“I don’t see this ending with James. I wouldn’t have crossed this line if I was ever planning to uncross it.”

  “You say that, but you don’t know what life has in store for you. You’re eighteen, Gab. You don’t have your life figured out yet.”

  “Maybe not, but I do have who I want to spend it with figured out.”

  Eight Months Later

  My God, where does the time go? I wonder as I’m staring across the table at my gorgeous girlfriend.

  Girlfriend.

  It sends a surge to my dick just as it always does when I think of her. Gabrielle and I have been together for almost nine months now, and quite frankly it’s been the best time of my life. After her freshman year, she pressed Mom and Dad about having her own room despite how much she loved Harper. She sold them on her being a partier and that it disrupted her flow of studying and my parents ate it up, commending Gabrielle for not getting distracted with the college party life.

  Her own room meant no one was wondering where she was when she stayed at my apartment or who the mysterious man was creeping into her dorm at midnight to fuck her senseless.

  She and Harper are still friends even after a few months of awkwardness between them and I’m grateful that she has someone to talk to about her relationship with me. She stayed with me for the summer under the ruse of a summer internship because of course she should stay with me instead of wasting twenty thousand dollars on room and board for three months.

  It took a while, but ironically, Monica has become our biggest advocate. After both of us had a very long conversations with her, she started to see that this is real.

  “You’re staring,” she tells me as she takes a sip of her champagne.

  “You’re stunning.” I nod at her, taking her in. She’s wearing an off the shoulder black dress that accentuates her narrow waist and full hips. Her dark hair is curled and pulled over one shoulder, exposing her neck that I just want to sink my teeth into like I always do when her neck is on display. I let out a deep breath about what I want to talk to her about.

  She sets down her fork and leans forward. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

  “Besides fucking you until neither of us can walk?” He shrugs. “Yes, I do.”

  She giggles and leans forward as well, sinking her teeth into her full lips that are painted red. “That’s the exact same thing I’ve got on my mind as well, but tell me the other thing.”

  I lean on my elbows and rub my hand over my jaw, scratching the stubble. “Baby, I think it’s time to tell Mom and Dad.” Her eyes widen and she darts her eyes around the room like she’s expecting them to appear.

  “Wh-what?”

  Keep her calm. “Gab, relax. We knew we were going to have to do this at some point. I’m honestly surprised that we’ve been able to keep it a secret this long.”

  “But like…this weekend?” she whisper-yells. It’s our parents’ anniversary, so we are driving home tomorrow to celebrate with them as they’re throwing a small party.

  “It’s making me crazy that I haven’t properly and publicly claimed you and I’m becoming more obsessive about it by the day.”

  “But baby…” she starts. She looks up at me through her thick lashes like she does when she wants me to do what she wants. “I’m not ready.”

  My cock jerks in my pants and I reach down as discreetly as possible to adjust myself in an attempt to relieve some tension. “We’re never going to be fully ready to tell them this.”

  “What if they disown us?”

  “They won’t.” I shake my head at her. “They love us.”

  “They won’t love this.” She tucks a long dark brown strand behind her ear.

  “Doesn’t mean they’ll stop loving us.”

  She furrows her brows and scrunches her nose. Fuck, she’s cute. “I’m not prepared to lose our family.”

  “We won’t,” I tell her. “But…I’m ready to start my own family.” I give her a smile. The smile she can’t say no to. “With you.” We’ve had a few talks about children and while she’s still on the pill for the foreseeable future, the idea of children together isn’t that far off.

  She visibly shivers and a shy smile finds her perfect pout before a look of worry takes over. “I want that too…I’m just scared.”

  “I know, but I’ll protect you, just like I always have. You and me against the world, Gab.”

  She snorts. “Yeah, literally.”

  “Baby, it’s not going to be that bad.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “How?”

  I shrug, preparing to drop a bomb on her that I know she’s not ready for. “Because I already talked to Dad when I bought your engagement ring.”

  Her eyes widen. “WHAT?” she screams and the entire restaurant turns to look at her. She looks around and I wave at the people staring as if to say sorry, as you were. “What?!” She repeats, this time at a more reasonable volume. “First of all, Dad knows?” She looks around. “When? How long? And ring? Seriously J, you’re springing this on me in public?”

  I can see several different emotions crossing her face from shock to worry to excitement. “Okay, you’re right. Not my best idea.”

  “How long has Dad known? And you’re telling me Mom doesn’t?”

  “No, Dad does not want to be the bearer of that news. And I told him last weekend while he was here.” Our father had come to the city for a meeting and while the three of us had dinner the night before he left, I had lunch with him the following day while Gabrielle was in class.

  “Oh my God, what did he say? How did he take it?”

  “What’s on your mind, son?” My dad asks as he takes a sip of his beer. “I can still read you like a book.”

  “Yeah. Better than I know myself, right?”

  “One of the perks of bringing you into this world.” He laughs before cutting into his salmon. “What’s up though?”

  I rub my hands together and lean back in my chair. “I want to talk to you about something.”

  “Is that why you invited me to your apartment for lunch instead of making us a reservation somewhere? I’ve never known you to cook.”

