Thanks to everyone who left a review on Chapter 15! As always, I really appreciated them. I know this episode isn't very popular in the fandom, but I've always liked it, probably because I love all the Hudson/Hummel family scenes so much. There wasn't any Finchel in this episode though, so I added some Finchel scenes in. Plus, I would have liked to have seen Finchel talking about Finn's family issues. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to keep writing!

Chapter 16: Home

Something weird was going on at Finn's house.

He had a feeling when he got home from school and saw some trucks parked outside. His mom wouldn't have them move into a new house without telling him first, right?

When Finn went inside, he saw a bunch of men in uniforms bringing out cardboard boxes. Finally, he found his mom. "Mom, what's going on?"

"It's time to downsize," Carole said. "We have too much stuff."

This still seemed weird. "Okay," Finn said. "Just don't get rid of any of my stuff without asking me first."

"Of course I wouldn't," Carole said. "It's mostly stuff your dad and I had that I don't use anymore."

A red flag went up for Finn. Why would his mom be getting rid of stuff that had a connection to his dad? Didn't she still love him?

Finn's heart dropped as he saw two of the workers carrying the bed Carole had told Finn that she and Christopher had slept in on their honeymoon out of the basement. This was not okay! "Mom, you can't do that!"

"Finn, it's just taking up space," Carole said.

Finn couldn't believe this. "Mom, why are you doing this?"

Carole looked at Finn as the men carried the bed outside. "Why are you so upset? It's not your bed."

"Don't you have any feelings about it?" Finn asked. "It's your and dad's honeymoon set. I was conceived in that bed."

"You were conceived on a pinball machine," Carole said.

A pinball machine? Wherever that pinball machine was, Finn hoped Carole hadn't gotten rid of it. One of the men came back in and came up to Carole. "Well, I think that's everything. You mentioned something about the recliner?"

Finn's heart began beating fast. They couldn't get rid of the recliner. That was special to Finn. In the only picture of him and his dad, they were in that chair. "Oh, yeah. It doesn't look like much, but the parts all work," Carole said.

The moving man looked at the chair. "Ooh, my wife would love this. Sciatica."

Finn had to interject now. "Mom, no!" He looked at the man. "It's not for sale."

The man left, leaving Finn and Carole alone. Finn picked up the photo of him and his dad in that chair. "This is Dad's chair. This is the only picture of the two of us. It's the only picture there will ever be of the two of us, and he's sitting in this chair."

Carole didn't seem as upset. "It's a chair, honey. It's not him."

Finn couldn't believe how his mom was acting. "What's going on with you? You're selling all our old stuff, you got new clothes, a new haircut..."

"I'm seeing someone, Finn," Carole said proudly. "I think I'm in love."

So this explained why his mom didn't seem to care about his dad anymore. She was replacing him! Finn never thought his mom would date again after what happened with Darren. He was sure she would always love his dad. Now there was another man? "Who is it? Do I know him?"

"It's your friend Kurt's father, Burt Hummel," Carole said proudly.

Kurt's dad? Finn had only briefly met Kurt's dad a few times. How had Kurt's dad and his mom met? And why hadn't Kurt said anything to him? Then again, maybe Kurt didn't know either!

x

If Kurt didn't know, Finn was going to make sure he did now. The next day at school, he went up to Kurt in the hall. "Kurt, hey! What the hell's going on with our parents? How did this happen? When did they even meet each other?"

"Parent-Teacher conference night, about a month ago," Kurt said calmly.

"That's impossible," Finn said.

"When will you learn that nothing is impossible when it comes to love? Haven't you noticed anything different about your mom? New clothes, new makeup, a haircut that doesn't look like it was styled by the Amish? Who do you think Pretty Woman'ed her up? Has she started selling the furniture yet?" Kurt asked.

So Kurt knew about all this? And he hadn't told Finn either? "Yeah, yeah, she just got rid of her old bedroom set. And she tried to sell my dad's chair, but I stopped her. How did you even know that?"

"People our parents' age don't wait around for love to bloom. They know what they want. I guess you and I will be roommates with Mom and Dad cohabitating upstairs by midterms," Kurt said.

Finn couldn't believe Kurt was so okay with all this. He'd actually known his mom for eight years. And he didn't mind that his dad was with another woman? "No way."

"Give in to the inevitable, Finn," Kurt said. "I want us to decide how to redecorate our room together. That's why I asked you about the swatches. And don't sweat that old chair. I have a lovely chaise picked out."

Finn couldn't take this. "Look, screw our swatches and your chez."

"Chaise," Kurt corrected.

Finn had been hoping he'd at least have Kurt on his side. "Whatever, okay. Look, I like my house. I'm not moving, and she's not selling that damn chair."

Now Finn knew there was only one person he could talk to about this. And he was going to make sure that no matter who tried to stand in her way, he was going to talk to her. He walked a little down the hall and found Rachel at her locker. Luckily, Jesse was nowhere in sight. "Hey."

Rachel smiled at Finn. "Hey! Ever since Jesse came to school here, I don't get to see you as much. I miss you."

