A Tale of Three By J.C. Vascardi
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Legal Disclaimer: This story is fictional, as are the characters featured herein, which are solely the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is entirely coincidental. If you are under the age of eighteen, offended by male/male material, or if such material cannot be legally viewed where you live, then you should be leaving now. Otherwise, please enjoy the story.
Character Profiles: http://jayson.worldofslash.com/a-tale-of-three/profiles/index.htm
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesbyjayson Writing Journal: http://jaycolin.livejournal.com
This story is ©2004-2010, 2011 by J.C. Vascardi. This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied, in whole or in part, posted on any other website, or included in any form of book or media, without the explicit written permission of the author.
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Chapter Fifteen, Part One Nick's Perspective Friday, January 28, 2005
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Arriving home from school, I headed through the back door of my uncle's house and into the kitchen, placing my backpack on the empty chair by the door.
"Hello, Nick," my Uncle Erik said from his place at the breakfast bar.
"Hey," I said, as I made a beeline for the refrigerator, from which I grabbed a bottle of Coke and the makings for sandwiches. The cafeteria had served their infamous mock chicken leg that day, which as the name implies, is not actually chicken. I think it's some kind of pork shaped and breaded like a chicken leg. I still remembered one of my teachers from grade school saying that the mock chicken was actually road kill - that whenever one of the school cooks hit something on the way to work, they'd bring it to school and when they had accumulated enough, they served mock chicken. I didn't really believe that, because I knew the health department would never let them get away with that, but, I still wouldn't eat it if you paid me.
"Where's Aaron?" Karen asked, who was sitting next to my uncle, both of them nursing a cup of coffee.
"Went home to change clothes," I answered as I opened the bag of oat bran bread, took out four slices and popped them into the toaster.
"Do we want to know why he had to change?" Erik asked, as he raised an eyebrow and grinned.
"School bus drove through a puddle as it was leaving our stop," I answered. "I got out of the way quick enough - Aaron didn't."
"Ah, okay," Karen said. "So, you're obviously hungry today. Cafeteria serve meatloaf or something?"
The school's meatloaf was another thing I simply refused to eat. It was dark grey with green spots from the various green vegetables they put in it and in my opinion it looked more like shit than food, so, obviously I wasn't about to eat it. "No, mock chicken," I replied, as I began unwrapping slices of American cheese.
"Make me a couple while you're at it, Nick," Aaron said as he walked into the room a couple minutes later and grabbed a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator.
"Sure thing," I answered, just as the toaster popped. Grabbing the toast, I quickly put four more slices in, before I took a knife and began spreading cream cheese on the toast, before adding American cheese and bologna, and cutting the sandwiches in quarters. This particular sandwich was always my favorite growing up, as my Mom often made them for me. Mom was gone, but, at least I still had my memories of her - unfortunately, not all of them were good, but I did my best not to think about the bad ones.
As I continued to prepare our after school snack, I spied Aaron setting up his laptop out of the corner of my eye and knew he was going to check his email. He was soon muttering "junk, junk," to himself as he hit the delete key several times - probably getting rid of the stupid spam emails about Viagra that we both got fairly regularly. As if there's a teenage boy on the planet who would actually need Viagra. As I put Aaron's sandwiches on a plate and started fixing my own, he said, "Kyle Bradley emailed me."
"About the funeral?" I asked, knowing that Aaron had given Kyle his email address at the hospital.
"Yeah," Aaron answered. "Jake's funeral is on Sunday. Viewing between 2 and 6, followed by a service and then internment at the cemetery the following day - that's for family only though. Kyle says we're welcome to come to the funeral though."
"Sunday," Erik said. "That's Jesse's birthday. Of course, we're having the party tomorrow."
"We are?" Nick asked, as he plated his sandwiches and joined Aaron at the table.
"Yeah," Karen said. "He doesn't know that, though. We're having it early because Thomas, Lauren, Jon, and Nat are flying down to surprise him."
"Jon and Nat are coming?" Aaron asked, clearly shocked.
"Have they ever left Minneapolis?" I asked.
