Now down to one girl on each team, the sounds of excited, shrieking voices were totally forgotten as Kaylee and Katie stared at each other dumbfounded, neither caring that they were bathed from head to foot in oozing, dark-brown mud. Even though both girls had the substance in their hair and all over their faces, there was no way to mistake their uncanny resemblance to each other.
Only the voice of Katie's roommate Christina yelling excitedly at her was enough to rouse one of the girls from their stupor. "MOVE, Katie!" the other girl cried over to her. "They're about to fall in!" The brunette had noticed that the remaining competitors were teetering on the edge of their respective side of the bridge and knew it was just a matter of seconds before both girls in the mud pit were likely hurt by the two bodies that would soon be falling on top of them. "Get up!" Christina added as she cupped her hands around her mouth, her voice high-pitched with fear as the two girls above began to lose their balance. "MOVE! NOW!"
Coming out of her frozen state of shock, Katie struggled to rise from her slippery sitting position and, using one arm to brace herself, she managed to rise to her feet. Looking up above her and noticing with alarm that the two remaining girls were about to join them, she reached down and grabbed Kaylee under one of her shoulders. "Get up!" she shouted authoritatively to the other girl as she gave her a yank and pulled her to her feet. She managed to shove them both up onto the bank just in time to avoid being hit by the two larger girls now lying in the muddy pit where they had been only moments earlier.
They heard a shrill whistle sound nearby and the female counselor's voice calling out from a megaphone, "Tie! We have a tie! Everybody to the lake for swimming!" But both girls were only vaguely aware of the other participants around them, shouting and clapping their hands over the exciting culmination of their teambuilding exercise as they rushed to head over to the lake to clean off all the now-caked mud on their bodies and their clothes.
Within a couple of minutes the voices of several preteen campers slowly diminished until the two girls were left alone in the quiet, only the occasional sounds of a nearby hawk or song sparrow permeating the unexpected stillness now. The two blondes sat almost in identical poses, each sitting with their legs bent in front of them and their hands wrapped around their shins as they stared at each other intently and contemplated this amazing, unbelievable turn of events.
At last Kaylee found her voice enough to make the obvious observation that didn't even need to be said. "You, you look just like me….except for the hair." She stood up and wrinkled her nose as the drying mud began to cake all over her skin, mourning the new shirt and jeans that were now irretrievably ruined due to their tug-of-war game. Reaching her hand down to Katie, she waited somewhat impatiently as the other girl eyed her suspiciously before she placed her hand in hers to allow her to help pull her upright.
Dropping her grasp on her, Kaylee's discomfort over being draped from head to toe in drying mud evaporated as the two girls continued to stare at each other in disbelief. How was this possible? She had heard that everyone in the world had a twin somewhere, but to have this person show up at the same summer camp at the same time she was there? What would be the odds?
"Who are you?" Kaylee asked the other girl who had remained mute up until now, except for a slight grunt as she had helped her to her feet.
Katie tried to wipe her hands clean on her thighs as she stared over at the other girl who, except for the longer hair, was the spitting image of her, mud and all. "Who wants to know?"
Kaylee snorted. "We're going to play that game, are we?" she said sarcastically. "Well then I'm Taylor Swift, don't you recognize me? Who are YOU? From your haircut I'd say you're Jason Dolley, but you're not that cute."
"I look just like YOU," Katie retorted in her defense. She frowned, her annoyance dissipating the longer she stared at her mirror image standing next to her. Deciding to be truthful, she softly replied, "My name's Katie. What's yours?"
Kaylee eyed her intently, at once unable to turn away from this astounding reflection of herself but also almost afraid to acknowledge her. What was happening here? "I'm… I'm Kaylee," she whispered as she licked her lips nervously. She shook her head. "How can you look so much like me?" she wondered aloud to the other girl, who shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
"I… I don't know," Katie told her honestly. "Even your name is like mine. How did you get here?"
"My dad brought me in the car," Kaylee replied. She wrinkled her nose. "He thought it would be fun." She glanced down at her mud-soaked clothes and body. "Some fun. I'm having a really cool time so far."
That produced a small smile from the other girl. "Yeah… Me, too; just what I always wanted, to have mud dripping all over me." She glanced over at the path back toward the main part of the camp. "We'll have to get back to the lake soon or they'll come looking for us."
Katie nodded but neither girl seemed anxious to part. There were way too many questions floating around in their heads over this unbelievable meeting. "My dad brought me here, too; said he thought I would like the art classes here. Do you like art?"
Kaylee shook her head. "Not really. But my dad is a really good artist; that's what he does for a living."
Katie frowned. "He does? That's what my other dad does, too." She had certainly heard enough about her other father through her grandmother Jen's stories to know that the father she longed to see was a very talented artist.
Kaylee swallowed the lump in her throat; this was getting downright spooky. "You said your other father?"
Katie took a deep breath; here it comes. Whenever she tried to explain her rather unorthodox family situation about having two fathers, most people she met either turned their nose up in disgust or thought she was out of her mind. She didn't care, though – she had gotten used to it and she wasn't ashamed of it. To her it was normal. "Yeah," she told the other girl firmly. "I have two fathers – the one I live with… And the other one I haven't seen in a long time, not since I was a baby."
Kaylee's eyes widened at that revelation. "Oh, my God," she whispered. It was just like her own story. Was it possible? This was way too much to be a coincidence. "Who're your fathers?" she asked, holding her breath for the answer but somehow already knowing what she would say. Her quest to hear the other girl's response out loud, however, was stifled as they were rudely interrupted.
