“Why is everyone so quiet? I know my cooking isn’t that good.” She jokes before taking a sip of her chardonnay. I smile, because her cooking is that good and also because it might be the last time I smile tonight.

  “The kids have something to talk to us about.” My dad says and he winces, my guess at his choice of words. “Well James and Gabrielle have something to say.” He leans back in his chair and motions towards us as if to say ‘well, out with it.’

  Monica looks at me and gives me a small smile and a wink and I’m choosing to read it as ‘You got this. I’m with you.’”

  “Mom, I hope what we’re about to share isn’t going to change how you see us.” I start and I can already feel the tears forming in the back of my throat. “I am sorry if this changes how you see me.”

  “That could never happen, sweet girl.” She grabs my hand as I’m seated closest to her and gives it a squeeze. “Now tell Mama, what’s up.”

  “So…” James picks up his glass of whiskey and takes a healthy sip. He holds it tightly in his grasp, twirling the ice around the glass. The sound of the ice clinking is the only sound to be heard except for maybe the pounding in my chest that I can hear in my ears. “Mom, Gabrielle and I are together,” he blurts out like he’s ripping off a Band-aid.

  I squeeze my eyes shut, preparing for the worst when I don’t hear anything. I open one eye and look at my mother who’s staring at us with wide eyes.

  “I’m sorry, I swear I’ve only had two of these.” She says pointing at her glass of wine. “What did you say?”

  “I know how this sounds and—” James starts.

  “Did you know about this?” She cuts him off and stares at my father.

  “Are you serious? How is that your first question? And why am I the one getting heat for this?” He asks. “Monica knew too.” He points at her and her head snaps towards him.

  “DAD!”

  “If I go down, I’m taking you down with me.” He points at Monica and despite the very intense environment, I resist the urge to chuckle at their banter.

  “CALVIN!” My mother yells. “I’ll deal with you in a second,” she says pointing at Monica. “How? When?” She says turning back to us.

  “To be fair, Dad just found out last weekend.” I interject. “We asked that he give us a chance to tell you and we wanted to do it in person.”

  “Well thank you for your consideration?” She scoffs before rubbing her eyes. “I gave up smoking before you were born Monica and I haven’t needed one until right this second.” She lets out a breath. “How?”

  I notice in my periphery my father gets up and goes into the kitchen. Moments later, he’s back with a ball point pen. “Here, I don’t want you biting your nails and you know how you get.” He hands the pen to my mother and instantly she draws it to her mouth and I stare at her curiously.

  “It helps with the urge but this is not about me or this.” She points the pen at us. “Speak.”

  “Well—”

  “Actually no, first question is when?” Her gaze is hard and cold as she stares at James and I can hear the meaning behind her question.

  “I was eighteen.” I answer instantly. “Last Christmas.” I clarify.

  “Well thank God for small favors!” Her voice is high, bordering on shrill and I wince at the tone of her voice. “This has been going on for ten months?” I nod, not knowing what to say.

  “How long have you known?” She looks at Monica. “Why didn’t you tell me? OR YOU dear husband of mine and father of the children in question?”

  My father doesn’t answer and Monica clears her throat. “I’ve known for… a while.”

  “What’s a while?” My mother probes.

  She pushes her glasses up on her nose. “Pretty much since it started, if you must know.”

  “And you’re just fine with it?”

  “I was not at first. I had a very similar reaction.” Monica looks at me. “Actually no, I yelled a lot.”

  “Gabrielle, I saw the way you looked at James. I found your diaries when you were a child with his name scribbled on every page. I knew you had a crush on him but I never thought…” she trails off. “And James, when did you start seeing her differently?”

  Lie and make that shit convincing, James.

  “Would you believe me if I said when she was eighteen?”

  “No, that sounds entirely too convenient.” She gives us both her signature mom look. The one that says ‘don’t you dare lie to me.’

  “I first noticed something was different when she was seventeen. I came home for the weekend and it was like she’d changed overnight.”

  Two Years Prior

  “Let me call you back, I’m pulling up to my house.” I tell Isaac who’s been going on about the new chick in the office that he fucked in her first week for the past thirty minutes. It was a slow month at the office and I hadn’t been home in a few months so this visit had been long overdue. Gabrielle had been begging me to come home for weeks and I finally carved out some time to take a week of vacation. I barely have the car door open before I hear my name being called from the door and a squeal that I would know anywhere. I’m out of the car prepared to scoop her in my arms when I take in the woman moving fast towards me.

  Yes, woman.

  Who. The. Fuck?

  I blink my eyes several times in confusion. It’s not that I don’t recognize it’s Gabrielle, but my body seems to be very confused over who this is in front of me because suddenly it feels like I’m on fucking fire.

  She’s still a few yards away from me so I take in her attire. It’s summertime so she’s wearing short high waisted shorts and a white crop top that shows her tiny waist but the curve of her hips. I can’t say I ever really noticed before, but I swear her breasts look bigger than they did the last time I saw her.

