Published: 3 Feb 2022

“Mom, will I ever get a ‘big brother’?” asked Mark, while he ate his breakfast.

“Mark, honey, your father and I have told you … you are our first child, and that makes you the big brother to any children we have after you,” replied the boy’s mom, with a smile.

“Yea, I know, mom. It’s just … I want to have a ‘big brother’ like, you know, like some of my friends have, mom,” argued back the youngster.

“Honey … I know you want a ‘big brother’. But you are the first born, and that makes you the big brother. We can’t do anything about that,” the mom calmly told her son.

“But, maybe … maybe you and dad … you can adopt one for me,” kiddingly said the nine-year-old, soon to be ten, with a smile.

The boy’s parents knew for years how much their son wanted to have an older brother to play with him. Someone to play catch, shoot hoops, kick the soccer ball around, go to the park, talk to, wrestle with, teach to do tricks on his skateboard and do what all his friends older brothers did with them.

She and her husband had talked many times about ways to get their son the ‘big brother’ he always wanted. They talked about adopting. They knew there were many older boys and girls out there that were often over looked when adoptions were being considered.

But adoptions were long drawn-out affairs that could take two to seven years depending on the age of the child you were wanting to adopt. The process required them to fill out form after form, participate in a home study and pass extensive background and financial checks that they didn’t have to pass when they got pregnant with Mark. They thought some of the requirements were outrageous and decided to forgo the hassle and lengthy process.

They talked too many of their friends about their son’s desire to have a ‘big brother’, and that adopting was such a daunting proposition. One of their acquaintances told them about the foster care system. The Golderson’s looked into it. They decided to at least apply, so they would be ready to accept into their home an older boy when the ‘right’ one came along.

And even though they had to fill out lots of forms and pass background and financial checks and participate in a home study, it felt different to them when they applied to be foster parents. They also knew that being a foster parent didn’t require them to have upwards of $50,000.00 in order to pay the fees the adoption agencies wanted to help them adopt.

Their son was nine-years-old, but if you asked him, he’d tell you he was almost ten, even though he was only nine-years and eleven-months old. The parents always got a kick out of his telling people that he was almost ten.

Today, Mark’s asking about getting a ‘big brother’ tugged at Miriam’s heart. He’d been bringing it up, more and more, ever since school let out for the summer. He so wanted a ‘big brother’ to do things with him that she made the decision to tell him something.

“Honey … your father and I have … we … we didn’t want to tell you this just yet, but … well … we applied a long time ago and … and we have been finally accepted to host a foster boy. We told them we only wanted an older boy, though. That way, if they do have an older boy that we approve of, you will have your ‘big brother’, honey,” said the smiling mom.

“You did? I will? That’s great! Thanks, mom!” said an excited Mark, who went over to his mom and hugged her tight.

After the young boy released his hug on his mom, he asked her, “When will I get him, mom? My ‘big brother’, that is?”

“Mark, it’s not like going out and picking out a puppy. We have to wait until they have someone they need to place. We were just approved and … and we have to wait our turn. It could be a few days, or a few weeks.

“When they have someone, they need to place, they will call us. And then they’ll tell us all about him. Your father and I … we’ll talk about him and what they have to say about the boy and together, your father and I, will decide if he will be a good fit for us,” explained the mom.

“What about me, mom? Will I get to know about him when you do? And … and if he’s going to be my ‘big brother’, shouldn’t I have a vote if I want him, too? What if he’s a bully? Or a mass murderer? Or, or …”

“Mark … you’re being silly. When they call us, your father and me … we’ll talk about him and then we’ll tell you all about him before we call them back with our decision. Will that be OK with you?” asked the boy’s mom, trying to calm her son down.

Mark had wanted a ‘big brother’ for the longest time. Many of his friends have either an older brother or sister and, being an only child, he felt cheated. Yes, his parents told him they had tried to have children when they first got married, but it was just not to be. They told him how blessed they felt when they finally learned they were going to have him, and they just wanted him to be healthy.

He didn’t understand what they told him at first. He was only six or seven at the time. It wasn’t until he started getting sex education at school that he began to understand that as a woman gets older it becomes increasingly difficult for them to get pregnant and have a healthy baby.

Mark understood that his mom was in her mid-thirties when she got pregnant with him. He also knew she had a number of miscarriages before she was finally able to keep him inside of her until he was born.

He loved his mom and dad. It’s just that he wished a few of those other babies would have survived, and they would now be his older brothers or sisters. But he was happy they were at least trying to get him a foster big brother. For that, he was very happy.

