This is a sequel to Skin Deep, written by BensonFan711 and Bellatrix wannabe89. If you have not read Skin Deep, please start there, otherwise, I'm afraid the story may not make too much sense.

Warning: This story will also contain issues of racism. If you are offended by this, then by all means, CLICK THE BACK BUTTON.

Rating: M

Flesh & Blood

Chapter 1

Fourteen years after Skin Deep…

"Hey, Mom," 17-year-old Tina called to Olivia as she rushed through the front door of their apartment, pausing long enough to kiss Olivia on the cheek. Olivia was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for dinner. Tina, not missing a beat, reached out a snagged a piece of zucchini and popped it in her mouth.

"Hey! That's for dinner!" Olivia chastised. Tina shrugged and made a beeline for her bedroom off the main living area, still chattering as she went.

"Can't stay long," she said as her backpack landed on the floor of her room with a thud. "Eli's taking me out to dinner at this new restaurant in the Village that..."

"Freeze!" Olivia called, immediately putting a stop to Tina's quick chatter. Tina appeared in the doorway of her bedroom with a quizzical look on her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Did you forget what tonight is?" Olivia asked as she dumped the vegetables in the marinade. She had expected this from Tina. Although Tina had a kind and gentle heart, like most teenagers, she could also be a little self-absorbed.

"No..." Tina said, but from the way her eyes darted around the room, and the guilty look on her face, Olivia knew better.

"Your brother is coming over tonight with your new niece," Olivia reminded her.

"Wait, that's tonight?" Tina replied.

"Yes. So go in there, call Eli, and tell him you're busy tonight," Olivia said, pointing towards Tina's room with the chef's knife in her hand.

"But Mom..." Tina protested.

"No 'buts,'" Olivia warned as she began unwrapping the chicken breasts she had defrosted earlier.

"Well, can he come over here then?" she asked. She had started officially dating Eli Stabler almost three months ago at the beginning summer break. She had gotten a job as a lifeguard at a community swimming pool, and he had worked the concession stand. Though they had been friends since birth, their friendship blossomed into something more that magical summer. And, since he was a friend of the family, her parents rarely objected to the two of them spending time together.

"No, this is a family event. Besides, we don't want to overwhelm the poor girl. Now, go call Eli. You can see him tomorrow," Olivia said firmly.

"But..." Tina started to protest.

"Or, you can spend the weekend volunteering at the Child Advocacy Center with me. Your choice," Olivia warned. Tina hated the Child Advocacy Center. Olivia was a detective, so her hours consisted of interviewing children and arranging for legal counsel. Tina got stuck with the tasks for "unskilled" volunteers, which typically involved scrubbing something she'd rather not be anywhere near.

"Ok, ok...I'll call him," she huffed, turning back towards her room. Olivia glanced at the photograph of a 5-year-old red-headed child already hanging on her refrigerator. It had taken nearly four years, thousands of dollars in attorney fees, and more patience than the family knew they had, but Ken Randall and his husband, Noah Crenshaw, had managed to adopt a child of their own.

Juniper Astrid Crendall had become Olivia's granddaughter nearly two weeks ago, and Ken was planning to bring her over for dinner. Olivia was looking forward to welcoming the newest member of her family, although she had hoped Tina would be a little more cooperative about then whole affair.

"And clean up your room!" she yelled, hearing Tina swear as she tripped over some unknown object. Olivia began cutting up the chicken, throwing most of it in the marinade with the vegetables, the few remaining pieces she sprinkled with a little bit of seasoning and set them aside in case Juniper didn't like the marinade.

The front door opened again, and Fin walked in with several bags in his hand, shutting it behind her. "Hey, Beautiful," her husband of nineteen years greeted as he walked over to her. He reached in the bowl and plopped a piece of zucchini in his mouth.

"You're setting a bad example for Tina," Olivia chastised as she continued to cut up the chicken. "And besides that is for our granddaughter's first dinner here." Fin shrugged as he took another piece of the vegetable and he ate it again.

"Not my fault you're such a good cook." He leaned over and nuzzled her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist, still finding her just as beautiful and attractive as the day he married her. Olivia paused to lean back in his embrace for a moment, a smile growing on her lips.

"We have to get ready."

"Mmm hmm," he muttered, his lips finding that one spot behind her ear that turned her into mush.

"They're going to be here soon, and we haven't even wrapped her gift," Olivia argued with a slight moan as he continued to nuzzle her but made no other move to discourage him.

"Mmm hmm," Fin muttered again as his hands slid down and grabbed her ass. Olivia leaned back in his embrace, closing her eyes and enjoying his playfulness just as much as he was.

"So, if you two could stop playing grab ass for a minute, I need to grab my bag without, you know, vomiting," Tina's voice interrupted from her bedroom door where she had her hands over her eyes to avoid the scene before her. Fin chuckled, giving Olivia a final kiss and a quick swat on the ass as he pulled away from Olivia.

