The game against the White Socks was the first of 6 games the Ligers would play at home. The team continued their momentum over the home stretch, only dropping a single game against the Boston Red Socks.
Ken did not pitch again during this time. Such a thing was difficult for him, especially since he knew that his body could definitely hold up. Ken believed that he could even pitch every 2-3 days instead of 5.
However, there was a starting pitcher rotation for a reason. If he were to pitch twice as much as he should, there would be others that missed out.
Rohan was one of these players who was on the fringe of the line up. He was the one who had pitched in the game where they lost, though it was not exactly his fault.
Unlike Ken's debut, he had given up 2 runs and 1 walk over 5 innings. This was pretty decent for a debut, but as many players did, Rohan began to compare himself to Ken since they were both rookies.
Even Ken knew that this was a pointless endeavor.
Thankfully, Rohan was living at his house alongside Daichi. The two brothers admonished him, telling the guy to stop comparing apples to oranges.
Between the games and training, the 6 days passed quickly.
Unfortunately, Ken and Ai had not spent much time together during this period. After the final game, he decided now was the time to have a proper talk.
Ken grabbed his wife gently by the hand and led her to their room. Lately her eyes had seemed a little distant, as if there was a lot on her mind.
"Hey… Sorry that I haven't really been available." Ken said softly.
"It's fine. You've been busy lately." Ai said, giving a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Before getting his Insightful trait, Ken would have been blissfully unaware that Ai was in fact, not fine. But thanks to this, he was able to hazard a guess as to what was wrong.
He slowly placed a hand atop Ai's stomach, right where his child should be.
At this, Ai seemed taken aback. However she giggled in the next moment, "It's too early, you won't feel anything yet."
"I definitely feel something." Ken said, his expression serious.
Ai looked at him blankly, "What? Really?"
"Mmm, my child is telling me I've been an idiot lately." He said matter-of-factly.
Ai's incredulous expression turned to one of amusement, "It seems our child is already wise before being born."
"Yes, they definitely take after you." Ken said, giving her a wink.
Ken's words were a little lame, but they seemed to do enough to break the tension between them. Ai moved forward and placed her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him.
"I'm scared…"
Ken held her close and kissed the top of Ai's head, comforting her. He didn't know that she was feeling such a way, how could he when he was so focused on baseball?
"It's going to be okay." He said, rubbing her back gently.
He could feel her relax in his arms.
"How many weeks pregnant are you?"
Ai shook her head, "I don't know. Maybe 8 weeks?"
Ken nodded, "Let's go to the doctors together tomorrow."
The two cuddled for a long time before they made their way to the bed. For the first time in months, Ken did not enter the Image Training, instead he laid with his wife until she fell asleep in his arms.
Ken activated his sleep protocol and fell asleep himself.
The next morning, he woke up and saw that Ai was still sleeping soundly next to him. After extracting his arm slowly from beneath her head, he clenched his fist a few times, trying to return the blood circulation to his arm.
He leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead before getting changed into his workout gear and leaving the room.
Down in the lounge room, Rohan and Daichi were already waiting for him.
"We're only doing a light workout today." He said.
"I'll believe it when I see it." Rohan quipped, rolling his shoulder.
"You sore?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, but I'll be fine."
Over an hour later, the trio returned from their run. By that time, everyone else in the house was awake.
A bit later, Ai and Ken slipped out of the house and caught a cab downtown to go get some breakfast. It had been a while since the two had gone out alone, but today was important.
Even as the two ate their food, they were both nervous. Ken did his best to hide it since he didn't want to make it even worse for his wife.
After getting through his serve of bacon and scrambled eggs, they went to the doctors clinic and met with a general practitioner. Ai was soon sent off to the bathroom with a cup and returned a little later.
The doctor left and returned some time later with a big smile. "Well, congratulations you two. Judging from the levels of hCG in your urine, you should be around 8 weeks pregnant."
Ken felt his body relax and a big smile crept onto his face. He turned to Ai and could also see the relief in her expression.
"If its 8 weeks, does that mean we can get an ultrasound?" Ai asked enthusiastically.
The man nodded, "I just need to give you a referral and you can head over to the radiology clinic in town."
"Thank you Doctor." Ken said, bowing his head slightly.
They left with the referral and made their way across town to the radiology clinic. It wasn't too busy so they were able to get an appointment without waiting too long.
Ai had to fill out some information which would be used to give them the odds of their child being born with certain issues based off age and family history.
While it seemed rather daunting, since they were so young, there was apparently a very low chance of complications.