The Sweetest Baker

Chapter Twenty-Two--The Cup

I stood beside Nora pouring four cups of coffee. The house was pretty much quiet after what had occurred the night before. Mark and Mike were busy handing out breakfast plates while the older twins handed out cups. Sarah was behind them with Mom where each held paper towels and orange juice respectfully. I yawned exhausted. We were all still in our pajamas since it was rather early.

"Did Dad go?" I heard Sarah ask from behind me breaking the silence.

"Yep," Mom announced. "He took Kyle and Nigel." I put a cup down counting that we had five cups.

When I was finished, I jolted at a smash from the living room. I left the cups there and looked to see a big hole in the wall.

"Jake! Why did you do that?!" I shouted once I saw his damaged skateboard.

"The Chiseller had my wallet!" he complained causing me to shake my head and go investigate the disaster. Henry, Jake, Mark, Mike, Kim, and Jessica stood in the front while I stood in the back an arm around Mark as I stood in between Nora and Bud.

"Must have an escape hatch," Henry shrugged.

"He........stole all this stuff?" I asked as I began to look for something that was mine along with my siblings.

"That's mine from like the eighties," Nora acknowledged as Henry handed her a teddy bear that would be perfect for the baby. We then began to collect stuff that was ours. I reached for a small pen I had been looking for. Don't judge me. I love collecting stuff like this.

"Careful, careful," Mom told the younger ones as she helped Mike out. She reached for the thing Jake had found. "Oh, honey. Let me see that." We all crowded around her as I stood next to Jake and Kim an arm around my younger sister. "Look at this, guys. It's our old team flag." She held up the TEAM BAKER I remembered holding. We all used to have numbers on our shirts from oldest to youngest.

"From when we lost to the Murtaughs by two points," Henry acknowledged.

"Yeah cause Mom fell in the sack race," Mark remembered causing us all to laugh quietly at his comment.

"Daddy carried me all the way to the car," she said. "A lot of memories there, huh? That's why your Father's been so crazy about getting everyone to attend the cup. He knows three of you are going to college and one is having his first grandchild and moving away. That's why he snuck into the movie theater last night. He has a hard time letting go of those memories. But we all know that no matter what Daddy says, whether he's mad at Jimmy or not. You're his team." We all nodded in agreement realizing Mom was right.

"So what are we doing now?" Mike asked.

"Well, we're going to cheer everyone on," Mom informed him. I stared at the flag thinking of a better idea.

~~~~~

Charlie took Lorraine, Sarah, Henry, and Jake. Bud drove Nora, Mom, Mike, and Mark, me, Kim, and Jessica. Lorraine was holding the flag as Mike finished talking. Bud and Charlie honked their horns as we all cheered excitedly jumping out of the car. I waited for Sarah since she had taken the risk to jump out of Charlie's passenger seat. I ran ahead with Charlie grabbing Jessica by the other hand since Mom was holding onto her and her twins first.

"Dad! We're here! We're competing!" Mike announced from the very front so he could land in his arms.

"There's a team! There's a team!" he shouted holding him for a second before I reached over to grab him from him so I could kiss his cheek and put him down softly so Mom and Dad could hug. I still kept an arm around him once they were done so he didn't run off.