Burt’s Little Slugger

A/N: Just a little drabble. :)

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When Mollie first told him she was pregnant, Burt couldn’t decide if he was more excited or terrified. And when Mollie came home and told him they were having a boy, he could only imagine playing football, throwing a baseball around, talking about girls, and showing him how to take apart an engine. He bought a tiny little football and he and Mollie bought a few baby clothes. Burt picked out a little onesie for a newborn, ‘Little Slugger’, god, he was so excited. He was also terrified that he was going to break the baby.

It didn’t matter that Mollie wasn’t showing. She wasn’t turning into a whale or a house, like she jokingly complained. But some women didn’t balloon, every pregnancy was different, and the doctors didn’t seem too concerned.

And then Mollie went into labor early.

Burt held her hand as she pushed, looking between her face and the doctor. And she did one final push. The doctors was silent and muttered something to one of the nurses.

“Why isn’t he crying? Burt! Why isn’t my baby crying?” Mollie gasped out.

Burt looked towards the doctor, about to open his mouth when a tiny, almost inaudible cry. He smiled, but it faded when the doctors didn’t immediately hand him his child. Mollie was watching, fighting the fatigue as the nurses and a few other doctors hovered around his son.

“Doc?” Burt asked. “What’s going on?”

“We’re taking your son down to the NICU. He was born premature, but he’s more underweight than we anticipated,” the doctor said.

“How much?” Mollie asked, flopping down onto the bed, her eyes still on the cluster of nurses as the wheeled her child out the door.

“He’s two pounds and one ounce, and ten inches long,” the doctor said. “I’m going to be honest, at that weight, he might not survive the day.”

But he did. He did survive the day, and the next one, and the one after that. He was so small that Burt could hold him in the palms of his hands. The fear of hurting his child, breaking him in some way was greater than ever. The doctors had thought Kurt would begin to grow and thrive. And while he was doing so, it was extremely slowly. And finally, at 9 months of age Kurt was diagnosed with Primordial Dwarfism. As soon as the diagnosis came in, Mollie became a research machine. She was at the library, the doctor’s office, and combing the internet.

What she found hadn’t been promising. A short life and a whole host of medical issues and complications. But she and Burt were determined to give him the best possible life they could. He would be happy and live as long as humanly possible.

Burt quickly got over the fact that he’d never throw a football or a baseball with Kurt in the conventional sense, but he held onto the fact that he could show his baby boy how to take apart an engine, even if he’d probably never be able to physically do it.

He could deal with this, as long as he had Mollie, he could handle everything this disorder threw at their little family. They were happy, and Kurt was a joy.

It all seemed to come crashing down when Mollie died. She’d been getting progressively sicker as the days, weeks, and months went on. And then she was gone soon after she was diagnosed.

Burt wanted so bad to give up. To just lay in bed for hours on end, staring at nothing and thinking of nothing. But he couldn’t. Kurt needed him more than ever, and while he didn’t totally understand why his mother was gone, he understood that she was never coming back. And there was no way, no way he could let his son deal with this all alone. He wouldn’t.

So now he and Kurt had slowly moved on. They went forward with their summer plans, even though it felt wrong without Mollie. Especially since she was the one who’d made all the arrangements, put everything together, and connected with another family with a son like theirs.

That was how he found himself sitting in the lobby of a very nice hotel. He and Mollie had scrimped and saved for months to be able to afford the room. But they did it, and it was paid for before she had been hospital bound. But it was good they were away from Lima for a little bit.

Burt smiled at his little boy, Kurt was busy watching all the other Little People make their way through the lobby. Dwarfism didn’t discriminate against anyone. Burt saw people of all races and genders. People with walkers and crutches, in wheelchairs, or just walking or running. All these people with all these different forms of dwarfism that he never knew existed. Boy, had his world gotten bigger. He could still remember all the cruel names he and his high school friends came up with for these people.

Shaking his head, he patted Kurt’s back,” You ready to make a few new friends, Scooter?”

Kurt craned his neck to look at his father, “Maybe.”

Burt grinned widely, “It’ll be great.”

“Okay.”

“Burt? Burt Hummel?”

He looked up and saw a woman with golden blond hair and bright eyes holding the hand of a tiny boy with dark, curly hair. Behind her was a tall man with dark, curly hair holding the hand of a young girl with the same hair.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” Burt said, standing to shake their hands while holding Kurt close to him.

“Oh, good! I’m Lilah Anderson! It’s so good to finally meet you in person! This is my husband, Jack, my daughter Francey, and this little guy is Blaine,” she said brightly, her smile wide.

“Nice to meet you,” Burt said, returning her smile. “This is my son, Kurt.”

“Oh! Aren’t you precious!” She cooed, before pulling Blaine into her arms. “Blaine, honey, say hello!”

“Hi!”

“Hello,” Burt said, shaking his little hand. “Kurt, say hello.”

Kurt hid behind his hands, “Hi.”

“We have half an hour before the rest of the group is ready to meet up, how about we find somewhere quieter and get acquainted?”

Burt agreed and they moved into a section of chairs that weren’t occupied and were out of the way. The kids settled themselves on the floor and Kurt pulled out his tea set from his Little Mermaid backpack.

“So, Burt, I’ve heard so much about you from Mollie,” Lilah gushed. “Where is she? I thought for sure she’d be here, I’d been helping her with her registration, but I haven’t heard from her in a while.”

Kurt froze in the circle at hearing his mother’s name and looked to his father, who rested a hand atop his little head.

“She, uh,” he coughed uncomfortably. “She passed away a few months back. Ulcerative colitis.”

Lilah gasped, one hand over her heart, the other gripping Jack’s hand, “Oh, oh my goodness. I had no idea. I am so sorry to hear that. Oh, oh my god. I had no idea she was ill.”

“Yeah, uh, she’d been misdiagnosed and then when the right one came, it was too late,” Burt replied with a sigh.

An awkward silence fell over them, and then Francey broke the silence, “Let’s see who’s taller! Kurt or Blaine!”

Before the adults could say anything, Kurt and Blaine scrambled to their feet and stood back to back.

Francey held her hand above their heads, “First off, Blaine is taller ‘cause of his hair.” She pushed her hand down on his head, tongue poking out of her mouth. “Annnd, just a wee bit taller than Kurt!”

Blaine beamed and whirled around, “Yay! But it’s prob’ly ‘cause I’m older.”

“Don’t worry, Kurt, there are a few people here that are way shorter than Blaine and even you!” Francey exclaimed as she flopped back on the floor and picked up a tea cup.

“It’s not a contest, Franny,” Lilah said with a laugh.

“S’okay,” Blaine said with a wide smile, “Kurt’s way prettier! His hair isn’t crazy!”

“Where do you live?” Francey asked. “We live in Westerville, Ohio!”

“Wow, we live in Lima, Ohio, not to far from there,” Burt replied, surprised.

Lilah immediately perked up and pulled out a piece of paper, scribbling down her address, “You simply must come for dinner and play dates!”

“I think Kurt would like that,” Burt said, taking the slip of paper and tucking it in his shirt pocket.

“Mama, when’re we going to see the other kids? I want Kurt to meet my friends!” Blaine asked, his eyes wide as he clutched Kurt’s hand.

Jack checked his watch, “I think we can start heading over there. Burt, I think you’ll like meeting the other parents.”

Burt merely nodded and pulled Kurt into his arms after the kids picked up their toys. Making their way through the Lobby, Burt was so glad Mollie found the Andersons, now he had someone to lean on, to relate to with everything.

He patted Kurt’s back, they’d be all right, and now they had allies.