Epilogue 2

“I can’t believe you aren’t even nervous!” my twin sister, Olivia, said as she braided my red hair. If it were up to me, my hair would be in a ponytail all the time.

“I can’t believe you’re braiding my hair. It’s just going to be covered by a hat anyway,” I replied back to her.

“It’s good luck. Mom always braids my hair for my gymnastics meets, so I figured I’d braid yours for you.”

I loved my sister and how sentimental she was. She definitely got that from Mom.

“Oh, Hazey, you look so pretty!” Charlotte said as she came into the motel room. Our next youngest sister pirouetted around the room and ended in first position right in front of where I sat at the end of the bed. Liv was sitting on the bed and tying the end of the braid with the rubber band. “Me, next! I want a braid, too.”

Olivia just laughed and gestured for Charley to sit next to me. You would think that with a name like Charley, she would be the tom-boy in the family, but she was definitely the most girly. She excelled in dance classes and loved wearing dresses and bows and playing around with makeup. None of us knew where she got her excessive girliness from and blamed Aunt Emma. Out of all of us kids, Charley definitely looked most like Dad, a fact that I was a little jealous of. She had his brown hair and emerald green eyes. She also seemed to have his height. At only eight years old, she was already almost as tall as Liv and me. Her dance teachers all talked about how they loved her long legs.

Olivia and I were both on the shorter side but would probably end up just a little taller than our mom. We both had Mom’s red hair, but I had blue eyes, and Olivia had Dad’s green eyes. I took pride in the fact that I was an inch and a quarter taller than my twin.

While Olivia scooted over to begin working on Charley’s hair, I got up and began doing my pre-game stretches. Dad always taught us that stretching and hydration were just as important as throwing and catching.

“Daddy! Daddy’s on the phone for you, Hazey!” Our youngest sister, Lucille, came running into the room and held up Mom’s cell phone. If Charley was the clone of dad, then Lucy was Mom’s clone. She had the same bright red hair that Liv and I had, but she was also very petite and shared Mom’s blue-green eyes. She loved to follow Mom around at the bakery, even at 5 in the morning, and help her get ready for the day. I didn’t know any other six-year-olds that would willingly get up that early. Not me, that’s for sure. The only thing I got up early for was if our team had an away game, and we had to get up early to get on the bus.

I grinned down at Lucy and took the phone from her small, outstretched hand.

“Dad?” I asked as I looked at the phone screen, where my favorite person in the whole world was smiling back at me.

“How’s my Hazelnut?”

“Ready!” I said with all the confidence that he had instilled in me. “We’re gonna kick some major ass!”

“Hazel! Watch that mouth!”

“Sorry, Daddy,” I said, but I knew he really didn’t care. He only wanted me to watch my mouth because Lucy and Charley were in the room.

“I wish I could be there,” Dad said as he rubbed a hand through his hair.

“I wish you could, too. Where are you now? San Diego?”

“Close, we’re in San Francisco.”

“You’re playing the Sea Lions? Why did I not know that? Does that mean…”

“Hey, munchkin!” A familiar face joined Dad’s face on the screen. “I’ll be watching your game with your old man here. Our game against each other doesn’t start until after your game ends.”

“Uncle Landon!” I shrieked, and suddenly, Liv, Charley, and Lucy were all crowding around me and wanting to say hi to Uncle Landon and Dad.

Uncle Landon had been traded to the San Francisco Sea Lions last year and had just played in the All-Star Game. Dad had also represented his team, the St. Louis Vikings. Actually, the last time we had seen Dad was when we all went to the All-Star Game to see them play together on the same team for the first time. The media loved it, and we got a lot of attention. Before Uncle Landon had been on the Sea Lions, he was with the Jaguars and was always in the opposite league as Dad.

Uncle Hunter and Uncle Cooper hadn’t been picked to play in the All-Star Game, but they were there with us to watch as spectators. We all said it was an outrage that they weren”t selected, but they both said it was okay. They were able to watch in the stands with their wives and kids, who were like cousins to us.

Uncle Ivan, Dad’s other best friend, was no longer playing baseball but was now coaching for the Kansas City Panthers. His team had made it to the World Series last year, but they lost to our favorite team, the Coyotes!

Olivia had been so excited that Cruz was going to be at the All-Star Game because that meant her best friend, Valentina, would also be there. Olivia was my built-in best friend, but separately, she had Val, and I had Malcolm. Liv and Val talked on the phone almost every day. I loved my twin, but when she and Val got together, all they talked about were gymnastics, animals, and boys. They even discussed the boys on my team, and to me, that was just wrong. There was no way that Max, Jett, Griffin, and Malcolm were cute. They were just my friends, smelly boys who were good at baseball, and that was all that mattered to me.

“Hazel, just enjoy this experience. I am so proud of you and your team!” Dad said after greeting his other daughters. “I’m really heartbroken that I have to miss this.”

“I know, Daddy,” I said before repeating something Mom had ingrained in us when we were very little. “We all have to sacrifice something for you to play in the majors. But I do wish you were here, too.”

“My girl, mature beyond her years. I love you, Hazel. Play your best and have fun. And don’t let any boys give you a hard time about being a girl playing baseball.”

“I won’t let them bother me, Dad. But it will be even better if we win.”

Dad and Uncle Landon both laughed. “There’s my girl!”

