"Adelaide." Alfie stood at the bottom of the stairs and called her again. "Come on."

"I coming Daddy." She appeared at the top of her stairs with her echidna tucked under one arm, Alfie's giraffe under the other, Daffodil clasped in her hands and her backpack on upside down. She took one step and dropped the lot and more crap fell out of her bag than he thought humanly possible. "Bugger."

"Adelaide." Alfie sighed as he went to help her. "What did you pack?" He knew he should try to stop her saying 'bugger', she did it a fair bit but it was so damn cute he didn't have the heart to say anything.

"Stuff."

"My giraffe can stay here."

"No Daddy, he come too." Addy had adopted his giraffe two weeks ago when he went away with Quinn. Her own giraffe had been neglected in favour of her Dad's old tatty one and it now sat on her bed with Ed every day, among her menagerie. She took it to Lola's house to cuddle so she didn't miss him too much and he had taken it back and now she had it again. Alfie had tried to explain how precious it was to him but Addy just hugged it closer and told him how much she loved it and loved him. She was good at the emotional blackmail stuff.

After the weekend he'd deal with it and put it away where she couldn't find it. He didn't want it damaged; it was fragile and meant so much to him. He also didn't want to upset Addy before she met Quinn so he let her keep it for now. "Okay, he can come but when we get home he goes away."

"I like him."

"I know, so do I. He's Daddy's giraffe and you can cuddle me instead. Deal?"

"Okay." Addy gripped the giraffe even tighter.

"Righto." Alfie had serious doubts it was all going to be that easy but they were running late. "Are you ready?" He patted her on the butt to get her moving.

"Yes."

Before she got in the car Addy went and found Pops. She refused to leave the house without saying goodbye, even if they were only going to the shops. "Bye Pops." She hugged him tightly. "I miss you Pops."

"Bye Darlin'." They had taken to each other like a duck to water. Alfie often found her curled up on Pops lap, both of them sound asleep. He loved it and he was glad that Pops had the chance to meet and get to know his daughter. "Be good for your Daddy."

"I try very hard."

Addy was happy to be going to the Beach House, she didn't seem to even remember that Quinn was coming too. She didn't care, she just wanted to go. Quinn was excited though, she couldn't wait to meet her. Alfie had explained to Addy that they were picking up Quinn but he wasn't sure she got it.

Pulling up outside Quinn's place he helped Addy out of the car. "We go house Daddy?"

"Soon, remember Quinn is coming with us." He held her hand as they walked up the stairs. "She's Daddy's girlfriend."

"I girlfriend."

"You are my best friend; my favourite little girl and I love you to the moon." She squirmed a little and giggled when he tickled her cheek before knocking on the door.

Quinn was nervous, she felt like it was make or break for them. She had to win Addy over and Alfie assured her it wasn't hard, she just had to take a step back and let Addy warm up to her. If people overwhelmed her she would pull away. Addy was pretty perceptive though and she knew when she liked and trusted people and when she didn't.

They were only going Saturday morning and would be back Sunday night for the family dinner where she was going to meet the rest of the mob. Alfie really wanted her to meet Addy first and not in front of everyone else. He didn't trust them and knew that Addy would naturally gravitate towards those she knew and not give Quinn a second look and she was more nervous about Addy liking her than his sisters at this stage.

"Well Hello." She chirped nervously. She refrained from kissing Alfie in case Addy got jealous. He had told her how she often had spikes of jealousy if he spent too much time playing or talking to Sam, Poppy or Billy.

"Hey Addy, say hello to Quinn."

"Hi." She replied shyly, hiding behind Alfie's legs. She held up her arms and asked to be picked up.

"Hello Addy, it's nice to meet you."

"We go to beach now Daddy?" Addy paid no attention to Quinn and buried her head in Alfie's shoulder. He grabbed Quinn's hand and squeezed it.

"She's okay. This is normal." He whispered. He knew how worried she was about meeting her. "She's not crying so we are good to go." It didn't take her long to start talking in the car, she couldn't help herself and once she dropped Daffodil and Quinn picked her up for her Addy was over her shyness.

As soon as they got to the house Addy wanted to go to the beach. "Hurry up Daddy." She was jumping up and down as he hunted through her bag for her swimmers.

"Did you pack them?"