"I miss you too," Finn said. She missed him? "Hey, I was wondering, maybe after school could you come over to my house for a little?"

"Of course," Rachel said. "You know I always am up for that."

Finn gave Rachel a smile. "Great." She always knew how to make him feel better.

x

Finn's mom was still at work. At least he thought she was at work. Maybe she was hanging out with Kurt's dad. Finn heard the doorbell ring and went to see Rachel. "Hey Rach, thanks for coming over."

"It's no problem," Rachel said. "Are you okay? You looked a little stressed at school today."

Rachel always knew what was up with Finn. "Rachel, my mom has a boyfriend."

"Do you not like him?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I've met him briefly a few times and he's nice, but it feels like my mom's replacing my dad," Finn said.

"Your mom could never replace your dad," Rachel said. "He gave her you. No one else can do that."

Finn sighed. "She's getting rid of lots of her and my dad's stuff, Rach!"

"Who is her boyfriend?" Rachel asked.

"Kurt's dad," Finn said. "She hasn't had a boyfriend since I was in elementary school and her boyfriend broke her heart. I thought she'd never date again. I thought that she would be fine with it being just the two of us."

"Kurt's dad?" Rachel asked. "Does Kurt know about this?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "And what confuses me the most is, Kurt doesn't seem upset. I would have thought he'd be more upset, since he had to go through losing his mom. But he's all for it!"

"Maybe it's that Kurt wants a mom and you want YOUR dad," Rachel said. "You know, even though it's not the same thing, I know what it's like to be missing a parent. I love my dads, but there are times when a girl needs her mom, you know?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "During the whole thing with Quinn, I just really wanted my dad. I needed father-son advice."

"Of course," Rachel said. "Just like there's times when a girl needs her mom, there's times when a boy needs his dad."

"And it feels like my mom doesn't care anymore," Finn said.

Before Rachel had a chance to say anything, Carole came in. "Oh, hi Rachel!"

"Hi Mrs. Hudson," Rachel said.

"It's been a while," Carole said to Rachel. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Rachel said.

"Finn, I just got off the phone with Burt," Carole said. "He wants us to meet him and Kurt for dinner at Breadstix."

"Mom!" Finn protested.

"Mrs. Hudson, I'm not sure if Finn's quite ready for this," Rachel said.

Thank goodness for Rachel. At least someone understood. "Oh, it'll be fine," Carole said.

"Tell me how it goes, okay?" Rachel whispered to Finn.

"Okay," Finn whispered.

x

"I really don't like the way you're trying to replace my dad," Finn said as he and his mom rode in the car to Breadstix.

"He's not your dad, Finn," Carole said.

Wasn't this taking things too far? "Of course he's my dad! He helped make me!"

"He's your father, yes, but he's not your dad," Carole said. "It takes a lot more than an egg and a sperm to be parents, and he didn't do any of those things. You were just a few months old when he died, and he didn't even spend much time with you when he was alive. He was gone most of the time."

Finn was feeling so angry at his mom. "Didn't you love him?"

"Of course I did," Carole said.

Finn sat silently in the car as he and his mom arrived at Breadstix. Kurt and his dad were already at a table and Finn decided he was going to be as difficult as possible. Maybe that would put a stop to this.

He grumbled greetings to Kurt and his dad, then sat down next to Kurt and ordered his drink. When the drinks arrived, Kurt held his up. "A toast. Tonight is a momentous occasion. It marks the first rea communion between the Hummel and the Hudson clans. I imagine that when the Bouviers and the Kennedys first broke bread, there was a similar sense of joy and urgency. So let me raise my Shirley Temple to our new little family."

"We're not a family," Finn grumbled. He still couldn't believe how okay Kurt was with this.

"Finn!" Carole said.

"It's cool," Burt said. "You're right. Your mom and I just enjoy each other's company right now. Let's just enjoy dinner. I mean, I'm buying, right? What you, playing basketball now?"

"Yeah, but I actually kind of like football better," Finn said.

"I didn't know that," Carole said.

Finn nodded. "Sounds crazy, but I miss getting hit."

"Pure boyish insanity," Kurt laughed.

"No, it isn't. I totally get that. I used to love the feeling of getting my clock cleaned and then popping right up. Kind of reminded me of being alive," Burt said.

"Yeah," Finn said. Burt liked football? Maybe this wasn't all bad. His mom never seemed to get it when he tried talking about sports with her.

"Why hasn't anyone commented on the new jeans I got Carole?" Kurt asked. "Notice that the waistband falls well below the belly button. A welcome change."

Finn didn't even understand what Kurt was talking about. Luckily, Burt seemed to want to keep talking about football as well. "Sure, Kurt. Hey, you know, I sell tires to one of the assistant coaches from the Browns. I can probably get you tickets, if you want to go."

A football game? Finn had always wanted to go to one! "That'd be awesome. I've never been to an NFL game live before."

"Well, no problem," Burt said.

Finn reached for a breadstick. "Wow. You know, for a place called Breadstix, these really suck."

