Film, TV, Book and Game Theories

Mark and Kenneth like each other (Cheaper by the Dozen)

So, I'm pretty sure you're wondering who in the hell these two are. Mark is one of the 12 Baker children in the Cheaper by the Dozen movies from 2003 and 2005, Kenneth is the youngest Murtaugh child in the second movie, shown to be Mark's age, and close to Mark as well. So where does my theory come from? Mark is shown to be the only Baker family member that Kenneth has a connection with, and vice versa. Here are some examples. Mark greets Kenneth by his nickname, rather than just his name, while Kenneth calls Mark "his old partner in crime." This would suggest that the two are close. Also, Mark goes along with Kenneth's schemes, knowing he could get in trouble, suggesting he fully trusts Kenneth. When Mark bails on family activities to go to the Murtaugh's to play video games, he specifically says "Kenneth has video games." This suggests that he was going over to see Kenneth and play video games with him.

Kenneth is also shown to have a sort of admiration of how the Bakers do things while no other Murtaugh child is shown to, as evidenced by when he asked his father if he could go over to join their campout. Mark also seemingly got Kenneth to wear a bedpan on his head at the end of the movie. They also have knowledge of the area they were in, and seem to enjoy the same things. The biggest piece of evidence in my opinion is towards the end of the movie, when the Murtaugh's bail on the canoe race to go help the Bakers and Nora. It seems that the Murtaughs all bailed in order of how strong of a connection they have with the Bakers. Anne and Eliot bailed first as they have connections with Charlie and Sarah respectively. Kenneth was the third to bail, but who could Kenneth have a really strong connection with that would cause him to bail on his family and help his rivals? Yep, you guessed it, it's Mark.

The thing about this is that Anne and Eliot each have a romantic connection with Charlie and Sarah, which is probably the main reason they bailed on the canoe race. It's highly possible that Mark and Kenneth have a connection to the point they deeply care about each other, causing Kenneth to decide that his family's rivals and their safety are more important to him than winning a race for his family.

Whether this is true or not, I ship an older Mark and older Kenneth getting together during high school or college. To me, this shipping is canon, and they could've touched more on this subject if there had been a third movie, except with the kids now grown up, or set in 2009-2010. Though we will never know because some of the actors, including the actors for Mark and Kenneth are retired from acting.