TEASE_A Stepbrother Romance

by Mia Carson

  “Mr. And Mrs. Johnson,” Ryan greeted them. We proceeded to show them the house. It turned out they were not interested and left almost immediately.

  Just as Ryan and I were packing up to go home, I had another bout of nausea, and this time, when I ran to the bathroom, Ryan was distracted with putting our real estate paperwork back in the car and hadn’t noticed I had fled the room. As I sat in the bathroom waiting for my stomach to calm down, I started thinking of reasons why I might be sick. I hadn’t eaten anything recently, so it certainly wasn’t food poisoning.

  Suddenly, it dawned on me what could be wrong, but my mind refused to wrap around that possibility. Pregnancy!

  I could possibly be pregnant! Fuck!

  If that were the case, I was totally screwed. I pulled out my phone and opened my period tracking app. Shit! I was five days late! I had been so consumed with the new job that I hadn’t paid attention to my body. The sudden realization that I was most likely pregnant sent shivers through my body. I leaned against the wall for a while, shaking as I tried to regain control of myself.

  Damn!

  Of course I was pregnant. We hadn’t used any protection because I was relying on my body’s natural rhythm to prevent pregnancy. That had failed and I could be expecting Ryan’s baby. There was no way Ryan would want a child now. I wasn’t ready for a baby either, even though I knew I loved Ryan so much. Our parents were certainly not ready for a grandchild, especially under these circumstances.

  I looked at the period tracking app, hoping it would change, but the dates were clear. I tried not to panic. There could be a million reasons why my period was late…new job, extra stress, the summer, so many other reasons unrelated to pregnancy. I ran all the options through my mind, but I knew deep down that the new job had not caused the delay of my period. Ryan’s sperm had! I needed to take a pregnancy test as soon as possible.

  “Liv?” Ryan called for me.

  “In the bathroom. Coming,” I said, opening the door.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Just needed to use the bathroom. Ready to leave?”

  “Yes.” We headed out the door. He locked up after us and walked me to my car.

  “I need to pick up some girl stuff from the pharmacy,” I said, hoping he’d imagine I was talking about tampons.

  “That time of the month?” he grinned.

  “Something like that,” I replied, blowing him a kiss and driving hurriedly.

  Surprisingly, I made it to the pharmacy without getting a speeding ticket. I bought three different pregnancy tests at the pharmacy and went to their bathroom to use them. There was no way I could wait until I got home. The suspense alone would kill me. As I dipped the stick in the urine, I prayed harder than I ever had in my life that the result would be negative.

  It wasn’t.

  I was fucked!

  “Shit! Shit!” I cursed out loud. What the heck was I going to do?

  I opened the second and repeated the test with the same fucking result. As I opened the last test, I knew exactly what it would say before I dipped it, and I wasn’t wrong. I was one hundred percent pregnant with my stepbrother’s baby. Damn!

  I left the store with the tests hidden in my bag. My mind played out the different scenarios before me. Ryan and I could be together and raise the child, and we could share an apartment and get jobs. I could take classes online until the baby came, or I could move back to our parent’s house and take a year off school.

  Every way I imagined it might work out seemed to impose on someone else, and I didn’t want that. Telling Ryan about the baby could mean destroying his future. Knowing him, he would step up to the responsibilities of raising the baby and taking care of me. I couldn’t bear the thought that he would miss out on his youth. I loved him too much to do that to him.

  As I drove home, my mind played out all the possible courses of action, but none of them seemed like the best course. By the time I turned into our driveway, I knew what to do - I would pretend like nothing had changed and keep the baby a secret until the perfect time to share the news with Ryan, and later, with our parents. If I decided against keeping the baby, then there wouldn’t be any news to share.

  Ryan was home when I got there. As soon I stepped into house, he gave me a quick, brotherly hug. I did my best to respond like I always did when our parents were around – like his sister. If only they knew…If only Ryan knew his baby was growing inside of me. If only….

  ***

  RYAN

  ***

  I’ve been meaning to talk to Liv about protection and how she felt about letting our parents know about us. When we started messing around this morning, I had wanted to discuss protection with her, but the heat of the moment was hardly the right time to talk about protection. I needed to start using a condom until we found something more foolproof, especially since we were having sex so much more frequently. I had meant to talk to her about it when she returned from the pharmacy, but the way she had quickly disengaged herself from my hug even though our parents weren’t around told me she wasn’t in the mood for a serious talk. But the talk was something we had to have before we had sex again.

  I had been careless, but hopefully we were in the clear now. It wasn’t like I was totally opposed to her being pregnant; it wouldn’t be my first choice, but if she did indeed get pregnant, I would be okay with taking care of her and our baby. It was just that getting pregnant would mess up her future, and I cared about her too much to let that happen. And if she got pregnant, it would be much harder to deal with our parents.

