The Last Time

"Steph," I shouted out across the meadow at my twin sister, who was running zig-zag patterns across the grass to try and keep a steady pace away from me, "You seriously cannot be full of energy, still!"

I had already nearly ran out of breath twice, yet she was still going at it; running across the field as her long blonde ponytail flapped away in the wind behind her. I always hated how she was given the blonde hair; Steph was blessed to look just like our mother, while I got cursed with the genes that made me look like a tinier version of our father with my dark brown hair that was way too thick to nicely float in the breeze the way hers does. She had the biggest smile spread across her face as she slowed down to a stop.

"You ready to throw in the towel, Sam?"

"You wish!" I shouted down to her before charging the field straight at her, completely missing her torso as I slid into the patch of grass by her foot.

"Seriously?" She chuckled, holding out her hand, "That's just embarrassing."

"Not as embarrassing as this," I replied before taking her hand and yanking her onto the grassy patch next to me.

We both started laughing. My entire body began to ache before I finally stood back up again.

"You want to race down to the old pear tree down there?" Steph pointed down towards the tree in the far distance.

"Seriously? More running?"

"Scared I'd beat you?" She nudged my arm. Steph was definitely our mother's daughter. Mom used to be the best on her school's track and field team back in her freshman year of high school. She met dad in her sophomore year; she used to tell us that he was so terrible at track and field that he convinced her to quit just so he would've have to deal with interacting with the sport at all. I guess I was born to be our father's daughter.

"You'll never have that satisfaction." I took off running, soon to be trailing behind the trackstar of a sister I at one time shared a womb with. How did I manage to escape the womb before her? By the time I reached the old pear tree, Steph was already halfway up the tree trying to reach out to a nice sized pear hanging off one of the low hanging branches.

"H-How?" I barely had enough breath to speak out.

"I wanted a snack." She jumped off the trunk, shaking a low hanging branch and knocking down two other pears, which I proudly picked up for myself.

I plopped down across the trunk of the pear tree and Steph slumped down next to me, taking a huge chunk out of her pear. "Have you ever considered joining the track team when we're older," I asked, "ya know.. like mom did."

"I don't know," She took another chunk out of her pear.

"If you did, I'll help you make sure dad doesn't do anything about it."

She remained silent. All I heard was the crunching of her fruit as her teeth made contact.

"Steph?"

"Why do you like him?"

"What?"

"Dad," Steph responded, "Why do you like him so much?"

"He's our dad."

"He hurts mom."

"He's still our dad."

"He hurts us."

"But he's still our dad."

"Sam."

"No," I jumped to my feet, "He's still our dad."

"Sam," Steph looked up to me, "You still have the bruises on your back from the last time he-"

"Stop it, Steph."

"He's not a good guy." Steph took another bite of her fruit, "He may be our dad but he's definitely not a good guy."

"Steph, stop it!" I shouted.

"Why does it bother you so much?" She was standing now.

"Because," I turned around so I wouldn't have to face her, "if he's a bad guy, I must be too because I am his exact body double." I felt her hand reach out and touch my shoulder.

"You are not his body double."

"I am." I sighed, "You got to be moms.. someone had to be dads."

"No." She turned me around so that I was facing her, "You are not him. You were never him. Yes, you look like dad. We couldn't help that. But you are not him, Samantha Dillard."

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Steph always thought using full names made conversations sound a lot more mature than they originally were.

"Okay, Stephanie Dillard. I understand." Both my hands were placed around her shoulders at this point.

"Plus, if what you were saying was true, that would make me a pregnant teen who dropped out of high school and followed her high school boyfriend around like a little puppy."

"How do we know you aren't that?" I chuckled.

Steph slapped my arm.

**

As we walked back home, we both noticed the bright blue and red sirens down by the house. Steph squeezed my hand.

"It's alright." I reassured her, "We've practiced this before."

"But Sam-"

"It's probably nothing." My words brushed off the tongue like butter and syrup to a warm batch of pancakes. No matter how loud mom and dad have gotten, we have never had the sirens come to our door before. Usually I just assumed our neighbors just didn't care about what went on behind closed doors.

"You sure?" Steph asked me.

Not knowing what to say, I just squeezed her hand even harder and walked up to our house.

"Hello," A woman dressed in a dark gray pantsuit with a clipboard tucked under her arm smiled at us, "My name is Monica Bailer, and I am here to make sure you two remain safe."

Mom was being pulled off the police car by an officer who just got finished shoving dad into the backseat of his car.

"My girls! My girls!" I heard mom shout at them as the officer held her arms behind her back. "Let me see my girls!" Mom tried to fight against the officer, only for another to tackle her to the ground.

"Mom!" I screamed out.

"Hey. Hey." Monica turned us around, "You don't have to look at that." She held open the door to the backseat of her car.

"We aren't supposed to go with strangers, Ms. Monica." Steph stated.

"That's an excellent rule," She smiled, "But I'm not a stranger. I'm just here to keep you safe."

"Our mom can keep us safe." I spoke up. Mom's voice faded a bit and I was too afraid to turn around to see what was going on.

"Your mom and dad are going to be a little busy tonight, but don't worry," She placed her hand on my shoulder, "We have another place for you two girls to stay as we wait for your parents to be ready for you again."

Steph took my hand and squeezed it, reassuring me that everything will be alright, and climbed into the backseat. "C'mon Sam," She looked at me, "Don't let me go alone."

I climbed in after her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Of course I wouldn't let you go alone."

"Now's our chance." Steph whispered back to me.

"Our chance?" I asked.

"To change our destiny." She was smiling.

I watched as our house faded into the background. The old pear tree faded away as well. Soon enough the neighborhood was just a spec in the distance and even the sirens began to fade out.

Time to change our destiny, Samantha Dillard. The day is finally here.