Tuesday, November 26, 2019, Bedtime

Baxter watched as Jordan closed the bedroom door then asked if they would meet his boyfriend on Wednesday. Then Jason asked Baxter if he was really gay. He thought, ‘Why did they need to ask these things? If I have a boyfriend, it should be obvious that I am gay. A straight guy wouldn’t have a boyfriend.’

He’d been told that the twins were gay by their dad, Baxter’s uncle Steve, who’d asked that it be kept confidential. Baxter had agreed.

So, he wondered what they wanted to talk about with the bedroom door closed, which meant private, do not disturb. So, he repeated the same question that he’d asked a couple minutes earlier. “You guys have a problem because I’m gay?”

“No,” they said simultaneously. “We just want to be doubly sure that’s what you’d told us,” Jason said.

“Why is it important for you to be doubly sure?”

“Because we want to tell you something.”

“Okay, what is the something that you two want to tell me?”

The twins were silent for almost a minute. That was a long time with no one saying anything. Baxter thought maybe they were struggling with whether they should tell him they were gay. But he didn’t say anything. They might decide to tell him, or they might decide not to tell him. It had to be their decision, and they seemed deep in thought trying to make that decision. But they weren’t discussing it with each other.

Yet… there was something he’d read about identical twins. An article in the newspaper said that identical twins seemed to be able to communicate without speaking. It was like they were able to communicate their thoughts or read each other’s minds. Maybe that’s what they were doing.

Finally, Baxter yawned. That turned out to be the tipping point. Jordan took a deep breath, let it out, then said, “We’re gay, too.”

“Whoa!” Baxter shouted. He looked at his bedroom door like he expected someone to rush in wondering why he’d yelled. Elizabeth’s bedroom was across from his, and she could have heard him. But no one came in or even knocked on his door to ask if there was something wrong. Then he whispered, “Oops, sorry about shouting. You totally surprised me. I hope no one heard me.”

Actually, despite anticipating what the twins might tell him, Baxter had been surprised by their announcement.

The three boys seemed to be tense for about fifteen seconds, so when no one came in to see what caused Baxter to shout, they were finally able to relax and laugh quietly.

“So, tell me about what it’s like being identical twins who are gay.”

The twins told Baxter what it was like. The first thing they said also surprised him.

“Our biggest problem is finding two guys who would be interested in becoming our boyfriends,” Jason said, “and we mean two guys, one for each of us,” Jordan added. “We’re not interested in sharing. And making sure that they don’t think we’d both be using them secretly, like pretending I’m Jason and vice versa.”

“What about finding other twins, even if they aren’t identical?”

Jason shook his head. “We read stories about gay kids trying to find another gay kid who’s not already in a relationship.” “Yeah,” Jordan added, “think about trying to find two gay guys who are twins! It’s almost impossible.

“We’ve read that about five percent of males identify themselves as gay. That’s fifty out of a thousand. We remember these numbers because they’re important for us.”

Jordan continued, “About four percent of births are identical twins. About a quarter of identical twins are boys.”

They both grinned. “When we calculated it, we discovered that we’re almost unique,” Jason said.

“I never thought about that. Of course, I’ve never thought about twins, especially identical twins, being gay.”

“So, how did you find your boyfriend, Baxter?” Jordan asked.

“I lived with him for almost a year.” He grinned. “Mike and I were roommates at Groveland. I guess you could say I was out. That meant if I was asked, I’d answer truthfully: ‘Yes, I’m gay.’ Mike wasn’t out at all, and when I found out that he was, it was after he was fostered by the Stewarts.

“I wasn’t interested in having one of the other Groveland boys as my boyfriend. There’s a constant turnover of guys there. So having a boyfriend meant losing a boyfriend when they were fostered or adopted. Since I’d never had anyone interested in talking to me about being fostered or adopted, I kept a low profile.

