Either is Not the Only Choice Ch. 02

I heard the back door creak as it opened. Hans was first out. Inga helped him. Behind Inga was my Dad, Nick. Following Nick were Betsy and then Andrea. Their smiles were ready and their eyes bright. As Hans looked at the barn door we stepped into the light. He stopped and then started to laugh. Inga held on and then she looked up and started to laugh too.

I put my arms around Krystn and helped them walk towards my laughing family. Hans and Inga came down the steps and the rest followed. Hans hugged me and then both Krystns. Each family member took their turn hugging Krystn. I introduced each by name.

Hugs complete, Krystn looked confused. I took them to our huge picnic table and sat everyone down. As I sat Nick said, "They didn't know?"

"We still don't." Unison!

"Nick is my Dad. Hans is his parent as is Inga. Betsy and Andrea are my Mom."

They looked as I spoke and then they started to cry. They hugged each other and kept crying.

"What's wrong?" Betsy asked.

"Nothing! We're so happy. We found him!"

Tears flowed for a while and hugs were shared as well. Finally, there was a silent pause and Hans said, "Aren't we ever going to eat?"

During supper Andrea asked, "Are you really both Krystn?"

"Yes. We knew that marrying two women presents problems but if there were two women with the same name, same birthday, same parents it might be easier to get away with it. So, when we were twenty, one of us moved to Denver and changed her name. We also figured marrying a farmer would make it easier because we'd be living out in the country without so many people looking all the time."

"Are you staying the night?"

I looked at Krystn. "We have to sleep in the hay loft. It's a family tradition."

Betsy spoke up. "The first time Nick and I joined we were in the loft. Our first night sleeping together as a family was in the loft."

"Then we would be honored to carry on the family tradition." I loved that unison voice. I still do.

Now there are two more sets of unison voices around our farm. One set belonging to Steven [Sven] and Hans and the other set to two girls named Alison Marie and Alison May. I'll leave it to them to write their own stories in a few years. I pray they can find mates as wonderful as all of us have found.