I-it's... YOU! OHMYGOD! It's you!" Suki said, backing up and nearly tripping over the easy chair. She turned and ran into the back bedroom shutting the door hard. I looked at Mom and Tom trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Neither of them had a clue either, so I told them to sit down and I went back to see what had come over Suki.

"Suki, honey, it's me. Open the door please," I said. It wasn't locked, but I didn't want to just open it without asking. A few moments later, the door opened a crack and I saw Suki's eye peeking out.

"Are you alone?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. She opened the door and I entered it just before she shut it tight again, nearly catching me in it. I walked over and sat next to her on the bed. She was sitting there shaking like a leaf. I put my arm around her and held her.

"What is it Suki? What has you so upset, honey?" I asked her.

"That man... That man... is my FATHER!" Suki said.

"WHAT?!?" I said incredulously. "That's impossible! It must be some kind of mistake! Are you sure? How can that be?"

Suki opened her purse and brought out an old locket. "My mother gave this to me just before I left for the States. Inside is a picture she told me was my father during the War. Was your stepfather in the Vietnam War?" she asked.

"Well, yes, but there were a lot of men in the War back then," I said.

"Here is a picture of my father. See? Is that your stepfather?" she asked. I looked at the picture. It did indeed look like Tom. But it was an old picture and badly faded. I decided to get to the bottom of this.

"Come with me, Suki. We'll settle this once and for all," I said. I took Suki's hand and we went back into the living room where my folks still sat, wondering what was going on.

"Tom this is really bizarre, but Suki here thinks you may somehow be her father. You were in Vietnam weren't you?" I asked.

"Well I wasn't in Vietnam itself, I was stationed in Japan. My ship was there for eight months as a support platform for the military operations in Vietnam," he explained.

"Well, Suki here is from Japan. She says her mother was Japanese and her father was an American," I said. 

"Suki, is it? Suki, who is your mother?" Tom asked her.

"My mother's name was Matsuni. She was from a little village named Kikoba, close to the U.S. naval base at Yakosuka. Here is a picture of her and the man she said was my father," Suki said, handing him the locket.

Tom took the locket and looked at it. I saw his eyes get big and his hands start shaking too. "Oh my God..." he said, staring at the faded image. He looked up and he had tears running down his cheeks.

"That's her; that's my Matsuni. She never told me... she never told me..." he said, crying as Mom held him. 

When Tom had finally composed himself and Suki had gotten her head around this as well, we all sat and Tom told us of his time in Japan, and then Suki filled in what happened afterwards. Tom was broken up that Suki and her mother had had such a hard time of it, and very sad to learn of Matsuni's passing. We all talked and listened to the various stories for a few hours until it started getting late. With all the pieces finally in place, Mom and Tom had to head on back home to Bridgeport Connecticut. 

"Suki, I know it may be late in coming and I am so sorry, but if you need anything honey - anything at all, you call me, okay. I have done pretty well for myself and now that I have found out I have a daughter, I want to do right by her. So if you need anything - money, a job, or whatever, you call me. Promise?" he said.

"I will. But I'm doing okay here too. I have a good job and my apartment is fine for me," Suki said.

"I'm glad to hear that. W-would it be okay... if I gave you a kiss?" he said, awkwardly. 

"I would like that," Suki said, hugging him and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. He handed Mom the car keys, since he was in no shape to drive after this bombshell.

Once Mom and Tom left, I turned to Suki, "I suppose I should probably be taking you home. I doubt you feel like going for a drive now, right?" I said.

"Yeah," Suki replied, sounding a little sad. I took her home - it was a very quiet, very somber drive; neither of us said much. When I got to her apartment, I walked her to the door but a kiss goodbye seemed inappropriate now, so she hugged me and I turned to head on home.

The next few weeks were kind of a fog to me. I went to work, then I went home. That was about all I can say about it. Time passed by where I was at the time. Suki and I still had the work project, but we worked together as business associates now - the fact that she and I were step-siblings took all the excitement and certainly all the sexual intensity out of our working together.

About four weeks or so after the big drama, Mr. Baxter came by the office. Suki wasn't with him, which kind of bummed me out as I still looked forward to seeing her even after everything that had happened. We were talking about the project when he came right out point blank and asked me,

"What's happened between you and Suki?" he asked, "You two were doing so well together. Now both of you are moping around like someone just pissed in your sippy cups!"

I began to tell him the whole story about our new-found relationship. He listened carefully to all I had to say.

"Well, that is a very strange tale to be sure. But let me ask you a question; do you still care for Suki?" he asked. I hadn't really thought about it since that day. I just kind of put that idea away and didn't consider my feelings for her anymore. After all you aren't supposed to have romantic feelings for your sister!

