“Yes, Daddy,” she breathes, looking up at me with adoring eyes, even with her knees pulled up to her ears. “Just like that.”
I’m about to slide the flower all the way home when suddenly, there’s a sharp scream by the door. What the hell? Both of us turn, our expressions frozen, and to my surprise, my dad is standing there. Even more shocking, there’s a woman beside him, staring at us with horror in her gaze.
“Tim?” my father stutters, placing a hand over his chest. I’ve never seen him so flustered, and it would be funny if not for this situation.
“Dad?” I manage to get out. Quickly, I pull the flower stem out from Lina’s twat and quickly cover her curves with a cushion. But the pillow is nowhere near big enough, and her big breasts leak out from the sides. “What are you doing here?” I ask while grabbing another cushion for myself.
Ed stares at me, unmoving.
“We had a lunch date two hours ago. When you didn’t answer your phone, I got worried and came to find you. Your door was unlocked, so I just walked in.”
Oh, goddammit. I completely forgot about lunch, and now Ed’s caught us in a clinch. This isn’t how I wanted to introduce my girlfriend to my father, but I suppose it had to happen sometime, even if the circumstances are embarrassing.
“Shit, Dad, I’m sorry. I completely forgot. Well, Dad, meet Lina. Lina, this is my father, Ed Carlton.”
But then the woman beside Ed speaks, and my attention flits to her. She’s okay-looking with blonde hair cut short, high cheekbones, and small red lips. Wait a minute, she looks oddly familiar, but it must be my imagination. My dad’s had a number of girlfriends over the years, and they’re all starting to blur in my mind. But then the woman lets out another sharp scream.
“Angelina?” she cries, staring at my girlfriend. “What the hell is wrong with you? Since when do you let men stick flowers in your pussy? And when did you start fucking your stepbrother too?”
“Mom, I can explain,” Lina says in a tight voice, clutching the pillow to her big breasts. “It’s not what it looks like.”
I blink. Wait, what?
But the middle-aged woman is on a roll, and she glowers at Lina.
“Are you dating your stepbrother?” she demands. “Or is this just sex? I don’t know which is worse, but trust a dirty girl like you to get yourself into this scenario.”
And then, everything descends into chaos. Lina turns red and smoke practically begins to drift from her ears. Within seconds, she and her mother start screaming at each other, and meanwhile, all I can do is stare at the woman I thought I knew. Lina is Angelina? My old stepsister? Furiously, I try to remember. The girl who used to live in our house was about ten years old with buckteeth and frizzy hair. I barely even recall that kid because she was such a nothing-burger. So how could she have turned into the drop-dead beauty standing in front of me? There’s no way.
Finally, my dad interrupts.
“Enough!” His deep voice cuts through the screaming match and brings it to an end. “It’s clear we all have some explaining to do.” He clears his throat and puts his hands behind his back, frowning. “Tim, I wanted to have lunch with you to re-introduce Judy. You remember my ex-wife? We reconnected over Facebook, and well, the rest is history. We’re dating again.”
I stare at him as the words sink in.
“But you hate her,” I sputter. “The divorce was fucking acrimonious and you swore up and down she was the she-devil out to ruin your life. What happened to that?”
At least my dad has the decency to look ashamed.
“Things change, son, and people change too. But I can see this has been a shock in more ways than one, and for now, Judy and I are going to let you and Angelina sort things out between the two of you. Once we’ve all calmed down, we’ll try this again. Sound good?”
Absolute silence rings throughout the room, but then I speak.
“Sure,” I grunt, because what else is there to say?
My father nods in a dignified manner before taking Judy’s elbow.
“Let’s go to that café around the corner,” I hear him say as they exit. “We’ll let the kids have some time alone.” With that, the door shuts and it’s back to just me and Lina, or Angelina should I say, in the living room.
I stare at her, my face dark.
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
She blushes hotly, still clutching the cushion to her bare curves.
“I can explain, Tim.”
I merely glower and frown.
