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“I’m home!” Claire called as she walked in the house. She dropped her bag and kicked off her heels before she walked up the stairs.
She could hear laughter coming from the kitchen and followed the voices. The sight that met her eyes made her want to laugh and cry all at the same time. The kitchen was a disaster, marinara and boiled pasta noodles were everywhere. Violet and Chris were laughing, both doubled over, sauce covering their clothing, Chris had noodles in his beard.
“Oh my god!” Claire said unsure she wanted to step over the threshold into the mess. “What have you done to my kitchen? I swear to god Chris, it’s like I have two kids not a husband and a ki..”
Her words were cut off as a spoonfull of marinara hit her in the face, Chris held the spoon high in the air while Violet cheered and jumped around.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” Claire yelled, a laugh in her voice. She wiped the sauce from her face, picked up the fresh baked pie that sat on the counter and held it high.
“No no no,” Chris pleaded, his hands up in surrender. “I spent a long time on that pie, I was really looking forward to eating it.”
“Oh,” Claire smiled, “you’ll eat it.” Her hand cocked back and she let the pie fly.
Chris’s eyes went wide with horror as the cherry pie hit him full in the face. Claire let out a bark of laughter as the pie tin slid down Chris’s face.
“Nice shot mom!” Violet cheered. “How’s that pie taste Dad? It looked really yummy.”
Chris licked his lips, “Yes Vi, its mighty darn tasty.”
Claire gasped for breath, “red is your color Evans.” Cherry glaze clung to Chris’s thick eyelashes and bits of cherries joined the pasta in his beard.
Chris laughed, picked up two hand fulls of pasta from the colander next to the sink and chucked them at both Violet and Claire. Violet got hit with the cold, wet, sticky noodles around the neck. Claire was fast enough to get away from the flying pasta, but in her haste she slipped on a spot of sauce on the floor, the resulting crash had her husband and daughter rolling on the floor wild with laughter. Claire lay in on the floor breathing heard cradling her elbow.
Claire’s fall was exactly what she needed to knock her bad mood right out of her. Typically a fall would only serve to make people angry, but even the pain in her elbow couldn’t knock lose the complete silliness of the situation and how she found herself laying on the floor of her kitchen.
Chris crawled over to where Claire was laying, still laughing. “Are you ok hon?”
Claire sighed and looked into the deep blue eyes of her husband, “so much for dinner.”
Chris dropped his head onto Claire’s shoulder, cherry glaze staining her yellow top, and laughed harder still. It amazed Claire how Chris could find comedy in everything. She rarely saw him without a smile on his face. He was always happy and laughing. He was always the perfect anecdote for a bad day. She had figured he’d cheer her up, she just hadn’t expected it to be by way of her mothers marinara sauce splattered all over the usually crisp white and stainless steal kitchen.
Violet crawled over and laid down beside her mother, her wavy brown hair was spotted with noodles and sauce. Her bright blue eyes, so much like her fathers, sparkled with happiness. “We wanted to surprise you with dinner mom, we knew you were presenting your thesis proposal today. Sorry we messed it up.”
“Oh baby,” Claire wrapped her arm around Violet and squeezed her into her side, “you didn’t mess anything up. I needed this. Professor James didn’t like my proposal. He wants me to find something else to do my thesis on. I have one week.” Claire could have cried. She’d been working so hard on her thesis proposal. It had taken her months to put everything together. She wasn’t sure how she was going to put a new thesis and proposal together in a week.
“Well then,” Chris said, all laughter wiped from his face. “Lets get cleaned up and we will go out to dinner. We’ll make you forget about Professor James. He’s a jerk anyway.” Chris stood up and offered his hand to Claire.
“That sounds wonderful, but you’re cleaning the kitchen when we get home.” Claire said taking Chris’s hand.
Violet had gone to get cleaned up.
“We should go wash up too,” Claire said taking a few steps out of the kitchen.
Chris grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him, “you know,” he said running his nose down her neck, leaving a sticky messy trail, and kissing her exposed shoulder softly. “A shower together could be faster.”
Claire shivered, goosebumps speckling her skin. “It most certainly will not be faster.” She said, trying to ignore the feelings Chris was creating.
“hmmm,” he hummed, kissing his way back up her neck to just under her ear. His teeth grazed her ear sending a violent shiver down her spin. “It may not be faster, but it sure will be more fun.” Chris said softly before pulling away from her.
Claire whimpered slightly at the loss of contact. Chris slid in front of her, grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hall. “Come on, before Vi finishes getting ready.”
Claire laughed and let Chris trag her down the hall. She was so glad her bad day was over. Chris always knew just what she needed.