It wasn't like she intentionally found herself out of work again, it was just that she was trying her very best to succeed on her own that her stubbornness meant she didn't ask for help when she needed it most. Christian supposed she got that from their mother, who always tried to do as much as possible on her own before she simply had to ask for help. His sister had a wonderful stage presence, and she could quickly capture the audience, but sadly there was few jobs out there for those starting on the singing profession. Their father had often expressed his desire to help her, but she always declined. She was going to do this on her own, without anyone's help.
Yep, it definitely had to be their mother's stubbornness shining through.
Christian leaned back against the kitchen counter, looking over at his sister perched upon the bar stool by his breakfast bar. It was mid-morning on a Saturday, and she was still in her pajamas, flipping through a magazine absentmindedly. She'd arrived last night, with all her belongings and that sweet smile on her face, asking her brother if it would be alright if she could stay with him until she was able to get back on her feet. Looking at her, he couldn't turn her away, not that he would anyway. Family meant so much to him, and the twins had one of the strangest families the world will probably ever see.
"You do know if Mom found out you were crashing here, she'd come over to find out whats wrong," he told his sibling before taking a bite out of his toast. "And then Dad would find out, and before you know it, I'll have our entire family invading my home to find out why my sister is crashing with me."
"You know they'll want to see you too," she replied, blue eyes that were exactly like her father's lifted from the page she was reading to look over at her brother. "They don't all fawn over me,"
Christian rolled his eyes, munching the food in his mouth. After swallowing he said "I've been told the stories just as much as you. You were the one that always wanted attention, and you always got it."
"Except from Tetsu," she replied with a soft chuckle.
"Even from Tetsu, Izzy. He adores you."
She tutted, looking away from her twin, resting her chin in her hand, gaze staring out of the kitchen window. "That's why I came to you, Chris, I don't want fawning over by our family. Jake moves out soon, and then Mom and Jon have the chance to finally be alone together." She looked back at her brother. "I don't want them to worry about me."
"You're jobless, and sleeping on my couch. I think they have every right to worry," he retorted.
"Trust you to be Mr.Obvious. Whatever happened to looking out for your little sister?"
Christian leaned forwards, hands propping himself on the breakfast counter, bringing his face close to his sister's, strands of soft blond hair falling before his big brown eyes. "When my little sister starts accepting help," he replied softly, lips curled into a cheerful grin. Lifting one hand, he poked the other twenty two year old in the forehead. "You're as stubborn as Mom."
Isobel swatted at his hand. "At least I'm not as gay as Dad,"
He scoffed at her reply. "Nick and I are close," he replied. "Not like that!" he added before his sister had chance for a witty comeback. "We both happen to enjoy cooking," he explained, wandering around the counter to go and get changed out of his sleep clothes.
Isobel spun around on her stool, leaning back on her elbows. "You have Mom's voice fetish. Admit it," she chirped. "You like Nick's accent"
He paused in the kitchen doorway. "It reminds me of Jon," he said, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Plus, its his sister I'm more interested in," he added with a wink.
That got her going. Walking out of the kitchen, he could hear his twin spluttering about. There was the clatter of the stool falling over as she tried to scramble to her feet, accompanied by a curse. Then she'd pick up the stool, and rush to her brother's room to find out more gossip. It was hard to pin-point which family member she got her need for gossip from, but Christian had a feeling it was possibly more from their father than their mother.
Tossing the faded blue t-shirt he'd been wearing onto his bed, Christian began searching through his wardrobe for something to wear, listening to his sister asking countless questions, wanting to know each and every detail of her brother's love life.
"You do know Dad's been harping on lately about grandchildren," said mentioned, leaning in his bedroom doorway, inspecting manicured nails as if the comment was simply passing information.
Pulling the sweater over his head, Christian ruffled fingers through his hair. "Well, he'll have to find out a way for Tetsu to get pregnant and then wait a few years, because I'm certainly not in the place for kids." He gave a cheeky grin. "You, on the other hand..."
"Am unemployed and crashing on my brother's couch," she replied quickly, mimicking her brother's grin.
"Well he's just going to have to wait, isn't he?"
"You could always do Dad's trick and get an ex pregnant. Wasn't Clarissa always wanting children?"
Christian shuddered. "No thanks. I think I'm fine without that weirdo. Besides, I think Christopher scared her so much she won't be coming near our family for a very long time."
Isobel sighed softly, resting her head against the door frame, arms folding at her chest. "I haven't seen Christopher in ages. Do you remember when we were five, and he told us that Tetsu was a girl?"
"You believed him," her brother replied, flopping down onto his bed to pull his socks on. "You referred to Tetsu as a 'she' for so long, Dad was starting to worry about you." He paused, thinking for a moment. "I think he said that he was worried that you weren't accepting him because most families had a mother and a father, but we had one mother and three fathers." He hummed softly to himself, pushing up from his bed. "I wonder how long it would have lasted if I hadn't told Mom that it was what Christopher had said?"
Isobel began laughing. "Oh dear, they would have sent me to therapy or something." Pushing away from her spot by the door, she moved over to where her brother stood examining himself in the long mirror on his wardrobe. Slender hands dusted down his shoulders, then reached up and began toying with his hair, drawing her fingers through the soft, shoulder length blond locks. Christian, despite being her twin, was taller than she was. He had their father's height, while she had their mother's. There were differences and similarities between the twins, and as they grew older they began taking more and more after one parent in looks. Isobel had her father's eyes, but had taken after her mother with size and stature. It was nice to feel like her big brother could protect her, but sometimes she just wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet and not need someone there to help her. "I guess that sometimes, they tried too hard to bring us up like a normal family."
Slowly, his sister's arms wrapped around his waist, and she buried her face into his back, holding on tight to Christian. Looking down at those small hands, he covered them with his own. "I'd never change it," he told her softly. "Even with all the bullying when the kids at school found out about our Dad being in a gay relationship, or that our parents were all teachers. All those times where we wanted to stay another night with Dad, but we had to go back to Mom, or even when Jacob was born and we were no longer the babies. I wouldn't change any of it."
"I'll tell Dad," she replied once he had finished. "And I'll go see Mom and tell her." She sighed softly, resting her cheek upon that warm back. "Thanks for reminding me just what our family means." She still wanted to succeed on her own, but Isobel would at least let her parents know how she was doing.
Christian patted her hands, and pulled loose. Turning around, he look to his little sister with a bright smile on his face. She was the families favorite, drawing people in with those eyes of her's, and being the little actress that Daddy admired. But for Isobel, her brother was her favorite. Tetsu came a close second though.
"Well, you're going to have to see Mom tomorrow anyway. It's her and Jon's wedding anniversary, remember?"
She cursed. She'd completely forgotten to get them a gift.
No comments:
Post a Comment