Chapter 76

                                    

                                          
Waking up the next morning, Clay simply lied in his bed and stared up at his ceiling for a few minutes. Reaching over, the boy grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and he checked his lockscreen, seeing the same text he had read a few hours ago stare right back at him. Deciding not to open and respond to the message just yet, the teenager sighed to himself. He placed the mobile device back on the small table by his bed and got up for the day to take his usual morning shower before getting dressed into a simple pair of jeans, t-shirt, and a gray zip-up jacket. Once Clay was dressed, the blue-eyed male made his way downstairs to be greeted by his parents as they were in the kitchen together with Lainie preparing some breakfast for the family while Matt read up on the morning news a bit on his tablet.
                          
Taking a seat across from his dad at the table, the 19-year-old was somewhat lost in his thoughts as he was trying to figure out how he should go about the situation or what he should do. Glancing up slightly, Matt couldn't help but notice how his son seemed to be at war with himself over something. "Hey, Pal." The older man said, easily gaining the youger boy's attention as he quickly turned his attention to his dad. "What's up?" Matt asked as he slid his tablet to the side and removed his glasses, giving the teenager his full attention now. The blue-eyed male let out a small sigh as his mother placed a plate of breakfast in front of him before taking the vacant seat between the two Jensen men. "Hannah texted me last night about doing something with her over the weekend, and I'm not exactly sure how I should respond to it." Clay said, keeping his gaze on his clasped hands as they rested against the table's surface. "What did she ask you to do with them?" Lainie asked curiously. Staying silent for a few seconds, the teenager kept his gaze downward until he felt his mother's comforting touch against his right forearm. "She asked me if I wanted to go with them to a baseball game over the weekend." He said, and his parents shared a knowing look with one another before turning their attention back to their son.
                          
Both Lainie and Matt knew that Clay hadn't been to a baseball game ever since Anthony passed away. Attending games was their favorite thing to do together as they both shared a deep love of the sport, and they had gone to every game they possibly could as a family. But after the younger Jensen son sadly died due to cancer, the family stopped going to games altogether, because it was something that always reminded them of Anthony and all the fun times they shared together as well as all of the memories they had made over their time together. But suddenly, Lainie remembered something that Anthony had asked of her before his passing, and the memory made a few tears well up in her eyes before she collected herself and turned slightly in her chair to face her oldest son. "I think Anthony would want you to go, Clay." She said, getting a confused look from the teen in response. "What makes you think that?" He asked. The kind woman sighed as she recalled that night of the younger boy's death. "That night in the hospital, he told me something." She began, slowly gaining the attention of her husband as well now. "What did he tell you?" Matt asked from beside his wife. "Before he asked to see you, Clay, Anthony told me something he wanted me to do, as well as you and your father." She began, pausing for a moment to recall what had been said to her a few years ago. "Anthony wanted me to promise that I wouldn't let the fun die with him. He didn't want us to stop doing all the things we used to do together. He wanted us to still do them in honor of his memory, as a way to never forget about him." The older woman explained, never letting go of her son's hand once she had subconsciously grasped it in her own and held on to it firmly.
                          
Taking in her words, both Clay and Matt became silent for a few minutes. "I know it may be hard to go back to old routines because of how much it reminds us of him, but I think it's something Anthony wanted us to do all along to keep his memory alive and with us as we go forward." Lainie added after a moment, sharing a glance with her husband before turning back to her son. "It seems almost impossible to go back to doing certain things, though. Especially things that brought us as close as we were." The boy said sadly, keeping his gaze downward towards the table. "I know. But maybe we can all help each other by doing it as a family." Matt said as he had come up with an idea. "What game did Hannah invite you to?" The older man asked as he brought his tablet in front of him again.