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Pancakes and Cracker Jack (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Mari and Ilna)
"You need more syrup." Danny pointed to the trays containing the maple and coconut syrups, as well as cans of whipped cream and, at Angie's insistence, bottles of sprinkles.
"There's plenty of syrup," Steve countered. "Not everyone drowns their pancakes like you."
"I do not drown my pancakes. I cover them appropriately so there's syrup in every bite. Maple syrup. Not the coconut concoction you and my daughter insist on mixing together every time we go to the pancake place." He gave an exaggerated shudder, making Steve roll his eyes while Angie giggled from her spot next to Grace at their familiar bickering
"Coconut syrup is very very yummy, Uncle Danno," she said.
"It is," Grace agreed.
"And therefore I say, you need to put out more syrup. There's a lot of kids here. Kids are gonna want extra syrup…" Danny kept up, more for his niece's amusement than anything at that point.
"You know what?" Steve raised his hands. "We have sixty bottles in the back. You go grab whatever."
"Thank you. I'd think if anyone was going to get the need for enough syrup…" Danny busted his best friend as he took Angie's hand and led her towards the kitchen.
"Thanks again, both of you," Catherine said to Jenna and Boris as they surveyed the room full of guests. "As the kids said, this is the fanciest place ever for a baseball pancake dinner." She grinned. "Of course it's their first one ever so you may have boxed yourselves into getting asked again."
"My absolute pleasure," Boris said as Jenna nodded her agreement. "Your children are always a delight and the team has been wonderful."
"They really have been." Jenna smiled. "Working together beautifully, and the set up crew followed exactly what Grace and Kendra showed them."
"That's so good to hear, they're all so excited about today. They raised way more than their goal so there's a little bit of giddiness." She held her thumb and forefinger a hair's breadth apart. "Let's just hope the cleanup goes as well as the set up after all the sugar they're consuming," she added with a chuckle.
"I'm absolutely confident they'll do a perfect job," Boris said with his usual confidence. "After all, look who's coaching them." He gestured towards where Steve, Joseph and Danny were standing with the team, giving out instructions for the breakfast while the kids listened with rapt attention.
"… and everyone gets a ticket for the door prize raffle," Malik, one of the Cubbies who was at the entrance, sitting at a card table with Danny, explained.
"Excellent, what's the prize?" Jadon asked as he stood behind his brothers, who took their tickets.
"Everybody who comes in gets a ticket and then we're going to choose a winner who gets a T-shirt signed by all the players and the coaches and a $100 gift certificate to Kamekona's."
"Cool," Reggie said and pocketed his ticket, while Andre did the same. "Mama, I see Jacob and the Allens." He pointed. "I'll go get the table next to them."
"Okay," Kendra said as she smiled at Danny. "Is my name buddy here?"
The detective motioned to the doors at the far side of the ballroom. "She is. Kendra and Linda are helping the kids on pancake detail get the supplies set up." He looked at Jadon. "Traded a shift, I heard?"
The young officer grinned. "I bought four tickets. I gotta support my favorite team, and I wasn't missing out on the pancakes." He kissed his mom's cheek. "I hear they're almost as good as the church ones."
Malik laughed when Kendra said, "You've got that right. Malik, your grandma's coming, isn't she?"
"Yes, ma'am, Ms. Kendra. And she said the same thing." He turned to Danny with a smile. "Officer J and his family go to my church."
Jadon offered a fist to bump. "So we know good eats."
"Tell Steve you expect his top pancake game," Danny teased before Jadon and Kendra moved to take their seats next to the Allens.
"Uncle Duke, Amy!" Angie ran up for hugs when Duke and his teenage granddaughter arrived.
"Hey Angie, my mom and grandma had a baby shower so I'm my grandpa's date today," the young lady said as she hugged the little girl.
"They're giving a baby a shower?" She tilted her head as Kono and Leilani approached to say hi to the newcomers.
"No, sweetie, a baby shower is when people have a little party for a mom before her baby arrives," Leilani explained.
"Ohhh," Angie said. "I like parties. Will they have cookies?"
Amy chuckled. "Probably, and they better save me one!"
Kono smiled and said, "You guys are at our table. Amy, I heard you're entering Sandy Beach."
"Yeah, I'm a little nervous but I'm ready," she said about the upcoming amateur surfing competition.
"You're going to do great," her grandfather said with a proud smile. "Hey, Angie, can you walk us to our table?" He held out a hand.
"Yes! You're sitting by us." She took his hand and pointed. "See where Uncle Chin and Uncle Adam are?"
