Derek is spending time with his family before going off to the College of Charleston in a month in a half or so. They live in Las Angeles, California where the weather was typically around the same degrees year-round. Around seventy degrees in the summer and the sixties during the winter.

Tom, his father, and Thomas, his brother, have the same dirty blond hair. Tom works for an insurance agency that provides insurance for big companies, so he is always wearing a suit and tie. Derek always loves vacation time. It was the one time his father wore jeans and a t-shirt. The only time his dad acts normal.

Although Derek is adopted, Tom and Candice, his mother, never treat him any differently from Thomas. Candice has light brown hair that she always wears up in a bun and is mostly found in dresses. No one could tell Derek was adopted since he has light brown hair that matches Candice's. The only people who know Derek was adopted are close family friends. Anyone seeing the family for the first time would have no idea.

Derek feels very lucky to have the life he has. He graduated top of his class and loves playing baseball in his free time. Derek got a baseball scholarship to college, even though he would have been fine to go wherever he wanted to, even without a scholarship. School will start in the middle of August, and he will begin to start his life as a grown up.

He plays the third baseman and has been playing baseball since he was twelve years old. Baseball is Derek's outlet. He was not even sure if he was going to like baseball, but from the moment he gave it a shot, everything changed. Hoping to make it to the majors, Derek decided he wanted to try the hardest he could to make a career out of it.

In the kitchen, the smell of bacon filled the air as it fried. Candice is also making scrambled eggs, pancakes, and even toast. Tom already had his plate and was eating before Thomas and Derek enter the room. He has only fifteen minutes before he needs to leave for work. The smell of the bacon and the enticing smell of coffee let them know it was breakfast time.

"This year I want to go somewhere we can spend personal family time together. Away from the city for a while,” Tom pauses to take a sip of his hot coffee, “how about a good, old-fashioned camping trip? I want us to bond as a family before Derek goes off to college?" He always drank his coffee black with one tablespoon of sugar.

"Really, Dad, why camping?" Thomas whines. "How about an amusement park or something?"

"That’s what we do that every year, Thomas, camping actually sounds fun, Dad," Derek says excitedly, "I cannot remember the last time I was camping. Maybe it will be refreshing. When do we leave?"

"I was thinking two weeks from now," Tom said right before he rushed off to work.

Derek and Thomas eat the breakfast their mother prepared and drink some coffee. Derek drank his coffee with two teaspoons of sugar and a splash of hazelnut creamer while Thomas drinks his black, like their father. They scarf down their food like they have not eaten for days.

“I swear, you boys eat as if I am starving you,” Candice says. No matter how often they do that, she finds it hard to believe how they can eat like animals. “I have more if you two want more.” The boys get up at the same time, put their dishes in the deep kitchen sink, and leave the room.

Following Derek up the wooden staircase into his bedroom, Thomas says, "Dad said we are going to some weird sounding place called Tallulah Falls," Thomas says as he snarls his nose, "It has a few waterfalls, but I do not see why we cannot just go to another amusement park or something else besides being in the middle of the country."

"You are such a snob when you do not get your way, Thomas." Thomas is five years younger than Derek and is used to getting everything his way. Derek is also used to getting his way, but he also doesn’t whine if plans do not go his way. He respects others, unlike his brother.

"Like you want to go out in the country somewhere, c’mon Derek."

"It may be nice for a change in venue for everyone. Keep an open mind, Thomas."

Derek looks up Tallulah Falls on his laptop and says, "Okay, I can see why you think this place may be lousy, but c’mon bro, let's just do it for Mom and Dad. I just hope dad doesn’t back from this trip. Dad needs this as much as we do."

“Okay bro, I’ll do it for you. I am not happy about it, but at least we will all be together this year for vacation. I just hope Dad can make it because I do not see why we cannot go to an amusement park since Dad will most likely not come. It always happens.” Thomas says disappointingly as he walks out of Derek’s room.

