K-I-S-S-I-N-G

"Happy Birth...day," Mom said, excitedly at first but then trailed off.

Angelica had pulled back as soon as the door opened but the startled look on her mother's face told her she wasn't quick enough. She stood frozen, staring at her mother, her mother staring back and forth between her and Roman. "You two.... Were you two kissing just now?"

After a long hesitation, Roman replied, "No?" If Angelica's heart wasn't in her esophagus, she would have laughed. Instead, she stood red-faced as her mother grabbed Roman ruggedly by the arm and dragged him into the house. Angelica followed meekly.

"Why were you kissing her!?" Mom demanded, her voice level but stern with disapproval.

"I...I...I was just...," Roman stammered.

"She's your sister! Not your girlfriend!

"Mom, It was just a kiss-" Angelica said, shaking from fear as her mother cut her off.

"Are you two having sex?" Mom asked.

"No!" Roman and Angelica both shouted incredulously.

"What's going on here?" Dad said, coming from the kitchen to the foyer.

"I just caught my son kissing my daughter," Mom said accusingly. "And I'm trying to find out what else they're doing behind our backs."

You don't wanna know, Angelica thought guiltily, lowering her head.

"Nothing!" Roman said emphatically. "It's just kissing. That's all."

"Angelica?" Mom said, looking at her daughter and awaiting an answer.

"We don't do anything," Angelica lied. "We just kiss sometimes. And...and...we didn't want you to know because we knew you would think we were freaks or something. All we do is kiss." Tears started to well in Angelica's eyes. Tears of fear of her mother's angry aura. Tears of guilt for lying to her for the first time since she was nine. Tears of fear that she might not believe her and would punish Roman.

"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough," Mr. Day said softly, placing a comforting hand on Angelica's shoulder. "Angel, you come with me. Gigi, you talk to Roman. Gently," he added with emphasis. All four walked away, mom with her son, dad with his daughter.

Mr. Day brought his daughter to the kitchen, sat down across from her, and soothed her arm until she stopped crying. "Okay, now tell me what's going on between you two."

Angelica explained to him that she and Roman are more intimate with each other than most other siblings - something her father knew well (if not the extent) and had commented on many times before. She tried her best not to sound like they were in love but just really, really affectionate. "And because we're both like, emotional and, so like, mushy...we kiss sometimes." Angelica blushed.

Mr. Day listened patiently, waited and digested the information, and then responded with an anecdote. "When you were younger," he began, "like six or seven, Roman actually said he would grow up to marry you." Dad chuckled. "Your mom and I set him straight, though. We told him, 'you have to find someone outside your family to marry.' He questioned it. Said, 'you and mom are family.' He was so smart, it took a while for us to explain things with all his objections. Objections that really weren't that easy to answer to a seven-year-old kid.

"After this two-hour-long debate, Roman went away sad. I remember thinking, 'Wow, this kid really loves his sister. How innocent. How cute.' But I remember your mom asking, 'how long do you think it will take him to grow out of it?'"

Angelica was confused that the story ended abruptly there, her father staring at her with a question in his eyes. Nervously, she chuckled, trying to make her laugh sound dismissive. "What? You don't think...Roman? What are you...? What do you...? What?"

"I know, I know. I might be way off here but you two are so close, almost creepily close. You're always sitting in his lap or cuddled up together on the couch. He even made you his valentine, bought you panties for goodness sake. And now you're kissing. Look, we're not accusing your brother of anything, but we're just trying to be sure he isn't...," Mr. Day sighed deeply, "-that he doesn't still feel how he did when he was seven."

Angelica felt the weight of her nerves like gravity, pulling a meteor of truth toward her and Roman's world, threatening to destroy it. She was frozen solid. She wasn't a liar (at least not before today). But she didn't want her father to know her feelings about Roman, let alone what else they were doing. Even as the cooler head, he'd kill Roman. He wouldn't understand. Her brother wasn't taking advantage of her and it wasn't incest. It's just kissing, she thought. She felt so small. "It's not what you think," Angelica said in a voice soft and cracking a little.

"Look, we know you two have a special connection," dad went on, "and you're really affectionate. More affectionate than most siblings. On this, we all can agree, and I want you to know I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Okay?"

