"Woah, hold on just a minute." Mom came out with a plate of fresh fruit, overhearing their talk about going to the park to play. "Jake and Noah still have Alisha's party in a couple of hours. Will you be done by then?"
"Or course!" Noah said confidently.
She looked at him, skeptical.
"Zeke is there too. He'll keep an eye on the time. It'll be fine." Noah assured her.
She looked to Zeke for confirmation.
Zeke gave a nod. "I'll make sure they're back in time even if the game isn't over."
"Make sure they wear decent clothes." Mom told him. "And make sure they brush their hair. And warn them about underage drinking. And be on their best behavior. And-"
"And we're right here, Mom." Noah cut her off. "Stop treating us like babies."
Mom looked at him. Looked at me. Then looked at Zeke. "Zeke?"
"I'll remind them." Zeke told her.
She nodded. "Okay, well say goodbye to your grandparents before you kids go." She looked at Noah directly. "Try to say a few more words to get them to move here."
"Sure thing, Mom!" Noah told her. "You can count on me."
"We'll say something too." Kyle said.
"Don't bother." Noah told him. "I already have a plan." He turned to smile at me.
"I'll go make sure they're packed up and ready to go. Come inside in about five minutes." Mom left us teens in the backyard, going inside alone.
"What's the plan?" Dave asked.
Noah pointed at me. "Jake is the plan."
My eyes widened. "Me? But...I hardly know them."
"Yea, how does this make sense?" Kyle prodded.
"Think about it." Noah told us. "Gramps wanted him to call him 'Grampa' right away. He welcomed him into the family immediately. Plus, he was more lively on this trip than others. Who knows if that's because he's nearing death or maybe he has a soft spot for Jake."
"So what should I do?" I asked.
"Just talk more about having them as grandparents like you did in the car yesterday." Noah told me. "You've never had grandparents so they might feel sorry for you. We have to use the sympathy card."
"Good thinking." Dave gave two thumbs up.
"You guys better get moving." Zeke spoke up. He turned to Julian. "We'll be back. You guys help yourself to all the food you want."
Noah frowned. "Not alllll the food though."
Julian smiled. "We won't. Go say your goodbyes. We'll wait."
Noah nodded and grabbed me by the shirt. "Let's go Jake. We're counting on you. Mom's counting on you." He dragged me inside, but then paused. He looked around. "Coast is clear. Sorry in advance."
What? Sorry?
"Ow!" I exclaimed after a sharp and painful pinch from Noah. I rubbed my arm and glared at him as my eyes started to water.
"Good. Now you look more sincere." Noah grinned.
The twins came inside with Zeke. The three looked at me, but didn't say anything.
"Keep those tears in your eyes." Noah whispered as we moved as a group to the living room. "Cry in front of them if you can. I can help by pinching you again in secret."
I glared at him, moving away from him and closer to Zeke.
As we walked into the living room, Gramma stuttered step over to give hugs to the twins.
"What's with the sad face, boy?" Grampa caught a good look at the tears in my eyes.
I rubbed my eyes.
"He's just a crybaby." Kyle told him.
Gramma sighed and pulled me into a weak and frail hug. "It's okay to cry. Don't listen to Kyle."
"I bet you boys were picking on him." Grampa glared at Kyle. "Let me tell you, I better not hear that you stole his birthday money."
"We don't pick on Jake!" Dave defended. "He really is a crybaby, Grampa. You saw him yesterday, he cried a little then too. He gets sad really easily over family stuff."
Noah sighed. "In fact Grampa, it's all your fault. Gramma's too I guess. You guys come here, welcome him with open arms, and then ditch him the next day. Got no one to blame but yourselves."
Gramma didn't let go of me, trying to soothe me as Noah fed them a story about how much I longed for grandparents. I mean, he isn't wrong, but he's going a bit overboard.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, boy." Grampa narrowed his eyes at Noah.
"Why are you so against it?" Noah asked, switching tactics. "Do you not want to see us now that we're older?"
"It's hard to give up a home we've been living in for such a long time." Gramma let me go, but rested a hand on top of my shoulder. "You're in good hands here."
"We'll come down for Christmas." Grampa told us. They weren't going to change their minds. They were really leaving and didn't even entertain the thought of moving nearby.
All I could think about was, Mom is going to be sad.
We said our goodbyes, and shared a few small laughs, but the atmosphere had shifted to something less than fun. We walked them outside to where Mom and Dad were waiting near the car. They put their bags in the trunk and watched them get in the car. They gave a final wave as Dad started to pull away.
"That sucked." Noah stated once the car was out of sight. He sighed and kicked the step of the front porch.
"Nothing more we can do right now." Zeke rested a hand on Noah's head. "Do you want to sulk about it or go play at the park with Julian and Andy?"
"Play! Play! Of course I choose to play!" Noah ran back inside. "Let's go!"
"So simple-minded." Kyle muttered.
Dave put his hands behind his head and took a deep breath. "We can try again at Christmas."
They both went inside the house, leaving me alone with Zeke.
I looked up at Zeke. "Are you sad too?"
Zeke smiled. "A little, but not much. I'm just happy that they seemed in better spirits this trip. As long as they're happy, there isn't enough to be sad about."
I nodded. "I'm happy too. Happy that they were nice."
Zeke gave my head a pat before going inside.
I followed behind.
The twins got all our baseball bags packed in the family car while Noah had pulled the Wilson brothers back inside the house. He was also back to eating again.
Zeke made a face. "Let's pick up a bit before we go. Mom and Dad aren't going to be back until late." He took charge, clearing the table of its dirty, empty dishes while instructing Noah to put away the leftovers in the fridge. Noah didn't forget to take some extra bites of everything that he had to put away. Some extra pieces of fruit. Another bagel. He flat out finished the bacon with the excuse that they were gonna have to go in the trash anyways.
"He's like a bottomless pit." Julian laughed at Noah's antics. "How is he still so skinny?"
I shrugged. I didn't know either. I've been eating more since moving in to the Atkins house and I was gaining weight. In my opinion, Noah should look more like a beach ball and less like a beanpole. But given the way his grandfather looked, I guess it must be in the genes.
