...on family

For the last couple of days my sister has been in Derby. We don't see each other all that often; it's not deliberate or maliciously like that, just that we live in different cities and we're both busy with our own comings and goings. But it was great to see her and mum and dad were around as well, so there was 7 of us all hanging out together.
What struck me this morning (in the relative quiet of the house as I unloaded the dishwasher) was that when family all get together there's no pretence of what people are 'supposed to do'. Someone makes drinks, others cook dinner, some play with the kids, we all laugh at jokes and talk about stuff, some help each other with tasks, others do jobs and chores. No-one sits in the lounge expected to be waited on hand-and-foot in some aloof pretence of importance. That's what fab about family, the days just go by pretty much as normal just with extra people around and there's something normal and comforting about that.
When 2 particular friends of ours come round I don't need to ask what they'd like to drink. I just make 2 cups of tea (in the biggest mugs I can find. White, no sugar. (Yes, you know who you are!)) and hand them over knowing they'll 'hit-the-spot'. Those people are like family and I half expect to find them one day making their own cups of tea in our kitchen. I'll smile and laugh to myself and it'll all just be very normal and comforting.
At some point in the near future I think I may well get the choice to have my own office away from others or a desk in a shared office. I already know which one I'll choose.
I think humans (and many animals as well) are social creatures. Is this in-built from birth or a product of growing up in families (or social circles that function like families)? The answer doesn't really matter, just that we have a setting in which we can be 'family'.