The Unexpected Birthday Twist

The Unexpected Birthday Twist

by Ebony Minor

Nyota and Nariyah weren’t your average, normal pair of twins. They were what you might call “different.” As you may know, most twins love spending time with each other. Some love matching, others love doing everything together. With Nyota and Nariyah . . . not so much. They were both very independent girls. Although they weren’t as close as twins should be, they always absolutely enjoyed sharing their birthday with one another. That’s the only thing they liked doing as twins. They loved it so much because they were so good at coming up with birthday plans together. It was sort of like their tradition. They were especially excited for this one coming up which was their sweet 16. They had been planning this birthday for months now and knew they had to do something big. Their parents loved this time of year because they knew Nyota and Nariyah never liked doing anything together, so seeing them come together like this made them happy. The day had finally come. The twins had stayed up until midnight, so they would be the first to wish each other happy birthday. That’s also something they did every year.

“Happy birthday twinnnnn,” Nyota said.

“Right back at ya,” Nariyah replied.

“My girls are growing up so fast, where did the time go?” asked their mom.

“Lynette, maybe it’s time,” replied their dad.

“No. Not today, let them have their party. We can tell them tomorrow. They have been looking forward to this for months and I won’t ruin it for them.”

“Yeah but don’t you think we’ve lied to them long enough? They’re turning 16 for goodness sake.”

“I’m fully aware. However, we can wait another day. And you better not say anything either, James.”

“Alright, if that’s how you want to do it.”

It was officially three o’ clock which meant it was party time. Both twins had their party dresses on and their makeup was done all nice. Nyota had on a yellow off-the-shoulder short poofy dress, and

Nariyah had on the same dress but white and a little longer. Although it was both of their birthdays, they still didn’t want to look exactly the same.

As they both drove in their limo to the venue, their father looked more and more guilty by the minute. He didn’t know why he felt this way because he’d kept this secret for so long with no problem. He just thought they were at the age where they should know the truth. As they arrived, the music was bumping, all their friends and family were there, it was an amazing set up and they couldn’t complain. They danced, they ate, they even did a little bit of karaoke. Coming to the end of the party, it was time for speeches and boy did they get nervous. They both knew their friends would humiliate them with their embarrassing stories and what not, and they did. But all in all they learned to laugh at themselves. When it came time for their parents to give speeches, they got so emotional. Their mom gave a beautiful speech about how nicely they were growing up, and their dad just embarrassed them even more with funny stories about what they did when they were younger. Afterwards, it all came down to the father daughter dance. As their dad started to dance with his two beautiful girls, he teared up. I know what you’re thinking, what dad doesn’t? Although, he was not crying for the reason you think. He felt so guilty that he had been lying all this time. He knew that it wasn’t the place or time, but he just couldn’t help himself.

“Stop the music, stop the music,” he said. Lynette’s hands started to shake because she knew exactly where this was going by the look on their dad’s face.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Nariyah said.

“Girls, I hope you can forgive me.”

“About what?” said Nyota.

“Listen Nyota, you were born at 11:58 on April 3rd. Nariyah, you were born at 12:01 on April 4th.”

“Wait, so you’re saying . . . we weren’t born on the same day?” Nyota said calmly.

“Yes, baby girl,” said their mom. Nyota was taking this surprisingly well, but Nariyah . . . not so much.

“WHY WOULD YOU LIE! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. YOU KNOW THAT’S THE ONE THING WE LOVE DOING TOGETHER. WHY NOT TELL US SOONER,” said Nariyah.

“That’s exactly why we didn’t want to tell you. We promised each

other we’d tell you guys on your 18th birthday,” said Lynette.

“18???? YOU WERE GOING TO WAIT UNTIL WE WERE 18?”

The whole room got silent. Some people looked shocked and others looked like they felt bad because they already knew.

“I know you’re mad,” said their dad.

“YES. VERY MUCH SO. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I HAVE NEVER CELEBRATED MY BIRTHDAY ON MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY?” yelled Nariyah.

“Calm down Nariyah, you’re making a scene,” said Nyota.

“No, no, no, I’m not going to calm down. It’s easy for you to say because all this time you’ve been celebrating your birthday on your actual birthday.”

People started to quietly exit as things started to get awkward and tense. Lynette instantly started to regret not telling them sooner as their father had said. The drive back home was also silent and tense. As they got home, there was still no conversation happening. Each twin went into their room and slammed the door behind them. After a week had gone by, the twins just couldn’t take it anymore and they had to get away for a while. They just couldn’t believe their parents had lied to them like that. So, they decided to travel to another planet. They didn’t know which one they would go to, but they just wanted it to be far, far away. They didn’t know how long they would be gone or when they would be back. All they knew was, it would be somewhere without their parents.