Celia

"If you don't buy the Power Ball and Mega Millions, I will disown you, you hear me?" I said and we laughed.

"I sure will! By the way, what did you reply?" she asked me.

"Your clairvoyant abilities don't go that far? You actually need me to tell you?" I asked her, and she laughed.

"... I have an idea, but I wanna hear it from the source!" she said.

"Well, I just said that if she doesn't own the shit she actually IS responsible for, she shouldn't ever talk to me again, cause I hate to waste my time" I answered.

She had a laugh with that.

"I don't see that happening, Bobby. She is a damaged girl. Less damaged than me, for sure, but damaged nonetheless. Not good for you, I told you that already. None of them bitches deserve you. The problem is I am not there to protect you anymore. But, if you really apply yourself, you can come study here, with me!" she said, beaming.

"UPenn is not some petty shit, Celia. It is a tough cookie to crack. I will try the best I can, and we see what happens. By the way, how is student life?"

"It is OK. You know, classes, reading..."

"... frat parties, chain of boyfriends, coed orgies..."

She laughed hard with that.

"No, no, nothing like that. Yes, it does happen, but I don't need any of that in my life. I have a different purpose in mine, don't you forget it" she said.

"And what is that?" I asked, trembling inside.

"You are it" she said, looking me in the eye.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I told you that my purpose in life is to help you understand just how much I love you and in what ways. Didn't I say that?" she asked, looking at me with the most loving look.

"Yes, you did. But, you deserve to have a life of your own, Celia" I said.

"I already have it. Don't worry about me. You just focus on becoming the best version of yourself, and the rest is on me, OK?" she said.

"OK, Celia. I will do what you say."

"And, for heaven's sakes, stay clear from those harpies at school, you here me??" she said and we laughed for quite a while. "You absolutely must not have sex with Mandy even with somebody else's penis, you hear me?" she said and I almost pissed myself laughing.

"OK, Mom, sure. Will do!" I said.

"Bobby?" she asked me, with a husky, lower voice.

"What?"

"... do you love me?" she asked me.

"... Yeah, I think I can say that I do. It is not very clear yet, as we had all these years with the bad situation before, but I miss you, and wish you were here with me, or me there with you. I constantly expect you to be in your room, and have a sense of loss when I realize you are not there anymore. Talking to you is the highlight of my day. So, I suppose I do love you. I think that as time passes and I can put my feelings in order, I will know better how much and in what way, but I think I have loved you all my life, no matter what else happened. Beneath all the bullshit, I loved you, always. So yeah, I still do, I suppose."

She teared up.

"I love you so much, Bobby! It hurts being away from you..." she said and cried.

"It won't be forever, Celia. It won't be..."

I had a beautiful feeling after we hanged up, and I slept like a baby.

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Mandy tried to talk to me numerous times, but I kept my distance, reminding her that she needed to own her misdeeds. She did eventually get the message, and hopped to the next sucker a few weeks later. I had zero time for zero accountability.

The rest of the school year was OK. I had a healthy interaction with girls, but nothing special. Mandy was not in the picture at all, and she kinda got a reputation of hopping from branch to branch, as they say, so I completely lost interest even in hearsay about her. Truly not worth the trouble. The only steadily nice thing that happened in my life was Celia. She brightened my day. We talked every night throughout the year. She didn't come to visit in Xmas or Easter, as she was working at the time. She did come when my junior year ended, though. She came for one day on my birthday. She flew all the way from Penn. to our town just to be there for my birthday. I was truly touched.

By that time I missed her like crazy, and I felt none of the bad feelings of the past. She was always there for me and I could literally talk to her about anything. I was starting to let myself go with her, meaning to allow myself to do the natural thing and love her. However, there was a hue in my feelings that I was not comfortable with. I did have a teen crush on her, and the more we talked the more I remembered all those feelings. And they were torture for me, and even worse, I didn't want to destroy the only good thing in my life. Talking about a rock and a hard place.

I was a bit apprehensive expecting her to appear at the house. But once I saw her appear at the door, every reservation I had flew out the window. She ran and flew on me and hugged me and kissed me all over. Then she tickled me and I tickled her back and we laughed and then she hugged me again. After five minutes of that she greeted the parents. They were pretty ecstatic to see her and also see that we were getting along so famously.