"Ladies! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
Both girls cursed inwardly as the female camp counselor came trouncing up to them in a huff. "Did you not hear my whistle to depart earlier? All the other girls are back at the lake washing off!" The woman stared in surprise at the two brown bookends covered in dried mud; there could be no doubt these two were twins, even though this was the first time she had seen both girls together. "Now you sisters get your butts over to the lake now! We have strict rules where we have to account for every camper. Get going! Classes start in one hour!"
She stood there, hands on hips, until the two girls locked gazes on each other and reluctantly began to walk silently back to the camp, all sorts of questions swirling through their heads. Five minutes later, the trio arrived at the lake where the two teams of girls who had participated earlier in the tug-of-war competition were enjoying themselves in the water, relishing in the opportunity to indulge not only in washing all the mud away but also the chance to cool off under the quickly-warming sunshine.
"You have one hour of leisure time to wash off and go change your clothes afterward at your cabins before classes begin," the counselor told them as she hurried away to break up a fight occurring at the end of the boat dock. "Girls, girls!" she could be heard admonishing two other campers as she took off, leaving the girls relatively alone once more.
Kaylee turned to the other girl, desperately wanting to learn more about her, but she was prevented from speaking by another camper, who came running up to greet her roommate.
"Katie!" Christina cried in exasperation at her roommate. "I was wondering where you had gone!" She turned to stare at Kaylee, who was standing next to her, and her mouth hung open as she immediately noticed the astonishing similarities; even with both girls still decorated in dried mud and sporting different hairstyles, their likeness was incontrovertible. "I didn't know you had a sister here," she stated, no hint of doubt in her voice as to who the other girl was.
Kaylee opened her mouth to reply, but as she turned to stare at Katie, she wasn't quite sure what to say. "I… I didn't, either," she finally said, unable to deny what had to be the truth – this was no doppelgänger double or mirage… This had to be her sister – her twin sister. There could be no other explanation.
Katie peered back at her in tacit agreement, not understanding how it was possible for this to happen, but knowing this other girl had to be right.
Christina scrunched up her face in confusion as Katie's odd response sunk in. "What do you mean, you didn't, either?"
Katie shook her head as she turned to look at her new friend. "It's a long story; I'll have to explain later," she muttered, still trying to come to grips with what her brain and her eyes were telling her. She huffed out a frustrated breath. "We have to get cleaned up, though, before classes start, or I'm sure Periwinkle will have our hide."
Kaylee giggled. "Periwinkle?"
Katie grinned. "That's our nickname for him," she explained as she continued to stare at her double.
Kaylee nodded her head; there was so much they needed to talk about and she was dying to find out exactly what was going on, but for now – for just a few minutes – it would have to wait.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm burning up and my skin is itching like crazy," Katie declared. With that statement, she turned and began to run toward the lake's shoreline. "Come on!" she shouted to her sister.
Kaylee shrugged her shoulders; at this point she figured she couldn't ruin her designer duds any more than she had already. "Nice meeting you!" she shouted to Christina as she promptly ran off after her sister, her legs splashing in the waves as she rushed helter-skelter into the water. Despite her appearance, she sighed in contentment as the warm water enveloped her and she dog-paddled in place next to her 'twin.'
Katie playfully splashed a small amount of water in her face as she turned to face her.
"Hey!" Kaylee grumbled at her. "What'd you do THAT for?"
"Just trying to wash off some of the mud on your face so I can see it better," she told her as she continued to tread in place next to the other girl.
"So do I still look like you?" Kaylee asked somewhat flippantly as she quickly dipped her head all the way back into the water before coming back up again and shaking her long hair from side to side to dislodge some of the water sprinkled on her face. She eyed the other intently as she waited for her reply, but she already knew the answer.
"Yeah… Even more so," Katie told her seriously. She remained quiet for a couple of seconds before reminding the other girl, "You didn't answer my question before about your fathers."
Kaylee bit her lip momentarily before deciding she had to trust this other girl. Taking a soft breath to steady herself, she responded quietly, the excited sounds of the other female swimmers nearby fading into the distance, "The father that I live with is Justin Taylor-Kinney; my other father who I haven't seen since I was a baby is Brian Kinney." Even now, even though she hadn't seen her other father in years, just the sound of his name on her lips filled her with sadness at the thought that he was out there somewhere and she hadn't had any way of finding him. At least until now; as she looked over at Katie, something told her that might be about to change…
Katie nodded as her heart pounded; it was just as she thought – it could have been the only answer. "I know," she whispered, as her feet hit the bottom of the lake's surface and she stopped treading in the water to stare back at who she now knew for sure was the sister she didn't even know she had. How could her father have not told her about this? "They're MY fathers, too." She swallowed the lump in her throat as she said, "You're my sister." She could barely believe it – the thought filled her with a mixture of nervousness and trepidation, along with a sense of excitement. She smiled tentatively over at the other girl, still finding it hard to believe that she wasn't dreaming this whole episode up. "Sister," she repeated in wonder, trying it out on her tongue as Katie nodded back at her with a soft smile of her own.
Katie asked, "Want to come back with me to my cabin so we can talk?"
Kaylee slowly nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, I would." There were so many questions that needed to be answered, so many things she wanted to know; her head was almost dizzy from the realization. But she couldn't wait to find out exactly what was going on and learn more about this unknown twin.
