Chapter Twelve
There were, what seemed to be, hundreds of dresses laid out on their bed. Some in red, some in green, a few in black, and many in white, were all scattered around; still on their hangers. The dresses fabrics were beginning to wrinkle from the weight of the dresses on top of the pile.
Xiaoyu was nervous, she had pulled every dress she owned out of the closet and was slowly beginning to try them all on, keep out the ones that she liked and hang up the ones she did not. So far, she had tried on approximately ten or fifteen dresses so far and hadn't liked the way that any of them fit her.
Luckily for her, Xiaoyu still had hours before Jin would come home from work and take her to the party. It was a formal party, well, kind of. All of the other women that would attend the party would have on beautiful dresses that fit them perfectly. So why couldn't Xiaoyu find one, as well?
She sighed and looked at the pile in front of her. 'I'm tired of trying all of these on and there are still so many left to go!' she thought. 'Maybe I could have Jin pick out the dress he likes. He would make sure that it looked alright.'
Slowly, Xiaoyu began to pick up the dresses and hang them back in her closet. But she stopped as her fingers passed over a silk white dress. It was cool and smooth; like something she had never touched before. Curious, she slid it off of the hanger and began to unzip the back.
The door downstairs opened and she could hear the sound of Jin's feet on the floor. She could picture it now; he would take off his jacket and set his briefcase by the door. Then he would take off his shoes and start looking for her.
Quickly, Xiaoyu hopped into the beautiful white silk dress and zipped it up in the back. She looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was plain but it was fancy. It was short; but not too short. It was tight; but not too tight.
She stared at her reflection. The dress looked wonderful on her. The sleeves slid just slightly off of her shoulders. The dress clung to her curves and hid her slightly swollen stomach. Xiaoyu smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
"Xiaoyu!" he called. "I'm home! Where are you, baby?"
Trying not to let him hear her, she giggled. She softly made her way down the carpeted staircase and saw that he was no longer standing by the door. Jin had turned towards the living room and was looking down at the couch, where she normally would have been.
"You're home early," she whispered softly.
Jin turned around quickly and his eyes widened when he saw her. Rushing to her, he felt the silky dress against her waist and saw the confusion in her eyes. She tried to hide a blush while he looked at her up and down.
He pulled her into a hug and tried to hold back the tears in his eyes. "That dress," he began. "It belonged to my mother."
Xiaoyu felt a sudden wave of panic wash over her. 'Oh no!' she thought. 'I've certainly just made him feel terrible!'
He held her in his arms for a long time without saying anything. She kept her hold in his neck as he began to pull away.
"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. "I didn't know. I can go change."
"No!" Jin exclaimed, looking at her once again. "You look beautiful. My mother would be proud that you are wearing her dress."
Xiaoyu blushed and led him up the stairs to their bedroom. They got ready in silence. Jin couldn't take his eyes off of Xiaoyu, she was so beautiful. She had curled her long brown hair and it gently fell across her exposed shoulders. Her small lace sandals looked beautiful with the white dress.
When they had finished getting ready for the party, Jin took Xiaoyu's arm in his and escorted her to the car. She giggled as he pulled her close to him and kissed her several time before allowing her to sit down. He closed the door behind her and ran around the car to his side.
They were going to a party that the former Mishima Zaibatsu had thrown quarterly to celebrate their success. Now, the party was a friendly get together between the employees of the Zaibatsu and their families.
Heihachi was the first person to greet them as they walked up to the stairway to the large open doorway. Jin couldn't see his face clearly because of the light coming from inside of the ballroom. Xiaoyu smiled at Jin's grandfather and hurried up the stairs to greet him.
"Heihachi!" she called, hugging him.
He gave the small girl a quick hug and looked at her. She looked wonderful; he noticed. Jin followed behind her.
"Grandfather," he shook his hand.
The old man had softened a bit with the news of the coming of his great grandchild. He had always loved the little Chinese girl that he brought with him from Beijing; honestly, had hoped that Jin would love her just as much.
Jin's relationship with the old man seemed to have been healed as well, almost. Once the devil gene within him had been destroyed, so, it seemed, had been the hatred his grandfather had shown towards him.
Heihachi smiled at them both. They were so young and still had so much to learn about life.
Together, they walked into the already crowded ballroom. She and Jin both knew that this was the perfect time to tell everyone else about Xiaoyu's pregnancy. Looking around the room; Jin gave Xiaoyu's hand a reassuring squeeze.