Chapter 46 – A Homesgiving Meal

November – Sophomore Year – Age 20

"Mom, we're here!" Finn yelled as they got to the house the night before Thanksgiving. Carol and Burt were snuggled up on his lazy-boy chair. Finn could tell already that Burt was looking better.

"Welcome home Baby!" Carol greeted. She got up and hugged each of them.

"Hi Nana!" Char cried. The exuberant little girl pounced on Carol. They had drilled her in the car that Burt was still sick so she had to go gentle. So when she let Carol go, Charlotte turned to Burt. "Hi Poppop!"

"I don't get a hug?" he faux pouted.

"Daddy and Mami said you is sick and I can't hurt you," she confessed softly. If the couple was thrown by the Mami comment, they didn't show it.

"Your Daddy and Mami told you right," Burt acknowledged, giving the couple a smile. "I have been sick, but if you're careful, you can climb up here so I can get a Charlotte hug." She looked back at her parents and they nodded. Carefully she crawled up and pretty much laid on top of Burt to hug him, Santana already had her phone out and took a picture of the sweet scene.

This certainly was a special trip for the couple... their lives had already begun to change. Bert certainly looked weaker than before, but he lit up around Charlotte. While Burt bonded with his girl again, Finn practically picked his mother again. He missed being here to help her. That was their thing. Carol took such good care of him without his Dad, that Finn always did what he could to help her in return. He was practically sobbing on her shoulder. "Shh, you couldn't have done anything," she murmured. Santana knew he was struggling to deal with this in therapy. "But I could have helped, worked in the shop," Finn protested.

"And give up on school?" she admonished. "You are doing exactly what you need to do."

"But..." Finn tried but Carol cut him off.

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of things," she teased. Finn sighed and nodded, putting his head back on her shoulder. Santana smiled at this lovely display. With bother parents occupied, she brought hers and Finn's bags up to their room. It certainly was nice to be back here. She felt safe here, away from the pressure of school.

Once Santana came back downstairs, Burt had Charlotte on him, but Finn was knelt down murmuring to him. Carol was now available to Santana to latch on to. "Hey Lady," Santana teased.

"Hey, Mami," Carol teased back.

"Yeah," Santana sighed. She looked over and saw that Charlotte was passed out. "It started last month."

"Yeah, she really wigged out," Finn joked. Burt was smiling as well.

"Well, I was," Santana agreed. "It's not every day you check on the gorgeous three year old and she says 'night mommy'."

"Well, you've really been her mother figure," Carol pointed out.

"I know, and Finn and I agreed to have her call me Mami instead, more Latin and she's practically bi-lingual," Santana explained. "It felt like a better fit and could help when she asks questions down the road.

"Had she asked anything already?"

"No, just keeping an ear out for now."

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The dinner was fabulous. They had quite a few people come over. The Puckermans and Zizes came as Puck and Lauren drove home from school. Matt came with his family because he was only at OSU. They were quite a bunch, but that made dinner that much more fun. Puck and Lauren had no more crazy YouTube videos like last year, but Puck did bond with some of the wrestling guys, so they whole teams really was on Lauren's side over last ear. They were also there to help vet the girls who wanted to date a wrestler. Matt did get his starting position on the football team and his classes were going well. Since he was going to be at the school for seven years, he was eligible to play for five years, so he was excited. He loved playing football and it would definitely help him in PT school. Best part, he could help the athletic trainer the last two years.

All of their other friends were flying in for Christmas and Burt and Carol decided they missed having one last year. They were excited. Everyone was glad to see Burt recovering nicely. After dinner and before the football game, they all went around and said what they were thankful for. It was a nice catharsis and it seemed to make everyone but a bit lighter.

Everyone migrated to the living room to watch the football game but Finn corralled his mom in the kitchen under the pretenses of helping with dinner clean up. "Hey mom"

"Hmm?" Carol replied. "I remember when I was little you said that if I ever felt like asking someone to marry me, I could use your right that Dad gave you," Finn began quietly. "Does that offer still stand?"

Carol's head whipped around and stared at Finn. "You want to ask her?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it," Finn admitted. "I really can see us having real future together."

"If you're sure, the ring is in the back of my jewelry box, in the blue velvet box," Carol said. Honey, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks mom," Finn said, hugging her.

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It was very early in the morning that Carol and Santana went out black Friday shopping this left Burt and Finn home with Charlotte. They went down to the park in the morning to let Charlotte let off some energy. She happily ran all around the playground and played with a few kids there. Burt assured Finn that he was taking it easy.

"I only go in like three days a week. The other days I do paperwork from home. But I'm going to keep increasing my days until I'm full time by Charlotte's birthday," Burt explained.

"Are you sure about that?" Finn asked cautiously.

"I married a nurse," Burt reminded him. "She is keeping an eye on me. She's changed my diet."

"I noticed the fridge was lacking a few things" Finn chuckled.

"It's not all bad," Burt insisted. "The turkey bacon is actually good. The sweet potatoes aren't all that bad, and most of the low fat stuff tastes the same. Except Ranch dressing – that's the only full fat item in the house at the moment."

"As long as it keeps you healthy," Finn said. There were a few minutes of silence. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure kid, what's up?"

"How'd you know that you wanted to marry Mom?"

"Well, spending time with Carol made me happy again," Burt replied – if he was shocked by the question, he didn't show it. "Ever since Elizabeth died, I've felt empty inside. She was the love of my early life as I call it. I'd focused so much on raising Kurt on my own that I never really wanted to date. I had gone on a few dates before you invited us over to dinner but it felt different."

"How?"

"Well, I felt the same kinda spark I'd had when I'd been dating Elizabeth," Burt continued. "I'd never thought I'd feel that was again." Finn nodded, looking lost in thought. "Are you thinking of asking Santana to marry you?"

"Mom tell you?" Burt nodded. "Yeah, I got my Mom's first engagement ring."

"It was the Mommy thing?"

"That's what really got me thinking, yes," Finn admitted. Burt motioned for him to continue. "She was a bit freaked out but I wasn't. I thought it was a bit odd at first. But then I realized that I couldn't ask for a better mother for Charlotte. I didn't want there to not be an us."

"That certainly sounds like you're in it for the long haul," Burt commented.

"You're not going to tell me I'm too you?"

"You have an almost four year old," Burt pointed out. "And since I've known you, you've grown up significantly. I think you should probably wait until you graduate to actually get married, but I see no reason stopping you two from getting engaged."

"I appreciate that. I honestly didn't want to get married right away," Finn admitted. "I think waiting until graduation would be awesome."

"I'm proud of you kid," Burt replied.