Katie nodded back at her. "Okay, then. Let me go get changed and I'll meet you back at your cabin in a few minutes. Which one is it?"
Kaylee hastily shook her head, imagining the two of them being disturbed by Hurricane Sandra. "No, let me come to your cabin," she quickly offered. "My roommate is a big bully," she explained, a little surprised that she was confiding in this relative stranger.
Katie's brows narrowed. "She is, huh?" As Kaylee nodded, she told her, "Well, we'll have to see what we can do about that," she told the other girl sternly, a little surprised at how protective she was feeling toward her already. She had seen enough of that sort of behavior in school and on-line, though, to know that she didn't like it. And her grandma Jen had told her how her father – the one her sister was living with – had been tormented when he was in school because of his sexuality. No, she didn't like bullies one little bit – especially ones that involved her family, no matter how new they were to her.
Kaylee's eyes widened at her sister's declaration; she didn't care for Sandra at all, but she would have never been comfortable with taking care of the problem on her own. But with her sister at her back? She pursed her lips – maybe, just maybe there was something that could be done about it. She would definitely enjoy finding out what her sister had in mind regardless, as well as deriving a certain amount of pleasure out of exacting some poetic justice on her surly cabin roommate.
"Okay, then – You come to my cabin," Katie told her. "I'm in Number 12 down that way." She pointed over to the left of the large meeting building as she began to lumber toward the shoreline. "I'll meet you there in ten minutes."
Kaylee nodded as she began to follow her out of the water, observing that most of the other campers had left already, also, no doubt to change into dry clothes and prepare for their selected classes or activities. As the two of them went their separate ways, Christine hurrying up to catch up with Katie, she let out an anxious breath, still not quite believing what had happened. She didn't understand any of it – how she had a twin sister she didn't know about, how her grandmother had never told her, and perhaps more importantly, how and why her own father hadn't told her that she had a sister. A twin sister. How could he have kept that from her? She bit her lip as she felt the tears rising to the surface. Angrily chastising herself silently for being such a baby, she hurried toward her cabin, eager to learn more about this stranger who looked exactly like her. She was upset with her father, but there would be time later to confront him about what he had hidden from her.
A couple of minutes later, she timidly opened her cabin door, feeling a rush of relief when she peeked in to find it empty; apparently her burly roommate had come and gone already, at least she hoped so. Hurrying over to her dresser, she quickly pulled out a fresh pair of faded, well-loved Diesel jeans and a cranberry-colored tank top, looking with distaste at the camp vest still soaking wet and now lying on the wooden floor. Remembering what she had been told earlier, she finally decided to carry it with her as she pulled out a pair of flip-flops to slide her feet into and hurriedly reapplied some lip gloss to her lips. She sighed in disgust as she looked in the mirror – her face was already beginning to get splotchy and slightly red from being in the sun too much without her sun block. Quickly she opened the top drawer to find her spray sun block and spent a few seconds generously applying some all over her bare skin. Another object caught her eye in the opened drawer as she put the container back, and her heart stopped in her throat – she never went anywhere without it and this was no exception. Making an impromptu decision, she reverently picked it up and, sliding it carefully into her jeans pocket, she quickly turned to make her way out of the cabin.
A few minutes later, she found Cabin No. 12, noticing Katie standing on the front stoop, waiting for her; her newly-discovered sister was apparently as anxious to talk to her as she was. She noticed the short-haired girl wearing a faded pair of jeans, also, although baggier in nature, along with an orange and green swirl tee shirt with a peace sign prominently displayed on the front. Her face was bare of both makeup and mud now as she nodded at Kaylee's approach.
As Kaylee walked up to her, she saw her dreaded roommate out of the corner of her eye – she turned to get a better look, just in time to observe Sandra give a petite, dark-haired girl with glasses a push, shoving her to the ground as she and a couple of other girls laughed at her antics. She sighed in disgust as she walked up to Katie and nodded her head over toward them. "See that tall girl in the green top? That's my wonderful roommate," she advised sarcastically. "The bulldozer."
Katie turned to stare at the tall, brown-haired girl was who now walking away from the object of scorn toward the canoes waiting down at the lake. "Figures she'd like canoeing," she observed. "She's certainly built for it – like a tank with arms and legs."
Kaylee couldn't help giggling at her description as Katie grinned back at her.
"Well, I think she needs to be knocked down a peg," Katie declared, filing that promise away for a later time. For now there were much more important matters to discuss, and she reckoned the two of them had thirty minutes at best before the camp counselors would come looking for them when they didn't show up for their activities. "Come in," she said, opening the door.
Kaylee noticed the room was pretty much identical to the one she shared with Sandra as she sat on the bed opposite her sister's. She glanced over at the other bed as Katie sat down, immediately recognizing a sketchbook, very similar to what her father carried around with him all the time. "You draw?" she asked, steering her gaze back to Katie.
The other girl nodded. "Yeah… Just like Daddy does, right?" She couldn't wait to find out more about the man who she had apparently inherited her artistic skill from; for so long she had prayed for the chance to talk to him, to compare each other's works, to tell him her most fervent hopes and desires – to be a successful artist, just like she heard he was. She craved the opportunity to glean advice from him, to find out what it took to be a good artist; but most of all, she yearned for his love and his praise.
Kaylee nodded back at her. "Yeah… He's really good, too," she said, unable to keep the pride out of her voice. Despite her being upset presently with him for not telling her about her sister, she still couldn't help feeling proud about how successful and talented he was. She glanced over at the sketchbook lying closed. "Can I see?" she asked a little uncertainly, not sure what the other girl's reaction would be.
