AN: So instead of a drabble I'm posting this today! It's a long one so I hope you all enjoy!

"Do I really have to go today?" Finn asked, as he grabbed his bowling bag from the hallway closet.

"You love bowling, Finn," Carole replied, as she finished writing Kurt's name on the birthday cake that she had made for him. Burt had been going to buy one like he had every other year but as Kurt had asked both her and Finn to celebrate his birthday with him, Carole had volunteered her services.

"I know. I'm just not in the mood to go today."

"Because you don't want to be seen with your mother," Carole suggested.

"No, it's not that," Finn replied quickly, as he placed his bowling bad down by the front door.

Carole sighed. As Kurt had predicted, Finn had opted out of going for dessert with Kurt, Tina and Rachel a couple of weeks ago and she had a pretty good idea that being seen with Kurt was why Finn didn't want to go today. She didn't bother asking that question though because frankly she didn't want that confirmation.

"Finn, do you know that ever since his mom died Kurt has always celebrated his birthday with just him and his dad. Burt has said he's tried to talk Kurt into celebrating with his friends, especially last year, but he's always refused. He was surprised when Kurt asked to include us in the celebration this year and frankly I'm flattered that he would want to include us this year. I know this whole situation is difficult for you, but it's just a couple of hours. Can you at least pretend to enjoy yourself this afternoon?"

"Fine," Finn muttered as he flopped down on the sofa.

"Thank-you," Carole said, as she came out of the kitchen. "Let me just go touch up my makeup and then we'll go."

Finn didn't reply as he leaned his head back against the sofa and closed his eyes. If he got lucky, no one that he knew would be at the bowling alley today.

About ten minutes later, mother and son were headed to the Lima Bowling Center. As soon as he walked in, Finn inwardly cringed as he spotted some of his football teammates playing eight ball at on of the three pool tables. As usual for a Saturday afternoon, the place with packed with people of all ages.

Carole spotted Burt and Kurt at the lanes on the far end of the bowling alley and headed that way, Finn following slowly behind her, cursing his luck of having to walk all the way across the building.

"Hi, Carole. Glad you could make it," Burt greeted her, leaning in for a quick kiss before taking the cake from her.

Carole returned the greeting and then turned to Kurt. "Happy Birthday," she told the teen opening her arms for a hug, which Kurt did tentatively while telling her thank-you. She didn't let that tentativeness bother her though, knowing that it was natural for Kurt to be struggling with sharing his dad with another woman, especially after it being just the two of them for so long. She knew that she was making progress with her relationship with him. The fact that he had invited them here today was proof of that.

"Happy Birthday, Kurt," Finn offered awkwardly from where he was standing behind his mother.

"Thanks, Finn," Kurt replied. "I want to see what the cake looks like," the teen said, turning from the two Hudsons and heading toward the table behind their lanes where his dad was lifting the cover to the box the cake had been placed in.

The cake had been trimmed in light blue with a cluster of red roses in the top left corner. Next to the roses Carole had written 'Happy Birthday Kurt' in dark blue icing. Below the message, in black icing, was a line of musical notes - a treble cleft, timing numbers, and bar lines making it look authentic. Kurt instantly recognized the opening stanzas of "Defying Gravity".

"Your dad said you loved the musical Wicked, so I picked one of the songs to write the notes for," Carole offered when Kurt didn't make an immediate comment about the cake.

"I love it! Thank you!" Kurt finally exclaimed, turning and giving Carole another hug, this one more enthusiastic than the previous one.

Over Kurt's shoulder Carole caught Burt's gaze. "Thank you," Burt mouthed to her, grateful that she had made Kurt happy.

"Well how about we get a game going and I'll put in an order for pizza," Burt suggested, when Kurt had stepped back from the hug.

The group did just that. Having two lanes, they set the game up league style. The first game they bowled Hudson family vs. Hummel family, with Burt and Kurt easily winning. Despite his earlier reluctance of wanting to come, Finn found that he was enjoying himself. Though Burt was by far the best bowler of the small group, Finn and Kurt were about evenly matched and Finn enjoyed the neck-to-neck competition between the two during the game.

After the first game, the group sat down to enjoy the pizza that had arrived. Afterwards they cut the cake. While they were enjoying the dessert, both Burt and Carole presented Kurt with his gifts. Burt had gotten his son three tickets to the production of "Phantom of the Opera," which opened next month, telling his son to pick a friend to join them for the performance. As Carole handed Kurt the card she had brought with her, Finn was surprised by the fact that she told him it was from the both of them, as he didn't even have any idea what she had gotten the other teen. Opening the birthday card, Kurt was thrilled with the gift card to the local mall that was inside.

