The Sullivan Sisters

Defining Family

"You nervous?" Charlie pondered, he gently coiled his fingers around his girlfriend's shoulders, giving them a gentle massage.

Quinn let out a sigh and instantly relaxed at the feeling of his touch. "Well, yeah, I mean, having them over, it's pretty big and meeting Oliver that's like, huge, I really hope everything goes well. All of this is new territory and I really need my sister to be civil. You know how she is sometimes with people...outside of our bubble."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I know. But this was her idea, right, to have them over? She'll be civil, she'll be nice."

"I hope you're right," the girl muttered.

"Of course I am." He brushed her lengthy red locks to one side and softly pressed his lips to her neck. Quinn shut her eyes in ecstasy and leaned her head to the side to grant him more access to her sensitive skin.

Seconds later, she reluctantly pulled herself away from him long enough to turn around and attach her lips to his. He readily accepted her kisses while she backed him towards her bed, but once the redhead reached for his belt buckle, he grinned against her lips amd pulling away.

"We can't," he chuckled. "Are you forgetting where we are?"

"No," she retorted with a smirk. "We're in my bedroom and I can't think of anything better to do. Besides, I thought you wanted to help me to relax."

Charlie couldn't help but laugh, "Ava and Paloma are right downstairs. Your sister won't even let us close the door let alone do that and Ross and his family will be here any minute now."

Just as the words fell from the boy's mouth the sound of the doorbell sliced through the serenity of the home and shook the nerves back into Quinn's body.

"Speaking of the devil," Charlie uttered. He reached for her hand and pulled her out of the bedroom. "Come on, it'll be fine."

The couple inched down the staircase, their gaze settled on the front door as Paloma gently pulled it open.

"Hi, you must be Ross," the brunette greeted with a handshake. Her smile was broad, almost too broad. It was the familiar type of broad that immediately reminded Quinn of when she first went to live with Paloma. It was forced and obligatory and the girl could only pray that her sister would eventually dial it back.

Ross' eyes glazed over her while they took in her presence. He couldn't help but think that her face held a lot of the same features as when she was a child. Old memories flooded his thoughts but instead of dwelling on the past, he happily accepted her gesture and granted her a sincere smile. "Yeah, and you're Paloma. It's really nice to finally meet you."

Ross stepped aside as his wife sauntered into the home, her left hand wrapped around her son's while she pulled him in along with her. She released her grip on the boy's hand and wrapped her arms around Paloma. "I'm Maggie," she gleamed.

The brunette chuckled and hugged the woman back but she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved when Maggie finally pulled away.

"Sorry, I'm a hugger," the blonde admitted.

Paloma shook her head and laughed once she picked up on the apologetic tone of the other woman's voice. "It's okay. Um," she turned around and searched for Ava who was nowhere to be found. "Well, my girlfriend's in the kitchen finishing up dinner, but I'll drag her out here soon so you can meet her," she chuckled. Her eyes met the child that stood soundlessly next to Maggie. "And who's this?"

"This is our son, Ollie," Ross piped up.

The messy haired strawberry blonde boy in question briefly played with the zipper of his jacket and held out his small hand in a formal manner before finally speaking, "Hi."