Katie licked her lips a little self-consciously, suddenly finding it important that her newly-discovered sister approve of her talent; after all, she felt like she was competing against her father's enormous skills and creativity, and it made her extremely nervous. She finally nodded in agreement as she reached over to retrieve her book and handed it to her. She watched anxiously as she observed the other girl open the spiral-bound cover and begin to slowly leaf through what she had drawn so far; there were sketches of her home – Britin, the horses she adored riding with her father, a couple tentative, quick charcoals of the camp with the surrounding pine trees and mountainous terrain, and near the end, some sketches of her fathers – both the one she lived with and the one she yearned to know.
She hear Kaylee gasp softly as she came to the one showing Justin that she had drawn. "This is him," she marveled as she lifted her gaze to meet her sister's. "Daddy." She bit her lip and frowned. "I thought you had never met him."
Katie shook her head. "I haven't." She stood up and walked over to her backpack lying against the dresser on the floor and plucked out the photo she had found of her two fathers that day in the library. "I used this to draw him. Dad also has a picture of him in his office at home," she explained, " and Grandma Jen gave me some pictures of him. But I like this picture better." She preferred it because it showed her two fathers the way she wanted them to be – together and happy, and it was the only photo she had of the two of them together.
Katie walked over and sat down next to her sister, the much-loved, faded photograph cradled in her hand. Kaylee's eyes widened as she stared at the old photograph. "Where did you get that?" she asked in shock, her voice breaking with emotion.
"I… I found it in the library one day. In an art book. Dad doesn't know I have it," she confessed softly, "but I had never seen a picture of the two of them together before. And they looked so happy in it," she said. "I usually keep it under my mattress when I'm at home," she went on to explain as Kaylee looked at her silently. "But I didn't want to leave it there when I came to camp." She looked down, suddenly embarrassed that she had felt the need to bring a silly photograph with her like some sort of security blanket. But in a way that's what it was – it provided her with a sort of comfort while she was here, a promise that maybe, just maybe one day, her two fathers would be together again the way they should be. That alone filled her with a sense of protection and love while she was separated from the home she knew and it made her not miss everything quite so much. As she stood there with her head bowed, something appeared just inside her peripheral line of vision and she was the one to gasp this time.
"I've had this for the longest time," she heard Kaylee whisper as she stared in stunned shock at the object in her sister's hand. "I always wondered what the rest of the picture looked like, but I was glad it at least had my other father in it so I could look at him. Now I know what the other part looks like."
It was the same exact picture that Katie had found in the library book, only it appeared to have been raggedly torn in half, with only Brian's part of the photograph intact.
Katie couldn't believe it. "Where did you get yours?" she asked as she turned to stare into her sister's eyes that were so like her own.
"From Grandma Jen," she explained. "We were going through some old family pictures one day and I asked her whether she had any of my other father. She told me she didn't have any good pictures of both of them together, but she had this one picture of him that was damaged." Her eyes clouded over with tears as she added more softly, "I asked her why it looked like that and she just got this really sad look on her face; she gave me the picture but never did explain why. I guess I knew the answer already, though. Something had to have happened to cause them to break up, even though Dad told me he still loves him."
"Yeah," Kaylee murmured as she stared at the two side-by-side photos, one complete and one rendered apart, just like their fathers' relationship had been. But why? And why not tell them about each other? What purpose had that served? A sudden thought occurred to her. "You said Grandma Jen? You know about her, too?"
Katie smiled a genuine smile. "Yeah, sure…she is my grandmother. I see her on the weekends a lot when I go over to visit her. She only lives about a half-hour away."
Kaylee sighed. "You're so lucky," she said. "I see her, too, but not that much. My dad and I talk to her on Skype quite a bit, though, and she comes out to visit when she can. But it's not too easy with her job and my dad's."
Katie frowned. "Where do you live? In another country or something?"
Kaylee shook her head as she snorted softly, her long hair flying out behind her. "Might as well, though. We live in Chicago."
Katie nodded. "How long have you lived there?"
"Most of my life. I think since our two dads split up." She got this faraway look in her eyes as she tried to recall actually experiencing life with her other father, but at 18 months old she really couldn't remember him, at least not without the photograph as a crutch. She turned to look at Kaylee. "I think I sort of remember you in a way – I can remember this other girl that I used to play with when I was really young, but my dad never told me about you. Why would he do that?"
Kaylee shook her head sadly as she stared down at the photograph of the two together, looking so young and so in love. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "He never said a thing to me about you. He never really wants to talk about Dad, either. Whenever I try to ask about him, he gets all quiet and says something like he's busy or not now." She sighed. "There never seems to be a good time to ask him. But I have so many questions about him." She looked at Katie wistfully. "Tell me. What is he like?"
Katie harrumphed softly. "He's strict," she told her sister. "He makes me go to bed at ten o'clock on school nights and I have to tell him where I am all the time, like I'm a baby or something." Kaylee nodded at her sympathetically, giving her the silent encouragement to go on. "And he's always asking me if I really want to play sports, like he's forcing me or something! He knows how much I like sports, though. And he gets really weirded out sometimes –he gets this strange look on his face whenever I ask him for new art supplies or if I remind him to get me a box of Cheerios for breakfast at the grocery, and sometimes when he looks at what I draw he gets this sort of faraway expression on his face." She sighed herself now. "It's like he thinks I'm always going to get hurt or something. He can be so over protective sometimes." She smiled, however, as she added, "But he has some really neat friends, though, that we hang out with, like Emmett and Debbie. They're so amazing! Emmett dresses really cool and tells the funniest jokes; and Debbie – she's so weird but in a good way; she's kind of like another grandma. She lets me eat anything I want at the diner where she works, and she takes me to movies and to soccer practice when my dad can't do it. And then there's the horses we ride back home – I LOVE to go riding with him around the grounds, it's so much fun!" Her eyes sparkled animatedly as she mentioned them – her most dearest companions in addition to her trusty sketchpad.
