“Ha, ha!” Glen jumped up and waved the controller in the air, “I win again!”

“Glen, please don’t tell me you’re beating a 3-year-old in Mario Kart and you’re happy about that,” Spencer said, closing the door.

“Mommy!” Sammy yelled.

“Hey, a win is a win.  Let’s not use age as an excuse here,” Glen replied.

“Okay, well let’s see how you stack up against someone a little more your height,” Spencer said taking a seat on the couch.  She noticed a huge bowl of potato chips and a bowl of M&M’s sitting on the coffee table.  “Glen, please don’t tell me you’ve been feeding her this junk all day.”

“Hey, it’s the weekend.  I feed her that carrot crap you buy all week long.  She needs a break.”

“Yeah mommy, I need a bweak.”

“Ok, but when you get a tummy ache,” Spencer said, gently poking Sammy in the belly making her giggle, “don’t come crying to me.  Go knock on your uncle’s door.”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Glen said, holding up his hands. “That’s not uncle territory.  I stuff them full of treats so they love me.  And the mommies take care of the consequences.  That’s how it works.”

“Yeah mommy,” Sammy agreed eagerly nodding her head.

“Whose side are you on anyway, Sammy?” Spencer asked the little girl.

“Yours,” Sammy pointed to her mother.  Spencer leaned down and hugged the girl, kissing her on the cheek. 

“Just for that, I’m going to beat Uncle Glen at Mario Kart ten times,” Spencer said, holding up both hands with her fingers spread out to emphasize the number.

“Yay!” Sammy screamed, as she and her mother high-fived, “Uncle Gwen, you gone lose.”

Hours and a pile of junk food later, the score was Spencer and Sammy 30, Glen 0 in Mario Kart.  All three were now nursing sore thumbs so decided to play Rock Band instead. Glen was on the drums, Spencer on the guitar, and Sammy on the mic.  Sammy couldn’t read the words, but as long as she kept screaming into the microphone they were usually able to stay in the game, though not with a high score.   

They were in the middle of a song when the doorbell rang.

“You get it,” Glen said, steadily beating the drums.