Chapter 10: License and shopping

Catherine Rose P.O.V

Last night when I got to bed I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow the journey had been high on emotions for me which left me mentally tired, I got woke up by the smell of food I looked beside me and my husband was still sleeping I knew that Stephen knew how to cook but it was rare for him to cook in the morning for the last two weeks he would make himself a protein shake then start his workout, eat something with high protein content right after his training then eat again at lunch train his pitches and would eat once more right after, eat dinner with us do yoga and then eat again 1 hour before bed 

He told me yesterday that his training will get heavier starting Monday, from what he told me he would run in the morning do yoga right after his run then go to the baseball center 4 hours of batting training 2 hours of pitching training then hit the gym for another 2 hours come back home to eat, another yoga session before bed than repeat I wasn't a professional trainer but even I knew he was pushing himself too much but I didn't have the heart to tell him to slow down once he realizes it was too much he will slow down I'm sure I just pray that he won't get hurt to know his limits I thought while getting out of the bed and doing my morning routine washing my face and brushing my teeth usually I would dress up at the same time but since it was Saturday and that Dan was the one to take our son to his driver license test I could laze around in my pajama

Coming out of my room the smell of eggs and bacon got a lot stronger and from the noise I was hearing coming out of the kitchen he probably was making food for an army I stepped into the kitchen and saw our table was full of food freshly orange and pineapple juice I could see the fruits peel at the corner of the kitchen island pancakes frittata hashbrowns and bacon which Steph was busy cooking at the moment a fruit salad and plain greek yogurt wow I didn't know my son was this good I thought before quietly grabbing myself a glass of orange juice and sitting behind the kitchen island without a sound still looking at my sons back who all of sudden seemed to have grown way too much ' he is as dependable as his father, my future daughter in law will be really lucky' I thought smiling

'' Good morning Sunshine!'' I said after watching him for 2 minutes without him noticing

'' AAHH! ... for fuck sake Mom are you a freaking ninja, god damn it'' said Steph jumping so high he almost touched the ceiling 

''Hehe it's your fault for being so focused you didn't even realize I came into the kitchen look I even had the time to drink half of my orange juice'' I said pointing at my half-finished glass of juice and blatantly lying about the fact that it was his fault for not noticing me 

'' Sigh, with how stealthy you have become you must be an alien who took control of my Mother's body give her back to me I want my always serious but loving Mother back right this instant evil creature'' said Stephen pointing his spatula, he was cooking with, at me while saying a bunch of nonsense that was probably in one of the animes mangas or novels he had read before but I knew he was just joking

'' Hahaha, you on the other hand are still the same even with all your changes you are still the same. Anyway you really went all out this morning didn't you everything looks incredible, I'm hungry now'' I said feeling hungrier the more I spoke to my son

''Hehe yeah I got a little bit carried away I think, can you wake up Dad I'm almost done here and we only got an hour to eat and leave if we do not want to be late. Also, I won't change much I'll still be the same Stephen you know, who loves video games, books, and anime it's just that baseball is now taking the biggest part of my focus which led to some positive personality changes in me'' said Stephen 

''I know, I'm proud of you, well I'll go get your father now'' I said before making my way upstairs to wake my husband up when I woke up earlier his PC was on the bedside table, 'I bet he watched baseball films till late into the night' but he still needed to wake up I thought

After Dan got up we all ate breakfast together before my husband and son left with Stephen's new car 

Dan Rose P.O.V

Last night I had to watch the recorded game of our next opponent that we will meet this afternoon since it was Stephen's birthday yesterday I wasn't able to do so until we reached home last night as a result I didn't get to sleep before 2 am in the morning luckily I could catch some sleep while my son's pass his test I thought

'' So you've been working out lately, tired of being the lanky kid? well no matter the reason it's good that you start taking care of your body'' I said to my son 

''Yeah I'll train all summer and build some muscle, I can't wait to see the faces of those Bitchleaders when they realize that I became this handsome hahaha'' my son said laughing

'' Hehe, it will be a sight to see I'm sure but Stephen I hope you don't do this because of that brandy and those cheerleaders. Let me tell you they don't deserve that you spare even a single thought of yours on them, I'm not supposed to say something like this, and if you tell anyone else I'll deny it but Son, half of these girls will use their body to get into university and some already does that to a lesser extent while the other half will finish as waitresses somewhere the only highlights of their lives will and would always be the 3 years where they were self-proclaimed queens of high school. They do not deserve your attention, do your own thing and every day try to become a better man than you were yesterday, if you do this you'll go far in life. '' I said to my son I could see he was growing up so I thought it was the time to take out the same speech my dad told me when I was Stephen's age well I had to tweak it a bit since our circumstances were different but the core message was the same ' every day is a day you can improve yourself '

