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Shin has been preparing for this for months. Training. Studying. Almost ruthlessly prepping for this one single day:
His Son’s First Real Game.
“Just remember what we practiced, ok?” he says, patting little Rei on the head.
Rei shifts hesitantly. “Ok, Dad.”
Lena hugs him. “You’ll do fine, Honey. No matter what, Mommy and Daddy will still love you.”
“And Aunty Shiden!” Shiden pipes up.
“And Aunty Shiden,” Lena agrees.
“Remember what I told you?” Shin presses.
“Follow through… keep moving…” Rei repeats dutifully.
Shiden scoffs. “What does he need all that for? Just get the ball, kid, and if another kid tries to take the ball from you then just knock ‘em down!”
“I think that’s against the rules,” Lena sighs.
Shiden gapes at that. “What the heck kind of stupid game is this?”
“They’re children…” Lena explains, tugging Shiden toward the stands. “We’ll be cheering for you, Honey!” she calls at Rei.
“So!” Shiden continues, undeterred. “When I was his age – “
Shin cuts her off. “It was the same as when I was his age, and no one needs to hear about it – just remember what I said, ok, Rei?” He turns his attention back to his son.
“Yeah, Dad. Follow through,” Rei recites again, “I gotta go; the team’s grouping up. I’ll see you after the game.” He starts to run off across the field, but stumbles – barely managing to catch himself before continuing on.
Shin follows Lena and Shiden toward their seats. Says a silent prayer that this will go all right. He’s done about as much as he could to help, but…
Unfortunately, Rei’s inherited his mother’s coordination…
-
With his silver hair, Rei is easy to spot on the field, so Shin can’t miss it when he actually does trip and fall.
“HEY REF! ARE YOU BLIND!” Shiden screams, “THAT WAS CLEARLY A – wait what’d you call it again?”
“Foul,” Lena supplies. “It’s ok, Honey, you’re fine!” she yells supportively.
“THAT WAS CLEARLY A FOUL!”
Shin sighs. “He just tripped. There weren’t even any other kids around.”
Shiden’s eyebrows knit together. “Wait that’s not a foul?”
“I don’t think so?” Lena offers.
“It wasn’t,” Shin says.
“Man, I really don’t get this game,” Shiden grumbles.
-
It’s the second half of the game, and Rei’s finally managed to get the ball. Cheers are going up throughout the crowd – Shiden’s probably the loudest, “YEAH! LI’L REI, RUN! RUN! GET ‘EM!”
Then Shin notices. He’s not actually going the right way. Shin struggles to keep his head from falling into his hands as he watches his son manage to score. On his own goal. At least he didn’t trip again, he thinks.
“YEAH! YOU GOT A GOAL!” Shiden shouts triumphantly, oblivious to the outrage from the other parents with children on Rei’s team.
Lena’s able to read the room, though. “Was that not the right goal?” she asks Shin.
“No. It wasn’t,” he says.
“It’s ok, Honey! You did your best!” Lena yells over to her son, who’s been surrounded by complaining teammates.
“YEAH!” Shiden yells, oblivious. “You’re so GOOD you score on BOTH teams! THAT’S MY NEPHEW! GO GET ‘EM!”
“Shiden,” Shin explains, though he doesn’t know why he’s bothering to make the effort. “It’s bad to score on your own goal.”
Shiden huffs. “A goal’s a goal, right? I mean you get the ball in the net – what does it matter what net it goes into?”
Shin decides to give up on trying to explain. Thinks, well, at least he followed through…
-
After the game, Rei is morose. He drags his feet on the way to meet his family; stares at the ground as he walks.
“Oh, you did so good, Honey,” Lena says, running up to hug her son. “It was just your first game. Don’t worry about it; you’ll do better next time.”
“Better?” Shiden exclaims. “He doesn’t need to do BETTER! He killed it THIS time. He got TWO goals!”
Shin wants to tell her that both of those goals were on the wrong side, but he doesn’t want to bring Rei down any further, so he just holds to his son’s shoulder. “You played your hardest. That’s what matters.”
“Sorry for disappointing you, Dad,” Rei sniffs, close to tears.
Shin squats so he’s at eye-level with his son. “You’re never a disappointment to me,” he says.
“But I know you really like this game…” Rei replies, sounding close to tears.
Shin’s not actually that invested in the sport, so his answer is honest. “I only learned it because you wanted to play,” he says, “Otherwise I could care less.”
Rei seems to recover a bit at that, wipes his nose on his arm and nods. “Then, Dad, I have something to tell you…”
“What is it?” Shin asks, although he thinks he already knows the answer.
“I don’t really like this game.”
Shin smiles. “Well then we’ll just have to find you something that you do like.”
Rei brightens up at that. “Ok!”
But maybe not another team sport, Shin thinks, as Lena hugs them both.
“My two handsome men,” she says brightly. “Shall we go get lunch now?”
“YES!” Shiden exclaims. “I’m starving.”
And Shin can’t think how he ever managed to get this lucky.
But he knows he feels blessed every day.