“Another thing, if I’d had a boyfriend at Groveland and the other guys found out, we would both have been razzed about it all the time. It’s one thing to admit you’re gay if you’re asked. It’s completely different if it’s discovered by someone and it becomes general knowledge that you have a boyfriend.

“A big problem was if you wanted to get together with your boyfriend, there wasn’t anywhere to do it. You couldn’t sleep together, only your roommate could be in your room after lights-out, and there were bed checks to make sure each guy was in their assigned room with their assigned roommate. The beds were narrow twin beds, the kind they sell to families that are moving their little kid from a crib to a kid-size bed. What that means is, two guys couldn’t sleep together because there wasn’t enough room side-by-side. So the few who did the boyfriend thing at Groveland were always roommates.

“Having a boyfriend who was a student at Las Lomas High wouldn’t have worked either, because we weren’t allowed to visit other students at their homes or have them visit us at Groveland. So, I wasn’t interested in looking for a boyfriend.

“All we could do is… you know…” Baxter formed his right hand into an open fist and moved it up and down a few times. “…when we were in our own beds.

“I’d been at Groveland for about four months when Mike arrived and became my roommate. Then we became best friends. When we were fostered and moved away from Groveland, we didn’t have any restrictions except those set by our new parents. Their restrictions are few and far between. That’s when we became boyfriends. Boyfriends with benefits. Lots of benefits.” Baxter grinned, and the twins laughed.

They continued to talk.

“For Mike and me, it happened when my dad and pop invited the Stewarts to come over for a barbecue and so the two of us, with Elizabeth and a friend, could go swimming. Mike stayed over for the weekend. He and I uh… we slept together in my bed and… well, you can guess what happened.” Baxter grinned, and the twins chuckled at that part.

“Our parents know, and they are okay with it. We don’t have all of the Groveland restrictions, either, so it’s easier for us to get together.”

Baxter paused. He’d run out of things to say.

“Do you have any questions you want us to answer?” Jordan asked.

“Yeah. Are there any other identical twin boys at Pasadena High?”

Jordan replied, “Yes, there are two sets of identical twin boys, one pair are juniors, and the other pair are seniors, so if they were gay neither pair would be interested in a couple of freshmen. There are several sets of twin boys who aren’t identical.”

“Thing is, we don’t have any way to find out if both twins are gay,” Jason said. “Stories are written about guys who have gaydar, but that sure isn’t us!”

“Is there a GSA at Pasadena High?”

“Yes, but we’re not members. Is there one at Las Lomas High?”

“Yes, and Mike and I go to their meetings.”

“Any other questions?” Jason asked.

There was another question Baxter would have liked to ask the twins, but it would have been improper and too personal. Way, way, way too personal!

So he replied, “Nope.”

Wednesday, November 27th, 2019, Early Morning

The alarm woke Baxter at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the day before Thanksgiving, and Baxter was excited and eager to find out the schedule for tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, and how he could help with the preparation and cooking.

He took a shower and got dressed, then went to the kitchen for breakfast. He brought his copy of the Thanksgiving menu. He was the first to arrive, so he sliced a bagel in half and put it in the toaster oven. He went to the refrigerator and got the peanut butter — the natural unsalted kind that has to be stirred then refrigerated to keep the oil from separating. It was healthier than the other kinds. He thought about adding some apricot preserves but decided he didn’t want anything sweet. He’d wait for the pies they’d have for dessert after dinner tomorrow.

Elizabeth walked into the kitchen. “What are you having for breakfast, Baxter?”

“Half a bagel with some peanut butter on it.”

She pulled out the box of her favorite cereal, Fruit Loops, got a bowl and glass out of the cupboard, and got the carton of milk out of the refrigerator.

The toaster oven dinged, so Baxter removed his bagel and anointed it with peanut butter. “You want the other half? I can toast it for you.”

