"You'll never believe this," Ryan nearly screamed as he entered the apartment.
"Dada!" RJ screamed hearing the sound of his father's voice.
From the floor where I was playing with RJ, I reflexively matched Ryan's excited tone. "What happened?"
"They want me to take over the department!"
"That's great!"
"No, what's great is that other job I interviewed for offered me the position. They want me to lead a department at a new office they're opening. It's more money but it's in another state. And, they'll pay to move us and everything."
"Wow."
"Hey." Hearing my now less than enthusiastic tone, he sat on the floor next to me and pulled RJ, who was bouncing excitedly for his father, into his lap and gave him a kiss on the head. "We don't have to move. I can stay here and take the promotion."
"Take the new job," I said immediately.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It's just a lot to take in. Moving would be good for you and us. As much as I love being here with our friends and family, we're hiding. We can't live our lives openly. You're not just my brother, you're the father of my child and, hopefully, many more to come. I love you, Ryan, and wish everyone knew that."
After leaning toward me to give me a kiss, he stood while still holding RJ. "I'll be right back."
"What are you doing?" I was slightly annoyed that he had suddenly remembered something else he had to do during this serious, life-changing conversation.
"Hold on," he yelled back from our room.
I rolled my eyes and sighed hearing him sound just as annoyed. I loved Ryan deeply, but he was still my brother.
When he returned, he tossed a small box into my lap before sitting across from me again. As I opened it, he said, "I've been waiting for a good time to give you that, but I guess now is as good as any. I love you, Rachel. I love RJ and I want us to be the family everyone says we shouldn't be. I can't ask you to marry me, but I can ask you to be my wife. What do you think?"
I didn't say anything for a few moments. I couldn't say anything. My eyes, my thoughts were all focused on the small gold band that held a tiny diamond on the top. It wasn't fancy or flashy and would never cause other women to look on with jealousy. It was a simple design and, honestly, not very pretty. But it was also the one thing that Ryan had given me that possibly meant more to me than RJ. That's not to say that I valued jewelry over my son. It was the sentiment, the meaning behind the ring that meant so much. Ryan's words, like the ring, might not have been the most elegant or even slightly romantic, but they were honest. They were his. And I knew for the little that he'd said, he felt so much more. A powerful symbol of everything we felt for each other, the ring was something I didn't know that I wanted but now that he had presented it, I ached with the need to wear it.
"Rach?" I heard Ryan call to me softly after an unknown amount of time.
"Huh?"
"I know we're anything but traditional and normal, but it's polite to answer a question when asked. Even if it's no."
I looked up to him and blinked a few times trying to hold back tears. In front of me holding RJ was no longer my brother, Ryan. Seated there was Ryan, the father of my child. He was my mate, my partner. We could no longer pretend otherwise. Yes, we had a blood bond as siblings but we'd never been simply brother and sister. We were joined by something so much more than genetics. As Rene had told us once, we'd always had a special bond, something that we felt for each other even when we were kids. And while I could have gone my entire life without the ring, I understood that he was giving it to me as validation and assurance that what we had was real.
With the tears flowing down my cheeks and soft sobs coming intermittently, I nodded.
"Then, I guess I should put this on you." He took the ring from me then grabbed my hand and pushed it onto my finger. I was shaking so hard from emotion that even in his strong grasp, he had a hard time aiming for my finger. "Calm down. Geez. If I'd known you were going to be like this, I would've just tossed it to you with a note and told you to do it yourself."
I couldn't help laughing through my tears. No matter what, Ryan was still Ryan.
"I love you, Rachel. And just so you don't think this is a one-sided, old-fashioned deal, this is for me."
I watched as he pulled a matching, plain ring out of his pocket. He began to slip it on but I grabbed it from him. "No. Let me."
He allowed me to take his large hand into my smaller, still unsteady one and slide the ring onto his finger. With shaky breath, I teased, "Now maybe that'll stop all those women from flirting with you."
"It won't," Ryan responded with wetness in his eyes. "I'm a catch."
"Yeah, you are."
I leaned forward and met his kiss. It was deep and passionate but lacked erotic intent. Even though we'd been siblings, we were now a family, which RJ reminded us of when he began to whine and make noise between us from being neglected.
"Okay, Little Man," Ryan said with a chuckle. "You're right. Your mom and I can do that later. Time for us to hang out."
With a smile on my face, I watched my husband, Ryan, play with our son. Indeed, Ryan was a catch and I was happy that I had landed him. Even though I'd never doubted his intentions, I knew now that this was real and let the waves of happiness wash over me.
--
"Ride me, baby."
I pulled my mouth off Ryan's cock and straddled his body. Teasing him, I slid my wet folds back and forth against his hardness a few times feeling it get slicker as my juices mixed with my leftover spit and his precum.
"Come on, Rach." He grabbed my hips and thrust up hard against me but didn't make a move to enter me.
Matching his thrusts, I humped back against him as I leaned down and kissed him. My body was on fire and I wanted him, but knew I wouldn't be the one satisfied tonight.
I slid up his body, feeling his thick crown glide passed my folds, then reached behind me to grasp the base and raise it off his body. Feeling the wet tip move between my ass cheeks, I aimed it for my puckered opening and pushed back onto it.
"Rach?" Ryan sounded almost panicked as I let out a pained sound. There was a concerned look in his eyes and his body stopped moving but he made no move to stop me as his crown began to spread my ass open for the first time. "What are you doing?"