"Yes, I suppose I do. But I can't do anything about it," I said.

"Well, I happen to know that she still cares for you very much. She won't admit it, but I see how she is now and I know how she was when you two were going at it strong. I can tell she still wishes you two could be an item," he said.

"Well, we can't. My stepfather is her father," I said.

"So what? Just because your father had a child - a child that he knew nothing about - and then later on in life he just so happened to find and marry your mother doesn't mean that you and Suki can't enjoy each other. You are only step-brother and sister by chance. You aren't blood relatives. It may be a bit unorthodox, but everything about this seems unorthodox. And let me tell you something, my boy, love is a hard enough thing to find these days as it is - when it comes along you gotta grab it and hang on tight... unorthodox or not!" he said.

What Mr. Baxter said made a lot of sense. It wasn't Suki's or my fault what had happened. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just random chance. A series of unusual events that put us both together in the same place at the same time. Had any one thing been slightly different, we would have never met.

And it was true that I still had deep feelings for Suki. I missed my beautiful Suki very much, and was glad to hear she missed me as well. We couldn't let the cruel hand of fate keep us apart from each other like this.

"What can I do though? Suki feels it is wrong for us to be..." I said, letting my voice trail off.

"Let me talk to her. I will see what I can do to convince her that this shouldn't stop you two," he said.

"You would do that?" I asked, "Why?"

"Son, I'm a businessman. You and Suki make a good team and we have a good project here. Having the two of you working separatly like this is bound to make the job harder and less effective - hence less profitable for everyone. And besides, I don't need you two walking around moping all day!" he chuckled. "I was young once myself... I remember what it felt like to have your heart stomped on. You and Suki should be together and damn the opinions of others!"

He left my office after that and I thought about what he had said for the rest of the day and most of the night. I did care very much for Suki - neither of us said the "L" word, but I had a sense that both of us felt it. At least I did and I hoped she did as well. 

The next morning, I knew I was to meet with Suki on the work project and I thought about what I would say to her. Mr. Baxter said he was going to talk to her about all this and I wondered if he had had the chance. I decided not to bring it up unless she did, just in case he hadn't spoken to her yet.

Suki arrived right on time for our meeting - she was nothing if not prompt. And we got right into it. I kept glancing at her over the course of our work together that day, and from time to time, I caught her doing likewise. The air between us was tense and charged with a strange electricity.

We got the work done we needed to do, and Suki got up to leave. I walked her to the door and as she left, she said goodbye in a tone that tore my heart out. I knew that she wanted to forget all this nonsense and go back to the way we were, I could feel her pain even over my own. She looked back just for an instant and then walked away, her head down. 

I shut the door to my office and just sat at my desk. This couldn't go on. It was killing me and now I saw it was killing Suki as well.

That night I called my parents in Bridgeport.

"Hi Mom, I need to talk to you and Tom," I said.

"Oh, okay. Is something wrong?" Mom said.

"I'll say there is. Can you put me on speakerphone?" I said.

"Yeah, hang on," she said. I heard a click and then, "Okay hon, Tom and I are both here and you are on speaker. Now what's wrong?"

"It's about Suki and I. The other day really freaked everyone out and now Suki and I barely talk to each other. It is strictly business even though I know we both want to go back to the way it was before," I said.

"Yeah, it kinda caught all of us a little off-guard!" Tom said.

"Well, Suki doesn't feel comfortable with us being a couple and being... intimate, since we are apparently step-brother and step-sister," I said.

"I can understand that, hon. It's almost incest after all," Mom said.

"Well Suki's boss, Mr. Baxter, came by to see me yesterday, and we talked about the situation. It's affecting our work, and he wants us to get back together so we can concentrate on the project. He says that what happened wasn't anyone's fault, and it isn't like we set out to do this knowing it was wrong. I told him the story of how you, Tom, didn't know you had a daughter and how Suki didn't know who her father was. He said this whole thing was just a series of unfortunate events, and that because we aren't blood relations, it isn't really incest," I said.

"Well, that much is true," Tom said. "By definition, incest is sex between blood relatives such as mother and son, father and daughter, or blood siblings. Since I am your step-father and Suki's real father, you and Suki are only step-siblings by marriage, not blood," Tom said.

"That's what Mr. Baxter said too. Now I need to know how you guys feel about Suki and I. Mom, I don't know for sure how Suki feels, but I am very fond of her. We haven't made our proclamations of love yet, but we were very close before this happened. As far as I'm concerned, this doesn't change how I feel about her. I miss Suki and I want her back. 

