Burt quickly shut off his alarm clock before it woke Kurt up. It was the morning of his ninth birthday, and he couldn't let him see what he was going to do. He knew that he had to make it a special birthday for him since it was the first one without Elizabeth around. She would always bake him whatever flavor of cake he wanted, and would decorate it with fancy lettering that said 'Happy Birthday Kurt!' Burt wasn't quite capable of that, so he went to the best cake decorator in Lima and had him make one that looked identical to how she made them. He knew he was going to love it.

He checked on him in his room once he got up. Thankfully Kurt was still asleep, his kitten curled up at his feet. He bought it for him a couple months earlier as an early gift, but he had to do more. The kid couldn't wake up on his ninth birthday with no presents.

But that was the problem. He had no clue what to get him. Kurt hadn't given him a list, or even mentioned his birthday to him at all, really. He got some helium filled purple and blue balloons from the store and had kept them in the garage overnight so he wouldn't see them. Burt dug them out and taped them to both ends of the kitchen counter. He learned back at Christmas that he was awful at wrapping gifts, so all of his presents were just put in bags with colorful tissue paper. He meticulously arranged them on the counter so they would be the first things Kurt saw when he came down the stairs.

Burt didn't want to risk starting a fire in the kitchen, so for breakfast he decided to make him frozen waffles in the toaster once he was awake. It wasn't his first choice, but he couldn't do the fancy breakfast burritos or crêpes the Kurt could somehow pull off. And he didn't want him cooking breakfast on his own birthday.

He waited impatiently for Kurt to finally get up. He didn't want to wake him up or else he would know something was up. Burt sat on a barstool in front of the counter, watching for him to appear on the stairs.

Half an hour after he got everything ready and set up, he heard Kurt's bedroom door open, and he started down the stairs, holding his cat under his arm.

"Dad?" he asked, looking surprised at everything. He had no clue what was going on, and his jaw dropped. "What's this?"

"Happy birthday, buddy," he told him, stepping out of the way so he could see all of his presents. Kurt set Maria on the floor and slowly walked over to where he was. The look of pure surprise on his face made everything worth it.

"I thought… I thought Maria was my only present," he said, still shocked.

"No, come on, you can open them now," he coaxed. He picked him up and sat him on the stool and watched as he looked over all of them. He had gotten him nine presents, not counting the cat, since it was his ninth birthday. He wasn't sure if that was too many of not, but it didn't matter. Kurt picked a bag and pulled it over to him, picking out the tissue paper carefully. He saw his face light up with joy when he pulled out what was inside. Burt had managed to get him his very own pair of coveralls, just like the ones he wore to work. They even had his name on it, and he made sure they were just his size.

"I can work in the garage and without getting my clothes messy!" he exclaimed. Kurt took his outfits seriously.

"Yeah, you can. They've got your name on them, too." Kurt folded them carefully and set them aside, then reached for another gift. Burt honestly didn't remember what gift was in which bag, but he found out soon enough.

"I got shoes," he said, opening the box. Burt knew he hated his Nike tennis shoes he had bought him for Christmas, so he figured Converses would suit him better. "They're purple!" Kurt put them on his feet, even though he wasn't wearing socks. "I like them."

"Well I'm glad, kiddo. Finish opening your gifts and we can have breakfast."

Kurt was so slow at opening his presents, but he was just savoring the moment. Burt got him his shoes, coveralls, a basket to attach to his bike, a purple shirt to match his shoes, the new Harry Potter book he'd been wanting, a tutu for him to wear to his ballet class, a CD with his Sound of Music songs on it, a season pass to the water park, and an Easy Bake oven. He didn't care if it was too many presents; the kid was on cloud nine.

Burt learned his lesson at Christmas that he had to get him things that he actually wanted. The things he bought him five months earlier were Legos and Nerf guns that Kurt hadn't still hadn't even opened. He hated seeing his face, watching him pretend to like his presents when in reality it wasn't anything that he could use. Besides, the clothes and shoes were things he would need. The oven was so he could bake his stuff without wrecking the kitchen.

After making him breakfast he told Kurt they could do whatever he wanted. Surprisingly, he just wanted to go to the garage. He put on his new coveralls and shoes and Burt drove him down to work.

"Why'd you pick the garage, buddy?" he asked him in the car. "We could've gone to the park or the movies or something."

"I want to show Jake and Tony my clothes. And I'm gonna help." He sounded so confident. Burt remembered several months earlier when he was still so upset and confused by his mother's sudden death.

He parked in his usual spot and walked inside with Kurt. Everyone was surprised to see them there, but glad nonetheless. Burt let him help him work on an engine, and even though he was only handing him tools, he was still content.

Burt was still having a hard time believing the kid was already nine years old. He clearly remembered driving to the hospital, and being scared out of his mind. He had no clue how to be a dad, but the first time he held Kurt he was in love. Nine years later he could still say the same thing.

Author's Notes:

I can really see Burt going all out for his birthday. And I think he did a pretty good job, even though he was uncertain at first.