<hr/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><strong>Name:</strong> Andrea “Andi” Spalding <strong>Location:</strong> Teasing in the kitchen <strong>Tags:</strong> The wife &amp; kids</em></span></span><br/><hr/><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/nRxknSt.jpg)</div><br/>I listened as Chanel gave the bare minimum in a recount of her day. It was typical, nothing that alarmed me. The girl was still a teenager, although technically an adult now. This would be the last few months in the house together, if tradition dictated anything. And my wife and I had been preparing to let the kids fly from the nest for a few years. Treating them less like children and more like adults. It was helping with the transition in our family, I thought.<br/><br/>I stayed in front of the fridge as Ali finished her plate, loaded it up into the dishwasher and made her excuses to head upstairs. Would it be worth for-going the take-out to join her early? Dinner was usually a family affair, with all parties at the table. But the man of the household was taking his sweet time coming to the party. And dinner was getting cold.<strong>“I’ll be up soon, darling,”</strong>I called after her, flashing a smile her way.<br/><br/>A rumble in my stomach indicated that while I skipped lunch, dinner better happen. Especially if I wanted to enjoy more wine tonight. With my free hand, I reached to the counter where my wine glass sat, and took a sip as Chanel moved to the table her mother had just vacated with her plate. A stray thought that the girl was beautiful and how did my wife and I get so lucky with her floated through my head as Reese’s soft tone announced his presence.<br/><br/>My eyes made their way to him as I pushed away from the fridge, soy sauce in one hand, wine glass in the other, and moved around the kitchen island. Passing Reese on my way, I went up on tip toe to press a chaste, greeting kiss to his slightly stubbled cheek. The almost-man had been taller than me since his fourteenth birthday. And while my hands were full, when I shifted to move past him, my hip grazed his. Or was it something else of his that grazed my body, still clad in its tight pencil skirt? He was practically a man, after all. The slightly embarrassing thought probably reddened my cheeks, but didn’t slow my progress towards Chanel and the dinner table, where my plate awaited.<br/><br/>My back thankfully to Reese now, I laughed softly at his remarks as I leaned over the table, setting my wine glass and soy sauce down before snagging a bottle of water for Chanel and moving to my seat.<strong>“Look who’s quoting the rules now??” </strong>My tone was teasing, as if surprised<em>he</em>– of all people – would want to stick to a line in the sand. That boy had pushed boundaries since day one. It turned matter-of-fact after that.<strong>“Your mother, who brought home a dinner and stuck it in the microwave for lazy boys like yourself, has already eaten and is taking a bath to relax after the week. So why don’t you sit down and eat and tell me about your day? Chanel was saying she tried her hand at writing.”</strong><br/><br/>I speared a few pieces of stir fry with my fork, much too hungry and interested in what was happening in that kitchen to be distracted with chopsticks.<strong> “And you know the deal on that car,” </strong>I finished, popping the morsel into my mouth.<strong>“College first.” </strong>