The Hitting Zone

Jeremy and Rose stayed for dinner Monday night. Dad and Mom talked to them about the details and worked on the planning of flights and hotel stay.

"I've got the hotel covered." Jeremy told them when we got to that point.

Mom frowned. "No, it's okay. We don't need you to pay for everything."

"I want to." Jeremy answered a little stiffly. "This is my invitation for everyone. Not just Jake. You all deserve a short vacation. I know Jake would want to celebrate his birthday with all of you there. You don't have to worry about a thing."

Mom gave Dad a meaningful look.

Dad looked towards me, Noah and the twins. "Why don't you boys go take your showers and get started on your homework?"

The twins got up and made a move first, not willing to get involved. I hesitated and Noah stuck with me.

"It's not like we're going to fight." Dad told me directly. "We just want to have a more adult conversation with Jeremy. As children, you kids don't need to worry about the money situation."

"We aren't kids." Noah frowned.

Dad laughed. "You're my kid for life. Sorry."

Noah looked to Mom and complained. "Mom..."

Mom narrowed her eyes at Noah. "How much homework have you done since being home?"

Noah clammed up, unable to say anything else. He and I went to our room, sent away like the children we were.

"It's weird that they would even want to fight Jeremy for the bill." Noah muttered, sitting at his desk.

"Jeremy's paid for a lot..." I pointed out.

Noah nodded. "Yea, I know. And I'm grateful. But it feels weird to be so calculative with family. Not that I'm stealing Jeremy away from you. He kind of feels like a distant relative to me now." He looked at me. "It would also be weird if Mom invited Jeremy to dinner and then asked him to pay, ya know?"

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. But this was going to be a lot more money than a dinner.

After shower and doing some homework, Jeremy came upstairs to say goodbye.

"Got it all figure out?" Noah asked, looking up from his homework.

Jeremy grinned. "Don't worry about it. This is a gift. It's a bit offensive to return a gift, isn't it?" He turned to me. "You mind walking me to my car?"

I got up and followed him out.

I could hear Mom and Dad in their office, probably working or going over the new plans for the weekend.

I followed Jeremy out and saw Rose in the driver's seat of his car. "She's driving your car?"

Jeremy chuckled. "Yea. Let's me get some extra sleep on the road. Tomorrow's game is going to be tough."

I nodded. "Good luck. We'll be watching."

He smiled and reached out to mess up my hair. "Thanks." He moved his hand from my head to my shoulder. "I've been talking with Rose about getting a house together. We're going to take a look after the World Series."

"That's great." I told him. I smiled, happy for him. His little condo was nice, but it seemed pretty lonely.

"We're going to make sure you have a room with us." He told me out of nowhere.

My smile dropped. "But...my room is here. With the Atkins."

"I know, I know." He squeezed my shoulder for reassurance. "I'm not going to take you away or anything. I just want you to know that you always have a place to fall back on. So you can come over whenever. With Noah. With your parents. With any of the other boys. My home is your home too." He grinned. "You and Noah can decorate the room any way you like. I don't want it to be just a guest bedroom for anyone to stay in. It's for you."

I scratched the back of my head. "Oh. Thanks."

He laughed and let go of me. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to share some happy news."

I smiled up at him. "Thanks, Jeremy." He's turned out to be really thoughtful. Especially after meeting that woman in prison. It's almost like...she softened him.

"No problem." He headed for his car. "We're still brothers. Go ahead and tell Noah to start planning what color the bedroom should be."

I waved and watched him go.

"Come back inside, Jake." Mom called out to me from the front porch. "It's getting colder now."

I turned and jogged back to her. We went back inside the house together.

"Jeremy said he's going to get a house with Rose." I told her.

Mom nodded. "He mentioned it." She studied my face for...something. "Are you okay with it?"

I nodded. "Yea." I paused. "Should I not be okay?"

She let out a small laugh. "It's up to you on how to feel. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright with it. Jeremy did say that he's looking for a place with extra room for you."

I shrugged. "He said Noah and I can share a room and start planning what can be in it."

Mom paused again. She reached out and pulled me into a side hug, lowering her voice. "Jake...if you don't want to share Jeremy with Noah, you don't have to. I don't know if you feel obligated to-"

"I like how everyone gets along." I cut her off. "I don't...separate us into two families." I looked up at her. "Do you not like Jeremy?"

She looked surprised. "What makes you think that?"

I shrugged. "You're more...open...with me. A little more distant with him..?"

She thought about it. "I don't dislike him. I think he's trying his best to turn over a new leaf on all accounts. He's still a young man trying to find his path and I hope all the best for him. But I think a small part of me..." She glanced down at me. "A small part of me is afraid. That you'll leave with him. Tomorrow. Next week. Next month. Next year. You might find out that you like him more or something."

I went from a sideways hug to a full on hug. "I don't want to leave."

She hugged me back. "We don't want you to." She rubbed my back lightly. "I'm happy that Jeremy is being a good big brother to you. I just hesitate when it comes to his spending. He just had that blow up with his uncle and I don't want him to think we're taking advantage of him."

"Yea...I worry about that too." I told her.

After we separated, I felt embarrassed for no good reason and escaped with unfinished homework as my reason.

Tuesday, we had to let Coach know about us not being present on Friday's practice. He understood and just gave a small reminder that we can practice on our own and not just in the hours he sees us. He made a small announcement after practice about me not taking challenges this week and that if anyone signs up, it'll be for the following Friday.

After practice, Garret, Bryce, Mitchell and a few others asked to come over to watch the game. It wasn't going to be a huge gathering like last week so Dave agreed easily.