Settling Down

Chapter 17: All Roads Lead to This

A year later, Ash and Serena had settled tremendously well into married life. The honeymoon was a very enjoyable one for many reasons. It started off in Kalos, but then they decided to go travelling all around the world a little, before returning back to their normal working lives. And of course, that involved a lot of "quality" time together in between. They were still being super careful though. The topic of having kids had barely arisen in truth, but it definitely wasn't something they were ruling out. They still had plenty of time, only being 23 and 24 years old at this point. But right now, their biggest battle was trying to stay cool in the summer heat. Thankfully, they were wealthy enough to afford aircon, but even that didn't keep the temperature down.

Ash was slumped over the couch in the living room, with just a vest and shorts on. What was good about this summer, though, was that there was a big sporting event happening, to distract everyone from the heat. The FIFA World Cup was in full swing and heading into the knockout rounds. By chance, Japan and France were currently playing each other, for a spot in the quarter finals. Ash was never a big football fan, but he always loved watching Japan play and supported them whenever they were playing in a big tournament like this. Miraculously, Japan had gone 1-0 up, despite France being the better team on paper. Ash was on the edge of his seat, as Japan were closing in on goal. The striker weaved his way through the box and sat the defender down and...

'GOAL!!!' shouted Ash.

Serena came out of the kitchen, with freshly baked macaroons and ice cream. She was wearing a cute summer dress and looking radiant. Ash was still celebrating the goal to take notice, but Serena couldn't care less what was happening in the game. She still found it amusing, though and giggled at how invested her husband was getting into the game. Ash was so into the game, that he hadn't even noticed the treats, until Serena wafted them in his face.

'Oh! Thanks, Rena!'

Ash took some macaroons and a bowl of ice cream.

'You're welcome, baby.'

Serena sat down and watched it with him. After all, marriage was all about compromise and Ash always found time to watch things Serena liked too. Five minutes later, the referee blew for half time. Ash looked over at Serena with a big grin on his face.

'So. 2-0, eh? Who would have thought?' he teased.

'Oh, well, yeah. That's pretty impressive. But France will come back in the second half.'

She winked at him and Ash chuckled. Serena really didn't mind what happened. She was happy Japan was winning for Ash, but at the same time, she liked the idea of having a little competitiveness between him.

'Haha! We'll see!'

They continued to watch, as the second half kicked off. Within minutes, France had pulled one back and then with fifteen minutes to go, they drew level. Ash was gobsmacked and was looking a little stressed now, not half as confident as he was before. Serena giggled and stuck her tongue out at him.

'I don't know much about football, but I told ya!'

Ash just shook his head and laughed it off.

'It's okay. If we just hold on, maybe we can take it to penalties...'

Unfortunately for Ash and Japan, it really wasn't likely, as France mounted attack after attack. And then in the most cruel fashion, they scored a last minute winner. Serena cheered, whilst Ash just groaned in anguish.

'Aww! Sorry, babe! You still did well though. And hey! You can support France now for me for the rest of the tournament.'

'Yeah, I guess so...'