I am amazed at how things have worked out.

Growing up, I would have never imagined that I would be 24 and married to my 23-year-old sister. Add to that, that we are also expecting our first baby.

How did it all this happen?

Growing up there wasn’t much to talk about. My dad left us when we were 6 and 5. Mom did her best to raise us by herself. But, being a single mother with no child support meant she had to work 2 jobs. That left my sister and I alone a lot, especially as we got older.

My sister Renee and I are 19 months apart and growing up we didn’t have many “play dates” like kids do today, so we spent a lot of time playing together. There wasn’t anything sexual between us. We did the normal playing of cars, dolls, cards, hide-and-seek and so on. As we got older we both took on other interests. My sister at 5’6, 110 pounds became quite a cutie with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. Her main interest was dancing, and she joined the dance group at school. I grew up to be 6’2 and 175 pounds with short light brown hair and blue eyes. Mostly I liked to draw and took an interest in cross-country track.

When I turned 17 my mom started dating a guy named Bob. At first things were fine. After about 6 months of dating, Bob moved in with us and that is when all the problems happened.

I won’t go into any real details, but we’ll just say he was abusive, verbally, and physically. I did my best to try to absorb the brunt of it to keep him away from my sister and mother. I don’t think I did a very good job, looking back at it.

After I graduated, I got a job at the local grocery store and tried to be home anytime Bob and my sister were home.

By November I had really had enough of Bob and the home life. My sister started spending a lot of time at her friends which made me feel a little better with my next decision. I joined the Army.

I left for basic training the beginning of January and got orders for Germany upon graduation. I got a note from my sister right before graduation that she had dropped out of school and was going to marry her boyfriend Tim.

I knew Tim, he was a year older than I was and pretty much an ass. I knew he took a liking to my sister several years ago, but she never really took an interest in him. From her letter, it seemed she felt marrying him was better than sticking it out at home with Bob.

I felt bad as I headed over to Germany for my 2-year term as an Infantryman. I managed to keep in touch with my sister through letters and an occasional phone call. She wasn’t happy with her married life at all. She was pretty sure that her new husband was cheating on her to boot. After my first year in Germany, I got a letter from my sister that let me know my mom had cancer and was in a bad way. Bob had left my mom when she started to need someone to take care of her.

So, Renee decided to move back home to help mom as best she could. It was shortly after she moved back that she confirmed Tim was cheating on her. After a quick divorce, Renee spent all her time taking care of our mom.

About 2 months before my Germany tour was finished I got word that my mom had passed away. I took an emergency leave and flew home for the funeral.

Renee picked me up at the airport and we gave each other a long hug. The months of taking care of my mom had made her appear tired and worn out. The funeral was simple, and mom was finally put to rest.

I knew I didn’t have a lot of time, because I needed to return to Germany to out-process and head to my next unit. For the next couple of days, we went through the house and talked with attorneys and the banks. During our down time, we spent a lot of time just snuggled in to each other.

My sister was hit the hardest since she had gotten close to mom in her last days. I also found out the reason Tim had cheated on Renee was mainly due to their sex life. Since Renee didn’t really love him, she didn’t want to have sex that often. She also was afraid of being trapped in a loveless marriage by kids, so she always made him wear a condom. I guess he got tired of latex and went to find some slut he didn’t need protection with. When my leave was over, I signed a power-of-attorney to my sister, so she could take care of my mom small estate.

When I got back to my unit I was handed my clearing papers and found out I was being assigned to Fort Campbell in Kentucky. I finished in Germany and headed back to the States. I had a hard time with the transition, mainly due to my thoughts being on what my sister must be going through. I finally got to my unit at Fort Campbell and promptly went to the field. This meant we spent the better part of 3 months doing 5 to 15-day stints in the woods. When our field cycle ended, and we went in to the school and detail cycle I got another disturbing letter from Renee.

It seems the medical bills and funeral bills had really piled up and she was going to be selling the house to pay them down. The bad news was she would still be a few thousand dollars short. To top that off, she was a 19-year-old high school dropout, which isn’t exactly high on the in-demand jobs list.

