Aella's Kiss: A Mediterranean Odyssey.

"So I said, 'well, you should have just left her with the bottle.'"

"Definitely, that's how you play it." The big man, who introduced himself as Larry, took another gulp from his beer. "I never let my kids drink out of a bottle. I want them to get used to the real thing."

"Oh, definitely," replied Jim. They were sitting in a bar at an airport, waiting for their flights. Both men had arrived early so they'd have some time to kill, but they had gotten to talking and decided to kill time together. As they talked more and more, they found that they'd traveled many of the same places and had similar views on parenting.

Larry set down his beer. "I don't know if any of your kids are old enough to do this yet. But here's the trick to getting them started." He leaned over conspiratorially and lowered his voice. "They've got these sippy cups now...they make it really easy for kids to drink from a cup without spilling all over themselves. And it's just like a regular cup when you're done." He raised his eyebrows as if this was some great secret he was revealing. "But what you do is..." He paused for dramatic effect before continuing: "you put it on their palms upside-down!" He looked back at Jim for approval and nodded sagely.

Jim nodded back with enthusiasm. "Oh man, that's a good one! I use that one all the time!" He laughed heartily while Larry joined in with him. They high-fived each other before clinking their beers together at a toast.

"You know what else I do? When I'm watching football or something on TV and I see a commercial for milk, or juice or whatever? You know what I used to do?" Larry asked eagerly. Jim shook his head; he didn't know what Larry used to do but he was eager to hear about it anyway. "I'd say 'Ooh look! An apple!' And then I'd pretend like there was an apple behind my back and feed my kid an invisible apple! So when they got older they would be ready to suck on an actual apple!" He laughed at this one too and slapped his knee in amusement but stopped short when he noticed Jim wasn't laughing along with him again.

"I mean...that's not bad or anything," said Larry uncomfortably as he looked away from Jim's unnatural stare at him and down at his beer instead. "But I think mine's better."

Jim was silent for several moments before looking back up at Larry with wide eyes and saying slowly: "That's...not what you used to do."

Larry squirmed in his seat uncomfortably before chuckling nervously again. "Yeah...no...that wasn't really how it happened." He cleared his throat before continuing: "That was just how things would appear if someone were watching me doing it."

END