"I think we need to even up these teams a little," Burt commented as the group moved to start another game of bowling. "How about adults versus kids?"

The other three agreed and Burt soon had the new teams set up on the computer. About midway through the game some teenagers showed up to bowl in the lanes next to them, which had previously been occupied by a father and his young daughter. Though he didn't know their names, Finn recognized the kids as McKinley High students. Apparently Kurt did too, as Finn noticed the other teen stiffened up when he noticed him and he immediately put on the neutral expression that Finn saw on Kurt's face so often at school.

Watching the newcomers, Finn noticed they were whispering and pointing in the direction of his group quite often. When the teens first started bowling, Kurt was up on the end lane and was able to bowl without an incidence. His next turn up put him on the lane next to the kids from their school. As Kurt got ready to bowl, one of the teens said something, which Finn couldn't quite make out, to Kurt, causing him to miss the release on his ball. Kurt's bowling ball veered toward the gutter, only taking out one end pin. The second throw wasn't much better.

The pattern continued through the next few frames. Kurt would bowl well on the end lane only to have one of the teens on the next lanes heckling him on the other one. On his third time on the lane next to his fellow peers, Finn got a taste of what Kurt had been dealing with.

"Having fun bowling with your boyfriend?" one guy asked as Finn walked back from the foul line having just thrown a strike.

Finn was seeing red at that point and was considering just how much trouble he would get in if he took a swing at the guy. The question became moot though when he realized that Burt was intervening. Having come up to bowl following Finn, Burt had overheard the comment. He had also noted the comments whispered to Kurt the previous frames though he didn't know what was said. He had discreetly tried to ask Kurt about it but his son had refused to talk, saying that it wasn't a big deal. Kurt might have been willing to let the behavior slide but Burt wasn't.

Burt stepped up onto the lane and when the teen, who had made the comment to Finn, turned around from throwing his ball, he found himself face to face with an angry Burt Hummel. In their chairs, the teen's buddies were trying to make themselves scarce. One kid had already made a beeline for the bathroom upon seeing Burt step up onto the lane.

"Is there a problem here?" Burt asked, glaring at the kid.

A good half a foot shorter than Burt, the teen looked up at Burt.

"Other than you're in my way, there isn't," the teen replied, trying to sound nonchalant about the whole situation.

"Then why don't you and your buddies shut your mouths and play your own game. I heard what you just said to my girlfriend's son, and I don't know what your buddy said to my son but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked it if I had heard it."

"Chill, dude. It's just a little harmless teasing."

"No, it's harassment," Burt replied, taking a step closer to the teen. "And it's going to stop."

"Oh, really old man," the teen replied thought he sounded even less sure of himself than he did moments before.

"Is there a problem here?" the bowling alley's manager asked as he joined Burt and the teen up on the lane. Quite a few other patrons were now paying attention to the confrontation that was taking place.

"Yes, there is. We're trying to have a fun family type outing and these punks are distracting my son and his friend while they're trying to bowl," Burt said, speaking up before the teen had a chance to say anything.

"Brian, what did I tell you and your friends the last time you were in here causing trouble?" the manager said.

"That the next time you had to speak to us you were banning us from the place."

"Exactly. Now you and your friends get your things and leave," the manager said as Burt took a step to the side to let the teen pass. "You guys have got five minutes," he continued, looking at the other teens present, "and after that I'll call the cops."

There was a flurry of activity as apparently all the teens were taking the manager seriously.

"My deepest apologies for the inconvenience," the manager said, turning his attention to Burt. "This game is on the house."

"Thank-you," Burt told the manager as he cast a glare in the direction of the teens.

Burt, Carole, Finn and Kurt waited until the other group were gone before resuming their game. It was clear to the other three that Kurt was still distracted though as Finn easily pulled ahead of him though overall he and Kurt beat their parents. It took some convincing but Burt was able to convince Kurt to play a third game, not wanting the second game to be the way his son's birthday celebration ended.

It seemed to work, as once again Kurt got into the rhythm of bowling. Finn and Kurt enjoyed beating their parents for a second time in a row. After the third game the group gathered their things and headed out to their cars together. As Finn had offered to carry the leftover cake out to Burt's truck for them, all for of them headed in that direction. Approaching the truck Burt stopped short upon spotting the shattered windshield.

