Although she left the room Stephanie hesitated outside, the last thing she wanted to do was to leave Paul alone with her brother and Father but she had to trust them and know that they wouldn't do anything to upset her.

Marissa felt bad for Stephanie, it was clear that she was terrified that things would go badly leaving Paul alone in the room with Vince and Shane but she actually had faith and believed that they wouldn't go over the top, she also knew that if they did then they both had a wife to deal with and they wouldn't like that outcome. "Come on Steph, leave the boys alone to be boys and to talk so that they can feel Paul out and you can come and tell me and your Mom all of the girly things about him."

She didn't want to; the last place she wanted to be was away from Paul.

When she didn't willingly move her sister-in-law took that as her cue to yank on Stephanie's arm and physically pull her in to the kitchen and shut the door behind them. "Why are you so against leaving them alone together?"

"Because I know my Dad and my brother, I know that they will give him the third degree and the Spanish Inquisition and I really like him and I don't want to lose him because they're acting like it is the Stone Ages and I need protecting from the evil man. If that happens the only evil men around will be them."

Marissa and Linda exchanged a look, it was pretty clear to them that although they only just knew of this guy's existence he had a special place in her heart. "You love him huh?"

No she didn't love him, did she? She knew that she always had love for him but recently she had convinced herself that she loved him as a friend, that it was nothing more than that at this stage of their relationship. After his revelation on Monday and as the week progressed and she stressed more about the fact that he had said it it now had her wondering if she had been stressing about it because she loved him and she wanted him to love her too.

Both of the other women turned to do something to help with dinner whilst Stephanie had her little moment in her head. They had tried to talk to her but she had completely ignored them so they just thought that they would leave her be.

Finally coming back to reality she moved over to the sink and began to wash off some vegetables that were lying there, "He told me that he loved me. He said it when he was absolutely exhausted so that doesn't really count."

"You have said something to him about that right?" When she didn't answer Marissa shook her head, "Girl are you crazy? You clearly love him and he has already said it to you, even if he was so tired that he didn't realise that he was actually saying it, so why don't you just say 'I love you' and get it over with and be happy?"

"What if he didn't really mean it when he said that to me when he was exhausted? What if it was a reflex thing so if I then go and say 'I love you' and he doesn't feel it yet as we haven't been together long so then it would be awkward? I barely see him as it is; I don't want to ruin what little time I have left with him by saying that and not knowing if he feels it."

This was a conversation for a Mother so Marissa stepped aside and let Linda deal with it.

"But if he does feel it and like you he thinks that it is too soon to actually say it? The two of you would both be miserable because you hadn't been honest about your feelings and just one of you plucking up the courage to say the words would fix it all." Walking over to her daughter she put her hands on her shoulders, "Saying 'I love you' for the first time can be the scariest but most exhilarating feeling, it is like jumping out of a plane without the actual danger part. The result of saying it and knowing that there is somebody out there who feels the way that you do is better than any other feeling out there."

Everybody was telling her to talk to him and be honest about her feelings and she had promised that she would talk to him so maybe if tonight went well then it would be a good time to talk to him about her feelings, "Maybe."

Marissa shook her head, "Everything that your Mom just said is true. I remember the very first time that your brother and I said 'I love you' to each other, I was walking on air for a week. Do it in your time though, don't let anybody tell you what you should do and when you should do it, just don't let him leave without sorting out the confusion over what he said though, you will regret it."

The more people spoke the more she was getting confused so going from the sink to the table she poured herself a glass of wine and downed it quickly. "I can do this tonight and then I can talk to Paul, one step at a time."

Despite the way she had downed the drink both women had no doubts that with a little bit of help from them tonight then she would navigate it safely so that she could move on and be happy.

Once dinner was well on the way to being cooked Linda shooed the younger women out of the way so that she could finish it and so that they could make sure that all of the men were in one piece still.

Stephanie walked in to the lounge and couldn't help but smile as she saw her boyfriend sat exactly where she had left him but he was relaxed back and the three men were holding a conversation. "Hey."

"Hey you." Paul resisted the natural instinct to reach out to her and simply altered the way that he was sat to accommodate her beside him.

Not caring if her Father and brother said anything or not as she sat down she pressed a kiss to his cheek, "Were they good?"

"You do know that if I were to say no I would probably be in their bad books right? I have to say that they were good and then you have to decide if I am being honest or if I'm not."

"I will kill them both." She wasn't actually sure if he was telling the truth or not, she just figured that the chance of them being good was a lot smaller percentage than that of them being bad.

