Baby for My Stepbrother

Chapter 5

I opened my mouth to argue, but he reached over and covered it with his hand. “No, Luna. I’m not going to let you say another fucking word until you give what I said a few minutes of thought. Yeah, we’ve always annoyed the fuck out of each other through the years. I was the guy who had to take care of you and kick your ass a time or two when you were doing something stupid. And you were the bratty little bitch who fought against me every chance you could. But things have changed and your attitude needs to change with them. I wasn’t happy when I first saw those sonograms, but the night without sleep that followed gave me a lot of time to think. The only conclusion I could reach was that you and I should try to be together. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but at least we can say we tried.”

I sat back against my seat, my eyes locked on a couple walking into them all, laughing, holding hands and having a good time. Was it possible for Dane and I to be like that – to know each other and feel comfortable together as a real couple?

I didn’t know, but he was right when he called out how I felt about him. It felt strange to admit it to myself, and even stranger to finally say, “Fine. I’ll try, but the minute things start going south, we’ll need to figure out another plan.”

His thumb hooked beneath my chin, his hand moving my head so that I faced him. He stared into my eyes for several seconds before leaning forward and kissing me. My heart skipped in my chest as soon as his lips touched mine and I melted into the kiss, scared to death that I was going to let go of my heart only to have him eventually crush it.

“What are we going to tell our parents?” Flipping through a rack of clothes, I grimaced to see all the lace and bows and floral material of the maternity clothes available. None of it was my style and I couldn’t imagine having to wear it for any length of time.

Dane leaned against a nearby wall, his arms folded over his broad chest – his biceps flexing beneath the material of his short sleeves. He looked like a bouncer for the clothing store and I laughed because it was just like Dane to look like a damn security guard. Would the next nine months with him make me feel like I was in prison?

Most likely, yes, and the idea didn’t make me excited.

“We’re going to tell them that we’re both adults and shit happens. They’re doctors. They know how this happened. You’re a woman and I’m a man and we hooked up. It’s that simple. If they have a problem with it, they can take a fucking hike back out to whatever country they need to save next.”

I glanced at Dane, the hangers scraping over the rack as I kept pushing clothes aside. His eyes were narrowed in anger, looking anywhere but at me. He was trying to hide something, and based on what he’d just said, it was pretty obvious his anger was directed at our parents.

I hadn’t been happy when my father told me that he’d be leaving for a foreign country so soon after marrying Dane’s mother. I felt like she’d come in and stolen the only person I had in my life. But over the years, as they traveled back and forth, I’d come to accept what they were doing…and at times, I even looked up to my dad for giving so much of himself to the world.

Dane and I never really talked much about our feelings about our parents ’ career, and I realized now that he was harboring more resentment about it than me.

“Are you angry at your mom for leaving? Or at my dad for being the one to take her away?” I asked, keeping my voice low so that Dane was the only person who could hear me.

His eyes narrowed more when he looked at me, the skin of his forehead furrowing as he mentally debated on whether he wanted to admit the truth or not. I smiled at him and said, “We’re together, remember? If this thing between us is going to work, you need to learn to open up and talk tome.”

He breathed out slowly and finally said, “I’m mad at both of them. I would never leave my kid to raise itself like my mother did. And I would never marry a woman and influence her to leave her kid. It’s not right. She was the one who decided to bring me into this world and then she just ups and leaves – like her life is more important than the one she created. Fuck that shit. And fuck her.”