Author's Note: My first chaptered fic! Let's hope it turns out to not epically fail! The idea is all njferrell's, I just went in and filled in the blanks. Well, here we go- and cue the applause!

Someone knocked on the door of Elizabeth Hummel's hospital room: #213- which wasn't anything new. Friends of the Hummel family had been popping up without warning since Elizabeth's breast cancer had permanently forced her into the Lima Medical Hospital. Close friends had wanted to give words of concern and comfort but no one had actually said the dreaded word. "Goodbye" had always been implied but never spoken for fear that Elizabeth's imminent death would suddenly become all too painfully real.

The Hummel Trio turned to look at the door; Kurt from his spot by the window, Burt from his nearly-permanent position beside his wife, and Elizabeth from the uncomfortable hospital bed that she had not left for the longest time- the pain was far too much. Burt squeezed Elizabeth's fragile hand delicately before standing to answer the door.

"Sue." Her name came out like a sigh of relief that seemed to take away even just a little bit of Burt's pain. He felt just a tad lighter. "Glad you could make it." He gave her a bear hug.

"You think I'd miss this?" Sue Sylvester's odd take on humor lacked its usual bite as it was tinged with sadness. Holding the familiar hug for a few moments long before breaking it, she turned to her lifelong best friend whom she was about to lose in the blink of an eye. "Not for the world." She patted Burt's arm before walking to Elizabeth's side.

"Aunt Sue?" Kurt pipped up. He still hadn't really grasped the concept that his momma would soon not be in his life anymore except for his memories; he didn't understand that everyone was saying "goodbye and good luck" without being that blunt. He just knew that he recognized the lady that had the most horrid hair cut and never seemed to rid herself of her track suit. Thought today she did wear sweatpants and a flannel shirt- an improvement but not much.

Sue's eyes fell upon Kurt, her "nephew-that-wasn't-really-her-nephew". She had been around the young boy ever since he had prematurely popped into this world(giving everyone quite the scare) and he had suddenly, without explanation, started calling Sue his aunt. "Hey there, Pip Squeak. Shouldn't you be in school? I know Mrs. Perfect Attendance here would let no son of her's skip," she joked.

The clueless boy didn't quite get Sue's sarcasm but he giggled anyway. "It's Christmas break," he informed her with a small smile.

Sue raised an eyebrow, taking Elizabeth's hand but keeping her gaze on Kurt. "Is it now? Are you excited for Christmas?" She wasn't sure how to interact with kids, but she knew Kurt, and Kurt wasn't like any other kid she knew.

The kid in questions smiled modestly. "It isn't the same without momma home," he answers simply, always one to tell the truth, not knowing the amount of depth that single sentence held in it. Kurt had always seemed so old for his age.

Sue caught Elizabeth's eyes and they held so much hurt in them it nearly hurt Sue herself. "Burt," Elizabeth grabbed her husband's attention, "would you take Kurt outside for a moment, so I can talk to Sue? I'm sure he's hungry."

Burt nodded, walking over to his son. "C'mon, buddy." The father picked Kurt up, by the little boy's waist, the way he liked. Kurt's arms automatically wrapped around his daddy's neck and his legs around his daddy's torso. They walked out and towards the cafeteria, each knowing they wouldn't be able to eat.

Sue sat down in the chair that Burt had recently occupied. "I guess God's calling," she deadpanned, blunt as ever.

"Someone's calling," Elizabeth murmured thoughtfully with a sad smile, glancing at the ceiling then at her friend. "And I'm not sure I'm ready to answer just yet."

They sat in companionable silence for a while, Sue not sure of what to say and Elizabeth not sure of how to say something. "Will you do something for me once... once I'm gone?" the bed-ridden woman suddenly asked, finally deciding to just spit it out. "It's a pretty big thing I'm about to ask of you... but I trust you and I know you can do this for me. But, I need you to promise-" her voice broke, "promise me something." She had on her large, pleading eyes.

Sue was about to drown in the overload of emotion that she wasn't used to, but she forced her head above the metaphorical water and nodded. "Has there ever been a promise of yours I haven't kept?" she asked rhetorically.

Elizabeth smiled a watery smile. "Take care of my boys. Kurt especially. You know he's..." She trailed off, getting herself together before she got all choked up again, thinking about her little boy. "different. And you know how people react to different. It's automatically wrong, a sin of God." She paused to roll her eyes, scoffing at people's ignorance. "You know how he's different, Sue... I don't want him to be alone.

"I know Burt's going to be there for him, every step of the way, but Burt... he's still... you know." The woman was growing flustered with her inability to stop becoming choked up. She was going to miss her boys so much...

The other woman nodded, understanding completely. "Yeah... People aren't going to like Pip Squeak's differences... They already don't like it," she murmured, able to remember one time of many about a year ago when Kurt had been treated poorly because of his more feminine side.

