Prompt: J.D. - "I guess I came over here to tell you how proud of you I am. Not because you did the best you could, but because after 20 years when things go badly you still take it this hard. I gotta tell you, that's the kind of person I want to be." - 'Scrubs'
"And how about we put your brother Andy and his family, and your sister Mildred and her family at the table between where I've got my Aunt Josie and Aunt Candice? Josie never could get along with her sister-in-law and a buffer will help," Carole said, her attention focused on the seating chart in front of her.
"Yeah, that's fine," Burt replied.
At his flat tone, Carole looked up from the seating chart. One look at her husband to be and it was clear he wasn't paying attention to her.
"And the orangutang can sit with the giraffe. They'll look cute together," Carole suggested, not even glancing back down at the paper in front of her.
"That's fine," Burt replied, still looking down at the chart but clearing not thinking about it.
Carole bit her bottom lip to keep from saying the first thing that came to mind, which was accusing Burt of not taking this seriously. Granted, he wasn't but it wasn't like him to just ignore her.
As ridiculous wasn't enough to cut through his thoughts, Carole decided to go for the subject that she knew would get his attention.
"And Kurt really doesn't need to sit with us so I'll put him at the same table as Mercedes."
"That's . . .wait. What did you say?"
"Finally, I got your attention!" Carole exclaimed, as Burt was now looking at her.
"I'm sorry. Guess I'm just a little preoccupied right now."
"About what?" Carole asked, sympathetically.
"About everything with Kurt at school. I know he gets teased at school but he always seemed to handle it fairly well, except for a few times. I never wanted him to deal with everything on his own now. I thought he knew he could come to me with any problems but evidently he didn't and I just ignored the signs."
"Kurt was just trying to protect you the same way that you try to shield him from things."
"Kids aren't supposed to have to protect their parents. We're supposed to be the protectors," Burt countered. "And I failed him."
"No, you didn't. You took care of the situation as soon as you were aware of it and the bully has been expelled. There isn't much more you could do."
"I could have acted sooner if I hadn't missed the signs - him being more withdrawn, not smiling, losing weight."
"The first two, I'm sure Kurt tried hard to hide and the third, men never notice weight loss," Carole told him.
"You're not helping."
"Sorry," Carole said, a little sheepishly. "But you know all parents make mistakes, even the good ones. And the fact that after seventeen years of being a parent you still beat yourself up over them means that you're a great one," she said, leaning over to kiss her soon to be husband.
"Thanks," Burt said, as they broke away. "Guess we can make those mistakes together pretty soon."
"You betcha. Now, how about you help me with this seating chart.