Family non-dinner

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SAMMY

"Hey old roomie," Mitch greeted Jackson and pulled him into one of those bro hugs that requires slaps on the back. He'd opened the door for us as we arrived at Nash and Kennedy's place. "How's the new place?" Mitch asked. "Do you miss me yet?"

Jackson laughed. "I miss your cooking."

"I knew it!" Mitch grinned.

"I'm pretty sure you can stop over for dinner sometime," I suggested. "He usually cooks a lot."

"Yeah," Mitch agreed. "Stop over after work one night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but give me a heads up," he said and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes.

Jackson shook his head but smirked, knowing exactly what Mitch was hinting at.

"Will you make that chicken dish I like?" Jackson asked.

Mitchell laughed. "Sure, Jackson."

"Alright. I'll be there next week."

We all laughed as we walked into the kitchen. We were getting together for dinner, at Nash and Kennedy, with little, as well as Jackson, and both sets of grandparents.

"What's so funny?" Howard, Nash's father, asked from where he stood at the kitchen island with Kennedy's father, Rob.

"Jackson invited himself for dinner," I said and nodded towards Mitch.

"Ah," Howard nodded. "I've heard about your cooking, Mitch. Haven't experienced it yet, though."

"Seems like a smart move, son," Rob added and slapped Jackson on the shoulder.

"He's a great cook," Jackson said.

"Yeah, and we all know you need help in the kitchen," Mitch added, and got a laugh from Rob.

"In his defense," Rob started, "Jackson never really got a chance to learn. The kitchen is Cindy's space, and she's a bit territorial."

"A bit," Jackson snorted. "The only one allowed in there was Kennedy."

"Eh, Nash got away with it a time or two," Rob said.

"Yeah, because he sweet-talked her."

"Who's sweet-talking who?" Cindy asked as she came over and hugged Jackson, then me and Mitch.

"Nash. Sweet talking you."

She giggled. "He always was a flirt, that one."

Howard chuckled and shook his head. "He got into a lot of trouble, but that smile got him out of a lot if too."

"Speaking of smiles, where's Ethan?"

"With Nash. He had a bit of a blowout."

"Wow." Jackson's eyes widened. "Nash is changing a diaper?"

"Is that what I smell?" Mitchell asked. "I thought it was Kennedy's cooking."

"Hush now," Cindy said and swatted him jokingly with the kitchen towel she had in her hand. "It's my cooking."

We laughed again, and it just felt so easy. This was what being with family was like, and Mitch and I fit right. The Reeds and the Millers included us, like we were one of them.

Nash appeared in the kitchen with Ethan in his arms less than a minute later.

"There's my little guy," Mitch cooed and reached for his honorary nephew. Ethan smiled that toothless grin only small babies do when Mitchell took him out of Nash's arms, and my heart melted.

Damn. Mitch looked good with a little baby.

He carried Ethan over to the living room with the big windows that overlooked Central Park. He was whispering something to Ethan, his blond head tilted down to Ethan's small one. Ethan didn't have too much hair yet, but the hair he had was dark, like his parents.

"Mitch is so good with him," Liz called from where she sat with Kennedy at the dining table. They were looking at something on Kennedy's iPad.

"You know he wants one," Nash said and nudged me with his elbow.

I laughed. I knew that, and I wanted one too, but we had a few things to take care of before that. We should at least be living together before we took that next step.

I started to walk towards the table when Liz raised her wineglass and said, "bring one, we have a bottle here."

"Now you're talking."

I took wineglass and sat down next to Kennedy.

"What are you looking at?"

"We found an apartment," Liz answered before Kennedy got a chance to.

"Oh, you did."

Kennedy moved the tablet over so I could see. The place was bright and airy, with a large kitchen that was open into the livingroom. It was totally Liz's style, but not as big as I had expected. It was probably somewhere in size between mine and Mitchell's.

"It's not ours yet," Liz explained. "We have made an offer and we're waiting to hear." She looked back at Kennedy. "Show her the other one, honey."

The other apartment looked bigger, but darker and with a closed off kitchen.

"Is this the back up one if you don't get the other one?"

"Yes. This one would need work, but it's a good price and in an excellent location."

"I like the first one," Cindy called from the stove, where she was busy stirring something in a big pot.

"That's because it's close to your place," Kennedy said.

"That's convenient," I agreed. "So it's not so far from here then, either?"

"No, it's walking distance."

"That's great." I put the iPad down and picked up my wine. It was light and sweet, just the way I liked it.

"I love it," Cindy said with a big smile. "I can walk over here and see my grandson, or just to grab a cup of coffee with Kennedy."

"That's what we want too," Liz agreed. "I want to be able to walk here, and to get together with Cin and Rob on a whim."

I'd want that too. Being close to Nash and Kennedy was definitely a draw to moving in with Mitch, other than him being all perfect, of course. I'd especially want to be near them when Mitch and I had kids.

"But I never realized how much I'd be missing closet space," Cindy sighed.

Kennedy and I looked at each other and laughed. She had complained of the exact same thing when she moved in with me in the small apartment we'd shared when she moved to the city.

