Third Strike Rule

Nolan took a half-hearted swing at what felt like the thousandth ball he had hit that morning. The transition from college to professional ball had not been easy on Nolan especially as his arthritis flared up in his feet. It wasn't ideal but he had been doing all the therapy and taking all the preventative measures for his condition. Everyone was just thankful it was early onset arthritis and not something that might lead to a bigger more serious problem.

Getting drafted to the Brewers was a shock to Nolan he was sure he was going to Texas to play for the Rangers, but obviously Christian and Cody had been scheming for months to plan this out. Nolan was pretty happy to be drafted number one and finding out Christian was going to be his coach made it that much better. Cy was pretty bummed about losing the guy who had made him such a great player but was looking forward to getting coached by his dad.

Nolan had moved to Milwaukee the week after he was drafted and got a nice apartment close to the stadium and with a view of the lake. The past few months had been hard on Nolan. Even though he and his dad had made up and were spending time together it still was hard for Cody to talk about Sabrina. Nolan tried to give his dad some grace and be thankful he was trying. Nolan had never really thanked Viviana for what she did.

It was an easy drive from his apartment to Cy's where Viv lived, but every time he went over to talk she was gone either training or at a game. He went to a lot of her games, but never knew how to congratulate her after especially with her family always around. He didn't want to ruin it for her or distract her. She had been doing so good. The last thing Viv needed was to be distracted by an ex who still wasn't ready to start dating again. She just seemed so happy and he wasn't going to take that away from her that was selfish.

Despite it all Nolan still wished he had reached out and invited her to graduation, the CWS, or even draft night. At least that would have shown that he wanted her there even if she couldn't make it. Her little texts were encouraging though. It might be too late as Viv was stuck in LA for another year and Nolan was a plane ride away in Wisconsin...

Moving had been hard for Nolan he left the apartment that he and Viv were meant to share and fall even more in love. The opposite happened. He found a few of her things from the short time she did live there and it killed him. All he wanted to was talk to her and tell her how thankful he was that she had come into his life. She changed him for the better. He didn't even need her to reciprocate his love he just needed her to know.

"Nolan!" Christian yelled and waved his next superstar over to the dugout at American Family Field. "What's going on? You're hitting like a pitcher this morning."

Nolan shook his head, "Sorry Yeli, I just have a lot on my mind. I live in Wisconsin now, I play in my first ever professional MLB game tomorrow, my ex-girlfriend's dad is my coach, and-"

"All you can think about is how Viviana is playing in a gold medal match tonight and you're not there?" Christian finishes for Nolan.

Nolan's eyebrows shoot up surprised that Christian knew exactly what was going on, "Yeah actually that's exactly it."

Christian pulls Nolan into the dugout and sits him down, "I'm not sure if you knew this but in 2020 I declined an offer to enter the home run derby and be the starting right fielder in the All Star Game so that I could fly to Tokyo to watch Kat play in a gold medal match against Brazil."

"I always thought you didn't go because you were on IL..." Nolan admits.

"Well I had a great publicist, but that's not the point," Christian says and clasps his hands as he thinks. "The point is, well, first do you love Viviana? Now be honest with me I'm not going to punish you if you say no I just need you to be honest."