"Only once that I know of," Aaron said. "The summer I turned seven - no jokes about my age, Nick - I went camping and fishing up at Lake Superior with them, my Dad, Uncle Thomas, Jesse, and Jason. We did it again about five years later, but Nat and Jon had the flu and couldn't come with us."
"They went on a few more camping trips with your Aunt and Uncle and Jesse and Jason," Karen said, "but they've never left Minnesota or been on an airplane for that matter. So, this will definitely be a new experience for them."
"Well, it will be nice to see them again," I said. I'd never gone camping with them, but while my uncle was married to Karen, I did go up to Minneapolis for various holidays and I'd always liked Nat and Jon. In my opinion, they were cool - not to mention hot. Grinning mischievously, I couldn't resist adding, "They're certainly easy on the eyes."
Aaron screwed up his face at that and said, "They're our cousins, Nick."
"Correction," I said. "They're your cousins, AZ. The most they ever were to me were step-cousins and I'm sorry, but that isn't a strong enough relationship in my opinion to prevent me from noticing that they're hot. If I wasn't already dating Jayden, I'd sleep with them in a second."
"Ewww, gross, I so don't want to hear this, Nickito," Aaron said, using the nickname that our friend Antonio often calls me, even though they both know that I hate it. Of course, that was probably why Aaron chose to use it.
"Suit yourself, AZ," I said with a grin. "I'll just fantasize about their muscles and other attributes in silence."
"I'm so telling Jayden," Aaron said.
"Go ahead," I said. "I'm really not worried - there's two of them after all, so Jayden can join us."
"Okay, boys, that's enough," Erik said with a grin, as he shook his head. "Anyway, Nathan and Jonathan will be staying here in Wilmington. Their parents have decided that it's time they go out on their own, so, they'll finally be making use of that room at Jesse and Jason's house that they remodeled for them."
"Wow, so, they'll be living here now?" I asked and Karen nodded. "Cool. That'll make it much easier to turn my fantasies into realities." In truth, I didn't have any desire to do anything with Nat and Jon. I could appreciate that they were good-looking young men, but, they weren't really my type. Besides, I had Jayden and he was all I needed. I just liked messing with Aaron's head.
"Nickolas, if you're quite done tormenting my son," Karen said with an amused grin, "then I'd like you two to come with Erik and me to the airport. Their flight is getting in an hour from now. With the luggage and Thomas and Lauren, I'm afraid there won't be room for Nat and Jon in my car, so, you two will bring them here in the Jaguar."
"Cool," I said. "I'll take any chance I can to drive the Jag."
"Who says you get to drive?" Aaron asked.
"I do, AZ," I answered. "It's my uncle's car, after all, and my Dad is the one who bought it - I helped him pick it out. So, it's only right that I get to drive it - besides, you drove it the last time we took it out."
"Oh fine," Aaron said, as he finished eating and washed down the last bite of his sandwich with some Coke. "Let's get going."
Placing Aaron's and my empty plates in the dishwasher, I took the keys to the Jag from my uncle, before following them out to the garage, ready to head for the airport and pick up Aaron's relatives.
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Chapter Fifteen, Part Two Jonathan's Perspective Friday, January 28, 2005
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To say that my first time on an airplane was interesting would be the understatement of the century. When we arrived at the airport, Nat and I certainly got plenty of people staring at us, for the rather obvious reason that because of our connection, we stand out in most people's eyes. We heard a couple of young kids ask their parents why those two guys were wearing the same pair of jeans, but thankfully, nobody made any mean-spirited comments - at least not within our hearing range.
The real difficulties came when we got to the security checkpoint and one of the TSA officials tried to stop Nat when he tried to go through the metal detector with me, saying that only one person could go through at a time. He had apparently not looked any further down than our shoulders, so, I could understand how he could overlook our connection. Since Nat and I are connected basically from the hip down, we wear separate shirts that are only sewn together at the very bottom to insure that none of our bare flesh shows. So, if one doesn't look far enough down, it would be possible to think we were just two guys who liked standing extremely close to one another.
