"Momma's girl." Sara always taunted her when they were younger. Tegan was always oen to run straight to mommy when things were going wrong. When their dad left when they were six, Tegan clung to her mother's side, literally. She refused to let her mother out of her sight for more than five minutes at a time. She was afraid she would leave them too. Whenever Sara was mean to her, or hit her, or took her toys, Tegan would run to their mother and tattle on Sara. Their mother would always take Tegan's side. Sara would make fun of her for being such a momma's girl, but even then Tegan knew that Sara was just jealous that she got more attention from mom. Tegan was the first-born, the first to bond with their mother, and that was something Sara could never have.

It was only natural that Tegan would stay their mother's favorite even as they got older and into their teenage years. Tegan still on occasion liked to be babied and go to her mother when anything was upsetting her. So Sonia wasn't surprised when Tegan crawled into bed with her once night. Her eyes were red an puffy, and Sonia knew that Tegan had been really upset about something.

Sonia foled back the tip of the page of the book she had been reading to mark her place. She set it on the nightstand before wrapping an arm around her eldest daughter. "What's the matter, baby?"

"Sara."

"Did you guys get into another fight?" Her daughters always seemd to be arguing or fighting with each other about something, despite how close they really were.

"Yeah. Sort of."

"What happened this time?"

"She said she didn't want to be my sister anymore?"

This obviously hit a nerve, and it didn't surprise Sonia as to why. The two were twins. They shared the same blood, the same DNA. For one to say they didn't want that bond they had to exist, it would be very upsetting. She was more than qualified to handle the psychological problems associated with twins; therefore, she had place to offer comforting advice. "You know she didn't really mean it right?"

"This time she did, Mom. She meant it." Her voice expressed that she truly felt this way.

Sonia hugged her tighter. "I doubt it. She's your sister. She loves you. She could never truly mean it."

"Yes, I did."

Sonia looked up to see her youngest daughter perched in the door way. She was obviously upset too. Sonia patted the duvet with her left hand. "Sit down."

Sara sat down, but she didn't lean into her mother or crawl under the covers like her sister had.

"What were you fighting about?" Sonia asked her. If they were going to solve anything, they had to get to the root of the problem.

"Nothing." Sara was unwilling to give away any information about their fight. Their mother was the last person who needed to know.

Sara always was tougher, more head-strong, and harder to crack than her older counterpart. It seemed as if Sonia would be forced to get the story from Tegan. "What happened, Tee?"

"I told you. She said she didn't want to be my sister anymore."

"Yes, but why did she say that?"

Sonia figured the two were sworn to secrecy. Neither of them said a single word. She turned to Sara again, expecting an honest answer from the antagonist this time.

"I don't want to be her sister anymore." Sara spoke the words while starign directly at Tegan, but there was no anger present in her voice.

Tegan recoiled again, shrinking into her mother eve more. Sara responded by leaping across their mother's cocooned body to hug Tegan the way Tegan was hugging Sonia. "What are you so upset about?"

Sonia furrowed her brow.

"You basically just told me you don't like me anymore!" Tegan explained to her sister. "How do you expect me to feel?"

"That's not what I meant. I -" Sara looked to their mother, remembering that she was still in the room with them. Tegan going to Mom had made this more difficult. Their conversation was limited. "I love you, Tee. Don't get me wrong." Sara tried not to sound too desperate. She didn't want their mother thinking they loved each other too much. They did, but anyone else's knowledge of their affair would in all likelihood prove disastrous. It was no one's business but their own.

"Well, it sure doesn't feel like it when you say stuff like that."

Sonia's brain cells were working at a lightning fast rate, trying desperately to piece together what was happening here. All signs were pointing to one option, but it was hard for Sonia to believe that this was true. She searched for other possible answers, but deep down she knew what her children were talking about. She knew what their real problem was. She was a therapist, she had read about cases of incest amongst twins, but she had never seen it before up close, and she certainly hadn't expected to see it in her own daughters. "You don't want to be her sister anymore because you want to be more than that to her, right? You want to be together without having to worry about people not accepting you, it, because you're related."

Sara looked like a deer caught in headlights. It was as if her heart was pumping terror through her veins. Her mind immediately thought of the fight or flight response, but her body would allow her to do neither. She was literally paralyzed with fear, fear of how their mother would react, fear of what she would do to them. Would she commit them? Would she separate them? Would she disown them? Each of these thoughts passed through Sara's skull, refusing to leave or stop their incessant persisting.

Tegan was unaware of how to react. Her first thought twas to be afraid, then to hide under the covers, then to beg for forgiveness like a child, petrified because they just broke their mother's favorite vase.

Some mothers would freak out, some would spiral into depression thinking they'd done a terrible job raising their children, some would try ot ignore the problem, and pretend nothing was happening, but Sonia wasn't like every other mother. She understood what was going on, and her only plan was to embrace it, for the moment at least. Often times these feelings didn't last. The two could grow apart from one another, or one day decide that it wasn't a healthy relationship and they no longer wanted to be a part of it. But even if nothing bad happened and they turned out to be the happiest couple on Earth who wanted nothing more than to be together forever, she would be fine with that too. Who was she to deny her children love and happiness?

Sara began to relax as she saw a genuine smile form across her mother's face. She was so relieved she could do nothing but throw her arms around her mother and shed a few tears of joy. "You're not upset?"

"I'm not upset that you're a couple." Sara hugged her tighter. Tegan also joined in the embrace. "But I am upset that you keep upsetting your sister," Sonia berated, dealing with the original situation brought to her.

As an apology, Sara leaned down, capturing her sister's lips with her own in a light, sweet kiss that tasted salty like tears. Everything was going to be alright.