  “Please, this is still takeout. I didn’t cook this.” I snort. “But I did want to talk in private which is why we aren’t at a restaurant.” I wasn’t sure how my Dad would react, and I figured it was better if I handled it behind closed doors in case things got tense.

  He takes a bite before he leans back in his chair. “Well, spit it out.”

  “Not something I can spit out but I will try.” I suddenly feel like I’m sixteen years old again and I’m preparing to tell my Dad I scratched his Jaguar. Or the time my high school girlfriend had a pregnancy scare and I was preparing to tell my parents. Thank God she got her period the day I’d planned to tell them. But both of those situations pale in comparison to this.

  “So Dad, ummm,” I know I talked a big game to Gabrielle, that our parents would understand and that they love us, but the truth is I’m just as worried to tell them. Specifically, my Dad who adores Gabrielle and is very protective over her. Not the same way I’m protective over her but in the appropriate fatherly way. “I’m seeing someone.” I start with the easiest part. “It’s serious.”

  “Well, that’s great news. Why did you seem so nervous to tell me that? I’m thrilled. And your mother as well. Are you planning to bring her home with you next weekend?”

  “Well…” I wince. “Yes.”

  “Splendid. Son, I am very happy for you. I was beginning to think you’d never settle down. My God if you were this nervous telling me, I can’t imagine how you told Gabrielle. I do hope she knows. If she does not, I do not want to be in the same state when she finds out.”

  “Wait, what?” I laugh nervously. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Oh come on, James. Gab thinks you’ve hung the moon and the stars and everything else. She’s very protective over you She was in a mood for weeks when she found out you were seeing someone in New York. I’m also kind of surprised she didn’t spill the beans to Monica and your mother if she knew.”

  “Wait back up a second, she was upset over me seeing someone?” I ask, wondering how I didn’t know that.

  “Maybe not upset necessarily but she was certainly bothered, when you were dating that girl maybe two years ago? The news reporter?”

  I nod, remembering the busty brunette from Los Angeles that I met at a bar one night when I was hammered out of my mind. “Oh right, but that wasn’t serious?”

  “Well, Gabrielle surely did not take it well.” I wonder what he’s thinking about that. Surely he has some opinion over his daughter having such a visceral reaction to her brother dating someone.

  I take a long sip of my beer, hoping that the liquid courage will kick in like now. “What do you think about that?”

  “Think about what?”

  “Gabrielle’s…disdain for me seeing someone?”

  “I think she’s always kind of struggled with her feelings for you. At first, we worried that maybe your connection wasn’t the healthiest. It was odd, watching her develop these potentially unhealthy feelings for you. She was very attached to you early on and it just seemed to get more aggressive especially after what happened in Mississippi. But we figured you were who she needed to feel better. To feel like herself again. All that being said, she’s older now and it probably won’t bother her as much anymore—”

  “Dad.” I cut him off from going any further. I have this ring in my pocket, and I’m going to fucking lose it if I don’t tell someone. Gabrielle is the first person I tell anything. The person I confide in the most, and the biggest secret I’ve had to keep I can’t even share with her yet. “It’s Gabrielle.”

  He stares at me confused. “What’s Gabrielle?”

  “The woman I’m seeing.” I pull the box out of my pocket and open it revealing a three carat round diamond ring. “We’ve been seeing each other for months. Coming up on a year actually in December.”

  His eyes widen in shock and what I believe to be horror as his eyes flit from me to the ring box sitting between us. “You’re fucking with me.”

  I shake my head. “No.”

  “ARE YOU INSANE?” He bellows as he gets up from his chair so aggressively it falls over and bangs against the floor. “Your sister? Your nineteen year old sister?” he shouts before slamming his palm down on the table. “Before I ring your fucking neck, how did this happen?” My father rarely shouts and I don’t think he’s yelled at me since I was a teenager.

  “I know how it looks, but you seemed to understand the feelings she had—”

  “A harmless crush behind closed doors is way different than this!” He points at the box. “Not the fucking same!” It’s just the shock, give him a second to calm down, I think to myself. Sure enough, he takes a deep breath and his next words are calm. “How are we going to explain this?”

  I shrug, not exactly giving a fuck about what a bunch of random people think. “I care what you and Mom and Monica think. Maybe some extended relatives but certainly not anyone else. And as far as you and Mom and Monica, I care, but there’s a limit to that. Not being with Gab isn’t an option.”

  He’s staring out my window and for a moment he doesn’t say anything before he turns towards me, a scowl covering his features. “Did you…” he winces, “before she was eighteen?”

  I know this is a question that I’m going to have to keep answering but it’s tough to hear nonetheless. “No. Dad, this is me and Gabrielle. Think about the last seventeen years.”

  He picks up the overturned chair and slams it back in place before sitting down again. “Not helping your case, James.”

  “It started right before Christmas last year.” I let out a sigh. “It just happened one night and I think it shocked us both how much we wanted to do it again. It was never a ‘this was a mistake thing.’ It was a ‘this feels so fucking right thing.’”

  “I cannot believe what I’m hearing.” He says as he drops his head into his hands.