Kaylee's eyes widened. "You have horses?" She always wanted to learn how to ride horseback, but living in a condo in a concrete jungle didn't make it very convenient for owning – much less riding – horses.
Katie nodded. "Yeah… Dad bought two for us to ride. It's great!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and expressive. "Gus rides with me sometimes, too, when he comes down to visit," she added almost as an afterthought.
Kaylee frowned. "Gus?"
"Yeah… Gus." She stared at her sister for a few seconds until the realization exploded abruptly in her head. "Oh, my God! You don't know about him?"
Kaylee shook her head in confusion. "Who's Gus?"
Katie couldn't believe it. Her own sister didn't know about him, either? "He's my big brother," she explained to Kaylee's astonishment. "OUR big brother," she corrected. "He lives in Toronto with his two moms, but he comes down to visit whenever he can – and I go up to see him with Dad quite a bit, too. He's a great big brother," she said with a smile. Gus always made time for her, whether it was putting up with her cravings for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream at the local Creamy Whip, taking her to a pre-teen movie he normally wouldn't be caught dead seeing, or just window shopping at the mall there, which was huge compared to the one back home in the Pitts. He could be spending his time with his own friends instead, and even got a ribbing from them whenever he begged off hanging out with them at the local skate park or playing Frisbee golf, two of his favorite activities in the world, when he chose to just be with her – and she loved him all the more for it.
Kaylee's head was spinning – was there no end to the information about her family that she didn't know? "Brother?" She managed to utter. "Two mothers?" Was she talking about their own mother if Gus was their brother?
Katie nodded. "Yeah, Melanie and Lindsay. Aunt Lindsay was one of Dad's best friends in college. A few years before we were born, she asked our dad to help her get pregnant. Not the usual way," she hastily added as Kaylee blushed at the thought. "He just provided the means for it," she explained, not wanting to get too graphic. Her father had sat her down and explained it to her in enough detail that she understood the mechanics of it, but she didn't feel the need to necessarily go into great specifics about it at the moment. "So I guess he's really our stepbrother," she explained, although to her that was a minor detail; she loved her brother deeply and didn't care if they shared the same mother or not.
Kaylee couldn't believe it – she had come to camp quite apprehensive about being in an unfamiliar place and not really knowing what to expect, only to find out she not only had a twin sister but a stepbrother, too? "I… I can't believe it," she murmured to Katie. "Why? Why would Daddy not tell me about this? About us?"
Katie whispered, "I don't know." Her newly-found sister looked so confused and miserable over this incredible information that she found herself reaching over to grasp her hand in comfort; oddly enough it somehow felt natural to do so, even though they had just met. It was almost as if a part of her had been missing all this time and she had finally discovered it. "I don't know," she repeated helplessly.
"Do you remember anything about before? When they were still together?" Kaylee asked her softly.
Katie shook her head. "Not really. I think I can remember my other father holding onto my hands while I tried to learn to walk – at least I have these dreams some times that I do. And sometimes I think I can remember him singing to me." She sighed as she looked into Kaylee's blue eyes. "But that's all. I think we both look like him, though." She was quiet for a few seconds before she confided, "I want to get to know him so badly. Is he a good father, too?"
Kaylee smiled. "Yes," she said as she bit her lip; just the thought of her father made her suddenly feel homesick. "Sometimes he gets impatient with me when I take too long to get ready to go somewhere, and he doesn't always understand how I feel. But he tries to. And sometimes he's too overprotective of me, too. He makes me keep in touch whenever I'm away from home, even when I'm just staying at a friend's house. But he loves me. He listens to what I have to say and he always shows up at my cheerleading competitions no matter where they are. And he's a great cook – he makes the best homemade soups in the winter when it's so cold out! And of course he's such a good artist - he can draw practically anything! You ought to see my room!" Bowing to Kaylee's love of reading fantasy novels, Justin had drawn a giant mural of wispy, ethereal winged fairies in pastel colors flying all over one of her bedroom walls, complete with a Elizabethan-type renaissance village nestled before a range of mountains and puffy clouds. The details of the village, including numerous types of beautiful flowers, butterflies, and merchant businesses that were included, were astounding in their intricacy and imaginative flair. "He also helps me with drawings for the school newspaper. The other kids on the paper think he's great! He even draws caricatures for the students at the school carnivals."
Katie's eyes misted over as her sister described the father she longed to get to know better. "He sounds wonderful. You're so lucky."
Kaylee nodded. "What about your father?" It sounded a little odd referring to her other father that way, but it was the only way she could think to say it. "He bought you horses. And you sound like you live in a wonderful house. And you get to see Grandma Jen all the time. Tell me more about him," she beseeched softly, thirsty for the same type of information as her sister. "What does he do for a living?"
Katie smiled. "Well, he owns the largest advertising agency in Pittsburgh," she said proudly. "It's called Kinnetik, named after our last name. Grandma Jen told me once that our other father had come up with the name for it."
