Asher: A Step-Brother Romance

by Faye Barker

  “You? When the hell did you decide to sleep with my daughter?” Mom shouts, getting over her shock and heading straight to anger.

  “The night before you told us we were going to be related,” Asher says before moving to moms spot beside me. He sits on the bed next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder pulling me in close. I bury my face in his side, wrapping my arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly against me as if he’d disappear if I let him go even an inch.

  He kisses the top of my head before continuing. “We decided we were going to give us a shot before you threw your news on us. Your news didn’t matter to me, but it mattered to Melody so we stopped. Melody’s also not lying. We used protection, it must have failed but I’m not going to sit here and listen to you insinuate she’s a whore.”

  “Damn. I did not see that shit coming,” Axel says, chuckling breaking the tension just a bit. Daniel grabs moms hand and walks her out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. We wait in silence for them to return, no one ready to say anything just yet.

  Mom doesn’t look any happier when she comes back into the room with Daniel. Both of them are pretty tense.

  A knock came at the door and I groan, “I’m so not in the mood for more people to be in here right now, I want to sleep and probably puke.”

  Asher chuckles while his arms tighten around me when the door opens admitting a nurse who says she’s just coming to check on my vitals.

  “I’m out,” Axel says coming to the bed after hanging out against the wall while everyone chatted, except for my mom and me. He gives me a side hug and slaps Asher on the back. “Congratulations you two. I’ll see you later.”

  I’ve been doing a damn good job of keeping my eyes open but as the nurse fusses with me I can feel my eyes drift shut while I lean against Asher, my head on his chest. I vaguely hear Flora and Keegan saying their goodbyes before leaving. My eyes open slowly when I feel someone touch my hand and look up to see Daniel.

  “Your mother and I are going to head out, we’ll be back tomorrow to check on you,” he says with a smile, his eyes cutting to mom when he says “we” in a tone that brokers no argument.

  Mom nods and looks away from us. “We’ll see you tomorrow Melody.”

  “Okay,” I mutter.

  The nurse follows shortly after mom and Daniel leave, replacing my used puke bowl with a new one. Asher pushes the button to lay the bed down. He lays on his back, pulling me into his arms and rubbing my back, mindful of my IV on my arm.

  “You doing okay?” He asks, mouth against the top of my head.

  “My stomach still wants to empty itself but I don’t have anything in it. I’m tired, spent the last two nights trying to find a comfortable way to sleep that didn’t make the nausea worse and spent most of that time dry heaving because I didn’t have anything in my stomach because I had already puked most of it up.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” He doesn’t sound mad, just curious.

  “I didn’t want to make you or anyone else worry. I thought it was just a bug. Flora made me go to the nurse’s office today and that’s when I found out I was pregnant.”

  “If you’re sick, I want to know. I can’t take care of you if you don’t tell me.” His arms tighten around me then loosen.

  “Are you mad about the baby?” I ask in a small voice. “When Keegan said it you didn’t really have an expression and it made me think you were mad. I’d probably be pretty pissed if I were you, we used condoms but apparently they suck.”

  He chuckles and kisses the top of my head. “Not mad. I was just shocked.” I nod but otherwise stay quiet. After several minutes of quiet he finally speaks again. “Dad’ll sort out your mom. If she’s determined I don’t doubt that he’d be more than willing to pay the rest of your schooling for you.”

  “I can’t take his money.”

  “He’s going to want to help take care of his grandchild Kitten. He’ll get your mom straight.” He pauses. “You might want to be prepared to quit your job, at least until the baby gets here if you’re going to be this sick.”

  “I can’t afford to miss anymore work, Asher,” I say softly.

  “Kitten, I have a trust fund that I haven’t touched that I’ve been able to access since my birthday. You’re not alone in this. Even if your mom doesn’t support you, doesn’t mean my family or your friends won’t help.”

  “Okay,” I say, too tired to argue with him. “I’m not going to be able to go to the wedding this weekend.”

  “I know. Either they’ll have the wedding without us, or they’ll wait until we can go.”

