Kristin sighed in relief and exhaustion as she pulled into the driveway of the home she shared with Nathan Bridger and Lucas Wolenczak.  The day had gone horribly wrong right from the beginning.  First, she'd been late to a meeting that she herself had scheduled, due to the flat tire she'd suffered on the highway.  With the help of a fellow commuter, she'd reached the office an hour late and had to endure the smug faces of her research team.

Later during the day as she had been perusing some long-overdue paperwork, she'd gone to pour some coffee from her thermos, and hadn't realized she'd forgotten to tighten the lid.  As a result, the dark liquid had gushed out of it's container, staining the papers in front of her and her uniform.  Luckily for her, she always kept a change of clothes in her office.

Then she'd had to stay and mediate a dispute between two of the scientists in her department.  They hadn't seemed to care that her mood was less than amiable, sour even, and had confronted her in the office just as she was walking out the door.  Kristin had managed to appease both men after an hour of listening to petty complaints and she was home now.

Home... as she walked up cement walkway leading to the house, she realized how hungry she was.  She could only hope that Nathan was preparing something for dinner.  Kristin also began to think of how nice a long, hot bath sounded, and maybe a massage from Nathan later on.

She was almost smiling as she inserted her key in the lock and opened the door.  She placed her briefcase on the desk in the living room and walked further into the house, curious as to why only silence greeted her.  Kristin knew that both Lucas and Nathan were home, for their cars were parked along the street.

Kristin made her way into the kitchen and nearly had a heart attack at the sight that greeted her.  Instead of the neatly ordered and immaculately kept kitchen, and she very well knew how neatly ordered and immaculately kept it was because she was the one who maintained it, a disaster area lay before her.  Mixing bowls and frying pans were lying haphazardly on the counters; flour and broken eggs littered the floor; the walls were covered with various hues of red and yellow, remniscent of a Picasso painting; but what disturbed her most of all was the open refrigerator, emptied now of all it's contents.

She didn't know how long she stood there in wide wonder before the sliding glass door leading to the backyard opened hurriedly, but judging from the position of the sun, it had been a while.  She didn't even look up to see who had entered because she couldn't seem to drag her gaze away from the sight before her.

"Uh oh."

Kristin finally tore her eyes away from the floor and looked into Lucas' troubled face.  She had just opened her mouth to ask for, no demand, an explanation when Nathan tumbled the house, squirting chocolate syrup into the youth's hair.  He slid to a stop as soon as he noticed Kristin's presence.

Both of the guilty parties were covered in food... most of which she couldn't identify.  The only thing she clearly recognized was the cherry cheescake she had been yearning for all day plastered on top of Nathan's head.  She wanted to cry.  No, first she wanted to scream, then she wanted to cry.  In the end, she had the energy to neither.

"Kris, honey..."  Kristin gazed at Nathan unnervingly as he shifted on his feet.  "We were gonna clean up before you got home."

"Yeah, but we kinda lost track of the time."  Lucas piped in.  Now it was his turn to be the recipient of her well-patented look.

"We were making dinner, and... and well, we just--"

"Started throwing food around like a couple of Neandratals?"  Kristin interrupted in a deceptively calm voice.

"Before you start over-reacting--"

"Over-reacting?  And exactly how am I supposed to act in a situation like this?"

"Aw, doc, we were just having a little fun."  Lucas volunteered.

Kristin didn't answer him, but continued to stare angrily at his partner in crime, who for his part, returned her angry glance with one of his own.  Nathan, oblivious to his ridiculous appearance placed his hands on his hips and sighed.

"This is just as much our kitchen as it is yours, you know."

"I'd allow that statement if either of you ever took the responsibility to clean it up once in a while, instead of leaving it for me to do."

"Don't give me that, Kris.  We clean up around her just as much as you."

"Oh really.  When is the last time either of you emptied the dishwasher?  Cleaned out the fridge... well, aside from today's display of a lack of common sense?  Do you even know where the broom or mop are located?"

"Now, wait just a minute--"

"No, you wait just a minute.  I work at least twelve hours on a good day.  And I don't think it's asking too much from the two of you to help me out around the house a little."

"You're right, Doc."  Lucas admitted, hoping to avoid anymore argument.

Nathan sighed and threw up his hands.  "Whatever... I'm not going to stand here and argue with you."

Kristin pinched the bridge of her nose and shrugged her shoulders. She then abruptly turned on her heel and headed towards the back of the house.  Once the door to the bedroom was shut firmly behind her, she began removing her clothes with more violence than was necessary and threw them heedlessly to the floor.  She continued on to the bathroom, and a few moments later, was submerged up to her chin in a soothing bath.

Kristin didn't know how long she'd been asleep for when she heard the sounds of the shower.  She glanced at the clock on the bedside and raised her eyebrows at the late hour.  It was almost one o'clock in the morning... surely it hadn't taken Nathan and Lucas that long to clean up the kitchen?

She hadn't made an appearance since she'd stormed out earlier and had chosen instead to spend the remainder of the evening shut up in the bedroom.  She had been terribly hungry, but her pride wouldn't let her leave the room.  Kristin cursed her obstinancy as her stomach growled in protest now, and she debated about whether or not to go and search the kitchen for something to eat.  However, it looked like all the food in the house had either been on the floor, or on one of the boys, so she decided to try and get some sleep and worry about food in the morning.

Sighing, she turned on her side and shut her eyes firmly, not trusting herself to be able to have a civil conversation with Nathan.  And she definitely didn't want to engage him in another argument.  A few minutes passed before she felt Nathan slip into bed beside her.  She expected him to keep to his side of the bed, so she was a little surprised when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Kris?"  He whispered, his breath warm against her ear.  "Kris, I'm sorry."  Kristin shifted onto her back and looked into Nathan's eyes.  He smiled slightly at her and continued.  "You're right... we don't help out as much as we should... I guess Lucas and I both figure the mess will take care of itself, and we never give a second thought to *who* takes care of it.  Are we forgiven?"

Kristin cracked her first real smile of the day and reached up to place a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth.  "Of course."

"And I am sorry about today... I guess we got a little carried away."

Kristin sighed and shook her head.  "I just had a terrible day, Nathan... maybe I would have seen a little humor in the situation if I'd been in a better mood."

Nathan kissed her forehead gently and asked.  "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No... right now, I just want to get some sleep."

Nathan smiled and laid down in the bed, pulling Kristin against him so that her head was pillowed on his chest.  His eyes had just begun to drift on when Kristin spoke.

"I do however want to talk about how the bloody food fight got started."

Nathan grinned in the darkness and shook his head.  "No you don't, believe me."