the kitchen was lovely

The kitchen was lovely – more Real Simple ideas at work, with a couple of pretty flower arrangements and a tiny herb garden in one of those round, space-age terrariums you buy at Bed, Bath & Beyond. There wasn’t too much in the cupboards, so we ate potato chips and carrot sticks with dip as we sat around the island in the middle of the kitchen.

After a few minutes, I heard whispering behind us. Two little brown-haired girls, about 9 and 12, were poking their heads around the corner, watching us. As soon as they saw me look at them, they burst into giggles and darted out of sight.

“Hey – who’s that back there?” Derek said loudly.

More giggling, and then the little girls came tearing around the corner and slid into the kitchen on their socks.

“Hi Derrrrrrek!” they both shouted at once, and dissolved into giggles again.

“Hello, ladies!”

“Out!” Ryan shouted.

“AWWWWW!” they complained.

“Come on, man, they can stay,” Derek said good-naturedly.

Ryan grumbled and ordered them to behave. They