"I bringed Ed." As far as Addy was concerned, have Ed will travel. Everything else seemed superfluous to her needs. Well that was not entirely true, anything useful like clothes was superfluous, toys on the other hand were in abundance. Lucky her Daddy had more sense and packed the rest of the stuff for her. It amused him, he'd come up here for a week or two with one bag, now with Addy it was a never ending procession of bags, toys, food and whatever other stuff she could get into the car. "And your 'raffe and Daffodil."

He produced her swimmers with a flourish and she hopped from foot to foot while he got her changed. Quinn carried the towels while Alfie swung Addy up onto his back. She offered to sit and watch for a bit but Addy had different ideas "You come swim." She held out her little hand and Quinn jumped at the offer to join them.

Alfie did lament that two weeks ago she wore a barely there bikini and he literally drooled over her and today she was wearing a demure one piece. She still looked incredible though, he just really liked the bikini. It was sweet though that she was obviously thinking about what was appropriate around his little girl. He was pretty sure some of his other girlfriends, who to be frank didn't have much going on upstairs wouldn't have even thought about it.

They splashed around and she was surprised at how confident she was around water as Alfie tossed her to Quinn and Addy squealed with delight and when they walked back to the house for lunch she wanted to swing between both of them. Addy sat up next to Quinn at the bench and watched her Daddy make her a sandwich. "Daddy you make pancakes when I wake up?"

"For breakfast? Or are you going to have a sleep after lunch?"

"No." She always said no to a sleep but often fell asleep if you got her to sit still for half an hour. Alfie would tell her she didn't need to sleep but had to have a rest and more often than not she'd fall asleep. Instead she turned to Quinn "You like pancakes?"

"I do."

"Daddy make pancakes."

"Are they delicious?"

Addy nodded enthusiastically and looked delighted when Quinn offered up a high five. Addy had certainly put her food issues behind her as her palate adjusted. Alfie still had some things sent over from Australia for her, she loved her vegemite, Tim Tams, Twisties and he always got her Weet-bix breakfast cereal by the carton. Cooked breakfast was a weekend treat and they loved it, she sat up next to Pops while her Daddy made them breakfast.

They watched a movie after lunch so Addy could have some quiet time but she was too excited to sleep and was desperate to show Quinn the playground before dinner and loved it when her Daddy had to push both of them on the swing.

Quinn cooked dinner while Alfie showered Addy and got her ready for bed. She was terrified Addy wouldn't like it. Alfie laughed at her, she was heating up pumpkin soup and toasting some bread, it would be hard to fuck it up. Her nervousness was endearing but Addy was enjoying having Quinn around and talked non-stop at her over dinner.

She came charging back down the hallway from the bathroom after cleaning her teeth to say goodnight. "Good Night Addy. I had a really fun day, thank you for letting me come to your Beach House."

She curled up on the couch with a glass of wine while Alfie put her to bed. She was surprised it didn't take him long, not that she had any idea how long it took to put a child to bed, this was all new for her too. He would often comment that she took forever to go to sleep when he promised to call her but she was really was learning on the fly. "She was whacked. That's one thing I love about bringing her up here, she's knackered by bedtime." Joining her on the couch Quinn cuddled up to him for the first time all day.

"She's so beautiful Alfie."

"I'm biased, but yes she is?"

Quinn turned a little to face him. "I've had a good day."

"Good." Leaning forward to kiss her softly. "She likes you."

"Really?"

"Really. She wanted to come out and say goodnight." He gave her another quick kiss. "You should have heard her, she wanted to know if you'd be here in the morning and want to go to the playground again."

"Best little hugger."

Alfie feigned hurt. "What? Better than me?"

"Yep."

He rolled his head back dramatically. "I knew it. I knew this would happen. Once you met her I'd be tossed aside like trash."

"Hey, we've been here all day... I miss you." It didn't take Alfie long, all she had to do was run her hand over his groin and he reacted instantly, his body was out of his control as far as Quinn was concerned, she touched him, he got hard. "Is this okay? Can we do this?"

He laughed painfully when Quinn suddenly stopped. "We have to do this…look at me."

They reluctantly put some clothes back on before they fell asleep. Alfie slept closest to the door and Quinn woke up when she felt him move as he got up when Addy came in and took her to the bathroom even though she was half asleep and then put her in between them. She was barely awake and as long as she had her Daddy she didn't seem to mind.

She was still asleep when Quinn woke. Alfie had his hand on her stomach and when spoke he reached for her hand and held onto it. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah, it's a bit weird."

