Kiss Me Tenderly

By the time we had gotten back home, I had nearly forgotten about all the weirdness that had happened on my and Alex’s first official date. We ended up driving home, our fingers intertwined over the center console, watching the city lights blink to life around us.
I tiptoed into the house, Alex on tow, gently shutting the front door behind me.
“Kris?” I called quietly, shedding my shoes next to the shoe rack and shrugging off my jacket, Alex mirroring me. The quiet rumble of the tv sounded from the living room so I followed the muted light that shone through the hallway. From the doorway, I spotted the top of Kris’s head over the edge of the couch, the Disney Channel playing whatever brainless show the creators cooked up. Walking around to the front of the couch, we almost awwed at the sight before us. Kris’s head was leaned back against the top of the couch, jaw slack as he snored. But what was absolutely adorable was the children that were draped across him. Missy was tucked up against his left side, his arm slung over her tiny form, her fingers clutching at his shirt much like she would clutch at her pillow. Sassy had a death grip on his arm, wrapped around it like a koala cub on a mother koala. Owen was simply laid across his lap, drooling ever so slightly on Kris’s designer jeans.
Alex and I both covered our mouths to muffle the sound of our laughter as we quickly took a few pictures of the most adorable thing we’ve ever seen. Careful not to wake the kids, we each gathered our respective children up to take them to the kid’s room (we had set up a semi permanent air mattress for Owen in Sassy and Missy’s room). Sassy’s head lolled against my shoulder, jerking up for a second before she nuzzled into my shoulder again, muttering something unintelligible under her breath. Missy simply opened her eyes sleepily and latched onto my side, mumbling a quiet, lazy “ ‘addy’s home.” before falling back asleep. Kris hadn’t moved the entire time we were rearranging the children in our arms and I turned in time to see Alex scrunching his shirt sleeve around his fist and wiping at the drool on Owens chin affectionately. He pressed a kiss to the child’s blonde hair before looking at me and grinning.
Once we had settled the kids back into their respective beds, we trooped back downstairs to wake Kris.
“Krissssss,” I shook his shoulder gently, his head rolling around on his shoulders before he woke up with a jerk.
“Whuzzgoinon,” he asked us blearily, pushing the heels of his hands against his eyes. Suddenly, he shot upright, eyes wild.
“I didn’t lose the kids, I swear, they were just right here like, we were just watching reruns of That’s So Raven and I must have fallen asleep I’m so sorry I’ll go look for them right now,” Kris babbled, standing up and eyes darting from side to side frantically.
Alex and I both chuckled. “It’s fine Kris, they’re in bed now, we got home a few minutes ago.”
His entire body sagged with relief, letting out a huge sigh.
“Oh thank god. Those little munchkins wore me out, jeez,” he shook his head. “I don’t know how you deal with it. I mean, all the running and the playing and the dolls and the dress up and the tv… I wonder how you guys don’t run yourself into the ground most days.” He shook his head again, rubbing a hand through his hair tiredly.
We chatted idly for a while before Kris glanced at his watch, exclaiming at the late hour. “Shit, I have work tomorrow!” he yelped, almost forgetting that there were three growing children in the house that needed their rest. Alex frowned at the expletive and hushed him, walking him to the front door to help him search for his shoes.
Something struck me as odd though and when I finally figured out what was bothering me, I smirked. I leaned against the doorway, a shit eating grin on my face.
“So Kris. Tomorrow’s Sunday.”
“Yeah and?” Kris never looked up from where he was furiously concentrating on tying his boots.
“I don’t know anyone around here who works on Sunday. Especialy you.” The wheels were turning in my head and my smirk grew ever wider.
He shrugged. “First time for everything. Boss just wanted me to go in to do some extra work.”
Both Alex and I cocked an eyebrow at him. “I thought you said the other day that your boss hated you, Kris.” By now Alex was smirking too.
Kris looked up at us, blush tinting his cheeks. “Excuse you but you don’t have to love someone to ask him to do extra paperwork because your lazy ass won’t do it yourself,” he snapped, the quiver in his voice giving him away.
“You’re so fucking your boss!” I whisper yelled in triumph, pointing my finger at him, dancing in place. Alex frowned at my swearing, punching me in the shoulder. “Stop that,” he hissed. “There are kids in the house, idiot.”
I poked his chest, reminding him that name calling was not very nice. Alex’s eyes narrowed playfully and I returned the glare, the air simmering with mock tension.
The sound of Kris standing up shifted our attention away from each other as he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“I’m uh… Just gonna.. go…” his voice trailed off as he tugged on his thick jacket. Alex grinned, bounding forward before his arms had completely cleared the sleeves to pull him into a hug, squeezing him tightly.
“Go get some tomorrow, tiger,” Alex winked at Kris, causing the poor man to blush even more before he slipped out the door and into the cool evening.
As soon as Alex had closed the door behind him and locked it, I had him pinned up against the door, trapping him.
“Jack, what’re you doing,” Alex complained as he nudged at my ribs, trying to get me off of him. I nipped at his neck, kissing it gently before replying.
“Trying to seduce you, what else,” the question came out more as a statement as I breathed a hot low breath across the delicate skin of his neck. I felt him shiver before he turned around in my arms, slamming our lips together. Our lips worked together in a frenzy, the temperature in the cold front hallway of our house rising quickly. Alex pulled back and in the dim light still emanating from the living room, I could see his cheeks were lightly flushed, his lips swollen.
“Well, it’s working,” he whispered, before crushing us back together.