The night we had a sort-of birthday party. Mom and Celia baked a sorry excuse of a birthday cake, but I never in my life had a better birthday. We had an incredible time. After the parents went for errands, it was just the two of us again.

"Bobby, next year your birthday will be with me. I have already planned everything, so don't plan anything then, OK?"

"Early reservations and all, huh?" I said. "OK, I am booking you for my birthday next year then!"

"Look, this is important to me, OK? Please don't forget it. It means so much to me. I want next year's birthday to be with me. Nobody else and nothing else. Not even our parents" she said very seriously.

"What if I have a girlfriend?" I asked her.

"If you have an undeserving, sorry excuse of a puta bitch by your side - and since I know all girls at school, that's what you're getting! - then hell no!!!" she said and almost smacked me. She almost looked jealous.

"'Puta bitch'! Never knew you for a Spanish connoisseur!" I said and laughed.

"I am an expert on everything I put my head into, young man!" she said with pride.

"Well, apart from that, if I didn't know any better, I would think you're jealous!" I said and laughed.

"As far as you are concerned, you bet your cojones I am! At least for that time, your culo is mine, comprende puto pendejo?" she said.

I laughed my ass of with the Spanish insult.

"Of course, puta cabróna! Maybe you want me to remain a virgin until my next birthday too?" I asked laughing.

"If you do that, then I can think of nice rewards for your ass, pelotudo de mierda!" she said and we both laughed to exhaustion.

"Which kind of virginity do you want me to save, pendeja? Cause, just so that you know, in my case, everything is exit only!"

"My dildos will take care of that you little shit! I have them oiled and ready fo' yo' ass, bujarra!" she said and we literally laughed until we didn't have any strength left.

"Jokes aside, it is very important for me that you save the date. I will let you know what to do and how to do it. OK?" she said.

"OK Celia. I wouldn't miss this for the world. I mean, how else would I get the once in a lifetime chance to get anally raped on my birthday by twelve inch dildos, if not for you?" I said.

"How did you know how big they are, puto maricón?" she asked and we almost heaved from laughing. We instinctively came close and hugged while laughing. At some point we just looked into each other's eyes. I realized I was literally drawn inside. She came towards me and at the very last moment I deflected and kissed her on the top of her head. Of course she smacked my ass and we fell on the floor laughing again.

The parents came back and from that moment and on, they monopolized her. Next day, she left. I wanted to speak to her alone, but the moment never came. Just before she left, I managed to have her for myself for just a moment.

"I wanted to tell you something all day, Celia."

"What?"

"I now know."

"What do you mean?"

"I now know what my feelings are for you."

She looked at me wide-eyed and intensely.

"You... you do?"

"Yes, I do."

Silence.

"Well, tell me then!" she said.

"I am pretty sure I love you. I cannot measure loves to know which one is heavier on the Richter scale, yours or mine. But I know that I love you in a very special way. I am still figuring out the how part. As in how I love you. I think that there is a part of it that I am pretty insecure about, but that part doesn't really have to do with you. I think." I said.

She looked at me intensely with so much love.

"Is that part a bit like... what? Give me examples!" she said.

"I dunno... fluttering, heartbeat, maybe a few impure thoughts here and there. Shit, Celia, I am seriously scared. I love you for sure, and I love what we have, and I am scared shitless that I may be the one to make a big shit out of everything. You mean so much to me that I am terrified of the thought of losing you" I said, and this time the tear was from my eye.

She hugged me tight, and then she kissed my tear. Then she said:

"Don't be insecure. Everything will be alright. Trust me. I won't let you down."

And then she kissed me. Very briefly. On the lips. I was ready to explode.

The parents gave a shout and our meeting was over. They took Celia to the airport and I didn't see her again for a full year in person.

Back to Skype it was.

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Senior year was full of reading, exams, college applications and all that shit. No meaningful interaction with girls, way too much work for that. My nightly Skype sessions with Celia going steady. It still was the best part of my day.

