When I took Elisa home in the morni

When I took Elisa home in the morning, I gave her a long kiss before I left. “I’ll see you when I get off work.”
“Ethan and I have some errands to run tonight.”
“I’ll take you.”
“You will?”
“Don’t ask Ethan anymore. I’ll take you—I want to take you.”
She smiled.
“What do you need to get?”
“Groceries and some other things.”
“I’ll head over as soon as I’m off.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you later.” I turned away and let her close the door. After I heard her lock it, I waved down a cab and headed to work. It was a pretty uneventful day. I sat in my office and responded to all the emails I had. Then I got to work on all the big stuff.
Around lunchtime, Ethan came into my office. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said.
“So, where were you guys last night?”
I looked at him. “At my apartment.”
“All night?”
I rose from my chair then shut the door. When I returned to my seat, I glared at him. “I respect the fact that you protect your sister and look after her, but when you gave me permission to date her, you also gave me your trust. I will take care of her. Don’t worry about it.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, she and I were at my apartment all night. I dropped her off before I went to work.”
“So this is serious now?”
“It’s been serious.”
“You’re not messing with her?”
“You’re starting to piss me off. I love your sister, I want to marry your sister, and I want to adopt her kids. If all I wanted was sleep with her, I wouldn’t have stuck around so long. She and I are happy together. And to be frank, I’m sick of this older brother act. Knock it off. I mean it.”
He stared at me but said nothing.
“If I ever hurt your sister, then you can hunt me down. But don’t accuse me of anything until that actually happens.”
“My job is to prevent it from happening.”
I sighed. “I don’t know what more I can say. I told you the truth. I love her and I want to be with her.”
“You’re not getting cold feet?”
“My feet are on fire.”
He stared at me.
“I’m sick of this bullshit. If that’s all you have to say to me, then don’t speak to me at all.”
He sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I—I’m just not handling this well.”
I leaned back in my chair and looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“I’m assuming that you slept together since she stayed there all night?”
I said nothing.
“Don’t answer that. If that’s what happened, that means she’s really moving on. You’re going to be staying at the house, taking care of the kids, and then she isn’t going to need me anymore. She’ll have you.”
I was quiet for a moment. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Yes, of course. But—I don’t know. It’s just hard for me to accept. I’m used to being the man in her life, the guardian to her kids.”
Now I understood his meaning. “That isn’t going to change, Ethan.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Elisa still wants you to be around all the time. And frankly, I do too. It’s nice having a stand by babysitter.”
He laughed. “I guess.”
“I’m not trying to replace you.”
“I know.”
“Your sister is in good hands.”
He nodded. “I know that too.”
“And you don’t need to jump ahead so quickly. I’m not going to move in right away and kick you out. We’ll take it slow. I want the kids to be comfortable with me before we make huge changes.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
“So you guys are going to move in together?”
“Uh—I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. I’m not sure how she would feel about that since we aren’t married.”
“I don’t know either.”
“I would like to get married but I don’t think she’s ready for that yet.”
“And you are?”
I was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I think so.”
Ethan rubbed his palms together. “Well, don’t rush into anything unless you are sure.”
“Yeah.”
“You make her happy. Keep it  up.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know she really likes you. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time. She started to sing again.”
“She sings?”
“Like an angel.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Well, now you do.”
“I’m glad that I make her so happy.”
“I am too.”
“So, we’re cool?”
He smiled. “Yeah. Sorry I was being a jackass before.”
“You mean a crazy asshole?”
“So you heard me and Sadie argue?”
“It’s an appropriate nickname.”
He laughed. “Yeah. It’s perfect,” he said sarcastically. “I forgot to mention something. Elisa’s birthday is this week. I wasn’t sure if you knew that.”
“No,” I said quickly. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Yeah. She’s pretty quiet about it. I figured she didn’t tell you.”
“When is it?”
“Thursday.”
“Thanks.”
“I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Oh. Elisa said she needed to go to the store today. I offered to take her.”
He nodded. “That’s cool.”
I knew he felt like I was stepping on his toes so I added, “You can still come. I just wanted to try and save you from the ordeal.”
He laughed. “No. I need to get some things anyway.”
“Cool.”
“I’ll see you later.” He left the office, leaving the door open.
When the day was finally over, Ethan and I took a cab back to the townhouse on the other side of town. Now that we had our talk, it didn’t feel so awkward anymore. He was marrying my sister and I accepted that. I knew he would take care of her. Initially, I was worried that he was still the dog he used to be, but he clearly wasn’t. And he seemed to accept my love for Elisa. Obviously, there were feelings below the surface in that respect.
When we walked inside, Elisa rose to her feet and greeted me with a big kiss. I melted in her arms and felt my heart accelerate. I wanted her to greet me that way every day. I imagined coming home to her, my wife, and seeing my kids while she cooked dinner in the kitchen. This was exactly what I wanted.
“How was your day?” she asked.
“Good,” I said. “Glad it’s over.”
“Me too,” she said.
“So are you ready to go shopping?”
“Yes,” she said.
Sadie came down the hall and smiled at me. “Where are you going?”
“We need to get groceries,” I answered.
“Well, I’ll watch the kids while you’re gone.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Ready to go, Ellie?”
“Yeah,” she said as she grabbed her purse.
The three of us walked out the door then headed to the market up the street. I kept my arm around Elisa the entire way and held her close to me. A few shady people walked by and she moved even closer to me. I hated seeing her scared of everyone and everything. I knew that’s why she never went anywhere alone and locked the door so many times.
When we entered the grocery store, Elisa grabbed a cart and started walking down the aisles. Ethan and I trailed behind her until we saw the new video game console on display in front of the story. Elisa continued her grocery shopping while we acted like teenage boys.
“Dude, we should get it,” Ethan said.
“I know. But we’ll just end up playing it the whole time.”
“Too bad the kids aren’t older. We could use them as an excuse.”
I laughed. “Yeah.”
I looked over my shoulder to check on Elisa and saw her talking to some guy. He was standing very close to her and she kept stepping back, clearly uncomfortable. The sight made my mind snap. I marched over to them then stepped in front of her, blocking her from view. “Can I help you with something?”
He glared at me. “No, but you can get out of my way.”
“Back off.”
“I’m just talking to this beautiful lady.”
I stepped closer to him. He was the same height as me but not nearly as muscular. I saw him flinch as I approached him. “Leave my girlfriend alone.”
He glared at me before he backed off and walked down the aisle.
When I turned back to Elisa, she looked relieved.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her forehead. “You never have to be scared when you’re with me.”
She rested her face against my chest. “I know.”
“Do you have pepper spray or a tazer?”
She looked scared. “No.”
“Do you want one?”
“Do you think I need it?” She sounded frightened.
“No, you’ll never need one as long as I’m around, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll get you one.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want one.”
I was quiet for a moment. “Okay.”
“Just don’t leave me.”
“I’m so sorry. I forget how beautiful you are. People must bother you all the time.”
She said nothing.