Derek hoped his father would not let work interfere with their vacation plans, but it is likely to get in the way. Work always seemed to come first, even though he does a great job at taking care of the family. Something Derek really enjoys, besides baseball, is spending time with family. That is something Derek constantly fights with Thomas about; he could not understand why Thomas would rather do anything else besides spending time with family.

That is where Derek could tell he was adopted. Yes, Tom, Candace, and Thomas all love him like he was not part of the family, but everyone is always busy doing things. Derek relies so much on baseball to keep himself busy. Derek grabs his baseball bag and runs out the door.

Not far from the house, maybe a mile or so is a ball field. It was a perfect day to play ball. Seventy degrees and sunny with no clouds in the sky. Not a lot of people go there, so many times Derek is by himself. The smell of freshly cut grass filled the air.

The county just cut the grass, which Derek found shocking since it is normal for the county to let the grass grow long. Sometimes he would call his friend Jason to play ball with him, but not today. Jason is in Florida somewhere spending time with his grandparents.

Derek throws the baseball up high into the air and swings at the ball with his bat as it comes back down. Whack. Derek loves that sound. He begins to run around all the bases since it was a home run hitter. Whack! Hit after hit, Derek continues to play, not at all bored or realizing he is the only one playing ball. When Derek gets in the zone, nothing else matters.

Derek wipes the sweat from his forehead as he finishes running the bases for the tenth time in a row. After a small break, Derek begins throwing the ball again. Hitting the ball, he hears the whacking sound repeatedly as he runs around the bases another ten times.

Derek looks down at his watch. It is a black Fitbit Blaze fitness watch he got as a graduation present. It was now a little past three. Derek begins to retrieve all the baseballs he hit throughout the baseball field. Once they were all retrieved, Derek puts them in his bag and runs back home. Derek enters the house all sweaty when he sees his brother in the living room on the beige colored couch watching the sixty-inch flat screen television.

“Where have you been?” Thomas asked, “I thought you were home and went to your room and you weren’t there. Mom made lunch for us and told me to go get you.”

“I decided to go play baseball,” Derek says, “I am hungry, but I stink so I am going to take a shower.I’ll be down shortly.” After Derek took his shower, he rushes to the kitchen to eat. “Sorry, Mom, I just wanted to get some practice in and lost track of time."

"I do not mind, Derek, and I just thought you were home.I did not hear you leave."

“Why are you practicing?” Asked Thomas as he walks into the kitchen. “It is summer. You are supposed to be having fun.”

“I am having fun. I just want to stay in shape. I have a shot to make it to the big leagues, and I want to be sure I do not mess it up.” Derek explains as he grabs the sandwich from his mom and begins to eat it.

Taking a bite without knowing what it was, Derek could taste the sweet honey smoked ham and sharp cheddar cheese with the tangy taste of mustard as he took his first bite.“Thank you, Mom, this is a good sandwich.”

"You're welcome, Derek," Candice says as she pats him on the back before leaving the room.

In a snarky tone, Thomas responds, "I do not get it, I do not understand why you like baseball. Oh well, it's your summer bro, spend it how you want to, I guess." He walks out of the kitchen.

Derek can tell his mom just cleaned the house by the smell of lemon that filled the air. The dishwasher was going, most likely filled with the dishes used to cook breakfast this morning. Enjoying the quietness, Derek finishes up his sandwich and drinks some orange Gatorade.

Before Derek knew it, it was dinner time. The smell of fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy filled the kitchen. Tom was late from work again, but that was normal. That did not stop the rest of the family from fixing their plates and eating dinner.

Everyone was almost done eating when Tom walked through the door. Candice gets up to fix her husband a plate, and as she hands it to him, she kisses him, welcoming him home.

“I’m sorry I am late.A business meeting ran late and….”

“You are always running late,” Candice interrupts, “just come sit down and eat your dinner.”

"Thank you, it smells delicious," Tom says as he joins everyone at the table and digs in.