"We do." She
agreed."
"So..."
"So we kissed. Twice."
"Yeah. And it wasn't part of the cover the second time... I thought
you were gonna freak out."
"If it wasn't part of the
cover then why'd you do it?"
"Because I... it was the first time. And the second time... I just
wanted to."
"And I didn't freak
out."
"I know. Why?"
"I guess I was hoping you'd
kiss me again. If you noticed, I even kissed you back."
"I noticed... but... why?"
"Look, I'm good at lots of things but figuring out girls? I suck at
it. Why'd you want to kiss me?"
"I don't know. Why'd you want
to kiss me?"
"I... I know. Because I think I'm starting to feel the same way...
there's just... something."
"Something?"
"I... I don't know if I'm ready to define it quite right yet."
He brushed a stray piece of hair from her face. "You're something special,
Chels. I mean, I've always known that, but... you mean more to me than you should."
"What are we going to
do?"
"I haven't got that far yet." He sighed.
"We should think about
that."
"I know. Because honestly? I don't... I know it's weird but I don't
not want to have these feelings. I like that I care about you."
"I like that you care about
me too."
"And... I think I'd like us to have more, but shit, Chels, we're
related..." He sighed.
"I know..."
"And we'd just... we'd have to accept... that we'd take a lot of
heat from people... and we'd have to accept it ourselves. I mean, I make jokes
about this sort of shit and now..."
She nodded.
"Now I think I'm falling for you." He sighed.
"Well that's because I'm
better than everyone else."
"And so damn modest."
She grinned. "But that's why
you like me."
"It really is, which is the sad part. That way you've got about you,
it's sort of hot."
She blushed. "What do you
want to do about this....us?"
"I... I want to see where things go," He said. "I want us
to... get comfortable with the idea before we... jump into things."
"Okay...I like that...but,
maybe we should talk to your dad? Not that it'd change anything...but...I don't
know..."
"We'll talk to him if you want," Garrett agreed. After a
moment, he slipped his arm around her shoulders. "You really are pretty."
"Thank you." She smiled.
"It's not going to be easy..."
"I know it's not. But... I think we've tried to stop it often enough
that we can deal with it... if it's fate or whatever."
Chelsea nodded. "You sure you
wanna do this?"
"Yeah. Now that I know you feel the same way." He squeezed her
gently.
Chelsea rested her head on his
shoulder.
He pushed open the door to his father's office again. "
Garrett looked up. "What is
it?"
"We... well... I don't know how to say it...
"You're what?" He asked,
although he knew what his son's answer would be.
"We're... I guess I'm trying to say we're in love... Chels, that
fair?"
"Yeah..." Chelsea
replied.
"What do you want me to do
about it?" Garrett asked them.
"We... is that... we're related, is that... allowed?"
"It's a bit
unusual...Garrett, but if you really mean it....there are a lot of advantages
to this."
"We're taking things at our own pace. We know it's kinda weird... so
we aren't gonna rush things."
"I understand, I saw this coming...I
saw the footage.
Garrett looked to Chelsea. "Well... at least you aren't freaking
out,
"Honestly, Garrett...I really
don't see anything wrong with it. As long as you're relatively discreet....and
we don't have to risk bringing anyone new in."
"Thanks." Garrett squeezed Chelsea gently once more.
He nodded.
He gently led her from the room. "That went pretty well."
"Almost too well."
"Yeah. I guess he's glad he doesn't have to run a background
check." Garrett paused. "You haven't been up to the residence in a
long time, have you?"
Chelsea thought for a second.
"Not since we moved out...no."
He led the way upstairs to where his family lived. "Come on
up." He pushed open his bedroom door. "Nothing great - I used to
share with Michael - but this is where I live."
Chelsea looked around the room.
"Nice."
"It's a guy's room. We don't do the cozy thing. But I like it."
Garrett flopped into his desk chair. "I just wanted us have somewhere to
talk."
"We can talk here, right? No
bugs or anything."
