A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! Here's the first half of Christmas. It was one super long chapter, but I decided to split it into two since it will be a little easier to follow this way.
Also... YAY! Yesterday NJ Senate passed a bill legalizing gay marriage. It will most likely get vetoed by our Governer, who resembles Grimace from the old McDonalds ads, but if they can overrule his veto if a few more senators switch their votes, which is a possibility. I have a few friends who had to go to NYC to get married, but hopefully soon there could be weddings more locally. I'm going to be a "Groomsma'am" (there can't be a bridesmaid if their isn't a bride!) for my cousins wedding (it isn't for another two years though), and it will be nice if he can have his wedding in his hometown.
Christmas time was always an exciting time. This year was no exception. I still had all my shopping to do since I didn't plan as far ahead as Carol or Kurt.
I soon discovered I wasn't the only one. That is how I found myself Christmas shopping with Finn and Blaine in an overcrowded mall three days before Christmas. We decided to split up and meet at the food court around dinner time. I pulled out my list (conveniently written out for me by Kurt), and started to find everything I needed. First I stopped at the music store to pick up presents for Finn and Blaine. Finn was getting a new CD and a video game that had to do with killing zombies. Blaine was getting new guitar picks and strings. On my way to the register, I saw a Harry Potter display and decided on an impulse buy. I got a coffee mug that said Gryffindor and a blanket with a giant school logo on it. I don't really know what either of those were, but I recognized them from Blaine's vast t-shirt collection. Next I went to some fancy clothes store to find what Kurt wanted. He was very specific, but knew enough to include item numbers, sizes and colors, so I just handed the list to the employee behind the counter and they were able to find what I needed. Another tight, knee length sweater. I really thought I banned those...
Next to Carol's name, Kurt wrote "jewelry- white gold or silver to match her skin tone", so I headed to the jewelry store. I was surprised to walk in and see Blaine looking at a display. Of men's rings. I waited till he picked one out and the clerk was wrapping it to walk up to him. He didn't notice me come in, judging by the big goofy smile on his face.
"Care to explain?" I spoke right in his ear. It had the desired effect and he jumped and turned white before starting to stutter.
"It's... I... it's not an engagement ring! I know we're too young. It's just a... placeholder?"
"Calm down Blaine and breathe. You aren't in trouble. But since you're here, you can help me pick out something for Carol."
We spent a little while looking around until Blaine suggested a nice necklace. It wasn't as flashy as the one I picked out, but it was nice. I paid for it and we walked out to meet Finn. He wasn't there yet, so we sat down to wait. I decided now was as good a time as ever.
"So... A placeholder?"
"Well... sort of. I know we're young, but I know we'll get married someday. I just wanted to get Kurt something that showed how much I love him and that I want to be with him for a long time. Just not an engagement ring yet. I am going to marry him."
He said that last sentence with such conviction that I really believed him. Finn finally came lumbering over laden down with bags, promptly breaking the silence that had settled between us. The food court was really crowded, so we opted to stop somewhere on the way home. We decided on pizza, and called home to invite Carol and Kurt to join us. They declined since they had already eaten, so we ended up going all out without anyone monitoring how healthy we were eating. We got two large meat lovers pies. I only had two slices, but the two boys finished both pies off. Once all the pizza was gone, we decided to head home, although we all agreed to not mention the type or quantity of pizza.
The next day, I got home early from the shop, just before the boys were due home. I went to grab the mail and saw a box addressed to Blaine. It was post marked from the Philippines. It made sense, his mother lived there, but he has never even gotten a letter since he moved in. I put it on the table in the kitchen and went searching for an unhealthy snack before Kurt got home to make me eat rabbit food.
The boys walked in together and headed straight for the kitchen for after school snacks. Well, Finn and Blaine were getting snacks, Kurt was commenting about bottomless pits. The other two were arguing about it being a celebratory snack since school was over till the New Year. Once they found some food that sufficiently fulfilled their requirements, they went to sit at the table. Blaine stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the box.
"Oh, Blaine, a package came for you today. It looks like it came from the Philippines."
"Open it dude!" Finn practically shouted, excited at the prospect of a present, even if it wasn't for him.
"I think I'd like to go to my room... I'll be back later."
