Chapter 11: Since Then

Looking back, I'm willing to admit that what Kizuna and I did was wrong on so many levels. I don't think the sex itself was wrong, just that we should have waited a few more years. In any case, I look at the twins (now eight) and see how adorable and fun they are and I can't imagine it any other way.

About a year after the twins were born, Mom called again and told me she and Dad wanted to meet me for supper. I remember that meeting vividly (eidetic memory or no).

Dad was silent right up to the end of the meal, when he asked, "What were they?"

"Boy and girl, Dad," I replied. "Kakou and Aiko."

"No, what were they?" he asked.

I suddenly grasped what he was getting at. "They were perfectly normal, little human beings. I don't know what you expected, but they were just fine."

He shook his head and didn't speak again. Mom showed more interest and asked me how much they'd weighed, and various things like that. However, when I offered to let them come over and meet the twins, both refused.

Together with Earl and Peter, we bought a big old house, with seven bedrooms. The twins insisted on sharing one, even when we promised they could make up their rooms however they wanted.

Shinka got married around the same time I had that dinner with my parents. None of us were invited to the wedding, but Mom showed me pictures. Unless his bride was a very pretty transvestite, she was a woman. They had two children very quickly, both boys.

So, what would I do if I ever caught the twins having sex? I hope I wouldn't react the way my father did, but I don't know. I guess I'll just have to hope that time never comes.

As for what happened to Earl and Peter and their sisters: I'm not telling. That's for them to tell, if they so choose. I will state this: they are not in prison and have not been at any point.

Things have mostly gone well for all of us.

The twins are wonderful little children, if a bit mischievous. That is, Kakou will want to do something and often drags his sister into it with him. Which is okay by me because he always takes the rap when they do get into trouble, often pleading with us not to punish Aiko.

They will fight once in a long while but it never seems to last. Most often, Kakou will concede whatever it is to his sister.

He is fiercely protective of her, something Kizuna and I are very happy to see. I think part of it is his sister's constant illness. Oh, it's nothing serious, she's just catches everything that comes around and most of what doesn't. If someone in our family is going to get sick or injured or infected or what have you, it's probably Aiko.

Whenever she is sick, Kakou insists on being her doctor and keeps everyone away until she feels better, often falling sick immediately thereafter.

I say all that to say this: sometimes, when I see how close my children are to each other, I do sometimes worry, especially now they know the truth.

When Kizuna started college, she met another student who was from out of state, named Andrew. They became good friends fairly quickly. After a couple months, I offered him our unused bedroom and he moved in. The twins took to him immediately and he became another uncle to them.

Earl left us to go back to Germany for a while, while Peter went to Hungary. After they left, I got laid off from the factory where I worked. Though I was able to find seasonal work at Christmas time at FedEx and at a game store, it wasn't really enough for us to live on.