A Christmas Story

by

Cole Parker

colepark@gmail.com

Two sets of twins were born minutes apart on Christmas Day. The first set were named Grady and Grace. Their parents liked G names. Their names were Gradon and Gloria Glanderson, and they were simply keeping up tradition rather than being alliterative-philes.

The second set was born to Jared and Hillary Banks. They too had a boy and girl, Tommy and June.

These twins were born in the same hospital, and the mothers, though they’d never met before, were in the same room after delivery. They both were taught together how to breastfeed. Between them, they had four babies to suckle.

The women were both discharged three days later. By then they were fast friends. They’d discovered they lived quite close to each other on adjacent streets in the small Midwestern town where June had lived all her life. Gloria had only moved there when her husband Gradon had taken a management job at a business in the town three months earlier.

The two families grew close. The adults spent a lot of time with each other; the men liked the same baseball and NFL teams, and both played golf; the women shared an interest in cooking and books and as neither of them worked outside the home, had a lot of time to spend together, meaning all four twins had that same time together. Because of this, the babies went through early childhood with the feeling that each had three siblings.

Even though the parents were interesting enough to merit their own stories, this tale concerns the four youngest family members to a much greater degree. Babies, while adorable, in general are not exciting enough to hold readers’ attention for long, but as they grow, they tend to become more appealing characters. So let us follow them as they gain age, wisdom and life experiences.

By the time the quartet was four, their personalities were becoming apparent. The oldest—by only a few minutes—was Grady. He was dark-haired, rosy-cheeked, and of the four, smiled the least. He was the most serious. He joined the others in their exploits and was a full-fledged member of the group while also being the quietest of them. He would remain so as they grew up.

The next oldest was his sister Grace. She took after her mother in looks: brownish-blonde hair, light complected, pretty face, a light-hearted countenance with frequent laughter. She kept the group smiling.

Tommy was the next oldest, but the order of age never was a factor with the four. They were all only minutes apart in age, and birth order was immaterial. Tommy was the largest of the group, even at the ripe old age of four. He also was the most adventurous and outgoing. He quickly had become the leader of the group, as much as they had a leader, and would remain so in any physical activities.

June had begun talking before the rest of them and at four was already reading. If there was a question of who was the most intelligent of them—not one of them was unintelligent—it was between her and Grace, although as quiet as Grady was, it was difficult to know how he ranked within the group in that aspect. June had brown hair, a pretty but not lovely face and an inquisitive and bold nature. She had made it clear even at this early stage in life that she would not be pushed to do what she didn’t want to do. She exhibited an independent streak that seemed to be inborn.

So there they were: best friends as babies, as tots, as preteens, as teenagers, destined to remain so throughout life.

When still young, they spent most of their time together at one of their two houses. Almost never being apart, they knew each other as only kids of an age do. When school started, it being a grade school in a smallish town, their parents had no problem getting them into the same classroom each year. The teachers liked them as they weren’t unruly kids and had no problems learning the material.

They were tight. When they were eight and in third grade, Tommy was playing basketball during recess and Grady was there, too. Basketball at that age—monitored but basically unsupervised during recess—meant a large group of boys were on the court together around the basket. One would get the ball and shoot, the rest would tussle for the rebound, and the one who got it would dribble once or twice and shoot, and the others would compete for the next rebound. Over and over. Anyone watching closely could see the personalities of the boys: who was aggressive, who was a back-of-the-pack non-competitor, who got angry never getting the ball, who just accepted that, who liked the bumping and shoving under the basket.

Grady had grabbed a long rebound which had bounced off the rim and arced to where he was standing outside of the main group under the basket. He took a couple of dribbles and was preparing to shoot when Oscar, a heavyset, Mexican-heritage kid who liked to throw his weight around grabbed the ball from Grady’s hands and shot it himself.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” Grady complained. As an answer, Oscar shoved him. Grady tripped over the feet of the boy behind him and went down.