"No bugs.
Chelsea nodded and sat across from
him.
"I'm not really sure how
we're supposed to talk about this..."
"Me either... it's just... weirder for us. Starting with what do we
classify ourselves as? I mean, if we ever... got married, you wouldn't have to
change your name."
"It'd be awfully convenient."
"Agreed," Garrett said with a slight laugh.
Chelsea sighed. "How are we
supposed to explain this to my parents?"
"I'm all for having my mom talk to yours."
"I'm all for hiding out while
your dad tells mine."
"Yeah."
"Because no matter how well
your dad took it....we both know mine won't take it half as well."
"I know." He sighed and kissed her.
Chelsea kissed him back.
After a moment, Garrett deepened the kiss.
Chelsea ran her hands through his
hair.
After a while, he broke the kiss, marveling at how close they now were.
"I've kind of wanted to do that for a while," he admitted.
"Well I'm glad you did."
"You... God, you have no idea how many things I'm thinking that I
shouldn't be right now."
She smiled. "I thought we
weren't going to jump into this....not that I'm complaining."
"I don't want to jump into it. I want... if things progress that far
I want it to be something really special." He gently pulled her close.
"It will be special..."
She wrapped her arms around his neck. "How long have you felt this
way?"
"For a while now. But we couldn't act on it." He lifted her
gently and placed her in his lap.
"A while?"
"Yeah. I guess about a month."
"Really?"
"Well, yeah. Not that I'd have admitted it right away."
She nodded. "You knew who
that IMF agent was, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Made it easier anyway."
She kissed him softly. "I bet
it did."
Garrett kissed her neck softly, wrapping his arms around her.
"We should stop soon..."
"I know. I'm not going to try anything, don't worry," Garrett
assured her. "I just... like you being close."
"I like being close to
you...maybe like it a little too much..."
"We can mess around without *really* doing anything..."
"I know...but..." She
sighed. "I don't know...this has been a really eventful day...."
"We can nap."
"Can we?"
"Yeah." He picked her up and carried her to the bed, laying on
his side facing her. "Sound good?"
She nodded and kissed him.
"Yeah."
"Sleep well, Chels." He kissed her forehead.
She curled up next to him and
closed her eyes.
He stroked her hair gently for a few moments before falling asleep
himself.
Cassidy opened the door a few moments later... and blinked. She pulled
the door closed and went to find her husband.
"What's up?" Garrett
asked as the tapestry moved and Cassidy walked through.
"Garrett and Chelsea are napping together..."
"And this is a problem?"
"Do you know something I don't?"
"Yes...Apparently they're in
love."
"That's... cute?"
"Makes things easier on
me."
"I'd say so..."
"Don't have to run a
background check on Garrett's new girlfriend."
"Agreed. Well, you should be pleased... he's not gay."
"Is there something wrong
with it?" Garrett asked.
"Well... they're related... It'll take me some time, I guess."
She shifted baby Nathan's weight.
"Yeah...it was kind of weird
at first, seeing footage of them at the hotel...but then...I don't know, seemed
like a good idea..."
"I'm not saying it's not."
"I never said you
weren't."
Nathan cooed.
Cassidy smiled and kissed the baby's cheek.
Garrett kissed her. "How are
you?"
"Pretty good," she said, kissing him back. "The baby was
crying so I took him for a walk."
"Well I'm glad your walk led
you here."
"Me too." She smiled.
"I've got some work to finish
up...but I might be able to get out earlier than usual today."
"I'd like that." She smiled.
"And then you and me can have
some fun." He grinned.
"Sounds like fun, if our little one sleeps..."
"We can always make Garrett
watch him."
"I suppose we can," she agreed with a smile.
~*~*~*~
Chelsea, having awoken from her
nap and leaving Garrett a note, brushed her hair and made her way home. She let
herself into the house. "Hello?" She called out.
"We're here," Gavin called from the living room. He and Grace
were sitting contentedly close on the sofa. "Come on in. Nice of you to
come home."
