Still Waters Run Deep

Chapter 2: All You Need is Love

Chapter 2:

All You Need is Love

The night before Emily and Alison's anniversary, their girls made them dinner. And they fought the entire time. First Grace used too much seasoning on the main course that Lily was preparing. Then Lily ate some of the key ingredients that Grace was using to make dessert.

"Lily!" Grace grumbled when she opened the bag of chocolate chips to find that it was almost empty. "How am I supposed to make a chocolate soufflé without the chocolate?"

Lily wiped some chocolate away from the corner of her mouth and then looked at Grace with an innocent expression.

"In my defense, you left the chocolate unattended." Lily grinned. Grace scowled at her. "Come on, it's not that big of a deal." She chuckled. "Besides, you can't even reheat soup. You really expect me to believe you were going to be able to whip up a five-star dessert?"

"I've been working on it!" Grace dragged a chair across the floor and pushed it up to the kitchen counter. "Grandma has been helping me." She shrugged. "Who even eats semi-sweet chocolate anyway? It tastes like ass."

"Grace! Language!" Emily yelled from the living room.

"Sorry!" Grace called back. She lowered her voice and looked at her sister, a sheepish expression on her face. "I did not realize she was in there. Did you?"

Lily nodded with a smarmy smile.

"You are a terrible sister," Grace said flatly. She climbed up on the chair.

"What are you doing?" Lily questioned curiously.

Grace put her foot up on the counter and opened the top cabinet.

"Mom has a secret stash of chocolate around here somewhere." Grace felt around behind some dishes for Ali's hidden candy stash.

Her foot was closer to the edge than Lily cared to see. She stood behind her, worried she was about to fall, wondering if Grace's ass was about to topple on to her face.

"Get down before you break your neck." Lily complained.

"Oh, relax." Grace shook her head. Her fingers grazed something solid. "Ah ha." She pulled out a half-eaten bar of dark chocolate. "This will do."

"Great." Lily shrugged. "Now how about you finish up your high-flying act and get your feet back on the ground? You're not in Cirque Du Soleil."

"Circular what?" Grace glanced down in confusion.

"God, I can't believe we're related." Lily rolled her eyes.

Much to Lily's relief, Grace hopped down without incident and they went back to their dinner preparation. Five minutes later they were arguing about something again. Grace threw a handful of flour at Lily's head and then Lily turned the nozzle over the sink on Grace.

In the living room, Emily was shaking her head and laughing at her children as she tidied the living area. Over the years, Lily and Grace had their fair share of fights. Ali and Emily usually let them sort it out themselves. They mediated when they needed to, but when it came to little spats the girls usually worked it out before their moms needed to intervene.

She heard the front door open and then close and seconds later she was almost bowled over by a very happy bouncy mutt. Their Rottweiler-Husky mix, Jett, bounded into the room next to her. They had rescued him when he was a puppy. Now he was a two-year-old shedding ball of energy that never quit. He danced around her feet until she leaned down to say hello to him.