  “When have I ever not looked out for her? When have I ever done anything but be there for her and do right by her?”

  He runs a hand through his hair and lets out a deep sigh. “That’s exactly my point. You’ve been everything short of a parent to her and now you’re her partner?” My father knows how to be calm in even the most intense situations so I’m not surprised that he’s so collected despite his first outburst.

  “I love her.”

  He rubs a hand over his head. “It’s Gab, Son. You…you can’t have her like that.”

  Watch me. I think immediately. “You think I went looking for this? That I wanted to make either of our lives this hard? Monica is just now talking to us after she found out.”

  “Your sister knows?”

  “Yes, and be happy you didn’t find out the same way she did.”

  He puts a hand up. “I do not want to know; that’s my daughter you’re talking about. And right now, it’s hard to see you like my son and not the asshole defiling my little girl.”

  “First off, Gabrielle is not little. Secondly, you and I both know that her hardest sell when she brought someone home was going to be me, not you.” If he can act like I’m not his son, then I can pretend he’s my woman’s dad and not my own.

  “Watch it, James.”

  “I taught her to drive. I taught her to drink.” I chuckle. “I taught her how to use the Subway here. I went to her college orientation with you and mom. I tutored her in math because quite frankly, she sucks.” I recall even more of her firsts that I’ve been a part of. “I was her second word after Mama. And I know that’s weird to think about but…she’s always been the love of my life. Even before it blossomed into this. When it was innocent. When I’d sit by her bed every night in case she woke up and needed someone. When I held her in my arms through the worst day of her life. And it took me a really long time to realize that nothing ever worked with other women because there was no room in my heart for anyone but her. I know our relationship is complicated and I’ve been her brother and protector and guided her through so many things and now I’m taking on a new role in her life, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop taking care of her, Dad. It just means…I’ll take care of her like a husband.”

  “Son… if you were talking about anyone else in the world, I’d be so goddamn happy for you. I’ve never heard you talk about anyone that way. You’ve never even been remotely close to proposing. But this is Gabrielle; your baby sister that you’ve known for over half of your life.” He cocks his head to the side and shakes his head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I believe that this is real between you two but I can’t say I support this.”

  “And that’s…well, it’s not fine and Gabrielle is going to be hurt. But I value and respect you as my father and her father. I just ask that you take some time to think about it and give me a chance to tell Gabrielle that you know. And don’t tell Mom yet?”

  “Are you kidding? I’m not telling your mother this. This is your news and quite frankly I do not want to be the bearer of it.” He shakes his head. “I won’t say anything to Gab yet.”

  “You and Gabrielle.” He crosses his arms and lets out a breath before looking down at the box. “Is this you asking for her hand in marriage or something?”

  “Do I need it?”

  “I assumed that any man looking to marry either of my daughters would come to me…and also you. Don’t know how this really works now.”

  “Gabrielle will marry me without your blessing, Dad. She won’t love it, but if the alternative is not marrying me…she’ll live with it.”

  “I know,” he says and I’m surprised at his lack of pushback to my comment.

  “Gabrielle loves you and Mom so much. She’s actually been rather terrified you’ll blame her for all of this.”

  “Why on Earth would she think that? You both should know better, but I’m more upset with you over this, James.”

  “Why do you think she thinks that, Dad?”

  “I don’t know? Tell me after all this time she can’t possibly think we see her differently than we see you and Monica?”

  “Normally no. In this very complicated, difficult, taboo situation? Yes, she does.”

  “Doesn’t she know how much better she made our lives? That she’s my daughter even though she may not share my same blood?”

  I shrug. “I’ve been over and over this with her. Deep down she knows it, but she’s scared. Monica didn’t take it well at first. Neither did her roommate. She gets it’s a hard pill to swallow but she just wants someone to be supportive of us off the bat. She wants to hear, ‘if you’re happy I’m happy.’”

  “That’s a hard thing to ask of someone. By nature, people will reject this.”

  “Reject what, love? Since when?”

  “You know what I’m saying, James. You’re her adopted brother for the past seventeen years. To your point, you helped raise her in some ways. How do you wake up one day and decide that your relationship is different?”

  “So, he didn’t take it well then.” Her face falls and I pull her into my arms before the tears can form because the second I see her cry I’m going to lose it.

  “Please don’t cry, angel.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “He was okay by the end of the conversation, he just needed some time to cool off, which I expected. This is why I told him by myself so I could bear the brunt of his anger and you could be involved once he cooled off.”

  She pulls back and I’m grateful that although her eyes are glossy it doesn’t appear that she’s shed any tears. “Are we going to tell Mom this weekend?”

  “If you don’t want to, we don’t have to, but I think we should. It’s time to get all of this out in the open. No more hiding.”

  My knee is bouncing uncontrollably as we all sit down for dinner. Their anniversary party is tomorrow so we came home tonight to have this conversation in private. Monica is home as well but I’m unsure if it’s for moral support or to have a front row seat for the show. James and I are seated next to each other on one side of the table, Monica is on the other and my parents are on each end. The room is quiet, all of us knowing something that only my mother doesn’t but she picks up on it instantly.