"Sorry." She apologized.
"I fell asleep."
"That's fine. Come on, there's coffee and you can rest some more...
you had a crazy day... saw your boyfriend shot."
"Yeah...um..." She
rubbed the back of her neck, not quite sure how to tell them what had happened.
How do you tell your parents you've fallen in love with your cousin?
"Something bothering you?" Gavin asked.
"I...I have to tell you
something. And you're going to be mad. Really mad. And quite possible
disgusted."
"Well get it out, Chelsea."
"Garrett and I...well, I
guess you could say we're dating."
"Garrett. Your cousin Garrett?" Gavin asked sharply.
Chelsea nodded.
"Chelsea! What's wrong with
you?" Grace exclaimed.
"I... don't know what the hell I'm supposed to say to you,"
Gavin said.
"We already talked to Uncle
Garrett about it....."
"I'm sure he thinks it's fucking wonderful," Gavin sneered.
"What do you want us to
say?" Grace asked, sitting up a bit straighter.
Chelsea shrugged. "I don't
know...I just...I wanted to tell you."
"I won't have you bringing *that* into the house. The organization
and now you want us to accept your incest?!?"
"I thought you'd want me to
be happy."
"He's your cousin! Chelsea... I don't know what happened to
you."
"Chelsea...." Grace
began. "This isn't something we're just going to be happy about and
accept."
"I won't have it," Gavin put in. "Chelsea... if you want
that sort of life... I can't have you in this house."
"You're my parents, you're
supposed to support me..." She trailed off.
"We do...and we love you, but
we won't allow you to become involved in that kind of lifestyle while you're
living here."
"If you want to go work for my brother and sleep with your cousin,
you need a new place to live," Gavin said firmly.
Chelsea looked at both her
parents. Her mother was looking at the floor. "Fine." She got up and
left the house.
Gavin sat down once more, looking to Grace. "I didn't want to do it,
you know that."
"I know, baby. Neither did
I..."
Chelsea got back to Garrett's
house a few minutes later, noticeably more upset than when she'd left her
parents house.
Garrett met her at the door. "Chels? What's wrong?"
"They kicked me out."
She told him before she started sobbing.
Garrett pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry."
"My mother couldn't even look
at me when I told them..."
"If you... if you want to call this off, I'd understand... I don't
want you to lose your parents."
"I think I lost them some
time ago." Chelsea said sadly.
Garrett kissed her forehead. "You can stay here."
"I don't want to
impose...."
"You won't be," Cassidy said firmly on her way downstairs.
"In fact... you two can babysit. Nathan just loves his big brother."
The baby let out a squeal.
Garrett groaned.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Chelsea. You're perfectly welcome here."
Cassidy handed Garrett the baby. "He just ate, so you won't have to feed
him."
"Great, I get to change him."
Cassidy laughed. "You two have fun." And she went back
upstairs.
Chelsea wiped her eyes and smiled
sadly at him.
"Want to play with a baby?" Garrett offered half-heartedly.
"I guess." Chelsea
replied, taking the baby from him.
Nathan cooed and reached for her hair.
Chelsea smiled a bit as she gently
pulled her hair away from his fingers.
"I think he likes you." Garrett sighed and sat down. "God,
my parents are like... kinda gross."
Chelsea shrugged and set Nathan on
the floor. "Does he walk yet?"
"Yeah, a little bit. He waddles around... kinda runs a few steps and
falls on his butt."
"Oh."
Nathan cooed brightly, waddling a few steps.
Chelsea sat back on the couch and
watched him.
Nathan looked up at her as if for approval.
Chelsea smiled at the little boy.
Nathan cooed and waddled a few more steps before plopping onto his
diapered bottom.
"It's weird that my little brother's twenty years younger than
me."
"It's weird that I'm going to
have a sibling twenty-one years younger than me."
"Yeah. But I mean, I love him, he's cute."