Mandy tried her luck again that year, with the same answer from me, and the expected same result. Nothing. A few other girls showed some interest, but I was totally unavailable. For some reason they didn't appeal at all to me. I realized, as time went on, that the only girl I could ever truly love was Celia. I was the happiest when I talked to her, and saddest when I had to hang up. I really missed her like crazy, and all our talks showed me that she thought of me a lot too. I most definitely didn't know if she saw me as I saw her. I mean, I was pretty much in love with her, and it was pure torment. But, this was my problem, not hers.

When the replies to the applications came, I was terrified. I opened the letters, first of all from UPenn, where Celia was.

I hadn't been accepted.

I basically wanted to cry. I wanted to be with her so much, and it wasn't to be.

I opened the rest of the letters, and I got a really big surprise: I got accepted at Harvard! I was also accepted by a few other universities, but Harvard beat them all. My parents were ecstatic. I was half-happy. I had to tell Celia.

"... Bobby, I am SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!" she said and literally danced. She blew me kisses and everything.

"I wanted to be with you, in UPenn. I am only half-happy. I have a considerable half being really sad, to be honest" I said.

"... You wanted to be with me, you said? You wanted us to live... together?" she asked tentatively but with hope.

"Of course. I was dreaming of this. And it never happened."

"Are you sure that this is what you want Bobby? I am dead serious here. Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?" she asked me again. Very intense look on her eyes.

"Of course I'm sure. I know what I want, Celia. I wanted to be there with you, and UPenn is ivy-league, so it was a win-win for me. Now it is only one win, not two."

"I am asking again: are you ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY POSITIVE that you want us to live together? You cannot change this afterwards, you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes, I am. Absolutely, totally positive. But why are you asking? It ain't gonna happen."

"If it happens, will it be what you want? What you really, really want?" she asked.

"For the final time, yes, that's what I would really, really, really want. OK?"

"OK then. Let's play this by ear. Your birthday is in a few months. I hope you haven't hooked up with any butch named Bubba and lost your anal virginity, that one's mine!" she said and laughed.

"Don't worry, all my virginities are intact at the moment! And as per my anal one, I hope to retain it for life, jokes aside," I said and we laughed again.

How easy it was to talk to her. We just could talk about anything and everything. Well, almost everything. Not what I felt for her. And not her... fourth item in that list that day. Whatever that may have been.

----------------------------------------------------

I obviously accepted the offer from Harvard, and waited to graduate from school. The day of my graduation, Celia saw by Skype through Mom's phone. It really was a bittersweet experience for me, as I felt like shit for not attending hers. She cried when she saw me graduate, tears of joy I guess. I cried a bit too, mostly tears of regret. I would have felt so much better if I was in her graduation as well. I loved her so much, and it truly pained me to have missed on the important parts of her life. But the past cannot be redone.

I of course remembered very well that I was reserved for her on my birthday, and longed for that date to come. A week before my birthday, I got an email from Celia. It detailed that I was to leave for Miami in a few days, and be there on the eve of my birthday. She had tickets for me and everything. First class tickets too.

I couldn't believe it. I Skyped her right away.

"You bought me first class tickets? Why on Earth would you do that? And... and how did you get the money for all that?" I asked her.

"First class tickets is the very least I did, as you will see when you come over here. The rest is a surprise. This is only one way of me proving my love for you. I have a few others down my sleeve as well, but I will let you know when the time comes. Now get ready and be on time, you hear?" she said lovingly.

"I will, Celia. I most definitely will."

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On the eve of my birthday my parents took me to the airport and had our tearful goodbyes. I went to the terminal and waited for my flight. I was about an hour and a half earlier than I needed to be, but this was far to important not to do absolutely right, so I sat in my damn chair and didn't even flinch. Then the announcement came and I finally boarded. I sent a message to Celia to let her know that I was aboard, and then switched the phone off.

First class was great, no doubt about that. After the three-plus hours of flight, we exited the plane, my heart beating like a drum. I took my luggage and almost ran to the terminal. I looked left and right for Celia, but she was nowhere in sight. Then I saw a man with my name on a big piece of paper. I went to him. He saw the paper of the ticket, then greeted me and gave me an envelope. I opened it, it had a letter.

