Burt sighed again. "Fighting for equality is this huge uphill battle against people who say that not being straight is this completely out-of-the-ordinary way of being. That it's an abomination. That it goes against the laws of nature. That it's not a normal way to be."

"Right."

"But tonight, at Vibes, the six of you were so normal. So absolutely normal."

"I'm not sure where you're going with this still. I will never be 'normal'."

Burt laughed. "That's just it though. For the first time, you were. You were with a group of people that you're really a part of. You weren't on the sidelines. I had never seen you in a group like that. Honestly, I thought you were kind of stand-offish. I thought you hung out on the sidelines of the group of kids you hung around with in high school by choice. Like you were just not quite bold enough to join in. But that's not what was going on, is it?"

"No, it's not."

"There. That's what I mean. Tonight you were totally normal. Interacting. Getting along with everyone. Joining in on the conversations and the teasing. You were so relaxed."

"Yes. We have other friends too that have already left town for winter break."

"That's good. Are they gay too?"

"Two of them are. One isn't, but she's not the least bit prejudiced. You saw her as the lion when you came to see the show."

"I remember her."

"So, seeing me be myself with a group of mostly LGBTQ+ people was a revelation about how ridiculous all of the people you're fighting against are?"

"That and it was just a smack in the face for me. Charlotte and Nancy have listened to band's music enough to have opinions about the songs. I listened once and went on with my day." He sighed again. "I'm still not paying attention."

"I didn't expect you to have a favorite song."

"Which is even worse." Burt popped his cap off and ran his hand over his scalp and laid the hat on the sofa cushion. "I want you and your friends to go to that place and make a CD. Or to a different place if you don't like that one."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to remember this time in your life. Maybe you'll be a big Broadway star or you'll own a little music shop. Or maybe you'll become a senator some day. Or you might decide to move down to St. Augustine and just work in a bookshop and live a simple life. Whatever will make you happy, Kurt. That day at Dalton, when I talked about your mom. I'm sorry about that. I realized since then that it came across all wrong. I didn't listen that day either. What I want for you, Kurt, is for you to enjoy your life – your whole life. Whether that ends tomorrow evening or in 80 years. We only have the moments we're given. And until tonight, I didn't realize how many of the days you've had so far haven't been good ones. Tonight I saw you come alive on the stage, just like when you were in The Wizard of Oz."

Kurt smiled. "That's because I feel alive and free on the stage."

"And you're really good. And so are your friends. You should make the most of what you have now. Make the CD. I'll even pay for it. Or I'll get Art and Nina to split the cost with me. One day when all of your friends finish college and everyone scatters to start the next part of their lives, you'll have that CD to listen to and remember what fun you had now."

"Okay."

"Okay? You're just going to agree?"

"Yes. I've grown a lot, Dad. I'm not just going to say 'no' out of hand just because you offered to pay for something. I was wrong about that and I'm sorry. In my need to prove to you that I was just as much of a man as a straight son would have been, I went beyond what was reasonable and I denied you the opportunity to be there for me in a way that you were expecting to be."

Burt nodded. "After winter break, I'd like you to consider joining us for our therapy sessions every other week through Skype or even it's just over the phone. I think we're really to the point where we need to talk through some issues as a family."

"Sure."

"You don't seem thrilled."

"Wading through tough issues gets old. Sometimes I just want to move on. I know that's not how it works, but that doesn't prevent me from wishing that it was sometimes."

"Yeah. I get that. You find out how much making that CD will cost. Send Art a copy of any contract before you sign it. I don't want you signing away rights to the songs or for distribution."

"I'll do that."

Burt leaned back. "You grew up while I had my head in the sand. We talked about some of this in Florida. I did what I thought was the right thing, but by not seeking out information to help you, I didn't do my best. When I finally pulled my head out of the sand, I realized how much I had missed out on. It's my own fault, but I don't want to miss out on the here and now anymore. I've been desensitizing myself and checking my prejudices. I got the idea from our therapist. One day she brought some magazines in and we talked about ingrained prejudice. It was an eye-opening experience."

"What kind of magazines?"

