Ch 14: Doppelganger

Abe was in a particularly good mood. The team had achieved their goal of a called game against Sakitama. The post game meeting also went well with Mihashi actually taking part, although it was in his usual jellyfish-mouse-fish-face-stuttering-sort of way. It seemed their long talk in the subway on the way back had given him some perspective, if not confidence.

After some light practice and stretching, Momoe had given the team the rest of the day off with early practice again the next day. Abe was looking forward to relaxing tonight, a nice long soak, a quick dinner, maybe play some video games, watch some TV, talk more baseball with his father, going over the player stats for their next opponents…

What he found when he got home was his mother cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

"Ah, Taka! Welcome home, sweetie. Dinner will be ready soon. We're having all your favorites to celebrate your victory today!"

It was just past five. "What about Dad? We're not waiting for him?" His father usually didn't get home until past 6:30. It was a bit strange to have his mother cooking so early and even stranger for his mother to call him "sweetie." His mother hadn't called him that since he was six, when he pushed his brother off the bed, causing Shun to chip a front baby tooth.

"I figure you must be hungry and tired from today's great game, so we can eat first. Besides, your father has to work late tonight since he took a few hours off for your game and a problem came up."

"What about Shun? Is he back from practice?"

"Yes, he just washed up and he'll be helping me set the table. You take it easy for now."

"Fine," Abe replied as he went to his room to ready for his bath. When he came out in his skivies and approached the bathroom, he heard the water running.

"I prepared a bubble bath for you, Taka, darling," his mother said as she tested the temperature and adjusted the faucets. Then she added some more lavender bubble solution.

"A bubble bath? I'm not six anymore!"

"You're never too old for a bubble bath. I take one every so often. It's very relaxing. I'm sure you'll love it, especially after a game."

"Fine," Abe muttered and waited for his mother to leave. After entering the warm soapy water, he had to admit it did feel refreshing. And the lavender sure smelled good. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. This was aroma therapy, he reasoned, not some sissy bubble bath for babies.

He emptied his mind and imagined the bubbles were baseballs floating in the air. One moved in a straight line, another curved around, and another... His tranquility was interrupted by a sharp rap at the door.

"Taka, dear, I have some freshly laundered towels for you," his mother said as she entered without his permission.

"Hey! Get outta here! This is private time!" Abe shouted as he tried to gather some bubbles to hide his lower region.

"Oh, please, it's not like I haven't seen all that before." Abe-san laughed. "I am your mother after all," she said as she closed the door on her way out.

Abe seriously wondered if that was genuinely the case. That woman did not act like his mother at all.

After soaking for fifteen minutes, and drying off, Abe changed into fresh underwear laid out by his mother on his bed. Then he lay down and closed his eyes, his mother's unusual behavior forgotten.

Just as he was about to drift off, he heard a soft knock on the door and his mother's voice again. "Taka, dear, I'm coming in. I have a nice cold drink and a snack for you before dinner." She came in holding a tray with a tall glass of iced original Calpico and a bowl of rice crackers. "Don't fill up too much. We're having a special dinner tonight," she said as she carefully placed the tray on the small table next to his bed.

'Dear?' Another term of endearment, and snacks before dinner? Was his mother abducted and replaced by an alien? Well, whatever, maybe she was in a good mood for some reason. Maybe there was a sale over at Sogo's department store.

Abe drank his yogurt flavored drink, lay back down, drifted off and dreamt of playing in Koshien. Mihashi was on the mound and he was behind the plate. At bat was that bastard Haruna. Abe signaled for a fast fastball. Mihashi wound up and threw with all his strength. It was outside. Haruna didn't chase it. Instead, the dark prince turned his head and arrogantly said, "You call that a fastball? I can pitch with more speed than that, in my sleep, with my legs tied together, and one hand behind my back, and blindfolded and…"

"If you were asleep, why would you be blindfolded?" Abe asked sarcastically.

Haruna glowered at him and returned to his batting stance.

Abe signaled for Mihashi's regular fastball. Strike, looking! Then again. Strike swinging! And again. Strike swinging! Haruna struck out, looking like the pathetic wannabe amateur that he was.

Abe smiled in his sleep. The crowd roared and applauded. Then from amid the noise, he heard a voice calling him.

"Taka, honey! Dinner's ready. Please wash your hands before you come down." His mother's voice. But honey? That's something she sometimes called his father or Shun, but she hadn't called him that since he was five, when he hit Shun over the head with his Little League baseball bat, leaving him with a huge bump, and a small half inch scar on his crown, now hidden by hair.

Abe slowly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his hands. He then weighed himself on the bathroom scale. No change from yesterday, no change from this morning. Damn, when was he going to hit his growth spurt? When was he going to get as big and strong as that bastard Haruna?

Downstairs, the dining table was laid out from end to end with all sorts of dishes. There were egg omelets, roasted eel, pork katsu, chicken yakatori, seaweed salad, curry potatoes, and more. His mother had set Abe's plate and a bowl of rice at the head of the table. She was sitting to his left. Shun was seated on his right. Their plates were still empty. It was apparent they were waiting for him before eating. Since when did they ever wait for him?

They waited for Abe to say "itadakimasu" before they lifted their chopsticks. Abe's mom quickly picked up a bit of each dish and placed it carefully on Abe's plate. She then scolded Shun for taking too much of the pork katsu. Since when did his mother scold Shun about taking too much food? Since when did his mother scold Shun about anything? Abe shook off the disconcerting feeling. It was nice to be treated this way for once - not having to compete with his brother for food.

