Switched at birth (FACE)

5

"This is weird, right?"

"Definitely weird."

Matthew and I had sat beside each other, watching our dads laughing and talking. "Arthur! You are so funny!" my Papa laughed. I proceeded to frown, uncomfortable, and watched as Arthur laughed and held onto my Papa's shoulder, "You are more, Francis." I looked at Matthew and tapped him. We both turned our heads to talk, and I looked at him nervously. "What do we do? Should we do something now? They are acting really weird," I started. He nodded at me and placed a hand on his chin. "Yes, but wouldn't you get in trouble for getting the DNA test? Also, what if they realize there is a connection between us? Like how we are both from surrogates and our mothers?" He whispered.

Shit, I did not even think about that. If they started to ask questions, it was only a matter of time before they realized it. "Alfred, so I assume you will be starting school here. Are you excited?" Arthur suddenly asked. Matthew and I jumped, and we both turned around. I looked at him nervously and felt my face turn red. He looked so nice; it made me sad.

I had not answered; I looked a little sad at him. His smile dropped, and he looked at me concerned. "Are you okay, kid?" he asked. My Papa looked at me, confused, and Matthew looked at me, worried. I would not replace my Papa with anyone else; I wanted him to be my father still. Yet, the man sitting before me made me want to know him more. What could my life be like if I were to have been raised by him?

"Matthew? are you excited about school?" My Papa tried to change the subject. Matthew looked at my Papa nervously as he stared into his soul. Matthew looked at him with an odd expression that made my Papa look at him concerned. Matthew looked at me suddenly, and his eyes widened. "May we be excused? I want to show Alfred my room," Matthew suddenly spoke. He looked at Arthur with a red face, and our parents looked at us concerned. "Yeah, sure," He spoke, confused.

Matthew nodded, and we both stood up in unison. "Let's go!" he spoke. Matthew grabbed my hand, and he began to pull me up the stairs to his room quickly.

"Why are you sweating so much?" Matthew asked me. He closed his door behind me, and I finally saw myself. I was so sweaty! my shirt was drenched, my hair was drenched, and I was nervous. "OH NO! He is going to know!" I spoke. Matthew looked at me, confused, and I tried to fan myself. Anytime I was hiding something, I began to sweat. This is how I always got caught.

"Stop sweating!"

"I can not stop it!"

I turned around, and my back looked wet; I wanted to cry. "Listen to me! We have to figure out what to do! They will start asking questions, and they might be the wrong ones! If they ask about our mothers! that is all it will take!" Matthew spoke. He began to shake me and quickly pulled his hair back into a ponytail.

I looked at him sadly...I was jealous of his looks.

"I know, but do we tell them straight up? Will they be mad at us?" I asked. Suddenly, I started to look around his room curiously. He had French-inspired items. Such as movie posters, music albums, words, and even old items. "What is with all the french stuff?" I asked. His face turned red, and he began to twiddle his thumbs. "Oh, well, I had always been fascinated with French culture. We used to live in Canada, and I learned French-Canadian and decided to pick up french as well. I had always felt this weird connection to France. We visited last year, and ever since I have become obsessed," He laughed nervously.

It made me sad hearing this.

We were both robbed of what could have happened.

"I would not trade my Dad for the world, I am sure Francis is nice, and I would not mind getting to know him, but I do not want you to feel uncomfortable," He spoke. I smiled at what he said; I had felt the same way. "I feel the same way, I want to get to know him, but I would not want you to feel a certain way about it," I explained. He smiled at me and shook his head. "I would never mind; we are family, after all," He smiled.

We smiled at each other, and I placed my hands on my hips. "Although, you have to admit that our dads were acting weird with each other," I explained. "Yeah, I think they might like each other...HEY, I HAVE AN IDEA!" I began to shake Matthew. "What?" he asked. "If they become friends, it will not be suspicious why we want to be around both of them!" I spoke. "That could work, especially at our age; it would be odd to ask for one-on-one time; we could do something together," he smiled. I nodded at him, and we gave each other high fives.

"Come on, let's go back down," He spoke. I nodded at him, and we quietly began to walk back downstairs. "Arthur, how long have you been living in London?" I heard my Papa ask. Matthew stopped me, and we both quietly began to listen. "We moved back a few years ago after living in Canada. I never married, and I have brothers who live here, so it only made sense," Arthur spoke. My eyes widened.

Brothers?

"I have uncles?" I whispered. Matthew nodded nervously and smiled sweetly. "You have an Aunt...Lucile," I whispered. His eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed. "Oh," he whispered, shocked. "Oh? are you seeing anyone right now?" My Papa asked. "No, I am hopeless, and you?" Arthur asked.

My Papa was not, but he always told me he would not date.

"No, but I would not mind starting," He spoke. My jaw dropped, and I looked at Matthew, horrified. "Are they?" I started.

"Flirting? I think so," Matthew whispered, horrified. I didn't know my dad was into men! Wait! he and Matthews' dad? WHAT THE HELL?

"Maybe; I am sure you will not have trouble finding anyone, Francis; you seem very nice," Arthur spoke. Matthew covered his mouth, shocked, and bumped into me. Our faces turned red, and I tried to listen in again. "Arthur, I think you and I will be very close."

"Francis, we just met; you shouldn't say stuff like that."

"It is not like our kids will know."

"Wouldn't it make them uncomfortable?"

"Ahh, what they don't know won't hurt; what do you say?"

"Hmmm..."

"Here is my number; how about you shoot me a text tonight?"

My eyes widened, and I did not know what to do. "Come on; we have to make noise to let them know we are coming," I spoke. He nodded at me, and we quietly walked up the stairs and began to make noise coming down.

This was fantastic!