Best of Women

Pippa

A few weeks later, we'd slipped back into a comfortable routine. I was back to picking up the girls and Rio from school. Eva had been cleared to return to gymnastics completely, but Lin was making her take it slowly which she hated. Of course, I was usually the one who had to make sure she complied.

Rio sat doing his homework as I worked on my laptop one afternoon. Eva was looking strong, but she did take it easy on her right foot. She tried to land gingerly, mostly on her left foot. Her bones would be more prone to breaking and she asked a lot of her body in gymnastics.

The girls finished up their training and went to the locker room to put on their tracksuits. They talked about practice as we rode the subway home together. Both Eva and Mia were competitive. It didn't help that they were twins and obviously lived with each other. There was a meet coming up in two weeks and Eva was pushing herself to get herself ready.

As we neared the Mirandas' house, the conversation began to turn from playful banter to an argument.

"That is definitely not a 'C' value. You're high," Eva accused her sister as we got off the subway.

"Yes it is!" Mia argued. "Check the book!"

"I will!" she said as she began to walk quickly through the station. They were both level 7 gymnasts and had certain requirements for their routines. Each apparatus had different skills they had to hit. It was the coach's job to make sure the requirements were met.

"Girls, I'm sure the coach is making sure all your routines are squared away," I said as he reached the street.

"Tell her that," Mia griped as we walked. Eva pushed her foot into the back of Mia's knee, causing her leg to buckle and her to stumble.

"Stop it!" Mia yelled at her sister. Eva mocked her and Mia pushed her.

"Girls!" I pushed Mia away and put my body between them. "Stop. Eva, walk ahead and use the stairs."

She stormed ahead, frowning, and I hung back with Mia. "Why are you two arguing?"

"She keeps trying to say my routines aren't good enough. That hers are better," she said. "She's always trying to one-up me."

"You two are super competitive," I acknowledged as we reached the apartment building. "Don't let her hook you in. Try to ignore her."

"Well, it's hard when you have to share a room," she pointed out. "Why can't Rio and Sebastian share a room? Sebastian will be moving out soon anyway."

I didn't think it was a bad idea, but I wasn't their parent, though sometimes the workload felt like it. We walked up to the apartment and were met with the smells of dinner cooking. Lin greeted everyone, but Eva stormed to her room and Mia plopped down on the couch.

"They're arguing again," I told him as I set my stuff down. He sighed. The last week or so, they'd been at each other's throats. We talked about our days as Eva hit the shower and Mia took control of the remote.

Eva walked out a few minutes later with the laptop she shared with her sister. That was a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. "Mia, come look," she said, pulling up some website about gymnastics skills.

Mia walked over and looked at the screen. "See? Level A," she told her sister smugly. Mia furrowed her eyebrows as she read.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"See, coach wants you to lose," Eva joked. "He knows you shouldn't be level seven. You should still be in level sex."

"Shut up!" Mia told her sister, getting upset. Eva mocked her sister again, which always got under Mia's skin. Before we knew it, hands were flying and they were both screeching.