"Hey! I would like to point out right now that I was actually good." The last thing Shane wanted was to be sleeping on the couch because his sister thought the worst of him.

Marissa would be the first person to admit when her husband wasn't on his best behaviour and had potentially stepped over the mark but judging by the look on his face this was not one of those times. "I think for once they have been good Stephanie, I don't think that you need to be mad at them."

"Shame, I like putting Shane in the doghouse."

Everybody but Shane laughed at that, he was getting himself in trouble with his wife easy enough; he didn't need to be in trouble with his sister also. "I can't win; I will always be in the dog house with somebody."

Vince couldn't help but tease his son at that statement, "Well that does come as a result of you not being able to keep out of trouble."

"Oh come on! Not you as well. I thought us men were supposed to stick together."

Before they could enlist him Paul sat back in the chair and put his hands up, "I'm not getting involved."

"You're so whipped, both of you are." Although he acted like he was offended Shane wasn't at all, he had actually played it up a little to see if he would be drawn in to it.

Whilst they waited for dinner Stephanie cuddled in to Paul's side, she had been so stressed out about tonight that now that it was a relaxed atmosphere she made the most of it and just relaxed as close to him as possible.

When dinner was called everybody made their way through to the dining room where the food had been laid out on the table.

Not knowing that her family conducted dinner Paul just allowed Stephanie to lead him over to a seat, "Are you sure that we shouldn't see if your Mom needs any help?"

"Definitely not. Marissa and I learned long ago that once you are dismissed from helping with dinner you do not go back into the kitchen unless your presence is requested or you actually need something from the kitchen. My Mom has a very specific way of dishing up dinner and she doesn't like it being interfered with and she doesn't like us 'under her feet', as she kept telling us when we tried to help anyway."

Sitting down across the table from Stephanie and Paul both Shane and Marissa nodded their heads, "Trust me she is right, you do not want to mess with the kitchen when my Mom is cooking."

"Like you would know anything about attempting to help when I am cooking Shane." Linda placed the last dish on the table before she took a seat, "I do hope that you will enjoy this Paul, it was a very last minute meal planning and normally it would be something much more put together."

As he looked at all of the food across the table he couldn't help but shake his head, this wasn't put together? It seemed pretty put together to him. "This is great thank you Mrs McMahon, I really don't want or need a fancy meal, I would be happy with sausages and potatoes, and if you added cheese to it then I would be in heaven. I am a simple guy and I much prefer the company to the food, no offense because I am sure this is lovely, it most certainly looks it."

"Please call me Linda; I really don't like being called Mrs McMahon as it is so official. I have never been one to go with simple but when you come back next time I will see what I can do about making that for you."

Shane couldn't help but be offended, "Why can he get something he likes at these meals and I can't?"

The last thing Vince was going to allow was a fight to break out so he was fast to intervene, "Because Paul is a guest and we make guests welcome in this house. You on the other hand have had your favourite meal a thousand times and I'm sure that your wife makes it for you so stop causing drama by whining."

The last thing that Paul wanted to do was to cause family drama when he was trying to make a good impression. "You really don't need to go to any trouble for me Mrs . . . Linda, I will happily eat whatever is on offer, I really don't want to cause any trouble within the family or for people to think that I am being favoured at all."

Reaching beneath the table Stephanie reached for her boyfriend's hand and held it gently, he was so sweet and special and she was lucky to have him.

"Don't worry Paul, we aren't about to start any family drama, I am just having a little bit of fun seeing if I can draw my sister in to a little back and forth argument. Apparently you have too much of a calming effect on my sister though as she isn't even biting."

He looked over at his girlfriend and smiled, she was either so nervous that she wasn't paying attention to her brother or she was so relaxed that she didn't even care what her brother was saying. Without thinking he lifted their joined hands above the table and pressed a kiss to the back of it before he placed their hands back on his leg.

Although he had been unsure of how the relationship between his daughter and Paul would work before he got to know the couple, seeing the two of them sat there together in front of him he wasn't so sure any more. It was clear that his daughter felt a lot for the man and it was even clearer how much he felt for her and really that was all that he could ask for.

The six of them all began to dish up their own dinners and enjoyed a good conversation as they ate. Once they had finished eating Paul insisted on helping to clean the dishes away before everybody sat down with a coffee before they left.

Cuddled on the couch beside her boyfriend Stephanie was tired but just being with him and around her family made her happy.

"So how long do you have left on this visit before you go home?"

Where was home? More and more he found himself thinking of anywhere she was as home, his apartment back on the west coast was just somewhere he lived, it wasn't where his heart was. "I leave on Saturday and will be back in work on Monday. It isn't something that I am thinking of too much right now though; I have enough on my plate with my boss acting strangely so I am just taking it one hour at a time."