The four friends were always close to each other, except when they weren’t, but they were most comfortable when together. This time, they were all on the court, except for Grace, who was talking about dolls with two other girls over by the benches. But that left two others, the Banks twins, so Grady wasn’t alone. And Tommy wasn’t the one who confronted Oscar.

The one who came to Grady’s defense was June. She walked up to Oscar, got right in his face, grabbed a fistful of his tee shirt and said, “You do that again, and you and I will get it on.” She glared at him, her eyes only inches from his. Oscar, being Oscar, wasn’t going to let a girl intimidate him, not with all the other kids looking on. Still, she was a girl, so he couldn’t hit her, even though his dad hit his mother now and then, but at school, he’d been warned. If he got kicked out, his dad would hit him, and that was never fun.

So, instead of hitting June, he slapped her hand off his tee shirt. Well, he tried. She didn’t let go. A little uncertain now, he stared, not at June but at Grady. “You let a girl protect you?”

“Why not?” Grady shrugged, getting to his feet. “I’m not a fighter. But I don’t need her to do that. We all take care of each other. And you’d be happier getting it on with her than dealing with Tommy.” Then he glanced at June who was still glowering at Oscar and said, “Well, maybe not,” and laughed.

The Bankses weren’t quite as well off financially as the Glandersons. Jared was the minister of a small church. The job didn’t pay well, not as much as he’d have liked. It was a small congregation, and the basket that was passed was never very rich. The job did come with a decent pension, and the community college provided free tuition for kids of all the ministers in the city if they wanted to go there.

The Glandersons had a bigger house and yard, and that was where the families mostly hung out. The Banks’ house was smaller, as was their yard.

Tommy and June shared a bedroom as their house only had two bedrooms. They had been together since forever and still were when they were nine. Nudity had never been anything important to them. They’d bathed together since birth until they recently began showering. They didn’t do that together because the shower was part of the bathtub and there wasn’t room. They’d tried it once. but the tub was simply too small.

In their room, and even the bathroom, there was no modesty at all between them. They’d grown up together, been bare when bare was expected during daily life, and it wasn’t anything at all to them now.

June was beginning to develop breasts. Tommy wasn’t showing any signs of puberty yet, which pissed him off, seeing that June was ahead of him with this. It was especially irksome because June was his equal or superior in most everything, and Tommy was all boy and thought he should be the stronger, bigger, smarter, more advanced one of the two. June was as competitive as he was and enjoyed any advantage she had in anything concerning Tommy, who was well aware that the time would come when he’d be able to physically dominate her if that was his wont. Tommy would eventually be taller, stronger and more rugged than she’d be, but at nine, she could hold her own with him. Now, she enjoyed her early signs of puberty and made sure he could see her developing breasts.

She undressed with him at bedtime. They always had. She checked him out. “Nope, no hair yet. Nothing else getting big yet, either. Don’t worry, Tommy. It’ll happen. Someday.” Then she laughed and rubbed her nubs, and he looked at her chest, scowled and turned away.

The same attitude toward nudity was true with the Glanderson twins, except the competitive nature of their relationship wasn’t nearly as evident. Their parents didn’t want them to behave that way or to have those feelings and had worked to suppress them. From the time the twins had been very young, Gradon and Gloria had discouraged competition. A supportive, loving relationship was what they wanted, and they’d done all they could to develop it.

The two were each other’s greatest fans. They had the same homework and helped each other. They watched and enjoyed the same TV shows, read the same books, told each other their feelings, fears and triumphs. Nothing was secret between them.

While they each had their own bedroom, they often ended up in the same bed as they preferred being together. When their mom asked why she so frequently found them together in one room in one bed, Grady told her he slept better with his sister next to him. Grace smiled and nodded: “What he said.” Their mother was sure it was part of twin bonding and thought nothing of it, even at the age of nine. She suspected that this behavior would change soon.

The Glanderson twins were also not shy about nudity. When you grow up with someone from day one, you’re nude with them often. Any embarrassment or even interest that might have developed had they been apart hadn’t happened. With individual rooms, they did have separation if they wanted it while dressing and undressing, but it had never made any difference to them. When they slept together, they’d put on their pajamas together and think nothing of it, and getting dressed in the morning, they’d remove their pajamas with the same nonchalance.

