Sorry! Writer's block. That's why I started up the second story: so I could keep writing while I thought about what to write. I know where this is going; I know everything that's going to happen. It's just a matter of straightening out the wording and timeline in my head.

xoxoxo

David looked over the small square piece of paper in his hand; it was about the size of a note card. All it had on it was a name and a number, nothing more. But it was all David needed. "Thanks, Harold."

David's cousin/uncle nodded. "De nada. I still don't get why it's so important, though." Being one of the messenger-gods and privy to almost every god and immortal's personal business, Hermes was naturally very curious and David could hear the hint of questioning in his voice; he was hoping David would tell him why the slip of paper – the number – was so important.

"It's just a Christmas present for someone; that's it."

Hermes' expression was blank as he pondered it over a bit. He had short brown hair, pale skin and a rounded face. He had made himself look like a teenager to make it easier to see David at school. Even with McKinley's non-existent security, someone would question a strange adult walking around. No one would question an unfamiliar teen; no student cared and no teacher would want to admit they didn't know who the student was. Any decent teacher would be mortified to realize they'd forgotten a student's name, or worse, didn't even recognize them. "A bit strange for a Christmas present, but then again, you have always been a bit…" Hermes sucked his teeth, making a "tsk" sound while he thought about the perfect adjective. "Well, your parents made some interesting choices about raising you; let's just leave it at that."

David elbowed Hermes playfully. "Jerk." Giving David a half-assed salute, Hermes ducked into a nearby classroom before vanishing and teleporting away.

xoxoxo

David was talking with someone – someone Kurt didn't recognize. Though to be fair, David knew a significant amount of people at school that Kurt didn't: jocks mostly, as well as a few of the math nerds (though David rarely associated with them in public). It was to be expected; they ran in two completely different circles with only New Directions and work overlapping (along with their relationship, of course). As he got closer to David, he noticed a slip of paper in his hand. For a brief moment of jealous-blindness, Kurt wondered if that other boy had been flirting with David and had given him his phone number! But as Kurt looked back over the scene he had witnessed, he realized the body language didn't line up with such an unfounded accusation. He refused to let David's paranoia infect him. "Hey handsome." Kurt leaned up onto his tiptoes to give David a peck on the nose. "Who was your hot friend?"

David blushed and returned Kurt's kiss, pressing his lips to Kurt's forehead. "Just Hermes. He was delivering a piece of information for me."

Kurt leaned his head towards David so he could hear better in one ear. "Oh? What kind of information? Anything interesting?"

David sucked his cheeks in, debating whether or not he should come clean to Kurt. Kurt had a right to fully understand all aspects of Burt's animosity towards David. Kurt also had a right, as a gay teen, to know how and why his father was the way he was; how had such a manly-man like Burt Hummel come to be such a caring and kind individual when it came to gays? It was unfair to say Burt was "open-minded;" open-minded sounded like you were open to listening to well-reasoned arguments and weren't blinded by prejudice. Burt Hummel, however, was in fact blinded by prejudice – but not the bad kind. Prejudice had an unfair negative connotation as someone that was against something. In fact, it was just an extreme bias for or against something. It wouldn't be considered "wrong" for someone to be prejudiced against racism or prejudiced in favor of world peace; the word just sounded bad because it was almost always used in a negative way. Burt Hummel was prejudiced in favor of gay rights. David felt that Kurt needed to know how his father came to be that way. However, at long last, David decided it wasn't his place to tell Kurt anything. "Just a phone number I needed to get. Hermes is like the United States Post Office on crack; give him even the faintest details about someone and he can track them down. No, sorry; he's more like a rabid bill collector. The post office is really only good if you can't remember a zip code."

Kurt shook his head, smiling good naturedly, as he looped his arm with his boyfriend's and tugged him off towards the last glee practice before Christmas break.

xoxoxo

Olivine closed early that evening. It would remain open during the holidays (aside from Christmas day), but the nymphs were all going to spend the week back in the Underworld. Kurt and David both had the week off (with pay; Paul was the best boss ever!) and so Olivine was having a little premature Christmas party potluck. Paul had provided a roast goose that had been marinated overnight in citruses. It was an absolutely heavenly smell to Kurt. Sophie had provided the fruit and vegetable salads (of course), while Demi had baked different types of bread; ciabatta, corn bread, soda bread and a sweet bread with little raisins in it. The nymphs had provided roasted garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus in a béarnaise sauce, pearl onions in a cream sauce, caramelized carrots, and a pear shallot confit in a balsamic reduction. Kurt had provided the drinks: egg nog, apple cider and red velvet hot chocolate (which David had about five mugs of). And David, for his part, had made a fruitcake. Kurt had never had one before, but was pleasantly surprised to find it completely undeserving of its horrid reputation; it was essentially a dense, sugary bread with berries and nuts in it.

It was an amazing dinner. Kurt was greatly impressed with the cooking skills of everyone present…though he couldn't really be surprised about the women; they had all grown up during a time when a woman's looks, sewing skills, cooking skills and her father's money were just about her only marketable attributes.

