Meet the Quinns

[the_sexy_quinn]

Dev's parents had sent a car to pick up Tom and Dev from the airport. Usually, Dev would feel annoyed that they didn't trust him to make it to the house in Malibu on his own, but this time he was looking forward to relaxing in the back with his boyfriend and unwinding from the flight from Boston. While on the plane, he'd made sure to tell Tom everything he could think of about his folks. He'd shared that both of his parents were born into money yet didn't seem to share the same sense of entitlement that most of their friends did. That didn't mean that they didn't enjoy their money, of course. They had the houses and the cars and all of the trappings of wealth, but the difference, Dev cheekily told Tom, was that they were kind to their staff and treated them like human beings. Sara and Jackson Quinn had also been married for twenty-five years and were the only couple among their friends who had never been divorced. That was more than enough to set them apart from the rest of the company they kept.

Dev had then explained how his family had come into its money (though he did it quickly because, frankly, it embarrassed him to be a trust fund baby). Dev's great-grandfather had been wise enough to buy up a tremendous amount of property in the Los Angeles area and through savvy development decisions had secured his family's wealth for generations to come. Sara's family held the patent for a simple household item that had brought in millions for them and would continue to do so for a great while longer, as well. Dev had told Tom that the only reason he was a poor student now was because he had dropped out of school and been determined to have some freedom and struggle with life a little before taking control of his trust. The day that happened, he and Tom would never want for anything. It just happened that his parents were under the impression that he was rejecting both them and their money and constantly fretted about their son's decision to "go rogue." On the plane, Dev had asked Tom not to let on about his plans to go back into the family fold once he was ready.

Dev looked over at his lover and smiled as the car headed out of the airport. "Almost time to meet Sara and Jack," he said, taking Tom's hand in his own. "Too late to back out now, unless you don't mind jumping out of a moving vehicle."

Comments

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

Tom's eyes narrowed at Dev's blush, wondering just what Dean had said, but he managed to keep anyone else from noticing and turned to Sadie with a grin, whispering. "He really is, isn't he?"

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

"Hey, are you both conspiring against me?" Dev said to Tom and Sadie, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Of course we are!" Sadie laughed.

Dean chuckled and looked at Tom. "Careful, Tom. These two are a handful when they're together."

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"Well I don't know Sadie, but I know exactly how to handle Dev." He reached and covered one of his lover's hands with his own, giving it a squeeze as he smiled pleasantly at Dean. His eyes sent a message that the young man belonged to him as surely as he belonged to Dev. "Right, sweetheart?"

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

Dev beamed and turned his hand so he could hold onto Tom's. "It's true. Someone's finally found a way to keep me in line," he said, not noticing the slightly pained look on Dean's face as he spoke.

Jack laughed at what his son said, then gave Tom an approving look. "Tom, if that's true, you have my congratulations. I didn't think anyone could tame this kid."

"I haven't been tamed!" Dev protested with a laugh. "I'm just a bit more...domesticated than I was before."

"That's a bit of a shame," Dean said, putting an arm around Dev's shoulders and giving him a squeeze. "Our resident wild child is disappearing."

"Trust me, Dean," Sara said, "that isn't a bad thing." She smiled at Tom. "In fact, I think it's wonderful."

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

Tom didn't even notice his hand tightening on Dev's as he resisted the urge to reach over and pull Dean's arm away from the young man. "I don't think I'd want Dev completely tamed. I'd miss my wild child too much." The slight emphasis on the word another subtle warning to the smiling man that Dev was his.

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

Dev noticed the emphasis, just as Dean did, and it made him want to lunge across the table and kiss the life out of Tom. He loved feeling as if Tom was marking his territory, even though he knew there was nothing to worry about. Anything Dean did would never turn Dev's head now that he had his Tom.

"Your wild child would miss getting you into trouble," Dev said, leaning forward so Dean was forced to move his arm.

"You get him into trouble?" Sadie said, sounding delighted. "He gets you into trouble?" she repeated to Tom. "What does he do?"

Jack cleared his throat and gave Tom a warning look.

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

Tom smiled at the look in Dev's eyes before he turned and lightly tweaked Sadie's nose. "Things you are far too young to hear about. Trust me, I'm pretty sure I'm too young for some of it."

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

Dev laughed and sat back. "You're not kidding, despite what my brat sister thinks about your age." He winked at Tom as he said it.

Sara frowned a little, though from the way Sadie was joining in the laughter, it was clear she wasn't embarrassed. In fact, she appeared to be having a really good time with both her brother and his new boyfriend. She relaxed a little and shot Jack a smile that told him he didn't need to worry so much about the turn the conversation had taken.

"How old are you, Tom?" Dean asked as he resumed eating his food.

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"I'll be 35 in May and you?" He really couldn't resist the seemingly innocent question delivered in a totally innocuous tone.

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

Dev bit back his laughter as he stuffed some food into his mouth and stared down at his plate.

Dean smiled. "I'll be 53 in August," he said. "Sadie here thinks that makes me older than Father Time."

"Well, you're older than Mom and Dad," Sadie said, nudging Tom's foot under the table to make sure he got that bit.

"Dean's alwys been like a big brother to me," Jack said, then added, "a much older, big brother," and laughed as Dean joined in.

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"That's only a couple of years younger than Da, so I suppose its the life in your years rather than the years in your life." Tom found he couldn't really mock the man.

