The Littlest Chicken
McRaider
Summary: While Mary is away, Burt is stuck caring for a little boy who gets the chicken pox.
Author's Note: My poor nephew was a little under two when he got the chicken pox…and while I felt bad for him he was the cutest cuddliest little thing I'd ever met. So this is in honor of my nephew (who grew up far too quickly for his aunts) and parents who love to cuddle their babies. Also if anyone has a question on whether or not Mike O'Malley can sing…he can there's actually a crappy quality video of him singing at the House of Blues to I Must Have got Lost…he's not bad! All mistakes are my own!
Rated: G
Disclaimer: Note mine

Chapter One

Burt was working on a Ford Mustang vintage car of a friend's down the street when the office phone rang, glancing around he spotted Carl, "You wanna get that, Carl?"

"Sure thing boss!" The ringing ceased a moment later as his top mechanic answered the phone. "Hummels Tire and Lube, Carl speaking."

Burt smirked, expecting it to be another customer-they'd only had the shop for about six months and they were already getting lots of business. Burt attributed it to the fact that so far most of his customers were former friends of his who has spread the word among their friends that while the price wasn't always cheap; it was certainly the best mechanic in town. "Yeah he's here. Boss!" Carl's voice echoed through the shop, "Some lady callin' for ya from McKinley Daycare."

Burt's heart stopped for a brief moment. His son had just started preschool at the daycare, less than three weeks ago. He and Mary had discussed it in depth, deciding the benefits of socializing their child early. Most people were putting their kids in preschool these days, and while Mary had a part time job, she decided she wanted to go back full time. So they'd moved to taking their son to daycare. The plus side had been he was also very excited about it.

Burt hurried over to the phone, thanking Carl. "This is Burt Hummel." He gave Carl a brief nod of thanks

"This is Angela Carter, the school nurse at your son's daycare. Your son Kurt is running a low grade fever, would you mind coming to pick him up. He's also complaining of a sore throat and a headache."

Burt nodded, "Sure, is he okay?"

"He's lying down right now, but I'll be honest we've had an outbreak of chicken pox lately. We thought we'd taken care of it-"

"He wasn't sick this morning; otherwise I would've kept him home. I can be there in about ten minutes, is that okay?"

She smiled warmly at the concerned father, "Of course Mr. Hummel, he'll be here in my office."

"Thank you." Burt sighed, hanging up the phone he looked over at Carl. "Carl, can you take care of the garage for the next day or two…I think Kurt might have the chicken pox."

"Sure thing, I'll call you if we need anything."

"Thanks, call Henry and Jack in too if you need them."

"Will do."

Burt got in his truck, heading off towards the daycare. His wife Mary had left town yesterday, heading to Pennsylvania for two weeks. A good friend of hers from college had passed away in a tragic accident, so she was spending a week up there with the family and then staying another week to visit with some friends. Burt had offered to come with Kurt, but Mary had declined explaining that it would be good for them to have some male bonding time, while she had some girl time with her friends.

He made it to the school a few minutes later; the church where the daycare was held was a smaller church. Stepping inside, he smiled at one of the older teachers, "Mrs. Lofton," He greeted.

She smiled warmly at the man, "Here for Kurt?"

"Yeah, the nurse called and said he wasn't feelin' too good."

Mrs. Lofton gave a sad nod, "We've got Chicken Pox going around unfortunately, the boy was immediately removed from everyone else and everything was sanitized but somehow it was still spread."

Burt chuckled softly, "I don't think all parents realize their children need to stay home when they're sick. I apologize for my son being here, he didn't even see sick or tired, he was a little sleepy this morning, but wasn't running a fever or anything from what I could tell."

Mrs. Lofton waved her hand at him gently, "I wouldn't worry about it, and at this point we're encouraging all the parents to keep an eye on their children."

"Right, well I should probably go get my son, thanks Mrs. Lofton." Heading down the hallway to the main office, he stepped inside, waving at one of the secretaries as he headed back into the nurse's office. She glanced up from her desk and smiled warmly at him.

"Hi Mr. Hummel."

"Hi Mrs. Carter, how's my kid?"