“You better, and it better be good, too.”
With that, our relationship takes a left turn, and I’m not sure what to expect next. After all, I thought this woman was potentially the one. The woman I would marry, and who would bear my children. But now, having uncovered a nest of lies, only uncertainty awaits.
10
Lina
* * *
Tim looks at me with such a grim expression that tears push at the backs of my eyes. My hands start trembling, and even clenching them into fists at my sides won’t keep them still. Damn it! I’m so stupid. I should have told Tim the truth from the moment we met. The minute I saw him at the Krazy Kat, I should have revealed our past relationship. But now, everything’s fucked up and I can only hope he won’t hate me for what I’ve done.
“Well…” I hesitate, biting my lip.
“Lina?” he asks. I flinch at the flatness in Tim’s tone. “Or should I call you Angelina? That’s short for Lina, right?”
“No. I mean, well yes.” I wrap my arms around myself a bit defensively. “Only my mom calls me Angelina anymore.”
He nods, his blue eyes ice cold.
“So, Judy wasn’t confused then. You are Angelina, my former stepsister.”
“Well, yes.” I swallow. “I recognized you that night at the Krazy Kat, and I swear, I was going to tell you, but who says something like that in a strip club? And then, well things were so hot, and we had sex, and …”
“That’s why you were acting so weirdly afterward,” Tim states flatly.
I nod as tears rise again. “Yes. I promise, I was going to tell you, and I should have told you the moment I realized who you were, but it was a tough situation!”
“What was tough about it?” The lack of emotion in his voice is crushing, and I stare at the ground.
“Well, I’ve had a crush on you since I was a kid, and so when you finally appeared in front of me, I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to lie to you, but I didn’t want to risk letting you go either.”
He blinks at me.
“Are you fucking serious? I was a childhood crush, and that’s what kept you from speaking up?”
“Yes!” The dam breaks and tears flood forward. I try to wipe them away, but more keep coming. I can hardly keep my voice steady as I explain everything to him. “I’ve always adored you, Tim. It’s embarrassing but true! I’ve always thought you were the sexiest man I’ve ever seen and yes, this was pre-puberty which makes it a little weird. But of course we couldn’t be together because I was your stepsister! So I put it in the back of my head. When I moved back here from Texas, I didn’t think we’d run into each other, much less at the Krazy Kat of all places. It was such a strange turn of events and things happened so fast that I didn’t know what to say. And then, it felt like it was too late.”
He squints at me.
“It’s never too late for a revelation like this.”
I practically choke, swiping a hand across my eyes. “I know! But after I realized who you were, I was afraid you wouldn’t date me if you knew I was your ex-stepsister. I convinced myself that you’d never want to see me again, and for a girl who’s adored you since childhood, it was a heavy price to pay.” I swallow again heavily. “Does this even make sense to you, or is it completely ridiculous?”
His voice is dry.
“It’s ridiculous.”
I let out a sniff.
“Great. I’m glad this is amusing to you.”
He let
s out a long sigh, and I look up hopefully. Will Tim forgive me? Does he even understand what I’m saying?
He just lets out another long sigh, his shoulders dropping.
“I’m not a man of many words, Lina,” he says gently. “But don’t you trust me? Don’t you know that I love you so much that I’d never let something like this get in the way?”
My eyes widen. Is this a dream? Did I imagine what I just heard? “You… what?”
He smiles.
“I said that I love you, you silly girl.” Then he pulls me into his arms and kisses my forehead before settling us onto the couch once more. He pulls me into his arms and I can barely breathe. Is this really happening? “We’re not really stepsiblings, Lina. Your mom and my dad were married a long time ago, and even then, it doesn’t really matter. We were never related by blood, nor did we grow up together. I couldn’t even remember my old stepsister’s name until today,” he adds with a wry grin.
I pause, my heart trembling like a hummingbird.”
“So you’re not mad at me?”
Tim presses another kiss to the top of my head.
