The roller coaster was old, but it was fast. The sled rocketed up, down and around the track, plunging down the inclines with stomach-dropping suddenness and making its occupants scream, whoop and laugh out loud as it barreled through the corkscrew turns. Mercedes and Tina screeched like a pair of banshees throughout the entire thing. Burt kept his teeth clenched and his eyes screwed shut for most of it, finding that the joyful screaming and wild laughter of his son made for a wonderful distraction.

As the death-trap . . . uh, ride, slowed to a stop and Burt finally felt it safe to open his eyes, he could not help smiling at the sight of the rosy-cheeked, sparkling-eyed boy with the wild, wind tossed hair who sat beside him. Kurt was grinning so broadly that it looked almost painful, and Burt felt a different kind of pain in his own heart. When was the last time he had seen Kurt drop his protective barriers and just enjoy himself with such open, childish abandon? It bothered him that he could not remember.

"Well, I guess we made it," he said jovially, hoping his inner musings did not show on his face. Kurt was disturbingly good at reading his moods and he did not want to do anything that would dim the happy light in his eyes.

Luckily, Kurt was too caught up in his own excitement to notice. "That was great," he gushed. "Even better than I thought it would be!"

He hopped out of the sled and gallantly offered each of the girls a hand getting out, leaving his father to stagger off in his own good time. Burt walked down the ramp slowly, following the three teenagers who had all raced down it and were already babbling out a replay of the action to an indulgently grinning Artie.

Burt groaned gratefully as he took a seat on an unoccupied bench next to the outer wall of the stomach flipping ride.

"You okay, Mr. Hummel?" Artie laughed.

"Fine," he grunted, waving off the concerned look he got from Kurt. "Just giving my stomach a minute to appreciate normal gravity again."

Kurt sat down next to him and leaned over, giving his shoulder a playful nudge. "I thought you did great, Dad. You never looked scared at all."

He snorted and plucked off his baseball cap, a red one bearing the logo of Hummel Tires & Lube, and plopped it down over Kurt's thick brown locks. "I know that's a lie, but I'll take it."

"Dad, this totally clashes with my outfit," Kurt complained, and yet he did not make any move to take off the cap.

"I don't know," Mercedes countered, grinning at the two of them as she hugged her newly reacquired blue unicorn. "They say that rural-chic is very in this season."

Artie chimed in. "And if it isn't, maybe you'll be the one who brings redneck couture into style."

Burt smiled and tugged the cap down over Kurt's eyes. "What do you think of that?"

"I'll pass," he said wryly, making them all laugh as he gave the hat back and fussily adjusted his bangs, a look of dismay stealing over his fine-boned features as he ran both hands over his hair and realized how unkempt the previously perfect coif had become after his ride on the roller-coaster.

"Here," Tina offered, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a stocking cap. It was dark blue with narrow white stripes, an alternate to the black with green stripes version that she currently wore on her own head. "It matches your outfit."

Kurt considered the cap for a moment. "Thanks, Tina. It is getting colder out," he said, justifying the doubtful item to himself as he settled it into place. "How does it look?"

"Good," Mercedes decided, cocking her head critically to one side. "With that jacket and scarf, you kind of look like you could be in one of those designer winter sport catalogues."

"Think so?" he asked, standing up and striking a haughty pose.

Tina agreed, "Sure. You kind of scream: hot gay ski instructor."

Burt bit down on his tongue to keep from commenting. That didn't sound like such a great compliment to him, but from the way Kurt was preening he obviously felt otherwise.

"Well, I hope none of you runway-models are planning to give up eating," Burt teased them, wanting to interrupt the fantasy world before they started really calling attention to themselves, "Because I'm hungry."

"Hey, food over fashion, that's my motto," Artie said at once. "That pizza stand we passed by looked pretty good."

"I could go for a slice," Mercedes told them, eyes brightening with renewed interest.

Tina nodded and even Kurt agreed that pizza seemed like a good choice, as long as he could have one of the pre-packaged side salads to go with it.

"Sounds good to me," Burt agreed, herding the group in the right direction. "I think I'll just ask if they'll sell us a whole one."

It turned out that the employees at the pizza stand were very happy to do so. With the sparse and ever-thinning Tuesday crowd on hand, they were clearly not doing much business. A pepperoni pizza, three side salads for Kurt, Mercedes and Tina – Artie and Burt could not be bothered with vegetables, much to Kurt's disgust – and a round of five large soft-drinks was probably more business than the place had seen in hours.

