Early Planes and Other Surprises

Lena Adam's little sister was how she always remembered her; early and full of surprises. It wasn't enough that of all things, her flight actually landed about thirty minutes before it was scheduled to, but when Lena arrived to pick Taylor up, she was standing on the curb with a friend in tow. Lena took a deep breath and tried to plaster on a smile as she pulled her car to a screeching halt and placed it in park. She popped the trunk and then walked over to help Taylor and her friend gather their things.

"You're late," Taylor huffed as if she had been standing on the curb for a day and not just under thirty minutes. Taylor and Lena shared plenty of physical characteristics; they were both tall and slender with beautiful curly black hair that Taylor kept a bit shorter than her sister. And they both had brown eyes and deep dimples. The only real difference in the sisters could be found in age and the slightly deeper cinnamon brown of Taylor's skin tone.

"I'm not late, you are early," Lena corrected her little sister. She stopped moving for a moment and pulled the girl into a tight hug. They hadn't really seen one another in over a year; mainly because Lena lived in San Diego and Taylor attended Harvard in Massachusetts. "Now we can argue," Lena said stepping back and smiling at her sister.

Taylor couldn't help but smile also. "I missed you," she admitted timidly. Lena couldn't help but be a little happier. It was hard for Taylor and her to be close, there was a ten year age difference between them and then there was the fact that they lived on different coasts.

"I missed you too!" Lena sighed. "Who's your friend?" she asked gently looking towards the girl who had been silently watching the sisters interacting.

"Oh my gosh…" Taylor said turning around and looked at her friend, "This is my … friend, Zoe. Zoe, this is my sister, Lena."

"I've heard so much about you," Zoe extended her hand smiling.

Lena's smile faltered for a moment. She and Taylor didn't talk often, which is why she probably had no idea who this girl was. Still, she took her hand enthusiastically. "Well, let me grab your bag," she took the small bag and headed back to her car. Taylor loaded her bag into the car and slipped into the front seat with her sister, while Zoe climbed into the back.

"Are mom and dad coming tonight?" Taylor questioned as they headed onto the road.

"No," Lena shook her head so quickly that her dark curls bounced around. "They are not coming until tomorrow, which is great because I can only take two days of our parents."

"At least they don't live on the same coast as you!" Taylor laughed. "Mom shows up on campus unannounced, dad calls every day with the 'joke of the day'."

"You are their baby…they have to do that stuff," Lena teased.

"I'm twenty years old, Lena…I'm graduating in the spring…I really don't need to see my parents that much."

"At least your parents care, sweetheart," Zoe chimed in placing a tender hand on Taylor's shoulder. Lena side-glanced at her sister for a moment, but kept her comments to herself. Everyone in the family knew that Taylor, like Lena, was gay. It was just that Taylor had spent the four years since she came out being complacent with never settling down with one girl. Lena couldn't count on her fingers and toes the number of girls she had heard about Taylor dating.

"Babe, your parents care too…they send us the best care packages from their resort in Mexico," Taylor laughed.

"So…you have met her parents?" Lena questioned nonchalantly.

"They took us to St. Thomas for Christmas," Zoe piped in happily. "All of my brothers and sisters flew down with their spouses…"

"So what do you want for your birthday?" Taylor changed the subject quickly.

"You to behave yourself. Stef and her son, Brandon, will be at my party and mom and dad haven't met them yet…"

"You've been dating her for like four months, right?"

"Technically, she's still married," Lena revealed slowly.

A small smile spread on Taylor's face. "Zoe…and I thought this was going to be boring…" Taylor let out a hearty laugh. "You never said she was married…and with a son. How old is the son?"

"Five… he's in kindergarten."

"Well, that sounds like a nightmare," Taylor shuddered.

"It sounds cute," Zoe punched Taylor lightly.

"Sounds like a mess, and our mother is going to hit the roof. Does she know that your girlfriend is married with a son?"

"No…she knows that I'm dating someone…that's all she needs to know." Lena watched as her sister stifled a yawn. "What…you've never kept a secret?" Her sister only let out a crude giggle.


Stef Foster had dropped her five year old son, Brandon, off with his father and headed directly to Lena's apartment right after work. She was excited and a bit queasy with the thought of meeting Lena's little sister. Lena hadn't described Taylor much beside the fact that she attended Harvard and was named after Elizabeth Taylor.

Stef rang the doorbell and waited until Lena answered the door. She was her normal gorgeous self, hair halfway down in cascading curls around her beautiful face. Stef couldn't understand how she had gotten so lucky, but every day she fell for Lena a little bit more.

"Hi, Stef," Lena smiled leaning in for a small peck on the lips.

"Has your sister…has Taylor driven you crazy yet?" Stef questioned coming in and handing Lena the bottle of wine she had bought for the evening.

"No," Lena whispered. "She's been asleep…terrible jetlag. But she also brought what I think is her girlfriend…"

"You don't know?" Stef laughed gently.

"I didn't ask. I was a bit embarrassed," Lena's soft brown skin tone flushed red.

"Are they in the same bedroom?"

"Yes…" Lena frowned. She hadn't thought about the logical implications of the two girls sharing her spare room for the next three days. "I can't have my little sister having sex in my apartment."

Now it was Stef's turn to blush. She and Lena had been taking things slow for the last four months. Nothing really sexual at all; as a matter of fact, she hardly figured Lena thought about sex much with her. She knew that deep down inside, Lena was still unsure of their relationship and that made her hold back some.

"Do you want a glass of wine, honey?" Lena repeated herself. She couldn't help but notice how Stef's eyes were undressing her. She shook off the notion and returned her attention to the bottle of wine. "I'm going to start dinner soon."