"Different ones. Some were even like National Geographics. She asked very pointed questions. Which person was the most educated? Which one I would choose to house-sit for me? Which one would I want to sit next to on a long flight?"

"And?"

"And I realized that I am a lot more prejudiced than I thought I was."

"And tonight was part of that revelation?"

"It was. I saw you being absolutely normal. I realized that you have always been absolutely normal and I just couldn't see it. People around you treated you differently. That was on them."

"I get it now."

"And on me."

"You've already apologized."

"Not for this specifically and I need to get it off my chest."

"Alright."

"I should not have taken Finn's side when you were talking about singing with Sam. Tonight I watched you sing with two girls. That did not make you straight. Finn saying that it would ruin Sam's reputation to sing with you was wrong. I was wrong to say that maybe he had a point. I was absolutely wrong. Singing is singing. A song is a song. I'm sure lots of people in your Glee Club sang love songs who weren't dating."

The video he had seen of Sam and Blaine singing together popped into his head, but he did not want to talk about Blaine. "Santana and Mercedes sang together."

Burt chuckled. "Yeah, that was not going to happen."

"And Sam is straight just like Mercedes, who didn't turn into a lesbian for singing with Santana."

"That's true."

"All of it was so stupid. If people were prone to their sexuality changing by spending time in close proximity of someone with a different sexuality, I would have been turned straight by the end of kindergarten, don't you think?"

Burt chortled. "I never thought about it that way, but, yeah, you're right. You spent the whole time you were in school with 90-95% straight people. Surely at least one of them should have had strong enough heterosexual powers to turn you straight."

Kurt laughed too. "You'd think." He took a deep breath and let it out. "I accept your apology. I forgive you too, Dad. I know you didn't do anything to intentionally hurt me. And now, you're doing everything in your power to help marginalized people. That means everything to me."

"I'm trying, bud. It's like an old dog learning new tricks. And sometimes I feel like it's a whole different language too. Unlearning racist, ableist, sexist, and other slurs is a challenge, but I'm not giving up."

"I wouldn't expect you to. Let's go to sleep." Kurt stood up and picked up the binder the DVDs were in. "Carole and I are getting up early to make breakfast for everyone. We even bought a waffle maker."

"Ooh, I love waffles."

"Mmm hmm. I know." He ran his fingers across the front of the binder. "Thank you for this. This is the best gift ever."

He pulled something small out of his pocket. "I forgot about this part."

"My old iPod."

"Yeah, I found it in the drawer at the shop. I took the liberty of letting Carole reset it. She copied all of the audio files onto it. That way you can listen to them when you don't have a computer handy."

Kurt put the CD binder down and stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Burt, who pulled him into a bear hug. "Thank you. For all of it. I'll thank Carole in the morning."

"You're welcome, bud."

Kurt stepped back and took the iPod and picked up the binder. "Go ahead to the bedroom. I'll turn the lights off."

After he took a shower, Kurt slipped into bed as quietly and gently as he could, but as soon as he was under the covers, Sebastian wrapped his arm around him and pulled him back towards him, and then assumed the big spoon position. Kurt could hear the waterfall soundtrack playing.

"I missed you." He kissed the back of Kurt's neck.

Kurt got comfortable and brought Sebastian's hand up to his lips and kissed along his knuckles. "Thank you for the waterfall sounds."

"I figured you might need it after talking to your dad."

"It was a good talk. Really good. He recorded hours and hours of stories about my mom and about the three of us." He explained what Burt and Carole had done.

"Babe, that's amazing."

"It is." I want to plug headphones into the iPod and binge listen to the entire list of audio files right now, but yet I want to listen to one per day until I run out and then start over."

"I think you'll figure it out once you start to listen."

"Yeah. Can you scoot back so I can turn over? I want to kiss until we fall asleep."

A couple of minutes later, it was impossible to find where Kurt began and Sebastian ended because they were so completely wrapped around each other.

"I love you," Kurt said as they kissed gently.

"I love you too. I don't like showering alone."

"I think we have quite a long time of doing that ahead of us."

"More kissing, less talking. We need to sleep."