She sat down. “No, thanks.” She started to pour Fruit Loops into her bowl. “A bowl of cereal will be enough this morning…” she stopped, shook her head, then continued. “Wait a minute…!” She looked up and stared like she was thinking while continuing to pour Fruit Loops toward her bowl. But she missed it, and about a cup of cereal ended up on the table, and a half a cup rolled off onto the floor.

“Elizabeth! What are you doing? Stop!” Baxter shouted, then he stood up. “We’ve got to clean this up,” he said, then he looked at her and laughed. “I wish I had my phone with me. I’d take your picture and show you how… I don’t know… how concerned you look.”

“We shouldn’t be eating breakfast now!” she said, scraping the Fruit Loops from the table into her bowl.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re all going to have brunch today with most of our relatives. Dad and Pop are going to serve the breakfast pastries they bought at that Italian bakery on Locust Street. There’ll be orange juice and coffee or milk to drink. It’s going to be casual. There’ll be nineteen of us.”

“I completely forgot about that,” Baxter said.

“Obviously, so did I,” Elizabeth said.

“I don’t want to save this bagel, so I’ll go ahead and eat it now.”

“I might as well put some milk in my bowl and eat my cereal.”

“First, I’ll clean up the Fruit Loops that are on the floor and dump them in the trash,” Baxter said.

When he finished cleaning up the floor, Baxter ate the rest of his bagel with a glass of milk. “You know, eating this kind of light breakfast is going to be okay. We won’t be eating brunch until eight-thirty or maybe even nine.”

“What about the twins,” she asked.

“I’ll go check on them.” He returned in about a minute. “They’re up and getting ready. They said they’ll eat some cereal and can get it themselves.”

Just as Baxter and Elizabeth finished eating their light breakfast and had put the bowl and glasses in the dishwasher, they heard the doorbell. “Who’s that?” Elizabeth asked.

“Don’t know. It’s only seven forty-five, so it’s too early for the relatives to start arriving for brunch or for Mike to be here with his cousins for our ten o’clock meeting.”

“Where are Dad and Pop?” she asked.

“I think they went to the bakery. Let’s go see who‘s at the door.”

They walked to the entry and opened the door.

It was a couple with two teenage boys, and the woman was holding the hand of a little boy.

“You must be the Youngs, Aunt Cindi, and Uncle Landon,” Elizabeth said. That surprised Baxter; he’d assumed that she’d already met all of their fathers’ relatives that were coming for Thanksgiving.

“Hi, I’m Elizabeth, and this is Baxter.”

“Come on in!” he said. “We’re not sure, but we think Rob and Vincent went to the bakery to pick up the pastries for this morning’s brunch.

“You’re Chuck,” Baxter said, looking at the taller boy, “and you’re Grant,”  he said to the shorter teen. Then he crouched down. “And I’ll bet this young gentleman is Timmy.” Timmy giggled and said, “You got red hair!”

“Yes, I do. And lots of freckles, too.” He pointed to his cheeks.

He stood up and Elizabeth stepped aside. She said, “This is the coat closet. You can hang your coats in here.”

After that was done, Baxter led them into the family room. “We can sit and talk for a while we wait for Rob and Vincent to return.”

Cindi walked up to Baxter and hugged him, then she hugged Elizabeth. “It’s so nice to finally meet the two of you,” she said.

Landon shook hands with Baxter, then hugged Elizabeth. “I’ll second that,” he said.

“Hi,” Grant said. He put his fist out, and Baxter responded with a fist bump. Then Grant hugged Elizabeth and sat down.

“I’m Chuck,” his other cousin said. “Nice to meet you.”

Baxter extended his arm, and he and Chuck shook hands. Then Chuck also hugged Elizabeth.

“I’ll go get Jason and Jordan,” Elizabeth said. “They’re staying with us while their family is here for Thanksgiving,” she explained. She returned with the twins, and the greeting thing was repeated, though it was apparent the Lee and Young families knew each other.

