Both of my parents are sitting at the kitchen table with mugs of coffee in their hands, so I make my way over there to say hello. I don’t live far from here, it’s only about a twenty minute drive or so to my small cabin at the base of the Appalachian Mountains that run through our small town of Noelsville, North Carolina. But I love being able to see my family when I can.
I kiss my mom on the cheek before I clap my dad on the shoulder. “I brought donuts from Adalene’s Bakery. I don’t know where Piper is hiding them though,” I tell them, and take a seat across from them.
“I’m sure she has inhaled half the box already,” Phoebe says from behind me with a laugh. I freeze when I hear her voice. How does just hearing the sound of her voice turn me into this panic-riddled shell of a man? My heart is trying to pound its way out of my chest and my palms go clammy within seconds of her walking into the room. I quickly wipe them on my jeans before standing up and pulling out a chair for her.
A chair conveniently next to me, because I’m a masochist and love to torture myself even further.
I don’t look at her as she whispers a quick thanks to me before taking a seat. I do however, make eye contact with my mom from across the table and she looks like she’s about to combust in pure joy. She has never been quiet about the fact that she’d love me and Phoebe to get together one day, but she doesn’t have all the facts of our sordid past. And I’m not going to share them with her. So instead, I’ll endure the excited glances and winks she keeps not-so-subtly throwing my way.
The front door opens loudly from behind us, and I hear both my brother and Phillip laughing loudly about something as they parade into the dining room to join us. Piper comes running in behind them with the box of donuts in her hands. She places the box down in the middle of the table and Dad is the first one to snatch the box over. When he opens it, I’m surprised to see that Piper hasn’t touched any of them.
Surprised, and wary.
Our brothers got their knack for pranks and learned their tricks from someone, and it wasn’t me.
Dad inspects the donuts quietly before grabbing a chocolate glazed one, covered in red and green sprinkles and hands it to Mom. I’ve always admired the way that Dad always puts Mom first. Whether it’s the first donut from the box, or the first mug of coffee from the freshly brewed pot, he’s always taken care of her needs before his own. They smile at each other with a timeless sort of affection in their eyes and she grabs one of the sugar donuts from the box for Dad, before sliding the box across the table to Phoebe. She declines a donut, and slides the box over to Phillip and Austin.
They both take no time grabbing two of the Christmas decorated ones. One of them is bright green with a tree decorated on it, and the other has chocolate and is decorated with little strings of Christmas lights using large colored sprinkles. I look over and see Piper walking back into the dining room. She leans against the doorway laughing silently and winks at her sister. I turn back to see Phoebe pull out her phone next to me.
A few seconds later the boys are spitting their donuts into their napkins and yelling like hyenas, as both Phoebe and Piper start laughing hysterically. I look back and forth between the four of them in confusion.
“What did I just miss?” Mrs. Andrews says as she strolls into the dining room with Mr. Andrews following hot on her heels. His sweater definitely matches Little E’s. They both have amused smiles painted on their faces as they take in the scene.
“Piper put toothpaste in the donuts!” Phillip yells out loudly. He’s trying to wipe his tongue off with the napkins while Austin grabs his donut and runs into the kitchen. I can’t contain the laugh the bubbles out of my throat when I hear the sink turn on and the distinct sound of a gargle.
Phoebe stands and hands Piper her phone and they give each other a high five before returning to the table and grabbing donuts for themselves.
“Are the rest of the donuts safe?” Mr. Andrews asks as he peers skeptically into the box.
Piper pulls the box towards her. “Yep, the rest are spearmint free!” She blows Phil a kiss as he glares at her from across the table. I can see the bright green toothpaste oozing out of his discarded donut on the table.
Austin comes back and sits down without saying a word. I’m sure he’s already plotting his revenge. Philip may be the hot-head, but Austin is the real danger. He’s too smart for his own good, and he’s always at least five steps ahead when it comes to pranking one of us.
“You know they’re going to get you back for this, right?” I look at both Phoebe and Piper and shake my head at them when they just smile wider. They may be identical twins, but their smiles couldn’t be anymore different. Phoebe keeps her lips together when she smiles, making her look soft and gentle. Piper’s smile is big and wide enough to show off every single tooth in her mouth.
“Are we all done messing around? Or do you all want to get eliminated for the first round?” Mr. Andrews asks in a no-nonsense tone.
We all hush up quickly and give him our full attention. Who would have thought that all of us would still be this excited for this game years into our adulthood?
“Linda, dear, can you grab the box?”
We all watch as Mrs. Andrews stands and grabs a box from under the tree. It’s similar to the box from last night, but this one is much larger.
Mr. Andrews stands up and puts his reading glasses on before taking the box from his wife. “Who wants to open the first task?”
Everyone but Phoebe and I yell. I sneak a peek at her and see that she has her serious face on. I could always tell when she was in the zone, because she has the most intense and ‘in it to win it’ expression.
“I flew across the ocean to be here, I should get dibs on opening the first box!” Piper shouts loudly, while tossing a look of irritation at Phil before he can speak a single word.
“Yes, I think that’s fair,” Mom agrees with her, earning a giant smile from Piper in return.
Mr. Andrews slides the box over to Piper and we all wait in muted anticipation to see what this first task will be. It feels like we’re ten years old again, waiting to hear the task and dart off quickly to opposite ends of the house.
Piper unwraps the box and tugs the lid off and pulls a small piece of paper out of it and starts to read it. Phoebe stands up to get a better look at what’s inside and her eyes widen for a fraction of a second before she sits back down. Now I’m even more curious to know what our parents have been up to.
“What’s it say?!” Austin begs from his end of the table.
Piper shoots in a look of annoyance and then reads us the first task.