"You're right. More kissing."

Kurt's eyes were still a bit bleary when he made it into the kitchen the next morning to help Carole make breakfast.

"Good morning, honey. You can go back to sleep if you want. I know that you were up late."

"I want to cook with you."

She smiled. She moved the bowl towards him along with the recipe for the waffle batter.

"You're going to let me see the recipe?" He grinned from ear to ear.

"It's one of your Christmas presents. I want you to be able to make them for Sebastian. I saw how much he loves them. And I can see how much you love him."

"I do. Thank you. And thank you for the endless hours you put into getting all of that stuff in digital format. I'm excited to listen to all of and look through the albums."

"You're welcome, honey. It was a labor of love. I want you to have that information about your mom."

"How are you? Truthfully." He looked through the recipe and gathered what he needed.

"I'm a lot better. The anti-depressant keeps me from crying 24/7. And not crying all the time has opened up my schedule to trying some new things, like learning all of that technology stuff. I could take on projects like that if I wanted to now. Or I could just teach other people how to do it."

He pulled out the measuring cups and spoons and got started. "A YouTube career is a possibility. There are lots of people my age who don't know how to do anything. You could make short videos for YouTube teaching things like how to clean a sink. Or how to do laundry."

"A YouTube mom?"

"You'd be good at it." Kurt started to mix the ingredients together. "I'll tell people about it if you do."

"What made you think of that?"

"Oh, I gave Jillian and Marley basic sewing lessons through Skype. But you could record the videos and lots of people could watch."

"I'll think about it. I don't really want to be in the videos, like facing the camera."

"You could get Cassius to make you some type of head or shoulder mount that you could wear. Or he could build you a stand that you can put the camera on."

"All interesting possibilities. I need to get started on the bacon." She pulled a pack of turkey bacon out of the refrigerator.

Kurt heard Sebastian open the laundry closet and went to look around the corner.

As soon as Sebastian saw him, he leaned forward and kissed him. "I couldn't sleep after you got up. I decided I'd do this now. I know we said we could try to squeeze it in after breakfast, but I'm just going to do it now."

Kurt leaned forward and kissed him again. "Thank you, sweetie." He went back around the wall into the kitchen and pulled out the first waffle. He put it in the baking dish, put the glass lid on, and put it in the oven to keep it warm.

An hour after they started, Burt had showered and was seated at the table. Sebastian set the table. Kurt carried everything over to the table. Carole was the last to sit down. They helped themselves and began to eat.

"I'm really glad you two are here," Kurt said. "You know you're welcome whenever you have time."

"We know, bud. We're getting there. We've not been doing much socially beyond what's required in DC."

Carole said, "Maybe I could send you a list every two weeks or once a month and you can let us know if any of the days Burt has off would work for us to come and visit."

"We can do that. You're welcome to come and stay even if we can't clear our schedules. If we went to Lima, we'd expect the two of you to go about your regular lives. While we're in class, you two could just relax here in the apartment or go out or a combination of the two."

"We can give you a set of keys while you're here, so you can come and go as you pleas," Sebastian offered. "We could still spend the evenings together. Kurt and I eat dinner together every night and study here at home."

"We had considered spending spring break in DC," Kurt said. "But we didn't know if you'd be there or in Lima. I thought maybe Nina might want to come. And maybe Art could come the first weekend since we could be there the whole time."

"We can look at the dates," Burt said. "But I'm pretty sure we'll be in DC that week since I know for sure that we have a 2-week recess in mid-April. But just like you said, you two are free to come visit whether i'm working or not." Nina and Art too, but our tiny place can't really accommodate six people."

"That's not a problem. They could get a hotel room somewhere. We might be able to split the time too. The first three or four days in DC and then the rest of the time in St. Augustine. Carole could come with us – and my mom too."

"Lots of possibilities," Carole said.

Kurt looked over at the stove to check the time. "We need to leave in fifteen minutes." He got up and put his own dishes in the sink and went to the bathroom to do his hair. When he came out, he went into their room to get dressed for the day.