"It is very weird the first time. When she first came into my bed I was like a statue. I didn't dare move. I had no idea what to do or if it was okay. I tried to take her back to her own bed and she lost her shit, she was screaming in the middle of the night and I swear the neighbours in the apartment we were staying in heard her. I let her sleep in my bed and she was fine."

"Is it hard? Learning to be a Dad? Do you worry about doing the wrong thing?"

"All the time."

"I can see she really loves you; she is so happy around you. I love the way she wants to touch you and be close to you. When we were watching the movie she always had a hand on you." Quinn felt a bubble of emotion rise in her chest and she swallowed hard.

"Hey." Alfie noticed it. "Hey, talk to me please."

"It's stupid." She pushed his hand away and got out of bed. Alfie called out to her but she ignored him.

"What's wrong?" He found his shirt and pulled it on and followed her out. She was standing by the window looking out at the beach. The sun was giving off a pale glow and it looked a little chilly out. The water roiled and boiled and with the window open a little you could hear it along with the birds just waking up. Alfie wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed the back of her neck.

"Go away Alfie."

"No, I won't go away. What's wrong? What did I do?"

"Nothing. It's just…." Quinn's voice quivered. "I just don't see how I fit in with you and Addy."

"What do you mean? Fit in?"

"She's your priority and that's okay but…" she stamped her feet and tried to hold back the tears and the words. "…I'm jealous." They flowed out anyway.

Alfie spun her around. "Quinn, come on. Don't do this. Yes I love Addy, more than anything, she's my daughter but she can't be my whole life, that's not healthy for either of us. I told you last week I want you in our life. Sure, right now she doesn't know you so she is sticking close to me but you know what, when we are around my family she doesn't always want me close. Right now she does because it's a safety thing for her. For weeks she wouldn't go anywhere without me, she'd follow me to take a leak. Now if I ask her if she wants to go see Sam she's packed an overnight bag and wants to stay. If Iris is going out she's following her out the door, she goes to visit Colt's Dad with him without even giving me a second glance."

"She knows them and they are not stealing her Daddy from her."

"You are not stealing me from her, you are making me happy and that is good for Addy. You know last week she completely blew me off when I got home from work. Told me she was too busy to talk to me…she was playing with bloody Daffodil." Addy had talked Quinn's ear off about Daffodil in the car. "You aren't seeing the whole picture here." Alfie didn't know how to explain it to her. "I'm not choosing between you and Addy; I have room for both of you. You fill a completely different role in my life compared to Addy. I like that."

"I told you it was stupid."

"It's not stupid. It's kinda cute." Alfie kissed her sweetly. "It's a bit of a turn on actually."

"You are weird."

"And a little crazy about you." His kisses kept going and got a little more urgent, he feathered kisses along her jawbone and up behind her ear. "I want to get a little frisky with you right now. You know morning sex is my favourite thing ever. Ever since that first morning…"

"Addy?"

"Sound asleep. Come with me." He grabbed her hand and lead her to the bathroom and closed the door. Pushing her up against it his hands started to wander. "She can't open the door if we are up against it."

"But…."

Addy had thrown a spanner in the works but he was willing to work around her to show Quinn they could have it all.

"You fucking rock my world." Alfie whispered in her ear as she buried her head into his shoulder. "I feel so good with you." He was doing his best to involve her in their life and she really needed to stop freaking out every other day. He was so patient with her and she started to worry that his patience would wear out eventually. "Now, why don't you go back to bed, I'd like to see my two girls cuddle up together and I'll start breakfast."

"Pancakes and Bacon?"

"You got it." He winked and helped her get her clothes back on.

"Where's Daddy?" Addy asked sleepily. Quinn had closed her eyes and tried just to relax in the afterglow of their early morning session. He was saying all the right things so she had to just let the other stuff go and enjoy getting to know him. He was irresistible and she loved every minute she spent with him. He was right, Addy was just one part of him.

"He's cooking our breakfast. Shall we go see Daddy?" She was worried that Addy was going to hate being left with her.

"No, I stay here." Addy giggled. "You stay."

"We can stay." Addy did scrambled out of bed and went to the bathroom; she came back holding her pyjama bottoms and asked Quinn for help before Addy climbed back into bed. She didn't get too close to Quinn but she did talk to her.

