Fated Ch. 37

"Um, there's something different about you two..."

Eric and I had flown home for Christmas. We would only be home for a two full days before returning to our haven, primarily because I had taken on quite a few hours at the library during the Holiday Break. It was nice to get away from the university and fairly good to see our mother once again, but it was also a very odd situation, as this was the first time my big brother and I were in her presence since having officially become incestuous lovers.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to be as neutral as possible with my voice.

"You two just seem... I don't know. Closer, I suppose."

I shrugged. "I suppose that's natural since we're sharing an apartment."

"I guess..."

*****

It was good to see friends from high school again, especially Helena. I was not at all surprised when she showed me the engagement ring, and I was genuinely happy for her, as I had long felt that Alain was definitely the right guy for her. Alain was more than willing to give me one of his bone-crushing hugs, and it was even more powerful than usual since he had proposed to Helena the day before - on Christmas Day - and she had eagerly accepted.

*****

"What's wrong?" Eric asked with genuine concern as he drove us through the snow to the airport.

I sighed sadly yet again. "Mom... Helena and Alain... I don't know..."

"I overheard her conversation with you yesterday morning."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We are closer, and that is natural since we are sharing an apartment, but from her tone of voice, she clearly recognized that there's something more going on between us."

I looked out the side window, watching the snowy landscape pass by. "Is it so wrong that we've found what we'd been longing for? Is it so wrong that our relationship breaks all the normal rules?"

"To society, yes," my big brother admitted. "To our mother, yes. To our friends, most likely. Me, I just don't give a damn."

I turned my head to look at him. He had a particular resolve in his eyes as they monitored the traffic and the road conditions.

"I'm an adult, you're an adult. I'm sane, you're sane. I consent, you consent. Nothing else should really matter. Yes, society forces us to keep our relationship hidden, and apparently we're not doing too good a job with that if someone who's known us all our lives suspects that we're more than just brother and sister."

Maybe his few extra years of life experience helped Eric to be strong in this most unusual situation. Perhaps that was why he had always been the stronger of us, able to set aside his emotions and harden his willpower when necessary. His words made sense, but they still could not completely dispel the sadness that I felt at not being able to tell our own mother that I had found the person I wanted to share my future with, the person I wanted to grow old with. There was no way that I could tell her that I had given my heart and my body to my own big brother.

The tears fell silently, trickling down my cheeks, burning with unannounced love. As I cried, I shed any thoughts of marrying the person next to me, the person who cared for me and always did his best to assure my happiness.

His hand on my thigh helped to calm me, and by the time we arrived at the airport, the tears had disappeared. We sat in the car for quite some time, well in advance of the return flight, enjoying the luxury of simply holding hands.

"Open the glove box," Eric finally said softly, his voice almost startling after such a long silence between us.

"Okay." I reached forward and opened the glove box to find a small present inside. The bow on top was slightly smashed, and the box itself looked like a little kid had wrapped it, but that did not stop my heart from beating a little harder and a little louder at seeing the surprise gift.

"For me?" I asked, nearly whispering despite myself.

"For you, sis."

It took a few moments to finally reveal the gift:

My big brother had bought me an engagement ring, and of all surprises, it actually fit.

The tears fell anew, but for a very different reason.

"There's no law anywhere that says that you and I can't be engaged," Eric proclaimed confidently.

It was not marriage, and there never would be a marriage to legally join us, but to me, it was even better.