We had a short reunion near baggage claim before Dad started to usher Zeke to lead us to the car. Noah talked Grampa’s ear off until then. Zeke helped us load the bags in the trunk and then we decided on the seating arrangement. At Grampa’s insistence, Zeke was tapped to drive us home while he gave directions from the front passenger seat. Dad was stuck in the middle row with the twins while Noah and I got the very back like normal.
“How’s Gramma doing now…?” Dave asked Grampa weakly, likely afraid of the answer.
Grampa looked back Zeke. “You know how to get back on the highway?” He completely ignored Dave’s question.
Zeke nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Dave glanced at Dad, but Dad was resting against the window with his eyes closed.
“I heard you boys won your Christmas tournament. Very nice.” Grampa congratulated us.
“Jake was MVP!” Noah added.
“That’s what your mother said.” Grampa nodded, still not addressing Dave’s question. “Good for you, Jake. Zeke told me all the details on how well you boys did. As long as you’re out there having fun, I’m happy for you.”
“Baseball is always fun.” Noah grinned.
I snorted causing the twins to laugh.
Noah nudged me. “What? Isn’t it?”
“Playing with you guys is fun, but I still get stressed.” I answered.
Noah waved me off. “That’s such a minor feeling. Just brush it off. Focus on the fun of winning.”
The forty minute drive to Grampa’s house was mostly filled up by Noah’s chatter. Occasionally Grampa would say something to redirect the talk away from Gramma and Mom. It made me a little anxious, but I just had to remind myself that losing his wife must mean that he’s taking it the hardest. He probably wasn’t in the best condition to talk about it.
Zeke pulled up to a single-story home with a very spacious yard. It was wet everywhere thanks to a very dark sky, but no rain was currently falling.
“When we get inside, try to keep the volume low.” Dad instructed as we got our bags out of the trunk. We nodded obediently.
Grampa and Zeke were the first ones in the house. As they went in, it wasn’t long before Mom came out. Her eyes were bloodshot and a bit swollen underneath. She pulled the twins into a tight hug without saying anything. Then she did the same to Noah and me.
I tried to hold still, hoping that she got some sense of relief from the hug.
It didn’t last long until she moved on to Dad.
I was going to wait for them, but Noah quickly tugged me into the house. “Give them some alone time.”
Inside the house, I was met with a different decade. Everything was old from the carpet, to the couch, to the lamps on the side tables. Every part of the wall was filled with photo frames, showing a much younger Grampa, Gramma, and Mom. I spotted the boys as kids too. Mom and Dad’s wedding photo. Zeke’s baby pictures followed by the twins then Noah. I moved around slowly, trying to take in every saved memory they had up on the walls.
“You’re up there too.” Grampa said from behind me, making me jump a little. He cracked a smile. “Come. I’ll show you.” He led me towards the kitchen, revealing a wall that had much more recent pictures. I saw one of all of us boys in our baseball uniforms, recognizing it as a picture that was taken from my first ever tournament. Then there was us holding awards. Some action shots of me alone. Zeke’s graduation. Noah and me during summer break.
I felt my eyes sting as I reminisce some of the past year with the Atkins family. Even though Grampa and Gramma didn’t visit much, they still hung up pictures that Mom clearly sent them. I knew they accepted me the first time we met, but it was shocking how much they included me.
“Save your tears for later.” Grampa said in a low voice. “This isn’t something to be sad about.” He let out a heavy sigh.
Almost instinctively, I turned to him and opened my arms. His face softened as he pulled me into a hug. My arms could go all the way around Grampa’s terribly thin frame, making my heart hurt even more.
“I think her only regret would be not seeing you boys finish school and getting married.” He patted my shoulder. “She remembered you until the very end.”
I froze. The very end?
Grampa let me go and wiped the wetness from the corner of his eyes. “You go back to your parents. I’m going to tell Noah and the twins myself. One on one.” He gave my shoulder a heavy pat. “It’s okay. It’s okay. We knew this day was coming soon. She’d be upset if you all hung around to watch her suffer.” He gave me a small push back to the front door.
With a blank mind, I could only follow his instructions and go back out. Mom and Dad noticed me immediately. Mom came back to hug me again. This time I knew the meaning behind the hug. She lost her mom. Forever. I hugged her back and she let out a sob.
The rest of the day didn’t get any better. More hugs and more tears. Dave took it the hardest, but blamed it on his swollen pinky. No one gave him a hard time. This Christmas Day would go down in memory as their worst so I did my best to be there for them. Even if that meant letting Noah hang off of me after he fell asleep from crying so much.
Eventually takeout was ordered from an opened Chinese restaurant. Everyone ate together in the living room seeing as the kitchen was too small. No one mentioned when or how Gramma went, just that she was gone. After we finished eating, Grampa went to his room and came back out with five packages all wrapped in Christmas paper.
“Oh Dad, maybe-” Mom started to tell him something, but he cut her off.
“It’s Christmas.” Grampa stated firmly. “I would like to give out the gifts that we had planned for the boys.” He started to pass out the packages. “Your Gramma had been preparing since Zeke’s graduation.”
I held the soft package and looked at Noah. Noah took the lead and tore open his gift. He held up a hand-knitted sweater. He turned it around to show everyone the front. “Look! I’m they’re favorite! Number one!” On the upper left chest side it said ‘Noah’ and had the number one just underneath it.
“That’s just your jersey number.” Kyle lifted his own sweater and showed it off. Just below his name was his jersey number too.
I hurried to open up my own. It was super soft, gray, and in the front it said ‘Jake’ and then a zero below it. My lips twitched. I didn’t like not having a real number, but now I didn’t mind it so much.
“It’s too bad Gramma didn’t know what number you would be in college, Zeke.” Dave said, holding his own sweater while looking at Zeke.
Zeke held his sweater with his old high school jersey number on it. “I’ll get this number again. Do my best to keep it.”
“Same.” Noah said.
“Same.” Dave echoed.
“I always did like this number.” Kyle agreed.
I clutched my sweater. “Yea.”
“Okay, okay, enough. We have plenty of time to be sentimental later.” Grampa said.. “Look at your cards.”