After getting over his surprise and handing his bowling bag and the leftover pizza over to Carole, Burt walked the rest of the distance to the truck. On the hood was a decent sized rock, which had obviously been what broke the windshield, and the only way it would have gotten there was by someone throwing it. Picking up the rock, Burt found the word fag written on the rock in blue.

"Son-of-a-bitch," Burt muttered under his breath, his mind instantly going to who he thought the culprits were - the punks who had been in the bowling alley earlier.

"I'm sorry, Dad," he heard Kurt say softly.

Burt looked from the rock to his son, who was standing right beside him. The hurt he saw in Kurt's eyes only fueled his anger more. Pushing that anger aside though, Burt set the rock back on the hood of the truck and turned to face the teen. Placing a hand on each of Kurt's shoulders he looked his son in the eyes as he spoke. "Listen to me, Kurt, this is not your fault. You're not responsible for the actions of some close-minded little punks. You understand me?"

Kurt nodded right before Burt pulled his son into a tight hug. This was exactly how he didn't want his son's birthday celebration to end.

"I love you," Burt said softly, as he held his son close. They were words that he often felt he didn't say enough, but that he meant with his whole heart.

Releasing Kurt, Burt turned to Carole, who was standing back from them but watching with a very sympathetic look on her face. Finn was standing beside her, uncomfortably glancing around the parking lot and looking embarrassed to be a witness to the exchange.

"Can you take Kurt home?" Burt asked.

"What are you going to do?" Carole asked, not sure she wanted to leave Burt alone, knowing how impulsive he could be sometimes.

"Calling the cops for starters. Then I'm going to call Mac and have him bring the tow truck over from the garage. I'll have to wait until Monday to replace the windshield," Burt said, thinking that he would probably just call to have someone do it rather than ordering in the windshield and then doing the work himself as it would be quicker. "I can have Mac drop me off at home afterwards."

"I want to stay here with you, Dad," Kurt said, before Carole had a chance to agree to anything.

Burt shook his head. "No. There's no reason for both of us to hanging around here. Go on home and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"But-"

"Kurt, I said I wanted you to go home," Burt said, raising his voice slightly and immediately regretting it. "Look, there's no need to you to have to deal with the police too," Burt said, lowering his voice. He also wanted to be free to talk about the vandalism at the garage in case this wasn't the work of the teens from today. Though the possibility that those teens were behind the earlier incident to had already crossed his mind. But Kurt didn't know about that, and Burt still intended to keep it that way, especially after seeing his reaction to this incident. "Please, just let Carole take you home."

Reluctantly Kurt nodded. He gave his Dad another quick hug.

After kissing Burt good-bye and telling him not to go do anything rash, Carole led to two kids toward her car. Twenty minutes later she was pulling into Kurt's driveway.

"We'll help you take things inside," Carol told him, turning off the car.

Kurt didn't make any reply as he climbed from the backseat of the car. He grabbed both his dad's and his own bowling bag and let the Finn and Carole get the left over cake and pizza. Kurt looked around cautiously as he walked up the front path, as if expecting someone to be hiding somewhere waiting for him. Reaching the house, he opened the door and walked inside.

"We'll just take this into the kitchen," Carole told him.

Kurt just nodded as he headed for the hallway closet to store the bowling bags. In the kitchen Carole slid the cake box onto an empty spot on the counter while Finn headed for the refrigerator with the pizza. After moving a few things, Finn was able to close the door. He shut the door and was turning around as Kurt entered the room.

"Do you want us to stay with you until your Dad gets home?" Carole asked.

Kurt shook his head. "I'm fine. Thanks for the ride home and helping me bring the stuff inside."

"Okay, then," Carole said, though she still felt reluctant to leave him alone. Walking over to him, she gave the teen a hug, which Kurt returned rather stiffly. "If you need anything you just call, okay," Carole told him taking a step back.

"I will," Kurt told her.

Carole could tell it was one of those false assurances though. The kind you make when you want to show appreciation for the offer, someone had just made but that you have no intention on ever following through on.

Not sure what else she could do, Carole reluctantly headed for the front door, Finn following closely behind her. As he was about to pull the front door shut behind him, Finn paused, thinking things over. It didn't take him long to make his decision.

"Mom, I think I'm gonna hang around until Burt gets home," Finn said, causing his mom to stop walking and turned back toward her son.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. What's the worse that can happen, he gets mad at me because he doesn't really want me around. Well, there are worse things to have him mad at me for, and some of those things I've already done. I really think he's just trying to put on a brave act with not wanting us to stay."