"He did?" Kaylee asked, surprised. She had never heard this before, or even what her other father's job was. Grandma Jen had simply told her that he was a successful businessman.
Katie nodded. "Yeah… That's what she told me anyway. He works a lot of hours sometimes, but he always manages to come to all my soccer games. And we have a standing date," she said giggling. "At least that's what he calls it, every Saturday morning for our horseback rides. It's so much fun! I love our horses," she said, sighing wistfully as she looked over at her sister intently. "Have you ever ridden a horse, Kaylee?"
Her sister shook her head. "No… I've seen them at the fair a couple of times. They're huge; they kind of scare me," she admitted.
"Well, they don't scare ME," Katie told her smugly. "They're nothing scary about OUR horses. They're very gentle." Noticing her sister eyeing her skeptically, she asked curiously, "Do you like animals?"
Kaylee smiled. "Yes," she verified. "My daddy and I have two cats at home – Picasso and Dali."
Katie giggled at the artsy names. "I really wanted a cat, but Dad didn't want one in the house," she told her sister. She rolled her eyes as she added, "Says he didn't want a smelly, flea-ridden beast inside," she told her sister giggling. " He doesn't really like animals, but I kept begging for one for so long he finally gave in and bought our horses."
Kaylee opened her mouth in hopes of asking some more questions, but they were interrupted by the blare of an air horn, signaling they were due to report to their first scheduled activity of the day.
"Shit!" Katie unexpectedly cursed in true Brian Kinney style, receiving a pair of raised eyebrows from her sister in response. "We'd better go," she said. "What are you doing this morning for your activity?"
"I'm going canoeing," she told her sister. "I just hope I don't get matched up with Satan's sister."
"Huh?"
"Sandra," Kaylee replied in contempt. She shuddered. "She is so mean to me," she told Katie. "I haven't done anything to her, but from the moment she walked into the cabin, she's been pushing me around for no reason. She even made me change bunks with her because even though they're just alike, for some reason she liked mine better."
Katie huffed, her eyes flashing, "Well, I think it might be time to teach this Sandra a lesson. I can take care of her."
Kaylee eyed her as if she were crazy. "Have you seen how big she is?"
Katie smiled. "Just makes them easier to shove." She stood up. "Come on, I have art class coming up. Let's go."
Kaylee nodded as she rose to join her. "What time do you have lunch?" she asked. Now that she had found out about her twin sister, she didn't want to part with her – there was so much to say and to discover.
"I have 1st lunch at 11:30. How about you?"
Kaylee smiled happily "So do I!"
Katie grinned back at her. "Good," she responded as the two bookends walked toward the cabin door. Just before she opened it, she turned to stare at her twin thoughtfully. "Kaylee?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think there's any chance our two dads could get back together? Dad told me he stills love Daddy, you know."
Kaylee shrugged her shoulders, her face sobering. "I don't know. Daddy's got a boyfriend now."
"He does?" her sister said with a sinking heart. Had he fallen out of love with her father, just as she had once feared her own dad had done? "Does he love him?" she asked softly.
Kaylee stared into the pair of identical blue eyes for a couple of seconds until, to Katie's great relief, she slowy shook her head. "I think Alex loves him, but I don't think Daddy feels the same way. I think he just gets lonely sometimes for company." She had no doubt that her father loved her deeply – he told her and showed her all the time in his words as well as his deeds – but she also knew that he needed companionship. Her father simply had too much love in his heart not to find someone special to share his life with. She still didn't understand what had happened to separate her two fathers from each other, but this man who was trying so earnestly to win her father's heart didn't appear to be succeeding – at least not yet. And while he was civil enough to her, that was just it; there wasn't any affection or fondness for her in either his tone of voice or his actions – she wasn't stupid; she knew he was simply tolerating her in hopes that it would help him win over her father. Well, as long as she was around and there was any hope at all that her two fathers could reconcile, that wasn't going to happen. And now she had an ally at her side…
Kaylee squared her shoulders and told her sister firmly, "No… I don't think Daddy loves him at all."
Katie's mouth, which began as a wisp of a smile, broke out into a full-fledged, radiant one, so characteristic of the father she hadn't seen in so long. "Good. Because we're going to try and get them back together."
Same Time – Kinnetik
Brian idly played with the gold-colored pencil in his fingers like some miniature baton as he leaned back in his office chair. He should have been working on tweaking the Castle Electronics account – having been given the go-ahead by its CEO to publish some print ads for them in PC Weekly and Techno Geek magazine once he had made some minor changes – but he was finding it impossible to concentrate. At least on what he needed to be concentrating on, anyway. Of course, every year he had the same problem when the day of Justin's prom rolled around; he figured he would be ninety some day and it would still flash in his head the moment 12:01 a.m. occurred. Today was no exception – just like every year before, as soon as he realized what day it was, the moment that would be forever etched in his mind began as a vivid dream and persisted throughout the day in his head while he was awake.
