Bobbi Kristina, "Brother" Nick Gordon Defend Relationship: "It's Not Incest"

USMagazine, Thursday, October 25, 2012, 6:30am (PDT)

Bobbi Kristina Brown has considered Nick Gordon a part of her family for years, but the late Whitney Houston's daughter still finds it difficult to explain their ever-evolving bond to her blood relatives.

Under the care of her aunt, Pat Houston, in the months since her mother's untimely February 2012 passing, Bobbi Kristina, 19, attempted to defend her romantic relationship with Gordon to her extended family on the Oct. 24 premiere of Lifetime's The Houstons: On Our Own.

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"We're engaged," she said on the episode as she showed of a ring that was once her mother's. "Everyone gets it wrong, I was never officially . . . it's not incest," Gordon -- who was informally adopted by the "I Will Always Love You" singer when he was 12 years old -- told the family in defense of their unique bond. (Pat Houston's husband, Gary, was not thrilled with their engagement news, but just wanted to make sure Gordon had his niece's best interests at heart. "I just want you to look after her," he told her beau.)

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In further explaining her engagement to her family, Bobbi Kristina confirmed that the couple, along with her late mother, were "the three Musketeers."

Pat Houston, however, still isn't convinced their love is the real deal. "A lot of teenagers, when they hit 18, they think they're grown," Pat said in an Oct. 11 interview with ABC News. "They think they know it all -- they think they know about relationships. You just have to be there to navigate and guide them. You have to hope that their feelings will not get hurt, but they will."

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Counters Bobbi Kristina, who visited her mother's grave for the first time on the Oct. 24 episode: "They wanna see us fail. I've got one thing to say: 'You won't!'"

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Bobbi Kristina, "Brother" Nick Gordon Defend Relationship: "It's Not Incest"