“Stay away from the food.” Yuki hissed, shooing away Steve who was hovering around like a fly.
“There’s so much, what’s the harm if I take a little?” Steve replied with whine.
However, the moment Yuki shot him a glare, he quickly stepped back and raised his hands in defeat. Even Steve knew when Yuki meant business.
“Come help me set up outside.” Ken said, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
Thankful for the interruption, Steve followed Ken and began helping out with some of the decorations. Not long later, Rohan arrived. He was holding two balloons and some smoke bombs.
“Over here.” Ken waved him over.
The backyard was set up in no time with the help of everyone. It was only when Yuki and Naomi were finished preparing all of the food that everyone gathered outside for the final reveal.
Ken and Ai stood at the front in front of their close friends and family.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate today with us, we really appreciate it. I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for the answer as much as we have. So when we countdown, I want you all to release your smoke bombs.” Ken said with a smile.
“3, 2, 1.”
“GO!”
As he yelled go, he and Ai popped the balloon in front of them and simultaneously, the smoke bombs went off, spraying pink and blue into the air. It was the same for the balloon which held both pink and blue confetti.
Ken’s eyes widened and he turned to his wife with elation before laughing heartily. He couldn’t believe it, he was having a boy and a girl, literally the best case scenario.
However, everyone else was filled with confusion.
Wasn’t the gender reveal meant to be all pink or all blue? Why was it two.
In their joy, Ken and Ai had forgotten to reveal that they were having twins, too caught up in the moment.
“Ahem, Ken… Forgive me, but is your child both a boy and a girl?” Steve asked, feeling rather uncomfortable asking the question.
Hearing this, both Ken and Ai laughed in response. Seeing the confusion in the faces of the guests was priceless.
“We have an announcement…” Ken said, grabbing Ai’s hand. He looked at her expectantly, as if telling her to complete the words.
“We’re having twins!” She shouted wearing a big smile.
“KYAAAA! TWO GRANDBABIES!”
Yuki and Naomi squealed, their happiness evident.
Mark, Chris and Tetsu looked at each other, each feeling a little overwhelmed. They each had raised only a single child, the thought of having twins was not something that they could even fathom.
“I’m gonna have a niece and nephew?” Daichi muttered, feeling his eyes become moist.
He felt a push in his back from Miho who was smiling at him. “Go congratulate your brother.”
He paused before nodding. The moment he got close, he wrapped his arms around Ken. “Congratulations bro… You sure know how to keep a secret.”
Ken laughed once again. He couldn’t remember when he’d last been this happy. Today, he forgot about all the stress he had been dealing with this year and was able to enjoy the moment.
Surrounded by his pregnant wife and close friends and family, the place was boisterous, but it gave him peace. Seeing the joy in their faces, he realized that there was more to life than just baseball.
Baseball might have been the thing that brought them together, but it was not everything. Life would continue on, even after baseball. He could finally see that.
Ken found himself thinking about his past life and how he had thrown it away selfishly. Could he not have found himself a woman and experienced this kind of joy without baseball? Why had he become a bitter man?
Of course this was all in hindsight, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for that version of himself. If he had have known back then that there was happiness outside of baseball, would he have gone down the same path?
“Hey man, why do you look constipated?” Steve came up to him with his usual mischievous grin.
“Seeing your ugly face just makes my butt clench.” Ken retorted, not missing a beat.
“O—Oi, that’s rude. Don’t make me tell mom…”
Ken laughed once more, experiencing the joy of celebrating with his family.
“Mom, can we start eating yet? I think Ai is getting hungry.” Ken asked.
“Of course honey,” Yuki replied, “I’ll start bringing out the food.”
Steve blinked a few times in question, “How did you do that?”
“Hehe, if you use your pregnant wife as an excuse, Mom will instantly crumble.” He said, giving him a wink.
Steve thought for a few moments before nodding. His eyes widened as if he suddenly had an idea. Just a single glance was enough to know that it was probably a stupid one.
“Hey Tara, we should also have a baby.” He said, rather loudly.
Everyone in the surroundings paused and stared at Steve unblinkingly.
Tara’s face turned bright red. She stormed over and kicked him in the shin before returning to the house to help Yuki with bringing the food out.
“OW… Does that mean she doesn’t want a baby?” Steve complained, rubbing his now sore shin.
Ken stifled his laughter and placed his arm around his shoulder, “Maybe that’s not something you want to proposition in front of a crowd, let alone family and friends.”
“Right… Maybe I should have told her I was joking.” Steve said, looking a little guilty.
Ken shook his head vehemently, “Definitely don’t do that… You’ve put your foot in it now my friend, the only thing you should do is apologize for embarrassing her like that.”
Steve didn’t seem to understand, but he still listened to his words.
The rest of the night went well and everyone celebrated well into the evening. The following day many were flying back, whereas Ken and Daichi were headed to LA for the All-star game.