Twinsequences (A Twisted Twin Series) (37 page)

When
 we
 pulled
 up
 at
 his
 parent’s
 house,
 it
 was
 just
 like
 old
 times.
 We’d
 
studied
 in
 his
 basement
 and
 watched
 movies
 in
 the
 room
 off
 the
 kitchen.
 I
 
remember
 his
 parents
 being
 away
 and
 us
 cranking
 the
 music
 up
 as
 loud
 as
 it
 would
 
go.
 We
 kept
 the
 pizza
 joint
 in
 business
 that
 year.
 
We
 were
 sitting
 in
 the
 car
 outside
 of
 his
 parent’s
 house.
 He
 reached
 over
 and
 
ran
 his
 hand
 up
 my
 thigh.
 “I
 have
 a
 good
 feeling
 about
 this.”
 
“I’m
 glad
 you
 do.
 I
 feel
 like
 I’m
 going
 to
 throw
 up.”
 
He
 climbed
 out
 of
 the
 driver’s
 seat
 and
 I
 just
 sat
 there.
 After
 a
 few
 minutes,
 he
 
shook
 his
 head
 and
 came
 over
 to
 my
 side
 of
 the
 vehicle.
 I
 pushed
 the
 lock
 down
 so
 
he
 couldn’t
 open
 the
 door.
 “Willow,
 come
 on.”
 
I
 shook
 my
 head.
 “Let’s
 just
 go
 home.”
 
“No!”
 He
 looked
 so
 serious.
 “Open
 the
 damn
 door.
 You’re
 being
 ridiculous.”
 
“I
 am
 not!”
 I
 gritted
 my
 teeth.
 “You’re
 still
 married
 to
 my
 sister.
 I’m
 being
 
reasonable.”
 
There
 was
 no
 way
 around
 the
 weirdness.
 Nothing
 could
 ever
 change
 the
 fact
 
that
 they
 were
 married.
 Even
 after
 time,
 I’d
 still
 be
 the
 other
 sister.
 It
 made
 me
 feel
 
like
 shit.
 
He
 pressed
 his
 head
 against
 the
 window.
 “I
 want
 you
 to
 do
 this
 for
 me.
 If
 you
 
feel
 uncomfortable,
 I
 promise
 we
 can
 leave.
 I
 just
 need
 you
 to
 try.”
 
I
 opened
 the
 door
 and
 got
 out.
 “Couldn’t
 this
 at
 least
 wait
 until
 things
 get
 
better?
 I
 don’t
 want
 to
 be
 the
 other
 woman.”
 
“You’re
 not!”
 He
 corrected.
 “You’re
 THE
 woman.
 You
 always
 have
 been;
 even
 
when
 we
 weren’t
 together.”
 
I
 hated
 when
 he
 said
 the
 sweetest
 things
 when
 I
 wanted
 to
 be
 mad
 at
 him.
 It
 
made
 it
 hard
 to
 hold
 a
 grudge.
 
He
 didn’t
 knock
 on
 his
 parent’s
 front
 door
 before
 he
 opened
 it
 and
 walked
 
right
 in.
 I
 followed
 behind
 him
 like
 I’d
 never
 been
 in
 the
 house
 before.
 For
 the
 most
 
part
 every
 room
 looked
 the
 same.
 There
 were
 new
 elements
 that
 had
 been
 added,
 
but
 not
 much.
 
Stosh
 grabbed
 my
 hand
 and
 pulled
 me
 into
 the
 kitchen,
 where
 we
 could
 hear
 
the
 clattering
 of
 pots.
 
 
His
 mother
 looked
 up
 and
 smiled.
 She
 pointed
 right
 at
 me.
 “You,
 come
 here,
 
right
 this
 minute!”
 
I
 turned
 around
 and
 looked
 at
 Stosh
 before
 walking
 in
 her
 direction.
 From
 
the
 look
 on
 her
 face,
 I
 was
 sure
 she
 was
 going
 to
 smack
 me.
 With
 fast
 reflexes,
 she
 
grabbed
 me
 and
 pulled
 me
 into
 a
 hug.
 “Willow,
 I
 am
 so
 sorry
 for
 what
 has
 been
 
going
 on.
 Charles
 and
 I
 have
 heard
 all
 about
 it
 from
 Stoshua.
 It
 pains
 me
 to
 say
 this,
 
but
 I
 never
 did
 trust
 your
 sister.
 She’s
 never
 made
 him
 truly
 happy.”
 