"That might be normal procedure," I said, "but I think in this case an exception has to be made."
"No exceptions," the official had said and then looking at Nat he said, "Now please, sir, step back and go through one at a time."
"Not to be argumentative," Nat said, "but I can't really do that, sir, because in case you hadn't noticed my brother and I are conjoined twins."
It took a moment for Nat's words to register with the official, but he then looked down and saw that we were connected to one another. Of course, he apparently thought we were playing some kind of practical joke, because his next words were, "Really cute. Now, get out of line and come back once you've changed out of that ridiculous costume."
Nat and I just stared at the man for a moment, completely speechless, while several people behind us in line started complaining about the hold up. Our parents had gone through the metal detector ahead of us, so, they didn't immediately notice that there was a problem, as they were busy collecting their carry-on luggage and putting their shoes back on.
"Sir, it's not a costume," I said. "With all due respect, my brother and I could go into the bathroom and strip off all of our clothes but we still would not be able to go through the metal detector separately."
The official looked like he was getting angry with our refusal to comply with his directives when another one came over and said, "Is there a problem here?"
"These two idiots are insisting that they have to go through the metal detector together," the first official said. "I told them they can't do that, but they refuse to listen."
"And as I told this gentleman," Nat said in a somewhat strained voice, clearly wanting to call the official an idiot as he had just called us, but deciding against it , "I really am not trying to be argumentative, but would you please explain to me how I'm supposed to go through the metal detector separately from my conjoined twin brother, with whom I share a leg and thousands of blood vessels?"
Noticing that we weren't behind them, Mom and Dad tried to come to our aid, but the officials on their side of the metal detector wouldn't let them come back onto our side.
"We aren't wearing a costume," I added, "regardless of what this gentleman might think." To prove it, I then pulled our shirts out of the top of our jeans and lifted them up far enough that both officials would be able to see the point at which Nat's and my bodies joined.
The two officials looked silently at our joined flesh for a moment, before Nat said, "It's real - it isn't some kind of prosthetic like you'd see in a movie." And then with a sigh he added, "Touch if you don't believe it."
Shaking his head, the second official said, "No, that won't be necessary, sir. You two can go through the detector together, since you obviously don't have a choice."
"Finally," we heard several people behind us in line muttering, as Nat and I proceeded to go through the metal detector, side-ways, because it wasn't wide enough for both of us to walk through it side by side. On the other side of the metal detector, an older female TSA official smiled at us and said, "I apologize for me colleague, boys, but we don't get many siamese twins coming through here."
Smiling, I said, "That's okay, ma'am, we understand." I refrained from correcting her that the proper term was conjoined, because I didn't want to hold up the line any more than we already had. So, quickly collecting our bags and putting our shoes back on, we followed our parents silently and very thankfully far away from the security checkpoint. Reaching the airport concourse, there was still time before our flight would board, so, Nat and I went into the bathroom and tucked our shirts back in, before going out to join our parents who were sitting near our gate.
Looking around briefly, I sighed, before Nat and I leaned against a nearby column. We couldn't sit down because there were no benches anywhere in sight and neither of us particularly felt like sitting on the floor. There were hundreds of chairs readily available but the problem was they all had armrests, so Nat and I couldn't sit in them without being extremely uncomfortable.
"What are we going to do on the plane?" Nat asked. "If all the seats are like these we won't be able to sit down."
"Don't worry," Dad said. "We made sure that the plane we'll be on has fold up armrests, so you'll be able to push the armrest between your seats up and sit down without a problem."
"Perhaps we should make sure?" Mom asked, after a moment of silence. "Considering the hassle they already went through with the security official earlier, I'd rather avoid another hassle if possible."
Dad thought about it for a moment, before he nodded and stood up, motioning us to follow him, as he walked over to the attendant that was staffing the desk by our gate.
"Can I help you gentleman?" the woman asked with a smile.
"Yes, I just wanted to make sure that the plane we're on will be able to accommodate my sons," Dad said, motioning to us. "They're conjoined twins, so they can't have an armrest between their seats."
