This chapter is dedicated to Kate, a guest reviewer who wanted to see Carole and Burt meeting Brendan for the first time.
Burt Hummel will forever remember the day he found out he was going to become a grandfather. He'd been working late at the garage when his cell phone had started ringing. Annoyed that whoever was calling was going to make him even later for dinner, he didn't even look at the screen before accepting the call and barking, "What?" harshly into the speaker.
"Whoa, dad, if you didn't want to talk, you didn't have to answer," Kurt's voice said, distorted slightly by the old phone's speaker quality.
"Sorry son, I've had a long day," Burt said, "but I always have time for you. What's up?"
"Well," Kurt said, drawing out the word. Burt could practically hear the smile in his son's voice. "Blaine and I just had a very interesting talk."
"Oh?" Burt asked, completely perplexed as to where the conversation was going.
"Yeah. We've decided that we want to adopt."
Burt almost dropped the phone in surprise. "Wh-what?" he spluttered out.
"An older kid," Kurt continued. "Blaine wants to help someone who thinks everything's over, just like him."
Burt had to smile at that. It was a noble idea, and exactly the sort of thing that he'd come to expect of his son-in-law. "Are you sure you're ready for a kid, though?" Burt asked. "I mean, you both work pretty time consuming jobs that aren't exactly steady over time. And adopting an older kid isn't going to be easy. He or she is going to come with a lot of baggage."
"Dad, it's not going to happen tomorrow," Kurt whined, and Burt could still hear the headstrong teenager in his son. "We've only just started talking about it. And anyway, I've been working pretty steadily on Broadway, and with Blaine's movies and his jobs here and there on stage, we're more than financially comfortable. Plus, we've got Andrew in the city to help us out with stuff if necessary."
Burt nodded, even though Kurt couldn't see him. He knew that if anyone could handle this, it was Kurt and Blaine. They had already managed to make so much headway in their lives, despite the rocky starts.
He and Kurt talked for a while longer before Burt decided to give up on the inventory for the night and go home for dinner. He told Carole all about Kurt and Blaine's plans over a meatloaf.
Kurt called Burt incredibly regularly. He always knew when it was five o'clock on a Tuesday or 11:30 on a Thursday because his phone would begin ringing and Kurt's name would show up on the screen. Lately, most of the calls had been about struggles that the two men were going through to get approved for adoption, and then calls about all the kids they'd met and not clicked with.
So when Kurt called Burt at 2:45 on a Wednesday, he knew something had happened.
"What's wrong?" Burt said, fearing the worst.
"We've found him!" Kurt gushed.
"Who? What? Kurt, bud, you've got to give me more than that!"
"Our son, dad. Blaine and I just met our son!"
Kurt spent the next hour gushing to Burt about a little boy they'd just met named Brendan. Every little detail of the interaction was relayed over the phone, and by the time they hung up, Burt felt as if he knew the child, too.
Burt and Carole wanted to fly out to New York the minute that Brendan started staying with Kurt and Blaine. They wanted to be there two months later when the adoption was finalized, the papers were signed, and Brendan officially became an Anderson-Hummel.
But they couldn't.
They had to wait seven months from the day that Brendan had first entered their lives before they could meet him.
Two months after Brendan officially became theirs, Kurt and Blaine announced to the little boy that they were going to Ohio to visit Kurt's parents - Brendan's new grandparents.
The little boy looked nervous at the prospect, and Blaine laughed a little. "I was terrified when I first met Kurt's dad," Blaine revealed, "but Burt is a really amazing man. And Carole is the most generous woman I've ever met," Blaine added.
Brendan nodded. "What do I call them?" he whispered.
"You can call them grandma and grandpa, or gramps and gram, or Burt and Carole, or ... well, I can't really think of any other names right now, but I'm sure we could invent some!" Blaine joked.
Brendan laughed slightly, some of his nerves evaporating, and Kurt smiled proudly at his husband and his son.
Burt and Carole impatiently stood in the baggage claim area of the Columbus airport. Carole's arms were filled with two wrapped packages and a bouquet of flowers. She knew that a 10-year-old probably wouldn't appreciate the flowers as much, but Kurt certainly would.
Suddenly, a large crowd of people began walking over to conveyor belt five - the one for the arrival from New York. Burt and Carole tensed up when they realized that they were only seconds away from meeting their first grandchild.