"I see." He grinned at her usual enthusiasm. "Let's go."
"It feels weird not helping," Cody said as DJ, Michael and Michael's parents passed plates of pancakes to him and his siblings.
"You helped set up all the tables," DJ pointed out as he handed a plate to Jenna. "And you bought tickets so you should get to enjoy the pancakes while they're hot."
Michael nodded and handed Jess her plate. "And Kaitlyn and Jacob, you guys helped make the signs and passed out the flyers at your school and the library and the zoo…"
"Okay," Kaitlyn laughed. "I guess we'll eat then. But don't forget if you need anything we're right here."
"And I'm going to help clean up with Cody and Jadon later," Jacob said. "Reggie and 'Dre said they're gonna help, too, with loading the cars."
"You're all so helpful," Michael's mom shared a smile with Jenna. "DJ definitely wasn't kidding when he told us he's got a very helpful family who always pitches in."
"Pitches in!" Michael laughed. "I see what you did there, Mommy."
"Looks like your mom was being … punny. Get it?" Nick smirked and ruffled his son's hair.
Michael and DJ cracked up as they moved on to grab more plates for Jadon and his family at the next table.
"Punny!
"We gotta tell Mr. Francis that one!"
"He's here!" DJ exclaimed when he saw Gary Walk enter the room and pause at the raffle table to sign in.
"That's him?" a fellow Cubbie named Matty asked going up on tiptoes for a better look.
"Yeah!"
"Did you bring the program?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, it's over here." DJ went over to the corner where various boxes of supplies were piled and returned with a baseball program in a plastic protector.
"Come on, let's go!" Kai, another teammate, said. "I can't wait to meet him!"
The four boys hustled over to the former big leaguer, and the sight of them on the move brought two other teammates running.
"Mr. Walk! You came!" DJ said, beaming.
"Well, of course, I did," Gary said, returning his smile. "I've been looking forward to this all week. Brought a few of my softball teammates with me." He motioned to two other men beside him. "These are the two future all-stars I met," he said to his friends and winked at DJ and Michael. "And I'm guessing these are some of your teammates."
"Yes, sir," Michael said, and quickly introduced the other boys. Gary introduced his friends, Mike Stevenson and Jerry Wagner.
"Did you play in the Majors, too?" Aidan asked them.
"Afraid not," Jerry said.
Mike shook his head. "I played in high school and college on the mainland, but Ol' Walk's the only one of us who made it to the big leagues," he said, clapping Gary on the shoulder.
"Mr. Walk, guess what!" DJ said, unable to wait any longer. "After we met you last week, my daddy said he used to get programs signed when his dad took him to Islander games and my grandpa John kept one of them and look! It has your signature on it!" He held up the program. "We put it in a plastic protector so we wouldn't get syrup on it. That was my mommy's idea."
"Would you look at that," Gary said, shaking his head in amazement as he carefully took the old program for a closer look. "Chris Green, Rich Renteria, Eddie Vargas," he read. "Lot of great guys on that team."
"Your autograph looks a little different now but we could tell it was yours," DJ said.
Gary chuckled. "Yeah, I was pretty young back then, hadn't quite figured out my signature."
"What's it like to hit a home run in the Majors?" Kai asked.
"Did you ever get thrown out of a game?" Craig said before Gary could answer the first question.
"Did you get a lot of walks 'cause your name is Walk?" Aidan said..
"Do you have any cool stuff from when you played?" Malik asked.
"Can we see it?" Michael added.
"Here's all my cooks and servers," Steve said, coming up behind the boys. "You know, it's hard for your guests to eat the pancakes at a pancake breakfast if you don't let them sit down …" He smiled over at the three men. "Good to see you again," he said, offering a hand to Gary who then introduced his friends. "Thanks for coming."
"Happy to," Gary said. He held up the program. "Thanks for finding this. It's really neat to see all the old names again."
"I was a little surprised my dad hung onto it, but he must've realized it had a few big leaguers' autographs."
Gary shook his head. "I'm betting it had more to do with the memory of an afternoon at the ballfield with his son."
DJ smiled up at his father. "I think so, too."
Steve smiled softly, his gaze growing distant for a moment with his own memories before returning to the present. "You could be right," he said. "Now, those plates aren't going to serve themselves, are they?" He looked at his players with the quirked eyebrow they all knew well.
"No, Coach Steve," they chorused. Kai, Craig, Aidan, and Matty headed back to their assigned jobs.
"We'll show you to your seats," DJ said, nodding to Michael. "And you've just gotta meet Grandma Ang!"