Raising up on her tip-toes a bit so she could peer over the desk, Nat and I backed up a bit so that she could clearly see what our father was referring to. After a moment, she said, "Could I see your tickets?"
Handing the woman our tickets, she typed something into the computer and silently read what was on the screen for a moment, before she said, "These seats do have a fold-up armrest between them, so, they should have no problems."
"Thank you," Dad said. "My travel agent assured me that he'd made sure the seats would accommodate them, but with the hassle we had at security, I just wanted to make sure."
"What was the problem at security?" the woman asked.
"The official wouldn't let us go through the metal detector together," Nat answered. "And when we pointed out that we were conjoined, he thought we were wearing a costume. Told us to get out of line and come back once we'd changed out of it."
"We were finally allowed to go through together once we lifted up our shirts and showed them that we are not in fact wearing a costume," I added.
The woman shook her head. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. By any chance was the official tall with black hair and a bad tan?"
Thinking back, I nodded and said, "Yes, come to think of it. Looked like he'd tried to get a spray-on tan but it didn't turn out so well."
The woman nodded. "Yes, there's been complaints about him from several other passengers, as well. It seems that the sensitivity training for disabled or special needs passengers the TSA gives their employees didn't stick very well with him. He's been warned and I imagine he'll probably be replaced soon. Again I apologize."
"It's okay," Nat said. "I can understand that you probably don't get many conjoined twins coming through here on a daily basis."
"Well, that's true, we don't," the woman said. "That doesn't excuse his behavior to you or any of the numerous other people, including people in wheelchairs or who use other mobility aids, that he hasn't been very kind to. It seems like he hates his job and chooses to pass his frustrations off on those who, in his opinion, make his job harder."
"Well, thank you for your help," Dad said, before we went back over to where Mom was sitting to wait for our flight.
A few minutes later, the attendant at the desk, who must have noticed that we'd been leaning against the column, came over with a male employee, carrying a pair of armless folding chairs. Smiling at us, she said, "Here you are, guys. I thought maybe this would make you a bit more comfortable," as the man set them up for us.
"Thank you," Nat said with a smile. Truth be told we were both very thankful for the chairs because we still had well over an hour to wait for our flight to start boarding, because we'd arrived at the airport three hours early to make sure we got through security with plenty of time. Or at least that had been the plan, but traffic on the freeway had been much lighter than what we'd been expecting and as a result, we actually ended up at the airport a little over three and a half hours early.
"I spoke with my supervisor," the woman said, "and he also wanted to extend his apologies for the official earlier. He also told me to give you this," as she handed me a slip of paper which I soon realized was a twenty-dollar gift certificate for the airport gift shop.
"Thanks," I said with a smile, as I showed it to Nat, Mom and Dad.
Mom smiled and said, "Yes, thank you very much, ma'am. You're very kind. My sons do often get treated differently, oftentimes badly, because of their condition - it's nice to find someone who treats them like the normal people that they are."
The woman smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, ma'am, it's my pleasure. From what I can tell your sons are perfectly normal people. I understand all too well, however, what it's like to be discriminated against. As a black woman, I've seen my fair share of prejudice. My oldest son is also about the same age as your sons and he's gay, so, he's seen more than his share of it as well."
"Well, seems we have something in common with your son, then," Nat said. "We're gay, too."
The woman smiled, "Well, I wish you both the best of luck in Wilmington," as she'd naturally noticed that their tickets were one-way. "Hopefully life will be good for you there."
"Yeah, we're hoping it'll be good for them too," Dad said. "We're a bit leery though, since my nephew Aaron was gay-bashed at school recently. One of Aaron's teachers walked in on it and tried to stop it, but ended up getting included. He later died from his injuries."
The woman shook her head. "That's terrible. Some people in this world really need to get their heads out of their asses and if not accept, than at least tolerate that not everyone is the same as them. Differences are a good thing, because the world would be a very dull place indeed if everyone was exactly the same."
"Indeed it would," Mom said.
"Anyway, I need to get back to work, so you four take care," the woman said with a smile before she walked off.