Alfie heard them together and didn't want to disturb them. He was desperate for them to get along, he wanted that more than anything. He wanted this to work. Understanding Quinn's reluctance was challenging and her back and forth could be frustrating but he wasn't giving up because he really thought they had something special going on. He hadn't felt this way about someone for a long time, perhaps ever.

He decided to bring breakfast into them. "Breakfast in bed for my two favourite ladies." Addy thought it was best thing ever but she didn't let her Daddy join them. She held up her hand defiantly and told him 'No' when he went to climb into bed with them.

They managed another swim and a trip to the playground before they left and thankfully Addy fell asleep in the car on the way back to Chicago and gave them a chance to catch their breath and reflect a little.. "So, good weekend?"

"Good weekend."

"You two, man I am whipped."

"Thank you for letting me spend the weekend with you and Addy."

"I've been looking forward to this, I knew you'd be fine. Addy loves people and she knows good people." Alfie had his hand on her leg, enjoying the warmth of her skin. "You two this morning was the cutest thing ever, the giggling. I feel like I am about to be ganged up on by my women."

"Your women?"

"Yes, the little one and the hot one." Quinn slapped his hand when he inched it higher. "Now, that was the easy part. Your biggest test awaits. The Circus."

"I feel nervous."

"You should be, they could do anything. I can promise you one thing, they are going to pull out all the stops and tell you some crazy story. I have a feeling the Circus tent will be in full swing tonight." Alfie teased her. "It's gonna get wild so best you just keep drinking, it's the only way you'll get through it."

"Alfie…" Quinn whined playfully.

"I just want you to be prepared."

"Maybe we can skip it?"

"Nope. It's time."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in love with you and I want my family to meet you."

"Huh?"

He just winked at her, his eyes twinkling and then kept staring straight ahead. Why the hell would he drop that on her now? She felt her stomach flip, but holy hell she liked it. If he wanted her to say it back he'd have to wait. She had bigger plans for that moment. Not to say his moment was perfect.

They pulled up outside his house. Addy had been awake and singing with them for the past hour. He squeezed Quinn's hand. "Brace Yourself. Deep Breaths."

Alfie helped Addy out of his truck and she was off like a shot. "Watch this."

"Pops, Pops. I home." She yelled as she banged on the door. "Pops, where are you?"

Alfie let her in and she charged straight in looking for her Pops. Quinn saw the old man sitting in his chair, arms wide and smile light up his face as his great granddaughter charged into them. "Hello Darlin'." He wrapped his arms around her. "Pops missed you so much."

"I miss you Pops." Addy was so happy to see him. "Did Bug cook you food?" They loved all her little quirks with regards to Pops, she was quite the mother hen.

"She did. Don't fret pet." Pops kissed both her cheeks. "Did you have fun?"

"I did. I was a djinda."

Quinn had thought seeing Addy with her Dad was the cutest thing ever but this might just trump that. Alfie had his hand on her shoulder and leant over and whispered. "I told you she don't give me a second look some days."

"So precious."

"Who's that with your Daddy?" Adam knew about Quinn but had never met her. Alfie had told his Pops all about her and Adam had commented how happy he seemed. He just wanted his grandson to be happy and Addy had made him happy but he needed to find someone to share his life with too.

"Oh that Quinn." Addy was still talking at a million miles an hour. "She like Daddy's kisses too."

Alfie just laughed. "And we are off." He bought Quinn over to meet Adam and he insisted that she call him Pops.

"I've heard a lot about you. Alfie talks about you all the time and Addy sang us a song on the way home about seeing her Pops." Quinn sat down beside him. She was surprised when Adam reached for her hand, it was shaking a little and he held onto her tightly.

"Make my boy happy, he deserves it."

"He does. He's very sweet and he tells me that's because of you. You taught him how to sweet talk." Alfie loved watching her with Pops, she was sweet talking him as much as he was her and it felt genuine, she had really wanted to meet him.

"I am smooth, or I was in my day. That's how I got his grandmother."

"I heard." Quinn winked at him and Adam was a little bit smitten too.

Adam's eyes glazed over a little. He thought about her a lot lately. "She was way out of my league, I spent the first couple of years being an idiot but I got her back and we made a sweet family. We had a sweet life."

"I am looking forward to meeting everyone."

"Really? They are idiots. They are fucking insane."

"Pops." Alfie chastised him. "Don't scare her off."

"What? You are all insane, you know they are going to go feral. She seems like a nice girl; you need to warn her." Adam muttered. "She seems too pretty for you."

