Tennis was the answer that they were looking for. Anna and the boys got a surprise invitation to a tennis tournament. It was from the Usnos Open in Ceclar. Ceclar was a very omega friendly nation to visit. Their founding myth detailed how an alpha king had 3 sons; an alpha, a beta and an omega. A prophecy came to him that all his sons would found their own nations. Ceclar was the nation that his omega son founded. After the foundation, the eldest son wanted all of the land. The beta and omega sons banded together to defeat the tyrannical alpha. The neighboring Glondar was said to be founded by the beta son. There was also an invitation to play in the Eswa Open in Glondar 2 weeks after Usnos. Both were IPTB 250 tournaments. Ronan was going to receive a wild card to play in the singles tournament. Everyone else was qualified. Reid and Rhys were seeded in the doubles tournament. So were Reilly and Anna for mixed doubles. Evan would be given a wildcard along with Reilly so they could join the doubles. Everyone knew they had to go there. It was crucial.
Usually, they would be too scared to go. The border guards gave them all trauma. Ronan and Mitchel more so. Their grandfather was also getting a bit grumpy that they were not doing anything. The tournament would pay for travel and lodging in a nearby hotel. Alicia and Molly were not qualified to play. Molly was Reid's wife, so she could come with him. Ronan obviously asked his boyfriend Mitchel to come with him. He said yes. Zoe was Anna's doubles partner. She was also not qualified for the big leagues. Together, they had the points to go through the qualifiers for the women's doubles tournament however. If they could get through 3 rounds the day before, they could play. It was the first rung of the real professional tennis tour. The boys would all be playing in the men's division now. Kevin still did not have free time to come watch. Anna asked if Charles could come along instead. Kevin thought about it a bit before saying yes to his husband's puppy dog look. The boys were over the moon that their mother could watch them play. He was never able to see them.
It was settled. This would be the first time Charles left the country. Flying was still a problem for Anna. The children, Walter and Winston, were going to be with Kevin. The 3 of them were going to stay at Bruce's mansion. Far be it from a strong alpha male like him to cook and clean for himself for a couple of weeks. It was a problem that a staff full of servants could fix. Bruce would also probably want to observe his great-grandchildren more closely. Once they landed, Anna needed time in the hotel to recover. There was not much that she could do in that state. Both Rhys and Reilly made sure to stay by her. The Usnos Open tournament was a full week long. This was because they added another round of competition at this stage. All the tournament events were happening simultaneously. You had to keep the schedule on you at all times. No one wanted to forfeit a match because they forgot they had to be on court at a certain time. Anna and Zoe had to hustle to the event to play the qualifiers. Once they got through it, they could play doubles in the real tournament. Great.
