Dorsai - Full Circle

"if you're not going to talk to anyone else about us, we shouldn't be talking about you to other people – that's only right", the other twin finished. Right then, I had a suspicion that having the two of them there for any period of time was going to prove to be "interesting" For their parts, the other three simply nodded their agreement. Well, it was a start, anyway.

Kelly told them "I know that it's going to take a little while before you're really comfortable enough to feel like you can ask the kinds of things that are on your mind. So what I was thinking was that this first time, why don't you tell us a little bit about how all of you got together?"

The five of them all laughed before Claire spoke, telling us "It actually kind of got started in grade school with Evelyn and me. She was the only Black girl, and I was the only Oriental, in our whole school – so it seemed pretty natural for us to become friends, way back in third grade."

Bonita chimed in then, telling us "My family moved here from Louisiana when I was in sixth grade. With my accent and everything, the other kids didn't seem to know what to make of me, so I kind of got folded in with Evelyn and Claire. Then when we got to middle school, we met Crissy and Sheri."

The twins looked at us before one of them said "Me and my sister, we've always been real close. We even"

"finish each other's sentences, a lot of times.", the other said. They looked at each other, and the first one said "That kind of scares a lot of people, I think."

"But it shouldn't, because we've heard that a lot of twins do that." the other said, then added "And people always seem to get us confused, even though we know who we are"

"they shouldn't be confused because we don't look exactly the same. But it still" the first told us before the second finished "seems to bother people."

Bonita saw the expressions on Kelly's and my faces, and laughed before telling us "And that's why they got hooked up with us. Other people couldn't handle them, while it didn't bother us, what with the three of us being so different already, anyway."

I smiled at the twins and asked "Okay, I'll play – how do I tell you apart, then?"

A little surprised that I'd just come out and ask like that – and that I wasn't visibly bothered by the stereo effect they must have known they had on people – I was told "I'm Crissy – if you look at my nose, you can see that my freckles come up a little higher than Sheri's."

Taking that as permission to move closer and really look at them, I did just that: sure enough, there was a difference – of what appeared to me to be about 3 freckles that added up to maybe a sixteenth of an inch. But it was there, and they waited patiently as I obviously memorized the way each of them looked. When I sat back again, Kelly moved in to see for herself. Both girls seemed mildly surprised, then appreciative, that we would take the time.

From there, it didn't take much for Kelly and I to get the five of them talking – about themselves individually, and as a group – and learning what kinds of things they thought about. We learned what kinds of careers they wanted, what they liked in music, school subjects, and so on. For our part, Kelly and I told them about ourselves, and how it came that we were teaching at the school. The girls were suitably impressed, then amused, then impressed again when they heard the real story of how I'd come to Kelly's 'rescue' when she'd been chosen Valedictorian of her class, only to have her speech disapproved – and the resultant changes that had happened at the school. Then they learned that not only were Kelly and I married, but actually worked at the same place: my engineering company. Shortly after that, it was necessary to give them a tour of the house, showing them the different things that Mabel, my home control system, could do.

When it finally started to get a little bit late, it was Evelyn that told us they had to be leaving – that none of their parents wanted them to stay too long and become nuisances. Kelly and I assured them that they weren't any bother, and would tell their parents so if they wanted to call. On the heels of that, Evelyn called her father who said that he would be there shortly to collect them and take them to their respective homes in his van.

When he showed up, I invited him in. He expressed pleasure at finally meeting the teacher that the kids had always spoken so highly of, and Kelly thanked him for the compliment. When the girls got up to leave, Kelly gave each of them a small hug, and told them that it had been nice talking to them, and asked if they'd like to come again the following Saturday. All agreed, and Evelyn's father said that he'd be glad to bring them. I assured him that they hadn't been any trouble, and that if they wanted to stay a little longer next time, I'd be delighted to provide supper. He seemed a little uncertain at first, but between Kelly's assurances and the girls pleading, he let himself be talked into it with the proviso that it was still up to the other parents – but that he would let them know of his approval.

When they were gone, Kelly and I sat down again and talked about what we thought of the five of them – and other than the mild whiplash caused by the tag-team speaking pattern of the twins, decided that they were all good kids.

We also decided that sending the kids out to a movie every time the girls came over wasn't something we wanted to do. After a little discussion, we settled on an alternative.

The next day, Jan, Robyn, Sandra, and Susan all agreed that each of them would take the kids at different times. Between how much they loved Daniel and Janet, and wanted to help Kelly and me help the kids, they were more than happy to do it.

The following Saturday saw the girls show up a bit ahead of time again – accompanied not only by Evelyn's father, but Claire's as well. When I met them, I invited both inside – and greeted Mr. Li using a large fraction of the little bit of Chinese that I speak. He replied in kind, and gave me a small smile before asking how much more of that language I spoke. I didn't hesitate to admit that I'd used up a good portion of what I knew, and the two of us got into a brief conversation where I learned that he'd immigrated from Twan a number of years before. It didn't take long for the two of us to discover that we knew many of the same places, and shared a number of opinions. I offered to show the two of them around my home, and both accepted – and judging from the expressions on their faces, were impressed. Both seemed to find comfort in the fact that not only was I married, but had children of my own. By the time I was done, I felt that both of them were considerably more relaxed about having their daughters visiting than when they'd arrived. As they were leaving, I told them that they were more than welcome to stop by any time, or call whenever they wished.

By the time I got back to the den, Kelly had already brought in the drinks for everyone, along with a small selection of snacks. I sat down in "my" chair, and we picked up pretty much where we'd left off the week before.

It wasn't until after we'd had supper – delivered pizza, at Kelly's suggestion and the girls unanimous approval – that any of them dared to bring up something resembling a boy-girl kind of question.

As it turned out, it was Sheri that asked Kelly "Kelly, do you think there's anything wrong with girls kissing each other?"

The rest of them got quiet to listen as Kelly answered "No, I don't think there's anything wrong with it – as long as they're kissing because they want to."

"Even if its on the lips?", her sister asked.

Kelly just smiled, and said "Even if its on the lips. Why shouldn't girls kiss each other on the lips if they want to? It's okay for girls to kiss boys like that, isn't it?"