Forever - Christian Yelich

California Strong.

Christian~

"Hey, do you want to play in the softball game for California Strong in a couple of weeks?" I ask Brooklyn as we go upstairs and are about to head to bed. "You want me to play in a softball game again? Do you remember the last time that happened? I was sore for a week," she says and I chuckle. 

"I mean only if you want to." 

"Are you playing?" she asks me and I think about it. 

"Well, I might, I'm not sure yet. Ryan is managing one of the teams and I might have to take the other one. I want to play but if I have to manage, I will," I say and peel back the covers. Brooklyn comes back out in some shorts and one of my sweatshirts. 

"I'll play, but I wanna be on your team if you're playing or not," she tells me and gets into bed. 

"I think I can make that happen but you should know that Ryan is definitely going to try to steal you for his team," I say and wrap my arms around her and kiss her head. 

She laughs, "He'll have to get over it."

Brooklyn~

"Brooklyn, come on. Why would you want to be on his team when you can be on my team?" Ryan asks me as we stand around waiting for the Christian to start talking to all of the guests that came and supported the foundation today. 

"Ryan, it's not like you're playing and he's my boyfriend. I feel like I should probably be on his team," I say and he rolls his eyes. 

"You're going to be salty when Team Braun wins and then you'll wish you were on my team," he says and I nudge him with my elbow. 

We turn our attention to Christian as he stands next to us, "Thank you all for coming and supporting California Strong on this beautiful Saturday as we get ready to play a game of softball. Just a reminder that all proceeds and funds that are raised today and in the future will go to fire victims who have lost close to everything. If we could all please take a moment of silence for those who have lost everything or for those who have dealt with the fires in the past years. Also for those, we lost at the Borderline mass shooting in November 2018. "

We all stand silently for a minute until Christian speaks up again, "Thank you. Now for what you have all been waiting for. Team Braun versus Team Yelich in the annual softball game will take place in just a few minutes. Once again, thank you for coming and supporting California Strong, the other founders, Jared, Moose, Ryan, and Mike thank you all for coming out and supporting this amazing cause," Christian says and we all clap for the guys. 

We head back to the dugouts and I go up to Christian, "Please tell me you didn't put me at leadoff," I say and grab a bat. 

"Nope, 4th," he says and kisses me quick. I watch as celebrities take their spots on the field and take it all in. Never did I think that I would be sharing the field with actors, singers, and players from across the league. I love that the guys put this on each year. They are giving back to their community and it is so cool and selfless. 

I get up to bat and I'm not taking this too seriously. I mean that in a way of whoever loses out of the two teams, the whole community ends up winning in the end. They end up soft-tossing the balls to us and luckily my softball knowledge comes back and I send the ball flying through the air. Three runs score and I head back to the dugout. I high-five everyone and come back to Christian, "How'd that feel?" he says slinging his arm around me. 

"Awesome. It feels really good to be giving back even though it technically isn't my community. Also, get ready to hear it from Brauny," I tell him and he gives me a questioning look. "Why?" he asks and watches a ground ball go toward first base.