"Okay," Angelica nodded.

"But...is there more to it than that?"

Angelica didn't speak.

"Are you two attracted to one another?"

Angelica couldn't speak.

Dad took a deep breath. "Are you...," he said, seeming to regret asking, "having sex?"

"No!" Angelica said. It was the first thing she could really deny and did so definitively. "No! It's not like that!"

Her father sighed in relief, stifling a smile. "Good. That's good. And, I'm sorry I asked. I trust you. And him." Mr. Day started to ramble nervously. "I just...needed to know you weren't being taken advantage of. Not that Roman would, of course, but it's our job to make sure nothing...like that is going on under our noses. You understand, right?"

"Mhm," Angelica nodded, a bit relieved that some of her embarrassment had shifted to him. Mr. Day kissed Angelica on her forehead as he stood, ready to speed walk away from the uncomfortable inquiry.

"Daddy," Angelica called to him on his way out of the kitchen. He stopped and turned toward her. "Do you mind not telling mom about our conversation? You know...the...questions I didn't answer. It's not really bad or anything but it's just...it's private and I don't want mom to worry about me. Or Roman." Dad happily agreed, seeming content to know his son and daughter weren't having sex. The rest seemed a non-issue.

"Oh, and about the kissing...," he added. Angelica's heart dropped, expecting her father to forbid any more of it. But then he shrugged, "I don't think it's wrong. Your aunt Anna was a daddy's girl. My dad used to kiss her on the lips all the way through her early teen years. And I used to be a real mama's boy. My mom and I used to kiss on the lips until I moved out for college. And when I visit her I still do. It's just how we showed love in our family. And if I can be a mama's boy and my sister can be a daddy's girl, I guess you can be a brother's girl. Emotionally, he takes better care of you than I do. So don't feel weird about it and don't stop. Just...don't do it in front of your mom until I talk to her. Okay? I don't wanna have to bury my son." He chuckled at his jest and Angelica laughed too.

When her father walked away, Angelica felt like she had just escaped a death sentence. She wanted to seek out her brother to comfort her but instead kept her distance. She didn't want any alarms to go off in her dad's head that might make him rethink her relationship with her brother, and neither did she want to be on her mom's radar. She eagerly waited for her parents to lock themselves away in their room so Roman could give her her nightly kiss. She needed consolation. But sadly, relief in the form of her brother's life-giving kiss never came. Angelica slept poorly that night.

On the way home from school the next day, Roman and Angelica were silent. They had kissed that morning and all throughout the school day, and now that they were headed home they weren't sure they'd get the chance to show any affection until the next day. Dad was on their side, but mom still disapproved, having forbidden Roman to kiss his little sister. If Mom convinced him to see things her way, they'd be supervised the whole time they were home. It'd be worse than simply not kissing - it would be a prison. But if Dad prevailed....

Angelica tried to stay hopeful as they approached home. They forewent the ritualistic front door kiss and entered the house. Mom was waiting in the kitchen. "Roman. Could I talk to you?" He took a deep breath and went to the kitchen. "In fact, Angelica, you come too. You need to hear this too."

Angelica came into the kitchen and sat next to her brother, suppressing the urge to hold his hand for comfort.

"Yesterday, I overreacted. I saw you two kiss and I thought the worst. That was unfair of me and I'm sorry. Especially to you, Roman, because I ruined your birthday. But I also apologize to you, Angelica." Angelica nodded, feeling slightly better. Their mother went on. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about you. You're good kids and I know you have always been close. But you have to understand; there are people who do engage in...incest. And when I saw the kiss it reminded me of.... Well, it doesn't matter. You two are not them and I shouldn't have made you out to be. Forgive me?"

Roman smiled at his mom, then looked at Angelica, who smiled too. "Of course," Roman said. "We're sorry too. That we scared you like that. I'm sure you didn't know what to think." Mom smiled back.

"I'm actually really happy you two are so close," Mom continued. "And if you want to show how much you love one another with a little kiss, who am I to say it's wrong?"

Angelica looked at Roman, half smiling, half quizzical. "Are you saying...that you don't mind if we kiss?" Roman asked skeptically.

"I'm saying there are worse things," Mom said with a smile.