If she had her way he wouldn't leave at all but she had to stop herself from actually saying that as it wouldn't be helpful, she didn't want to make him feel guilty for doing his job. Slipping her fingers through his as his hand lay draped around her shoulder she looked up at him and smiled softly, she was so lucky to have this time with him that she had to focus on it and cherish it and she was trying so hard to do that. "We should get going. I have an early morning tomorrow and Paul has a full day so we need to get some sleep."

"Of course you do. It was lovely to meet you Paul and maybe next time that you are around for a few days we can have dinner again."

His instinct was to say yes but his girlfriend had freaked out so much he hesitated to actually say yes incase she didn't like the idea. "I will let Stephanie liaise with you on that one."

Shane couldn't help but smirk, he knew his sister and he knew that this man was whipped because that was a diplomatic 'I would like to but I don't know if I am allowed to'. He opened his mouth to tease his sister about it but a sharp smack to the leg had his attention diverted to his wife who only gave him a warning glare, sometimes it didn't pay to be married to somebody who knows you so well.

Standing up Paul picked up their mugs and returned them to the kitchen before he returned to the lounge, "I have placed the mugs beside the sink, I don't know if you put them in the dishwasher or wash them by hand. Thank you for tonight though, dinner was lovely and I had a wonderful time."

"It was truly our pleasure Paul." When Linda pulled the younger man in for a hug she took the opportunity to whisper something to him that she knew that her daughter would not want to hear, "Thank you for making Stephanie happy again."

A slight blush stained his cheeks as he pulled away, "I did nothing."

"You did far more than you even realise. You're a good man, she is very lucky."

"Now that I disagree on, I am the lucky one here."

She felt like she had missed half of a conversation as she hugged her Dad, "I don't know what the two of you are talking about but I don't like the sound of it. Come on Paul, we have to go."

"And we will leave in a moment, I think your brother will spontaneously combust if you don't give him a hug."

"Not quite what he said but come here, you owe me a hug."

After hugs, kisses and promises from Stephanie that she would call her Mom once Paul left the two of them were walking back to the car hand in hand.

Swinging their hands back and forth gently he wondered if she was even paying him any attention as he had been speaking to her. When they reached the car he released her hand and took the keys from his pocket unlocking the car, "Feel free to climb in or you can stay here if my company bores you so much."

"Huh?"

"You have been ignoring me; I thought that you were bored of my company tonight."

So caught up in her thoughts of how the evening had gone and how now that was out of the way she had to talk to him about him saying 'I love you' to her she really hadn't noticed that he was talking to her, "I'm sorry, I was on another planet."

"Clearly, I hope that it was nice there."

If she didn't know better she would sense a little hurt in his voice and that was the last thing that she wanted to do, "I'm sorry." It required a little stretching to kiss him but she was quickly on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips not caring if her family was watching, "I'm sorry, I really am. Come on and let's go home, it has been a long day."

He waited until she was in the car before he walked around the other side and climbed in, "How did you think it went."

"Good. My family seemed to love you, even Shane, which is odd for him as you're my boyfriend and generally he prefers to hate any men I come in contact with because he feels like it is his duty to do so."

Laughing as he started the engine she said that like it was a bad thing, "So it's a bad thing that your brother made an exception for me?"

"No it's not; it is the best thing ever. If I have my way you will be around forever so knowing that he likes you now and you don't have to actually work to make him like you is just perfect. How did you think it went? Do you like them?"

Clearly it was a trick question, she wanted to know if they had given him the third degree and although they had been kind of hard to begin with they seemed to warm to him. "I think it went well too but to be honest I am not overly concerned by their opinion of me, I only need your opinion of me as you are the one that I want to impress on a daily basis."

Stephanie couldn't help but smile as he pulled out of her parent's drive; she was beyond impressed by him. "If I told you that I am very impressed by you would you get a big head?"

"Never." They stopped at a cross section so he quickly looked over at her, "I just want you to be happy okay? If you need your family to love me I will make sure that I continue to hopefully make a good impression on them and if you need me to do something to be a better boyfriend just tell me and I will do that too."

"You are a perfect boyfriend, I love you as you are and you don't need to change." The second that she finished talking she realised her error, she didn't mean for those words to slip out right now, hopefully he was so focussed on the drive home that he didn't notice.

Hold up, did she just say that she loved him? Surely not, maybe he was just hearing things? There was only one way that he was going to find out the answer to his questions, asking her.