Carole nodded in agreement. "Call me when you want me to come pick you up," she told him.

Finn nodded and turned to head into the house.

"And Finn," she called, waiting for her son to turn and face her before she continued. "I'm proud of you."

Finn smiled and then re-entered the Hummel's home. "Hey Kurt," Finn called out, letting the other teen know he was still around. "I'm gonna hang around for a while and keep you company," he continued, walking toward the kitchen where he and his mom had left Kurt.

Kurt appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "You don't have. I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will be, but no one should be by themselves on their birthday and besides, I plan on snagging another piece of that cake before I leave," Finn told him. "Why don't we watch a movie? You can pick."

"Somehow, I don't think that our taste in movies are going to coincide," Kurt said, crossing his arms across his stomach and leaning against the door jam, clearly intent on keeping up the 'I don't need you here facade'.

"After dating Quinn I don't think you can find a movie that I can't sit through. Come on," Finn said, nodding in the direction of the Hummel's living room.

With a heavy sigh, Kurt pushed himself off the door jam and lead the way to the living room.

Coming home from work on a Wednesday afternoon a couple weeks later, Burt was surprised not to smell the aroma of food in the air. Kurt always had dinner started if he was at the garage past five. Pushing the door shut behind him, Burt noted that the house was quiet too.

"Kurt, are you home?" Burt called out, slightly worried as Kurt hadn't told him that he was planning on going anywhere after school. Still, as he walked through the house, he took out his cell phone to check it, just to be sure he hadn't missed a call from his son. There were no missed calls on the phone.

Reaching the basement steps with no indication that Kurt was home, Burt started the descent into the basement. "Kurt," he called out again as he walked down the steps. Though he didn't receive an answer, he did give a sigh relief upon reaching the bottom of the stairs.

Kurt was at his desk, head bent over his open book and notebook. With the school year winding down, finals were in full swing this week, and his son looked to be intently studying. A pair of headphones covering Kurt's ears told Burt why his calls hadn't received an answer.

Stepping off the stairs, Burt crossed the room to where Kurt was sitting. Coming up behind him, Burt reached out and tapped his son on the shoulder. Kurt jumped, startled at the touch even as he glanced over his shoulder.

Seeing his Dad behind him, Kurt reached up and removed his headphones, letting the settle down around his neck.

"Dad, what are you doing home?" Kurt asked, his voice mirroring the confusion on his face.

"It's after six," Burt replied, slightly amused by the question.

"It's what?" Kurt asked, his eyes darting toward the nearby alarm clock. "Shoot, I lost track of time. I'm sorry. I'll get dinner started right away," Kurt said, reaching out to gather the index cards scattered over his desk.

"Relax, don't worry about dinner. I'll get it," Burt told him, reaching out and placing a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Believe me, if you're going to lose track of time doing something I would much rather you do it because you were studying than because you were doing something else."

Kurt smiled sheepishly up at him. "It's just that Mr. Reynolds biology finals are notoriously hard and I want to get a good grade on it tomorrow."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Burt said, giving his son's shoulder a squeeze before withdrawing his had. "Just do your best. You know that's all I've ever asked of you."

Kurt nodded in assent of his Dad's reassurances.

"So how does Chinese sound for the night. It'll save us both from cooking," Burt suggested as he started to back his way toward the stairs.

"Sounds good," Kurt replied, reaching up for his headphones. "I'm sorry about not starting dinner."

Burt waved his hand at him. After the other scenarios that had been running through his head after walking into a silent house, this was a good thing. "I'll come get you when it arrives then," Burt told him.

Kurt nodded, as he put his headphones back in place and went back to his studying. Turning, Burt headed upstairs to find the menu for the Chinese place they usually ordered from, feeling relieved. He had always worried about his son, but that worry had increased the older Kurt had gotten. After getting the call from the school last year about kids throwing water balloons filled with urine in them, Burt had even worried about sending him off to school. More than once he had considered private school for Kurt but between the cost and the worry that Kurt wouldn't take to the more stringent rules of private school, Burt hadn't really even done much looking into it. Though he was happy in jeans and whatever shirt he happened to pull out of his closet that morning, Burt knew that his son saw his clothes as just another way to express himself. He couldn't even picture Kurt in a school uniform.