They had just sat down when Rob and Vincent arrived with two large boxes and a large bag from 54 Mint Forno Italiano, their favorite bakery in Walnut Creek. The greeting thing was repeated again, but this time it was shorter because everyone knew everyone else.

“We’ll put this away temporarily,” Rob said. “This morning, starting at about eight-thirty, we’ll be serving a casual brunch of breakfast pastries with orange juice and coffee or milk. That’ll continue until the teens have their meeting at ten o’clock.” Rob grinned. “I expect that anything that’s left will disappear when the teens get at them, so we bought some extras.”

“What meeting is it we’re having?” Grant asked.

Baxter gave a quick summary.

Elizabeth included more detail. “There’ll be nine of us. Everyone will be here by ten o’clock.”

There were questions for Baxter. He repeated some of his background, including his time at Groveland.

Chuck asked, “So, are you both adopted now?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth and Baxter replied simultaneously. That made Jason and Jordan laugh. “You sure you’re not twins? You answered together, just like Jordan and I do.”

Elizabeth turned and stared at her brother. “You know, Baxter, I think he’s right. We do mostly look alike.” She grinned, and they both recalled what she’d told Baxter when he first arrived in the Choi household.

Baxter picked up on that. “We both have two eyes, two ears, one nose, and one mouth, two arms and two legs, and hair on our heads. They stood, and each did a 360-degree turn with their arms outstretched.

“See?” she said, “we do mostly look alike. Twins!”

Everyone laughed at their little show.

“I can tell that you two like each other. I’ll bet you never fight or argue. Am I right?” Cindi asked.

“You’re right, we don’t fight. Baxter is the best brother I could ask for. We take care of each other. He’s got my back, and I’ve got his back.”

“You know, Cindi, maybe we could trade one of ours for Baxter,” Landon said.

“That isn’t going to work. I wouldn’t trade Baxter for anyone else,” Elizabeth said.

Landon looked at his two sons. They appeared to be embarrassed and irritated. “No offense intended, you guys. It was just a joke.”

Maybe it was a joke, but neither boy was laughing.

Grant mumbled, just loud enough so everyone could hear what he said, “Why do parents always have to embarrass their kids?”

Cindi got up and walked to the sofa. She put her hands out to Grant and pulled him up, then she hugged him. Landon repeated what she had just done, this time with Chuck.

“Guys, we were just kidding,” Landon said. “I’d like to paraphrase what Elizabeth said. Your mother and I would never trade you two for anyone else.”

Chuck looked at his brother, then at Baxter, and said, “Though you’ve got to admit, Baxter is kinda cute, and Timmy seems to like him!”

Baxter laughed, then everyone else was laughing, too, and a tense situation was eased. But that made him wonder what was behind what Chuck had just said.

The adults talked about family and adult stuff, most of which Baxter didn’t understand because he didn’t know the people they were talking about. He suggested the teens go outside and sit on the patio, which was being warmed by the morning sun. It was pleasant to be outdoors.

They went into more detail about the list of activities, and there were several useful suggestions. The twins talked about what they liked to do, which included swimming, and said they were thinking about joining the freshman swim team. They also enjoyed hiking and skiing in the San Gabriel Mountains north of where they lived in Pasadena.

Chuck and Grant went to Mt. Carmel High in Poway, a San Diego suburb. They both liked hiking in the mountains in their area. Chuck was a junior and was on the JV soccer team; he was taking AP Chemistry. Grant was a freshman and didn’t go out for any team sports; he was taking STEM and robotics classes.

Chuck asked Baxter a question he didn’t expect. “Would it be okay to have a tour of your house and the backyard? I’m interested in architecture. Actually, I’d like to be an architect when I’m finished with college.”

“Where would you go to get an architecture degree?”

“The University of California at Davis. That’s where my architectural drawing teacher went to school. What do you want to do, Baxter?”

“I want to go to Cal and get Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science.”

“That’s what I want to do, too,” Grant said, “and at Cal, too.”

