Before We Dreamed of Two

>Incessant sobbing from downstairs woke Lori from her sleep.
>It was late at night, at least 11 pm.
>Lori crept out from her bed, careful not to wake Leni.
>Reaching near the bottom of the steps, Lori saw her mother in tears, and her father comforting her.
>"I... I don't want them to leave me, Lynn! I want my babiiieees"
>"The doctor said that you can't have them both. Maybe one, but that's the best case scenario."
>"Are you siding with that bastard over me?" Rita screamed.
>Lynn Sr. didn't know what to say.
>"I just don't know anymore, Rita. I don't know what to say, or do, or try. I guess all we can do is pray."
>The sobbing turned into wailing, and all Lori could do from bawling her eyes out was going back into her room.
Many, many years later...
>Lincoln was digging around in the attic.
>Weird book, weird book, old scrapbook, weird book
>Weren't there any baseball cards worth money or comic books?
>All this stuff looked like Lucy's stupid Lovecraft stuff.
>Wait, old scrapbook? Sweet!
>Lincoln grabbed it and swiftly ran back into his room.
>At his desk, Lincoln began to peruse the photo album.
>Ancient disks with old cartoon graphics. Photos of great-grandpa before the war. Photos of great-grandpa after the war. Photos of Lori when she was Lola and Lana's age.
>All pretty normal stuff so far.
>There was a weird drawing of a bird that writing unintelligible to Lincoln under it.
>There was also a picture of Dad doing... pretty bad (and weird) stuff.
>But the weirdest was a picture about 7 months before Lincoln was born.
>Two little beans in a picture of ultrasound.
>But... the twins were way younger than him.
>The rest of the scrapbook was unfilled.
>Weird, weird, weird, and weird.
Kids! Dinner's ready!
>Maybe he could ask Dad after dinner.
One uneventful hour later...
>Lincoln approached his dad, who was boredly staring at his phone.
>"Dad, do I have a twin, or a triplet?"
>"Not any that are alive."
>Lynn Sr. paused in shock before staring at Lincoln with hard, inquisitive eyes
>"What spurs on this question?"
>"Uh... I found a scrapbook... it's in my room. Do you want me to go get it or..."
>"Let's see it then."
>Lynn Sr. put his phone in his pocket and started up the stairs.
>Lincoln had no choice but to follow.
>Inside Lincoln's cramped linen closet, the elder figure sat at Lincoln's desk, crammed into a chair that was a size and a half tooo small.
>"By the power of the eternal heaven..." Lynn Sr. recited to himself.
>Lincoln peeked over his shoulder.
>"Lincoln, buddy, there's a lot that we haven't told you about our family history. And I guess that's not for the best."
>Lynn's train of thought was interrupted momentarily.
>"Look at this! It's from way before our family emigrated here! And these pogs were all the rage back when I first entered college".
>Lynn turned back to Lincoln.
>"The point is, you had a twin, Lincoln. A twin sister, to be exact."
Lincoln stood in rapt attention.
>"Liberty was her name. Or was it Linka? I can never remember. She was going to be born right alongside you, but I guess God had... other plans..."
>Lynn's face darkened.
>"It was an unviable pregnancy. Linka died in the womb. You were lucky to be alive."
>Lynn's eyes twinkled, and he grabbed Lincoln around the waist to pull him closer.
>"But enough depressing stuff. Let's talk about the other stuff in this book! This three-headed eagle was drawn in Mongolia for your great-grandfather, and it comes from an old mongolian shaman..."