Kurt had his hands clasped behind his back as he approached David. Despite the chilly, late autumn air, David was wearing a sleeveless shirt. It showed off his biceps very nicely, in Kurt's opinion. His nature-god boyfriend was covered in dirt, tree sap and pine needles, giving him a nice, forest-y smell. "Hey, handsome." It was the first weekend in December and, as per Hummel family tradition, they were picking out their Christmas tree. Unlike previous years where Kurt had been dragged to local Home Depots or Lowes in order to get a tree, Kurt had talked Burt and Carol into getting a tree at Eternal Spring.

David turned around and looked his own boyfriend over. Kurt was practically buried in a thick, wrap-around sweater and the tips of his ears and nose were bright pink. "Aw. You look cold."

"I'm just a bit nippy."

"Here, let me warm you up." David dipped his head down and pressed his lips to Kurt's. Kurt's lips parted, inviting David's tongue to take a taste. The tips of their tongues gently prodded at each other's for a moment before they pulled away. "So, are you here alone?"

"Nope. Carol's here, too. She's a bit more accepting of us than my dad. She trusts me to be a mature adult and make my own decisions. She's off in the back looking at trees right now."

David looked in the general direction Carol could be expected to be in. "I never understood Christmas trees all that much."

Kurt quirked an eyebrow. "What's to understand? Buy a tree, decorate it, throw presents under it and pretend to celebrate the birth of Christ. Not that I believe any of that crap, but who am I to argue against a chance to do some seasonal interior decorating?"

David shrugged. "I just want to know how it got started. Who, once upon a time, thought to themselves 'you know, let's celebrate Jesus's birthday by doing something the Bible explicitly forbids us from doing?'"

Kurt furrowed his brow and gave David a look of confusion. "The Bible does not forbid Christmas trees; you're making that up."

"'Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen. For the customs of the heathen are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not' Jeremiah 10:2-4. Sure sounds like it forbids Christmas trees to me."

Kurt thought about that before giggling to himself. "Good thing I'm not Christian then. What do the Greek gods have to say about Christmas trees?"

"Meh. Go tree crazy for all we care. I'm pretty sure we are the heathens the Bible was talking about. And honestly, no matter what you're into, there are so many of us that you're bound to find at least one that approves and one that disapproves. Just look at me and you; even the gods of love can't agree whether we're perfect together or a crime against nature."

"Well nature can go right ahead and arrest me if it wants to, because I sure as hell have no intention of changing." Kurt leaned up on his toes to kiss David again, shoving his tongue right into David's mouth as he ran his hands up and under David's shirt, sighing happily at the warmth he found there.

xoxoxo

Demetria looked up from the small spruce she was pruning. She 'har-umphed' when she spotted David and Kurt exchanging saliva. She looked Kurt over; it wasn't the first time she'd seen the boy around, but it was the first time she'd been aware of her grandson's interest in him and, as such, examined him a bit more closely. Nudging Sophie, she spoke, "Wasn't one of your primary concerns about David's sexuality that you wouldn't have a daughter-in-law?"

Sophie nodded. "It was one of my distresses."

Demetria pointed a pair of pruning shears towards Kurt. "Looks like it isn't as much of an issue as you thought."

"I can hear you, Nana!" David shot his grandmother a reproachful look. Demetria just smiled innocently and waved.

"What did she say?"

David sighed. "She implied you're a girl." Kurt tried not to be too offended by that; as much as it hurt, he was used to such insults.

Demetria walked around the plant display and approached Kurt, looking him over appraisingly as she did so. "So you are the infamous Kurt Hummel? The one tearing my family apart? Let me get a good look at you." Demetria placed her hand under his chin, forcing him to look up slightly. She was a hair taller than him, and very sturdily built. She had much the same build as Paul. Made sense, Kurt thought to himself. They were brother and sister. He had to fight back a shudder when he realized that. Demetria looked deep into his eyes; Kurt felt like she was trying to hypnotize him. "You have some interesting patrons."

"What?"

David spoke up and clarified, "Every mortal…and god actually…is favored by different gods in different ways and they get 'gifts' and 'talents' as a result…or curses if they don't like you."

"Yes, and you seem to have found favor in some pleasant places. The Graces and Muses, rather predictably." Kurt smiled. He knew who they were and was rather pleased they liked him. "Athena…though I don't suggest you sign up for military service any time soon. Hephaestus, rather interestingly. You're very mechanically inclined, aren't you?" Kurt nodded. "Apollo…in several areas. Paul has gifted you when it comes to anything relating to precious jewels and money." Kurt could have predicted that; he had taught his father to balance his checkbooks when he was eleven and then Paul had hinted as much when giving him his job. Demetria paused and pulled back, shocked by one of the gifts she saw in Kurt. She had never seen such a gift before…never thought she would see it.

"Nana? What is it?"