  FUCK, don’t look there. Gabrielle doesn’t have breasts or hips or…

  She’s in my arms, interrupting my sinful inner monologue. Her arms wrap around my neck as she presses her body against me and I feel a stirring in my pants that I am trying my best to ignore.

  No. No. No. I panic.

  “I missed you so much.” She says when she pulls away. Her hair is pulled into a sleek high ponytail, allowing the tips to graze her shoulders. It’s July so I assume she’s been out in the sun, giving her a deliciously sexy tan.

  No. Not sexy. Gabrielle is not sexy.

  Yes, she is. My subconscious replies immediately.

  “Why are you so quiet? Did you miss me?” She places her hands under her chin and cocks her head to the side giving me a smile that instantly makes my knees fucking weak.

  Since when is her smile capable of doing that?

  “Of course, I did.” I tell her. She walks by me to open the backseat of my car and I try my best not to follow her with my eyes. But I do. I shamelessly ogle her while her back is turned and I can’t pull my gaze away from her ass.

  I finally do just before she pulls my suitcase out of the car. “I’m so excited you’re here! Mom and Dad are out so I’m the only member of the welcome wagon.” She grabs my hand and begins pulling me towards the door. “Do you want to go get something to eat? Or I can whip up something?”

  I swallow and it shakes me to my core that I couldn’t care less about food in this moment despite the fact that I was starving no less than twenty minutes ago. No, the only thing I care about in this moment is getting to the nearest bathroom and fucking my hand.

  “Sweetheart, I would love to take you somewhere for lunch.” I tell her. I use pet names for her all the time, but suddenly sweetheart feels… different. “But let me just change and use the restroom. I had a few Red Bulls on the way here, okay angel?”

  Angel doesn’t feel any better.

  My cock stiffens with every step as I make my way downstairs before I close the door and lock myself in the bathroom. I stare at myself in the mirror even though I don’t even want to look myself in the eye.

  “What is happening to me?” I let out a breath. I just got laid a few days ago, it’s not like I’ve been going without sex. Why in God’s name am I this horny?

  I look down at my cock that’s rising in my shorts and I know what I have to do. But I refuse to think about her. Absolutely not.

  You sure about that? That asshole voice that is clearly at odds with my conscience speaks up.

  I don’t think my dick has ever been this hard. It’s almost painful how badly I need a release. I pull down my briefs and look down at my hard cock that is already leaking semen from the tip. From a fucking hug? From Gab? In shorts?

  She did look great though. Has she been working out? She’s always had a nice figure, but now it’s like her body is one of a supermodel. Her face flashes through my head and my cock twitches.

  “James?” I hear her voice in my head.

  “Nope. Go away, Gabrielle.” I growl, trying my best to think about the girl from a few nights ago. The girl—any girl from my office. My neighbor. Anyone.

  Not Gabrielle.

  My balls begin to tingle and I stare at my dick in confusion because it’s never had a mind of its own quite like this.

  One time won’t hurt. No one will know.

  “Fuck me.” I wrap my hand around my cock and slide it from root to tip before repeating the process over and over. I’m trying my best to keep my mind blank and despite how hard I am, I’m missing that familiar feeling. My phone beeps and I see her name on the screen and just seeing her name sends a jolt back to my dick.

  A flash of her running towards me takes over my brain and suddenly my hand is moving faster. My orgasm is there. I can feel it. But my body isn’t going to let me have it until I succumb to the taboo thoughts.

  No.

  Just once.

  No.

  No one will know.

  I’m already anticipating the shame and guilt the second her face floats through my brain.

  “Jesus Christ, what’s happening to me?” I repeat. I grip the counter as I continue to fuck my hand picturing my little sister’s sweet face. “Fuck I’m so sorry.” A vision of her sitting in my lap, my hands wrapped around her as she wiggles her ass against my crotch, a giggle leaving her lips has me exploding in my hand.

  I keep coming and coming and coming. I don’t think I’ve come this much in years.

  I finally stop and let out a deep breath.

  This can’t happen again.

  Ever. I vow.

  It happened again. Every night I was home.

  And for several months after.

  My mother, like my father, and Monica needed time to process so Gabrielle and I went for a walk around our neighborhood. “I’m happy they all know.” She says and I wrap an arm around her shoulder before kissing her temple.

  “Now that they know you think they’ll be fine with you sleeping in my room tonight?” I look down at her with a wicked smirk and she rolls her eyes.

  “Let’s not press our luck,” she laughs. “I’ll just sneak down like usual.”

  “I expected Mom to take it worse honestly.” I tell her. I loved my mother but she could go from zero to one hundred quickly and especially after a glass of wine. I grab her hand and lace our fingers before dragging my lips over her fingertips.

  “It seems like she took it better than Dad.”

  I nod, knowing what I want to talk to her about but not knowing exactly how to broach the subject. She’s still only nineteen and what I’m asking her for is huge. Especially at her age. But I need more. It’s not enough just being her boyfriend or her man. I wanted to be her everything. Her lover. Her protector. Her husband. I wanted my ring on her finger so the world would know she belonged to me. “So now that they know, does that mean you’re open to talking about marriage now?”

