I snuggle into my big sister, still lying sprawled on her bed. We're both naked from our lovemaking, sweat drying on our bodies. "Do you love me, Trish," I ask.
"Yes, Joey," she says. "I never knew it was possible to love somebody as much as I love you right now."
"Yeah, okay, but do you REALLY love me," I ask, throwing one leg over her waist. I pet her breast, so big and yet so perfect in my hand, and nibble slowly at her neck."
"Oh! Oh, Joey, you know how to play my body like a violin."
"Even though I'm your brother, and younger, and everything?"
"Yes, Joey. And it's not just the sex, though that was amazing. I never thought having sex with my own brother could make me feel so alive. It's that you show me respect, and you're there for me when I need you. It only makes sense that I would fall in love with my own brother."
"Then here's what I want to know, Trish," I say, wrapping my arm around my sister and pulling her in so that we're lying face to face, body to body. "Will you marry me?"
"You know brother and sister can't marry, Joey. Oh, hell, we'll have to sneak around and, I don't know, go on fake cover dates and stuff. We have to stay a secret, Joey. Oh, but the thought of any man but you even touching me... ugh!"
"What if it didn't have to be a secret, though, Trish? What if we could be open, and get married? What if we could build a home together just like Mom and Dad built for us? Maybe even have kids of our own someday? If that could all happen, Trish, would you marry me?"
She reaches out, wraps her arms around me, and pulls me into a tight hug. "You know it, little brother," she says. "I want to devote my whole life to making a home together with you. So yes, that's my answer. If we could marry, yes I would."
"Would you marry me tonight? Throw off all the ceremony and just marry me tonight?"
"Yes, Joey. If I could marry you tonight, I would."
I touch my ring. "I wish Trish and I were getting married tonight. I wish it was perfectly legal for us to wed, and we have a proper church wedding, with the white dress and all the guests. I wish I was legally marrying my sister at once, tonight."
The world ripples around us, like we're witnessing it through steam, and suddenly, I'm standing in front of the church in my best suit. The organist plays, and I turn and look, and there's our father walking Trish down the aisle. She's in a beautiful white lace dress, with a sweetheart neckline and a tulip-shaped skirt. Her hair is long and flowing, and her makeup is flawless.
Trish looks around. She's surprised to be here: like me, she was naked in bed a second ago. But she sees Dad holding her arm, then she sees me waiting at the front of the church, and oh, what a smile. She knows the world is different for people like her and me. For us, brother and sister can marry, and the world will accept it.
We are in love, and soon the whole world will know it.
Dad drops her off at my side, then steps over and becomes my best man. I look my sister in the eyes. Such love I see. Oh, big sister. You are my everything.
"Dearly Beloved," the preacher begins...
I don't listen. I don't need to. Trish is my world, and I look at her, repeating what the preacher gives me to say. Any minute now, I know we'll speak our I Do, and we'll be bound together forever.
"If anyone," the preacher says, "knows any reason these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."
"I know a reason!"
The crowd gasps. My heart flutters, and the look of horror on Trish's face is both gorgeous and heartbreaking. Everybody in the church turns in unison to the back of the congregation, where we see...