Nathan babbled to himself on the floor.
"He is." She agreed.
"But he's gonna grow up sorta like an only child."
"It might be nice, though,
your parents only have to worry about one as opposed to five."
"I think that's what they were thinking."
"Probably."
"Anyway, it's working for them. Mom adores him."
"I can tell."
"Someday I want a kid."
"It'd be nice."
"I mean I know I'm expected to have one or whatever... but I just
want one. It'd kinda be nice to be a dad eventually."
Chelsea nodded.
Nathan gurgled and toddled over with his duckie in his hands.
"What do you have there,
little man?" Chelsea asked, picking him up and settling him in her lap.
He cooed.
"Is that a duckie?" She
asked, smiling.
The child nodded and pointed toward a box of raisins Cassidy had left on
the table for him.
"I don't think duckie likes raisins, kid," Garrett told his
brother.
"Want some raisins?" She
asked him.
The baby nodded again.
"Okay, do you want to get
them?"
The baby waddled over and brought the box over.
"He can't get 'em open himself. Here, kiddo." Garrett took a
few of the raisins out for Nathan. "No more than that or you'll be
regretting it when your diaper's loaded."
"You'd make a good dad."
Chelsea commented.
"You think?" He smiled, watching his brother play. "I
mean... I think my parents were great... but I mean there's things I'd do a
little different."
"I think there's things
everyone would do differently than their parents."
"Yeah." He slipped an arm around her.
Chelsea sighed.
"How are you doing?"
She shrugged. "I...don't
really know, to be honest with you. It just...hurts."
"I'm sorry."
Chelsea shrugged. "Me
too."
"I feel like it's my fault..."
She looked at him. "I'm not
going to say it wasn't partly your fault....but it was my choice. No one is
forcing me to be here right now."
"I know... I almost wish you'd just been disgusted with me... it
would have made things easier for you."
"Do you...you do want this,
right? I mean..." She trailed off, unable to help feeling uncertain.
"Of course I do."
She smiled. "Okay."
He kissed her cheek gently.
She kissed him.
He pulled her close by his side.
Chelsea wrapped an arm around his
neck.
He pulled her onto his lap after a few moments, still kissing her.
She ran her other hand through his
hair.
Eventually he needed to breathe, and it was only then that Garrett broke
the kiss, resting his forehead against hers.
Chelsea smiled and took a deep
breath.
"Wow, Chels."
"Wow?"
"Yeah."
"Good wow?"
"Yeah." He gently stroked her hair.
She smiled. "I feel like I'm
in tenth grade and my stomach's doing flip flops."
"Well you're not in tenth grade, but the flip flops I can
understand." He kissed her neck.
"And you're the one who's
giving me the flip flops."
"Well that's a nice feeling."
She nodded.
He pulled her close again.
"Not that I'm not enjoying
this immensely, but shouldn't we be keeping an eye on your brother too?"
"He's just there. Hanging out with his duck."
"Okay." She kissed him
again.
He kissed back.
"This is nice...this is
probably like the best date I've had." She said, glancing over at Nathan.
"Even with the mini-audience? I could make dinner and make it a real
date."
"Could you? I think I'd like
to see that."
"I can cook. Come on, bring the midget into the kitchen. What do you
want?"
Chelsea picked Nathan up and
followed him. "Ummm...well what can you cook?"
"We can make... um... several ways of chicken... fish... hey, you
like salmon?"
Chelsea nodded.
"Then have a seat." He smiled.
She put Nathan in his high chair
and sat at the table.
"Salmon it is, ma'am."
"Sounds good."
"And peas? And rice?"
"No peas."
"Alright."
"Are you really making
salmon?"
"Yes."
She smiled. "That's
nice."
"I'm a nice guy." He smiled.
She got up and stood next to the
stove. "You are."
"Well thank you, Miss Chelsea." He smiled.
"Where'd you learn how to
cook?"
"Mom."
"Wow."
"Yeah, she's a great cook."