[studio-dean.livejournal.com]

"That's what they say," Dean said, still laughing. "Though I have to let you all know that I'm not quite ready for the old folks' home just yet."

"Oh my god," Sadie said to Tom. "Dean's almost old enough to be your dad?" She puts a hand over her mouth and starts laughing. "That's awesome!"

Sara flashed Dean an apologetic look, but Dean waved it off with a chuckle. "I'm a firm believer that you're only as old as you feel. And I feel twenty."

"Twenty what?" Jack asked, trying to keep a straight face. "Aches and pains?" It was more than obvious that making fun of Dean's age was par for the course when he visited.

"Tom, I hope you don't think we're mean," Sara said softly. "We always joke around like this with the people we're closest to."

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"Sara, I have a big loud Irish family that would rather tease than eat." Tom answered with a chuckle at the antics of Dev, Sadie and Jack ribbing Dean. A part of him took a little perverse delight in the teasing even though the man seemed to take it in stride.

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

"Ooh, Dev, have you met Tom's family yet?" Sadie asked, excited by the prospect of her brother being interrogated by a big family.

"Not yet," Dev said, "but soon."

"They'll love you, kiddo," Dean said.

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"You wanna come back with us, Sadie?" Tom teased. "We can throw him into the middle of them and see if he sinks or swims."

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

"Can I?" Sadie asked excitedly.

"I think Tom was kidding, Sadie," Dev grinned. "At least I hope he was."

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

Tom nodded. "At least until after the school year, but if your parents will consider it, maybe you could come visit Boston this summer." He looked at Sara and Jack. "If you feel uncomfortable letting her stay with us, she could stay with my parents or my sister Maureen."

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

Sadie looked at her parents, her eyes hopeful as she looked from Sara to Jack and back again. "Oh, please say I can go to Boston for the summer."

"Oy, he said a visit, not the entire summer," Dev interjected. He wouldn't have minded if she stayed for the entire time, but he didn't want to make Tom feel as if his little sister would be a burden.

"Okay, fine, whatever," Sadie said quickly. "Can I go sometime? Please? Daddy?"

Jack smiled at his daughter. "I'll discuss it with your mother and get back to you."

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"If your parents will let her, why not the whole summer? We can go out to the Cape and maybe take a weekend trip to New York and catch a couple of shows." Tom liked the idea very much and he turned to Jack. "I'd love to have Sadie come and if you agree maybe you and Sara could bring her. I know my parents would love meeting you both."

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

Dev raised an eyebrow at Tom inviting his parents to visit and sat back as he listened. Then, when his parents and his sister started to chat excitedly about how much fun it would be to do all of it, he looked at Dean.

"Would you like to come out, too? It'll be a party," he said softly, grinning.

"I'm not sure your boyfriend would like me being there," Dean whispered. "I don't think he likes me, period."

Dev lowered his eyes for a second. "Dean, I told him about us. And... I know he's kind of upset that you're here. It's all my fault." He was keeping his voice down, but he felt the need to let Dean know that if he was acting distant, it wasn't because of anything Dean had done.

"Ah, okay, I wondered what was going on," Dean said. "And I guess I should be glad that you're seeing someone who probably wants to rip my head off."

Dev smiled at that and turned his attention back to the family.

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

As he chatted with Dev's parents and Sadie, Tom couldn't help but keep one eye on Dev and Dean, wondering what they were whispering about. When Sara poured the last of the wine into his glass, Tom offered to go get more from the kitchen. He needed a moment to process what he was feeling about Dean Istead. He hated the man for taking advantage of the child Dev had been, but watching closely he slowly was realizing that while the man obviously loved Dev it didn't seem to have anything to do with lechery, but more the way an uncle would treat a favored nephew. And while he still felt some jealousy at the easy way Dean and Dev acted toward each other, a part of him was actually inclined to like the man in a distant way.

He needed very much to have some time alone with his lover to talk things over. Find out what Dev really felt about Dean and ask him if he thought that maybe he was hiding anything from himself when it came to the man. Returning to the table, he opened the wine and finished filling Sara glass, then his own and held the bottle out to Dean with a small smile, this time more than a little genuine. "More wine, Dean?"

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

"Yes, thank you," Dean said with a smile. Now that he knew Dev had told him what happened between them, he could understand the man's actions. They may have been subtle hints regarding who Dev belonged to now, but they'd come through loud and clear. "I'm wondering if we can convince Jack to let the child over here have some, too."

Dev rolled his eyes. "I'll just go the liquor store and get some of my own later. I don't know why Dad's such a nazi about it."

"I can hear you, Dev," Jack said, though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. All in all, he was happy to have his oldest back at home for the time being and to find out that his fears about Tom had been unwarranted. "And I guess I can be lenient and let you drink. At least if you're home I don't have to worry about you."

"And Tom will be happy to chaperone me, right?" Dev said cheekily, looking at Tom.

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

Having decided to have a talk with Dev later and sort things out, Tom grinned easily as he filled Dev's glass. "You definitely need a keeper, sweetheart."

[spazomatik.livejournal.com]

"Good thing you're up to the job," Dev said, picking up his glass and raising it to his lover before taking a sip. "Mom, what's for dessert?" he suddenly asked.

"Strawberry cheesecake," Sara said. "I hope that's all right."

[nosaint-justme.livejournal.com]

"Sounds fantastic." Tom smiled, his eyes not leaving Dev's face.