Family Vacation: >1
My Mom and my Aunt Tara are fraternal twins. They were best friends as kids and even went to college together.
But after they met their respective husbands, they went to completely different parts of the country. Aunt Tara
and Uncle Micah
moved to Pennsylvania while my Mom and Dad bought a house in the suburbs of Chicago.
Soon, both sisters had babies and -- surprise surprise -- they both gave birth to twins. First, Aunt Tara had my
cousins, Logan and Marissa. Two years later, my Mom gave birth to my brother, Liam, and me, Melanie.
My Mom and her twin sister still keep in touch. These days it's harder not to stay in contact with someone.
However, a FaceTisn't the sas a face-to-face. And so, once a year, both families get together for a
week's vacation in July. As a joke, | named these annual gatherings TwinCon, and it's had that designation ever
since.
Because my family hosted TwinCon the previous year, it was our turn to pile into the car and make our way to
Aunt Tara's in PA. However, we would be driving even further than usual that year because we'd all rented a
house on the Jersey Shore. Seven days of sun and fun in a place that (I hoped) wouldn't be as bad as MTV made
it seem.
The morning of the trip, we woke up at the crack of dawn to help my father load up the SUV. | had two heavy
suitcases in my arms and the weight wasn't helpingwake up any. My parents were already outside waiting in
the car, and my Dad's impatience with his teenaged children was starting to show. He honked the horn, probably
infuriating half the neighborhood. I could hear his exasperation in how the car blared.
| scrambled down the stairs, not wanting any more of my Dad's ire than I'd already incurred. Right as | got to the
door, however, my twin brother Liam shovedout of the way to get past. There was zero reason for him to do
that, he got no benefit from it. He tossedaside simply because he could.
"Why do have to be such a jerk, Liam?" | shouted after my brother.
"Why do you have to be such a baby, Lemony?" Liam shouted back. My nis Melanie, but when we were
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtyounger my brother twisted my naround by accident and the nstuck. For nearly as long as | can
remember, I've been Lemony or Lemon. It's not the worst nicknin the world. I've used it as an excuse to
have a love affair with the color yellow. | wear daffodil-hued shirts and paint my nails 'banana.' My old, beat up
Civic could best be described as mustard. Even my hair is golden, though that's just luck of the draw.
| picked up my bags again and lugged them out the front door. | could see my father arguing with my Mom and |
didn't need to hear them to know it was already ugly. We needed to get going or there were going to be
consequences. "What took you two so damn long?" Dad asked as Liam tossed his bags in the trunk.
"Lemony was holdingup," Liam said.
| shouldn't have been surprised that my brother was throwingunder the bus. It had been his favorite pastime
for the last few months. Ever since we turned eighteen, really. | guess | kept expecting the sweet, loving sibling
I'd grown up with to show up again. Sadly, it seemed my best friend/brother was dead.
Somewhere along the way, I'd been transformed from a playmate and secret confidant into an obstacle for my
brother to shove out of his way. As if a life filled with crappy cliques and bad boyfriends wasn't already
challenging enough. Absently, as | loaded my suitcase into the trunk, | wondered if our cousins, Logan and
Marissa, were having similar problems getting along. Maybe this was a stage all siblings went through.
| was the last of the family to climb into the car. | pulled on my seatbelt and glared over at my brother. Liam was
blond, like me, and, while not short, his broad shoulders, strong chest, and muscular legs made him seem squat.
He wasn't built like a fire hydrant or anything, but years of wrestling in high school made him look the part. At
least he didn't have any of that weird ear thing going on. If Liam noticedeyeing him, he didn't acknowledge
it. He stared out the window, like he was soaking in the slow dawn.
Speaking of not getting along... Even though we were all now ready to go, Dad continued to rant about our slow
morning. Mom's persistent, detached calm seemed to only rile him up further.
"We're fine on time," Mom said.
"Says the person who isn't driving," Dad said.