The conversation was exceptionally light-hearted, with much of the present company throwing in embarrassing stories about a younger David to amuse Kurt and traumatize David. Kurt particularly enjoyed hearing a story about how a toddler David had sent his preschool into an uproar bringing a wild squirrel into the classroom for show and tell. Despite David's attempts at calming and reassuring the critter (it was too terrified of the high pitched, squeal-y children and David's powers were still too weak), it had ended up demolishing a good deal of the classroom. David was asked not to participate in show and tell after that…though few of the students participated after that, because how could any of them top a live squirrel? Demi had supplied that particular story, but the nymphs had their own contributions:

"Do you remember the time he thought it would be a good idea to take Cerberus out for a walk?"

"Oh my gods, I know! Who was supposed to be watching him? Mnemosyne had to work her magic on a whole park full of people to cover up that fiasco."

David just seemed to shrink lower and lower in his chair. Kurt almost expected him to bury his head in the mashed potatoes and hide. Pitying him, only the slightest, Kurt took David's hand under the table and held it in his lap. Kurt rubbed gentle little circles onto the back of David's hand using his thumb. After that, David seemed to settle slightly and just focused on Kurt's touches.

As dinner wound down, the nymphs were the first to retire; they had families in the Underworld they didn't get to spend too much time with and were eager to get back to. Demeter was the next to leave. When it was just David, Kurt, Sophie and Paul, Kurt took out the presents he had gotten for David's parents. Kurt had found an old weathervane with a bronze leaf at the northern point in a secondhand shop somewhere. It had become a warm shade of green from the patina over the years and had reminded Kurt of Sophie. He had lopped off the leaf from the rest of the weathervane and used the skills he had learned at Olivine and on his own to fashion it into a lovely old-style hairpiece. Sophie adored the piece; the jewelry her husband gave her tended to be very high-end, whereas Sophie considered herself more a simple country girl with a taste for the more rustic things in life. Sophie surprised Kurt by giving him a charm shaped like a little stringed instrument of some kind. "Everyone knows my symbol is the pomegranate. Not everyone knows I have other symbols. This is a cetra: a relative of the lyre. Unlike my husband here, I believe that you are going to be an important part of my son's life for a good, long time; therefore, I think you should be treated more like family." Kurt could feel heat and moisture building behind his eyes. Sophie may not have warmed to the idea of him being with David quickly, but she certainly supported them now. "If ever you need help of any kind Kurt, strum the cetra; any creatures, beings, or spirits nearby who are loyal to myself, my mother, Paul, or David will come to your aide."

Kurt was so busy staring lovingly at the little charm – the symbol of Sophie's matronly love for him – that he missed the knowing glance David had exchanged with his father. Kurt had no way of knowing about the long talk the three Karofskys had had about the risks Kurt faced dating a god. "Thank you, Sophie. This means so much to me." Even as he thanked David's mother he was thinking of all the ways he could work it into his wardrobe; with an appropriate hook for a clip, it could be on a bracelet, a necklace, a tie chain, a brooch, any number of things.

When Kurt had collected himself enough to not cry with happiness, he passed Paul his gift. "It definitely doesn't compare to Sophie's gift…or even everything you've given me just for the heck of it, but I think you'll enjoy it."

Paul eagerly tore off the reindeer-themed wrapping paper and chuckled heartily as he looked over the eight kid's books Kurt had gotten him. Paul looked over each title and the blurb on the back, chuckling and smiling as he did so. He shoved the second book at Sophie. Sophie rolled her eyes at the picture on the cover; it was supposed to be her, portrayed as a ditzy blonde talking on a cell phone. The title read Phone Home, Persephone. Paul summarized the synopsis for her; "Apparently you ran away with me to get away from your overbearing mother. Somehow that sounds more historically accurate than the truth."

David nudged Kurt. "Told you he'd like it. Where's my present?"

"I really do love them, Kurt. I love anything that's me or my family but pop-culture-ish…if that makes any sense."

Kurt smiled fondly at Paul. Under it all, he was such a big kid…like David. Kurt turned his attention to David. "No present for you until Christmas, capiche?" David pouted like a little puppy dog.

"Speaking of which-" Kurt returned his attention to Paul. "My present for you kind of goes along with David's…so I can't tell you what it is yet without giving David's present away."

"Yeah, and I can't give you your present until after Christmas, so there." David stuck his tongue out at Kurt, blowing a raspberry at him. Kurt was ok with being patient though. He knew David would get him the best present.

xoxoxo

David sat at his desk in his bedroom, pulling his cell phone out from his pocket. It had been a long day, but it was still only 8PM. It was only 5 in California, though, so he could definitely get some more stuff done before he called it quits for the night. He looked over the, now-wrinkled, square of paper he had received that morning. Dialing the number, he sat through what seemed an interminable amount of rings. Finally, the other end of the line picked up. A voice, deeper than he'd expected, answered. "Hello?"

"Hi. Is this Jason Lee McIntire?"

"It is."

"Umm…this is probably going to be the strangest call you've ever received, but…"