Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 34: Found Out

-Caleb-

After Jacey told me my mother saw us coming out of the same bathroom stall, I watched her carefully for any signs she might be putting two and two together.

My mother gnawed her lip and kept glancing at us in the rearview mirror. This brought me to two conclusions, 1) Jacey and I were definitely not having sex when we stopped for gas, and 2) my mother did, indeed, suspect something. I was just hoping she was keeping her mind on us keeping secrets and not moving on to us… doing other things.

About every half hour, Hank would scold us about not telling him what happened in Canada. But what exactly did he want me to say? ‘Yes, sir, I fucked your daughter the second she turned 18 then nearly got us both killed? Oh, and I also killed someone. And three more people died because we stumbled on an illegal logging operation.’

It would blow the top right off Hank’s head.

I might not even make it past the whole ‘I fucked your daughter’ part before he cut me off by strangling the life out of me.

I looked at Jacey’s profile, taking in her delectable, plump lips, her shapely curves, and her slight smile when she caught me staring. My heart beat double-time, and I knew there was nothing in this universe that was going to stop me from bedding, wedding, then bedding Hank’s daughter.

Wedding. I searched my feelings about it. It really was too soon to start making plans like that with Jacey; it wouldn’t be fair to her. But she was the first girl I’d ever been with who I could imagine standing together in front of a priest.

I’d already said we could try for a baby in the future. And I’d meant it. And I still meant it. I was all in. And I knew Jacey was, too. I just worried about her - hell, both of us - being so young.

Jacey rubbed her ankle against mine, and I looked over at her. Her understanding smile warmed my heart.

All I wanted was to take her away again, where there weren’t people to judge us, and make love to her for weeks. Months. Maybe years. No other woman had ever made me this crazy and insatiable.

When we did get to the gas station, Jacey jumped out of the Suburban and started over to my side.

“Caleb, can I talk to you? In private?” my mother asked once Hank was out of the car.

I gave Jacey a subtle wave to go away and mouthed the word ‘later’ through the window at her curious expression.

Then I focused my attention on my mother. “What is it, Mom?”

My mother glanced at me in the rearview mirror. Then she turned in her seat to capture my gaze. “Are you being inappropriate with Jacey?”

Ah, there it was. She had worked it out. I debated lying to her, but I couldn’t hold her stare and lie to her at the same time. I never could.

“That’s really between Jacey and me, Mom,” I said instead. I sounded annoyed in my own ears. I was.

“How… far have you gone?” My mother ignored my implied protest.

I shifted uncomfortably and pulled on my seatbelt. Suddenly, it felt as though it was strangling me.

“That far.” My mother drew a sharp breath. “Oh, Caleb.”

“What?” I asked. “It’s not like we’re brother and sister.”

“But you are,” my mother said sadly. “And you shouldn’t have taken advantage-”

I gaped at her. “Mom! I did no such thing. How can you even believe I’d-”

My mother shook her head. “I’m not saying you raped her. I’m saying, as the older adult and a mature young man, you should have kept your hands to yourself.”

“It… happened. It just happened.” I sighed heavily and scrubbed my face with my hands. “Mom. It’s too late now, anyway. I can’t re-virginate her.”

“You took that sweet young girl’s virginity?!” my mother gasped.

I groaned. “Mom, can we please just leave it as something between Jacey and me?”

“No. You need to end things right now. My God, you could get her pregnant!” my mother objected.

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away.

“Oh my God, is she PREGNANT?!” my mother shouted.

I looked outside the Suburban to see Hank pumping gas. But his head turned our way when my mother shouted. “Mom, please keep it down. And no, she’s not pregnant. Anymore.”

“A-Any-did-did you take her for an abortion?” my mother asked.

“No.” I swallowed. “She had an ectopic pregnancy.”

“Oh. Oh that poor dear.” My mother glared at me. “How could you do that to that sweet little girl?”

I crossed my arms. “She’s not a little girl.”

“She is to Hank! Good Lord, he’s going to kill you!” My mother paled as realization dawned.

“Mom, please don’t bring Hank into this,” I all but begged. I wasn’t really afraid for myself. I was afraid for Jacey.

“You need to stop this right now. RIGHT now,” my mother ordered me.

“I… I can’t.” I looked down at my hands. “I love her, Mom.”

I could feel my mother’s eyes like lasers on the top of my head. “You… what now?”

“I love Jacey. I love her. Not as a sister.” I sighed. “I love her as a person and a full-grown woman. I’m not going to give her up.”

“You… Caleb. You’ve been very selfish and irresponsible. I will be very, very disappointed in you if you continue to be that way,” my mother stated.

