Bases Loaded Jam (Bases Loaded Jam Series #1)

Ch. 1: First Catch (Huey)

It was always a dream of mine to be in this moment. I was about to play in the biggest game of my life and I hadn't even reached my teenage years. From the time I picked up my first glove to now, it has simply been a crazy journey. But I wouldn't trade it for any of the world.

My name is Huey Teixeira. I was born in a small town in the state of Indiana. My dad was 36-years old when he met my mom, who was eleven years his junior. It sounds pretty bizarre in my opinion because I always thought parents should at least be five years apart from each other. That's what many of my friends say because they had parents that were five years apart or less. Yet, I wasn't going to question the logic because the heart plays tricks on people. That's what would happen to me later on.

Anyways, my dad was a military man who took part in the Gulf War. He was engaged in any battle but was only there to prepare the troops who would be taking part. It was a job he despised because he felt like he wanted to be part of the action.

In a cruel twisted way, he was part of the action. While traveling with a unit that had just completed another mission by way of a jeep, there was an explosion that occurred by the side of the road where the jeep was driving. A majority of men were wounded while only a few men lost their lives. Dad survived the explosion but was left with scars and injuries all over his body. He was taken to a nearby medical center where he would recover.

Amazingly, his nurse would turn out to be my mother. Dad thought she was a beautiful woman and fell in love with her on the spot. But, he never made a move to ask her out for fear she was either married or was never interested in relationships because of her work. Both reasons were somewhat true. My mom had previously been married, which ended in divorce because of her stints in the military. She was so dedicated to her position as an army nurse that she couldn't find the time to meet a man in her life.

But when she saw my dad, she claimed her heart started to beat somberly as if it felt sorry and she wanted to help. She did everything she could to make him fully better as she could. Despite her efforts, the scars were still there while dad had a limp in his walk. He remained on assignment with his squad before receiving word that he had been discharged. That wasn't the news he wanted to hear. But he had no other choice. He went back home and tried to go back into civilian life working as a construction worker.

It took him a while to get the process down of being a worker. But once he figured it out, he became one of the construction company's best employers. He made friends with the other workers, who invited out to grab a few drinks. Ironically, one of those workers was interested in a local woman, who recently became friends with someone that she felt needed a date. As crazy as it sounds, the two of them arranged a double-date with my dad and this friend. They met at a deli restaurant of all places.

But to my dad's shock and amazement, as the door opened and he saw the two women, one of them was none other than my soon-to-be-mother. She had also finished up her stint in the military and was enjoying life as a citizen. This was supposed to be a double date, but it wound up being a full night of my parents flirting, talking, dancing, and nearly having their first kiss. That part wouldn't happen until two days later when Dad asked Mom on a date.

It took my dad six months to realize my mom was the one, but he waited until a year-and-a-half later to propose to her. Of course, Mom said yes and they were married seven months later. It was a year later that they had my older brother Bryce. Then I came into the world a year after that.

I don't remember much of Indiana because I was only there for six months before Dad got a job down in San Antonio, Texas. So we moved and spent the rest of my childhood there. I was about six years old when I first got into baseball. My parents like to say four because of the advantage of getting a head start in the sport. I played all sports like baseball, football, and basketball. But there was no denying that baseball was it for me.