Mark finished his breakfast, thanked his mom for making it for him and then headed outside to see if any of his friends were out and about yet, too. He wanted to tell them about what his mom just told him about getting a foster big brother.

Mark took his bike out of the garage and pedaled over to the playground. The youngster took his baseball glove with him, hoping he could get a game of catch going with his buddies and maybe their older brothers would throw some pitches to them, if they weren’t too busy.

While Mark waited for his friends, he threw the ball up in the air and then caught it. He wasn’t a great ball player, because he was only nine and he didn’t have someone to practice with, but he felt he was fairly good. It was when he dropped the ball that one of his friends came by.

“Still trying to learn how to catch are we?” laughed Corey, as he laid down his bike, and then walked over to his friend, Mark.

“You know I can catch. I heard you ride up and you distracted me, and I took my eye off the ball. You wanna play some catch?” quickly replied Mark.

“Sure. Hopefully the other guys will show and maybe we can have batting practice,” said Corey, as he put his glove on and motioned for Mark to throw him the baseball.

The two boys played catch for a few minutes before some of their other friends arrived. The new boys put their bikes where the other boys had their placed theirs, grabbed their gloves and joined in the game of catch.

“Oh, guys, I forgot,” loudly said Mark. “I was wanting to play catch that I completely forgot to tell you guys something. Come over here and let me tell you what my mom told me this morning at breakfast.

“You all know how much I want a ‘big brother’,” started Mark.

“Yea, we know. You’ve only told us about, let me see … about a thousand times,” kiddingly offered Tanner.

“Yea, you want a ‘big brother’? I’ll pay you to take mine. I’ll even throw in my older sister and younger brother,” laughed Reese, who was joined in his laughter by the other boys.

“OK, ok, so I’ve told you a few times. But today … at breakfast, I asked my mom, again, and this time she told me that she and my dad … they had applied to be foster parents,” revealed Mark.

“Big deal,” said Corey.

“So, what?” asked Tanner.

“What does that mean, to you?” asked Jerry.

“What it means is … that my mom … she told me they were approved to be foster parents and they told them they ONLY wanted an older boy. That means … if they get a call, I could get my ‘big brother’, as I’ve always wanted,” said a smiling Mark.

“That’s great, Mark. So, when will you get him?” asked Reese.

“That’s the problem. We have to wait until they have an older boy they need to place. Then, my mom and dad … they get to talk about him before they even talk to me about him. It could be weeks,” lamented Mark.

“Yea, but at least you know eventually you’ll get the ‘big brother’ you’ve been wanting,” counseled Corey.

“Yea, but at least you have a big brother who can do things with you, now,” longed Mark.

“You think? Having a big brother isn’t always peaches and cream. He can be mean at times. He’ll come up behind me and flick my ears. Or, he’ll grab me and tickle me until I say ‘uncle’. He bosses me around and he won’t help me with the household chores as he’s supposed to. Just wait. You’ll see. A big brother can be a pain in your ass at times,” complained Corey.

“I don’t care. I want to have that. I see you and Tanner and Drew playing football, or soccer and at the pool your older brothers throw you around and I see you having fun. I want that, too,” Mark argued back.

“They do that with you, too, sometimes,” spoke up Tanner.

“I know. It’s just … that I want my own ‘big brother’ to tease me, tickle me, play ball with me, and swim with me. You know … do all those things I see your older brothers do with you,” declared Mark.

The boys talked about Mark getting a foster ‘big brother’, for a few more minutes, before going back to playing catch. They played for about thirty minutes when Corey’s older brother Spencer and Tanner’s big brother Taylor came to the playground.

The younger boys begged the two older boys to throw some pitches for them, so they could work on their batting. As the seven boys batted and fielded, six other boys, Darren, Patrick, Dana, Drew, Briggs, Reese’s sixteen -year-old brother, and Glenn, joined them and they had a good baseball practice going.

With thirteen boys now on the ball field, they tried to create plays. They first would try to throw the batter out when he had a hit. They tried double-plays when there was man on first. It was as if they were their own team and were holding their own practice.

All the boys playing Little League Baseball appreciated the extra experience they got when they did that with their friends and the older boys, who once played Little League themselves. Mark appreciated it more than his friends, because that was the only real chance he got to challenge himself against much older boys.

The boys each got to bat at least four times. They also traded positions so they could work on their strengths and see what could be a secondary position they could fill in if someone on their team was hurt or sick and couldn’t play.