"I warned her about you." He disappeared into the kitchen to get dinner started. He knew that Adam would want to cook out back and liked to get it in early. Alfie would prepare it but Adam always came out to supervise the operation. It was a huge piece of meat today and he figured that it was going to be a full house. He wasn't worried about leaving Quinn with Adam, his Pops was a gentleman and he'd be sweet talking her until the cows came home.

He felt a little set of arms wrap around his legs and he ruffled her hair. "What's up sweetheart?"

"I love you Daddy Alfie."

"The feeling is mutual." Rarely did she call him Alfie, usually only when she was tired or frustrated that he wasn't answering her, at least to her satisfaction anyway or when she was stressed, which didn't happen often fortunately. If she was feeling unsafe or she was upset she would ask for Alfie. They could generally tell what she was feeling by her language and her reactions. Occasionally though he'd get Daddy Alfie and that was sweet.

Addy had even called him Alfred the other day when he spilled his glass of water on her drawing. 'Oh Alfred…' she was most annoyed with him that day.

"Huh?"

"Love you to the moon Adelaide." He scooped her up and sat her on the bench next to where he was working. "Did you have fun this weekend?"

"Yes."

"My little Djinda, you made Daddy very happy."

"I see Sam?"

Addy had obviously moved on already; her train of thought was like a pinball machine. "Soon and who else?"

"Poppy."

"Yes and…"

"Bus." Gus had insisted that she call him Bus, like all the kids did. Addy loved everyone, she loved company and being around people. It had taken her a few weeks to get used to having people around all the time as it was apparently not something that Jedda did much. She had a very small circle of friends and Alfie worried that she would never get used to it but she had and now Sunday nights were her favourite part of the week, when the house was full she was in her element.

It wasn't as bad as Quinn was expecting and Alfie's sister were lovely. Addy was beside herself when they arrived and was bossing Sam and Poppy around the moment they walked through the door and Quinn was given Billy to cuddle at one stage. She had whispered to Alfie when he came to check on her that it really wasn't that bad. He told her to hold judgement. "The night is young."

And then dinner happened.

"You know Alfie steals babies. He's like a dingo." Lola started it. "He probably stole Addy."

"I didn't steal Addy."

"That's bad Daddy." Addy shook her head. "That's naughty. Bus will put you in jail."

He sighed. "I don't steal babies." Explaining briefly to Quinn about the infamous 'a dingo stole my baby' story from Australia many decades ago. "I didn't steal Addy and Adelaide, I am not going to jail."

"You stole Bug." Mae offered.

"I didn't steal her, I relocated her."

Lola just waved her hand. "And because you were Mom and Dad's favourite you didn't get in trouble."

"Bloody oath I was."

"You stole the baby and we got reamed for it."

"Because you were bitches." It was cute that both Sam and Addy gasped at the same time.

Lola ignored the commotion and continued to tell her story. "Bug was two weeks old and he climbed up on a stool, took her from her bed and upstairs to his room so he could play trains with her."

"You told me I couldn't touch her because I'd step on her or drop her and she'd die."

"Well you stepped on my doll." Lola argued back. "Her head was all munted."

"I proved you wrong and Mom and Dad felt sorry for me because you were so mean."

He thought they were being pretty mild and he was feeling confident that he was going to come out of this smelling like roses. Quinn didn't look too freaked out and was actually enjoying the banter but it took a sharp turn.

"Remember the time he took Viagra?" Mae chortled and at that point Colton picked up the bottle of wine and topped up Quinn's glass. The fuckening had begun.

"What?" Adam hadn't heard this at all.

"Whoops." Mae pretended like it was an accident. He knew better, they were calculating bitches some days.

Alfie scowled at Iris when she chimed in. "I remember this story."

Mae was more than happy to continue despite Alfie's harsh look. "He called Lola from a party he was at and begged her to come and get him. She picked him up and he was clutching a jacket in his lap all the way home."

"I asked him what the 'f' was wrong with him and he just turned bright red and he bolted upstairs still clutching his jacket over his…" She looked at Sam and Addy listening intently. "…situation." Lola and Mae thought it was hysterical. Adam was frowning and everyone else just tried to fade into the background, they'd learnt early on you did not stick your head above the parapet when they were on a roll. "He'd been dared to take a Viagra and of course he did it, he was dumb like that and had this massive umm… situation that wouldn't go away."

