Mom and Dad took us out for dinner that night, going to one of Noah's favorite restaurants to keep on celebrating his birthday. There, they gave him a birthday card with a check.
Noah's jaw dropped. "No way."
"It's not just spending money." Mom instructed. "Half of it is going to your savings account."
"But Mom-"
"No buts." She waved him off. "You know we don't usually like giving you kids just cash for your birthdays, but you're getting old enough to make your own gift choices. That doesn't mean you can just be irresponsible and spend it all on video games. I want half to go to your savings for future big purchases you might want to make."
Noah thought about it for a second and gave a small nod. "Okay…that makes sense. I promise to put half into savings."
Dad smiled, proud. "Good boy. I'm sure it'll come in handy down the road."
Dinner went well, and without the twins, there were no arguments or bickering. That was nice, but I'm sure Noah would have been happier to have them around. When we got home and prepared for bed, Noah mentioned that they had called him before the party to wish him a happy birthday.
"I'm going to make sure they buy us a round at the cages and the arcade when they get back." Noah yawned as he crawled into bed.
I was already under my covers, holding my cellphone. I didn't have many apps or people to contact, so Noah could tell immediately what I was thinking about.
"Jeremy still being weird?" He asked.
I shrugged, putting the phone down. "A little. He still texts me back, but we haven't talked over the phone in awhile. He hasn't said anything was wrong, but I think…" I trailed off.
"You think it has something to do with his family?" Noah continued for me.
I nodded. "That…or maybe even Rose?" At least I knew it wasn't me. I'm fine.
"We could try calling Rose tomorrow. I still have her phone number." Noah offered.
I shook my head. "That's too intrusive. I'm going to give it some more time. If he's still being a little…weird…then we can ask her about it."
"You're right. It'd be a little weird just to call her up and ask her about her life." Noah agreed. "Maybe the next time we're able to go to one of his games, we can ask her in-person."
We settled on that before going to sleep. The next morning, Zeke was back at it, waking us up at the crack of dawn. You couldn't even see the sun yet. Noah was right, he was very vengeful. The run became longer and faster. Back at the house, the lifting reps were doubled, yet Noah didn't quit. Seeing him going, I couldn't give up either. I just did my pushups much slower.
Zeke didn't stop there. After a second, and bigger, breakfast, he took us to the park and we met up with Julian and Andy. We played the 'Over-the-line' game, but without the twins, only Zeke played pitcher. We played three times, switching up the teams each round. I naturally won all three as the others took turns losing.
"This was too unfair." Noah complained during a water break. "Whoever has Jake on their team just gets to win. It's not even a competition." He looked at Zeke. "Can't you try throwing some breaking balls at him?"
Zeke's lips twitched. "No. That's not fair. Plus, I don't want to injure him before tomorrow."
"Maybe next time, invite Garret to pitch?" Julian suggested.
Zeke nodded. "Sure. If there's a next time."
"Can we play just one more time when the twins get back?" Andy asked, almost sounding like he was pleading.
Noah nodded. "We should! And Mitchell can come catch! It'll be like a mini game."
Julian grinned. "It can be you three versus me and Zeke."
"We can invite Mahki too to make it three versus three." Zeke corrected.
Noah threw an arm around my shoulders. "Bring it on. With Jake on our team, I'd say the odds are in our favor."
"Oh? So you don't care who your pitcher is?" Zeke smiled.
"We obviously get to pick because we're younger." Noah hurried to tell him. "And we pick Kyle. Gotta see if that camp made any difference after all. It would be more effective on you guys than us."
"How so?" Andy asked.
Noah looked at him. "You weren't able to hit off him before. If you still can't, how would you be able to tell?"
I laughed as Andy rolled his eyes.
As a group we went out for lunch and continued planning this big showdown for next Saturday after our Stanford camp and right before the high school camp.
As Noah had predicted, Zeke didn't wake us on Sunday or force us to do anything. Which was good because everything hurt. Even my forearm muscles hurt. Noah and I lazed around all day, watching baseball games on tv while complaining about our aches and pains.
In the late afternoon, Mom and Dad came back from work and found us still on the couch.
Dad laughed. "Maybe you boys should have done some ice baths this morning. I don't want you to be sore for the camp. It's going to be hard all on its own."
"I'll take my chances." Noah rolled off the couch and stood up. "Are we going to have dinner before Zeke takes us?"
Mom nodded. "I thought it'd be good for you to carb up before the week starts." She glanced at me. "These camps can be tough. I'm worried you'll lose the weight you've been putting on."
"Zeke's going to be there to watch over us. Especially over Jake." Noah told them. "What could you worry about with him around? Plus, it's only five days. We'll be fine."
His words comforted them a little, but it didn't stop them from instructing Zeke over dinner.
"Make sure Noah doesn't get into any big trouble."
"Make sure Jake eats every meal. Lots of calories."
Zeke accepted their directives with ease, nodding along. They even reminded him again as we got our luggage and baseball bags in the car.
"Make sure to charge your cellphones and call every night." Mom repeated one more time as we got into the car. "It doesn't hurt to send me a few texts too. Just on how you all are doing."
"We will." Zeke closed his door and rolled down the window. "I'll give you updates every chance I can."
"I'll send some pictures too!" Noah added.
Mom looked to me.
I felt embarrassed and mumbled. "I'll call."
She sighed. "Okay, I'll let you boys go. Text me when you get there and then again when you're settled."
"Sure." Zeke nodded. He lifted a hand for a short wave, then started the car. He reversed out of the driveway and off we went.
"I bet Mom's crying already." Noah laughed and then turned to me. "Jake?! Why are you crying!?"
I wiped the wetness off my face. "I'm not crying."
"Yea? Your eyes are just leaking?" Noah laughed.
I knew he was just trying to cheer me up and make me laugh, but he couldn't understand what I was feeling. Mom wasn't like the woman that gave birth to me. She really cares.
