Does Your Mother Know?
Title: Does Your Mother Know?
Author: hopenight
Pairing/Characters: Will/Finn, Carol Hudson/James Hudson, mentions of other characters
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1, 698
Warnings: relatively large age difference, teacher/student relationship
Prompt: Will/Finn Carol isn’t too happy that her son has been dating his Spanish teacher.
Summary: Carol Hudson comes home to find out something interesting about her son. And is forcibly reminded of the past.
A/N: This is written for the Glee Slash Birthday Prompt Battle! Many apologies if this isn’t exactly like that prompt but it was fun!
Carol Hudson has made a lot of mistakes in her life, too many to even count. She dropped out of community college. She fell in love with the wrong men after her husband died. She’s not home enough to really get to be there for her son. But she knew that she did two things right in her life.
She married her husband, James, and had five blissful years of marriage with him (despite what people said about their relationship).
And she became a mother to a sweet, kind, loving boy.
Somehow those two accomplishments made everything a little bit easier to bear when the bills are piling up and her jobs are getting to her and life just seems to be taking another sharp turn. She will always have those two things to fall back on. They were the only things that she felt that she had done right in her life. No one was taking that away from her.
She worked hard to make sure that Finn had male role models in his life, that he was well fed and clothed and knew that he was he was loved. She made sure that her boy grew up happy, healthy, strong, and way too tall. He made her proud, even if he felt like he wasn’t. He was just by being himself.
Carol Hudson is proud of her son, as proud as a mother could possibly be (maybe more).
She knew nothing could make her stop loving Finn. She felt that she could read him like a book (pregnant girls not pregnant by Finn withstanding).
Still she is thrown for a loop when she comes home from a work retreat to find her son and his Spanish teacher curled up together on the couch watching an action flick that Finn loves so much. And it was a throwback to all those years ago when it was her and James curled together on a different couch with a similar action movie on the television.
She was unseen by the couple, totally unnoticed as they were wrapped up in each other. Her son and his teacher (Mr. Schuester, such a polite man to her at conferences) were clinging onto each other like it was the only thing keeping them on Earth. Finn was resting his head on top of the elder man’s curly hair, pressing soft kisses. Mr. Schuester (what was his first name? He told her at the conference. It was something with a W.) had his fingers interlaced with Finn’s.
She remembered being in Mr. Schuester’s position on the couch. James’ hulking form wrapped around her as he absent-mindedly petted her hair or kissed her head softly.
It was a strangely intimate scene that tugged at her heartstrings in remembrance of the greatest romance of her life.
Carol watched them for several more moments, not really certain of what to do next.
Every motherly instinct is screaming at her to protect her son from the big bad teacher; to go in there screaming and demanding and threatening to call the cops, to call the school and tell them of this scandalous affair. However, her womanly instincts are what stop her with reminders and comparisons of the couple and her with James.
It’s not like she’s one to throw stones after all.
She began dating her husband when she was sixteen and he was twenty four. It was an eight year difference that should have been vast. But…it wasn’t. Carol had a dead mother and “Lima Loser” father. She was a tomboy and knew how to take care of herself by knowing when to be scarce and when to take care of the house and when to store money for the essentials.
She knew a way to take care of herself was to get a job. So she found a job waitressing tables at a local diner. It got her out of the house and away from her father that was draining his life away by the bottle. She met James, a regular from the army base out of town, on her second day. He looked up at her with his chocolate brown eyes and wide grin saying, “Hello Carol” with the sweetest Southern drawl ever…and she was gone.
Carol took a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling of heat that pooled in her belly at the mere thought of James at twenty four and breathtaking in his army fatigues. His hair plastered with rain water as they shared their first kiss under the rundown gazebo in the crappy local park. But back then it felt like the most romantic thing in the world.
Alright, yeah, Carol understands it more than Finn can understand. Briefly, she wondered what would happen if they come out as couple after Finn is no longer as student because she can tell this is serious. She remembered the taunts. She remembered the feel of the heated glares thrown their way whenever she and James would walk through town. She remembered hearing the whispers and the gossip about them.
