Kelly and Christine Raydor were very close. Even though they were 3 years apart, they were like twins. They could always tell what the other was thinking and they mastered non-verbal communication with each other, managing to confuse everyone around them, including their own mother. Kelly was the older sister. She was slightly more serious and looked like Sharon. Christine was the goofy wanderer who looked like her father. Two awesome girls who were the sole reason Sharon didn't curse the day she met Jackson Raydor.
They managed to get on the same connecting flight to Los Angeles. Kelly started in NY and transferred in Houston and Christine went from Chicago to Houston, not the most direct path, but this way, she would arrive with Kelly.
They babbled like school girls the whole flight talking about Craig and how exciting it was that Mom finally had a man. When they got there, they called their mother who was wrapping up at work. They took the cab to her job, so they could all go "back home" place together.
They got their visitors passes and went upstairs. People got confused when they saw Kelly. No way there's a Raydor clone out there. One guy said she looked like the president from Battlestar Galactica.
She shook her head. She got that a lot and the made it to their mom's murder room.
"As you can see," Dr. Wick was explaining to an exasperated Major Crimes unit, "she had microscopic metal particulates imbedded in the glabella."
"What the hell does that mean?" Provenza growled.
"It means she was hit in the head with a metal object."
"So that's how she died?"
"That's my best hypothesis at the moment."
"AHHHHH!" he yells.
The Captain would scold him but if he screams, she doesn't have to. She looks up. "Kelly, Christine." Her girls come to hug her.
"How's your case going?" Kelly asks.
"This case is crap," snarled Provenza.
"You must be Provenza," Christine comments.
"My reputation proceeds me."
The girls successfully guess everyone there. Rusty was the easiest.
All they have is blunt force trauma to the head and a better cgi modeling of their victim, who they still can't identify or figure out when she died.
Sharon took a copy of the rendering. Sometimes it helped her put the case in perspective. For now however, it was time to go home change, and meet Craig's sons.
The Raydor clan headed home. Christine had all kinds of stories about Cuba. How she got there with the embargo, Sharon did not ask. Kelly was silent about her fiancée Jacob. She was beginning to have second doubts. She was wondering if he was just comfortable and not her true love.
They got to the condo and Christine immediately ran into Sharon's closet, insisting on making sure her mother didn't wear anything too boring. Sharon always had impeccable taste, but sometimes was too businessy and not enough fun with her fashion. Christine was impressed with what she saw this time. "Mom, since when do you buy such cute clothes?"
Sharon rolled her eyes. After showering, changing, makeup hair, the girls were ready to go. Rusty thought they took 3 times as long as what was reasonable. They had dinner reservations at a sushi bar, and Sharon called Craig to say she was on her way. Craig had his boys, Craig Jr. and Mark with him.
Craig was a bit nervous about this dinner. From what Sharon told him, her kids were super close and Craig Jr. and Mark were not. He hoped they wouldn't embarrass him tonight. They loved each other, but they always had these squabbles that he didn't quite understand but Jr. sometimes had little patience for his brother's eclectic personality. Well, Mark's finally managed to invest his energy into something productive, so maybe they can let bygones be bygones. He hoped so. He got his sons in the car and they drove.
When they got there, they went inside to announce they had arrived and they were awaiting four more guests. Sharon and her clan appeared shortly afterwards. Craig greeted her with a kiss which caused Rusty to shake his head, not that he hadn't seen them kiss like 100 times by this point.
They made their introductions and Mark was immediately drawn to Christine. He made sure to sit next to her, which left Craig Jr. sitting next to Kelly. He thought she was cute but he didn't think a long distance relationship with the daughter of his father's girlfriend was advisable on any level. His brother, not so much.
"How is your case going Sharon?" Craig asked her.
"Blech! We got barely anything. We think she might have been killed by being whacked on the head with some kind of metal and we don't know when but probably more than 10 years ago. We have no name, no time of death, no location of death, since she was found in the water and could have washed up from wherever and we have this forensic anthropologist who is the most annoying woman on Earth who speaks in alien tongue with a squeaky voice."
"And you said she was an optimist," Mark joked.
Rusty snickered.
Craig asked Kelly about life in NY. She was a Wall Street shark, gorgeous, super smart, and didn't put up with bullshit. She was a star at her firm and she had a fiancée who had old money, so she was secure in two ways, but everything she had wanted seemed less satisfying once he had it.
"Seeing anyone," he asked.
"I have a fiancée," she mumbled.
"What?"
She held up her hand.
"That's a big rock," Mark shouted.