"No…I'm fine."

"So how is Brandon…you are still bringing him tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, of course, he's very excited about tomorrow. He can't wait to see Ms. Lena," Stef beamed. She knew that she adored Lena, but the fact that Lena cared so much about her son pushed her feelings toward love.

"Yeah, he is thriving at Anchor Beach, Stef. He seems to love it there… I kinda checked up on him yesterday and it looked like he was having so much fun in his class."

"Thank you for being so good to him, Lena," Stef reached across the island to hold Lena's hand. They were interrupted by the bedroom door down the hallway opening.

"Stefanie Foster, this is my little sister, Taylor Adams," Lena introduced the newly awaken girl to Stef. Taylor smiled and extended her hand to Stef.

"Nice to meet you, Stef," Taylor said taking slow inventory of the woman in front of her. She recognized immediately that she and Lena really didn't have anything in common when it came to picking women. Stef was tall, blonde and somewhat muscular. She was beautiful, there was no question about that, but not what Taylor assumed her sister would be attracted to. Her last long term girlfriend was glamorous, high maintenance and an intense pain in the ass, but Taylor liked Gretchen. She couldn't understand why Lena and Gretchen had broken up…other than the fact that Gretchen refused to get married.

"So Lena said you have a son…" Taylor began. She was like their mother, there was really no holding back with her when it came to her sister. "Oh and that you're still married…I'm going to assume that's to a man."

Stef shifted uncomfortable on the barstool, but managed to plaster on a smile. "Yes, I have a son, Brandon and a soon to be ex-husband, Mike."

Taylor trailed off to the fridge and pulled out a beer, that Lena promptly took from her. She only kept beer in the apartment now that she and Stef saw one another more frequently and she definitely wasn't going to let Taylor fuel up to start a fight with her girlfriend. "Mind your own business, Tay…" Lena said firmly. Her little sister rolled her eyes and shrugged, going back into the fridge and pulling out a soda this time.

"I just asked a question, Lena," she smiled innocently. "I think it's nice to have children and marriages…" she laughed teasingly. Although she didn't plan for it to sound so jagged, it hurt both Lena and Stef to hear it laid out like that. "I don't judge people," she had turned now back to Stef. "But I don't want my sister to be some grand experiment…" she stated honestly.

"Taylor!" Lena's face flushed with embarrassment.

Taylor popped the tab of her soda and took a long sip. "I'm just saying…wasn't a disaster with Gretchen bad enough…"

"Taylor!" Lena reiterated.

"I'm not here to hurt your sister, Taylor," Stef said calmly and sincerely. "I am married, but I'm getting a divorce and I do have a son, that Lena loves and her adores her. These are not going to be obstacles to our relationship. I care so much about her," she stated firmly.

Taylor's brown eyes travelled from Stef to a fuming Lena. "You can't be angry with me for caring, Lena."

"You really can't, sweetheart," Stef took her girlfriend's hand again and Lena softened. "And I don't mind," Stef cleared up.

"Well then it's only fair for me to ask your girlfriend questions," Lena countered to her sister. Her anger was dissipating with Stef's touch, but she still had to get to the bottom of Taylor and Zoe's relationship.

"She's not my girlfriend," Taylor shut her sister down quickly. She turned and headed back down the hallway. "Hey, don't start dinner…I'm taking everyone out for dinner," she announced.

"Taylor…" but it was too late, she had already shut the bedroom door behind her. Lena took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her sister was the easy one in the family…if she had pulled that stunt, what was her mother going to do? She slowly opened her back up. "I'm so sorry Stef..." but Stef didn't say anything, just leaned across the counter and kissed Lena passionately on the lips.


Taylor leaned over and kissed the cheek of a sleeping Zoe. Zoe stirred lightly and rubbed her eyes a bit before focusing completely on Taylor. When Taylor came fully into focus, she closed her eyes again and turned with her back facing her. "Don't act like this," Taylor said gently.

"You said you'd tell them," Zoe said with her eyes still shut tightly. She couldn't look at Taylor right now, because if she looked at her, she would forgive her. She loved Taylor way too much to stay angry with her.

"I am going to tell them…" Taylor said earnestly. "I have three whole days to tell them."

Zoe turned onto her back and ran her hand through her short dark brown hair. Her blue eyes opened and she stared at Taylor for a moment. "I love you, and you lied."

"I didn't lie," Taylor corrected. "Lena knows we are dating…"

"But not married, Taylor," Zoe's voice rose a bit. "We're not dating, we are married and have been since before Christmas! Nearly five months and your family doesn't even know and when we visit your sister you make me hide my wedding band and engagement ring. My parents and sisters flew to Massachusetts the day we were married, and you haven't even told yours! How do you think that makes me feel?"

"It is not that simple, baby," Taylor pleaded, but Zoe closed her eyes again. "I can't just fly in and say…'oh by the way, I'm married, Lena,' or call up my mom and say, 'oh yeah, remember when I was supposed to be studying for exams last semester, oh I was getting hitched.' It doesn't work like that in my family." When Zoe didn't respond, Taylor flopped back onto the bed in frustration. "I love you so much, don't be angry with me," she said weakly.

Zoe rolled onto her side and stared at Taylor for a moment. "You are so frustrating," she leaned down and kissed the side of Taylor's mouth. "You promise you are going to tell them? I'm tired of hiding."

"Yes, but we have to tell Lena first…that's why I invited Lena and Stef to dinner tonight…" Taylor said covering Zoe's mouth with her own. "So get ready for dinner…we're going to have to have a lot of explaining to do…"