"Can you not?"

"Daddy…."

"Eat your dinner Adelaide." Alfie patted her hand and smiled. "Everyone should just eat your dinner."

"Wait?" Adam was a little perturbed by this. "When was this?"

"He was sixteen Pops. So young and stupid. Thinking a girl would be interested in his little…."

Alfie cut her off. "Shut the hell up Charlotte."

"Ohhhhh." Addy's head snapped up from her dinner.

Lola just smirked and let Mae take over. "The next morning he was desperate. He was still, you know…" she held one finger straight up. "…and he was freaking out. Lola told him he had to go take care of it. I mean he was sixteen, he'd probably been doing that six times a day and now he was all freaked out by it. It was hilarious."

"I don't think I want to hear anymore." Adam moaned. "You are all going to be the death of me. I don't want to hear any more of your crazy fucking shit. You are fucking lunatics."

Colt leaned across the table and asked Quinn if she was okay. "After a while this just seems normal."

"Really? I don't see how." Alfie squeezed her leg under the table and shrugged. He had warned her, but he didn't think that this particular story would come out.

Adam gave little regard to his language anymore and he didn't even care about the kids. They told them that it was Pops 'special' word and only he could use it. Which was a lie, they had all dropped it at one stage or the other when the kids were around. It was hard not too when all this shit was going down.

He didn't even blink when Sam pushed his plate away from him and told his father he was "fucking finished."

Riley warned Sam about saying 'Pops word' and Lola was annoyed at Alfie for laughing because that only encouraged him. Funnily enough Addy was just sitting there with her mouth agape and Poppy was just focused on getting her dinner into her mouth and she was failing miserably and there was food everywhere. Billy wasn't much better, he was covered from head to toe in his food, which wasn't unusual "You've got no one to blame but yourself Charlotte."

"Except you Alfred…" she spat at him for his sarcastic use of her proper name. "… and your chemically enhanced penis."

"It amuses me no end that you of all people Charlotte are happy to talk about my penis when you locked yourself in your room for days horrified when you found out about sex thanks to the sex addict over there." He pointed at Mae and she sniggered at Alfie's rant and he didn't spare her either. "And you, broke Dad's penis and got lectured at school, not once but three times for your graphic descriptions of animal reproduction. Not to mention how you announced to your class that Mom was pregnant with Bug."

Adam chuckled. "Ahh, the little fucker story."

"And poor Riley, had to beg for almost two years to get you give it up."

"Hey don't drag me into your insanity." Riley knew it was pointless.

Quinn looked at Colton helplessly and he just shrugged. While Alfie had told her Colton was there to help her out when things went sideways she soon learned that all that meant was he topped up her glass.

Things calmed down once they left the dinner table and Quinn spent some time talking to Iris and Colton once everyone had left and Alfie took Addy up to bed. She had come down and said goodnight to everyone and Iris loved how she hugged Quinn. She wanted Alfie to be happy and knew how much he liked her and wanted this weekend to be a success.

"Addy seemed to have a good weekend. The house is so quiet without her." Iris made her a cup of coffee.

"I can imagine, she loves to chat doesn't she?"

"She does. She is really starting to find her feet. Alfie is doing such a good job with her, we kinda knew he would."

Quinn felt like this could turn into a Spanish inquisition at any moment. "They are pretty tight aren't they? Addy and your Pops was magic."

"From the moment Alfie told us about Addy, Pops was adamant that she belonged here. The day we bought her home he was the first to meet her and she loves him. He has that effect on people."

"Alfie talks about him a lot."

"They are very close. Pops took over the Dad role in Alfie's life. He likes you too."

"Who? Pops?"

"Yes. He's not always that easy to please." Iris had watched as Pops interacted with Quinn and he had squeezed her hand and given her a sweet kiss on the cheek and thanked her for coming to dinner before he went to bed. He was looking forward to seeing her again.

"He's very sweet."

"He just wants Alfie to be happy, he knows that Addy is doing that, and he's proud of him for stepping up the way he did and taking care of her but he worries that he is alone." Iris reached over and patted Quinn's leg. "Until now anyway. He's really happy for Alfie."

"Your brother is very special. I am loving getting to know him and I've got to say, he makes it easy."

"Oh, He's alright I guess, for a brother." Iris looked up as Alfie came down. He flopped down beside Quinn and draped an arm around the back of the couch and her shoulders.

