Chapter 35
KITTINIR
Disney with a baby was indeed fun, though not the fun I had initially expected, before becoming a father.
We ended up taking turns going on some of the rides and others we skipped entirely, deciding to ride them on future visits as Alice Mae grew.
The best part wasn’t the rides though, but the huge smiles she had from all of the attention showered on her from the characters and several of the guests.
The onsen visit was a pleasant respite, the grandmotherly proprietor cooing over and insisting we leave Alice Mae with her while we enjoyed the hot spring.
The highlight of that trip, however, was the monkeys who came to soak, staring at us as if we were interlopers they decided to let stay and enjoy the waters with them.
Osaka was a seafood lover’s paradise and the neon signs reminded me of a few merchant cities on some of the heavily populated planets I’d been to over the years.
They made for great night photos, of which we took several.
The okonomiyaki was an interesting food experience we all enjoyed and Alec spent part of the evening afterwards looking up simple but authentic recipes so he could attempt to make them from scratch at home.
Our final day we were happy but tired and ready to go home.
After checking out from our hotel, we decided to hit the Hello Kitty store to pick up a few toys and things for Alice Mae, returning to our rented van with far too many plushies, as well as crib sheets, a throw, a set of curtains to hang where a ‘window’ would be created in her room, a rug, baby dresses and head bands, a changing mat, and framed pictures.
Then we were off to Ikea where we had some of their famous meatballs.
The store was some kind of maze which impressed me with how captive it kept its customers while luring them with smaller goods tantalizing available to simply place within one’s cart and the larger furniture on display that could be picked up in the warehouse area by the exit, right before the checkouts.
The free measuring tapes and tiny pencils and paper to write down the product numbers to make planning and purchasing easier was especially clever.
The baby section had everything we needed to create a beautiful, safe, fun space for our daughter. One ‘room’ was set up with a white crib and matching dresser with a changing table top.
“The white will look great with all the pink and white Hello Kitty stuff we just got,” Alec declared.
“Definitely,” Carl agreed, already scribbling down the product numbers.
We left there with more sheets, the crib, mattress, dresser, some animal plushies, wall fasteners to secure the dresser, as well as a toy bin organizer with pink and light blue buckets for drawers, and a light beech Poang rocker and foot rest with white cushions.
Upon exiting the store, we were happy to find that Alec knew our pilot.
“Someone call for a ride?” the male grinned.
“Hey!” Alec said, grinning at his friend. “I can’t believe we were lucky enough to get you. Guys, this is Jimmy. He flew me up the day I joined the program.”
“I saw the assignment posted and asked for it specially,” he admitted, leaning over the pram to peer at Alice Mae.
“Aww, what a cutie! It had said a youngling was one of the passengers, and here she is!”
“Yeah, she was kind of a surprise,” Alec said even as we smiled and murmured how nice it was to meet him.
“Well, I’m parked around the far side, close to the loading bays. Follow me and we’ll get this all loaded up.”
“I’ll get our van so we can transfer over everything else as well,” I said, relinquishing the pram to Carl.
“Finally! You’ve been hogging her all morning,” he said.
I rolled my eyes at his antics and left them to go with Jimmy. As we’d parked in the parent and child parking, I didn’t have far to go before reaching the van. Between us all, we quickly had the shuttle loaded.
“Right, after all that, I’m feeling a bit peckish,” Jimmy said.
“I could eat,” Alec said.
“I honestly don’t know where you put it all, but yeah, it’s nearly time for her bottle and it’s close enough to supper time I think it would be fine if we ate now.”
“If we get hungry later while putting her room together, we have plenty of snacks we can eat to sustain us.”
“Great, I saw they had katsu curry, so we could have one last Japanese meal before we leave Japan,” Alec said.
That decided, I reparked the van in a space next to a cart return, and joined them at the cafe.
While we went through the line with our trays, I let Xeranos know our rental van was ready to be picked up and returned to the rental company.
He quickly responded, letting me know that someone from the local Scholarship Service office would meet us at the cafe to pick up the keys so he could return it for us.
I took a moment to take in the scene before me, one so different from my life at Rivendale. That time felt so long ago now. I smiled, feeling truly content as Alec pointed at the katsu curry and then to the confusion of the server, also to the lingonberry sauce.
“I don’t think that’s a traditional pairing,” Jimmy laughed, but ordered the same, as did Carl. I decided I might as well make it four for four, causing the Japanese lady behind the counter to give a small laugh.
“Mylos,” she said, pointing at Jimmy and I, her accent making the ‘l’ sound like an r.
We smiled and nodded at her. She gave us two thumbs up.
“I think seeing you two just made her day,” Carl said, just as she clucked at Alice Mae. “You two and our little cutie pie.”
Going to our tables, I thought that if this was a taste of our lives to come, I couldn’t wait to see what came next.
All the firsts with Alice Mae, vacations on Earth and to visit my parents far across the galaxy.
Meals with actual friends, and lots of bad bowling as Carl insisted on trying to teach me.
“I love you,” I said to my mates as we took our seats, my hand gently stroking Alice Mae's soft, wispy hair.
“I love you too,” Alec replied, his cheeks pink, eyes shining bright with warm emotion.
“I’ve loved you for years,” Carl said. “Took you long enough but well worth it, as it got me our beloved Alec and darling Alice Mae.”
Jimmy placed his palms on his cheeks. “This is so sudden!” he declared, feigning misunderstanding, causing us all to laugh.
“You’re such a goof,” Alec informed him. “There’s a bottle warming station. We can warm her bottle after we eat.”
Carl took one of the emptied trays and placed our glasses on it, going over to fill them up with fruit flavoured sparkling spring water from the nearby station. We each took one from him after he returned and he’d no more sat down than Jimmy lifted a glass.
“To new friends and new loves. May the stars continue to shine their favor upon us all.”
We echoed the sentiment, and clinked our glasses together.
It was the perfect toast for the wonderful beginning of the rest of our lives.