The Twin Sister Solution

Now - The Call

The vacation would really be just what Aiden needed. The outdoors. No electronics or distractions. Being with family who he knew cared about him. It would be ideal to help alleviate the stress of a difficult course-load.

Of course, he couldn't go. There was no way. It was impossible. It would be selfish at best, and destructive at worst.

So, naturally, as soon as he had reached that decision, he received the call from his mother. His father had died six months prior, unexpectedly. The funeral had been a nightmare, for obvious reasons, but also because it was right after the holidays. He was glad that he'd gone home for Christmas, if only to see him one last time. It was just the events involving his sisters that he regretted.

Aiden had occasionally fought with his father when he was younger, but it was just the bucking of authority of any firstborn teenaged boy. They'd long since settled any of their differences, and Aiden looked back with fondness at the time that his father had spent with him. It wasn't enough, but he was grateful for what he had.

Aiden had wanted to be there more for his mother, but that wasn't possible. Not if he wanted to keep the family somewhat content, and mostly functional. Besides, his sisters were still home to keep his mother company. It was their senior year of high school, and Aiden figured that he could visit more once they left for college. Despite being twins, Tamara and Veronika (or Tam and Vee to their friends and family) were very different people, and were likely to end up going to colleges far apart. It would be safe, then, for Aiden to be around.

Of course, not being there for much of the last six months meant that he hadn't seen much of his little sisters, or been there for them. Aiden didn't feel any better about it even though he knew it was the right and only thing to do. They'd stayed in touch prior to the holidays, even if he had been far away. That had been before the Incident, as Aiden thought of it.

It was for the best, but he missed them. To be honest, Aiden missed them far too much. That was the whole problem.

So, when his mother called, Aiden already had his excuses lined up: "No, I can't come home for the entire summer. I'm doing an internship here at school. It's really important to my future."

There was even some truth in it. Aiden had been offered a job doing some basic research assistant stuff. It wasn't hard, it would pay pretty well, and might look good on a C.V. But it wasn't a particularly important or interesting opportunity. In fact, it was likely to be pretty damn boring. He'd spend half the time caring for rats. Then he'd probably end up spending the other half sketching them as he waited for a graduate student to ask him to do something even more tedious.

All of Aiden's excuses dried up as soon as he heard his mother's voice.

"Hello," he said.

"Aiden," she said, before he could say anything else, "I'm calling about your sisters."

A million scenarios passed through Aiden's mind, none of them good.

"Oh god, is everything ok? Are they all right?"

"They're fine. Nothing has happened to them."

"Oh...oh good," he said, feeling his heart stop racing. Her tone was still very serious.

"But they're not happy, and I think you know why."

A different kind of panic set in, one based in Aiden's own sickness and worst fears.

"Uh, I'm not sure..."

"Don't play dumb with me, mister. You've been avoiding them."

"Well, I mean, it's not that simple..."

"Let me be clear, Aiden. I'm not mad at you. I love you and I love your sisters and that won't ever change, but I'm your mother and I know when something is wrong. Tamara and Veronika are doing well on the surface but they're going through a lot. They lost their father just as you did, and now they think that they lost you, too. Veronika asked me the other day if I would talk to you for them, and ask if she had made you angry or upset. That was the last straw."

"Ah...well no, they didn't do anything..."

"I don't need to know. What I do need from you is your presence."

"Shit," Aiden said, unusually careless of the way he was swearing in front of his mother. "All right. I mean, I can definitely come home this summer."

Her tone softened almost immediately, but she wasn't done yet.

"Good, but that's not all. You know what's coming up, right?"

"The camping trip? Are we doing that this year?"

"It's a little too much for me, to be honest. Your father and I did a lot of camping over the years, even before the three of you were born, and I'm not sure I could handle being there without him. At least not this soon. But your sisters have their hearts set on it, and of course they want you to come. I'm also not too big on the idea of them being all alone in the woods by themselves."

"Well. I guess I better go," Aiden said, fully aware that he had folded right away, all resolve wearing away when thinking of his sisters worrying about him.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled."

