Chapter 4

The boys were up early the next morning because they had gone to bed so early. Connor suggested that they make breakfast for everyone. They decided on making omelets since their mom had shown them how to make them last year.

"Yeah, remember Logan got last place and you won the competition?" Aidan said.

"That was fun." Connor said. "Mom showed us how to make them and I even beat her! I'm glad that Sam judged on taste and not on presentation. Mom did that the best, but out of all of us kids, you folded it better, and looked really good. So I think that I should put the toppings on and you cook them."

"Sounds like a plan." Aidan said. "We should make Mom's with that gross goat cheese, like she likes it. She's our mom and she deserves it."

"I'll start the eggs since I don't get egg shells in mine, and you prepare the toppings. Okay?" Connor said.

"Hey now." Aidan said. "That only happened once, but I did chop the veggies better, so I agree that I should do them."

Over the next half hour, they scrambled the eggs, chopped the toppings and then cooked the omelets. While Aidan cooked them, Connor cut some fruit, heated some ham and plated the food when Aidan finished each omelet. Aidan finished setting up the table while Connor woke everybody up. He even pounced on Logan to get him up and Chewy barked at him.

Barbara was the first to enter the kitchen. "Wow! What's this all about?" She then put her arm around both boys. "This looks wonderful."

She was followed by Logan who just said with a surprise on his face, "No Way!"

They sat down and the twins waited with expectation for their Mother to take her first bite. "Oh my gosh! Did you guys make this just for me with goat cheese? Aw, you guys are so sweet."

The twins had the biggest smile on their faces that they couldn't get rid of. When Logan heard "Goat Cheese" he checked his omelet and was relieved they hadn't put any in his. You could hear him sigh with relief.

Now Barbara usually makes the breakfast, (even though it's usually just oatmeal) and does all the cleanup afterwords. Aidan informed her that he and Connor were going to do all the cleanup and she could have the morning off.

"I need to check the calendar because this must be 'Mother's Day'". Barbara said with a huge smile. Connor spoke up. "Everyday is Mother's Day with you Mom."

"Yeah Mom." Aidan said in agreement. Barbara gripped her heart with both hands as a tear fell down her cheek. Logan felt a little guilty and offered to clear and wipe down the table. The twins gladly accepted his help.

Sam comes in through the side door that goes to the kitchen and sees that everyone is having breakfast. She is looking around the stove and counters and doesn't see any left overs.

"Hey Sam." Aidan greeted his sister. "Connor and I made omelets for breakfast."

"You did? Wow!" She said. She thought it was great that they made breakfast but was a little disappointed that she didn't get one. "Oh well." She thought.

Then Aidan got up and went to the microwave and pulled out a plate. "You didn't think we forgot about you, did you?" Aidan handed her the plate and she was touched. "Oh thank you!" She said as she gave him a hug. "This looks yummy. I'm touched that you thought of me."

"You are very welcome, Sis. When Mom taught us to make omelets, you liked Connors the best, so he put the toppings on and I cooked it. I was better at that than he was. We made a great team."

She put her plate down on the table and gave Connor a hug too. "Thank you too, little brother. You guys are the best and it looks like you are getting along better today."

Aidan puts his arm around Connor and with his other hand he grabs Connor's chin. "Who could stay mad at this face? This face is the cutest face in the World." Aidan moves Connor's face around so everyone could get a good look at it.

Then Connor says, "We literally have the same face." Aidan says, "Exactly!" Everybody laughs.

When Logan finishes his breakfast, he says that he'll be right back. After a moment, he comes back in with his laptop. He opens it up and has everyone gather round so they could see.

"I finished editing our video from yesterday." Logan said. Barbara had concerns. "You aren't going to show the footage of Connor getting hit in the face, are you?" It really wasn't a question but more of a statement.

"Of course not, Mom. We took several takes and I had enough footage to make a cool video. I even added some words and music. Here watch." Logan played the video and all thought it was pretty good.

After breakfast and all was cleaned up, Logan asked Connor if he wanted to go with him to buy a new hat at the mall. Connor told him that he and Aidan were going to play Monopoly and that he was invited to join them if he wanted. Aidan also invited Logan and said that it would be more fun with a third person. Logan agreed as long as he could be the race car.

About a hour into the game, Logan had been sent to "Jail" for the third time. "No way!" Logan said. "This can't be happening to me. Connor had traded Marvin Gardens for Pacific Avenue with Aidan so they both had a Monopoly now. Each had built two houses on each of the properties.

Next, Logan came along and landed on Atlantic Ave and owed Aidan rent with two houses. Connor passed go, collected $200 and landed on Community Chest. Each player had to give him $50. Aidan landed on Boardwalk and purchased it. He got another Monopoly. He built two houses on each. Now it was Logan's turn again.

"Don't be a four." He kept saying, because he didn't want to go to jail a fifth time. He got double threes and moved to North Carolina Ave. He now owed Connor rent on two houses and since he got doubles, he got to roll again. Wouldn't you know it, he landed on Boardwalk with two houses and owed Aidan $600 on rent. "Nooo!" Cried Logan in unbelief. "This is crazy! I don't believe it!"

"Believe it, read it and weep." Aidan said. That will be $600 please."

Logan looks at his cash and starts counting his money including his ones and fives. He sees that he only has $485 in cash. "Aidan, buddy." Logan pleads. "I'm your brother. How about a family discount?"

Aidan looks at Logan's "puppy dog" eyes and has sympathy for his brother. But he thinks to himself that he has Logan over a barrel and what could he get out of this in return. He brings his hand up to his chin and taps it.

"You're right, Logan. You are family and deserve a discount. In fact, family doesn't usually charge family to stay over. So, you can stay at my houses for free this time. There is one thing I would like first? Since you are family visiting, you usually give your family members a hug. So, I would like a hug."

Connor smiles and thinks, "Well played." Logan squints his eyes and says, "That's it? I don't have to pay?" He thinks, "A quick hug won't kill me."

Aidan and Logan stand and Aidan goes in for the hug. Logan remembers that he was mad at Aidan yesterday and wasn't that thrilled to give him a hug now. Aidan hugs Logan and Logan just kinda stands there and gives Aidan a pat on the back. It ended too soon for the younger brother and the game continues. Aidan really did miss the old days when Logan would give both twins lots of love.

The game ended later with Connor the victor. Aidan said to Connor, "That was fun. I'm glad you suggested it and we should do it together with the whole family next time." Logan was thinking that he really did have a good time with his brothers.

"I'm gonna go take a nap." Logan said. "Somebody woke me up too early this morning." He then pokes Aidan in the ribs. "Hey, Connor woke you up not me!" Aidan said to Logan. "Whaaat?" Logan said as he looked at both brothers back and forth. He then realized that he did poke Aidan instead of Connor.

"My bad." Logan said. "Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between you too."

"That's okay Logan, I'll get you back when you go swimming with us this afternoon."

Logan went to take a nap and the twins went to their room to play some chess. Whenever Connor would make a horrible move, Aidan would show him why it was a bad move. Then he would show why he would make a move and how it was a set up for an attack. Connor said that his brain was hurting from all the possibilities and how difficult to keep everything straight. Aidan said that Chess is considered a sport by many.

"So let's set 'em up and play a game for real." Aidan said as he started setting up the pieces. "I'm going to tell you the same thing that was told to me when I first started playing. Every time you lose you learn. The more you lose, the more you learn. The more you learn, the less you will lose."

For the next couple of hours, the boys played several games. Every time, Aidan won. Aidan told him how much he was learning and how fast he thought Connor was improving with every loss. It was too early to tell, but Connor seamed to be learning faster than Aidan had when he was new to the game.