A/N: I've been stuck in a little young Katie and Ned rut for a while and wanted to branch out a little. Enjoy xx Mariah

Ned - 44
Katie - 40
Asher - 17
Ryan - 17
Julian - 17
Willow - 13
Emily - 7
David - 5

When Ned came home after a long day at work the last thing he'd expected was for his house to be full of people. Full was a bit of an understatement, but when he and Katie already had four kids and one brought two over, that equals full.

All six children were crowding the kitchen island and Ned couldn't even see his wife as he slipped his coat off and hung it over the banister.

"Full house tonight, I see." He said as he stepped into the kitchen.

The crowd turned and Emily bolted toward him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Daddy! You're home!" The seven-year-old squealed. "Mom's making homemade pizza. We're picking toppings."

"Hi, babe. Happy to see that you're home." Katie glanced up from where she was sprinkling cheese over a pizza. "What topping do you want on the pizzas? I've limited each person to pick one to add."

"Hey, my vote is for pepperoni if someone already hasn't said it," he smiled, leaning down to hug their younger daughter properly. "Hey sweetheart, how was school today?"

"Good. Mrs. Frank let us play with clay today in art!" Emily boasted, her grin wide and pigtails bouncing as she did. "And mom gave me two cookies in my lunch today."

"That's awesome. I got two in mine too," he said with a wink as he walked past her. He swung around the island to get a chance to properly say hello to his wife, but she was surrounded by Asher and one of his friends that he couldn't remember the name of. He wondered where their youngest son was. David didn't seem to be in the kitchen.

Instead, he went to the fridge, grabbing himself a beer and twisting the top off.

"Hey, babe, can you grab the cheddar cheese for me?" She asked just before he closed it.

"Sure thing," he said, grabbing the bag from the drawer. He slid in beside her to set it down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Hey, you. It's busy in here."

"Yeah, it's a nuthouse in here." She sighed, opening the bag and sprinkling the cheese on the pizza to her left before she put it in the oven.

"Where's David?" He asked, rubbing his hands up and down her side. "I haven't seen him yet."

"He's up in his room playing with his wrestlers. It was a little too loud for him down here, so I got him situated upstairs." She explained, leaning against the counter for a moment of relaxation. "I didn't realize that Ash was bringing two friends over when he asked and Mack bailed on the girl's sleepover with Willow and Emily and her girls for tonight so all the kids are home, plus Ash's friends."

"We'll manage, Katie. I'm home all night and have the morning off in the morning." He reasured her, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek. "I can usher everyone to the living room if you want some quiet in here." His arm making its way around her waist as he pulled her in for a hug.

"That would be great," she said, squeezing him close, her hands moving over the expanse of his back and taking in the feel of his muscles. "I haven't heard quiet since my twenty-minute lunch earlier." She pulled back from him and went back to the counter, sprinkling cheese on the other pizza now. "That would be perfect because then I could clean this up in a little bit of silence."

Ned nodded and clapped his hands to clear the noise. "Alright, everyone to the living room. Pick something to watch that everyone will enjoy."

There was a moment of silence as the children and teenagers all pondered what he said before they slowly meandered their way into the living room, each getting themselves any last minute snacks while they waited for the pizza.

Katie leaned against the counter with an exhausted igh. "Thank you." She rubbed her temples. "I don't know how we're going to manage."

He walked closer and wrapped his arms around her. "We'll be fine." He said, rubbing her back slowly. "You can take a bath later, I'll make sure."

She pressed her lips to his neck. It was the little things now that meant the most. Like giving her the extra house to take a nice bath and making dinner some nights. It wasn't that the flowers and gifts he would get her weren't nice too, but it was the every single day things that meant more.

"Thank you," she whispered and slowly moved away to put the second pizza in the oven.

Just then there was a whine from Emily and Ned went to investigate and calm her down.

Katie's next mission was to find the plastic cups for the soda everyone would drink.

"What kind of soda do you guys want?" She called from the kitchen, standing on her toes to try and reach the cups in the cupboard above the fridge. Usually, she was tall enough, but they had rolled all the way o back. She hated the extra high shelves that were in their kitchen but they usually only stored non-necessities up high. The plastic cups being one of them, were now out of reach.

"Let me help with that, Mrs. Banks." A smooth voice said from behind her, and all too familiar tone in it. She looked over her shoulder as six feet of teenage boy easily reached the cups without a problem.

"Oh, thank you Julian." The teen handed her the cups, his thousand-watt smile that would make any girl weak in the knees beaming right at her. Thank God she wasn't a teenage girl and was married. She moved under his arm and back toward the island. "Did you need something?"

"I was just coming to see what soda you had when I saw you struggling to grab the cups," Julian said smoothly, following closely behind.

"Oh, how nice of you." She said softly, gently bumping his shoulder with her own. "The soda is over by the back door. I think there is root beer, orange and mountain dew."

"Oh, alright…" Julian said his voice lowering a bit too much for a seventeen year old.

She flushed, just now noticing exactly how close the teen was to her. "R-right, well best get yourself a soda and go back in the room with the other kids, don't want to miss the show or movie they picked." She stuttered and turned around to open the freezer and pull out the cheesy bread she was going to make too.

"They picked some kid movie," Julian grabbed a rootbeer and shrugged. "I've seen it already. I'll just wait on the pizza in here."

"Still… I think Asher and Ryan would like their friend to hang out with them, don't you think?" She asked, unwrapping the bread to put it on a pan to ready for the oven.

"It's boring in there, I like the more mature conversation… besides you're all alone in here." Julian smiled and took a sip of his drink sa he walked back over toward her.

"Hey, babe, did you want to—- oh hey sport. I think Asher is looking for you." Ned said, his stance a bit stiffer than normal when he saw the teenager a bit too close to his wife. His brow furrowed.

"Actually I prefer Julian now, Ned." The teen took a swig of his soda. "This isn't little league."

"Oh? And I prefer Mr. Banks- go get the juice boxes out of my truck for me?" Ned walked toward the center of the kitchen. "The little kids are bound to get thirsty soon and I don't think you want them on a sugary soda high to annoy you."

"But it's barely twenty degrees outside," Julian sighed.

"Then you better do it fast." He said ushering the boy out with a smile.

Katie snickered and leaned back into the counter as Ned walked closer to her.

It turned his proud grin faded into a confused one. "What?" He asked.

"Oh my, Mr. Banks are you jealous of that boy?" She grinned.

"Not one bit Mrs. Banks. I am married to you after all," he smiled as he pulled her close, one hand firmly set on her hip and the other on her jaw as he finally pressed their lips together for the first time since he'd gotten home.

She smiled and leaned into him, "Very true," she whispered. "For almost twenty years now, you'd think you'd be a little less possessive by now." She wrapped her arms around his neck just as their lips met again.

"I don't think that'll ever happen, my love." He chuckled.

"What were you saying when you came in again?" She asked, breathlessly, just remembering he was saying something when he'd first walked in to find her and Julian making awkward conversation.

"I was gonna ask you if you wanted to make that bath for two," he grinned, winking at her.

Her cheeks flushed pink and she nodded as their lips pressed against each other's again.