The Twin's Christmas Gift: Reuniting Mom & Dad

Mom's Big Fat Secret

Mom's head snapped to him, her eyes zeroing in on the picture he was holding up to me, and she quickly snatched the picture from his hand while I was frozen in the spot, too stunned to speak.

“W–where did you get this Lucien?” Mom stuttered, crouching down beside us as she held both his shoulders. I stood to my full height slowly, a million thoughts running through my head at the same time.

“Well,” he started, his eyes darting up to meet mine briefly before settling on mom's.

“I found it in Mommy's old room, the one you showed to me and Olivia yesterday,” he explained, and Olivia, who was beside me the whole time, nodded at that, clutching my thigh as she looked up to me. “Grandma showed us everything from when you were a baby mommy,” Olivia chimed, her chubby pink cheeks pulled back in a wide grin.

“Tell us, mommy, who he is. Grandma wouldn't tell us when we asked,” he whined impatiently, looking directly at me expectantly, and I shifted nervously on my feet.

“He's no one, Lucien; see, he was just some friend I met in college; I don't even remember his name.” I rambled quickly, chuckling nervously when he scrunched his nose in a frown as he watched me.

I leaned over to take the photograph from him, and he quickly pulled back, hiding it behind his back. “If he's no one, then why wouldn't grandma tell us anything, mommy?” He asked, tilting his head to the side, waiting for me to respond, but I floundered, opening my mouth like a fish out of water and no words coming out.

“I have no idea who he is, baby; that's why I couldn't tell you anything,” mom quickly interjected, and I nodded vigorously, agreeing with her explanation.

His stormy gaze narrowed infinitesimally, his lips still stretched in a thing line. I could tell he didn't believe a word we'd said. “That is not the only thing I found, mommy,” he said slowly and swallowed thickly, feeling my heart thudding loudly in my chest.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rumpled piece of paper. Slowly he unfurled it, revealing two separate papers. He smoothed both papers out with his little fingers before looking back up at me.

“Why does it say we were born on Christmas on this birth certificate, mommy?” he asked slowly, holding the papers up for me to take. I felt my stomach churn with unease as I reached for it with trembling fingers.

Grasping the paper, I shuddered as I recognized the familiar birth certificate I'd gone to lengths to hide from them right before my eyes.

“Why did you lie to us?” His lips wobbled as he asked this, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Is this true, Mommy? Did you really lie?” Olivia whispered by my side, and my head whipped around to look down at her. "no—

"Julia,” mom whispered, cutting me off as I met her gaze with vision blurred by tears. She shook her head slowly, and I knew it was over.

I couldn't lie about this anymore, but then again, would they ever forgive me for this?. What was I thinking? How could I have done this out of my own selfish desires?

“Lucien, baby,” I tried to reach for him, but he took a tentative step back, sniffing as he tried to hold back his tears.

“I had good reason for doing this, baby; I didn't lie just because I wanted to, I promise.” I rambled quickly, looking between Olivia and Lucien.

“But you still lied, mommy, and that's very bad,” Olivia spoke this time, shaking her head in disappointment. I fell to my knees in front of them, wiping the tears that had gathered in the corner of my eyes.

“I know, baby, I was wrong for doing this. I shouldn't have hidden something like this from you two,” I murmured, looking between them, but Lucien continued to watch me without a word.

“Lucien,” I called softly and watched as Olivia turned to him, taking his hand in hers, and he let her hold him without a word. “You're just a stinking liar, mommy; I'm so disappointed in you,” he muttered, shaking his head in utter disappointment, and I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach that made my gut churn.

Tears stung my gaze as he took his sister's hand in his, turning and walking up the stairs quickly. I heard a door slam shut a moment after they disappeared down the hallway.

I was still on my knees, staring into space, when I felt mom's hand on my shoulder, pulling me away from my thoughts. I shrugged her hand off my shoulder, rising quickly and turning to face her with tear-furrowed eyes.

“This is all your fault,” I said through gritted teeth as angry tears flooded down my cheek.

“I didn't think Lucien would go searching,” she sobbed, but I could only watch her in silence as I felt pain and guilt slice through my gut.

“But he did, and this only happened because you showed him where the old photos were!” My voice rose an octave higher, and she sobbed harder, burying her face in her palm.

“I didn't mean for it to happen; they were curious about what you looked like as a baby, and I didn't think,” she rambled quickly while I just watched her in silence, her chest heaving.

“It doesn't matter; what's done is done,” I sighed, turning towards the stairs and slowly ascending.

I paused halfway when I saw dad at the top of the stairs but continued back up without another word. I wasn't sure if he'd witnessed our exchange, but at that moment I didn't care.

I walked past him into the hallway and stopped in front of the first room on the right. I turned the knob once, sighing when I realized it was locked from within.

“Lucien, Olivia,” I called softly, resting my forehead against the wooden frame of the door.

“Please open the door; let's talk about this.” When there was no response, I got desperate, shifting on my feet as I knocked on the door. “I promise I'll tell you everything; I'll keep nothing out this time,” I said quickly, my desperation bleeding into the tone of my voice.

It was quiet for a second before I heard the lock turn, my eyes lighting up as the door swung open and both Lucien and Olivia were standing there.

“Then we should go home; you have a lot to explain,” he said to me, then turned to his sister, whose hands were still interlocked with his. “Right Olivia?” he asked, and she nodded at that.

"Okay, okay,” I conceded without a second thought, taking a step back as they walked out of the room towards the stairs leading down.

“Come on, mommy, we don't have all day." Olivia turned, and I blinked, snapping back to reality as I quickly nodded, following behind as we descended the stairs towards the front door.

Dad was waiting by the foyer with a deep frown marring his graying features, and I knew I'd f****d up.

“Why don't you guys wait by the car? I'll be out in a second.” Lucien nodded at that, and they both waved their grandfather, who mustered a smile, and waved back before walking out the door.

“How dare you talk to your mother that way?” He seethed, the smile disappearing from his lips the second the door shut behind the twins.

“I didn't mean to; I was upset; I wasn't thinking,” I sniffed, guilt eating me inside out at the thought of what I'd done.

“I don't care if you were upset." “You're aware of her condition, yet you got her so upset." “You will apologize to her, and that's final,” he said with a finality, and I nodded slowly, accepting my fate, because, let's be honest, I deserved it all.

It was my mistake, so I should be the one paying for it, not blaming mom, who only wanted to show her grandkids pictures of me when I was younger. I stared at me for what felt like a long time before walking out on me.