"When did we become old enough to be grandparents?" Burt mused quietly.
"We blinked, and suddenly our kids were adults," Carole replied. "I think Kurt and Blaine are going to be amazing fathers."
"I know they are."
Blaine emerged first, dragging a large suitcase and carrying a duffel bag. Behind him, Burt and Carole spotted Kurt, holding a small bag in one hand and a little boy's hand in his other. When Kurt looked up and saw his father, he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.
Burt ran forward to help Blaine with the luggage, while Kurt bent down to whisper something into Brendan's ear. Burt and Carole stood to the side, trying not to stare too much and make the little boy nervous.
Blaine took Brendan's other hand when Kurt dropped it to hug his father and step-mother. He then turned around and smiled gently.
"Dad, Carole, this is Brendan, our son." Burt's chest tightened when he heard the word son drop from Kurt's lips. "Bren, this is my dad and my step-mom."
The little boy looked up bashfully as his grip on Blaine's hand tightened. "Hi," he whispered.
"Hello, sweetie!" Carole gushed, kneeling down so she was at his level. "It's so good to finally meet you! Kurt's been talking nonstop about you for months and Burt and I were wondering when he was finally going to let us spoil you!"
The little boy looked a bit confused, but not uncomfortable. He smiled shyly, but didn't say anything else.
"Burt and I brought these for you," Carole said, holding out the flowers and the gifts.
"Really?" Kurt said from above, rolling his eyes. "We're not even out of the airport and you're already showering him with gifts? Are you trying to steal my son's affections from me?"
Brendan reached forward to take the first box that Carole offered. He gingerly ripped open the paper to reveal a child-sized football in a box.
"My son Finn loved football when he was your age, and he said that it would be a crime if you didn't have a ball of your own. He was worried that Kurt might not be the best sports instructor."
Kurt tried to huff indignantly, but the truth of the statement was obvious to everyone.
"Thanks," Brendan said.
"Maybe we can toss that around the yard while Carole gets lunch ready," Burt suggested. Brendan's wide flickered up to the man, and there was the slightest shade of fear there.
"That sounds like fun," Blaine added, noticing his son's hesitance. "Mind if I join in?"
Brendan nodded, and moved on to the second package. He pulled the paper away to reveal Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Blaine grinned when he saw it.
"Aw, that's a great book!" he exclaimed. "That was my favorite book when I was your age. I took it everywhere with me." He didn't add the part about how he had wished that he could find a Hogwarts and a secret world that had been waiting to love him. He was just glad that Brendan had been able to find his family - and a year earlier than Harry had, too.
"Shall we head home?" Kurt suggested, taking the flowers from Carole since his son's hands were full.
"That sounds wonderful," Carole replied.
The rest of the week passed smoothly. It almost seemed like a dream how perfectly everything worked out. Brendan played football in the backyard with Blaine and Burt (and Kurt once or twice). He spent a few afternoons at the shop. He helped Carole make cupcakes and pies and macaroni and cheese. Burt snuck him out for ice cream at least once a day.
By the end of the week, the little boy couldn't have stopped smiling if he had tried.
If Burt had been terrified when Kurt had first called to tell him that he was thinking about adoption, all of Burt's fears were chased out of the window by the time Brendan and his dads left Ohio. He was under the little boy's spell, just like Kurt and Blaine.
Meeting Brendan was at the top of the list of the best moments in Burt's life - right up there with marrying Elizabeth, meeting and adopting Kurt, and meeting Carole.
But another moment joined that list a few months later.
Kurt called late one night, and Burt immediately assumed the worst.
"What's happened? Is everyone okay?" he asked.
"Yes, dad, I'm fine," Kurt replied, but Burt could hear tears in his son's voice.
"Kurt," he warned. "I'm your father. I know when you've been crying."
"Brendan asked if he could call me and Blaine daddy," Kurt said, pure joy radiating from his every word.
Burt felt tears come to his eyes too as he remembered the first time Kurt had called him and Lizzie dad and mom. "I'm so proud of you, son," Burt said.
When Kurt, Blaine, and Brendan came to Ohio for Christmas that year, Brendan called Burt and Carole grandpa and grandma.
That moment was the top of Burt's list, and he knew that it would never be displaced.