Still unconvinced, Roman asked, "so if I kiss my sister on the lips right now, I won't find myself with hands around my neck."

Mrs. Day just smiled. Roman tested his hypothesis, kissing his sister tenderly on her soft, ever-pouting lips. The kiss was just longer than a peck, like their first kiss. Mom didn't flinch and neither did she stop smiling. "See, you're still alive," Mom said with a smirk. "This is a safe place. I know you probably can't kiss like this anywhere else - people just wouldn't understand - but you should feel free at home."

Angelica and Roman both agreed and hugged their mother before she went up to her room, probably to report the resolution to their dad.

"What just happened?" Angelica asked, half stunned.

"We just kissed in front of mom," Roman said.

"And survived," Angelica added, turning to look at him.

"And she smiled," Roman said, disbelieving. "Did you see her smile? She smiled at us, right?"

They stared at one another and chuckled momentarily. And then they kissed with more passion than their mother would ever approve.

For the next few days, Angelica was tentatively more affectionate with her brother, testing the limits of their parents' acceptance. To witness a peck on the lips between their two children became common almost immediately. They grew more touchy-feely with one another, with Roman testing his dad by patting his little sister on her cute little butt twice right in front of him. He didn't object, only gave a quizzical stare and then shrugged. Movie nights would start with Angelica sitting cozily in Roman's lap, snuggling back against him, wrapped in his arms on the big recliner or larger sofa. Those nights sometimes ended with the siblings falling asleep in the spooning position, their mother covering them both with a throw blanket before heading off to bed herself.

The weather was warming nicely and the days were starting to manifest the imminent summer. After school one day, Angelica and Roman walked toward home, chatting lightly. Angelica, encouraged by her brother, had forsaken her usual wool or nylon tights, proudly displaying her lengthy, alabaster legs in their naked glory. She had blushed when Roman kissed her thighs and told her how gorgeous they were.

They walked and talked gaily, anticipating with good nature the increased freedom and affection they were allowed to enjoy at home. The day being particularly warm and sunny, the Day siblings agreed it was too beautiful out to stay indoors. Instead of going into the house, they walked around to their large backyard, kicked off their shoes, and relaxed in their large hammock, enjoying the warmth, the breeze, and the sight of freshly budding green trees blowing in the wind.

Angelica lay between her older brother's legs, her head lying against his chest as he intermittently kissed her cheek, kissed her neck, and suckled her earlobe. She could hear him inhaling the scent of her long, brown hair. She giggled but took it as a sign of how much he loved her. Angelica took Roman's hand in hers, lifted it to her lips, and kissed it, earning a light nibble on her earlobe and a kiss on her neck. As the two reclined in the thick woven fabric supported by a stand made of steel poles, gently swaying side to side, time didn't seem to matter. Their parents looked out the patio doors once or twice to check on them, but ultimately left them alone to love one another.

"I love you, Angel," Roman sighed in his sister's ear after his hands started to roam restlessly about Angelica's soft body.

"I love you too, baby," Angelica purred, squirming a bit to feel his body against her back.

Roman's hands settled on Angelica's chest, cupping her small breasts through her clothes and gently massaging them. Angelica glanced towards the house, her heart beginning to pace. What would her parents think if they saw that? The thought made her want to tell her brother to stop groping her, but she didn't say a word, instead, slinking down lower and hoping the edges of the opaque hammock were high enough to cover their activity.

Roman took apart her top button, and then descended to loosen another. Angelica panicked slightly and put her hands on Roman's wrists, intending to stop him from undoing a third button, but only caressed his forearms as he took apart the remaining few. Her heart hammered but her desire stirred as her brother separated the the halves of her sky blue top, revealing a burgundy bra, smooth on the cups, lacy elsewhere. She rubbed her legs together to confirm her wetness, earning a spritz of secret stimulation in the process.

"We're gonna get in trouble," Angelica said, glancing toward the patio door.

"They can't see you," Roman said. "If mom comes, you'll have enough time to button it back up." As he spoke, he let his fingertips trail lightly across her blushing bare skin.

"What are you doing?" Angelica gasped in hushed tones as her brother detached the front clasp of her bra. She didn't stop him, no matter how her heart raced and nerves rattled, her arousal grew a little louder than her fears.