But I know that she won't allow that if there is any problems with either you or Tom accepting it. So I am asking you now, before I approach her again on this, how you two feel about me and Suki being together... being in love and being together, you know," I said. The phone was quiet for a few moments before I heard Tom's voice come back on.

"Jack, the one thing a parent wants most of all is to know that his or her child is happy. That is the most important thing they can do for them. I know your mother wants nothing but happiness for you as do I. And since I have learned Suki is my daughter, I want nothing but happiness for her as well. We didn't get a chance to see how you two were together, but if you say you feel this strongly about each other, then you have your Mom's and my blessing. Go to her Jack, and you tell her that you want her. Tell her if she wants to hear this straight from my mouth, to call me," Tom said.

"Thanks, you two. I will tell her tomorrow. I hope she understands, and I hope we can get back on track," I said.

"So do we, honey. Call us and let us know," Mom said. And I hung up, feeling more hopeful than I had since this mess happened. I could hardly wait to talk to Suki the following day. 

Morning came eventually (I hadn't been able to sleep, so I watched the clock for most of the night), and I got ready for work. I knew that Suki would be coming to the office for our regular work sessions, and it was then that I planned on putting all this behind us once and for all.

However, that would be that afternoon. I had to get through the morning, and I had a couple meetings to go to before Suki came. The first one was an internal meeting with my office staff, laying out what we would be concentrating on in the near future. We had some important projects coming up, and I had to make sure we were up for them. The second meeting was with another client who we were doing some work for. They had concerns about the schedule, and I had to reassure them that things were moving along properly. But the meetings did make the morning go by fast, so I was thankful for that.

Shortly after lunch, Suki came to my office. She was just as beautiful as always, and I fell for her all over again. But she was still sad - I could see it in her eyes and in her demeanor. I couldn't wait a moment longer.

"Suki sit down. We need to talk," I said. She came in and took a seat while I closed the door. I came around and stood, leaning back on the edge of my desk as I talked.

"Your boss came by the other day to talk to me. He is not very pleased with what has happened. He says that you and I were working well together before this mess with our family happened. Now, he says we seem to be working on the same project, but from different angles - each of us working independently of the other in some ways. He and I talked, and he wanted to know what happened between us. He knew that you and I were more than just business associates, and he wanted to know why that changed so suddenly," I said.

"Oh no! You didn't..." Suki said.

"Yes I did; I told him the whole story. About your past and Tom not knowing about you to my father dying and Tom becoming my stepfather - I told him everything. He listened to everything I said and then he told me a few things that made perfect sense," I said.

"Like what?" she asked.

"He said that what happened to us was not our faults. We didn't set out to do anything wrong. We were just two people who fell for each other and enjoyed being with each other. We were caught up in a series of unfortunate circumstances that we didn't even know about. He said he understood why it was so shocking to you and to all of us, but when you examine it, you and I are not blood related, we are step-siblings, our only link is your father happens to be married to my mother because my real father isn't around anymore.

Mr. Baxter said that while it may be a bit unorthodox, there really is no reason that you and I can't go back to the way we were before we ever learned about all this. We are not doing anything wrong. We are not committing incest or breaking any laws. I mean, I don't know how they treat something like this in Japan, but in this country what we are doing is not against the law.

Mr. Baxter asked me straight out if I still cared for you. I told him that I did, and he told me that he knew you still cared for me. He said that you and I should be together, to hell with what other people think. I agree with him. I want you, Suki, and if you want me, then we need to find a way to put all this mess behind us and get back to being together again. Not just for work's sake, but for ourselves as well," I said.

"Oh, Jack, I want you too. I have missed you so much. I can't stand this. But what about our parents? What will they think? I don't think I..." she started to say.

"I called them up last night and talked to them about this too. Tom said that a parent only wants their child to be happy and if our being together makes us happy then that's all he can ask for. He has given us his blessing and so has Mom. So there's no reason why we can't go back to the way we were before any of this happened. The only thing is whether you want to," I said.

"Of course I do, you silly man! I love you Jack, and I want you more than anything in this world!" she said, standing up and throwing her arms around my neck. We kissed long and deep with all the passion we used to have. It was wonderful, I had my Suki back.

Suki called her office and told Mr. Baxter what had transpired and then let him know she wouldn't be back to the office that day. He understood completely, and then I let my people know that I would be taking off early as well. As soon as we concluded that day's work on the project we went home to my place and we made love just like it was the very first time, making up for lost time.

Two weeks later Suki moved from her apartment into my home and we live together now, so we don't waste a moment apart that we don't have to.