"Quiet," Jr. hissed at him. Do not make a scene you oof!
"What, that ring is like the size of my face?"
Jr. rolled his eyes. She sounds super thrilled with her engagement.
The waiter came and they started with two pots of tea and they fussed over what to order. This was a family style restaurant, so they had to pick a few things. Christine was in one of her on again vegetarian phases. Mark said he was too.
"You had bacon for breakfast," Craig told him.
"Starting now."
"Going vegetarian for a girl won't work," Jr. chided.
"Jr. Shut up!"
"Hey, do not start with me. I will put both of you in the car." Craig admonished. Sharon tried not to laugh. They were like little boys still, fully grown in suits, living on their own, still 8 year old boys. They shut up long enough to order the grilled mixed vegetables, the pork belly and the bulgogi. That should be more than enough for 7 people. It also comes with rice and the side dishes.
Kelly asked Rusty about school. He had to go to the Catholic school. "Christine got kicked out of it," Kelly told him.
"I almost did too. What happened?" he asks Christine.
She laughs. 'I got caught sneaking back into school. My friends and I would leave to drink Jack and we never went to math on Fridays. They kicked me out and Mom got me kicked right back in. That was the worst punishment ever. I thought I was free of that crappy uniform." She and Kelly were cracking up. Sharon shook her head.
Mark said something like Catholic uniforms are hot and Jr. stomped on his foot under the table, "OW!"
"Foot spasm," Jr. hissed.
The side dishes arrived. Rusty eyed them with suspicion. He waited for others to try them and tell him what was in each little bowl. He decided Jr. had the most similar eating habits to him and he ate what Jr. ate. He thought Jr. was funny. He could see Craig in both boys. Jr. inherited Craig's focus and Mark was Craig's goofy side. Separated, no wonder the boys didn't get along. Kelly and Christine were better suited because they both had some of Sharon and some of Jackson, just a different calibration.
The entrees arrived and Jr. went straight for the pork belly as did his father and Rusty. Kelly favored the beef as did her mother. The two free-spirits started with the vegetables, but they both had points of weakness and ate some of the meat too.
Mark and Christine both kept flirting, and they seemed to be studying one another with their eyes. Jr. and Kelly made some conversation but he didn't talk to her too much. He talked more to Rusty. It seemed safer. He did keep looking at her when he thought she wasn't looking at him. Mark was glaring at him, noticing his brother's bizarre demeanor.
"What?" Jr. looked at him.
"You barely said two words to Kelly."
"Not true. I just asked her to pass the soy sauce."
"Come on. Try and be sociable."
"So how do you like New York?" This wasn't awkward.
"It's always busy, which means I don't get bored easily, but sometimes I'd like to slow down a little. It doesn't seem like my world has room for that."
"That's what happens when you go to Wall Street," Christine tells her. "I couldn't last two minutes there. I always have to move. I just moved to Minnesota."
"That's where you live now?" Sharon looked at her.
"You didn't know," Jr. asks her.
"I can't keep track. She moves like 6 times a year."
"What! How do you work?"
"I'm a photographer. I can work anywhere."
"How do you maintain clients?"
"I shoot for magazines and newspapers. I also sometimes just sell the rights of photos online."
"Maybe I should move," Mark contemplated.
"To where?"
"I don't know. Chicago is so the same all the time. Maybe I'd like San Francisco."
"I might move there next year," Christine added.
After they finished their meal, there was a bakery next door for dessert. Of course, Mark and Christine shared one. Sharon and Craig shared one. Jr. and Kelly looked at each other and then each got their own. Rusty got two. They were cheap, so he got a savory one and a sweet one.
Mark asked how they were fitting everyone in that condo. Kelly said that she and Christine were fine sharing a room together. Mark asked Christine if she wanted to stay at their house. She can have her own room.
"Or stay in yours," Jr. mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Cake stuck in my throat."
Mark rolled his eyes.
Kelly was on the phone arguing, "No I don't want a room full of flowers…. First of all, I'm allergic to chrysanthemums. They will just make me sneeze and second of all, what the hell would I do with so many flowers…. Of course your mom would think it's expected to have that many flowers. Does she want me to ride in on an elephant too?… No I am NOT overreacting….. This wedding is becoming a circus….Why couldn't we elope in city hall?…. Well, if she gets a room full of flowers, then I want Shamu from Seaworld…. I'll talk to you later Jacob. No I don't really want a dolphin…. Killer Whales are dolphins…. Bye."
No one commented on that phone call. Craig asked Sharon where they were sleeping that night. "I figured we could go to the condo and Rusty could go to his room and Kelly could go to her old room and Christine could go with Mark and Jr."