"I'm undressing you," Roman said matter-of-factly, audibly smirking as he separated his sister's cups from her breasts, exposing her tight nipples to the warm Spring breeze. Angelica leaned forward a bit, allowing Roman to pull her bra around her shirt and off her body. "Oh, this is one of the bras I bought you for Valentine's day," he said, placing the dainty piece of lingerie aside.

"I'm wearing the panties too," Angelica offered, flipping her navy pleated skirt up to prove it, proud and abashed all at the same time - a delicious, naughty feeling.

"Oh, really?" Roman said, glancing down over his little sister's shoulder, past her exposed breasts to the panties she flashed. "Hm, I can't tell," he said playfully. "Maybe if they were closer. Like, in my hand."

Angelica giggled. "You just wanna get my panties off," she said, lifting her butt up as Roman hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her bikini panties. He began to slide them down her thighs and she lifted her knees up well above the edge of the hammock, glancing toward the patio door to make sure neither one of her parents could witness her brother slipping her panties off. Nervously, Angelica slid her undies down her calves and off her feet, then placed them in her brother's hand, slinking down again and smoothing her skirt out with a fluttering heart.

"Yeah, I can see now that these, indeed, are the panties I got you," Roman said, giving the panties a faux inspection. "Fascinating." They both laughed aloud, then Roman balled up his sister's panties and sniffed the warm wad of fragrant fabric. Angelica heard his unabashed inhalation of her wetness and snickered, blushing.

Roman stuffed Angelica's panties in his pocket and let his hands traverse her flawless, pale skin. Her thin arms, her flat tummy, her heaving chest, her tender little breasts with their sensitive, pointing nipples. Eventually, once Roman had tortured his sister to soft moans and twitchy squirms, his hands traveled down beneath the hem of her skirt. Roman caressed his sister's thighs, riding down and up, causing her skirt to crowd around her waist. Over her shoulder, Roman could see his sister's pretty, hairless mound come just into view, the little cleft seeming to smile at him, teasing. He sighed, squeezing her thighs tightly as he massaged them and slipped his tongue in Angelica's ear.

She sighed and squirmed, squeezing her legs together to stimulate herself. "I wanna see it," Roman whispered into his sister's wet ear and started to push the waistline of her skirt down her body. She moaned, forming an objection that didn't quite make it into words. The next thing she knew, her entire middle was exposed to the air. From her head down to mid-thighs, all her strawberry-kissed, milky skin was uncovered. Her heart raced. She tried to think of how she could quickly cover up if mom or dad walked out to them, but couldn't think straight due to her brother's teasing hands caressing her inner thighs, so close to her aching cherry she couldn't help but quiver.

Angelica tried to physically stop Roman from turning her on so much, beginning to clutch his wrists. But as his hands sank near the height of her inner thighs, her will wilted and she both feared and hoped his firm hands would find their way to the only forbidden place on her sweet young body - her precious virgin pussy. Too scared to ask him to touch it, too horny to tell him not to, Angelica lay in her brother's lap, holding her breath as he teased her scorching flesh. His hands flowed like oil, up her thighs, then down again, and slowly up the center of her thighs, diverting his hands at the very last second and avoiding the sacred treasure between. And then again. And again.

Finally, by accident it seemed, Roman's hands just barely, just briefly grazed Angelica's puffy outer lips on the way up. Angelica sharply sucked in a breath, lifting her knees a tad higher and spreading her thighs a jot wider, tightening her grip on Roman's forearms. Her reaction, an unmistakable cry of lust, didn't go unnoticed by Roman, who slid his hands back down her inner thighs, then slowly converged on his sister's pussy from both sides. Angelica bit her lip hard, moaning loud and long as Roman slid one sly finger along the slick crease of her sensitive vulva.

Angelica whined in her throat with her mouth closed, lifting her knees more and damning her skirt for hindering a wider spreading of her thighs. In a brief moment of conscious thought, Angelica straightened her legs and reached between them to find the zipper hidden in the folds of her pleated skirt. She unzipped it, splitting her entire skirt down the middle and spreading the two halves of the garment beside her naked legs. And she spread her knees high and wide, enthusiastically lavishing her brother with access to her beautiful, young sex.