As they ate, Burt was made aware of all the latest goings-on in glee club, as well as a certain amount of high school gossip, but he just let it all wash over him without giving it any real attention. He only really came back to the conversation when Mercedes said, "Thanks again for dinner, you guys. We'd better get going if we want to hit the rest of the rides before curfew. Mom says I have to be home early, since it's a school night."

Glancing at Kurt, who had finished eating and was now sipping delicately from his straw, somehow managing to nod around the action, Burt asked, "Did you want to join them?"

"No," he said simply. "Tonight is about you and me, Dad. They understand."

"It's cool, Mr. Hummel," Artie told him with a smile, pulling his wheelchair back from the plastic picnic bench at which they all sat. "It was really nice of you to buy us all dinner, but we don't want to intrude on family time."

The girls nodded, in full agreement, but it was the serene expression on Kurt's face that really convinced him. Pleased to realize that his son genuinely wanted to spend more time alone with him, Burt smiled at the other youngsters. "In that case, can I get you guys stick around and do one last thing with us?"

They nodded immediately, curiosity filling all four young faces.

"Come on," he said, standing up and tossing away the trash from their meal. Leading the way, Burt walked about a hundred yards down from the food pavilion, to where he had spotted an old-fashioned photo booth. "I think tonight is worth a few souvenir shots, don't you?"

Everyone was charmed with this idea and for the next half-hour they took turns playing in the photo booth, singly, in pairs and in groups, racking up about twenty dollars worth of overpriced snapshots before they were done. As the booth attendant passed him an envelope filled with finished photo strips, Burt had to laugh. The last strip featured all of the kids making kissy-faces at each other. The girls kissing each of the boys on both cheeks, the boys doing the same for the girls, and a comedic snap of Kurt holding an exaggeratedly puckering Artie at arms' length with a faux-terrified expression on his face.

Burt was especially pleased by that last shot. He had always liked Artie Abrams, who had been Kurt's friend since they were both nine years old, and it was comforting to realize that the other boy had taken Kurt's coming-out in stride, treating it with the same casual equanimity with which Artie seemed to greet all of life's challenges.

He came across another strip, this one of just himself and Kurt. They had been goofing off for each shot, following the directions Mercedes and Tina shouted out for them. Everything from "Smile!" to "Look tough!" to "A Flying Saucer just landed in your back yard!"

A long-nailed, dark-skinned finger suddenly moved into his line of vision, tapping the picture of them doing their best to look tough. "This one." Burt looked at Mercedes, finding that she had dragged Kurt over to see, too. "And this one." She pointed to the last shot on the strip, Burt and Kurt simply looking at each other and laughing.

"What about them?" Kurt asked, clearly just as puzzled as his father.

"I didn't tell you to do that. You just did," she said, drawing their attention to the first photo again. Father and son had shifted to sit back to back on the narrow bench, crossing their arms over their chests and nodding toward the camera with squinted, steely blue gazes under furrowed eyebrows. The pose was exact. "Next time you guys think you don't have anything in common, I want you to look at these two pictures and know that you do."

Patting each of them on the shoulder, she kissed Kurt's cheek and said, "See you tomorrow. You can bring us our pictures then."

"And my hat!" Tina chimed in.

"Night, Mister Hummel," the three teens called out, already moving away as they waved back and yelled, "Thanks!"

Glancing at the pictures in his hand again, Burt smiled. "Your girlfriend certainly knows how to make a point."

Kurt laughed. "She does, doesn't she?"

Burt paused, studying Mercedes' favorite pose again for a moment. "Were you making the Steve McQueen face?"

He smiled. "Yes, but so were you."

"Good taste in movies is obviously an inherited trait."

Kurt playfully plucked at the collar of his red plaid shirt. "And clearly you were right all along. The more vital areas of my personality and taste were inherited from Mom."

Burt looped an arm around his neck, causing Kurt to laugh as they began to walk back toward the entrance. "All right, smart guy. It's still early. What do you say we take one last cruise through the arcade, then head on home for a movie, complete with some popcorn and hot chocolate?"

The boy momentarily pressed the side of his head against Burt's shoulder, which was a little awkward while walking, but manageable. "I think that sounds great." He thought for a moment, then asked playfully. "How do you feel about 'Cars'?"

"I've always had a soft spot for Lightning. You know, small, flashy, loyal to his friends?"

"I think I prefer Mater. A little plain on the outside, but pure gold on the inside, where it counts."

Burt smiled. "Maybe that's why they were best friends."

Kurt smiled back. "Maybe so. Let's forget the arcade, Dad. I think I've got everything I wanted out of Birch Park tonight."

"Me, too, Son. Let's go home."

THE END