"I want to go with Christine," said Kelly.
"Fine, you can go too."
Great, Jr. thought, I get left alone with the very attractive, engaged woman who clearly doesn't want to get married.
The four "kids" get into Craig's car, and Craig takes Sharon and Rusty to her condo. Rusty starts texting as soon as he's home. "Brenda, you gotta meet Craig's kids. They're ratchet."
Craig led Sharon to bed. "I know you had a rough week. Just put it behind you and relax." He started kissing the back of her neck as he got her out of her dress. She moaned as his hands found the sides of her breasts and barely grazed them. He got out of his suit and got her on the bed. They kissed slowly and lazily, their breath tasting like the ice cream they had for dessert. Craig broke the kiss to kiss her all over her body, slowly taking off her bra and then kissing her breasts all over, kissing his way down her stomach to her hip. He pulled her panties off and then kissed her neck. "Just close your eyes and enjoy this."
He nestled between her legs and began to slowly lick her, moving along every fold and a sensitive nub in front and then his fingers gently traced along her. "Ugh! Craig!" she growled as he gave her much needed relief. He took his time, slowly exploring her wetness although he knew her forwards and backwards. He gradually licked harder and used his fingers more aggressively. He double teamed her with his mouth and fingers, fingering her as he licked her clit until she shook uncontrollable for about 20 seconds. He let her go and then kissed his way up to her neck.
He found her hips and gently held them as he thrusted into her. "OH! GOD!" she hissed as he began to move his hips back and forth. Her nails dug into his back, and he went at a moderate pace. He knew Sharon was ready for a nice long slumber, so he didn't plan to keep going for too long. He kissed her lips and held her close as he made love to her. Eventually, they were both ready and after their orgasms subsided, he said goodnight, wrapping his arms around her stomach.
At Craig's house, Mark and Christine continued their flirtation a little more and then they went up to his room. This left Jr. and Kelly together.
She grabbed one of the books off Craig's shelf and read it. She had never heard of it before, but her Mom said he was an award-winning author, so he probably had good taste. Jr. pretty much just looked at her. If only she wasn't Sharon's daughter. If only he wasn't engaged. Eventually, Kelly noticed his gaze. "Am I that interesting to look at?"
"Yes," he said. He didn't elaborate.
She tried to go back to her book, but she couldn't focus. She put it down and looked at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to figure out why staring across the room is so interesting."
"You can't see yourself from there, so you wouldn't know. Surely I'm not interesting," Jr. told her.
"I have a question or two for you."
"Like what?"
"Like why don't you get along with Mark."
"Mark is aggravating. He must be one of the smartest people I ever met, but he's a total turkey. He wanted to go to wall street, then medical school, then law school. He could never commit to anything, just squandering his potential. He's probably twice as smart as I am, so I have to work twice as hard, and it's infuriating to see him just go, well maybe I'll apply to this major firm one day and maybe I'll get an awesome job just to go, well maybe I'll drop it all and move to San Francisco because I met a pretty girl who likes moving a lot. It likes he puts zero thought into his life."
"Maybe he just thinks about different things."
"Like what. How cheesy he can be to get in your sister's pants?"
"It worked."
"It did, didn't it." They both snicker at that. "I have a question for you," he asked her.
"Shoot."
"Why are you getting married?"
"What?"
"You hardly seem like you want to. You could barely say the word fiancée at dinner. You didn't say a thing about him. Your mother in law to be sounds like an overbearing bulwark and you're successful enough to make it on your own. It's not like you need him as a security blanket. What am I missing."
"The last three years of my life. It seemed like everything was great. He was cute and fun and smart and the sex was really good and then he got on the partner fast track at his dad's company and everything became so ordinary. I figured I'll wait it out, he'll retire some day and we'll enjoy the finer things in life, but I don't know how long I can wait for that. I need a husband now, not a hope for a future one when I'm old and have been filed down into the system."
"Have you ever told him this?"
"I try and he always says this is for us, our dream, but I don't know if I want it anymore."
Jr. really wanted to kiss her right now. He needed to go. "I'm gonna go to bed now."
"Did I say the wrong thing?"
"No, but I have a motto when it comes to pretty women who are taken. Get away before I do something I'll regret." Jr. went to bed.
Kelly was alone on the couch. She wasn't a cheater, not after what her dad did to her mom over all of those years, but she wondered what Jr. was afraid he'd do if he had stayed. She went back to her book. She didn't want to go upstairs until after Christine and Mark were done. She knew her sister was a screamer.