She chuckled softly as she pointed to the back room off to the side of the office. Burt looked back and saw his son lying on his side facing the wall. "Is it definitely chicken pox?"

"Yeah, a couple of spots have already crept up. Do you know how this works?"

"Uh vaguely…he'll have it for what about ten days?" Burt recalled talking to his sister when her children had it. She'd warned Burt to watch out for Kurt once he started school. To be fair, Kurt was always a bit of a bear when he got sick, the boy may be small, but he packed a set of lungs on him.

She nodded, handing him a small brochure, "It lasts overall for fourteen to sixteen days. He should be able to return to school by the tenth to twelfth day- once all the spots have scabbed over. If his temperature spikes over 102 I'd take him to your doctor, just in case."

Burt gave a brief nod before he stepped into the back room, reaching down; he slipped his hands under the boy's knees and behind his shoulders, cradling him in his arms smiling at the beautiful face that was sleeping soundly against his bicep. Looking down at the boy, he made his way out of the office. The nurse handed him Kurt's bag, and the man headed out.

Burt got home to their house fifteen minutes, he closed the door to his truck and went around to the other side, smiling, he opened the door and slid his son out with a practiced ease. The boy's head rested against his shoulder, his warm breath tickling the side of Burt's neck. His son hadn't been running a fever this morning when Burt had kissed his forehead goodbye. But with his head placed firmly against Burt's shoulder and neck, it was clear the child definitely had one now.

He carried him up the stairs, to Kurt's bedroom, which was a small room off to the right of his and Mary's bedroom. The bedroom, despite what Burt would've wanted was colored light pastel yellows and purples. The boy's bed had Sponge Bob Square pants on it; Burt smiled as he gently removed the boy's designer shoes and socks, as well as the tight pants and slid his son into the bed. "Rest well son," He murmured pressing a kiss to his son's forehead.

For now he'd allow his son to sleep. Figuring he should call his wife, and maybe make some lunch, he called the number to the friend's house she was staying at. He held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he put a pot on and opened up a can of chicken noodle soup, it wasn't a favorite of Kurt's, but Mary always gave it to him when their son was sick. "Hello?" An unfamiliar voice answered.

"Hello, is Mary there?"

"Can I ask who's speaking?"

"This is her husband, Burt."

There was speaking in the background, "Sure, here she is." Another moment of silence and then he heard the voice he loved most. "Hey honey, what's wrong?"

Burt smiled, "Why do you immediately assume anything is wrong, maybe I missed your beautiful voice."

She chuckled softly, "Maybe, but I doubt it. Is something wrong?"

"Well, nothing I can't handle but I did want to let you know. Kurt has the chicken pox."

"Oh no! I'll come ho-"

"You'll do no such thing!" Burt replied immediately, "Look, I'm a twenty-nine year old man who is more than competent in how to care for my four year old kid. And if I really end up failing miserably I'm sure I can call you back."

"Burt, honey I don't mind-"

"But I do." Burt sighed, "Sweetheart, you haven't had a vacation yourself with your friends since the squirt was born. You guys used to visit all the time. Just stay put okay. Kurt and I can manage this, besides it'll be good father son bonding time-you're always telling me I need to connect more with my child."

Mary smiled weakly, thankful for such a wonderful husband. It was no secret to either parent that their child was as gay as the rainbow. Despite Burt's colorful history, he loved his son endlessly. "All right, but at least call me and let me know every couple days how he is, okay? And call me if you need me to come home."

"I will, and I will. We'll be fine Mary. How are you?" His voice softened, and Mary realized on some level how much she missed her husband.

"Sad," Mary answered honestly. "I miss Christy, a lot. And while all the story telling is great…it still brings to light the fact that she's gone from our lives permanently."

Burt could understand his father had passed away only a year ago. "I know babe."

"Thinkin' of your dad again?"

Burt smiled, "Mind reader. Honey, I know how hard this is."

"I know you do. And I appreciate that; believe me I'll be happy to cry in your arms soon. I miss that little runt of ours too." A soft chuckle echoed through the phone. "You give him a huge and a kiss for me, okay?" She felt her eyes tearing up again.

"You okay?" Burt murmured, feeling his own throat growing tight at the thought of his beautiful wife crying.