It was terrible, but Carol was strong because she had James. And in the end that was all that really mattered to her.
She knew Finn was strong too. She raised their boy well after all.
The mother part of her and the woman part of her are currently batting out inside her.
Because really Finn? Dating your Spanish teacher?
Carol Hudson wasn’t too sure how she felt about her son dating his Spanish teacher.
At least he could’ve waited until he finished the class.
Slowly she stepped from her hidden spot and cleared her throat. Her son and his teacher (boyfriend?) attempted to spring apart but ended falling in a jumble of limbs on the floor. She tried to suppress the bemused smile that threatened to overtake her face.
“Finn? What’s going on here?”
“Mom…I…,” began Finn slowly, “I, um…”
“Maybe I should go,” said Mr. Schuester slowly looking between parent and child.
“No, Will,” said Finn firmly. (Will! So that was his name!)
Carol slowly took a seat in James’ chair as she gave a level stare at the couple. Both of them twitchy and nervous, it was another endearing scene.
“Look Mom,” said Finn with resolve, “I love Will. I know that he’s my teacher and people aren’t going to understand it. But that’s the way it is. I swear we haven’t done anything more than kiss. It’s just…It’s just…”
Finn looked at Will with such love in his eyes that it was heartbreaking. Carol looked her son and saw her James in his face. She blinked back the tears that threatened to escape; Finn really was his father’s son. She watched him as he entwined his fingers with Will’s. He sent a nervous smile his boyfriend’s way.
“I just love him. And I know you may think that I’m being a stupid kid. But that’s all I have left in me, Mom. It’s all I can give anymore. If you disapprove strongly then I’ll leave…”
“Stop right there sweetie,” said Carol with a silencing hand, “I’m not going to say that I’m a hundred percent okay with this relationship.”
Finn opened his mouth to protest. Will stood there shame-faced and sad.
“But, I can’t throw stones here. Your father and I had an age gap between us as well. I was younger than you when I started dating your dad and he was older than me by a good amount. So I won’t say I’m thrilled but…I trust you both know what you are getting into?”
“Yes Mom.”
“Yes Mrs. Hudson.”
Carol smiled gently and nodded, “Just wait until you graduate before you go public with this Finn. And Mr. Schuester…”
Will looked up. His green-gray eyes were wide and scared like she was about to chase him out of the house with a broom and threats against his life.
“Don’t you even think of touching my son like that until he’s eighteen,” said Carol before pausing, “Or else.”
“Mom!”
Will nodded with a grin overtaking his face, making him look years younger. Carol nodded.
“Good. Now how about some dinner? Will you join us for dinner, Will?”
“I would like that very much, Mrs. Hudson.”
“It’s Carol. Finn, why don’t and Will wash up? I’ll heat us up some stew.”
“Yes mom,” said Finn with a grin lighting his face. He ran over, sweeping her into a bone crushing hug and gently kissing her cheek. He took his boyfriend’s hand before tugging him down the hall.
Carol Hudson watched the two and smiled. She really wasn’t a hundred percent on this. But she slowly took out her wallet and opened to a picture.
It was of a tomboy girl of sixteen with short brown hair dressed in jeans, a white peasant top, and a ball hat with an old biker jacket and boots. An older man of twenty four had his strong arms wrapped around her. He was dressed in army fatigues and a devilish grin was clear on his face. Their eyes were bright in the sun and they were totally in love.
Now Carol knew that she needed to put in another picture. One of her son at seventeen: tall and broad and handsome dressed in his old ripped jeans, plaid shirt, and sneakers. Finn’s arms would be around a slightly older man with curly hair and bright eyes dressed in jeans, pressed shirt with a t-shirt underneath. Both ignoring the camera and totally in love.
She smiled.
Maybe this was the third thing that she never was going to regret…letting her son find his own love.