Burt is taking out the garbage when it happens.
He hears Kurt's soft voice coming from the backyard, and curiosity is what makes him follow it. He sneaks around the side of the house, padding through the wet grass and stepping over the leaking hose. He'd have to tighten the knob on it later, and stores the thought away.
He finds Kurt sitting at his little pink table, a doll in each hand. Burt recognizes the Barbie because her light blonde hair is cut just above her shoulders in a layered bob that Kurt had done himself. Kurt said that her long, original hair was unflattering to her bone structure, whatever that meant. Dolls didn't even have bones, but Kurt merely huffed when he told him that, and said that Burt had a lack of imagination. He recalls nearly having a stroke when he found his son in the bathroom playing with scissors, only to sigh in relief when Kurt thrust the doll in his face to show off his work, no cuts or nicks in sight and oblivious to the potential danger of his actions.
Burt hid all the sharp things after that.
The other doll must be new. It's a Ken doll dressed to the nines in blue slacks and a white button down, a small, yellow scarf tied around its neck . Julianne must have picked it up for him when she was out earlier that day. Kurt only deepened his voice when he spoke for Barbie, which made Burt smile.
Kurt bent the dolls to fit them into the obnoxious pink car; Burt remembers making a comment about the tackiness of the "Barbie Dream Car" when Kurt showed it to him, breathless with excitement, which made Kurt smack him on the leg and pout in his room, earning him a stern talking-to from Julianne. Never again, he had promised himself, ever mock the fabulousness and Barbie and her various Dream items. No matter how obnoxious they are.
"You're the best boyfriend ever!" Kurt trills, shaking the blonde Barbie and pressing her face up to Ken's.
Burt lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Burt's always had mixed feelings about his son playing with dolls, but if Kurt was imagining himself as Barbie's boyfriend, then it couldn't be too bad, could it? And he even sort of looked like Ken, with the same pastel clothing and brown, coifed hair. Maybe his son is a lover of blondes. Burt's always preferred brunettes, but they can still bond over all the pretty girls Kurt will no doubt be chasing in school.
Just then, Kurt drops a kiss of his own to Ken's cheek, and all the color drains from Burt's face.
Kurt was just a little kid. He didn't understand. He knows boys like girls and girls like boys, but not that some boys like boys, and surely he wasn't one of those, right? No, not "one of those". Gay, and it was normal, and Julianne would murder him if she knew he thought like that. He just thought he liked Ken. He didn't like Ken. He didn't like boys.
And if Burt was quiet enough, he could sneak back into the house and drown his worries with a beer and a-
"Hi, daddy!" Kurt calls to him, waving his hand in the air, Barbie's short hair swinging around violently. Burt lifts a hand and returns his smile. "Wanna play?"
Burt hesitates for a brief moment; he could turn heel and run away right now if he was quick enough. Kurt wouldn't be offended. But the look of hopefulness on his son's face is too much to ignore, so he nods silently and takes his place across from Kurt.
"You be Ken," he hands the brunette doll over to Burt, who takes it and holds him delicately around the legs. "He's my favorite, but you can play with him too."
Burt feels strangely flattered. "Thanks, Kurt."
"You're welcome, dad. Just don't wrinkle his clothes, please. It's so hard to iron doll clothing."