Eric and Adrian awoke confused at first as to why they were alone. Each called out each other's name and was shocked to hear a little boy's voice not only come from their own mouth but from within the same room. Quickly they realized that they were in a bunk bed, with Eric lowering his head down to look in the lower bunk and surprised to see a red haired, freckled, green eyed boy dressed in batman pajamas looking wide-eyed in terror at him. Eric felt his heart beat fast in his chest as he recognized the boy as looking rather like what Adrian might have appeared when young.
"Is it you, Eric?" asked the prepubescent boy as he pulled up the Luca sheets to his chin--as if contemplating hiding underneath it.
"Yeah... Adrian?" asked Eric--hearing his own boy soprano voice and guessing what he looked like.
The boy Adrian had somehow become over the night nodded his head vigorously. It was with that realization that they'd both transformed into little boys overnight that neither Eric nor Adrian could contain their high pitched screams. This was shortly thereafter accompanied by a thudding sound from somewhere in the house and shortly thereafter by their shared bedroom door bursting open, surprising Eric and causing him to slip and fall to the floor of the bedroom--luckily right onto the carpet at the foot of the bunk bed. Eric felt brush burns on his hands and a pain on his head. Without warning, Eric began to cry.
"Eric! Are you all right?" asked a booming man's voice and a moment later he felt himself being picked up by a man whose form he couldn't quite make out until he buried his face into a bare blond haired chest that felt comforting and smelled rather... familiar and soothing.
"Daddy's here, Eric. Daddy's here. Shhh," comforted the man as he rubbed Eric's back. His cries turning into hiccups as he was slowly calmed down.
"Let me take a look at your head," said the man, and Eric was pulled from the warm comfort of the thick muscled chest to be able to see the man who held him as though he were not bigger than a toddler. Eric looked up and saw a dirty blond haired man with a well groomed and trim beard that faded up to the faded sides of his hair which then thickened up at the top of his head, which seemed wavy if not curly. His dirty blond hair looked golden in the early morning light, and case a warm hue on his kind--but worried blue eyes. He was a sight to see that would have made Eric's adult heart, breath, and eyes stop in amazement. However to his view now, Eric could only feel incredibly comforted by this older man's presence... his Daddy's presence. That's right, the more Eric looked at Daddy, the more right it felt to think of him as such. Eric felt a large hand and fingers run through his now short boy hair cut.
"There's a little bump, but nothing broken it looks like, thank god. It looks like I'm going to have to add railings to your bed," said Daddy as he pulled Eric's head to his and kissed it where it hurt. Eric felt oddly calmed by the action. Daddy then shifted and placed Eric down sitting next to the still awestruck Adrian.
"Adrian, look after your brother for me, kiddo, while I go get some ice and a towel," ordered Daddy firmly, and Adrian bobbed his head obediently and quietly as Daddy gave them both a proud smile and then--clad only in boxer shorts--he left their bedroom. As he left a raven haired tan woman appearing the next moment in the doorway dressed in a nightgown. For some reason, seeing her was just as soothing a sight as Daddy was.
"Oh Eric, sweetheart are you okay?" asked the woman as she came over and squatted down next to the lower bunk bed so she was eye level with both Eric and Adrian.
"M--my head hurts," squeaked Eric.
"Oh, my poor little man," said the woman who also ran her manicured hands through his hair, dispelling the calming effect Daddy's kiss on his head had had, with a dull throbbing returning to his attention the moment she touched his.
"Owww..." complained Eric as he tried to push her hand away.
"Don't fuss, sweetheart, Mommy will make it all better," said the woman with genuine affection as she pulled Eric in for a hug which at first he went stiff for, before the smell of the woman triggering something primal and soothing in Eric as he melted into her arms--feeling completely safe and secure as his Mommy held him and hummed a soothing tune he vaguely recognized as a lullaby.
Daddy returned, now clad in an old t-shirt and pajama pants, and holding a wrapped towel, with something in it.
"I have the ice pack and a towel," said Daddy.
Mommy ended the hug and smiled lovingly at him before turning to Daddy and saying, "I'll take care of our son, Mitch, you need to start getting ready for work."
It was upon hearing Mommy call Daddy by the name Mitch, that Eric suddenly felt as though the rug had been pulled right out from under him. He looked up worriedly towards Daddy to suddenly see what had been so familiar about the man handing Mommy the towel was the fact he resembled the little eight year old boy that... it was weird, Eric knew he should be horrified at this revelation, but as Mommy pressed the cool towel with an ice pack in it to his hurt head, Eric, couldn't recall why he should be scared to learn that Daddy's name was Mitch. He'd always heard Mommy calling Daddy that from time to time. And when she was angry it was his full name of Mitchell Adam Pendergast. Just like she called him Eric Mitchell Pendergast or she called Addie, Adrian Adam Pendergast. That was one of the great things about his twin brother: they were both named for Daddy with their middle names.
"Now you just keep that ice pack there for twenty minutes. Addie, can I count on you to keep track of time for your brother and make sure he takes the ice pack off after twenty minutes?" asked Mommy as she pointed to the clock which showed 6:30 on their table that served as a shared desk/night stand for them both.
