Disclaimer: See chapter one

Authors note: Thanks agleekinfreakingirl, SnazzMaster842 and Lady Dragoness for your kind reviews on the last chapter. I am happy to see you guys are enjoying this little story.

Authors note two: Good news: Yay quick update! Bad news: This chapter is a bit shorter than usual and a lot sadder than the previous chapters. For such a sad chapter I didn't want to drag the length on for so long and I wanted to get with the point. I still hope you guys enjoy.

Kurt was eight years old when I first heard him sing.

Well, there is a bit of false truth in that statement. It was the first time I heard him really sing. Kurt did love to sing. He would scream out his favourite show tunes and the songs would definitely carry around the house- even to the poor sleeping folk. Apart from that, until that point I hadn't really heard Kurt sing. He would sometimes softly hum in the car, but whenever I encouraged to really sing something in front of me he would get nervous and avoid it. I knew he sang with Linda sometimes, but I understood that musicals and singing was something they shared together and it was their special thing that didn't include me. I just liked Linda telling me that his voice was lovely.

Unfortunately I cannot say that I first heard Kurt sing under the best circumstances. Bad circumstances cannot even come close to describing what was happening to our little family. Lisa's health had taken a turn for the worse and there was nothing really we could do about it.

When Linda was first diagnosed, the doctors were fairly optimistic- it took me a bit to realize that they were being so encouraging in the hope that we would choose them to be Linda's doctor. As we moved through different treatments, the encouraging acts continued. "No, this didn't work as we hoped, but treatment has gotten some positive results, so why don't we give this a try..."
Yes, the doctors were quite encouraging, but as each treatment failed, so did a bit of Linda's hope. I could always tell where Linda's mental state was with her smile. We had both decided to tell Kurt about her illness together, but Linda took the lead and she had a fairly large smile on her face- this could have been for her own sake or for Kurts- but it seemed to work for the both of them. She found a way to smile through most of her first treatments, she told me she was doing okay, and I tried to convince myself the same thing.
Soon things took a turn for the worse. Soon Linda couldn't bear to smile during the treatments anymore. As each hair fell out, so did the hope that I would see just a bit of that true smile again. She would force her face to make a smile shape for Kurt, but even at eight he could see the falsity in the smile.

Soon, just like the smiles, the doctor's encouragement began to stop as well. Where there were once hopeful looks, and pages full positive of statistics of treatments, there were now looks of grim, and pages with stats of Lisa's health and how her body was failing her.

At some point everyone lost hope.

Kurt was confused when I brought Linda home from the hospital. "I thought she stayed there so she can get better" he had said, I had made the mistake on not saying anything, and at that instant- even though I wished and wished he wouldn't have to- Kurt had understood. There was no getting better.

We tried to keep things as normal as possible. Soon the life we knew would crash from under our feet, so we needed to embrace the time we had left. I am not that much of an emotional person, but I found myself staying in bed, keeping my form wrapped around Linda's scarily small body far longer than I should have. Screw going into work on time I had thought. Linda would convince me to go but not cause' she didn't want me there, but because we both knew we would need the money when she was gone.

What was the most important was keeping things as normal for Kurt. Kurt was a smart kid, he knew he would not have his mommy as long as other kids did; but he kept those scary thoughts to himself and pretended like things were okay.

Music was always Linda's and Kurt's special getaway. Their musicals were their own special world I couldn't begin to understand. When Linda was healthy, both Linda and Kurt would twirl and dance to musicals like The Sound of Music, Grease, Annie, Hello Dolly. They would cry in the sad musicals like Les Miserables or West side story. Even when Linda was sick, they would watch their musicals together. It didn't matter if it was at home or in the hospital, those videos would find their way on to the television screens. Even when Linda was not feeling well, she would always sing during the musicals. Linda had a beautiful voice. It was powerful voice that can be heard anywhere. Sometimes I think that she should have been on the stage instead of being stuck with me.

Eventually, Linda got too sick and she couldn't sing anymore. Kurt and Linda would still watch their musicals, but unlike the commotion that would have happened earlier, it was fairly quiet and just not right.

One night, about a week before Linda died, I heard something different from Linda's bedroom. Linda and Kurt were watching Sound of Music. I've heard that movie so many times that I could recognize that film from the simplest sounds or most random dialogue. I was about to bring in Linda's lunch- I knew she would barely be able to eat any of it, but I would never forget one of her meals- when I heard the voice that will be engraved in my mind forever.

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me

The voice was high, soft and pure. It was so unlike Linda's, but just as powerful in a different way.

Small and white clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

I opened the door slightly and there was Linda and Kurt lying close together in the bed. Linda had clearly fallen asleep during the movie, but Kurt was still gently sliding his finger back and forth on her cheek-singing along with the film like she used to.

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
.
I may have made a sound, or moved too quickly cause Kurt noticed me then; Kurt's eyes moving from Linda's face to my direction. Of course I didn't know what to say. "Do you... do you want something to eat?"

Kurt shook his head and then looked back at the film. I got the hint. This was his and Linda's time, one of the few they had left, and I was interrupting it.

"I will be downstairs if you need anything..."

I saw Kurt nod, then I left and shut the door behind me.

Kurt was probably behind from the movie, but I still heard the end of the verse when I left.

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever.

For the sake of my broken heart, I try to not remember the obvious voice crack that I heard at the end of that song.

...Please Review? I promise I will get back to happier chapters after the next one.
xoxo