We pulled up to Matthew's house and it was cute. It was two stories, there were four tall pillars that went all the way up to the second floor. There were Christmas lights wrapped around them. Each side of the house had three windows, it was a perfectly symmetrical house, which fascinated me for some reason. Matthew insisted on driving and Ray called shotgun. I got to sit in the tiny little backseat of the truck.
"You guys coming in? I am almost positive my mom would like to meet you." Matthew said.
"I guess, as long as it doesn't go as well as meeting my parents."
"No, of course not. My family is sane and we actually communicate with each other."
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in. Ray get out, I'm cramped up back here."
When we walked in it smelled like cookies and apple pie.
"Is your mom baking?" Ray said.
"Probably. She sells all kinds of baked goods from home. MOM I'M HOME!"
A woman walked down the stairs. She looked about the age of my mother. She had long smooth dark brown hair, the same texture of Matthew's. She was short maybe five two and had a little round face with warm brown eyes.
Matthew walked up and kissed her on the cheek. She looked over at Ray and I and just stared at us curiously.
"You two are a sight."
Ray and I looked at each other. "Thanks?" We said unsure if she meant that in a good or bad way.
"You must be Rita." She shook my hand, "And I take it you are Ray?"
Ray nodded, "Nice to meet you ma'am."
"It's nice to finally meet you two. I'm Diane. You are as stunning as everyone says."
"Everyone?" I say.
"Oh dear, when Matthew has friends over, they are Rita this and Ray that. The girls swoon, the boys swoon. But I guess I can see why now."
Matthew slapped his hand to his forehead. "Mom, please shut up, they don't want to hear that. I don't even want to hear that."
"Oh, hush boy." She told him. "Are you guys hungry? I made some cookies."
We followed her to the kitchen and it was like one of those kitchens you saw in the home magazines. There was an island in the center, farmers sink with some vegetable's sitting in it. There were double ovens next to the range and a six-top stove, and to top it off pots and pans were hanging over the island. I mean my kitchen was just as big, but my mom didn't cook so she didn't care what was in the kitchen or what it looked like. Our counter tops were to be cleared of anything at all times.
She put out a plate of cookies in front of us.
"I hope you saved some to the side for everyone, mom." Matthew said, "These two will probably devour the whole plate."
"I made another batch. I figured a girl that eats three pieces of cheesecake in one sitting probably would eat twelve cookies with no problem."
"She's smart." I said. Ray and I took a bite of our cookies and looked at each other. They were the most perfect cookies to ever exist. They were soft, fluffy, sweet, and everything holy in this world, aside from cheesecake, of course. We both started eating whole cookies in just two bites until there was one left. "That's yours, I had six."
Matthew's mother looked at us like she had just watched a lion take down a gazelle and swallow its body whole. "I told you." Matthew placed a cup of water next to me. "I told her you eat like a wild animal. She didn't believe me. She thought you were more lady like."
"Oh, I see. No ma'am, I was raised by this fool." I said pointing to Ray. "We used to have eating competitions until we were thirteen. Then we just started sharing everything, the faster you eat, the more food you get."
"I told you they were weird, mom. You never believe me."
"Hey!" Ray and I said.
"I didn't say it was bad. It's just interesting to observe. You guys are like two halves of a whole person. One doesn't function without the other. Except when Maggie happened."
Ray rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know, we have been over this. That's why I broke up with her. Rita gave her an inch and she took a whole mile and she was driving me freaking crazy."
"I've been wanting to ask this, I have heard a rumor in school that you even take Rita on your dates." Matthew was trying not to laugh.
"Yup, Rita goes everywhere with me. Maybe not every single time, but ninety nine percent of the time she comes with me on dates. Except for Maggie because she had Rita's permission."
"You do know you guys are weird, right? Who takes their sister on dates with them?"
"We know. Not like it stops girls from dating him. This is how we see it, whoever either of us ends up with is going to have to deal with us being together all the time and doing our weird twin thing. Right now, this is how we are, we don't know if it will change, so it has to be accepted."