The boys all knew that if you were to ever make the All-Star Team you had to be good in at least two different positions, and if you could pitch that was a plus. With the current Little League pitching rules, a team needed at least three great pitches and possibly two relievers in case the game went into extra innings, or they had to play on consecutive days because of tournament round-robin rules.

After their ‘practice’, the boys sat around and talked about how well they did and what they needed to work on. The older boys gave them some pointers on how to play their infield positions better.

The boys also talked about how good their games were and how they were doing so far. It was already the end of June and the league was almost over. The league had already chosen their All-Star players to play in the Sectional Tournament, that first week of July.

The boys, not being eligible to play until they were ten, would continue to play in their league for two more weeks and possibly without their key players, who were now practicing and getting ready to play next week and to hopefully go on to the Little League World Series held in Pennsylvania.

The team who won the District Tournament would then play in the Sectionals. If they won there, they would head off to compete in the States Tournament. It was only after they won there, they would go on to play in the Regionals and if they won there, they would head on to play in Williamsport, PA at the Little League Baseball World Series. Every boy who played Little League Baseball wished that one day they would play in that big game.

The boys all talked about what it would be like to play at Williamsport. They’ve all watched the games on television every August, and they knew it had to be a ‘magical’ place. They all said that even if they didn’t win the title, just being there and having that experience was something they all would love to live through, and be able talk about for the rest of their lives.

“When’s your next game Corey?” asked ten-year-old Darren.

“It’s tonight at six. You coming by?” replied Corey.

“Yea, I need to scout your team for our coach. We’re playing your team next week. Hey, Mark … when does your team play next?” then asked Darren.

“We play tomorrow night. I sure hope I do better than I have been. I don’t get to practice all that often, except when you guys come here. Our coach works long hours and he only holds practice on Saturdays and only for two hours. His assistant tries to hold a practice during the week, but he just gives us batting practice and doesn’t practice any plays. What we just did helps me out a whole lot,” explained Mark.

“Hey, Mark,” called out Glenn, Patrick’s thirteen-year-old brother, “Pat tells me you might get a foster big brother.”

“Yea, I can’t wait,” replied a hyped-up Mark. “My mom … she told me this morning that she and my dad applied a long time ago to be foster parents and they were just approved. Now we have to wait to be called. My mom told me they told the foster group that they only wanted an older boy, so I could have an older ‘brother’ like Pat, Reese, Corey and Tanner have. I can’t wait until I get one!”

“How old will your new big brother be?” asked fifteen-year-old Drew, Dana’s older brother.

“I don’t know. We won’t know how old he’ll be until they call us. My mom told us we have to wait our turn. Whenever that is,” added Mark.

It was a hot, humid and sunny day and after playing ball for a couple of hours, the boys had to decide whose house they would swim at today. Just about all the boys had a swimming pool in their back yards. They usually traded off from one house to the next. That way the parents didn’t get too mad at there being twelve or more boys making a lot of noise in their back yard.

The older boys liked going to Dana’s house to swim. That’s because fourteen-year-old, soon to be fifteen, Alexa lived there and usually sun-bathed in a very tight-fitting two-piece bikini. And today was Dana’s turn to host the afternoon swim.

Mark raced home to change into his swimsuit and get a towel. His mom made him sit down and eat a sandwich before going over to Dana’s. As the boy ate, the almost ten-year-old told his mom what his friends had to say about his getting a ‘big brother’.

Miriam could hear in her son’s voice how excited he was that one day he would get an older brother. Her only hope was that the boy they got for him was a kind and a caring boy and who wanted a younger brother as much as her son wanted an older brother.

Mark raced over to Dana’s house to swim the afternoon away. There he knew the older boys would play the many games with him, and eventually throw him around some, as they did their younger brothers.

The boys played a bunch of different games that afternoon. The played Horsey with the younger boys on the older boys’ backs. They played tag, Sharks and Minnows, and they dove for the play toys at the bottom of the pool. They also tried to see who made the biggest splash, all the while making loads of noise that Dana’s mom had to come outside and tell them to ‘tone it down’ some.

Alexa was there sunning herself that afternoon. The older boys enjoyed looking over at her and inspecting her curves and beautifully tanned body. Of the five male teens there that afternoon, only Drew was the same age as the young lady’s, but she didn’t care for him as a boyfriend at all.