I had managed to set aside some money and knew I could help her pay off the bills and promptly sent her a check. That only helped to delay the inevitable.

I was anxious when I was finally able to take a couple of weeks of leave. There wasn’t much left for me to help with when I got there. Renee had found a buyer for the house and had arranged to pay off the bills. Most of the house had been emptied out and there was only her double bed, a small sofa, and a few kitchen items. The only real question left was where Renee would go once the house was sold?

I decided it would be best to have Renee move out near me in Kentucky. We could get her an apartment near post and use my money to pay for it. It knew would take most of my money to supplement her rent, but it was the best thing to do and I was hoping my sister could get a part-time job to help some also. My sister agreed but had some reservations. Her biggest question was what happened after my enlistment was up or if I got assigned overseas again. I assured her we would have at least a year to figure that out. When I returned to my unit, I quickly found an apartment about 5 miles from post. Within two weeks the house was closed, and my sister was on her way out.

When she arrived, I helped her setup her apartment and told her about my field schedule. We spent the next few evenings catching up and just snuggling close together grieving over our past few years. As luck would have it, my sister did manage to find a job working at one of the local restaurants. Shortly thereafter I went back to the field again and our time together was again limited. When my field cycle finished, I was getting close to the end of my enlistment. I had pretty much decided I would re-enlist, since I only had a high school education and no real transferable skills. When I told my sister, she again voiced her concern about the possibility of a duty station change.

After much discussion and pondering I came up with a wild idea. My new roommate had just come back from his sister’s wedding. The only different part was the minister. Their Uncle had conducted the ceremony. He had done one of those mail-order minister licenses, so he could perform the ceremony.

Then the thought had occurred to me, “Why not get married?” After all, Renee had a different last name than mine and we could use his Uncle to marry us. It could be a marriage for show only. That way Renee could travel with me if I got stationed someplace else. I would also get extra money for rent from the Army as well. OK, so we would be in big trouble if the Army found out, but I was willing to risk it.

I floated the idea to Renee who looked at me a little nervously. She was sure we could pull it off. I was nervous what would happen if the Army found out. I told her not to worry and I was sure everything would work out. The next day I went out and bought a cheap engagement ring to help the facade.

The next week I told my buddy I had gotten engaged. He had seen pictures of Renee and I always referred to her as my girlfriend. He congratulated me and told me he would help if he could. I told him we didn’t have a lot of money and asked if his uncle could do the honors, since we just wanted a low-key wedding.

We got our marriage license by using Renee’s driver’s license and my military ID. Luckily, they didn’t ask too many questions. The day of our wedding finally arrived. We arranged to have it on a late Sunday afternoon. My buddy Mike and one of Renee’s co-workers Jill stood as our best man and maid-of-honor. We met at a small park and decided to use the gazebo to get married. I stood in my dress greens next to my buddy and his uncle as Renee and Jill drove up. I was stunned when she stepped out of the car. She looked amazing! She had a on a sexy white dress that came just past her knees with a set of high heels and a small tiara on her head.

I felt a little nervous as she walked her way up to me. Once our eyes met and I saw the smile on her face I quickly relaxed.

The ceremony went very quick and easy until the end. There was one part I hadn’t thought through. When her uncle ended with, “Now you may kiss the bride.”

I think I was a little stunned at first. I hadn’t thought about kissing my sister. But, Renee just looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes, and I decided, “Why the hell.”

Our lips pressed together and what I thought was going to be a quick peck, turned in to a slightly more passionate kiss.

When we broke our kiss, I felt a little flushed and saw a little redness in Renee’s face as well.

Mike and Jill had also decided to take us out to dinner and drinks to honor of our nuptials. There were a few more kisses throughout the evening and we did our best to be newlyweds. I won’t deny that I was slightly turned on by all the kissing by the end of the night. I am sure the alcohol helped in its own way as well.