"Nothing." Demetria looked again to see if what she saw was really what she saw. It was understandable that her son-in-law would gift his son's boyfriend in some ways, but this? This was almost unspeakable. She shook herself out of her astonishment, "Nothing. I'm just surprised to see that Sophie has gifted you. You have a rather impressive green-thumb."

Kurt smiled, "Well, I do love planting and gardening. It's one of the few times I don't mind getting dirty." Sophie, who was pretending not to listen, looked up briefly before feigning indifference and going back to work.

xoxoxo

"Hades!" Paul grit his teeth and did his best to ignore Demetria. Paul was seated at the kitchen table, a freshly made Reuben sandwich in hand. "I met David's little sweetheart at the nursery today."

"And?"

"I like him…quite a bit. I think Sophie would adore him as well if she gave him half a chance." Paul mm-hmm-ed at her. He agreed with her and had asked Sophie to give Kurt a chance on multiple occasions. But Sophie would forever be a stubborn little child. Paul blamed himself…and Demetria. They had both spoiled her rotten in an attempt to win her favor from the other. She wasn't used to anything not going exactly as she wanted. "I looked over his gifts. I was curious to see which gods favored him. Gifts from Aphrodite or one of our brothers would have potentially turned my opinion of him, of course. But he seems to have found pleasing and appropriate patrons. However, while I was looking, I happened to see a very interesting gift there."

That drew Paul's attention and he wheeled around to face her. "Demetria, you cannot tell him or David."

"No kidding! I can't tell anyone about this. Do you have any idea how upset the gods would be if they found out?"

"But Orpheus-"

"-was beloved by all the gods. He should have been a god. There is little the gods wouldn't have done for him if he asked. Kurt means nothing to the gods. Kurt is nothing. Kurt is-" Paul put his hand up to silence Demetria as the front door opened. They both quieted down and listened.

"I am so glad you talked her into the balsam fir. She got a Norwegian fir last year that I'm still cleaning up needles from. And the balsam just smells so much nicer than the spruces." It was Kurt; David had brought him home with him.

"Yeah, the balsams always have a really nice smell to them. In my opinion, they usually have a more pine-y smell than the pines." David entered into the kitchen, Kurt following behind by a few steps. He looked a bit surprised to see Demetria there. "Oh, hi Nana. I didn't know you were coming over tonight."

"Why shouldn't I come over?" David looked between his father and his grandmother; it was strange to see them together, especially without his mom around to mediate any fights they might get into. "I was just telling you father about how cute I thought you and your boyfriend are together. Isn't that right, Paul?" Demetria placed her hands on Paul's shoulders and gave them a tight squeeze. To someone who didn't know their history together, it would look like a friendly gesture; to David it looked like a threat of some kind.

"Yes. She also told me she looked at your gifts, Kurt. I'm sure none of them surprised you, though?"

Kurt obviously didn't see anything suspicious between the god of the Underworld and the goddess of the harvest. "I was a little surprised to see that Apollo likes me; I never figured myself for being much when it comes to medicine or the sciences."

"Apollo is so much more than that. He's also the god of music and poetry. David is rather gifted in music as well, but not through Apollo. Apollo gifted him in other areas, like math." Dave could tell that his grandmother was nervous about something; she was practically babbling, trying to draw his and Kurt's attention away from whatever she and Paul had been talking about.

"Ok, what's going on? You two hate each other."

Paul and Demetria looked at each other. "You're right, David. There is something inherently wrong in the world when Demi and I agreed on something, but both disagree with your mother. We were talking about you and Kurt. Why don't the two of you go upstairs and watch a movie or something? Your grandmother and I are trying to figure out what to do about your mother." It disturbed Demetria how easily Paul could lie on the spot, to his son, like that.

"Kurt and I were actually going to make ourselves something to eat. It's almost dinnertime."

Paul stood up from the table, taking his sandwich with him. "In that case, Demeter and I will retire to the upstairs and leave you two here. Come Dem."

Paul left the kitchen and headed to his office. Demetria remained behind for a minute looking at the two boys before following him. As she passed by, she stroked Kurt's cheek affectionately and smiled at him. It looked like a sad smile, to David. "Things must be really bad if they're working together to try and get my mom to understand."

"She's your mom; you're her son. She should love you no matter what. Have you and your mom even talked since you came out?" Kurt took David's hand in both of his and cocked his head to the side so he could look into David's downcast eyes.

"Not really. Nothing beyond 'hey' or 'can you get your goat out of my winter squash?'"

Kurt placed one of his hands on David's cheek and brushed away a stray tear with the pad of his thumb. "She'll come around, eventually. She's your mom."

David snorted disbelievingly. "You don't know gods. My dad and nana have kept their feud going for thousands of years and, if it weren't for me, they'd probably keep it up another couple thousand years."

"Well, at least you have all of eternity, right?" It was the lamest thing Kurt could have said, but the way David seemed to fight back a smile showed him that his poor excuse for a joke kind of worked.