Alexa and Drew were close friends, who grew up in the same neighborhood together, attended the same schools and, even though they may have once liked one another, when they were much younger, there was no sexual attraction between them now. The two were known to hang out together at school, and at other places, and many thought they were going steady, but that was not the case.

Alexa heard about Mark getting an older ‘big brother’ and she talked to him about it. She asked him when he would arrive and what age his new ‘brother’ would be. All Mark could tell her was they wouldn’t know until they called to tell them they needed to place an older boy.

The young female teenager told Mark that if his new ‘big brother’ was of high school age to make sure he brings him over to meet her. The teen explained she wanted be the one to show him around the high school.

Mark told Alexa that with him being almost ten, his parents probably wouldn’t want a boy of more than twelve or thirteen. The youngster figured anybody older than that would be too old for him.

But Alexa still told Mark to bring him by anyway. She explained she needed to know who he was in case she saw him in the neighborhood, so she wouldn’t be scared at seeing a strange person walking around. Mark smiled and said he would.

When Mark walked away from Alexa, Tanner and Glenn went over to him and kiddingly told him she was too old for him. Mark didn’t understand that the teens were teasing him because he was talking to the voluptuous female, so the young boy just explained they were just talking about when he gets his new ‘big brother’, and that she wanted to meet him, so she knew who he was in the neighborhood. The older boys just smiled at one another.

The boys swam and played until about five o’clock. The working parent would soon be home and they wanted some peace and quiet when they arrived. Mark thanked Dana’s mom for hosting them today, before jumping on his bicycle and heading home to change into some dry clothes and wait for his dad to come home from the bank.

When Mark’s dad walked into the house, the boy immediately jumped on him and thanked him for getting him a ‘big brother’.

Levi Golderson, a bank branch manager, was surprised at what his son told him, as he held onto his son, and asked him what he meant. Miriam was there and told her husband that she let the cat out of the bag about them being approved to be foster parents and that they only wanted an older boy.

Levi smiled and put Mark down and explained to his son that they knew how much he wanted a ‘big brother’ and this was the easiest and quickest way they figured they could make it happen. Miriam told her ‘men’ that dinner was ready and they could talk about it then.

As the Golderson’s sat and ate their dinner, they did talk about fostering an older boy for Mark. Their son asked them how much older than he was would they want their foster boy to be. The boy’s mom asked him why he asked, and Mark told his parents about his conversation with Alexa. The man and woman inwardly smiled at why they thought the young lady would want to get to know an older boy if that was who they got.

Dad Levi told his son that they would want a boy of about twelve or thirteen. He explained they didn’t want someone who was too old, because if they were, they would have to leave them at age eighteen and Mark would lose his ‘big brother’ too soon.

Mark, said he understood, but he didn’t care how old his ‘big brother ‘was. He said Drew was fifteen and so was Alexa and they were five years older than their younger brothers, so all he cared about was finally having a ‘big brother’ like his friends had.

Miriam and Levi smiled at what their son said. For a number of years, the parents knew how much their son wanted a ‘big brother’ and the boy’s parents truly looked into adopting, but found that too daunting and burdensome.

When Mark’s parents heard about fostering, they looked into it right away, and even though it was almost as daunting as adoption, was they decided to try it. Now that they had been notified, they’d been accepted, they were happy they went through with it for their son’s sake.

The conversation at the table turned to what they were going to do for the 4th of July. It was only a few days away and it was never too early to plan. The parents asked Mark what he thought they should do. Mark said he wanted to go to Six Flags Fiesta Texas or SeaWorld San Antonio watch their fireworks display.

Miriam asked Mark what he thought about them going to the beach for the long weekend, since the 4th was on a Sunday and his dad would have Monday off from work. Mark asked where they would go and then added that would be fun, too, as long as they had fireworks they could watch. Levi said they would let him know tomorrow what they planned after he checked with his home office.

Later that evening, while sitting around watching television, Miriam told her husband the college called her today. She told him they asked her to teach a 5-week semester that summer. She explained it would be 3 nights a week for 3 hours each night for five weeks.

Levi told his wife it was up to her if she wanted to spend that amount of time during the summer teaching a class. Mark quickly spoke up and asked if his mom taught a summer class would they be able to take a summer vacation. The youngster then asked about his ‘big brother’ and if that would keep him from getting one because she would be gone at night.

Mark got upset about the possibility of them not having a summer vacation and then not getting his ‘big brother’ until after school started that he got up and ran crying up to his room.

