Before Andrew could respond, footsteps were heard. Phil reappeared in the living room with Luke at his side.
Luke, twelve years old, having turned them less than twenty-four hours earlier, had slightly flushed cheeks and a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. It was obvious he'd been running around nonstop, playing with his friends.
"What's up?" Luke asked, looking at his father, not understanding why he'd been brought into the living room.
Then his gaze shifted and landed on Steve, Willa, and Leonard. An instant smile lit up his face.
"Guys, you're here!" Luke exclaimed, running toward them.
Steve was the first to step forward and wrap him in a paternal hug.
"Happy birthday!" he said enthusiastically. "How could I miss it? Your mom sent me the invitation weeks in advance," he added with a smile.
'Look at him, and he used to play it tough,' Leonard thought, amused.
Then it was Willa's turn.
"Happy belated birthday, Luke!" she said, resting her hand on his head and ruffling his hair a bit harder than necessary.
Luke laughed without complaining. "Thanks!"
Leonard came next, congratulating him with a somewhat awkward pat on the back.
Luke was genuinely happy to see all three of them. He hadn't seen them the day before, neither at his birthday dinner nor at the game. They hadn't been able to attend Andrew's game, so he'd only received messages and birthday wishes from afar.
Howard had been there, though: he'd seen him in person, greeted him, and already received his gift.
"Ahem," Andrew cleared his throat after Luke finished greeting the three of them.
Luke looked at him. The silence that settled between them was strange, brief, but heavy.
"Hey, Luke, happy birthday," Andrew said, forcing a smile that sounded as natural as possible.
"Hey," Luke replied in a restrained tone, different from his usual one. "Even though my birthday was yesterday, and you already told me."
Andrew raised an eyebrow slightly. Luke was right. He'd repeated it more out of sheer formality than anything else.
But the comment made it clear to Andrew that Luke was still affected by what had happened the day before. He'd thought, because that was often how Luke was, that maybe it would've passed overnight, that the anger would've simply faded. That didn't seem to be the case.
And the uncomfortable question surfaced on its own in his mind: Would two huge gifts be enough to fix it?
"Oh! Yes, Luke! We have gifts!" Willa jumped in immediately, noticing that strange stiffness between them she'd never seen before.
"Time to open presents!" Phil announced enthusiastically.
The awkward moment evaporated.
"Yes! Presents!" Luke said, instantly regaining his excitement.
The large box covered with black cloth didn't catch Luke's attention at all. He assumed it was some odd prop his dad would use for a magic show.
"Me first!" Leonard said, stepping forward quickly and handing him his gift. "Happy birthday, buddy."
Leonard knew it well: if he gave his present after the Wii and the pitching machine, its impact would be practically zero. Better to go first.
Luke tore into the gift like a dog ripping open a trash bag. In seconds, the wrapping was gone, and when he saw what was inside, his eyes lit up.
"A Nerf?!" he exclaimed. "This is awesome! Thanks, Leo!"
Leonard scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed, both by the enthusiasm and by the nickname, since almost no one called him that. "You're welcome."
"My turn!" Steve announced, stepping forward and handing over a gift wrapped in newspaper.
Luke took it curiously. The wrapping didn't help at all in guessing what it was.
"Open it, open it!" Steve urged.
Luke didn't hesitate. He tore the paper and, when he saw what was inside, he fell silent for a few seconds.
Luke stared at the object.
Leonard, Willa, and Andrew leaned in, curious. Even Phil stepped closer.
"A Blu-ray?" Phil said.
"The Evil Dead?" Andrew read, leaning in to see the title.
"The very one!" Steve confirmed, smiling proudly. "The original version, uncut and restored in 1080p."
"Ooh!" Luke exclaimed, lifting the Blu-ray as if it were a trophy.
Luke, like any kid his age, loved horror movies, especially classic ones filled with blood, demons, and over-the-top murders.
The problem was his mother. Even though Claire loved Halloween and the genre in general, she was very strict about what she allowed Luke to watch at his age.
Luke looked at Phil with a pleading expression. "Don't tell Mom, please…"
Phil hesitated, just for a second. "Promise," he said at last, raising his hand. "But if you want to watch this movie, we watch it together."
He wasn't a fan of that kind of movie, not even close. In fact, The Evil Dead was far from what he'd normally choose for a movie night. But he wasn't about to let Luke watch it alone.
He knew that if something scared him, Luke would need someone by his side, even if that meant risking his wife giving him a very disapproving look when she eventually found out.
Luke nodded quickly, satisfied with the deal.