  “You’re not going?” I snuggle deeper into him.

  “If you’re here, I’m here. I’m not leaving you to deal with this on your own Kitten,” he says matter-of-factly.

  “Okay.”

  “Get some sleep babe, if you start feeling sick let me know and I’ll get your thing for you.”

  “Mmhm.” I barely heard him since I was already starting to fall asleep.

  Chapter 7

  4 months later

  Mom and Daniel ended up postponing their wedding until we knew I was going to be able to make it. Daniel got mom to let go of her deal with me, since the baby is also his grandbaby he was very insistent about it. My morning sickness has gone down considerably since I hit five months in my pregnancy, I’m still sick sometimes but nowhere near as bad as I was. I only had to go to the hospital to get an IV at most once a week or every other week.

  It was a giant pain in the ass.

  I had to quit my job because I couldn’t work around the food. Hell, I couldn’t even walk through the door. Bob was extremely understandable and told me that if I wanted my job back when I was better I could come back.

  I moved in with Asher two months ago since I couldn’t make Flora and Keegan pay for my portion of the rent, and I knew we’d end up moving in together eventually when it was closer to the baby getting here anyways so we wouldn’t have to go back and forth between places.

  Asher’s extremely fucking hard to argue with and he’s bossy as hell. That pisses me off to no end and we’ve gotten into a few arguments about the bossy shit. Examples being when he insisted I quit my job and again when he told me to move in with him. Asshole’s also not shy about using sex to get what he wants either and since I was either sick or horny as hell I was fucked either way.

  We find out the sex of the baby today and mom and Daniel’s wedding is tomorrow. To say I’m nervous is a huge understatement. I didn’t want to look like the fat cow I felt like in mom’s wedding pictures as her maid of honor. I also haven’t made up my mind if I want to know the sex of the baby or not. Asher said he doesn’t give a shit and told me to decide.

  “Quit fidgeting, Kitten,” Asher says, grabbing one of my hands and lacing his fingers through his, squeezing gently.

  “I’m freaking out,” I hiss at him, making mom and Daniel laugh.

  They came to the appointment because I asked them to come with. I think mom was shocked and I know that Daniel was. I know this was supposed to be a thing for me and Asher but this was one of those things I needed my mom and since Daniel had been so fantastic with helping Asher and me get things ready in the nursery and was almost as excited as Asher and I, I asked him to come too.

  “Melody, have you decided if you want find out the sex or not?” Mom asks.

  “Yes. No. Yes. Fuck, I don’t know,” I whine. “I really gotta pee, I can’t focus on anything else right now!”

  “Melody!” A soft voice calls from beside us. We turn and see a nurse standing at the door.

  I stand up, grasping Asher’s hand like a lifeline as we all head toward the nurse and follow her to the ultrasound room.

  I lay on the bed as they instruct and the ultrasound tech lifts my shirt over my rounding belly, it’s not super huge but I think it’s kind of average for this far along, probably a little smaller than that from being sick all the time, but there’s definitely a baby in there. I
’ve stayed the same weight since I found out I was pregnant. My doctor isn’t happy about this since I’m not overweight, which is apparently the only way losing weight while pregnant is okay, and is constantly on my ass about needing to eat more. He’s a dick. If I could eat as much as I want to, I would. Not my fault my stomach is constantly attacking itself. I’m not doing it on purpose.

  She tucks a towel into my yoga pants, pulling them down a little bit before grabbing the gel from the stand. I wiggle a little at the sensation of it being squirted onto my belly but otherwise remain quiet until the tech places the wand over the gel, spreading it and looking for the baby.

  She stops the wand. “There’s your baby, mom and dad,” she says to Asher and me. We look at the monitor and I start tearing up.

  The last time we had an ultrasound the baby was like a little gummy bear. I’ve been calling the baby Gum or Gummy since we didn’t know the sex and didn’t have names picked out. Now, baby Gum actually looks like a human.