Miriam and Levi knew they had to do something. They had given their son high hopes of finally getting the older brother he always wanted, and now their son was afraid that normal family activities would derail him from getting a ‘big brother’.

The parents went up to their son’s room to talk to him.

“Mark,” began dad Levi, as he rubbed his son’s back as he talked, “we can’t put our lives on hold while we wait for Children’s Protective Services to call us with the chance of us fostering an older ‘brother’ for you. You know your mom loves to teach at the junior college. It was something she worked hard to achieve. We can’t ask her to stop teaching, now can we?”

Mark turned over from being faced down on his bed. He looked at this dad through tear-streaked eyes and said, “I understand its … it’s just that … that I’ve been looking forward to this day and … and I’m afraid that it won’t happen, now.”

“Mark, honey,” began Miriam, “we know how much you want a ‘big brother’. That was why we decided to apply to be foster parents. But as your father said, we still have to live our lives. Even after your ‘big brother’ arrives, I’ll still teach and your dad will still go to the bank.

“And if we get him while school is still out, you’ll have to show him around the area and introduce him to all of your friends. That will be your job. But until then, your dad will go to the bank every day, I’ll teach at the college and you’ll play baseball and swim with your friends, until soccer season starts and then you’ll play that.

“Come on now, Mark, cheer up, and let’s see how things work out. We can’t play the ‘what if’ game not knowing when we’ll get called and then how everything will work out after that. We have to take it day-by-day until then and continue doing what we’d do every day.”

Mark jumped into his mom’s arms and hugged her. “I know mom; I know. I … I just don’t want us to miss out on getting me my ‘big brother’.”

Both mom and dad hugged their son and told them they would do whatever they could to get him a ‘big brother’, but until then they all had to do their part. The three Golderson’s then went back to watching television as a family.

As the family watched their favorite program, Mark mentioned to his parents that he had a baseball game tomorrow night at six, but had to be there at five to practice before the game. He said he’d ride his bike over to the ballfield and then hoped to see them in the stands watching him play.

Mark’s cell phone rang about eight o’clock. It was Corey. The friend had to call to tell Mark he went 3 for 3 in his baseball game tonight. Corey said he never batter any better. He told his friend he thought it was because the other team’s best pitcher was on the All-Star team and was at practice, so the other team had to pitch their relief pitcher and he was off tonight.

Mark had Corey tell him every pitch he got and how he read the pitch and which ones he got his hits on. Then Mark had his friend tell him about his hits, where it landed and how many bases he got. The two talked for about twenty minutes before Miriam told her son it was getting late and he should start ending his conversation.

“Moooooom … its Corey, and he’s telling me about how good he did in his game tonight. And, I’m almost ten, and it’s the summer and I should be able to talk longer now,” complained Mark.

“That’s right you’re ALMOST ten. But you’re NOT ten yet. So, complete your call and talk to your friend tomorrow. He can tell you more about it after you both had a good night’s rest,” countered the boy’s mom.

“Oh, alright,” replied Mark, who then told Corey he had to hang up and they could talk about his game tomorrow. The two boys agreed to meet at the playground ballpark at about ten and then they ended their call.

Mark went downstairs to say goodnight to his parents. He hugged each of them and gave them a goodnight kiss before going up to his room. Once up there he opened up his desktop computer, turned on YouTube and began watching videos of baseball plays.

The boy liked watching major league videos that showed the batter hitting the ball a long way into the outfield and how the outfielders played the ball depending on how many opposing team players were on-base.

Mark also liked watching the batters hitting home runs, the fans catching errant foul balls and when the fans scrambled for them. He liked watching the videos hoping to pick up some tips as how to play the game better. But he knew those men were so good at what they did because they played the game almost all of their lives and at different levels to hone their abilities.

And because he hoped to play at Williamsport one day, he watched some of the previous year’s Little League Baseball World Series games. He liked watching the highlight videos of the different years and saw that many of the boys made great plays just as the major leaguers did. He hoped he would be half as good one day.

Around ten o’clock, the boy’s mom came upstairs to say goodnight to her son. Even though they already said their goodnights to one another, she went up there to make sure he went to bed at a reasonable time. She knew he would stay up all night watching those baseball YouTube videos if she let him, so she had to get him to turn the computer off and get into bed.

The two hugged one another, one more time, before Miriam went downstairs to her own bedroom and her husband. After she went downstairs, Mark headed to the bathroom to drain his bladder before jumping into his bed and getting a good night’s sleep to prepare himself for tomorrow’s long day.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhound at CastleRoland dot Net

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