Before he managed to get completely dressed, Sebastian came into their closet. He looked through his shirts slowly, waiting for Kurt to intervene. When he pointed at a deep green one with a small cream fleur-de-lis pattern, Sebastian smiled and removed it from its hanger and put it on. "You like me in this one?"

"I like that one on you. My like for you never changes. My opinion of how different shirts look on you is based on the shirt, not you." He stepped towards Sebastian and kissed him. "You are gorgeous. Some shirts, not so much. And all of your shirts look good on you, but not for certain occasions."

Sebastian chuckled. "Good to know."

Kurt turned and slid his fingers up Sebastian's chest before he managed to get the shirt buttoned. "No undershirt?"

"I need one?"

"Typically." He splayed his fingers and ran his hands down Sebastian's sides. "But you already have it half on and we're short on time." He pecked him on the lips and stepped around him. He sat down on the bench at the end of the bed and tied his dressiest boots that were comfortable to talk in.

Sebastian followed him and put on a similar pair of boots in brown to go with the dark khaki pants he was wearing. He went back to the closet quickly to grab a belt. He tucked his shirt in and slipped the belt through the loops on his pants.

Burt and Carole were standing by the door in their coats when the two of them came around the corner. They both grabbed pea coats and headed out the door. Sebastian flagged down a cab. When it pulled over in front of a church, Burt looked confused.

"I know that none of us are religious, but I have always wanted to go to a pipe organ concert, so that's what Sebastian did for Christmas. He got us four tickets to come see the premier Christmas pipe organ concert of the season."

"I've never heard one in person either," Carole said. "This is exciting." She wrapped her arm around Kurt's waist and took Burt's hand.

Sebastian came up on Kurt's other side after he had paid the taxi driver. He took Kurt's hand and squeezed it. "Shall we?"

Kurt nodded enthusiastically.

They went in and found seats in the balcony, which is where Kurt had read had the best acoustics. They unbuttoned their coats, but left them on because it was a bit chilly.

When the music started, Kurt closed his eyes. He scooted closer into Sebastian's side and took his hand, despite the risk. The music wasn't just around him, it flowed through him, and he allowed himself to be transported into another time.

Sebastian squeezed his hand a bit, feeling giddy about Kurt's openness. Not once had he flinched from Sebastian's loving touches in Burt's presence during this visit. He saw Burt look at their joined hands and smile at him. He nodded nearly imperceptibly and smiled.

The organ solos were interspersed with a few string quartets and two harp trios. Every piece was magnificent.

When they stepped back outside, Burt said, "That was really something. It just moves you, doesn't it?"

"It does," Kurt agreed. "It was magnificent." He turned to Sebastian and threw his arms around his neck. "Thank you."

He wrapped his arms around Kurt. "You're welcome." When he let go, he took Kurt's hand.

"If no one would mind, could we go back inside and look around once most of the people leave?"

"Sure. That's fine," Kurt said.

"There were some paintings I'd like to look at and the stained glass windows are really amazing. I'd like to look at them from a different angle."

They waited a few more minutes before they went back inside.

Kurt pulled out the shepherd's pie that he had assembled out of the leftovers from their dinner the previous night. He sliced it into four sections and plated them. Sebastian carried the plates over to the table. Carole poured them all glasses of iced tea.

"Do you two cook like this all the time?" Burt asked.

Kurt's forehead scrunched a bit, not quite knowing whether Burt was in favor or against them eating fully home-cooked meals.

Sebastian caught his attention and winked at him, which cut down on his tension. He answered Burt. "Both of us enjoy cooking and we've liked pretty much everything we've made for the other. Since neither of us is all that picky, it really helps. We don't always make complicated dishes with a lot of steps, but we do mostly eat meals that we've made ourselves. We do occasionally splurge and eat at the taquería inside the market we shop at most frequently.

"Well, that I understand. The food there is really good and not that expensive for a meal out."

"I agree on both points," Kurt said. "We like to cook and we enjoy spending time together, so it doesn't really feel like a chore to make dinner from scratch."