  “And the heartbeat,” the tech says and a whooshing sound filters through the room. “Huh,” the tech says distractedly, moving the wand around again.

  “What?” I ask, tensing in the bed, squeezing Asher’s hand tightly.

  “Do multiples run in your family Melody?” she asks casually and I squeek.

  “What?! What is that supposed to mean?”

  “They do,” mom says quietly.

  “Wait, what? Since when? You’re not a twin,” I point out to her.

  “No,” she pauses and bites her lip. “But you were.”

  “What?” I breathe.

  “You were a twin, Baby A passed in the womb around ten weeks. You were Baby B.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me that? Or even tell me that there’s a chance I could have multiple babies at once?” I shriek, breathing heavily.

  “I’m sorry honey, it hurt too much to think about it. You never asked about a brother or sister or if you were ever a twin and I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

  “What the hell mom! When we found out you should have told me that there’s a chance I’d be carrying more than one.”

  “I know I’m sorry honey.”

  The tech chuckles softly. “They missed the second baby in the original ultrasound, I’m guessing it was hiding behind the first one or they just missed it. There’s definitely two sets of hands and feet I’m seeing as well as two heads.” She moves the wand to the opposite side of my stomach where the first baby was and shows us the second baby.

  I start crying. Full blown, ugly crying. The tech continues, taking measurements, pointing out body parts of the babies as I cry.

  “Alright, I’ve got almost everything I need, next up is gender. Have you decided if you want to find out?”

  “I’m having twins out of fucking nowhere,” I snap through my tears. “Of course I want to find out!”

  “Babe,” Asher says, trying not laugh with everyone else in the room.

  “Alright, let’s start with baby A,” she says, back to business. She puts the wand back where the first baby was and maneuvers it around for the best angle. She stops and takes a picture. “Looks like Baby A is a boy.”

  I suck in a shaky breath, waiting for her to do the same with the second baby.

  “Baby B is a girl. Congratulations, you guys get one of each,” the tech says with a grin.

  “Holy shit,” I breathe and lean my head against Asher’s shoulder, still crying.

  “We’ve got this, Kitten,” Asher says against my head, lips brushing my hair.

  “God, I fucking hope so. I was scared with just one, but now there’s two. I’m fucking terrified Ash.”

  “We’ll be fine,” he assures me. I narrow my eyes at him, not really believing him. One baby was mind boggling enough with a fucked up condom, but getting two out of the deal? What the hell?

  “I’m suing the condom company,” I state, making everyone in the room laugh. “I’m really not kidding.”

  “I know,” mom laughs. “You won’t get anything out of it honey. Things happen and it’s not their fault.”

  I grumble under my breath while the tech wipes the goop of my stomach.

  Chapter 8

  I stand in front of the mirror smoothing down my bridesmaids dress, it’s a strapless champagne color. It’s gorgeous and emphasizes my baby bump, while also slimming me down. Win for me.

  I turn to face my mom who’s standing in front of her own mirror dressed in an ivory lace trumpet dress, hair curled in gorgeous fat curls, and her makeup done perfectly. “You look great mom.”

  She grins at me from over her shoulder. “So do you Mel.”

  We’ve got a little more than an hour until the ceremony starts and my mind wanders to Asher. I haven’t seen him in a tux before and I’m eager to see it. Unfortunately with my imagination, my hormones are going crazy.

  “I’m gonna go find Asher. We’ve got a little bit before the ceremony,” I tell my mom as I walk towards the door. She chuckles to herself and waves me away.

  I go to the room the men are getting ready in and knock on the door, waiting for someone to tell me it’s okay to come in. When I open the door I have to fight to keep my mouth shut. Holy hell these guys clean up good.

  My eyes lock onto Asher, slowly looking at him done up in a tux and I blush when I see the knowing smile on his face.

  “What’s up Kitten?” he asks.

  Okay, how do you tell someone to please come fuck your brains out because you’re pregnant and horny as hell?

  I grin at him. “Can I talk to you?” I jerk my head outside the door to let him know that I mean, talking elsewhere.