'' Thanks, Dad! I'm not doing this because of them or rather I'm not doing this for them I'm doing it for myself seeing their reaction is just a little bonus for me, hehe. '' said my son 

'' Good, If anything happens at school this year you'll have to take care of it yourself, of course, if there's an emergency you can always look for Terry he will help you don't be shy to ask for his help since I won't be there with you but don't rely on him for every little thing. How will you take care of your future wife if you can't take care of yourself.'' I said to my son with a cheeky smile

'' I'll do just like you Dad... I'll find a wife who takes care of me instead hahaha hahaha'' said my son laughing at me

'' Smelly brat '' I grumble before looking out the window hiding the smile I had on my face I had to say he really got me there haha ' alright this is my son' I thought

15 minutes later Stephen pulled into my friend's driving school parking lot we then got out of the car and walked inside. Once inside I could see my friend Darren writing on his clipboard 

'' Hey, Darren what's up men how is business doing?'' I said to my friend while opening my arm to give him a hug

''HAHA DAN nice to see you, business is good I just opened my 3 driving school this year but nevermind about that when I told the guys that you called me they asked me to ask you if you'll ever come back to the league we are really missing you men it's sad that you don't have the time to play with us anymore the level of the league is getting lower and lower as years are passing but it still fun to move our body once a week'' said Darren while hugging me back

'' Sadly I can't I also miss playing with you guys but my job won't allow it and I'll be even busier starting next year I got an offer to be Assistant Coach for a D1 team but we should grab a beer sometime would be nice to catch up with the gang, anyway here is my son Stephen. Stephen this is Darren a good friend of mine who I played baseball with back in the days, I'll let you guys do your own things while ill sit here and catch some sleep, Darren call me when there is a get-together with the guys I'll be sure to pass by if I'm free'' I said before heading toward the waiting area

'' Alright don't worry ill take good care of your son. Now, let's get to it did you come with your car or do you need to use our car?'' I could hear Darren asking my son question before they both stepped out outside ' I should have an hour to sleep' I thought getting as comfortable as I could sitting on those chairs before closing my eyes

Stephen Rose P.O.V

Darren was really a kind guy no wonder he was friends with my Dad they were really alike while Darren was a little more carefree my Dad was more on the serious side but aside from that they really were alike, Darren told me to drive and that he would tell me what to do when it was needed other time I just had to drive whenever I wanted to. Since that was the case I decided to drive toward Franklin i hadn't been there yet I wanted to know where this Academy my mother had told me about was. Darren would ask me to change lanes and little things like that while I was driving 20 minutes later we were in Franklin I asked him if I could pass by somewhere I wanted to see and he agreed I soon found the place I was looking for so now I knew where it was it was pretty easy to find and the building looked clean. Darren used this opportunity to ask me to park between two cars that were on the side of the road and then ask me to do the same in the parking lot after noting something down on his clipboard he told me that I could go back now

The way back was smooth with nothing to talk about once we made it back to the driving school Darren handed me a bunch of papers saying that I had passed the test and everything I needed at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to get my driver's license now the last step was to go there and wait for my turn to take my photo and get my license, I thanked him then climb into my car while my Dad was speaking with Darren a little longer once he got into the car we left toward the DMV

''Sigh, I really hope we won't need to wait here all day'' said my dad with a sigh

After 2 hours of waiting at the DMV, I finally got my turn and was able to get out of there 30 minutes later since it was already close to lunch time my Dad decided to eat at one of my Grandfather's restaurants before making our way back home 

When we got back to the house I told my parents that I would go out again my dad just shook his head clearly thinking that I just wanted to drive around and show off with my new car while my mother just told me to be careful and to come back before dinner. The truth was that I was driving to my Grandparent's house as my grandfather had told me to come see him today to get the money for my training 

After a talk with my Grandfather, he gave me a bank card saying that there was 50 000$ in there and if that wasn't enough to tell him, of course, this was more than enough I said to him which made him scoff before saying I can use the rest to get a girlfriend while laughing at the face I made after hearing him