  The grin that finds her face makes my dick hard and I resist the urge to pull her behind a tree and fuck her senselessly. “You want to marry me, Calloway?”

  “There isn’t any question. You know I do.”

  “Well, I suppose marrying you would spare me the pain of having to change my last name.” She taps her chin and I narrow my gaze at her before I pinch her side playfully. We pass a bench and she sits down and I follow suit. “James… I’ve wanted to marry you since I was like three years old.” She smiles. “I’ve been waiting forever for this.”

  “Well, I want to spend forever with you.”

  Four Years Later

  The air leaves my lungs when I take in the vision in front of me. Adorned in a long white dress that conforms to her slender body, I want to drop to my knees and worship at her feet. She’s undoubtedly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

  “Oh my God, what are you doing here?” she squeals as Monica tries to shoo me out of the room. Her eyes are brimming with tears but I can’t be sure if it’s because I’m here seeing her in her wedding dress and she wanted to wait or because she’s overwhelmed by the fact that she’s marrying me today.

  “Monica, give us a second.”

  “James, her makeup and hair are perfect.” Monica, who is dressed in a sapphire blue maid of honor dress, says as she pushes against my chest to try and get me out of the room.

  “Monica, out,” I growl at her as I make my way towards Gabrielle who also happens to be my future wife. My cock jerks in my pants thinking about marrying Gabrielle which is happening within the next ten minutes. The sound of the door clicking lets me know that we’re alone and I’m in front of her instantly.

  “Wow. You’re a vision.”

  “You’re not supposed to be here!” she says as my lips find her neck.

  “Says who?”

  She grips my forearms and takes a step back. “Tradition!”

  “Okay, so we’re going with what’s traditional now, future Mrs. Calloway?” I say emphasizing her last name which happens to be the same as mine. She grabs the table behind her and I take a step closer to her. “Is your pussy wet?” I’m back in front of her. “I know how much it turns you on when I call you that.” For the past few months, whenever I’ve made any reference to our upcoming nuptials, particularly while we’re being intimate she loses her mind. She bites her lip and nods her head up and down.

  “We can’t do that right now but I am glad you’re here.” While my cock is disappointed that it won’t be inside her one more time before we tie the knot, I am thrilled that she’s happy to see me. “I always pictured you being in here with me the day I got married. Talking me off the ledge, but I never expected you’d be the groom.”

  “Do I need to talk you off the ledge? Because let me tell you, this guy you’re marrying is a great guy, Gab. I’ve never seen a man love a woman the way he loves you,” I joke, trying to relieve the tension in case she actually is having cold feet, but she shakes her head.

  “I don’t need to be convinced you’re the man for me.”

  I grab her hand and rub a finger over her engagement ring. “I can’t wait to start this life with you.”

  One Year Later

  “God, J this fucking HURTS,” I scream as I go into my tenth hour of labor and another contraction rips through me. “Please just fucking kill me.” I squeeze his hand, and like the absolute gem he is, he lets me all but break every bone, for the third time.

  “I love you and you’re doing so well baby. I’m so proud of you.” He kisses my temple and brings my hand that is currently crushing his to his lips.

  “Stop being so fucking perfect,” I scream. “It’s so annoying,” I grit out and I hear the nurse in the corner of the room chuckle.

  “Okay, Gabrielle, I need another big push because I think this baby is ready to make its entrance!” our Doctor says. The second James and I got married I flushed my birth control and about three minutes later I was pregnant. Now, here we were about to bring our son into the world. James Michael Calloway Jr.

  “Do you hear that baby, just one more push.” His hand cups my face, and he leans in to whisper, “Come on, sweetheart. You got this. Do it for Daddy.”

  I glare at him, knowing where he’s going with this. “That is what got us here in the first place!” I cry. “Oh Godddddd, who decided this!? Who the fuck invented childbirth!?” I cry.

  “Don’t say fuck, our son is almost here.” I can hear the sexy sternness in his voice and while usually I get off on that, now is really not the fucking time. I raise my middle finger in response.

  “Okay, baby is coming. Come on Gabrielle, you ready to meet your baby?” The doctor looks up at me from between my legs.

  I nod several times, tears already rolling down my face at the thought of finally getting to meet the little person who’s lived inside me for nine months. Even if he did use my bladder like a trampoline. James is holding my hand and presses his lips to my cheek. “I love you, angel. Thank you for doing this. For making our family complete, yet again.”

  I turn towards him, my heart literally feeling like it could burst from the love I have for this man and also the one inside me. And seconds before our party of two becomes a party of three I press a kiss to his lips. “I love you more, James. Always.”

  The End

  In the mood for another sexy and emotional taboo romance?

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  * * *

  The first time I saw him, it was love at first sight. At least my ten-year-old brain, that had watched too many romance movies with my incurable romantic mother wanted to believe. He was standing across the playground talking to the Social Studies teacher whose name I could never remember. He was new from just a few towns over, I later learned, after his wife died in a fatal car accident leaving him widowed and devastated.