Page 4 of Batter Up!

“I’m going to tell them tonight,” I said to my two brothers as we sat in the apartment that Carter and I shared. I was pacing along the family room wall and looked over at Carter lounging comfortably on the couch. Landon sat backward in one of the kitchen chairs, so he could face us. Landon had flown in earlier that day, and I loved seeing him in our space.

“Dad’s going to be so mad,” Carter replied, looking over at Landon. “But you’ve got to take this opportunity.”

“I agree,” Landon said while he turned his baseball cap to sit backward on his brown hair. “You’ve got our support, Ty.”

I nodded and sighed, “I just need to rip off the band-aid.”

“And you know Alec will fill in for you at the shop,” Carter said about his best friend. “I think he’ll probably want to move in here and take your room, too. That way, our rent will be the same, and you won’t have to worry about that. His parents and sisters, Vera and Nora, will be really happy to have him out of their basement.”

Landon nodded, “Great idea. Maybe Dad won’t be so upset if you have a plan.”

“Are you ready for Sunday night supper?” Carter asked. Every Sunday, my mom insisted our family get together to make sure we all got at least one home-cooked meal every week. “And do they know you’re coming, L?”

“Nope. I hope my surprise of being here will take some tension off Ty.”

“Let’s go,” I said and was already not looking forward to my dad’s reaction.

My parents still lived in the same house we had grown up in. It was a white, two-story house with a wrap-around porch that my mom loved. Her vegetable garden could be seen from the side of the house, and I couldn’t wait to bite into a fresh tomato. Our older sister, Julia, and her husband, Rob, were getting out of her car as we walked up the front steps.

“Hey, sis!” Carter called out as he walked towards the front door.

“Landon! Hi!” Julia cried and ran over to give him a big hug.

“We see how we rate,” Carter scoffed with a shake of his head. We had just seen him at Christmas, so not that long ago.

“I love you two, too,” she said as she gave us each a hug.

“Good to see you again, Landon,” Rob said and gave him a handshake. “How is Miami?”

“Wonderful,” he said with a grin. “Nice and warm.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for Spring Training?” Rob asked.

“Yeah, I report to Jupiter in a week. Catchers and pitchers report this coming week.”

“I love seeing you, but why are you here?” Julia asked.

“Just supporting T,” Landon said and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Well…” Carter began, “Let’s go inside and get this party started. Prepare for fireworks.”

“Fireworks? Did you get them on sale or something?” Julia asked, confused because we had nothing in our hands. Rob held the door for her as she walked in, and we all followed her inside.

“Not literal fireworks, you nerd,” Carter said with a roll of his eyes.

“Hi, Mom!” I said as I entered the door.

“Hi, kids, come on back!” My mom’s voice rang out from the back of the house.

I walked through the entryway hallway that was covered in pictures of us in diapers, Julia and Carter making mud pies, Julia putting bandages on us boys, the three of us boys playing t-ball, and pictures of all three of us playing Varsity baseball. Mom even had some of Carter’s drawings he did in art class on the wall still. He was very talented when it came to drawing. Julia’s wedding pictures were at the end of the hall, and so was one of my favorite pictures of Landon and me playing for the area high school all-star game. I sighed when I looked at Landon’s picture with all of us when he got drafted by the Jaguars a few years ago. Maybe Mom would put up a new picture of me soon.

I went into the kitchen and walked to where Mom was. I had to bend down to give her a kiss on her cheek. Mom was a petite woman at only five foot two. Dad always said he liked shorter women, and his dad and brother had been the same way. All four of us kids got Dad’s height. Dad is six two, and Carter and I are both right around six four. Landon was the tallest at six four and a half. (That half inch was very important to him to hold over his brothers.) Julia surpassed Mom in sixth grade and finally topped out at five-nine.

“How are my babies?” Mom asked as she sat down her wooden spoon and turned to the others, “I made your favorite spaghetti and homemade meatballs, Carter.”

“Let’s go!” Carter said excitedly. “It smells amazing.”

“Landon Oliver!!! What are you doing here?!” She squealed and rushed over to the prodigal brother.

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