After a minute or so, Burt lifted Kurt back to his feet and silently pulled his clothes back up into place. Kurt had quieted but leaned into him, sniffling and sulking. Burt quietly rubbed his back for a moment, neither one saying anything.

"Mike's family's nicer than you." Kurt finally whispered, hesitant.

Burt smiled. "Hmm. Yeah I really thought I had a shot, but it's sounding like Mr. Chang won Father of the Year this time around, huh?"

Kurt nodded, sullen.

Burt wiped at Kurt's face. "Last I checked though, I think they've got their kid doing extra homework on Saturdays. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't get as much allowance as you. Think I should start trying to be more like them now?"

Kurt scowled and shook his head.

Burt chuckled. "Ah. Well maybe I'm not so bad then."

"…You spank hard," Kurt accused quietly.

"Makes sure you remember," Burt dismissed, patting his son's bottom. "Now, punishment is over. Time for dinner."

Burt got up and headed for the kitchen. Kurt sighed and followed, rubbing his bottom.

"I didn't… really mean I wish we were Asian, Dad." Kurt offered, shy.

Burt laughed that Kurt chose that to apologize for. "Well, I'm glad, because you know I always tell you that you can be whatever you want to be, but that might be one thing I can't do much about kiddo."

"And I… guess you're good at cooking some things. Like cereal… and popcorn."

Burt smiled. They almost always made popcorn for Family Night before watching a movie together. "Yes, I have perfected those two dishes. But you're not wrong, buddy. There's some things I don't know how to make."

Kurt watched his father cut up the pizza and put it on plates.

"You really think if you talk to Mike's mom she'll teach me to cook stuff?"
"I don't see why not. They're nice people. Maybe Mike would like to learn too." Burt was secretly hoping Kurt would get to be closer friends with Mike. He was the only kid his age on this block. Smart, polite kid, and an athlete too from what he could tell. Kurt could do worse.

"Or maybe if Mike' gets tired of the good food in his house he can come over here and you can teach him to make hot dogs on the grill."

Burt rolled his eyes. "I suppose if he wanted to that could be arranged. …You really don't like peanut butter and jelly, huh?"

Kurt shrugged. "It's just kind of provincial."

"Pro- what?"

"It's not fancy."

"Hmm. I didn't know school lunches needed to be fancy these days."

"I like fancier food. I bet Prince Harry never eats peanut butter and jelly." Kurt mused. He had gotten a book at the library with photographs of Buckingham Palace that told all about the British Monarchy and he was pretty sure Prince Harry did just about everything right. He particularly approved of his hair and his clothes. He had started drawing pictures of Prince Harry in a variety of outfits in different scenery. Burt didn't know what to make of this new obsession but it sounded… educational?... so he hadn't made an issue of it.

"Well, we're probably on a bit more of a budget than the Royal Family. But while I'm not exactly a four star chef, I at least could have made you a different kind of sandwich if you had said something before. I can't read your mind Kurt." Burt said.

"…Mom used to make different stuff." Kurt said quietly.

"She did? Different from sandwiches?"

"No. Just… not the same thing every day."

Burt nodded, handing his son his plate. It was hard not to feel like he'd screwed up here. The first day he had to send his kid to school with a lunch he just threw together a few things from the fridge that he guessed he'd like. When Kurt didn't complain that first day he figured it was fine and just kept making the same lunch without another thought. "Well. Maybe we can mix it up a little. Or maybe sometimes you can get the lunch at school."

Kurt chewed on his pizza at the table, choosing not to sit. It was a quiet for awhile and then he thought of something. "Dad, you really don't like when kids are fresh, huh?"

"No, I do not."

"Well some kids are lots more fresh than me. Some kids are even fresh at school."

Burt covered his smile. "They are?" he asked. "Well that's very disappointing. The teachers must not like that."

"Uh huh. Noah Puckerman got in bad trouble yesterday cuz he said a real bad word and this red-haired girl in his class told a fifth grader and then the fifth grader told the teacher."
"A real bad word?" Burt was amused to learn his quiet little loner was secretly in all of the third grade gossip.

"Yeah like…" Kurt lowered his voice, "…one of the ones the other mechanics at the tire shop say sometimes. About ladies' private parts."

Burt almost choked as he tried his pizza. He would need to talk to his guys. "Well… uh, sounds pretty bad then."

Kurt nodded seriously. "Do you want to know what it was?"
"Oh no, don't repeat it if it's a bad word."

Kurt looked disappointed. Burt busted out laughing, taking glasses out of the cabinet.

"What's funny?" Kurt asked, slightly offended.

"You are," Burt replied, kissing his forehead. "Don't hang out with that Noah kid. He sounds like he needs a trip to the woodshed."

Kurt made a face. "I won't." Truth be told he was a little afraid of Noah, but he wasn't going to bring that up.

Burt poured soda and then handed a glass to Kurt. "But Mike's a nice kid, right? You can play with him."

Kurt nodded. "He's mostly nice."

"…Just mostly?"

"I guess he's alright. But he's good at sports. He said his dad taught him to play tennis and he's always on the winning team when kids play kickball at recess."

"You could be good at sports too if you tried. We could practice—"

Kurt wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Don't like sports. It gets sweaty."

"You like riding your bike."

"That's different."

Burt shrugged. "I bet when you get to be in high school you'll find a sport you like. It's fun to be on a team and everybody on the team gets to be friends."

"Were you on a team?"

"Sure was. I played football."

"That why you watch football on TV now?"

"I suppose."

Kurt was thoughtful. His eyes lit up. "Do they have a polo team at high school? I think Prince Harry plays polo."

Burt raised an eyebrow. His kid was definitely marching to a different drummer these days. "I… don't know Kurt. I guess… when you're in high school you can ask."

"Do all the sports practice after school?"

"Of course."

Kurt made a face. "I don't want to do stuff after school anymore. I told you."

"Ah. I forgot about your bid to get office space in my shop. I still haven't said yes, kiddo. But even if I do, something tells me you'll probably feel different about all this together time when you're 15."

"No I won't. And you won't even notice I'm there."

"Uh huh."

"I'll be good as gold."

Burt smiled at his sweet child. "You're always good as gold kiddo."

"…Well, mostly." Kurt added, a little guiltily.

"Yes. Mostly." Burt chuckled and ruffled his kid's hair. It was working out to be a pretty good day.