Chapter 5

[Saturday]

Downstairs, I started the coffee and thought about breakfast and last night. Io joined me dressed the same in shorts, tee shirt, and flip flops.

Mom was the next one down. "You two look like you slept well last night." She grinned. "Io, were you warm enough?" She grinned.

Iola grinned back. "He wanted to hog the covers but I finally got warm."

Mom grinned back. "A lot of females lust for your brother. He needs to learn to share the covers and make enough room."

"Perhaps I need to sleep with him more often to teach him to share."

"You could do that." She grinned at both of us.

I said, "Mom! It's not what you think!"

"Oh! What do I think?"

Io blushed deeply but was smiling while I tried to think of something intelligent and not incriminating to say. I couldn't. I kept my mouth shut.

Mom said, "The three of us need to talk but later after Max and Ursula go out. It needs privacy without the threat of disturbance. Don't worry. I'm not mad."

Now I knew that I was going to keep my mouth shut!

A moment later, Maxine came down the stairs with Ursula wanting coffee and food. Mom began to cook with Io helping her.

Maxine was moaning about her head hurting. Mom said, "Shut up! When you drink supper and then go party, drinking more, your head will hurt in the morning. If you're going out to get laid, expect a few aches the next morning, particularly if you have been drinking, too."

I think Ursula had enough sense to keep her mouth shut and Maxine was hurting too much to say more. That was the toughest I had ever heard mom be on Maxine. She would occasionally admit that Maxine wasn't always nice but never went after her foibles.

We ate breakfast quietly. Maxine and Ursula went upstairs and came back down shortly. Maxine said they were going out. Mom said, "Don't miss Darren's graduation. There are no excuses." She looked Maxine in the eye until Maxine wilted.

Mom didn't let up with the stare. Finally, Maxine said, "Mom, I'll be there. I promise. It's at five in the high school gym."

Mom said, "Okay, you may go off. Don't screw this up, Maxine."

Iola and I kept quiet and listened. Maxine and Ursula left. Mom said, "Let's go into the living room and talk." We went. I didn't know what she was going to say but I planned to keep my mouth shut.

Mom sat in the easy chair and pointed us to the sofa. She said, "I bet you two are worried." We looked at each other and back at her and nodded. "I told you not to worry."

Iola said, "Mom, you just chewed Maxine out hard and as much as told us we were doing things. How can we not be worried?"

Mom said, "Okay. I'm going to talk. When I'm finished, you may ask questions, make statements, or say nothing. Don't lie though. That's all I will ask of you."

"From the time you two were born, there was something special about your relationship. I have something to show you." She went over to a locked box in her desk. I knew she kept important papers there and kept the key in her possession at all times. She pulled two pieces of paper from it. The first was my birth certificate. The second was Iola's. She said, "You have seen these before but I bet you've never thought to compare them." We shook our heads. "Look at the dates. Dare, you were born March fourteenth. Io, you were born on October twelfth of the same year. Of course, I know your pet names for each other. I want you to do the math before I explain."

We looked at each other and I mouthed, "Seven months!" Our mother couldn't be mother to both of us!

Mom continued, "I'll tell you the names in a moment though, in some ways, they don't matter. I need to tell you a true story first.

"There were two young couples in college. One was married with a daughter and the other wasn't married but planned to marry. One couple got pregnant. As the first woman came to her sixth month, the other woman became pregnant. In the fullness of time, both women delivered. One delivered a boy and the other delivered a girl shortly afterwards.

"The unmarried couple had tragedy strike before they could marry. They were both killed in a traffic accident. The child survived. The parents of the young man had died early and those of the girl had disowned their daughter when she became pregnant. They passed away from natural causes a couple of years later. They never knew their grandchild. The married couple raised both children along with the older girl as their own. However, they never adopted the other child though did allow that child to go by the family name. It had always been that way and nothing ever showed in school or elsewhere. At some point, Steve and I were going to tell. Then he was in that stupid plane and I never found the right time until now.

"The bad news and the good news is that you aren't brother and sister!" We could hear that punch line coming but were having difficulty truly processing it and what it meant.

Iola said, "That means we can't commit incest with each other!" Both of us were grinning big time now.

Mom nodded and said, "The unmarried couple and the married couple had agreed to care for the other couple's children. There were even wills to enable that. There is a trust fund for their child. Steve and I did well and that fund has never been used. We both loved both of you totally as if both of you were ours by blood as well as by our love."

Io was excited. "Dare, we can be public. We can marry!" I nodded just as excited as she.

Mom said, "Would you like to know which one of you is mine by blood as well as by love?"

I found my tongue, finally. "It doesn't matter. You will always be mom and dad will always be dad. We both love you." Io nodded as she slipped into my lap. She reached over and pulled mom beside us on the sofa. We all hugged, kissed, and cried. Tears were of joy and for a set of parents we had never known.

Mom said, "I think you should know. I believe that it doesn't matter to the two of you except to know that you aren't brother and sister."

She paused. "It would have come out at college sooner or later. I couldn't keep forging names." She looked at me. "You are Darren Walker, Junior!" It was quiet for a long minute.

I leaned over and kissed mom. "I really don't care, mom."

She replied. "I know, son. Your diploma will have the right name and you will be called correctly when you walk today. At college, you have to use your right name. Your principal, Doctor Ames, was a very good friend of the four of us and has been in on things since the beginning." She grinned. "It's going to surprise a lot of people tonight. It will honor your real parents even though a few will know before it's made official."

Io can be devious. "When were you going to tell Max?"

Mom said, "I thought before the ceremony tonight would be nice."

Io said, "She hasn't always been nice. Let her find out this evening when everyone else does!"

I said, "Io, that's not nice. She'll be in shock."

"Sicing all those boys on you until you were too strong for them to fight you wasn't nice either. She deserves it. Paybacks can be hell."

I said, "That's been over for years. Dad had to square things with Doctor Ames a few times though. Now I know more about that."

"Why shouldn't he? He was very proud of you and you were always his son." She paused.

"I hated to spring all this on you two but I could see where your relationship with each other was headed, if it hasn't already arrived at that point. I didn't want you two buried under a mound of guilt when it wasn't necessary."