Glee Flashback

"And he finished with some Chaînés turns and then-" Elizabeth was cut off, just about to finish her story of Kurt's solo ballet recital when said boy flew through the door and immediately through the door that led to the stairs he took to his room. The door was locked behind him.

Sue had been listening intently to her best friend, though she hadn't a clue what she was talking about. Ballet wasn't her thing though she did her best to be at every recital, to support Kurt, but this last one she hadn't been able to make because she had to take an extra shift at work. Her eyes followed the speeding boy but wasn't able to move fast enough to try and stop him.

The two woman shared a look and Elizabeth was about to call after her son when her husband ran in. "What happened?" the worried wife inquired.

Burt paused to look at the two, looking as worried and dumbstruck as they felt. "I-I," he shrugged, "I don't know. He wouldn't talk all the way home and he wouldn't look at me and he had that funny F-F- whatever, hat pulled down so I couldn't see his eyes." He seemed almost frantic with worry.

The three adults immediately hurried to the door, leading to where the hurt boy was sobbing. They uselessly jiggled the knob and called his name, pleading him to come out and talk to them.

Kurt collapsed onto his bed, taking some of the bed spread into his small fists. He shook with the sobs that consumed him. Somewhere, deep inside, he knew that he was acting silly and childish but all he wanted was to cry and not have to tell his momma and daddy what had happened because he feared their disappointment. But his young mind had yet to comprehend the reason for feeling this way, thus unable to fully realize it.

Sue suddenly got an idea and plucked a bobby pin from Elizabeth's makeshift hair bun that she had thrown together just to keep the mane out of her way; she had looked like the typical housewife. Now her chocolate hair fell haphazardly down her back and she let out a little mewl of complaint but was cut off when her friend started to prod the hole in the doorknob. The lock clicked and the door willingly fell open.

"Oh, Sue, I could kiss you," Elizabeth said appreciatively. "Now, I'm going to go down and see him alone. You know how he gets when he's bombarded." She gave stern looks till they nodded and watched her descend the stairs.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Burt asked, trying distract himself from the current mood or worry.

Sue gave him a look that said, "Do you really wanna know?".

Burt shook his head. "Okay, no, never mind. Want another cup of Joe?"

"Kurt... baby? It's momma," Elizabeth announced her presence so she wouldn't surprise her son as she stepped into his room. Her eyes fell onto the lump under the covers of Kurt's queen sized bed and she frowned. She could hear his sobs.

"Hush, little baby, don't you cry, Momma's gonna sing you a lullaby," she began, making her way to the middle of Kurt's room where his bed was. "Hush, little baby, don't you cry, Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird." She sat down on the edge of her son's bed and rubbed the little lump in a soothing way. "And if that mockingbird won't sing, Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring." She smiled as the sobs died down and were replaced with a soft sniffling. "And if that diamond ring turns brass, Momma's gonna buy you a looking glass. Now, hush, little baby, don't you cry, dry those pretty eyes and always know... that Daddy loves you and so do I."

Kurt slowly pulled the covers from over his head so that he could sit up and look at his momma. His face was blotchy and his eyes were red-rimmed.

"Want to tell Momma what happened?" Elizabeth inquired softly, stroking Kurt's hair in a way that comforted but also kept it smooth and fixed proper. She knew better than to mess up the beautiful hair.

Kurt rubbed his eyes and wiped his nose on the sheets; he sniffled. "Some kids on the playground were being mean," he offered in explanation, a little unwillingly, but it felt good to let his momma know.

She frowned sympathetically, still soothingly patting Kurt's hair. "How so, baby?" she prodded gently.

The boy shifted so he was curled up against his momma's side and she shifted to comfortably hold him there. "Dave and some of his friends came up to me and pushed me down. They called me a sissy and a girl and queer." He looked seriously up at his momma. "I'm not a girl, Momma," he said with a defiant jut to his chin.

Elizabeth smiled at her little boy, shaking her head softly. "Oh, I know you aren't. You're my big boy." She paused for a moment to gently tap his nose with her finger. "Just... don't let what they did get to you, okay? It doesn't mean anything, Kurt, baby, anything. Do you understand?"

Kurt was silent for a bit, pondering whether he did really understand, then gave his momma a firm head shake. "Yes, Momma."

"Good. Now, how about you change into something comfortable and I'll go fix you a snack. Aunt Sue is waiting upstairs to see another performance of your ballet recital so bring your dancing shoes!"

Elizabeth had then gone back upstairs and pretended everything was fine, merely telling her husband and friend that kids had been mean to Kurt and that he was okay now, giving as little detail as possible. Later on, Elizabeth would spill everything to Sue in private, then Burt, because she was secretly so painfully worried over her son.

End Glee Flashback

"That's why... I need you to promise me..."

Sue smiled and held up her right hand. "Scout's honor."