Once she was gone and Nat and I had sat down on the chairs, I said, "Well, she was nice."
"Yes, she was," Dad agreed.
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Chapter Fifteen, Part Three Kyle's Perspective Friday, January 28, 2005
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As I hit the send button to send the details for Jake's funeral to Aaron Forrester, I realized, not for the first time, that my worst nightmare had come true. I would be attending my brother's funeral in two days. Only it wasn't Sean's funeral - it was Jake's. A part of me still couldn't believe that this was real. While I hadn't wanted to do it, I'd prepared myself for the possibility of having to bury Sean long before his time. I knew it wouldn't make it any easier to do, but still, I was prepared for that. I was totally not prepared for burying Jake, however. Unlike with Sean, there had never been any reason to think that Jake would die young and yet, he had, and despite having already spent several hours over the last few days crying my eyes out, I was still having trouble wrapping my head around it. Jake was gone. It seemed like such a foreign and unbelievable concept.
Standing up from the computer, I walked into the living room to find Matt and Jordan on the sofa watching TV. They both looked up at me as I entered and I could immediately tell that their own thoughts were not far from my own. Having been in each other's lives as long as we have, it should come as no surprise that they'd both sort of adopted my older brothers as their own over the years, so I knew that this was hitting them just as hard as it was hitting me.
Voicing what all of us where thinking, Matt shook his head and said, "I still can't believe he's gone."
"Neither can I," Jordan piped in. "I mean I'm proud of him that he stood up to try and save Aaron, but I just wish that it hadn't cost him his life."
"Yeah," I said, as I sat down between them and they both snuggled up to me. "He was way too young to die. I didn't like it, but I always kind of thought I'd have to go to Sean's funeral, but to Jake's? I mean being the youngest, I guess I figured I would have to eventually, but I never expected it to be this soon."
"I know what you mean," Matt said.
At that moment, the doorbell rang and I knew immediately that it had to be Jessica, as she was the only one we'd given a key to bypass the security door downstairs. Since she decorated our apartment, we wanted her to be able to get in whenever she needed to, which had worked out well for the Matthews twins as well. Everyone else, however, had to wait to be buzzed in. Standing up from the sofa, I walked over to the door and opened it, finding Jessica, Colton, Sean, and Ryan standing there.
"Hey guys and gal," I said with my best smile, forced as it was. "Come on in."
"So are you three holding up any better than the rest of us?" Jessica asked, as she sat down in an armchair near the sofa.
"Probably not," Jordan said. "I think we've all been on the verge of tears all day. I just can't believe that he's gone."
"Has anyone heard from Chris?" I asked, as I closed the door and returned to my previous place on the sofa between Matt and Jordan. "I haven't seen him since we left the hospital after turning off the machines."
"I saw him at the funeral home," Ryan said. "He helped with the details there and paid for everything, but, I don't know. He seemed distant. You'd think that with Sean and I living the same house we'd have seen more of him, but he's been avoiding us for some reason."
"Well, can you blame him?" Sean asked. He'd had some time to think since the day at the hospital and he knew what he'd said there was beyond wrong. He'd just got caught up in his emotions and spoke without thinking. "Jake was everything to him. We lost a brother, but Chris lost his best friend and life mate. And I wasn't exactly kind to him at the hospital. Frankly, I was a jackass and I can understand why he wouldn't want anything to do with me."
"Yeah, I'm sure he's broken up about losing Jake, as any of us would be in his shoes," Jessica said, as she gave a Sean a look that let him and everyone who saw it know she wasn't happy about his use of the word jackass in front of Colton. "And I can understand why he'd avoid Sean, but why the rest of us? It just doesn't make any sense."
"Because of me," Colton said, shocking all of us.
"Colt, what are you talking about?" Matt asked. "Why do you think Chris is avoiding us because of you?"
"Because it's too painful for him," Colton said. "I look too much like Dad."
