"You can't leave me, not like this. I told myself that if I saw you again, that I would never let you slip out of my fingers. You're mine, you've always been, and you always will be. Say you'll stay, and I'll give all of this up just to be with you...
My mom, Shohei's mom, and our wedding planner went to the wedding dress shop with me to help me pick out the right wedding dress. One of the workers walked over and greeted us. "My name is Chloe, I will be helping you pick your magical dress." I smiled and we got started. The first four dresses I tried on were not it. I hated all of them. I tried another one on, and it wasn't really the cutest, but I wanted to give it a chance. I walked out and showed the dress. "That's a beautiful dress, but I feel it's not you." Shohei's mom said. I nodded. "Yeah, I sense that there is something here that will really give us the wow factor." My mom said, agreeing. "But the real question is what do you think about the dress, Hannah?" Sophia asked.
"Honestly, I don't like it. It doesn't give me that "this is it" feeling." "And that's okay, we have plenty of others that may give you that feeling." Chloe said. "Yeah, I think that would be good." We went back into the dressing room where they had 4 more dresses. I tried on the dress, and it was okay, it wasn't really worth going out into the other room, though. I didn't like it. "I'm not really too fond of this one." I said. "That's fine." Chloe said. She walked back into the dressing room, and she shuffled through the dresses. "Knowing you for only about a couple of hours. I think you'd really love this one. She put the dress up, and I looked at it. It was absolutely stunning. I wasted no time trying it on. It fit like a glove and certainly complimented my figure. I cried when I looked in the mirror as she put the veil on. This is it— this is the dress.
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I walked out and my mother and mother-in-law were stunned. "Hannah, you look absolutely stunning." My mom said. "Yes, my son is a lucky man." I cried. "I'm guessing this is the dress?" Sophia asked. I nodded my head. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. "Thank you, Chloe, for everything. Without you, I probably would've never found my dress." She smiled. "Of course!" We went and paid for the dress. Sophia carried it out to her car to go have it tailored a little more as we agreed on.
We went to go have lunch and were just finishing up.
Shohei 2:00pm "Hey, how'd it go?"
Me 2:05pm "It went well, I found my dress. I believe you will love it."
Shohei 2:07pm "I know I will. Just texting to make sure you were doing okay. I love you." I smiled to myself because how did I become so lucky to have someone who cares so much? "Also, I have a surprise for you when you get home.😏😉"
We then left to go our separate ways. I went back home to Shohei cooking dinner in the crock pot for tonight. "Hey you." He said, kissing me. "I have a game tonight, but after I have a surprise for you." I smiled. "I'm going to your game tonight. I hope you know that." He nodded. "I know this game is important to me, so I hope we win." He got his bag around and ate lunch before heading out. "I'll see you there, Mrs. Ohtani." He said, kissing me. I blushed. "I'll see you there, my love. I love you." "I love you too!" He left. A sense of sadness grew over me. I know I'm going to see him later, but I hate being away from him this long.
His game didn't start for another hour, so I had to keep myself busy. I redid my makeup and changed my outfit. I love wearing his oversized jersey, they make for good short dresses. Furthermore, I put white vans on and walked to his game with Emi. "So how have you been? I haven't seen you in forever." "I've been good, I miss working at the café. How is it?" She smiled. "Girl, you're not missing anything. Be happy your fiancé supports you guys." I laughed. "I get bored though, I don't want him feeling like I'm using him for his money-" "Shohei has always wanted a wife, so supporting her has never been a big issue for him. Trust me, if my Oba and Oji approved of you, you aren't using him. They're a very tough crowd to please. I've watched Shohei bring many women home to meet his parents, and they hated all of them."
She took a sip of her tea. "I know my cousin though, one thing about him is he would never lie. He stopped dating because he knew one day that you would come back. He said that he would wait no matter how long. I've never seen a man curve so many women a day in my life." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I love him so much." "And it shows!" She said. We got to the stadium and went in through security and to our seats in the front. I'm not going to lie, seeing Shohei in his uniform did something to me. He always looks so good in it.
I must've been staring a little too hard because he noticed and shook his head at me. "You enjoying the show over here, ma'am?" I laughed. "Maybe I am." I bit my lip. "Oh yeah?" That's when we heard a throat clear. "Emi, I didn't see you there." His face turned red. She waved at him. "After the game, meet me near the locker room." The game was about to start and Shohei was the first to pitch. I loved watching him play because this is his escape from life. His love for this game is immaculate.
*******
The game was ending and I hugged Emi goodbye. I made my way over to the press conference room. I wanted to see him answering questions. The way he can flip his English switch off and go back to speaking Japanese was crazy to me. I struggle at that sometimes. My dad is from America and my mom is from here. So when I was born, my parents taught me both English and Japanese. My Japanese needs some work at times, but not too much. I've always been more comfortable speaking English and saving Japanese for when I need to use it. I still sometimes practice but I'm not confident in it. The press conference was over, and I waited for him out near the locker room. While waiting, I got a text message from Shohei's mom.
Shohei's Mom 7:00pm "Thank you for involving me in such a big moment of your life. I am so happy that it's you who will be my daughter-in-law." I smiled to myself.
Me 7:05pm "No problem, thank you for coming. I appreciate your kind words."
That's when I felt someone pull me into a hug. "Hi my love." I looked up and smiled. "Hi." "You ready for your surprise?" He asked. I nodded and followed him. He took me back into the stadium, this time I was on the field. The stadium was empty and I just looked around. "You never get nervous down here?" He chuckled. "Sometimes, but being nervous is normal. I went down to the dugout and found Shohei's helmet and bat. His bat was heavy as hell. How do you swing with this?" "Our bats are customized to fit the build of a player and their swing. Want me to toss a ball to you?" I nodded. "Please toss, I would rather not take a 99 mph fast ball to the face." He laughed. "Oh my gosh, no, I wouldn't do that. That's so dangerous." I got the bat over my shoulder, waiting for him to toss it. "Are you ready?" I nodded. He tossed it and I somewhat hit it but ended up spinning and falling to the ground. "That was not pleasant."
He got a different bat. It was a lot lighter than his. We did a redo and I hit the ball far this time. Shohei ducked. I ran the bases, happy that I hit the ball. That's until Shohei got the ball way faster than I anticipated and started chasing me with it. I ran off course and started screaming for my damn life, because this man was fast. "You're off the bases." "So, you still aren't touching my with that ball." He scooped me up in his arms and stopped running. "You're fast." He said, trying to catch his breath. We played on the field a little while longer before going back home to eat dinner and shower.
We got there and I was so tired. Maybe it was from the running, or perhaps it was the long day I had. I ate dinner with Shohei and showered before going to bed. Today was an absolute busy day for sure.
