Okay guys HERE'S where you may see some cheesy/mushy parts

4 Years later

Today started like every other day. I woke up and admired the clear and sunny sky. After I gave myself a few minutes to fully wake up, I went into the kitchen where both my Parents were waiting. As I sat down at the table I couldn't help but notice that both my Parents were unusually quiet this morning. Normally Mother would ask me if I had slept well, then Father would usually talk about upcoming events. As I ate, I slowly glanced at each of my Parents, trying to be as oblivious as possible. Mother and Father seemed to be preoccupied with something to notice my constant staring. Eventually I averted my gaze to my plate and started eating again, This time much slower.

"Shelly…."

My entire body jerked as my Mother's voice suddenly caught my attention. I quickly looked up from my plate.

"Y-Yes?" I asked my voice shaken from being caught off guard. Both my Parents had their attention on me.'

"Shelly your Mother and I have talked…" Father started, I suddenly felt my heart begin to race. Could they be saying what I "THINK" they're going to say?…. All month I had been asking my Parents about ONE thing. "And we've decided that, you are old enough to participate in this month's Tennis Tournament." With that comment I felt my heart skip a beat then speed rapidly. At first I was speechless, was this REALLY happening? Finally after YEARS of asking and waiting I was FINALLY able to participate in an actual tournament. Apparently both my Parents understood what my silence meant because Mother suddenly voiced her side.

"WITH the exception that you enter in the Doubles tourney…." I had a feeling that Mother was going to have some restrictions, but at the moment I wasn't really going to complain…they were letting me compete and doubles wasn't REALLY that bad.

"R-Really….?" I asked somewhat stumbling over my words. Both my Parents nodded, although Mother's nod seemed to be a little reluctant. At this point I had almost jumped out of my chair however I refrained from doing so.

After breakfast I was eager to get my things ready for our trip to the Mushroom Kingdom, when Father stopped me. As I walked back over to him, Mother came up from behind him. Both of them stared at me.

"Shelly, we both know that your wait for competing hasn't been an easy one….." Father started. I couldn't help but smile a bit, as I silently laughed inside my head. At that moment I suddenly realized that Mother had her hands behind her back. "And your Mother and I want you to have this" As Father finished, Mother suddenly withdrew her hands, in them she held a package. I stared at it for a minute, then Mother handed it to me. At first I was a little slow in opening it, but as I removed the paper a white box. My hands shaking with anticipation I slowly removed the lid. With that I felt my mouth hang open, I couldn't Even BREATHE. Inside was hot pink tennis racket it's handle was Light Green. I didn't blink for a few seconds that caused my eyes to water. I quickly blinked relieving my eyes. Both my Parents smiled at each other. I suddenly saw both my Parents step up in front of me, I looked up at both of them.

"Good Luck Shelly, Honey" Mother said softly, Father nodded in agreement. I gulped, I thought I was going to cry.

"Th-Thank You" I stuttered, unable to get another word out. Mother suddenly took my shoulder with her arm and squeezed me. Father smiled.

"We love you very much Shelly" Mother whispered to me, Father nodded putting his hand to my shoulder. I gulped again tears threatening to pour down my cheeks.

"I-I L-love you too" I whispered back. I felt Mother's grip grow tighter. After a few minutes Mother finally let go. I looked up at both my Parents.

"We left the center blank so that you could add your own emblem" Father replied to me. Mother rubbed my shoulder.

"That'll give you something to do, while you decide on your doubles partner" I nodded, eager to begin preparing for my Greatest Dream Come True…(Except accomplishing using my Tongue and a Flutter Jump of course…..) With that my Mother gave my shoulder one more squeeze before letting go.

"Well I told Mario that they should expect us in two hours, so make sure you have everything ready within the next hour" Father replied. I nodded again, still a little blown away that this was ACTUALLY happening.

"Okay" I answered, making my way to my room. As soon as I set foot in my room I immediately made a rush under my bed. In my haste I hit the top of my head coming out from under my bed.

"Ow…." I laughed rubbing my head, as I slowly pulled a few jars of paint from under my bed. Getting onto my bed I stared at my Tennis Racket, my Parents had gone through the trouble of getting me my own Custom-Made Racket. They could have gone to ANY sports store and simply bought me a racket, but NO they took it one step further by having one Custom-Made for me. My eyes began to tear up again, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand I got off my bed and gently laid my racket onto my desk and got to work.

After half an hour or so, I slowly made my way into the living room. Feeling pretty confident with my work I stepped into the living room, where Father was finishing with his packing. I caught sight of his own tennis racket that he gently placed onto the table. I stared at it for a minute as I stared at the green Yoshi egg painted in the center which was his own personal emblem. At first I was hesitant in alerting him to my presence, but before I could say anything Mother came from out of the Kitchen a brown bag in her hand.

"Shelly Honey, don't forget about your lunch before we leave" she replied holding the paper bag up. Father not realizing that I had been in the room the whole time looked up.

"Better to eat is sooner rather than later" he replied turning to me. "So it has time to settle before we leave on the ship" I gave a slight laugh. It didn't take Professor E Gadd to know that they were only saying this because they were nervous about today.

"Okay, I'll eat in a sec…." I answered taking the bag Mother handed to me. Hesitating for a second I realized that my Parents had noticed my eagerness to show them my work. "I wanna show you" I took my Tennis Racket from behind my back. Despite it only taking me half an hour I had actually put A LOT of effort and precision into my design. I had also put A LOT of thought into my emblem as well, considering the fact that I had YEARS to think it over. In the center of my Racket I had an obvious hot pink Yoshi egg in the center while the letter "S" colored in light green paint was placed behind the egg. As I waited for my Parents' response I couldn't help but glance at my Father's racket, because in fact I had gotten the inspiration for my emblem from His Racket. For the longest time neither of my Parents said anything, my self-consciousness suddenly set in, as I couldn't help but worry that their expressions didn't look encouraging. "Do you like it?….." I finally managed to say, my voice a little quiet. Again neither of my Parents said anything, I felt my heart begin to slow with the silence. However to my relief smiles spread across both my Parents' faces.

"It looks perfect Shelly" Mother answered, I felt a breathe of relief. Father also nodded at me.
"Great job Shelly" he replied. I let out another sigh of relief, they REALLY had me going there. Mother suddenly took her arm and placed it around my shoulder and took me in a hug. Then she kissed the side of my head. My face started to turn slightly red from slight embarrassment. Which was strange considering that my Mother did this often…USUALLY in public, which may be why I always instinctively blush every time she does it.
"Now go eat your lunch we're leaving in 25 minutes" Mother finally told me softly, I nodded my face still a little red. As Mother let go of my shoulder I caught sight of my Father, he seemed amused. That's when I realized that he must have saw me blushing when Mother had kissed me. Just as I was about to walk past him, he too grabbed me with his arm.

"I um…." I mumbled completely taken aback by his sudden action. However almost immediately he had nuzzled my cheek with his face. "AW come on, Stop" I laughed getting more embarrassed by the minute by his random show of affection. I heard my Father's laugh of amusement, as he had gotten the reaction he had wanted. Mother laughed as well, after several seconds I finally managed to pry myself from my Father's grip.
"Now run along now and eat" my Father replied giving me a glance of amusement. My face growing a little redder I went into the kitchen.

*OKAY Fun Fact this was originally 2 Separate Chapters but I didn't want to post ANOTHER unusually short Chapter so I combined them ^.^

HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED CHAPTER 3!

Mario related material property of Nintendo

Story and O.C's property of MCGoldYoshi (me)