The four had been having sleepovers since they were seven. They’d all worn pajamas. They’d seen each other changing, but at that age it was inconsequential. Both boys knew what girls their age looked like, and it was the same with the girls knowing about boys. When they slept over, they either all slept on the floor on piled-up blankets and bed covers, or they took turns sleeping with each other two to a bed.

Things changed for Grady when he was eleven. He learned how to make himself feel good, and as with everything else important in his life, he quickly shared this new excitement with Grace.

Grace watched and then tried touching herself, and it wasn’t long before the two of them had developed a nightly ritual. Whether they were in their own rooms or in bed together, they finished their day before falling asleep. Happy.

Soon after their own discovery, they shared their knowledge with their best friends. Tommy wanted to see how it was done, and Grady was happy to oblige. June watched, too, and Grace showed her the female version of the activity. It wasn’t often, but sometimes the four of them, if they were feeling the oncoming thrust of hormones, would do it together. Again, no embarrassment. Tommy would look at the Glandersons and wonder if this was a game that could be played by teams, like Monopoly or Twister. He talked to June about it, but she wasn’t encouraging. So, Tommy didn’t bring it up to Grady or Grace but did still think about it.

When Tommy turned 12, as did the others, of course, he began showing other signs of puberty. All of them went through those early stages together. Twelve, or even earlier, was when most kids become body shy. These four were so close that they didn’t have that sort of hang-up with each other. They each knew the other three too well for that. They talked without reservation about everything, including their developing bodies, their new feelings, what questions they had—all without embarrassment.

The Glandersons were not religious people and didn’t attend church. The only one in the family who showed any interest at all in religion was Grady. When he was 12, he decided to expand his education and began going to church by himself. It was easy to decide where to go. He began attending the services run by Jared Banks. He was surprised to find that neither Tommy nor June were there. Hilary was there every week; she played the organ. Grady found that the choice of attending had been left to the Banks twins when they were nine, and both had stopped going.

At 14, Tommy’s athleticism was evident. He had continued growing and was almost six feet tall and weighed over 150 pounds. He went out for the JV football team, and by the end of their short season was the starting quarterback. As a result of his looks, size and athleticism, he’d become very popular with the female population of the school, some of the girls even in the sophomore class. He dated, but never stayed with one girl long.

“I want to see what’s out there, what’s available,” he explained to June, who was all over him for taking advantage of the girls and not giving himself time to really get to know any of them—of using them. “It’s not like I’m sleeping with them,” he rebutted her tirade. “Jeez!”

“Why not? I know those girls; I hear them talking. It’s not that they’d turn you down.”

“I’m saving myself for the right one. Haven’t met her yet.”

Both Glanderson twins had caught the eyes of classmates, too. Grace was still beautiful and seemed to become more so daily. Grady was still growing into his looks but was becoming a very handsome lad; he remained, however, less outgoing than the others.

There were monthly dances at school, get-togethers for the kids, especially the shy ones. Grace and Grady were not shy and were social enough to enjoy attending every dance. Dancing at this level was more about jerking around on the dance floor in groups rather than with individual partners. Grady felt very uncoordinated, but still joined the throng, laughing at his own awkwardness. Grace was a beautiful girl and a good dancer. She was asked to dance by many of the boys, but she told them all she liked the freedom to dance as a group participant rather than as a couple. She did allow individuals to bring her cups of punch and chat.

The Banks twins attended as well. June spent much of her time at the dances just watching. Tommy accused her of being shy, then ducked when she took a half-hearted swing at him. “I don’t dance,” she said unamiably and walked away.

By the time they were 17, the twins were no longer kids. They were young adults, still close, and they were spending the majority of their time when not at school at the Glanderson house. They went there after school, did their homework together in the same room, and frequently all ate dinner there. Often, Hilary Banks joined them. Jared was also invited, but he found reasons to decline. Recent, he’d begun changing. Sometime in the last year he’d become darker in spirit and less-pleasant company.