"Oh, Colt, honey," Jessica said, as she pulled him into a hug. She couldn't dispute his comments though, none of us could. He did look like Jake. In fact, we'd often joked that Jake had cloned himself, because the resemblance was uncanny. Having grown up with Jake, I remembered all too well what he looked like when he was Colton's age and honestly I could not tell the difference. Looking at Colton, I sometimes had to remind myself that this was my nephew and not my older brother who had somehow reverted to being ten years old.
"I'm sure that isn't the reason," Jordan ventured. "I mean, you do look like he did when he was much younger, Colt, there's no denying that, but you look like Jake did long before he and Chris met."
"I still look like him though," Colton said. "I'm proud of that. But, I still think it hurts Chris to see me."
"Well, you are essentially Jake's mini me," Sean said. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you and Jake were identical twins - obviously you aren't since he's fifteen... was fifteen... God, it's hard to think that he's gone. Fifteen years older than you."
"I know, Sean," Ryan said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I can't believe it either. Referring to Jake in the past tense just seems wrong. I suppose we'll all get used to it eventually, but, it'll definitely take time."
"Do you think..." Sean started, but then stopped.
"Do we think what?" I prompted.
"Well, it's probably stupid," Sean said. "But, do you think we should, you know, tell Mom?"
"You mean that Jake died?" Ryan asked and Sean nodded. "Well, yes, I suppose normally it would be the right thing to do, but I'm not sure in this case. She is catatonic, after all. Honestly, I'm not sure she hears anything that anyone tells her. If she does, she certainly doesn't acknowledge that she heard it."
"Will grandma ever snap out of it?" Colton asked. Jessica had definitely had her work cut out for her over the last few days trying to explain to him what the difference was between his catatonic grandmother and his brain dead father. The main difference being that it was basically the machines that had been keeping Jake alive. Laura Bradley didn't depend on machines to keep her alive, but she also had barely moved a muscle in almost seven years. She moved enough that the doctors managed to keep her nourished, but she hadn't spoken to anyone or acknowledged anyone's presence in all of that time.
"I don't know, Colt," I said. "I certainly hope she does, but after seven years, I'm afraid I don't have much hope left. It's too painful to keep hoping and have nothing happen."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ryan said. "Don't get me wrong, I'll be ecstatic if she does come out of it, but I'm not going to spend all my time hoping for something that might never happen. She wouldn't want us to do that. She'd want us to live our lives."
"Why is she like that?" Colton asked.
"She couldn't handle your grandpa's death, Colt," Jordan answered. "She loved him quite a bit and when he died, she was consumed with grief to the point that she just stopped talking to anyone. The doctors say that she's basically withdrawn into her own little world, where your grandfather is probably still alive and she's happy."
"I imagine I'm problem free in that world, too," Sean said.
"Probably," Matt said. "But, you're working through your problems, Sean. We're all very proud of you."
"Thanks," Sean said. "It hasn't been easy. I still get the shakes from time to time, because the urge for a drink or one of my other vices is so strong, but, I know I couldn't keep doing it. It'd kill me eventually and I think this family has suffered enough loss. Besides, Jake is taking the crypt Mom and Dad bought for me."
"I have to say I am rather curious about that," Jessica said. "Why is Jake being interred in the spot that was bought for Sean? He and Chris seemed to have taken care of all that kind of stuff, what with the living wills and everything, did they just overlook a burial spot?"
Shaking his head, Ryan said, "No, they did buy one, but Chris asked for Jake to be interred in the spot next to our parent's crypt and told the person at the cemetery to sell the crypt that they bought for themselves."
"Why?" I asked.
"Well, I imagine that Chris figures he'll meet someone new eventually," Jordan said. "Not right away, certainly, he loved Jake too much for that. But, he is only twenty-seven. So, I'm sure in time he'll find love again and probably figured he should be interred next to them, instead of next to Jake."
"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," Matt said. "I don't think any of us really expected Chris to stay single for the rest of his life just because Jake died."
I nodded in agreement, as did everyone else in the room. We all wanted Chris to be happy. He'd made Jake deliriously happy while they were together and Chris didn't deserve any less. Of course, none of us could have known it at the time, but, as we would later learn, Chris had another reason for selling the crypt Jake and him had bought - his desire to leave Wilmington and all of his memories of Jake and never look back.