"Our turn!" Willa announced, holding up the Wii box wrapped in gift paper.
Luke's eyes immediately lit up at the considerable size of the package.
"This one's from Andrew and me," Willa clarified, as Andrew stepped forward.
"From Andrew?" Luke repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Andrew nodded. "Yeah. Consider it a gift from me, not from my parents."
Luke nodded slowly. "Hmm… a joint gift?" he said, looking at Willa and Andrew.
"Yes, a joint gift," Willa replied casually. "Half and half."
The entire Wii bundle had indeed been paid for by both of them. When Willa saw that Andrew had bought the pitching machine, she decided to cover 50% of the cost of the console, the games, and the accessories. That way, instead of spending around $200, she ended up spending $269.50.
"All right, it's all yours!" Willa said, setting the package down on the coffee table.
Luke didn't waste a second. He pounced on the gift and tore into the wrapping with eager, almost feral energy. Willa took a small step back, slightly surprised. "Easy there…" she muttered to herself.
"A Wii?!" Luke exclaimed when he finally saw the main box.
But that wasn't all. Before he even opened the console, he started discovering the accessories: extra controllers, nunchucks, the steering wheels, and then the games.
"It's a lot!" he said, going through everything at record speed. "A Wii, Dad! With everything!" he repeated, turning toward Phil.
Phil stood there, frozen, watching the scene with a mix of amazement and pure excitement. Honestly, he'd thought the best part of the day would be the pitching machine, but a Wii, especially with the full bundle, hit him right in his weak spot.
Phil loved the Wii. The same memory crossed Phil's, Alex's, and Luke's minds.
The Dunphy family had already owned a Wii back in 2007. It had lasted just over a year, maybe a year and a few months, if they were being generous.
The problem hadn't been the console itself. It had been Luke.
One of those Wii Sports afternoons, playing tennis, Luke, who wasn't wearing the wrist strap, had taken an overly enthusiastic swing. The controller went flying, traced a perfect arc, and slammed straight into the console.
It hadn't happened just once. It happened more than three times. The poor Wii had endured more impacts than was reasonable before finally giving up for good.
While Luke kept touching everything with excitement, Andrew cleared his throat. "The controllers have wrist straps," he said, pointing to the accessory. "Use them. Always."
Phil nodded immediately. "Mandatory rule: always use the safety strap."
This time, the Wii was going to survive.
"Thanks, Willa!" Luke said, hugging her tightly.
Willa smiled and returned the hug, affectionately ruffling his hair. "You're welcome. I'm really glad you like it," she said.
Then she added, pointing at Andrew, "But the idea for the gift was Andrew's. He thought you'd like it. I helped choose the games, and chipped in, of course."
Willa didn't want to take credit away from Andrew. On the contrary, she was trying to help him, giving him space to fix what had happened with Luke.
Luke pulled away and turned his head toward his cousin. Andrew looked at him, waiting, almost holding his breath.
Luke didn't step closer or hug him. He just said, with an unusual shyness for him, "Thanks…"
That was all, and it threw Andrew off.
Luke had gotten excited about the Nerf, thrilled over Steve's Blu-ray, and hugged Willa…
And for him, just a dry thanks?
Clearly, he still felt sidelined over what had happened the day before. But Andrew wasn't about to give up. He coughed softly, before Luke disappeared again among the games and controllers.
"That's not all," he said.
Luke stopped. "What do you mean, not all?"
Andrew raised his arm and pointed to the large box covered by the black cloth.
Luke looked over, his eyes going wide. "Is that… a present!? Seriously?" he exclaimed.
Andrew nodded, smiling at his reaction. "Yes. And this one is one hundred percent mine. I chose it and bought it myself. It's all yours."
He gestured for him to come closer. Luke walked toward the box, still in disbelief. He reached out, closed his fist around the black cloth, and pulled.
The cloth fell to the floor.
The first thing Luke saw was the image printed on the box: a large, solid pitching machine mounted on a metal tripod, firing a baseball at full speed toward a perfectly positioned batter. Big letters highlighted specifications Luke didn't fully understand but that still sounded impressive, adjustable speed, training, dual wheels…
Luke stood still. "Is that?" he murmured, taking another step closer. "A pitching machine?"
The excitement hit him all at once, almost unfiltered.
"Is it mine?" he asked, as if afraid someone might tell him no.
Andrew nodded. "All yours."
Luke let out a nervous laugh, circled the box, and placed his hands on the cardboard, as if he needed to make sure it was real.
Then he turned toward Andrew as if he were about to thank him, but he didn't get the chance, because a shout rang out.