At the beginning of their senior year in high school, the four twins, , were looking for a fun way to celebrate their last year of school together and wanted it to be them alone. Grace came up with the idea of a camping trip during the three-day weekend of Labor Day. It had been an unusually warm August and would be the first week in September, too, perfect for an outdoor outing.

They gathered up food and clothing, tents and cooking equipment. Tommy knew of a secluded lake far enough from town that it would probably be private, and they headed there early Saturday morning.

Gloria drove them as close to the lake as the road would take them. They arranged to be picked up in the early afternoon Monday. Then came a hike that was long enough that they stopped to rest several times before arriving at the lake.

It was a beautiful spot with a grassy fringe along the shoreline, small groves of trees obscuring the lake from a distance, and clear water in the lake with a bottom that descended slowly to its depths—perfect for wading and swimming.

They’d brought two tents, and while the boys erected them, the girls set up a firepit and collected wood from under the trees.

They spent some time in the water. No one had brought swimsuits, but these four had no need for them. The girls cooked steaks and baked potatoes, the boys kibitzing. None of them drank much alcohol, but Tommy had brought an eight pack of beer, and they all had one before pairing off and heading to the tents.

They slept two to a tent. Grady smiled hearing sex noises, moans and sighs, coming from the other tent; then, they were also issuing from his own. In the morning, with all of them busy making coffee and setting out some of the provisions they’d brought, Grady took the time to look at each of them.

Tommy had the appearance of someone who’d just summited the Matterhorn. He couldn’t stop smiling and seemed to have too much energy to sit down. Grace was her usual serene self but seemed less confined in her own private world. She seemed to be almost glowing, and her face was more alive than usual. June appeared less assertive—softer, somehow—and less ready to snap back, as happened whenever she had a confrontation; she was looser and more relaxed and, surprisingly for her, happy. Grady noticed she kept looking over at him and smiling more than he’d ever seen her do. He had to wonder if he appeared any different from his usual self. No matter if he did. They were all friends.

They still had another night. Most of Sunday was spent just enjoying each other, reminiscing, talking. They did repeat the prior night, of course: swimming, dinner, and to bed.

Gradon picked them up Monday afternoon rather than Gloria. He asked how the mini-vacation had gone. They told him. They talked throughout the trip, and all of them were glad the drive home from the lake was a long one. They figured some things out, decided what problems they needed to solve, and figured out the best time to do it. Mr. Glanderson was for talking to the other two adults at Thanksgiving. None or the twins thought that a good idea. They wanted more time to figure all that needed deciding. June suggested Christmas. The vote was four to one. Christmas it would be.

The two families spent Thanksgiving together as always. Gradon gave a speech while they were sitting at the table, a glorious roasted turkey waiting to be carved. It had been explained to Grady, the anxious one, on several occasions that a turkey needed to rest before carving, and as all the other hot dishes were covered, everything would still be hot when eaten. He still fretted. The food was right there! And his dad was speechifying!

Gradon cleared his throat, and somehow thought it appropriate to stand. “As we always do, we’ll enjoy this day of thanks, but I feel somber, too. In a month, it’ll be Christmas, and this may well be the last Christmas we will ever spend as a group.”

He paused to look at everyone at the table, meeting everyone’s eyes individually. “You kids will be all over the country in various colleges, maybe unable to get away. Hilary and Jared, there’s a rumor your church is closing here in town, and Jared, as you know, you may be relocated to another city. It hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s possible I’ll be relocated as well. My company is talking about a promotion; that would mean moving to New York. They want me now, but I told them I will remain here till my kids graduate from high school. I won’t interrupt their final year. My company is okay with that. Not delighted, but okay.

“Anyway, that means this coming Christmas very likely will be the last we’ll all be together. Which is sad, but also good in that we’ll all be moving forward with our lives. Stay the same always, never change, and one will stagnate. Forward movement keeps us vigorous. Separation is sad, but we’ll all have fond memories of our lives together. I’ve never had friends as good as you two, Hilary and Jared. And you younger kids, well, we all know how close you’ve been. And still are.

