This story was named after the song "Wind Of Change" by the Scorpions
"The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers "
Chap. Three: So Close
I just stared at Gordo, open mouthed. I couldn't comprehend what he had just told me. Sure, I had considered the possibility but I had practically thrown it out the window as soon as I had thought it. I only asked Gordo to spy on the sessions in hopes that Mom would spill on who the father was. In hopes she would shed some light. I didn't expect Gordo to find out that it was also his brother or sister that Mom was carrying.
"What?" I asked, dumbly, as if I hadn't heard a word he had said. He knew better. He knew that I had heard him perfectly fine.
"That's what I said when I found out. I would have listened longer, Lizzie. I'm sorry. My mind had just gone on overload." Gordo was now looking at his hands as he played with the napkin that his drink sat on.
"It. It's ok, Gordo. I would have done the same." I thought for a while. The silence was neither awkward or comfortable. It just was.
"My father asked me if I would mind moving a while back." Gordo admitted.
"Move? What?" I asked, confused. What does moving have to do with this? Dr. Gordon had asked Mom to marry him, right? Would that mean I would have to move if Mom said yes?
"Not out of state, Lizzie." Gordo said as if it was plain as day. "Into a new house in the area. My guess is that if your mom said yes to his proposal, he'd want to start new." he explained his theory.
"Oh." was all I was able to say. I took a small drink, soaking in the new information. "What did you tell him?"
"I told him I wouldn't mind. Truth is, it's lonely in that big house. It reminds me of all the fights my parents used to have." he told me, reluctantly.
"So what do we do now?" I asked softly.
"I don't know." he replied just as soft. "If your mom says yes, we will probably end up living together."
I thought about that for a moment. On one hand, the whole brother-sister thing would be weird. But on the other hand, Gordo was my best friend. I would be living with my best friend. This could be fun. Family outings would be fun. "I guess if I have to have a step-brother, you would be the best one to have." I smiled lightly.
"I guess there could be some advantages to living together." he agreed, also smiling.
"You do realize what this means, don't you?" I asked him after a minute, my smile fading from my face.
"What?" Gordo looked at me as if I grew two heads. I could only guess that the look on my face showed pure disgust.
"Our parents had sex."
Gordo groaned. "Please, I don't even want to think about that." his face turned a greenish tint that made me laugh. "That's why they have been hiding this. They don't want us upset. They think that we won't like the idea of them getting married."
"Do we like the idea of them getting married?" I asked. I never, in one million years ever thought that Gordo and I would have to talk about this.
"Will it really change that much, for the worse?" he asked. "I mean, we get to live together. We will have a new baby brother or sister in six months. We will be able to each other with our homework at any time. We can team up on Matt." he and I shared a grin at that. "The only thing that could really happen between you and I is that we become better, closer friends." he reasoned.
He had a point. "I guess it wouldn't be so bad." I teased him and he reached over and pushed me lightly. We laughed together for a short moment. It was one of those laughs that broke the tension and worry but wasn't exactly heart felt. It still felt good to laugh though.
"What are we going to tell Miranda?" Gordo asked suddenly.
"Miranda. I forgot about her. She still thinks you are missing!" I exclaimed.
"Should I call her?" he asked, taking out his cell phone.
"Yeah, tell her we are coming over. We can figure out what to tell her on the way." I told him.
"Works for me." he said as he flipped his phone open and dialed Miranda's private number. "Miranda? Yeah, I'm fine. Lizzie and I will be right over. We have something to tell you." there was a short pause as I could hear Miranda yelling about something. "Miranda! I'm hanging up. See you in a few." and he flipped his phone closed.
"What was she yelling about?" I asked him.
"She's mad that we didn't include her in on our conversation before. She had called your mom and then you turned up missing. She was worried." Gordo told me as we stood up and walked over to the till to pay for our drinks.
"Oops, I guess we should have called her when I got here." I shrugged. "Are we going to take both cars?" I asked looking back and forth between our cars.
"No, we still have to talk about what we are going to tell Miranda, lets take mine." he said pulling out his key's and heading over to his car. I followed.
"Good point." I told him as he unlocked the car and we got in. He started the ignition and we were on our way.
"So what are we going to tell Miranda?" he asked me.