After a fitful night's sleep, just like he did in years before he arose to take a much-needed shower and gulp down a couple cups of coffee in hopes it would sharpen his mind enough to come into Kinnetik and be productive, but of course like always his efforts were unsuccessful. Oh, he could plaster on a face of casual, professional indifference, exhibiting that slight sneer that let everyone under him know that he was the best at what he did and whatever he said went, and that nothing was different from any other day. But inside his mind would be roiling with the events of that magical, awful, fateful night, how it had cemented his feelings for Justin irretrievably in his heart and how he had finally come to grips with the amazing realization that he was falling in love with this irresistible, persistent, fiery twink despite his best efforts at avoiding it. How he had experienced the heights of exhilaration and the depths of total despair when Justin was seriously hurt. So much had transpired since that night – some things wonderful, and other things painful. If he was given the chance to start all over again and change events after that night if he knew what the consequences would be, would he do that? Would he? No, he decided at last. At least nothing up until he had let Justin – and Kaylee – walk out of his life, maybe forever.
"No," he whispered aloud. "I won't let that happen." At the very least he knew he would have access to Kaylee when she turned eighteen, but that was several years into the future. Why in the fuck did he ever let his damn lawyer talk him into that provision? It definitely made it more difficult to talk to Justin until then, either, although truthfully he hadn't really tried to contact him out of deference to what he thought Justin's wishes were in the matter. His ex-partner had been so angry, so hurt over what he had done – no, perhaps sad was the most accurate word – that after several attempts to reach him initially, he had finally given up, depending solely upon what little Jennifer would tell him to keep track of how Justin was doing. That and the numerous rave reviews he seemed to frequently get regarding his art work. He wasn't surprised by that, though – Justin was so talented that he knew eventually it was a foregone conclusion that the rest of the world would discover that as well.
He sighed heavily, the melancholy mood permeating his office as he continued to twirl the pencil between his long, manicured fingers. "Damn it," he muttered helplessly. He could understand why his thoughts would travel toward Justin today of all days, but truthfully it wasn't just today – the anniversary of his ex-partner's bashing simply heightened his memories of all the wonderful moments they had shared together. Until Justin had entered his life, he had never experienced the emotions that he had made him feel, despite his attempts at remaining distant from them. He had never had any real role model on how you went about loving another person to where you wanted their happiness above yours, except for what he learned from Debbie, Vic, and Michael, and of course, Gus, who just seemed to naturally evoke those tender feelings in him.
No, until Justin broke through his artificial façade of indifference and apathy, no one had managed to stir such strong feelings in him before; no one before and no one since. Other than satisfying his physical urges from time to time – and never at Britin out of respect for his relationship with Katie – he had never found anyone else to give his heart, nor did he want to actually; once he had lost his heart to Justin and to their daughters, there really could be no one else who would ever rise to the same level. Justin had been his soul mate; once he was gone the light went with him. Thank God at least for Katie – she provided him with unconditional love and a reason to persevere through his gloom and self-pity. Because she needed him – Gus loved him, definitely, but did he need him like his daughter did? No, he had Mel and Lindsay for that purpose. Katie, on the other hand, was at once a delight and joy to him as well as a painful reminder of what he had lost. He couldn't imagine living without this miniature version of Justin, though; she grounded him and made him a better person.
"Bri-an…"
"Huh?" Brian's concentration was broken by the unexpected sound of Cynthia's voice near his desk; he hadn't even noticed her coming in. "Uh.. Yeah, Cynthia," he said casually, plastering on his nonchalant, business-like visage as he slowly lifted his eyes to meet hers.
Clearly aware of what day it was, also, Cynthia pretended to not notice the faraway look in Brian's eyes as she stated, "Mr. Stewart is here for his 10:30 meeting. Shall I put him in the conference room or you want to meet him in here?"
Brian huffed out a small breath to break the tension in his shoulders. "Put him in the conference room," he decided. "I'll be right out."
As Cynthia nodded and turned quietly to leave, Brian glanced over at the corner of his desk where he kept a 4 x 6 photo that had been taken long ago showing Justin holding two small, rosy-cheeked babies swaddled in pink Power Puff girl blankets in either arm. He was looking at Brian with one of his trademark, exuberant smiles, the joy apparent in the sparkling blue of his eyes that were focused directly at him, his face radiating the deep love he felt for him. It had been – and still was – one of his favorite photos, but it evoked both joy and pain at the sight of it. Sighing forlornly, he slowly placed the pencil down and rose to join his client in the conference room.
Same Time – Chicago
"Ready to go?" Alex called out from the living room of Justin's brownstone. "We're supposed to be at the airport in thirty minutes." He sighed softly. Justin had gone into his bedroom fifteen minutes ago to grab some last-minute items; what was taking so long? If he didn't know better, he would get the distinct impression that the other man wasn't quite as keen on their trip to Canada as he was. He took a deep breath and counted silently to twenty, determined not to jump to conclusions or appear frustrated. He finally had convinced Justin to go away with him for a week – and without his daughter present – and he intended to take advantage of it. First, though, he had to get his boyfriend out of his apartment and to the airport. Only when they were finally safely nestled inside his company's private plane would he breathe a little easier and be assured that Justin wouldn't back out.
Justin had seemed to be preoccupied all through their dinner last evening, supposedly fretting over Kaylee being away from him for an extended period of time, something that had never occurred before. But was that all there was to it? If it was, why did he feel this knot of dread in his stomach? He couldn't pinpoint it, but there was something else bothering Justin; he could sense it. And Justin never was very good at masking his emotions – normally you could read them all over his beautiful face; no, something else was bothering him. Whether he would reveal what it was to him, though, was open to debate. As he tapped his foot slightly in an effort to calm himself while he leaned against the living room wall, he decided for now it was best not to press him. Once they were alone, however, perhaps there would be time to delve into his thoughts and find out what was really going on.