"Addy's asleep?"

"Out like a light. We kept her busy all weekend. Hey Bug, do you mind if I take Quinn home?" He really wanted to get her on her own for a bit and talk to her. They hadn't had much of a chance since they'd hit Chicago and he hadn't forgotten what he'd told her in the car and he was keen to find out how she felt about that and the dinner. "Addy should sleep now."

"Go…" Iris waved her hand around. "Go and touch each other inappropriately."

"Always takes things too far." He moaned. "Don't you forget to lock your door; I don't want my daughter to see Colt's lily white ass as he's humping you."

"He has a cute ass."

"I am right here." Colton groaned. He still was never quite prepared for the sharp turns any conversation could take, how they pinged around from one conversation to another was astounding.

"I really like your sisters." Quinn was exhausted by the time they got in the car. She closed her eyes for a moment. "You are all very alike."

"Yep."

"Did that really happen? The Viagra?" She rolled her head to the side to look at him and she liked that he looked happy. She was starting to get a handle on him and his expressions. He wasn't very good at hiding his feelings.

"I am ashamed to say yes. All of it. Every crazy thing that gets thrown out at the dinner table it true, dramatized for effect but very true."

Quinn had been a little stunned by it all. She had convinced herself that it must have been made up, at least some of it. "You don't need Viagra now?"

"No…" He ran his hand up her inner thigh. "..I've got you."

She stopped him. "Did Mae really break your Dad's penis?"

"No, not quite but apparently he ended up in hospital and they did suspect it might be broken. She walked in on them going for it, just stood beside the bed and watched. I was a couple of months old I think and slept through it." Alfie explained the real story. "The one thing Dad didn't want was for Mom's family to find out, they did and he copped it. You can imagine that Sunday night dinner."

"Funny people."

"But not bad people?"

"No, not at all. What did your Pops say? You are all fucking lunatics."

He had to agree "At least we're not boring."

"You could just talk about work and shit, you know like normal people."

"Boring."

Alfie pulled up outside her apartment. "Are you coming in?"

"Yes, you need to touch me inappropriately."

He was desperate for two things. To know how she felt and to make love to her. While the weekend hadn't been barren in that regard it had been a little strange knowing that Addy was close by, that was a first for him too. He wanted a few hours just to relax and enjoy Quinn. It was still early enough.

Alfie carried her bag inside and he suddenly felt nervous. Quinn had been quiet for the last few minutes. "Have I upset you?"

"What? No." She stepped close to him and rested a hand on his chest. He held her by the hips and Quinn met his intense gaze with one of her own. "It's just been a really, really big weekend. I've met Addy…adorable. I've met your family…. insane. I met your Pops… incredible man. I can see the love in that house and I know growing up without your Mom and Dad would've been so hard, but I'm glad you had all that around you." She stepped a little closer. "And I am trying to figure out how to tell you that I am in love with you too."

"I think you just did." He smiled. "Do you mean it, because I meant it?"

"Why don't you kiss me and find out." She slid her hand up his chest and grabbed the back of his neck. "I love you Alfie." The kiss started sweet. It was deep and passionate and then she pulled away.

Then they smashed into each other, clawing at each other's clothes where they stood. Tossing them aside one by one and once they were naked he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, dropping her on the bed unceremoniously and taking just a moment to look her over before joining her. It may have been a bash and dash but there was something else added now. A comfortable certainty that they were both pulling in one direction; towards a future.

Alfie was in no rush to leave though. "So what now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think we need to sit down soon and work out a bit of a plan, just for the next little while. I think, correct me if I'm wrong we have decided that this is a thing, like a real thing and that means we need to have a plan on how we do this. I mean, Addy's gotta come into it."

"Can I just enjoy my buzz?"

"I didn't mean to be a buzzkill." He sounded a little deflated.

"Alfie, you are not a buzzkill, I just feel a bit buzzed right now. I just meant, I'm so happy I can't think straight."

"Hey, so am I. I just worry about Addy in all this. I want to spend time with you, like all the time but I have her to worry about and spend time with. I don't want you to miss out on me, because fuck I am good at this…" he slid his hand between her thighs. "..but we have that adorable 3 year old who deserves the world."

"We can do both, I know we can." Quinn nipped his bottom lip playfully. "Sneaky sex sounds appealing."

"it does." He pulled her close. "Hey, I love you."

"So you keep saying."

"I just like the way it sounds."