  I had been thinking recently about how to talk to our parents about us and get them to accept the fact that their two grown children wanted to be with each other. Once I was able to talk to Liv when she was in a better mood, we’d tackle our parents. For now, I needed to find some sort of protection before we had unintended consequences on our hands.

  From the kitchen where I was making dinner, I could hear Liv’s shower running, and as usual, I imagined her naked…her perfect body under the warm shower, her hands touching that body as she scrubbed down, gently, stopping right on her mound and gently massaging herself. I had to stop myself from going upstairs and getting into the shower with her.

  I was fast becoming closer to her as the days went by, and it was becoming more difficult to imagine not having her. I was getting used to spending so much time with her, and I truly wanted her to be a little more than just a sister to me. Whatever the case was, I was happy just being close to her, but I had to start thinking of the next step in our relationship. We couldn’t really hide our affection for each other much longer.

  ***

  4

  ***

  I took a few personal days that week for several reasons. First, I had a crazy bout of nausea first thing in the morning, which was all-consuming. Second, I felt depressed. Additionally, I didn’t feel like facing Ryan on our drive to work; I was afraid I might tell him what was really going on. Ryan had a way of getting the truth out of me, but the truth about my pregnancy was something I didn’t think he was ready to handle.

  Once the house was empty, I got my coffee and laptop and started researching my options. Everything I found provided me with suggestions such as giving up the baby either before or after birth; those options just weren’t for me. Even though I hadn’t planned to be pregnant, now that I was, I wanted my baby and refused to let him go. I wasn’t sure how I would raise the baby, but I knew something would work out.

  I lazed around the house for most of the day, my mind on Ryan. I wondered how exactly to talk to him about my pregnancy. In the evening, out of sheer boredom, I started making dinner, a chicken and rice dish. Thankfully, my stomach was calmer and I was able to get through cooking without several trips to the bathroom. My mom was the first person to come home.

  “Hey, honey,” she greeted me as she walked in. She was wearing her favorite red skirt with a blue top that complemented her dark hair and brown eyes.

  “Hi, Mom.”
I hugged her, standing slightly over her even though she was relatively tall. Mom and I could pass for twin sisters if not that I was a few inches taller than her. She was a lawyer and frequently gone on business trips. Even though I missed her a lot when she was gone, her absence gave Ryan and I lot of time to fool around when Dad wasn’t at home.

  “How was your day? Feeling any better?” she asked as she took off her shoes.

  I had told her I was having cramps and let her assume it was period cramps. No way was I going to tell her I felt tired, nauseous, and downright beat. My mom was a smart woman - it would have taken her two seconds to figure out I was pregnant. Since I hardly ever hid things from her, I’d be forced to confess my pregnancy to her, and subsequently, my involvement with Ryan.

  “Much better,” I said, smiling. “Thanks.”

  “I can see. You’re cooking. That’s a good sign,” she said as she sat next to me.

  “I’m good,” I retorted, hating the fact that I was lying to her. What was I going to tell her? That I was not good and in fact pregnant?

  “Good to hear.”

  “Good to hear what?” Dad asked as he walked in and overheard us talking.

  “Oh, just girl stuff,” I answered, giving him a hug.

  “Then I’ll keep on walking,” he teased as he kissed Mom on the lips. It was still so good to see my mom happy after the nasty and lengthy break up with my biological father a few years ago.

  “Is Ryan home yet?” Dad asked.

  ”No yet,” I answered. I looked at the clock. It was already six. “But he should be back soon.”

  Ryan got home a little over an hour later. Dinner was finished and on the table. After dinner, our parents retired to the living room to watch television and we cleaned up.

  “Liv, we have to talk,” he whispered as we cleaned up the table.

  “About what?” I replied in a low voice. I assumed he didn’t want our parents overhearing us.

  “About protection,” he replied, looking through the kitchen door to make sure no one was in earshot.

  “Yes, we should,” I replied, feeling sorry for him. The poor guy didn’t realize it was too late for protection, and I didn’t want to burst his bubble, especially now that I knew he didn’t want me to get pregnant.

  “We’re having sex so frequently. Don’t get me wrong, that’s great, but we need to make sure you don’t get pregnant,” he explained as he turned the kitchen tap on so that our words didn’t carry to the living room.

  “Yes,” I said, unsure how to reply.

  “We have to do something really quick. If we don’t, you might end up pregnant and that wouldn’t be good for any of us. At least not right now,” he said.

  For a split second, I wanted to blurt out that we were already screwed, but the look on his face told me he’d panic. The only ray of hope in his statement was that he had said “not right now.” That meant he didn’t think it was absolutely terrible at some point in time, but now wasn’t the best time to have a baby. I agreed with him one hundred percent. Even if I had intended to tell him, I knew this was not the time to do so. Maybe some other time would be better…sometime when we were alone, without possible company.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked, jolting me back to reality. For a second, I had let my mind wander.

