany took him back, saying goodbye to Will until their next lesson day. They would have had time to put in her 'reward' of vocal lessons at the end, but now that Harry was asleep it wouldn't have been wise, so they had passed on it. She took him back to the nursery, first going to put him down in his crib but then instead she went into her room, sitting with him on her bed and taking her book.

"Okay, next chapter," she told him, opening to her bookmark and continuing reading aloud to her son.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!