Burt Hummel beamed with pride as he walked Kurt down the hall to his classroom. It was the first day of third grade, and it was also the first day of school without Elizabeth. She had been gone a little over a month, and it had taken a toll on both of them. He had lost over 10 pounds, and Kurt had pulled away from him and had trouble sleeping at night. He was doing his best, he just wasn't sure if it was good enough.

He pushed the thoughts aside as he reached the classroom. He gave Kurt a gentle push inside where his teacher was waiting. He had showed up a few days before to explain everything to her and make sure she knew how to reach him in case anything happened. She finished up talking to another parent and came over to them, and bent down so she was on eye level with Kurt. She was older, like a grandma, and Burt knew she knew what she was doing.

"Hi, Kurt," she greeted, holding out her hand. "I'm Mrs. Marshall. Are you excited?" Kurt hesitated, and then nodded. She offered him a sweet smile. "Good. Come over here, you can hang up your backpack and lunchbox on your hook." She led him off, and Burt stood off to the side, watching them interact. The kid just seemed happy, and he hadn't been able to see that side of him since it happened. Mrs. Marshall brought him back over to him. "We're about to get started, Kurt, so tell your dad you'll see him this afternoon." Kurt's smile vanished and he grabbed his hand.

"Dad, don't go," he pleaded. "Can't you stay?" he bent down to look Kurt in the eyes.

"Kurt, it's gonna be okay," he told him. "I have to go to work, but at 2:45 you're gonna get on the bus, and then once you get off you're gonna walk two blocks to the garage, and I'll be waiting for you. I can't stay with you today, but you're gonna have fun and be busy the whole time, and it'll fly by, I promise. Can you try to focus on having fun today?" Kurt nodded, still looking upset. Burt hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, kiddo. You're gonna have a good time today, and I'll be waiting for you after school. I want to hear all about it."

"Okay. Love you," Kurt replied. Burt stood up and patted him on the shoulder before heading out.

"Let me know if there's any problems today," he told the teacher.

"I will, but I'm sure he's going to be fine," she assured him. He thanked her and then left for the garage.

He was working in his office most of the day, and he kept his phone close by in case Mrs. Marshall winded up calling. He couldn't stop worrying and wondering what was going on, what was happening, and how Kurt was doing. School was let out at 2:45, so he took a break to go wait for him. Twenty minutes later, Kurt rounded the corner and came running when he saw him. Burt smiled and held out his arms. Kurt jumped up into his embrace and smiled.

"Hey, buddy! Did you have a good day?" he asked. Kurt nodded.

"Uh huh! We went to music class and I got to sing and Mrs. Marshall picked me to be the first line leader and at recess we got to play on the brand new playground and it's huge!" he exclaimed. It meant more than words to Burt that he actually had a good day. He had been stressing out for weeks about school.

"So you like the third grade, huh?" he said. Kurt nodded enthusiastically. "I'm glad. You want to go have dinner at Breadstix to celebrate a good first day?" Kurt nodded again, and Burt set him down to go back inside the garage. "Do you have any homework?"

"A paper for you to sign, but that's it." They went into Burt's office, and he read and signed the form for him.

"There you go. Can you wait a little bit while I finish up here, and then we'll go?" he asked. Kurt nodded and pulled his reading book out of his backpack. Burt got back to work, watching him out of the corner of his eye. He missed seeing his little boy genuinely happy, and it meant the world to him that he was already enjoying school and having fun. He knew the sting from Elizabeth's sudden death was still there, but he could tell that things were finally taking a step in the right direction.

Author's Notes:

I hope everyone likes this! The idea came into my head a few days ago to write about Burt trying to raise Kurt alone, and all the different challenges and learning experiences they both face. I plan to keep this story going for awhile, so let me know what you think!