  “Sure babe.”

  Asher comes to me, wraps his arm around my shoulder, holding me tight against his side and kisses the top of my head as we leave the room. “Everything okay?”

  “Perfect. Except for one small thing.”

  “Oh?”

  The wedding is actually taking place at Daniel’s mansion. Really, should just be called a goddamn castle it’s so freaking huge. I lead Asher up a flight of stairs to the third floor, where there shouldn’t be anyone around.

  He chuckles. Guess he figured out what I was doing.

  Asher takes over and leads us to an empty guest bedroom. As soon as we enter he slams the door shut and pushes me against it with his body against mine. His breath tickles my lips, he’s so close.

  “We’ve got less than an hour at this point so we aren’t late,” he says against my mouth. “I’m assuming you brought me here to take advantage of the time we have left?”

  “Hell yes,” I announce before grabbing the back of his head and bringing him closer so I can kiss him.

  He breaks the gap between us, kissing me hungrily. Nipping at my bottom lip when he doesn’t have his tongue in my mouth. The kiss turns desperate and he wraps his arms around my waist lifting me off the ground just enough so my feet are off the floor and walks with me to the bed.

  He lays me gently in the middle of the large bed, his body pressed against mine before he lifts off me, breaking the kiss and smiles at me. “We’re gonna have to keep our clothes on for this babe. We won’t have time to get redressed as well as wait for you to fix everything.”

  “Shut up and fuck me,” I moan, arching my back and pressing my hips against his.

  “So impatient. I thought you were impatient before I got you pregnant.” He grins at me. “I had no idea what the hell I was thinking because you had the patience of a saint then, compared to now.”

  “Asher,” I groan drawing out his name.

  “Patience,” he whispers against my neck, placing a soft kiss there then moving his mouth to that little spot behind my ear and placing a kiss there. His hands push my dress up, over my waist, running across my legs gently teasing.

  “Asher,” I breathe. “Please.”

  He brings his head to my stomach and places a kiss over my protruding belly. “I fucking love seeing you swollen with my kids.”

  “My
swollen ankles and feet disagree with you,” I mutter with a smile. “I’m excited to meet them, but I’m also scared.”

  “I know Kitten. I’ve got you,” he says quietly as he grabs the sides of my panties and pulls them down, off my legs. The second he’s got them off he stuffs them in his pocket and I laugh at his cocky grin.

  “You know I’m going to need those back, right?”

  “Nah, this way I don’t have to take them off again when we sneak away after the ceremony and again during the reception,” he pauses and grins. “If you’re up for it after we get home then we can do it then too.”

  “You’ve got it all planned out,” I gasp when his mouth presses against my center.

  “Damn straight I do. Only thing I didn’t have planned out was this one, especially since you got morning sex when we woke up.” He smirks up at me. “You’re gonna break my dick by the time these babies are born babe.”

  “Asher,” I grind out through gritted teeth. “I will not. Please stop teasing me. I can feel your breath against me. I need more.”

  He shuts up after that, licking the length of my slit, stopping to twirl his tongue around my clit, flicking against it. He licks and nibbles, bringing one of his hands to my breast to tweak my nipple. I slap my hand against the back of his head as I buck against his face.

  “Oh god, Asher,” I moan.

  I groan loudly when he takes a finger and slides it inside me, moving it steadily while sucking on my clit. After I’m thrashing around on the bed, completely overwhelmed and needing to come he adds a second finger, spreading me. His fingers rub against my g spot while he nips at my clit making me explode and tighten around him.

  Asher doesn’t wait for me to come down before his pants are halfway down his thighs and he’s pushing inside of me as soon as my orgasm finishes, causing another one to follow on its heels.

  “Asher,” I moan, grasping his shoulders while he thrusts inside me.

  “Holy fuck Melody,” Asher grinds out, thrusting deep inside me, hitting the one spot that will guarantee my next orgasm will be more intense than the others. His strokes pick up speed and intensity while he shifts so he can rub his thumb against my clit. “Come baby. Come with me.”