"That is a drawback," Liz agreed. She picked up her wineglass and took a slow sip. She appeared to have no interest in getting in on the food action, just like me.

"How long have you lived here now, Cindy?" I asked.

"We're going on three weeks."

"Wow. And you're getting situated with work and stuff."

She chuckled. "Is definitely a big change. The pace is very different from what I'm used to, but I'm learning."

Mitch came over to the table, still carrying Ethan. I got up and put my hands out.

"Alright, it's my turn now. Come to me," I said and made a silly face to Ethan, who rewarded me with a toothless grin.

Mitch handed him over with a pretend pout.

Kennedy showed Mitch the apartment Nash's parents were bidding on while I got some cuddle time in with Ethan. When he fuzzed, I handed him over to Kennedy. She got up and brought him into the living-room, with me and Mitch following behind her.

Nash and Jackson stood in front of the balcony with a bottle of beer each, discussing baseball. I took a seat at the end of the couch where I could see into the kitchen and pulled Mitch down next to me.

Kennedy put Ethan into a swing like thing. It looked a bit like a space contraption, but Ethan seemed to really like it.

"You better learn how to use one of those," I whispered to Mitch, "because I have no clue how to operate that."

"Are we planning on having kids already, sunshine?" He asked, one eyebrow higher than the other.

I rolled my eyes. "In case we have to babysit."

Mitch grinned, and Kennedy, who'd clearly overheard, laughed.

"So, Liz, when will you know about the apartment?" Mitch asked.

"Hopefully today."

"Oh, wow. That's cool."

"Yeah, we're excited."

"How long till you can move in?"

Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. "What did they say, Howie? Six weeks?" she asked her husband.

"What's that?"

"The apartment. How long till we can move in if we get it?"

"Yes, six weeks."

"That's pretty good. It doesn't look like it needs any work, either."

"That's my favorite part," Howard called from the kitchen island.

We laughed.

"Well, I would like to update some things, and we need to paint the bedroom."

"Don't look at me," Nash said when Liz glanced his way.

"Oh, come on, Nash. I know you know how to paint."

Kennedy giggled while Nash just shook his head.

Liz's eyes widened in sudden excitement and she almost yelled, "we can have a painting party. Like you did, Sammy."

"God," Nash groaned as the rest of us laughed.

"Oh." Kennedy's cheeks turned a slight pink color. "I hear you. It was fun."

"No, no hunks for you, sweetie," Howard yelled from the kitchen.

Kennedy laughed harder and Jackson looked a bit uncomfortable.

"I totally agree, dad," Nash responded with mock seriousness.

Liz laughed with a pretend scowl.

Mitchell's eyes lit up, and he looked like he was about to get up and bust out some kind of dance move. All I could picture was the dance routine he and Bryce put on at my painting party, where he stripped his shirt off and proceeded with some erotic moves.

"Mitch," I hissed, "sit back down."

"Oh, come on," he groaned, but slumped back down onto the couch. "That would've been fun."

"Um, no," I whispered. "Those moves are mine. You are not taking off your shirt and doing whatever sexy hip thrust thing you do half-dressed in front of anybody but me. Especially not here."

Mitchell's eyes darkened, and he narrowed them as he focused in on me. "Sam..."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't want anyone else to see how sexy you are when you do that half naked. That's for my eyes only."

"Damn."

"But you can do it anytime you want at home..."

That had him straightening back up. "I'm ready to show you right now."

I giggled but realized he was dead serious, and despite the way he was sitting, slightly leaned forward with his elbow on his leg, I could tell that his jeans looked uncomfortably tight in the crotch area.

"Now?" I whispered back.

"Yeah. Right now," he said and tugged on my hand to get me to get up.

"Oh, wow. Okay."

"What are you two whispering about?" Kennedy asked as she came back into the room and sat down on the other end of the sectional couch from where Mitch and I were.

"We're leaving. Uh, we have some stuff to do."

I got up and Mitch was right behind me, angling his body so that I covered the growing evidence.

"Wait, what?" Kennedy asked, clearly confused about our sudden departure. "We didn't even eat..." Then her face split up into a huge smile as she figured it out, and started to laugh.

Mitchell scowled, which was so out of character for him that I started to laugh too. He half pushed me towards the door.

It was warm outside, so the only thing I had on was a knee-length short sleeve dress and sandals. Mitch was in jeans and a three button-up shirt, in a light blue color that matched his eyes. It was one of my favorites, which was probably why he wore it. My point is there was no need to stop to add a jacket, gloves or boots. And that was a good thing, because someone was suddenly very impatient.

Mitch pushed the front door open, and we tumbled out into the hallway. I'd had one glass of wine, and I think he might have had two beers, if he even finished them, so it wasn't like we were drunk. Yet somehow we acted like we were.

Mitch pressed the elevator button the way a kid would, non-stop.

"That's not gonna make it come any faster, you know."

His eyes flashed my way. His pupils were dilated, but I could sense the humor behind them. The wise as comment I had expected didn't come. Instead, he tugged me into his arms and kissed me, hard. When the elevator came, my knees had turned to jelly, and it was probably a good thing that there was an older couple inside, or I might have jumped him right there in that elevator car.


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