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“I suppose your aunt Andi is too old to hang out with, too, then.” I let out an exaggerated yawn. “Maybe you don’t wanna go to the concert tomorrow.”
“That’s different, Dad,” Kendall smirked, not taking the bait. “Aunt Andi and Uncle Cal are cool!”
I glared at her. “Shoot the ball, hot stuff.”
The game was close, but I ended up edging Kendall out by calling a bank swish shot that she couldn’t replicate. She howled her protest, and tried to challenge me to one more game, but Seton called us in for dinner before we could start one.
“Wash your hands, everyone, please!” my wife sang out as we trooped inside.
“Even me?” I joked.
“Especially you.”
I swatted her ass and grabbed her into my arms for a kiss. “What have I told you about ordering me around?” I murmured in a low voice.
“You can order me around later in the bedroom if you’d like,” she whispered against my ear.
“Dammit, woman, don’t get me worked up.”
“Or else?”
“Or else I’ll —”
“Auntie See!” Little Chloe’s voice cut through our romantic moment. “Can you help me wash my hands?”
“Of course, sweetie!” Seton gave me a quick wink and went into the kitchen with her niece.Later,she mouthed.
At the dinner table, all of the kids kept up a steady patter of excited conversation. The little ones chattered about Christmas and about seeing their parents tomorrow. Kendall got excited talking about some show she was watching on YouTube. Wyatt told me about a song he was working on. “It’s from Hard Candy’s new album,” he explained. “Ash does this wicked guitar riff. It’s killer.”
“You’ll have to play it for him when you see him tomorrow,” Seton commented.
Wyatt shook his head, suddenly turning beet red. “Nah. I mean that’d be weird.”
I knew my boy had a shy streak. I made a mental note to mention to Andi that Wyatt was working on the song. I was pretty sure she’d make a point of telling Ash about it.
After dinner, it was Wyatt’s turn to clear the table, and Kendall’s turn to do the dishes. Seton took the girls upstairs to do bath time and put them to bed. I took advantage of a rare moment of peace to sit in the living room in the glow of the Christmas tree, listening to the sounds of my family.
Life was good. Damn good.
Eventually, Seton’s low voice wafted down to me from upstairs as she read Abigail and Chloe a bedtime story. A few minutes later, she came into the living room and joined me on the sofa.
“All good?” I asked.
“All good,” she sighed. “I’m actually going to miss having those little girls around. It’s making me miss when Kendall and Wyatt were small.”
“Yeah, those were some great days,” I grinned. “I was just thinking about that today. How pretty soon Kendall and Wyatt are gonna be teenagers. It’s gone damn fast.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me. Every time Eva tells me about some teen moment Zoe has, I clench up. Tell me it’s not going to be terrible.”
“It won’t be that bad.” I shook my head. “They’re good kids. I’m just not looking forward to them getting to be too cool for their parents.”
“My mom told me it lasts about ten years,” Seton said. “The teenage crazies. So, if the bad years start at fourteen, they’ll pull their heads out of their asses at around twenty-four.”
I groaned. “Shit. And people said the toddler stage was bad. That sounds like a cake walk in comparison.”
Seton eyed me speculatively.
“What?”