So the question of whether to send Kurt to private school was never really more than a passing consideration. After the last couple of months though with the anonymous calls he was receiving at the garage, the vandalism at the garage, and the smashed windshield at the bowling alley, Burt's worry for his son's safety was increasing. Though the identities of the teen's at the bowling alley had been discovered by questioning the bowling alley manager and Burt looking through a recent McKinley year book, the cops were still unable to link them to either act of vandalism. In fact, they had no leads as to who could be behind them and that didn't sit well with Burt.

~Let's just hope there are no more incidents,~ Burt thought, reaching the kitchen and crossing to the drawer with the takeout menus in it. Pulling open the drawer, Burt rifled through the myriad of menus looking for the one he wanted.

The biggest factor now in the consideration of sending Kurt to private school though wasn't how Kurt would take to the uniform and it sure wasn't the cost. When it came to his son's safety he wouldn't let money get in the way of that. No, his biggest concern now was taking Kurt away from the New Directions. The club was the best thing that had happened to Kurt and unless there was no other alternatives, Burt wouldn't even consider taking that away from his son.

That didn't mean Burt wouldn't worry any time Kurt was out of his sight. As he browsed through the menu, mentally making selections, a part of him had to admit that he was glad the school year was coming to a close as it meant he could keep a closer eye on Kurt. For starters, Kurt helped out more at the garage during the summer months and Burt looked forward to spending that extra time with him. When he wasn't at the garage, Kurt was either at home or at Mercedes house, and Burt knew that Lana Jones would look out for Kurt as he if were her own son.

Having chosen several items from the menu, including the Kung Po Chicken that he knew was Kurt's favorite, Burt called and placed the order. Hanging up the phone, he replaced the menu and headed for the living room, planning to relax and watch some tv while he waited for the food.

Forty minutes later Burt pushed the front door closed after paying the delivery man. Turning from the door he headed toward the dinning room, intending to drop the food off and then go get Kurt. The second task became unnecessary though as the teen came up from the basement.

"I was just going to come get you for dinner," Burt commented. "Do you mind grabbing some plates and utensils?"

"Sure," Kurt said, heading for the kitchen.

A few minutes later Kurt was joining his father in the dinning room. "No, you're forgetting to calculate in the height. It's two times pi r squared plus, two times r times h," Kurt was saying into the cell phone that he had pressed against his ear, plates and utensils balanced in the other. There was a short paused before Kurt told whoever was on the other end of the pone, "yes, of course I'm sure. If you don't think I know what I'm doing then why did you call me?" he asked sounding a bit exasperated.

Reaching the table, Kurt placed the two plates, with spoons and forks resting on top of them, on the table while giving some instructions using math terms that Burt vaguely recalled from his high school geometry class. Burt started placing and opening the containers of Chinese food, reaching for the serving spoons that Kurt had brought with them. From the number of repetitions that Kurt was making, Burt guessed that whoever was on the other end of the phone was not comprehending the instructions well.

"Look Finn, Dad and I are about to sit down to dinner. Why don't you come over in an hour and I'll help you get ready for our geometry final," Kurt finally said, shooting an apologetic look across the table at his father. "It'll be easier to explain it that way too."

There was a short pause.

"I wouldn't make the offer if I minded," Kurt said, pausing again briefly before saying good-bye.

"So Finn's coming over then?" Burt asked as Kurt tucked the cell phone into his pants pocket.

"Yeah. Apparently he's got to get an A on the final tomorrow to even pass the class for the year, though why he waited until the night before to ask for help is beyond me," Kurt replied as he picked up the plates from table and handed one to his dad.

"Did you ever offer him help?" Burt asked as he started scooping food out of the containers and onto his plate.

"Yes, several times," Kurt replied getting his own food. Math tutor had actually been one of his first ill-fated, unwanted attempts at gaining Finn's attention when he had started crushing on the McKinley quarterback. Deep down, Kurt had known the whole scheme was doomed before he had started, just like all the ones that followed, but love, even unrequited love, made people do crazy things. "The teacher even suggested it at one point. Finn kept insisting he had it covered."

Burt chuckled. "Yeah, I remember times like that . . . You think you've got it all under control until right before the test and you realize nothing actually makes sense. Just another thing that you're lucky you took after your mom in."

"If you were so bad at academics then how are you able to help me with my French homework?" Kurt asked as father and son settled down across from each other, their plates of food now full.

"The one class that I paid attention to out of sheer necessity," Burt replied.

Across the table, Kurt shot his father a curious glance. "How could French class possibly be a necessity to you? It's not like foreign languages are a core curriculum, although most colleges like to see them on your transcript and you've told me that you never traveled outside the US."