He gave Kurt a meaningful look that clearly meant he was invited before taking the box up to his room.
Kurt slowly stood up and went to follow Blaine, but first turned back to me to try and explain.
"He's sent her a bunch of letters and she never wrote back to him. He used to think his father was just throwing them away, but once he put this as the return address, she still didn't write back. I guess this is a bit of a shock for him. I should go see if he needs me."
Then Kurt grabbed Blaine's forgotten snack and went up to join him, closing the door behind him.
I gave it to the count of 20 before I slowly stood up and started to walk up the stairs to see if I could hear anything. They were speaking too quietly, but I did hear Blaine crying. Unfortunately I did not slip out unnoticed by Finn.
"Do you eavesdrop on everything? I've caught you doing this before! I think you have a problem."
"Oh, be quiet Finn. I have a right to know what's going on in my own house."
"Then you won't mind if I tell mom, since it's her house too!"
He got me there. Carol knew about my little problem, but she didn't know exactly how often I actually listened in on our boys.
"I'll make a deal with you. Don't mention this to your mother, and I won't mention that you've had Rachel, Quinn and Santana alone in your room in the last month."
"How do you know that?"
Sometimes the boy was just too stupid for his own good.
"Do you really think I just eavesdrop on Kurt and Blaine? I like to know what's going on with all my boys."
He looked like he was hit in the face with a shovel.
"Wait... You spy on me... because I'm your son?"
"Of course."
"Well... Thanks... I guess. So what did I miss?"
Just as I was about to relay what I've heard, I looked up to see Kurt and Blaine standing in the open doorway, looking at the two of us laying on the floor. Kurt just looked at me with his one raised eyebrow, clearly waiting for an explanation. Since neither Finn nor I was willing to admit to spying we stayed silent.
"We'll be in the living room watching a movie." Blaine said as calmly as possibly, considering his eyes were bright red and puffy from crying, as he grabbed Kurt's hand and practically dragged him down the stairs. Kurt would have stood there in silence, with his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised all day long. Trust me. I've seen it happen.
An hour or so later, when Kurt was starting to prepare dinner, I went into the living room and sat near Blaine. He was reading a letter. I couldn't really decide what to say that wouldn't end up being upsetting in someway. He finally put the letter down on the table and leaned back in his chair.
"So... What was in the package?"
"My mom sent me a Christmas present." He held up his hand and it took me a minute to realize he had on a bracelet. It was a leather cord with a silver charm hanging from it. It had some sort of writing on it, but I couldn't read it from where I was sitting.
"What's it say?"
"It says love in Tagalog. That's the language my mom and her family speak in the Philippines. She sent two. One for Kurt. I told her about him in my letters. I didn't think she was getting them, since she never wrote back. I guess she just didn't care enough to."
He looked near tears again and picked up the letter to reread it. I looked over his shoulder and saw the letter wasn't written in English, so I couldn't see what it said.
"It was still a nice gesture to send a letter and a gift for Christmas. I know it seems like she just left you here, but she was going through the same thing you were. Probably much worse. It must be very difficult for her."
"I know that... But it's still hard to accept that she doesn't care enough to send me a letter once in a while. I know she couldn't take me with her, and I'm glad she didn't. If she did, I never would have met Kurt. Or you. But she could at least write to me once in a while."
"Don't think of it like that. She wrote this time. That has to count for something."
Luckily, I was saved from any further conversation by Kurt walking in to announce that dinner was ready. I noticed Kurt was wearing a bracelet that matched Blaine's. If Blaine was truly mad at his mother, they wouldn't be wearing the bracelets now. I didn't comment on Kurt's new bracelet during dinner and I was hoping no one else did. Fortunately Finn didn't notice and ask about them. Unfortunately, Finn found Blaine's letter in the living room.
"Whoa! How can you read that?
It's not even in English!"
Kurt jumped into the conversation to save Blaine the headache of explaining something to Finn.
"Finn, don't be such an idiot. If Blaine's mom is from the Philippines, don't you think he'd know the language? The only reason you speak English is because that's what your mom speaks, and she taught you. I speak English because that's what my mom and dad taught me. I also speak French since my mom could also speak that and taught me when I was little."
I knew this conversation could go on all night, so I decided to head up to bed and let them figure it out on their own.