I
 kept
 my
 arms
 around
 her,
 feeling
 like
 her
 support
 was
 giving
 me
 strength.
 
“Thank
 you.”
 
“I
 knew
 my
 son
 was
 hot
 for
 you
 back
 in
 high
 school.
 It
 never
 made
 sense
 how
 
he
 ended
 up
 with
 Ivy.
 She
 wasn’t
 his
 type
 what
 so
 ever.
 Then
 when
 all
 of
 this
 stuff
 
started
 happening,
 I
 had
 to
 question
 my
 son.
 Things
 just
 weren’t
 adding
 up.
 After
 he
 
was
 arrested,
 he
 sat
 us
 down
 and
 explained
 everything.
 I’m
 very
 sorry
 for
 believing
 
her,
 Willow.
 I
 do
 hope
 that
 someday
 you
 can
 forgive
 me
 for
 that.”
 
I
 started
 sobbing.
 “I
 already
 do.
 You
 don’t
 know
 how
 much
 this
 means
 to
 me.”
 
I
 pulled
 away
 and
 wiped
 my
 eyes.
 “I
 trusted
 her
 and
 all
 this
 time
 she’s
 been
 living
 
her
 life
 with
 a
 goal
 to
 destroy
 me.
 I
 love
 your
 son.
 I
 always
 have.”
 
“Please
 dry
 your
 tears.
 It’s
 going
 to
 be
 alright,
 child.”
 
I
 shook
 my
 head.
 “Everything
 that
 I’ve
 ever
 known
 about
 my
 sister
 has
 been
 a
 
lie.
 I
 loved
 her
 as
 much
 as
 I
 loved
 myself
 and
 she
 never
 cared
 about
 me
 at
 all.
 She’d
 
rather
 see
 me
 dead
 than
 happy.
 In
 fact,
 she’d
 do
 just
 about
 anything
 to
 see
 me
 
miserable.”
 
Emotions
 were
 pouring
 out
 of
 me
 at
 this
 point.
 I
 couldn’t
 control
 them.
 So
 
much
 pent
 up
 anxiety
 had
 caused
 me
 to
 lose
 it
 finally.
 
 
“Yesterday,
 when
 we
 got
 the
 call
 that
 Stoshua
 needed
 our
 help,
 you
 can
 
imagine
 how
 we
 wanted
 answers.
 Once
 we
 brought
 him
 home,
 he
 told
 us
 all
 about
 
your
 sister.
 Forgive
 me
 for
 being
 blunt
 with
 you,
 Willow,
 but
 you’ve
 really
 been
 
dragged
 in
 the
 muck
 for
 long
 enough.
 I’m
 not
 one
 to
 use
 profanity,
 but
 that
 little
 
bitch
 has
 messed
 with
 the
 wrong
 family.
 We
 had
 no
 idea
 about
 any
 of
 this.
 I
 never
 
would
 have
 accepted
 her
 into
 my
 family,
 otherwise.”
 
Even
 though
 a
 weight
 was
 being
 lifted
 off
 of
 me,
 it
 still
 didn’t
 change
 the
 mess
 
that
 my
 sister
 had
 managed
 to
 make
 of
 my
 life.
 We’d
 forever
 be
 judged
 for
 our
 
relationship.
 Still,
 I
 wrapped
 my
 arms
 around
 the
 woman.
 “Thank
 you
 for
 saying
 
that.
 It’s
 been
 difficult
 to
 take
 in,
 so
 I
 can
 understand
 how
 confusing
 it
 all
 must
 be.
 
Had
 I
 known
 back
 then,
 things
 would
 have
 ended
 up
 differently.”
 
“And
 your
 parents
 are
 not
 angry
 with
 her
 over
 this?”
 
I
 pulled
 away
 and
 looked
 down
 at
 the
 floor.
 “They
 think
 I’m
 the
 bad
 guy
 in
 all
 
of
 this.
 In
 fact,
 they
 think
 I
 pretended
 to
 be
 my
 sister
 to
 seduce
 Stosh.
 She
 told
 them
 
lies
 about
 me,
 and
 about
 him.
 Now
 we’re
 just
 trying
 to
 figure
 out
 a
 way
 to
 be
 
together
 without
 her
 finding
 out
 about
 the
 bab…”
 I
 realized
 what
 I
 said
 and
 just
 
froze.
 
 
She
 was
 looking
 from
 me
 to
 Stosh.
 “You’re
 pregnant?”
 
