There she goes

 Kevin was in charge of the smoked meats, and Jared was helping. They'd invited Justin and Carmen over for a low-key cookout, which Kevin had to admit smelled wonderful. Hopefully, it would taste just as good. The girls tended to the sides in the kitchen. He could hear laughter. He suspected they might all be sipping white wine.

He soon found out all Mel was offering was seltzer water. 

"What  could be so funny?" He asked Justin who was bringing out Lite beers for the guys.

"Just being silly, I guess." He shrugged with a sigh. "They seem to enjoy putting each other down."

"Why?" Kevin winced.

"It's a Midwest thing," Jared tossed in some input with a fat grin as he took a sip of the bottled beer.

"It's a milinal thing," Justin clarified, as if he'd been observing this behavior for a long time.

"Crazy," Kevin had never noticed it as he sipped a beer.

"Who knows, I think they just like calling each other bitches," Jared laughed.

"Well, how do you know when they aren't mad?"

"I do not know, I stay out of it, but I think it's something Nori and Mel do to each other a lot, especially about their weight. It's like they'd hate for the other to lose any weight." Jared shrugged.

Kevin tended to the meat with care, even splashing it with a little beer. Steam and smoke got in his face, but it didn't bother him a bit. This was his domain, even if he was sporting cargo pants and a hoodie. It wasn't completely spring these days with snow showers in the forecast.

"Things will change once we all have kids. They won't talk that way around each other," Justin waved his beer around as if he might know more than the other two.

"Yeah, right," Jared wasn't convinced.

It was quiet then. They didn't hear laughter from the kitchen. There was still a winter chill in the air as the sun was going down. Kevin shivered slightly with a sigh. He wasn't sure what to expect, but at least when he came in with the meat, everyone acted like a grown-up. Maybe he was worried for nothing.