"Language," Olivia chastised as her daughter uncovered her eyes and walked out to get the bag.

"And stop leaving your bag in the middle of living room," Fin warned as he took out the red headed Barbie, a pink remote controlled Barbie convertible, and a large array of Barbie clothes, everything from swim suits to princess outfits out of the shopping bags. "Someone's gonna trip, fall, and bust their ass you keep doing that."

"Language," Olivia repeated. One of these days, she was actually going to succeed in getting through to both of them.

"Sorry," Tina told them, all three knowing that Monday afternoon, they would be having the same argument they had every school day.

"Mom, can you wash my practice suit before tomorrow?" Tina had been on the swim team since seventh grade, and was now co-captain of the varsity team. She hoped that she was good enough to land a scholarship for college, but even if she didn't, she still loved her sport. The only problem was that Tina wasn't exactly diligent about making sure her wet suit wound up in the laundry instead of her gym bag.

"Even though I told you yesterday to put it in the hamper so I could wash it when we wouldn't be extremely busy?" Tina's eyes darted around the room again.

"... Kind of."

Olivia let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll see if I have the time," she told Tina with another sigh as she began pouring some vegetable oil in the pan. Tina rolled her eyes as she walked back into her room.

"Thanks," she told them dryly before she shut the door. Fin grabbed out wrapping paper and tape from the bags, a slight smirk on his face.

"You washed it yesterday?" he asked.

"Folded and put away in her top drawer." Fin went over to her and kissed her gently.

"I love it when you lie to our daughter to prove a point." Olivia grinned back as she looked over her shoulder as she began to dump the mixture of chicken and vegetables into the pan. He chuckled as he turned back to the gifts and began to wrap them. Twenty minutes later with the three gifts wrapped and the kitchen smelling delightfully with dinner as Olivia worked on the salad, there was a knock on the door.

Olivia and Fin's heart jumped into their throat as they glanced towards the door. Olivia took a deep breath and turned towards Fin, a beaming smile on her face.

"You ready, Grandpa?" Fin nodded, wrapping his arm around her.

"Ready as you are, Nana." Olivia chuckled and they made their way towards the door. With another deep breath they opened the door, smiling at the small family at the door.

Ken and Noah were holding hands while Juniper, or June as they called her, sat in Ken's arm, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Hi, you guys!" Olivia greeted joyfully hugging Ken and Noah. "How was Florida?"

"It was amazing," said Noah with a smile as he hugged Olivia back followed by shaking Fin's hand who followed suit with Ken, Olivia frowning slightly when her husband and stepson acted more like close colleagues then father and son.

While Ken had eventually learned the truth about his siblings being 'miscarriages', he had never fully stopped blaming Fin for allowing his family to be abducted and tortured. Olivia looked down at the little girl still hiding in Ken's shoulder and smiled. "Hi, June," said Olivia sweetly.

"How you doing, June Bug?" Fin asked with a soft smile. June offered no response and instead nuzzled in closer to Ken who merely chuckled and readjusted her slightly.

"She's a little shy," he explained before he turned towards her. "Hey," Ken said softly giving her a tiny nudge. "You wanna say hi to Nana and Grandpa?"

June stayed quiet for a long moment before she muttered a soft spoken, "hi," barely audible to Olivia before she buried her head in Ken's shirt again.

Their hearts were won over instantly.

Noah brushed a stray red curl from her face before Olivia moved out of the doorway for them. "You guys want to come in?" asked Olivia. Without a word the tiny family walked in the apartment, Olivia shutting the door and triple checking the locks.

"Tina," Olivia called out as Fin took the coats from Noah and Fin. "Get out here, there's someone you need to meet." Tina shuffled out of her bedroom and smiled at her brother and brother in law.

"Hey, you guys!" she greeted happily, pushing several microbraids from her face. Her eyes landed on the little girl in Ken's arms and her eyes lit up. "Oh my God is this her? She's so cute! I want one!"

"Nope," said Fin as he hung the coats up. Tina rolled her eyes but her smile never left her face as she walked up to the group.

"Her name's Juniper?" Tina asked.

"We call her June," Noah told Tina before turning to his daughter. "June, this is your Aunt Tina. She's Daddy Ken's sister. Can you say hi?"

June muttered another soft spoken 'hi' and Tina squeed like it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen in her life.

"She's, like, BEYOND adorable!" Tina turned towards Olivia, a beaming grin on her face. "Why didn't I ever get any younger brothers or sisters? They're so cute!" The entire atmosphere of the room changed. Olivia's face fell and, as hard as she tried to hide it from Tina, who didn't know a single detail about her siblings, the Colins, or Victoria Black, the sorrow was evident to everyone in the room.