“No, sweetheart, I’m not. Yes, you should have told me who you were a long time ago, but this isn’t that big of a deal. So what if our parents are dating? That’s Ed’s problem, not mine. I know I wouldn’t want to go back into that particular dragon’s lair,” he shudders. “But sweetheart, do you love me?” he asks suddenly, those blue eyes intense. “I haven’t heard the words yet.”
Suddenly, I’m laughing and crying at once in his arms.
“Of course I love you, Tim,” I sob. “I’ve loved you for so long that it almost seems silly, and yet I know what I used to feel as a little girl is real. It’s just blossomed into something mature and giving and adult, and yes, I love you to the moon and back.” Then, I climb into his lap and twine my arms around the handsome man’s neck. We kiss deeply as my head spins, and I can hardly remember why I had such a tough time coming clean to him in the first place. Why did I doubt this man? He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and more too. When I’ve calmed down, Tim holds me against his chest, those big hands stroking my back up and down. I take a deep breath because actually, I have one more secret to reveal.
“Tim?” I begin in a small voice.
“Yes, beautiful?” he growls.
“Well, um, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
He pulls back with a wry smile. “You’re not engaged to someone else, are you?”
I gasp at the implication. “No, of course not!”
“You’re not secretly an alien princess?”
I laugh and shake my head. “No, stop being so silly.”
He grins.
“Well, if it’s not either of those things, then I promise I can handle it.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “I’m pregnant with your baby. You’re going to be a daddy in oh, about eight months. Is that okay?” I ask in a tentative voice.
His blue eyes flare and his hands stop their stroking motion for a moment. My heart contracts and fear washes over my frame. But then Tim lets out a yelp and looks into my eyes, his gaze stunned. “You’re pregnant?”
I nod and start to cry all over again. “Yes, I’m pregnant with your child.”
He lets out another loud hoot before lowering his lips to nuzzle against my cheek. Then, he smothers me with kisses and tickles my sides until I’m gasping for breath, before pressing a kiss to my lips, soft and sweet and full of love.
“I’m so happy,” he breathes. “You’re having my baby. Who would have guessed?”
I smile through the tears in my eyes.
“He or she is made of a piece of you, and a piece of me,” I murmur. “I’m so glad you want to be a daddy.”
“I do,” he confirms in a low voice, his breath hot against my cheek. “This is the best gift ever, Lina, and … well, I didn’t know I was going to be a father, but now, I can’t wait. Thank you, sweetheart. I want this child, definitely.”
With that, our lips join again and my heart swoops headily. I thought the fact that we were related would kill our relationship, but that wasn’t true, and obviously, I underestimated my man because Tim is resilient, realistic, and so loving. My man adores me, and always believed in me, no matter what I threw at him. As a result, our baby will be born into the arms of two adoring parents, and I’ll have this alpha male with me every step of the way. But then I pull back from our kiss breathlessly.
“I guess we’ll have to tell our parents,” I say.
Tim groans under his breath.
“I guess so,” he says before stealing another kiss. “This is a story we’re going to have to tell our child too.”
“Nooo!” I cover my face with my hands, mortified all over again. “Let’s just keep this between us. He or she doesn’t have to know that their grandparents walked in on us right as we were doing something naughty.”
Tim just grins, his eyes flicking to the discarded flower on the coffee table, its stem still slickly wet.
“But we weren’t finished yet, honey. Do you want to…?”
With that, I throw my cushion at him, revealing my lush curves once more, and the love my babydaddy showers on me reminds me that my stepbrother is a good man, a loving one, and also completely mine, at long last.
Epilogue
Lina
* * *
Eight months later.
I’m as big as a house now. I’m in my third trimester, and I can’t see my toes over my huge belly anymore. I’ve read tons of books about pregnancy these last few months, but none of them fully prepared me for my crazy mood swings, my incessant need to go to the bathroom every hour, and the general discomfort of a baby playing kickball in my womb. According to the doctors, our baby is bigger than average at this stage of the pregnancy, but considering how tall Tim is, I’m not surprised.
