275 Decision 3

(Third person perspective)

Mrs. Atkins had stepped into the office and took a seat. Dr. Moore sat behind the desk after closing the door. He began to explain his suspicions to her as Mr. Atkins was pulled up on speaker phone. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. She was overwhelmed.

"Have either of you reached out to Doug yet?" She asked.

Dr. Moore leaned back in his seat. "I have. Last night after Wayne and Jake left, I made a courtesy call to Doug to give an update on Jake and then to inform him of my suspicions. As I've told Wayne before, this might not be his actual brother. A cousin or older neighbor boy are possible options too."

"What did Doug say?"

"That he would look into it. He's going to check some hospital records and see if the mom is listed on any other birth certificates, and if there's a father listed for that child then maybe we'll have a potential match."

Mrs. Atkins took in a deep breath of air, then slowly let it out. "What would you want us to do on our trip then? I'm the one going with Zeke."

Dr. Moore gave her a sympathetic look. "You don't have to, if you're too busy or if you just don't want to. I was just going to suggest you stop by his old place of residence. Maybe you can peek into his old life and find a clue."

"I thought Child Protective Services already did that?" Mr. Atkins asked over the phone.

"Oh, I'm sure they gathered or at least went through everything at that house. I've gotten a list of items but nothing had seen pertinent. They weren't very materialistic. Mostly because his mother had little to no money. Most looked to be spent on alcohol." Dr. Moore looked at Mrs. Atkins in the eye. "You know Jake on a more personal level than these strangers that were only looking for clues to who his father could be. Maybe you can ask around the neighborhood if anyone knew of another boy in the house? Maybe even stop by his elementary or middle school if you can?"

Mrs. Atkins nodded. "I will. Can you or Doug send me the addresses? I'll have some free time while Zeke is with each school. I'd also like to see how Jake lived before moving up here."

Dr. Moore replied in the affirmative. "We'll make a list of potential stops. I'll send you an email tonight or tomorrow." He paused. "I want to remind you that this is all just speculation for now. Just because I feel this nagging suspicion doesn't mean it'll be true. There's always a chance that Jake is just an only child and for all we know his dad could be dead by now." He let out a sigh. "That's also something I think about when coming to terms that Doug still hasn't found any clues about his identity. There can only be two possibilities: he's dead or he doesn't want to be found."

"Why wouldn't he want to be found?"

Dr. Moore shrugged. "There could be many reasons from hiding from his ex and child support to him breaking the law. I just want you both to keep an open mind and try not to fixate on this too much."

Mrs. Atkins nodded, wary of what was to come.

"Would it be so bad if we didn't find his dad?" Mr. Atkins asked through the phone, surprising the two in the office. "I mean, Jake is just getting better and he likes being with us..." He trailed off.

Mrs. Atkins looked at Dr. Moore for help. She wanted to agree with her husband, but didn't want to look like a selfish woman in front of her foster son's psychologist.

Dr. Moore sighed. "I can't say for sure. Maybe he's a wonderful man, a potential great father."

"But he could be the opposite." Mr. Atkins countered.

"I see where Noah gets it from." Dr. Moore looked at the phone as if trying to see Mr. Atkins. "This isn't for us to decide. Even less so for me. I work with the state to help troubled children. I can't overstepped my boundaries and declare you both to be his official guardians for the rest of his life. You would have to take that up with Doug. Even then, you would need Jake's father to sign away his parental rights. His mother already had his forcibly removed so-"

"Wait. Are we really talking about this?" Mrs. Atkins interrupted. "Wayne. Let's talk more about this when I get home. We need to go at this rationally."

Mr. Atkins hummed in agreement.

***

(Jake's POV)

At practice, Coach and Zeke held a team meeting before warmups to announce his sudden trip to Southern California. The team was stunned into silence and listened on as Zeke explained that he would miss tomorrow's game in order to take midterms.

"Tomorrow's game won't have a true starter as well." Coach declared after Zeke's speech. "We'll be doing a bullpen game in preparation for next Saturday's double header. That means each relief should do about an inning as long as they don't give up any runs. We'll start off with James, then Theo, Ryan, Tyler, and Matt will all join in. Bryce too if we can."

"What about me?" Brian, a sophomore, stood up. "We hardly get any pitching opportunity with Garret and the twins around so..."

Coach looked at him. "You'll be in right field." He looked around. "Garret in left and Mahki in center. We have a lot to work around with." He nodded towards Julian in the back. "Wilson has a bruised foot from yesterday's hit by pitch. He'll rest tomorrow so Sean will be on first. Jason on third. Jake on second and Noah at short."

The team started to get a little more life as tomorrow's lineup was already announced.

"Listen up." Coach raised his voice and the team quieted down. "Zeke's trip won't be a distraction. Tomorrow isn't a league game, but I want us to treat as one. That means going hard, working at the plate, and diving for ground balls. Let's take this practice as serious as if we were training for the championship."