It's been somewhat of a trend lately, a crappy trend, but still a trend nonetheless. Something big happens, usually a giant argument, and then we go a while without seeing the person or people involved in the altercation. This time a week passed and it was only dad we didn't see. Mom and Aunt Lisa still came by and called on the phone when they didn't come, and since we were still at Jim and Marie's house we couldn't help but see them. Since Marie already basically knew everything it was obvious she would be on our side, but Jim out of nowhere having our back in such a delicate situation completely caught us by surprise.
Believe it or not, things didn't get weird or awkward at all since everything was put on the table. Jim is still just as accepting of the situation as the day he heard about it. He assured Stephanie and Chris that he would still be there for them, and he even offered to be an ear to talk to for us, since dad was still in his way about Rita and I being together. I will admit, the sleeping arrangements did get a little "dysfunctional" at times and it was switched up to girls being in one room and boys being in the other, but even that became a thing when the girls told Jim they'd done stuff too. He still didn't judge, he actually make a little joke out of it, threw his hands in the air in defeat and told us to figure it out, but threw in the "I'm trusting you on this" speech to give us a guilty conscience about doing anything.
Stephanie and Chris from what I know told Jim everything, going as far back to their first encounter with each other, and he sat and listened to everything they had to say. They told him how it was just a physical thing for the longest time, and that no feelings were there whatsoever, but over time things started to change, and they realized it was more than physical. They told him that ever since they started hanging around us, they started to see their relationship differently, even before they found out about us, simply because how close we are on account of the twin thing. They said seeing how we felt about each other answered a lot of questions they had lingering about each other, and while we're not the reason they escalated from just being friends with benefits, to being lovers and friends, we played a big part in their transition. Even after hearing all this, Jim still had no ill feelings about anything.
Jim being so cool about it both put us at ease since we were staying at his house, and made us worry that much more because I didn't know how much longer we'd have to be here. We didn't know if dad would ever come around. We haven't heard a word from him since the last time he was here. Usually we'd hear something, whether it'd be an angry rant or him trying to come by and take Rita back to the house, but for the past week, nothing. Mom said he's been closed off from her and Aunt Lisa too; not wanting to do anything once he got home from work, which he now spent and extra four hours a day at according to mom. I hated to think that it came to this. I wouldn't let myself believe that this was how it was gonna be from now on. I tried to make myself think it was something else he was going through, but I couldn't lie to myself. Dad was never gonna accept us. This was how it's gonna be, and we'd have to deal with it.
I stirred my now soggy Corn Pops as Rita washed up the little dishes we used and what was left from last night's dinner. My phone rang and because I was in my little daydream state I almost missed it, but I caught it just in time and picked it up with mom on the other end.
"Hey mom, good morning," I said.
"Hi honey, how are things going over there? How's your sister doing?"
"It's ok, and she's good. We've both been in kind of a funk lately."
"I thought you might be seeing as your father still hasn't made an attempt to talk to you."
"I kinda knew it was gonna happen, but I guess I still wasn't ready for it."
"Is that mom?" Rita jumped in. "Let me see, I need to talk to her real quick."
I handed her the phone and went back to my soggy cereal, which by now had started to disintegrate into the milk. I got up and poured it out while Rita talked to mom about some woman thing that I tried my hardest to tune out. While she was still down about the whole dad thing, she at least perked up for a second as she talked to mom, hopping on the counter and swinging her legs back and forth. With nothing to do I just sat there. I couldn't even think of anything to think about. I wanted to know what was going on at the house. Dad had to show something, anything that he was leaning some sort of way about the whole thing. I couldn't try guessing anymore I had to find out, and I had to find out from mom, because there's no way in hell I'd be getting back in the house, or Rita for that matter.
"Here you go, let me know if she says anything about dad. I'm gonna go put our clothes in the wash before everybody else jumps it for the day," Rita said giving me back my phone.
"Oh mom I'm back. So yeah, I knew it was gonna happen, I just wasn't ready for it."
"Who's ever ready to cut ties with their parents? I know I wasn't," mom said.
"You never really said what happened with you and grandma and grandpa."
"It was a long time ago. You were still a kid when the whole thing happened, but you were old enough to notice that they weren't coming around anymore. Now's not the best time to get into that story, so long story short, I had to make a choice, and I chose my kids."
"Don't you miss talking to grandma though? You guys were best friends."
"All the time, but a best friend wouldn't give you an ultimatum like that. Mother or not, there's no way I'd pick her over my kids, no mother in her right mind would."
"Remind me to ask you what happened later on down the road, but first I still need some help with this situation. So going off what happened with you and grandma, we're supposed to pick each other and forget about you two for the rest of our lives?"
"It might not happen quite like that, but you will have to make a tough decision soon, the both of you. This is the only time I've ever seen your father this way in the twenty plus years I've known him, so I don't know what to make of this. The only news I have is the bad news you already know, that once he's made up his mind about something there's no changing it."
"Mom there has to be something. We can't just phase you guys out like that!"
"I for one won't be phased out. If you can't come to me I'll come to you two. We'll have holidays, weekends, and some random drop-ins. I know Lisa won't let herself be phased out either. Plus with all this technology there's Skype, FaceTime, Snapchat and all that other stuff."
"After being around each other our entire lives, I don't think Skype will cut it."
"Some days we won't have a choice, might as well get ready for it now, unless your father wakes up one day and decides to be ok with everything, which is a long shot."
"Way beyond long shot. He had a point though the night everybody was here. We all made him seem like the crazy one for thinking what we're doing is ok when anyone outside the house would condemn us in a second. I think that's what set him off the most."
"We probably could've agreed with him on some things, yeah, but we we're supporting your happiness. Sometimes doing the right thing isn't doing the right thing."
"You stole that from that one movie with Samuel Jackson in it, I remember that line."
"Yeah well good luck figuring out which movie. He's been in everything since 1987."
We shared a laugh and for a brief moment forgot about the whole mess we were talking about, but then just like that the laughter stopped and reality set back in, everything's still a mess.
"Ok well I won't hold you up anymore. I know you must have a million things to do," I said.
"I'm never too busy to talk to my babies, you two remember that."
"We will. If anything changes, even if it's the slightest thing, can you let us know?"
"If anything happens I'll call you as soon as it does, I promise."
"Ok mom, talk to you later. You know what, can we meet somewhere later? At Mikey's pizza? Dad is gonna be at work but it's still risky going there. Can you meet us, you and Aunt Lisa?"
"I think we can arrange that. I'll call Lisa and let her know. When did you wanna go?"
"Ummm, around, in like an hour and a half. We're out of clean clothes."