“We might be going there at the same time. That would be cool! We could share a dorm room.”

“How about you, Elizabeth? What would you like to do?” Cindi asked.

“I want to be a writer, and the best school for writers is the University of Iowa.”

“How about you guys?” Chuck asked the twins.

“Electrical engineering for me,” Jason replied. “Same as Baxter and Grant for me,” Jordan said. “Jason will design new super high-powered computers, and I’ll write the firmware and operating systems that will run them.”

“Should we show all of you all the house now?” Elizabeth asked.

“Sure. Why don’t we start in the backyard since we’re here already?” Chuck replied.

After viewing the pool, tennis court, and trampoline, all the teens were excited about spending one day focused on having fun in the backyard. Then they toured the inside of the house.

“Did you notice that my bathroom has a urinal?” Baxter asked.

Chuck said, “What? I didn’t see that!”

“Come on, I’ll show you,” Baxter offered. They went back to his bedroom and then into his bathroom. “Voila!” he said, pointing.

“I’m glad you asked. I didn’t bother looking at the bathrooms after I saw the one in the guest bedroom. I assumed they were all the same.” He grinned and looked at Baxter. “Having a urinal is so cool!”

All the kids returned to the patio.

“The rooms are all large,” Chuck said. And each bedroom has it’s own bathroom. The dining room is much larger than is usually found in this size house. You have two big dining room tables; I counted twenty-one chairs. I assume that’s for us at Thanksgiving?”

Elizabeth replied, “Yes, and for those that will be here for brunch this morning, that’s at eight-thirty. Also, for those of us who’ll be in the meeting of all of the cousins when we plan our Friday and Saturday cousins’ outings. That’ll be at ten.”

“What are the cousin’s outings?” Grant asked.

Elizabeth explained the outings, and Baxter gave Chuck and Grant — and their parents — copies of the list of ideas. The boys seemed excited about getting out and having fun.

Chuck asked, getting back on the tour of the Choi home, “Do both of the dining room tables stay in the dining room?”

“No, one table and the extra chairs will be returned to the storage room at the back of the garage.”

“How are you going to put them back?” Jordan asked. “You need a hand? We could help.”

Baxter replied, “Thanks for the offer, but the Monday after Thanksgiving the movers who brought them in will move them back to the storage room and put covers over them. The tables are very heavy, and Rob and Vincent don’t want any of us to be injured or the house to be damaged trying to move them back ourselves. They’ll also move the table and chairs that will stay in the dining room so they are in the center of the room.”

They heard the doorbell, and Baxter went inside to see who’d arrived. The rest of the teens followed him. When they got there, Vincent had opened the front door. It was Vincent's parents and Donna and Steven Lee. The twins rushed to say hello to their parents and to give each a hug. The adults congregated in the family room, and they greeted Cindi and Landon.

Chuck poked Baxter’s left arm. “You and Elizabeth have met everyone, right?”

“Yes. Everyone who’s arrived already. We haven’t met Rob’s parents or grandparents, or his cousin Lyle and his girlfriend. I don’t remember her name.”

“It’s Trishia,” Elizabeth said. “All of that group will arrive on Thanksgiving morning.”

Baxter and Elizabeth stood to one side. She whispered, “Are all these people getting confusing for you?”

He whispered his reply, “I thought it would, but it’s sort of like when I was at Groveland. Forty guys were living there, and they looked similar unless their hair or skin color was different than most of the others. So it was easy for me to figure out who the black and Asian guys were.”

She was surprised. “There were black and Asian guys there? When I took the tour the first time we met you, I don’t remember seeing any black or Asian guys.”

“There were three black guys and one Hispanic guy with dark skin, plus two Asian guys. When you were there, they could have been outside shooting baskets, or in their rooms doing homework, reading, listening to music, or taking a nap.”

Jordan walked up to them. “We should probably go say hi,” he suggested.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Baxter replied.