Eye Shadow and High Heels
By angellwings
"Next thing you know she's wearing eye shadow and high heels...from that moment on you're in a constant state of panic." – Father of the Bride
"Mom! Where are my skinny jeans?" Carly yelled as she poked her head out of her room.
"In your closet, sweetie! I just put them in there today," Kelsi called in response.
"You're not seriously letting her do this, are you?" Ryan asked with a sigh.
"Letting her do what? Go to a movie with her friends?" Kelsi asked Ryan in confusion.
"With MALE friends-"
"There will be other girls there too, honey. It's not like we're feeding her to the jackals," Kelsi said with a shake of her head.
"Yeah, well you don't know teenage boys like I do."
"She's fourteen and the theatre is just down the block…she'll be fine. We've done a good job with her," Kelsi said with a small smile as she patted Ryan's back consolingly.
"I know WE'VE done a good job with her, but what about the other parents? Do we know how they did with THEIR kids?" Ryan asked his wife pointedly.
"Well, considering Emmett, Ella, Marietta, and Mitchell are among these kids…we sort of do," Kelsi smirked.
"Mitchell's been hanging around here a lot since Troy and Gabby moved here," Ryan said suspiciously.
Kelsi rolled her eyes, "He's been tutoring Marietta and Carly in math, Ry."
"That's what he wants you to think."
"Alright, Mr. Paranoid, calm down. Mitchell is a nice kid," Kelsi chuckled.
"Yeah, I know…too nice. I mean what 16 year old boy would WILLINGLY chauffer his little sister and her friends around? Hmm? And doesn't it concern you that we're sending her out with Ella, the seventeen year old terror?" Ryan asked in concern.
"Ella does concern me a little, yes, but Emmett will be there and he's very responsible. Besides I've already talked to Carly and there will be four other kids in the group that are her and Marietta's age," Kelsi said seriously. "And think of it this way, she's out with three older kids who know they will be murdered by us and their own parents if anything happens to her."
He grinned a little, "That IS true."
"See? So we've got that to our advantage," Kelsi said as she kissed her husband's cheek.
"Mom, where's your Honey eye shadow?"
"Eye shadow?" Ryan asked in worry. "She's wearing eye shadow now?"
"Well, she has started high school. That's when my mother let me start wearing makeup," Kelsi told him as she stuck her head out of their door. "It's in here, in our Medicine cabinet, Car!"
"Do you mind if I borrow it?" Carly asked as she appeared in their doorway.
"Of course, dear," Kelsi said with a smile. "Let me get it for you."
Kelsi walked into their bathroom to find the eye shadow.
"Hi dad," Carly said brightly before she spun around in front of him. "What do you think?"
He quirked an eyebrow. The outfit seemed safe. She was wearing a brightly colored graphic print t-shirt, a belt across her waist and a pair of skinny jeans. He froze at the sight of her feet.
"What are those things on your feet?"
Carly giggled and shook her head at him, "Heels, dad. Mom said it would be okay as long as they were small ones. They're just little black slippers with wedges. Nothing sexy."
"Sexy? Did you just say sexy?" Ryan asked her in shock.
"Dad, I'm fourteen…that's not the first time I've used that word," Carly said with a scoff.
"Kels! Our daughter just said 'sexy', should I be concerned?" Ryan asked his wife as she came back out of the bathroom with the eye shadow in hand.
"That depends on how she used the word," Kelsi said.
"I said my shoes weren't sexy," Carly said simply.
"Then no, Ry, there's no need to be concerned," Kelsi said with a chuckle as she handed Carly the eye shadow. "Don't put on too much."
Carly sighed laboriously, "I know, I can only wear makeup as long as I go for the natural look."
"You better believe it, Missy," Kelsi said as she gave her daughter a quick kiss on the forehead. "Now go finish getting ready."
"She's wearing heels," Ryan said after Carly left.
"That was our rule, remember? We told her when she started middle school that she could wear heels when she started high school," Kelsi said with a smile.
He sighed, "How are you so calm about this?"
Kelsi chuckled and sat back down next to Ryan, "Because unlike some one I know, I've been working on accepting this for years now."
"Accepting what?" Ryan asked.
"Accepting that Carly is becoming a young woman. In two years she'll be able to get her license, and then two years after that she'll be on her way to college…without us."
"Have we reached that point already? Really?" He asked pathetically.
She rubbed his back softly, "I'm afraid we have."
"Has it really been fourteen years? It hasn't felt like fourteen years," Ryan said as he ran a hand through his thinning hair. "I suddenly feel very old."
"You can't feel too old," Kelsi said sternly. "We still have two little boys to raise."
"Oh, we do don't we? I don't know if I have the energy for that," He said with a small grin.
"You better have the energy! I'm NOT doing this by myself," Kelsi said as she poked his side playfully.
He kissed her temple softly, "No you're not…and you'll never have to."
Kelsi sighed contentedly and rested her head on Ryan's shoulder, "We're lucky to have you, Ryan. You know that right?"
He patted her hand softly, "I do now."
The intercom buzzed and suddenly two seven year old voices rang out, "We'll get it!"
"Don't you dare!" Carly yelled. "Daddy!"
Ryan chuckled, "I guess I better stop the boys from humiliating her."
"You'll never make it on time," Kelsi grinned.
"Crocodile Faced Carly's house, how can we help you?" The twin's voices said simultaneously.
"Daddy! Mommy! Make them stop!"
Kelsi and Ryan exchanged amused glances as they left their bedroom to pull Jonah and Jacob off their step ladder and away from the intercom. No matter how many changes their lives went through one thing was certain: life would never be boring.