Switched at birth (FACE)

7

Before I realized it, a month had passed. I had started school, and Matthew and I still did not say a word. However, a new friendship emerged between us. We spent nearly every day together and did everything together. We even realized that not only did we like similar things, but in a way, we also looked alike. Especially if we fixed ourselves a certain way. I told him our mothers were twins, and it made us wonder if that's why we had similar characteristics.

Papa had enrolled me in the same school as him, and we were lucky to be in the same class. Immediately people asked about our closeness and if we were related, which Matthew and I would not deny. "We are brothers!" We'd say. In a way, we had started to feel that way about each other, despite not knowing each other for long.

"Mattie! My papa wants to invite you and your dad over tonight! You can finally come over! I can show you my room, and we can maybe find a way to tell them!" I spoke. He looked up from his book and smiled. Surprisingly, our dads spent a lot of time together, and I had not heard them mention our mothers yet. Matthew and I had gotten so close that we spent more time with each other than we did with our REAL fathers.

"That's great! I was thinking that now that everyone is closer, we should try to come up with something," he explained. I nodded in agreement.

~
That evening, I was at home alone while my dad went to the store. I was too tired to leave which he did not mind. However, I knew that Arthur and Matthew would come by later. There was a sudden knock at the door, and it caused me to stand up quickly. That's weird; Matthew would have texted me if he was on his way already.

I went to open the door promptly, and standing before me was him. "Arthur? Where's Matthew?" I asked. "Funny story, we were at the store and ran into your dad. Your dad suggested I come by so I would not "stress" him out with the shopping stuff. However, he and Matthew stayed together, which isn't fair," he laughed, embarrassed. Makes sense; my dad didn't like his opinion when it came to cooking.

"Don't worry; he is like that with me too. He offers for me to come, but he doesn't care for my opinion; he thinks I don't know how to cook," I laughed. I gestured for him to come in, and he nodded happily. "Matthew cooks for me too most times; it's embarrassing since I'm his parent," he spoke. I laughed at the thought, and we both walked into the kitchen.

"Would you like coffee? Sorry, we don't have tea; let me check," I laughed. "Ah, don't worry if there isn't any," he smiled. I began to look through the cabinets and smiled, seeing we had green tea.

"How is school going? Are you and Matthew staying out of trouble?" He laughed. I smiled at him and nodded. "Of course! I'll get the kettle started," I spoke. I put the stove on and began to let the water heat up as I grabbed the cups, sugar, and tea bags. I pulled out a chair and began to set everything down.

"How about you and my dad? He doesn't stop talking about you! That's all he wants to talk about," I laughed. He scratched the side of his head nervously and laughed. "Oh! I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable—"

"Don't worry about it! If my Papa likes you, then I do. Even though I thought that beforehand that we could be close too."

"Yes! I agree! I feel that we both have some things in common!"

I laughed at what he said and stood up to grab the kettle once I saw steam leaving the snout. "Please stop me if I'm pushing the subject, but Francis never talks about your mother. Is it a tough subject?"

Maybe this was my chance to reel them in slowly?

"Ah, well, I was born from a surrogacy; I never met my mother," I explained. I began to pour the hot water into the cup, and he looked surprised. "That is so funny! Matthew was too!" He chuckled. I nodded, trying to act surprised at the coincidence.

I put the kettle back and brought spoons to stir. "That's amazing!" I smiled. We both began to place our spoons in the sugar, and I noticed how we both put three spoons of sugar in our tea. "Haha, three, just like me," I laughed. He smiled at me and we both began to stir our tea.

However, I noticed that we both did ours counterclockwise. How odd.

I was counting to ten in my head, and once I stopped, he did too. I couldn't help but look over at him, confused. Wow, this would be less creepy if only he knew that I was his son. "Wow, we must like our tea the same way. I have this weird habit of—"

"Counting to ten?" I laughed.

His smile dropped, and he looked at me as if I had just read his mind. "Ah! It's a habit! I had always done it!" I tried to explain. "Hmmm, me too," he smiled. I nodded nervously and began to cross my legs under the table.

I began to take out my spoon, and we both tapped the liquid off simultaneously. Okay...

Weird...

I began to reach for a napkin, but he did the same as I did. Okay...

Weirder.

"Sorry, go ahead," I laughed. He laughed nervously and took two, placing one in front of me and one in front of himself. We both placed our spoons on it, and I laughed again.

"Stop copying me!" I laughed.

"Me? You are copying me!" He laughed.

We both looked at each other for a second and soon burst out laughing. "Wow, it is like we are the same person; I wonder if we do anything else the same," he wondered. "Ah, well, let's see, I put both my socks on first before my shoes, and my shoes on the left, then right!"

"Me too!"

We both began to laugh.

"Ah! Papa hates this, but I always make lists! I'm a big list person! He tells me I should try and remember, but I can't help but make a list for everything."

"Oh my! Matthew says the same thing to me!"

We looked at each other again, laughing, and I wanted to cry again. We were so similar; we looked similar and had the same tics. "How funny, we are so similar," he smiled. "This might be hard, but I'm actually allergic to the pollen. I get terrible allergies in the spring," I laughed. He looked at me curiously again and tilted. "Weird, me too; it gets awfully terrible," he spoke.

He began to look at me curiously, and I felt nervous. "WE ARE HOME!" My papa shouted. Arthur continued to stare at me, and I immediately stood up. "Ah! You are back!" I smiled. I watched how Matthew and my papa came into the kitchen with smiles on their face. That is good... I hope they had fun.