Two of a Kind

Ella in Chicago

Ella was standing on the platform, clutching her little fingers firmly in her brother's travel bag and looking shyly left and right. What did her father look like? Did the camouflage really work as well as in the morning at breakfast in the holiday camp? What if he sees through it and doesn't want her?

Ella wanted to cry, but she very much doubted that Jake would cry in this situation. After all, she wasn't Ella, she was Jake. She agreed to his plan. So she must now be able to leave the emotional chaos behind in Ella's life and be Jake.

"Jake!" A brown-haired man called from afar and approached.

"Daddy!", Ella was delighted, ran towards the man and wrapped her arms around him. Jay faltered inwardly. Daddy? Hug? What about the cool Jake who claims to be hugged by the dad in public is super embarrassing?

"Daddy?" He asked irritably, "Since when have you been calling me Daddy?"

"Um, we haven't seen each other for so long and yeah...", Ella shrugged and adjusted her baseball cap, "I actually mean Jay."

Jake explained that he only called his father Jay.

"Come on, you can tell me on the way if you can do math now," said Jay, reaching for the travel bag.

"Oh yeah, you'll be amazed when I take the first math exam home!" Ella grinned. Mathematics was her absolute favorite subject besides English.

"I'll take your word for it!" On the way home they got Pizza and then they sat on the couch and ate. They watched a baseball game.

"How was the summer camp? Did you find a lot of friends?" Jay asked. Actually, he never had to squeeze the answers out of his son. Jake was usually a talkative boy and sometimes he talked too much.

"Yes," said Ella, when she noticed that her father was staring at her and apparently asking for a detailed answer, she continued, "I met really nice people and also met a very good friend. We played badminton and were often in the museum and so on."

Only afterwards did Ella realize that she was describing her free time experiences and not Jake's.

"Museum? Badminton?" Jay asked in horror. It didn't look like his son at all. Was that any new method of education from summer camp?

"Well, it was a math museum for kids. You wanted me to learn math on vacation," she said, "and we also played soccer every day and we often went swimming in the lake."

"Wow, um, that's nice," said Jay, looking intently at the television where the Cubs were playing against the Yankees.

Ella's eyes were always focused on her father. It was unbelievable for her that she met her Dad today. And he wasn't like Mom described. Because of her father hates children. He raised her brother and the small apartment was lovingly furnished. Even if it was a man's cave. The house in which they had been living for several years was the home of mom's colleagues and boyfriend that Ella didn't like.

"Jake? Is everything alright with you?"Jay asked. Ella opened her mouth, wanted to say something but didn't. Was she staring at her Dad so clearly all the time? She saw that Jay had the color of her eyes. Or did she have Jay's eye color? Slowly it got very hot, she couldn't hear her father's words anymore, she felt pale and everything pixelated in front of her eyes.

"Greater? Is everything alright with you?" Jay asked again. The boy was still staring at him as if he had seen a ghost. But then the kid passed out within a few seconds. At the very last moment Jay was able to catch his son before he hit his head on the floor. He gently laid the sweaty boy down on the floor, legs up on the couch.

"Jacob? Jacob, can you hear me?" Jay asked, gently clapping his child's cheek. Less than 10 seconds later, Ella woke up and looked around in confusion. She wanted to get up, but her father prevented it.

"Have a drink," said Jay, holding out the water bottle. Ella hesitantly picked up the bottle. She noticed that her father didn't let go of the other end of the bottle. He probably thought she didn't have the strength to hold the bottle alone.

"Can you get up? "Jay asked worried. Ella nodded, so Jay helped his son get back on the sofa.

"I'm calling Will. He should examine you," said Jay, typing on the smartphone.

"Not necessary. I have low blood pressure and then it happens every now and then,"

"Low blood pressure?" Jay asked confused and raised an eyebrow. He had Will check his son regularly. Low blood pressure had never been an issue. And Jake never fainted.

"Probably because I drank so little, or does one have nothing to do with the other?" Ella tried to save the situation.

"Are you really feeling better?" Jay asked worried. He played lightly with the thought of going to the emergency room with his son, but Jake probably didn't drink much on a hot summer day.

"Yes," She has practice fainting. It happens frequently, but a cause has never been found, or doctors in New York say it is because her blood pressure is low.

Many of her mother's colleagues were Yankee's fan like Ella. She couldn't identify with the Cubs. After all, she had never been to Chicago and therefore always stayed true to her hometown.

"Yankees will win!" Ella grinned.

"What?" He asked indignantly.

"Um, well, Yankees lead with two points," Ella tried to save the situation. However, her father put his flat hand against her forehead.

"You don't have a fever," Jay murmured.

"I think I should really go to bed," said Ella, pretending to yawn.

Jay nodded, "Good night my son!"

"Good night, Jay!" said Ella, disappearing into her room. At least it was not difficult to guess where Jake has his room because the door is overlooked with stickers.

Ella climbed into the loft bed and sank into the pillows. She sighed. Usually mom would come and kiss her good night. However, she switched with Jake and her father will definitely not give her a kiss.

When it started to thunder, she hid under the covers. She would normally scurry to bed with her mom now, but Jake would never do that. To be on the safe side, she typed him an SMS.

Ella: if it's thunderstorm what do you do?

Jake: Nothing.

Ella: I'm scared.

Jake: Thunderstorm is not dangerous when you are in the house.

Was that all Jake said? Was he really such a stark contrast to her? Not even her favorite cuddly toy was with her. Instead, a broken tiger cuddly toy lay next to her. The tiger had only one button eye and therefore wore an eye patch and a paw was also amputated. She was really wondering what a destructive toddler her brother was. Hopefully he didn't amputate her dolls.