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Chapter Fifteen, Part Four Aaron's Perspective Friday, January 28, 2005
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Arriving at the airport, Nick, Mom and I headed inside, while Erik stayed with the cars. Walking into the lobby, we headed for the baggage claim area and despite the throng of people, it didn't take us very long to spot Uncle Thomas, Aunt Lauren, and Jon and Nat.
"Yo Jon, Nat, over here," I said with a grin, as my cousins turned in the direction of the familiar voice.
Seeing me, they smiled and Nat said, "Hey Airboy."
Much like Nick not liking it when people call him Nickito, I've never much cared for being called Airboy, because it's too similar to Airhead and who exactly would like being called that? Certainly nobody that I know.
Shaking my head, I walked over to them and said, "Ah shut up and give me a hug, you freak." Normally, Nat and Jon would probably not like being called freak, as many people called them that. However, they both knew that when I said it, there was no malice behind it - it was just a playful jibe between cousins.
Anyway, I soon found myself being hugged by not only Nat, but Jon as well. Once the hug ended, Jon grinned and said, "Damn, cuz, do you have some sort of gland problem or something? Cause you're too tall for a four-year-old."
"I've give you four-years-old, Jonny-boy," I said, as I punched him in the arm, just hard enough for him to know that I was kidding around, while also serving as a warning to stop with the age thing. It really did get annoying after awhile.
Smiling at our antics, Aunt Lauren said, "So, where's my hug, Aaron?"
Turning to my aunt, I pulled her into a hug, before shaking hands with Uncle Thomas.
"You've definitely had a growth spurt since the last time we saw you," Uncle Thomas said, as he looked me over, before he spied Nick and asked, "And is that Nick?"
"Yeah, it's me," Nick said with a smile.
"Karen what have you and Erik been feeding these two?" Aunt Lauren asked with a grin. "They've shot up like weeds."
"Well, teenagers are apt to do that," Mom said, "as you well know, sis, having raised four of them yourself."
"Yes, that's true," Aunt Lauren said. "I enjoyed it, but, I'm glad those days are behind me. Another year or so and Aaron and Nick would have gone off to college and those days would have been behind you too, but now, you've got another one on the way."
"Yes, well, you can blame Erik for that one," Mom said with a laugh. "It was his brilliant idea that we be together one last time before our divorce was final, despite the fact he was out of protection."
"Hello, excuse me, teenagers in the room," I said. "So don't want to be hearing this."
"Not a teenager anymore," Nat said, "but definitely have to agree with cousin Aaron here."
Nick and Jon nodded their heads in complete agreement and thankfully, the adults decided to take pity on us and stop talking about things we really didn't want to hear about.
"So, where is Erik anyway?" Uncle Thomas asked.
"He's out by the cars," Nick answered.
"Cars?" Jon asked. "You brought two?"
Nodding, I said, "Yeah, we did. The luggage and the 'rents will be in Mom's car with Erik, while you two get to hitch a ride with Nick and me in the Jag."
"Sweet," Jon and Nat said in unison.
"Well, let's get your luggage and get going," Mom said.
A few minutes later, everyone had collected their luggage and we started hauling it out to the car. As we exited, Erik smiled and said, "Hello everyone." And then noticing that Jon and Nat were only carrying one suitcase and a laptop case a piece, asked, "Is that all you two brought? Aren't you moving here?"
"Yeah, we are," Nat said. "Mom and Dad are shipping the rest of our stuff though. We just brought the essentials, because it would have been too expensive to bring it all on the plane."
"True enough," Erik said as he opened the trunk of Mom's Buick and helped Thomas load the luggage.
Once the luggage was loaded, Mom turned to Nick and said, "Okay, well, we'll see you boys at home. Drive safely."
"Always do," Nick said with a smile.
"Nick, you drove here," I pointed out, before asking, "Can I drive us home?"
"No, Aaron," Nick said.
Before I could say anything though, Jon asked, "Well, then can I drive?"