“I…”
 
 
Stosh
 stepped
 between
 us.
 “We’re
 having
 a
 baby,
 Mom.”
 
She
 put
 her
 hands
 over
 her
 mouth
 and
 just
 kept
 looking
 at
 us.
 Stosh
 looked
 at
 
me
 and
 winked,
 but
 I
 was
 scared
 that
 everything
 the
 woman
 had
 told
 me
 was
 going
 
to
 be
 retracted.
 “I’m
 going
 to
 be
 a
 grandmother?”
 
He
 began
 to
 laugh.
 “Yes,
 you
 are.
 I
 wanted
 to
 tell
 you
 yesterday.
 We
 just
 can’t
 
let
 Ivy
 find
 out
 about
 it.”
 
His
 mom
 seemed
 alarmed
 by
 his
 comment.
 “Why?”
 
This
 time,
 I
 didn’t
 care
 about
 keeping
 my
 feelings
 bottled
 in.
 “Ivy
 didn’t
 just
 
set
 me
 and
 Stosh
 up
 to
 get
 caught.
 She
 found
 out
 she
 couldn’t
 get
 pregnant.
 I
 guess
 it
 
also
 occurred
 to
 her
 that
 she’d
 never
 have
 Stosh’s
 heart,
 so
 she
 did
 her
 research
 and
 
found
 out
 when
 I’d
 be
 ovulating.”
 
I
 saw
 that
 she
 was
 lost.
 “Come
 again?
 What
 are
 you
 saying?”
 
“We’re
 twins,
 so
 my
 baby
 would
 be
 the
 closest
 thing
 she’d
 ever
 get
 to
 having
 
one
 of
 her
 own.
 She
 wanted
 to
 steal
 my
 baby.”
 
She
 looked
 at
 her
 son.
 “You
 knew
 about
 this?”
 
He
 held
 his
 hands
 up.
 “Yeah,
 I
 did.”
 
“How
 could
 you?”
 She
 slapped
 her
 son
 right
 in
 the
 face.
 “You
 were
 raised
 
better!”
 
He
 didn’t
 back
 away
 from
 her.
 “Mom,
 I
 can
 explain.”
 
“You
 better
 start!”
 
Stosh
 spent
 the
 next
 hour
 telling
 his
 mother
 the
 details
 that
 he’d
 left
 out
 
before.
 Even
 I
 could
 tell
 how
 disappointed
 she
 was
 in
 him,
 even
 if
 his
 intentions
 
were
 out
 of
 desperation.
 
 
When
 it
 was
 all
 said
 and
 done
 she
 turned
 her
 attention
 back
 to
 me.
 “Willow,
 I
 
am
 awfully
 happy
 about
 being
 a
 grandmother,
 but
 I
 wouldn’t
 blame
 you
 for
 being
 
angry
 with
 my
 son.
 I
 don’t
 approve
 of
 his
 actions.”
 
“He
 wasn’t
 the
 only
 one
 who
 lied.
 I
 told
 him
 I
 aborted
 the
 baby.
 I
 had
 gone
 
back
 to
 town
 and
 just
 wanted
 to
 forget
 what
 had
 happened.
 Regrettably,
 I
 did
 make
 
the
 appointment,
 but
 the
 idea
 of
 giving
 up
 a
 baby
 was
 just
 too
 much
 for
 me
 to
 
handle.
 Besides,
 I
 think
 in
 my
 heart,
 I
 just
 wanted
 to
 have
 a
 part
 of
 your
 son,
 even
 if
 
he
 didn’t
 want
 that
 with
 me.”
 
“So
 you
 were
 never
 going
 to
 tell
 him?”
 
I
 shrugged.
 “I
 don’t
 know.”
 
She
 shook
 her
 head.
 “This
 is
 like
 something
 I
 read
 in
 my
 novels.
 I
 didn’t
 think
 
this
 kind
 of
 stuff
 happened
 in
 real
 life.”
 
“Apparently,
 it
 does.”
 
She
 pointed
 at
 both
 of
 us.
 “So,
 where
 do
 you
 stand
 now?”
 
He
 put
 his
 arm
 around
 me.
 “We’re
 together;
 where
 we
 should
 have
 been
 all
 
along.”
 
“And
 Ivy?”
 
“We
 don’t
 know
 where
 she
 is.”
 I
 announced.
 
“So
 you
 could
 be
 in
 danger?”