"It's really just stale bread," Burt said. "You know, I was the quarterback, too."

"That's awesome!" Finn said.

x

The next day at school, Kurt came up to Finn. "Finn, we need to talk. We have to break up our parents immediately. I screwed up. I feel like the guy who set up Liza and David Gest."

Finn realized now that maybe Kurt had felt left out that he and Burt had spent the whole dinner talking about sports. "It hurt you, didn't it? When I was talking sports with your dad and stuff. I could tell that you were..."

"Left out? Invisible? Yeah," Kurt said.

Finn now remembered why he didn't like this idea in the first place. "I don't like that my mom's forgetting about my dad. It's up to me to keep his memory alive, and I don't want to move in with you. No offense."

"None taken. So we put an end to them. Agreed?" Kurt asked.

"Agreed," Finn said.

"And let's be extreme in the ways we do it," Kurt said.

x

Finn decided to stick with his and Kurt's plan after school. He went to his mom's room and picked up the urn where his mom kept his dad's ashes. Carole saw what Finn had picked up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to flush Dad's ashes down the toilet," Finn said. He'd never really do that, but he wanted to see how his mom would react.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Carole exclaimed.

"What? I'm just doing the same thing you're doing to him. What's the point of keeping his remains around if you're just gonna dump them out like an old ashtray?" Finn rambled.

Carole took the urn. "Fine."

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

Carole put the urn in the chair Finn had become so attached to. "What you want. What we've been doing for the last 15 years: pretending." She turned on the TV. "Come on, Finn, let's sit and watch TV as a family. Look! There's a basketball game on. Your dad would've liked to watch that." She looked at the urn. "What do you think, Christopher?"

This was just insane. "Mom, you're being crazy."

"And you're being selfish," Carole said. "I like Burt. I haven't felt this way about a guy since your dad died. At least not one who felt it back."

"This family works. I don't want it to get screwed up!" Finn protested.

"This family manages. We get by," Carole said, close to tears. "You just don't know any differently because you think what we have is normal. I do this with him every night. I take the urn to bed with me, and I talk to him about my day. 16 years, I've been asking him for advice and waiting to hear his laugh, and for him to tell me that he loves me. And he never does. And he never will."

"I won't do it. I'm not moving. I'm not ready. And he wouldn't want you to do this if I wasn't ready," Finn said.

"You didn't know him, Finn!" Carole cried. "Sweetheart, I love you so much. We don't need any more memories or ghosts. We need a family. A home." She gave Finn a kiss, and then Finn went upstairs to his room. He saw a text from Kurt. Burt had gotten mad at Kurt when Kurt tried to do something similar. He made it clear that he wanted to be with Carole. Then Finn picked up his phone and called Rachel.

"How are things?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I tried to convince my mom that this isn't a good idea," Finn said. "No luck. She really likes Kurt's dad. Kurt felt left out when we went out to dinner and I was chatting with his dad about sports. But my mom and Kurt's dad really want to be together. My mom even said Christopher Hudson is my father, not my dad."

"Finn, no one can replace your dad," Rachel said. "I don't think your mom is trying to replace him. Have you thought she might be thinking of you also in this?"

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"Well, you were just talking about talking with Burt at dinner," Rachel said. "You told me he talked about taking you to a Browns game. She probably wants you to have a dad, too. Christopher will always be your father, but Burt could become your dad."

Now Finn was feeling more and more confused. Even Rachel was telling him to be open to the idea of his mom having a boyfriend. He was glad his mom was happy and he would like to have a father figure, but at the same time, he didn't want to turn his back on his dad.

Finn went downstairs for a snack and saw Burt in the kitchen. What was going on? "What are you doing here? Did you already move in?" Finn asked.

"No, your mom invited me," Burt said. "She thought you and I could have a man-to-man."

"Good, you know, 'cause I got a lot to say about this," Finn said. Both good and bad things.

"Well, I don't, so let me go first," Burt said. "You're pissed, I get it. Your dad is a hero, not only to the world for what he did in Desert Storm, but he's a hero to you. No way I can fill his shoes. It's just, you know... I love your mom. She's like this angel that, you know, came down to wake me up after all these years, and I swear to you I will never hurt her, I will always take care of her. And I can't be your dad, but I will be her hero for as long as she'll take me. All right, I've said my piece. What do you want to say?"

Finn now knew that this wasn't bad. Burt didn't want to replace his dad, he just wanted to love his mom. His mom didn't deserve to be alone forever. "Just wanted to know if you want to watch a game," Finn said.

Burt looked surprised. "Sure."

Finn led Burt into the living room and pointed at his dad's chair. "You can sit here if you want."

Finn turned on the TV and saw a basketball game.

"You know, I hate Duke like I hate the Nazis," Burt said.

"Tell me about it," Finn said. He knew about hating Michigan, but what was wrong with Duke?

Maybe things would be okay. Maybe Burt wouldn't hurt his mom and he'd finally have a father figure in his life.

10 reviews unlock Chapter 17!