"You wantto take the first shift? I'm happy to," Mom said. Her agreeable nature was as argumentative as
anything my Dad was yelling about.
Around the stLiam and | started to really go after each other, Mom and Dad began having similar
problems. | wondered if angry feelings were contagious or something. Or maybe it was just that Liam and | were
heading to college in a few short months and the upcoming separation was stressing everyone out. | loved my
family dearly, but a part ofcouldn't help but look forward to getting away from them. Maybe the break would
be good for all of us. And if not, at least | wouldn't have to be there to witness it anymore.
But before | could make my getaway, we all had to endure one last, long car ride with each other. Our little
sedan wasn't overpacked, but it still felt heavy. Our arguments and animosity were more than enough to drag us
down.
*
At spoint my parents stopped bickering and | drifted off to sleep. When | woke up, the sun was out, and we
were speeding through Ohio. | saw Liam was still passed out, his head lolled on the window. But that wasn't what
was most noticeable about my brother.
He had a boner!
Poking up from his navy-blue shorts, as unmissable as if it had a foghorn attached, was my brother's erect penis.
I hadn't had a lot of experiences with boy parts, certainly not in judging their size based solely on how they
pressed upwards in their pants, but Liam's bulge sure did seem prominent to me.
| mean, I'd had a couple boyfriends before. And | used the Internet. So, you know, it wasn't like | was a prude or
anything. But still, this was my brother's erection -- it looked awfully large in his shorts -- and | guess sbase
biological part ofbeccaptivated by it.
When he wasn't being a total jerkwad, | could acknowledge that Liam was kind of cute in a brotherly sort of way.
He kept his blonde hair cropped short, another remnant of his wrestling days. With the hair and the muscles,
Liam seemed like a very serious young man.
In truth, Liam was sweet and kind of a goofball. His pale blue eyes sparkled with mirth. In fact, his face was
always set in a playful expression, like he was quietly laughing to himself at the ridiculousness of existence. Liam
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmfloats through life, Mom had said once, and | thought that was an accurate description.
In the car that morning though, there was nothing soft about what was going on in my brother's pants. | did my
best not to stare, despite my sudden fascination. | mean, if | were asleep and my oversized boob popped out of
my shirt, | wouldn't want Liam to be drooling over it while | drowsed. Though | doubted he wouldn't even care.
Maybe it would even gross him out, seeing his sister's big, flabby tit. He didn't seem to have much patience for
any of my other parts, lately. By the way Liam moved and moaned in his sleep, | assumed he was having a sex
dream. | was pretty sure my twin brother was still a virgin. As far as | knew, Liam was like me: he'd had a couple
of very high school relationships that never went beyond heavy petting. But that didn't stop his unconscious
brain from simulating the experience, apparently.
Liam shifted and | quickly looked away.
"Oh, Mel..." he moaned. Then he jerked awake like he'd been hit with a cattle prod.
I quickly ripped my head around and focused on the endless empty that surrounded the highway. Had my
brother been dreaming about me? There was no way, right? First off, | was his sister, so | doubted he had any
feelings forbeyond the usual sibling stuff. Second, he clearly hated my fricking guts. So, it had to be my
mistake. Besides, my brother always calledLemony or Lemon -- never Mel. He was almost certainly dreaming
about sother girl in our class. Maybe Melissa Hardaway from third period Spanish? That made perfect sense.
"Was |, um, snoring?" Liam asked the car as he stretched back into consciousness. He eyed the cabin nervously.
"Is that what you call it? | thought you'd brought a bulldozer with you into the car," | said.
"Shut up, Lemon," Liam said, "At least | don't talk in my sleep."
"I do not!"
"I mean, seriously, | should have brought earplugs withor something."
"Could the both of you please let it go," Dad said, "One minute of peace. That's all I'm asking for. Sweet fucking
Christ."
| wanted to argue back. Both Liam and | had been quite quiet for the last four hours at least. But | knew that
arguing with my Dad would only make things worse. So, | apologized and put in my headphones.
*