"True, but there was a certain, brainy blonde that I had absolutely no chance of having any classes with unless I took Home Ec, joined band or took the same foreign language as said blonde. My friends never would have let me live down taking Home Ec."

"Yeah, I know what that's like," Kurt muttered, thinking of all the teasing he had taken because of the class.

Burt chose to ignore his son's muttering and continued. "Joining band would have sent your mother running for the hills," he added, to which Kurt smiled as he scooped up some of his kung po chicken. "That left the foreign language, and as your mother's mother had grown up in France until she was thirteen but had passed away before teaching Kathleen the language, your mother was determined to learn it."

Kurt's maternal grandmother had passed away when Kathleen was four years old, having lost a battle with cancer.

"So, after what turned out to be some not so discreet inquiries, I figured out what language your mother was taking, and even managed to get the desk behind her."

"Did your plan to get mom to notice you work?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, but not the way I planned. I didn't exactly take to well to the language at first. Your mom and the rest of our classmates got quite a laugh out of my pronunciation attempts. Despite being able to score well on the written work, after the third week, I was about ready to give up and add a study hall to my schedule."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because our teacher suggested that I have one of the other students help me practice the speaking part of the class. As the top student in the class was your mother, she asked her to do it. I couldn't believe my luck. And the rest they say is history," Burt said, finishing his tale and taking a bite out of the pot sticker that he had stabbed with his fork during the last part of his story.

"That is so romantic," Kurt said with a sigh.

Burt looked across the table at his son with an amused smiled.

"What?" Kurt asked, confused by his father's expression.

"That was exactly how your mother always billed it. I can still remember her telling people, "let me tell you how we met. It's so romantic."

Kurt felt the familiar pang of pain he often got when he dwelled too much on his mother. He still missed her every day and as much as he liked Carole, it just wasn't the same. He knew that Carole could never take his mother's place in his heart, though at times he wondered if perhaps she had in his father's heart.

Keeping his eyes focused on the food in front of him, Kurt quietly asked the question he had been wanting to ask for awhile now. "Dad, do you still miss Mom?"

Burt was surprised by the question. He quickly swallowed his food so that he could answer his son's question. "Of course I do. Every day," he replied sincerely, fighting to get the words past the lump that was forming in his throat. "What brought that question on?"

"I was just thinking about how happy Carole makes you, and the fact that talking about Mom seems so easy for you. Every time I try talking about Mom, I want to cry and I think about how I don't ever want anyone to take her place," Kurt said, trying to blink away the tears he could feel welling up in his eyes. Realizing that his words might make it sound like he didn't like Carole Kurt quickly continued, "not that I don't like Carole. She's great-"

"She just isn't your mother," Burt finished for him. "I get it, Kurt. I do. I always knew that me dating someone else wasn't going to be easy on you, because of how close you were to your mother. It's one of the reasons that I never was able to get serious about anyone before Carole, but you are the one that said I should start dating again."

"I know. And I want you to. I want you to be happy and Carole makes you happy."

"But?" Burt prompted.

Kurt's reply was so low that Burt didn't catch what the seventeen-year-old had said.

"Say that again," Burt requested.

"I don't want you to forget Mom. I don't want to forget her and I don't want Carole to replace her," Kurt said, his voice wavering with the still unshed tears.

"Kurt, look at me," Burt said, his voice having a soft quality to it despite it's commanding tone. Kurt did so, the tears glistening in his son's eyes feeling like a knife in his heart. "No one will ever replace your mother, in either of our lives. She's got a special place in our hearts and she's part of who we are. Yes, I do love Carole, but that doesn't change the fact that your mother was my first love. It's easy for me to talk about your mom because I know it's what she would want. She wants us to remember her even as we go on with our lives. And I can't ever forget her, because I'm reminded of her every time that I look at you. You are so much like your mother."

Kurt smiled, wiping at the few tears that had started to leak out of his eyes.

"Nobody is asking you to accept Carole as a new mother figure. All she wants to be to you is a friend, and I think it's good for you to have a woman's influence in your life. Carole can understand you in a way that I never am going to be able to, despite how much I love you. Just like Finn and I connect in a way that he would never be able to with his mother. And if Carole and I do get married, neither one of us is going to expect you to call her mom. We both understand that it's a special title and one that you only have to use if you feel it's right. Okay?"

Kurt nodded, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as father and son returned to their dinner.