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“Are they your girrrrrlfriends?” the nine-year-old asked I expected her to start singing Derek and Kaitlyn, sittin’ in a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G…

“Not yet,” Derek said, and winked at me – which made my stomach flutter “But we’re workin’ on it”

Shanna looked over at me with a OoooOOOOH look

I rolled ain

Somebody else had a reaction, too: Mara, the tween She shot ers I would have expected froe

Maybe I did have competition

It was pretty funny, though

Derek saw her, and iie “But YOU will always be htly rubbed his knuckle into Mara’s head

She shrieked and forgot all about me

Derek apparently had all woer, even the prepubescent ones

“We heard you singing Katy Perry!” they shouted

“I was practicing for you,” Derek said seriously

“We wanna hear Katy Perry!” they whined

“Next ti

“We wanna hear Katy Perrrrryyyy!”

“You see?” Ryan asked in exasperation “It’s like a stray dog – you feed it once, you let it hang around, and it never freakin’ leaves”

“I’onna tell Mom you said a bad word!” the little one shrieked

“Freakin’s not a bad word,” Ryan snapped

“It’s gettin’ a little too close for comfort,” a Southern-accented voice said behind us

A woman walked into the kitchen She was probably mid-40’s, pretty, blonde, and conservatively dressed in a business suit She was a lot shorter than Ryan, but she was still pretty tall in her heels – maybe even taller than me

“Hello, Derek,” she said, and ruffled his hair as she passed by

“Hi, Mrs Miller,” Derek said affably

“Moirls shrieked in a chorus

She kissed their heads and turned to kiss Ryan’s cheek – but he recoiled visibly

“Moooom,” he said, embarrassed, and motioned with his head towards us

Ryan’s mother turned and looked at us – first at me, then at Shanna, then at Shanna’s proe