But today, we’re having a gender reveal party, and it’s going to be fun. Yes, Tim and I are those parents. We’ve decided not to find out the sex of the baby beforehand, so everyone’s had to buy us yellow or green-colored baby gifts, and trust me, quite a few people have hinted that they prefer pink or blue.
Humming with pleasure, I set out a variety of snacks on the kitchen island: there are deviled eggs, olives, cheese and deli meats sliced into small squares, as well crackers. I imagined we’d do more dinner food like barbecue or pizza, but Tim insisted on snacks only. I know he’s afraid the guests will stay too long and I’ll become overtired. I smile happily while rubbing my belly. My boyfriend loves me so much, and it shows in his every gesture.
After all, our life is perfect now. I moved in with the handsome EMT shortly after the dust-up with our parents, and we were a couple from then on out. Of course, it was a bit awkward given the circumstances, but Ed and Judy took it with grace. What were they going to say, after all? We’re adults, and we can choose our partners in life.
Against all odds, Ed and Judy are still dating too. Neither Tim nor I can believe it because their first marriage was so short-lived, but hey, people change, and this time at least, it seems to be going a bit more smoothly.
Satisfied, I survey the spread. It looks delicious, and in the corner of the table, there’s a bouquet from Amazing Blooms as the perfect decoration. My business has taken off and I officially quit the Krazy Kat, although I’m still friends with some of the girls there. It’s not a bad job, and I’m not ashamed that I used to work there. If anything, the other women were really nice, and I’m hoping that they meet the man of their dreams someday too, even if the guys at the Krazy Kat aren’t exactly the type you take home to Mom.
Suddenly, the doorbell rings as I finish setting out the chips and salsa. Right in time! I shuffle to the front door in my ballet flats because there are no more high heels for this former stripper; I couldn’t fit into my old stilettos anyway. I round the corner right as Tim opens the door, and my new friend Jessa wraps me in her arms. She’s married to Sam, Tim’s partner at work, and we hit it of
f like two peas in a pod after being introduced.
“Girl, we’re so excited!” Jessa cries, her fiery hair flying. She’s got her youngest son, Aiden, on her hip, and Sam is right behind her holding their daughter’s hand. “We need more kids in this town!” she says with a welcome smile.
“Thanks,” I giggle, patting my stomach. “But let me give birth first before we schedule any playdates.”
Pepper and Rob are next through the door. I’ve always thought that they make a great couple because Pepper is incredibly elegant, and Rob is always impeccably-dressed. Their daughters, Emily and Emerald, are also very well behaved in matching green outfits.
“How is the baby?” Pepper asks with a gentle smile. She’s an ultrasound tech, even if right now, she’s staying home to be with their children.
“He or she is okay,” I chirp happy. “The baby gets the hiccups all the time, which is a little weird to feel, but it’s normal, or so they say.”
Pepper nods with a smile. “It’s definitely normal. When I was pregnant with my first one, she’d get hiccups morning, noon, and night. It’s a little surreal, but it means the baby’s definitely healthy.”
I giggle and am about to reply, but then Mindy and Jake step through the door. They’ve been married the longest of the group. They have four children, all with names that start with “J.” Even more incredible, they have two sets of twins. Mindy is a very fertile woman, and she and her husband have their hands full with four sets of tiny feet.
“Hey hey hey,” Jake booms. “I hear the party’s started!”
“So, what’s the weirdest craving you’ve had thus far?” his wife asks with a kind smile. “I loved Hot Cheetos with Marshmallow Fluff. That was my thing.”
I smile and think.
“Hmm,” I hum. “Spicy pickles and ice cream? I don’t usually like spicy foods, but tell that to the little one.” Everyone laughs as we congregate in the kitchen, milling about while snacking on finger foods. But then the doorbell rings one last time, and I waddle over to answer it eagerly. Sure enough, it’s Rachel, her brown curls bouncing as she hands me a gaily-colored gift bag.
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