Turning to Jon with a shocked look on my face, I could see from the corner of my eye that Nick looked equally shocked. Nat just grinned and shook his head, as Jon got a defensive look on his face and asked, "What?"
"Jon, you don't have a license," I said.
"Ah, shows what you now, cuz," Jon corrected. "I do to have a driver's license."
"You do?" Nick asked. "Since when?"
"Since I was sixteen," Jon answered. "Oh don't look so shocked."
"I just would have thought that you two couldn't get a driver's license," I said. This was news to me. I honestly don't know how it never came up in conversation that Jon had a license. Of course, of the five times I'd gone up to Minneapolis to visit since Jon and Nat turned sixteen, they never left their parent's property, so, I guess it's possible that I just missed that fact. "Prove it."
Sighing, Jon reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and removed a Minnesota driver's license and I think Nick's and my jaws almost hit the pavement. "It is real, guys. I didn't forge it or anything."
"Yeah, it's real," Nat piped up, and I couldn't help but notice a note of bitterness in his voice.
"You sound bitter, Nat," Nick said.
Now it was Jon who grinned and said, "Well, yeah, of course he's bitter. He's on the wrong side of our little union. So, he couldn't get a driver's license - he just has a state ID."
"Yeah and my knucklehead of a brother loves to rub it in," Nat said, as he playfully hit Jon upside the head. "It's just not fair," Nat than said, more to himself, although Nick and I had no trouble hearing it. "Jon gets everything - a driver's license, a car, not to mention two legs."
Jon and Nat only have three legs between them and if you want to get technical, two of those legs are Jon's - a right and a left. Nat has only a right leg and that's another big reason why they never got separated. While Jon might be able to lead what society would view as a more normal life without being conjoined, having only one leg, Nat would not be able to lead a perfectly normal life. He'd either be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life or have to undergo a large amount of surgery in order to attach a prosthetic leg to his hip bone, plus all of the electrical and mechanical hardware necessary to be able to move it. As Nat really has no desire to become the bionic man, he's quite happy that Jon is as adamant about staying conjoined as he is, because at least conjoined, he can, with Jon's help, do all of the things that a normal, non-conjoined person does. Well, except that is, driving a car - unless he and Jon move to the United Kingdom.
"Oh don't get down on yourself, Nat," Nick said with a smile. "You're better looking than Jon."
"Excuse me?" Jon asked, mildly offended. "Nick, we're identical."
"I still think Nat is better looking than you," Nick said with a grin.
Nat smiled and said, "Thanks, Nick."
"No problem, you stud," Nick said.
"Nickito, I am so telling Jayden," I said.
"Go ahead," Nick said. "Jayden and I are solid, Aaron. He's not going to care if I do some harmless flirting. Yes, Jayden is my boyfriend, but I'm not dead, Aaron. And I'm sorry, but your cousins are hot. Nat's hotter, of course, but Jon isn't just too bad."
I think the only thing that was keeping Jon from hitting Nick upside the head was the fact that he knew that Nick was just trying to cheer Nat up. Like all conjoined twins, Nat and Jon were identical, and while I made a point of not looking at them in a sexual way because they were my cousins and that would be gross, I couldn't see any difference in their appearances which would make one better looking than the other.
"Anyway, Jon, I'll tell you what I told Aaron," Nick said after a moment. "It's my uncle's car, so I've driving."
"Fine," Jon said, as he put his license in his wallet and put it back in his pocket, before he and Nat climbed into the backseat.
Once I was in and everyone was buckled up, Nick said, "Okay, let's blow this popsicle stand," as he put the car in gear and headed for the freeway entrance.
-o-0-o-
To be continued.
Well, there's Chapter Fifteen. I'd planned on making this longer and including Jesse's birthday party and Jake's funeral, but, I figured this was a good-sized chapter without those scenes and it really has been too long since I've updated this story. So, the next chapter will cover the party and the funeral, and perhaps some other stuff. Reviews are always appreciated and I will try to respond in a timely manner. If you have any suggestions for things you'd like to see happen in the story, please feel free to share. I might not use every idea that's suggested to me, but I'm open to hearing them, at least.