Just then he heard Justin respond, "I'll be right out," and, resigned to waiting a little longer, he finally plopped down on the overstuffed, beige couch to wait for him, idly fingering the strap of his suit bag. He figured Justin might wonder why he was bringing such dressy clothes with him on the trip, but he had at least one very special dinner in mind for them once they got to Canada. He only hoped the dinner would go the way he planned… That would be up to the other man, though, the one that he was anxiously waiting for. He glanced down at his Rolex. "Come on, Justin," he implored softly. "Help me out here."
Justin scooped up his toiletry kit from the bathroom vanity and did a quick perusal of the bathroom to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything. Satisfied he had everything he needed there, he walked out into the master bedroom to do a quick sweep of that room as well. He covered his mouth as he let out a huge yawn; he had tossed and turned all night long and had gotten at best only a few hours sleep. It hadn't been that long ago that he could perform adequately on only a few hours sleep and just simple adrenalin, at least when he and Brian had been together.
He sighed at the thought of his former partner. That had mainly been the reason why he couldn't sleep last night. Thoughts of him – the two of them – kept swirling around in his head, even though the reason behind it remained off limits to him. Oh, he knew well that it was the anniversary date of his prom that Brian had wound up attending, and he certainly knew the subsequent events that had transpired afterward, but the actual dance he and Brian had performed together – and the whole wonderful, amazing experience between the two of them, at least before Hobbs had stepped into the picture – remained closed off like some impenetrable, emotional wall. The seemingly perfectly choreographed dancing, the looks of yes, love that passed between them – at least in Daphne's opinion – and the hot, scorching, fuck-you kiss they had shared on the dance floor; all that remained simply someone else's memory, not his. Not his to cherish or his to mourn – it simply wasn't there. That didn't mean he could forget about it, though, at least not forget about what it had been like to be with Brian all those years, to be happy and in love with him. That is, until that terrible day it all came crashing down at his ex-partner's office. He shook his head and bit his lip, determined to force all of that from his mind. He and Brian were over; Brian was his past. The man waiting somewhat impatiently for him out in the living room was now his future, and he owed him at least the courtesy of his full attention.
Taking one more look around the room, then, he hurriedly picked up his suit bag and small suitcase and walked out of the bedroom toward the living room. As he came into Alex's line of sight, he met the other man's gaze and smiled at him apologetically. "Sorry," Justin told him sheepishly, his hair somewhat tousled from rushing around. "I wanted to make sure I had everything I'd need," he explained.
Alex nodded as he felt his heartbeat quicken; even in his slightly annoyed state, he still couldn't help thinking how fucking beautiful this man was. Justin had this habit of making him forget why he was aggravated with him whenever he entered the room. Despite himself, he found himself smiling back at him reassuringly. "It's okay," he told Justin softly as he rose from the couch. "But we really need to go. The pilot will be waiting for us, and he gets antsy if you show up late." Of course, the fact that Roger, their pilot, was so fastidious about time schedules was what made him such a great pilot, too – the man was anal about not only his scheduling but also his recordkeeping and jet maintenance.
Justin nodded as he walked up to Alex. "I'm ready," he told him as Alex picked up his own suitcase and bag. As the two of them turned to go, Justin's gaze swept over the brownstone one last time before, with a resolved exhale of breath, he followed the other man out.
Early Afternoon – Camp Pinewood
"Where did you get that?" Kaylee asked her sister as they sat inside Katie's empty cabin; the other girl had managed to persuade her roommate to sneak into late lunch rather than the early session, explaining that she had something important to talk to her sister alone about – which was the truth. She just neglected to tell the other girl that until today, she didn't even know she had a sister. Now, however, they had some extremely pressing business to take care of.
Katie held up the simple camera cell phone in her hand. "Shh," she warned her as she grabbed her arm. "Keep it down! You want someone to hear us?" The windows were presently open to allow some of the nice lake breeze to blow in; without any air conditioning, keeping the windows open to circulate air on the less hot and humid days was the best option for comfort.
"No," Kaylee whispered softly as she glanced over at the front windows to make sure no one was peeking in. She stood up and hurriedly walked over to close the gauzy, sheer curtains to provide them with some privacy before turning around to face her twin. "You know that's against the rules."
Katie shrugged. "So? You think I was going to be stranded out here with no way to make a call just in case I hated the place? Besides, I wanted some way to take pictures of different things so I could use them to draw from later. As long as I don't get caught, what's the big deal?"
"You could get thrown out, that's the big deal!" Kaylee hissed fretfully. She had just met a sister she didn't even know she had and didn't want to jeopardize being separated from her again. She had no idea how they would stay reunited with both of them living so far apart, but now that she knew about her she was intent on never letting her go again.
Katie smiled at her. "I'll be careful," she promised. "I keep it inside my backpack when there's anyone around. Christina won't tell on me," she assured her. "We need this anyway."
Kaylee frowned. "What are you up to?" she asked. "Are you going to call our Dad?"
Katie snorted. "No way. We need a plan first. But I DO know someone that I think might help us."
"Who?" Kaylee asked curiously. "Our mom?" Their mother was a good friend of her father's and certainly must be familiar with her other father as well, so she might be a logical choice. But could they be sure she would support the idea of trying to bring both fathers back together?
"That might be an idea," Katie responded. "But not just yet. First things first." She quickly punched in a number as her sister stared at her intrigued. Her unspoken question was answered soon afterward as her sister greeted the person on the other end.
"Grandma? It's Katie. I need to talk to you."