"I--I can," said Addie, and Eric felt further calmed, his brother would make sure everything was all right. True they tended to fight a lot--and Addie was bigger and tougher than he was, often winning those fights--while they were twins, they weren't identical twins after all--but in the end they were brothers, and Addie always was looking out for Eric on the playground, which Eric both appreciated and felt annoyed by.
Eric was actually the older of the two twins, and didn't like being called the "little brother" because of a difference in size.
Once Mommy and Daddy had left their room, the door closing behind them, Eric was startled by Addie throwing off his Luca bed sheets and coming right up and hugging Eric himself.
"I'm sorry Eric, I didn't mean to scare you when I screamed," apologized Addie weirdly.
"We both screamed... I forget why..." admitted Eric as he broke out of his brother's oddly clingy hug with one hand still holding onto the towel-wrapped ice pack.
"Forget why?! Eric, we're not supposed to be little boys... Mitch isn't supposed to be a man, and I don't know where that woman--" started Addie, talking very weirdly.
"Mommy, she's Mommy!" insisted Eric, a primal anger bursting forth as he said it.
Addie only stared at Eric as though he were the one acting weird.
"Eric, what do you remember about last night?" asked Addie.
"We played Mario Kart before going to bed, I beat your butt!" laughed Eric as he vaguely saw the memories of triumphantly beating Addie with a blue tortoise shell flash before his eyes."
That apparently wasn't what he was supposed to have said, as Addie covered his mouth like Mommy might when she was about to say a bad word.
"Quit acting all weird, Addie," said Eric before deciding to go over to his chest of drawers to pull out clothes for school.
"Addie?!" exclaimed Addie in disbelief as though he hadn't heard his nickname that Eric had called him since he was old enough to walk.
Later that morning, after the twenty minutes had passed and Eric had changed into his school clothes and sat down to breakfast with a fully dressed Mommy and Daddy, Addie came out of their room dressed for school, but with one distinguishing difference.
"Hey kiddo, what's with the helmet?" asked Daddy as he patted the bike helmet that Addie had strapped tightly to his head.
"No helmets on at the table, otherwise no breakfast," said Mommy strictly as she stepped between Addie and his chair as Addie tried to ignore answering Daddy by sitting down.
Addie cast Eric an odd look before looking back up at Mommy and reluctantly unbuckling the helmet and handing it to her, which she took and then bent down to Addie's eye level.
"Now what's got my big boy all worried?" asked Mommy.
"He's been acting weird all morning," added Eric.
"Weird, how?" asked Daddy.
"He said weird stuff like we're not supposed to be little boys," said Eric.
"Oh, did he now?" asked Daddy, an odd look crossing his face for a moment before it was gone.
"And just what are you supposed to be, if not my big boy?" asked Mommy.
"Men... Eric and I are supposed to be 36 and 38," insisted Addie.
Both Mommy and Daddy looked at each other before Daddy broke the tension by saying, "Last time I checked, I didn't have any brothers."
"No, you--you were our eight year old son," said Addie.
"Okay, I think someone's imagination has gotten a little bit away from them," said Mommy.
"I'm serious!"
"I get that sweetie," said Mommy, as she tried to nudge Addie to his chair, only to be pushed back by Addie.
"Now, come on, old man, sit down and eat your oatmeal goes completely cold," said Daddy with a smile that Eric knew he used whenever he was joking.
"This isn't how any of this is supposed to be!" insisted Addie.
"Addie, it's almost time for school, and we don't have time for a temper tantrum this morning. Sit down and eat your breakfast," admonished Mommy.
"No! I won't! I'm a man, and you can't make me!" shouted Addie. Mommy looked shocked and hurt as Addie said that.
"Adrian Adam Pendergast," said Daddy with a deep boom to his voice without even standing up. Eric stopped eating as he'd only heard Daddy's booming voice like this once before that he could remember--and he knew it meant serious trouble.
"Does a man, like the one that you claim to be, talk back to his mother in such a disrespectful manner?" asked Daddy to Addie.
"B-but" started Addie.
"Does a man disrespect his mother?" asked Daddy.
"N-no..." said Addie.
"Apologize to your mother," said Daddy, but Mommy interrupted, holding her hand up to Daddy.
"No, Mitch, don't force him to apologize. It won't mean anything if you force him. If Addie says he's a man, then like any man, he can live with the consequences of his actions," said Mommy, and she passed by Addie, picked up his bowl of oatmeal and emptied it into the garbage disposal in the sink.
"A man can make his own breakfast," said Mommy as she scraped the bowl with the spoon before rinsing both.
Eric stared at Addie who looked shocked, angry, frustrated, and somewhat scared before grabbing his helmet and running out of the kitchen a few moments later their bedroom door slamming shut.
"Daddy, what's wrong with Addie?" asked Eric.
"I dunno Eric... but whatever it is... I sure hope it's just a phase," said Daddy with an oddly sad look to his face.