  “You’re right. Having a baby right now would be crazy. Let’s talk a little more after Mom and Dad go upstairs.”

  He nodded, and we continued cleaning in silence. When we finished, I excused myself to my room with the intention of coming downstairs in a couple of hours. I needed to get some rest. The pregnancy made me so much more tired than I normally felt. Unfortunately, I fell asleep before anyone else and our opportunity to talk evaporated.

  The next morning, I woke up bright and early and in a better mood, but because I had called off the entire week, I decided to stay home and rest. It would give me time to think more about my options once the house was empty.

  Around midday, I was so bored and needed to talk to someone. I was lying on the bed wearing just a t-shirt and missing Ryan terribly. I pulled my phone out and texted Ryan to find out what he was doing.

  Ryan texted back immediately. About to go show a house.

  Okay, I responded.

  What are you doing?

  Playing with myself. Gosh, I hope my parents never read our texts.

  Can I see?

  No.

  What are you wearing?

  Nothing. I was wearing just a cotton shirt, but I thought it was sexier to say nothing. Truth be told, I wasn’t wearing any underwear.

  I’m rock HARD for you.

  That single bold word brought a visual image of his cock, erect and stiff, pointing toward me, begging for relief. I imagined my mouth engulfing his shaft, licking and sucking him like there was no tomorrow. Then, he would slowly insert his cock into me at the height of his excitement, and I would ride him slowly until he came.

  Too bad, I typed.

  Feel better? he asked.

  Why?

  So you can meet me.

  Where?

  At the house I’m showing. Plenty of play room. I’ve got a bit of time.

  Sounds immaculate.

  Reasonably priced. So you coming?

  A little tired now. Next time.

  I would have loved to meet him, but I knew what was going to happen. We were going to have more sex, and probably more unprotected sex. Not that it mattered. I had zero chances of getting pregnant, as that had already happened. However, it just didn’t seem right to have sex with him when I hadn’t told him about the baby. And the way things were shaping up, I wasn’t going to tell him about the baby at all. It seemed the only person that might discover I was ever pregnant might be my gynecologist; I had made an appointment to see her the next day.

  When Ryan came home that evening, we pretended like the earlier texts hadn’t happened and went about our evening as usual. The next morning, I went to my doctor’s appointment, and sure enough, I had a confirmed positive test. Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I was carrying Ryan’s baby for real.

  “Do you know what you want to do yet?” Dr. Morgan asked gently as we sat in her office.

  “No,” I replied, unable to hold her eyes.

  “Do you have family support?” she asked.

  “No one knows yet.”

  “You should consider talking to someone you’re close to. Pregnancy can be difficult, and you’ll need all the support you can get.” I remained silent. “Do you need me to talk to anyone?”

  I looked at her in panic. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  “Liv, I would never tell anyone. Besides, that would go against our confidentiality agreement. I can’t tell anyone about your pregnancy without your written, expressed permission. But, you need to think about sharing your news with a parent or maybe the father of the baby. I can also refer you to a pregnancy hotline. They can offer you many resources to help you make the best decision for you and your baby.”

  I nodded. I wished the kind doctor could talk to my parents and Ryan, but it wasn’t her job to do that. I had to take care of this problem myself. Besides, how could I tell her, or anyone for that matter, that my stepbrother was responsible for impregnating me? Even though the doctor was nice and thoughtful, I was pretty sure her demeanor would change once she heard who the father of my baby was.

  “That‘d be great,” I murmured. I got up to leave her office.

  “One last thing, Liv. You were very brave to come to me. Most young adults are ashamed when things like this happen, and they avoid the doctor until it’s too late. You can’t keep the secret all to yourself or it could cause a great deal of mental, physical, and emotional stress. We don’t want that.”

  “I know,” I answered, tears beginning to well in my eyes.

  “Just remember that people who know you will not judge you as harshly as you think they might. I’d suggest opening up to someone you trust. If you have a good relationship with the fa
ther of the baby, let him know as well, okay? Something to consider.”

  “Yes,” I muttered. What the doctor said made sense, but I was afraid it was just the beginning of several lectures I’d get from all the adults in my life. Of course I knew I could tell Ryan what was going on, but we had such a great secret relationship, and I didn’t want to ruin things by telling him about the baby yet.

  I left the doctor’s office even more confused than when I had arrived. After driving around for some time, I decided to go to the mall. At least retail therapy might offer some distraction. I didn’t want to hang out with friends, not that I had many friends. My best friend, Samantha, was working at her uncle’s finance company in London for the summer. Even if she were around, I would not hang out with her for fear of her finding out what was going on.