Matthew nodded and Diane just watched us all interact with each other as if it were some kind of show.
"The three of you have a very interesting dynamic." Diane said. We all looked at her. "You guys talk, listen and understand each other with no problems, no misunderstandings, no malice. It's like you guys have been a trio for years."
"There's nothing to be upset about. Once Ray was able to see that Matthew is important to me and that he wasn't taking advantage of me or anything, he was fine. If I get along with someone, then Ray will too. When he isn't being a butthead, he is easy going. As for Matthew and I, I guess we click. I don't know to describe it, he has a very calming effect. He doesn't get angry with me, he is patient and talks to me about anything he may be feeling. And I do the same with him. We aren't shy or embarrassed around each other. I am as comfortable with Matthew as I am with Ray. There really is no reason, anymore, for any of us to be hostile or get annoyed with each other." Diane was smiling at me and Matthew had this gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his face. "I don't know Diane, it's hard to explain."
She laughed, "Oh that's alright, you didn't have to explain, you three are just interesting to watch."
I turned to Ray, "That reminds me, now that we had our showdown at school, people may tell you Matthew was hitting on them. Don't get mad, I told him to."
Ray leaned forward and put his forehead on the counter. "You are ridiculous. I am not that bad."
"Look at his face!" I pointed to Matthew's eye.
"Look at mine!" Ray pointed to his own face.
"You deserved it. You heard something and didn't give me a chance to explain it before you acted. AND once you acted, you didn't stop when I asked you to."
"Fine."
I sipped my water and twirled myself around in the chair. After a few sips I set my cup down and continued spinning. "Hey, Ray, why was mom acting so weird this morning?"
Ray sighed and Matthew took a seat next to me and continued spinning me.
"I think, I'm not sure, but I think her problem all these years may have been her just trying to deal with it and act like it didn't happen because you didn't know. I know she constantly worried about you remembering. Her way of coping with things is different than ours, she withdraws herself, like she did with you. It was easier for her to deal with what happened and not feel like she failed as a parent, if she just let someone else do it since she feels she messed up before. I think now she doesn't have to feel that way. I mean it isn't all better, but she has definitely found some peace about the situation. Not to mention, that was one hell of a hug, it broke her down. She had it all pent-up for many years."
"Do you think our relationship will get better?" When it came to our parents Ray was my advisor, he knew them better than me. Over the years, slowly they kind of took the back seat to parenting since I did whatever Ray did and I listened to him. There would be times where I would ask Ray for permission to do things because I thought I was supposed to.
"I don't know, I mean I hope so. Seems like it was better this morning. Just baby steps with her. This was a big a step already, I mean the fact that she cooked, let a boy stay and didn't question it, and thought she had to cook for us was all just a huge deal. I just didn't want to say it in front of her. I almost asked her who the heck she was."
"So, wait, I am still having trouble with this, who cooks your meals?" Matthew asked.
"I told you, we cook in our house." I said.
"Your parents are rich, why don't they hire a chef or something?"
Ray and I looked at each other and laughed. "As rich as my dad is, he wouldn't do something like that. As my mom withdrew more Ray and I learned, we've been doing it for a few years now. My dad won't spend money on things. You see our house, it barely looks lived in."
"How did you learn?" Diane asked. "Maybe my son should learn one of these days, hopefully he doesn't burn the house down."
"Our dad put us in some cooking class for kids. That was where we learned the basics. My mom taught us some stuff before she checked out. Then we started watching videos and as we grew, we used cookbooks and the internet." Ray said. "Speaking of food, we should probably make sure mom ate."
"Hold on, I am confused about your parents. So, your mom, I get the withdrawal thing after that happened, but what is it that is wrong with her? Like why did she stop doing all of these things?"
"Depression, I think. We don't really talk about it. She is present most days, but she sleeps a lot. When she is awake, she's raising hell about things she needs done and if Rita doesn't do this or that then forget it."
"He means like cleaning or getting good grades."
"You know, seeing you guys in school, I never would've guessed any of this."
"I know, we are way cooler than we look." I said.