“For you four—no longer kids, certainly—I don’t know how you’ll deal with this. You’ve never been apart before. You’ll find out next August or September. College. Wow! No, you’re no longer kids. Young adults with your lives ahead of you.”

Tommy looked reflective and sad. June showed little emotion, but that was normal for her. Grace looked sad, too, but gave an optimistic if wan smile and said, “It’ll be different; that’s for sure.” Grady shook his head and startled everyone by speaking. “We’ll figure something out. We can’t give up what we’ve had. It’s too much a part of who we are.”

With that, they all ate turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies and finally—pie. Several pies. Typical Thanksgiving, even to the football games on TV.

Then, a month later, Christmas.

Excitement abounded as Christmas approached. The twins decided to pool their money instead of spending it on numerous presents that would be forgotten within days of the event. They had a fair-sized financial pool, but not enough. Mr. Glanderson, always generous, was invited to be more so; it was the charitable season, and he acquiesced.

Christmas Day, the two families were together as usual. Dinner was a standing rib roast with all the trimmings. Presents were to be opened after the feast. There were satiated groans as they all moved to the living room where the tree sparkled with lights and ornaments, casting its spell on the group.

When they were all seated, Mr. Glanderson stood. “I’m not much of one to make speeches,” he said. “But I feel bad that we’re not all in the know of what’s about to transpire here. The happiness we want to share today is for all of us, and we’ve been holding back because of not wanting anyone to be offended.”

He stopped and turned to Jared. “I’m speaking mainly to you, Jared. I have some news, happy news, and it’s way past time you were involved. It’s this: our children are engaged, they’re going to marry, and they very much would like your approval and blessing and for you to marry them. They have their licenses and would like a Christmas marriage. They want it to happen today.”

Jared looked stunned. “Why,” he asked, “haven’t I known about this? It appears you all do. You’ve left me out? Why?”

“I’m sorry, Jared. You weren’t told because no one wanted their joy to be diminished. They, and we, thought that might occur.”

“Why would anyone think that?”

“Because the couples are Grace and June, Tommy and Grady.”

Jared looked shocked. Then, slowly the shock turned to anger. Then, “NO! I won’t have it. It’s against everything I’ve been preaching about; it’s against the Bible. How can any of you do this?”

“I’m sorry, Jared,” Mr. Glanderson said, and sat down. “But this is why you weren’t involved. But the kids wanted you to know, and they wanted you to know today.”

“Why today?” Jared fumed.

He was surprised when Grady stood up.

“Mr. Banks, we’re very sorry to have shocked you this way. We’re sorry you feel like you do. And we hope more than anything that we can change your mind. I’m going to say some things that might hurt, but they may make you look at things a little differently, too. I hope you’ll hear me out. Please let me talk, and please listen.”

Mr. Banks looked ready to reply in anger but then closed his mouth. He gestured for Grady to continue.

“I know, we all know, that you’re a religious man, that your faith is integral to who you are. That your reliance on the Bible is sincere and absolute. However, there are many ways to celebrate one’s faith. I’ve been attending your services for the past year, as you know. In the past year, I’ve noticed your sermons have changed. Formerly, you preached a message of hope and thanksgiving to a loving God. Lately, that message has become more bitter, less forgiving, more concerned with sin than with love.

“What seems missing now is an understanding of Christianity and how it defines our relationship with God. That relationship is based on love: our love of God, love for our fellow man and a love of justice and peace. The Christian ethic says: faith, hope, and love, all three of these, and the greatest of the three is love.

“My father mentioned on Thanksgiving how your congregation is shrinking. I think that’s because the uplifting message you originally preached has changed. People don’t want to go to church to be castigated. They go to have their spirits raised. Sometimes, yes, they need to have their current direction challenged by hearing the truth. But that truth should be delivered with an all-encompassing love.