"My dearest Bobby,

This is the cab that will get you to your final destination. It is paid for. When you arrive at your destination, make absolutely sure you DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, refer to me as your sister. Either name or surname, but nothing about being siblings, no matter real of fake :)

Just show your passport and the rest will be taken care of.

All my love for my precious birthday boy!

xxx Celia xxx"

If that wasn't a shock, I didn't know what was. I put the letter in my jacket pocket and followed the man to the cab. It took a bit less than twenty minutes to reach the destination, which as I saw was a humongous cruise-ship! Celia had actually booked us a cruise! What the actual fuck!!!

I thanked the man, took my passport out and boarded the ship. The crew took me through a maze of elevators and corridors, and in the end we reached a door. He knocked, no answer. He opened the door for me, gave me a keycard and waited. I realized that I would have to tip him, thank God I had some money on me. I gave him a twenty, he thanked me and left. I left my suitcase there, and searched for Celia. She wasn't there, but her stuff was, so she was in the ship.

My phone chirped with an incoming message.

"Welcome aboard! I am Celia Masters, your companion for this trip. I also am the WIFE of a certain Bobby Masters, the recipient of this message. I am expecting you in the dining hall. Dress like our first date, and don't forget the ring provided!

xxx Your little wifey!!! xxx"

What the actual fuck? What THE actual, most actual of ALL fucks out there? I was to pose as Celia's husband? I was just turning eighteen for crying out-loud! And... she was my sister! OK, adopted, but still. And... and why was my first consideration my age and not our relation, be it as it may?

I mean, why on Earth would I pose as her husband? And why did I feel so great about posing as her husband?

Answer: Because I would be thrilled to have her as my wife. But why the hell would I be thrilled to have her as my wife?

Answer: Because I was in love with her. But, back to question one: why would SHE want to pose as my wife?

No answer to that.

I dressed as she said and went to find her in the main dining hall. I spotted her in a group of people. She was book-ended by two men who were trying to flirt with her, all the while she was scanning the place for me. It was a bit of a sorry sight, for some reason I knew they didn't have a chance. But why the hell did I know that?

I made an entrance. I looked older than me age, about mid-twenties, and with the small stubble I had, I looked even older, which, given the circumstances, was probably a blessing. When she saw me she immediately sprang up and ran to me. She hugged me and kissed me. On the lips. I followed suit and kissed her back with abandon. I had a part to play, and I was going to give the performance of the century, although I felt it to be totally real for some reason. When we stopped the kiss, I looked at her. She was happy. As in really, deeply happy. As in ecstatic. I realized at that precise moment that I was totally in love with her. And I was totally ecstatic too.

I looked her in the eye and said:

"Was 'this' the thing that you couldn't tell me about?"

A tear left her eye. She nodded.

"That's mine too. I think we are on the same boat."

She was even more ecstatic; she half-closed her eyes and kissed me again, with full emotion. Of course I reciprocated in full. When we came up for breath, she looked at me and said:

"We literally are on the same boat, dufus!" and we laughed, almost to the ground. She then took my hand and took us both to the table, where chairs were shifted to allow my 'wife' and me to be side by side. Of course we held hands the whole time. Of course the questions started coming at a torrential rate, and of course Celia deflected each and every one of them expertly.

When the dancing started, she took my hand to dance. We never separated. At the slow tunes, she molded herself to me. I could feel every inch of her amazing body. It was otherworldly.

"Did you honor our agreement?" she asked me.

"If you are asking about virginities, yes, my ass is pure as virgin snow" I said.

"What about the rest of you?" she asked and looked me in the eye.

"Same."

"Good boy! You honored your part, I will honor mine... husband dearest!" she said, and kissed me with passion. I reciprocated in kind. My nether regions where on fire.

"To be honest, I don't even know what 'your part' is, that you are going to keep. Care to share a hint or two?" I asked her.

"Not yet, stud. I want you to be fully of age before anything happens, OK?" she said, winking at me.

"I will be of legal age in a matter of minutes!" I half-whined, half-said.