Meeting the family

The rest of the flight is uneventful. Afterwards, you gather your bags and hire a car to drive you to Lily's family home.

When you ring the doorbell, you hear muffled barking inside. A few moments later, the door is opened by a bleary-eyed girl. A smallish dog runs out onto the landing, running circles around your legs in a fit of excitement.

Lily cries out with joy as she embraces her sister, who seems equally happy to see her, if a bit subdued due to fatigue.

Then Lily makes introductions. "Melody, meet John. John, Melody".

You're not sure what the proper etiquette is, and you hesitate for a moment. But hell, this woman will soon be your sister-in-law. You step up and pull her into a hug. You can tell she's a bit surprised from the way she stiffens against you, but she gives you a brief, cursory embrace in response. It last long enough, however, for you to feel an impressively soft pair of breasts beneath her baggy clothing, a far cry from what you normally experience hugging Lily. Luckily, Melody gives no appearance of being annoyed afterwards as she leads you into the house and shows you around.

The house is large and rather nice. You drop off your things in Lily's bedroom. It seems to have a lot of cute mementos lying around, and make a mental note to explore later. Melody points out her own room, which seems to have a lot of clothes lying around. You hear music playing from behind a closed door that Melody identifies as Amy's room.

"You can meet her later," Melody says. "She's either practicing dance or 'working'," she says with air-quotes, "and either way we should give her space. She doesn't like when people barge in."

You go back downstairs just in time to see a young man walking in the door. He's dressed in shorts and a t-shirt that's drenched in sweat, showing off a lean runner's body. He has a striking resemblance to your fiancée, with soft, almost effeminate features. He hesitates at the door when he sees you.

"John, this is my brother, Alex," Lily says cheerfully. Turning to her brother, she adds, "I'll hug you later when you're not a sweaty mess."

"Nice to meet you, Alex," you chime in.

Alex wipes his brow, then greets you with a nod of his head.

"Nice to meet you," he says, before turning back to his sisters. "I'm going to hop in the shower, can we have lunch after?" he asks, already walking towards the stairs.

"Love you too, Brother," Lily says dryly to his back as he vaults up the stairs. You catch Melody rolling her eyes.

"Come on, you can help me make sandwiches," she says, leading you towards the kitchen.

The three of you make idle chatter as you divide the labor of fixing lunch. You watch Melody feed her dog - whom you learn is called Mochi - scraps from the meats and veggies she's preparing. You also learn that Melody is hard at work studying for exams, and hasn't been getting much sleep lately as a result.

You set the table, and are soon joined by Lily, Melody, and a freshly showered Alex. He tears into his sandwich with impressive speed. You're just about to take your first bite when you're joined by the final sibling. She glides down the stairs, one hand resting on the banister, walking with a calm grace that shows off her long legs, clad in black leggings. Lily gets up to give her a hug, which she returns.

"Hey John. I'm Amy," she says, flashing you a lopsided smile and a little wave that makes your heart beat a little faster. You think about getting up to offer a hug, but she pulls out a chair and throws herself into it, propping her feet up on Melody's lap. Melody swats her feet away, but Amy just takes that in stride, leaning forward to grab herself a sandwich.

"I didn't expect you down so soon," Melody says idly. Amy shrugs.

"My computer's giving me trouble. Wasn't any point in staying up there longer," she says with a sigh. "I'll have to look at getting a new one. I'll ask Dad when he gets home."

Melody shakes her head.

"Dad had to go away on a work trip. Won't be here all week," she says through a mouthful of sandwich. You see Lily frown next to you.

"Aww, I wanted to introduce him to John," she says, pouting.

"Mom will be home tonight," Alex chimes in, already done with his sandwich and reaching for a second.

"Maybe we can call Dad once she's home," Lily adds.

A short while later, the siblings finish their lunch. You get up quickly and offer to help with the dishes, which earns you a proud smile from Lily. She helps you, and rewards you with a kiss each time you hand her a dish to be dried. After one such kiss, you hear a loud groan behind you, and a clearly unimpressed Melody walks by, clutching a textbook.

Lily just grins. "Don't be jealous!" she cries after her sister, who tosses a middle finger over her shoulder.

"Your family has a lot of character," you muse as you wrap up the last of the dishes.

"That's one way of putting it," Lily says dryly. "But I love them anyway. Come on, let's get our vacation started. Let's go for a walk. I can show you all my favorite places in the neighborhood," she says, taking your hand and leading you towards the door.