The rest of the call went fairly normally, with Aiden updating Mom on his life and listening to her daily worries and activities. It was something that Dad had done in the past and Aiden was happy to do now. By the time he hung up, he was almost hopeful about the summer, despite the problems it presented.

His mother's call hadn't really surprised Aiden, but her tenacity had. Usually she was retiring, almost shy in a way. She had strength, but she had let her husband take the lead in many ways. He couldn't think of a time when she had been quite that firm with him, aside from when he'd actually misbehaved.

Aiden thought that in a way his mother was right, too. He had been hiding from his feelings and desires, and it was just hurting his sisters even more. They were innocent. Worse, he'd let them down when they needed him the most. He decided to make it up to them for that alone. He would be as present as he could be.

Maybe, if the time was right and they would understand, Aiden could explain his absence to them. Even if he didn't tell them the complete truth, he could still let them know that it was about his own problems, not theirs. Tamara and Veronika were both wonderful and extraordinary young women. Aiden knew that they deserved a better brother.

* * *

From: Aiden J.

To: Veronika J., Tamara J.

Subject: Summer Trip

Hey,

I'm sorry that I've been so quiet recently. It has nothing to do with you guys. Sometimes I don't think I'm the same person as I was before Dad died, you know?

Anyway, that's not an excuse. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys this summer, and especially looking forward to going camping with both of you, if you're still interested.

Let me know what dates are good for you. My semester ends in May.

Miss You Brats,

Aiden

Until he'd hit send on the email, it hadn't quite set in that Aiden would be alone with his sisters in the woods, and would be, as the oldest, the most responsible for their safety. That was frightening to him for multiple reasons.

Within an hour he had separate messages from both of them, each appropriate to their personalities.

From: Veronika J.

To: Aiden J., Tamara J.

Subject: Summer Trip

Yay! We missed you too. We'll be out of school a week earlier than you. The park is north of both of us but still about halfway between us. Do you want to meet us there? We can stop on the way and buy food and bring the camping gear from home, too. Maybe you could bring your fishing gear?

Aaaaaah, I'm already planning all of this in my head. It's gonna be great!

PS - I'm really looking forward to seeing you, even if you have been kind of a jerk.

Hugs and Kisses,

Veronika

From: Tamara J.

To: Aiden J., Veronika J.

Subject: Summer Trip

OMG calm down, Vee. We're still in April. Give him space to breathe lol.

I'm glad you're coming. I think otherwise Mom wouldn't have let us go. I mean, we're adults, but she'd have freaked out and made a big thing about it and we would have just given up.

PS - I guess I'm looking forward to seeing you, but you better not back out and you better start returning our calls.

PPS - I just re-read that and it sounded really mean so lemme just say I love you and I always will. <3

-Tam

It was reassuring for Aiden to see both of them were still alright with seeing their brother. He'd expected a bit more salt from Veronika, to be honest, but she'd probably just tell him what she felt in person. She wasn't as free with her emotions as Tamara was.

Now, he just needed to get his own feelings in check before June.

Flashback - The Waterfall

Aiden always considered it to be his fault. He wasn't paying attention, and while he and his sisters might have all been children, he was the oldest. He was twelve and Tamara and Veronika were both ten. It was during the yearly family camping trip, something that all of them loved even if they did sometimes complain about having to leave their friends for a few weeks every summer.

As always, their parents let them go out and wander. They knew the paths, and the wildlife, and kept good track of the time. Plus, they tended to go off together, and they were trusted to look out for one another. The event happened on one of these excursions.

The trouble was, that from Aiden's perspective, the twins were acting like brats. They were in truth simply behaving like excitable children do. Tam and Vee always wanted to go a little farther, explore a little more, and being twins they had their own worlds and games that they played that Aiden wasn't invited to.

Aiden was hot, tired, thirsty, and ready to go back to camp. It was mid-afternoon, and they were only about a half-hour away from the home camp, so they had plenty of time before dinner, but he was bored. However, Tam and Vee wanted to finish exploring the waterfall. Trying to get them to do something was like herding argumentative cats, so he had given up on it.