"I can't believe you remember that game," Gary was saying, shaking his head in amazement.
"Grandma Ang remembers everything about baseball," Angie said from her perch on her namesake's lap.
"I may not remember where I put my house keys half the time, but I remember that game. You hit a home run to tie it up in the 8th. I remember saying, 'His name is Walk, not Homer.' "
Gary laughed. "You probably weren't the only one over the course of my career."
"I'm sure the announcers especially had a lot of fun with it," Elizabeth observed.
He nodded. "I'm sure they did."
"Well, the boys are very glad you were able to come today," Ang said. "DJ has been just bubbling with excitement, especially after they found that program."
"He seems like a really good kid," Gary said. "And apparently quite a good young ballplayer."
"Well, we're a little biased, but yes," Elizabeth said with a smile.
"I was thinking maybe I could come by a game sometime, if you think that's okay."
"Oh, absolutely," Ang said immediately. "You can sit with us."
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Gary said sincerely.
"Wait wait wait," Elizabeth said, straightening.
Angie beamed. "That means Grandma has a idea!"
"I do, angel."
Ang grinned. "And I think I know what it is."
"You should come to the boys' practice," Elizabeth said excitedly. "They would love to get some pointers from a real big leaguer."
"I'd be happy to." He smiled wryly. "As long as you don't think the coaches would mind."
"Oh, we'll put in a good word for you," Ang said, smiling right back. "Won't we, Angie?"
"Yes, we very very will!"
"Time to draw for the door prize," Danny announced. "Let's get Coach Joseph up here to pull the number," he said.
Joseph stood, pausing when Angie said, "Can I help, Grandpa?"
"Go help," Carrie said as Joseph lifted the five-year-old from her godmother's lap, "and think 'Aunt Carrie's going to win' while you're up there."
"If she's half as lucky as her namesake…" John said with a laugh and smile for Grandma Ang, "as soon as she's old enough to play for real she may give you a run for your money."
"Okay, everyone get your tickets ready," Joseph said as he stood Angie on a chair and passed her the Cubbies' hat that held all the tickets for the drawing. "Our winner is…" He waited for Angie to pull out a single ticket. "Go ahead, honey, what are the numbers?"
Angie squinted at the small paper and read, "9…6…5…4…1…2."
"That's 9,6,5,4,1,2," Joseph repeated.
Angie squealed a second later when none other than Grandma Ang held up her ticket and waved it.
"That's me!" she said with a smile as Catherine laughed and leaned over to kiss her cheek.
"To the surprise of absolutely no one who knows you. Congratulations, Gram."
"Grandma Ang won! Yay Grandma Ang!" Angie hopped down and ran across the room to hug her namesake.
"Now it looks like we fixed the raffle," Joseph teased. "I promise, Ang is just the luckiest at all types of games."
The team was clapping and a chant of, "Grandma Ang! Grandma Ang!" rose up from the Cubbies and their families, making everyone smile.
"Grandma Ang never misses a game!" Michael called out and after a second the applause quieted down.
"Thank you, everyone, I'll wear my autographed shirt to the next game," Ang said with a wave, before she winked at Kamekona. "And I'm looking forward to lots of delicious meals."
"If I'm giving away food there's no one I'd rather enjoy it." Kamekona smiled and watched as Matty and Kai presented her with her gift card.
"We want to thank everyone again for coming out to our pancake breakfast fundraiser," Steve said as he stood with Danny, Joseph, and the entire team. "As you've probably heard, we've raised enough money for new game uniforms and practice uniforms."
The whole room cheered.
"Your support really means a lot," Steve continued. "And we hope you've had a good time this morning."
"I know I heard at least one person say they hoped the kids keep growing fast so we can have another fundraiser soon," Danny said with a grin.
"That was me!" Jadon called out from the crowd.
"No worries on that front," Steve said, chuckling. "There's already some brainstorming on what the next one should be. But in the meantime, the team decided they wanted to say thank you and good-bye in their own special way."
He nodded to DJ who leaned forward so his team could see him. "A-one, a-two, a-three," DJ said in his best imitation of Harry Caray, and the whole team began to sing.
Take me out to the ball game
Take me out with the crowd
Buy me some PANCAKES and Cracker Jack
I don't care if I ever get back
Through their laughter at the change from peanuts to pancakes, the rest of the room chimed in to finish out the song.
So let's root root root for the CUBBIES!
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ball game!
And in true Harry Caray fashion, they ended with, "Let's get some runs!"
The whole team beamed at the cheers and applause, waving their hats in the air.
"See you at our next game!"
Hope you enjoyed!
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