“Hey stranger,” I greeted him, leaning forward to kiss the nape of his neck. “Should we go somewhere a bit more comfortable?”
“Mmm, I could be persuaded.” He rolled onto his back, wrapping his arms around my neck. He pulled me down to him, kissing me deeply, his tongue pressing against my lips, demanding entrance into my mouth. It was, perhaps, the most insistent and needy he’d been since we got together, and I loved eliciting such a response from him.
“My God, would you two please remember there are sibling eyes in the house?” Abi screeched, effectively ruining the moment. It was a good thing she did, because I’d allowed my desire for Mason to turn off my ability to think, and I was about a minute away from stripping him naked and taking him on the couch.
Mason sat up, carefully adjusting himself and reaching for an afghan to hide the tent in his nylon shorts. Abi eyed us carefully from the edge of the room and I sat down next to Mace, wondering how much it’d cost to get her a place of her own. It’d be an expense well worth it to have a bit of privacy.
“Hey, Abi, I thought you’d gone downstairs,” I lied.
“Uh, no. I was in the bathroom, and was going to say goodnight, but apparently I interrupted.” She seemed to shrink as she stood there, further raising my suspicions that she was upset about something beyond the normal college student stuff.
“Hey, no worries,” I reassured her. “Why don’t you come in and sit for a bit.”
I swore I heard Mason groan as I made the offer, but he wouldn’t say anything because he knew I’d give up just about anything, including sex, for my sister.
She curled up in the recliner, chewing on the corners of her fingernails. It reminded me how young and insecure she was beneath the badass façade she put up for most people. The scene before me became even more bizarre when I looked over to Mason and saw him having some sort of silent conversation with Abi, consisting of nothing but a series of head jerks and eyebrow lifts.
“Um, is there something going on that I need to know about?” I asked when it started to feel as though I was the odd man out.
Mason walked across the room to Abi and crouched next to her. I strained to hear what they were saying, to no avail. The longer I sat there watching the two of them, the more irritated I became. I was supposed to be the one she came to when she had problems. I was the one she’d always turned to when she was upset. And now, I struggled to convince myself I wasn’t being replaced.
“Guys, whatever you’re whispering about over there, someone had better spill it. It was a long day and I’m tired, so it’s not a good time for games,” I warned them.
“Babe, give her a minute,” Mason pleaded with me. He kissed her on the cheek and made his way back to the couch. When he sat down next to me, he reached for my hand and gave it a hard squeeze that I’m certain was meant to reassure me, but it only made me more uneasy. It meant that whatever Abi was working up the courage to tell me was worse than anything I’d imagined. “Abi, remember what I told you earlier.”
“What in the hell’s going on?” I whispered in his ear as I kissed his neck. A simple shake of his head was Mason’s only response. I knew I’d get nothing more out of him, so I turned my focus on my baby sister. “Abi, you know I’ve always been here for you. Nothing will ever change that, unless you don’t trust me enough to be honest with me.”
That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as she doubled over in tears. I rushed to her side, scooping her out of the chair to place her in my lap. Ever since our parents brought her home from the hospital, I’d been unable to watch her cry without trying to comfort her. I doubted that would ever change, and I didn’t want it to.
“Talk to me,” I begged her.
“You promise you won’t hate me?” she asked, her words strained.
“Never.” It was a promise offered to her with the utmost certainty.
“I’m pregnant, Sean.” The words ghosted across my ear as she continued sobbing into the crook of my neck. I gaped at Mason with wide eyes and he nodded, letting me know I’d heard exactly what I thought I had.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I sighed, unable to think of anything else to say. I was more pissed than I could remember ever being, but until I calmed down enough to find out how this happened, I wasn’t about to hurl accusations at her.
As she cried, I rubbed her back and whispered words of comfort into her ear. I told her over and over that she didn’t have to do this alone, that Mason and I were here for her no matter what.
At some point, Mason kissed both of us on the top of the head and disappeared upstairs. Although I’d wanted nothing more than to spend the night with him, family came first. I was blessed to have a man in my life who understood that without me having to explain it to him.
Mason came down sometime after we’d dozed off to tell me it was time for bed. He lifted Abi off my lap and moved her to the couch before helping me up. My entire body ached, a combination of a rough game and sleeping in the chair with my sister passed out on top of me.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” I asked as I stumbled up the stairs. It was a stupid question, because it was obvious that she was far from okay, but I hoped we’d somehow gotten her to see that this wasn’t the end of the world.
He didn’t answer until we were tucked into bed and the lights were out. “She’s got a lot to think about but I promised her we’d help her however we can, the same as you did. I also told her it was cool if she wanted to stay here no matter what decision she makes. I hope that wasn’t out of line, but she’s terrified that everyone is going to abandon her.”
I smiled, not only because he’d said exactly the right things to Abi, but because his offer for her to move in on a more permanent basis showed that he finally understood that I wanted this house to beours, not just mine. “Yeah, that’s totally fine.”
I laid in the darkness, mulling over everything that had happened in the past few weeks. I had gone from wandering around the house trying to figure out how to fill the void when Mason and I were apart to living with the man of my dreams and having my pregnant, co-ed sister living in the basement.
“Mason, are you asleep?” I asked when my mind wouldn’t turn off. There was something I’d been dying to tell him for a while now, but I hadn’t wanted to tell him over the phone or in passing. I wanted to savor this moment.
“Yeah, babe. What’s up?” His voice was gravelly, the way it was when he first woke up. He draped an arm over my chest, rolling to use me as a pillow.
“I wanted to say thank you for tonight,” I said softly. “Well, not just tonight, but especially for the way you handled the situation with Abi. Every time I think I can’t possibly love you more than I already do, you decide to surprise me.”
