Sitting on their front porch, Molly and Jack sat silently. Both were thinking of the parents they never had. Their father was inside making them a birthday cake. Molly and Jack were twins, but unique in their own ways. Molly was a very shy person and rarely talked to anyone. Her nose was always in books, and she was the smartest in her class. She loved to swim, but didn't have the courage to ask if she could join the team at school. She had brown hair like her brother, but she had blue eyes, not green. Jack was a very funny person, but he never made fun of others; he told jokes about himself. Jack played on the basketball team, but he wasn't very good. He had green eyes, but Molly promised him that they were sometimes blue or brown. The twins got together surprisingly well. They both shared a room, which they preferred. There was no line that showed which twin owned which part of the room. The twins slept in a bunk bed, and they always played together, and did their homework together. There was no such thing as 'Molly's place' or 'Jack's place'. They shared everything they had. They were both very curious about their mother and their father. They were told by others that their father was killed in a car crash and their mother died while giving birth. A man had taken them in and he was John Doe, (they called him Dad). He was a doctor but the children still saw him frequently. He told them that he had known their mother. He explained that she wanted the twins to be his. "But why?" Molly would always ask. "I will tell when I think you are ready," was always the reply. The twins never pushed this topic; it made their father emotional. Now it was there thirteenth birthday, and they wondered if they would ever be ready to hear their father's explanation. "Do you think Dad will ever tell us?" Jack asked Molly. "No," she answered.
"Why not? We didn't know our pare-"
"Stop arguing with me, I'm not Dad."
Silence.
"Sorry, Molly, but you know that I'm not patient. He's been hidn' this from us for 13 years!"
"Well maybe not thirteen because we wouldn't be able to understand him when we were babies, just saying."
The twins began to giggle.
"Ok, then maybe 11 years," Jack said
"Um, Jack, I could talk when I was two. You could only talk when you were 3."
The twins looked at each other with serious expressions. Jack cracked up first, and soon both Molly and Jack were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their faces. "What's all this racket!" said a stern voice. The twins looked at each other and grinned. It was their father. He never got stern with them. The twins hid behind a chair, waiting for their father to come out of the house. Footsteps could be heard coming towards the door. The twins stared at each other and mouthed 3...2...- "Found you!" a voice yelled behind them. The twins were so surprised that they whammed into the chair in front of them. "Ha!" said a triumphant voice. Molly and Jack turned around to see their father with an enthusiastic smile on his face. The twins groaned and Molly said, "How'd you find us?"
"You use this hiding spot every year, and this was the first time that I remembered where you would hide!"
Suddenly, Jack gasped and leaped at his father. They were in a wrestling match, and seconds later the boy was holding a cake in the air like a trophy. His prize was not in his hands for long; Molly snatched the cake and ran into their bedroom. Molly silently laughed as she heard her father's and brother's groans. Every year Molly would get the first bite out of the cake, and nobody could stop her. It was the first time Molly noticed the cake. It smelled nasty, and was that a worm wriggling around? Molly screamed and ran to the kitchen, where her father and brother where eating chocolate cake. "We are supposed to keep the tradition," she said while her father and her brother laughed. She said, "I left the cake under your bed, Dad." He just looked at her and said, "Do you want a slice?" "Yes please," was the answer. They sat in silence, eating chocolate cake. The twins didn't say anything, for their mouths were full of chocolate. Their father was silent and pushed the cake around his plate with his fork. After a moment's hesitation, he got up and left the kitchen. Molly didn't notice, but Jack did. Molly was too absorbed in the cake. "Do you think he is getting us a present?" Jack asked. "Hm...mfs," was the reply from Molly (still stuffing cake in her mouth). Jack stared at his sister and couldn't help but laugh; her face was covered in chocolate. She didn't seem to care, and made some noises again, "Mf...dug." After waiting several minutes for Molly to polish off the last crumb of the cake, Jack politely told his sister to go to the bathroom and wipe her face. She jumped to her feet and ran to the bathroom. Molly came out and her face was clean from chocolate. At the same moment, their father came in with a large package. The box had no wrapping around it, and several holes were poked at the bottom of the box. "Nobody touches the box until I say you can," said their Dad. The twins reluctantly nodded. They were eager to find out what the present was. "Wait here, I'll be back soon," he said. "What do you think it is?" Molly asked her brother.
"Dunno, do you have any idea?"
"Yes. Daddy told me that we should expect another member of the family."
"We're going to have a baby?" Jack asked with a puzzled expression.
"No, an animal member. At least that's what I think."
"Oh, that would be weird if Dad put a baby in the box."
Molly started giggling and cut herself another slice of cake. Jack slapped her hand and was rewarded with a slap on his arm. "I'm helping you," Jack said, "because you will soon become obese if you keep eating chocolate." "Really? Says the boy who eats all the ice cream in the freezer and leaves nothing for me or Father!" Molly retorted. The twins then looked at each other and had a staring contest. Molly won, obviously. She could keep her eyes open all day if she wanted to. Soon both of the twins got distracted from their little food fight, because the box on the table moved. Molly got up and hid behind Jack, as if he could shield her. Jack was about to reach out and touch the box when Molly slapped his hand away. "Remember what Dad said, don't open the box!" Molly said. "But it... it moved!" Jack sputtered.
"Well if it's an animal, wouldn't it move?"
"Oh."
Molly knocked on her brother's head as if checking if his brain was hollow. The box moved a couple of inches and almost fell off the table. Jack caught the box before it hit the ground, and whimpering could be heard inside the box. Molly looked at her brother, than ran out of the room and found her father sitting in the living room. "Dad, can we open the box it almost fell off the table and Jack caught and I really want to see what's inside and it's whimpering and-" Molly stopped to catch her breath," and I really want to see what's inside." After a few moments of silence, Molly noticed that her father was holding a book that read How to tell others about the SS. "What's the S.S.?" Molly asked suspiciously. "Er...go back to the kitchen and will explain it to you and your brother." He said. Obediently, Molly went to the kitchen and whispered to her brother what had happened previously. In the middle of Molly's explanation, their father came into the room. John Woods' sweat was beaded on his forehead, and he was nervously looking at everything. He was carrying the book that Molly had seen. He set the book on the table and slowly took a seat. "Hello, Molly, Jack," their father nervously said. "Um...Hi, Dr. John Doe," Jack muttered. After glaring at his son, John continued, "I am no longer sure I should tell you what happened to your mother." The twins started giggling and Molly pointed at the box, which now was wet on one side. "Well it's quite obvious what I got for your birthday isn't it?" The twins started laughing and their father was laughing with tears on his face. "You can open the box now," Dr. Woods said. Carefully, Molly opened the box and found a puppy golden Retriever. "Aw, he's so cute. Wait, is this guy a boy?" Molly asked her father. After a reassuring nod from her father, Molly said, "Well we gotta name him, and I have a perfect one!" Whispering into her brother's ear, Jack's face lit up and he said, "We have decided to name him...LUCKY!" "Ok, that's great," Their father said, "but you have to be quiet if you want me to tell you what happened." The twins nodded and put the puppy back in the box.