I almost turned around as soon as I walked in. In the corner of the kitchen, near the microwave, my wife hunched over the counter with her back to me. Her arms moved rapidly, lifting something toward her face and then back to the counter, her elbows perched in place. If I listened closely, I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard whispers of, “My precious.”

As I began my retreat, her head darted to the left and she peered at me through the sides of squinting eyelids. I froze, unsure of what was happening or what was to come.

Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she half-turned toward me, waving me over in short, quick motions.

I cautiously approached, and then I saw it. The silver foil wrapper of the Reese’s Klondike Bars in our freezer. My wife guardedly held the treat up for me, looking over her other shoulder as she did so.

I eyed a chunk of peanut butter in the middle and bit. When she turned back toward me, she dropped her shoulders, disappointed.

“You took the best bite.”

I shrugged.

Suddenly, my wife tensed again, pulling the treat in close, her pupils growing large and her eyelids narrowing, like an animal sensing danger. I watched, bewildered by her behavior. Perhaps tonight is a full moon, or maybe Mercury’s in retrograde, I thought. Normally, the Gollum-like behavior came from our daugh–

Ah. Our daughter.

I followed my wife’s eyes as they tracked something through the wall I couldn’t see. Until I did. Suddenly, our 3-year-old daughter strolled through the kitchen threshold, her tightly-curled, strawberry-blond hair bouncing with each clumsy step.

Serenity.

We chose the name because my wife said she “needed some serenity” in her life while she was pregnant.

I thought it was a beautiful name, and it stuck.

I still think it’s beautiful, of course. Unfortunately, however, Serenity is a Gemini and we only named half of her personalities.

Leo Tolstoy named both.

Only a few steps into the kitchen, she stopped, and I watched her face transform in the same manner as my wife’s. (Alexis, my wife, is also a Gemini, but I don’t think her personalities are so easily named.)

Her narrowed eyes slowly rolled toward her mom, though her head did not move. She must have sensed — no, smelled — the sugar. And probably fear. I felt a lump rising in my throat.

Her body twisted toward the two of us, following the direction of her gaze.

Alexis pulled the ice cream in closer and rotated her own torso, squaring her back to our daughter, putting as much flesh between the ice cream and Serenity as possible.

“Serenity,” she said, dropping her voice an octave and dragging out each vowel. “It’s time for bed. Go brush your teeth.”

My daughter took a teetering, heavy step in our direction.

“Serenity,” Alexis pleadingly repeated, her voice beginning to shake. “Go brush your teeth with daddy.”

I glanced in my wife’s direction. Once just a bystander, I was now a player, summoned to defend her from the encroaching danger.

I looked out and down at my foe.

She took another determined, clumsy step forward.

I crouched slightly, loading my legs like a compressed spring. I’ve watched enough horror movies to know that the third step is usually the all-hell-broke-loose-run-for-your-life step.

I tensed my upper body, preparing for impact.

Boom. Another tiny, ominous footfall thundered around us.

My timing had to be perfect.

My body sprang forward just as she broke loose at an unnatural pace. The distance between us now rapidly closing, she suddenly leaped, taking to the air.

As she went high, I went low. Crouching, I scooped her out of the air and wrapped my arms tightly around her.

My wife and her ice cream bar would now be safe.

Serenity wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek.

“Let’s go daddy.”

“Time to brush your teeth,” I said, returning the kiss and carrying her to the bathroom.

She’s such a daddy’s girl.

I turned around to look at my wife.

“You owe me,” I mouthed.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied before turning her back once again and sinking her teeth into the foil-wrapped, chocolate-coated, peanut butter-filled artifact of power.

As I carried Serenity toward the bathroom, I thought I heard the faintest whispers of, “My precious.”

Anyway, in honor of J.R.R. Tolkien’s own split-personality Gemini, here’s a homemade sushi recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups sushi rice, cooked

2 ½ tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

Nori sheets (seaweed)

Fillings:

Imitation crab sticks or cooked shrimp

Thin slices of cucumber, avocado, or carrots

Cream cheese

Soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Season the rice

Mix the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Gently fold into warm sushi rice without smashing it. Let it cool.

2. Set up your rolling station

Lay out a bamboo sushi mat or just use parchment paper. Place a nori sheet shiny side down.

3. Spread the rice

Wet your fingers and press a thin layer of rice over the nori, leaving an inch at the top empty. Don’t panic — it only looks terrible until the end (maybe).

4. Add the fillings

Line up your chosen ingredients in the center.

5. Roll it up

Using the mat (or parchment), roll tightly from the bottom. Seal the edge with a bit of water.

6. Slice and serve

Use a sharp knife dipped in water. Slice into bite-size pieces. Arrange beautifully, or just throw it on a plate and call it “deconstructed sushi.”

Feel free to share your stories about living with a Gemini or two at dbigelow@tribtoday.com.