‘My brother-in-law grew a third boob after he showered shoeless at the gym one time,’ I remind myself as I towel off my exposed toes.  ‘Too late now,’ I sigh as I make a mental note to pick up a pair of flip flops during my next Target trip. 

He didn’t really grow a third boob, my brother-in-law, it just looked like one.  If I were to be anatomically correct, the large lump on Scott’s chest was actually a clogged gland caused by a staph infection he contracted from showering without shoes at the gym.  But don’t worry, a couple weeks and several steroid doses later, his third boob vanished. 

But the story never did.  Scott still tells it all the time.  And every time, I laugh.

My brother-in-law is full of stories.  And I love listening to them, especially the ones about him and David.  Because of Scott, I feel like I’ve known David decades before I married him. 

I’ve heard the one a million times about David pelting him with a pencil when they were kids.  And it always ends with both boys in the emergency room with a few millimeters of lead being removed from the back of Scott’s head.

I’ve heard the one a million times about the early morning pillow fights they had when David would give his little brother 10 free hits before tearing after him in retaliation.  It always ends with their dad waking from a deep sleep, red faced, and chasing after both boys in his underwear yelling at them to stop.

I’ve heard the one a million times about how 12 year old David conned an 8 year old Scott to spray the can of AquaNet at a pile of leaves they spent all morning raking.  It always ends with neither of their parents being home while David lights the fluid on fire with a match.  To this day, they both laugh and wonder how they made it out of that story alive.  I do, too.

David and Scott have a million stories.  And every time I hear them, I laugh.  The lives these two brothers share is so close and so incredible, I only hope the magic their relationship holds can be sprinkled from this generation to the next.

Because Reichen and Latham are going to start making their own stories soon.  And I can’t wait to hear them over, and over, and over again.  And laugh.