"And you wanted to
learn?"
"Yeah, I did."
"That's amazing. Not many
guys actually want to learn how."
"I'm weird like that."
"You're definitely something.
I don't know if I'd go as far to say weird..."
"I'm not gay, either."
"You're definitely not
gay." She affirmed.
He smiled, turning around to give her a quick kiss before focusing his
attention on their meal again.
"What if I said I might be
interested in learning how to make salmon?"
"I'd have to teach you next time... but for now... it's done."
"Already?"
"Already. Doesn't take very long." He smiled, serving both fish
and rice for her as well as a plate for himself.
Chelsea mostly picked at the
salmon, but slowly ate what was on the plate.
He leaned over to kiss her. "You alright?"
She nodded. "I guess."
"Sure?" He kissed her again.
She moved and sat in his lap.
"Now I am."
"Good." He offered her a piece of salmon on his fork.
She ate a bite and smiled.
"It's good."
"Good." He smiled.
"What would I do without
you?"
"Starve?"
She smiled. "I guess
so."
He kissed her neck gently.
She mussed his hair.
"Still a good date?"
"Very good."
"Good thing for me?"
"Very good for you."
"Good." Garrett smiled, kissing her neck once more.
Nathan cooed.
Chelsea kissed his cheek.
He sighed a little bit.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. This is just nice."
"It is." She agreed.
"My clothes are at my house." She said after a minute.
"We can go get them later."
"Okay."
He smiled.
Nathan let out a hiccup.
Chelsea looked over at the boy.
"And what's up with you? Having fun with your duckie?"
Nathan nodded, then hiccupped again.
"He's drunk," Garrett laughed.
Chelsea laughed. "At least we
don't have to worry about him falling over then."
"I guess so," Garrett replied with a grin, picking up Nathan
and tossing him gently over his shoulder. The baby squealed delightedly.
Chelsea smiled and sat in
Garrett's vacant seat.
Garrett ran about with the baby for a while before sitting him back down.
"There you go, kid.
"You're adorable, you know
that?"
"Am I?" He grinned.
"Yes, you are."
"Well thank you."
"You're very welcome."
He kissed her cheek.
She smiled.
"I really wish we weren't babysitting."
"So do I."
"Ma!" Nathan demanded.
"Your Ma's with your
Nathan looked at them.
"Hey... he just said his first word."
"Was that his first word?"
Chelsea asked.
"Yeah."
"Can you say it again,
buddy?" Chelsea picked him up.
"Ma?"
"Maybe we should go tell your
parents. They might like to know."
"Yeah... but... they're probably making another one."
"True."
"So I don't wanna just charge up there."
"Also a good point. It can
probably wait until tomorrow."
"I'd say so."
"What do we do now, then?"
"Put him to bed."
"Ready to go to bed?"
She asked little Nathan.
Nathan cooed.
Chelsea handed him to Garrett.
"Let's get him up."
Garrett led the way upstairs with the baby. "Hey kid, let's have a
nap, okay?"
Nathan squeezed his duckie.
"That's a good boy." He set Nathan down in his crib.
"There you go, kid. Have a good sleep." He set the mobile above the
bed in motion.
Chelsea watched from the doorway.
Nathan eventually fell asleep, and Garrett smiled, making sure he'd be
warm enough before turning around to see Chelsea in the door.
She smiled at him.
He stepped out of the room with her, closing the door behind them and
kissing her softly.
Chelsea kissed back, wrapping her
arms around his neck.
He pulled her close, breaking the kiss in favor of kissing her neck.
He smiled a little bit. "Chels? We keep saying we'll take it slow...
and I want to but I want... we can't do this unless we're going to..."
"You're making it kind of
hard for me to think clearly." She replied.
"I know."
"I want to..." She said
after a minute. "I do..."
"Now?"
She kissed him softly. "We
can't seem to keep our hands off each other long enough to wait."
"Agreed." He led her up to his room and closed the door, still
kissing her.