She found him in the kitchen the next morning and triumphantly put her hands on her hips.
"I've decided that as long as it's okay with you that I'll be spending the weekend with a bunch of sexually repressed—and, therefore, sporadically audacious—cartoon nerds, then it's fine with me. I'll go if I know I can trust my husband to assure my safety amid a large group of perverts. Can I trust you, Sandy? Is it okay with you that I am subjecting myself to ass-grabbery by men not bound to me by law?" He looked slightly defeated.
"Aw, hon, not the guilt card. Please don't play the guilt card."
"It's already on the table, darling," she teased. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to one-up you."
"You can't make me go," she replied, laughing.
"I don't plan on it. In fact...I have another plan that I think you're really going to enjoy."
"Yeah?" She kissed him. "What's that?"
"I'll take Seth. You can take Ryan."
"Me?" She wrinkled her nose. "Go to Chino? By myself?" He had her pinned between himself and the counter and started kissing her. Suddenly they were interrupted by a startled cry.
"Aaagh!" Sandy jumped away and Kirsten took a leap to her left. Seth was standing in the doorway looking horrified. "Oh, my god. Oh. My god. Oh, man."
"Seth, what are you doing up?"
"I was going to go surfing. But god...oh, that was the most disgusting thing I've ever—,"
"You might want to watch your words there, son," Sandy warned.
"Jesus Christ. That was the single most...dude, it's like eight- fifteen."
"All right, Seth. Consider your revulsion recognized. Thanks," Kirsten said. He nodded as though he had done something admirable, then perked up a bit.
"So...did I just hear you talking about going to Chino, or...?"
"Oh," Kirsten glanced quickly at Sandy. "Um...no. I mean...we're just throwing around ideas."
"Oh." He looked disappointed.
"We're going to try to get Ryan to come home," Kirsten explained, hoping to raise his spirits. Seth nodded, seeming a little more pleased. Sandy suddenly grabbed Kirsten's arm.
"Hang on a sec. Seth, um...parental meeting. Wait." He pulled Kirsten out onto the patio. "I've got a great idea."
"What?" she asked, both curious of and troubled by his strange Inspector Gadget behavior.
"We'll all go."
"You lost me."
"To Chino! You're absolutely right, there is no way that you should go alone. With Seth? Great! With Seth and me? Greater than great! Spectacular!"
"You have the biggest ego of anyone I have ever met," she commented, laughing. "But Sandy...Chino family road trip?" He threw his arms out dramatically.
"Cohen family road trip!"
"Both are sounding pretty unsettling."
"Kirsten! No! You, me, Seth, and the open road!"
"We're talking about Chino, Sandy, it's not like we'd be driving to Vermont." He stared at her incisively and she cocked her head doubtfully. "Cohen family road trip?"
"Cohen family road trip!" he enthused.
"Okay. That's been repeated a few too many times," she smiled.
"Come on, what do you say?" She shrugged.
"I guess it's worth a shot."
"That's my girl!" He kissed her and Seth yelled from the kitchen.
"Dude, stop. Seriously. Just because you went outside doesn't mean that I can't see you through the glass door. And just because you guys aren't fighting doesn't mean that you get to be disgusting. Let's get some invisible personal space circles established here."
"Seth, I have a proposal!" Sandy ignored him, strolling back into the kitchen. "This weekend. You. Me. Your mom. Visiting Ryan. In Chino."
"You might want to work on incorporating full sentences into your proposals. I think you'll be taken more seriously," Seth said, scuffing the toe of his shoe on the kitchen floor.
"I'll keep that in mind. But what do you say? You up for a little—,"
"Say 'Cohen family road trip' and I'll strangle you," Kirsten interjected lightly.
"Is that a promise?" Sandy asked in a frightening Barry White voice, getting sidetracked.
"Wow. Man. That was quite possibly the most horrible thing I have ever witnessed," Seth said, and Kirsten laughed.
"Yeah, Sandy, that was a little creepy. Even for you." Smiling, she turned to Seth. "That aside, what do you think?" Seth shrugged.
"Whatever." Kirsten and Sandy briefly exchanged confused glances, but Kirsten hid her bewilderment quickly with a smile.
"Great. So...Saturday, then?" Sandy gave her a thumbs up.
"Sounds good."
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Well, this was kind of a big update. But I wanted to get it all out there...thanks so much for all of the reviewing! I really, really appreciate the feedback, particularly because you guys are so incredibly nice. ;) There's more to come. I'm not 100% sure where this is going, but I needed to have a change of scenery to write about. Hence, the little expedition! So I'll get working on that...and please let me know what you think about the latest 3 chapters!
Thanks!