After hanging up with Dad, I saw Mom, with Michael on her hip, in the family room. I ran over to give her a hug and tickled Mikey’s side. Two years ago, we all thought for sure Mom was going to have her fifth baby girl. Just like with all their other babies, they never found out if we would be getting a sister or a brother. Everyone was shocked when it was finally a boy! My big, tough grandpa had cried when they told him his grandson was going to be named after him. Michael Thomas Stone completed our family. Mom said no more babies.

“Come see your very own cheering section, Hazel,” Mom said as she took my hand. We walked outside and towards the stadium. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Gigi and Gramps were here along with Uncle Dominic, Uncle Carter, and their families. I ran over to them to hug them all. Aunt Meadow, Aunt Penelope, and Aunt Emma were waving from the side and waited for their turn to get hugs. I was sad because my favorite of my honorary cousins, Camden, wasn”t here. He was starting college soon and already in the dorms. I was proud of him for getting a full ride baseball scholarship! He was a pitcher and taught me everything I knew. Dad’s old coach, Mack, was here, too. His son, Nico, and Cam”s sister, Peyton, were talking in sign language with Liv and Val. All my cousins and honorary cousins (all my parents’ friends” kids) were there, too. They were running around and wanting to go down the muddy hill on cardboard boxes. I couldn’t believe all these people had come for my game!

“Hey, Hazel! Warm-ups are in ten. We gotta go!” My best friend and teammate, Malcolm Hawke, said. He said hello to my mom and waved at my big, crazy family.”I”m really bummed your dad isn”t here.”

”I know, but I did get to talk to him on the phone.” Malcolm idolized my dad, especially since they were both catchers.

”Good luck!” Nico signed to me in sign language. I placed my fingertips on my chin and arched my hand out towards him to say ”thank you” in sign language.

“You are so lucky you get to play baseball with a cute guy like Malcolm!” my twin said as she hugged me and told me good luck.

“Hi, Liv,” Malcolm said. He gave her a big smile and then turned to me as we walked away. “Your sister looks nice. Why don’t you ever try to look cute like her?”

I just rolled my eyes. Olivia was wearing one of my jerseys, but she had it knotted at the side and was wearing a jean skirt with it. “We do look alike! We’re twins, you know?!” I said and punched him in the arm.

“We all know you’re not identical,” Malcolm told me. “You always say you’re an inch taller and a few minutes older.”

“Well, look, I have a braid in my hair. That shows I”m trying to look nice, right?” I said as I took off my hat and showed him my hair. “Liv has one, too.”

“Let me guess,” Malcolm said as he looked back over his shoulder and looked at my sister, who was heading up the hill to watch some of the others go down the muddy hill. “Olivia braided your hair.”

“So?” I said. “Olivia can’t throw a knuckleball, now, can she?”

Malcolm shrugged. “You’ve got me there.”

“Good luck, sweetheart! Your dad and I are so proud of you!” Mom said and gave me a huge hug. “Don’t forget. If you meet a cute boy, don’t let him give you any cookies or homemade snacks. You are allergic to nuts, just like your dad.”

I shook my head. I didn’t have time to think about boys. It had been drilled into me ever since they found out I was allergic to nuts and shellfish, just like my dad, never to take homemade goods from anyone. Mom had never been happier to have an allergy-free kitchen since Dad, Lucy, and I are all allergic to nuts.We weren”t sure if Mikey was allergic yet, or not.

I ran with Malcolm towards Lamade Stadium to pitch in the Little League World Series. With Malcom as my catcher, I knew we would be a hard team to beat. In the history of the Little League World Series, there hadn’t been that many girls to play, and I was honored to be one of them.

“So, we are playing the team with a girl!” one of the opposing players for the Dogwood Bulldogs said as we walked onto the field for warm-ups and tossing the ball. Malcolm and I were heading to the bullpen area to get my arm warmed up. “This is going to be an easy win!”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Malcolm said with a bite in his tone. “She’s our best pitcher.”

“Probably only on the team because of who her daddy is,” another player taunted.

I just ignored them and kept walking towards our bullpen. I had heard the same jabs before, and I just let them roll off me. I knew what I was getting into when I wanted to play baseball and not softball. Trust me, I had tried underhand pitching for softball, and it just felt unnatural. I had grown up around tons of Major League Baseball players and loved the game. I was born to play baseball, just like my dad had been.

Malcolm just shook his head and kept walking with me. It was a new voice that had me turning around. “Shut up, idiots. If you had seen Hazel Stone play before, you’d know she’s amazing. I’m scared to death of her slider, and I’ve been practicing how to hit it.”

I locked eyes with the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes I had ever seen. He had a few freckles on his nose, and his blonde hair was covered by his Bulldogs hat. He gave me a wide smile, and I liked how his eyes crinkled at the corners with his genuine grin. I felt the butterflies in my stomach that Mom told me I would feel when I finally found a boy that captured my attention.

Finn Reinhart wasn’t the only one who studied his opponents. I knew all about the athletic third baseman for the Bulldogs, who had the most home runs of any player in the Little League World Series. For him to be worried about my slider was the ultimate compliment.

“Hey, my mom makes awesome homemade pretzels, and it’s my tradition to eat some before every game. Would you like one?”

“That would be really nice…” I began.

“No!” Malcolm said. “Don’t you remember what happened to your dad when he took homemade cookies from your mom?”

I looked up into the stands where my mom was sitting with everyone who had come to support me. I knew exactly how my parents met, and I smiled as I looked back over at Finn. “Are there nuts in your mom’s pretzels?”