Abe smiled as he chewed. Head of the table, his mother's attention, his brother looking rather pissed, he could get used to this life.

After dinner, Abe turned on the television and flipped through the channels as his mother and brother washed the dishes, cleared the table, and wrapped up the leftovers for his father. He stretched out on the family sofa and yawned. No fighting over food, no fighting over the remote control, no fighting over what to watch. How boring. After watching the local news, where they reported the final scores for today's games, he flipped around some more. Since he hadn't watched TV in so long, he didn't care what was on.

Shun, finished with his chores, came into the room and asked, "Wanna play some video games instead? Your choice."

"Sure. Baseball." Abe said as he got up to change the Wii game disc from Mario Kart to Wii Sports.

"That's a crappy game and you always beat me," Shun protested.

"Well, apparently I'm King for a Day." Abe smirked at his younger brother, then frowned as another thought hit him. "Hey, is there anything wrong with mom? She's acting kind of weird."

"Dunno, she just told me to be nice to you since you guys won today. Would make more sense to be nice if you lost, but whatever."

After a few rounds of baseball and boxing, with Abe crushing Shun mercilessly, they played a few rounds of tennis with Shun holding his own. Even though the games were just simulations, the movements were realistic enough for light training.

Once it got close to nine, Abe went back upstairs, while Shun stayed up to play some more. After brushing his teeth, he was ready to go to bed, but his mother was hovering by his bedroom door. "I'm here to tuck you in," she explained.

"I'm almost sixteen, not six!" Abe glared at her. "I'm just going to sleep."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun, cutie-pie. Indulge your poor old mother."

Cutie-pie? She hadn't called him that since he was four – when he emptied his milk and cereal all over his baby brother. "Whatever," Abe muttered as he crept into bed.

His mother began to sing an old familiar lullaby:

Sleep, little pigeon,
And fold your wings,
Little blue pigeon
With velvet eyes;

Sleep to the singing
Of mother-bird swinging
Swinging the nest
Where her little one lies.

Away out yonder
I see a star,
Silvery star
With a tinkling song;

To the soft dew falling
I hear it calling
Calling and tinkling
The night along.

In through the window
A moonbeam comes,
Little gold moonbeam
With misty wings;

All silently creeping,
It asks; "Is he sleeping
Sleeping and dreaming
While mother sings?"

But sleep, little pigeon,
And fold your wings,
Little blue pigeon
With mournful eyes;

Am I not singing? --
See, I am swinging --
Swinging the nest
Where my darling lies.

By the time Abe-san was done, her son was sound asleep. His usually angry face looked soft and peaceful. She smiled, rearranged his blanket, bent over, and kissed him lightly on the forehead, thinking about how cute he was when he was little. What the hell happened since then? How did he turn into such a demon? The reporter was right. It was her fault. She had not paid enough attention to her number one son. Well, that was about to change.

The next morning Abe was up and ready for practice after a blissful sleep where he dreamt again of crushing Musashino with that bastard Haruna on the mound. He was ready to heat up whatever leftovers were in the refrigerator, but to his surprise his mother was downstairs making him a fresh breakfast of okonomi-yaki, yakisoba, and miso soup. The sun hadn't come out yet, but his mother had already packed his lunch and snacks.

"Are you okay, mom?" Abe asked. After analyzing the situation, he came to the conclusion that his mother must be desperately ill and only had a short time to live and that's why she was being so nice to him.

"Me? Of course I am. I'm just making sure you're okay. I care about you. I really love you, you know." Her eyes misted over.

Her behavior was just too weird. What's with all that mushy stuff? "You're not going to die are you?" Abe asked bluntly.

"No! Whatever gave you that idea?"

"What about dad? Shun? Me?"

"No! Everyone's fine. Is it so weird to show my first borne son how much I love him?"

"Yes. Very, very weird." Abe shook his head and ate his breakfast quickly.

"No need to hurry, dear. I'll be driving you to school today."

"Why? It's just starting to get light outside and you never get up this early," Abe asked suspiciously. He decided that if no one was sick, then there had to be another reason his mother was acting so nice. Maybe she was going to demand that he dropped baseball, heaven forbid, and get a part time job. Maybe the family finances were in trouble.

"Oh, I just wanted to spend some time with you. It's been a while since we've talked."

"Uh," Abe grunted as he gulped down his food. "Are you guys getting divorced?" It was the next logical question.

"No! Everything's fine, really." She poured out two cups of green tea, then sipped her cup.

Abe downed his tea, burped, grabbed his backpack and lunch bag, and walked hurriedly out the door. His mother scrambled to follow him with her car keys.

"I can just bike like usual. I don't need you," Abe said rudely.

"Nonsense, I'm taking you," Abe-san said firmly. She grabbed his bike away from him and pointed at the car.

"How am I getting back without my bike?"

"Don't worry. I'll be picking you up, too." Abe-san smiled.

Abe frowned. All this attention from his mother was no longer a good thing.

"Do you have any friends outside of baseball? Any girls that you like?" Abe-san asked as they drove to the school.

Abe ignored her. He pretended to sleep in the backseat. His mother had wanted him to sit next to her, but he sullenly refused.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the field. Abe quickly got out with all his stuff (before the car came to a complete halt) and ran to the locker room. He was finally free.

But when he came out onto the field, to his horror, he found his mother staying for morning practice.

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Author's notes: The lullaby is something I got off the internet after a search for Japanese lullaby lyrics. I wish I has the melody, seems like a pretty song.