For Maria

"Burt..."

"I'm sorry, hon. I told Mr. Henderson I would have his car fixed by tomorrow, and it can't be fixed without this spare part, and it's ordered and ready for me in Cleveland. I'll only be gone tonight, I'll be back in the morning. You can bond with the boys some, huh?"

Carole smiled begrudgingly. "I know, I just thought tonight was going to be our date night."

"I know. Tomorrow night? I promise." He kissed her cheek. "I'll send Finn and Kurt to my mom's house to do yard work for her, how about that?" He winked.

"Oh, Burt, you're so bad," she giggled, and hugged him around the neck. "Think about me while you're gone?"

"Couldn't stop if I tried. Love you."

"I love you too, baby."

Carole kissed him like he was going off to war. He grinned at her and walked out the door. It would be the first night they spent apart since they got married. She sighed. She'd never been happier than with her new family.

She started preparing supper, when Finn and Kurt came up the stairs.

"But Finn…"

"I'm sorry, Kurt! I know that we were gonna hang out tonight, but Rachel's grandma died—I need to get over there. She needs me."

"I understand."

"Knew you would. We'll go bowling later this week, okay?"

"Alright."

"Bye, Kurt." He looked over his shoulder. "Bye, Mom. Love you."

Kurt and Carole looked at each other. "Looks like we're in the same predicament, Kurt."

"What do you mean? Where's dad?"

"He had to go to Cleveland tonight. Looks like it's just you and me tonight, Kurt."

"Oh, alright." Truth be told, Kurt hadn't spent a lot of time with Carole since the wedding. It's not that he had a personal issue with her—he was really glad that his dad was finally happy after being lonely for so long. It's just that…she wasn't his mom. And his dad had been spending a lot of time with her, which was understandable, but that meant that he didn't have so much time for Kurt anymore. So he spent a lot of time in his room, hanging around with Finn, who had really become a brother to him. It was just a strange situation.

"Wanna help me cook supper?"

"Yeah, sure." And with that, Kurt was peeling potatoes in one side of the sink while Carole washed vegetables in the other side. They stood like that, in silence, for nearly twenty minutes. Finally, Kurt spoke up.

"So, you like being married?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I do."

"Have you had any trouble adjusting?"

"Well, moving. But for the most part…after we got past that rough patch with you and Finn being at each other's throats all the time, everything was fine."

"Yeah…" Kurt cleared his throat. They had never breached that subject. "I'm sorry that my dad kicked Finn out that time…"

Carole put down the bowl of vegetables and looked at Kurt for a long minute. "Kurt, I would have done the same thing at the time. I didn't raise Finn to talk that way…to treat people that way. He didn't mean to, but it was still wrong." She patted his cheek. Kurt flinched. "You are so amazing, Kurt. Just hearing your dad talk about you. He made it clear from day one that he would always love me and take care of me, but that you came first. And at first, I was a little irritated at that—you're 16 years old, you're not a baby. You can take care of yourself. But then I saw you and your dad together. How you two can have an entire conversation without saying a word. He knows when you're upset, even when you're not around. You are his best friend, you know that?"

Kurt was stunned. "I didn't know that."

"It's the truth. He has told me and several others that you are his best friend. You are such a good son, Kurt. He is so proud of you. It reminds me of the connection me and Finn used to have when he was a little boy. But you know, girls happened, and he forgets about mom…I guess I should have prepared myself for it…"

"Carole, no!" Kurt laid the potato peeler in the sink and wiped his hands on a towel. "Finn loves you so much! When he thought Quinn was pregnant with his baby, he told me about how upset he was because he didn't want to disappoint you. He thought he was going to be a father, and all he could think about was making you happy. He hasn't forgotten about you, Carole. You are the most important part of his life."

Carole had tears in her eyes. She leaned over and gave Kurt a hug. "I'm so glad we are getting to spend this time together."

"Me too." Kurt hugged her back and closed his eyes. He had never hugged Carole before, and yet, it felt so familiar.

They continued to cook, and then they ate. They stayed up until 3 am having a "Girls Night". Finn came in around midnight and looked in at them and laughed before going to sleep. Right before 3, when Kurt was showing Carole how to style her hair in a new way, someone came through the door.

"Burt!" Carole exclaimed, jumping out of her chair and running to hug him. "What are you doing home?"

"I went and got the part, and I was in that hotel room for about ten minutes until I decided I could make the drive back and maybe be able to sleep next to you for at least part of the night. What have you two been doing?" he said, eyeing Carole's hair and Kurt's purple fingernails.

"Me and Kurt made supper and watched movies, and then we did each other's nails, and now he's showing me a different way to fix my hair." She was practically bouncing. Burt smiled.

"So you showed my girl a good time, huh kid?"

"Yeah, but I'm exhausted. All this fun tires a guy out." He hugged his dad. "Glad you're home. Love you. Goodnight, Dad."

Then he kissed Carole on the cheek. "I had a good time tonight. Love you. Goodnight…Mom."

Carole hugged Kurt tightly to her. "Love you too, sweetie. Goodnight." Kurt padded out of the room in his bare feet.

"So, I see you and Kurt bonded, huh, baby?"

"Well of course we did." She wiped a tear from her eye as she wrapped her arms around her husband. "Why wouldn't we? He's my son."