Tanya and Mitchell, we called him Mitch, are our twins. I’m Paul and my wife is Deb O’Dell. The twins had graduated high school tied for first and second in their class and at the end of the summer would be off to college together. They were great kids and, I must admit, two of my best friends.

The kids and I first met eighteen years ago at the end of a crazy wild drive back from camping. The kids weren’t due for almost another month but Deb decided to go ahead and have her water break while we were camping just north of Boise, Idaho.

I wasn’t as precise packing our gear into the SUV as I had been when we left the house the day before and I must admit to breaking the speed limits a lot when I was flying around the curving roads from the Shafer-Butte campground and onto Bogus Basin Road trying to arrive at St. Luke’s before the twins. Deb kept her cool and called the doctor from the car in spite of my efforts to scare her to death with my driving.

But arrive I did, and Deb was rolled into the birthing center with several hours to spare. After what I thought was an exceedingly long time in labor, Deb pushed out Tanya first and very shortly afterwards, Mitchell. Everything went well and I was surprised that they were as fully developed since they were so early.

Our doctor told me that twins being early is not unusual and that sometimes the mother just decides that she just doesn’t want to carry the babies anymore. When we left on the short camping trip, it was to get some good mountain air and be away from the house for a weekend. Deb’s pregnancy was very normal and she never seemed to be under any unusual stress.

The kids grew up straight and strong. They bonded like twins will. When I got home from work every night until they were in first grade, I would hold them or sit them on my lap and read something to them. Sometimes it was the sports page from the paper or the editorials page or a book. They learned to read quickly and were always near the the tops of their classes.

The summer after graduation, was a time that the three of us spent a lot of time together. I knew they were going far away to school. The architecture school at Washington University in St. Louis accepted them eagerly due to their SAT scores in the low 1500’s and their equal ACT scores of 32. They both had full scholarships, which meant that the money we set aside for them to pay for four years of college could be redirected for post grad or start up funds for their lives after school.

That summer we spent time camping and fishing and traveling. Deb, was with us, of course, but never seemed to be as deeply attached to the twins as I was. She was always there. School functions like sports and music and science fairs, were always supported by both of us, but she never seemed to care as much as I did.

Maybe I was a helicopter dad. I don’t think so. Both of the kids went through a period where they were bored to death with school and sometimes acted up. When they stepped out of what we considered the norm, Deb would ask that I be the person to discipline them. When they were thirteen, we started to allow them a glass of wine at dinner on special occasions. They learned to respect the effects of alcohol and later, while we knew that they drank at parties in high school, we knew that they never did so when they were driving the car.

The kids dated and had long term boy and girlfriends, but they never were to the point where they thought that they would get married to one of their high school sweethearts. During their Junior year in high school something happened that caused them to date less and to hang out together more often, to the point that in their Senior year they attended prom together.

I noticed that during that Junior year they stopped hanging out with friends after concerts or games, choosing instead to go out to eat together or come home and hang out. I often asked them about the reason for that, and they always said the same thing. “The other kids just seem so immature.” They still had friends and still went to parties and were still sort of social so I didn’t get too worried.

It was in late July that things went to hell.

“Come on, Dad, we don’t want to hit the traffic,” Mitch chided me.

“I know! But I can’t leave without your mother.”

“I didn’t think she was coming on this trip,” Tanya said.

“Not that I’ve heard,” was my snappy reply.

I went to our bedroom to find Deb putting away laundry and in no rush to do so either.

“Deb! We gotta go!”

“I’m not going. I told the kids to tell you.”

“You told the kids to tell me?” I asked, getting mildly pissed. “Why didn’t you tell me? This is our last weekend together before the twins leave for college.”

“I know and I figured that you three would better spend it together. I’ll stay home and start putting their things together.”

I looked at her in amazement. We had talked about this weekend away together. Deb used to love to fish and it was a chance to spend a weekend cuddle in a sleeping bag together. I had put this fishing trip together, but ‘we’ had made all the plans.

“Deb, what the hell is going on?”

“Nothing is going on. The twins have always shared a closer bond with you than with me. I figured that this would be your last time together and I didn’t want to intrude.”

“Intrude? Deb, you’re their mother. How could you intrude?”

“I just felt that I would, now get going before you get into that traffic. It will take you another hour to get to the park if you don’t leave soon.”

“OK. I’ll go, but when I get home we are going to have a long talk. I love you.” I kissed her and gave her a firm hug, which she returned in kind.

I went downstairs to find that the twins had loaded my things in the SUV and were waiting for me. Since I was the last one there, I got the back seat and Tanya’d won the rock, paper, scissors for the right to drive. The kids were talkative the entire trip. They were making bets about who would catch the biggest Kokanee. When we got to our camp site, we checked in with the park ranger, and then we set up our tents and prepped our food rigs to keep them off the ground and away from bears. Then we went fly fishing. It was a good time and we each caught several fish which we released. The State of Idaho mandates barbless hooks so released fish are not stressed and that makes catching a big salmon or trout a real challenge.

At the end of the first day we had kept two Kokanee that were under 20 inches. They were filleted and cooked over the camp fire with some potatoes and herbs. I was still more quiet than normal and while we ate I noticed the kids sitting very close together. Between my thoughts about Deb and the kids, for some reason the idea popped in my head and I spoke up.

“Kids, I’ve been worried about you two these past two years. You hangout with each other more than anyone else. Please don’t get angry with me,” I paused and let out a long breath. “Are you two having sex together?”

“NO!” Both of the twins answered in unison.

“Well, you guys are always so close and now you’re going off to school together. I was concerned. I’m sorry.”

The two of them looked at each other and did that mind reading twin thing they do. After a while, Mitch spoke up.

“Dad, now can we ask you a personal question?”

“Sure, I guess so. You usually don’t ask first,” I said, worried.

“Well it IS about sex, since you brought it up.”

“We’ve already had “The Talk” right?”

“Yeah Dad.”

“OK, ask away?”

They shared a look again. “Why do you let mom cheat on you?”

I suppose I should have screamed or jumped up in outrage or something like that. The answer to that sort of question should have been outrage, but instead it was quiet, wilting, shock.

“Cheat?”

“Yes. She’s been spending time with a guy for at least two years that we know of. We saw them together in bed. Since you didn’t do or say anything, we thought that you knew. We’ve been scared to say anything for fear of breaking up the family. Now this weekend comes along and Mom’s not here. We assumed that you had agreed that she would spend the weekend with her guy.”

“Her guy? I thought I was her guy.”

“You really didn’t know. Daddy?” Tanya finally joined the conversation. “How could you not know?”

“Tanya, how would I know? Where would I have seen this happen?”

The two looked at each other and it seemed that a light went on.

“I guess you wouldn’t. We only know because we saw them in bed when you were out of town.”

“Do you know the guys name?”

“Yeah, Dad,” Mitch said. “It’s Bobby Dolly’s father, Brian.”

“Brian Dolly? Deb and I’ve known him for years. Since high school. Since he was dating your mom.”

I fell silent and that ended the trip for us. We got into our tents and got an early start back to the house in the morning. When we got home, Deb wasn’t there. The kids unpacked the SUV and put all the equipment away while I sat in the living room and wondered what was going on. Deb didn’t come home Saturday night and on Sunday morning the kids and I had a heart to heart.

“I’m sorry kids. My mind is flying all over the place. If she really is cheating on me, I’m going to divorce her. Your schooling is covered and there is a big fund set aside for you for post grad studies and more. I need to have a talk with your mother.”