Instead, he had walked a short ways away, and was messing around looking for salamanders under some nearby rocks. He was still within earshot of them, but there was a small rise and quite a few trees between him and his sisters. He couldn't see them at all. This fact figured heavily in many of his future nightmares.

Aiden had justified letting them play near a waterfall by being fully aware that the falls themselves had fairly low height and intensity. The river was small, only about thirty feet across. There was a fifteen foot drop down from a fairly flat ledge that could be crossed easily so long as it wasn't rainy or flooding. It was relatively safe. Both of his sisters could swim, and the pool was fairly deep at the bottom.

The problem was that directly beneath the falls were rocks, but to hit them you'd have to go straight down. The other and much more significant danger was the second set of falls. After the pool the water built up and fell in a much faster stream, this time over three stories down a cliff side. But his sisters were generally pretty mature and careful, so Aiden wasn't worried about these things.

Aiden heard the scream, loud and high and completely unmistakable as anything other than a child in terror. He knew it was Vee right away. He started running towards them without pausing to even truly be afraid. When he popped from the trees and brush at the top of the first falls, his worst fears were realized. Vee was dangling from the edge, barely holding on with both hands. Tam was maybe three feet or so further down and to his left. She'd managed to catch herself and her arms were wrapped around a small outcrop. If anything she looked more secure than Vee.

Aiden ran up to the top and half-waded half-slipped my way out to them, careful not to go over the side himself. Vee was getting hit by more water and her grip was going to give way on the slippery flat rock she was holding on to, so it was an easy decision to get her first. Aiden picked her up, shouted at Tam to stay where she was, and moved Vee to the side of the river as fast as he could. It took only thirty seconds, maybe less. Halfway back to get Tam, however, there was another scream, this one a lot shorter, followed by a loud splash.

Tam was scared, but she was the type of girl to face her fear head on, even when maybe it would be best not to. She'd tried to climb back up the face of the rock, figuring she was a good climber, and that there were plenty of hand and foot holds. She had not counted on how slippery with algae they would be. The only saving grace was that she had at least been pushing off when she lost her grip, so she had missed the sharp rocks by at least a foot. Aiden ran back and looked down, and didn't see her. He took a guess as to where she must have landed and then jumped himself, trying to miss that point.

Maybe it wasn't smart, but it would be a lot faster than running down the path to the pool, and he needed to save Tam. Needed is almost not strong enough of a word. She was his baby sister and like Vee, he couldn't imagine life without her. Later he would consider himself, in that one moment of his life, if no other, to have been pure and selfless. He had not worried about his own safety or how he might be in trouble with his parents. Only Tam mattered.

He went in feet first, body rigid, as he'd been taught when going in from somewhere high up, by some nameless swim instructor from years past. He went straight down and swam under the falls, where the water would be pounding and loud and might be strong enough to keep a small girl from surfacing if she was scared and had not thought to swim out of the flow first. He felt the thunder in his ears and didn't know if it was the rushing water or his own heartbeat, but felt nothing.

Aiden searched with his eyes (nearly blinded in the white water) and his arms and even his legs, and finally felt his foot brush fabric. He spun, grabbed onto the fabric (which turned out to be the back of his sister's shorts) and pulled her out of the falling water. Then they both surfaced, coughing and choking. She was crying and Aiden was sure that he was, too. Once Tam realized it was Aiden who had grabbed her she clung to his neck as he swam to the edge of the pool, almost dragging him under once or twice by accident.

By the time they got to the rocks by the shore, Vee was there, and she helped her sister out first, then both of them helped to pull Aiden out. When they did they all fell to their knees. The twins' eyes were wide, their clothes were soaked, and they both had scrapes and scratches leaking fresh bright red blood, but none were large. There were no cuts or marks on their heads or necks.

"Anything broken? Are you guys okay?" Aiden asked, somewhat in disbelief that they had escaped with so little damage. The girls looked at themselves and each other.

"I'm all right," Vee said, her voice already calming down a bit. "Just some cuts and bruises."

