Playing House (CW)

Hours ticked by like minutes as the pair of siblings found themselves in a long and overly playful game of Monopoly. Kenny had been knocked out first, just a little over the first hour of play, and Kailyn soon followed some thirty minutes later. Sydney and JJ, however, were locked into a full battle of taunts, big talk, and based on what Kailyn and Kenny continued to catch, some regular cheating.

"Ha! You go to jail!" JJ laughed as he swiftly grabbed Sydney's piece and put her into the jail spot, "No two-hundred dollars coming your way!"

"Pfft, you think this a bad thing? That just means I have three whole turns of peace,"

'But anytime I land on your spots, I don't have to pay. No payday coming your way as long as you're in there and I'm out here."

"What?! Since when were we playing with that stupid rule?!"

"Since the start of the game!"

"We so did not!"

Kailyn looked over at Kenny, finding immediate understanding in the shared look of fatigue at this ever-continuing squabble, "How about we make some dinner?"

"Right behind you," Kenny scooted out of his chair, leaving JJ and Sydney to continue their debate in peace. Crossing away from the dining room second of the kitchen, Kenny and Kailyn rounded the counters and into the relatively tight cooking area. Brushing by the woman, Kenny went for the pantry while Kailyn opened the fridge, taking a look at what they had to work with. "Boy...I really forgot about Syd's competitiveness."

"JJ too, he can be such a sore loser," Kailyn and Kenny shared a snicker, "Who do you think is gonna win?"

"Depends if JJ catches Syd taking away his houses before Syd spots JJ stealing extra bills out of the bank." Kailyn cupped a hand over her mouth, laughing even louder at the thought. Kenny grinned and, for a brief moment, found himself tracing up and down Kailyn's figure. She had really filled out since the last time he spent time with her, not to mention that there was certainly something intoxicating about the way she seemed to be looking at him tonight and laughing at just about everything he said. It wasn't what he figured flirting would be, but...it was something he wasn't fully used to.

"What if we do something light?" Kailyn suddenly asked, yanking Kenny out of his ogling.

"What's that now?"

"Something light for dinner." Kailyn clarified, pulling out lettuce and a few veggies, "I could make us salads. Maybe with chicken?"

"Yeah, if you want to get chop up the veggies, I can take care of the chicken." Kailyn gave the teen a thumbs up, reaching into the fridge and passing him over a package of chicken breast.

"My, aren't we the responsible ones?" Kailyn joked, giving the fridge door a bump close with her butt, "Salads for dinner and not a single adult around. They'd be so proud."

"Give Syd twenty minutes, and I'm sure she'll be making a sundae for dessert."

"Oh good, that'll be ten minutes after me."

"Hey!" Sydney suddenly exclaimed loud enough that Kenny and Kailyn couldn't even attempt to ignore it. Poking their head over the half wall, they saw JJ leaning back in his seat with a devious grin and Sydney's face full of shock.

"Oh Jesus, what happened now?" Kailyn sighed,

"He's cheating!" Sydney's finger jutted out at the teen, "He's been taking extra money! No wonder I haven't bankrupted you yet! You're a no-good cheat, James Jackson!"

"It was a simple mistake; I put the money back," JJ nonchalantly defended,

"No way! I know what I saw. I win on a technicality," Sydney proudly suggested, sitting up tall.

"Oh, come on, Syd, you've been taking away one of JJ's houses every few rounds since I got knocked out. You cheat at this game too." Kenny called out, and Sydney's eyes immediately sprang open.

JJ sat forward, his lips parting and a breathy shocked laugh following, "Oh. Oooooh. I'm a cheat, huh?"

Sydney innocently smiled back at the jock, "I have no idea what they are talking about."

"Don't be a liar, Syd; you've been cheating all game." Kenny reiterated,

"You too, JJ; I saw you taking the extra cash. You're both in the exact same boat." Kailyn added, taking a tall, proud stance, "Kenny and I lost with some dignity."

"Well...I only started taking the money because I knew she was up to something."

"Bullshit, I only took your houses because you were building them too fast. You clearly were cheating first."

"I don't think I need to take this from the house thief."

Kenny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Are you guys seriously now arguing about who the worse cheater is?" Sydney and JJ let out a small laugh and looked over at the teen, "That's it, no more board games. Put it away,"

"But we aren't finished!" Sydney exclaimed, "I still want to beat him!"

"You weren't gonna do that, cheating or not." JJ taunted.

Kailyn sighed, "Oh my lord, enough out of you both. You heard Kenny put the game away. We're making dinner anyway, and it won't take long."

"What are you two, our parents now?" JJ teased,

Sydney giggled, joining right in. "Is it Mrs.Kailyn Clark or Mr.Kenny Jackson?"

The playful teasing hit Kailyn a bit more than she expected; she immediately looked over to Kenny and felt a twist in her stomach and a rush of heat to her cheeks. Surprisingly, Kenny kept his cool. "Yep, that's right, we're your parents. We hyphenated the last names," He sarcastically answered, "Now put the game away and go wash your hands."

"Oh my god, you're too much." JJ tossed a head back in laughter,

Kailyn felt her nervousness leaving her, "Hey...don't talk back against dad," JJ laughed all the harder, and even Sydney couldn't help but let out a small snort.

"Come on, JJ, better give the happy couple the kitchen before we get grounded." Sydney sarcastically suggested as she began to pick up the board game pieces.

"Don't tempt me, Syd. I got the power now." Kenny joked one last time as he stepped back to his station, opening the package of chicken and grabbing a knife to slice it up.

"Well done, darling. You're so firm with them." Kailyn snickered.

Kenny looked up at the girl, "Ah, you know, someone has to be the muscle in our relationship." Kailyn giggled and joined Kenny, returning to the task of making dinner and beginning to chop the veggies.