Burt smiled and nodded. "I can see how that could be the case. I've learned to make some dishes that actually turn out since I've been in DC, but I still like Carole's food a lot better than my own. Yours too. You all just have some knack I don't have. I can follow the recipe exactly, and it comes out edible and good, but it never tastes amazing. We are having the leftover pie, right?"

"We are," Kurt answered.

"Good. Are you two all packed? We haven't seen you doing any packing."

"Oh, well, Sebastian finished it up this morning while I was cooking with Carole. We were about 80% packed before you came. We knew we wouldn't have much time after you arrived."

"We just have our carry-ons left to pack," Sebastian added. "So not much left to do."

"I'm excited that the two of you are finally getting to go to Hawaii."

"Me too, honey. I've wanted to go for so long. Ever since I saw pictures when I was in school as a kid."

"I'm sure you'll have a great time," Sebastian said. "It's on my bucket list of places I want to visit at some point. I have a really long list."

"Me too," Kurt said. "I want to go to every continent, not that it will happen, but I would love for it to. I want to visit everywhere."

Burt said, "I'm much more of a homebody like you all know, but I am looking forward to Hawaii."

Carole said, "I have a question."

"Sure," Kurt said.

"What are the chances of you two entertaining us a bit after we eat – before we have to leave?"

"Entertain in what way?" Kurt asked.

"Well, I loved hearing you sing at Vibes last night." She looked at Sebastian. "But maybe you could play the cello and we could sing some Christmas carols. That was one thing I always enjoyed doing when I was younger. A group of us would meet up in town and we'd go around to the shops on the town square and we'd go caroling. I haven't been since I moved to Lima 15 years ago. I probably don't remember most of the words, but my phone will help me with that."

Sebastian nodded. "Sure. We can do that. I'll grab a book I have in the other room for some music for us to sing along with."

After they ate their dessert, Kurt took Burt with him into their bedroom while Carole cleaned the table off and Sebastian set up his cello and music stand up.

"I wanted to show you something."

"Alright."

Kurt unfolded the quilt he had been working on.

"That's really amazing, Kurt. It's like a fabric painting."

"The technical term is textile arts."

Burt nodded. "Well, it's really beautiful."

"I, um," he paused to wipe his eyes. "I kept and hid the box of mom's skirts that you packed up when I was younger, along with some other things. I had kept them hidden in the basement walk-in closet and storage area. When we moved to the bigger house, I returned to Lima on one of our 'reading days', which were days Dalton had for studying for finals when we didn't have classes. I moved the boxes and her dresser to a storage unit and paid to store them so that you and Carole wouldn't find them and get rid of anything when I was in Westerville when you packed the house."

"I had no idea."

"I know. That was the point. I've been using Mom's skirts to make the quilt." Kurt folded it back up and stored it.

When he turned back around, Burt pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad you did that. I was in a bad place."

"I'm glad I did too. When I get it done, I'm going to hang it over the bed in the spare room, like a tapestry."

"I'll look forward to seeing that. Whatever happened with you working on clothes?"

"Oh, I did a bit of that this semester. Just a couple of pieces for pay. I can't take on many pieces with working at Vogue and at JJ's."

Burt followed Kurt back out to the living room. Carole had almost finished cleaning up. Kurt went over to help her quickly. Once everything was in the dishwasher, he turned it on. He shooed her over to the sofa and continued to dry the dishes she washed. He nodded for Sebastian to go ahead and start. He sang along he finished putting all the dishes away. He took a quick peek in the fridge and grabbed a package of cheese and a bowl of sweet potatoes and stuck them in the freezer before he joined his parents on the sofa. They sang a few more songs together in the time they had left.

"Thank you," Carole said. "That was a lot of fun." She stood up. "We'd better get our things together."

Burt followed her to the bedroom. Kurt went into the bedroom and packed up the things he hadn't already put into his carry-ons. He looked in Sebastian's and realized that he had finished packing his already. He pulled out the gift he had for Sebastian and laid it on the bed next to his carry-on. He took both of their suitcases out to the kitchen and put them against the wall.

Burt came out of the room. "Before we change, we realized that we didn't take any photos of the four of us. Grab your camera. Carole and I will pull two chairs over to the corner and we can take a few in front of your tree before we go."