"I-I'm fine, too," Tam said. She was scared still, and that much was clear. This was the first time she had ever faced the possibility of her own death, and it had shaken her.

"We were walking," Vee explained, "and I slipped. I started to go over and Tam tried to stop me, but instead I pulled her over with me. It would have been so much worse if you hadn't come to rescue us."

Tam said nothing but nodded fervently in agreement.

After hearing their voices Aiden finally let himself sigh in relief. He laid back and closed his eyes and just let his heart slow. Vee and Tam were all right. Everything was going to be fine. Granted, he might not survive the wrath of his parents, but that was something he could face. For once, he wouldn't talk back or make excuses. This was his fault and whatever they decided he could live with. Finally he sighed again, opened his eyes, and stood up. The sisters stood up quickly as well.

"Come on," Aiden said. "Let's get back."

They walked back in relative silence. To Aiden's surprise, each of the girls held one of his hands. They had stopped doing this as much as they were "too old" to do so, but now, it seemed fine. He didn't want to let them go, either. The walk back was easy but Aiden stopped to rest once or twice, as he could see that both Vee and Tam were even more worn out than he was, and he was suddenly pretty exhausted.

Their father was building a fire to cook dinner when they returned, and their mother stood and smiled, before she saw how her children were walking. Then she rushed over to them. When she saw their wounds, she really freaked out. Before Aiden could say anything, Tam and Vee started to practically shout the ordeal that they'd been through. Their father ran over, too. Aiden simply let the girls talk. They basically got everything right, anyway.

"And then Aiden dove in and found me and swam out carrying me," Tam finished, taking a deep breath. Vee and her had traded off telling the story without a single pause as they tended to do. There was no sense interrupting them, it would just confuse things. As expected, their father was angry.

"And where were you when your little sisters were playing on a goddamn waterfall?"

Aiden flinched. Dad never swore. Not to his children anyway. Still, Aiden thought he was right.

"I wasn't there. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry doesn't cut it this time, mister," their mother said, trying to sound severe. In fact, had they not been children, the three would have been able to see how afraid their parents were, and how their anger was false. They were terrified that they had not been there for the twins. They weren't even taking it out on Aiden so much as trying to make sure that he understood how serious the situation had been.

Much later, Aiden understood that. At the time, he simply knew that he had made a serious mistake and was ready to be grounded for the rest of his childhood. What neither Aiden, his Mom, or his Dad had anticipated was how Tamara and Veronika would react. They had all just assumed that they were scared and would remain silent. They were wrong.

"Leave him alone!" It was Vee who started, surprisingly. And she was angrier than Aiden had ever seen her.

"Yeah, he saved us! He dove in after me! We were the dumb ones!" Tam would never be said to be a shrinking violet, and she felt very strongly about this.

That led to a confusing scene where their mother and father were trying to comfort and calm their youngest daughters while Aiden went to sit down on a nearby log. It made him smile to hear them defend him like that, even if he knew that it was his fault for not looking out for them properly.

In the end, the twins went to bed early after dinner. Aiden stayed up a little later and Dad spoke to him off to the side. He wasn't going to be punished, and his father was proud of him for what he'd done to help Tam and Vee, but he wanted Aiden to know that situations like that were the sort of thing that parents, and older brothers, had nightmares about. Aiden told him that in the woods and in life in general, he would look out for his little sisters. Forever.

Aiden's father shared a beer with him for the first time that night, too, which would help him sleep. Tam and Vee wouldn't let Aiden out of their sight for the rest of the vacation. Adien used to think that they were worried about being alone, but later he would wonder if they weren't looking out for him, too.

Now - Packing

Tam stopped in the middle of folding her swimsuit and looked out across the hall into her sister's room.

"Do you think we should tell him that we're bringing boys?" Tam's question brought Veronika back from her own daydreams.

"Yeah I'm sure that there's no way that could go wrong," Veronika responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Come on...it's just to make him a little jealous, you know? And then we show up alone and he's really happy and relieved. What could go wrong?"