Halfway to Heaven-- Boy X Boy

our youth

It didn't take long for our parents to realize we liked being together. In the first few months, they started letting us sleep in the same crib. Daniel didn't have a dad, so whenever his mom needed a break he would be left with us. Other kids had a "blankie" or a "ba ba" but I had Daniel and he had me.

My intention was not to have us both land in male bodies but that's how things had worked out and I loved him regardless. Daniel learned to walk before me, but I started to talk before him. As soon as he could balance he would try to help me stand. He would walk right up to me and look down at me as I crawled. I would grab his arms and pull him down on me. Then Daniel would slowly take a step back and I would follow him. Our parents told their friends we were waltzing but I just couldn't stay balanced.

I started calling him "Don Don" even though his name was Charlie. He knew that was my name for him, and even though he never replied, he knew what I was saying. When he started making sounds our moms put us in preschool. We were comfortable with each other at that point. On the first day, all Daniel did was cry. I gave him hugs to try to make him feel better but it didn't work. The next day I came prepared. I brought a blanket with us and just before we went inside, I tied a little cape around his neck. Daniel never smiled quiet like he did on the first day he had a cape. From then on preschool was fun. I would run up and tackle him when he wasn't paying attention. He would fall limply to the floor and I would laugh.

My little Don Don loved when the teacher would read us books. I would snuggle up close to him and he would put his cape around me. When we had music time I would take one side of the xylophone and he would play the other end. Daniel only ever played one note, but it was like the tempo. I could see the teacher slowly growing concerned about him. She tried desperately to get him to talk during show and tell. I loved to talk, so I started doing it for him. He would bring in a toy and I would stand beside him explaining what it did.

The teacher also wasn't happy about nap time. We were only used to cuddling so having to sleep on separate mats proved to be an issue. Now that I think about it Daniel cried a lot as a child. He wouldn't sleep without me right next to him. He wouldn't talk unless I held his hand. He wouldn't be creative unless I started him off.

One day our moms came in to talk to the teacher about her concerns. We were both set up at painting stations while our parents watched us from afar. They all seemed to think something was wrong with Daniel. However it was them who were wrong, Don Don was perfect. I couldn't have him get in trouble but if they saw me painting for him again they might be upset. Dipping my hands in the yellow paint I drew circular flower petals. Then I added a red center and a green stem.

Daniel looked at it intently. I could see the dejavu wash over his eyes. He turned to his piece of paper and placed a single finger in the purple paint. I watched him draw two broad strokes over the paper. A heart appeared on the page. Then two little stick figures held hands inside of it. I smiled at him and nodded towards our parents. He got my hint and walked up to them.

"Me, him." He said pointing at each stick figure.

I smiled and got up. Our parents were thrilled to see this. We didn't have a problem like that since. Daniel was great in kindergarten. He was good at the alphabet. We colored in the letters so often he got bored. He was also good at outside games like tag and hide and go seek. When he had to talk he did it oddly. He would do things like say the alphabet from Z to A, which was really cool, but not normal.