Burt jumped, nearly flinging his paper cup of coffee all over the play-land carpet when the shrill shriek of an unhappy child pierced his ears. He searched the crowd of a dozen small children and frowned as he quickly identified Kurt. The three-year-old was sitting on the carpeting, howling his head off and pointing accusingly at an older boy, who stood with fists on his hips, glaring.
"What happened?" Burt asked, helping him up and checking his son over for injuries, trying to keep his tone even and not go off on the other kid, who couldn't have been more than five himself. "You okay, buddy? You hurt yourself?"
Kurt pointed at the other boy again and wailed, "He hit me!"
"Why would he do a thing like that?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at the boy's mother, who had also come over to investigate.
"I showed 'm my pretty heels and bucks!"
Kurt's voice was getting louder as his outrage escalated, drawing the attention of every other parent in the play area, and Burt sighed. He had known those "sensible" heels were a mistake. Who ever heard of shiny, polished Mary Jane shoes on a little boy? But Kurt had been so happy with them that Kate had convinced him it would do no harm. After all, he was only three! "Buckles," he corrected automatically.
"He's stupid! He thinks he's a girl!" the other boy sneered. "Those are stupid, girly shoes!"
"Are not!" Kurt blurted, his elfin face darkening like a thunder-cloud as he abruptly hauled off and kicked the other boy as hard as he could, right in the shin, instantly causing the little brat to start screaming and hopping around on one leg.
Embarrassed though he was, Burt had to fight the urge to laugh as he apologized to the boy's mother. His son might be a little, well, feminine sometimes but the little squirt sure had one hell of a kick!
"Kurt, we don't do things like that. We don't strike other little boys and girls," he scolded. "Even when they start it by hitting and saying mean things to us."
He could not resist adding that last part and the yowling boy's mother had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry," she murmured.
Burt nodded, not quite ready to say that it was no big deal. He had a bad feeling that, if his instincts about his son were correct, this was only the first in a long line of confrontations Kurt would be facing. "I think it's about time for us to go home," he said, picking Kurt up and settling him against his shoulder.
The little boy nodded, looking regretfully down at the building block castle he had been constructing, but knowing his father's tone well enough not to try arguing the decision. "Sleepin' Beauty don't have a bedroom," he mumbled sadly.
Giving him a reassuring hug, Burt walked away from the shopping mall's public play area and strode in the direction of a toy store at the opposite end. "What do you say we go buy ourselves a few packs of Legos and head on home to Mommy? We can all build a new castle together, complete with a really swanky bedroom for the princess."
Though it was highly doubtful that Kurt had any idea what 'swanky' meant, he perked right up at the mention of Legos, forgetting all about the bully. "Can we get lotsa different colors, Daddy? Blue and red and yellow and, and, and . . . "
Burt grinned as the boy ran out of colors and scrunched his little face up in concentration. "And white, and orange and green!"
"And pink!"
A small twinge of something he chose not to identify twisted Burt's gut at that cheerful suggestion. "Sure, son. What's a princess castle without a little pink?"