Title: a storm whereon they ride
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Byron
Warnings: outside pov
Pairings: OFC/OMC, Burt/Mama Hummel
Rating: PG13
Wordcount: 470
Point of view: third
Prompt: Florence + the Machine's "Shake It Out"
Greta Connors married Henry Ocher, had a son and a daughter, and grew old. She has the blood of kings and queens in her veins and all anyone will ever be able to say about her is that she taught French at two middling public schools for twenty years, that she raised two babies into productive members of society (her son joined the army and died for his country; her daughter works in the DA's office, trying to make the world better).
Greta's baby girl has a beautiful baby boy and the first time Greta holds tiny little Kurt, she whispers in the language of their ancestors, "You're going to be something extraordinary, little one."
.
Greta's first boyfriend (who tried to take more than she was ready to give) ran away two months into their relationship.
Greta's only rival for Henry ran away eighteen months before Greta's marriage to the love of her life.
The first girl to break Freddy's heart suffered a fatal head wound when she tripped on the stairs at school. Greta was given a week's vacation because she was the one to find her.
The first boy to make Kathryn cry survived a fall over the railing and Greta told Henry it was time to move; there was a job in Cincinnati that she wanted, and better schools for their children.
.
Greta retired when Kathryn had Kurt. She was tired of dealing with other people's brats, and Kurt needed her.
She taught him French and told him stories of their ancestors and explained to him all the rules society would try to impose on him.
When she had him overnight, her bedtime stories were about a sixteen year old boy who ran away, and an eighteen year old girl who wanted a man too good for her, and a fifteen year old girl who played with an innocent boy's affections, and a fourteen year old boy who somehow managed to survive a two-story fall.
"You must do better, bébé," she told her only grandchild, in English to make sure he understood. "Leave nothing to chance and no room for error. All details must be exact."
"Yes, Gamma," he said seriously, arms around his favorite toy, a plush Great White.
.
When Greta is fifty-seven, she falls down the stairs while Henry is preparing steaks for dinner.
She lingers in a coma for two days and dies without ever waking up.
Kathryn spends a week in tears and then goes back to work.
All Kurt asks for a month is when he can see Gamma again.
Six months after the funeral, Kurt asks Kathryn for the story about the boy who ran away.
She has no idea what he's talking about, but she does wonder, for just a few moments, what exactly her mother had been telling her son.