Afterwards, Sebastian went into their room and directly into the closet and came out dressed in jeans and a green fitted flannel shirt, untucked and a pair of the shearling-lined, high-top charcoal suede Vans.

Kurt looked him up and down and smirked.

"Blame Jillian. She convinced me."

Kurt pecked him on the lips. "She has good taste. You look great. Ready?"

"I am."

"Come grab your carry-on, then."

Kurt stepped back, and moved out of the way.

"What's this?"

"It's for you, from me."

He kissed him gently. "Thank you."

"You don't even know what it is. You might not like it."

"Not possible." He pulled the tissue paper out. 'It feels like something fabric. You made me something, didn't you?" He unwrapped it carefully. His eyes lit up when he realized what it was. "Did you make this?"

"I did. I got the yarn that night you were standing in line to buy the fabric."

"You're sneaky. I didn't even know that you could knit." He inspected the beanie carefully. "It's perfect. It's exactly what I wanted to get, but you made it for me. Superman. Seriously." He stepped towards the mirror and put it on. "It's awesome – to borrow Sam's favorite adjective." He turned and looked from different angles before he turned around and grabbed Kurt and hugged him tight. "You are amazing. I love you." He kissed Kurt. "More of this later. We have to get going."

Ten minutes after they had finished the pictures, everyone was back out from changing clothes. Burt was in worn jeans and a flannel button-up. Kurt was in beat up jeans, a graphic hoodie, and his brown Docs.

Burt looked him over. "I don't think I've seen you dressed like that in public." He paused. "Ever." He paused again. "Except maybe if you count the shop as a public place."

"It's the new casual me. Every day offers fashion opportunities. I dressed up earlier. Now, I'm going for comfort. I've learned that not every moment is a time for high fashion."

Burt chuckled. "Good for you, bud. Good for you."

He and Carole grabbed their coats first.

Burt said, "We'll head down and wait for the taxi."

Sebastian went through the kitchen and grabbed his navy fleece vest and a navy interchange wind and waterproof jacket and put it on. He reached into the closet and pulled out a matching black vest and a black jacket and held them out for Kurt.

"What's this?"

"Christmas gifts from my parents, if you want them. If not, we can take them back when we get back, and you can wear whatever coat you want."

"It's definitely not my usual style, but I can definitely see the merits of a system like this." He let Sebastian hold the vest out for him to put on. He pulled the hood from his hoodie out and zipped it up. He ran his hands down it. He reached out and put the jacket on over the top.

"They zip together too."

Kurt nodded and went back to their bedroom quickly to look at himself in the mirror. Sebastian followed along behind him.

"If you don't like them, my feelings won't be hurt. I didn't design them or make them for you by hand."

Kurt turned and looked at himself from the side. "It's not bad or anything. But I don't like the hood. Two hoods don't work. I'm packing it in my carry-on."

"I packed the fleece jacket that goes with it in my suitcase with the navy one they got for me. We'll have all of the options we'll need without the bulk of our wool coats or my puffer coat, plus we'll stay dry when it rains." He kissed the back of Kurt's neck.

"You don't have to convince me with kisses, although I'll take all the kisses I can get." He swallowed his pride and knew that Marley was probably going to be dealing with the same thing in a few days. He took a deep breath and turned to face Sebastian. "It's very practical and nearly stylish."

Sebastian cracked up. "So I take it that means you're keeping it."

"I am." He reached over to his desk and grabbed some scissors.

Once the tags were off, he removed the hood, folded it up, and slipped it into his carry-on by the door when they got to the kitchen. Sebastian did the same. Kurt grabbed a scarf from the closet and pulled his gloves out of his pea coat from earlier. Sebastian grabbed his gloves as well.

Burt called Kurt, who quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Did you get lost coming down the stairs?" He teased. "The taxi's here."

"We're coming right now."

Sebastian put their luggage on the landing outside their door.

Kurt went in and looked around one last time to make sure all of the lights were off and nothing was plugged in. He locked the door, picked up his suitcase, and they headed down the stairs.