“Mr. Banks, I have to ask you why? There has to be a reason your message has changed. I can guess. I’ve given it a lot of thought, but rather than presuming I’m right, I’d like to hear it from you. And then, I want to discuss that. Will you help me here?”

Jared frowned. Did he want to get involved in this? He had his opinions, and he wasn’t about to have them changed by this presumptuous boy. Yet he was angry and felt he had a right to be.

“About a year ago, I saw signs that I interpreted in a way that caused me to change my message to my congregation. What I saw was . . . it appeared to me that you . . . well, I thought you, Grady, you and Tommy were looking at each other differently

from before. I thought it possible that I was seeing the beginning of a homosexual attraction. Homosexuality is condemned in the Bible. I began preaching more of what the Bible finds evil, hoping that message might encourage this attraction to never come to fruition. I see now that my praying and preaching had no effect.”

Grady shook his head. “Sadly, in doing so, sir, you lost sight of the fact that the highest level of faith is love. Had you accepted that in your heart, you’d have been happy that we found love. You interpreted the Bible to say homosexuality is evil. Yet if you look closely, it never says that. It never says God hates homosexuality. It doesn’t even mention homosexuality. It says things that can be interpreted that way, yes. But there are many interpretations of the Bible, many versions; some condemn this as against God’s will, and most do not. Most think the Bible just advocates love of God and one’s fellow man.

“I’ve read a book that discusses the Bible’s attitude about this. It was written by Ed Oxford, a gay Christian and graduate of Talbot School of Theology, and Kathy Baldock, author and advocate. The book is titled Forging a Sacred Weapon: How the Bible Became Anti-Gay. I think if you’d read it, it may give you some new insights, and you might feel better about the four of us.

“Regardless, we want you to support our love. Mine of Tommy, Grace’s of June. As the Bible says, love is the highest Christian value. None of us are evil. All of us are in love. And two of us want their father to find acceptance in that love and celebrate it with us.”

Jared Banks did listen. He could see merit in Grady’s argument. It was difficult for him to change his core beliefs, though. Yet he had to consider that his own trust in parts of the Bible might no longer be the truth, that passages in it might be biased by the interpreters’ ideas; he could understand how people’s relationship with the truth could be colored by the times and current trends, while in fact the truth itself wasn’t changing.

Everyone was looking at him, the kids beseechingly.

“You’ve given me much to ponder, Grady. It’s not easy for me to change my thinking. Yet you’re doing it on the birthday of our Savior. That has to be on purpose.”

Grady smiled. “I guess I’m a little devious. But I did think that might make a difference. But we also want to be married on the day of our birth, too.”

“Let me be alone with my thoughts while you seven people open presents. I’ll come to a decision about the marriages as soon as I can.”

He stood up, but before he could move, both Tommy and June came over and hugged him. “We love you, Dad,” Tommy murmured, and June said, “Please love us back.”

He left them and went into Gradon’s den, closing the door behind him.

It was late when he came out. All the presents had been opened and paper littered the room. Everyone looked at Jared. He stared back at them, then smiled. “There’s no question I love you all, and Grady’s right, your love is decent and right for you. I need to do more thinking, maybe talk to some theology academicians I respect, but I think I may be able to see a light that’s been dim for me for some time. Your arguments about celebrating love are certainly supported in the Bible. And in light of that, I cannot object to what you’ve found for yourselves.

“My attitudes haven’t been changed completely yet. I will spend a lot of time considering all this, but I can no longer be so sure I’m right in holding onto an attitude that may not be the true messages of the Bible. But love is love, and I support that, so . . .”

He stopped, and his smile became broadened. “In the meantime, we have two weddings to accomplish, and if it’s to be tonight, then let it be tonight.”

“We want to do it together, all take our vows together,” June stated unequivocally, as was her style. “And another reason it has to be tonight: we’ve reservations on a cruise ship leaving tomorrow. We’re going on a joint honeymoon.”

Jared laughed. “Then let’s do it! Everyone, please rise . . .”