"Just miss you."

"I'll call you later okay, I love you."

"Love you too," She whispered before hanging up the phone.

Burt smiled as he hung up the phone. He sighed at the thought of his wife being so sad. To say he loved that woman was often putting it mildly. Turning he moved over to the soup, stirring it slowly. He'd been standing there a few minutes, making himself a grilled cheese sandwich when he heard footsteps on the kitchen tile. He turned to see a ruffled bed head standing before him. "Hi sleepy beauty," He joked as he watched his four year old boy move towards the table. Short arms pulled the chair out, Burt afraid he'd somehow pull it over, helped pull the chair out as well, and watched as his son sat on the seat. "How do you feel?"

"I have spots."

He couldn't stop the smile that practically split his face, "That you do kid. Pretty soon we'll be able to play connect the dots with your whole body."

"Ewww!" The child squealed slightly, before grimacing. "Daddy…can I have some orange juice?"

Burt moved from the soup over to the fridge and pulled out the bottle, he quickly poured a small glass and placed it in front of his son. "Mommy misses you, she told me to give you hugs and kisses."

"Is she comin' home?"

The mechanic glanced at his son for a long moment, "Not yet buddy, is that okay with you?"

"You're gonna take care of me?"

"Is that all right?" He asked again softly.

Kurt shrugged as he put his head back down on the table. Burt sighed, he was well aware his wife and son got along much better; Burt attributed that to his son's more feminine tendencies. "Here, try to eat at least half of this," Burt offered setting the bowl in front of his child.

He finished his own food and sat down at the table beside his son, watching as the boy spooned some of the hot liquid into his mouth. Putting the spoon down, the boy rolled up his right sleeve and began to itch at his arm. Burt reached out, grabbing his arm. "Try not to scratch son."

"How come?"

"If you scratch it'll scar."

"Oh."

Burt chuckled, as if that explained everything. "You want to watch a movie?" He inquired softly.

"Little Mermaid?" Kurt asked looking hopefully at his father.

Giving his son a small smile he nodded, "Sure buddy, when you're done, why don't you go get your pillow and blanket from upstairs and we'll turn the couch into a bed for you."

He watched his son for a few moments, taking in how small the boy was. He had his mother's feminine features; he was smart like her too, already at four years old he was starting to read fairly well. Burt wondered what else he missed about his son. He didn't spend much time with the boy, sure he saw him every night after work, but up until now they'd never really been alone without Mary.

Maybe that made him a bad father, as he realized he'd missed a small portion of his child's life. Granted he'd been there for the first steps, the first words, the first sentence, heck he'd even seen Kurt's first smile. But he missed other small things, like reading with the child. The sound of the bowl being pushed across the wood varnished table pulled Burt from his thoughts. His son had done his best to devour half of the bowl of soup, but it was clear the boy wasn't feeling his best. He was waiting for the onslaught of tantrum that would probably follow when the boy became frustrated with feeling crummy. He didn't know what it was about little kids, but everyone he knew said kids reverted to cranky toddlers when sick.

"Good job buddy, do you want me to go get your blankets and a pillow?"

Green blue eyes looked at him, almost pleading for it. Burt smiled, "Go sit in my chair I'll be right down."

"Daddy…do we have any ice cream?" Kurt asked as he padded into the living room, Burt not far behind him.

"Um…we may, did you want some?"

Kurt nodded as he pointed to his throat. Chuckling softly, Burt pressed a kiss to his son's forehead. "Well I can't say no then can I." He headed upstairs, and returned a few minutes later with blankets and a pillow. He created a bed out of the overstuffed couch-one his mother and wife would've been proud of. He looked over at his sick son, sweeping the boy off the chair he kissed his son's cheek then plopped him onto the makeshift bed. "Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

A sleepy nod alerted Burt that it wouldn't be very long. But Burt saddled up to the couch, smiling as Kurt traded his Burt's lap for his pillow. Burt looked down at the child and not for the first time in four short years, he was a little overwhelmed. There was something about a small child that made him realize how easy love really could be. Kurt always made love simple. He remembered being in awe of the tiny body in his arms when he'd first held Kurt. That feeling hadn't changed much; he was still in awe most days.

TBC