Then I made a beeline toward Hit after Hit baseball store I had bought things with my mother already but she couldn't buy me everything in one go without my dad noticing the big purchase so we only had bought training clothes baseball gloves for batting and a wooden bat of course just one bat would be enough so I was already planning to go on a shopping spree as soon as my Grandfather agreed to gives me money

I parked my car the closest I could to the entrance of the store before making my way inside, I had never been there before and all this shiny baseball equipment was making me a little excited. I was walking in all aisles looking at everything that caught my eye until I spotted a middle-aged lady coming my way. I had been in the store for 30 minutes already and hadn't bought anything she was probably coming to ask me if I needed something in particular or maybe she was thinking that I was about to steal something when in reality I was just so excited I hadn't seen the time passing I thought chuckling to myself

''Hello young men, do you need any help?'' she asked me with a polite smile

'' Yes, I would like to know how many RAWLING PRO PREFERRED OA1 MAPLE BAT you have in stock and what length you have, do you have 33-32-31 inch in stock?'' I asked her since I did not know what was the best length suited for me I thought I should just get all lengths and then test it myself

'' Wait a moment I'll go get my husband he will know better than me'' she said with a smile before heading toward the back of the store, coming back 2 minutes later with a tall man following her

''Hi young men I'm the owner of the store you can call me Mr.Hit my wife is telling me that you are looking for bats?'' he said putting his hand forward for a handshake

''Haha nice name Mr.Hit, I'm looking for bats but not only that I need a pitching glove, humm you know what makes it two better having a back than not I also need an equipment bag with a customizable interior, balls and finally some accessories like this KRAKEN PRO WRAP GRIP STICK - COOL MINT GREEN here'' I said to him I could see his eyes shining brighter and brighter the more I talked

'' GREAT great we got everything here let me just look on my computer how many bats I have in stock for you in the meantime you can take everything you need at the counter'' he said with a big smile

Sure enough, a businessman is still after money even in a sports store I thought before going toward the bag section first since I would put everything I need inside of it I do not want to travel to the checkout counter 20 times today I took the MIZUNO - MX EQUIPMENT WHEEL BAG G2 there was enough free space for Grandmother to embroid something on it for me after this I went to the glove section I had my eyes on a pretty green glove earlier sadly there wasn't a right-handed glove so I took my second and third choice which was a WILSON - JANUARY 2023 GOTM - A2000 D33 and a WILSON A2K D33SS 11.75" PITCHER'S GLOVE I also needed cleats and long sleeve training shirt but there was nothing that caught my eyes here so I would need to go to another store for those I also grab some baseball bat sleeve before making my way towards the owner and putting everything on the countertop

'' I see that you found everything you needed that's great now for the bats you want I got 3 33-inch 1 32-inch and 2 31-inch in stock do you want them all?'' he asked me way too eager to make a sale honestly I don't think ill come back here in the future this guy gaze was making me uncomfortable

'' Yes I'll take them all I'll need 2 more baseball bat sleeves and more wrap for my bats I'll be right back you can start scanning the rest here '' I said before going to the bat section and coming back right after with two more baseball bat sleeves and 3 more Kraken Pro wrap

'' It will be 2 543.23$ after taxes are you paying cash or with a card'' asked the owner

''with a card, thank you'' I said paying and leaving as soon as I had made my purchase for my next stop I looked at the internet and found that Academy Sporst+Outdoor in Franklin may have what I needed so I drove there and I did find what I was looking for. I bought two pairs of black and white Rawlings Men's Rookie Baseball Cleats and two pairs of rainbow-colored Under Armour Men's Harper 8 Turf PE Baseball Cleats, this store had everything I should have come here before the other store I thought

I found everything I needed here McDavid Men's HEX Camo Thin Sliding Baseball Shorts, EvoShield Adults' Solid Compression Baseball Pitcher Arm Sleeve, Rawlings Men's Adjustable Baseball Belt, Sof Sole Team Performance Men's Baseball Socks Large 2 Pack I also bought a Academy Sports + Outdoors 9 in Practice Baseballs 24-Pack with an Rukket Sports Grid Target With Adjustable Strike Zone so that way I will be able to train my pitching at home when my dad is away I also found my long sleeve Under Armour Men's ColdGear Armour Compression Mock Baselayer Shirt so I took one black one white one charcoal grey and lastly one camo green of course.

And with that, I think I bought everything I thought going back to my car with all my gears and another 1000$ less in the bank card Grandpa gave me.