"The truth? I mean, I've been so mad about my mom hiding stuff from Matt and I. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't tell her. As much as it may not seem to affect Miranda, it might." I told him, honestly.
"Now you have the good point." he replied.
The rest of the ride was quiet. I can't say that I wasn't nervous about how Miranda would react. She was already mad at us for not including her in on this. I guessed that we could tell her that it was family business. The truth was, even if Mom chose not to marry Dr. Gordon, the baby would still be Gordo's sibling as much as it would be mine. In a weird way, we were already family. That didn't help the butterflies in my stomach though.
Gordo pulled into Miranda's driveway and turned off the ignition. We sat in silence for a minute. I guessed Gordo was trying to calm his nerves like I was. Reluctantly, we got out. We stood in front of her door for several moments, both too nervous to ring the doorbell. Gordo grabbed my hand and squeezed it, giving me a small, nervous smile. I reached out and rang the doorbell as Gordo released my hand.
Fortunately, Miranda had decided to go in her back yard so that we would have more privacy. We didn't want her sister, Lily, to overhear anything and repeat it. That could only mean trouble.
"So guys, obviously you found something out." Miranda was calmer then I thought she would be. It made things a little easier. Very little.
"Something big." Gordo told her. His voice was shaky and it looked like he was about to cry at any moment.
"So? What is it?" Miranda asked us, looking between us. She could read our nervous glances.
"Let's put it this way," I began, unsteadily. Once again, Gordo grabbed my hand. A gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Miranda. "The baby will also be Gordo's sibling." I told her. We waited several minutes for Miranda to react.
"This is great guys!" Miranda suddenly exclaimed. Her smile was wide. Gordo laughed in reaction to her excited nature. "You two will be brother and sister!"
"Step brother and sister. If they chose to get married." Gordo corrected.
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The point is, you two will end up living together. Lizzie, if I sleep over, all three of us can hang!" she exclaimed again. Growing even more excited. What can I say, her mood was infectious. I couldn't help but smile.
"I hadn't thought about that." I grew serious again, however. "We just didn't want you to feel left out. Regardless of what they decide to do, Gordo and I are already family. We will already share the connection of a brother or sister." I watched as Miranda's face fell slightly. I could tell that she hadn't thought about that.
"Well, we will still be best friends, right?" Miranda asked, looking down slightly.
"Of course. This doesn't change how we feel about you, Miranda." Gordo spoke up. He reached forward and hugged Miranda. Soon we were in a group hug. We talked for a short while before Gordo drove back to the Digital Bean so I could retrieve my car.
"I'll call you later." Gordo told me as I got out of his car.
I smiled at him and shut the door. Before I knew it, I was home and eating dinner with Mom and Matt. The dinner was oddly quiet. Mom seemed nervous about something. Matt had been sunburnt pretty badly so he was in no mood to talk. I was quiet for my own obvious reasons.
"Matt, Lizzie?" Mom asked, getting our attention. "Dr. Gordon and Gordo will be having dinner with us tomorrow night. Is that okay with you?" she looked between us. I had to act natural. I couldn't screw this up.
"Sure." I told her. Matt only nodded his approval. It was agreed. The Gordon's would be joining us for dinner tomorrow.
As soon as I was done eating, I excused myself and went up to my room. Just as I entered, my phone rang. I knew it was Gordo. He had probably been told the same exact thing I was told and wanted to confirm if Mom told us.
"Hi Gordo." I told him as I picked up the phone.
"I take it, by your knowing it was me, that your mom told you what my father told me during dinner." came his voice.
"That we will be having dinner together tomorrow?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
I could almost hear him nod on the phone. "Yeah."
"Do you think they are going to tell us, or is this a test to see how we act at a 'family' dinner?" I asked him for his opinion.
"I think that they are going to tell us. My father was way too nervous for it to just be an observation." Gordo told me.
"Mom was nervous, too." I admitted. "So how are we going to act when they tell us? I don't think I could fake acting shocked, since I know too much already." I explained to him.
"Can you act happy about it? We already decided that we liked the idea of living together. If we act happy about it, it may take some stress off of them." he pointed out.
"True. I guess I could do that." I agreed. We talked for a while and then retired for the night. It was getting late and I was anxious about tomorrow. What would happen tomorrow, I wondered?