“Then I guess you’ll just have to go on being disappointed.” This time, I looked my mother right in her eyes. “I love Jacey Collins. There’s no one like her in all the world, and by some miracle she’s decided she wants to be mine. I’m not leaving her unless she sends me away.”

My mother’s eyes welled up with tears. “Caleb, you’re both being so foolish. It’s… it’s disgusting…”

“There is nothing disgusting about it,” I said firmly, reeling from the very idea. She might as well have slapped me.

“Well, I think it’s disgusting, and I will never condone it. Never.” A tear rolled down my mother’s cheek, but she angrily dashed it away. “However, I don’t want Hank to kill you, either, so I won’t say a word about it.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what to say to that except, “Thank you?”

“You should be thanking me,” my mother huffed then turned to face front again. She wouldn’t look at me, not even in the mirror.

Jacey returned with an armload of snacks. Hank must have given her money to buy some. When she got into the back of the car, my mother huffed again.

“What’s wrong?” Jacey whispered, handing me a bag of my favorite chips.

“She knows,” I replied.

Jacey paled.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t tell your father. I rather like my son living,” my mother sniffed.

“Okay. Okay, good. Thank you, Jeanie. I-” Jacey began.

My mother whirled around. “You’re making a mistake. Both of you.”

Jacey shrank back, and I took her hand. “Mom…”

My mother was already staring out the windshield again.

“Mom…”

But she wouldn’t answer me.

Hank got in the Suburban then and looked at the three of us. “What? What’s going on?”

I quickly let go of Jacey’s hand.

“The children are keeping secrets,” my mother said flatly. “And I can’t get them to tell us the truth.”

Hank glowered at Jacey and me in the rearview mirror. “You’re both selfish assholes. Upsetting your mother this way. While she’s pregnant, no less!”

“Just leave it, Hank. There’s no talking to them.” My mother still stared out the windshield.

Hank gave an indignant snort then drove out of the gas station.

When I went to rub my ankle against Jacey’s, I noted that hers was trembling. I saw her folding and refolding her hands in her lap, her teeth sunk deep into her lower lip.

My baby was trying not to cry.

I pretended I was ‘manspreading’ and rubbed my calf and knee against hers as well. Jacey gave me a grateful look.

My mother wouldn’t talk to either one of us the whole rest of the way home. Hank took a leaf from her book and did the same.

As soon as the garage door opened, Jacey scrambled out of the Suburban. My mother wouldn’t so much as glance my way as she got out.

Hank went around the Suburban and put his arm around my mother, glaring at me over his shoulder.

I rubbed my temples then went inside as well.

Jacey was not in the living room, as I’d expected.

“Selfish girl won’t even stop and have a proper conversation,” Hank muttered to my mother, settling them both down on the sofa. “Running off to her room.”

Ah. Her room.

Good.

“Guess I’m a selfish guy, then, too,” I retorted and headed to my own room.

The most annoying thing about Jacey and my rooms was that they were Jack-and-Jill style, two bedrooms connected by a shared bathroom. I had a door that opened into the bathroom, and so did she. We’d had a couple of close calls over the years, but mostly we’d managed the bathroom situation without too much awkwardness.

It was a godsend now, however. I went into my room, locked the door, then walked straight through the bathroom and into Jacey’s bedroom.

Jacey was curled up on her bed, holding Cheer Bear to her chest. When she saw me, she laid Cheer Bear aside and reached for me.

I got on her queen bed with her and wrapped my arms around her while Jacey plastered herself to me. Her cheek was wet, and tears soaked through my shirt as we laid there in silence for a while.

“Are we doing something wrong, Caleb?” Jacey finally asked.

My grip on her tightened. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Your mother seems to think so,” Jacey whispered.

I sighed and kissed the top of her head. “My mother’s got this idea of us playing ‘happy families.’ She’s only got that one way of looking at things.”

“Like that we’re brother and sister?” Jacey inferred.

“Like that we’re brother and sister,” I agreed. “But that’s not what we are, and God help me, we never were. A brother doesn’t think about his sister the way I think about you.”

Jacey folded her hands on my chest and tucked her chin onto them, looking down at me. “What did you think about me?”

I rubbed my hand down her body to get a nice handful of her backside. “You know what I thought about you.”

“Hmm… I’m not sure…” Jacey said with false innocence.

I chuckled and threaded my fingers through her hair and pulled her mouth down to mine.

Jacey’s kiss tasted salty from her tears.

“We don’t need my mother’s approval,” I murmured against her lips. “We feel how we feel. That’s it.”

“That’s it,” Jacey echoed with a slow nod.