"Kids can't go in there! The party's outside! Phil, why are you taking so long?!" Claire's voice suddenly boomed.
"And where's the birthday boy!?" she added, even louder.
Before anyone could react, the living room filled with noise and movement. A group of Luke's friends came running in, all talking at once, bumping into each other as they laughed, looking for him.
"Luke!"
"Let's play!"
"Or did you chicken out?!"
The chaos only grew as more kids kept coming in, until one of them made eye contact with Andrew.
"Isn't that Andrew!?" he asked out loud, nervously.
The kid next to him followed his gaze immediately.
"It's him! I saw him on TV yesterday!"
"He finally showed up!"
In seconds, Andrew went from being part of the background to becoming a magnet, stares, whispers, fingers pointing at him everywhere. The guy from the nationally televised game, the MVP once again.
Many of them also noticed the large box next to Luke.
"Whoa! A machine that throws balls?"
"My brother trains with one at home, but this one looks way better!"
The living room already felt too small for so many people.
Steve, leaning against the wall, frowned, thrown off by the chaos that had erupted out of nowhere. "How many friends did Luke invite?" he muttered, mentally counting more than a dozen kids crammed into the space.
Alex and Manny pursed their lips as they watched the crowd appear seemingly out of nowhere.
"Hey, kids!" Claire shouted, pushing her way in from the back, but her voice was completely swallowed by the noise.
'This is not good,' Andrew thought.
He looked at Luke and saw an expression he didn't like at all, like he was being pushed aside again.
"Everyone, listen up!" Steve called out, stepping forward.
The effect was immediate.
The chatter almost completely died down at the sound of his deep voice, his height, well over six feet, and his athletic build. Several kids fell silent, staring at him.
"This is a pitching machine that costs over a thousand dollars," Steve announced.
A collective "oooh" rippled through the living room.
"Now," he continued, "we're going to take it out to the backyard and set it up. Make way and follow us."
He motioned to Andrew. Between the two of them, they lifted the box, and, almost like the waters parting, the kids stepped aside to let them through. Everyone followed them out to the backyard, including Luke.
Outside, they found the party fully set up: tables with food, sodas, open pizza boxes, and a huge inflatable with tall slides where several kids, boys and girls, were constantly throwing themselves down amid screams and laughter.
Farther back were Jay and Gloria. Mitch and Cam were there too, Cam dressed as Fizbo, surrounded by colorful balloons, trying to keep a show going in front of six kids who watched him with an awkward mix of curiosity and clear disinterest.
Several heads turned when they arrived carrying the huge box.
The kids who were already getting bored of the clown didn't think twice: they jumped up and abandoned him without ceremony, heading straight toward the new crowd that was forming.
"Kids!" Cam sing-songed, stretching his arms out dramatically, unable to believe his audience was deserting him, this had never happened to him before.
"What the hell is that?" Jay asked, frowning as he stepped closer, seeing that Andrew had finally shown up.
As Andrew and Steve set the box down in a more open area of the lawn, Andrew replied without looking at him, "Read the box, old man."
Jay looked at the box and got his answer immediately. Then he looked at his grandson, and on his wrinkled face a faint, amused smile appeared at the dry reply.
"Still haven't earned Luke's forgiveness despite spending all that money? You must be in a bad mood. Not everything can be fixed with money, kid," Jay shot back, amused.
Andrew grunted softly without replying. The old man was right, his plan wasn't working out the way he'd imagined.
Claire appeared behind them, alarmed. "Seriously, a hundred-mile-per-hour pitching machine as a gift for a twelve-year-old?" she said, already slipping into full control mode.
Andrew raised his hands. "The speed can be turned down."
"Let's set it up!" Steve said, brushing off the debate.
"Yesss!" the kids cheered in unison, Luke included, swarming the box as they started opening it.
Claire sighed. She knew she couldn't be such a killjoy, and seeing Luke's face, genuinely happy, she decided to give in.
Mitchell, standing beside her, leaned in slightly. "I'll keep an eye on the speed settings."
Claire nodded, more at ease.
Andrew also wanted to help set up the machine, but within seconds several kids began surrounding him, touching his arm, asking him about yesterday's game, about some YouTube video they vaguely remembered, that was enough.
Andrew excused himself with a brief smile and took a few steps back. He knew staying there would only make things worse. All the attention would end up focusing on him, and that would be counterproductive to his goal.
Besides, fortunately, the inside of the house was, according to Claire, off-limits to guests.
Andrew went back inside, leaving the backyard full of laughter, shouts, and a freshly assembled pitching machine ready to be tested.
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