A Happy Family
1480 Words
PRESENT DAY
Jameson POV
My brother Jonathan and I hooped and hollered as we raced each other down the hallway from our bedrooms to the staircase. His shoulder length black hair flew out behind him as he slid down one of the banisters, and I'm sure mine was doing the same as I slid down the other.
You see, we're completely identical. I'm talking right down to our dimples when we smile. There is only one very slight difference, and you have to know it's there to notice. I have a tiny freckle on the left side of my neck that my brother doesn't have. That's literally it. And that's so tiny that no one except our parents and sister have ever noticed it. We're both big, tall guys - even though our mom is 6'0 and our dad is 6'1, we tower over them at 6'7. And at 265 lbs, we have a good 25 pounds on Dad and more than 40 pounds on Mom. It drives our sister Sarah crazy - she's two years older, but she's 5'11 so we have about 8 inches on her. She's also 80 lbs lighter than us. Literally the only physical trait we have in common with our sister is our blue eyes. Mom has blue eyes too. Dad is the oddball out with hazel eyes.
It's no wonder we don't look like any of them. We were adopted at the age of three, after our biological parents gave us up when they became homeless. We had differing opinions on that - Jonathan felt that they should have maybe placed us into foster care until they were back on their feet. Me, I think they felt like they were giving us the best life they could, by giving us up. Either way, we both agreed that they couldn't have picked a better family - our parents and sister loved us and we loved them. We weren't rich, but we weren't poor either. My opinion was that our lives couldn't have gotten much better.
Mom was waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs with a scowl on her face and her hands on her hips. "What have I told you boys about sliding down the banisters?"
Both of us gave her innocent smiles. "We just wanted one last ride before we become adults, Mom!" Jonathan said, winking at her. The next day was our 18th birthday. I couldn't believe we would be legal adults! We had graduated high school just a few weeks ago, and were both offered full academic scholarships to nearby UCLA. Luckily we still had over a month and half before school started.
"Yeah, Mom, we just needed one last slide," I said, giving her an innocent smile.
She rolled her eyes but smiled at him. "You boys are going to be the death of me yet. Now come on, breakfast is ready. Come on, let's eat!"
"My favorite words ever!" Jonathan replied with a grin.
Mom had stacks of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon waiting in the kitchen. She loved to cook, which worked out perfect because we loved to eat! Our sister Sarah and Dad were already in the kitchen, having coffee and Sarah was laughing at something Dad said.
They looked up as we walked in. "There's the almost birthday boys!" Dad said with a smile.
"Getting your beauty asleep again this morning?" Sarah teased. "We've been up for over an hour already!"
I gave a mocking sigh. "Well, you know, being this handsome is a burden, but somebody's gotta do it," I replied with a wink. "I mean, I am the better looking brother."
Jonathan rolled his eyes, and everyone else snickered. "Whatever, dude. You know I'm the prettier one!"
We both burst out laughing at that. It was an old running joke between us. As kids, we would literally argue about who was better looking, knowing darn good and well we looked exactly alike.
Sarah rolled her eyes at us. "Ugh. Brothers."
Jonathan grinned at her. "You're just jealous because you're short," he said cheekily.
She raised an eyebrow. "5'10 is hardly short, especially for a woman."
I grinned at her. "Maybe not, but it ain't 6'7."
She rolled her eyes again, but she laughed. "Ugh, double teamed again. I give up. You two are incorrigible."
We all finished fixing our plates and sat down at the table. Dad said grace, as always, then we dug in.
"You still need a lift to work today?" Jonathan asked Sarah.
Sarah was working part time at a local bakery while she went to college. Normally she would drive herself, but her 2019 Ford Mustang was in the shop.
She nodded. "If you don't mind. The Mustang should be done by this afternoon though, so Mom and Dad are going to pick it up and bring to me, so you won't have to worry about picking me up later."
We both nodded.
"Good," I replied. "I know you've missed having your own wheels the past couple days."
"That's putting it mildly," she replied with a laugh. "I appreciate all four of you hauling me around, but it'll be nice to be independent again."
"You know we don't mind a bit, dear," Mom told her. "But your dad and I have a lot going on at the church next week with the revival coming up, so it'll be good that you have your car to get where you need to go."
All three of us kids had been raised in a non-denominational church just a couple miles from our house. Youth retreats, summer camps, vacation Bible school, you name it. We still went sometimes, though probably not as often as we should. Mom and Dad were still really involved though, helping wherever they could.
Sarah's eyes lit up. "Is Pastor Larry coming?" she asked. Pastor Larry is a young, single pastor that Sarah has had a bit of a crush on for a couple of years.
Mom and Dad laughed. "He sure is," Mom replied. "He's the main speaker."
Sarah squealed and clapped. "I'll be there every night!" she exclaimed.
Mom and Dad laughed, and Jonathan and I groaned playfully. Sarah, who was sitting between us, smacked both of us the arm. Mom and Dad shook their heads at us. They were used to our antics by now.
"So, boys," Dad said, "are you ready for the big day tomorrow?"
"Yes, sir," I replied with a grin.
"Party!!" Jonathan added. "Bring on the chicks and the food!"
"Jonathan!" Mom chastised him, while Dad, Sarah, and I snorted with laughter. He winked at her, and she had to laugh.
Mom and Dad were allowing us to have our 18th party there at the house, out by our huge pool. Our birthday was August 7, so we'd had lots of birthday pool parties there. Dad was as awesome on the grill as Mom was in the kitchen, so between the hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks he made, and the half dozen or so homemade pizzas Mom and Sarah made, the food was always amazing at our parties. Our friends always looked forward to it for months, and this year was no different. Our friends had been talking about our party since well before school ended in early June.
"I'll be shopping for all the food this morning when I go to the store," Mom told us. "Any special requests?"
We both shook our heads. "Just the usual stuff, Mom. You know what we like," I told her with a smile.
She pinched my cheek, which she liked to do to pick at us. "That's right, I do know," she said with a smile. "That's part of a mom's job."
"Mooomm, we're too old for that cheek pinching stuff," I complained.
She laughed. "You'll never be too old." Her eyes grew misty. "My boys, all grown up. Oh my heart. I can't believe it." She sniffled.
"Mooom," we both groaned together.
Jonathan looked at Dad. "A little help here?"
Dad threw his hands up with a laugh. "No way am I getting involved in that. If Mom wants to get mushy, let her get mushy."
Sarah smirked at us. "I seem to remember you two thinking it was hilarious when she embarrassed me by getting mushy in front of my friends on my 18th. Payback is - well, you know."
We all laughed at that, including Mom.
"I'm sorry, I just can't help it," Mom told us. "You'll understand one day when you have kids of your own."
"We wouldn't have you any other way, Mom," I told her. I stood up and went over to lean down and give her a hug. She motioned for Jonathan and Sarah to join in, then reach over and yanked Dad in too.
"GROUP HUG!!" Jonathan yelled, and we all burst into laughter.
- Writer