Ken and Noah glanced at one another briefly and Fin's hands clutched into a fist so tight his nails left marks, reminding himself that Tina never knew she almost had not one, but three siblings, and Olivia lost the ability to get pregnant again when Tina was three.

"What?" Tina asked looking around the room, her brow narrowed in confusion. "What'd I say?" Olivia cleared her throat and forced a smile back on her face so she didn't ruin the happy moment.

"It's nothing," she said with a forced chuckle that was fooling no one. She clapped her hands together and grinned at the younger couple. "So, anyway, back on track. We have some presents I think a cute little red headed girl might like..."

June's head picked up slightly, turning towards Olivia, her green eyes narrowed in confusion. "Presents?"

"Yup," Fin confirmed. "All for a special little June Bug like you."

June smiled at the nickname, lighting all five adults faces up before she turned to Ken, "Daddy Ken, can I open the presents?"

"You certainly can, Sweetie," Ken told her kissing the top of her head and setting her down on the floor. Within minutes, June had the wrapping paper off her gifts, and with a little help from Tina, was zooming the car around the apartment.

"Dinner smells great, Liv," Ken said.

"Thanks, it'll be ready in about ten minutes." She turned her attention to the two girls in the living room. "Tina? Check your sugar."

"June, that goes for you too," Ken said, pulling out a glucose kit from his messenger bag. That was actually how June wound up in the foster system. Her mother had been ill equipped to care for a juvenile diabetic, and so she had abandoned June in a supermarket with a note. Ken and Noah had been approved largely because Ken had experience caring for a diabetic child when Tina was younger.

"No!" June screamed, hiding behind Tina. "I don't want to!" Tina looked from June to Ken to Olivia.

"June, c'mon. You know we have to," Ken said.

"Wait, she's diabetic?" Tina asked. "How come nobody told me?"

"We did," Olivia said. "But with your selective hearing, you might have missed it."

"June, tell ya what. Let me go get my stuff, and we can do it together, ok?" Tina said.

"You have di'betes too?" June asked quizzically. Tina nodded.

"Mhm. For as long as I can remember," she said. She disappeared into her room and came back with a small black case. June watched as Tina dropped the case on the dining room table and headed to the kitchen.

"Scuse me," she said, working her way through the narrow space Olivia was trying to occupy to finish dinner. She went to the drawer underneath the silverware on the bottom that had always been "Tina's space," where Olivia kept a selection of sugar free snacks no one else was allowed to touch. She opened the door, found what she was looking for, and headed back to the table.

"Hey June, come here. If you let me help you check your sugar, you can have some gummi bears," she said, waving the bag. June crossed her arms and pouted.

"I can't have gummi bears 'cause they have too much sugar," June protested.

"Remind you of anyone?" Olivia whispered to Fin. He chuckled at the inside joke.

"You can have some of mine. They're special, just for diabetics like us," Tina said, raising her eyebrow. June cautiously walked towards Tina, taking a seat in the chair next to her. Tina unzipped both kits and laid out the supplies.

"Did you know Grandpa once went to work in a big pink princess dress?" she said as she set up the lancing devices.

"Why?" June asked. "That's silly!"

"I know it is, but someone dared him to, so he did," Tina said, as she cleaned both one of her fingers and one of June's. "He wore matching high heels, too, and some of Nana's lipstick," Tina said. She pricked her own finger first, not even flinching after years of getting used to it. She used the test strip and waited for her meter to give a reading while she stopped the bleeding with a cotton ball.

"Grandpa, did you really do that?" she asked as Tina gently pricked the side of her finger, in a spot experience taught her would hurt the least.

"I did," Fin said, going along with the ruse. Apparently, his story about Munch fourteen years ago left a lasting impression with his daughter.

"Why?" June asked as Tina applied a test strip to her finger. She set the meter aside, and used a cotton ball to stop the bleeding on June's finger.

"I lost a bet. Trust me, it's not something I like to talk about," he said.

"All done," Tina said. "128 for June." June stared at her finger curiously. She hadn't even felt it. "And a promise is a promise. Here you go, June," she said, handing her five of her treasured gummi bears. Ken made note of the reading and leaned in next to Tina.

"Gummi bears, hm?" he said. Tina shrugged.

"It's how Dad used to get me to check mine," she said.

"And where exactly would we find sugar free gummi bears?" he asked. Tina laughed.

"Ask at the drug store. They have all kinds of good stuff," she said. She turned to her own meter to see what her sugar had been.

"Uh, Mom?" she said.

"Yeah, Honey?" Liv replied distracted by dishing up dinner. Tina stood up and went to where June couldn't hear her.

"196," Tina whispered. Olivia's head snapped up. That was high…high enough for her to be concerned.

There ya go, folks. A little teaser to get us going. What awaits the Tutuolas after fourteen years?

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